Nilus

ON ST. NILUS, ABBOT OF GROTTAFERRATA,

IN THE TUSCULAN TERRITORY OF ITALY.

IN THE YEAR MV.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

Notice of the places: the Life of the Saint written by a contemporary: some points of its chronology.

Nilus, abbot, of Grottaferrata in the Tusculan territory of Italy. (S.)

BY J. C.

I name St. Nilus abbot, and announce him at Grottaferrata, St. Nilus is announced in the Benedictine and other Fasti. as though he had died there: following rather the custom usual with others than our own scrupulous one. The abbatial prelacy the Saint always so declined that nevertheless he always had very many monks as subjects and followers. But he died in the monastery of St. Agatha, distant three miles from that of Grottaferrata, to which his sacred remains were translated, and where, as those of the first Founder of that abbey, they were venerated with special honour and made illustrious by God with prodigies. Baronius at this twenty-sixth day of September announces St. Nilus thus in the Roman Martyrology: In the Tusculan territory of Blessed Nilus, abbot, founder of the monastery of Grottaferrata, a man of great holiness. In vain would you seek the Saint's name among the classical martyrologists, since he is later than all of them, having been translated to the heavenly places only at the beginning of the eleventh century. Wion, Ménard and Dorgan have him inserted in the sacred Fasti of the Benedictines: because, even if he was not a monk of the Order of St. Benedict but of St. Basil, yet he dwelt for a long time, says Ménard in his Observations, in the monastery of SS. Boniface and Alexius at Rome, which is of the Order of St. Benedict. How long St. Nilus spent there we shall see in the course of the work: meanwhile let those whom it concerns consider whether this reason is sufficient for a Saint to be ascribed to some Order. Ferrari in his Catalogue of the Saints of Italy treats of St. Nilus more fully, drawing together what he had read scattered in Baronius in the Annals at the year 976 and elsewhere. The holy Abbot obtained the surname of the Younger for the sake of distinction from another of the same name, St. Nilus, likewise a Greek, who in the times of Theodosius the Younger, having cast off honours and titles, administered a monastery at Constantinople with the highest praise. Of him, famed for learning and holiness, we shall have to treat at the twelfth day of November, on which he is read to be entered in the Roman Martyrology, and where the confusion arising from the similarity of the name about certain Works bearing the title of St. Nilus will be able to be resolved.

[2] Further, the Tesculan territory, where St. Nilus departed this life, is very near to Rome: His Greek Life, nay, is part of the Roman Campagna. There is there an episcopal city which the Italians call Frascati, and thence certain more recent writers call it in Latin Frascata: it is distant 12 miles from the City, and very many contend that in the same place was ancient Tusculum, from which the neighbouring territory still retains its name. Thence, as one turns southward about one mile, where once was the villa of Lucullus at the water of the Crabra, there occurs the famous monastery which owes its beginning and its splendour to our St. Nilus: it is called Grotta ferrata by the natives, but by the Latins Crypta ferrata. The origin of the name some derive from a cave which the monks inhabited and which, as they contend, was closed with iron gratings: others derive it from the abundance of iron in that place. Kircher in his Latium ascribes the beginnings of the abbey of Grottaferrata to Bartholomew, the disciple of St. Nilus: Piazza follows him in the Hierarchia Cardinalitia: but we shall see below that this is wrongly done, and that our Saint is to be held its first author, about whom very few things — and, if you except the chronology and the examination of the documents or of the Life, almost none — are here to be laboriously discussed. As regards, moreover, the Lives, or rather the Life, of St. Nilus, almost the whole difficulty lies in investigating its author; for slighter errors can easily be pardoned to a writer, if only his good faith and authority be proved from elsewhere. The original Life of St. Nilus is Greek, and from it, if I am not mistaken as the only one, there have come forth Latin Lives differing among themselves somewhat according to the method of the translators. Baronius in the Annals at the year of Christ 976, num. 2, assigns it, as composed in an ancient codex of the monastery of Grottaferrata by a disciple of the Saint; the same is cited by Barrio, On the Antiquity of Calabria, book 5, and finally by Ferrari in his Annotation. Let us see further whether it is truly one and the same Greek Life from which the different versions have proceeded.

[3] The aforesaid Baronius speaks thus: His (St. Nilus's) deeds, written in Greek by his disciple, the Latin world has hitherto never seen. which we shall give He who first handed them over to the Latin world from an ancient codex of the monastery of Grottaferrata was our Federico Mezio, bishop of Termoli, from whom I first received them, and I have woven some of them, as time allowed, into our Annals on a suitable occasion. Those same things Surius put together from Baronius and inserted into his collection at this day. I find the version of Mezio cited by Martène, to be praised below, and also by Giacomo Sciommari, a monk of the Order of St. Basil and of Grottaferrata, in his Notes to the Life of St. Bartholomew published by himself in Italian; but beyond those things which Baronius inserted into his Annals I find no others; whence I doubt whether Mezio published his version in print, and whether it was not rather prepared for the sake of Baronius alone. However that may be, the things which he has supplied us from that version will be abundantly sufficient for the present purpose. Edmond Martène, of the Collection of ancient writers

volume 6, column 887, inserted the Life of St. Nilus. That Life, as he warns in his preliminary Observation, Cardinal Sirleto translated from the Greek, and that Latin interpretation of his John Durand had once found in a Vatican codex and, having accurately transcribed it, had sent to Mabillon, being in the judgment of Adrien de Valois too worthy of the public light and soon to be published, had not various studies hindered it. Of the Sirletan version there is mention also by Sciommari, often to be praised, and we too have a manuscript copy of it from the manuscript codex of the Vatican library under num. 6151, which is the same from which, as Martène writes, Durand prepared his copy, which agrees with ours to a letter.

[4] together with the version of Caryophilus, was written Papebroch added to our copy that he had himself seen a Greek exemplar in the monastery of Grottaferrata, and consulted on the spot the Roman codex, upon which he made an observation, as we shall see below. Finally Giovanni Matteo Caryophilus, archbishop of Iconium, at the beginning of the past century translated into Latin and published, together with the Greek text from a manuscript of Grottaferrata, at Rome from the presses of Zannetti in the year 1624, the Life of St. Nilus, which he complains had until then lain hidden in darkness. The diligence of Caryophilus and his skill in Latin as much as in Greek leave nothing to be desired about the aforesaid Life, except a single gap. This threw a doubt into my mind whether the version of Sirleto proceeded at least from the same codex of the monastery of Grottaferrata, since the things omitted in the text of Caryophilus fill nearly two columns in Martène's edition. But the complete agreement everywhere else bred the suspicion that perhaps, after Sirleto had consulted the codex, a leaf perished from it either through negligence or by some other accident. However that may be, since Caryophilus published the Greek text, and his interpretation seems exact, I shall publish the Life from him: and that the reader may want for nothing and may be able to supply the gap, I shall give the passage from Sirleto's version at the end of this Commentary. About the biographer Caryophilus writes thus after the beginning of the Preface to the reader: A Monk writes the Life of a Monk, a disciple that of his Master. Yet who he was is not plainly established. Many suspect, and some even assert, that it was Bartholomew, himself too a most holy man, a fellow citizen of Nilus and the heir of his wisdom and his piety. Thus he, setting forth the opinions of others about Bartholomew, not his own: and cautiously indeed, as befitted a prudent man, both as to that part of his judgment in which he asserts that the biographer of St. Nilus was a contemporary, and as to the other, in which he leaves in doubt what is asserted about Bartholomew.

[5] by a contemporary, and perhaps by Bl. Bartholomew It would be superfluous to allege anything for the confirmation of the first part, since in several places the biographer clearly professes himself to be such. As to the second, many ascribe that Life to Bl. Bartholomew, among them Sciommari and Martène; but he alone of those whom I have seen gives the reason for the assertion, which I set forth. That that disciple, he says, was none other than Bl. Bartholomew, the third abbot of Grottaferrata after St. Nilus, we gather both from the inscription which is prefixed to his Life in the Vatican codex 6151, in this manner: Bl. Bartholomew wrote this Life; and from the shorter Life of the same St. Bartholomew, in which we read this: An elaborator of hymns, and describing exceedingly wisely the deeds of his teacher and of many Saints. Those last words indeed make it somehow certain that Bl. Bartholomew wrote the Life of his holy teacher Nilus; but that he elaborated that same Life which we have today does not from this appear equally certain. As regards the Vatican codex, little weight indeed would accrue to the assertion, even if the translator Sirleto, or he who wrote his version into the codex, had added words which were not read in the Greek text which he translated: but Martène and those who think with him have not even that much support for their opinion: for Papebroch, who surveyed the Vatican codex with his own eyes, in a Note added to our copy carefully warns that the words alleged were undoubtedly added by another hand than that by which the Life was written. It is not necessary, if I am not mistaken, to add more, in order to render the reason why I subscribe to the opinion of the most illustrious Caryophilus, and do not ascribe the Life, which nevertheless I hold as probable, undoubtedly to Bl. Bartholomew. Greater authority, I confess, would accrue to the Life from Bl. Bartholomew; but that which we have from a contemporary writer, who lived with St. Nilus in the very place, and who in more than one passage proves his own candour, suffices for us.

[6] Now let us come down to deducing some chronology and examining a few points. The saint died in the year 1005, St. Nilus was born at Rossano in Calabria, formerly wont to be called Magna Græcia. It is a most ample province of the kingdom of Naples at the southernmost limits of Italy, girt on every side by the Sicilian, Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas, except toward the North, where it has the province of Basilicata as its neighbour. Rossano, which others write Roscianum, is distinguished with the title of a principality and with an archiepiscopal see, and is scarcely 3 miles distant from the shore of the gulf of Taranto. It is even today an ample and well cultivated city. In the tenth century, like all Calabria, it still obeyed the empire of the East, and both the Greek language and the Greek rite were in use, when St. Nilus was born there. About his parents and the year of his birth nothing more determinate is read in the Life. Gabriele Barrio, On the Antiquity and situation of Calabria, at the beginning of book 5, writes that St. Nilus was sprung from noble parents, and alleges as witness of his assertions Bl. Bartholomew the Saint's biographer; but either this is that common fault of writers who labour to adorn the Saints by any road with the splendour of a pedigree, or else Barrio had another Life before his eyes, which however I scarcely believe. That certainly is asserted neither in the Greek text nor in the versions which I have. As regards the year of his birth, Sciommari in Note 8 to the Life of Bl. Bartholomew designates the year of Christ 910, and rightly: for in num. 87 of the Life St. Nilus is said to have died in the 95th year of his age. But he died in the year of Christ 1005; whence if you subtract 95 years you fall upon the year 910.

[7] Further, we do not have in the Life the year of Christ 1005 assigned to the Saint's death, born in the year 910. but Sciommari fetches it from other documents of good repute. Beside the tower of the church of Grottaferrata this inscription is carved on marble: Ἐκοιμήθη ὁ ἅγιος Νεῖλος ἔτος ςφιγ᾽. St. Nilus fell asleep in the year 6513. The same year is assigned to the death of St. Nilus, as Sciommari testifies, in an ancient codex which is called that of Basil Porphyrogenitus, as also in the ancient Typicon of Bl. Bartholomew and in other manuscript documents. Learnedly moreover, having corrected the slips of various writers in this manner of computing, he shows in the same place that the year of the world marked after the manner of the Greeks 6513 is 1005 of the common era. I omit the arguments by which he proves this beyond doubt, and which may be seen in him. Meanwhile it is above all certain that according to this epoch there are rightly combined the things which are narrated in the Life about the meetings with the emperor Otto III and Pope Gregory V in the case of John the antipope, and which conflict with Gabriele Barrio, Lubin and others who refer the death of St. Nilus to the year 980, or some years before the end of the tenth century: since it is certain from num. 87 that the Saint set out for Rome on that business in the Lenten season, and that in the year 998, as is clear from the documents alleged there by Muratori in his Annals. And no less limpidly do certain other things flow according to this chronology which are circumscribed by chronological notes in the Life. When St. Nilus bade farewell to the world, he had not yet completed his 30th year, num. 6: therefore his coming to the monks happened in the year 940 or the following. At num. 26 of the Life, Stephen, a youth of nearly twenty years, joined himself to St. Nilus, which happened in the second year of the latter's … withdrawal into the cave, num. 27. Stephen at num. 94 is said to have been accustomed to labour when more than seventy years old. That Stephen died about the same year in which the emperor Otto III departed is clear in the same place from the attendant circumstances. Otto's death is recorded in the year 1001: about that time Stephen will have died; the beginnings of his monastic life may be fixed about the year 945. Again, at num. 95 St. Nilus left the monastery of Serperi, in which he had led the monastic life for 10 years, and two months later, at num. 97, he died. He had therefore come to it in the year 994 or the following. At num. 86 he spent fifteen years at Valleluce, having been admitted into it by Aligernus abbot of Monte Cassino, num. 72, which by computation was about the year 978, in which Aligernus was in the 29th year of his abbacy, and who died, as Mabillon asserts, in the year 986.

[8] The Saint's origin, his name. Whether he was joined in marriage Hence 7 years remain to be allotted to those things which are narrated in the same place at num. 84 and following to have befallen St. Nilus under the successor of Aligernus, and also to his seeking another solitary place and migrating to the monastery of Serperi: and so all things are combined in order. Further, Sciommari, often praised, observes in Note 18 to the Life of Bl. Bartholomew, that the Saint was named Nicholas in baptism. Clear on this matter is the passage of Pancratius saying in his Panegyric: Τὴν μονὴν τῆς Κρυπτοφέῤῥης ἀπαρξαμένου τοῦ μεγάλου Νικολάου τοῦ καὶ Νείλονος μόνον — When the great Nicholas, who was also called Nilus, alone, that is, had given a beginning to the monastery of Grottaferrata. In Note 13 he had said that in the Order of St. Basil, when one puts on the habit, the name is wont to be changed; and that thus the name of St. Nicholas was changed into Nilus, and that of Bl. Basil into Bartholomew. As to what pertains to his education and youth, some things are related in the Life. Baronius in the Annals at the year of Christ 976, num. 2, writes thus from the version of Mezio, which he had said was communicated to him: This Nilus was of Greek origin, born at Rossano, a city in Calabria, distinguished in learning and piety, from infancy an outstanding worshipper of God, and after marriage a follower of the monastic life. The same about the Saint's marriage have Surius and Baillet at this day. I do not know whether the version of Mezio differed on this point; but if it has things like those which are narrated in the Life to be published, chapter 1, num. 3 and following, hard as it is to render Saints suspected of grave faults, if sacrifice must be made to truth, I cannot deny that it is at least doubtful whether that intercourse was lawful, so that a marriage can by no means certainly be drawn from it. The contrary indeed was the judgment of Gabriele Barrio, when in book 5 on the antiquity and situation of Calabria he writes of our St. Nilus: But thence, now grown up, by the work of the demon, he lay with a certain maiden, and had a daughter by her. Yet afterwards coming to his senses and repenting of the fault committed, he determined to forsake the delights and riches of the world.

[9] he was. But just as I cannot certainly establish a marriage, so neither would I dare so crudely and decisively to accuse the Saint of fornication; for there are on both sides some things which leave the matter ambiguous. And in favour of a marriage there seems to make the careful description of the girl who among others not joined in marriage caught and fixed his love. Namely, that she surpassed all in beauty, but of obscure

birth. For if the matter concerned only concubinage and unlawful intercourse, the remark about the obscurity of her family could certainly seem superfluous, since loves of this kind are not wont to be resplendent with distinction of family. Finally, a marriage with a person of unequal condition would plainly seem to be there described, if other things from another quarter did not cry out against it. I forbear to reckon among these the invectives and harsher expressions of the biographer; for I know that simpler monks, exceptional zealots for chastity, sometimes breathe out the like even against marriage and against pleasures otherwise lawful to seculars; the Saint's flight alone, as it is described by the biographer, suffices to render the whole matter doubtful to me. And indeed, if it was a lawful marriage, it was not permitted to St. Nilus, leaving his partner, to flee and embrace the monastic life, she not consenting. But that she consented, or had already departed this life, which Baillet asserts decisively, yet without a witness, nothing at all persuades us to believe; nay rather the contrary is intimated.

[10] Let the matter therefore stand in ambiguity: although I cannot deny He is rightly held the first founder of the monastery of Grottaferrata. that my suspicion inclines the more against a marriage. Now a few things remain concerning the abbey of Grottaferrata established by St. Nilus, whose beginnings and foundation, as I have already noted above, some fix later. A few things, I say, since whoever shall read more attentively the three last chapters of the Life to be published will most clearly perceive that, if the perfecting of the most famous monastery is owed to Bl. Bartholomew, its beginning is certainly to be ascribed to our Saint. This is testified besides in the most open words by Pancratius, praised above in num. 8, and by Bl. Bartholomew himself in his Typicon, which Sciommari cites in Note 18. There it is read thus on the twenty-fifth day of September: Δεῖ γινώσκειν, ὅτι ἐπειδὴ εἰς τὴν κς᾽ ἐπιτελοῦμεν τὴν τοῦ πρωτοκτήτορος τῆς μονῆς μνήμην πατρὸς ἡμῶν Νείλου. It is to be known that on the twenty-sixth day we celebrate the memory of the first founder of the monastery, our father Nilus. And these things suffice to establish the announcement of Baronius, who calls our Saint the first abbot of Grottaferrata. For the rest, from the documents which Kircher alleges in his Latium, chapter 2, page 61, it seems that access does not lie open to women to the chapel where the bodies of St. Nilus and Bl. Bartholomew are even today deposited and venerated with the highest reverence. Now I subjoin the gap, to be supplied from the sufficiently laboured version of Sirleto.

[11] But fortified with divine help, and striving with his own alacrity, The gap he kept these things unmovably to the last breath of his life. When therefore he remained forty days in the monastery of the holy and great martyr Nazarius, where also he clothed himself with the holy habit, through all these days he tasted neither bread nor wine, nor anything else of those things which are prepared by fire; but he lived content with the fruits of trees and with herbs. And this was much for him to suffer ill, a man translated suddenly from a delicate life to this austere form of living. For neither did idleness lighten the weight of his abstinence, nor did he pass his leisure in much sleep: but he wore out the whole day in writing beautifully, that he might leave to the monastery a monument of his hands, and might not be condemned for eating bread in idleness. But the night he passed in prayer, in psalms and in bending the knees, being fortified by a trinity of contests set before him, with a twofold continence, with labour and affliction of the body, performed together with vigils. But let no one suppose that the beginnings of contests of this kind were such, but the ends less happily accomplished: rather, as the beginning was approved, so also the last was acceptable to God. And this will be manifest, by the help of God's grace, as the discourse goes forward. On a certain day there came to him one of his old acquaintances, who praised him for the good disposition toward God which he had displayed while he passed his life in the world, and again in the monastic manner of life; and called him blessed because he had chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from him. But he said: If what you praise, O brother, is good, why do you also not emulate it? Because, said he, I have no cloak, nor a tunic made of wool.

[12] from the version of Sirleto But the holy Man, rising at once, took off the cloak which he was wearing, new and most delightful, and gave it to him who was framing importunate excuses, and, loosing his girdle as quickly as he could, was eager to strip himself, that he might give him the tunic also: Take these things now, brother, he said, lest you be deprived of the good part; but as for me, the Lord will provide for His abject servant. When the other perceived the man's magnanimity and his immense charity and fervent zeal, he did not permit him to strip himself altogether, blushing to see him naked: but taking the cloak only, and putting it upon himself, he said: Repenting, I trust in our Lord Jesus Christ, and I hope in your holy prayers, that by the remembrance of this cloak I too shall be eager to please God, and to undergo the contest for the salvation of my soul: which said, he departed astonished and admiring the Man's virtue. But holy Nilus, having asked from the cellarer of the monastery the skin of a single beast, and making it up with his own hands and adorning it variously with blessings, placed it on his shoulders, thinking within himself of him who said: They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins. And this one purpose was his, to take up the apostolic life and the prophetic zeal in the readiness of his mind; and looking constantly to those men, from them he formed the inner and the outer man: he kept his head uncovered, according to the Apostle's precept; but he clothed himself the whole time with a single tunic, following the Gospel saying, and went with bare feet, because such feet were thus approved with admiration by the prophet. And although the weakness and feebleness of extreme old age removed him from labours and afflictions of this kind, yet not even death itself frightened him away from the virtues of the soul, so that he should not hold the chief place among them, nor will the forgetfulness of the age to come blot out his memory, since according to the Apostle these three abide: hope, faith, and charity.

[13] to be supplied. But meanwhile let us return to what we had begun. There was a certain petty ruler, whom in those regions they call Count, harsh and exceedingly inhuman, taking no account of his own salvation: and using tyranny and arrogance, he subjected to servitude the innocent soul of a certain man who belonged to that monastery where blessed Nilus was staying. On a certain day therefore, when that tyrant had burst into the monastery to fill his own belly — for it was not for the profit of his soul — and was about to depart, the superior dared say nothing about the matter, fearing his arrogance and shamelessness: he called blessed Nilus, in whom there was an admirable freedom of speech, and exhorted him to approach that terrible prince and obtain the liberation of the soul whom he had unjustly seized. And he, as though commanded by God and armed with unhesitating faith, went to that rash man, and both by deed and by words, using spiritual admonitions, as he had heard from the superior, admonished * about the matter proposed, for the sake of which he had come. But when the other exceedingly contradicted and refused the petition, saying that not even if an angel came down from heaven, nor for any man whatever, would he obey so as to release such a soul, blessed Nilus applied the goad of death, considering that the remembrance of death was fit to move even a soul of stone.

Annotations

* perhaps him

The Life

By a disciple of the Saint, perhaps Bl. Bartholomew.

The editor and translator being John Matthew Caryophilus, archbishop of Iconium.

Nilus, abbot, of Grottaferrata in the Tusculan territory of Italy. (S.)

A. By the disciple.

CHAPTER I.

St. Nilus is born and offered to the Mother of God. In his very youth he makes great progress in the virtues and in the sciences. He is assailed by various temptations from the demon, and, having overcome them, becomes a monk.

Η Χάρις τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ ἡ ἁγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς, καὶ ἡ κοινωνία τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος· καλὸν γὰρ ἐκ Θεου ἄρχεσθαι, καὶ εἰς Θεὸν καταλήγειν· εἴη μετὰ πάντων τῶν φιλοπόνως ἀκροωμένων, καὶ μετὰ τῆς ἐμῆς εὐτελείας καὶ πτωχονοίας τοῦ μέλλοντος τολμηρῶς διαγγέλλειν περὶ τοῦ βίου τοῦ ὁσίου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Νείλου τοῦ νέου. Οὐ γὰρ δι᾽ ἀνθρώπου, οὑδὲ δι᾽ ἀνθρωπίνης ὑποβολῆς ἢ παρακλήσεως τὸ τοιοῦτον ἔργον ἐχειρισάμην. Οὐδὲ γάρ εἰσι νῦν ἐν τοῖς ἐσχάτοις καιροῖς τῶν ἐσχάτων τούτων αἰώνων οἱ τὰ τοιαῦτα ζητοῦντες τε καὶ πολυπραγμονοῦντες· τοὐναντίον μέν οὖν, πολλοὶ οἱ μωκίζοντες, καὶ πρὸς ταῦτα ἀηδιζόμενοι, οἱ μήτε τοῖς παλαιοῖς διηγήμασι τῶν ἁγίων πιστεύοντες, μήτε τοῖς νεωστὶ τελειωθεῖσιν πειθόμενοι· ἀλλὰ διὰ πάντων καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν αὐτοῖς τὰς τῆς ὠφελείας ὁδοὺς ὡς εἰπεῖν ἀποφράξαντες, ἕνα σκοπὸν ἐν ἅπασι τίθενται, τὸ πρὸς τὰ ἑαυτῶν μετακρίνειν τὸ πιστὸν ἐν τοῖς λεγομένοις· τὸ δ᾽ ὑπερβαῖνον τὴν ἑαυτῶν δύναμιν, ὡς ἔξω τῆς ἀληθείας ταῖς τοῦ ψεύδους ὑπονοίαις καθυποβάλλειν. Διὸ τὸν ἀόρατον νοῦν, τὸν Θεόν φημι καὶ πατέρα, καὶ τὸν ἄναρχόν τε καὶ συναΐδιον Λόγον, καὶ τὸ πανάγιον καὶ ὁμοούσιον Πνεῦμα, θεμέλιον καὶ ἀρχὴν προθέμενος τοῦ λόγου, οὕτω τῆς διηγήσεως ἀπαρξώμεθα· εἰ καὶ μήτοι γέ τινι χρησιμεύσουσαν ἄλλῳ, ἀλλ᾽ ἡμῖν τοῖς ἐνταύτῃ ἀσχολουμένοις, καὶ μικρόν τι τὸν νοῦν ἐκ τῶν γηίνων ἀπαγομένοις οὐ μικρὰν τὴν ὄνησιν καὶ τὸ κέρδος ἐργαζομένην, καθάπερ τοῖς μυρεψοῖς ἡ τῶν ἀρωμάτων ἀναστροφὴ τὴν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἡδύτητα καὶ ἀπόλαυσιν. Δεῖ τοίνυν τὴν ἐνεγκοῦσαν τοῦτον ἡμῖν τὸν ἀοίδιμον Νεῖλον προτάξαι τῷ λόγῳ, ἵνα μηδὲν τῶν δεόντων ἐλλείπῃ τῷ πάντα τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐρευνῶντι.

[2] Τὸ Ρουσιάνον οἶδ᾽ ὄτι πάντες γινώσκουσιν, οὐ μόνον διὰ τὸ προκαθῆσθαι τοῖς τῆς Καλαβρίας τέρμασι, μέγιστόν τε τυγχάνειν ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀνεπιβούλευτον, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὸ καὶ πάσης τῆς χώρας ἐρημωθείσης, καὶ πασῶν τῶν πόλεων ἔργον γεγενημένων τῆς τῶν Σαῤῥακηνῶν πολυπληθείας, μόνον διαφυγεῖν μέχρι καὶ νῦν τῆς αὐτῶν ἀπολείας τὸν νόμον. Τοῦτο δὲ οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρωπίνης σοφίας ἢ βοηθείας συνέβη, ἀλλἀ τῇ δυναστείᾳ καὶ ἀντιλήψει τῆς ἐκεῖ ἐπισκιαζούσης ἐξαιρέτως δεσποίνης ἡμῶν Θεοτόκου καὶ ᾀειπαρθένου Μαρίας· ἥτις πολλάκις τῶν ἀθέων Ἀγαρηνῶν ἐν νυκτὶ προσελθόντων, καὶ συλῆσαι τὸ φρούριον βουληθέντων, ἅμα τῷ προσεγγίσαι αὐτοὺς τῷ τείχει, ὥστε καὶ κλίμακα ἐπιθεῖναι, λέγεται ἄνωθεν ὠς γυνὴ πορφυροφόρος ἐποφθῆναι αὐτοῖς, λαμπάδας ἐν ταῖς χερσὶ κατέχουσα, καὶ ταύταις αὐτοὺς καταβάλλουσα, καὶ τοῦ τείχους ἀποδιώκουσα. Καὶ τοῦτο σαφῶς ὡμολόγουν οἱ ἐξ αὐτῶν γενόμενοι πρόσφυγες. Εκεῖθεν τοίνον ὁ ὅσιος πατὴρ ἡμῶν Νεῖλος ἀνέτειλεν, καὶ ἐκεῖσε τὰς τῆς σωματικῆς ἡλικίας ἀρχὰς κατεβάλετο, δῶρον ἀπὸ Θεοῦ χαρισθεὶς τοῖς γονεῦσιν αὐτοῦ· πρὸς γὰρ ἀδελφῇ ἐτέχθη ἄρρεν αὐτοῖς ἐπιθυμητικῶς· καὶ δῶρον παρ᾽ αὐτῶν ἐνεχθεὶς, καὶ τῷ οἴκῳ τῆς Θεοτόκου εὐθύμως ἁποκληρωθείς. Φύσεως δὲ εὐκληρίας τυχὼν, καὶ νοὸς ὀξύτητος, καὶ φρενῶν ἀστειότητος πάντας τοὺς συνηλικιῶτας αὐτοῦ ὑπερέβαλεν ἔν τε συνέσει, καὶ ἀποκρίσεσιν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῇ τῶν γραφῶν συνεχεῖ ἀναγνώσει, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν ταῖς πρὸς τοὺς διδασκάλους ἐρωτήσεσιν· ὥστε θαυμάζειν αὐτοὺς, πόθεν τῷ τοιούτῳ βρέφει τὰς γραφὰς ἐρευνᾷν, καὶ ἐπερωτᾷν τὰ τοιαῦτα. Ἠγάπα γὰρ ἀεὶ τῶν ἁγίων

πατέρων τοὺς βίους ἐκ νεότητος αὐτοῦ, Αντωνίου φημὶ δὴ, Σάββα τε καὶ Ἱλαρίωνος, καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν τῶν γεγραμμένων ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ καθολικῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ· καὶ μετὰ πολλοῦ πόθου καὶ συνέσεως αὐτοὺς ἀεὶ διεξήρχετο. Ὅθεν καὶ αὐτῷ τὸ μισοπόνηρον εἶναι, καὶ ἀποστρέφεσθαι τὰς ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις τῶν ἀρχόντων διατριβὰς, μισεῖν τε καὶ ἀποβδελύττεσθαι πᾶσαν περιεργίαν, καὶ ἐξουθενεῖν τὰ λεγόμενα φυλακτὰ, καὶ τοὺς λεγομένους ἐξορκισμούς· καίτοιγε οὐδὲ τῶν τοιούτων ἀπορήσας βίβλων διὰ νοὸς ὀξύτητα, καὶ σπουδὴν τὴν ἐν ἄπασι.

[3] Μετ᾽ οὐ πολὺ γοῦν τῶν γονέων αὐτοῦ τὸν βίον ἀπολιπόντων, καὶ παρὰ τῆς ἀδελφῆς ἀνατρεφομένου, καὶ εὐσεβῶς ἐκπαιδευομένου· ἦν γὰρ καὶ αὕτη φιλόθεος πάνυ, εἰ καὶ τὸν τοῦ βίου ζυγὸν ὑπεισῆλθεν· ἥνικα δὲ τῆς ἡλικίας τὸ ἄνθος αὐτῷ προσετέθη, οὐχ ὐπῆρχεν ὁ τῆς νουθεσίας τὸν χαλινὸν ἐπιθεῖναι τῷ νέῳ σπουδάζων, καὶ διὰ συνεχοῦς διδασκαλίας πρὸς τὰ κρείττονα αὐτὸν ὁδηγήσων, οὐ τῶν ἐπισκόπων τις, οὑχ᾽ ἱερέων, οὔθ᾽ ἡγουμένων ἢ μοναζόντων· σπάνιον γὰρ ἦν ἐν τοῖς χρόνοις ἐκείνοις ἐκεῖσε τὸ τῶν μοναχῶν σχῆμα· ἵνα μὴ λέγω, ὅτι καὶ βδελυκτόν. Στοχασάμενος οὖν ὁ διάβολος τὸ μέλλον ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἀναφύεσθαι κέρδος, καὶ ὡς ἀντίπαλος αὐτῷ καὶ ἐχθρὸς εὐρεθήσεται μέγας· δεινὸς γάρ ἐστιν ἐκ τῶν προλαβόντων τεκμηριῶσαι τὸ μέλλον· ἤρξατο κατατοξεύειν τὰς τῶν γυναικῶν ἀγάμους ἐπὶ τῶν κάλλει τοῦ νέου, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ καλλιφωνίᾳ τῆς ψαλμῳδίας αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῇ ἐν ἅπασι διεγέρσει τε καὶ ἐπιτηδειότητι. Διὸ οὔτ᾽ ἴσχυσεν ἀποδράσαι τὰς αὐτῶν πολυτρόπους παγίδας· ἀλλὰ καθάπερ ἔλαφος πληγεὶς εἰς τὸ ἧπαρ, θηρεύεται ὐπὸ μιὰς αὐτῶν, ὡραιότητι μέν καὶ φύσεως κάλλει τὰς ἄλλας ὑπερβαλλούσης, ἐκ γένους δὲ εὐτελοῦς καὶ τοῦ τυχόντος καταγομένης. Ζεύγνυται τοίνυν αὐτῇ, καὶ θῆλυ τὸ πρώτως τεχθὲν παιδίον ὑπῆρξεν αὐτοῖς. Ἡ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ παντέφορος πρόνοια, καὶ πάντα πρὸ τέλους γινώσκουσα, προἳδοῦσα τὴν μέλλουσαν δι᾽ αὐτοῦ γενήσεσθαι τοῖς ἀντρώποις μεγίστην ὠφέλειαν, καὶ ὅτι πολλοὶ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ τῆς τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείας κληρονόμοι γενήσονται, οὐκ εἴασεν αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ βορβόρῳ τοῦ βίου κυλίεσθαι, ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μέν ἐμφυτεύει ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτοῦ τὴν τοῦ θανάτου μνήμην ἀνέκλειπτον καὶ τὴν τῶν μελλόντων κολαστηρίων ἀτελεύτητον βάσανον. Ἔπειτα δὲ φρίκῃ μεγίστῃ, καὶ πυρετῷ σφοδρωτάτῳ ἀεννάως παλαίειν αὐτὸν συνεχώρει, ὠς προβλέπειν καθ᾽ ἡμέραν πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ τὸν ἅρπαγα θάνατον,

[4] Ἐν μιᾷ γοῦν τῶν ἡμερῶν μηδὲν εἰρηκὼς, μηδὲ θαῤῥήσας τὸ μυστήριον ἀνθρώπῳ τινὶ, πορεύεται πρός τινας χρεωστοῦντας αὐτῷ ποσὸν ἱκανὸν, λέγων πρὸς αὐτούς· Αμπελῶνα κάλλιστον εὕρηκα, καὶ ἔχω ἀνάγκὴν τοῦ ἀγοράσαι αὐτόν. Λαβὼν δὲ ἐξ αὐτῶν ὅσον ἂν εὑρέθησαν ἔχοντες, τὸ λεῖπον καταλείψας, ἔξεισι τῶν ἐκεῖσε τῇ νόσῳ βαρέως κατατρυχόμενος. Συνείπετο δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ μοναχός τις Γρηγόριος τῷ ὀνόματι, ποδηγέτης αὐτῷ τῆς πρὸς τὸ μοναστήριον ἀπαγούσης ὁδοῦ γενόμενος. Φθάσας δέ τινα ποταμὸν, καὶ εἰσελθὼν τοῦ περάσαι αὐτὸν, τότε ἔγνω τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁδηγοῦσαν αὐτὸν ἀντίληψιν βοηθοῦσαν αὐτῷ, καὶ πρὸς τὸ οἰκεῖον ἄγουσαν βούλημα. Τῆς γὰρ νόσου κατὰ τὸ μέσον τοῦ ποταμοῦ, καθάπερ φορτίον βαρὺ, ἀφαιρεθείσης ἁπὸ τῶν ὤμων αὐτοῦ, προθύμως τοῦ λοιποῦ τὴν ὁδὸν διήνυε, καὶ τερπόμενος ἔψαλλεν· Ὁδὸν ἐντολῶν σου ἔδραμον, Κύριε, ὄταν ἐπλάτυνας τὴν καρδίαν μου. Καταλαβὼν δὲ τὰ περὶ τὸ Μερκούριον μοναστήρια, καὶ θεασάμενος τοὺς οὐρανίους ἐκείνους καὶ θαυμασίους ἄνδρας· λέγω δὴ Ιωάννην τὸν μέγαν, καὶ Φαντῖνον τὸν περιβόητον, Ζαχαρίαν τὸν ἰσάγγελον, καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἅπαντας πράξει καὶ λόγῳ θειότατα διαπρέποντας. Καὶ καταπλαγεὶς ἐπί τε τῇ θεωρίᾳ αὐτῶν, καὶ τῷ ταπεινῷ σχήματι, πλήρης δακρύων ἐγένετο, καὶ πρὸς ἔνθεον ζῆλον σφοδρῶς ἀνεφλέγετο. Καὶ αὐτοὶ δὲ θεασάμενοι παλαιὸν φρόνημα ἐν νεαρῷ σώματι, ἤθους τε πῆξιν, καὶ κατάστασιν εὔχρηστον· καὶ ἀγασθέντες ἐπὶ τῇ γλυκύτητι τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀναγνώσεως, καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ νοὸς ὀξύτητι, ἔγνωσαν προορατικῷ ὄμματι τὴν ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ μέλλουσαν πολυπλασιάζεσθαι χάριν τοῦ Πνεύματος, καὶ ὡς πολλοὶ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ τῆς τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείας κληρονόμοι γενήσονται. Καὶ εὐλογίαις αὐτὸν κατεπλούτησαν, καὶ εὐχαῖς κατεστήριξαν. Οὐ πολὺ τὸ ἐν μέσῳ, καὶ γράμματα καταπληκτικὰ, καὶ ἀπειλαὶ φρικώδεις παρὰ τοῦ πάσης τῆς χώρας ἐπικρατοῦντος τὰ μοναστήρια κατελάμβανεν· ὡς εἴ τις τολμήσειε χεῖρα ἐπιβαλεῖν κληρικῷ τῷ τοιῷδε, τὴν χεῖρα μὲν αὐτοῦ ἀποκόπτεσθαι, τὸ δὲ μοναστήριον τούτου δημεύεσθαι. Ὑφ᾽ ὧν καταπλαγέντες οἱ τῶν μοναστηρίων ἐξάρχοντες, ἐβουλεύσαντο τοῦτον ἐφ᾽ ἕτερον κράτος ἐκπέμψασθαι, κἀκεῖσε τὸ ἅγιον σχῆμα ἐνδύσασθαι, καὶ ἑαυτοὺς ἀπειράστους φυλάξαι τῆς τῶν κρατούντων ἀγανακτήσεως.

[5] Ἄθρει δὴ τότε πάλην ἀγγέλου τε καὶ διαβόλου· τοῦ μέν, ὅπως τὸν ἄνδρα τοῦτον ἀπαλλάξῃ τοῦ ταραχώδους καὶ σκοτεινοῦ βίου, καὶ πρὸς τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, ἥτις ἐστὶν ὁ βίος τῶν διὰ Κύριον ἀσκουμένων, ἐξάξας τῷ Θεῷ προσοικειώσῃ, καὶ ἄλλον Μωϋσέα ποιήσῃ· τοῦ δὲ πᾶσαν μηχανὴν, καὶ πάντα λίθον κινοῦντος, ὅπως τὸ τοιοῦτον ἀγαθὸν ἐμποδίσῃ, ὅπερ ἀδύνατον ἀπεδείχθη. Οὐ γὰρ ἐδύναντο πᾶσαι αἱ βασιλείαι τῆς γῆς συναχθῆναι, ἵνα τὸν Νεῖλον ἐκ τῆς οἰκείας ὁρμῆς ἰσχύσωσιν ἀναστεῖλαι. Σκέπτεται τοίνυν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος καταλαβέσθαι τὸ τοῦ ἁγίου Ναζαρίου καλούμενον μοναστήριον, κᾷκεῖ, τὸ τοῦ πόθου πληρῶσαι ἐπάγγελμα. Ὅπερ νοήσας ὁ πᾶσι τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς ἀνθιστάμενος, προλαμβάνει τὰ ἔμπροσθεν, καὶ παγίδας δεινὰς κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν τίθησιν, οἵῳ δή ποτε τρόπῳ τὸν δρόμον τοῦ δικαίου ἐκκόψαι βουλόμενος. Καὶ δὴ τὴν ὁδὸν διανύοντι, καὶ τῷ Θεῷ προσλαλοῦντι ψαλμοῖς καὶ ὕμνοις, καὶ ὁλοψύχοις δεήσεσιν, μέλλοντι πρὸς ἀκτὴν ὑπεξέρχεσθαι, καὶ τῷ τῆς θαλάσσης εἴδει καθωραΐζεσθαι, βάρβαρος εἷς τῶν φρυγάνων ἐκπηδήσας, καθάπερ ποτὲ ἠ ἔχιδνα τοῦ Παύλου, τῆς χειρὸς τοῦ ἁγίου ἐδράξατο, καὶ ὁμοῦ πρὸς τὰ ἔμπροσθεν εἴχοντο. Οὐ πολὺ τὸ διάστημα, καὶ ἰδοὺ πλῆθος Σαῤῥακηνῶν ἐκ δεξιῶν ἀνακεκλιμένων ὑπὸ τὸ ἄλσος, μελάνων Αἰθιόπων, ἀγριοφθάλμων, κακοπροσώπων, καὶ πάντων δαίμοσι προσεοικότων· πρὸς δὲ τὸ ἕτερον μέρος, μέγεθος πλοίων πρὸς τῇ γῇ σεσυρμένων, τὸν αἴσιον πλοῦν ὡς εἰκὸς ἀπεκδεχομένων. Ταῦτα ἰδὼν ὁ μακάριος Νεῖλος ἀθρόον, καὶ τὴν δεινὴν καὶ ἀσυνήθη θέαν ἐκείνην, καὶ τὸ ξένον σχῆμα κατανοήσας, οὐ τῆς οἰκείας φρενὸς ὐπεξέστη, οὐδ᾽ ἠλλοιώθη ὅλως τὴν ὄψιν, ἢ τὸν λὀγον παρεσαλεύθη, ἀλλ᾽ ἡσυχῇ τὴν χεῖρα βαλὼν ἐν τῷ στήθει, καὶ τῷ σημείῳ τοῦ σταυροῦ ἑαυτὸν καθοπλίσας, εὐθαρσῶς καὶ ἀνδρείως ἀνταπεκρίνετο πρὸς τὰς ἐρωτήσεις· τῶν γὰρ ἄλλων ἁπάντων οἶόν τινὶ χαλινῷ τῇ τοῦ τῶν ὅλων Θεοῦ προνοίᾳ κατασχεθέντων, καὶ οἷον εἰπεῖν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἀποναρκησάντων, μόνος ἐκεῖνος ὁ τοῦτον κρατήσας διελέγετο, τίς εἴη, καὶ πόθεν, καὶ ὅπῃ πορεύεται, πάντα διερευνώμενος.

[6] Τοῦ δὲ τὴν πατρίδα, καὶ τὸ γένος, καὶ τὸν σκοπὸν τῆς ὁδοιπορίας ἀληθῶς ἀναγγείλαντος, ὁ τοῦτον θαυμάσας ὁ βάρβαρος ἐπί τε τῷ ἄνθει αὐτοῦ τῆς νεότητος· οὔπω γὰρ ἡλικίας ἐπλήρου χρόνον τὸν τριάκοντα· καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ κάλλει τῶν ἱματίων, ἀκμὴν γὰρ τοῖς ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου ἐκέχρητο· οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ συνέσει καὶ ταῖς ἀποκρίσεσιν αὐτοῦ, φησὶ πρὸς αὐτόν· Οὐκ᾽ ἔδει σε τοιοῦτον νεώτερον ὄντα τοῖς μοναχικοῖς πόνοις ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν σεαυτὸν κατατῆξαι, ἀλλὰ πρὸς γῆρας, ὅτε οὐδὲν κακὸν δύνῃ ποιῆσαι, τότε ἂν ἐπορεύθης, εἴγε ὅλως ἐβούλου, πρὸς τὸν τοιοῦτον ἀγῶνα. Οὔ φησι πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ ἐχέφρων ἀνὴρ, οὐ βούλεται ὁ Θεὸς ἀκουσίως ἡμᾶς εἶναι καλούς. Ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ἰσχύει γέρων ἀρέσαι Θεῷ, ὥστπερ οὐδὲ σοὶ γαμβρὸς ἀσθενὴς, ἢ στρατιώτης νωθρὸς βασιλεῖ. Κᾀγὼ νῦν ἐν τῇ νεότητι θέλω δουλεῦσαι τῷ Θεῷ, ἵνα ἐν γήρᾳ παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ δοξασθῶ. Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ ἄπιστος ἐκεῖνος Ἀγαρηνὸς, καὶ ὥστπερ αἰδεσθεὶς τὴν ἀρετὴν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς, μᾶλλον δὲ ὑπὸ τῆς ἄνωθεν προνοίας τὴν καρδίαν μεταβληθεὶς, ἀπέλυσεν αὐτὸν, ὑποδείξας αὐτῷ τὴν ὁδὸν, μηδὲν σκληρὸν ἢ ἐναντίον ποιήσας ἢ λέξας αὐτῷ· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπευξάμενος φασὶν αὐτῷ, καὶ προθυμοποιήσας αὐτὸν ἐν λόγοις ἱκανοῖς καὶ προτρεπτικοῖς εἰς ἀρετήν. Ἐπει δὴ τοίνυν διέστησαν ἀλλήλων, καὶ ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ πρόνοια πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτῆς θεράποντα σκέπην τε καὶ ἀντίληψιν ἐπεδείξατο ἐν μέσῳ καμίνου τε καὶ πυρὸς, καὶ ἐν μέσῳ λεόντων, ἢ μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν ὄφεων καὶ σκορπίων, καὶ τῆς τοῦ ἐχθροῦ ἁπάσης δυνάμεως ἀβλαβῆ καὶ ἀπήμονα τοῦτον διαφυλάξασα· ἵνα γνῷ καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν τῆς φύσεως ἀσθένειαν καὶ τὴν τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης δυνάμεως οὐθενότητα, μικρὸν ἑαυτὴν ὑποστείλασα, καὶ οἷον αὐτὸν τῆς αὐτῆς ἐνεργείας καταλείψασα· τότε δὴ τότε φόβος καὶ τρόμος ἐπιπίπτει αὐτῷ, καὶ δειλία θανάτου περιέσχεν αὐτόν. Ἐννοούμενος γὰρ εἰς οἵων παγίδων ἐνεπεπτώκει πληθὴν, οὐδὲ τοὺς πόδας πρὸς τὴν ὁδὸν κατευθῦναι ἠδύνατο, ἀλλ᾽ ὅλος διόλου κλονούμενος, πυκνὰ πρὸς τὰ ὄπισθεν ὑπεβλέπετο, τὴν τοῦ ξίφους τομὴν δολερῶς, ὥσπερ ἔθος αὐτοῖς, παρ᾽ αὐτῶν αὐθωρὸν ἀπεκδεχόμενος. Ὁ δὲ Σαῤῥακηνὸς ὡς εἶδεν αὐτὸν μήτε ἄρτον, μήτε πήραν ἐπιφερόμενον, μήτε οἴνου παράκλησιν, λαβὼν μεθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ ἄρτους ξηροὺς καὶ λίαν καθαρούς, ἥρξατο τρέχειν ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ, κράζων αὐτὸν ἀδελφὸν, καὶ προσμεῖναι τὴν ἄφιξιν αὐτοῦ ἐκβοῶν.

[7] Ὅπερ εἰς μείζονα φόβον καὶ ἀγωνίαν, ὡς εἰκὸς, περιέβαλε τὸν νεανίαν, λογισάμενον ἀληθῆ ὑπειληφέναι ἑαυτόν· καὶ μόνον τὴν ψυχὴν παρετίθετο ταῖς χερσὶ τοῦ δεσπότου χριστοῦ. Τοὖτον ἰδὼν δειλανδρίσαντα ὁ Σαῤῥακηνὸς, καὶ τῷ δέει τὰς ὄψεις ἀχροωθέντα καθάπερ νεκρὸν, ἤρξατο ἐπιπλήττειν σφοδρῶς, καὶ τὸ ἄνανδρον ὀνειδίζειν αὐτῷ. Ἡμεῖς γάρ φησι λυπούμεθα περὶ σοῦ, ὅτι οὐδὲν ἔχομεν ἄξιον τῆς σῆς τιμῆς, καὶ σὺ τὰ μὴ πρέποντα λογίζῃ περὶ ἡμῶν. Δέξαι ταῦτα τὰ μικρὰ, ἅπερ ἐχορήγησεν ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ πορεύου ἐν εἰρήνῃ τὴν σὴν ὁδόν. Δεξάμενος τοίνυν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος τοὺς ἄρτους, ὡς ἐκ Θεοῦ πεμφθέντας αὐτῷ, καὶ καταπλαγεὶς ἐπὶ τῇ τοσαύτῃ αντιλήψει καὶ περιποιήσει τοῦ Θεοῦ περὶ αὐτὸν, οὐδὲ τὸ ὄμμα εἰς οὐρανὸν ἐπάραι ἠβούλετο· ἀλλ᾽ ὥσπερ αἰδούμενος ἀναβλέψαι πρὸς τὸν θεὸν, κάτω τὸ πρόσωπον πρὸς τὴν γῆν μετὰ πολλῆς ταπεινοφροσύνης νενευκὼς, μετὰ δακρύων τὰς τοῦ Δαυὶδ ἠφίει φωνὰς. Τί ἀνταποδώσω σοι Κύριε λέγων περὶ πάντων, ὧν ἀνταπέδωκάς μοι μεγίστων σου εὐεργεσιῶν; σὺ γὰρ δέσποτα ἀντελάβου μου ἐκ γαστρὸς μητρός μου, καὶ οὐ συνέκλεισάς με εἰς χεῖρας ἐχθρῶν. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα κρούων τὸ στῆθος καὶ τὰς πλευρὰς αὐτοῦ, ὡσανεὶ ἐπέπληττε τὴν ἰδίαν ψυχὴν, καὶ ἔλεγεν· Εὐλόγει ἡ ψυχή μου τὸν Κύριον, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐντός μου τὀ ὄνομα τὸ ἅγιον αὐτοῦ. Εὐλόγει

ἡ ψυχή μου τὸν Κύριον, καὶ μὴ ἐπιλανθάνου πάσας τὰς ἀνταποδόσεις αὐτοῦ. Ἐν τούτοις διανύσαντος τὸ λοιπὸν τῆς ὁδοῦ, καὶ λοιπὸν προσεγγίζοντος τῇ ἤδη προλεχθείσῃ μονῇ, ὑπαντᾷ αὐτῷ ἐν σχήματι ἱππέως ὁ τῶν δικαίων ἐχθρὸς, καὶ φησὶ πρὸς αὐτόν· Ποῦ πορεύῃ σὺ κληρικὲ; μὴ μοναχὸς ὑπάγεις γενέσθαι ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ μονῇ; καὶ ἵνα τί οὕτως ἐπλανήθης κακῶς; ὄντῶς κάλλιον ἠδύνασο ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ σου καθεζόμενος σῶσαι τὴν σὴν ψυχὴν, ἢ εἰσερχόμενος μέσον τῶν ἀγρίων τούτων θηρῶν. ἤρξατο δὲ κατηγορεῖν τοὺς μοναχοὺς, μυρίας λοιδορίας ἐπιχέων τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτῶν, φιλαργύρους τε καὶ κενοδόξους καὶ γαστριμάργους ἀποκαλῶν· καὶ ὅτι εἷς λέβης τοῦ μαγειρίου αὐτῶν ἐχώρησεν ἄν με σὺν αὐτῷ τῷ ἵππῳ σταθῆναι ἐν μέσῳ αὐτοῦ. Μέλλοντος δὲ τοῦ δικαίου ἀποκριθῆναι αὐτῷ καί εἰπεῖν· σὺ τίς εἶ ὁ ἀνακρίνων καὶ μεμφόμενος τοὺς δουλεύοντας τῷ Θεῷ; ἄξιος γὰρ ὁ ἐργάτης τῆς τροφῆς αὐτοῦ· ἐκεῖνος βύσας τὰ ὦτα, ἀνεχώρησεν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ. Ὁ δὲ ὅσιος καταφραγισάμενος ἑαυτὸν τῷ σημείῳ τοῦ σταυροῦ, καὶ δυσωπήσας τὸν Θεὸν ἐκτενῶς σκεπάσαι αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ κατακρῖναι τὸν οἱονδήποτε μοναχὸν, εἰσῆλθεν εὐθύμως εἰς τὴν ἁγίαν ἐκείνην μονήν.

The Prologue of the biographer. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the charity of God and the communication of the Holy Spirit: for it is good both to begin from God and to end in God: may it be with all who listen studiously, and with my slenderness and poverty of mind, who am about to narrate boldly the history of the life of our holy Father Nilus the younger. For I have not undertaken such a work through man, or at the suggestion and exhortation of man's counsel. For there are not now, in these last times of these last ages, men who seek such things and curiously desire them: nay rather there are many who mock and hear these things without pleasure, to whom neither the narratives of the ancient Saints nor recent deeds are worthy of belief, but who, having blocked up for themselves on every side the ways that lead to profit, have one aim set before them in all things, namely to measure the credibility of what is said by the measure of their own powers; and whatever surpasses their powers, that they cast under the suspicion of falsehood as alien from the truth. Wherefore, laying as the foundation of our narrative the invisible mind, God, I say, the Father, and the Word who is together without beginning of time and co-eternal, and the most holy and consubstantial Spirit, let us set about it — though it profit no one else, yet certainly it will bring no mean advantage and gain to us who put our study in it and withdraw our mind somewhat from earthly things, just as to the makers of ointments the handling of spices brings sweetness and delight. It behoves us therefore at the beginning of our discourse to speak of that city which gave us the most famous Nilus; lest anything of what it is worth while to know should be wanting to him who searches out all things about him.

[2] [St. Nilus is born at Rossano and from his tender years gives specimens of the virtues] I know that Rossano is known to all, not only on this account, that it presides over the borders of Calabria and is a very great city and safe from the ambushes of enemies, but also because, when the whole province had been laid waste and all the cities reduced under the power of the rabble of the Saracens, it alone has hitherto escaped their destruction. Which indeed came about not by human prudence or aid, but by the power and help of the chief patroness of that city, our Lady the Mother of God and ever Virgin Mary. For when the impious Agarenes ^b often rushed upon it by night to seize the citadel, as soon as they had come up to the walls and had also brought up their ladders, she is said to have appeared from a higher place, in the likeness of a woman clothed in purple and holding torches in her hands, with which she cast them down and drove them from the wall. And this those of them who became deserters openly confessed. Thence therefore holy father Nilus arose, and there he passed the first portions of his age, given by God to his parents in the place of a gift: for after one sister this Male child was received by them as they desired, and was offered to God by them and generously dedicated ^c to the church of the Mother of God. Having moreover happily obtained an excellent disposition and keenness of mind and sweetness of manners, he surpassed all his equals in sagacity and in his answers and in the diligent reading of the Scriptures, and also in the questions which he put to his masters; so that they wondered whence so great an intelligence came to this Boy, wherewith he searched the Scriptures and questioned about matters of this kind. For it was familiar to him from his youth to unroll the Lives of the holy Fathers, of Antony, I mean, of Sabbas and of Hilarion, and of the others whom the Catholic Church holds famous, and with eager mind and attention of soul he always read them again and again. Whence it also came to him that he conceived a hatred of vices and shunned the gatherings in the houses of the nobler sort, and fled from and abominated all curiosity, and despised what they call phylacteries ^d and adjurations; although the books too which treat of these were not lacking to him, by reason of the edge of his intellect and his zeal to know all things.

[3] Therefore not long afterwards, when his parents had departed this life, and he was being brought up by his sister and piously instructed (for she too was a woman very religious, [and of learning. After receiving a daughter, by continual meditation on death and by sickness of body] although settled in marriage), when he attained the flourishing age of youth there was no one who was willing to put a bridle on the Young man, and to be his guide to the best things by constant discipline — no bishop, no priest, no abbot, no monk, for very rarely in those times was the monastic habit seen there, not to say that it was even held contemptible. Conjecturing therefore what gain he was to bring, and how grave an adversary he would be to him (for he is a keen conjecturer of the future from things past), the devil began to pierce unmarried girls with the dart of the Young man's beauty and of the sweetness of his singing and of his excellent disposition. Therefore neither could he avoid their manifold snares, but like a stag with pierced liver he becomes the prey of one of them, who was more excellent than all in beauty and elegance of form, but born in the lowest station. He is joined therefore with her, and their first offspring born is a girl ^e. But the all-seeing providence of God, which knows all things before they are brought to their end, foreseeing the greatest profit that was to come to men through him and the salvation of the many who were to be through him heirs of the kingdom of heaven, did not permit him to wallow in the mire of this life; but first indeed it implants in his heart the continual memory of death and the everlastingly enduring torments of the punishments to come. Then it permitted him to be vexed without intermission by a violent chill and a most burning fever, so that most rapacious death was daily before his eyes.

[4] On a certain day therefore, saying nothing at all and communicating his secret to no one, he is drawn back to penance and determines to embrace the monastic life. he set out to certain men by whom no small sum of money was owed him, and said to them: I have found a most beautiful vineyard, and it is necessary for me to buy it. Having therefore received the money, as much as they had, and remitted what remained, he departs from those places labouring under a grievous disease. And there followed him a certain monk, Gregory by name, as his guide of the road leading to the monastery. But when he had come to a certain river, and had entered it to cross, then he recognized the help of God going before him and drawing him whither He Himself willed. For his disease being shaken from his shoulders in the middle of the stream, as a burden is, he was lightened and finished the rest of the way briskly, and joyfully sang: I have run the way of thy commandments, when thou didst enlarge my heart. When he came to the monasteries which are called those of Mercurius ^f, and saw those heavenly and admirable men — the great John, I mean, ^g and the very famous Fantinus ^h, and Zachary of angelic purity ⁱ, and all the rest most excellent in the work and word of God — stupefied at the sight of them and at their humble habit, he poured forth tears abundantly and was vehemently kindled with divine zeal. And they in turn, beholding an old man's sense in a youthful body, and the stability of his manners and a bearing apt for all good things, and admiring the sweetness of his reading and the perspicacity of his mind, knew with prophetic eye that the grace of the Spirit was to be multiplied in him, and that it would come to pass that many through him would be made heirs of the kingdom of heaven. And so they both heaped him with blessings and fortified him with pious prayers. Not much time passed, and behold there are brought to the monasteries letters full of terror and threats from the governor of the whole province, that if anyone should dare to lay hands upon such a Cleric, his hands should be cut off, and his monastery be forfeited to the treasury ^k. Terrified by which, the superiors of the monasteries, taking counsel, thought to send him away into a place of a foreign principality, that there he might be clothed with the sacred habit, and that they might free themselves from the indignation of the princes.

[5] which the demon attempts to hinder. Going thither, he falls in with Saracens, Consider with me then the wrestling between the angel and Satan; the one, that he might snatch this Man out of this turbulent and dark life, and, having led him out into the land of promise, that is, to the institute of those who for the Lord's sake exercise themselves in the hardness of life, might dedicate him as His own to God, and make him another Moses; the other, moving every engine and every stone to hinder a good of this kind — which that it could not be done, the event itself has proved. For neither could all the kingdoms of the earth with their united forces frighten Nilus's mind from his purpose. The Man of God therefore thinks to migrate to the monastery called St. Nazarius's ^l, and there to accomplish what he desired. When the adversary of all good things learned this, he anticipated him and stretched difficult snares along the way, wishing that by any means whatever the just Man should be delayed from his course. Therefore, as he was making his journey and addressing God with psalms and hymns and prayers poured out from the depth of his heart, when he is near the shore and about to be gladdened by the sight of the sea, behold, a barbarian leaps out from the brushwood and, as once the viper seized Paul, so seizes the just Man by the hand, and together they walked on. When they had gone not far, lo, a multitude of Saracens on the right, stretched out under the grove, black Ethiopians ^m, gazing with fierce eyes, of savage countenances and altogether like demons: but on the left, great ships drawn up on shore, because, as is likely, they were awaiting a favourable wind for a convenient voyage. When blessed Nilus suddenly saw these things, and beheld that horrible and unwonted sight and that strange garb, he was not moved from his mind, nor was his countenance at all changed, nor did he suffer any stupefaction; but gently bringing his hand to his breast, he armed himself with the sign of the Cross and answered boldly and manfully to the questions. For while all the rest were held back by divine providence as by some bridle, and were as it were seized with stupor in that same place, he alone spoke with him who had taken hold of him; asking one by one who he was and of what country and whither he was going.

[6] by whom he is treated well beyond hope But when he ingenuously declared his native land and his family and his purpose, the barbarian, admiring the flower of his youth, Col. [ ] for he had not yet completed his thirtieth year, and the comeliness of his garments — for he still used worldly

garb — and likewise his prudence in answering, said to him: It does not befit you, so young a man, to waste yourself away already with monastic labours; but near old age, when you will be able to do nothing evil, then rather, if it is altogether determined by you, you may go down into this contest. But the prudent Man said: God does not will us to be good against our will: but neither can an old man please God, just as neither can a feeble son-in-law please you, nor an unwarlike soldier a king. I too now in the time of my youth wish to serve God, that when I have grown old I may obtain glory from Him. When that unbelieving Agarene had heard these things, plainly revering the Man's virtue, or rather with the providence of God changing his heart, he let him go, showing him the way, having done or said nothing harshly or in a hostile way against him: nay, he even prayed good things for him, as they say, and added alacrity with words not a few and inciting to virtue. When the one had parted from the other, since the grace of God had afforded to His Servant defence and protection in the midst of a furnace of fire, and had preserved him unharmed and safe among lions, nay rather among serpents and scorpions and all the power of the enemy, in order that he too might recognize the weakness of nature and that human strength is nothing, that grace withdrew itself a little and left him as it were bereft of its working power. Then indeed fear and trembling seized him, and the dread of death laid hold of him. For, considering into what snares and how many he had fallen, he could not even direct his feet to the road, but wholly staggering he often looked back, expecting every moment to be struck by the sword through treachery, as is their custom. But the Saracen, when he had seen that he had neither bread, nor wallet, nor the refreshment of wine, took loaves — not indeed fresh, but of the cleanest fine flour — and began to run after him, calling him brother and crying out that he should wait for him as he came.

[7] This, as was to be expected, struck greater fear and horror into him, [and, presented with food and having suffered another temptation from the demon, he enters the monastery.] since he supposed himself to be touched by a true suspicion. And so he did only this, that he commended his soul into the hands of Christ the Lord. Therefore when the Saracen saw him exceedingly trembling and with pale countenance like a dead man, he began sharply to rebuke him and to cast in his teeth the reproach of timidity. For we, he said, grieve about you, that we have nothing worthy of your honour, but you think of us what is less than becoming. Receive these small things which God has supplied, and go your way in peace. The Man of God received the loaves as sent to him by God, and, astonished at so great a care and solicitude of God for him, was unwilling even to raise his eyes to heaven, but, as though not daring for shame to gaze upon God, and holding his eyes fixed upon the earth with much humility, he took up the words of David with tears poured out: What shall I render to thee, O Lord, for all the very great benefits which thou hast rendered to me? For thou, O Lord, hast received me from my mother's womb; nor hast thou shut me up in the hands of the enemy. After these things, beating his breast and his sides, he in a manner rebuked his own soul, and said: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his rewards. In these exercises, when he had completed the rest of the journey and was now near the monastery of which we spoke above, the enemy of the pious meets him in the shape of a horseman and says: Whither are you going, Cleric? Is it to this monastery, to put on the monk? Why have you been evilly carried away into so foul an error? You could, sitting at home, have obtained the salvation of your soul more easily than among these wild beasts of the woods. And he began to disparage the monks and to cast six hundred reproaches upon the monastic name, calling them given over to gold, to vainglory and to the belly: and, he said, half of one cauldron of their kitchen would hold me standing whole with this horse. When the holy Man wished to answer to these things, and to say: But who are you, who examine and reprehend the servants of God? for the labourer is worthy of his food — he, like the asp, stopped his ears and withdrew from him in rapid course. And the Saint, again and again fortifying himself with the sign of the Cross, and beseeching God to preserve him from the fault of condemning any monk whatsoever, joyfully entered that holy monastery.

ANNOTATIONS.

if the Acts are of any weight, which certainly were written by a biographer not a little later. Of the first, whom Gaetani surnames the Younger, the ascetic, and whom he has likewise inserted in the Idea of his Work on the Saints of Sicily, my elders said at the said day in the Prætermissi that they would then treat of him, when they had obtained the documents which they did not have from Gaetani in the announced Work, which, after he was taken from the living, appeared posthumously about the middle of the seventeenth century. There, moreover, I find only, in volume 2, page 42, a Fragment of a hymn from the manuscript Condacarium of the Basilian monastery of St. Philip of Fragalà, which contains nothing that certainly persuades us that this man is meant: but neither anything to the contrary. The matter will be able to be examined at the fifth of February in the Supplement of the Work.

CHAPTER II.

Admitted into the monastery, and scarcely having obtained the habit, he is destined to be set over another monastery, but anxiously flees that dignity and all others, giving himself to abstinence and humility. He is illustrious for the spirit of prophecy. He withdraws to a solitary cell.

ΚΑὶ προσκυνήσας τόν τε ἡγούμενον, καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς, καὶ παρακαλέσας ἵνα εὔξωνται ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πρὸς κύριον, προσεδέχθη παρ᾽ αὐτῶν ὡς υἱὸς καὶ ἀδελφὸς ἀγαπητός· ἰδόντες δὲ αὐτὸν κεκοπιακότα λίαν ἐκ τῆς ὀδοῦ, φιλοφρόνως ἐδεξιώσαντο αὐτὸν ἔν τε ἰχθύσι καὶ οἴνῳ καὶ τῇ λοιπῇ παρακλήσει τῶν ἀδελφῶν, καθὼς αὐτοῖς εἴθιστο· αὐτὸς δὲ τὰ πολλὰ παριδὼν ὡς ἀνοίκεια ὄντα τοῖς εἰσαγωγικοῖς, καὶ μάλιστα τοῖς σφριγῶσι τῇ τῆς νεότητος ἀκμῇ, καὶ βουλομένοις τὸν τοῦ Χριστοῦ ζυγὸν ὑπελθεῖν, ἄρτῳ μόνῳ καὶ ὕδατι τὴν χρείαν ἀπεπλήρου τοῦ σώματος, ἀνάξιον ἑαυτὸν κρατῶν διὰ τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῆς αὐτῶν μεταλήψεως. Εἶτα μετὰ ταῦτα ἀνατίθησι τῷ ἡγουμένῳ πάντα τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτὸν, καὶ τὸν λογισμὸν τῆς ἀφίξεως αὐτοῦ, παρακαλῶν τῷ τοιούτῳ σκοπῷ ἐνδῦσαι αὐτὸν τὸ σχῆμα τῶν μοναχῶν, ὥς τε μὴ πλέον τῶν τεσσαράκοντα ἡμερῶν ποιῆσαι ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ μονῇ, ἀλλὰ τῇ αὐτοῦ βουλῇ καὶ εὐχῇ ὑποστρέψαι αὐτὸν πρὸς τοὺς ἁγίους πατέρας, οἷς ᾠκειώθη ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ, καὶ ἀπήλειψαν αὐτὸν νουθεσίαις καὶ διδασκαλίαις πνευματικαῖς. Πρὸς τούτοις ὁ μὲν ἀββᾶς ἠβούλετο ἅμα τοῦ καθιρῶσαι αὐτὸν, καὶ ἡγούμενον καταστῆσαι ἐν ἑτέρῳ μοναστηρίῳ αὐτοῦ. Αὐτὸς δὲ ἀκούσας τοῦ τοιούτου λόγου, τοσοῦτον ἐφάνη αὐτῷ φορτικὸν καὶ ἀπρεπὲς, ὅτι καὶ δεξιὰς δέδωκε τῲ Θεῷ τοῦ ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνης τῆς ὥρας, εἰ πατριάρχὴν βουληθείη τις καταστῆσαι αὐτὸν, μηδόλως ποτὲ καταδέξασθαι οἵαν δήποτε ἀρχὴν· ἀλλ᾽ ἀρκετὸν τυγχάνειν αὐτῷ, τὸ ἐν τῇ τάξει τῶν μοναχῶν εὐαρεστῆσαι Θεῷ, καὶ μὴ ὑπερφρονεῖν, παρ᾽ ὃ δεῖ φρονεῖν, ἀπολλῦντα τὸ σωφρονεῖν. Οὐ μόνον δὲ τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑτέροις τισὶν ὅροις περιέσφιγξεν ἑαυτὸν, ὑφ᾽ ὧν ὡς περιεκτικωτέροις καὶ κεφαλαιωδεστέροις τῶν ἀρετῶν συγκροτούμενος, τὰ λοιπὰ πάντα ἐπαινετὰ καὶ καλὰ τούτοις συνέψονται ὡς ἐν ἁλύσεσιν ἐχόμενα. Ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα· τὸ φυλάξαι τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ ἐν ἁγνεία καὶ καθαρότητι, ὡς προσφορὰν καὶ δῶρον προσενεχθὲν τῷ Χριστῷ· καὶ τὸ ἀπέχεσθαι φιλαργυρίας, τῆς ῥίζης πάντων τῶν κακῶν μέχρι καὶ ἐνὸς ὀβολοῦ· καὶ τὸ μὴ ἐκβάλλειν μοναχὸν ἢ ἡγούμενον ἀπὸ τῆς ἰδίας μονῆς ἕνεκεν τῆς παροικίας αὐτοῦ.

[9] Τούτων ἕνεκα τῶν κανονισθέντων καὶ ὁρισθέντων αὐτῷ ὺφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ ἐν τῇ αὐτοῦ ἀμφιάσει τοῦ ἀγγελικοῦ σχήματος, πολλοὺς καὶ μεγίστους ὑπέμεινε πειρασμούς· πρὸς γὰρ τὸ ἀντιτεῖνον μᾶλλον ἡ μάχη ἐστὶν κατὰ τὸ· ἐν ὁδῷ ταύτῃ ᾗ ἐπορευόμην, ἔκρυψαν παγίδα μοι. Τῇ δὲ … ἀλλὰ ἀποκρίνεται μετὰ ἀπονοίας, καὶ φησίν· Ὕπαγε καλόγηρε, δέκα ἔτη ὑπάρχουσιν αἱ ἡμέραι μου· ἐν τοῖς ὀκτὼ ἔτεσι πληρώσω τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς μου ἐπιθυμήματα, καὶ τοὺς ἐχθραίνοντάς μοι ὑποτάξω, ὡς θέλω ἐγὼ· εἰς δὲ τὰ δύο ἔτη μετανοῶ, καὶ προσδέχεταί με ὁ Θεὸς ὡς τὴν πόρνην καὶ τὸν λῃστὴν. Τότε ὁ ἀββᾶς Νεῖλος ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἐμπνευσθεὶς ἀποκρίνεται αὐτῷ, καὶ φησίν· Πρόσεχε σεαυτῷ ταπεινὲ ἄνθρωπε· ἅ γὰρ ἑλπίζεις δέκα ἔτη βιῶσαι, καὶ τὰ θελήματα τῆς ψυχῆς σου πληρῶσαι, δέκα ἡμέραι τυγχάνουσι μόναι. Μὴ τοίνυν πλανῶ, ἐν ὀνείροις καὶ μαντείαις σεαυτὸν ἀπατῶν. Ταῦτα μετὰ παρ᾽ῥησίας πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰρηκὼς, καὶ ὑποστρέψας ἐν τῇ μονῇ, τῷ μέν ἡγουμένῳ ἀπήγγειλε τὴν ταχίστην ἀπώλειαν τοῦ δεινοῦ. Ὁ δὲ σοβαρὸς ἐκεῖνος ἀνὴρ ῥίγει καὶ πυρετῷ παραχρῆμα συσχεθεὶς, ἔκειτο μέχρι τῆς ἐνάτης ἡμέρας βασανιζόμενος ἀνηκέστως· καὶ τῇ δεκάτη συστάσεως αὐτῷ ἐνεχθείσης παρὰ τῶν οἰκητόρων τῆς κώμης, καὶ πάντων βουλευομένων αὐτὸν ἀποκτεῖναι, αὐτὸς μαθὼν τοῦτο πρὸς τῆς ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ πορνευομένης μαινάδος, ἐπελάβετο μὲν τῷ θράσει τῆς σπάθης, καὶ πάντας αὐτοὺς διεσκόρπισεν ἐπιφανεὶς καὶ μόνον. Τῷ δὲ φόβῳ καὶ τῇ δειλίᾳ κατασχεθεὶς ἐπὶ πλεῖον, καὶ βουληθεὶς τῇ φυγῇ τὴν σωτηρίαν εὕρασθαι, ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων συμποδισθεὶς ἁρμάτων, καὶ πεσὼν τοῦ ζῆν ἀπηλλάγη· καὶ οὕτως ὑπὸ τῶν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ πολλάκις ἀδικηθέντων τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀπετμήθη, καὶ τοῖς κυσὶ παρεδόθη εἰς βρῶσιν. Καὶ ἐπληρώθη αὐτῷ ἡ πρόῤῥησις τοῦ ἁγίου, ὡς οὔτε ἐντὸς, οὔτε ἐκτὸς ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τῇ δεκάτη ἡμέρᾳ. Μετὰ δὲ ταύτας τὰς ἡμέρας ὐπέστρεψεν ὁ ὅσιος πατὴρ Νεῖλος πλήρης ὢν Πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ πίστεως πρὸς τοὺς ἁγίους πατέρας τοὺς ἐν τῷ Μερκουρίῳ. Καὶ γὰρ πέφυκε τῷ ὁμοίῳ τὸ ὅμοιον πάντως συνήδεσθαι· καὶ ἰδόντες αὐτὸν πάντες ἀποστολικὸν καὶ βίον καὶ σχῆμα καὶ ἐπιτήδευμα περιβεβλημένον, ἔχοντα δὲ καὶ τὴν εὐπρεπεστάτην ταπείνωσιν σὺν τῇ αἰδοῖ τῷ μετώπῳ προκαθημένην, ἠγαλλιάσαντο καὶ ηὐφράνθησαν, καὶ τῷ Θεῷ ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ δόξαν ἀνέπευψαν.

[10] Αὐτὸς δὲ πάντας μέν ἐσέβετο καὶ εὐλαβεῖτο ὡς ἀγγέλους Κυρίου, ἐξαιρέτως δὲ σχέσιν καὶ ἀγὰπην μεγίστην ἐκέκτητο πρὸς τὸν τίμιον πατέρα Φαντῖνον. Κᾀκεῖνος δὲ πάλιν τὸ αὐτὸ φίλτρον ἢ καὶ πλέον ἐδεῖκνυε πρὸς αὐτὸν· τὴν τοῦ Πέτρου καὶ Ιωάννου, ἡ Βασιλείου καὶ Γρηγορίου συζυγίαν καὶ ἀδιάσπαστον γνώμην ἐν ἑαυτοῖς προδηλοῦντες. Συγκαθημένων γὰρ αὐτῶν πολλάκις, καὶ τὰς γραφὰς ἀναγινωσκόντων, συνήγοντο οἱ ἀδελφοὶ πρὸς αὐτοὺς πάντες, παρακαλοῦντες ἀκοῦσαι λόγον ὠφελείας ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτῶν. Καὶ ἀκούοντες τοὺς λόγους τῆς χάριτος τοὺς ἐκπορευομένους ἐκ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ ὁσίου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Νείλου, θεωροῦντες δὲ καὶ τὴν ἀστράπτουσαν χάριν ἐπὶ τὸν ἅγιον πατέρα Φαντῖνον, οὐδὲν ἄλλο ὑπελάμβανον τούτους ὑπάρχειν, ἀλλ᾽ ἢ Πέτρον καὶ Παῦλον, ὧν καὶ τὸν βίον ἐζήλουν. Τινὲς οὖν τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἀπελθόντες εἰς προσκύνησιν τοῦ μεγάλου πατρὸς Ιωάννου, ἤρξαντο ἐπαινεῖν τὸν μακάριον Νεῖλον, ὡς ὠφελείας ὑπόθεσιν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ πεμφθέντα ἐν τοῖς τόποις ἐκείνοις· προστιθέντες καὶ τοῦτο, ὅτι οὔτε ἄρτου, οὔτε οἴνου μεταλαμβάνει, ἄσκησιν διώκων ὑψηλοτάτην. ἐκέλευσεν οὖν αὐτοῖς ὁ πατὴρ ἀποστεῖλαι αὐτὸν πρὸς αὐτόν. Καὶ τούτου γεγονότος, καὶ μετὰ χαρᾶς προσδεχθέντος, κελεύει ὁ μέγας πατὴρ Ιωάννης δοθῆναι αὐτῷ ποτήριον οἴνου μεγίστου, βουλόμενος ἰδεῖν εἰ κατὰ Θεόν ἐστιν ἡ αὐτοῦ πολιτεία. Λαβὼν δὲ τὸ ποτήριον ὁ ὅσιος πατὴρ Νͅεῖλος, καὶ αἰτησάμενος εὐλογίαν, ἀνυποστόλως πέπωκεν αὐτὸ μέχρι τέλους, μήτε τὸ ἀθρόον τῆς βλάβης τοῦ οἴνου καταπτήξας, μήτε τὴν οἰκείαν κρίσιν τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς διακρίσεως κυριωτέραν ἀποδείξας, ἀλλὰ τὴν κοπὴν τοῦ θελήματος εὐλόλου τε καὶ ἀλόγου ὡς σωτηρίας μεγίστην ὑπόθεσιν τῶν λοιπῶν προτιμήσας. Τότε ὁ μέγας ἐκεῖνος θαυμάσας καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τὴν σοφίαν, καὶ τὸ ἁνυπόκριτον τῆς αὐτοῦ ὑπακοῆς κατὰ πάντων ἐπείρασε γὰρ αὐτὸν καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐδίδαξεν αὐτὸν οἶα πατὴρ υἱὸν γνήσιον· ἔφη πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας· οὐκ ἔλεγον οἱ πατέρες ὅτι ὁ ἀββᾶς Νεῖλος οὐ γεύεται οἴνου; ἄλλα ὁρῶσιν ἄνθρωποι, καὶ ἕτερα λέγουσιν.

[11] Εὐθέως οὖν ἀναστὰς ἐκεῖνος βάλλει μετάνοιαν λέγων· Συγχώρησόν μοι τίμιε πάτερ, ὅτι οὐδέποτε ἐποίησά τι ἀγαθὸν ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ· ὅμως ἡ ἐγκράτεια πάτερ, ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς μᾶλλον ἐπίστασαι, συμβάλλεται πᾶσιν ἐν ἅπασιν, τοῖς μὲν γέρουσιν ἵνα εἰκὼν καὶ τύπος γένωνται τοῖς νέοις· τοῖς δὲ νέοις ἡμῖν καὶ εἰσαγωγικοῖς, ἱν᾽ ὅπως μὴ τῇ φλογὶ πλείονα ὕλην προσθήσωμεν, ἢ τὸ θηρίον ἀγριώτερον καὶ δισκάθεκτον καταστήσωμεν. Τὸ μέν τοι ἐπιτυχεῖν τῆς παναγεστάτης εὐλογίας τῆς σῆς τιμίας χειρὸς, εἴτε διὰ πόματος οἴνου, εἴτε διὰ κλάσματος ἄρτου, πατριαρχικῆς χάριτος ἄξιον, καὶ τῆς αὐτὴς δωρεᾶς ἰσόῤῥοπον. Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ μέγας Ιωάννης, ὑπομειδιάσας τῷ προσώπῳ, καὶ ἀγαλλιασθεὶς τῷ πνεύματι πολλῷ πλέον εὐλογίαις αὐτὸν ἀντημείψατο, καὶ εὐχαῖς κατεπλούτησεν. Ἐνουθέτει δὲ αὐτὸν συμμέτρως ἀσκεῖν, μή πως ὑπὸ νόσου ἣ γήρως πιεσθεὶς μέλλῃ τότε ἐπιζητεῖν τὰ μὴ τῷ σχήματι πρέποντα. Καὶ τότε μὲν κατέσχεν αὐτὸν παρ᾽ ἑαυτῷ, εὐφραινόμενος ἐπὶ τῇ ἡδυτάτῃ ἀναγνώσει αοὐτοῦ, καὶ τῇ εὐστόχῳ

τῶν νοημάτων ἀναπτύξει, καὶ διασαφήσει τῶν θείων γραφῶν. Ἐσχόλαζε γὰρ ὁ μέγας Ιωάννης ἀεὶ ἐν τοῖς λόγοις τοῦ ἁγίου Γρηγορίου τοῦ θεολόγου, ὥστε τῇ πολλῇ πείρᾳ, ἣν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀνελάβετο, ἄλλον θεολόγον παρὰ πᾶσι γνωρίζεσθαι. Ἐν μιᾷ δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἀναγινώσκοντος ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ βίβλῳ τοῦ ὁσίου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Νείλου, καὶ τοῦ γέροντος βουληθέντος διευκρινῆσαι ἓν τῶν ἁγίῳ διδασκάλῳ πονηθέντων δογμάτων, οὐκ ἤρεσε τῷ ἀββᾷ Νείλῳ ἡ τοῦ γέροντος ἑρμηνεία, ὡς μὴ τὸν σκοπὸν τοῦ διδασκάλου ἐν ἀκριβείᾳ καταλαβόντος. Καὶ βουληθέντος τὸ ἴσον τῆς διανοίας ἐν ἑτέρῳ χωρίῳ τῆς αὐτῆς βίβλου σαφέστερον ἀποδεῖξαι, καὶ τὴν ὀρθότητα τοῦ δόγματος καθώς ἐστιν ἀποφῆναι, ἐπετιμήθη σφοδρῶς παρὰ τοῦ μεγάλου, ὡς οὐκ ἐξὸν αὐτῷ ἐρευνᾷν τὰ τοιαῦτα, νέῳ ὄντι καὶ ἀρχαρίῳ, καὶ ἀκμὴν ἐν τοῖς πάθεσιν τοῦ βίου ἰλυσπωμένῳ. Αὐτὸς δὲ ἀκούσας, οὐδαμῶς ἐταράχθη, ἢ ὅλως παρεσαλεύθη τῆς πίστεως καὶ ἀγάπης, ἧς ἐκέκτητο πρὸς τὸν γέροντα. Ἀλλ᾽ οὕτως ἐδέξατο αὐτοῦ τὰ ὀνείδη, ὡς ὁ διψῶν ὕδατος ἐμπεπλησμένον ἀγγεῖον. Καὶ γὰρ εἶχεν αὐτὸν ὡς τὸν ἅγιον Ιωάννην τὸν Βαπτιστήν· πολλάκις δὲ οὕτω προσεκύνει τὸν τόπον, ὅπου ἵσταντο οἱ πόδες αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, ὡς καὶ τὸ ἅγιον βῆμα τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου.

[12] Τῆς δὲ ἑσπέρας καταλαβούσης, καὶ πορευθέντος αὐτοῦ ἡσύχως ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ τῷ ἰδίῳ, ὑπεισῆλθεν αὐτῷ λογισμὸς ἐκταράσσων καὶ ἐνοχλῶν αὐτὸν σφόδρα, εἴγ᾽ ἅρ᾽ ὁ μέγας ἐπ᾽ ἀληθείας ἐπέπληξεν αὐτῷ, ὡς κακῶς νενοηκότι τὴν χρῆσιν τοῦ θεολόγου, μή ποτε καὶ αἵρεσις λογισθείη· ἢ μόνον ταπεινῶσαι βουλόμενος τὴν ὑψηλοφροσύνην καὶ μεγίστην ἀλαζονείαν. Καὶ ταῦτα διενθυμούμενος, μικρὸν ἀπενύσταξεν. Ὁ δὲ πάντων τῶν δικαίων παρατηρῶν τὰς παρατροπὰς τῶν ἐνθέων διαβημάτων τοῦ ὑποσκελίσαι ἢ κρύψαι παγίδα, βουληθεὶς σινιάσαι καὶ τὸν ὅσιον τοῦτον, φαίνεται αὐτῷ καθ᾽ ὕπαρ ἐν σχήματι δύο πρεσβυτέρων μεγάλων λεγόντων· Ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν Πέτρος καὶ Παῦλος· ἰδόντες δέ σε φησὶν ἀσχάλλοντα περὶ τῶν θείων δογμάτων, ἤλθομεν τοῦ συνετίσαι σε, καὶ διδάξαι τὴν ἀλήθειαν πᾶσαν. Εἶπον οὖν καὶ χρῆσιν ὅσον τὸ τῆς δεσποτικῆς εὐχῆς ὕφος, καὶ ἀπέστησαν. Ὁ δὲ εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἐλθὼν, οὐδὲ γὰρ καθεύδων ὑπῆρχεν, ἐφιλοτιμεῖτο πρὸς τὸ παρὸν ἐπὶ τῷ ἀκαίρως φανέντι, καὶ τὴν χρῆσιν ἐπὶ στόματος εἶχεν, τὴν δὲ ἔννοιαν αὐτῆς οὐκ ἠρεύνα, καὶ ταῦτα δι᾽ ὅλου τοῦ ὄρθρου καὶ ἕως πρωΐας. Πρὸς δὲ τὸ διάφαυμα ἡσυχίαν ἄγων βαθεῖαν, καὶ μέλλων ἐρευνῆσαι τὸ τῆς ἀποκαλύψεως βάθος, εὗρε τὸ νομιζόμενον μέλι πικρότερον ἀψινθίου· καὶ τὴν κρυπτομένην θεολογίαν, προδήλως αἵρεσιν δεινοτάτην. Τότε ὁ ὀξύνους ἐκεῖνος ἀνὴρ, καὶ ταχὺς εἰς τὸ διαχρῖναι τὸ καθαρὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ κιβδήλου, καταμαθὼν τὸν παμμέγιστον δόλον τῶν νοητῶν πολεμίων, καὶ τὴν ἄφραστον πανουργίαν ἐκείνην, προστρέχει τῇ τοῦ Σωτῆρος σταυρώσει, ῥίπτει ἑαυτὸν ἐπ᾽ ἐδάφους, ἐν συντετριμμέν καὶ ταπεινῇ τῇ καρδίᾳ αἰτεῖται ἀπάλειψιν ἐκ καρδίας τῆς πονηρᾶς ἐκείνης ἐγγραφῆς καὶ βεβήλου, ἧς καὶ τετύχηκε παραχρῆμα. Ἀναστὰς γὰρ τοῦ τόπου ἐκείνου, οὐδαμῶς οὐδέ ποτε ἠδυνήθη ἀπ᾽ ἐκείνης τῆς ὥρας εἰπεῖν, ἢ κἂν ἐννοῆσαι τῆς πονηρᾶς ἐκείνης χρησμῳδίας μήτε ἀρχὴν, μήτε τέλος. Ἄπεισι δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὸν μέγαν ἐργάτην, καὶ βάλλει αὐτῷ μετάνοιαν, ἀπαγγέλλων τὰ πάντα.

[13] Ὁ δὲ γέρων μειδιῶντι τῷ προσώπῳ ἐκράτησεν αὐτὸν τῆς χειρὸς καὶ εἶπεν· Ἀνδρίζου, ὦ τέκνον, ἀνδρίζου καὶ κραταιούσθω ἡ καρδία σου, καὶ ὑπόμεινον πειρασμοὺς τῶν δαιμόνων, ἵνα καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπιστρέψας στηρίξῃς πολλῶν ψυχὰς ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ σου, φῶς καὶ ἅλας ἀναδειχθεὶς ἐν τῷ κόσμω τοῖς πλανωμένοις. Καὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ οἶδα τὴν ἐκ τοῦ Θεοῦ δοθεῖσαν σοι ἀγχίνοιαν, καὶ τὴν χάριν τοῦ λόγου· καὶ ἔγνων ὅτι ὀρθῶς διεκδικεῖς τὸν σκοπὸν τοῦ ἁγίου. Ἀλλὰ φοβούμενος μὴ τῷ τῆς οἰήσεως πάθει καὶ κρημνῷ περιπέσῃς, ὅπερ πολλάκις εἴωθε ξυμβαίνειν τοῖς κατὰ σὲ ταχυδρόμοις, ἄμεινον κέκρικα εὐφρανθῆναι με ἐν τῷ σε ὑπ᾽ ἐμοῦ λυπηθῆναι, καθὼς ὁ Ἀπόστολος διδάσκει, ἢ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα κατὰ σοῦ λυπηθῆναι ἐν τῷ σε οἰήσει καὶ ὑψηλοφροσύνῃ κατενεχθῆναι. Ταῦτα καὶ πλείονα τούτων οὐρηκὼς πρὸς αὐτὸν, ἐπευξάμενός τε καὶ εὐλογήσας ἀπέλυσεν ἐν εἰρήννῃ. Ὁ δὲ ὅσιος πατὴρ ἡμῶν Νεῖλος ἔτι καὶ ἔτι προκόπτων καὶ αὐξανόμενος ταῖς κατὰ Θεὸν ἀναβάσεσι καὶ θεώσεσιν, ἠράσθη καὶ τῆς μητρὸς πασῶν τῶν ἀρετῷν ἡσυχίας, πλείονα πλοῦτον ἐκ ταύτης ἰσχύων κερδῆσαι καὶ ἄπειρον σοφίαν. Καὶ τοῦτο ἀναθεὶς τοῖς ἁγίοις πατράσι, διὰ τὸ πάντα μετὰ βουλῆς αὐτῶν πράττειν, τῇ αὐτῶν συνέσει καὶ δι᾽ εὐχῶν συνεργίᾳ τὸ βουλευθὲν ἐκυρώθη. Σπήλαιον δέ ἐστιν οὐ μακρὰν τῶν μοναστηρίων, ἐν τῷ ὕψει τοῦ κρημνοῦ διακείμενον, ἔχον ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ θυσιαστήριον ἐπ᾽ ὀνόματι τοῦ ἀρχιστρατήγου Μιχαὴλ, πάνυ πρὸς ἡσυχίαν ὂν ἐπιτήδειον τοῖς ἐπιτηδείοις. Ἐν τούτῳ τῷ σπηλαίῳ ὁ ἀνδρεῖος ἐκεῖνος ἀναλαβὼν Ηλιοῦ τὸν ζῆλον, καὶ Ελισσαίου τὴν καρτερίαν, τήν τε ὑπομονὴν πάντων τῶν ἁγίων, ἀνέρχεται κατοικήσων μετὰ πλείστης χαρᾶς τε καὶ προθυμίας. Ἐν ᾧ κατὰ μόνας αὐλιζόμενος, καὶ τὸν Θεὸν προσδεχόμενος, μᾶλλον δ᾽ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ παριστάμενος, καὶ τὸν ἀόρατον ὡς ὁρατὸν προορώμενος, πολλοὺς καὶ μεγίστους ἀγῶνας ἀνδρικῶς ἐπεδείξατο, πάντων τῶν προηγωνισμένων ὁσίων τε καὶ δικαίων τὰς ἀρετὰς καὶ τὰ ἆθλα ἀναμάξασθαι σπεύδων· ἅπερ οὐδεὶς ὢν ἰσχύσαι ἢ λόγῳ φράσαι, ἢ γραφῇ παραδοῦναι, διὰ τὸ ἐν κρυπτῷ μόνῳ τῷ τὰ κρυπτὰ εἰδότι προσαναφέρεσθαι· εἰ μή που τὶς ταῦτα ἀπὸ τοῦ τέλους τεκμῄροιτο, τουτέστι τῆς παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ δόξης, καὶ τῆς πατρικῆς ἀνταποδόσεως. Ὁ πατήρ σου γάρ φησιν ὁ βλέπων ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ, ἀποδώσει σοι ἐν τῷ φανερῷ· καὶ τοῦς δοξάζοντάς με φησὶ δοξάσω.

[14] Τίς δ᾽ οὕτως ἐδοξάσθη καὶ ἐτιμήθη ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ, ὡς μακάριος οὗτος; οὐ μόνον παρὰ πιστῶν βασιλέων καὶ ἀρχοντων, πατριαρχῷν ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀρχιερέων, ὁμοφύλων καὶ οὐχ ὁμογλώσσων, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἀπίστων τυράννων, λέγω δὴ τῶν Σαῤῥακηνῶν φυλαρχούντων· οἵτινες μόνῳ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ τιμὴν ἀπεδίδουν, ἐπειδὴ τῆς θέας ἠμοίρουν. Ἔλεγχος δὲ ταῦτα πάντα τῆς τοῦ ἀνδρὸς πρὸς Θεὸν διαπύρου ἀγάπης, καὶ τῆς ὑψοποιοῦ ταπεινοφροσύνης, καὶ τῶν πολλῶν νηστειῶν, καὶ ἀγρυπνιῶν καὶ μετανοιῶν καὶ κακουχιῶν· οὐ μὴν δὲ ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐμπύρων πειρασμῶν, καὶ πολέμων νοητῶν καὶ ὁρατῶν, καὶ νοσημάτων σωματικῶν, τῶν παρὰ τῶν πνευμάτων τῆς πονηρίας ἰσχυρῶς αὐτῷ ἐπενεχθέντων, διὰ τὸ μέλλειν αὐτὸν ἀναβαίνειν εἰς ὕψος, ὅθεν ἐκεῖνα κατῆλθον· ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐκ πολλῶν τῶν ἐκείνου κατορθωμάτων ὀλίγα δεῖ μνημονεῦσαι, ὅσα ἡμῖν τοῖς ἀναξίως αὐτῷ ἐκ καρδίας ἀγαπηθεῖσιν ἡ ἀψευδὴς αὐτῶν εἴρηκε γλῶσσα, προτροπῆς ἕνεκα τῆς ἡμῶν προθυμίας τῆς εἰς τὰ κρείττω κατὰ τοὺς τῶν παλαιστῶν ἢ πολεμιστῶν διδασκάλους, ταῦτα παραθῶμεν τῷ λόγῳ τοῖς βουλομένοις ἐκ πάντων ὠφέλειαν καρποῦσθαι· οὐ θαυμάτων μεγίστων, ἢ τερατείων ἀπόδειξιν παριστῶντι, οἷς καταπλήττεται ἡ ἀκοὴ τῶν νηπιωδεστέρων, ἢ τῶν ἀπίστων· ἀλλὰ κόπων ἀμέτρων καὶ μόχθων, οἷς τὸν ἀπόστολον ἐγκαυχώμενον οἶδα. Ὅμως καὶ ταῦτα τοῖς μέν ἀπείροις πολλάκις ἄπιστα δόξουσιν, τοῖς δὲ ποσῶς πεπειραμένοις ζῆλον ἐνθήσουσι καὶ μνήμης ἐμπύρευμα.

He rigidly cultivates abstinence, humility and poverty. And when he had reverently greeted the hegumen and all the brethren, and had asked them to render the Lord propitious to him, he was received by them as a son and a most dear brother: and when they had seen him very weary from the road, they received him most kindly, setting before him fish and wine and the other things with which monks are wont to refresh themselves. But he, setting most of these aside, because they suited less well those entering upon the religious state, and especially those glowing in the very flower of youth and willing to go under the yoke of Christ, satisfied the need of his body with bread and water only, thinking himself unworthy, for the love of Christ, even to feed upon them. Then he informs the hegumen about his affairs, and narrates everything, and sets forth his purpose in coming thither, asking that the monastic habit be given him on this condition, that he should stay in that monastery not more than forty days, but that with his good leave and blessing it should be lawful for him to return to the holy fathers to whom he had at first attached himself, and by whom he had been anointed with spiritual admonitions and instructions. But the abbot, as soon as he should have consecrated him, wished to set him as hegumen over another monastery of his. When he heard this, it seemed to him so grievous and unworthy that he even promised God from that hour that he would undertake absolutely no prelacy, even if he were called to the patriarchate, but that it was enough for him if in the order of monks he should please God and should not be wise beyond what it behoves to be wise, sobriety being set aside. Nay, he even fixed for himself other limits also, which, as comprehending more things and as the more principal virtues, all the rest full of praise and honesty should follow for him who was bound by them, like the links of chains joined together. And these are: that he should keep his body chaste and pure, as already offered to Christ like a victim and a gift; that he should flee avarice, the root of all evils, even to a single obol; that he should drive no monk or hegumen out of his own monastery to prepare a dwelling for himself.

[9] He foretells death to an obstinate sinner: On account of these things fixed and settled for himself, while he took the angelic habit, he suffered many and very great vexations. For where there is greater resistance, there is always the fight, according to that saying: In this way wherein I walked, they have hidden a snare for me… ^a But he, carried away by madness, answers and says: Depart, Monk; the days of my life are ten years. For eight years I shall fulfil the desires of my soul and shall subject my enemies to me as I will: but for two years I shall do penance, and God will receive me, as of old the harlot and the thief. Then the abbot Nilus, inspired by the Holy Spirit, answering him, says: Beware for yourself, wretched man: for the ten years which you think you will live and fulfil the desires of your soul are only ten days. Be not deceived therefore, cheating yourself with dreams and divinations. Having said these things to him with freedom of mind, he returned to the monastery and announced to the hegumen the death of the lost man which was shortly to come. But that insolent man, seized at once with a fever of cold and heat, lay for nine days afflicted with the gravest pains: but on the tenth, a conspiracy having been made against him by the inhabitants of that village, and all consulting about putting him to death, being warned of this by the maenad ^b who served his lust, he seized indeed a sword relying on his boldness, and merely by being seen turned them all to flight. But being more violently agitated by fear and dread, and wishing to consult his safety by flight, he himself by his own

arms was entangled, and falling he perished; and then his head was cut off by those who had often suffered every worst thing from him, and he himself was cast to the dogs to be devoured. And there was fulfilled what the holy Man had foretold about him, namely, not before, not after, but on the tenth day. After these days had passed, the holy father Nilus, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith, returned to the holy fathers at Mercurius. For it is so ordered by nature that like things are wholly delighted by like; and all, seeing him adorned in life and zeal and habit and manner of living with the apostolic pattern, and seeing shining forth on his brow, together with modesty, a most humble lowliness, exulted and rejoiced and gave glory to God because of him.

[10] He excels in perfect obedience, But he himself venerated all as Angels of the Lord, yet with a special love he followed and with the highest charity embraced the venerable father Fantinus; and he in turn answered with equal, or even greater, affection of love, the two of them displaying the highest and indivisible conjunction of souls, such as was Peter's with John, or Basil's with Gregory. When therefore they sat together often and read the Scriptures, all the brethren came together to them and asked that they would bring forth for them a discourse of profit. And hearing the words of grace which proceeded from the mouth of the holy father Nilus, and beholding also the grace flashing forth from the holy father Fantinus, they thought them to be none other than Peter and Paul, whose life also they emulated. Certain therefore of the brethren went to the great father John ^c for the sake of greeting him, and began to extol blessed Nilus, because he had been sent by God into those places for their profit, and added that he neither fed on bread nor drank wine, using the harshest rule of life. The father therefore ordered that he should be sent to him. When he had set out and been kindly received, the great father John orders a cup of the most generous wine to be offered him, wishing to try whether his manner of life was according to God. But Bl. Nilus, taking the cup and asking a blessing, without any delay drank it all, neither fearing the harm from the wine he drank, nor preferring his own counsel to the purpose of the Father who was judging, but setting before all else the renunciation of his own will, whether agreeing with reason or less agreeing, as by far the greatest handle of salvation. Then that great man, admiring within himself the Man's wisdom and his sincere and complete obedience (for he tried him in other things also, nay taught him as a father his own son), said to the bystanders: Did not the Fathers say that abbot ^d Nilus abstained from wine? As may be seen, men see one thing and say another.

[11] Rising at once, he abased himself with a deep bowing: in humility, and in the mortification of the senses. and, Pardon me, he said, venerable father, for before God I have never done any good thing. Yet abstinence, father, as you yourself know better, profits all men in all things: the old, that they may be a pattern to the younger; but us who are young and recruits, that we may not add richer fuel to the flame, or render the beast more savage and untamed. But to obtain the blessing of your most sacred hand, whether through a draught of wine or through a morsel of bread, is worthy of patriarchal grace, and is a gift of equal value. Hearing these things, the great John smiled, and exulting in spirit heaped upon him many more blessings, and, praying every good thing for him with his vows, enriched him. For the rest, he admonished him to keep a middle course in the harsher way, lest perchance, being weighed down by disease or old age, he should then seek those things which do not befit the religious habit. And then indeed he wished him to remain with him, being taken with the wonderful sweetness which he perceived as he read, and with his perspicacious explanation of sentences and exposition of the sacred Scriptures. Now the great John gave himself assiduously to the writings of Gregory the Theologian, so that from his much reading of them he was called by all a second Theologian. On a certain day therefore, when the holy father Nilus was reading that same book, it pleased the old man to elucidate a certain doctrine of the doctor. But the exposition delivered by the old man was not approved by abbot Nilus, as not having attained the genuine sense of the Doctor. And when he wished to show more plainly from another place of the book that the matter was so, and to explain the rectitude of the doctrine as it stood, he was vehemently rebuked by the great Father, because it was not lawful for him, a young man and a recruit, still stained with the mire of secular life, to handle matters of this kind too curiously. Hearing which, he was not disturbed, nor was his will in any part changed as regards observing and loving the old man as before, but he received his rebukes as gladly as a thirsty man a full vessel of water. For to him the old man was another John the Baptist. Often too he so venerated the place in which his feet had stood in the church, as he did the very inner sanctuary of the sacred altar.

[12] Toward evening, when he had betaken himself to his cell for the sake of rest, Having happily overcome a diabolical illusion, a thought entered his mind which disturbed him and vexed him much: whether perhaps that great father had reproved him from his heart, as having ill interpreted the words of the Theologian, and had held the sense to be heretical; or whether, he said, he wished to repress my arrogance and great haughtiness. While he thinks these things within himself, he is seized by a light sleep. Meanwhile he who watches for the falls of all the just in their sacred steps, that he may supplant them or lay a snare, wishing to sift this just Man also, appears to him — not in sleep and by a dream — in the likeness of two old men of just stature, saying: We are Peter and Paul: and because we have seen you labouring over the divine doctrines, we have come to instruct you and to teach you all the truth. They brought forward therefore to him a certain passage, of as much length as the prayer of the Lord's Prayer embraces, and departed. He, gathering himself — for he was not asleep — applauded himself indeed meanwhile for the importunate vision, and had the sentence in his mouth, although he did not examine what was signified by it; and this through the whole space of the night prayers until the dawning day. But when day dawned, being about to search out in the highest quiet of mind the hidden force of the sentence set forth to him, he found that what was thought to be honey was the most bitter wormwood, and that the hidden theology was manifestly a most depraved heresy. Then the Man of keen intellect, and swift to discern the pure from the adulterate, having recognized the most wicked fraud of the spiritual enemies and that immense craftiness, runs to the Cross of the Saviour, prostrates himself on the ground, and with a contrite and humble heart asks that that nefarious and impure writing be blotted out from his inmost heart; which also he obtained forthwith. For when he had raised himself from that place, never from that hour could he either utter or recall to memory anything at all which in any way pertained to that depraved discourse. He goes also to the great labourer in the holier life, and, using a deep inclination, narrates each thing.

[13] But the old man, smiling and taking his hand, said: Act manfully, the elders assenting, he withdraws to solitude, my Son, act manfully and let your heart be strengthened, and endure the temptations of the demons, that you too, being converted, may confirm the souls of many in your generation, and may become a light and salt to those who err in the world. I know indeed the perspicacity of mind and the grace of speech with which God has gifted you, and I know that you rightly defend the mind of the holy doctor; but because I feared lest, elated with a great opinion of yourself, you should rush headlong — which is wont often to happen to those like you who excel in swiftness of intellect — I thought it better to be gladdened by making you sorry, as the Apostle teaches, than that the Holy Spirit should be made sorry over you, if, puffed up with swollen esteem and pride, you should fall. Using these and many other words to him, and praying for him every best thing, he dismissed him in peace with blessings. But our holy father Nilus, making daily greater increases toward the higher degrees of the virtues, by which man draws near to the likeness of God, loved also solitude, the mother of all the virtues, being about to gain from it greater riches and an immense heap of wisdom. And having communicated his counsel with the holy fathers (for he did nothing without consulting them), their prudence assenting and their prayers helping, what was under consultation was decreed. There is not far from the monasteries a cave in the highest rocks, having also a little chapel dedicated to Michael the archangel ^e, most apt for those who are studious of solitude. Into this he, renowned for fortitude, having taken up the zeal of Elias and the endurance of Elisha and the patience of all the Saints, ascended with the greatest joy and the highest alacrity to set his seat. Leading in it a solitary life, and waiting upon God, nay rather standing before Him and beholding the invisible as though visible, he manfully fought many and very great contests; striving to gain for himself the virtues and merits of all the more ancient Saints and just men in the bearing of labours — which no one can either express in words or commit to writing, because, being done in secret, they lie hidden from none but Him who sees what is hidden: unless one conjecture them from the end and from the Father's recompense. For thy Father, He says, who seeth in secret, will repay thee openly. And again: Whosoever shall glorify me, I will glorify him.

[14] For who has obtained so great glory and honour in this generation and there devotes himself to the study of perfection. as this blessed Man — not only from Christian kings and princes, from patriarchs and pontiffs whether of our own or of foreign nations, but even from unbelieving tyrants, from the lords of the Saracens, I mean? These indeed held even his bare name in honour, because they could not see him present. All these things are the surest arguments of his most fervent love toward God, and of that lowliness of mind by which men are lifted up, and of many fastings and vigils and deep prostrations and innumerable ways of afflicting the body, and also of burning temptations and of spiritual and sensible assaults and sicknesses of body, which the wicked spirits violently inflicted upon him, because he was to ascend into that height from which they were cast out. But since out of the many things excellently done by him it behoves to commemorate a few — as many as he with a tongue that did not lie narrated ^f to us unworthy men whom he himself loved from his heart — for the sake of exhortation to seize the better virtues more eagerly, as the masters of wrestlers and of fighters are wont to do; come, let us bring into the midst, for those willing to take profit from each thing, not such things as display the greatness of the greatest miracles and prodigies, at which the unlearned and the unbelieving are astonished, but immense labours and sweats, of which I know that the Apostle gloried. For these very things will indeed seem incredible to the inexperienced; but to those who have some experience they will kindle zeal and add fires to memory.

ANNOTATIONS.

falling from his chariot departed from life. Μαινὰς is a frenzied woman who makes others mad: here without doubt by lust and unlawful loves, as πορνευομένης indicates; but Sirleto gratuitously added the adultery, and rendered ἁρμάτων as chariot. Ἅρμα properly means a chariot; ἄρμα among the Greeks of the later centuries comes more frequently for arms, as is clear in Du Cange in his Glossary: in the sense which Caryophilus expressed it rather seems to be taken here; but then the smooth breathing must be substituted for the rough.

CHAPTER III.

St. Nilus tames the flesh by fastings and vigils and subjects it to the spirit: he variously divides his prayers and daily occupations to avoid weariness: he tries the several rules of living of the ancient Fathers; he cultivates fasting and mortification even to a degree that astonishes, and, variously tempted by the demon, falls into sickness.

ΕΚεῖνος ὁ ἔνσαρκος ἄγγελος ὑπέταξε μὲν ψυκὴν καὶ πνεῦμα τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ πνεύματος, μηδὲν ὅλως ἐάσας τὸν νοῦν φροντίζειν τῶν κάτω καὶ χαμαὶ ἐρχομένων, άλλ᾽ ἐξερευνᾷν τοῦ νόμον τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ ἐκζητεῖν τοῦ πληρῶσαι τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ. Ὑπέταξε δὲ τὴν σάρκα τῶι πνεύματι, πλεῖστα αὐτῇ νομοθετήσας καὶ σφόδρα δουλαγωγήσας, τοῦ εὐπειθῆ καὶ εὐήνιον εἶναι τῷ νεύματι τοῦ ἐπιστατοῦντος. Ἐδίδαξε μὲν γὰρ αὐτὴν, διὰ δύο ἢ τριῶν ἡμερῶν, ἣ καὶ πέντε λαμβάνειν τροφῆς, καὶ ταύτην ἀεὶ ἐνδεῆ, καὶ οἵαν ἂν τύχῃ, τῇ τε τῶν ἡδέων ὀρέξει μηδαμῶς ἐπισπεύδειν· ἀπέχεσθαι οἴνου, καὶ παντοίων διὰ πυρὸς ἐδεσμάτων. Ἐμάστιζε δὲ αὐτὴν ἀγρυπνίαις καὶ ψαλμωδίαις καὶ παννύχοις στάσεσιν. Επειδὴ δέ ἐστι καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς καλοῖς πανουργία δαιμόνων, πέρα τοῦ μέτρου ἐκτείνεσθαι ὑποβάλλοῦσα τοῖς ἀπείροις, ταῦτα ἐκείνῳ μέτρῳ διετελεῖτο. Ἵν᾽ εἰ μὲν ἐλλείψῃ τι τῶν τετυπωμένων, ῥᾳθυμίας δειχθῇ τὸ λεῖψαν, καὶ ὡς ;χρέωστην αὑτὸν τὴν συνήθειαν ἀπαιτήσῃ· εἰδέ τι περισσότερον ὁ λογισμὸς ὑποβάλλῃ, δαιμόνων εἶναι τὸ ἔργον, καὶ ἀποφεύγῃ τὸν δόλον. Ὅθεν ἀπὸ πρωῒ ἓως τρίτης ὀξέως ἐκαλλιγράφει, λεπτωι καὶ πυκνῶι χρώμενος ἰδιοχείρῳ, καὶ τετράδιον πληρῶν καθ᾽ ἑκάστην· ἐν τούτῳ πληρῶν τὴν τοῦ ἐργάζεσθαι κελεύουσαν ἐντολήν. Τὴν δὲ τοῦ Πνεύματος χάριν μετὰ τῶν Ἀποστόλων λαμβάνων ἵστατο μέχρις ἕκτης παρὰ τῷ σταυρῷ τοῦ Δεσπότου μετὰ Μαρίας καὶ Ιωάννου τὸ ψαλτήριον στιχῶν, καὶ ποιῶν γονυκλισίας χιλίας, τελειουμένης κᾀν τούτῳ τῆς ἀεὶ προσεύχεσθαι ἐντολῆς παρεγγυώσης. Ἀπὸ δὲ ἕκτης ἕως ἐνάτης ἐκάθητο ἀναγινώσκων καὶ ἐξερευνῶν τὸν νόμον τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ τὰ ποιήματα τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων καὶ διδασκάλων. Τοῦτο γὰρ ὁ Θεῖος ἀπόστολος γράφει· Πρόσεχε λέγων τῇ ἀναγνώσει. Ἐνάτην δὲ πληρώσας, καὶ ὡς θυμίαμα Θεῷ ἀναπέμπων τὸν ἑσπέριον ὕμνον, ἐξήρχετο ἔξω περιπατῶν καὶ ὡραἳζόμενος, καὶ μικρὸν ἀναπαύων τὴν αἴσθησιν κεκμηκυῖαν τῶι μήκει τῆς ἡμέρας, φέρων ὁμοῦ τὸ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου ἐπὶ τοῦ στόματος· Ὅτι τὰ ἀόρατα τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπο κτίσεως κόσμου τοῖς ποιήμασι νοούμενα καθορᾶται· Καὶ τὸ, ἐκ τῶν δημιουργημάτων τοῦ δημιουργὸν καταλαμβάνοντες.

[16] Πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ ἀπεστήθιζε λόγους καὶ χρησεις τοῦ θεολόγου, καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν διδασκάλων, γυμνάζων ᾀεὶ τὸν νοῦν ἐν τούτοις, καὶ ῥεμβασμοῦ καιρὸν μὴ παρέχων, ἅμα δὲ καὶ τὴν φύσιν τῇ μαθήσει ὀξύνων. Ἡλίου δὲ δύναντος προσερχόμενος τῇ τραπέζῃ ἐκείνῃ· λίθος δὲ ἦν μέγιστος αὕτη, καὶ πινάκιον ἐπ᾽ αὐτῆς ἀπόκλασμα κεραμίου· μεταλάμβανεν εὐχαρίστως τροφῆς, ἧς μετεῖχεν ἐκεῖνος· ποτὲ μέν ψιλὸν ἄρτον, καὶ ὕδωρ ἐν μέτρω· ποτὲ δὲ ὀσπρίων ἑψημένων καὶ μόνον. Ἐν καιρῶι δὲ τοῖς τῶν δένδρων καρποῖς αὐτοῖς ἠρκεῖτο καὶ μόνοις. Επύκτευσεν ὁ ἀνδρεῖος ἀρκεσθῆναι πολκάκις τοῖς αὐτομάτοις δρυὸς κερατίοις, μυρσίνωντε τοῖς καπροῖς καὶ κομάρων, καὶ τοῖς ὁμοίοις. Ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ μή καταδέχεσθαι τὸν οἰκοδεσπότην, γινόμενον ἀληθῶς ὡς ἀσκὸς ἐν τῇ πάχνῃ, ὑπέστρεφε πάλιν πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἄρτου χρῆσιν. Τί δεῖ πολλὰ λεγειν; τοσαύτας πολιτείας διῆλθεν, ὅσας παρ᾽ ἑνὸς ἑκάστοῦ τῶν ἀρχαίων πατέρων πραχθείσας ἀνέγνω. Τεσσαράκοντα μὲν ἡμέρας ἄγευστος οὐ διῆλθεν, ὑφορώμενος τὸ ἐν ἐπαίνοις βάσκανον τῶν ἁνθρώπων, καὶ τὸ τοῦ τύφου κατακλῶν δεινότατον κέρας. Τρὶς εἴκοσι διῆλθεν, δὶς ἐν αὐταῖς γευσάμενος μόναις, παρὰ γυναικὸς φιλοθέου τοῦτο μαθὼν τελεσθὲν ἐκ τῆς Θεοδωρήτου πρακτικῆς ἱστορίας. Διὸ καὶ τῇ πείρᾳ αὐτὸ δοκιμάσας, εὗρεν ἀληθῆ εῖναι τὰ γεγραμμένα. Πεποίηκεν ἕνα ἐνιαυτὸν παρὰ μῆνα μὴ γευσάμενος ὑγροῦ οἵου δή ποτε ὅλως, καὶ καθ᾽ ἑσπέραν ἐσθίων ἄρτον ξηρὸν μετὰ δύσιν ἡλίου· δύο πραγματευόμενος ἐκ τούτου μεγάλα, τό τε ὑπερμαχῆσαι δι᾽ αὐτοῦ τῇ μιᾶι τῶν ἀρετῶν σωφροσύνῃ· καὶ γὰρ ἐφιλοτιμεῖτο καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς φυσικῆς ἐκροῆς ἀπαλλάξαι τὸ σῶμα, ὅπερ ἠγωνίσαντο τῶν ἁγίων οἱ πλεῖστοι· πολὺ δὲ συμβάλλεται ἡ τοῦ ὕδατος ἔνδεια τοῖς τοιούτοις, ὡς ἔφη τις τῶν ἁγίων· καὶ τὸ ἀναστεῖλαι τὴν τοῦ λογισμοῦ φλυαρίαν, διστάζοντός τε καὶ ἀπιστοῦντος ἐν τοῖς ὑπερφυῶς καὶ μεγαλοπρεπῶς τοῖς ἁγίοις πατράσι πεπονημένοις. Πάντως γὰρ ἀκηκόαμεν πάντες τὸν ἐν τῇ διακονίᾳ τοῦ φούρνου ποιήσαντα τρία ἔτη, καὶ μὴ πιόντα, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τελειωθέντα.

[17] Ὅπερ ἐνθυμηθεὶς ὁ μακάριος᾽ οὗτος, μή πως ἡ παντελὴς τοῦ πνεύμονος ψύξις κίνδυνον αὐτῷ ἐπαγάγῃ τὸν οὐ τυχόντα, ἀνετράπη τῆς ἐργασίας. Οὔτε γὰρ δίψα αὐτῷ, ὡς αὐτὸς ἐπληροφόρει, παρηνώχλει λοιπὸν, ἀλλὰ μέχρις ὀγδόης ἡμέρας καὶ μόνον· ἐκ διαθέσεως ἐλάλει τε καὶ ἐποίει τὸ, ἐκολλήθη τῶι ἐδάφει ἡ ψυχή μου, ζῆσον με κατὰ τὸν λόγον σου. Μετέπετα δὲ τὸ, ἐξήγειράς μου τὴν πνοὴν, καὶ παρακληθεὶς ἔζησα. Βεβαιοῖ δὲ τὸ εἰρημένον ὁ φήσας· δίψα δίψαν ἰᾶται, πεῖνα δὲ πεῖναν οὐκ ἀναστέλλει. Τὴν δὲ ἁγίαν τεσσαρακοστὴν διήρχετο πᾶσαν μηδενὸς ἄλλου μετέχων, εί μὴ τοῦ ἀντιδώρου καὶ μόνον· καὶ αὐτὸ δὲ διὰ τὸ καθ᾽ ἐκάστην ἡμέραν αἰτεῖσθαι τὸν ἐπιούσιον ἄρτον. Ὅμως καὶ αὐτὰς ἀπότως ἤνυε πάσας πολλάκις. Πᾶσα μέν οὖν ἡμέρα ὑπῆρκεν αὐτῶι ἐν ἀγῶνι κανόνος ἀπαραβάτου· νὺξ δὲ πάλιν ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς διήιει ἀπαραβάτως ὁμοίως. Ὥρᾳ μιᾷ ἐπληροῦτο τὸ χρέος τοῦ ὕπνου, οὐδὲ γὰρ εἶχεν ᾧ προσαναλώσῃ τὴν πέψιν· τὸ λεῖπον δὲ ἅπαν εἰς πλήρωσιν τοῦ ψαλτηρίου, καὶ πεντακοσίων γονυκλισιῶν μέτρον, τῶν τε μεσονυκτικῶν καὶ ὀρθρινῶν ἀνηλίσκετο ὕμνων. Πολλάκις γὰρ ἀπεμάχετο τῷ ἑαυτοῦ λογισμῷ, καὶ ἐλάλει· Ὅτι οἱ ἐν τῷ κοινοβίῳ ὄντες ἡμέρας μὲν διακαρτεροῦσι τοῖς ἒργοις, νηστεύοντες καθ᾽ ἑκάστην, νυκτὸς δὲ διαγρυπνοῦσι τοῖς ὔμνοις σχολάζοντες καὶ τῇ ἀναγνώσει, ψάλλοντες τόσα καὶ τόσα· ἐλεημοσύνας καὶ ξενοδοχίας ἐργάζονται πλείστας. Ἡμῶν δὲ ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ δοκούσῃ ἡσυχίᾳ καθεζομένων ἐὰν μὴ περισσεύσῃ ἡ δικαιοσύνη καὶ ὁ ἔνθεος πόθος, ματαία ἡ ἐλπὶς ἡμῶν ἔσται καὶ ἀνοίκειος ὁ τρόπος. Ἦν δὲ καὶ τὸ ἔνδυμα αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τριχῶν αἰγῶν σάκκος, εἷς ἐνὶ ἐνιαυτῷ, καὶ ἑτέρῳ ἄλλος. Ἡ δὲ ζώνη αὐτοῦ ἦν σχοινίον μὴ λυόμενον, εἰ μὴ μίαν τοῦ χρόνου. Διὸ καὶ ἐν πλήθει φθειρῶν ἐκαρτέρει μὴ σικχαινόμενος ἢ κνηθόμενος τῇ αὐτῶν ἐνοχλήσει. Θάμνος δὲ ὑπῆρχεν ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ σπηλαίου, ἔνθα μυρμήκων πλῆθος κατῴκει, ἐν ᾧ ῥιπτούμενος παρὰ τοῦ ἁγίου ὁ σάκκος ἐκαθαρίζετο ἀπὸ σκωλήκων ἐκείνων, οὕτω γὰρ αὐτοὺς καλεῖν δέον τραχυνθέντας τῷ χρόνῳ, δίκην εἰσπραττομένων παρὰ τῶν μυρμήκων, δι᾽ ὧν ἠνώχλησαν τῷ δικαίω.

[18] Κλίνη αὐτῷ οὐχ ὑπῆρχεν, οὔτε θρονίον, οὐ κιβώτιον ἢ γλωσσόκομον, ἢ βαλάντιον ποτὲ, οὐ πήρα, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ μέλανος δοχεῖον σχολάζοντι ἐν τῷ γράφειν· κηρὸν δὲ πήξας ἐπὶ τῷ ξύλῳ, δι᾽ αὐτοῦ τῶν τοσούτων βιβλίων τὸ πλῆθος ἐκαλλιγράφησε. Ταῦτα δέ μοι φιλοπεπόνηται τὰ μικρὰ μὲν ἐκείνῳ, ἑτέροις δὲ καὶ λίαν μεγάλα, οὐχ ἵνα προθήκη τις ἐκ τούτων γένηται αὐτῷ, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα γνῶμεν μέχρι πόσου κατώρθωσεν, ὧνπερ ἀρετῶν ἤρξατο τὴν ἐργασίαν, ἀκτημοσύνης λέγω καὶ ἐγκρατείας, καὶ ἀγρυπνίας καὶ προσευχῆς, δι᾽ ὧν γίνεταί τις εἰκὼν καὶ ὁμοίωσις τοῦ Θεοῦ. τὰς δ᾽ ἐκχύσεις τῶν θερμῶν δακρύων αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοὺς πικροὺς στεναγμοὺς, καὶ στηθῶν τύψεις, καὶ μετώπου ἐν τῇ γῇ ἀραγμοὺς τίς ἂν ἐννοήσαι, ἢ κατ᾽ ἀξίαν εἴποι; Τὰς δ᾽ ἐπιπλήξεις καὶ ὀνειδισμοὺς, καὶ ὕβρεις, καὶ ἐξουδενώσεις, ἃς αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ ἐπῆγεν ἐν ἅπασιν, ὡς ἐχθρὸν ἑαυτὸν παραφυλάττων; Τὰς δ᾽ ἐπιβουλὰς, καὶ πολέμους, καὶ ἐπιφορὰς τῶν δαιμόνων, τὰς διὰ τῶν λογισμῶν καὶ φανερῶν φαντασιῶν, καὶ μέντοι καὶ πόνων σωματικῶν ἐκ νόσων χαλεπῶν, μόλις ἂν καὶ αὑτὸς ὁ παθὼν καθεξῆς ἰσχύσαι φράσαι ἂν. Πολλάκις ἐπολεμήθη δεινῶς ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν τοῦ καταλεῖψαι τὴν ἡσυχίαν καὶ εἰς τὰ κοινόβια ἀπελθεῖν, ἵν᾽ ὡς φυγάδα καὶ δειλὸν αὐτὸν ἀποκαλέσωσιν οἱ δεινοί. Ὅτε οὖν ἐπηνωχλεῖτο ἀνάγκῃ πολλῇ ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν· ἐποίουν γὰρ αὑτὸν ἐμπεφυσημένον δοκεῖν ὑπὸ τῆς βίας τῶν λογισμῶν, ὥστε μὴ χωρεῖσθαι αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ σπηλαίου· Ἐπαίρων τὸ τρίχινον ἔνδυμα αὐτοῦ, ὃ ἀπέκειτο ἐν ἑτέρῳ ἐν αὐτῷ, ἐτίθη εἰς ξύλον, οὐδὲ γὰρ ῥάβδον εἶχεν ἐπί τοῦ ὤμου· καὶ κατερχόμενος μέχρι μετασμοῦ τῆς ὁδοῦ, ἐν ᾧ ἵστατο δένδρον ὐψηλὸν, ἐποίει αὐτὸ, ὡς ὁ ὅσιος Φαντῖνος ἐστὶν, ἢ ἕτερός τις τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων. Εἶτα βαλὼν τῷ δένδρῳ μετάνοιαν, ἵστατο ὡς ἐρωτώμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς, και ἀποκρινόμενος τῆς ἐλεύσεως αὐτοῦ τὴν αἰτίαν, καὶ πάλιν ὀνειδιζόμενος καὶ καταγελώμενος ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν λεγόντων· Ἴδε σοι ὁ ἡσυχαστής. Τούτοις τοῖς τρόποις, καὶ τοῖς ἀντιῤῥητικοῖς συλλογισμοῖς τροπούμενος τοὺς πολεμίους ἐχθροὺς, ὑπέστρέφεν ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ ὡς εἰς τινα φυλακὴν, διακαρτερῶν καὶ λέγων ἐν ἑαυτῷ· Καλόν μοι μᾶλλον ἀποθανεῖν, ἢ τὸ καύχημά μου ἵνα τις κενώσῃ.

[19] Πολλάκις προσευχομένῳ καὶ ψάλλοντι ἔλεγον οἱ λογισμοί· Βλέψον εἰς τὸ θυσιαστήριον, ἴσως ἄγγελον ἢ φλόγα πυρὸς, ἢ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα θεάσῃ περὶ αὐτὸ, καθὼς ἐθεάσαντο πολλοὶ. Αὐτὸς δὲ μύων τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς, τοτοῦτον κατεπόνει ἑαυτὸν ἐν πλήθει δακρύων καὶ μετανοιῶν, ὡς κατέρχεσθαι τὸν ἱδρῶτα αὐτοῦ ὡς ὕδωρ ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. Ὑπέβαλλε δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ πονηρὸς καὶ πύρωσιν

δριμυτάτην ἐν τῇ σαρκί· αὐτὸς δὲ τῇ προστρίψει τῶν ἀκανθῶν καὶ ἀγρίων κνηδῶν ἐσβέννυε διὰ τῆς ὀδύνης τὴν ἡδονήν. Καθημένῳ ποτὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀγρυπνίας, καὶ μικρὸν ἑαυτὸν ἐκ τοῦ κόπου ὑποχαυνώσαντι, ἐπέστησαν αὐτῷ δύο δαίμονες κατέχοντες καὶ ἄλλον μέσον αὐτῶν· οὗ καὶ ἀνοίξαντες ὡσανεὶ τὰς πλευρὰς, καὶ ἐκβαλόντες ἅπαντα τὰ ἐντὸς αὐτοῦ, ἔῤῥιψαν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν· ὁ δὲ σύντρομος ἀναστὰς, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ναυσίας ἐμέσας πικροτάτην χολὴν, ἠσφαλίσατο ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὸ ἑξῆς. Ποτὲ ἐν τῇ Ρώμῃ ἀπελθὼν λόγῳ προσευχῆς καὶ ἀνερευνήσεως βιβλίων τινῶν, εἶδεν ἐν τῷ ναῷ τοῦ ἀποστόλου Πέτρου ἐν παρόδῳ γυναῖκα Ἀλεμάναν, ὑψηλὴν τῷ σώματι καὶ μεγάλην. Ταύτης τὴν θέαν τυπώσαντες οἱ πανοῦργοι, ἐδείκνυον τῷ ἁγίῳ καὶ ψάλλοντι, καὶ ἀναγινώσκοντι, καὶ γράφοντι, καὶ πᾶν εἴτι ἄλλο ποιοῦντι. Τούτου τοῦ πολέμου κραταιουμένου, καὶ μηδὲν ὅλως ἔχων ἐννοῆσαι τι ἀντιπράξασθαι πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους, πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν καταφεύγει, αὐτῷ τὴν οἰκείαν ἀσθένειαν ἀπαγγέλλων· καὶ ῥίψας ἑαυτὸν ἐνώπιον τοῦ ἱλαστηρίου ἐν συντετριμμένῃ καὶ ταπεινῇ τῇ καρδίᾳ ἔλεγε πρὸς τὸν σωτῆρα· Κύριε σὺ ἐπίστασαι, ὅτι ἀσθενής εἰμι· ἐλέησόν με, καὶ κούφισόν με ἐκ τοῦ πολέμου τῶν ἀκαθάρτων δαιμόνων, ὅτι λοιπὸν τῆς ζωῆς μου ἀπεῖπον. Ταοῦτα εἰπὼν κείμενος ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ μικρὸν ἀφυπνώσας, ὁρᾷ ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ ἱστάμενον τὸν τίμιον σταυρὸν, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ κρεμάμενον ζῶντα τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν, μέσον δὲ αὐτῶν κρεμάμενον βῆλον καθαρὸν καὶ λίαν λεπτότατον. Καὶ βοήσας μετὰ φόβου πολλοῦ λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν· Ἐλέησόν με δέσποτα, καὶ εὐλόγησόν με τὸν δοῦλον σου. Τότε ὁ Σωτὴρ ἐξηλώσας τὴν δεξιὰν χεῖρα ἀπὸ τοῦ σταυροῦ, τρίτον ἐπεσφράγισεν αὐτὸν, καὶ τέλος εἶχεν ἡ ἔνθεος ὀπτασία, σὺν αὐτῇ δὲ καὶ πόλεμος ἅπας, καὶ ἡ τῆς φύσεως ῥεῦσις· καὶ ὅπερ οὐκ ἴσχυσαν ἐκτελέσαι αἱ πολλαὶ πεῖναι, καὶ ἀγρυπνίαι, ἴσχυσεν ἡ ταπείνωσις καὶ ἡ ἐπίγνωσις τῆς οἰκείας ἀδυναμίας.

[20] Διατρίβοντι τοίνυν τῷ ὁσίῳ ἐν ἀνέσει καὶ χαρᾷ καὶ εὐφροσύνῃ πνευματικῇ, ἔρχεταί τις πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀδελφὸς παρακαλῶν συμπαραμεῖναι αὐτῷ· ἴσως σωθήσεται δι᾽ αὐτοῦ. Μόλις οὖν ἐπιτυχὼν τοῦ σκοποῦ φησὶ πρὸς τὸν ὅσιον. Πάτερ ἔχω τρία νομίσματα, τί κελεύεις ποιῆσαι με αὐτά; Ὁ δὲ, ἀπελθὼν δὸς αὐτὰ τοῖς πτωχοῖς· καὶ ἄρας τὸ ψαλτήριόν σου ἔπου ταῖς ἐντολαῖς τοῦ Σωτῆρος· εὐθέως δὲ ἐποίησεν οὕτως· Καὶ διακαρτερήσας μετὰ τοῦ ὁσίου πατρὸς οὐ μήκιστον χρόνον, καὶ μαθὼν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὴν τῆς καλλιγραφίας δυσδιόρθωτον τέχνην, ἀχθεσθεὶς ἐπί τε τῇ σκληροτάτῃ διαίτῃ, καὶ ἀπαραμυθήτῳ ἀσκήσει, ἤρξατο προφασίζεσθαι προφάσεις ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, καὶ ζητεῖν πόρους λογομαχίας, δι᾽ ὧν τὸν πατέρα πρὸς θυμὸν διεγείρῃ. Αὐτος δὲ ἀεὶ ἐν νῷ περιφέρων τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὡς πρὸς μόνον αὐτον εἰρημένας, καὶ μνημονεύων ὡς ὁ λέγων τῷ ἀδελφῷ αὐτοῦ ῥακὰ, ἔνοχος ἔσται εἰς τὴν γέενναν τοῦ πυρὸς, οὐδέποτε εἶπεν αὐτῷ ῥῆμα πονηρόν. Τότε λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν πρᾴως καὶ ἐπιεικῶς· Ἀδελφὲ τιμιώτατε ἐν εἰρέννη κέκληκεν ἡμᾶς ὁ Θεὸς ἐνταῦθα, καὶ ἐν ἀγάπῃ, πνεύματί τε πρᾳότητος· μὴ γὰρ ἐν πικρίᾳ καὶ ὀργῇ καὶ θυμῷ; εἰ δὲ τοσοῦτον βεβάρυσαι εἰς ἐμὲ τὸν ταπεινὸν, καὶ ἀφόρητος ἐγενόμην τοῖς σοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς, πορεύου ἐν εἰρήννῃ ὅπου ἂν βούλῃ, καὶ ἐμὲ τὸν ἀμαρτωλὸν μὴ ἐνόχλει· οἶδα γάρ σε ἐγὼ μὴ δυνάμενον, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ μὴ βουλόμενον ἀποσείσασθαι τὸ παραβάλλον σοι πνεῦμα τῆς φιλαρχίας καὶ φιλοἳερατείας. Ἄπελθε τοίνυν ἐκπληρώσων τὸ σὸν βούλημα, καὶ εὑρήσεις τὸ κατάλυμα πρόσφορον. Ὁ δὲ ἀδελφὸς πλέον ὑπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ ἐξαφθεὶς ἐπὶ τῷ ἐλέγχῳ τῶν κρυφίων αὐτοῦ λογισμῶν, φησὶν ὀργιζόμενος πρὸς αὐτόν· Δός μοι τὰ τρία μου νομίσματα, καὶ πορεύομαι. Τί γὰρ ἀνάγκην εἶχον ἐγὼ δοῦναι αὐτὰ τοῖς πτωχοῖς, εἰ μὴ ἐπειθόμην τῇ κελεύσει τῇ σῇ; Ἀποκρίνεται εὐθέως πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ πατήρ· Γράψον μοι φησὶν ἀδελφὲ εἰς τμῆμα χαρτίου τοῦ ἀπολαβεῖν με τὸν μισθὸν αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ θὲς αὐτὸ ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον, κᾀγὼ ἄρτι παρέχω σοι τὰ τρία νομίσματα.

[21] Ὁ δὲ θέλων ἀπιδεῖν, πόθεν ἄρα ἐξῇ αὐτῷ πληρῶσαι τὸ ἐπαγγελλόμενον, μήτε κᾂν ὀβολὸν ἔχοντι, ἰδίᾳ χειρὶ τὸ κελευσθὲν ἀπεπλήρωσε, καὶ τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ ἐπέθηκεν. Καὶ δὴ παραλαβὼν αὐτὸν ὁ πατὴρ κατέρχεται πρὸς τὸ τοῦ καστελλίου κοινόβιον· κᾀκεῖθεν δανεισάμενος τρία νομίσματα, δέδωκεν αὐτὰ μετὰ ἀγάπης τῷ ἀδελφῷ. Κᾀκεῖνος δεξάμενος ἀνεχώρησεν, καὶ πεπλήρωκεν ἰδιοθελῶς ὅσα προεῖπεν αὐτῷ ὁ πατὴρ, καὶ μετ᾽ ὀλίγον καιρὸν τετελεύτηκεν. Ὁ δὲ ὅσιος πατὴρ ἡμῶν Νεῖλος ὑποστρέψας ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ καθεσθεὶς ἐν ὑπομονῇ καὶ καρτερίᾳ πολλῇ, ἐντὸς ὀλίγων ἡμερῶν τρία ψαλτήρια γεγραφὼς· τότε γὰρ λέγεται πεπληρωκέναι ἓν ἓκαστον ἐξ αὐτῶν διὰ τεσσάρων ἡμερῶν· ἐλύθη τοῦ χρέους τοῦ διὰ τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἰδὼν οὖν ὁ τῶν δικαίων ἐχθρὸς, ὅτι ἐν πάσῃ προσβολῇ ἡττᾶται καὶ καταβέβληται ὑπὸ τοῦ δικαίου ἀνδρὸς, μετατίθησι τὴν πάλην ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐντὸς ἀνθρώπου ἐπὶ τὸν ἐκτὸς, καὶ ἄρχεται πλήττειν αὐτὸν ἐν πόνοις δεινοῖς, καὶ ἀῤῥωστίαις σωματικαῖς, ὡστε κᾂν ἐμποδίσαι αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τῆς καθημερινῆς λειτουργίας αὐτοῦ, καὶ τῆς οὐρανοδρόμου καὶ ἐχθρᾶς αὐτῷ προσευχῆς. Τί οὖν μηχανᾶται περὶ αὐτόν; ὄγκῳ δεινοτάτῳ καὶ ἀφορήτῳ πόνῳ περιλαβὼν τὰ τὴν φωνὴν ἀποτελοῦντα ὄργανα αὐτοῦ, πεποίηκεν αὐτὸν ἄφωνον κατακεῖσθαι παντελῶς καὶ ἄβρωτον τῆς συνήθους τροφῆς· ἀλλ᾽ ὅμως καὶ ἐν τούτῳ πολὺ πλέον ᾐσχύνετο καὶ ἡττᾶτο ὁ πολέμιος ἐχθρός. Ὅσον γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἀπέκλειε τὴν ψαλμολόγον καὶ ὑμνοφόρον φωνὴν, τοσοῦτον αὐτὸς τὴν διάνοιαν ὕψου πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἐνετρύφα ἀπερισπάστως ταῖς θεαρέστοις καὶ μεγαλοπρεπέσιν ἐννοίαις. Ἵνα δὲ καὶ τῷ λιμῷ μὴ ἐκλείψῃ καὶ ἀποκάμῃ, ὕδατι τὸν ξηρὸν ἄρτον λειώσας, ταύτῃ ἐκέχρητο τῇ διαίτῃ.

[The Saint wears down his flesh with fastings and vigils, a severe observer of the laws he set himself,] Therefore that bodily Angel had subjected both his soul and his spirit to the law of God, not permitting his mind at all to think of the lowest and vilest things, but lifting it up assiduously to search out the law of God and to strive with all zeal to fulfil His precepts. And he subjected the flesh to the spirit, tamed by many laws and reduced into a great servitude, so that it should show itself easy and prompt to obey at the will of him who governed it. For he taught it to take necessary food on every second, or third, or fifth day, and that slight and such as came to hand, and by no means to follow after the appetite for sweet things, and to abstain from wine and from all foods cooked by fire. Further, he scourged it with vigils and psalmody, with night-long standings never seated, and with very frequent bending of the knees. For the rest, since even in good things themselves the craft of the demon is not wanting, suggesting to the ruder sort that they exceed the measure, he used a measure in all things, so that if he had done less than what he had appointed for himself, the deficiency should be attributed to sloth, and he should exact the accustomed usage from himself as from a debtor: but if his thought should suggest anything more, it should be recognized as the work of the demon and the deceit avoided. And so from first light until the third hour he wrote out copies swiftly and elegantly, using a form of letters small and close, so that each day he filled a quaternion; in this way observing the precept by which it is commanded that one must labour. But receiving the grace of the Spirit with the Apostles, he stood at the Cross of the Lord until the sixth hour with Mary and John, reciting psalms and performing a thousand bendings of the knees, in this part too fulfilling the precept of perpetual prayer. From the sixth to the ninth hour he sat reading, searching out the law of the Lord and unrolling the writings of the holy Fathers and doctors; for so the Apostle commands, saying: Attend to reading. After the ninth hour, directing to God the evening hymn like incense, he went out to walk, and refreshed moderately by varied gazing the sense wearied by the long day's labour, uttering the saying of the Apostle: That the invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made: and that other, Perceiving the Creator from His creatures.

[16] he makes trial of the several austerities of the holy Fathers, He also recited many sentences and words of Gregory the Theologian and of the other doctors, exercising his mind in these perpetually, so that at no time might it wander, and at the same time sharpening his intellect by learning. After sunset he went to table: his table, moreover, was a very large stone, and the dish set upon it a fragment of a jar, and he took his food with thanksgiving. And his food was either plain bread and water at the table, or certainly only cooked pulse: in the season of fruits too he fed on fruits alone. The magnanimous Man also often strove to live on husks plucked from the tree, and on the berries of the myrtle and of the strawberry tree, and the like. But, his mistress the flesh resisting, which became in truth like a bottle in the frost, he returned again to the use of bread. Why say more? He made trial of as many institutes of living as he had read to have been familiar to each of the holy Fathers of old: and forty whole days indeed he did not fast, dreading the envy of human praise and breaking the pernicious horn of a puffed-up mind: but three times he passed twenty days, taking food during that time only twice, since he had learned from the practical history of Theodoret that there had once been a woman, a lover of God, who had accomplished this. Wherefore, when he had proved the thing by experiment, he found that what is written is true. For a year less one month he used no drink at all, using bread alone daily toward evening after sunset, procuring for himself from this two benefits of great moment: namely, that he might bring succour to temperance, one of the four virtues; for he was especially eager to free his body even from the natural efflux, which very many of the saints have contended to attain; and to this the abstinence from water contributes very much, as a certain one of the Saints ^a has said: and further, that he might repress the vanity of a mind doubting and not giving credit to the narratives which are read about the wonderful and magnificent deeds of the holy Fathers. For certainly the history is known to all of him who for three years was engaged in the service of the oven without drink, and died ^b in this abstinence.

[17] When this example had come into the mind of this Blessed man, he makes trial of them, lest too great a dryness of the lung should bring on a great danger, it deterred him from his undertaking. For thirst was no longer troublesome to him, as he himself affirmed, but only until the eighth day; and he studiously recited and observed that saying: My soul hath cleaved to the pavement, quicken thou me according to thy word. And then that other: Thou hast raised up my spirit, and being comforted I have lived. And what is said confirms our assertion: Thirst cures thirst, hunger does not repress hunger. Moreover he passed the whole holy Lent tasting nothing else but the bread blessed at the sacred Masses, and that because through

each single day the daily bread is asked for: yet without drink he often passed those same whole days. Every day therefore was spent by him under this rule of labours to be borne, which it was not lawful to transgress, and the night likewise was passed marked out by the same duties not to be omitted. In one hour he paid the debt of sleep, for otherwise his food could not be worked up by digestion: the remaining part of the night was given to singing the psalter, and to five hundred bendings of the knees, and to the recitation of the nocturnal and morning hymns. For often, contending with his own mind, he said: Those who lead the common life in monasteries are indeed occupied with daily labours, fasting every day, but spend the night watching in the praises of God and in sacred reading, singing so many things, distributing very many alms and exercising hospitality: but we who sit here living this life which seems solitary, unless justice and religious labour abound, have a vain hope, and the rule of life we have taken up is unsuited to us. And his garment was a sack of goats' hair, one for one year, another for another; his girdle a rope, which was not loosed except once when the year was ended: whence he bore a great number of lice, not shrinking from them, nor scratching himself on account of the annoyance from them. Before the cave there was a thicket where a multitude of ants dwelt: upon it the holy Man used to throw his sack, that it might be cleansed of those worms — for so it is fitting to call them, made rougher by time — so that they might pay penalties to the ants for the annoyances they had brought upon the Saint.

[18] He had no bed, no seat, no little chest or box, no purse, no wallet, nor even an inkstand though he wrote so much, but with wax fixed upon wood he wrote out by its means so great a store of books so elegantly. and he performs the works of the most rigid penance: These things I have pursued in so careful a narration — small if you regard him, but very great if you regard others — not that anything should be added to him by them, but that it may become known what progress he made in those virtues whose duties he undertook to fulfil: in perfect abstinence, I mean, from possessing things, in continence, in vigils and in prayer, in the solitary life and in chastity, in humility and in the rest [c] through which man is made the image and likeness of God. For the rest, the fervent tears which flowed from him abundantly, and the bitter sighs and the beatings of his breast and the dashings of his forehead upon the earth, who could comprehend in mind or recount worthily? For the rebukes and reproaches and insults and the utmost contempt of himself which he turned upon himself, whatever he was doing, watching himself as his own enemy; and also the ambushes, conflicts and assaults of the demons, both through internal thoughts and through manifest apparitions, and likewise the pains of body from grave diseases, even he who suffered them could scarcely narrate all. He suffered many and grave wars urging him to leave solitude and betake himself to the monasteries, so that from this the wicked spirits might call him a deserter and a coward. When therefore he was reduced into great straits (for they brought it about that he seemed puffed up by the violence of his thoughts, and that the cave could not hold him), then, taking the garment woven of hair which was to serve for the following year, he hung it upon a stick — for he did not carry a staff on his shoulder — and going down to the middle of the road, where there was a tall tree, he imagined to himself that it was blessed Fantinus, or some other holy father. Then, having shown deep reverence to the tree, he stood as though he were being questioned by the father and were answering about the cause of his coming; and presently as if he were chidden by him and by the brethren saying: Behold the dweller in the desert! By these methods and by opposing reasonings turning his enemies to flight, he returned into the cave, bearing it patiently as though it were a prison, and saying within himself: It is better for me to die than that anyone should make void my glory.

[19] He overcomes various temptations of the demon. Often, when he was fixed in prayer and singing psalms, a thought suggested to him: Look into the sanctuary, perhaps you will see in it either an angel, or a flame of fire, or the Holy Spirit, as many others have seen: but he, closing his eyes, wearied himself with such abundance of prostrations and tears that his sweat flowed down like water upon the ground. The wicked one also cast upon him a most vehement burning of lust; but he, rolling himself among thorns and sharp nettles, extinguished the pleasure by pain. Once as he sat after a vigil and was relaxing a little after his labour, two demons stood by him, holding a third between them; and having disembowelled him as it were by an opening of his sides, they cast all his entrails upon the ground. Seeing this, he rose trembling, and from nausea vomited most bitter bile, from which he rendered himself better fortified for the future. When once he had gone to Rome for the sake of prayer and of seeking out certain books, he saw in the church of Peter the apostle a German woman passing by, of remarkable tallness of body. Her image, impressed on his mind, the malignant spirits kept showing to the holy Man, whether he was singing psalms, or reading, or writing, or doing anything else whatever. As this battle grew strong, since he could devise nothing at all by which to repel his enemies, he fled to God, setting before Him the feebleness of his own powers. He prostrates himself therefore before the sacred altar with contrite and humble heart, and says to the Saviour: Thou knowest, Lord, that I am weak; have mercy on me and lift me up, oppressed by the war of the impure demons, for I have now despaired of my life. When he had said these things, lying on the ground and seized by a light sleep, he sees standing before him the precious cross and our Lord hanging alive upon it, and a veil hanging between, white and most fine. Then he himself, crying out with great fear, said: Have mercy on me, Lord, and bless thy servant. Then the Saviour, the nail being struck out of His right hand, blessed him three times with the sign of the Cross, and the divine vision vanished, and at the same time all the battle ceased, and the flux of nature; and what many fastings and excessive thirst and vigils could not effect, humility and the acknowledgment of his own infirmity effected.

[20] The holy Man therefore led a quiet and joyful life, He dismisses a companion impatient of the severer life, full of spiritual gladness. Meanwhile a certain brother came asking that he would receive him as a companion, if perhaps by his help he might obtain salvation. Having at length with difficulty obtained his desire, he says to the Saint: I have, Father, three coins; what will you have me do with them? He said: Go, and give them to the poor, and taking up your Psalter follow the precepts of the Saviour: and he at once obeyed. Not much time passed in their companionship, and he learned from the holy Father the difficult art of writing beautifully and fitly: but hating the harshest institute of life and the labours of the solitary life relaxed by no remission, he began to make excuses in sins and to seek occasions of contention by which he might provoke the Father to anger. But he, ever revolving in mind the precepts of the Lord as though uttered for himself alone, and recalling to memory that he is guilty of the fire of hell who shall say to his brother, Raca, never used a harsh word against him. At last with calm and moderate mind he addressed him thus: Honoured brother, God has called us hither in peace and in charity and in the spirit of meekness; was it then to bitterness and anger and gall? But if I, humble as I am, am so grievous to you and have become intolerable to your eyes, go in peace whithersoever it please you, and do not be troublesome to me a sinner: for I know that you cannot, nay rather that you will not, drive away the spirit which puts torches under you to rule and to exercise the priesthood. Go therefore and fulfil your desire, and you will find a fitting lodging. But that brother, more sharply incited by the malignant demon because he saw refuted the things which he himself had secretly thought, answered angrily: Give me back those three coins and I will go at once: for what compelled me to give them to the poor but your command, which I wished to obey? And at once the Father said to him: Write for me, brother, on a little paper, that I shall receive their reward in the kingdom of heaven, and place it upon the altar, and I will straightway pay you the three coins.

[21] But he, desiring to know whence the means should be at hand for one who had not even an obol to fulfil his promise, and is afflicted with diseases by the demon. wrote with his own hand what was demanded and placed the paper upon the altar. And the Father, having received it, went down to the monastery of the castle and, having borrowed three coins there, gave them in friendly wise to the brother. He took them and departed, and satisfying his own will did everything that the Father had foretold to him, and a little after died. But the holy father Nilus, having returned to his own cave, and sitting in patience and much endurance, within a few days wrote out three Psalters (for it is reported that he spent four days upon each), and remained free from the debt which he had contracted on account of the precept of Christ. But the enemy of the just, seeing himself conquered and laid low by the just Man in every encounter, transferred the wrestling from the inner man to the outer, and set about assailing him with the greatest pains and diseases of the body, that he might at least call him away from his daily ministry and from prayer, which was hostile to himself, by which the mind flies up to heavenly things. What then does he contrive against him? Compressing the organs of his voice with a very great swelling and intolerable pain, he took away from him utterly the use of his voice, and forced him to lie abstaining from his accustomed food; and yet in this very thing the enemy was much more confounded and overcome. For the more he hindered that tongue accustomed to psalms and hymns, the higher did he himself lift up his mind to God, and enjoyed a contemplation pleasing to God and magnificent, without any wandering of mind. But lest he should perish of hunger and fail altogether, moistening and crumbling dry bread with water, he used this diet.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER IV.

Brought back sick to the monastery, he recovers, and returning again to the cave is grievously wounded by the devil with a cudgel, from which evil he is prodigiously healed. He instructs Stephen in the institutes of the monastic life.

ΜΕτ᾽ οὐ πολὺ τοίνυν πρὸς ἐπίσκεψιν αὐτοῦ ἐλήλυθεν Φαντῖνος ὁ ἁγιώτατος· παρέβαλλον γὰρ ἀλλήλοις πυκνότερον, ἀλλήλοις ὡς δύο φωστῆρες πυκνότερον καταφωτίζοντες· καὶ τὸν ἑβδομαρισιαῖον ἄρτον ὁ μέγας Φαντῖνος σὺν πολλῇ παρακλήσει πείσας τὸν ὅσιον Νεῖλον δέξασθαι, παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῆς τῶν χειρῶν ἐργασίας τὴν χάριν ἀντεσηκοῦτο. Ἰδὼν τοιγαροῦν αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ τοιαύτῃ ἀνάγκῃ, καὶ πολλὰ δυσωπήσας ἀπήγαγεν εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον αὐτοῦ μετὰ πάσης σπουδῆς· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν Θεὸν παρεκάλει περὶ τῆς ὑγείας

αὐτοῦ ἐξ ὅλης ψυχῆς. Ὁ δὲ καρτερικώτατος Νεῖλος μὴ δυνάμενος γεύσασθαί τινος εἰ μὴ ὕδατος, καὶ αὐτοῦ μετὰ βίας καὶ πόνου, καὶ τοῦτο ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἡμέρας, εἶπεν αὐτῷ ὁ λογισμὸς· ὅτι εἵπερ ἦν ἀπὸ ἰχθύος μέρος μικρὸν, ἐλάμβανον ἂν ἐξ αὐτοῦ, καὶ διήνοιγέ μοι τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ φαγεῖν. Πυκτεύσας οὖν ἐπὶ ἡμέρας ὀκτὼ, ἢ καὶ πρὸς τοῦ μὴ ἀναγγεῖλαι τὸ πρᾶγμα τινι· καὶ μάλιστα καθ᾽ ἑκάστην ὁρῶν διερχόμενον τινὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ, καὶ πρὸς τὸ ἁλιεῦσαι πορευόμενον, καὶ αὖθις μετ᾽ ἰχθύων ὑποστρέφοντα· μετὰ πολλὴν ἄθλησιν καὶ πάλην τοῦ τοιούτου λογισμοῦ, ἰδοὺ ἔρχεταί τις πρὸς αὐτὸν κοσμικὸς ἐπιφερόμενος κοφίνιον μεστὸν ἰχθύων, τῶν μὲν τηγανιστῶν, τῶν δὲ ὀπτῶν τυγχανόντων, παρακαλῶν καὶ δεόμενος αὐτοῦ, ὅπως γεύσηται ἐξ αὐτῶν· ἐπειδή, φησιν, ἑσπέρας ἀκούσας τὰ κατὰ σὲ, ἐξῆλθον τοῦ ἁλιεῦσαι ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί σου τῷ ἁγίῳ, καὶ τῶν εὐχῶν ὑμῶν συνεργησάντων ἠγρευσάμην ἀρκούντως· καὶ δέον σε πάτερ μεταλαβεῖν ἐξ αὐτῶν. Τότε ὁ μακάριος Νεῖλος τὸν μὲν ἄνθρωπον ἀπέστειλεν εὐλογήσας, καὶ μεγάλως εὐχαριστήσας ὑπὲρ τοῦ αὐτοῦ κόπου· τῷ δὲ λογισμῷ αὐτοῦ διελέγετο οὕτως· Ταῦτα οὐχ ὁ Θεὸς ἡτοίμασεν, οὐδ᾽ ἄγγελος· οὐ δὲ γάρ ἔιμι τῶν φοβουμένων αὐτὸν, ἴνα τὸ θέλημά μου ποιήσῃ. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον τοῦ διαβόλου τυγχάνει, ἐπειδή με ᾔσθετο δουλωθέντα τῇ τοιαύτῃ ἐπιθυμίᾳ. Γέγραπται γὰρ, μὴ ἐπιθυμήσῃς· Ζῇ Κύριος, οὐκ᾽ εἰσέρχεταί τι ἐξ αὐτῶν εἰς τὸ στόμα μου. Ὑπῆρχε δὲ τότε ἐκεῖ μοναχός τις παραγενόμενος ἐκ τῶν ἄνω μερῶν, ὃς λίαν ἠγαπᾶτο παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ δια τὸ ἀσματικὸν εἶναι αὐτὸν καὶ σφόδρα καλλίφωνον. Τοῦτον καλέσας ὁ ὄσιος δέδωκεν αὐτῷ, καθὼς ην τὸ κοφίνιον, εἰπὼν πρὸς αοὐτόν· Λάβε τοῦτο τὸ ξένιον, ὅπερ σοι Χριστὸς ἐξαπέστειλεν. Ὁ δὲ λαβὼν ἀνεχώρησεν. Ἰδὼν οὖν ὁ Θεὸς τὴν μεγίστην αὐτοῦ ὑπομονὴν καὶ καρτερίαν, ἀντελάβετο αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀπήλλαξεν αὐτὸν τῆς ὀδύνης καὶ τῆς νόσου ἐκείνης τῆς πονηρᾶς, τοῦ πάθους ἔνδον ἐν τῷ τραχήλῳ ῥαγέντος, καὶ ἕλκους πολλοῦ διὰ τοῦ στόματος ἐξελθόντος. Μικρᾶς οὖν ἀνεσεως ἐπιτυχὼν ἀνέρχεται πάλιν ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ, τῆς συνήθους ἐχόμενος πολιτείας, καὶ τὴν ἡσυχίαν ἀσπαζόμενος ὡς οἰκείαν μητέρα. Ὁ δὲ διάβολος οὐκ ἐπαύσατο βρύχων κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ τοὺς ὀδόντας καὶ ἀγωνιζόμενος, εἴγε ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ προνοίας παρεχωρεῖτο, ὥστε καὶ τοῦ ζῇν ἀπαλλάξαι τὸν δίκαιον ἄνδρα.

[23] Καὶ δὴ κατὰ τὸ ἔθος σχολάζοντι ἐν μιᾷ νυκτὶ, καὶ διαγρυπνοῦντι ἐν ψαλμοῖς καὶ γονυκλισίαις ἐν τῷ μικρῷ σπηλαρίῳ τῷ ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ λελατομημένῳ, καὶ τῆς τοῦ φέγγους αὐγῆς τα πάντα καταλαμπούσης, ἦν γὰρ τοῦ θέρους ἡ ὥρα, φαίνεται αὐτῷ ὁ διάβολος ὀφθαλμοφανῶς ὡς Αἰθίοψ, ῥόπαλον ἐν ταῖς χερσὶ κατέχων· μεθ᾽ οὗ τύψας τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ ἁγίου, ἔῤῥιψεν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἀφῆκεν ἡμιθανῆ τυγχάνοντα. Μετὰ γοῦν μίαν ὥραν εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἐλθὼν ὁ ὅσιος, ἔγνω μὲν τοῦ διαβόλου τὸν φθόνον καὶ τὴν ἄπειρον κατ᾽ αὐτοῦ βασκανίαν, σφόδρα δὲ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀλγυνόμενος, καὶ τὸ ἥμισῦ τοῦ προσώπου σὺν τῷ ἀριστερῷ ὀφθαλμῷ πεφυσιωμένον καὶ πελιδνότατον ἔχων, οὐμὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν βραχίονα παραλελυμένον καὶ τεταριχευμένον, οὐκέτι μὲν ἴσχυσε στῆναι καὶ τὴν τῆς εὐχῆς λειτουργίαν ἀποπληρῶσαι, κείμενος δὲ ἐπ᾽ ἐδάφους τὸν Κύριον ἐπεκαλεῖτο· ὁ Θεὸς, λέγων, εἰς τὴν βοήθειαν μου πρόσχες, Κύριε εἰς τὸ βοηθῆσαι μοι σπεῦσον. Αἰσχυνθήτωσαν καὶ ἐντραπήτωσαν οἱ ζητοῦντες τὴν ψυχήν μου, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ. Ἐν τούτοις διῆξεν τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον ἐκεῖνον μυρίοις πόνοις πυκτεύων καὶ συμφοραῖς ἀνηκέστοις. Πολλῶν μέντοι βουλευόντων ἰατρικῆς ἐπιμελείας προσανασχέσθαι, οὐδαμῶς κατεδέξατο τοῦτο, γινώσκων ἀθεράπευτον εἶναι ὑπὸ χειρὸς ἀνθρώπου τὴν διαβολικὴν ἀλγηδόνα. Τοῦ τοίνυν χρόνου παραδραμόντος, καὶ τῆς μνήμης τῶν ἁγίων Ἀποστόλων ἐπιφθασάσης, συνῆλθον ἐν τῷ κοινοβίῳ οἱ αὐτῶν μιμηταὶ Φαντινος καὶ Νεῖλος συνεορτάσαι καὶ συμπαρακληθῆναι ἀλλήλοις, ὡς γνήσια τέκνα τῶν ἀποστόλων. Παννύχιον οὖν τὴν ὑμνῳδίαν ἐπιτελούντων, καὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἀγαλλιωμένων ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν ἁγίων διδασκαλίᾳ, καὶ τῇ τῶν γραφῶν ἀναπτύξει, παρακαλεῖ ὁ μέγας Φαντῖνος τὸν ὅσιον Νεῖλον ἀναστῆναι καὶ ἀναγνῶναι ἐγκώμιον εἰς τοὺς Ἀποστόλους, συγγραφὲν παρὰ τοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις Δαμασκηνοῦ Ιωάννου, ἰαμβικοῖς καὶ ἐμμέτροις στίχοις καταπεποικιλμένον. Ὁ δὲ μακάριος Νεῖλος μηδέποτε παρακοῦσαι γινώσκων, καίτοι σχεδὸν ὡς ἡμίξηρος τυγχάνων, ἀνέστη μετὰ πάσης χαρᾶς καὶ προθυμίας· αὐτός τε τῆς ἀναγνώσεως τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐποιεῖτο, καὶ ἡ πονηρὰ ἐκείνη νόσος κατὰ μικρὸν τοῦ σώματος ὑπεξῄει. Ταύτης δὲ τῆς ἀντιλήψεως αἰσθηθεὶς παρὰ προσδοκίαν ὁ μακάριος Νεῖλος, οὐδενὶ οὐδὲν εἶπε μέχρι τῆς ἀπολύσεως τοῦ ὄρθρου. Καὶ τότε βαλὼν μετάνοιαν τῷ δικαίῳ Φαντίνῳ, εὐχαριστεῖ αὐτῷ, ὡς δι᾽ αὐτοῦ τῆς τοιαύτης ἀπαλλαγεὶς ἐπηρείας. Αὐτὸς δὲ πάλιν τῇ ἐκείνου ὑπακοῇ, καὶ τῇ ἐπισκιάσει τῶν Ἀποστόλων προσανετίθει τὸ θαῦμα· καὶ διέμενον ἐν ταπεινοφροσύνῃ τὸν τῶν θαυμασίων Θεὸν δοξολογοῦντες.

[24] Ἡ δὲ πολύτροπος καὶ ἀπερινόητος τοῦ Θεοῦ περὶ πάντας οἰκονομία, τὶ προνοουμένη περὶ τὸν ἑαυτῆς οἰκέτην οὐκ οἶδα, εἴασεν αὐτὸν μέχρι καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ γῆρως περιφέρειν τινὰ μικρὰ ἴχνη τῆς ἀῤῥωστίας ἐκείνης, ὑπομιμνήσκοντα αὐτὸν τῆς αὐτοῦ περὶ αὐτὸν ἀντιλήψεως καὶ κηδεμονίας. Ἐπὶ πᾶσι δὲ τούτοις ὑπερνικήσας διὰ τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντος αὐτὸν Θεοῦ ὁ τῶν ἁγίων πάντων ζηλωτὴς, καὶ τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ πληρωτὴς, πρὸς ἑτέραν ὡπλίζετο πάλην καὶ ἀγῶνα τοῦ διαβόλου. Ἔδει γὰρ διὰ πάντων ἀποκρουσθῆναι, καὶ οὕτως ἀριδήλως τὸν νικητὴν στεφανίτην ἀναδειχθῆναι. Ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ ἔκστασις ἐπιπίπτει τῷ μακαρίτῃ Φαντίνῳ, ἀληθῶς δ᾽εἰπεῖν ἀλλοίωσις τῆς δεξιᾶς τοῦ ὑψίστου. Καὶ οἷον δὴ τὸν Ιερεμίαν ἀκούομεν τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τὸν πώγωνα ξυρήσαντα, τὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐν θρήνοις κατακομμῶντα περιἳέναι, καὶ ὑπόληψιν ἐξεστηκότος διδόναι τοῖς ἀνοήτοις, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἦν κατιδεῖν καὶ περὶ τὸν προφητικώτατον καὶ μακάριον ἄνθρωπον τοῦτον. Εἴτε γὰρ τὴν αἰσθητὴν ταύτης τῆς χώρας προφητεύων κατάλυσιν, καὶ τὴν τῶν Ἀγαρηνῶν οἰκτίστην ἐπέλευσιν· εἴτε τὴν τῆς ἀρετῆς παντελῆ ἔλλειψιν, καὶ τῶν μοναστηριων πρὸς κακίαν ἀπόκλισιν καὶ χυδαίωσιν, ὃ καὶ μᾶλλον ἐστὶ κυριώτερον· ὁμοίως καὶ αὐτὸς περιῄει θρήνοις κατακομμῶν τάς τε ἐκκλησίας καὶ τὰ μοναστήρια καὶ τὰς βίβλους· τὰς μὲν λέγων, ὅτι ὄνων καὶ βορδονίων ἐπλήσθησαν καὶ μεμόλυνται· τὰ δὲ πυρίκαυστα, φησὶ, γεγόνασι, καὶ ἀπώλοντο· τὰς δὲ ὅτι ἐβράχησαν καὶ ἠχρείωνται, καὶ λοιπὸν ποῦ ἀναγνῶναι οὐκ ἔχομεν. Ἡνίκα δὲ ἀδελφὸν ἑώρα τῆς αὐτοῦ μονῆς, ὡς νεκρὸν ἐπένθει αὐτὸν λέγων· ὅτι ἐγώ σε ὦ τέκνον ἀπέκτεινα. Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐλάλει τε καὶ ἐποίει, μήτε ὑπὸ στέγην ἀνεχόμενος καταμεῖναι, μήτε τροφῆς ἀπογεύσασθαι, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τὰς ἐρήμους πλανώμενος διῃτᾶτο τοῖς ἀγριολαχάνοις. Ταῦτα εἰς μεγίστην θλίψιν καὶ λύπην ἤνεγκε Νεῖλον τὸν ἀοίδιμον· καὶ σχεδὸν νύκτωρ τε καὶ μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν ἐπένθει καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν στέρησιν τοῦ καλοῦ συννόμου καὶ συνεργάτου. Πολλάκις γὰρ ἀκολουθήσαντι αὐτῷ ἀναχωροῦντι, καὶ δυσωποῦντι τοῦ ὑποστρέψαι καὶ ἡσυχάσαι ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ, οὐχ ὑπήκουσε λέγων· Ὅτι οἱ ἐν τῇ μονῇ οὐκ εἰσί μου ἀδελφοὶ, ἐπεὶ ἂν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔκλαιον σὺν ἐμοὶ· αὐτοὶ δὲ τουνἀντιόν ποιοῦσιν, ἐξεστηκότα καὶ μαινόμενον με κρατοῦντες.

[25] Ἔσο τοίνυν γινώσκων πολυπόθητε πάτερ, ὅτι διαβήσομαι πρὸς τὴν ἄνω χώραν, κᾀκεῖ τελειωθήσομαι, καὶ εἰς τὸ μοναστήριόν μου οὐκέτι ἐπιστραφήσομαι. Αὐτὸς μὲν οὖν ὁ μακάριος, καθὰ καὶ προείρηκεν, οὕτω καὶ τετέλεκεν, καταλαβὼν τὸν τόπον, ἐν ᾧ προώρισεν αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς πρὸ πάντων τῶν αἰώνων τελειωθῆναι. Ὁ δὲ ὅσιος πατὴρ ἡμῶν Νεῖλος ὑποστρέψας ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ, ἐν ὑπομονῇ διήρχετο τὴν στενὴν ταύτην πύλην καὶ τεθλιμμένην ὁδὸν τὴν ὀλίγοις εὐρισκομένην. Ἔρχονται τοιγαροῦν πρὸς αὐτὸν οἱ τῆς μονῆς τοῦ ὁσίου Φαντίνου πατέρες, παρακαλοῦντες αὐτὸν σκυλῆναι, καὶ ἡγούμενον αὐτοῖς καταστῆσαι ὃν ἂν ἐκλέξοιτο ἡ αὐτοῦ ὁσιότης· περὶ γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἐκείνου ᾐδοῦντο καὶ ὀνομάσαι γινώσκοντες τὸν ἄνδρα. Ὁ δὲ εἴξας τῇ αὐτῶν παρακλήσει, καὶ εἰσελθὼν ἐν τῇ μονῇ μετ᾽ αὐτῶν εἰσῆλθεν ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ εὔξασθαι. Καὶ πάντων ἀκολουθησάντων αὐτῷ, μετὰ τὸ τελειωθῆναι τὴν εὐχὴν, ὁ κατὰ σάρκα ἀδελφὸς τοῦ μακαριωτάτου Φαντίνου, Λουκᾶς τῷ ὀνόματι, προσδραμὼν, καὶ τῶν ποδῶν τοῦ ὁσίου δραξάμενος, ὅρκοις αὐτὸν καὶ ἐπιτιμίοις πρίκωδεστάτοις ἀπό τε τῆς ἁγίας Τριάδος καὶ τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων ὑπέβαλε τοῦ καταδέξασθαι εἶναι αὐτὸν αὐτοῖς ποιμένα καὶ καθηγούμενον. Τί οὖν εἶχε ποιῆσαι ὁ ἀγχίνους ἐκεῖνος ἀνὴρ καὶ περὶ τὸ διανοηθῆναι ὀξύς; Ὑπερισχύσας τῶν χειρῶν τοῦ κρατοῦντος, καὶ τῷ αὐτῷ σχήματι περιλαβὼν τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ, τοῖς αὐτοῖς σχοινίοις οἷς ἐκέχρητο αὐτὸν περιέδησεν, ὥστε λύσαι αὐτὸν τὰ ἴδια ἐπιτίμια, καὶ γενέσθαι αὐτῷ ὅπερ τῷ πατρὶ ἐπεβούλευσεν· ἦν γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς, εἰ καὶ μὴ λίαν ἔμπειρος τῶν θείων γραφῷν, ἀλλ᾽ οὖνγε οἰκονομικὸς, καὶ συνετὸς, καὶ τῷ βίῳ μηδὲν ἀποδέων τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ. Συστήσας οὖν πάντα ὁ ὅσιος πατὴρ κατὰ τὸ Θεῷ δοκοῦν, καὶ νουθεσίαις ἐνθέοις παρακαλέσας καὶ στηρίξας τόν τε ἡγούμενον καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς, ἀπηλλάγη καὶ τούτου τοῦ πειρασμοῦ, δοξάζων καὶ εὐλογῶν τὸν Θεόν.

[26] Καιρὸς δε λοιπὸν ἀνακάμψαι ἡμᾶς εὐδοκοῦντος Θεοῦ καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν μνήμην τοῦ ὁμοζήλου καὶ συνάθλου καὶ συναγωνιστοῦ, τοῦ μεγάλου πατρὸς Στεφάνου τοῦ μακαρος· ἴνα μὴ μόνον τὸ δένδρον ἀπὸ τῆς ἁγίας ῥίζης γνωρίζηται, ἀλλὰ δὴ καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν καρπῶν καὶ κλάδων θαυμάζηται. Πιστεύω δὲ τῷ Θεῷ, ὅτι οὐκ εἰς κενὸν ἡμῖν ἡ τοιαύτη μνήμη γενήσεται· ἀλλ᾽ εἰ μὴ καὶ ζηλωταὶ μεγάλων αὐτοῦ κατορθωμάτων γενέσθαι ἰσχύσομεν, τὸ γοῦν μνυμονεῦσαι αὐτῶν μετὰ πίστεως καὶ ἀγάπης, ἀφέσεως ἡμῖν πλημμελημάτων πολλῶν πρόξενον γενήσεται, καθὼς διδασκόμεθα. Οὗτος τοίνυν ὁ ἑν ἁγίοις Στέφανος νέος ἔτι ὢν ὡς ἐτῶν εἴκοσιν, ἀγροῖκος δε καὶ ἐξ εὐτελῶν γονέων ὑπάρχων, ὀρφανὸν αὑτὸν καταλείψαντος τοῦ πατρὸς μετὰ τῆς μητρὸς καὶ μιᾶς ἀδελφῆς, τοσαύτῃ ἀκακίᾳ καὶ ἀπονηρίᾳ ἐκεκόσμητο, ὡς εἴτις αὐτὸν Ιακὼβ εἴποι τὸν πατριάρχην, ἢ τὸν ἁπλούστατον Παῦλον τοῦ ἀββᾶ Αντωνίου, οὐς ἀπεικότως στοχάσοιτο. Οὗτος οὖν ἐρασθεὶς τοῦ μοναδικοῦ ἑπαγγέλματος, καὶ κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τὸν Χριστὸν ὑπὲρ τὴν ἀδελφὴν καὶ μητέρα, καὶ ὑπὲρ ἑαυτὸν ἀγαπήσας, ὡδηγήθη παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπελθεῖν ἔνθα ἦν ὁ μακάριος πατὴρ Νεῖλος· καὶ παρακαθήσας αὐτῷ μηδὲν εἰρηκὼς, περὶ δυσμὰς ἡλίου λέγει αὐτῷ ὀ πατήρ· Τί ζητεῖς ἀδελφέ; Ὁ δὲ φησιν, καλόγηρος θέλω γενέσθαι. Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ μέγας· Καὶ εἰ καλόγηρος θέλεις γενέσθαι, ἐγώ σοι

δεικνύω τὰ μοναστήρια, καὶ ἄπελθε ἐκεῖ· ὧδε γὰρ κατοικῆσαι οὐ δύνῃ μὴ ἒχων τί φαγεῖν, καὶ ἀποθνήσκεις ἀπὸ λιμοῦ. Ὁ δὲ ἀπεκρίθη, Οτι τὰ μοναστήρια, πησὶ, γνώσκω καὶ οἶδα, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἀρέσκουσί μοι. Πάλιν ἐρωτηθεὶς, εὶ ἔχει τινὰ, καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς ὅπερ ἦν· ἐβιάζετο γἀρ ἀπελθεῖν καὶ θρέψαι τήν τε μητέρα καὶ τὴν ἀδελφήν· ὁ δὲ φησιν, ὅτι οὐκ ἀπέρχομαι οὐδαμοῦ· ἐκείνας γὰρ οὐκ ἐγὼ, ἀλλ᾽ ὁ Θεὸς καὶ ἔθρεψε καὶ τρέφει.

[27] Λοιπὸν μὴ ἰσχύσας ἀποδιῶξαι αὐτὸν ὁ πατὴρ, δέδωκεν αὐτῷ ὅπερ εἴχεν ἥμισυ ἄρτου φαγεῖν, αὐτος δὲ διέμεινεν ἄγευστος μέχρι τῆς αὔριον· παρασκευῆς γὰρ οὔσης τέλος εἶχε καὶ ἡ μεμετρημένη δίαιτα. Τοῦτο δὲ ἦν ἐν τῷ δευτέρῳ ἔτει τῆς τοὺ πατρὸς παροικίας ἐκεῖσε. Ὁρὼν οὖν αὐτὸν ὁ πατὴρ φύσει ὄντα ἁπλοῦν καὶ ἀργὸν, ὅπερ ἦν ἐναντίον τῇ ἐκείνου ἀστειοτητι, ἤχθετο μὲν ἐπὶ τῇ ἀργὸτητι αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐθλίβετο, οὐ μὴν ἐλάλει αὐτῷ τι σκληρὸν, ἔχων τὸν νοῦν αὐτοῦ ἐν ταῖς ἐυαγγελικαῖς ἐντολαῖς· νουθετῶν δὲ αὐτὸν μετ᾽ ἐπιεικείας καὶ πρᾳότητος, ἔσπευδεν ἀστεῖον καὶ γοργὸν ἀποδείξαι αὐτὸν, ὡς καὶ αὑτὸς ἦν. Ἀκμὴν γὰρ οὐκ ᾔδει σαφῶς, ὅτι τὸ ἐκ φύσεως οὐ μεθίσταται. Ὡς οὖν ἀπετύγχανε τοῦ σκοποῦ, καὶ διῆλθον ἡμέραι τριῶν ἐτῶν, λέγει ἐν ἑαυτῷ ὁ πατήρ· Ἇραγε εἰ ἦν μοι ἀδελφὸς ἢ υἱὸς ἢ ἀνεψιὸς, οὐκ ἂν καὶ ὕβρεσι καὶ ὀνειδισμοῖς ἐχρησάμην πρός τὴν ἐκείνου παίδευσιν; Δοκιμάσωμεν πάλιν τὸ τοιοῦτον εἶδος ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ, μή ποτε μείνῃ ἀπαίδευτος ὁ ἀδελφός. Τότε ἤρξατο αὐστήρῶς λέγειν αὐτῷ, καὶ ὕβρεσι στύφειν αὐτόν· πολλάκις δὲ καὶ ἀπὸ χειρὸς ἐδίδου αὐτῷ. Βουλόμενος γὰρ διδάξαι αὐτὸν τὰς συνήθεις εὐχὰς καὶ τὸ ψαλτήριον, ἀνάγκην εἶχεν καὶ κολαφιστικῶς ἅπτεσθαι αὐτοῦ. Αὐτὸς δὲ πάντα ὑπέφερεν ἀβαρῶς καὶ μετὰ χᾶρας, μήτε τὴν σκληροτάτην ἄσκησιν καὶ τὴν ἄληκτον ἀγρυπνίαν δειλιάσας, ἐν πᾶσιν ἐξισούμενος τῷ μεγάλῳ, μήτε τὰ ὀνείδη καὶ τας παρὰ τοῦ πατρος ἐπηρείας ἀποδράσας. Διὸ καὶ πρὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐφυλάχθη, μείνας ἀπείραστος τῆς δαιμονικῆς πανουργίας. Πολλάκις γὰρ ἐρωτηθεὶς παρὰ τοῦ ὁσίου, ποίοις ἄρα λογισμοῖς ἐνοχλεῖται, ἀπεκρίθη· ὅτι οὐκ ἔχω λογισμὸν τί ποτε, μόνον δὲ νυστάζω πολλὰ, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο θλίβομαι. Τότε ποιεῖ αὐτῷ ὁ πατὴρ σκαμνίον ἔχον πόδιον ἕν, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Ὅτι σὺ μὲν ἔχεις πόδας δύο, καὶ τὸ σκαμνίον ἓν· ἰδοὺ τρεῖς πόδες· καὶ οὕτω καθήμενος, τῆς μελέτης μὴ ἀμελήσῃς. Ὁ δὲ τὴν παραγγελίαν δεξάμενος, οὐδαμοῦ ἐκάθητο ἔκ τοτε εἰμὴ ἐν τῷ σκαμνίῳ ἐκείνῳ καὶ ἐν τῆ μελέτῃ, καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, καὶ ἐν τῷ γεύσασθαι. Νικώμενος δὲ πολλάκις ὑπὸ τοῦ νυσταγμοῦ, καὶ πίπτων ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, ποτὲ μὲν τὸν βραχίονα, ποτὲ δὲ τὸ πρόσωπον συνετρίβετο.

[28] Πάλιν ἐρχόμενος ἐπὶ τὸ ἑψῆσαι τὸ ὄσπριον, καὶ τιθεὶς πλέον ἢ τὸ σκεῦος χωρῆσαι ἠδύνατο, ὑπὸ τῆς βίας ἀθροόν ἐῤῥήγνυτο. Ἐν μιᾷ γοῦν τῶν ἡμερῶν συναγαγὼν ἅπαντα τὰ κλάσματα, ὑπεδείκνυε τῷ πατρὶ τὸ σφάλμα ἐξομολογούμενος. Ο δὲ λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν· καὶ τὶ τὸ ὄφελος, ὅτι ἐξομολογῇ μόνῳ ἐμοί; ὕπαγε εἰς τὰ μοναστήρια, καὶ δείξον αὐτὰ, ἵνα γνωρίσωσιν ὁποῖοι ἀσκηταὶ ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν χυτροκλάσται. Τότε λαβὼν τὰ κλάσματα ἀπέρχεται πρὸς Φαντῖνον τὸν ὁσιώτατον, καί τὸ πρᾶγμα αὐτῷ ἐξηγήσατο. Αὐτὸς δὲ τῷ σκοπῷ ἑπόμενος τοῦ θεόφρονος καὶ ὁμόρονος *, συναγαγὼν πάντα τὰ κλάσματα, καὶ σχοινίῳ συνδήσας, καὶ τῷ τραχήλῳ αὐτοῦ κρεμάσας, πεποίηκεν αὐτὸν οὕτω παρασταθῆναι ἐν τῷ ἀριστηρίῳ τῶν ἀδελφῶν γευομένων. Τούτου δὲ γενομένου ἀπέστειλεν αὐτὸν πάλιν πρὸς τὸν ὅσιον ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ τοῦ λοιποῦ διορθωθέντα. Περιερχόμενος δέ ποτε ὁ μακάριος Στέφανος εὗρε τὰ λεγόμενα σπαράγγια· καὶ συναγαγὼν αὐτὰ καὶ ἑψήσας παρέθηκεν ἐν τῇ ὧρᾳ τοῦ γεύσασθαι. Μεταλαβὼν δὲ ἐξ αὐτῶν ὁ πατὴρ, καὶ ὡς παρὰ συνήθειαν μικρᾶς ἡδονῆς αἰσθόμενος, ἐπύθετο τοῦ ἑταίρου, εἴγε καὶ αὐτὸς τῆς αὐτῆς γλυκύτητος ᾔσθετο. Τοῦ δὲ συμφωνήσαντος, ῥίψαι αὐτὰ ἔξω παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκελεύετο· ταῦτα γάρ, φησι, πικρὰ φύσει τυγχάνοντα ὁ διάβολος ἤρτυσε, καὶ γλυκέα πεποίηκεν. Ἕως τοσούτου ἐγκρατεύοντο οἱ μακάριοι, καὶ βίᾳ τὴν φύσιν διηνεκῶς κατεδάμαζον. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἔκρινεν ὁ ὅσιος Νεῖλος φροντίσαι καὶ περὶ τὸ ἀδύνατον μέρος τοῦ μακαρίου Στεφάνου· καὶ ἀποστέλλει αὐτὸν μετὰ γραμμάτων πρὸς τὴν ὄντως Θεοδώραν τὴν μακαριωτάτην παρθένον, ἀσκουμένην τῷ τότε καιρῷ ἐν τῷ λεγομένῳ Ἀριναρίῳ, καὶ καθηγουμένην ὀλίγων παρθένων, γραῦν ἁγίαν καὶ λίαν συνετωτάτην καὶ σοφωτάτην, ἐκ νεαρᾶς ἡλικίας τὴν μοναδικὴν ἀσκουμένην σκληραγωγίαν· οὐκ οἷδα, εἰ τοιαύτην ἄλλην τὸ Ρυσιάνον ἐξήνεγκεν· ἥτις ὡς υἱὸν γνήσιον ἀγαπῶσα ἧν τὸν ἅγιον πατέρα ἐκ νεαρᾶς ἡλικίας αὐτοῦ· πείθεσθαι δέξασθαι τήν τε μητέρα καὶ ἀδελφὴν τοῦ ὁσίου Στεφάνου ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ. Ἐν ᾧ καὶ γνησίως δουλεύσασαι τῷ Κυρίω, καὶ μεγάλως εὐαρεστήσασαι, ἐτελειώθησαν ἐν εἰρήνῃ. Ταύταις μέν τοι παρὰ τὰ τῆς ζωῆς αὐτῶν ἔτη ἅπαντα, κατὰ καιρὸν, τῇ ὥρᾳ τοῦ θέρους ἀπήρχετο ὁ μακάριος Στέφανος ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ ἐκεινῳ, καὶ τελέσας τὸν ἐκεῖσε ἀμητὸν, πάλιν ὑπέστρεφεν εἰς τὰ μοναστήρια, καὶ συνεκοπία ἐν παντὶ ἔργῳ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς, διπλοῦν ἀγῶνα ἀγωνιζόμενος, τόν τε τῆς ἐγκρατείας, καὶ τὸν πανημέριον κόπον.

[29] Τῶν τοίνυν ἀθέων ἀγαρηνῶν παραδραμόντων πᾶσαν τὴν Καλαβρίτιδα χώραν ἕνα χρόνον, καὶ πάντα ληἳσαμένων, μελλόντων δὲ ἐπιβαίνειν καὶ ἐν τοῖς Μερκουριακοῖς μέρεσι, μήτε μοναστήριον καταλιπεῖν ἀχείρωτον λογισάμενοι, μήτε μοναχὸν ἐλέους καὶ φειδοῦς ἀξιῶσαι, προέλαβεν ἡ φήμη αὐτῶν, καὶ πάντες κατέφευγον ἐπὶ τὰ τυχόντα καστέλλια. τότε δὴ καὶ ὁ μακάριος Στέφανος εὑρεθεὶς ἐν τῷ κοινοβίῳ τοῦ μεγάλου Φαντίνου, ἀνῆλθε σὺν αὐτοῖς ἐν τῷ γειτνιάζοντι καστελλίῳ, μὴ δυνηθεὶς ὑποστρέψαι ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ διὰ τὸ κατεπεῖγον τῆς φήμης. Ὁ δὲ πατὴρ ἄνωθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ σπηλαίου θεασάμενος τὸν κονιορτὸν, καὶ τὸ πλὴθος ἐπερχόμενον τῶν Σαῤῥακηνῶν, ἐλογίσατο ἀποκρυβῆναι ἀπὸ τῆς δολιότητος αὐτῶν, μή ποτε καὶ ὡς πειράζων τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ Θεοῦ εὑρεθῇ. Λαβὼν οὖν μεθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ τὸ κεράμιον τοῦ ὕδατος, ἐπορεύθη ἐν ἀποκρύφῳ τινι τόπῳ, ἔνθα ἀφόβως διῆγεν. Τῇ δὲ νυκτὶ ἐκείνῃ περιπατῶν περὶ τὸ ὄρος ἐκεῖνο, καὶ τὸν Δαβὶδ κατὰ τὴν συνήθειαν αὐτοῦ περιφέρων, μᾶλλον δὲ τὸν τοῦ Δαβὶδ Βασιλέα, ἤκουσε κτύπον ὡσεὶ ποδῶν ἵππου περιερχόμενον καὶ κυκλεύοντα αὐτὸν, καὶ μὴ δυνάμενον προσεγγίσαι αὐτῷ. Καὶ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα ἄνθρωπον εἶναι νομίσας τινὰ, οὐδὲν ἐλάλησε, πληρῶσαι βουλόμενος τὸν ψαλμόν. Ὠς δ᾽εἶδεν αὐτὸν μήτε ὑπάγοντα, μήτε προσεγγίζοντα, λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν· Τὶς εἶ σύ; καὶ ἅμα τῷ λόγῳ ἀκούει, ὅτι συνέτριψε τὸ κεράμιον τοῦ ὕδατος, καὶ ἄφαντος γέγονεν. Τότε γνοὺς ὁ μακάριος τὸν ἐργάτην ἐκ τῶν οἰκείων ἔργων, ἤρξατο πάλιν τοῦ ψάλλειν καὶ λέγειν· Κυκλώσαντες ἐκύκλωσάν με οἱ ἐχθροί μου, καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Κυρίου ἠμυνάμην αὐτούς. ἐμέμφετο δὲ πάλιν ἑαυτὸν, καὶ ἔλεγε τῷ λογισμῷ· Ἄρτι τοῦ ἐλθεῖν τοῦτον ἐν ταῦθα, ὁ ἡμέτερος ῥεμβασμὸς γέγονεν αἴτιος αὐτῷ· διότι τῷ μὲν στόματι θεολογοῦμεν, τῷ δὲ νοὶ ἀλογοῦμεν. Καὶ ἔλεγεν ᾀεὶ, Ὅτι οὐδὲν ἄλλο διεγείρει τοὺς δαίμονας κατὰ τοῦ μοναχοῦ, ὡς ὁ ῥεμβασμὸς ἐν τῇ προσευχῇ, καὶ τὸ μὴ προσέχειν τοῖς ἐξερχομένοις λόγοις ἐκ τοῦ στοματος αὐτοῦ.

[30] Τότε τοίνυν ὁ ὅσιος πατὴρ ἡμῶν Νεῖλος ἡμέρας καταλαβούσης ἀπελθὼν ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ, εὗρεν ὅτι ἀνῆλθον ἕως ἐκεῖ οἱ Σαῤῥακηνοὶ, καὶ ἁφείλοντο τὸ τρίχινον τῆς ἀλλαγῆς αὐτοῦ, γεμίσαντες αὐτὸ ἀπιδίων ἀγρίων κειμένων ἐκεῖσε. Κατελθῶν δὲ καὶ εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον, καὶ ἰδὼν ἅπαντα κατεστραμμένα καὶ κατηρημωμένα ἐλογίσατο ὑπὸ τῶν Σαῤῥακηνῶν κρατηθῆναι τὸν ὅσιον Στέφανον εἴτε ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ, εἴτε ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ. Ἤρξατο γοῦν σφόδρα λυπεῖσθαι, καὶ λέγειν ἐν ἑαυτῷ· Ὄντως ταπεινὲ Νεῖλε, ὁ ἀδελφὸς Στέφανος δοῦλος ὑπάγει· πάντως γὰρ περιμένων ἡμᾶς εἴτε ὧδε, εἴτε ἐν τῶ σπηλαίῳ, ἐκρατήθη. Ὄντως δίκαιόν ἐστιν, ἵνα ὑπάγωμεν, καὶ δουλεύσωμεν μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ ταδτα λέγων ἐδάκρυε, φοβούμενος μὲν τὸ ἀναιδὲς καὶ ἀκάθαρτον τῶν παγανῶν, ἀναγκαζόμενος δὲ πάλιν θεῖναι τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπὲρ τοῦ φίλου αὐτοῦ διὰ τὴν ἐντολὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ταδτα τοίνυν ἐνθυμούμενος, ἀπέρχεται καὶ καθέζεται ἀνὰ μέσον τῆς δημοσίας ὁδοῦ, ἐκδεχόμενος τὴν διάβασιν τῶν Σαῤῥακηνῶν. Οὐ πολὺ τὸ ἐν μέσῳ, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἤρχοντο ὡσεὶ δέκα καβαλλάριοι, ἐνδύματα καὶ ὅπλα καὶ φακιόλια, καὶ ὅλον τὸ σχῆμα ἔχοντες τῶν Σαῤῥακηνῶν· οὓς ἰδὼν ὁ μακάριος πατὴρ εὐθέως ἀνέστη, καὶ κατασφραγισάμενος ἑαυτὸν τῶ σημείῳ τοῦ τιμίου σταυροῦ ἔστη περιμένων αὐτούς. Αὐτοὶ δὲ μακρόθεν ἐπιγνόντες αὐτὸν ἀπέβησαν τῶν ἵππυν, καὶ πεζοὶ ἦλθον, καὶ προσεκύνησαν τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ. Περιελόμενοι δὲ τὰ φακιόλια ἀπὸ τῶν προσώπον αὐτῶν, ἐγνωρίσθησαν ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς, ἐκ τοῦ καστελλίου εἶναι αὐτοὺς, καὶ χάριν τοῦ ἀποσκεπάσαι τὸν τόπον ποιῆσαι ταδτα αὐτούς.

[31] Καὶ μαθὼν παρ᾽ αὐτῶν, ὅτι σεσωσμένοι εἰσὶ πάντες οἱ ἀδελφοὶ, καὶ δὴ καὶ ὁ ἀββᾶς Στέφανος, ὑπέστρεψεν ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ εὐχαριστῶν τῷ Θεῷ. Ἀναχωρησάντων δὲ τῶν Σαῤῥακηνῶν, ἦλθε καὶ ὁ μακάριος Στέφανος, καὶ πάλιν ἔχοντο τῆς προτέρας ὁδοῦ. Ὄντος δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ τὸ πρὶν διὰ τὸν θερισμὸν, ἦν τις γέρων ἐκεῖ ποιῶν τὰ σπυρίδια· καὶ μαθὼν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ πλέκειν τὴν σειρὰν, ἐποίησεν ἔν μαλάκιον, καὶ ἤνεγκεν εἰς τὸ σπήλαιον, νομίζων ὅτι χαριεῖται ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ ὁ πατήρ. Ὁ δὲ λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν· Δεῦρο αδελφὲ Στέφανε πληρώσωμεν καὶ ἡμεῖς μίαν ἐντολήν· ἐπειδὴ ἄνεὐ παραθέσεως καὶ βουλῆς ἐποίησας αὐτὸ, βάλλωμεν καὶ καύσωμεν αὐτό· οὕτω γὰρ λέγει ὁ μεγας Βασίλειος. Καὶ σὺν τῷ λόγῳ ἀναστὰς ἀνῆψε πυρὰν, καὶ ἔβαλε τὸ μαλάκιον· Ιδὼν δὲ αὐτὸν, ὅτι βαρέως ἤνεγκε τὸ πρᾶγμα, καὶ οὐ μετ᾽ εὐχαριστίας, ἀλλὰ μετὰ λογισμοῦ, εἴασε τὸ μαλάκιον κατακαυθῆναι παντελῶς. Καὶ οὕτως ἀπήλλαξεν αὐτὸν τῆς προσπαθείας αὐτοῦ. Ἐν μιᾷ γοῦν τῶν ἡμερῶν ἔρχεται ὁ γέρων ὁ διδάξας αὐτὸν τὰ σπυρίδια, ζητῶν αὐτὸν παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς, ἵνα πορευθῇ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ χόρτου συλλογήν. Ὁ δὲ κελευσθεὶς ἀπῆλθεν. Ἔχων οὖν μετ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ ὁ γέρων τὸ ψαλτήριον αὐτοῦ, ὁπουδήποτε τέθεικεν αὐτὸ, καὶ ληθαργηθὲν ἀπώλετο. Ἐλθὼν οὖν ὁ γέρων πρὸς τὸν ὅσιον ἤρξατο θλίβεσθαι περὶ τοῦ ψαλτηρίου αὑτοῦ. Ὁ δὲ πατὴρ ἰδὼν αὐτὸν σφόδρα λυπούμενον ἐσπλαγχνίσθη ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ, καὶ ἤρξατο ἐπιτιμᾷν τῷ μακαρίῳ Στεφάνῳ, καὶ λέγειν· Ὄντως σὺ ἀναίσθητε καὶ

ἀνόητε, διατί οὐκ ἀνεζήτησας τὸ ψαλτήριον; σὸν τὸ πταῖσμα ἐστί. Δίκαιον οὖν ἐστιν, ἵνα ὁ γέρων ἐπαρῃ τὸ σὸν ψαλτήριον· καὶ ἐπάρας δέδωκεν τῷ γέροντι, καὶ ἀπῆλθεν ἀγαλλιώμενος.

[Sick, he is brought back by St. Fantinus to the monastery: healed, he returns to solitude;] Not long after therefore the most holy Fantinus came to visit him (for there was frequent intercourse between them, each of them like a luminary often flooding the other with his light); and when the great Fantinus had persuaded Bl. Nilus after many entreaties to accept from him the weekly bread, that favour was in turn repaid to him by Nilus from the labour of his hands. When therefore he had seen him in such straits, and had entreated him much, he at length brought him to his own monastery with all diligence, and moreover poured out prayers to God with his whole heart for his health. But the most patient Nilus, since he could taste nothing except water, and that with violence and labour, for many days had this thought: If some little piece of fish were at hand, I would eat, and a way would be opened to me for eating. And when he had suffered this struggle for eight days or a little more, unwilling to disclose the matter to anyone — especially since he saw daily one of the brethren passing before him and going to fish and returning with fish — after much contest and wrestling with a thought of this kind, behold, a certain layman came to him bringing a basket full of fried and roasted fish, urging and begging that he would taste of them: For, said he, when I had heard yesterday evening of your sick health, I went out to fish in your holy name, and with the help of your prayers the catch was favourable, and it is needful, Father, that you take food from them. Then blessed Nilus dismissed the man, blessing him and giving thanks for the labour he had undertaken; but to himself he said: These things are not at hand for me through God nor through an angel; for I am not of the number of those that fear Him, that He should do my will: but this is the work of the devil. For he has known that I was taken with this desire, because it is written: Thou shalt not covet. The Lord liveth, nothing of them shall enter into my mouth. There happened to be present then a certain monk who had come from the upper parts, most dear to him because he sang most sweetly. When the blessed Man had called him, he gave him the basket as it had been offered, and added: Take the gift which has been sent you by Christ. He took it and withdrew. God therefore, seeing the Man's utmost patience and constancy, brought help and freed him from his pains and from that most grievous disease, an abscess bursting within his neck and much matter being cast out through his mouth. Thus somewhat restored, he returns to his cave, to pursue his former institute of life, from love of solitude, which he embraced in the place of a parent. But the devil, gnashing his teeth against him, strove, if by God's providence it had been permitted him, to snatch away even life itself from the holy Man.

[23] On a certain night therefore, when he was according to custom occupied with the divine offices, he is afflicted with a wound by the demon, and is prodigiously healed. and was passing the night in psalms and bendings of the knees in the little cave which he had hollowed out for himself, and a brightness of light illuminated everything (for it was summer time), the devil appears to him in the visible likeness of an Ethiopian, holding a club in his hand, with which, when he had struck his head, he laid him half-dead on the ground. After the space of one hour, the Saint, recollecting himself, recognized indeed the envy and the immense malice of the devil, but, labouring under a violent pain of the head, and having half his face with the left eye swollen and most livid, and besides his arm dislocated and withered, he could not stand and discharge the duty of prayer. He lay therefore and invoked the Lord, saying: O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me. Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul, and what follows. In these things he passed a whole year, sustaining innumerable contests of pains and of the bitterest inconveniences. And when he was urged by many to admit a medical cure, he altogether refused, knowing that a diabolical wound ^a cannot be cured by the hand of man. At length, when the year had passed and the solemnity of the holy Apostles came round, there came together in the monastery those imitators of them, Fantinus and Nilus, that they might together celebrate the feast day and console one another, being the true offspring of the Apostles. When therefore they were keeping the vigil with hymns, and the brethren were exulting, hearing the teaching of the Saints and the explanation of the Scriptures, the great Fantinus exhorted Bl. Nilus to rise and read the encomium upon the Apostles by St. John Damascene, sufficiently adorned with iambics and metres. Blessed Nilus, who never knew how not to obey, although he was already almost withered, rose with joy and alacrity; and as soon as he began the reading, that bitter sickness gradually flowed away from his body. And when he perceived help beyond hope, he said nothing at all of it to anyone until the morning prayers were finished, and then, falling down before St. Fantinus, he gave thanks that through him he was free from so grave a hurt. He on the contrary attributed the miracle to Nilus's obedience and to the favour of the Apostles: so each of them displayed humility, referring the glory to God the author of miracles.

[24] Further, the manifold and unthinkable providence of God toward all (but to what end it wrought this in His Servant, St. Fantinus having set out for the East, I do not know) left in him certain small traces of that disease even to his old age, by which he might be reminded of the divine help and protection toward him. When in all these things he had shown himself more than conqueror through the power of God, to whom he was beloved, that emulator of all the Saints and observer of the precepts of Christ girded himself for another wrestling and contest with the devil. For it behoved that this last should be conquered in all things, that Nilus the victor might without controversy obtain the crown of the prize. At that time Fantinus of blessed memory ^b suffered an ecstasy, and, to say the truth, a change of the right hand of the Most High came upon him. For as we have heard of Jeremiah, that with hair and beard shaved he went about Jerusalem, filling all things with mourning and giving to the unwise the suspicion of a madman, in the same manner it happened also to this blessed man, who likewise was most excellent in the gift of prophecy. For whether he foresaw the devastation of this region which we behold with our eyes, and the most wretched incursion of the Agarenes ^c, or the general failure of virtue and the falling away of the monasteries into vices and the manners of the common people, which is nearer the truth, he too went about in like manner, bewailing the churches, the monasteries and the books, saying that the churches were filled with asses and defiled by the vilest beasts of burden, that the monasteries had perished burnt with flames, that the books were soaked and no longer of use, and that there was now nothing for us to read ^d. And when he saw any brother of his monastery, he mourned for him as for one dead, and said: I, my son, have slain you. These and like things he did and said, being willing neither to remain under a roof nor to take food, but wandering through desert places he lived on wild herbs. These things struck the most famous Nilus with the greatest grief and sorrow, and he too bewailed almost day and night the bereavement of his best companion and fellow worker. For when he often followed him as he withdrew and asked him to return to his own and to abide in the monastery, he heard from him refusing: Those who are in the monastery are not my brethren, for they too would weep with me: but now, on the contrary, they think that I rave and am mad.

[25] The prelacy is offered to him in vain. Know therefore, most beloved Father, that I shall pass over into the upper region, and shall there meet death, and shall never return to my monastery. And so that blessed father obtained his end as he foretold, having set out for that place in which God had before the ages determined that he should depart from this life. But the holy father Nilus, when he had returned to his cave, went in patience through the narrow gate and along the thorny way by which few proceed. There come therefore to him the fathers of the monastery of Bl. Fantinus, beseeching him to undertake the labour and appoint them a hegumen, whomsoever his piety should choose: for they were afraid even to name the man himself, since they knew him well. He yielded to their prayers and went with them to the monastery: and when he had entered the church to pray, all followed him. When the prayer was finished, the brother of the most blessed Fantinus according to the flesh, Lucas by name, running up and embracing the holy Man's feet, adjured him with the most dreadful obtestations and threats of curses, by the holy Trinity and the holy Fathers, to suffer himself to be their shepherd and hegumen. What was to be done by a Man most excellent in sagacity and perspicacity? Prevailing over the hands of Lucas who held him, and in no unlike manner seizing his feet, he bound him about with the same cords with which the other had bound him, so that at last he untied the knots of his threats, and suffered to be done to himself what he was contriving against the Father by his stratagem. For he too, though not very skilled in the divine Scriptures, was nevertheless apt to undertake the administration and prudent, and in holiness of life not inferior to his brother. Therefore the blessed Man, having settled all things that were needful for the good pleasure of God, and having animated and confirmed by sacred instructions both the hegumen and the brethren, overcame this temptation also, giving glory and blessing God.

[26] But now it is time, with God's favour, that we go back to the narrative about blessed Stephen ^e, whom the great Father had as an emulator of his zeal, a companion of his contests and a fellow soldier, so that the tree may be known not only from its holy root, but may also be admired from its holy fruits and branches. Stephen submits himself to the discipline of St. Nilus, And I trust that by divine help this narrative will not be useless to us: for although we shall not be able to emulate his most excellent deeds, yet certainly to keep the memory of them with faith and charity will be to obtain the pardon of many offences, as we have received from our masters. This St. Stephen therefore, when he was still a youth of nearly twenty years, a countryman however and born of the lowest parents, and left an orphan by his father with his mother and one sister, was endowed with such simplicity and candour of mind that if anyone should call him a second patriarch Jacob, or that most simple Paul of the abbot Antony, he would use no far-fetched comparison. He, taken with the love of the monastic institute, and according to the Gospel preferring Christ to his mother, his sister and himself, came with God for his guide to the place where blessed father Nilus was staying. And when he had sat beside him saying nothing, toward sunset the Father said to him: What do you seek, brother? And he: I wish to become a monk. And the great Father to him: If you desire to become a monk, I will show you the monasteries; go to them, for here you will not be able to dwell, since there is nothing for you to eat and you will die of hunger. He answered: I know that there are monasteries, and I know them; but they do not please me: this place pleases me. Being asked whether he had anyone ^f, he answered this,

which was the case. He was therefore being compelled to go away, that he might support his mother and sister. He however said: I will betake myself to no place: for not I, but God has nourished and does nourish them.

[27] Since therefore he could not drive him away, he gave him and is exercised by him in various ways what he had, half of his bread, that he might eat, while the Father himself remained fasting on the following day. For since it was the sixth day of the week, the food laid up by measure had already been consumed. This moreover happened in the second year of blessed father Nilus's withdrawal into the cave ^g. And so the Father, seeing him simple by nature and slow, contrary to himself who was of keen intellect, bore it ill indeed and grieved at his sluggishness, yet said nothing harsh to him, mindful of the precepts of the Gospel: he only admonished and instructed him calmly and gently, desiring to render him skilful and active, such as he himself was: for he had not yet sufficiently learned that what is implanted by nature cannot be taken away. When therefore he made no progress, and the space of three years had now gone by, the Father said within himself: If this man were my brother, or my son, or at least my brother's son, would I not use reproaches and rebukes to instruct him? Let us try this kind of instruction too, lest the brother remain uncorrected. Then he began to speak austerely with him and to add sharpness to his words by reproaches, and not seldom he even struck him with his hand. For when he wished to teach him the accustomed prayers and the psalter, he found it necessary to give him blows as well. But he took nothing amiss, but bore all things willingly, terrified neither by the harshest manner of life nor by the assiduity of vigils, enduring all things as much as the Father, and not avoiding the reproaches and insults with which the Father assailed him. Whence it came about that, God preserving him, he suffered no temptations through the craft of the devil. For often, being asked by the blessed Father with what thoughts he was vexed, he answered that he had no thoughts, but was tormented only by the excessive oppression of sleep. Then the Father made him a stool standing on one foot and said: You indeed have two feet, and the stool has one: behold, three feet: sitting thus you will give your effort to meditation. He, having received this command, used thereafter no other seat than that stool, whether he was meditating, or was in church, or was taking food; but being often overcome by sleep and falling to the ground, he broke now his arm, now his face.

[28] in obedience, Again, when he went to boil pulse and filled the vessel beyond measure, suddenly it was burst by the force. On a certain day therefore he gathered up all the fragments and showed them to the Father, confessing his fault. And the Father to him: But what does it profit that you confess to me alone? Go to the monasteries and show them, that they may know what sort of solitaries we are, breakers of pots. He therefore, having taken the fragments, went to the most blessed Fantinus and related the matter to him. And he, following the mind of a Man divinely wise and of one mind with himself, gathered all the fragments together, bound them with a rope and hung them about his neck, and ordered him to stand holding them in the refectory while the brethren dined. Afterwards he sent him back to the holy Man in the cave, corrected for the future. When once Bl. Stephen was going through the fields, he found asparagus, gathered it, cooked it and set it out at the hour of the meal. When the Father had tasted it and had taken a little pleasure beyond his custom, he asked his companion whether he too felt a like pleasure. When he affirmed it, he ordered him to throw it outside; for the devil, he said, has seasoned a food naturally bitter and rendered it sweet. So continent were the blessed men, and by force continually applied they tamed nature. After these things Bl. Nilus judged that thought must be taken also for the helpless part of Bl. Stephen's family. He sends him therefore with a letter to the truly Theodora (that is, one enriched with divine gifts, according to her name), a most blessed virgin at that time leading the monastic life in the place which is called Arenarium ^h, set over a few virgins, a holy old woman, most prudent and most wise, who from tender age had exercised herself in the hardness of the monastic life (and I do not know whether Rossano ever bore another like her), and who embraced the holy Father from his earliest age with a mother's love. She therefore received both the mother and the sister of Bl. Stephen into her monastery: in which, when they had rendered a sincere service to God and had flourished with great virtues, they rested in peace. For the rest, as long as they lived, every year in the summer season Bl. Stephen went to that monastery, and, the harvest being finished, returned again to the monasteries and laboured with the brethren at every work, wrestling with a double contest, of continence and of daily labour.

[29] in humility, But when the impious Agarenes had for a year overrun all Calabria with their incursions and had laid everything waste, and it was now about to come to pass that they should assail the region of Mercurius also (for they did not think of sparing the monasteries, or of showing any pity toward monks), the report ran before, and all fled to the castles that lay in their way. Then Bl. Stephen also, since he was in the monastery of the great Fantinus, went up with the brethren into the neighbouring castle; for as the rumour grew, he could not return into the cave. But the holy Father, when from the higher place of the cave he had beheld the dust raised and the forces of the Saracens rushing on, thought to withdraw himself from their treachery, lest perchance he might also seem to tempt the power of God. Having carried off therefore an earthen vessel of water, he entered a retreat in which he stayed without fear. But on that night, as he walked upon that mountain and after his manner had David in his mouth, or rather David's King, he heard a noise as of a horse going round and encircling him, and not able to come nearer. And at first indeed, thinking it was a man, he said nothing, that he might finish the psalm. But when he saw that it neither went away nor came nearer, he says to it: Who are you? and at the same time he hears his water vessel broken by it: which done, it vanished. The blessed Father therefore, recognizing the author from his works, began again to sing psalms, and to say: Surrounding me they compassed me about, my enemies, and in the name of the Lord I was avenged on them. But again he blamed himself, and said within himself: That this one came to us, the wandering of our mind caused: since we have God in our mouth, but have Him not in our mind. Further, it was a familiar saying of his that nothing so stirs up the demons against a monk as the wandering of the mind while he prays and does not attend to what he utters with his mouth.

[30] Then therefore blessed father Nilus, when it grew light, returning into the cave learned and in self-denial. that the Saracens had come as far as that place and had carried off the haircloth sack which he used in alternate years, filling it with the wild pears which they had found there. He went down also to the monastery, and when he had seen all things laid waste and desolate, he judged that Bl. Stephen had been taken by the Saracens, whether in the cave or in the monastery. He began therefore to be exceedingly sad and to say within himself: Alas, pitiable Nilus, brother Stephen is without doubt a captive. For certainly, waiting for you either here or in the cave, he was taken. It is plainly just that we should go and be a slave along with him. And he wept while he said these things, shuddering indeed at the insolence and impurity of the pagans, yet compelled to lay down his life for his friend because of Christ's precept. Thinking these things in his mind he goes off, and sits in the middle of the road awaiting the passing of the Saracens. Not long after, behold, some ten horsemen were coming in the dress, the armour, the little bands wound about the head, and the rest of the Saracen attire. When the blessed Father caught sight of them, he at once raised himself, and again fortifying himself with the sign of the precious Cross, he stood awaiting them. When they had recognized him from afar, leaping down from their horses they came to him on foot and venerated his feet; and when they had drawn the bands from their faces, the Father recognized them as citizens of the castle, so arrayed in order to protect the place.

[31] And having learned from them that all the brethren were safe, and Bl. Stephen with them, he returned into the cave giving thanks to God. When the Saracens had withdrawn, Bl. Stephen also came, and they pursued their former institute of life. But before these things, when he was once in the monastery for the sake of the harvest, he learned from a certain old man who was weaving little baskets to weave cord himself. He made therefore a small basket and carried it into the cave, thinking that he would thus do something very pleasing to the Father. He, when he had seen it, said: Come, brother Stephen, let us also fulfil one precept. Since you made it unbidden and without counsel, let us hand it to the fire to be burned, for so the great Basil commands; and rising at once he kindled a fire and threw in the basket. But when he saw that he bore it ill and by no means with thanksgiving, but with a resisting mind, he allowed the basket to be wholly burned and freed him from an excessive attachment to the thing. On a certain day therefore that old man came who had taught Stephen the art of weaving, asking the Father to permit him to go with him to gather herbs. He went as he was bidden. Now since the old man had his psalter, having laid it down somewhere he forgot and lost it. He came therefore to the holy Father and began to be grieved about his psalter. The Father, seeing him in the greatest sorrow, was moved with compassion, and began to chide Bl. Stephen and to say: Plainly you are dull and unwise. Why did you not look for the psalter? You are at fault: it is right therefore that the old man should take your psalter for himself: and taking it he gave it to the old man, and he went away exulting.

ANNOTATIONS.

abundantly appears. For he seems to have answered when questioned about his parents or kinsfolk. The words This place pleases me have perhaps fallen out of the Greek text.

* perhaps ὁμόφρονος

CHAPTER V.

St. Nilus receives into his discipline, after various trials, George, a nobleman of Rossano; that man's wonderful humility and renunciation of his own will, and his holy death.

Ἄλλοτε πάλιν ἀπέστειλεν αὐτὸν ὁ πατήρ εἰς τὸ Ρυσιάνον ἀγοράσαι μεμβράνας· καὶ δὴ πορευθεὶς ὑπέστρεψεν μετὰ καὶ ἄλλου τινὸς γέροντος τῶν μεγάλων τοῦ κάστρου καὶ εὐγενῶν ἀνθρώπων, Γεωργίου ὀνόματι. Ὃς ἐρωτηθεὶς παρὰ τοῦ ἁγίου πατρὸς, τὸ τί ἂν θέλῃ, ἀπεκρίθη· ὅτι, φησὶ, καθημένῳ μοι μιᾷ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ μου, καὶ διαλογιζομένῳ τὴν τοῦ βίου ματαιότητα, καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας μου, ἐπῆλθε μοι καὶ ὁ φόβος τοῦ θανάτου, καὶ ἡ ἀπολογία τῆς κρίσεως. Ταῦτα γοῦν διαλογιζόμενος, μικρὸν ἀπενύσταξα· καὶ ὀρῶ ἑμαυτὸν εἰσερχόμενον διὰ τῆς μεγάλης πύλης τῆς πόλεως, ἐν ᾗ τῶν ἁγίων Ἀποστόλων καθίδρυται οἰκητήριον. Ἔνθα καὶ ἀκούσας ἐνθέου τινὸς μέλους ἀπήχημα, οἵου οὐδέποτε ἤκουσα, ὥρμησα ἐκεῖ τοῦ ἰδεῖν τίνες οἱ ψάλλοντες. Καὶ λοιπὸν θεωρῶ ἅπαν τὸ βῆμα μεστὸν εὐειδῶν εὐνούχων καὶ λευχειμόνων οἷα ἀγγέλων, καὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς ἱστάμενον σὲ τὸν νῦν μοι ὁρώμενον· ἐν δὲ τῷ τοῦ ἐπισκόπου θρόνῳ καθήμενον πάνυ εὔμορφον, νεώτερόν τε καὶ ὑπέρλαμπρον, οὗ τὸ κάλλος ἀμήχανον διηγήσασθαι. Ἐν τῷ γοῦν εἰσελθεῖν με ἐν τῷ ναῷ, καὶ θεωρεῖν τὰ πανθαύμαστα κάλλα ἐκεῖνα, καὶ ἀκούειν τὴν εὔηχον μελῳδίαν, ὁρῶ δύο τοῦ λευκοφόρων ἐλθόντας πρός με, νεύσαντος τοῦ ἐπὶ θρόνου, καὶ λέγοντάς μοι· δεῦρο, καλεῖ σε ὁ δεσπότης. Ἐγὼ δὲ σὺν φόβῳ πολλῷ πορευθεὶς καὶ σταθεὶς ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ, ἤκουσα αὐτὸν λέγοντά σοι· Ἀπελθὼν κούρευσον αὐτόν. Σύ δὲ προσελθὼν ἐκούρευσας, καὶ ἐποίησάς με μοναχόν. Εὐθέως οὖν ἐξυπνισθεὶς ἠρξάμην διστάζειν τῷ λογισμῷ καὶ λέγειν, ὅτι ὄντως φάντασμά ἐστι το φανέν μοι, καὶ οὐ θεόπεμπτον· ἐγὼ γὰρ οὐδέποτε ἐνεθυμήθην τοῦ γενέσθαι μοναχός.

[33] Ὅμως ἐστοίχησα ἐν ἐμαυτῷ τοῦτο, ἵνα εἰ κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην ἔλθοι ἀδελφὸς τῶν μοναστηρίων ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ μού, ἀληθῶς βούλημα Θεοῦ εἶναι τὸ μονάσαι με· εἰ δὲ μὴ τοῦτο γένηται, ὡς οὐ θεἳκῷ ὄντι τῷ φανέντι ὀνείρῳ ἀπροσεξῆσαι με. Ἐκ πολλῆς οὖν ἀδολέσχίας ἐξελθὼν εἰς τὰ προαύλια, θεωρῶ ἱστάμενον τὸν ἀδελφὸν Στέφανον· καὶ μαθὼν παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς ἐλεύσεως, σπουδαίως πάντα διευθέτησα, καὶ πρὸς τὴν σὴν ἁγιωσύνην ἐλήλυθα. Νῦν οὖν, ὡς δοκεῖ τῷ Θεῷ καὶ σοὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ πατρὶ, ἐπ᾽ ἐμὲ ποίησον. Τούτων τοίνυν τῶν λόγων ἀκούσας ὁ θεοφόρος πατὴρ λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν· Ημεῖς ὦ τιμιώτατε ἀδελφὲ, οὐ διὰ τὸν Θεὸν ἢ ἕνεκεν ἀρετῆς καθήμεθα ἐν τῇ ἐρημίᾳ ταύτῃ, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι ὑπενεγκεῖν τοῦ κοινοβιακοῦ κανόνος τὸ ἄχθος, κεχωρίκαμεν ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὥστπέρ τινες λεπροὶ καὶ ἀκάθαρτοι. Σὺ οὖν καλῶς ποιεῖς φροντίζων τῆς σωτηρίας τῆς σῆς ψυχῆς. Πορεύου τοίνυν εἰσ ττὰ κοινόβια, ἔνθα ἀναπαύσῃ ψυχῇ τε καὶ σώματι. Ὁ δὲ, ὥσπερ ἀδάμας ἀπείραστος μένει τῇ τοῦ σιδήρου προσβολῇ, οὕτω δίεκειτο πρὸς τοὺς ἐν πειρασίᾳ λόγους τοῦ πατρὸς. Τῆς δὲ κυριακῆς ἡμέρας καταλαβούσης, ἐν ᾗ τὰ κοινόβια μικρᾶς τινος παρακλήσεως σωματικῆς μεταλαγχάνουσιν, λαμβάνει αὐτὸν ὁ πατὴρ εἰς τὸ τοῦ Καστελλάνου λεγόμενον μοναστήριον, ἔνθα τροφῆς δαψιλοὺς ἐμφορηθέντες, καὶ μεταλήψεως οἴνου μετρίως τυχόντες, μετὰ τὸ ἀναστῆναι τῆς τραπέζης λέγει ὁ πατὴρ πρὸς τὸν γέροντα· Κύριε Γεώργιε, μεῖνον ὧδε μικρὸν, ἕως οὗ ἀπελθὼν εἰς ἐπίσκεψιν ἑτέρων ἀδελφῶν ὑποστρέψω. Τοῦτο δὲ εἶπε θέλων αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ τοῦ λοιποῦ καταλεῖψαι. Ὅπερ νοήσας ὁ γέρων, εὐθέως ἀπεκρίθη· οὐ δίκαιόν ἐστι τίμιε πάτερ, ἀλλ᾽ ὅπου ὁ δεσπότης ἀπέλθῃ, ἐκεῖ καὶ ὁ κύων ἐπακολουθήσει. Ἀγασθεὶς οὖν ὁ πατὴρ ἐπὶ τῷ παραδείγματι αὐτοῦ, παρέλαβεν αὐτὸν μεθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ ὑπέστρεψαν ὁμοθυμαδον.

[34] Λέγει οὗν αὐτῷ ὁ Γεώργιος κατὰ τὴν ὁδόν · οἴει με τίμιε πάτερ ἀπορεῖν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ μου τρυφῆς καὶ παντοίας χλιδῆς, καὶ δελεασθῆναι με νομίζεις ὡς βρέφος ὑπὸ δαψιλείας τῆς τροφῆς; πέπεισο, ὅτι οὐ θροεῖς με οὕτε ὑπὸ ἐγκρατείας, οὔτε ὑπὸ ἄλλης οἵας δήποτε κακουχίας. Ἐγὼ γὰρ πολλὰ πλεύσας, καὶ πολλὰς χώρας γυρεύσας, πολλῶν καλῶν καὶ κακῶν ἐπειράθην. Καὶ δύναται ὁ Θεὸς διὰ τῶν ἁγίων σου εὐχῶν ἑνδυναμῶσαι με τοῦ ὑποστῆναι ὥσπερ ἐκεῖνα διὰ τὴν δόξαν τοῦ κόσμου, οὕτω καὶ ταῦτα διὰ τὴν αύτοῦ ἀγάπην. Μὴ οὖν ἄλλο τί ποτε ὑπολάβῃς· ὁ γὰρ Θεός πρὸς σέ με ἀπέστειλεν, καὶ ἀδύνατόν ἐστι χωρισθῆναι με ἀπὸ σοῦ. Ταῦτα ἀκοῦσας ὁ μέγας ἐκύρωσεν εἰς αὐτὸν ἀγάπην, καὶ τοῦ λοιποῦ ἔσχεν αὐτὸν ὡς πατέρα· αὐτὸς δὲ πάλιν κατοχυρώσας ἑαυτὸν τῇ πρὸς τὸν ὅσιον πίστει, καὶ ἐλπίσας δι᾽ αὐτοῦ τυχεῖν τῆς οὔρανῶν βασιλείας, ἠγάπησεν αὐτὸν ὡς αὐτὸν τὸν Θεόν. Τοὺς δὲ λόγους, οἳς ἥκουεν ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ νουθετοῦντος ἀφ᾽ ἐαύτοῦ, ἣ καὶ ἑρμηνεύοντος τὰς γραφὰς, οὕτως ὑπεδέχετο, καὶ ἡδύνετο ἐπ αὐτοῖς, ὡς ἐν διαθέσει γίνεσθαι τοῦ εἰπόντος· Ως γλυκέα τῷ λάρυγγί μου τὰ λόγιά σου, ὑπὲρ μέλι τῷ στόματί μου. Διὸ καὶ ὑπέφερε τὴν ἄφατον ἄσκησιν ἐκείνην, μεταβληθεὶς ἀθρόον ἀπὸ τῆς ἔξω συνηθείας εἰς ταύτην· εἰς ἣν πολλοὶ δοκιμάσαντες εἰσελθεῖν καὶ καρτερῆσαι, ταχέως ἀπεπήδησαν, καὶ ἀπέδρασαν.

[35] Τὸ δὲ θαυμαστὸν, ὅτι μηδέποτε γράμματα μαθών, οὔτως ἔψαλλε τὴν ὑμνῳδίαν ἔν τε ψαλμοῖς καὶ κανόσιν, ὥστε θαυμάζειν καὶ ἐκπλήττεσθαι πάντας τοὺς ἀκούοντας αὐτοῦ, καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν ὅσιον πατέρα ἀναπαύεσθαι ἐπὶ τῇ εὐρύθμῳ καὶ εὐκατανύκτῳ ψαλμῳδίᾳ αὐτοῦ. Παρὰ τὰς ἀρχὰς μέν οὖν ὡς ἀπὸ συνηθείας, ἡνίκα μικρὸν ηὐκαίρει, ἐξηγεῖτο πρός τὸν τυχόντα, ἃ εἶδε καὶ ἤκουσεν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. Εἶτα ὡς παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐνεκόπτετο, λέγοντος πρὸς αὐτόν· οὐὰ κῦρι, ποῖος συγγραφεὺς, ὁ Λουκᾶς ἐγένου, ἤ ὁ Ματθαῖος; εὐθέως κρούων εἰς τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ ἁνίστατο, καὶ ἀπερχόμενος κατὰ μόνας, τοσοῦτον ἑαυτοῦ τὰς παρειὰς ἐμάστιζεν, ὑβρίζων καὶ ἐπιτιμῶν ἑαυτὸν, ἕως οὗ ἀρκούντως ἐδάκρυε. Γέγονε δὲ καὶ τοιοῦτόν τι ἐν τῷ κάστρῳ τῷ καλουμένῳ Βισινιάνῳ· νεώτερός τις τῶν σφόδρα ἀκαταστάτων ὑπήντησεν Ἑβραίῳ ὑποστρέφοντι ἀπὸ πραγματείας, καὶ δελεασθεὶς ἐπὶ τοῖς ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἀποφερομένοις, μαχαίρᾳ τοῦτον συγκατακόψας ἁπέκτεινε, καὶ ἄρας τὴν ὄνον αὐτοῦ σὺν τῷ γόμῳ, φυγῇ ἐχρήσατο. Κρατηθεὶς οὖν ὁ τούτου κηδεστὴς ὑπὸ τῶν τότε πραττόντων παραδίδοται τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις τοῦ σταυρωθῆναι ἀντὶ τοῦ σφαγέντος Ἑβραίου. Καὶ τοῦτο μαθὼν ὁ σοφώταγος Νεῖλος παρὰ τῶν ἰδίων τοῦ κατακεκριμένου, γράφει πρὸς τοὺς ἀδίκους κριτὰς ταῦτα· Ἐδει μὲν ὑμᾶς τὸν νόμον ἐπισταμένους, κατὰ τὸν νόμον ἀποφαίνεσθαι καὶ τὰς κρίσεις, τὸν κελεύοντα ἀπόλλυσθαι ἕνα Χριστιανὸν ὑπὲρ ἑπτὰ Ἑβραίων. ἤ τοίνυν δότωσαν ἐξ αὐτῶν οἱ Ἑβραῖοι ἑτέρους ἓξ τοῦ ἀποκτανθῆναι ὑπὲρ τοῦ μέλλοντος σταυρωθῆναι· ἢ εἴγε ὅλως ἔδοξεν ὑμῖν παρακρίνειν τὰ καλῶς νενομοθετημένα, ὅνπερ αὐτόθι μετὰ τῶν γραμμάτων ἀποστέλλω, εὐγενὴς δέ ἐστι τῶν πρώτων τοῦ Ῥυσιάνου, δοθήτω τοῖς Ἱουδαίοις τοῦ σταυρωθῆναι, καὶ ὁ πτωχὸς ἐλευθερωθήτω, ἵνα σὺν αὐτῷ καὶ γυνὴ καὶ τέκνα ἐλεηθῶσιν. Καλέσας οὖν τὸν ἀββᾶν Γεώργιον ὅ ὅσιος, καὶ μηδὲν αὐτῷ εἰρηκὼς ὧνπερ ἔγραψε, δίδωσιν αὐτῷ τὴν ἐπιστολὴν, καὶ ἀποστέλλει εἰς τὸ Βυσινιανον.

[36] Δεξάμενοι δὲ οἱ κριταὶ, καὶ αναγνόντες τὰ γεγραμμένα, λέγουσι πρὸς τὸν γέροντα· Ὧδε καλόγηρε ὁ πατὴρ ἔγραψεν, ἵνα σὲ δῶμεν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις τοῦ σταυρωθῆναι· ἀρέσκει σοι; Λέγει αὐτοῖς ἐκεῖνος· Ἕτοιμός εἰμι εἰς πᾶν ὃ ἔργαψεν ὁ Κύριός μου πληρῶσαι. Εἰ δὲ καὶ τὸν σταυρόν οὐκ ἔστι τὶς ὁ κατασκευάζων, ἐγὼ οἶδα καλῶς αὐτὸν πελεκῆσαι. Οἱ δὲ αἰδεσθέντες τὴν τοῦ γέροντος προθυμίαν, καὶ τοῦ ἀποστείλαντος τὴν μεγαλοφυΐαν, καὶ τὸν πτωχὸν ἠλευθέρωσαν, καί τὸν γέροντα μετὰ τιμῆς μεγίστης ἀπέλυσαν. Ἐτι δὲ καὶ ἔτι κατὰ καιρὸν ἐπερχομένων τῶν ἀθέων Σαῤῥακηνῶν τοῖς τόποις ἐκείνοις, καὶ μὴ δυναμένων καθίσαι ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ τῶν ὁσίων πατέρων, ἐκεῖθεν γὰρ ἦν ἠ δίοδος τοῦ φωσάτου, ἔδοξε τῷ μεγάλῳ καταλιπεῖν τὰ ἐκείσε· καὶ καταλαβὼν τὰ περίχωρα τῆς πατρίδος, ἔμεινεν ἐν τόπῳ οἰκείῳ, ἐν ᾧ μικρὸν εὐκτήριον ἵδρυτο τοῦ ἁγίου Ἁδριανοῦ· νομίσας μηδἑποτε ἐκεῖ εἰσελεύσεσθαι ἔθνος διὰ τὸ δύσβατον καὶ παρόδιον εἶναι τὸν τόπον. Τούτου δὲ γενομένου, ἤρξαντό τινες τῶν πτωχῶν τῷ πνεύματι, οὓς καὶ εἰς τὸ οἰκεῖον δεῖπνον ἐκάλει ὁ Κύριος, προσέρχεσθαι τῷ πατρὶ, καὶ τὴν συνοίκησιν δέεσθαι. Ὁ δὲ σπλαγχνιζόμενος ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς, ἐδέχετο τούτους, καὶ ψυχῶν καὶ σωμάτων αὐτῶν τὴν σωτηρίαν ἐπραγματεύετο. Κατὰ μικρὸν δὲ προἳόντος τοῦ χρόνου συνήχθησαν μέχρι τῶν δώδεκα, καὶ πλείους, καὶ μοναστήριον Θεοῦ συνεργοῦντος ὁ τόπος ἐγένετο· πλείστων μὲν ἀποδιδρασκόντων τὸ δραστικὸν τοῦ κανόνος, καὶ τὸ σκληρὸν τῆς διαίτης, ὅσοι τὴν πλατεῖαν ὁδὸν τῆς στενῆς προετίμων· τῶν δέ γε φιλοθέων ἐγκαρτερούντων, καὶ πάντα ὑποφερόντων διὰ τὴν τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείαν. Ἦσαν οὖν δύο ἀδελφοὶ ὁμαίμονες πλησίον ἐκεῖ καθήμενοι, οἵτινες ὑπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ πειραζόμενοι, καὶ τῷ φθόνῳ βαλλόμενοι, ἤρξαντο καταλαλεῖν τοῦ δικαίου, καὶ ἐν παντὶ αὐτὸν διασύρειν, πλάνον εἶναι τε λέγοντες καὶ μάγον, ὑποκριτήν τε καὶ ψεύστην, καὶ εἴ τι ἀλλο ἔτικτεν ἡ κακία.

[37] Ταῦτα δὲ ὁ μακάριος ἀκούσας, ἡγωνίζετο παντοιοτρόπως τὸν φθόνον αὐτών κατασβέσαι, καὶ ἀποθεραπεῦσαι αὐτῶν τὰς καρδίας, ὃ καὶ πεποίηκε μετ᾽ ὀλίγον· Εκείνων γὰρ διαβαλλόντων καὶ σφόδρα κακόλογούντων, οὗτος τὸ ἐναντίον οὐκ ἐπαύετο εὐφημῶν, καὶ ἐπαίνους πολλους περὶ αὐτῶν ἀναγγέλλων εἰς πάντας ὡς ἐπὶ ἁγίων. Ἡνίκα δὲ πάλιν ἐκεῖνοι μικρᾶς τινος ἀφορμῆς ἐπελαμβάνοντο, ἢ κτήνους διαβάντος τὸ κλεῖσμα, ἢ φρυγάνου παραῤῥυέντος ὑπὸ ἀνέμου, ἐξερχόμενοι ἄντικρυς τοῦ δικαίου μυρίας λοιδορίας ἐλάλουν, ἀναισχύντως μαχόμενοι καὶ ὑβρίζοντες. Ὁ δὲ πατὴρ παραγγείλας τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μηδένα μηδὲν

αὐτοῖς ἀνταποκριθῆναι, αἴρων ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ τὸν Δαβὶδ ὑπεχώρει. Κᾀκεῖνοι αὐτὸν θεωροῦντες, κραυγάζοντες ἔλεγον· Βλέπεις τὸν ὑποκριτήν; Ἑαυτὸν ποιεῖ ἅγιον, καὶ ἡμᾶς δαίμονας. Οὐ καλῶς ἐλέγομεν, ὅτι ὁ διάβολός σε ἐνταῦθα ἤγαγεν, ἵνα καθ᾽ ἡμέραν μαχώμεθα; Ὁ δὲ ἀκούων οὐκ ἀπεκρίνετο· ἀλλὰ τῆς ἑσπέρας καταλαβούσης, εἴτε τῇ ἐπαύριον ἡμέρα, ἡνίκα ἐθεώρει ὅτι εἰσῆλθον τοῦ γεύσασθαι, ἀπερχόμενος πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐποίει αὐτοῖς μετάνοιαν αἰτούμενος τὴν συγχώρησιν. Εἶτα συνεσθιόμενος αὐτοῖς καὶ συναγαλλόμενος, τῇ καλῇ συνέσει αὐτοῦ ἐθεράπευε τὰς καρδίας αὐτῶν, καὶ ὑπέστρεφε μετὰ χαρᾶς εἰς τὸ κελλίον αὐτοῦ. Μετὰ δὲ χρόνον ἰκανὸν τελευτῶν ὁ μειζότερος ἀδελφὸς, ἐν ταῖς χερσὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πατρὸς κατέλιπεν εἴτι ἂν ἐκέκτητο καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ αὐτὸς αὐτὰ ᾠκονόμησε κατὰ τὸ βούλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ. Μιᾷ δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐλήλυθεν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀββᾶ Γεωργίου ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ, φέρων μεθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ βόας τρεῖς εὐειδεῖς πάνυ μάλα καὶ μεγάλας. Καλέσας δὲ ὁ μέγας τὸν γέροντα λέγει αὐτῷ· Τί ἤνεγκας ὧδε τοὺς βόας τούτους; Ὁ δὲ δήσας τὰς χεῖρας ὡς ἐπὶ ἀρχόντων, ἀπεκρίνατο μετὰ φόβου· Τιμιώτατε πάτερ, ἐπειδὴ κοπιῶσιν οἱ ἀδελφοἱ, ἵνα ἐργάσωνται τὸν ἐπιούσιον ἄρτον, καλόν ἐστιν εἰ κελεύεις, ἵνα ἔχωσι ταῦτα βραχύ τι παραμύθιον.

[38] Λέγει οὖν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ πατήρ. Οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσι τούτων οἱ ἀδελφοί· μᾶλλον δὲ συμφέρει αὐτοῖς, ἵνα κοπιῶσι. Ἀλλ᾽ ἀπελθὼν σφάξον, καὶ διάδος αὐτοὺς τοῖς πτωχοῖς. Εὐθέως δὲ ὁ γέρων ἀκούσας, καὶ μηδὲ πρὸς ὥραν μελλήσας, ἀνεκομβώσατο τὰς χεῖρας, καὶ τῆς μαχαίρας δραξάμενος ὥρμησε τοῦ τελέσαι τὸ κελευόμενον. Καὶ ἐπλήρωσεν ἂν εὐθέως, εἰ μὴ ταχέως φωνήσας ὁ ὅσιος τὴν χεῖρα ἐκώλυσεν. Τότε γνοὺς ὁ πατὴρ το Αβραμιαῖον τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ· Μὴ φονευσῃς αὐτὰ, ἔφη, ἔπει δὴ ὀλίγον ὄφελος γίνεται· ἀλλὰ τὰ μέν δύο δώσομεν ἐπὶ τὰ ἐνδεῆ μοναστήρια καὶ πληθυντικώτερα, τὸ δὲ ἕτερον μίξαντες μετὰ τῶν γειτόνων ἡμῶν, τὴν χρείαν ἡμῶν ἐργασώμεθα· ὅτι πᾶν τὸ ὑπὲρ τὴν χρείαν πλεονεξία ἐστί. Ποιήσαντες οὖν ὡς ὁ πατὴρ διετάξατο, ἐποίησαν τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν ἐκεῖνον σῖτον πολὺν, καὶ πάντες ἐδόξαζον τὸν Θεόν. Ποτὲ δὲ τριῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐκ τοῦ μοναστηρίου ἐν τῷ μύλωνι ἀπελθόντων μετὰ τριῶν ζώων πεφωρτωμένων, μετὰ τὸ ἀλέσαι τῇ ἐπαύριον ὑποστρεφόντων, καὶ ἤδη τῇ μονῆ ἐγγιζόντων, ὁρῶσιν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ πυρὰν καιομένην καὶ λέγουσιν· Ἄρτι ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ νηστεύουσιν· ποιήσωμεν ὧδε ἄρτον καὶ φάγωμεν, μήποτε νήστεις ἀπελθόντες καὶ ἡμεῖς μετ᾽ αὐτῶν νηστεύσωμεν. Καὶ οὕτως ἐποίησαν, καθὼς ἐβουλεύσαντο. Γνοὺς δὲ ὁ πατὴρ τῷ πνεύματι τὰ περὶ αὐτῶν, ἐκέλευσεν ἑτοιμάσαι τῷ κελλαρίτῃ, ἵνα φησὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν φθασάντων ἀπὸ τὸν μύλου γευσώμεθα ἄρτου. Εὐθέως οὖν ἐκείνων ἐλθόντων, καὶ πάλιν μετὰ τὸν πατρὸς καὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν γευσαμένων, μετὰ τὸ τῆς τραπέζης ἐξαναστῆναι, καλεῖ αὐτοὺς ὁ πατὴρ κατὰ μόνας, καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· Διατί ὑπηκούσατε τῷ διαβόλῳ συμβουλεύσαντι ὑμῖν ποιῆσαι κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ἄρτους καὶ φαγεῖν; Μὴ μακρὰν τῆς μονῆς ἐτυγχάνετε; ἢ δοῦλοι μου ὑπάρχετε, ἵνα διὰ τὸν ἐμὸν φόβον λάθρα ἐσθίητε; Ὑμεῖς ἀδελφοί μου ἐστὲ, καὶ ὁ ἄρτος ὑμέτερος κόπος ἐστὶν, καὶ οὐδείς ἐστιν ὁ βιάζων ὑμᾶς τὴν προαίρεσιν ὑμῶν. Τοῦτο τοὶνυν γινώσκοντες μηδέποτέ τι παρὰ κανόνα ποιήσητε. Οἱ δὲ ἀκούσαντες ἔβαλον μετάνοιαν, καὶ ἐπηγγείλαντο τοῦ λοιποῦ διαρθώσασθαι.

[39] Ἄλλοτε πάλιν τοῦ μεγάλου πατρὸς ἐν τῇ μονῇ μὴ ὑπάρχοντος ἐλήλυθέ τις παρθένος συντυχεῖν αὐτῷ βουλομένη, μὴ εἰδυῖα ὅτι προαιρεῖται μᾶλλον ἀσπίδι, ἢ γυναικὶ ὁμιλῆσαι. Τῶν δὲ ἀδελφῶν εἰς τὰ κελλία ἡσυχαζόντων, ἰδοῦσα αοὐτὴ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν μεμονωμένην, εἰσῆλθε καὶ ηὔξατο. Ἰδόντες δὲ αὐτὴν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ἐξεληλυθυῖαν, ἐγόγγυσαν κατ᾽ αὐτῆς ὡς παρὰ συνήθειαν ποιησάσης. Ἠ δὲ μαθοῦσα ὁτι ὁ πατὴρ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκεῖσε, ἀπῆλθεν εὐθέως. Καταλαβὼν οὖν ὁ μέγας μετὰ τετάρτην ἡμέραν, καὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν εἰς προσκύνησιν αὐτοῦ συνελθόντων, ἤρξατο αὐτοῖς ἐπιμέμφεσθαι, καὶ λέγειν· Τοιοῦτοι μοναχοί ἐστε ὐμεῖς, ὅτι μία γυνὴ ἐλθοῦσα κατηπάτησεν ὑμᾶς, καὶ συνώζησε τὴν ἐκκλησίαι ὑμῶν; Ὄντως μεγάλου ἐπιτιμίου ἐστὲ ἄξιοι. Οἱ δὲ καταπλαγέντες ἐπὶ τῷ θαύματι, ἔβαλον μετάνοιαν, καὶ συγχώρησιν ἐξῃτήσαντο. Ὁ τοίνυν μακάριος ἀληθῶς Γεώργιος μεγάλως κατὰ Θεὸν πολιτευσάμενος, καὶ εὐαρεστήσας αὐτῷ ἔν τε ἐγκρατείᾳ, καὶ κακουχίᾳ, καὶ ὑπακοῇ ἀδιακρίτῳ, καὶ ταπεινῶσει μεγίστῃ, καὶ τῇ κοπῇ τοῦ οἰκείου θελήματος, ὅπερ μαρτύριον ἐστί τε καὶ λέγεται, πρὸς Κύριον ἀπεδήμησεν, ἀποληψόμενος τὰ δι᾽ ἃ πάντα ὑπέμεινεν. Ἐπὶ τούτῳ μεγάλως τὸν Θεὸν ηὐχαρίστησε πληροφορηθεὶς, ὅτι ἀληθῶς δόκιμον γεώργημα καὶ ἀναφαίρεμα εὐπρόσδεκτον καρπὸν αὐτοῦ τῷ Χριστῷ προσηγάγετο.

George, a nobleman, warned by a vision At another time the Father sent him to Rossano to buy parchments. Having set out, therefore, he returned, having as his companion another old man of the chief men of the town, a nobleman, George ^a by name. Who, being asked by the Father what he wanted, answered: On a certain day, as I was sitting in my house and thinking about the vanity of the world and about my sins, there came upon me both the fear of death and the question of the judgment. As I was thinking these things, therefore, a short slumber overcame me, and I seemed to myself to enter by the greater gate of the city, at which is situated the church of the holy Apostles. And when there had been carried to me from thence a faint trace of a divine melody, such as I never heard, I approached at once to see who they were that sang. I see therefore the whole sanctuary full of comely eunuchs, like angels clothed in white, and with them yourself, whom I now see, standing; and on the episcopal seat a youth most beautiful and most splendid, whose comeliness no one could express. When therefore I had entered into the church and was contemplating those admirable forms and hearing that most sweet melody, I see two of those clothed in white come to me, at a nod from him who sat on the throne, and say: Come, the Lord calls you. And I, going forward with great fear, stood before him, and heard him saying to you: Go and tonsure this man. And you, approaching, tonsured me and made me a monk. Immediately therefore, waking up, I began to doubt and to say, thinking within myself: Surely this vision was empty, not sent from God. For it never came into my mind that I should become a monk.

[33] Yet I settled this with myself, that if on that day any brother should come from the monasteries into my house, comes to St. Nilus, by whom after trial he is received into his company I should truly know that it was of the divine will that I become a monk: but if this did not happen, I should dismiss the dream as not divinely offered. To avoid idleness therefore, going out into the vestibule I saw brother Stephen, and when I had learned from him the cause of his coming, I hastily settled my affairs and came to your holiness. Now therefore do with me what pleases God and you, holy Father. The Father, full of God, having heard these things, answered: We, most honoured brother, sit in this solitude not for God's sake nor for the sake of virtue; but because we cannot bear the weight of the coenobitic observance, we have separated ourselves from men, like certain lepers and unclean persons. But you do well, caring for the salvation of your soul. Go therefore to the monasteries, in which you will enjoy quiet of soul and body. He, like the adamant which is not broken by the stroke of iron, stood unmoved at the words of the Father who was testing him. But on the Lord's day, on which the monasteries are wont to use a moderate relaxation of the body, the Father took him with himself to the monastery which is called the Castellan's ^b, in which, being sumptuously received and moderately refreshed with wine, after they had risen from the table, the Father addressed the old man thus: Lord George, wait here a little, until I return from going to visit the other brethren. But this he said with the mind of leaving him thereafter in the monastery. Understanding which, the old man at once answered: It is not right, venerable Father; but wherever the master goes, thither the dog too will follow. The Father, admiring the comparison, took him as his companion and they returned with one mind.

[34] While he was on the road, the old man said to the Father: Do you think, and into a close friendship, venerable Father, that at home there is lacking to me an abundance of delights and pleasures, and do you judge that I, like a boy, am taken by abundance of food? Know for certain that I shall dread neither abstinence nor any other austerity whatsoever. For I, having used much sailing and having wandered through many regions, have experienced many good and evil things; and God can by your holy prayers so strengthen me that as I bore those things for the glory of the world, so I shall bear these for the love of God. Think therefore nothing else: for God has sent me to you, and it cannot be that I should be separated from you. When the great Father had heard these things, he embraced him with genuine charity and thereafter held him in the place of a father: and he in turn, fortifying himself with the confidence he had conceived in the Father, and hoping that through him he would obtain the heavenly kingdom, loved him as God Himself. Moreover the words which he heard from his mouth, whether he delivered his own instructions or explained the Scriptures, he so received and delighted in them that he felt the affection of him who said: How sweet are thy words to my palate, more than honey to my mouth. Therefore he endured that manner of life harsh beyond measure, changed suddenly from his domestic habit into this, from which very many who had made trial of it with a mind to persist in their purpose quickly recoiled and fled away.

[35] And what was wonderful, though he had never learned letters, of self-denial, he so sang and chanted psalms and hymns that all who heard wondered and were amazed, and the holy Father himself was delighted with his sweet melody, which begot compunction of spirit. And at the first time indeed, if ever he had a little leisure, he narrated to anyone at all, as was his old custom, what he had seen and heard in the world. But when the Father interrupted his discourse and said, Aha! what sort of writer are you, Sir — have you turned out a Luke or a Matthew? — at once he rose striking his mouth, and withdrawing he beat his cheeks so long, rebuking himself and loading himself with reproaches, until he had shaken out tears enough. Something of this kind also happened in the town which is called Bisignano ^c. A certain very insolent youth chanced to meet a Hebrew returning from trade, and, taken with greed for his wares, cut him down with a sword and killed him, and, taking the she-ass with its load, betook himself to flight. His father-in-law therefore was seized by the governors of the place and handed over to the Jews to be crucified on account of the slain Hebrew. When the most wise Nilus learned this from the kinsmen of the condemned man, he writes to the iniquitous judges in this manner: It behoved you indeed, who know the law, to pronounce your judgments also according to the law

one for seven Jews. Either therefore let the Hebrews hand over six others of their own to be killed in place of him who is to be crucified, or, if it is altogether settled by you to pervert the best laws, let there be given to the Jews for crucifixion the man whom I send to you with this letter, a nobleman of the chief men of Rossano, and let that wretched man be freed, that mercy may at the same time be shown to him and to his wife and children. The blessed Father therefore called abbot George, and, disclosing nothing of what he had written, gives him the letter and sends him to Bisignano.

[36] he gives examples of it. Having received and read the letter, the judges said to the old man: O monk, the Father has written that we should hand you over to the Jews to be crucified. Does this please you? And he: I am ready to fulfil whatever my Lord has written, and if perchance there is no one to make the cross, I am skilled enough in building one. They, revering the old man's ready spirit and the generosity of him who sent him, both released that wretched man and dismissed the old man with the highest honour. Moreover, as the impious Saracens invaded those places at fixed intervals, the holy fathers could not remain in the cave, for the way of the army lay through it. It seemed good therefore to the great Father to leave the place. Wherefore, setting out to the adjacent seats of his native country, he stayed in a place under his own right, in which was set the little church of saint Adrian ^d, thinking that the infidels would never break through thither because of the difficulty and distance of the place. When this was done, the poor in spirit — of the number of those whom the Lord was calling to the supper — began to come together to the Father and to ask to be received into his company. And he, moved with compassion, received them and took thought for the health of their bodies and souls. And it came to pass in the course of time that the brethren were now about twelve, or even more, and the place, God helping, turned into a monastery. For indeed very many fled the laborious rule and the thorny manner of life, as many as preferred the broad way to the narrow, while men who loved God bore it and endured all things for the kingdom of heaven. Now there were two brothers german dwelling in a neighbouring place, who, driven both by the goads of the malignant spirit and by the torches of envy, began to speak against the holy Man and to disparage him on every occasion, calling him a seducer and a great hypocrite and a liar, and whatever else their wickedness suggested.

[37] The meekness of St. Nilus. When the blessed Man had heard these things, he strove with all zeal to extinguish their malice and to heal their hearts: which also not long after he obtained. For when they assailed him with calumnies and tore him vehemently with curses, he on the contrary heaped them with praises and commended them much before all as holy men. But when they again, seizing some slight occasion — either a beast of burden leaping over the boundaries of the cloister, or the wind carrying in a straw — came out against the Saint pouring forth six hundred reproaches, and fought shamelessly with insults, then the Father charged the brethren that no one should answer them anything; and having David in his mouth he went away. But they, seeing this, said with a great cry: Do you see the hypocrite? He esteems himself a saint and us demons. Did we not say well that you were brought hither by the devil, that we might join battle daily? But he, hearing, answered nothing; but in the evening, or even on the following day, after he had seen them go in to dinner, he came, and falling down begged pardon. And then, eating with them and enjoying the common gladness, by his excellent prudence he softened their hearts, and returned with joy into his own cell. After some time the elder brother, dying, bequeathed all that he possessed to the holy Father, and left his brother commended to him, and he himself disposed of all things according to the will of God. Moreover on a certain day the son of abbot George came into the monastery bringing with him three cows, very fine and large. The great Father therefore summoned the old man and said: Why have you brought these cows hither? But he, folding his hands as is wont to be done before princes, answered with fear: Most venerable Father, since the brethren labour to procure their daily bread, it will be convenient, if by your leave it be permitted, to have them for the moderate lightening of their labours.

[38] And the great father said: The brethren do not need these things; The obedience of George nay, it profits them to labour. Go therefore, kill them and distribute them to the poor. As soon as the old man heard, with no delay interposed, drawing back his sleeves he bared his arms, and seizing a sword went to slaughter the cows; and he would have fulfilled the command had not the Father, crying out more swiftly, held back his hand. Recognizing therefore the Abrahamic virtue in his mind, the Father said: Do not kill them, since there will be little profit: but let us give two to the more needy and more numerous monasteries, and, joining the third with those of our neighbours, let us relieve our own necessity: for what is above need pertains to avarice. When therefore it had been done as the Father commanded, they gathered that year a great abundance of grain, and all gave glory to God. When on one occasion three brethren had gone to the mill with three laden beasts of burden, and were returning on the next day from the mill, and were now near the monastery, seeing a fire kindled on the road they said: In the monastery they are now fasting: let us make bread here and eat, lest, if we arrive there fasting, we too fast with them. And they did as they had determined. The Father knew this in spirit, and ordered the keeper of the storeroom to set the table, so that, he said, when the brethren come, we may eat bread. Immediately they came, and again took food with the Father and the brethren. Rising therefore from the table, the Father calls them apart and says: Why did you lend your ear to the devil giving counsel, that on the way you should make bread and eat? Were you far from the monastery, or are you my slaves, that, because you fear me, you should eat in secret? You are my brethren and your bread is your labour, nor is there anyone who compels you against your will. Knowing this therefore, commit nothing ever by which the Rule may be broken. Hearing which, they prostrated themselves and promised that in future they would amend their life.

[39] At another time, when the Father was absent, a certain maiden came to the monastery and his pious death. to speak with him: nor did she know that he preferred the company of an asp to converse with a woman. And when all the brethren were staying quietly in their cells and she had seen no one in the church, she entered and prayed. When therefore the brethren saw her going out, they complained of her because she had done what was against custom. And she, when she learned that the Father was absent, at once departed. The great Father, returning after four days, began to rebuke the brethren who had come together to greet him, and to say: Are you such monks that one woman coming has mocked you and has filled your church with stench? Truly you deserve to be punished with a grave penalty. And they, amazed at the miracle, prostrated themselves and asked pardon. But George, truly blessed, having performed excellent works according to the law of God, and approved to Him for his abstinence and harsh institute of life, and also for his obedience which judged nothing, and for his utmost humility and the denial of his own will — which is and is called a martyrdom — passed to the Lord, to receive the rewards for which he had endured all things. For this the great Father gave thanks to God, holding it for certain that he had offered his first-fruits to Christ, an excellent fruit of his husbandry and a most acceptable oblation.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER VI.

St. Nilus, a despiser of glory and of himself, exhorts Canisca, formerly his master, to the contempt of riches: he fortifies the brethren with prayer against the snares of the demon, and makes trial of their blind obedience: the goods of an avaricious superior bequeathed to him by will he lavishes on the poor: he restores a convent of virgins: he flees the crowd of the people.

ΑὙτὸς δὲ ἀνεξάλειπτα ἔχων ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ τὰ τοῦ ἁγίου εὐαγγελίου ἐντάλματα· καὶ τὸ, Ὑμεῖς δὲ μὴ κληθήτε ῥαββὶ, μηδὲ κληθῆτε καθηγηταί· οὐδέποτε κατεδέξατο ἀκοῦσαι οἷον δήποτε ὄνομα δόξης ὑπόληψιν ἔχον· ἀλλ᾽ ἀεὶ τὸ φρόνημα πάντων κατώτερον ἔχων, ὡς ἕνα τῶν ἐσχάτων ἀδελφῶν ἑαυτὸν ἐλογίζετο. Διὸ καὶ τῶν τέκνων τῆς ἐρήμου πληθυνομένων, καὶ καθ᾽ ἡμέραν ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ πνευματικῶς γενωμένων, καὶ εὐαγγελικῶς ποιμαινομένων, ἑτέρω τὸ τῆς ἡγουμενίας ὄνομα πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ ἐνεχείριζεν· ὧν εἷς ὑπῆρξε καὶ πρῶτος ὁ παμμακάριστος καὶ τρισόσιος Πρόκλος, ἀνὴρ τῆς ἐγκυκλίου παιδεύσεως σφόδρα πεπειραμένος, βιβλίων τε τῶν ἔξωθεν καὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἐνδιαθέτων τε καὶ τῶν ὕστερον ἐκτεθέντων κιβώτιον τὴν οἰκείαν καρδίαν ἀποτελέσας. Ὅσττις ἐλέγετο πρὸ τοῦ μονάσαι ἔτι νέος ὢν, ἐν τῷ κάστρῳ τυγχάνων, τοιαύτην ἐσχηκέναι τὴν ἐργασίαν· καθ᾽ ἑκάστην νηστεύων ἕως ἑσπέρας, καὶ τῇ ἀναγνώσει σχολάζων, ἀπεχόμενός τε τῶν ἐκκαιόντων καὶ ἡδυνόντων βρωμάτων τε καὶ πομάτων, περιήρχετο ἀφ᾽ ἑσπέρας ἕως ὄρθρου πάσας τὰς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ κάστρου πληρῶν τὸ ψαλτήριον, καὶ καθ᾽ ἑκάστην θύραν αυτῶν ποιῶν μετανοίας, ὅσας ἑαυτῷ ἐκεῖνος τυπώσας ἐγίνωσκεν. Οὐδεὶς γὰρ τὴν ἐν κρυπτῷ ἐργασίαν αὐτοῦ ἠπίστατο. Οὗτος τοίνυν εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὸ μοναδικὸν στάδιον, καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ ὁσίου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Νείλου τῆς ἐναρέτου πολιτείας τὴν σφραγῖδα ἐνσημανθεὶς, τοσαύτῃ ἐγκρατείᾳ τε καὶ ἀσκήσει ἑαυτὸν καθυπέβαλεν, ὥστε νεκρῶσαι αὐτοῦ τὰ μέλη τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ ἀσθενείαις πικραῖς προσπαλαῖσαι μέχρι καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς ἐσχάτης ἀναπνοῆς. Ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν ἐκείνου ἱκανὰ ὀντα ἰδίαν συγγραφὴν ὠφελείας μεστὴν ἐκτελέσαι, τῷ τὰ πάντα ἐπισταμένῳ καὶ πᾶσιν ἀποδιδοῦντι κατὰ τὸν ἴδιον κόπον Θεῷ ἀναθήσωμεν· ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ μεγάλου πατρὸς διήγησιν ἀνακάμψωμεν.

[41] Ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ σεισμοῦ μεγάλου καταλαβόντος τὸ Ῥυσιάνον μετὰ πολλῶν νυχθημέρων ὀμβροκλυσίαν, καὶ τοῦ ἀνωτέρου μέρους ἐπαναστάντος σὺν οἴκοις καὶ εὐκτηρίοις, καὶ ἐπελθόντος τοῦ κατωτέρου, καλύψαντός τε οἴκους καὶ ἐκκλησίας, καὶ μὴ αἰδεσθέντος εἰ μὴ μόνην τὴν καθολικὴν ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τῆς ἀγίας Ειρήνης, θαυμαστὸν ἦν καὶ φοβερὸν τοῖς ὁρῶσι τὸ γεγονὸς, ἄλλα ἐξ ἄλλων φαινόμενα τὰ πάντα, καὶ ἕτερα ἀνθ᾽ ἑτέρων. Τὸ δὲ παράδοξον, ὅτι ἐν

τοιούτῳ κατακλυσμῷ φοβερῷ οὐδεμία ψωχὴ ἀνθρώπου ἢ κτήνους ἀπώλετο. Ταῦτα τοίνυν πολλῶν ἐξηγουμένων τῷ μακαρίτῃ, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐκπληττομένου ἔδοξεν αὐτῷ μετὰ ταῦτα εἰσελθεῖν καὶ ἱστορῆσαι τὰ γεγονότα. Ὁ δὲ τρόπος τῆς ἐλεύσεως αὐτοῦ ἦν τοιόσδε· εὑρὼν γὰρ κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν δέρμα ἀλώπεκος ἐῤῥιμένον, καὶ τοῦτο τῇ κεφαλῇ αὐτοῦ περιδήσας, τὸ δὲ περιβόλαιον ἐν τῇ ῥάβδῳ παρὰ τὸν ὠμον κρεμάσας, οὕτω διῆλθεν ἅπαν τὸ κάστρον ὑπ᾽ οὐδενὸς γνωριζόμενος. Οἱ δὲ παῖδες ἰδόντες αὐτὸν ἐν τοιούτῳ σχήματι διερχόμενον, ἠκολούθουν αὐτῷ λιθάζοντες αὐτὸν καὶ λέγοντες· Ὧ σὺ Βούλγαρε καλόγηρε· καὶ ἕτεροι Φράγκον αὐτὸν ἀπεκάλουν, καὶ ἄλλοι Ἀρμένιον. Αὐτὸς δὲ σιωπῶν, περιβλεψάμενος πάντα, ὀψίας ἤδη οὔσης ἀπέρχεται ἐν τῇ μεγάλῃ ἐκκλησίᾳ, καὶ ῥίψας ἀπὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς τὸ δέρμα, θείς τε τὸ εὐτελὲς περιβόλαιον ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων, εἰσέρχεται μετὰ πόθου καὶ κατανύξεως προσκυνῆσαι τὴν ὑπέραγνον Θεοτόκον, τὴν αὐτοῦ παιδαγωγὸν καὶ προστάτιν. ἰδὼν δὲ αὐτὸν ὁ προσμονάριος, ὅς ἐλέγετο Κανισκᾶς, διδάσκαλος αὐτοῦ χρηματίσας ποτὲ, καὶ ἄλλοι τῶν ἰερέων τινὲς, καὶ ἐπιγνόντες ὅτι ὁ μέγας πατήρ ἐστιν, ἦλθον καὶ προσέπεσον τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτοῦ, ξενιζόμενοι ἐπὶ τῇ παραδόξῳ παρουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ.

[42] Αὐτὸς δὲ πᾶσι τὰ συμφέροντα προσειπὼν, καὶ μεγάλως ὠφελήσας καὶ ἀπολύσας αὐτοὺς, παρέμεινεν ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ μετὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ διδασκάλου, συμβουλεύων αὐτῷ ἐκβῆναι ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου, καὶ διασῶσαι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ. Ἦν γὰρ μηδέποτε γυναικὶ συνδεθεὶς, μηδὲ γαστριμαργίᾳ ἢ βλακείᾳ καταδεδουλωμένος, τῇ δὲ φιλαργυρίᾳ τοσοῦτον ὑπῆρχε συμπεπλεγμένος, ὅσον καὶ μαῖα τῇ ἀράχνῃ περιπαρεῖσα. Διὸ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ τὴν παραβολὴν ταύτην πρὸς αὐτὸν εἴρηκεν· Ὅτι οἱ μέν τῇ τῆς γαστρὸς ἀναγκαζόμενοι χρείᾳ, εὐλόγως ταῖς ὑπηρεσίαις προσκαρτεροῦσι· σὺ δὲ ταύτην ἐκτὸς τυγχάνων, τί καὶ μάτην παρακάθησαι τοῖς ἐκκοπρουμένοις, καὶ τῆς ἐκείνων δυσωδίας μεταλαμβάνεις; Ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀπεκρίθη ἐκεῖνος· Ὄντως τίμιε πάτερ, πολλοί ἐσμεν οἱ μακαρίζοντές σου τὴν πολιτείαν· καὶ πολλάκις ἐβουλευσάμεθα τοῦ ἐξελθεῖν πρὸς τὴν σὴν ἁγιωσύνην, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι ἡμᾶς ἄνευ οἴνου βιῶσαι, ἰλιγγιάσαμεν τοῦτο πρᾶξαι. Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ μέγας· Δεῦτε καὶ ποιήσατε ὑμῖν αὐτοῖς καινοὺς λάκκους συγκεκλεισμένους, καὶ γεμίσαντες αὐτοὺς οἴνου ἀντλήσατε ἀενάως καὶ πίετε. Τοῦ δὲ πάλιν προφασιζομένου προφάσεις ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, καὶ τῆς παραινέσεως μὴ ἀνεχομένου, ἔννυχον λίαν ἀναστὰς ὁ μέγας ἐξῆλθε, καὶ ὑπεχώρησε τῶν ἐκεῖσε, εἰπὼν πρὸς τὸν φιλάργυρον ἐκεῖνον ἓν ῥῆμα· Ὅτι οἴμοι δικάσκαλε, τότε μετανοήσεις, ὅταν οὐκ ὠφελήση. Ὀλίγου τοίνυν καιροῦ διελθόντος, καὶ τοῦ ὁσίου πατρὸς ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ τοὺς ὀρθρινοὺς ὕμνους ἐπιτελοῦντος, πόνος κατέσχεν αὐτὸν ἐξαίφνης ἀφόρητος, ὥστε μὴ δυνηθέντα αὐτὸν τὴν λειτουργίαν ἀποτελέσαι, ἐξελθεῖν, καὶ ῥίψαι ἑαυτὸν ἐν τῷ σκιμποδίῳ, καὶ οὕτως ὑποφέρειν τὰς ἀλγηδόνας. Ἐπὶ τούτοις ἰδοὺ ὁ ἀνεψιὸς ἐκείνου τοῦ Κανισκᾶ εἰσῆλθε δρομαῖος, φέρων ἐπιστολὴν ἐξ αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα τοιαύτην· Δεῦρο πάτερ ἅγιε, παράλαβε τὸν πολὺν πλοῦτον, ὃν ἀκαίρως συνῆξα πρὸς ἀπώλειαν τῆς ψυχῆς μου, μή πως ὁ διάβολος αὐτὸν καθαρπάξας ἄμοιρόν με ποιήσῃ κέρδους τοῦ ἐξ αὐτοῦ. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ λοιπὸν ἀποθνήσκω, καί με τὸ ἐκεῖθεν εἰσδέχεται δικαστήριον.

[43] Ταῦτα ἀναγνοὺς ὁ πατὴρ, ἠβούλετο ἀπελθεῖν πρὸς αὐτὸν, τοῖς οἰκείοις σπλάγχνοις νικώμενος τοῖς δὲ πόνοις δεινῶς συνεχόμενος τοῦ βουλεύματος ὑπεκόπτετο. Λέγει δὲ τῷ ἀποκομιστῇ τῶν γραμμάτων· οὐ χρείαν ἔχει ὁ Χριστὸς τῶν τοῦ σοῦ Θείου χρημάτων· αὐτὸς γὰρ ἔρηκεν· Ἀπόδοτε τὰ Καίσαρος Καίσαρι, καὶ τὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῷ Θεῷ. Σὺ δὲ ἄγε, πορεύου, ἴσως γὰρ ζῶντα αὐτὸν οὐκέτι θεάσῃ. Ὁ δὲ ὑποστρέψας δρομαῖος εὗρεν αὐτὸν τεθνηκότα, καὶ πάντα τὰ αὐτοῦ ὑπὸ τοῦ δημοσίου διαρπαγέντα. Ὁ δὲ ὅσιος εὐθέως τῇ τοῦ ἀποκρισαρίου ἀναχωρήσει, ὑποχωρήσαντος καὶ τοῦ κατέχοντος πόνου, ἐν ἐκπλήξει καὶ θαύματι κατέστη, ἐξιστάμενος ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀφάτῳ προνίᾳ, ὅτι βουληθέντα αὐτὸν πρᾶξαί τι παρὰ τὸ αὐτοῦ θέλημα, καὶ ἄκοντα διεκώλυσε. Τῶν δὲ ἀδελφῶν ἐν τῷ ὄρει ἐργαζομένων, καὶ κυλιόντων τὰ κεκαυμένα δένδρα πρὸς τὸ ἀνοῖξαι καὶ ποιῆσαι χώραν σιτοφόρον ἀντὶ ξυλοφόρου, εἶπε τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τῷ οἰκείῳ θεράποντι· ἔξελθε ἐν τῷ ὄρει πρὸς τοὺς κοπιῶντας, ἐπειδὴ ὁ ἐχθρὸς υμῶν διάβολος περιέρχεται ζητῶν, τίνα καταπίῃ. Παραχρῆμα δὲ ἀναστὰς ἐπορεύθη, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἡμέραν ἐκείνην οὐκ ἐπαύσατο περιερχόμενος τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς πάντας, ἐπιφωνούμενός τε καὶ ἀεὶ παραγγέλων προσεύχεσθαι, καὶ τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀποδιώκειν τὸν ἀντικείμενον. ἰδὼν οὖν ὁ διάβολος τὴν τοῦ ἀρχηγοῦ ἀσφάλειαν, καὶ τὴν τῶν ὑπηκόων περίφραξιν, περὶ ὥραν δεκάτην ῥίψας μέγιστον δένδρον, καὶ ἕνα κύνα φονεύσας ἀπῆλθε κατησχυμένος. Τινῶν δὲ ἀδελφῶν περὶ τοῦ κυνὸς θλιβομένων, ἔφη ὁ μέγας· Καλῶς ὦ ἀδελφοὶ προσέταξεν ἡ θεία Γραφὴ, ἀεὶ προσεύχεσθαι ἡμᾶς, μὴ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς πειρασμούς. Βουληθεὶς γὰρ ὁ διάβολος ἀδελφῷ ἐπαγαγεῖν τὸν θυμὸν αὐτοῦ, ὃν εἰς τὸν κύνα ἀπέδειξεν, ἐκωλύθη ὑπὸ Θείου ἀγγέλου, καθὼς λέγει ὁ ψαλμός· Παρεμβαλεῖ ἄγγελος Κυρίου κύκλῳ τῶν φοβουμένων αὐτὸν, καὶ ῥύσεται αὐτούς.

[44] Τούτοις τοῖς λόγοις καὶ τρόποις ἐδίδασκεν αὐτοὺς ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ καὶ τόπῳ προσεύχεσθαι καὶ οὕτω τὰς ἐπιβουλὰς τῶν δαιμόνων ἐκτρέπεσθαι. Ἵνα δὲ καὶ τῆς τῶν γηΐνων προσπαθείας αὐτοὺς ἀπαλλάξῃ, καὶ παιδεύσῃ αὐτοὺς προτιμᾶν τὴν ὑπακοὴν καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς ζωῆς, ἄλλο πεποίηκε καὶ αὐτὸ μνήμης ἄξιον. Ἔθος ἦν τῷ μακαρίῳ ἐξ ἀρετῆς κτηθὲν οὐκ ἐκ φύσεως, τὸ ἐν παντὶ πράγματι ἑαυτὸν ἐπιμέμφεσθαι. Ὅθεν πολλάκις ἐν ἑαυτῷ λογιζόμενος τὴν τῆς ἡσυχίας γλυκύτητα, καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀκτημοσύνης ἀμέριμνον, καὶ ὅτι ὁ καθήμενος μετὰ ἀδελφῶν ἀγωνιστὴς εἰς ἀρετὴν οὐ προκόπτει, βία μήτοιγέ τοι καὶ ὑστερήσῃ· ταῦτα πάντα ἐνθυμούμενος ἐδυσχέραινε σφόδρα τῇ τῶν πολλῶν συνοικήσει, καὶ ἤχθετο μέχρι καὶ τῆς αὐτῶν συντυχίας, ὡς ἐμποδιζούσης αὐτὸν τῆς κατὰ νοῦν θεωρίας, καὶ τῆς ἔνδοθεν κρυπτῆς ἐργασίας· ἧς μόνοι πεπείρανται οἱ περὶ Ἀντώνιον, καὶ Ἀρσένιον, καὶ Ἰωάννην τὸν Καλυβίτην, τοὺς θεοφόρους πατέρας. Τούτοις τοῖς λογισμοῖς ἀντισήγετο τὸ τοῦ ἀποστόλου· Μηδεὶς τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ζητείτω, ἀλλὰ τὸ τῶν πολλῶν, ἵνα σωθῶσιν. ἔδοξε τοίνυν αὐτῷ πειράσαι αὐτοὺς ἔν τινι παραλόγου ἐπιταγῆς πράγματι· καὶ εἰ μὲν ἀδιακρίτως καὶ ἀπολυπραγμόνως συγκαταθήσονται, αἱρήσεσθαι τὴν συνοῖκησιν, ὡς καὶ αὐτῶν οὕτω δυναμένων σωθῆναι, κᾀκεῖνον τὴν ἰδίαν τάξιν φυλάξαι· εἰ δέ τι γένηται τοὐναντίον, τὴν ἀναχώρησιν προτιμῆσαι. Διὰ ταύτην οὖν τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς ἑωθινῆς ὑμνῳδίας ἐν μιᾷ τελεσθείσης, καὶ πάντων συνηθροισμένων, λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ μέγας· Πολλοὺς ἀμπελῶνας πεφυτεύκαμεν ὦ πατέρες, καὶ τοῦτο λογίζεται ἡμῖν ὡς πλεονεξία, διότι πλέον τῆς χρείας ἡμῶν ἐκτησάμεθα. Δεῦτε κόψωμεν ἐξ αὐτῶν, καὶ μὴ ἐάσωμεν εἰ μὴ μόνον τὸ αὔταρκες.

[45] Ταῦτα εἰπὼν, καὶ ἰδὼν ὅτι συγκατατίθενται, ἄρας τὸν πέλεκυν ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων αὐτοῦ ὥρμησεν ἐπὶ τὸ κάλλιον καὶ εὐφορώτερον μέρος τοῦ ἀμπελῶνος· ὁμοίως δὴ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἅπαντες ἠκολούθησαν ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ, ἓν ῥῆμα καὶ μόνον μὴ ῥήξαντες· καὶ οὐκ εἶπον, ὅτι ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐμάνη, οὐκ οἶδε τὶ ποιεῖ· τοῦτο ποτὲ οὔτε ἐφάνη οὔτε ἠκούσθη· ἀλλὰ εὐχῆς γενομένης ἤρξαντο κόπτειν ἀπὸ προῒ ἕως τρίτης ὥρας. Τότε γνοὺς ὁ πατὴρ τὴν τῶν τέκνων ὑπακοὴν ἁμιλληθεῖσαν τοῖς πάλαι ἱστορουμένοις, δέδωκε τῷ Θεῷ δεξιὰς μηδὲν αὐτῶν προτιμῆσαὶ μέχρις ἐσκάτης ἀναπνοῆς. Τούτου οὖν τοῦ ἔργου περιφήμου γεγονότος καὶ ἕως αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἁγίου ὄρους, καὶ ἕως τῆς Σικελίας, οὐδεὶς ἠδυνήθη καταλαβέσθαι τοῦ πράγματος τὴν ὑπόθεσιν· ἀλλ᾽ ἄλλοι μὲν ἐλέγον, ὅτι οἱ μοναχοὶ ἐμεθύσθησαν· ἄλλοι δὲ, ὅτι ὁ πατὴρ ἐθυμώθη, καὶ διά τοῦτο ἐποίησε τοῦτο· καὶ ἄλλοι, ὅτε πολλὰ ὂντα καμεῖν οὐκ ἴσχυον. Καὶ τοῦτο οὐ θαυμαστὸν, ὅπουγε οὐδὲ αὐτοὶ οἱ συγκόψαντες ἤδεισαν διατὶ ἔκοψαν, εἰμὴ οἷς ἡβουλήθη ὁ μέγας πατὴρ ἀποκαλύψαι. Ποτὲ τῆς ἁγίας πέμπθης τοῦ Πάσχα καταλαβούσης, ἤνεγκέ τις ἰχθύας ἐν τῇ μονῇ καλοὺς καὶ μεγάλους, ἒν κοφίνιον πλῆρες, ἵνα μικρὰν παράκλησιν λάβωσιν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ἐκ τῆς πολλῆς [καὶ μακρᾶς νηστείας· καὶ ἰδὼν αὐτοὺς ὁ πατήρ, ὅτι μικρὸν ἠγαλλιάσθησαν ἰδόντες τοὺς ἰχθύας, εἴασε μὲν αὐτοὺς ξύσαι, καὶ πλῦναι, καὶ ἑτοιμάσαι πρὸς τὸ ἑψῆσαι· τινὸς δὲ προσαίτου καταλαβόντος, δέδωκεν αὐτῷ ἅπαντας, μὴ ἐάσας ἐξ αὐτῶν οὐδένα. Οὕτως ἐπαίδευσεν αὐτοὺς ἐκ διαθέσεως ψάλλειν τὸ· Κύριε ἐναντίον σου πᾶσα ἡ ἐπιθυμία μου· καὶ τὸ· Μερίς μου εἶ Κύριε, καὶ κλῆρος ἐπιπόθητος. Εὐκτήριόν ἐστιν ἐν τῷ ἄκρῳ Ρυσιάνου τερπνότατον ἐπ᾽ ὀνόματι τῆς ἁγίας Αναστασίας, κτισθὲν μὲν ὑπὸ Ευπραξίου τοῦ βασιλικοῦ, κριτοῦ γεγονότος Ιταλἰας καὶ Καλαβρίας, φροντιστήριον δὲ χρηματίσαν παρθένων. Τούτου τὴν προστασίαν ἐπιστεύθη παρὰ τοῦ Ευπραξίου ὄντος ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει μοναχός τις Αντώνιος τῷ ὀνόματι· ὃς χρημάτων ὑπάρξει περιεχόμενος, καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ θανάτου κατεπειγόμενος, ὑφορώμενος τὸ τῶν ἀρχόντων εὐάρπακτον καὶ εὐρόφιστον, ἐπὶ τὸν ἄσυλον πύργον καταφεύγει πατέρα τὸν ὅσιον· καὶ τοῦτον πάντων τῶν αὐτοῦ καταστήσας ἐπίτροπον, οὕτω λοιπὸν ἀφροντίστως τετέλευτηκεν.

[46] Ὅπερ ἀκούσας ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ οἰκονόμος, καὶ σπλαγχνισθεὶς οὐ τοσοῦτον ἐπὶ τῶι ἀπελθόντι, ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ τῆς μονῆς καταστάσει· ἦν γὰρ λοιπὸν ἐξ ἐκείνου ἀφανισθεῖσα καὶ διασκορπισθεῖσα· εἰσέρχεται ἐν τῷ ἄστει, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐγκαταλείμματα τοῦ ἀποιχομένου διεμέρισε τοῖς πτωχοῖς, καὶ ἐκκλησίαις, καὶ τῷ μοναστήριῳ· πᾶσαν δὲ σπουδὴν κατεβάλετο τοῦ τὴν μονὴν καταστήσασθαι, καὶ παρθένους ἐν αὐτῇ ἐμφυτεῦσαι ἀξίας τοῦ ἐπαγγέλματος. ὅπερ καὶ Θεοῦ συνεργοῦντος τετέλεκεν, πάσας τὰς διεσκορπισμένας συνάξας, καὶ ἡγουμένην ἐπ᾽ αὐταῖς ἐπιστήσας, οἵαν ἀπῄτει ὁ λόγος· παρακαλέσας τοὺς οἰκήτορας πάντας τοῦ κάστρου φροντίζειν αὐτῶν, ὡς ἀσθενεστέρου μέρους καὶ ὡς μέγα ὄφελος δι᾽ αὐτῶν καρπουμένους· λέγων αὐτοῖς καὶ τοῦτο· Ὀτι ἐάν τις ἐξ ὑμῶν τελευτήσῃ, καὶ βουληθῇ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ τοῦ λοιποῦ ἐν ἁγνίᾳ βιῶσαι, μὴ ἔχουσα δὲ ποῦ καταφυγεῖν, ἑτέρῳ γάμῳ προσομιλήση, ὑμέτερόν ἐστι πταῖσμα, τῶν μὴ σπουδασάντων ἵνα τοιαύτη πόλις ἓν μοναστήριον ἔχῃ. Ετι δὲ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ κάστρῳ προσκαρτεροῦντος, καὶ μικρὸν ὑπὸ νόσου καταληφθέντος, εἰσῆλθε καὶ ὁ μητροπολίτης Καλαβρίας Θεοφύλακτος, συνάμα δὲ αὑτῷ καὶ ὁ δομέστικος Λέῳν, ἄνδρες γραμματικώτατοι καὶ σοφώτατοι. Ὁ δὲ ὅσιος πατὴρ ἑμῶν Νεῖλος φεύγων τὴν τοῦ λαοῦ ὄχλησιν, καὶ τὴν φίλην ἡσυχίαν ἀεὶ ἀσπαζόμενος, ἐξῆλθε μικρὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄστεος ἐν τῷ ναῷ τοῦ φιλερήμου καὶ βαπτιστοῦ Ιωάννου, οὗ καὶ τὸν βίον ἐζήλου, κᾷκεῖ προσωμίλει τῶι Θεῷ, καὶ τῇ μελέτῃ προσεῖχεν. Procli abbatis virtutes. Ipse vero indelebilia gerens animo sancti Euangelii

the precepts, and that saying: But be not you called Rabbi, neither be you called Masters: he never suffered himself to be called by any name whatever that carried with it an opinion of glory: but thinking of himself most humbly below all, he held himself to be one of the least of the brethren. Wherefore, as the number of the sons of the desert increased, and as men were daily born spiritually from him who should live by the Gospel rule, he assigned the title of hegumen to another through his whole lifetime: of whom the one and the first was the most blessed and most holy Proclus ^a, a man excellently learned in the humane letters, and one who had made his own heart a chest of sacred and profane books, both of those which had never been published and of those which were afterwards brought to light. And they related that, before he was a monk, he exercised himself as a young man in this: that he fasted daily until evening, and was wholly given to reading, and abstained from food and drink that might be fuel of ardour and pleasure; and that from evening until the morning hour he went through all the churches of the city reciting the whole psalter, and at the door of each church bowed himself with as many deep inclinations as he knew he had appointed for himself: for his hidden works lay open to none. He, having entered the monastic course and been marked with the seal of the institute that leads to virtue by our holy father Nilus, used such abstinence and such harshness of life that he mortified his members which are upon the earth, and was afflicted with the most troublesome diseases even to the last breath of life. But the deeds done by him, which could be the material of a whole history full of profit, let us leave to Him from whom nothing is hidden and who rewards each according to his labour; and let us return to the narrative of the great Father.

[41] At that time, when Rossano had been shaken by a great earthquake after most violent rains of many days and nights, and its upper part, that is, the houses and churches, had fallen into the lower, so that it overwhelmed the houses and churches, except the episcopal church out of reverence for saint Irene ^b, St. Nilus offers himself as a laughing-stock to boys: it was a wonderful and horrible spectacle to those who saw it, since the face of things was everywhere changed and different objects offered themselves to the eyes in place of others. And what moved astonishment, in so dreadful a deluge no man, no beast of burden had perished. When the blessed Father heard many relating these things and was amazed, it seemed good to him afterwards to go in and behold what had happened. And he went in after this manner. He found a fox's skin cast away on the road, and bound it about his head, but carried his cloak thrown over a staff on his shoulder. Thus he passed through the whole town unknown to all. And the boys, seeing him going in this dress, followed him, pelting him with pebbles and saying: Ho there, Bulgarian Monk! Others called him a Frank, others an Armenian. But he, having silently observed all things, betook himself toward evening to the greater church, and, having cast the skin from his head and put his mean cloak upon his shoulders, he goes in with a great affection of devotion and compunction to adore the Virgin loftier than all purity, by whose guidance and patronage he lived. But when the Warden of the church's watch, Caniscas by name, whom he had once had as his teacher, saw him, and certain other priests too, and they had recognized the great Father, they came and threw themselves at his feet, wondering at his unwonted arrival.

[42] But he gave salutary admonitions to all, and dismissed them after imparting great profit, he exhorts an avaricious man to the contempt of riches: and stayed in the church with his teacher, and gave him counsel to bid farewell to the world and to seek the salvation of his soul. For he had lived in perpetual celibacy, given neither to gluttony, nor to the belly, nor to softness, but so entangled in the disease of avarice that he seemed like a fly caught in the webs of spiders. Whence the Father also used this parable to him: Those, he said, who are pressed by the necessity of the belly have reason to exercise themselves in services and labours: but you, since you are free from this necessity, why do you sit in vain, and gather for yourself things that pass into dung, and are filled with their stench? He answered: There are indeed many of us, reverend Father, who proclaim the institute of your life blessed, and often we take counsel to go out to your piety, but because our mind does not bear to abstain from wine, we are deterred from this. And the great Father said: Come, make yourselves new well-stopped ditches and fill them with wine, draw continually and drink. When again he excused himself with excuses in sins and did not listen to the exhortation, the great Father, rising deep in the night, went out and withdrew thence, saying only this to the miser: Alas for me, teacher, you will then repent when it will profit nothing. Not long after, as the holy Father was singing the morning hymns in the monastery, an intolerable sickness suddenly seized him, so that, being unable to finish the Divine office, he went out and fell upon his bed, that he might be able to bear the pains. Meanwhile, behold, the son of that Caniscas's brother, entering in haste, brought his letter to the Father of this sort: Come, holy Father, take to yourself the great store of money which I have foolishly gathered to the destruction of my soul, lest perchance the devil seize it and snatch from me the gain of it. For behold, I am now dying, and the tribunal of the other life calls me.

[43] he fortifies the brethren against the assaults of the demon: When he had read these things, the Father wished indeed to go to him, the charity of his bowels prevailing, but, being grievously oppressed with pains, he was drawn back from his purpose. He says therefore to the bearer of the letter: Christ has no need of your uncle's money. For He Himself has said: Render to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, and to God the things that are God's. But you, go, make haste; for perhaps you will not see him alive any longer. He, returning at a run, found him dead and his goods seized by the treasury. But the blessed Father, when the messenger had departed and his pains had gone, was seized with wonder and amazement, being astonished at the ineffable providence of God, which forbade him when he wished to do something beside His will and when he was unwilling. Further, while the brethren were sustaining labour on the mountain in rolling down burnt trees, that they might make the field open and apt for cultivation where there had been a coppice, the Holy Spirit said to His Servant: Go out to those who work on the mountain: for your adversary the devil goes about seeking whom he may devour. He, rising at once, went away, and going about through that whole day did not cease from admonishing and rousing the brethren to pray continually and to drive off the adversary in the name of Jesus Christ. The devil therefore, seeing the vigilance of the Prelate and the subjects well fortified, about the tenth hour laid low a very great tree and killed one dog, and so went away confounded. And when certain of the brethren were grieving at the death of the dog, the great Father said: Rightly, O brethren, has divine Scripture commanded that we pray always, lest we enter into temptation. The devil surely wished to hurl upon a brother the anger which he showed upon the dog, but he was held back by the angel of God, as it is in the Psalm: The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him, and shall deliver them.

[44] he makes trial of their obedience: With discourses and admonitions of this kind he taught them to pray in every place and time, and thus to escape the ambushes of the demons. But that he might also purge them of affection for earthly things, and that they might learn from him to prefer obedience even to life itself, he did something else worthy of memory. It was the custom of the blessed Man, not derived from nature but acquired by virtue, to reprehend himself in every matter: wherefore, often thinking within himself of the sweetness of the solitary life, and how free from all solicitude it is to possess nothing, and that a champion of spiritual contests, if he sit with brethren, makes no progress in virtue, nay can scarcely help becoming worse — all these things, I say, thinking within himself, he bore very ill that he had many companions of his dwelling, and even the very conversation with them was troublesome, because it was a hindrance to the meditation of the mind and to that inward hidden action which only the God-filled fathers Antony, Arsenius and John Calybita have experienced. On the contrary there offered itself that saying of the Apostle: Let no man seek his own, but that which is another's, that they may be saved. It seemed good to him therefore to make trial of them, if he should command them something absurd: so that, if without any examination and without any curiosity they received the command, he must live together with them, since in that way they too could obtain salvation and he himself not depart from his institute: but if the contrary should happen, solitude was to be preferred. For this cause therefore, on a certain day, the morning Office being finished and all being present, the great Father delivered this discourse: We have planted many vineyards, Fathers, and this is attributed to avarice in us, because they are beyond the measure of our need. Come then, let us cut down part of them, and leave nothing but what suffices.

[45] Having said this, when he saw that they did not refuse, taking an axe upon his shoulder he went to the fairer and more fruitful part of the vineyard, he tries to bestow on the poor the things offered him by others all following after him without even one word uttered. For they did not say: This man is mad, he knows not what he does, this was never seen, never heard: but, having first made a prayer, they began in the morning to cut until the third hour. Then the Father, having recognized the obedience of his sons, which would match the ancient histories, promised God that until his last breath he would prefer nothing to them. When therefore this was spread abroad, and the report was celebrated as far as Mount Athos ^c and Sicily, no one could reach the cause of the thing: but some said that the monks had been drunk; others alleged the anger of the Father; others that they had many possessions and did not suffice to cultivate them all. Nor is this to be wondered at, since not even those themselves who had cut them down knew the cause why they had cut them, except those to whom the great Father himself disclosed the secret. Certain men offered to the monastery on the holy fifth day of Easter a basket full of excellent and large fish, that the brethren, worn out with long and excessive fasting, might be affected with a little refreshment: and when the Father had seen them somewhat gladdened at the sight of the fish, he permitted indeed the fish to be scaled, washed and prepared for cooking, but he gave them all to a certain beggar who then presented himself, not even one being left. Thus he taught them to sing from the heart: Lord, all my desire is before thee: and, Thou art my portion, O Lord, and a portion to be desired. There is in the highest part of Rossano a most beautiful oratory dedicated to saint Anastasia ^d, built by Eupraxius, formerly imperial judge of Italy and Calabria, which afterwards became also a sacred dwelling of virgins. The care of this sacred place the same Eupraxius, while he was at Constantinople, had committed to a certain monk, Antony by name: who, being wealthy and near to death, fearing the rapacity of princes who swallow up everything, fled to the safest tower, the blessed Father, and appointing him the curator of all his goods, then at last died free from all solicitude.

[46] When the steward of God learned this, pitying he distributes them: he restores a monastery of virgins. not so much the dead man as the state of the monastery (for it had already failed and had been dispersed from that time), he entered the town; and the goods of the dead man which remained he bestowed upon the poor and the churches and the monastery, but he placed all his zeal in restoring the monastery and settling there virgins worthy of the profession. Which also, with God's help, he accomplished, and those who had been dispersed he brought back into one place, and set over them such a woman as was fitting, asking all the inhabitants of the city to undertake the care of them, as of the weaker sex, whence also they would receive great profit: adding besides this: But if any of you should die and his wife should wish thereafter to lead a celibate life, if there be no place to which she may flee and she therefore pass to a second marriage, you will be at fault, who have not applied your zeal that so noble a city should have one monastery. For the rest, while he was still staying in the town and had fallen into a not grievous sickness, there came also Theophylact ^e, metropolitan of Calabria, and with him Leo ^f the domestic, most lettered and most learned men. But the holy father Nilus, fleeing the crowd of the people and always longing for his beloved quiet, having gone a little way from the town, sought the church of John the Baptist, that dweller in the desert, whose institute of life also he imitated, and there conversed with God, wholly fixed in meditation.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER VII.

He resolves the questions put to him from the sacred Letters, and from them exhorts those who propose them to the fear of judgment and the amendment of life: he refuses to dispute with a Jew about God: to those who mock the monastic habit he foretells the impending divine vengeance.

Ἐξῆλθεν οὐν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ μητροπολίτης καὶ ὁ δομέστικος, καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες, καὶ τῶν ἱερέων πολλοὶ, καὶ λαοῦ μέρος οὐ βραχύτατον. Ἐβουλεύσαντο δὲ κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν, τίς τί αὐτῶν ἐρωτήσῃ τῶν γραφῆς ἀποῤῥήτων· οὐ τοσοῦτον μαθεῖν, ὅσον πειρᾶσαι βουλόμενοι. Καθήμενος δὲ ἐξ ἐναντίας ὁ ὄσιος, καὶ θεασάμενος αὑτοὺς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐρχομένους, λέγει ἐν ἑαυτῷ· Ἰδοὺ νῦν οὗτοι ἐλθόντες εἰς ἀργολογίας ἡμᾶς ἐμβαλοῦσιν. Ἀλλὰ κύριε Ιησοῦ Χριστὲ λύτρωσαι ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῶν παγίδων τοῦ ἀλλοτρίου, καὶ δώρησαι ἡμῖν ἐννοεῖν καὶ λαλεῖν ἂ δεῖ, καὶ πράττειν τὰ σοὶ εὐάρεστα. Καὶ ταῦτα εὐξάμενος, ἀνοίγει τὴν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτοὺ βίβλον, καὶ κατὰ συγκυρίαν εὑρίσκει τὴν γενομένην ἀποκάλυψιν πρὸς τὸν ἐν ἁγίοις Συμεῶνα τὸν εἰς τὸ θαυμαστὸν ὄρος. Ἐκείνων οὖν ἐγγισάντων, καὶ μετὰ τὴν προσκύνησιν καθισάντων, ἐπιδίδωσιν ὁ μέγας τὴν βίβλον τῷ δομεστίκῳ τοῦ ἀναγνῶναι, ἔνθα τὸ σημεῖον ὑπῆρχε. Ὁ δὲ ἀνοίξας τὸ στόμα, ἤρξατο πάνυ εὐφυῶς καὶ νουνεχῶς ἀναγνῶναι. Ἐλθόντος καὶ εἰς τὸν τόπον, ὅπου λέγει, ἀπὸ μυρίων μόλις εὑρίσκεσθαι μίαν ψυχὴν ἐν τοῖς ἐνεστῶσι χρόνοις τὴν ἐν ταῖς χερσὶ τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων προερχομένην· ἤρξαντο πάντες ὡς ἐξ ἑνὸς στόματος λέγειν· μὴ γένοιτο· οὐκ ἔστιν ἀληθές. Αἱρετικός ἐστιν ὁ λαλήσας. Λοιπὸν ἡμεῖς δωρεὰν ἐβαπτίσθημεν, καὶ τὸν σταυρὸν προσκυνοῦμεν, καὶ κοινωνοῦμεν, καὶ Χριστιανοὶ λεγόμεθα; Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ ὅμοια τούτοις πάντων ἀντιλεγόντων, ἰδὼν ὁ μακάριος, ὅτι ὁ μητροπολίτης καὶ ὁ δομέστικος οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς λέγουσιν, ἀπεκρίθη πρᾳέως καὶ εἶπεν· Εὰν δὲ ὑμῖν ἀποδείξω καὶ τὸν μέγαν Βασίλειον, καὶ Χρυσόστομον, καὶ Εφραὶμ τὸν πανόσιον, καὶ Θεόδωρον τὸν στουδίτην, καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Ἀπόστολον, καὶ τὸ ἅγιον εὐαγγέλιον τὸν αὐτὸν σκοπὸν καὶ φρονοῦντας καὶ λέγοντας, τί πείσεσθε ὑμεῖς οἱ ἀσκόπως τὰ στόματα διανοίγοντες, καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι ἀντιπίπτοντες, καὶ τοὺς τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων φρικώδεις λόγους αἱρετικοῖς ὑποβάλλοντες διὰ τὴν ὑμῶν τοῦ βίου φαυλότητα; λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ἀδελφοὶ, ὅτι ἐκ πάντων ὧν ἐψηφίσασθε οὐδμία ὑμῖν χάρις παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ. Ποῖα εἴδωλα, ἢ ποίαν αἵρεσιν καταλείψαντες τῷ Χριστῷ προσεδράμετε.

[48] Τολμᾷ τις ὑμῶν εἰπεῖν, ὅτι αἱρετικός εἰμι, καὶ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν πόλιν αὐτοῦ; οὐκὶ λιθοβοληθεὶς ὑπὸ πάντων ἀποκτανθήσεται; πληροφορήθητε, ὅτι ἐὰν μὴ ἐνάρετοι γένησθε καὶ σφόδρα ἐνάρετοι, οὐδεὶς ὑμᾶς ἐξαιρήσεται τῆς κολάσεως. Τούτων ἀκούσαντες ἅπαντες, καὶ σφόδρα καταπλαγέντες, ἤρξαντο στενάζειν ἅπαντες καὶ λέγειν· Οὐαὶ ἡμῖν τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς καὶ ἀθλίοις. Λέγει αὐτῷ Νικόλαος ὁ πρωτοσπαθάριος· Διατί πάτερ λέγει τὸ εὐαγγέλιον· Ὃς ἐὰν ποτίσῃ ἕνα τῶν μικρῶν τούτων ποτήριον ψυχροῦ ὕδατος, οὐ μὴ ἀπολέσῃ τὸν μισσθὸν αὐτοῦ; ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ ὁ πατήρ· Τοῦτο πρὸς τοὺς μηδὲν ἔχοντας εἴρηται, ἵνα μηδεὶς προφασίσηται, ὅτι ξύλα οὐκ ἔχω, ἵνα ποιήσω θερμόν. Τί δὲ ποιήσετε ὐμεῖς, οἱ καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ ποτήριον τὸ ψυχρὸν ἁφαιρούμενοι τοῦ πτωχοῦ; Τούτου δὲ σιωπήσαντος, ἀνίσταται ἕτερος καὶ φησίν. Ἤθελον γνῶναι ἅγιε πάτερ, εἴγε σέσωσται ὁ πανθαύμαστος Σολομὼν, ἢ ἀπώλετο. Γνοὺς δὲ αὐτὸν ὁ πατὴρ τῷ τῆς πορνείας πνεύματι κατεχόμενον, ἔφη πρὸς αὐτόν· Ἠθελον γνῶναι κᾀγὼ περὶ σοῦ, εἴγε σώζῃ, ἢ ἀπόλλυσαι. Τί γὰρ ὄφελος ἐμοί τε καὶ σοὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ σωθῆναι τὸν Σολομῶνα ἢ κατακριθῆναι; οὐ γὰρ ἐκείνῳ, ἀλλ᾽ ἡμῖν ἐντέταλται τὸ· Πᾶς ὁ ἐμβλέψας γυναῖκα πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι αὐτῆς, ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτήν. Καὶ τὸ· εἴτις τὸν ναὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ φθείρει, φθερεῖ τοῦτον ὁ Θεός. Περὶ δὲ τοῦ Σολομῶνος μηδαμόθεν εὑρισκομένου ἐν τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ μετανοήσαντος μετὰ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, καθὼς εὑρίσκεται ὁ Μανασσῆς, τίς δύναται εἰπεῖν ὅτι ἐσώθη; Μετὰ τοῦτον ἀνίσταταί τις τῶν ἱερέων, καὶ φησίν· Πάτερ ἅγιε, τί ἦν τὸ ξύλον, ὅπερ ἔφαγεν ὁ Ἀδὰμ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ καὶ κατεκρίθη; Ὁ δὲ ἀπεκρίνατο· Ἄγριον μῆλον. Μειδιασάντων δὲ πάντων, λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ μέγας· Μὴ γελάσητε ἐπὶ τούτῳ, πρὸς γὰρ τὴν ἐρώτησιν ἡ ἀπόκρισις. Τὸ ξύλον ἐκεῖνο Μωυσῆς οὐκ ὠνόμασεν· οἱ διδάσκαλοι πάντες τὴν μὲν ἐνέργειαν εἶπον, τὸ δὲ εἶδος οὐκ εἶδον. Ὂ δὲ ἡ Γραφὴ ἀπέκρυψεν, πῶς ἡμεῖς ἀποκαλύψωμεν;

[49] Σὺ μὲν οὖν ἐάσας τὸ πῶς ἐπλάσθης, πῶς ἐτέθης ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ, καθὰ δή καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Αδὰμ, καὶ τίς ἡ ἐντολὴ, μᾶλλον δὲ αἱ ἐντολαὶ ἂς παρέλαβες καὶ οὐκ ἐφύλαξας, διὸ καὶ ἀπέῤῥιψαι τοῦ παραδείσου, μᾶλλον δὲ τῆς βασιλείας· καὶ πῶς ἄρα ἰσχύσῃς ἐπανακάμψαι ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχαίαν σου δόξαν τε καὶ τιμὴν, ἠρώτησας ὄνομα ξύλου μαθεῖν, ἑνὸς τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων· ὃ καὶ μετὰ τὸ μαθεῖν, ἀπορήσεις, τίς ποτ᾽ ἄρα ἡ ρίζα, τί τὰ φύλλα καὶ ὁ φλοιὸς· καὶ εἰ μέγα, ἢ μικρόν· καὶ τίς δύναται ἑρμενεῦσαι, ὅπερ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς οὐδέποτέ τις εἶδεν; Ἀπεκρίθη ὁ δομέστικος, καὶ εἶπεν· Ἐρωτήσω κᾀγὼ πάτερ· Τί ἐστιν ὃ λέγει ὁ Θεολόγος Γρηγόριος· Πῶς γὰρ σώσει ῥᾳδίως ἡ ἀλλοτρία, ὃν ἀπώλεσεν ἡ ἰδία; Ὁ δὲ πατὴρ πρὸς αὐτόν· τοῦτο σοι εἴρηκεν ὁ διδάσκαλος, ἵνα μὴ θαῤῥήσῃς, ὡς διὰ γυναικὸς ἰσχύεις σωθῆναι. Ὄπερ καὶ ὁ Ἀπόστολος κεκολασμένως εἰπών· Τί γὰρ οἶδας γύναι, εἰ τὸν ἄνδρα σώσεις; πάντως ὡς συνήθειαν ἐχούσης τοῦ αὐτὸν ἀπολλύειν. Εἰ γοῦν ἐκείνη ἡ ἐκ τῶν σαρκῶν τοῦ Ἀδὰμ ἐξελθοῦσα, καὶ ἰδία αὐτῷ οὖσα, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ἀδελφὴ ἢ θυγάτηρ, ἢ μᾶλλον ὑπὲρ ταῦτα, παρβάσει τὸν ἄνδρα ὑπέβαλε καὶ ἀπώλεσε, πῶς εἰς ἀρεθὴν ἐλάσειε καὶ σώση ἡ σοῦ ἀλλοτρία καὶ γνώμῃ καὶ θέσει καὶ ἕξει καὶ διαπλάσει; πρόσεχε τοίνυν καὶ σὺ σεαυτῷ, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς συγκοίτου σου Πεφύλαξο. Ταῦτα εἰπὼν αὐτῷ

καὶ ἕτερα πολλὰ, διὰ παραβολῶν ἦγεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν μοναδικὴν πολιτείαν· πάνυ γὰρ ἠγάπα αὐτὸν διὰ τὴν συνετὴν κατάστασιν αὐτοῦ.

[50] Ὁ δὲ ἀποκρίνεται καὶ φησίν· Ὄντως πάτερ ἅγιε πάντα ὠφέλιμα καὶ συμβουλεύεις καὶ νουθετεῖς. Ἀλλὰ λέγει τὸ ἅγιον εὐαγγέλιον· Ὅτι οὓς ὁ Θεὸς συνέξευξεν, ἄνθρωπος μή χωριζέτω. Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ μέγας· Εἰ μὲν ἄνθρωπος χωρίζει, καλῶς εἶπας, μὴ χωριζέτω. Εἰ δὲ ὁ λόγος τοῦ εἰπόντος ἐστὶν ὁ χωρίζων· Ὃς οὐκ ἀφῆκεν οἰκίας, ἢ ἀδελφοὺς, ἢ ἀδελφὰς, ἢ γυναῖκα, ἢ τέκνα, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ, οὐκ ἔστι μου ἄξιος· τίς ἐστιν ὁ τὸ θεάρεστον τοῦτο κωλύσων; Τίς δὲ καὶ οἶδεν, εἰ ὁ Θεός ἐστιν ὁ συζεύξας, καὶ οὐχὶ ἔρως σωματικὸς, καὶ ἡδονὴ σαρκὸς, καθὼς ὁ Ἀπόστολος λέγει· ὅτι διὰ τὰς πορνείας ἕκαστος τὴν ἑαυτοῦ γυναῖκα ἐχέτω; ταῦτα καὶ πλείονα τούτων ἀκούσαντες, καὶ μεγάλως ὠφεληθέντες, ἀνεχώρησαν θαυμάζοντες τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ σοφίαν τοῦ μακαρίου· ὡς καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν μητροπολίτην εἰπεῖν· Ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς οἶδε, μέγας ἐστὶν ὁ Καλόγηρος οὗτος. Τῇ ἐπαύριον κατελθόντος τοῦ ὁσίου ἐκεῖθεν, καὶ ἐν τῷ κάστρῳ κάστρῳ εἰσεληλυθότος, ἔρχεται πρὸς αὐτὸν Ἰουδαῖος τὶς ὀνόματι Δόμνουλος, ὅς ἦν αὐτῷ γνωστὸς ἐκ νεότητος αὐτοῦ, διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν σφόδρα φιλομαθῆ καὶ ἱκανὸν περὶ τὴν ἰατρικὴν ἐπιστήμην. Ἤρξατο οὖν λέγειν πρὸς τὸν μακάριον οὕτως· Ἢκουσα περὶ τῆς ἀσκήσεώς σου καὶ πολλῆς ἐγκρατείας, καὶ γινώσκων τὴν κρᾶσιν τοῦ σώματός σου ἐθαύμαζον πῶς οὐ περιπέπτωλας ἐπιλήψει· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν εἰ κελεύεις, ἐγώ σοι δώσω φάρμακον πρὸς τὴν σὴν κρᾶσιν, ἵνα ἔχῃς αὐτὸ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς σου, καὶ μηδεμίαν ἀσθένειαν φοβηθήσῃ. Ἔφη αὐτῷ ὁ μέγας· Εἶπε πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἐξ ὑμῶν εἵς Ἑβραῖος· Ἀγαθον πεποιθέναι ἐπὶ Κύριον, ἢ πεποιθέναι ἐπ᾽ ἄνθρωπον. Πεποιθότες οὖν ἡμεῖς ἐπὶ τὸν ἰατρὸν ἡμῶν Θεὸν καὶ κύριον ἡμῶν Ιησοῦν Χριστὸν, οὐ χρείαν ἔχομεν τῶν ὑπὸ σοῦ γενομένων φαρμάκων. Σὺ δὲ οὐκ ἄλλως δυνήσῃ ἐμπαῖξαι τοὺς τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἀκεραίους, εἰμὴ ἐν τῷ καυχᾶσθαί σε τῶν φαρμάκων μεταδοῦναι τῷ Νείλῳ. Τούτων οὖν ὁ ἰατρὸς ἐπακούσας, οὐδὲν πρὸς τὸν ἅγιον ἀπεκρίνατο.

[51] Ἦν δὲ ἐλθὼν μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἄλλος, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Εἰπὲ ἡμῖν περὶ Θεοῦ τίποτε· ἐπιθυμοῦμεν γάρ σου ἀκοῦσαι τῶν λόγων. Ὁ δὲ πατὴρ πρὸς αὐτόν· Ἔοικεν ὁ λόγος σου ὦ Ἰουδαῖε ἀνθρώπῳ προστάσσοντι βρέφει τῇ χειρὶ κρατῆσαι τοῦ ὑψηλοῦ δένδρου, καὶ πρὸς τὴν γῆν αὐτὸ ὑποκλῖναι. Ὅμως εἰ βούλει μικρόν τι περὶ Θεοῦ ἀκοῦσαι, λάβε σου τοὺς προφήτας μετὰ τοῦ νόμου, καὶ δεῦρο εἰς τὴν ἔρημον, ὅπου κᾀγὼ ἡσυχάζω· ἔνθα σχολάσας τῇ ἀναγνώσει ὅσας ἡμέρας ὁ Μωυσῆς ἐν τῷ ὄρει, μετὰ ταῦτα δὴ ἐρώτησον, κᾀγώ σοι ἀποκρινοῦμαι. Σχολάσατε γάρ φησι καὶ γνῶτε, ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ Θεός. Ὡς ἐὰν νῦν σοι περὶ Θεοῦ τι λαλήσω, καθ᾽ ὔδατος γράφω, καὶ ἐπὶ θάλασσαν σπερῶ. Ἀπεκρίθησαν οὖν ἅμα, καὶ εῖπον. Οὐ δυνάμεθα τοῦτο ποιῆσαι, ἐπεὶ ἀποσυνάγωγοι γινόμεθα, καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἰδίων λιθοβολούμεθα. Οὕτω φησὶν ὁ πατὴρ, καὶ οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν ἀπέθανον ἐν ἀπιστίᾳ, καθά φησιν ὁ εὐαγγελιστής· Ὅτι πολλοὶ ἐκ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἐπίστευσαν εἰς τὸν Ιησοῦν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους οὐχ ὡμολόγουν, ἵνα μὴ ἀποσυνάγωγοι γένωνται· ἡγάπησαν γὰρ τὴν δόξαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων μᾶλλον, ἤπερ τὴν δόξαν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ταῦτα εἰπὼν, καὶ ἀπαλλαγεὶς αὐτῶν ἐξῆλθε πρὸς τὸ μοναστήριον εἰς τὸ κελλίον αὐτοῦ, σχολάζων τῇ θεωρίᾳ, καὶ τῇ μελέτῃ τῶν θείων Γραφὼν. Καὶ μετ᾽ ὀλίγον χρόνον ἐξέρχονται πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐκεῖσε Νικόλαος ὁ πρωτοσπαθάριος, καὶ ὁ δομέστικος Λέων, ἐπιθυμίᾳ ἐπιθυμοῦντες τοῦ ἀκοῦσαι τῆς διδασκαλίας αὐτοῦ.

[52] Καὶ δή γενομένης ἱκανῆς συντυχίας καὶ παραινέσεως ὁ μὲν ἅγιος εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸ κελλίον αὐτοῦ, τῷ Θεῷ πάλιν προσανέχειν σπουδάζων· ἐκεῖνοι δὲ ἔξω ποῦ ἀνακλιθέντες ἐπὶ τοῦ χόρτου, καὶ μικρὸν κουκούλιον τινὸς ἀδελφοῦ εὐρόντες, ἐτίθουν ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν ἀλλήλων ὅ, τε δομέστικος καὶ ὁ πρωτοσπαθάριος γελοιάζοντες ἅμα καὶ παίζοντες. Ὅπερ θεασάμενος διὰ τῆς θυρίδος ὁ ὅσιος, καὶ σφόδρα καταγνοὺς τῆς εὐτραπελίας αὐτῶν, ἐπέπληξεν αὐτοῖς αὐστηρῶς, καὶ φησίν· Ὅτι τοῦτο ὅπερ ὑμεῖς γελοιάζετε νῦν, ἰδοὺ ἐλεύσεται ὥρα, ἐν ᾗ ζετήσετε ἐπιθυμητικῶς τοῦ περιβαλέσθαι αὐτὸ, καὶ αὐτοῦ οὐ καταξιωθήσεσθε. Καὶ ἅμα τῷ προορατικῷ τούτῳ λόγῳ φρίκη τε καὶ κεφαλαλγία τὸν δομέστικον περίεσχεν· ὅσττις καὶ παραχρῆμα ἐπιστρέψας εἰς τὸν ἴδιον οἶκον, καὶ ῥίψας ἑαυτὸν ἐν τῇ κλίνῃ, ἔκέλευσε κληθῆναι αὐτῷ τινα τῶν εὐλαβῶν ἱερέων. Ὃς ἐλθὼν, καὶ τῇ κλίνῃ ἐγγίσας πρὸς τὸ μαθεῖν τῆς κλήσεως τὴν αἰτίαν, εὗρεν αὐτὸν ἤδη ἀποθανόντα. Τούτου δὲ γενομένου φόβος ἐπέπεσε τοῖς αὐτῷ συνοδεύσασιν ἀπὸ τοῦ μοναστηρίου, καὶ πάντες ἐθαύμαζον τὴν πρὸῤῥησιν τοῦ

St. Nilus answers the questions insidiously put to him There went forth therefore to him the Metropolitan and the domestic and the magistrate, and many priests and no small part of the people. Further, along the way they took counsel who should propose what to him from the secret things of Scripture, not so much from a zeal to learn as to make trial of him. The holy Man was sitting opposite, and when he had seen them coming to him, he said within himself: Behold, these will come and will give us handles for empty discourses. But do thou, Lord Jesus Christ, free us from the snares of the adversary, and grant us to think and to speak what is fitting, and to do what is pleasing to thee. When he had so prayed, he opens the book which he had in his hands, and lights by chance upon the narrative of the things which had been revealed to blessed Simeon, surnamed of the wonderful Mountain ^a. When therefore they had come near and, the greeting being finished, had sat down, the great Father held out the book to the domestic that he might read where it was marked. He, opening his mouth, began to read with much grace and understanding. But when he had come to that place where it is said that of a thousand scarcely one soul is found in these times which goes out from the body into the hands of the holy angels, all began as with one mouth to say: Away with it, it is not true, he who said this is a heretic. Have we then been baptized in vain, and do we adore the Cross and receive the body of Christ and are called Christians? When all contradicted with these and like words, and the Saint saw that nothing was answered to this by the metropolitan and the domestic, answering he himself said calmly: But if I shall show you both Basil the Great and Chrysostom and the most blessed Ephrem and Theodore the Studite and the Apostle himself and the Gospel thinking the same and affirming it, what punishments will you bear, who inconsiderately open your mouth and resist the Holy Spirit and brand the awful sentences of the Fathers with the mark of heresy because of the wickedness of your life? But I say to you, brethren, that for all those things which you have recounted no favour is held for you from God. What idols, what heresy have you forsaken and come to Christ?

[48] Does any of you dare to say, I am a heretic, and to enter his own city? and exhorts those who ask Will he not be overwhelmed with stones by all and killed? Hold it for certain that unless you cultivate virtue, and cultivate it with your whole mind, no one will snatch you from damnation. When all had heard these things, being vehemently terrified they began to sigh and to say: Woe to us sinners and wretched men! Nicholas ^b the protospatharius says to him: Why does the Gospel say, Father, Whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold water, shall not lose his reward? The Father answered: This was said to those who have nothing, lest anyone put forward excuses: Because I have no wood to prepare warm water. But what will you do, who snatch even the cold water itself from the poor man? When he had fallen silent, another rose and said: I should wish to know, holy Father, whether the excellent Solomon is saved or not. But the holy Father, having known in spirit that he was given to lust, said: I too should wish to know about you, whether you are to be saved or to perish. For what does it profit me and you, whether Solomon be saved or have perished? For not to him but to us was that precept given: Everyone who shall look on a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery with her; and that other: If any man violate the temple of God, God shall destroy him. But about Solomon, since it is nowhere found in Scripture that he did penance after his sin, as is read of Manasseh, who will be able to affirm of him that he is saved? After him a certain priest rises and says: Holy Father, what was the tree of which Adam tasted in paradise and was condemned? He answered: A wild apple. When at this all had smiled, the great Father said: Do not laugh at this, for the answer suits the question. The name of that tree Moses did not express. All the doctors say what was done, but they have not seen the kind of fruit: what Scripture has suppressed, how shall we bring forth?

[49] But you, omitting to ask how you were created and set in paradise like Adam, to the amendment of life and what was the precept, nay rather the precepts, given you which you have not kept, for which cause you were cast out of paradise, or rather out of the kingdom, and by what means you may recover your former glory and honour, have wished to learn the name of a tree which was one among all. And when you had learned even that, you would ask again what were its leaves, what its root or bark: and whether the tree was tall or small. And who could set forth what he has never seen with his eyes? The domestic answering said: I too, Father, will ask. What does that saying of Gregory the Theologian mean: For how shall she who is another's be easily for the salvation of him whom his own destroyed? And the Father to him: This was said to you by the doctor lest you trust that through a woman you can obtain salvation. Which the Apostle also affirmed, using chastened speech, saying: For how knowest thou, O woman, whether thou shalt save thy husband? — certainly for this reason, that she is wont to destroy her husband. If therefore she who came forth from the flesh of Adam and was his own sister, so to speak, or daughter, nay more closely joined to him, made her husband a transgressor and handed him over to destruction, how shall she move you to virtue who is alien from you in will and in position and in habit and in formation? Beware therefore for yourself, and hold your wife suspect. When he had said these and many other things to him, with discourses that seemed to look elsewhere he was inviting him to the monastic life: for he loved him much because of the shining

[50] he exhorts them; he refuses to accept medicine from a Jew But he answered: Truly whatever counsel, whatever admonition comes from you, holy Father, is full of profit: but in the sacred Gospel we read: What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. And the great Father: If indeed man were separating, you would say well, Let him not separate; but if the saying of Him who pronounces thus separates — He that shall not leave house, or brethren, or wife, or children, and the rest, is not worthy of me — who is there that can hinder this work pleasing to God? And who knows whether it was God who joined, and not rather the love of bodies and the pleasure of the flesh, on account of which the Apostle admonishes that for fear of fornication every man should have his own wife? When they had heard these and many other things, having received no small profit, they withdrew, admiring the virtue and wisdom of the blessed Man; so that the metropolitan himself said: God being my witness, I confess that this Caloyer is a great man. On the following day the holy Man came down from that place, and when he had entered the city, a certain Jew came to him, Domnulus by name, who had been known to him from his earliest age, because he was very studious and not commonly learned in the art of healing. He began therefore to speak to the Father thus: I have heard of the harsh manner of life with which you exercise yourself, and of your great abstinence, and I wondered, knowing the constitution of your body, that you had not fallen into epilepsy. Therefore, if you please, I will give you a medicine suited to your temperament, so that hereafter through all your lifetime you may dread no disease. And the great Father said: One of your own, a Hebrew, has told us: It is good to trust in the Lord rather than to trust in man. We therefore, trusting in our physician God and our Lord Jesus Christ, have no need of medicines compounded by you. But you will not be able to mock the simpler Christians in any other way than by boasting that you have given Nilus some of your medicines. The physician, hearing this, answered nothing.

[51] and refuses to speak about God with another. There had come with him a certain other man, who said: Tell us something about God, for we desire to hear your discourses. To whom the Father: You seem, Jew, to speak just as if someone were to bid an infant take a tall tree in his hand and bend it to the ground: if however you desire to hear a little about God, take the Prophets with the law and come into the desert where I too live withdrawn, and after you have there given yourself to reading for as many days as Moses on the mountain, then ask, and I will answer you: For be still, He says, and see that I am God. For if I now say anything to you about God, I write in water and cast seed into the sea. They answered together: This we cannot do, for we shall be cast out of the synagogue and our own people will overwhelm us with stones. And the holy Father: Your fathers likewise died in unbelief, as the Evangelist says: That many of the chief men believed in him, but because of the Jews they did not confess him, that they might not be cast out of the synagogue. For they loved the glory of men more than the glory of God. When he had said these things to them and had withdrawn from them, going out to the monastery he betook himself to his cell, giving himself to contemplation and the meditation of the divine Scriptures. And when no long time had passed, Nicholas the protospatharius and Leo the domestic ^c set out thither to him, burning with the desire of hearing his teaching and admonitions.

[52] And so, after a long meeting and exhortation, the Saint indeed withdrew into his cell, He threatens punishment to those who mock the monastic habit. eager to give himself again to God: but they outside, where it pleased them, stretching themselves on the grass, when they had found the little cowl of a certain brother, the domestic and the protospatharius set it in turn upon each other's head in jest and mockery. When the holy Man had seen this through the window and had strongly disapproved their sport, he severely rebuked them, saying: This which is now a mockery to you will be a thing which you will eagerly seek to cover your head, and will not be able to have. As soon as these words were spoken with a foreboding mind, a horror and pain of the head seized the domestic. He, returning home at once and casting himself upon his bed, ordered some reverend priest to be called to him. When he had come and had drawn nearer to the bed, to learn the cause why he had been called, he found him already departed from life. From which fear seized those who had accompanied him as he returned from the monastery, and all wondered at what the Saint had foretold.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER VIII.

St. Nilus, shunning flattery, rebukes Eupraxius the prefect of Calabria, and, when he has been chastised by disease and is penitent, clothes him with the monastic habit; and he a little after dies piously. The holy Father refuses to administer the goods bequeathed to him by that man's will: he frees the son of a duke and many others from an evil demon and from various diseases.

ΤΙνὲς οὖν κακεντρεχεῖς τε καὶ κόλακες ἄνθρωποι ἀνελθόντες ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει ἐλοιδόρησαν τὸν μακάριον εἰς τὰ ὦτα τοῦ βασιλικοῦ Ευπραξίου, ὡς λεηλατήσαντα τὸ αὐτοῦ μοναστήριον, καὶ τὰ τοῦ Ἀντωνίου πράγματα νοσφισάμενον. Ὃς ταῖς τοιαύταις συκοφαντίαις ἀγριωθεὶς, γράφει, τινὶ τῶν ἐπιτρόπων αὐτοῦ ἀπειλῶν τῷ ἁγίῳ καὶ λέγων· Ὅτι ἀξιώσειέ με ὁ Θεὸς ὑγιάινοντα κατελθεῖν, καὶ γνωρίσαι τίς ἐστιν ὁ καλόγηρος Νεῖλος, καὶ τίς ὁ βασιλικὸς Ευπράξιος. Κατελθόντος δὲ αὐτοῦ μετὰ πολλῆς ἐπάρσεως καὶ φαντασίας, διὰ τὸ κατασταθῆναι αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τῶν βασιλέων κριτὴν Ιταλίας τε καὶ Καλαβρίας, ἅπαντες μὲν οἱ ἡγούμενοι τῆς χώρας προσήρχοντο αὐτῷ μετὰ δώρων καὶ κολακείας, τὴν αὐτοῦ ἀντίληψίν τε καὶ βοήθειαν ἔχειν παρακαλοῦντες· ὁ δὲ θεσπέσιος πατήρ ἑμῶν Νεῖλος, ἵνα μὴ δόξῃ ἢ ἀπειλὰς ἀνθρωπίνας θροεῖσθαι, ἢ πεποιθέναι ἐπ᾽ ἄρχοντας, τοὺς ὀνειδιστικῶς υἱοὺς ἀνθρώπων κληθέντας παρὰ τοῦ προφητάνακτος, οἷς οὐκ ἔστι σωτηρία· οὔτε προσῆλθε θωπευτικῶς τε καὶ κολακευτικῶς, οὔτε μὴν δώροις ἐξεμειλίξατο τὴν ἀπειλὴν τῆς αὐτοῦ αὐθαδείας τε καὶ θρασύτητος· ἡσυχάζων δὲ μόνον εἰς τὸ κελλίον αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ ἰδίῳ μοναστηρίῳ, τὸν Θεὸν ἐδυσώπει ὑπὲρ τε τῆς τοῦ κόσμου παντὸς καὶ τῆς τοῦ ἄρχοντος ψυχικῆς σωτηρίας. Ὅπερ εἰς πλείονα θυμὸν καὶ μανίαν ἀνῆψε τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ ὑψηλοφρονοῦντος, ὡς παρὰ πάντων τιμωμένου καὶ θεραπευομένου, ὑπὸ δὲ τοῦ οσίου σαφῶς περιφρονουμένου· διὸ καὶ ἐξέλιπεν ἐξερευνῶν πρόφασιν ἀνομίας κατὰ τοῦ δικαίου. Οὐ γὰρ δυνατὸν γνωσθῆναι ἴχνος ὄφεως ἐπὶ πέτρας, ὥσπερ οὖν οὐδὲ πονηρίαν ἄρχοντος ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ κατεστεμμένῳ.

[54] Ἐν τούτῳ γνωσιμαχοῦντός τε καὶ πονηρευομένου, ἐπέστη ὄλεθρος αἰφνίδιος, καὶ ἡ εὐχὴ τοῦ τιμίου πατρὸς αὐτὸν προκατελάβετο. Πάθος γάρ τι τὸ λεγόμενον γάγγραινα περὶ τὴν βάλανον τοῦ παιδογόνου μορίου αὐτοῦ ἐκφυὲν, τῶν μὲν ἰατρῶν ἄπρακτον διήλεγχε τὴν περιοδείαν, δίκας δὲ εἰσεπραττετο τὸ τῆς ἀσωτίας ὄργανον, δι᾽ ὧν ἀκρατῶς τὸν τῆς φύσεως νόμον ἐξύβρισεν. ἐλθὼν οὖν εἰς συναίσθησιν αὐτοῦ, καὶ μεμψάμενος τὴν κατὰ τοῦ ἁγίου θρασύτητα ἑαυτοῦ· ἦν γὰρ ἐχέφρων ἱκανῶς ὀ ἀνὴρ, εἰ καὶ τετύφωτο τῇ τῆς ἐξουσίας ὑπεροχῇ· ἱκέτης καθίσταται ὁ πρῴην ἐμβριμώμενος ταῖς ἀπειλαῖς, εἴ πως τῆς θέας ἐπιτύχῃ καὶ μόνον, εὐλογίας τε καὶ συγχωρήσεως τῆς παρ᾽ ἐκείνου ἀξιωθείη. Ὁ δὲ πατὴρ πρὸς μὲν τὸ παρὸν ἀνεβάλλετο τὴν κατὰ πρόσωπον ὁμιλίαν, μήτε ἐκεῖνον καταδεχόμενος ἐρχόμενον ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ, μήτε αὐτὸς βουλόμενος ἀπελθεῖν, καὶ τὴν δέησιν αὐτοῦ ἐκτελέσαι, τῶι τοιούτῳ γοῦν τρόπῳ τὴν σωτηρίαν αὐτῷ πραγματευόμενος. Ἤδει γὰρ ἐν εὐθέτῳ καὶ τῷ τύφῳ δεόντως κατὰ τῶν ἀναισθήτων χρήσασθαι. Ὡς γοῦν ἐπὶ τριετῆ χρόνον ἡ θεόπεμπτος ἐκείνη νόσος κατὰ σμικρὸν ἀναλώσασα τὰ κρυπτόμενα μόρια, προσήγγισε λοιπὸν τῷ καιριωτάτῳ τῶν μελῶν, καὶ θάνατον ἠπείλει τῇ τούτου διαφθορᾷ, τότε πορεύεται πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ ψυχικὸς ἰατρὸς, δυσωπηθεὶς ταῖς οἰκτροτάταις αὐτοῦ ἐπιστολαῖς. Ἰδὼν τοίνυν τὸν ὅσιον ὁ βασιλικὸς, καὶ περιλαβὼν τοὺς τιμίους πόδας αὐτοῦ, τοσοῦτον πλῆθος δακρύων ἐξέχεε καταφιλῶν αὐτοὺς, ὥστε καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν ἅγιον πατέρα καὶ πάντας τοὺς συμπαρεστηκότας συνθρηνεῖν αὐτῷ, καὶ κλαίειν σφοδρῶς. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἄλλο εἰκάσαι ἦν καὶ ἰδεῖν παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς, ἢ τὴν πόρνην ἐν κατανύξει κατεχοῦσαν τοὺς Σωτῆρος πόδας, καὶ ἄφεσιν αἰτοῦσαν τῶν πλημμελημάτων.

[55] Ιδὼν οὖν αὐτὸν ὁ πατὴρ χορτασθέντα τοῦ κλαυθμοῦ, καθάπερ βρέφος τοῦ οἰκείου μαστοῦ, ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα ἐπελάβετο καὶ ἀνέστησεν αὐτόν. Ὁ δὲ πᾶσι κελεύσας ἐξελθεῖν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ἤρξατο ἀπογυμνοῦσθαι σὺν τοῖς ψυχικοῖς πάθεσι καὶ τὰ σωματικὰ, καὶ δακρύων ἔλεγεν· Ιδοὺ τιμιώτατε πάτερ τριετίαν, ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτα βεβασάνισμαι ὑπὸ τοῦ δεινοτάτου πάθους, πόνοις δριμυτάτοις καὶ ἀφάτῳ δυσωδίᾳ πυκτεύων· ἣν οὔτε πλῆθος προστριβόμενος μύρων, οὔτε μὴν τῇ πυκνότητι τῶν ἱματίων παλαίων· ἑπτάκις γὰρ τῆς ἡμέρας ἀλλάσσω· ἐκφυγεῖν ἠδυνήθην. Ἦν δὲ τὸ πάθος, ὡς ὁ μακάριος ἔλεγεν, ὑπὸ τὸ ἦτρον αὐτοῦ ὥσπερ ἀπὸ διαβήτου δειχθὲν, καὶ ἔχον ἐκ τῶν κεχωρισμέων μορίων οὐδέν. Πάλιν οὖν τὰς χεῖρας τοῦ δικαίου κρατῶν ὁ βασιλικὸς, καὶ πλύνων αὐτὰς τοῖς δάκρυσιν ἔλεγεν· Ἐλέησόν με διὰ τὸν Κύριον

μιμητὰ τοῦ δεσπότου Χριστοῦ, καὶ καταξίωσον ταῖς τιμίαις σου ταύταις χερσὶν ἀποκεῖραι με τὸν πανάσωτον· ἐπειδὴ ὡμολόγησα τῷ Θεῷ τοῦ γενέσθαι μοναχός. Λέγει οὖν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ πατήρ· Οὐκ ἔξεστί σοι ἀνθρώπῳ συνετῷ ὄντι, καὶ σφόδρα πεπαιδευμένῳ τὰ τῶν κοινῶν ἀνθρώπων λόγια φρονεῖν τε καὶ λέγειν· ἅπαντες γὰρ οἱ τοῦ Θείου βαπτίσματος καταξιωθέντες, καὶ ἀμόλυντον ἀπὸ πάσης ἁμαρτίας μὴ φυλάξαντες τοῦτο, χωρὶς πάσης ὁμολογίας χρεωστοῦσι πάλιν τὸ μακάριον τοῦτο βάπτισμα· ὅπερ διὰ πολλὴν εὐσπλαγχνίαν καὶ ἀγαθότητα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὁ Θεὸς ἐδωρήσατο, πλουσίοις καὶ πένησι, βασιλεῦσι καὶ ἄρχουσιν, ἱερεῦσί τε καὶ ἀρχιερεῦσι, καὶ πάσῃ ψυχῇ τῇ βουλομένῃ ἐν μιᾷ καιροῦ ῥοπῇ ἀναγεννηθῆναι ὠς ἀετοῦ ἡ νεότης, καὶ πάντων ἀπαλλαγῆναι τῶν προημαρτημένων. καθὼς δὲ ἔφης περὶ τοῦ με ἀποκουρεῦσαί σε, εὐτελὲς καλογηρίτζιν εἰμὶ ἐγὼ, μηδένα κεκτημένος βαθμὸν ἱερατικόν. Ὧδε μητροπολίτης ἐστὶν· ἦν γὰρ τότε ἐκεῖ ὁ τῆς ἁγίας Σεβηρίνης μητροπολίτης· ὧδε ἐπίσκοπος καὶ ἀρχιμανδρῖται εἰσίν· αὐτοὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν σου πληρώσουσι· καὶ ἐγὼ τίς εἰμι, ἵνα μεσάζωμαι; Ὁ δὲ πάλιν τάς χεῖρας καταφιλῶν τοῦ θείου πατρὸς παρεκάλει ὁμοῦ καθορκίζων τοῦ μὴ ἄλλῳ τινὶ τὸ τοιοῦτον ἔργον παραχωρῆσαι, ἀλλὰ δι᾽ αὐτοῦ τὸ ἅγιον καὶ ἀποστολικὸν σχῆμα ἀμφιασθῆναι, καὶ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν αὐτῷ μεσίτὴν καὶ προστάτην γενέσθαι.

[56] Καμφθεὶς οὖν ὁ πατὴρ τοῖς δάκρυσι καὶ ταῖς ἰκεσίαις αὐτοῦ, ταῖς οἰκείαις χερσὶν αὐτὸν ἀπεκείρατο, καὶ τὰ τῇ σεμνῇ ταπεινώσει δεδοξασμένα ῥάκη περιεβάλετο, τὸν ἁπαλῇ καὶ περιῤῥεούσῃ ἐσθῆτι πρῴην μαλακιζόμενον, παρόντος τοῦ μητροπολίτου Στεφάνου σὺν τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ τοῦ Κάστρου, ἡγουμένοις τε οὐκ ὀλίγοις, καὶ ἄλλοις ἱερεῦσι. Παρειστήκει δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἰουδαῖος Δόμνουλος ὡς ἰατρὸς, οὗ καὶ πρῴην ἐμνήσθην, θεωρῶν ἅπαντα τὰ τελούμενα· ὃς ἐξελθὼν ἔξω, καὶ τὰ γεγενημένα θαυμάσας, ἔφη πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας· Σήμερον ἐθεασάμην θαυμάσια, ἅπερ πάλαι γενέσθαι ἀκηκόαμεν. Νῦν εἶδον τὸν προφήτην Δανιὴλ ἡμεροῦντα τοὺς λέοντας. Τίς γὰρ ἠδυνήθη ποτὲ χεῖρα ἐπιβαλέσθαι τούτῳ τῷ λέοντι; Ὁ δὲ νέος οὗτος Δανιὴλ καὲ τὴν κόμην ἀπέτεμε, καὶ κουκούλιον ἐπιτέθεικεν. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ὁ Ἑβραῖος. Ὁ δὲ βασιλικὸς μετὰ τὸ πᾶσαν τὴν ἀγγελικὴν ἀκολουθίαν τελεσθῆναι ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ, προτρεψάμενος ἅπαντας ἐπὶ τὸ γεύσασθαι, καὶ συντάξας δι᾽ ἑαυτοῦ παρίστατο καθάπερ οἰκέτης, προθυμούμενος ὑπουργῆσαι ὁ πρὸ πολλῶν ἡμερῶν τῆς κλίνης μὴ δυνάμενος ἀναστῆναι, ῥωσθεὶς τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ Πνεύματος, καὶ ταῖς τοῦ ὁσίου χερσίν. Παρακελευσθεὶς δὲ καθεσθῆναι ἔγγιστα αὐτοῦ, ᾐτήσατο πάλιν τοῦ διατάξασθαι ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης λύσιν λαβεῖν. Καὶ τούτου γενομένου πάντες ἐξίσταντο ἐπὶ τῇ ἀναῤῥώσει προθυμία τοῦ ἀνδρὸς, καὶ ἐδόξαζον τὸν Θεόν. Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα, πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτῷ τῇ ἰδίᾳ χειρὶ δοὺς πένησι, καὶ ἐκκλησίαις, καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς δεομένοις, ληγατεύσας τε ἅπασαν τὴν οἰκετείαν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐλευθερίας καταξιώσας, τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ πρὸς Κύριον ἀπεδήμησε μετὰ πάσης κατανύξεως καὶ εὐχαριστίας, πίστεώς τε καὶ έλπίδος βεβαίας ἀπελθὼν πρὸς τὸν εἰρηκότα διὰ τοῦ προφήτου· Οὐ θέλω τὸν θάνατον τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ, ὡς τὸ ἐπιστρέψας καὶ ζῆσαι αὐτὸν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον.

[57] Μετὰ δὲ τὸ κατατεθῆναι τὸ σῶμα αοὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ τῆς ἁγίας Αναστασίας τῆς παρθένου, προσέρχεται τῷ θεσπεσίῳ πατρὶ ὁ ῥηθεὶς μητροπολίτης ὑποδεικνύων αὐτῷ τὴν τοῦ βασιλικοῦ διαθήκην· ἐν ᾗ τῇ τε πάσῃ κινητῇ καὶ ἀκινήτῳ αὐτοῦ ὑποστάσει ἐπίτροπον καὶ δεσπότην τὸν ὅσιον διεγράψατο. Ἥνπερ θεασάμενος ὁ μακάριος, καὶ τὴν ἐν ἐκείνοις τοῖς πράγμασιν ἀσχολίαν παγίδα εἶναὶ καὶ χλεύην τοῦ διαβόλου κατανοήσας, πάντα ἐπιτρέψας τῷ αὐτῷ μητροπολίτῃ δικαίως οἰκονομῆσαι, ὡς τῷ τὰ πάντα ἐφορῶντι Θεῷ ἀποδώσοντι τὴν περὶ τούτων ἀπολογίαν, αὐτὸς τὸ οἰκεῖον κατέλαβε μοναστήριον, ἑαυτῷ προσέχων, καὶ τῷ Θεῷ προσανέχων, καὶ πειθόμενος τοῖς ἁγίοις ἀγγέλοις αὐτῷ παραινοῦσί τε καὶ λέγουσιν· μεταναστεύου ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη ὡς στρουθίον, ὅτι ἰδοὺ οἱ ἐξ ὑμῶν ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἐνέτειναν τόξον, τὴν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων πραγμάτων ἐπιμέλειαν καὶ φροντίδα, καὶ ἡτοίμασαν βέλη εἰς φαρέτραν, τὰ τῇ διανοίᾳ αὐτῶν ἐναποτιθέμενα πονηρὰ βουλεύματα καὶ διανοήματα, ἀφ᾽ ὧν κατατοξεῦσαι ἐν σκοτομήνῃ βουλεύονται οἱ ἀλάστορες τοὺς εὐθεῖς τᾖ καρδία. Τοῦ τοίνυν θαυμασίου πατρὸς τῇ προσευχῇ καὶ τῇ διακονίᾳ τοῦ λόγου μετὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν φιλοθέως προσκαρτεροῦντος, ἔρχεταί τις πρὸς αὐτὸν στρατηλάτης, Πολύευκτος τοὔνομα, ἀπὸ τῆς παροικίας Μεσουβιάνου τῆς Καλαβρίας, φέρων μεθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ κατεχόμενον ὑπὸ σφοδρωτάτου δαίμονος. Προσπεσὼν οὖν παρὰ τοὺς πόδας τοῦ μακαρίου πατρὸς παρεκάλει αὐτὸν σπλαγγνισθῆναι ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ, καὶ ἐλεῆσαι τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ, ἀπαλλάξαι τε αὐτὸν τοῦ δεινοῦ πνεύματος.

[58] Ὀ δὲ ὄντως υἱὸς τῆς χριστομιμήτου ταπεινοφροσύνης ἀπεκρίνατο πρὸς αὐτόν· Πίστευσον ἄνθρωπε, ὅτι οὐδέποτε παρεκάλεσα τὸν Θεὸν τοῦ δωρήσασθαι τῇ ταπεινώσει μου χάριν ἰαμάτων, ἠ πονηρῶν πνευμάτων ἀποσοβήν. Εἴθε τῶν πολλῶν μου ἁμαρτημάτων δυναίμην συγγνώμην αἰτήσασθαι τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἀπαλλαγὴν τῶν ἀεὶ παρενοχλούντων με πονηρῶν λογισμῶν. Δεῦρο τοίνυν αὐτὸς παρακάλεσον τὸν Θεὸν μᾶλλον ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ ἀδελφὲ, εἰπως ἄν ῥυσθείην τῶν περικυκλούντων με δαιμονίων πολλῶν. Ὁ γὰρ σὸς υἱἱὸς ἓν δαιμόνιον ἔχει, καὶ αὐτὸ ἀκουσίως, ἴσως δὲ καὶ πρὸς σωτηρίαν τῆς ἰδίας ψυχῆς, εἴτε πρὸς παρῳχηκότων ἁμαρτημάτων ἐκλύτρωσιν, εἴτε καὶ πρὸς μελλόντων ἀνακοπήν. Ἐγὼ δὲ τῇ ἐμῆ ῥαθυμίᾳ καὶ ἀμελείᾳ καθ᾽ ἑκάστην δουλοῦμαι χιλιάσι τε καὶ μυριάσι δαιμόνων πρὸς ἀπόλειαν τῆς ψυχῆς μου. Ταῦτα εἰπὼν, καὶ ὑπαναχωρήσας μικρὸν, ἀπέκρυψεν ἑαυτὸν ἡμέρας τινὰς, δεδοικὼς μή πως ἰαθέντος τοῦ δαιμονιζομένου ἐξέλθοι ἡ φήμη καθ᾽ ὅλης τῆς χώρας, καὶ οὐκ ἐάσωσιν αὐτὸν ἡρεμῆσαι ἐν τῶ τόπῳ ἐκείνῳ. Ὁ δὲ Πολύευκτος κατωχυρώσας αὑτοῦ τὴν καρδίαν τῇ πίστει καὶ τῇ ἐλπίδι, διεκαρτέρει ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ νηστεύων καὶ κακουχούμενος, λέγων μετὰ δακρύων· Οὐκ ἀναχωρήσω τοῦ ὧδε, ἕως οὗ ὁ υἱός μου ἰάσεως ἐπιτύχῃ. Ἰδὼν οὖν ὁ μακάριος τὴν ἕνθεον αὐτοῦ πίστιν καὶ ὑπομονὴν, σπλαγγνισθεὶς ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ ἐλθὼν, ἐδυσφόρει ἐν ἑαυτῷ λέγων· Τί ποιήσω τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τούτῳ οὖκ οἶδα· καὶ γὰρ ἀμφοτέρωθεν πειρασμός ἡμῖν πρόσκειται, εἴτε ἰαθῇ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ, εἴτε καὶ μή. Ὅμῳς οὖν μηδόλως καταδεξάμενος κᾂν θεάσασθαι τὸν πνευματιζόμενον, καλέσας τὸν τῆς ἱερατείας τὴν τάξιν ἐνδεδυμένον, κελεύει αὐτὸν ἀπελθεῖν ἐν τῷ εὐκτηρίῳ καὶ ἐπεύξασθαι τῷ νοσοῦντι, ἀλεῖψαί τε αὐτὸν ἐλαίῳ τῆς κανδήλας καὶ ἀπολύσαι.

[59] Τούτου δὲ γενομένου, παραχρῆμα ὁ νέος ἰάσεως ἠξιώθη, τοῦ δαίμονος ἀπὸ τῶν αἰσθητηρίων αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ καπνὸς ἐξελθόντος. Ὅπερ ἰδὼν ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ, καὶ χαρᾶς πλησθεὶς, παραλαμβάνει αὐτὸν καὶ πρόσπίπτει μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ τοῖς τοῦ πατρὸς γόνασιν, εὐχαριστῶν τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ διὰ μόνης προστάξεως τὸ πονηρὸν πνεῦμα τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀπελάσαντι. Εμβριμησάμενος δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ μακάριος, παρήγγειλε μηδενὶ τοῦτο εἰπεῖν· Ὁ Θεὸς γάρ φησιν ἰάσατο τὸν σὸν υἱὸν οὐκ ἐγώ. Καὶ εὐλογήσας αὐτοὺς ἀπέλυσεν αὐτοὺς ἐν εἰρήνῃ εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτῶν δοξάζοντας τὸν Θεόν. Τούτῳ δὲ τῷ τρόπῳ πολλοὺς ἀπὸ δαιμόνων ὁ θαυμάσιος ἐθεράπευσε μοναχούς τε καὶ λαἳκοὺς· τοὺς μὲν ἐλαίῳ διὰ τῶν ἱερέων ἀλείφων, αὐτὸς μηδέποτε καταδεξάμενος μέχρι καὶ τῆς διὰ χειρὸς σφραγῖδος ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς· τοὺς δὲ ἀποστέλλων πρὸς τὰς τῶν μακαρίων ἀποστόλων τε καὶ μαρτύρων θήκας τὰς ἐν τῇ Ῥώμη, οἳτινες κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ἐκαθαρίζοντο, τοῦ μακαρίου πατρὸς ὀφθαλμοφανῶς αὐτοῖς ὀπτανομένου, καὶ τοὺς δαίμονας ἐξ αὐτῷν ἀπελαύνοντος. Τοῦτο δὲ ἐγίνετο, ἵνα μὴ κενὴ ἡ πίστις ἡ πρὸς τὸν ὅσιον αὐτῶν ἀναδειχθῇ, καὶ ὁ κόπος ἀνόνητος τῆς καταφυγῆς. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ λόγῳ ταπεινοφροσύνης φανερῶς οὐκ ἐπεύχετο αὐτοῖς, ἀποφεύγων τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἔπαινον, ἀλλὰ τῇ φιλανθρωπίᾳ νικώμενος, ἀπὸ τοῦ κρυπτοῦ τῆς κέλλης αὑτοῦ ταῖς πυρίναις ἐντεύξεσι κατέφλεγε τὰ δαιμόνια, καὶ τὰς νόσους ἀπήλαυνεν. Ἅπερ ἅπαντα εἰ κατὰ μέρος βουληθείην γραφῇ παραδοῦναι, οὐκ ἐπαρκέσει μοι ὁ χρόνος τῇ δρομῇ παρατρέχων· ἀρκεῖ δὲ τοῖς εὐλαβέσι καὶ ἐκ μέρους τὸ ὅλον καταλαβέσθαι, ὡς ἐξ ὀνύχων τὸν

Eupraxius, vexing the Saint who had been accused by calumny Certain wicked men and flatterers, therefore, having set out for Constantinople, accused the blessed Man in the ears of Eupraxius, the imperial judge ^a, as though he had plundered his monastery and had made away with what belonged to Antony. And he, provoked by calumnies of this kind, wrote to one of his agents, hurling threats against the Saint and saying: When the divine favour has brought me thither in good health, I shall see who that monk Nilus is, and who the imperial Eupraxius. When therefore he had arrived with much haughtiness and pomp — for he had been appointed by the emperors judge of Italy and Calabria — all the abbots of the province went to him with gifts and flattery, seeking to catch his favour and protection for themselves. But the excellent father Nilus, that he might not seem either to fear the threats of men or to trust in princes, whom the royal Prophet in a sense of reproach calls Sons of men, in whom there is no salvation, neither approached after the manner of flatterers, nor soothed with gifts the threats of that proud mind, but sitting quietly in his monastery poured out prayers to God for the salvation of all and of the prince's soul. Whence it came about that the heart of that insolent man raged with greater wrath, because he was honoured and courted by all, but was manifestly neglected by the blessed Man. Wherefore he even failed in searching out a handle of iniquity against the just Man. For it cannot be that the way of a serpent upon a rock should be known, just as neither the wickedness of a prince in a crowned man.

[54] [is afflicted with a shameful disease, corrected by which he becomes a suppliant to St. Nilus] While he was acting in these matters malignantly and perfidiously, a destructive disease suddenly assails him, and the innocence of the venerable Father forestalls him. For a certain disease, whose name is gangrene, began to feed upon the uppermost part of his private members, that is, the glans, and showed that the care of the physicians was in vain, and exacted penalties from that instrument of lust through which he had intemperately abused the laws of nature. Recognizing therefore his error, and charging himself with the crime that he had been too insolent against the holy Man (for he was prudent enough, although puffed up with haughtiness on account of the eminence of his power), he becomes a suppliant, who lately had raged with threats, if by any means he might at least behold him and obtain pardon from him with a blessing. But the Father then indeed put off the meeting, and did not offer himself to be seen face to face, neither permitting that the other should come to the monastery, nor thinking to go to him himself to satisfy his request, doubtless by this

means procuring his salvation; for he knew how to use even haughtiness becomingly against the unwise. Therefore, after that disease sent by God had for three years gradually consumed his private parts and had come to a chief part of the body, and threatened death by its corruption, then the spiritual Physician set out, moved by his most mournful letters. When the viceroy beheld the holy Man, embracing his venerable feet he poured out, in kissing them, such a flood of tears that the holy Father himself and all who stood by mourned together with him and uttered vehement weeping. For nothing else was to be seen among them than the image of the sinful woman holding with contrite mind the feet of the Saviour and seeking pardon of her errors.

[55] and from him, with difficulty, obtains the monastic habit When the Father saw him now sated with weeping, like an infant which has sucked milk abundantly from the breasts, he stretched out his hand and, taking hold of him, raised him up. And he, all being ordered to go out, began to lay bare, together with the diseases of his mind, the evils of his body also, and weeping said: Behold, venerable Father, day and night for three years I have been afflicted with this most grievous evil, oppressed by the sharpest pains and by an unspeakable stench, which I could escape neither by the abundance of the ointments applied nor by the frequent changing of garments, which I use seven times each day. Moreover the disease, as the blessed Father related, was beneath the pubic bone, described as though a compass had been drawn round, so that nothing of the hanging members remained. Again therefore the viceroy, holding the hands of the holy Man and bathing them with tears, said: Have mercy on me for the Lord's sake, imitator of Christ the Lord, and do not disdain with these venerable hands to mark with the tonsure of a monk one full of all lust; for I have promised God to take up the monastic institute. To whom the Father: It is not lawful for you, a prudent and very learned man, to think or to speak after the manner of the many; for all who have received sacred baptism and have not kept it pure from all sin are bound, without any vow, to receive this sacred baptism ^b, which of His great clemency and goodness God has given to men, to the rich and the needy, to kings and princes, to priests and pontiffs, and to any soul that is willing, that in one moment of time it may be born again, as the eagle's youth, and obtain pardon of past offences. But as to what you said, that I should tonsure you, I am indeed the least of monks, adorned with no grade of the priesthood. Here is the metropolitan (for at that time the metropolitan of Santa Severina ^c was there); bishops and archimandrites are at hand: let them fulfil your vows: who am I that I should meddle? He again, kissing the hands of the holy Father, began both to beg and to adjure him not to permit this work to another, but himself to clothe him with the holy and apostolic habit, and to become his mediator with God and his patron.

[56] The tears with the prayers bent the Father, and he tonsured him with his own hands and covered [and a little after dies piously: the holy Father refuses to undertake the execution of his will] with the mean cloak, which venerable humility renders glorious, him who lately in soft and flowing garment pursued delights, in the presence of the metropolitan Stephen with the bishop of the city ^d, not a few hegumens, and other priests. There was present also the Jew Domnulus, namely as a physician, of whom too I have made mention before, as a spectator of what was being done: who, going out and marvelling at what had been done, addressed the bystanders thus: Today I have seen wonders which we have heard were done of old. Now I have seen the prophet Daniel taming lions. For who was ever able to lay hands on this lion? But this new Daniel has both shaved his hair and set upon him the monastic cap ^e. And this indeed the Hebrew said. But the viceroy, all the ceremonies of the angelic habit being performed for him, having exhorted all to dine, offered himself as their servant, and stood like a domestic most ready to render services — he who for a long time before could not rise from his bed — healed by the power of the Spirit and by the hand of the blessed Man. And being ordered to sit near him, he again asked leave to serve at table: which being done, all were astonished at the good health restored to the man and at his zeal in serving, and gave thanks to God. After these things, having with his own hand lavished all his goods on the poor and on the churches and on all the needy, and legacies having been distributed for his whole household, and liberty granted them, on the third day he passed to the Lord with the utmost compunction of mind and with thanksgiving, going with faith and sure hope to Him who said through the prophet: I will not the death of the sinner, but rather that he be converted and live eternal life.

[57] After his body had been laid in the monastery of the holy virgin Anastasia, he frees from a demon the son of the duke Polyeuctus the metropolitan whom we mentioned came to the venerable Father, showing the viceroy's will, in which he had written the holy Man as the curator and lord of all his goods, movable and immovable. Seeing which, and understanding that the occupation of business of this kind was a snare and a mockery of the devil, he justly permitted all things to be managed by the same metropolitan, as by one who would render an account of them to God who beholds all things: but he betook himself to his own monastery, attending to himself and giving himself to God, and hearing the holy angels exhorting and saying: Get thee away to the mountains as a sparrow: for behold, they that are sinners among us have bent the bow — that is, the management of and solicitude about human affairs — and have prepared arrows in the quiver, namely the depraved counsels and thoughts which they send into the mind, and with which the wicked are eager to shoot in the dark the upright of heart. When therefore the admirable Man was wholly given with the brethren to prayer and to the pious ministry of the word, a certain leader of an army came to him, Polyeuctus by name, from the region of Mesubianum ^f in Calabria, bringing with him his son oppressed by a most wicked demon. Falling therefore at the feet of the blessed Father, he begged him to be moved with mercy and to bring help to his son by driving off the malignant spirit.

[58] and in these and other prodigies wonderfully consults his own humility. He, a true Son plainly of that humility which imitates Christ, answered: Never, believe me, have I asked the Lord to grant to my slenderness the grace of healings, or the driving off of malignant spirits. Would that I could obtain from God pardon of my many sins and be freed from the depraved thoughts which are assiduously troublesome to me! Do you rather pour out prayers to God for me, brother, if perhaps I may be freed from the many demons besetting me. For your son has one demon, and that not of his own will, but perhaps for the salvation of his soul, whether for the expiation of past crimes or, as a safeguard, for the sake of those to come. But I in my sloth and slackness am daily subjected to innumerable troops of demons unto the destruction of my soul. Having said this, he withdrew a little and hid himself for some days, fearing lest, if the man oppressed by the demon were freed, the report should spread through the whole region and it should not be permitted him to live quietly in that place. But Polyeuctus, fortifying his heart with faith and hope, did not depart from the monastery, but afflicted himself with fasting and said with tears: I will not withdraw hence until my son is healed. The blessed Man, having perceived his excellent faith and patience, had compassion on him and on his son, and returning into the monastery, taking the matter gravely within himself, said: What I shall do to this man I do not know: for whether his son be healed or not healed, on either side vexation threatens us. For the rest, in no way suffering even to look upon the man oppressed by the demon, he calls one who exercised the priestly order and bids him go into the oratory, and, prayers being poured out over the sick man, to anoint him with the oil of the lamp, and to dismiss him.

[59] Which being done, the young man was at once restored to health, the demon going out from his nostrils like smoke. When his father saw this, affected at once with joy and wonder, he took hold of his son and together with him fell at the Father's knees, giving thanks to God and to him who by his command alone had driven the malignant spirit from his son. But the blessed Father, using vehement speech, charged him to tell the matter to no one; for God, he said, not I, has healed your son; and blessing them he sent them home in peace, giving thanks to God. Further, the admirable Man in this manner freed many possessed by demons, both monks and laymen, either anointing them with oil through the priests — because he himself never would impart a blessing to them even with his hand alone — or sending them to Rome to the tombs of the blessed Apostles and Martyrs. Yet it happened to these to be freed while they went, the blessed Father appearing to them manifestly and driving off the demons. Which indeed came to pass lest the confidence with which they hoped that the blessed Father would bring help should be shown vain, and the labour of those who fled to him be empty. For although the humility of his mind brought it about that he did not openly pour out prayers over them, in order to avoid human praises, yet, overcome by piety, while he lay hidden in his cell, he burned the demons with his fiery supplications and put diseases to flight. And if I should wish to commit all these things to writing, narrating even the smallest, time slipping plainly past me would fail. It will be enough for pious men to grasp the whole from a part, as the lion from his claws.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER IX.

He deprecates the punishments of rebellion threatening his fellow citizens of Rossano: in a vision he is healed of the pains from a wound in his leg: he refuses money offered for the support of the monks, and, being tempted in vain to set out for the court, exhorts the emperor's chamberlain to the contempt of riches and to solitude.

Δέδωκε δὲ αὐτῷ χάριν ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς οὐ μόνον τοὺς καθ᾽ ἕκαστον προσερχομένους αὐτῷ, θλιβομένους καὶ παντοίαις ἀνάγκαις συνεχομένους ἐλεεῖν καὶ ἰᾶσθαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ πόλεων ὁλοκλήρων ἐν κινδύνοις ἀντιλαμβάνεσθαι, καὶ λυτροῦσθαι τῶν περιστάσεων. Δηλώσει δὲ τοῦτο τὸ νῦν ῥηθησόμενον· Εκράτει ποτὲ ἀμφοτέρων τῶν χωρῶν, Ιταλίας τε καὶ τῆς καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς Καλαβρίας Νικηφόρος ὁ μάγιστρος· πρῶτος καὶ μόνος τῷ μεγίστῳ ἀξιώματι τούτῳ παρὰ τῶν εὐσεβῶν βασιλέων ἐπὶ ταῖς ῥηθείσαις χώραις ἀποσταλείς. Ὥστε ὁ μάγιστρος τῇ μεγαλοφυΐᾳ καὶ τῇ ἀξίᾳ νικώμενος, βουλὴν ἐβουλεύσατο ταῖς μέν ἀνθρωπίναις ἐννοίαις ἀπόδεκτον, καὶ δοκοῦσαν ὠφέλιμον, τῷ θεἳκῷ δὲ βουλήματι ἀνθισταμένην, καὶ μηδόλως εὐπρόσιτον, ὡς τὸ τέλος ἀπέδειξεν. ἐλογίσατο γὰρ ἐφ᾽ ἑκάστῃ τῶν τῆς Καλαβρίας πόλεων κατασκευάσαι τὰ λεγόμενα χελάνδια, καὶ δι᾽ αὐτῶν οὐ μόνον ἑαυτὰς φυλάττειν ἀσφαλεστάτας καὶ ἀνεπιβουλεύτους, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν γείτονα καὶ ἐχθρὰν Σικελίαν ἀφανισμῷ παραδοῦναι. Τοῦτο δὲ μὴ ἐνεγκόντες οἱ πάροικοι Ρυσιάνου, ὡς ἀσυνήθεις ὄντες τοῦ χελανδίοις δουλεύειν, μετὰ τὸ ἤδη ταῦτα κατασκευάσαι, καὶ μέλλειν τοῖς τῆς θαλάσσης νώτοις σπιβιβάζειν, ζήλου θερμότητι ἀναφθέντες· ᾧπερ ἀεὶ νικῶνται ὑπὲρ πάντας Καλαβριώτας· παμπληθεὶ ὁρμήσαντες μετὰ πυρὸς καὶ μεγίστου θορύβου τά τε πλοῖα κατέκαυσαν, καὶ τοὺς πρωτοκαράβους ἐκεφαλαίωσαν. Τοῦτο δὲ εἰς μεγιστην ὀργὴν καὶ ἀγανάκτησιν κατὰ τῶν Ῥυσιανιτῶν τὸν μάγιστρον ἤγαγεν, ὡς δι᾽ αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ κάστρα τὸ βούλευμα ἀνατρέψαντα· ὄπερ νοήσαντες οἱ τοῦ Ρυσιάνου πάροικοι, καὶ καταγνόντες τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἀβουλίας καὶ ἀταξίας, τῶν δύο τὸ ἓν ἐβουλεύσαντο, ἢ παντελῆ ἀποστασίαν, καὶ φανερὰν ἀνυποταξίαν ἐργάσασθαι, καὶ κακῷ τὸ κακὸν ἰάσασθαι· ἢ τῇ τῶν χρημάτων ἐκδίσει καὶ τῷ πλήθει τῶν δώρων τὰ πάντα ἐξευμαρίσασθαι. Ἀμφοτέρωθεν δὲ αὐτοῖς δεινὸν καὶ ἐπαχθὲς τυγχάνον τὸ ἐπιχείρημα, βουλὴν βουλεύονται ἀγαθὴν καὶ σφόδρα ὠφέλιμον· ἐπὶ τὸν ἄσειστον πύργον, πατέρα τὸν ὅσιον καταφεύγουσι, μεσίτην γενέσθαι αὐτὸν τοῦ πράγματος ἱλεούμενοι, καὶ τῇ δυσωπήσει τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀρετῆς τὸν θυμὸν κατασβέσαι τοῦ ἄρχοντος.

[61] Τότε δὴ ὁ θεσπέσιος μηδὲν εἰσαῦθις ἀναβαλλόμενος, ἀλλὰ τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὄνομα προβαλλόμενος, τὸ ἄστυ κατέλαβε, καὶ τοῖς οἰκήτορσι τά πρέποντα συνεβούλευεν. οὗπερ τῇ πεποιθήσει τὰς πύλας ἀνοίξαντες, θαῤῥοῦντες τὸν μάγιστρον ὑπεδέξαντο, τῇ ὀργῇ πεπρισμένον, καὶ τῷ θυμῷ κατοιδαίνοντα. Πάντων τοίνυν ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ πτοηθέντων, ἀρχόντων τε καὶ ἱερέων καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν, μόνος ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ δοῦλος προΐστατο, καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀπολελόγητο. οὗτινος τὴν ἀπετὴν ὁ ἄρχων αἰδουμενος, καὶ τὴν ἔνθεον παρ᾽ῥησίαν σὺν τῇ ἐπιλαμπούσῃ τῷ προσώπῳ αὐτοῦ χάριτι τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος ἐκπληττόμενος, αὐτῷ τὴν κρίσιν τῆς τοιαύτης ἀταξίας τε καὶ ζημίας ἐπέτρεπεν. Πρὸς ὃν ὁ ὅσιος πρᾳέως τε μάλα καὶ σαφῶς ἀπεκρίνατο· Ὁμολογητέον, ὅτι σφόδρα κακὸν καὶ ἄτακτον πρᾶγμα γεγένηται· ἀλλ᾽ εἰ μὲν ὑπὸ εὐαριθμήτων ἀνθρώπων, καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν ὑπερεχόντων τὸ ἔργον προεκεχωρήκει, κατάγνωστοι ἂν ὑπῆρχον καὶ ὑπόδικοι τῇ σοφωτάτῃ σου κρισει· ἐπειδὴ δὲ τοῦ πλήθους παντός ἐστι τὸ ἐγχείρημα, καὶ πᾶσι κοινὸν τὸ τῆς κακοπραγίας ἀβούλημα, ἔξεστί σοι μαχαίρᾳ παραδοῦναι πλῆθος τοσοῦτον, καὶ ἔρημον καταστῆσαι τὸ τοιοῦτον φρούριον Θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως; Καὶ ὁ μάγιστρος ἔφη· Οὐ μαχαίρᾳ παραδώσομεν πάτερ, οὐδ᾽ ἀποκτενοῦμεν τινὰ, ἀλλὰ τὰ αὐτὼν ἀποθησαυρίσομεν τοις βασιλικοῖς βαλαντίοις· ἵνα ἐν τούτῳ σωφρονισθέντες, μηκέτι τολμήσωσι μείζοσιν ἐγχειρῆσαι. Καὶ τί ὄφελος τῇ σῇ ἐνδοξότητι, ἔφη ὁ ἅγιος, εἰ τὰ βαλάντια τὰ βασιλικὰ καταφορτίζων, τὴν σὴν ψυχὴν ἀπολέσῃς; Πῶς δὲ καὶ ἀφεθήσεταί σοι οὐ μόνον τὰ τῷ ἐπουρανίῳ βασιλεῖ ὀφλήματα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ ἐπιγείῳ, μὴ ἀφιέντι τοῖς ἀφελῶς καὶ ἀσυνέτως τῷ κράτει σου πταίουσι, σήμερον ὄντι, καὶ αὔριον οὐχ ὑπάρχσντι; Εἰ δὲ καὶ ὡς εὔλογόν τινα πρόφασιν, τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως ἀπόφασιν ἡμῖν προβαλλόμενος οὐ βούλει παραχωρῆσαι τὸ ἔγκλημα, ἔασον τὴν ἐμὴν οὐθενότητα χαράξαι τι πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνου θειότητα· καὶ εἴτι δ᾽ ἂν κελεύσῃ τὸ εὐσεβὲς αὐτοῦ κράτος, μετὰ πάσης προθυμίας τελέσομεν.

[62] Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ μάγιστρος ἀπεκρίνατο· Ἡμεῖς μὲν ὁσιώτατε τὴν πρὸς σὲ τοῦ ἁγίου βασιλέως ἔννοιαν ἐπιστάμενοι, δωρούμεθά σοι τὴν τοσαύτην τῶν νομισμάτων ἔκτισιν, πλέον ἢ δύο χιλιάδων ἀριθμὸν περιέχουσαν. Τὸ δὲ τῶν ἀρχόντων κεφαλοκλάσιον, καὶ τὸ ἄτιμον σύντριμμα παριδεῖν οὐκ εὔλογον οὐδὲ δίκαιον. Τότε ὁ παμμακάριστος παραινετικοῖς καὶ συμβουλευτικοῖς λόγοις πέπεικε καὶ αὐτοὺς μεγαλοψύχως χαρίσασθαι αὐτῷ, καὶ τὴν αὐτῶν διεκδίκησιν, μὴ μέχρι τῶν πεντακοσίων νομισμάτων ἐκπληρουμένην. Τούτων τοίνυν τῇ τοῦ ὁσίου πατρὸς ἀντιλήψει καλῶς ἀποπεραιωθέντων, μετετράπη ἡ ἀγανάκτησις ἐπὶ τὸν κατὰ τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας πράττοντα, Γρηγόριος δ᾽οὗτος ἦν ὁ καλούμενος Μαλεΐνος· ὅνπερ σὺν πολλῷ ἀγῶνι καὶ σφοδρᾷ παρακλήσει ἐξίσχυσεν ὁ μακάριος καταξιῶσαι τῆς τοῦ μαγίστρου ἐπόψεως κεκρυμμένον τυγχάνοντα. Ὃν ὁ μάγιστρος θεασάμενος, καὶ μὴ ἔχων πῶς ἀποκενώσῃ τὸ ἔκβρασμα τῆς καρδίας αὐτοῦ, τὸν ὅσιον εὐλαβούμενος, ἀναστὰς μετ᾽ ὀργῆς κατηράσατο αὐτὸν, καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ αὐτοῦ, καὶ πάντα τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτῷ ἀπὸ ἵππου καὶ βοὸς μέχρι καὶ ὄρνιθος καὶ κυνὸς καὶ πάντων τῶν λοιπῶν. Αὐτοῦ δὲ τῷ φόβῳ συνεχομένου καὶ μηδὲν ὄλως ἀποκριναμένου, ἐπετράπη καθίσαι διὰ τὸ πρωτοσπαθάριον αὐτὸν εἶναι. Καὶ λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ μάγιστρος· Ὕπαγε ταπεινὲ σὺν τοῖς ὁμοίοις σου κακόφροσι, ποιήσατε εἰκόνα Νείλου τοῦ ὁσίου, καὶ μὴ παύσησθε προσκυνοῦντες καὶ εὐχαριστίας αὐτῷ ἀναφέροντες· ἐπεὶ μὰ τὴν κεφαλὴν τοῦ ἁγίου βασιλέως, πλέον ὑμεῖς δόξαν οὐκ ἐδίδοτε. Ἅπαντα δὲ συνετῶς λοιπὸν ἡμερώσας καὶ εὐμαρίσας ὁ τῶν εἰρηνοποιῶν τοῦ μακαρισμοῦ ὄντως ἄξιος, ἀνεχώρησεν εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον, τῷ Θεῷ τὰς εὐχὰς αὐτοῦ ἀποδιδοὺς, καὶ τῇ χάριτι αὐτοῦ τὸ πᾶν λογιζόμενος· σφόδρα μὲν δυσχεραίνων καὶ ἀχθόμενος ἐν τῷ συνδυάζειν μετὰ τῶν ἐργαζομένων τὴν ἀνομίαν, καὶ βλέπειν τὴν τοῦ κόσμου ματαιότητα καὶ τὸν κενὸν θόρυβον, ὁ τῶν οὐρανίων ἐπόπτης καὶ τῆς ἡσυχίας υἱὸς γνήσιος· συγκαταβαίνων δὲ καὶ ὄχλοις, καὶ ἄρχουσι συναγελαζόμενος, δεινά τε πολλὰ πάσχων καὶ κινδυνεύων διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀδικουμένων, ἢ καὶ δικαίως πολλάκις πασχόντων ἀντίληψιν καὶ θερμὴν προστασίαν.

[63] Ποσάκις γὰρ ὑπὲρ ἐκδικήσεως καταπονουμένης ψυχῆς ὑπὸ τῶν μὴ φοβουμένων τὸν Κύριον, πεζοπορίαν ἐστείλατο, καὶ κακοπάθειαν ὑπεδέξατο; χειμῶνος μὲν κατὰ κεφαλῆς τὸν ὄμβρον δεχόμενος, καὶ τῆ πικρότητι τῶν ἀέρων χεῖράς τε καὶ πόδας ἀποναρκούμενος, καὶ ἅπαν τὸ σῶμα τῷ ψύχει καταπονούμενος, διὰ τὸ ἑνὶ καὶ σμικρῷ χιτῶνι περιστέλλεσθαι; θέρους δὲ θάλπει καυσούμενος, καὶ κόπῷ καὶ πείνῃ καὶ δίψει συνεχόμενος; Απερ ἅπαντα γενναίως ὑπέφερε διὰ τὴν ἐντολὴν τὴν λέγουσαν· Ρῦσαι ἀπαγομένους εἰς θάνατον, καὶ ἐκπριοῦν κτεινομένους μὴ φείσῃ. Ποτὲ γὰρ πορευόμενος ὁ τρισόσιος εἰς ἐκδίκησιν τινὸς ἀδελφοῦ παρὰ τῶν ἀδίκων ἀδικουμένου, ἠνᾳγκάσθη ὑπὸ τῶν πατέρων περιθεῖναι τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτοῦ εὐτελῆ δέρματα, διὰ τὸ πάγος καὶ τὸ ψῦχος εἶναι σφοδρότατον. Κατὰ δὲ τὴν ὁδὸν κειμένου ξύλου μεγίστου, δι᾽ οὗπερ τὴν πάροδον ἔμελλε ποιεῖσθαι ὁ ὅσιος, ἐν τῷ τὸν πόδα αὐτοῦ ἐπάνω τοῦ ξύλου τεθεικέναι, τῇ τοῦ ἐθροῦ συνεργίᾳ ὅλισθος μὲν τῇ τῶν δἐρμάτων γλισχρότητι περιγίνεται, ἐπελγὸν δὲ τῷ σκέλει τὸ ξύλον πληγὴν ἀφόρητον κατεργάζεται· ὥστε λειποθυμήσαντα τὸν μακάριον ὑπό τε τοῦ πόνου καὶ τοῦ κρύους καὶ τῆς τοῦ αἵματος καταῤῥεύσεως ἀπολέγεσθαι τὴν ψυχὴν, καὶ τὸ τέλος ἐκδέχεσθαι. Ἐκβαλὼν δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ κόλπου αὑτοῦ ὅπερ ἀεὶ ἐβάσταζε φυλακτήριον· τοῦτο δὲ ἦν πυκτίον, τῆς νέας διὰθῆκης τυγχάνον θησαύρισμα· καὶ τοῦτο τοῖς ὁφθαλμοῖς καὶ τοῖς χείλεσι καὶ τῷ στήθει περιβαλὼν, καὶ εἰπών· Κύριε εἰς χεῖράς σου παρατίθημι τὸ πνεῦμα μου, μικρὸν ἀπενύσταξεν, ἢ μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν ὠλιγοθύμησεν. Ὤφθη δὲ αὐτῷ ἄγγελος ἐνισχύων αὐτὸν, καὶ τιθεὶς ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ ὥσπέρ τι μέλικάζον· παραυτίκα γοῦν ἀναστὰς, καὶ γενόμενος ἐν εὐθυμίᾳ, εὐτονώτερον τὴν ὁδὸν ἢ πρότερον ἐπορεύετο, τῇ τοῦ ὀφθέντος ἀντιλήψει καὶ τοῦ αἵματος σταθέντος, καὶ τοῦ πόνου λωφήσαντος. Ἔλεγε δὲ ὁ θεσπέσιος, ὅτι πολλάκις μὲν ἠσθόμην ἐν πολλοῖς πράμασιν Θεοῦ ἀντιλήψεως, ὡς δὲ τότε, οὐδέποτε οὕτω ταχείας καὶ μεγίστης καὶ πλήρους παρακλήσεως. Ἐνταῦθα γὰρ δεῖ προσθεῖναι τὸ· Ὅταν πέσῃ, οὐ καταῤῥαχθήθεται, ταχέως ἀναρθωθήσεται· παρὰ Κυρίου τὰ διαβήματα ἀνθρώπου κατευθύνοντος, καὶ τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ θέλοντος.

[64] Ταύτὴν οὖν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ μακαρίου βοήθειαν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις χορηγουμένην ψυχικῶς τε καὶ σωματικῶς ὁρῶν ὁ τῶν δικαίων ἐχθρὸς, καὶ πᾶσι βασκαίνων τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς, ἔσπευδεν εἰ δυνατὸν ἦν αὐτῷ, πᾶσαν τὴν δόξαν καὶ τὸν πλοῦτον τοῦ κόσμου συναγαγεῖν πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῷν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀμβλυωπῆσαι αὐτὸν μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν ἀρετῶν θεωρίας, στερῆσαι δὲ τὸν κόσμον τῆς παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ ὠφελείας. Πολλοὶ γοῦν τῶν κατερχομένων ἀρχόντων πλήθη χρημάτων προσφέροντες αοὐτῷ, τὴν οἰκονομίαν τῶν μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἀδελφῶν, καὶ τὴν προστασίαν τῶν πτωχῶν προεβάλλοντο· ὁ δὲ ὥσπερ σκύβαλα ἀποστρεφόμενος ταῦτα, ἔλεγε τοῖς ἄρχουσιν· Ὅτι οἱ μὲν ἀδελφοὶ παρὰ τοῦ Δαβὶδ μακαρίζονται, εἴπερ τοὺς πόνους τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῷν φάγωνται, καὶ ἀλλοτρίαις ἁμαρτίαις μὴ κοινωνήσωσιν. Οἱ δὲ πτωχοὶ καθ᾽ ὑμῶν μὲν κεκράξονται, ὡς τὰ τούτων κατεχόντων· ἐμὲ δὲ θαυμάσονται, ὡς μηδὲν ἔχοντα, καὶ τὰ πάντα κατέχοντα. Εὐνοῦχος ὁ κοιτωνίτης εἰσελθών ποτε ἐν τῷ Ρυσιάνῳ, καὶ ἰδὼν τὸν μακάριον μηδαμῶς αὐτῷ προσδραμόντα· ἠπίστατο γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐκ μόνης τῆς φήμης· ἔλεγε θαυμάζων πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας· Ποῦ κάθηται Νεῖλος ὁ καλόγηρος; καὶ πῶς οὐ προσῆλθέ μοι μετὰ πάντων τῶν ἡγουμένων, ἀκούσας τὴν ἐμὴν ἄφιξιν; τοῦτο γὰρ μηδ᾽ αὐτὸς ὁ πατριάρχης ἐτόλμησεν ἂν ἐμοὶ καυχήσασθαι, καὶ καταφρονῆσαι τῆς ἐμῆς ἐλεύσεως. Οἱ δὲ παρεστῶτες αὐτῷ ἀπεκρίναντο· Οὗτος ὃν ἔφη ἡ σὴ ἐνδοξότης, ὁ καλόγηρος οὔτε πατριάρχης ἐστὶν, οὔτε πατριάρχην φοβεῖται, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ᾽ αὐτὸν τὸν πᾶσι φοβερὸν βασιλέα. Κάθηται δὲ ἅμα ὀλίγοις μοναχοῖς ἐν τῷ ὄρει, μὴ δεόμενος τινὸς ἀντιλήψεως. Οὔτε γὰρ πλάτει ὁρίων συνέχεται, οὔτε πλήθει βοσκημάτων συνδέδεται. Διὸ οὐδ᾽ ἀμφιβολίαν κέκτηται πρώς τινα. Μονόκερως ἐστὶν οὗτος, ζῶον αὐτόνομον· καὶ εἰ θελήσῇς αὐτὸν μετ᾽

ἐξουσίας ἀγαγεῖν, οὐδέποτε δυνήσῇ τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ κατιδεῖν. Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ κοιτωνίτης, καὶ ἐπὶ πλεῖον τὸν ἄνδρα θαυμάσας, γράφει αὐτῷ ἐπιστολὴν δυσωπητικὴν, συμπλέξας αὐτῇ καὶ ὅρκους φρικτοὺς, ἳνα εἴτε πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐξερχομένῳ μὴ ἀποκρύψῃ ἑαυτὸν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, εἴτε καταξιώσῃ ἐν τῷ κάστρῳ εἰσελθεῖν καὶ εὐλογῆσαι αὐτὸν, καὶ πάντας τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ.

[65] Ὁ δὲ ὅσιος πατὴρ ἡμῶν Νεῖλος τὸ μὲν διὰ τοὺς γεγραμμένους ὅρκους, τὸ δὲ ἵνα πάλιν ὁ ἄρχων αὐτῷ ὑπακούσῃ ἐν τῇ περὶ τῶν πτωχῶν παρακλήσει, καταλαμβάνει τὸ κάστρον, καὶ πρὸς τὸν κοιτωνίτην εἰσῆλθεν. Ὁ δὲ θεασάμενος σχῆμα καὶ πρόσωπον προφητικὸν, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀγγελικὸν, προσεκύνησεν ἐπὶ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ· καὶ κρατήσας αὐτὸν τῆς χειρὸς, εἰσῆλθον ἄμφω ἐν τῷ κοιτῶνι αὐτοῦ. Κελεύσας δὲ ἕνα τῶν πιστοτάτων αὐτῷ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον ἐνεγκεῖν, λέγει τῷ μακαρίτη· Επειδὴ ἃγιε πάτερ τῇ τοῦ ψεύδους ὑπολήψει τὸ ἄπιστον προσγίνεται τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, θέλω σοι ὀμόσαι πρὸς πληροφορίαν τῶν παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ ἐπαγγελομένων σοι. Ὁ δὲ πατήρ πρὸς αὐτόν· τοῦ ἁγίου εὐαγγελίου ἀποφαντικῶς ἐντελλομένου καὶ λέγοντος· Ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν μὴ ὀμόσαι ὅλως· ἤτω δὲ ὑμῶν ὀ λόγος, ναὶ ναὶ, καὶ τὸ οὒ οὒ· τὸ δὲ περισσὸν τούτων ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ ἐστιν· διατί ἀπιστίας ὑπόθεσιν σπεύδεις περιθεῖναι τῇ σῇ ἐνδοξότητι, καὶ ἀπὸ παρανομίας τὴν συντυχίαν ἀπαρξασθαι; Πᾶς γὰρ ὁ ἔτοιμος εἰς εὐορκίαν, ταχὺς εἰς ψευδολογίαν, ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ ἀνάπαλιν. Ἀπεκρίνατο ὁ κοιτωνίτης· δίκαιόν ἐστιν ὁσιώτατε μήτε ὑμῖν τοῖς τοῦ Θεοῦ δούλοις τινὰ ψεύδεσθαι, μήτε ἡμῖν ἀπιστεῖν τοῖς μετὰ πίστεως τὰ δόξαντα λέγουσιν. Λοιπὸν οὖν ἀκούων παρακαλῶ τοὺς λόγους μου πιστευε. Οὐκ ἔστι μοι τὶς προσγενὴς ἐν τῷ βίῳ τούτῳ ἀφ᾽ αἵματος, εἰ μὴ μόνον μήτηρ ἀδύνατος, τὸ εἰς ἐμὲ φίλτρον στέργουσα· ὑπάρχει δέ μοι πλοῦτος πολὺς καὶ κτῆσις ἄπειρος, ἀνδραπόδων πλῆθος, καὶ βοσκημάτων ἐσμὸς ἀναρίθμητος. Ἐλογισάμην οὖν ταῦτα πάντα τῷ Θεῷ προσηλῶσαι, μοναχῶν φροντιστήριον συστησάμενος, εἴπερ κατένυξεν ὁ Θεὸς τὴν ἁγιωσύνην σου, καὶ ἐν τῇ Κωνσταντινουπόλει συνήρχου μοι, ὅπως διὰ τῶν ἁγίων σου χειρῶν ἐγώ τε καὶ ἡ τεκοῦσα τὸ ἀγγελικὸν σχῆμα ἐνεδυσάμεθα. Ἐποίουν δέ σε ὡς νῦν μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ, οὕτω τοῖς ἁγίοις βασιλεῦσι συγκαθεσθῆναι.

[66] Ταῦτα τὰ μέλιτος καὶ πίσσης ἀνάπλεα ῥήματα ὁ τῆς διακρίσεως λύχνος ἐκεῖνος ἀκούσας οὐ συνηρπάγη τοῖς ὑψηλοῖς ἐπαγγέλμασι τούτοις, ἀλλ᾽ ἡσυχῇ τὴν χεῖρα βαλὼν ἐν τῷ στήθει, ὅπερ αὐτῷ ἀεὶ ἔθος ὑπῆρχε, καὶ τὸ σημεῖον τοῦ σταυροῦ ποιησάμενος, τῷ κοιτωνίτῃ ἀπεκρίνατο· Ο μὲν σκοπὸς τῆς ὑμετέρας θεοφιλίας τε καὶ συνέσεως εὐκλεὴς, καὶ Θεῷ εὐαπόδεκτος. Πρὸς τοῦτον γὰρ ἐνάγων ἡμᾶς ὁ Σωτὴρ, παραβολικῶς ἔφησεν· Ὅτι ὁμοία ἐστὶν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν θησαυρῷ κεκρυμμένῳ ἐν ἀγρῷ, ὃν εὑρὼν ἄνθρωπος ἔκρυψε, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς χαρᾶς ὑπάγει καὶ πωλεῖ πάντα ὅσα ἔχει, καὶ ἀγοράζει τὸν ἀγρὸν ἐκεῖνον. Ἐμοι δὲ ἀσύμφορον ἐστὶ καταλείψαντα τὴν ἐρημίαν καὶ τοὺς συγκακοπαθοῦντάς μοι πτωχοὺς, ἀνὰ τὰς πὸλεις ἀλᾶσθαι, καὶ ἀναδέχεσθαι φροντίδας πραγμάτων. Μὴ γὰρ ἐξέλιπεν ἀπὸ Κωνσταντινουπόλεως μοναχὸς καὶ ἡγούμενος, ἵνα δι᾽ ἐμοῦ κουρευθῶσιν οἱ ἐκείσε ἀποτασσόμενοι; Εἰ δὲ καὶ ὅλως προτιμᾷς τὴν ἐμὴν οὐθενότητα, κατάλαβε τὴν ἐσχατιὰν ἐν ᾗ καθεζόμεθα, καὶ μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν τὴν τεθλιμμένην ὀδὸν διάνυε. Οὐδέποτε γὰρ δυνήσῃ πτωχὸς γενέσθαι τῷ πνεύματι, πρὶν παντελῶς πτωχεύσῃς τῷ σώματι· ὅπερ γινώσκων κατώρθωσεν ὁ ἐν ἀγίοις Αρσένιος. Τὰ δὲ σὰ πάντα κατάλιπε τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ τοῦ φήσαντος· Εμόν ἐστι τὸ χρυσίον καὶ τὸ ἀργύριον· καὶ, Ὅστις οὐκ ἀποτάσσεται πᾶσι τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ, οὐ δύναταί μου εἶναι μαθητής. Πρὸς ταῦτα τοῦ κοιτωνίτου ἐνισταμένου, καὶ τὸ ἴδιον θέλημα γενέσθαι φιλονεικοῦντος, καταλιπὼν αὐτὸν ὁ μακάριος ἐξῆλθεν.

For the people of Rossano, who had rebelled, Almighty God had granted him not only that he should piously relieve and heal each one who came to him afflicted and oppressed by various evils, but that he should also snatch whole cities from dangers and free them from calamities. Which will be made plain by the example which I shall relate. There once governed both provinces, Italy, I mean, and our Calabria, Nicephorus, endowed with the dignity of magister ^a, the first and only man sent to those provinces by the pious emperors to discharge this magistracy. He therefore, puffed up with greatness of mind and with the amplitude of his office, took a counsel not to be disapproved by human judgment, and carrying a show of usefulness, yet resisting the will of God and by no means to be admitted, as the outcome of the thing showed. For he thought to build for each of the cities of Calabria those ships which are called Chelandia ^b, by which not only the cities themselves would be safe from the incursions of enemies, but the neighbouring and hostile Sicily also would be subdued. The people of Rossano, taking this ill, as being not accustomed to service of chelandia of this kind, when the ships were already made and were to be brought down to the sea, stirred up by the fervour of mind with which they always burn beyond all the Calabrians, rush in a body with flame and turbulent onset, and burn the ships and behead the captains of the ships. At this the magister blazed against the people of Rossano and burned with implacable anger, because by that example the other cities too had broken his design: but the people of Rossano, when the matter was known, and led by repentance of their rashness and madness, deliberated that one of two things must be done by them: either openly to revolt and wholly shake off the yoke of the empire, and cure evil with evil, or at least with money and abundance of gifts to allay the bile of the angry man. But when they were pressed by straits on both sides, they took a good and very useful counsel: they flee to the unshaken tower, namely the holy Father, asking him to offer himself as mediator and by reverence for his virtue to quench the prince's anger.

[61] Therefore with no delay interposed the excellent Father, having invoked the name of Christ, went on to the city and gave the citizens fitting counsels; relying on his authority also they opened the gates, and, laying aside their fear, received the magister, inflamed with anger and swelling with fury. he obtains pardon While therefore all trembled at his sight — nobles and priests and the rest — the Servant of God alone stood forth, and undertook the defence on behalf of all: whose virtue the prince followed with veneration, and, astonished at his divine confidence in speaking freely, together with the grace of the holy Spirit shining in his face, he committed to him the judgment of the whole rashness and loss. To whom the holy Man answered with a gentle and very plain voice: It must be confessed that a crime exceedingly grave and enormous has been committed: but if a few had done it, or the chief men of the city, they would certainly have to be accused and condemned by your most wise judgment: but since it is the crime of the whole people, and what was done inconsiderately is common to all, is it lawful for you to slay so great a multitude with the sword, and to strip of its inhabitants a city so fortified for God and for the emperor? And he: By no means shall we destroy them with the sword, Father, nor shall we kill anyone, but we shall forfeit their goods to the treasury, that being in this way made more cautious they may not dare greater things hereafter. To whom the holy Father: But what will it profit your excellency if you load the imperial purses with gain, but lose your own soul? And how shall those things be remitted to you which you owe not only to the heavenly King but also to the earthly one, if you yourself do not remit to those who offend foolishly and unwisely against your excellency — you who are today and tomorrow will not be? But if you deny pardon for the offence, holding out to us the emperor's mandate as a just pretext, permit my slenderness to write to his majesty, and whatever his pious rule shall command, we will carry out with all zeal of mind.

[62] Having heard these things, the magister answered: We indeed, most holy Father, knowing the sacred emperor's regard for you, grant you the whole payment of money, which exceeds two thousand coins: but to leave unpunished the slaying of the captains and their dishonourable destruction is neither reasonable nor just. he entreats and comes to the help of the wretched and protects them. Then the most blessed Man, using words of exhortation and counsel, persuaded him to forgive this too with the same greatness of mind, and to remit to him the infliction of the penalty, which did not amount to five hundred coins. When these things had been happily transacted by the work of the blessed Father, the indignation was turned upon the tax-collector of that time. This was Gregory, surnamed Maleinus: and when he lay hidden, with much labour and very many prayers spent upon it the blessed Father was able to obtain that he be brought into the magister's sight. But when the magister saw him, since otherwise his boiling heart could not break out, on account of his reverence for the holy Father, rising with anger he cursed him and all his household and all that he possessed, from horse and ox down to hen and dog and all the rest. He, seized with fear, answered nothing at all, but because he was a protospatharius it was permitted him to sit, and then the magister said to him: Go, wretch, with the malignant men like yourself; paint us the image of blessed Nilus, and cease not to venerate it and to give him thanks: for by the head of the sacred emperor, you would not have shown him greater honour ^c. All things therefore being prudently calmed and duly settled, the Father, truly worthy of the beatitude of the peacemakers, withdrew into the monastery, rendering his vows to God and attributing all that was done to His grace: and he bore it indeed most grievously and grieved at intercourse with those who work iniquity, because he saw the vanity of the world and the empty tumult, he who was a beholder of heavenly things and a true son of sacred quiet; yet he let himself down even to the tumults of peoples, and dealt with princes, enduring many inconveniences and dangers, that he might bring aid and present help to those suffering some evil, whether unjustly or even justly.

[63] How often, to undertake the patronage of a soul oppressed by those who fear not the Lord, did he make his journey on foot and suffer hardships? He is prodigiously healed of a grave wound: in winter time indeed bearing the rains on his head, and enduring numbness of hands and feet from the harshness of the air, and stiff in his whole body, because he used one and that a small tunic; but in summer burning with the heats, ill treated by labour, hunger and thirst? All which he bore bravely on account of that precept: Deliver them that are led to death, and cease not to free those that are drawn to destruction. For when once the thrice-blessed Father was going to bring help to a certain brother suffering injury from wicked men, he was compelled by the fathers to cover his feet with the meanest skins, to ward off the force of the extreme cold. But when a very large log lay in the road by which the blessed Father had to pass, as soon as he had set his foot upon it, it came about by the hostile working of the demon that, snatched away by the slipperiness of his feet, he fell, and, the log striking his leg, an intolerable wound was inflicted; and the blessed Father, suffering a fainting from the pain and the cold and the flow of blood, thought that his soul was failing him and awaited his end. And so a phylactery,

a little book, the treasure of the new Testament) he brought to his eyes and lips and breast, and, having said, Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit, he slept a little, or rather suffered a fainting of mind. But there appeared to him an angel comforting him, and putting into his mouth something sweet like honey. Rising up at once therefore and made more joyful, he made his journey more briskly than before, since by the help of him who had appeared to him both the flow of blood had stopped and the pain had gone. And the excellent Man used to say that he had often experienced God's help in many matters, yet never so present and great and full with so much refreshment. For to this looks that saying: When he shall fall, he shall not be bruised, he shall quickly rise again, the Lord directing the steps of a man and willing his way.

[64] Further, the enemy of the pious, seething with envy against the good, seeing he refuses riches offered him: how much help the blessed Father brought both to the souls and to the bodies of men, was eager, if by any means he could, to set all the glory and wealth of the world before his eyes, that he might blunt their keenness for beholding virtue, and might deprive the world of the profit which came through him. Very many indeed of the princes who came offered him a great sum of money under the pretext of the need of the brethren who lived with him, and of the sustenance of the poor. But he, not even looking upon these things as dung, said to those who offered that the brethren are called blessed by David if they eat the labours of their own hands and do not share in the sins of others. But the poor, he said, will complain of you who withhold what belongs to them, but will praise me as having nothing and possessing all things. When a eunuch chamberlain ^d had once entered Rossano, and had not seen the Father hasten to him, though he knew him by the mere report of fame, he said in wonder to those who were present: Where does Nilus the monk stay, and for what reason has he not come to me with all the hegumens, when he heard of my arrival? For not even the patriarch himself would have dared so to deal with me, as to seem boastfully to have despised my arrival. To this they said: That monk of whom your excellency speaks is neither a patriarch, nor does he fear a patriarch, nor even the emperor himself, dreadful to all. But he sits together with a few monks on the mountain, needing the help of no one. For he is neither confined by wide boundaries, nor is he bound by an abundance of beasts of burden: whence he has no controversy with any man. He is a unicorn, an animal living freely to itself, and if you should wish to bring him by power, you will never be able to see his face. When the chamberlain had heard these things, he admired the blessed Man much more, and sent him a suppliant letter, adjuring him even with dreadful words either not to withdraw himself if he came to him, or at least not to disdain to come into the town and impart his blessing to himself and to all his.

[65] But the holy father Nilus, both because he had been adjured, and that he too might render the prince readier to listen to him when he asked on behalf of the poor, came into the town and went to the chamberlain. He, beholding his prophetic, nay rather angelic, habit and countenance, fell at his feet, and, taking his hand, they entered the chamber together. Then he charged one of those most faithful to him to bring the book of the Gospel, and said to the Saint: Since, blessed Father, the suspicion of falsehood makes man not give credit to man, I will confirm to you by an oath what I am about to promise. And the holy Father to him: he teaches that one must not swear lightly, Since the sacred Gospel pronounces with a certain sentence, But I say to you not to swear at all: but let your speech be, Yea, yea; No, no. And that which is over and above these is of evil — why do you strive to show your excellency less worthy of credit, and to lay iniquity as the beginning of our conversation? For everyone who is easy in uttering true oaths is also swift to lie, and conversely. To whom the chamberlain: It is right, most blessed Man, both that no one should lie to you the servants of God, and that you should not withhold credit from those who faithfully say what seems good to them. I ask therefore that, hearing me, you give credit to my words. I have no kinsman in this life, save a feeble mother, who follows me with a mother's affection. Moreover I abound in much riches and possessions, I have a very great number of slaves and an innumerable multitude of beasts of burden. All these things therefore I have thought to dedicate to God, that I may build a sacred house for monks, if God shall touch the heart of your holiness and you shall come with me to Constantinople, that by your sacred hands I and my mother may be clothed with the angelic ^e habit. And I would bring it about that, as now with me, so you should sit with the sacred emperors.

[66] When that lamp of discernment had heard these words full of honey and pitch, he was not enticed by such ample promises, but quietly bringing his hand to his breast, as was always his custom, and signing himself with the sign of the Cross, and, refusing to set out for the court, exhorts the chamberlain to solitude. he answered the chamberlain: The intention indeed of your piety and prudence is excellent and very pleasing to God: for inviting us to this the Saviour said by a parable: The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field, which when a man hath found, he hideth it, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath and buyeth that field. But it is not profitable for me to leave the solitude and the poor who lead a harsh life with me, and to wander through cities and to take up the cares of business. Are monks and hegumens perhaps lacking at Constantinople, to tonsure those who there renounce the world? But if you altogether prefer my slenderness, betake yourself to the retreat where our seat is, and accomplish the narrow way with us; for you will not be able to become poor in spirit unless you first become altogether poor in body: which Arsenius, now the companion of the angels, knowing, excellently performed. But leave all your goods to the power of Him who said: Mine is the silver and mine is the gold; and, If any man renounce not all that he possesseth, he cannot be my disciple. When the chamberlain did not acquiesce in these things, but strove that what he himself wished should be done, the blessed Father left him and went away.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER X.

St. Nilus by flight escapes the snares laid by the demon and the bishopric of Rossano destined for him: to the archbishop unwilling to acquiesce in his counsel he foretells a disastrous death: from a lord of the Saracens, moved by his letter and his fame, he receives back three monks carried off, free, and with various gifts besides.

ΚΑὶ δὴ πορευομένῳ σὺν Δαβὶδ τῷ προφήτῃ, καὶ πρὸς τὸ οἰκεῖον ὑποστρέφοντι μοναστήριον, ἐν τῷ λέγειν αὐτόν· Ἐν ὁδῷ ταύτῇ ᾗ ἐπορευόμην, ἔκρυψαν παγίδα μοι· ὑπαντᾷ αὐτῷ κατὰ μέσην τὴν ὁδὸν μία κόρη μοναχὴ ἥτις προσδραμοῦσα ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ, ἔῤῥιψεν ἑαυτὴν ἐν στενῇ διαβάσει, ἐν ᾗ οὐκ ἦν ἄλλωθεν διέρχεσθαι τὸν μακάριον. Τότε ὁ Θεῖος ἀνὴρ πνευματικὴν ἀνδρίαν ἀναλαβὼν, καὶ τὸν δόλον τοῦ σατανᾶ ἐπιγνοὺς, τύπτει μὲν αὐτὴν τῇ βακτηρίᾳ τῆς χειρὸς αὐτοῦ ἐμβριμησάμενος, ἀπεπήδησε δὲ ταχέως μὴ ἐγχρονίσας κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν, καὶ ᾤχετο. Ἔκτοτε τοίνυν συνεῖδεν, μήτε ἑαυτῷ, μήτε οἱῳδήποτε τῶν ἀδελφῶν κατὰ μόνας ἐπιτρέπειν πορεύεσθαι. Ἀγαθοὶ γάρ φησιν οἱ δύο ὑπὲρ τὸν ἕνα· καὶ, Οὐαὶ τῷ ἑνὶ, ὅτι ἐὰν πέσῃ, οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ ἐγείρων αὐτόν. Ἐν τοὺτοις πᾶσιν ὑπερνικήσας ὁ ὅσιος πατὴρ ἡμῶν Νεῖλος τὸν ἀντικείμενον διὰ τοῦ ἀγαπήσαντος αὐτὸν Θεοῦ, καὶ δόκιμος παλαιστὴς ἀναδειχθεὶς ἔν τε τῇ τῆς πείνης ὑπομονῇ, καὶ τῇ τῆς ἐκ λίθων ἀρτοποιήσεως προσβολῇ· πρὸς τούτοις τῇ τοῦ παντὸς κόσμου δόξῃ, καὶ τῇ τῶν χρημάτων ἀποστροφῇ, δι᾽ ὦν τις πίπτων τῷ πειραστῇ προσκυνεῖ· καὶ ταῦτα οὐχ ἅπαξ, ἀλλὰ πολλάκις· καὶ ἐν ἑτέροις πλείστοις πειρασθεὶς καὶ νικήσας πολυμερῶς τε καὶ πολυτρόπως· ἔδει δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ ἐν τῷ πτερυγίῳ τοῦ ἱεροῦ ἀκολούθως δοκιμασθῆναι, εἴγε καταδέξοιτο διὰ τούτου καταβληθῆναι· ὅρα πῶς μιμητὴς ἀνεδείχθη κᾀν τούτῳ τοῦ δεσπότου καὶ διδασκάλου. Ἐν ἐκείναις γὰρ ταῖς ἡμέραις τελευτήσαντος τοῦ ἀρχιερατεύοντος ἐν τῷ Ρυσιάνῳ, ἑτέρου δὲ ζητουμένου τοῦ δυναμένου τὸν τόπον ἀναπληρῶσαι, μιᾶς γνώμης γεγόνασι πάντες μικροί τε καὶ μεγάλοι, τοῦ ἀπροσδοκήτως περικρατεῖς γενέσθαι τοῦ θεσπεσίου πατρὸς, καὶ βίᾳ τοῦτον τῷ θρόνῳ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐγκαθιδρῦσαι, ὡς ἅτε βίον ἔχοντα ὑπὲρ λόγον, καὶ τὸν λόγον ἐφάμιλλον κεκτημένον τῷ βίῳ. Τοῦτο τοίνυν βουλευσαμένων, καὶ ὁρμησάντων ἀρχόντων τε καὶ τῶν ἐξόχων τοῦ κλήρου πρὸς τὸ πληρῶσαι τὸ δόξαν, προλαμβάνει τις, καὶ τῷ πατρὶ ἀναγγέλλει τὸ πρᾶγμα, προσδοκῶν ἐν τούτῳ αὐτῷ προσαρέσκειν, καὶ τὰ μέγιστα χαρίσεσθαι, ὡς τοιούτου αὐτῷ πράγματος ἀγγέλου γεγενημένου.

[68] Καὶ μέντοιγε τοῦ σκοποῦ οὐ διήμαρτεν· ἐπευχαριστήσας γὰρ αὐτῷ ὁ μέγας καὶ τότε καὶ ὕστερον, ἀπέλυσεν ἐν εἰρήνῃ, κελεύσας αὐτῷ δοθῆναι καὶ τινα εὐλογίαν. Αὐτὸς δὲ μελετήσας τὸ ἐμφερόμενον ἐν τῷ ἁγίω εὐαγγελίῳ τὸ· Γνοὺς δὲ ὁ Ιησοῦς, ὅτι μέλλουσιν ἔρχεσθαι, καὶ ἁρπάζειν αὐτὸν, ἵνα ποιήσωσι βασιλέα, ἀνεχώρησε μόνος

εἰς τὸ ὄρος· ἀναχωρεῖ γοῦν καὶ οὗτος ἐπὶ τὸ ἐνδότερον ὄρος μετὰ ἑνὸς ἀδελφοῦ καὶ μόνον, ἀποκρυβόμενος μικρὸν ὅσον, ἕως ἂν παρέλθῃ ἡ βουλὴ ἐκείνη. Καταλαβόντες δὲ τὸ μοναστήριον οἱ ἱερεῖς σὺν τοῖς ἄρχουσι, καὶ πολλὰ γυρεύσαντες καὶ ζητήσαντες, τὰ μέγιστα ἔστενον ἀστοχήσαντες τοῦ βουλεύματος· ὡς δ᾽ ἐπὶ πλεῖον καρτερήσαντες οὐδὲν ἤνυον· εὐκοπώτερον γὰρ μονοκέρωτος ἢ ἐκείνου περιγενέσθαι· ὑπέστρεψαν εἰς τὰ ἴδια, ἑτέρῳ τὴν προστασίαν ἐγχειρισάμενοι. Ὁ δὲ ὅσιος ἀγαλλόμενος ἐπὶ τῷ Κυρίῳ σὺν τῷ προφήτῃ ἀνέμελπεν· Ἐκράτησας, λέγων, Κύριε τῆς χειρὸς τῆς δεξιᾶς μου, καὶ ἐν τῇ βουλῇ σου ὡδήγησάς με, καὶ μετὰ δόξης προσελάβου μου. Τί γὰρ μοι ὑπάρχει ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, καὶ πλήν σου τί ἠθέλησα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς; Ἐναντίον σου γὰρ πᾶσα ἡ ἐπιθυμία μου Κύριε· καὶ σὺ ἐπίστασαι, ὅτι ἡμέραν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἐπεθύμησα. Τῷ τοιούτῳ γοῦν φρονήματι ὁ μακάριος παρεῖδε τὸ μικρὸν τοῦ βίου τούτου δοξάριον, καὶ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην τιμὴν ἐβδελύξατο· νυνὶ δὲ κατέστησεν αὐτὸν ὁ Θεὸς ἐπάνω δέκα πόλεων, ὡς ἀψευδῶς ἐπηγγείλατο. οὐ δὲ γὰρ διότι τὴν ἱερωσύνην οὐ κατεδέξατο, τὸ τάλαντον οὐκ ἐπολυπλασίασεν· πλείω γάρ εἰσιν οἱ σωθέντες διὰ τῆς διασκαλίας τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ ἔν τε τῷ κοινvίῳ, καὶ ἐν τῷ μοναδικῷ, ἢ οὕσπερ ἐκεῖνο τὸ ἄστυ συγκλείει οἰκήτορας. Ερχόμενος ποτὲ ὁ μητροπολίτης Βλάττων ἀπὸ Ἀφρικῆς μετὰ πολλῶν αἰχμαλώτων, διὰ τὸ προσκεῖσθαι αὐτᾥ ἕως καιροῦ τὸν τῶν Σαῤῥακηνῶν βασιλέα, ἐν προφάσει τοῦ ἀδελφὴν αὐτοῦ εἶναι τὴν γαμετὴν ἐκείνου, ὅπερ οὐκ ἦν· παρέβαλε τῷ αἰγιαλῷ Ρύσιᾴνου, καὶ δυσωπετικῶς τὸν μακάριον μετεπέμψατο, ἐπιθυμῶν ἀκοῦσαι παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ τὰ δέοντα, καὶ τὰς εὐχὰς αὐτοῦ καρπώσασθαι.

[69] Μετἀ

δὲ τὸ θαῤῥῆσαι αὐτῷ τὸν ἀρχιεπίσκοπον ἅπαντα τὰ αὐτοῦ ἐγκάρδια καὶ διαβούλια, λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ μακάριος· Ἄκουσόν μου δέσποτα τῆς συμβουλίας, καὶ μηκέτι ὑποστρέψῃς πρὸς τὰ τῶν ἐχιδνῶν γεννήματα. Μετὰ γὰρ τὸ λίαν κολακεῦσαί σε, τὸ αἶμά σου πίονται μαχαίρᾳ σε θανατώσαντες. Καὶ περὶ τῆς εἰρήνης τῆς Καλαβρίας μὴ κοπιῶ, μηδὲ ἀξίου, οὐ γὰρ εὐδοκεῖ ὁ τῶν ὅλων δεσπότης ἐν τούτῳ. Λέγει δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ ἀνεψιὸς τοῦ μητροπολίτοῦ· Ὁρᾷς πάτερ ἅγιε, πόσας ὁ δεσπότης ψυχὰς ἠλευθέρωσεν; Ἀπεκρίθη δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ ὅσιος· Οὐ ψυχὰς ἠλευθέρωσεν, ἀλλὰ σώματα. Λυσιτελεῖ δὲ τοῖς πολλοῖς καὶ ἡ τῶν σωμάτων κάκωσις, ὅσοις τὸ ἐλευθεριάζειν πολλῶν κακῶν αἴτιον γίνεται. Ὥσπερ αἱ παρὰ τῶν ἰατρῶν τοῖς μαινομένοις συγκλείσεις τε καὶ λιμαγχονίαι. Εἰδὲ μὴ ταὕτα δοκοῦντα λυπηρὰ τῇ τῶν πολλῶν σωτηρίᾳ συνέβαλεν, οὐκ ἂν πρὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ συνεχωρήθησαν γίνεσθαι. Δεῖ δὲ ὅμως τοὺς δυναμένους βοηθεῖν τοῖς τοιούτοις, ὄσον ἐνδέχεται. Ταῦτα ὁ μητροπολίτης ἀκούσας, καὶ τῇ τε πατρὸς συμβουλίᾳ μὴ ὑπακούσας, τὸ προφητευθὲν αὐτῷ ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸν ἐτελέσθη. Ὁ δὲ ὅσιος πατὴρ ἡμῶν Νεῖλος τὸ μὲν ἐκ τοῦ πολλοῦ τῆς ἀσκήσεως πόνου, τὸ δὲ ἐκ τῆς τῶν χρόνων ἱκανῆς περιόδου· περὶ γὰρ τὰ ἑξήκοντα ἔτη ὑπῆρχεν· ἀδυνατήσας λοιπὸν, καὶ μηκέτι ἰσχύων τὰς μακρὰς ὁδοὺς ἀκινδύνως πεζοπορεῖν, ἐκέχρητο ἵππῳ πρὸς θεραπείαν τῆς πολλῆς ἀτονίας· ἐν γὰρ τῷ πλείονι τῆς ὁδοῦ μέρει, λόγῳ τῆς περιεκτικῆς ἐγκρατείας ἐπισύρων αὐτὸν ἐπορεύετο. Τοῦτον τὸν ἵππον ἐν τῷ τὸν ὅσιον τυγχάνειν μετὰ τοῦ ἀρχιεπισκόπου, ὑποβληθείς τις ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου, κλέψας ἀνεχώρησεν. Κατὰ δὲ τὴν ὁδὸν χειμῶνος αὐτῷ ἐπελθόντος, ἀποβὰς τοῦ ἵππου ἵστατο ὑπ᾽ ἑνὶ τῶν δένδρων ἐκδεχόμενος παρελθεῖν τὴν σφοδρότητα τοῦ ἀέρος. Βροντὴ δὲ οὐρανόθεν ἐλθοῦσα ἐπάταξε τὸν ταλαίπωρον, καὶ τῷ ᾅδῃ παρέπεμψε, μὴ πεισθέντα τῷ λέγοντι· Ζημιοῦν ἄνδρα, οὐ καλόν. Καὶ· Ὁ κλέπτων μηκέτι κλεπτέτω, ἀλλὰ κοπιάτω ἐργαζόμενος ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσὶν, ἵν ἔχῃ μεταδοῦναι τῷ χρείαν ἔχοντι. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ἄθλιος ἐκεῖνος ἥμαρτεν ἀνομήσας διακενῆς· τινὲς δὲ τῇ ἐπαύριον τὴν ὁδὸν διερχόμενοι, καὶ τὸν ἵππον γνωρίσαντες ἐπὶ τοῦ τόπου νεμομενον, πρὼς τὸ μοναστηριον διεσώσαντο, καὶ ἀπέδοντο τῷ δικαίῳ τὸ ἴδιον.

[70] Ἅλλοτε

πάλιν τῶν στρατιωτῶν τις ὁρμήσας πρὸς τὸ τὸν ἵππον ἀπὸ τοῦ μοναστηρίου συλῆσαι, καὶ περὶ δυσμὰς ἡλίου ἐλθὼν τῆς μονῆς ἐξ ἐναντίας, ὥστε καὶ ὀφθαλμοφανῶς αὐτὸ βλέπειν, περιέμενε τὴν νύκτα, ἵνα ἐν σκότει ποιήσῃ τὸ ἔργον τοῦ σκότους. Περιπατήσας δὲ πᾶσαν τὴν νύκτα ἐκείνην οὐδόλως ἴσχυσε τῇ μονῇ προσεγγίσαι, ἀλλὰ φάραγξι καὶ κρημνοῖς ἐντυχὼν ἀβάτοις, ἀρκούντως ἐταριχεύθη. Ἡμέρας δὲ γενομένης ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ τὸ μοναστήριον εἶδεν· καὶ τῷ θαύματι σφόδρα καταπλαγεὶς, εἰσῇει μετανοῶν, καὶ τὴν οἰκείαν ἐξομολογούμενος κακοβουλίαν. Ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ ἐπιδραμόντων τῶν ἀθέων Ἀγαρηνῶν τῷ θέματι τῆς Καλαβρίας, καὶ πάντα ληἳζομένων, ὁ μέν ὅσιος πατὴρ τὸ φρούριον καταλαβὼν σὺν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς διεσώζετο· τρεῖς δὲ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἰδιοῤῥύθμως προσκαρτερήσαντες τῷ μοναστηρίῳ ὑπὸ τῶν Σαῤῥακηνῶν ἐκρατήθησαν, καὶ ἐν Σικελίᾳ ἀπήχθησαν. Ἔκρινε γοῦν ὁ μακάριος μὴ παρεωραθῆναι τούτους, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς οἰκεῖα μέλη ζητηθῆναι, καὶ εἰς τὸν ἴδιον τόπον ἀποκασταθῆναι. Ἐπισυνάξας γοῦν ἀπό τε σίτου καὶ οἴνου καὶ καρποῦ ἑτέρου μέχρι τῶν ἑκατὸν χρυσίνων, καὶ βορδόνιον, ὁ ἦν αὐτῷ δεδωκὼς Βασίλειος ὁ στρατηγὸς Καλαβρίας, καὶ δοὺς αὐτά τινι τῶν ἀδελφῶν λίαν δοκιμωτάτῳ, ἀπέστειλεν αὐτὸν ἐν Πανόρμῳ, γράψας ἐπιστολv πρὸς τὸν νοτάριον τοῦ ἐκεῖσε φυλάρχου χριστιανώτατον καὶ φιλευσεβῆ τυγχάνοντα.

[71] Ὅστις

νοτάριος, ὑποδείξας τῷ λεγομένῳ Ἀμηρᾷ τὰ παρὰ τοῦ ὁσίου σταλέντα, ἑρμηνεύσας δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν θαυμασίαν ἐκείνην ἐπιστολὴν, κατεπλάγη ἐπὶ τῇ σοφίᾳ τε καὶ συνέσει τοῦ μακαριωτάτου, ἐπιγνοὺς αὐτὸν φίλον τοῦ Θεοῦ ὄντα, καὶ ἀνάπλεων πάσης ἀγαθωσύνης. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν οἶδεν ἀρετὴ αἰδεῖσθαι καὶ παρὰ πολεμίοις, ἀγαγὼν τοὺς μοναχοὺς καὶ φιλοφρονησάμενος πρεπόντως, κατασχών τε δι᾽ ὑπόμνησιν καὶ καύχημα τὸ βορδόνιον, ἀπέλυσεν αὐτοὺς σὺν τοῖς ταρίοις· προσθεὶς καὶ ἱκανὰ δέρματα ἐλάφων, καὶ μηνύσας τῷ πατρὶ τοιάδε· Σὸν τὸ πταῖσμα ἐστὶν ὑπὲρ τοῦ κολασθῆναι τοὺς σοὺς μοναχοὺς, ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἐγνώρισάς μοι ἐν πρώτοις σαυτὸν· εἰ γὰρ τοῦτο ἐγίνετο ἀπέστελλον ἄν σοι τὸ σημεῖον τὸ ἐμὸν, ὅπερ εἰ ἐκρέμνας ἔξω ἐν τῇ πλατείᾳ, οὐκ εἶχες ἀνάγκην οὐδεμίαν τοῦ σαλευθῆναι ἀπὸ τῆς μονῆς σου, οὐδὲ ποσῶς ταραχθῆναι· Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἠξίους πρός με παραγενέθαι, εἶχες ἂν ἐξουσίαν ἐν πάσῃ μου τῇ περιχώρῳ κατασκηνῶσαι, καὶ πολλῆς ἀπήλαυες τῆς παρ᾽ ἡμῶν τιμῆς τε καὶ εὐλαβείας. Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ θεσπέσιος Νεῖλος, καὶ θαυμάσας τὴν ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ οἰκονομίαν, τὸ τοῦ Σαμψὼν ἐφθέγξατο πρόβλημα· Ὅτι ὄντως νῦν ἀπὸ ἐσθίοντος ἐξῆλθε βρῶσις, καὶ ἀπὸ μισανθρώπου φιλανθρωπία· προσθεὶς καὶ τοῦτο πρὸς τὰς τοῦ ἀμηρᾶ ἐπαγγελίας· Ὅτι ταῦτα πάντα σοι δώσω, ἐὰν πεσὼν προσκυνήσῃς μοι. Ο δὲ συνετώτατος καὶ ἐσκεμμένος τῷ νοῒ Βασίλειος ὁ στρατηγὸς, ὃς τοσαύτην πίστιν καὶ ἀγάπην ἔδειξε πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, ὅσην ἡ ἑκατόνταρχος πρὸς τὸν Σωτῆρα· προσήνεγκεν αὐτῷ μέχρι τῶν πεντακοσίων χρυσίνων, ὀμνύων καὶ λέγων, Ὅτὶ οὐκ εἰσί μου ταῦτα ἐξ ἀδικίας, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐμοῦ σπαθίου. Ἡνίκα γὰρ ἐκρατήσαμεν τῆς Κρήτης μετὰ τοῦ μακαριωτάτου Νικηφόρου ἀκμὴν οὐκ ὄντος βασιλέως, εὑρήκαμεν παρά τινι πρεσβυτέρῳ ἐπ᾽ ἀληθείας τὸ ἔνδυμα τοῦ Προδρόμου, ἐκ τριχῶν καμήλου τυγχάνον, καὶ περὶ τὸν τράχηλον ᾑμαγμένον· ὅπερ λαβὼν ὁ μακάριος ἐκεῖνος, ἅπαν τὸ χρυσίον ἐμοὶ παρεχώρησεν. Ἐξ αὐτῶν οῦν τυγχάνοντα ταῦτα δέξαι διὰ τὸν Κύριον, καὶ εὖξαί μοι.

[72] Ὁ

δὲ ὄντως ὑπερόπτης τῶν ἐπιγείων πατὴρ ἠμῶν Νεῖλος μὴ καταδεχόμενος πρὸς αὐτὰ ἐπιβλέψαι, λέγει πρὸς αὐτὸν, ὡς ἐν προφάσει δῆθεν τοῦ φοβεῖσθαι τὸν θάνατον· Θέλεις, ἵνα διὰ τὰ σκύβαλα ταῦτα ἐνεδρεύσας τις ἀποκτείνη με, καὶ ἀπολέσῃς τὸν φίλον σου; Ὁ δὲ πάλιν εἶπεν· Ἄφες με ἀμφιάσαι τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἐνδύμασι πολυτίμοις. Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ μέγας· Ἀπελθὼν βάλε αὐτὰ ἐν τῇ καθολικῇ τοῦ κάστρου, ὅπου φυλάττονται, ἐπεὶ ἐκεῖθεν οὐ κλέπτονται. Καὶ ἔασόν με φησίν οἰκοδομῆσαι τὸ εὐκτήριον μέγιστον καὶ τερπνότατον· οὐ γὰρ ἀνέχομαι πήλινον θεωρεῖν αὐτό. Καὶ ὁ πατὴρ, Ὥρα σοι φησὶ μηδὲ ἐμὲ ἀνέχεσθαι θεωρεῖν, ὅτι ἐκ πηλοῦ τὴν ὑπόστασιν κέκτημαι. Περὶ δὲ τοῦ εὐκτηρίου μηδὲν κοπιάσῃς, ὑπὸ γὰρ τῶν ἀθέων Ἀγαρηνῶν ἀφανισθήσεται· καὶ πᾶσα δὲ ἡ Καλαβρία ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτῶν παραδοθήσεται. Τοῦτο δὴ γνοὺς ὁ ὅσιος πατὴρ ἡμῶν Νεῖλος τῷ προορατικῷ αὐτοῦ ὄμματι, καὶ βουληθεὶς τόπον δοῦναι τῇ ὀργῇ τῇ θεἳκῇ, οὐκ εὐδόκησεν ἀπελθεῖν πρὸς τὰ ἐῷα μέρη, τὴν ὑπόληψιν ὑφορώμενς τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ τῶν ἐκεῖσε· καὶ μέχρι γὰρ αὐτῷν τῶν φιλωχρίστων ἡμῶν βασιλέων ἡ ἐνάρετος αὐτοῦ φήμη διῆλφε· καὶ τὴν τιμὴν τὴν παρ᾽ αὐτῶν ἀποφεύγων· ἐξελέξατο δὲ τὴν μετὰ τῶν Λατίνων ἀναστροφὴν, ὥς ἄγνωστος ὢν παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς, καὶ μηδαμῶς παρ᾽ αὐτῶν τιμώμενος. Ὅσον δὲ αὐτὸς τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων δόξαν ἀποδιδράσκειν ἐσπούδαζεν, τοσοῦτον ἡ οὐράνιος εὔκλεια αὐτὸν περιέστελεν· καὶ πάντες ὡς ἕνα τῶν ἀποστόλων αὐτὸν ὑπεδέχοντο, καὶ τὸ σέβας ὁμοίως ἀπένεμον. Ἐλθὼν γὰρ ἐν Καπούῃ, ἵνα τὰ ὄπισθεν ἐάσω διὰ τὸ πλῆθος, καὶ τιμῆς μεγίστης τυχὼν παρά τε τοῦ πρίγκιπος Πανδόλφου καὶ τῶν ἀρχόντων, ὥστε βουλεύσασθαι αὐτοὺς ἐπίσκοπον αὐτὸν ἑαυτοῖς καταστῆσαι· καὶ προεχώρησεν ἂν, εἰ μὴ ὁ θάνατος τὸν πρίγκιπα περιέκοψεν. Τότε δὴ καλέσαντες τὸν τοῦ ἁγίου Βενεδίκτου ἡγούμενον τοῦ ὄρους Κασσίνου· Ἀλιγέρνος οὖτος ἦν ὁ ὁσιώτατος· παρήγγειλαν αὐτῷ τοῦ δοῦναι τῷ μακαρίτῃ μοναστήριον, οἷον ἄν θήλῃ ἐκ τῶν ὁσίου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Βενεδίκτου μετοχίων..

The saint escapes the snares laid against his chastity: the bishopric of Rossano As he was going along, therefore, with David the prophet and returning to his own monastery, while he was reciting that verse: In this way, wherein I walked, they have hidden a snare for me, there met him a certain girl alone ^a in the middle of the road, who, running on ahead of him, flung herself crosswise before him, since it was not possible for the blessed Father to turn aside elsewhere. Then the blessed man, taking up spiritual courage and recognizing the guile of Satan, struck her indeed with the staff which he had in his hand, sharply threatening her; but she sprang back swiftly with no delay interposed, according to the proverb, and went away. And from that time he laid it down as a rule that he would allow neither himself nor any of the brethren to go alone. For it is better, he said, that there be two than one; and, Woe to him that is alone, for when he shall fall he hath none to lift him up. In all these things against the adversary our blessed father Nilus, when he had shown himself a victor through God, who loved him, and a proven champion both in the bearing of hunger and in the temptation

of turning stones into bread, and likewise in the despising of the whole world's glory and money — by which he who falls adores the tempter — and had come forth victor not once but often, and in very many other temptations besides, which he suffered in manifold fashion and in many ways: it was fitting indeed that he should at the last be tried upon the pinnacle of the temple also, whether he would cast himself down from it. And in this observe how well he imitated his Lord and Master. At that time, the prelate of Rossano ^b having died, inquiry was made who might be fit to succeed him. All therefore, from the least to the greatest, conspired with one consent to lay hold of the blessed Father, who suspected nothing of the sort, and by force to place him in the ecclesiastical see — since he led a life which speech is not able to express, and had a speech answering to his life. When they had taken this counsel, and the chief men of the people and the worthier clergy were pressing to carry into execution what they had determined, a certain man ran on ahead and announced the matter to the Father; for he supposed that he would be welcome and most acceptable to him if he were the bearer of so great a piece of news.

[68] he avoids it by flight: Nor indeed did his expectation deceive him: for the great Father, giving him thanks both then and afterward, dismissed him in peace and ordered a small gift to be given him. But he himself, calling to mind what is read in the sacred Gospel: When Jesus knew that they would come to take him by force and make him king, he fled alone into the mountain — withdrew likewise into the inner mountain with one brother only, keeping himself out of the way for so long as that design might pass off. But the priests and the noblemen, having set out for the monastery, searched diligently, and seeing their plan frustrated they groaned greatly. And when, waiting a longer while, they accomplished nothing — for it was easier to catch a unicorn than to catch him — they returned home and chose another prelate for themselves. But the holy Father, exulting in the Lord, sang with the prophet: Thou hast held my right hand, and by thy will thou hast led me, and with glory thou hast received me. For what have I in heaven, and besides thee what have I desired upon earth? For before thee is all my desire, O Lord; and, Thou knowest that I have not desired the day of man. In this mind the blessed man despised the little glory of this life and abhorred human honor; but now God has set him over ten cities, as he truly promised. Nor indeed, because he did not accept the priesthood, did he fail to multiply his talent: for there are more who through the teaching of his mouth have obtained salvation, in the community and in the solitary life, than there are citizens whom that town contains. The metropolitan Vlattus, coming once from Africa with many captives — because the king of the Saracens was at a certain time his friend, on the pretext that the king's wife was the metropolitan's sister, although in truth she was not ^c — put in at the shore of Rossano, and by entreaties brought it about that the blessed Father, being summoned, should come to him; for he desired to hear from him what was needful, and to gather the fruit of his prayers.

[69] When therefore the archbishop had laid open to him all the counsels of his heart, the Father said to him: Hear, most reverend, my counsel, and return no more to the brood of vipers; for after many flatteries and honors they will drink up your blood, slaying you with the sword. But concerning the peace of Calabria do not labor, nor pour out prayers, [he foretells the metropolitan's death. The man who stole his horse is struck by lightning:] for this is not pleasing to the Lord of all. Then the son of the metropolitan's brother said: Do you see, holy Father, how many souls the most reverend lord has set free? The saint answered: He has set free not souls, but bodies. And the affliction of bodies profits many, to whom liberty becomes the handle of many evils — just as it profits madmen that physicians shut them up and torment them with hunger. But if these things, which seem grievous, contributed nothing to the salvation of many, surely they would not be permitted by God. Yet help ought to be furnished them by those who are able, so far as it may be done. When the metropolitan had heard these things and had not obeyed the Father's counsel, he fulfilled the prophecy in himself. But our holy father Nilus, partly through the excessive labor of a more austere life, partly through his age now growing heavy — for he was in about his sixtieth year — his strength failing, was no longer able to commit himself to long journeys on foot without danger; and so he used a horse as a support for his great weakness: for over the greater part of the road, out of zeal to preserve that continence in which the virtues are contained, he went along leading the horse himself. This horse, while the holy Father was holding converse with the archbishop, a certain man, at the devil's prompting, stole and went away. But when, as he was going, a storm arose, he dismounted from the horse and stood under a certain tree, waiting for the air to clear; and a thunderbolt falling from heaven struck the wretch and dispatched him to the underworld, because he had not listened to him who says: To inflict loss on a just man is not good; and, Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands, that he may have wherewith to give to him that suffers need. And that unhappy man indeed sinned, working iniquity in vain; but on the following day certain men passing that way recognized the horse, which was grazing there, and led it to the monastery, and restored to the just man what was his own.

[70] At another time also a certain soldier set out with the intention of stealing a horse from the monastery, another is wondrously hindered from the theft. St. Nilus [redeems the brethren taken captive by the Saracens] and when the sun was already nearly setting and he stood over against the monastery and gazed upon it with his eyes, he waited for night *, that in the time of darkness he might do the work of darkness. But when he had wandered about all that night, he was never able to draw near the monastery, but falling in among precipices and inaccessible crags he suffered penalties and toil enough; and when day dawned, he saw the monastery before him. Therefore, exceedingly astounded at the miracle, he came in doing penance and openly declaring the wickedness of his design. At that time, when an inroad of the impious Agarenes was laying Calabria waste and plundering everything, the holy father Nilus betook himself to the citadel with the brethren, and there abode in safety; but three, separated from them, remained in the monastery, and were taken by the Saracens and carried off into Sicily. These, however, the blessed Father judged were not to be neglected, but to be sought after as his own members and restored to their own place. Having therefore collected from grain, wine, and other produce gold coins to the number of a hundred, he gave them to a certain brother of most approved fidelity, together with the beast of burden which he had received from Basil, the general of Calabria, and sent him to Palermo with a letter to the notary of the ruler dwelling there, a man most Christian and exceedingly devout.

[71] And he read the letter to the ruler, whom they call the Amir ^d, with gifts he receives them back free; and again the gold offered him and when he had added also an interpretation of that admirable letter, the ruler was astonished at the wisdom and prudence of the most blessed man, for he recognized him to be a friend of God and full of all uprightness. Since, therefore, virtue is held in reverence even among enemies themselves, he brought forth the monks and treated them honorably; the beast of burden, however, he kept as a memorial of the affair, in which he might glory, and he dismissed them with the money, bestowing besides many deerskins, and adding a letter to the Father of this sort: That your monks have been ill treated is your own fault, since you did not make yourself known to me from the beginning; and if you had done so, I would have sent you my token, and if you had hung it outside in the street, there would have been no necessity for you to withdraw from your monastery, or to suffer even the least disturbance. And if you did not disdain to come to me, you might dwell freely in the province subject to me, and would enjoy much honor and veneration among us. Hearing these things, the blessed Nilus, marveling at God's providence toward him, called to mind the riddle of Samson: Truly now out of the eater came forth food, and from the inhuman, humanity. He added also, with reference to the Saracen's promises, that saying: All these things will I give thee, if falling down thou wilt adore me. But Basil the general, a most prudent man endowed with a most keen mind, affected with as much faith and love toward the Father as the Centurion showed toward the Savior, offered him as many as five hundred gold coins, swearing and saying: These I do not possess unjustly, but I obtained them by my own sword. For when we took Crete with Nicephorus ^e of most blessed memory, who at that time had not yet been raised to the empire, we found in the keeping of a certain presbyter the very true garment of the Forerunner, made of camel's hair and stained with blood about the neck. And he of blessed memory, taking it for himself, made over to me all the gold. Since therefore these are mine from that source, take them for the Lord's sake, and pray for me.

[72] he refuses to accept it, and warily flees honors. But our holy father Nilus, truly a despiser of earthly things, not thinking it worthy even to look upon those coins, answered in this manner, as though fearing death: Do you wish that on account of this dung someone should lie in wait for me and kill me, and that you should lose your friend? And he said: Allow me to adorn the sanctuary with precious hangings. And the great Father to him: Go and give them to the cathedral church of the town, where they will be kept, nor will there be anyone to steal them from there. And he said: Permit me to build an oratory, very great and very beautiful; for I do not bear with an even mind to see it made of mud. And the Father: Then, said he, neither will you be able to look upon me, since I too am compacted of mud. But concerning the oratory undertake no labor, for it is to come to pass that the impious Agarenes will pull it down; nay, all Calabria as well will be delivered into their hands. Seeing this with his prophetic eye, our blessed father Nilus, and wishing to yield to the wrath of God, was unwilling to depart into the parts of the East, fearing the reputation which he had among the Easterners (for the fame of his virtue had reached even to our own God-loving emperors ^f), and fleeing the honor in which he would have been held among them; but he preferred to live among the Latins, inasmuch as he was unknown to them and in no way held in honor by them. Yet the greater the zeal with which he himself shunned honors, so much the more renowned and the more adorned with heavenly favor did he become, and he was received by all as one of the number of the Apostles, and reverence was likewise shown him. For when he had come to Capua — to pass over what went before, since it is very much — and had been received honorably by Pandulf ^g, at that time the prince, and by the noblemen, so that they had taken counsel about choosing him for their bishop, which would even have come to pass had not the prince been forestalled by death: then, having called to them the provost of St. Benedict of Monte Cassino (this was the most holy Haligernus ^h), they enjoined upon him that he should grant the blessed man whichever he wished of the little monasteries of our holy father Benedict.

ANNOTATA.

the see of Rossano was not yet archiepiscopal. What I have observed on these matters may be seen in the Acts of SS. Cyprian and Justina, Commentarius prævius §6, num. 76.

\ read exspectabat*.

CHAPTER XI.

Withdrawing from the incursions of the Saracens, he sets out for the monastery of Cassino and is received festively by Abbot Aligernus; and there he frees the monks from infirmities of soul and body, and imbues them with pious and learned exhortations.

ΠΟρευθεὶς δὲ ὁ ὅσιος πατὴρ πρὸς τὸ θεάσασθαι τὸ λεχθὲν περίδοξον μοναστήριον, ὑπήντησεν αὐτῷ ἅπαν τὸ πλῆθος τῶν μοναχῶν ἕως τῶν θεμελίων τοῦ ὄρους, οἵ τε ἱερεῖς αὐτῶν καὶ διάκονοι, τὰς ἱερὰς στολὰς ὡς ἐν ἑορτῇ περιβεβλημένοι, κηρούς τε καὶ θυμιατήρια μετὰ χεῖρας φέροντες οὕτω τὸν μακάριον εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον ἀνήγαγον· οὐδὲν ἄλλο δοκοῦντες ἀκούειν καὶ βλέπειν, ἢ ὅτι ὁ μέγας Ἀντώνιος ἀπὸ Ἀλεξανδρείας πρὸς αὐτοὺς παρεγένετο, ἢ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἠγέρθη ὁ μέγας Βενέδικτος, ὁ θεῖος νομοθέτης αὐτῷν καὶ διδάσκαλος. Καί γε ὀρθῶς ἐλολίζοντο, καὶ τοῦ σκοποῦ οὐ διήμαρτον. Ἄπαντες γὰρ αὐτῷν οἵ τε σωματικοῖς, οἵ τε ψυχικοῖς συνεχόμενοι πάθεσιν ἐθεραπεύθησαν, καὶ πάντες τὰ πρόσφορα παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐκομίζοντο· οἱ ἐν λόγῳ τὴν διδασκαλίαν, οἱ ἐν ἔργῳ τὴν ποδηγίαν, οἱ ἐν ἁμαρτίαις τὴν διόρθωσιν, οἱ ἐν ἀρεταῖς τὴν παράκλησιν, οἱ ἐν ὑγεία τὴν ἐγκράτειαν, οἱ ἐν ἀῤῥωστίᾳ τὴν ἴασιν. Καὶ συντόμως εἰπεῖν, ὥσπερ ποτὲ τοῖς Ἰσραηλίταις τὸ μάννα ἑκάστῳ πρὸς τὴν κρᾶσιν καὶ τὴν ὄρεξιν μετεβάλλετο, διὸ καὶ οὐκ ἦν ταῖς φυλαῖς αὐτῷν ὁ ἀσθενῶν, οὕτω κἀν τούτοις ὁ θαυμαστὸς διεγίγνετο. Ἁποθεραπεύσας τοίνυν αὐτοὺς τῇ θεοπεμπεῖ αὐτοῦ παρουσίᾳ, καὶ πληρώσας εὐφοσύνης πνευματικῆς, πάνυ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν ἀγασθεὶς ἐπὶ τῇ εὐταξίᾳ καὶ πεπαιδευμένῃ καταστάσει αὐτῶν, καὶ θαυμάσας τὰ αὐτῶν ὑπὲρ τὰ ἡμῶν, προεπέμπετο πάλιν ὑπό τε τοῦ ἀββᾶ καὶ τῶν ἐν ἐξοχῇ ἀδελφῷν εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον, ὅπου ἔδει σὺν τοῖς τέκνοις αὐτοῦ καθεσθῆναι. Ὁ ἀρχιστράτηγος δὲ τοῦτο ἦν τὸ καλούμενον Βαλλελούκιον. Παρεκάλεσαν δὲ αὐτὸν ὅ τε ἡγούμενος καὶ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ τοῦ σὺν πάσῃ τῇ ὑπ᾽ αὐτὸν ἀδελφότητι ἐλθεῖν ἐν τῷ μεγίστῳ μοναστηρίῳ, καὶ τῇ ἑλλάδι φωνῇ ἐν τῇ αὐτῶν ἐκκλησίᾳ τὸν κανόνα πληρῶσαι, ἵνα γένηται φησὶν ὁ Θεὸς τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσιν· ὅπερ καὶ ὁ προφήτης προαναφωνῶν ἔλεγεγ· Ὅτι λέων καὶ βοῦς ἅμα βοσκηθήσονται, καὶ ἅμα τὰ παιδία αὐτῶν ἔσονται.

[74] Ὁ

δὲ θεσπέσιος Νεἶλος τὰ μὲν πρῶτα οὐκ ἐπείνευσεν ἀπὸ ταπεινοφροσύνης λέγων· Πῶς ᾄσομεν τὴν ᾠδὴν Κυπίου ἐπὶ γῆς ἀλλοτρίας οἱ σήμερον ταπεινοὶ ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν ὑπάρχοντες; Ὅμως διὰ τὸ συμπαρακληθῆναι ἐν τῇ ἀλλήλων πίστει, καὶ τὸ μέγα ὄνομα τοῦ Χριστοῦ δοξασθῆναι, κατεδέζατο αὐτὸ τοῦτο ποιῆσαι. Καὶ τυπώσας ἀπὸ καρπῶν χειλέων αὐτοῦ ὑμνῳδίαν πρὸς τὸν ὅσιον πατέρα ἡμῶν Βενέδικτον, περιέχουσαν πάντα τὰ ἐν τῷ βίῳ αὐτοῦ τεράστια γεγραμμένα· παραλαβών τε πάντας τοὺς ἀδελφούς, ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἐξήκοντα ὄντας, ἀνῆλθεν ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ Κασσίνου, καὶ τὴν ἀγρυπνίαν ἐτέλεσε παναρμονίως. Εἶχε γὰρ ἀδελφοὺς μεθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ συνετοὺς, καὶ ἱκανοὺς ἔν τε ἀναγνώσει καὶ ψαλμωδίᾳ, οὓς αὐτὸς κατ᾽ ἀμφότερα ἐξεπαίδευσεν. Μετὰ δὲ τὴν συμπλήρωσιν τοῦ κανόνος συνῆλθον πρὸς αὐτὸν ἅπαντες οἱ μοναχοὶ μετὰ παραθέσεως τοῦ ἀββᾶ αὐτῶν· καὶ γὰρ μέχρι τούτου τὴν εὐταξίαν φυλάττουσι· καὶ θαυμάζοντες ἐπὶ τῇ αἴγλῃ τοῦ πνεύματος τῇ ἐκπεμπομένῃ ἀπὸ τῆς ἰδέας αὐτοῦ, ἐγλίχοντο καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ῥημάτων τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ ἐνωτίζεσθαι. Διὸκαὶ προβλήματα συνεχῆ προσῆγον αὐτῷ λέγοντες. Εἰπὲ ἡμῖν ἅγιε πάτερ, τί ἐστι τὸ ἔργον τοῦ μοναχοῦ, καὶ πῶς εὕρωμεν ἔλεος; Ὁ δὲ μακάριος ἀνοίξας τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ τῇ ῥωμαικῆι γλώσσῃ ἔφη· Μοναχός ἐστιν ἄγγελος· τὸ δὲ ἔργον αὐτοῦ ἐστιν ἔλεος, εἰρήνη, θυσία αἰνέσεως. Ὥσπερ γὰρ οἱ ἅγιοι ἄγγελοι τῷ μὲν Θεῷ ἀδιαλείπτως θυσίαν αἰνέσεως προσφέρουσιν, ἐν ἀλλήλοις δὲ εἰρήνην ἀγαπητικῶς κέκτηνται, ἐλεοῦσι δὲ καὶ ἀντιλαμβάνονται τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὡς μικροτέρων ἀδελφῶν, οὕτω δεῖ καὶ τὸν ἀληθῆ μοναχὸν ἔλεος μὲν ἐπιδεὶκνυσθαι πρὸς τοὺς ἐλαχιστοτέρους καὶ ξένους τῶν ἀδελφῶν, ἀγαπᾷν δὲ ἐν εἰρήνῃ τοὺς ἰσοτίμους, τοῖς δὲ προκόπτουσι μεγ φθονεῖν· πίστιν δὲ ἄδολον καὶ ἐλπίδα ἔχειν πρός τε τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ τὸν ἐν πνεύματι πατέρα. Ὁ κεκτημένος τὰ τρία ταῦτα ἀγγελικὸν βίον ἐπὶ γῆς διάγει· Ὁ δὲ τἀναντία, τουτέστιν ἀπιστίαν, καὶ μῖσος, καὶ ἀσπλαγκνίαν, παντὸς κακοῦ καταγώγιον γίνεται, καὶ δαίμων προφανῶς ἀναδείκνυται.

[75] Ἀφ᾽

οὗ γάρ τις μονάσῃ, οὐκέτι διαμένει τοῦ εἶναι ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ τῶν δὺο ἓν, ἢ ἄγγελος, ἢ δαίμων φανήσεται. Πέπεισμαι δὲ περὶ ὑμῶν ἀδελφοὶ τὰ κρείττονα καὶ ἐχόμενα σωτηρίας. Ταῦτα καὶ ἕτερα ὑπὲρ συγγραφὴν διαγορεύσαντος τοῦ ἁγίου, κατενύγησαν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν· καὶ ἀποκριθείς τις ἐξ αὐτῶν εἶπε· Διατὶ λέγει ὁ Δαβὶδ· Μετὰ ὁσίου ὅσιος ἔσῃ, καὶ μετὰ ἐκλεκτοῦ ἐκλεκτὸς, καὶ μετὰ στρεβλοῦ διαστρέψεις; Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ μέγας· Τοῦτο πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐλάλησεν ὁ προφήτης, οὐ πρὸς ἄνθρωπον, καὶ γὰρ Θεῷ πρέπει τὸ ἀκόλουθον, οὐκ ἀνθρώπῳ, τό· Ὅτι σὺ λαὸν ταπεινὸν σώσεις, καὶ ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑπερηφάνων ταπεινώσεις. Ἤκουσε γὰρ ὁ Δαβὶδ τοῦ Θεοῦ λέγοντος· Ὅτι, ζῶ ἐγὼ Κύριος, ἐὰν ὁρθῶς πορεύσῃ μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ, ὀρθῶς πορεύσομαι κᾀγὼ μετὰ σοὺ. Καὶ πάλιν γέγραπται πρὸς τοὺς σκολιοὺς, ταυτὸν δὲ ἐστι καὶ ὁ στρεβλός· Σκολιὰς ὁδοὺς ἀποστελεῖ Κύριος, καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος. Ἀνθρώποις δὲ νενομοθέτηται τὸ ἀγαπᾷν τοὺς ἐχθροὺς, τὸ καλῶς ποιεῖν τοῖς μισοῦσι, καὶ κακὸν ἀντὶ κακοῦ τινὶ μή ἀποδοῦναι. Πάλιν ἠρώτησεν ἕτερος· Τί ἐστιν ὃ λέγει Ἀββακοὺμ ὁ προφήτης· Ἀναπαύσομαι ἐν ἡμέρᾳ θλίψεώς μου, τοῦ ἀναβῆναί με εἰς λαὸν παροικίας μου; Ὁ δὲ ὅσιος ἀπεκρίθη· Τοῦ ἀποστόλου λέγοντος, Ὅτι ταῦτα πάντα τυπικῶς συνέβαινεν ἐκείνοις, ἐγράφη δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἡμῶν νουθεσίαν· ἐγὼ πᾶσαν τὴν Γραφὴν, εἰς ἐμαυτὸν ἑρμήνω. Τὸν γὰρ Ἀδὰμ ἀκούων, καὶ τὸν Κάἳν, καὶ τὸν Λάμεχ, καὶ πάντας τοὺς τῷ Θεῷ ἐπταικότας, ἐνθυμοῦμαι, ὅτι κᾀγώ εἰμι ὁ τοιοῦτος, καὶ οὐχὶ ἄλλος. Τοῦτο τοίνυν τὸ ῥητὸν τοῦ προφήτου ἀνθρώπῳ πρέπει συνετῷ, καθημένῳ κάτω εἰς τὴν ὕλην τοῦ κόσμου, λογιζομένῳ τε καθ᾽ ἑαυτὸν καὶ λέγοντι· Ἕως πότε προσεύχομαι, καὶ ἃ λέγω οὐ νοῶ; Τότε ἐπάγει λέγων· Εφυλαξάμην, τουτέστιν ἐσκόπησα καὶ ἐσκεψάμην τὴν προσευχὴν τῶν χειλέων μου· εὔχομαι δὲ, Ὅτι εἰ ἀνταπέδωκα τοῖς ἀνταποδιδοῦσί μοι κακὰ, πείσομαι τόδε καὶ τόδε. Καὶ, κρῖνον με Κύριε κατὰ τὴν δικαιοσύνην μου, καὶ, κατὰ τὴν ἀκακίαν μου ὁ Θεός· καὶ ὅτι ἐμφανῶς ὁ Θεὸς ἥξει, καὶ οὐ παρασιωπήσεται· πῦρ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ καυθήσεται, καὶ φλογιεῖ κύκλῳ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς αὐτοῦ.

[76] Ταῦτα

καὶ τὰ ὅμοια τούτοις ἐννοήσας ἐξερχόμενά μου τῶν χει;λέων, κατανοήσας δὲ ἐμαυτὸν τὰ ἐναντία πράττοντα τούτων, ἐφοβήθη μου ἡ καρδία, καὶ ἐτρόμαξαν τὰ ὀστᾶ μου, ἡ δὲ ἰσχὺς τῶν γονάτων μου ὑποκάτω μου ἐταράχθη, ὤστε στῆναι μὴ δύνασθαι. Ἐν ταύτῃ τοίνυν τῇ τῆς θλίψεώς μου ἡμέρᾳ οὐκ᾽ ἄλλως ἔγνων ἀναπαῆναι καὶ ἀπαλλαγῆναι τοῦ τρόμου τε καὶ τοῦ φόβου, εἰμὴ ἐν τῷ ἀναβῆναι με ἔνθα ὁ λαὸς τῆς ξενιτείας μου· ὅπου εἰσὶ πάντες ξένοι καὶ παρεπίδημοι, καὶ τὸ πολίτευμα ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἔχοντες· οἱ μηδὲν ἔχοντες ἴδιον, καὶ πάντα κατέχοντες· διότι ἡ συκῆ μου, καὶ ἡ ἐλαία μου, καὶ ἡ ἄμπελος, καὶ τὰ κτήνη μου οὐδέν με ὠφελήσουσιν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ θλίψεως, οὐδὲ μετὰ θάνατόν μοι καρποφορήσουσιν. Εἰ δὲ ποιήσω ὅ ἐβουλευσάμην, ἀγαλλιάσομαι τότε ἐν τῷ Κυρίῳ, χαρήσομαι ἐπὶ τῶι Θεῷ τῷ Σωτῆρί μου. Τούτου δὲ οὕτως ἑρμηνευθέντος κατὰ τὴν τοῦ ἠθικοῦ τροπολογίαν, λέγει πρὸς τὸν ὅσιον ἄλλος· Ιδοὺ τίμιε πάτερ, ἀποστελλομαι παρὰ τοῦ ἀββᾶ εἰς διακονίαν, ἐξ ἧς οὐ μικρὰν βλάβην ὑπομένω· ὁ δὲ κανὼν παραγγέλλει ὑπακοὴν ἀδιάκριτον ἔχειν. Τί οὖν προτιμῆσαι τῶν ἀμφοτέρων οὐκ οἶδα. Ὁ δὲ πατὴρ ἔφη· Πείθεσθε τοῖς ἡγουμένοις ὑμῶν καὶ ὑπείκετε, αὐτοὶ γὰρ ἀγρυπνοῦσιν ὑπὲρ τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν, ὡς λόγον ἀποδώσοντες, φησὶν ὁ Ἀπόστολος. Τοίνυν ἡμεῖς πάντα τὰ τῆς καρδίας ὑμῶν τῷ ἀββᾷ ἐξομολογησάμενοι, τῷ κρίματι αὐτοῦ τὸ πᾶν καταλείψομεν. Πάλιν οὐν ἕτερος εἶπεν· Εὰν ἅπαξ τοῦ ἔτους συγκαταβῶ τῷ σώματί μου καὶ κρεωφαγήσω, μὴ

τίποτε ἐστίν; Ὁ ὅσιος ἀπεκρίθῃ· Καὶ εἰ πάντα τὸν χρόνον ὑγιαίνων, ἐν μιᾷ ὥρᾳ κρημνησθεὶς κατεάξῃς τὸ σκέλος, τί κακόν ἐστιν; Ταῦτα καὶ πλείονα τούτων ἁπὸ γραφῶν προβαλόντες, ἠρώτησαν καὶ περὶ τῆς τοῦ σαββάτου νηστείας. Ὁ δὲ σύντομον ἀπόκρισιν δεδωκὼς αὐτοῖς, ἀπηλλάγη εἰπών· Ὁ ἐσθίων τὸν μὴ ἐσθίοντα μὴ ἐξουθενείτω, καὶ ὁ μὴ ἐσθίων τὸν ἐσθίοντα μὴ κρινέτω, ὁ Θεὸς γὰρ ἁμφοτέρους προσελάβετο. Σὺ δὲ διατί κρίνεις τὸν ἀδελφόν σου; Εἴτε οὖν ἐσθίομεν ἡμεῖς, εἴτε ὑμεῖς νηστεύετε, πάντα εἰς δόξαν Θεοὕ ποιοῦμεν.

[77] Εἰ

δέ τι ἐπιλαμβάνεσθε ἡμῶν, διότι τὸ σάββατον οὐ νηστεύομεν, βλέπετε μή πως εὑρεθῆτε τοῖς ἁγίοις πατράσιν ἐναντιούμενοι, τοῖς στύλοις τῆς ἐκκλησίας, Αθανασίῳ, Βασιλείῳ, καὶ Γρηγορίῳ, καὶ Ιωάννῃ τῷ Χρυσοστόμῳ, καὶ ἄλλοις μυρίοις, καὶ ταῖς ἁγ;ιαις συνόδοις, οἵτινες ὃ οὐκ ἐποίησαν, οὐδὲ ἐνομοθέτησαν· οὐ μὴν δὲ ἀλλὰ καὶ Αμβροσίῳ τῷ ὑμῶν διδασκάλῳ, περὶ οὗ γέγραπται ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ βίῳ, ὅτι πᾶσαν τὴν ἑβδομάδα ἐνήστευεν ἐκτὸς σαββάτου καὶ κυριακῆς. Ἐγὼ δὲ οὐδ᾽ αὐτὸν τὸν ἅγιον Σίλβεστρον οἶμαι ἐναντιούμενον τοῖς ἁγίοις πατράσι ταύτην τὴν νηστείαν νομοθετῆσαι· οὐδὲ γὰρ δύνασθε ἀποδεῖξαι λόγον ἢ κανόνα περὶ τούτου, εἰ μὴ μόνον τὸν συγγραψάμενον τὸν ἐκείνου βίον, ᾧ οὐδεὶς εὐχερῶς πιστεύει διὰ τὸ ἀναπόδεικτον. Ὅμως ἡμεῖς ἐάσαντες τὰς λογολεσχίας· οὐδὲν γὰρ κακὸν ἡ νηστεία· εἴπωμεν τὸ τοῦ ἀποστόλου· Ὅτι βρῶμα ἡμᾶς οὐ παρίστησι τῷ Θεῷ, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Εἴθε δὴ καὶ οἱ ταπεινοὶ Ἰουδαῖοι προσεκύνουν τὸν ἐσταυρωμένον Δεσπότην· καὶ εἰ ἐνήστευον καὶ αὐτὰς τὰς Κυριακὰς, οὐδέν μοι ἔμελεν περὶ τούτου. Λέγουσιν αὐτῷ ἐκεῖνοι· Καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἁμαρτία τὸ τὴν ἁγίαν κυριακὴν νηστεῦσαι; Ἀπεκρίθη· Καὶ εἰ ἁμαρτία ἐστὶ, πῶς ὁ ἅγιος Βενέδικτος τὰς κυριακὰς καὶ τὰς ἑορτὰς νηστεύων οὐδ᾽ αὐτὸ τὸ Πάσχα ἡπίστατο πότε ἐστίν; Ὅθεν γνωστέον, ὅτι πᾶν πρᾶγγμα διὰ Θεὸν γινόμενον, καλὸν καὶ οὐδὲν ἀπόβλητον, οὐδ᾽ αὐτὸ τὸ φονεῦσαι, ὡς ὁ Φινεὲς καὶ ὁ Σαμουὴλ ἔδειξαν.

[78] Καὶ

ἡμεῖς τοίνυν καλῶς ποιοῦμεν τὸ σάββατον μὴ νηστεύοντες, ἐναντιούμενοι τοῖς βδελυκτοῖς Μανιχαίοις, πενθοῦσιν ἐν τούτῳ, καὶ διαβάλλουσι τὴν παλαιὰν διαθήκην, ὡς παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ μὴ δοθεῖσαν· οὐ σχολάζομεν δὲ πάλιν ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων, ἵνα μὴ ἐξομοιωθῶμεν τοῖς θεοκτόνοις καὶ ἀσεβέσιν Ἰουδαίοις· καὶ ὑμεῖς ἀναγκαίως νηστεύετε, προκαθαίροντες ἑαυτοὺς τῇ ἀναστασίμῳ καὶ ἁγίᾳ ἡμέρᾳ. Ἐν τούτοις καὶ πλείοσιν ἄλλοις οἱ μοναχοὶ ὠφεληθέντες καὶ ἡδυνθέντες, ἐξίσταντο πάντες καὶ ἐθαύμαζον ἐπὶ τοῖς λόγοις τῆς χάριτος τοῖς ἐκπορευομένοις ἐκ τοῦ στόμα. τος αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔλεγον· Ὅτι οὐδέποτε εἴδομεν ἄνθρωπον τὰς Γραφὰς ἑρμηνεύοντα ὡς τοῦτον τὸν ὅσιον. Καίγε ἀληθῶς ὑπελάμβανον, καὶ ὀρθότατα ἔλεγον. Πάντων γὰρ τῶν παθῶν τὸν νοῦν καθαρώτατον κεκτημένος, καὶ τῷ οὐρανίῳ φωτὶ λελαμπρυσμένον, ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ ἦν πάντοτε ἐν χάριτι ἅλατι ἡρτμένος· τοῖς μὲν ῥᾳθύμοις καὶ ἀσθενέσι κέντρον καὶ βοηθὸς χρηματίζων, τοῖς δὲ θρασέσι καὶ ὑπεραλλομένοις χαλινὸς καὶ πορβέα· τοῖς δ᾽ ἀμφοτέρωθεν ἀποκλινομένοις, εὐρύθμως τε βαδίζουσι καὶ δικαίως, ζυγὸς ἀγαθὸς, καὶ εὔχρηστος ὁδηγία. Ἅπαντας τοὺς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐρχομένους βλέπων μακρόθεν, ἐνενύει καὶ προὔλεγε τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς τούτων ἀφίξεως· καὶ ἡ ἔκβασις τῶν πραγμάτων ἐβεβαίου τὴν πρόῤῥησιν.

Received with honor by the monks of Cassino, he affords healing to the sick: But when the holy Father had set out to visit that renowned monastery, the whole company of the monks came forth to meet him as far as the roots of the mountain, their priests and deacons clothed in the sacred habit, as is done on feast days, carrying tapers and censers in their hands; and with such a procession they conducted the blessed man to the monastery, thinking that they heard and saw nothing else than the great Antony arriving from Alexandria, or the great father Benedict, their holy lawgiver and master, raised up from the dead. And truly they judged rightly, nor did their opinion deceive them. For as many among them as labored under a disease either of body or of mind were all healed, and all received from him what was suited to them: the studious, teaching; the active, guidance; sinners, amendment; those endowed with virtue, exhortation; the sound, continence; the sick, healing; and, to say it in one word, just as of old the manna was changed for the Israelites according to the constitution and appetite of each man's body — for which reason there was not a weak man among their tribes — so also to these did the admirable man accommodate himself. And so, when they had been perfectly healed by his God-sent presence and filled with spiritual gladness, and when he in his turn had also admired their excellent discipline and well-ordered rule of living, and had praised their institutions above our own, he was conducted back again by the abbot and the chief brethren to the monastery in which he himself was to dwell with his sons. It was St. Michael's ^a, by name Vallelucium. Then the provost and the brethren asked that together with all his brethren he would go up to the great monastery and chant the Office in the Greek tongue in their church, that God, as he says, may be all in all. Of which the Prophet too had prophesied: The lion and the ox shall feed together, and their young ones shall be together.

[74] [he receives the monastery of Vallelucium to be inhabited by his own; the monks of Cassino with pious counsels] But the venerable Nilus at first refused out of humility, saying: How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land, we who are now brought low in all the earth on account of our sins? Yet that consolation might be received together through that faith which is common to us, and that the great name of Christ might be glorified, he at length assented; and having composed from the fruit of his lips hymns in honor of our holy father Benedict, in which all the wondrous works of his life were comprehended ^b, and having called together all the brethren — and they were more than sixty — he went up to the monastery of Cassino and spent the night in excellent chanting; for he had with him brethren of keen intelligence, apt in reading and in singing, whom he himself had sufficiently instructed in both. When the Office was finished, all the monks came together to him, their abbot permitting it — for to this day they preserve that discipline — and marveling at the splendor of the spirit that shone forth from his countenance, they desired also to hear words from his mouth. Thereupon they set before him questions of this kind in an unbroken series. Tell us, holy Father, what is the work of a monk, and how shall we obtain mercy? And the blessed Father, opening his mouth, said in Latin: A monk is an angel; and his work is mercy, peace, the sacrifice of praise. For just as the holy angels offer to God a perpetual sacrifice of praise, and among themselves are joined in the mutual peace of charity, and have compassion on men and bring them help as though on younger brethren, so also the true monk ought to be merciful toward lesser brethren and toward strangers, to love his equals in peace, not to envy those who advance, and to have an unfeigned faith and hope in God and in his spiritual father. He who possesses these three leads on earth an angelic life; he who has the contraries — that is, unbelief, hatred, and inhumanity — becomes the dwelling place of all evils, and plainly passes over into a demon.

[75] and with holy doctrine For when a man has once put on the habit of a monk, it is no longer in him to be a man, but he will appear as one of two things, either an angel or a demon. But concerning you, brethren, I trust better things and things nearer to salvation. When the holy man had discoursed on these things and on others which it would be too much to commit to writing, they were pricked in heart. And one of them answering said: Why was it said by David: With the holy thou shalt be holy, and with the elect thou shalt be elect, and with the perverse thou shalt be perverted? And the great Father: This the Prophet said when speaking with God, not with man; for what follows suits God, not man: Because thou wilt save the humble people, and wilt humble the eyes of the proud. For David had heard God saying: As I live, saith the Lord, if thou wilt walk uprightly with me, I also will walk uprightly with thee. And again it is written concerning the crooked (for it is the same as to say the perverse): The Lord shall send crooked ways, and not man. But to men it is commanded that they love their enemies, that they do good to those who hate them, and that they render not evil for evil. Then another asked: What is the meaning of those words of the prophet Habakkuk: I shall rest in the day of my tribulation, that I may go up to the people of my pilgrimage? The holy man answered: Since the Apostle says, Now all these things happened to them in figure, and they are written for our correction — I interpret the whole of Scripture of myself. For when I hear of Adam and Cain and Lamech and all who by sinning offended God, I judge that I am that man and not another. This saying of the Prophet, therefore, befits a man of sense, sitting here below among these lower things, in the dregs of the world, and thinking within himself and saying: How long do I pray to God and yet do not understand what I speak? And then he adds: I have observed, and my heart was troubled — that is, I considered and meditated upon the prayer of my lips. And I pray in this manner: If I have rendered evil to those who repay me, let me suffer this and this; and, Judge me, O Lord, according to my justice and according to my innocence, O God; and, God shall come manifestly and shall not keep silence; a fire shall burn before him, and shall flame round about his enemies.

[76] While I consider that these things and the like are uttered by my mouth, he imbues them: on the custom and see the contrary done by me, my heart feared and my bones trembled, and the strength of my knees beneath me was troubled, so that I cannot stand. In this day, therefore, of my affliction I see that I can rest in no other way, and be freed from trembling and fear, than by going up thither where is the people of my pilgrimage, where all are strangers and pilgrims, whose conversation is in heaven, who have nothing of their own and possess all things. For my fig tree and my olive tree and my vine and my beasts of burden will profit me nothing in the day of affliction, nor will they bear fruit for me after death. But if I do what I have purposed, then shall I rejoice in the Lord and exult in God my Savior.

When this moral and tropological explanation had been given ^c, another questioned the holy man: If the abbot should send me, venerable Father, to a service from which I am afflicted with no small harm, the Rule commanding that obedience be rendered without discriminating at all, I do not know which I ought to prefer. The Father answered: Obey, says the Apostle, your superiors and be subject to them, for they watch as being to render an account for your souls. Do you therefore, when you have laid open to your abbot all the secrets of your heart, commit the whole to his judgment. After these things another said: If once in the whole course of the year I shall indulge my body and eat flesh, what

will this be in the end? And the holy Father: And if, using good health all the time, you fall headlong in a single hour and break your leg, what evil will there be? When they had inquired of these things and of more from the Scriptures, they asked also about the fast of the Sabbath ^d. But he, content with a brief answer, disposed of the matter in this way: Let him who eats not despise him who does not eat, and let him who does not eat not judge him who eats; for God has received them both. But why do you judge your brother? Whether therefore we eat, or you fast, we do all things unto the glory of God.

[77] But if you still reprehend us because we do not fast on the Sabbath, on the custom of fasting on the Sabbath take care that you do not seem to set yourselves against the holy Fathers, the pillars of the Church — Athanasius, Basil, Gregory, and John Chrysostom — and against countless others and the sacred Councils, by whom this was neither observed nor even provided for by law. Nay, and against Ambrose your own teacher, of whom it is read in his Life that, being accustomed to fast the whole week, he excepted the Sabbath and the Lord's day. But I do not think that even St. Sylvester himself sanctioned this fast contrary to the custom of the holy Fathers; for you cannot bring forward on this matter either an argument or a canon, but only the writer of his Life, whom no one will readily believe, since he brings nothing forward by which he might demonstrate it ^e. But let us, laying aside wordiness — for to fast is not an evil — say that saying of the Apostle: That meat does not commend us to God, and what follows. Would that the wretched Jews also would adore the crucified Lord; and even if they fasted on the very Lord's days, I should have no concern about it. They said to him: And is it not a sin to fast on the Lord's day? He answered: And if it is a sin, how was it that St. Benedict, fasting on the Lord's days and on feasts as well, did not even know on what day Easter fell? Whence it must be held for certain that everything which is done for God's sake is good and not to be condemned — not even the killing of a man ^f, as Phinehas and Samuel showed.

[78] [he discourses learnedly, and exhorts to peace those who follow the contrary practice.] We therefore also do well in not fasting on the Sabbath, in detestation of the abominable Manichæans, who on that day mourn and slander the Old Testament as though it had not been given by God; yet we do not abstain from work, lest we be made like the impious Jews, the slayers of God. And you of necessity fast, purifying yourselves beforehand for the holy day of the Resurrection. Taking profit and delight from these things and from many others, the monks were all amazed and marveled at the words of grace which proceeded from his mouth, and said: We have never seen a man expounding the Scriptures in this manner. And assuredly they judged truly and spoke most rightly. For since he had a mind wholly purged, all its passions overcome, and illumined with heavenly light, he poured forth also a discourse always graceful and seasoned with salt, which to the more sluggish and the weak was a spur and a help; but to the bold and to those who rush forward rashly, a bridle and a check; while to those who declined both extremes and walked fitly and justly, it was a perfect balance and a well-adapted rule of living. All who came to him he foresaw from afar, and understood and foretold the cause of their coming, and the outcome of events proved his prediction sure.

ANNOTATA.

CHAPTER XII.

To Abara, widow of Pandulf duke of Capua, who refused to fulfil the penance imposed for a contrived homicide, he prophesies the death of her son and the loss of the duchy; he refuses to see his own nephew, who had shown himself irreverent toward a sacred thing, until his death; he repays evil with good; he threatens impending punishments upon monks of dissolute life.

Οἶδα καὶ πέπεισμαι τοῦτο, ὅτι εἴγε συνήρχοντο πάντες οἱ ζῶντες ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον, αἰτούμενοι παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ συμβουλίαν τὴν πρόσφορον, οὐκ ἂν τοῦ συμφέροντος ἠμοίρησαν· ἦν γὰρ ἡ βουλὴ αὐτοῦ ὡς βουλὴ Θεοῦ, μεστὴ πάσης συνέσεως καὶ ὠφελείας· φυλαττομένη μὲν, εἰς τέλος εὐκλεὲς καταντῶσα· παραλογιζομένη δὲ, κίνδυνον ψυχῆς καὶ ζημίαν σωματικὴν προξενοῦσα. Καὶ εἶχον πάμπολλα κεφάλαια περὶ τούτου συντάξαι, εἴγε μὴ εἰς ἄπειρον τέλος ἐπεκτείνετο ὁ λόγος, καὶ φορτικὸς ἐγεγόνει. Ἓν δὲ τῶν πολλῶν ὑπάρχει καὶ τοῦτο· Τοῦ προῤῥηθέντος τελευτήσαντος Πανδόλφου, ὂς ἦν ἄρχων Καπούης, ἡ τούτου γαμετὴ, καλουμένη Ἀβάρα, οὐκ ἔλαττον ἢ μετὰ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς πάσης τῆς χώρας ἐκείνης ἦρξε καὶ κατεκράτησεν. Αὕτη ζηλοτυπίᾳ τῆς ἀρχῆς, μᾶλλον δὲ φθόνῳ σατανικῷ κρατουμένη, ὑποβάλλει τοὺς καταλειφθέντας αὐτῇ δύο υἱοὺς δόλῳ φονεῦσαι ἔνα τῶν κομήτων ἀνεψιὸν αὐτῆς ὄντα, ὡς παρευδοκιμοῦντα τῶι κράτει, καὶ παρὰ πάντων τιμώμενον· ὃ καὶ πεποιήκασιν. Ἡ γὰρ τούτων ὁμαίμων μετακαλεσαμένη ἐκεῖνον εἰς συντυχίαν, καὶ εἰσελθόντος πρὸς αὐτὴν ἀπονήρως, πρόπασιν εὔλογον οἱ ταύτης ἀδελφοὶ εὑρηκότες ἐπέβησαν αὐτῷ, καὶ μαχαίραι κατέσφαξαν. Τούτων ἡ μήτηρ μετάνοιαν ἐπίπλαστον, οὐκ ἀληθῆ προσποιουμένη μεταστέλλεται δεητικῶς τὸν μακάριον πατέρα πρὸς αὐτὴν, ὡς παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ δεξομένη τὸ ἀντίῤῥοπον τοῦ πταίσματος ἐπιτίμιον· ἔξαντος δὲ τοῦ ὁσίου τῇ παρακλήσει, καὶ τὸ ἄστυ καταλαβόντος ἔτρεχον ἅπαντες κατὰ τὰς λεωφόρους τοῦ θεάσασθαι τὸν τίμιον αὐτοῦ χαρακτῆρα, καὶ μετασχεῖν τῆς αὐτοῦ εὐλογίας. Ἐν οἷς μία διάκονος, ἡγουμένη μοναστηρίου σὺν τῷ ἑαυτῆς πρεσβυτέρῳ νέῳ ὄντι καὶ σφριγῶντι τῇ ἡλικίᾳ· συναγαγοῦσα δὲ καὶ τὰς ὑπ᾽ αὐτὴν παρθένους ἐξῆλθεν εἰς ἀπάντησιν τοῦ ὁσίου. Ὁ δὲ μακάριος προορατικῷ ὄμματι θεασάμενος τὰ κατ᾽ αὐτὰς, οὐκ ᾑδέσθη τὴν ἀπάντησιν αὐτῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπήντησεν αὐταῖς ὡς φλογίνη ῥομφαία, αὐστηρᾷ τῇ φωνῇ καὶ δριμεῖ τῷ βλέμματι λέγων πρὸς αὐτάς· Τί ὑμῖν καὶ τῷ νέῳ τούτῳ; ὑμεῖς αἱ δοκοῦσαι εἶναι παρθένοι τοῦ συνδιάζειν μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ; οὐ γινώσκετε, ὅτι ἀνὴρ αὐτός ἐστιν, καὶ αὐτὸς οὐκ οἶδεν ὅτι γηναῖκες ὑμεῖς; τὸν Θεὸν μὴ φοβούμεναι, κᾂν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους οὐκ αἰσχύνεσθε; Ὄντως οὐχ ὁρῶ ἐν ὑμῖν καρπὸν δικαιοσύνης.

[80] Ταῦτα

ἐκεῖναι ἀκούσασαι, δέον ἐντραπῆναι καὶ καταπτῆξαι τοῦ δικαίου τὴν παρ᾽ῥησίαν, ἀνεχώρησαν λέγουσαι· Ὅτι οὗτος οὐκ ἔστι δοῦλος Θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ διάβολος. Καὶ εὐθέως τῇ ἐπαύριον ἐκρατήθη ὁ πρεσβύτερος κοιμώμενος μετὰ τῆς διακόνου ὁμαίμονος· καὶ ἡκούσθνη ἐν ὄλῃ τῇ πόλει ἐκείνῃ. Κατέλαβεν οὖν ὁ ὅσιος τὸ παλάτιον τῆς Αβάρας· ἥτις θεασαμένη αὐτὸν, καὶ σύντρομος γενομένη προσέπεσει τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτοῦ ἐξομολογουμένη, καὶ συγχώρησιν λαβεῖν αἰτουμένη. Ὁ δὲ ἀναστήσας αὐτὴν εἶπεν· Μὴ οὕτω ποίει, ὅτι κᾀγὼ ἄνθρωπος εἰμὶ ἁμαρτωλὸς, οὔπω λαβὼν ἐξουσίαν τοῦ δεσμεῖν καὶ λύειν. Πορεύου δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἐπισκόπους, τοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα κρίνειν πεπιστευμένους· καὶ ὡς ἄν σοι εἴπωσιν, ποίησον. Η δὲ ἀπεκρίθη· Τοῖς μὲν ἐπισκόποις ἐξηγόρευσα τὴν ἐμὴν ἁμαρτίαν, καὶ ἔδωκάν μοι ἐντολὰς τοῦ πληρεῖν τὸ ψαλτήριον τρίτον τῆς ἑβδομάδος, καὶ ποιεῖν ἔλεος εἰς τοὺς δεομένους. Παρακαλῷ δὲ τὴν σὴν ἁγιωσύνην δοῦλε Κυρίου, τοῦ καὶ παρὰ σοῦ το συμφέρον ἀκοῦσαι, καὶ τὴν ἄφεσιν λαβεῖν τοῦ ἡμαρτημένου. Ὀ δὲ ὅσιος ἔφη· Τὸ μὲν εἰπεῖν τὸ ψαλτήριον, καὶ δούναι ἐλεημοσύνην, σοὶ καὶ τοῖς δεομένοις ἐστὶν ὄφελος, τῷ δὲ ἀδίκως σφαγέντι σωτηρίαν οὐκ ἄγει, οὔτε τῶν ἐκεῖνον πενθούντων τὴν λύπην διασκεδάσει. Τί γὰρ τοσοῦτον δίδως, ὅσον ἀφείλου; Εἰ δὲ ὅλως βούλει καὶ παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ τοῦ εὐτελοῦς δέξασθαι βουλὴν, καὶ ποιῆσαι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἰδοὺ λέγω σοι. Παράδος ἕνα τῶν σῶν υἱῶν τοῖς ἰδίοις τοῦ τελευτήσαντος, τοῦ ποιῆσαι ἐν αὐτῷ εἴ τι ἂν θέλωσιν, καὶ τότε ἀπαλλαγήσῃ τοῦ ἁμαρτήματος. Εἶπε γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς, Ὅτι ἐκ χειρὸς ἀνθρώπου ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐκζητήσω τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ δὴ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου· Ὁ ἐκχέων αἷμα ἀνθρώπου, ἀντὶ τοῦ αἵματος αὐτοῦ τὸ αὐτοῦ ἐκχυθήσεται. Καὶ πάλιν· Πᾶς ὁ λαβὼν μάχαιραν, ἐν μαχαίρᾳ ἀποθανεῖται. Οὐ γὰρ εἶ σὺ ἀσθενεστέρα Σαούλ τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ τοῦ κριτοῦ Ιεφθάε, οἵτινες δι᾽ οἰκείαν ἐντολὴν τά ἴδια τέκνα εἰς θάνατον προὔδωκαν. Ἡ δὲ ἀπεκρίθη· Οὐ δύναμαι τοῦτο ποιῆσαι· φοβοῦμαι γὰρ, μή πως αὐτὸν ἀποκτείνωσι.

[81] Τότε

ὁ μακάριος ζήλου Θείου πλησθεὶς ἀπεκρίνατο. Τάδε λέγει τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον· Τὸ αἷμα τοῦ υἱοῦ σου ἐκχυθήσεται ἀντὶ τοῦ αἵματος, οὗ ἀδίκως ἐξέχεας· καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία αὕτη οὐκ ἐξαλειφθήσεται ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου σου ἕως αἰῶνος. Ἄρξει δ᾽ οὐδεὶς ἀπὸ τοῦ σοῦ σπέρματος ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ πόλει· ἀλλ᾽ ἔσται ἐκδιωκόμενον καὶ νικώμενον ἀπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτοῦ ἀνθ᾽ ὧν πέποιθας ἐπὶ τῇ σῇ δυναστείᾳ· καὶ οὑκ ἔμαθες, ὅτι Κύριος πτωχίζει καὶ πλουτίζει, ταπεινοῖ καὶ ἀνυψοῖ. Ταῦτα ἀκούσασα ἐκείνη ἤρξατο κλαίειν καὶ ἀποδύρεσθαι· πλήσασά τε τὰς χεῖρας χρυσίου προσέφερε τῷ δικαίῳ, νομίζουσα διὰ τούτων αὐτὸν ἐξιλεώσασθαι. Ὁ δὲ ὄντως ἀπαθὴς ἐκεῖνος, μήτε τοῖς δάκρυσι τῆς γυναικὸς κατακαμφθεὶς, μήτε τῷ πλήθει τοῦ χρυσίου δελεασθεὶς, μήτε τὴν ἐξουσίαν αὐτῆς αἰδεσθεὶς, διαῤῥήξας τὸ καταπέτασμα τοῦ κοιτῶνος, καὶ ὡς δορκὰς ἐκπηδήσας ᾤχετο· τοῦτο λογισάμενος, ὡς αὐτὸς εἴρηκεν· Ὅτι εἴπε φησὶν ὁ διάβολος· Οὗτος ὁ μοναχὸς χοῦς ἐστιν· ἐπιβρέξω αὐτὸν ὕδατι, δάκρυσι τῆς γυναικὸς, καὶ ἤδη ποιῶ αὐτὸν πηλὸν τοῦ τυποῦσθαι ὡς ἂν ἐγὼ βούλωμαι. Οὕτως ἔργῳ ἐπλήρου τὸ, Γίνεσθε φρόνιμοι ὡς οἱ ὄφεις, καὶ ἀκέραιοι ὡς αἱ περιστεραί. Ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὸ ἀποστολικὸν παράγγελμα τὸ· Μὴ κοινώνει ἁμαρτίαις ἀλλοτρίαις. Καὶ τότε μὲν ὁ ὅσιος ὑπεχώρησεν εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον

αὐτοῦ. Οὐ πολὺ δὲ τὸ ἐν μέσῳ, καὶ εἰς τέλος ἐξήγετο ἡ αὐτοῦ πρόῤῥησις. Ὁ γὰρ μικρότερος υἱὸς τῆς λεχθείσης ζήλῳ τῆς ἀρχῆς τὸν μείζω ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ προσευχόμενον μαχαίρᾳ κατέσφαξεν· ἐκεῖνος δὲ πάλιν ὑπὸ τοῦ τῶν φράγκων ῥηγὸς διὰ τὴν αἰτίαν ταύτην δεδεμένος ἀπήγετο. Καὶ λοιπὸν ἐντὸς ὀλίγου χρόνου πᾶς ὁ κόμπος αὐτῶν ἐξέλιπεν, καὶ ἡ ἐξουσία ἀπώλετο. Καὶ μή τις τῶν πάντα εὐτόλμων ἀπήνειαν τοῦ πατρὸς εἰς τοὺς ἁμαρτάνοντας καταγινωσκέτω. Ζηλωτὴς γὰρ ἦν εἰς τὸ ἐκδικῆσαι τὸν νόμον Κυρίου, καθάπερ Ηλίας ὁ προφήτης, οὗτινος καὶ τὸν χαρατῆρα τῆς ὄψεως ἐπεφέρετο. Καὶ τοῦτο οὐ μόνον ἐν τοῖς ἔξωθεν καὶ μηδόλως προσήκουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς δοκοῦσιν ἰδιάζειν αὐτῷ κατὰ σάρκα, καὶ ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῦ μέλεσιν· ἀπροσπάθειαν γὰρ πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείους ἑαυτῷ τοσαύτην ἐκέκτητο, ὅσην ἀποδείξει τὸ λεχθησόμενον. Ἐρῶ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο πρὸς ἀσφάλειαν τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων, καὶ διόρθωσιν τῶν τὸν Ηλεὶ μιμουμένων.

[82] Υἱὸς

τῆς τὸν μακάριον ἀναθρεψάσης ἀδελφῆς αὐτοῦ ὑπῆρχεν ἐν τῇ μονῇ, ἀδελφότητι συνασκούμενος, λίαν εὐφυὴς, καὶ καθ᾽ ἀμφότερα ἐπιτήδειος. Οὗτος ὁδεύων ποτὲ μετὰ ἀδελφῶν, καὶ ἀργυροῦν βαστάζων δισκοποτήριον, ἐνέτυχε διειδεστάτῃ πηγῇ. Βουληθέντων τοίνυν πιεῖν ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος, αὐτὸς ἐκβαλὼν τὸ ἅγιον ποτήριον, καὶ λιμβισθεὶς τῇ τοῦ μετάλλου καθαρότητι, ἔπιον μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ πάντες. Τοὐτο γνοὺς ὁ μακάριος, καὶ σφόδρα θυμωθεὶς καθ᾽ αὐτοῦ, καὶ πολλὰ ἐπιτιμήσας αὐτῷ, ἀπεστράφη αὐτὸν μέχρι καὶ συντυχίας αὐτῆς. Ἡ δὲ ἀποστροφὴ αὐτοῦ τὴν ὡς ἀπαλλοτρίωσις Θεοῦ, ὑπὲρ ῥάβδον καὶ μάστιγα σωφρονίζουσα τοὺς ἐχέφρονας. Ὁ δὲ ἀδελφὸς τῇ λύπῃ τῆς ἐπιτιμήσεως συσχεθεὶς, καὶ τῇ ἀποστροφῇ τοῦ πατρὸς καταπονηθεὶς, ἀῤῥωστίᾳ δεινῇ περιέπεσέ τε καὶ ἐτελεύτησεν. Ὁ δὲ μακάριος ἐν πάσαις ταῖς τῆς ἀῤῥωστίας αὐτοῦ ἡμέραις εἰσερχόμενος καὶ ἐξερχόμενος ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, καὶ τῆς διόδου οὕσης ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ κελλίου τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ, οὐδέποτε ἐπέβλεψεν εἰς αὐτὸν, ἢ τῆς αὐτοῦ ἐλεύσεως ἠξίωσε μέχρι τῆς αὐτοῦ τελευτῆς. Καίτοιγε σεσημείωτο παρὰ πᾶσι τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς, ὕτι ἡνίκα ἠῤῥώστει ὁ ἀδελφὸς, καὶ ἐσύχναζε πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ πατὴρ, οὐκ ἠγείρετο ἐκ τῆς ἀσθενείας ἐκείνης. Τότε τοίνυν τις τῶν γερόντων ἰδὼν τὸν πατέρα δακρύοντα μετὰ θάνατον τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ, καὶ θρηνοῦντα τὴν στέρησιν αὐτοῦ, προσελθὼν κατὰ μόνας διελέγετο αὐτῷ, ὡς ψυχοπονούμενος περὶ τῆς θλίψεως τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ, μεθ᾽ ἧς ἐξῆλθε τοῦ σώματος διὰ τὴν ἀποστροφὴν τοῦ πατρὸς. Ο δὲ ἔφη· Εἰ μὴ ἐγὼ αὐτὸν ἀπεστράφην, οὐκ ἂν ὁ Θεὸς προσελάβετο. Πεπληροφόρημαι δὲ, ὅτι διὰ ταύτης τῆς μικρᾶς θλίψεως, μεγίστης χαρᾶς καταξιωθήσεται ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ· εἴπερ οὐκ ἄδικος ὁ Θεὸς, ἀπὸ φυλακῆς ἆραι, καὶ εἰς φυκακὴν θεῖναι. Αὕτη ἡ διάκρισις τοῦ εὐδιακριτικωτάτου καὶ σοφωτάτου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Νείλου παρὰ πολλοὺς τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων. Ὑπερέβαλε γὰρ τοὺς ἀσκητικωτάτους τῇ διακρίσει, καὶ τοὺς διακριτικωτάτους τῇ ἀσκήσει, καὶ τοὺς ἐν ἁπλότητι ἐν τῇ γνώσει, καὶ τοὺς γνωστικοὺς ἐν τῇ ἀκακίᾳ· τοὺς ἐν βίῳ τῷ λόγῳ, τοὺς δὲ ἐν λόγῳ τῷ βίῳ, καὶ τοὺς κατ᾽ ἀμφότερα ἐν τῇ ἐν ἀμφεῖν ἀκρότητι· ξένος τοῖς ἤθεσιν, ἀλλότριος πάντι τῷ κόσμῳ, ἀταπείνωτος τοῖς πάθεσιν, ὑψηλὸς τοῖς νοήμασιν, ἀκαμπὴς τοῖς ὑψηλοῖς, συμπαθὴς δὲ τοῖς ταπεινοῖς.

[83] Ἔκλεψέ

τις ποτὲ τῶν Λογγιβάρδων ἵππον τῆς μονῆς, καὶ προσελθόντες δύο τῶν ἀδέλφῶν ᾐτήσαντο τὸν μακάριον τοῦ καταδιῶξαι καὶ ἀνευρεῖν τὸν ἵππον, ὅτι χρήσιμος ἦν πάνυ ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ, ὃ καὶ πεποιήκασιν. Φθασάντων γὰρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν κόπῳ πολλῷ εἰς τὸ κάστρον, ἐν ᾧ ὁ κλέπτης ὑπῆρχεν, ἡνίκα τὸ τοῦ πατρὸς ὄνομα καὶ μόνον ὁ ἐκεῖσε ἄρχων ἀκήκοεν, εὐθέως ἀγαγὼν τὸν ἵππον καὶ τὸν κλέπτην δεδεμένον, παρέδωκε τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς. Ὑποστρεψάντων τοίνυν αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ, καὶ τῷ πατρὶ μετὰ χαρᾶς προσπιπτόντων τε καὶ λεγόντων, Ὅτι δι᾽ εὐχῶν σου πάτερ ἠγάγομεν τὸν ἵππον καὶ τὸν κλέψαντα· καλεῖ ὁ μακάριος τὸν Λογγιβάρδον, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· Ὄντως σὺ ἀδελφὲ ἀγαπᾷς τὸν ἵππον τοῦτον; Καὶ λέγει ἐκεῖνος· Εἰ μὴ ἡγάπων, οὐκ ἂν ἔκλεψα τοῦτον. Τότε λαβὼν ὁ πατὴρ τὸν ἵππον δέδωκεν αὐτῷ, προσθεὶς αὐτῷ μετὰ τῆς σέλλας καὶ τὸ χαλινάριον, λέγων· Εἰ ἀγαπᾷς αὐτὸν, λάβε καὶ πορεύου· ὁ δὲ ἀπῆλθε χαίρων καὶ ἀγαλλόμενος. Ἀρξαμένων δὲ τῶν ἀδελφῶν καταγογγύζειν τοῦ μακαρίου, καλέσας αὐτοὺς ὁ πατὴρ ἐνουθέτει λέγων· Μάθετε ἀδελφοὶ τοῦτο, ὅτι ἡ τῶν πραγμάτων ὁπωσδήποτε στέρησις, ἁμαρτημάτων ἐστὶν ἀφαίρεσις· Εἶτα οὐκ ἐσμὲν ἄξιοι τοῦ γεροντικοῦ ποιῆσαι ἓν κεφάλαιον; Εἰ ὁ Θεὸς θέλει ἐλεῆσαι ἡμᾶς, ἡμεῖς αὐτῷ μὴ ἀντιτασσώμεθα. Οἱ δὲ εἶπον· Τοῦτο θλιβόμεθα πάτερ, ὅτι μετὰ τὸ κοπιάσαι ἡμᾶς πάν`υ πολλὰ περιπατήσαντας, καὶ εὑρεῖν τὸ ἀπολωλὸς, τότε αὐτὸ ἐδωρήσω τῷ κλέψαντι. Καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ἔφη· Τοῦτο πεποίηκα ὑμῖν, ἵνα διδάξω ὑμᾶς ἀγαπᾷν ἔργῳ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς, καὶ καλῶς ποιεῖν τοῖς ἐπηρεάζουσιν ὑμᾶς· καὶ τὸ, πάντα κατέχειν ὡς μηδὲν ἔχοντας, καθὼς τὸ εὐαγγέλιον καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος ἡμᾶς ἐκδιδάσκουσιν. Ὁ μὲν οὖν μακαρίτης πατὴρ ἡμῶν Νεῖλος ταῦτα ἐφρόνει τε καὶ ἐδίδασκεν, ἀεὶ ἐπὶ στόματος φέρων τὰς χρήσεις τῶν μακαρίων καὶ σοφῶν διδασκάλων, παντοίῳ τε τρόπῳ ἀγωνιζόμενος ἔργῳ ἀποδεῖξαι τὸν λόγον, καὶ τὴν μάθησιν φρόνησιν, καὶ τὴν πρᾶξιν κατὰ τὴν δίδαξιν.

[84] Οὐ

μόνον δὲ ἑαυτὸν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ οὕτως ἐφωταγώγει καὶ ἥλιζεν, ἀκούων παρὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος, Ὅτι ὑμεῖς ἐστὲ τὸ ἅλας τῆς γῆς, καὶ τὸ φῶς τοῦ κόσμου. Πολλάκις γὰρ εἴ που νὕρισκε χρῆσιν ἣ γνώμην, εἴτε τροπάριον ἐκ τῶν κανόνων, κατόρθωσιν ἤθους διδάσκοντα, προσκαλούμενος τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ὥσπερ τινὰ κλῆρον διεδίδου αὐτοῖς τοῦ ἀποστηθίζειν αὐτά· τοῖς μὲν ἰσχύουσι τὰ ὑψηλὰ, τοῖς δὲ ἀσθενεστέροις τὰ ἐλαφρὰ· καὶ ἐκάστῳ πρὸς τὸ πάθος ᾧ ἐπλεονεκτεῖτο, καὶ τὸ ἔμπλαστρον τοῦ μαθήματος ἐπετίθει. Οἷον, εἴ τις γαστρίμαργος, τὰ περὶ ἐγκρατείας· εἴ τις λάγνος τὰ περὶ ἁγνείας· εἴ τις κενόδοξος, τὰ περὶ πεινοφροσύνης· εἴ τις γλωσσώδης καὶ μάχιμος, τὴν ἐπιστολὴν Ιακώβου τοῦ ἀποστόλου. Εἰ δέ τις ἦν δυσμαθὴς, καὶ μὴ δυνάμενος μνημονεύειν, γράφων τὴν γνώμην ἐν τμήματι χαρτίου, ἐκρέμνα αὐτῷ ἐπὶ τὸν τράχηλον, ἢ περὶ τὸν βραχίονα αὐτοῦ, μέχρις ὅτου αὐτὴν ἀπεστήθιζεν. Οοὕτως ἐποίει ὁ τρισμακάριστος τοὺς ἀλάλους λαλεῖν, καὶ τοὺς κωφοὺς ἀκούειν, καὶ τοὺς τυφλοὺς βλέπειν· τοὺς βαρβάρους, εἰργάζετο θεολόγους· καὶ τοὺς ποτὲ κτηνοτρόφους, ἀνθρώπων διδασκάλους· καὶ πολλοὺς μὲν ἀπήλλαξε δεινῶν δαιμονίων, πλείονας δὲ παθῶν ἀκαθάρτων, καὶ συνηθείας ἀτόπου· μεῖζον δὲ τοῦ προτέρου τὸ δεύτερον. Πολλὰ ἔχω τοῦ λέγειν περὶ αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐᾷ με ὁ χρόνος, ἐπείγόμαι γὰρ πρὸς τὸ τέλος. Μετὰ τὸ τελευτῆσαι τὸν ἀοίδιμον Ἀλιγέρνον, τὸν καλῶς καὶ ὁσίως ποιμάναντα τὴν μονὴν τοῦ ἀγίου Βενεδίκτου, ἀνέστη ἐπ᾽ αὐτὴν ἡγούμενος, ὃς οὐκ ᾔδει τὸν ὅσιον Νεῖλον, ὅστις ἦν· ἀληθῶς δ᾽ εἰπεῖν οὐδὲ τὸν Θεόν· ὅμως γνωρίσει τὰ περὶ αὐτὸν τοῦτο, ὅπερ συντόμως ἐρῶ.

[85] Παραβαλόντος

τοῦ μακαρίου μιᾷ τῶν ἡμερῶν πρὸς αὐτὸν, ἔτυχεν αὐτὸν εὑρεῖν ἐν τῷ κάτω μοναστήρίῳ, ἐν ᾧ ἵδρυται πάντερπνος ναὸς τοῦ ἁγιωτάτου Γερμανοῦ, ὑδάτων πλήθει καὶ κάλλει περιαντλούμενος. Εὗρε δὲ τὸν αὐτὸν ἡγούμενον σὺν τοῖς πρώτοις τοῦ μεγάλου μοναστηρίου λελουσμένον, καὶ ἐν τῷ ἀριστηρίῳ ἐσθίοντα. Ὡς οὖν περιέμενέν αὐτὸν ὁ ὅσιος ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ μετὰ τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ ἀδελφῶν, ἀκούει ὅτι κιθαριστὴς εἰσῆλθε κιθαρίζων ἐν τῷ ἀριστηρίῳ. Τότε ὁ μακαρίτης Νεῖλος ἔφη πρὸς τοὺς συνόντας· Μέμνησθέ μου τοῦ ῥήματος ἀδελφοὶ, ὅτι οὐ βραδύνει τοῦ ἐλθεῖν τὴν ὀργὴν Κυρίου ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τούτους. Ἐγείρεσθε, ἄγωμεν ἐντεῦθεν. Καὶ τοὺτο εἰπὼν ἀνεχώρησεν. Οὔπω διῆλθε χρόνος, καὶ ὁ μὲν ἡγούμενος κρατηθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ πρίγκιπος δι᾽ ἀνταρσίαν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐξωρύχθη, οἱ δὲ μοναχοὶ ἀῤῥωστίᾳ χαλεπῇ περιπεσόντες ἐβασανίσθησαν ἕως θανάτου, τινὲς δὲ ἐξ αὐτὼν καὶ ἀπέθανον· ὀ δὲ κιθαριστὴς ἐκεῖνος ἀπελθὼν εἰς τὸ κλέψαι καὶ πιασθεὶς, μετὰ πολλὰς τὰς βασάνους καὶ αὐτὸς τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐξωρύχθη· καὶ πάντες ἔπιον τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁργῆς τὸ ποτήριον κατὰ τὴν τοῦ γέροντος πρόῤῥησιν. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ὕστερον.

To Abara the widow, I know plainly and hold it for certain that, if all the men who are under the sun had come together to seek from him a fitting counsel, it would have come to pass that provision would have been made for their profit. For his counsel was as it were the counsel of God, full of all prudence and profit; which, when it was fully received, led on to a prosperous end, but when less carried into execution, brought about peril to the soul and loss to the body. Of this I could bring forward very many examples, were this not immense, and did not a long discourse breed weariness. This one out of many shall serve. Pandulf, prince of Capua, of whom we have spoken above, having ended his life, his wife, by name Abara, held sway over that whole region no less than her husband himself. She, led by jealousy for the principality, or rather by satanic spite, put it into the minds of the two sons ^a who had remained to her that they should by guile kill one of the counts, her own kinsman, as being more acceptable to the people for the principality and honored among all — which also they did. For he, being called by their sister to a conference, set out with no evil intent. But her brothers, having found a fitting pretext, set upon him and slew him with the sword. Their mother, feigning repentance, sent as a suppliant for the blessed Father to come to her, as though she would receive from him the imposition of a penalty which might make satisfaction for the crime committed. When the holy man had granted her prayers and had entered the town, all ran through the streets to look upon his venerable countenance and to be made partakers of his blessing. Among them was a certain deaconess set over a monastery, together with her presbyter, a young man and flourishing in the vigor of a lusty age; she had called together the virgins subject to her and had gone out to meet the holy man. But the blessed man, beholding their condition with a prophetic eye, did not stand in awe because they had come out to meet him, but met them like a fiery sword, with harsh voice and sternness of countenance saying: What have you to do with this young man, that you who seem to be virgins should consort with him? Do you not know that he is a man, and does he himself not know that you are women? If you do not fear God, do you at least not respect men? Truly I do not see in you the fruit of justice.

[80] When they had heard these things — whereas they ought to have been suffused with shame and to have dreaded the just man's free rebuke — who refused to fulfil the penance enjoined for the homicide, they went away saying: This man is not a servant of God, but a devil.

Soon on the following day the presbyter was caught lying with the deaconess's sister, and the matter was spread abroad through that whole city. After the blessed man had come into Abara's palace, she was seized with trembling at the sight of him, and falling at his feet she made confession and begged pardon. He bade her stand, and said: Do not do this, for I too am a sinful man, and have not yet received the power of binding and loosing. But go to the bishops, to whom the power of judging these things has been committed, and do whatever they shall tell you. She answered: I have confessed my sin to the bishops, and they have enjoined upon me that I recite the psalter once in the week and give alms to the needy. But I ask your holiness, servant of the Lord, that from you also I may hear what may be to my profit, and may obtain pardon of my sin. And the holy man said: To recite the psalter and to give alms profits you and the poor, but it brings no salvation to him who suffered death unjustly, nor will it take away the grief of those who mourn him. For what do you give that is worth as much as what you took away? But if you are altogether willing to take counsel from my poor self also, and to fulfil the will of God, behold, I tell you. Hand over one of your two sons to the kinsmen of the dead man, that they may do with him whatever shall please them, and then you will be purged of the sin ^b. For God said: From the hand of a man's brother will I require the life of that man. Whosoever shall shed human blood, his own blood shall be shed. And again: Everyone who takes the sword shall perish by the sword. For you are not weaker than Saul and Jephthah the judge, who by a law which they had themselves laid down delivered their own children to death. She answered: I cannot do this, for I fear that they will kill him.

[81] he prophesies the death of her son: Then the holy man, filled with zeal for God, said: Thus says the Holy Spirit: Your son's blood shall be shed for the blood which you have unjustly shed, and this sin shall not be blotted out from your house forever. And none of your seed shall reign in this city, but he shall be driven out and shall fall before his enemies; because you have trusted in your own power, and have not learned that the Lord makes poor and makes rich, humbles and lifts up. When she had heard these things, she began to weep and lament, and with her hands filled with gold she offered it to the just man, thinking by this means to render him appeased toward her. But he, plainly superior to every passion, neither bent by the woman's tears, nor allured by the abundance of gold, nor standing in awe of her who ruled, tore through the curtain of the chamber and, leaping forth like a roe, fled away, reflecting within himself, as he used to say: The devil said, This monk is dust; I will wet him with water, with a woman's tears, and I will make him mud, that he may be shaped to my pleasure. Thus in the very deed he fulfilled that saying, Be prudent as serpents and simple as doves; and the Apostolic precept, Do not communicate in other men's sins. And then indeed he withdrew to his own monastery, and not long after his prophecy came to its fulfilment. For the younger son of the said woman, out of eagerness to take the principality for himself, cut the throat of the elder with a sword as he was praying in the church, and he himself for that same cause was led away in chains by the king of the Franks ^c. Wherefore within a short time all their pride vanished and their power perished. But let no one of those who are bold in all things accuse the Father, as though he were too severe upon sinners. For he was driven by zeal for defending the law of the Lord, like the prophet Elijah, whose very likeness of face too he bore; and this not only toward strangers and those who touched him by no kinship, but even toward those who seemed to belong to him by right of the flesh and to be his own members. For he was as free from every attachment to his own as will be made plain by the example which we shall subjoin; for I shall relate this also for the caution of readers and for the amendment of those who imitate Eli.

[82] he most sharply chastises his sister's son, fallen into a fault: There was in the monastery, among the number of the brethren, the son of the blessed man's sister and foster-mother, of a very fine intelligence and apt for either kind of work. He, when he was once making a journey with the brethren and was carrying a silver chalice, came upon a most limpid spring; and when they wished to draw water to drink, he brought out the sacred chalice, and all, carried away by an immoderate delight in the brightness of the metal, drank from it. When the blessed man had learned this, his anger blazed against him, and after many rebukes he so turned away from him that he would not even speak to him. And his turning away was just as God's turning away, by which the prudent were rendered more wary than by rod and scourge. But that brother, weighed down by grief at the rebuke and worn out by the Father's aversion, fell into a grave illness, of which also he died. But the blessed man, through the whole time of his sickness, going into the church and returning and passing close by the entrance of his cell, never looked in, never visited him, until his departure from life. And yet all the brethren had observed that whenever any brother lay ill and the Father visited him often, the sick man never recovered. Then, therefore, one of the elders, when he had seen the Father weeping and lamenting the brother's death, came to him privately and spoke as one grieving at the brother's sadness, in which he had died because of the Father's aversion. But he said: Had I not turned away from him, God would not have taken him. And I am certain that his soul will enjoy great gladness on account of this slight sorrow; since God is not unjust, that he should take a man out of prison and cast him into prison. Such was the discretion of our father Nilus, most discerning and most wise above many holy Fathers. For by discretion he surpassed the observers of the strictest rigor, and by the strictest rigor of life he surpassed the most discerning; he surpassed the simple in knowledge, and surpassed the learned in simplicity; those conspicuous in life and renowned in speech he surpassed by the splendor of his life, and those endowed with both by the highest perfection of both: endowed with manners not of this world, wholly a stranger to the world, unconquerable by the passions, lofty in the perceptions of his mind, unbending toward the exalted, bearing toward the lowly the affection of one who suffers with them.

[83] A certain Lombard stole a horse of the monastery: two of the brethren therefore came to the Father he gives to the thief the horse recovered from him, and teaches his brethren and asked that they might be allowed to pursue and recover the horse, since it was very useful to the monastery; and they accomplished the thing. For when with much toil they had come to the town in which the thief was, at the mere hearing of the Father's name the lord of the place at once brought the horse and delivered it over to them together with the thief in bonds. Returning to the monastery and falling down before the Father with joy, they said: Helped by your prayers, O Father, we have brought back both the horse and the thief. He called the Lombard to him and said: Do you, brother, truly love this horse? And he said: If I did not love it, I would not have stolen it. Then the Father gave him the horse as a gift, and added the saddle and bridle, saying: If you love it, take it and go. He went away glad and exulting. And when the brethren had begun to murmur, the Father called them and instructed them, saying: Learn this, brethren: to be deprived of goods in any manner whatsoever is to be freed from sins. Are we unworthy to fulfil, even we, one chapter of what is related in the Lives of the holy Fathers? If God wills to have mercy on us, let us not resist him. And they said: It grieves us, Father, that after the many labors of our journey, when we had found what had been lost, you then bestowed it upon the thief. The Father answered: This I did for you, that you might learn in very deed to love your enemies and to do good to those who lie in wait for you, and to possess all things having nothing, as the Gospel and the Apostle teach us. This was the mind, this the teaching of our father Nilus of blessed memory, who had always in his mouth the sayings of the blessed and most wise doctors, and strove with every effort that he might make good in deed what was said, and that what was learned might bring forth prudence, and that action might be like unto instruction.

[84] to love their enemies and the other virtues: to monks of dissolute life And not himself alone, but his own likewise he filled with light and seasoned with salt, hearing from the Savior: You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. For often, when he had come upon a saying or a sentence, or upon a verse from the Offices of the Saints containing something for the correcting of morals, he would call the brethren together and distribute it as it were an inherited portion, that they might commit it to memory — giving lofty things to the strong, but light things to the weaker; and to each one, according to the passion under which he labored, he applied the plaster of a lesson. For example, if anyone was given to the belly, he gave precepts of abstinence; if anyone lustful, of chastity; if anyone desirous of vainglory, of humility; if anyone talkative and contentious, the epistle of the apostle James. And if anyone was of duller wit and had no strength of memory, he would write the sentence on a little scrap of paper and hang it about his neck or his arm, until he could recite it by heart. Thus did the thrice-blessed Father, so that the dumb spoke and the deaf heard and the blind saw: he made barbarians into theologians, and changed herdsmen of beasts into teachers of men; and many indeed he freed from harassing demons, but more from impure affections of the mind and from unseemly habit; and this latter is a greater thing than the former. I have many things to say of him, but the time does not permit, since I am hastening to the end. When the most renowned Aligernus had died, who had administered the monastery of St. Benedict well and holily, there succeeded him a hegumen who did not know what manner of man the blessed Nilus was — nay, it may even be said, nor God himself. This will be made plain by what I shall relate in few words.

[85] he foretells the divine vengeance. When the blessed man had once set out to visit him, he happened to find him in the lower monastery, where a church is situated dedicated to the most holy Germanus ^d, most beautiful for the abundance and pleasantness of the waters flowing about it. And he found this same hegumen, together with the chief men of the greater monastery, bathed and dining in the refectory. When therefore the holy man was waiting for him in the church together with the brethren who accompanied him, he heard that a harper had come in playing on the strings in the refectory. Then the blessed Nilus said to his companions: Remember my word, brethren: the wrath of the Lord will come upon these men, and it will not be slow. Rise, let us go hence. And having said this, he departed. A year had not yet gone by when the hegumen, seized by the prince as an accomplice in a conspiracy, was punished with the loss of his eyes ^e; the monks, oppressed by a grave illness, were afflicted even unto death, and some also departed this life; and that harper, when he had gone out for the sake of stealing, was taken, and after many torments at last his eyes too were dug out; and all drank the cup of the Lord's wrath according to the old man's prophecy. But these things were afterward.

ANNOTATA.

Pandulf had received: namely Landulf, Pandulf, Atenulf, Landenulf, Gisulf, and Laidulf. Of these, after the year 991, in which Gisulf died, only two survived: Landenulf and Laidulf, of whom the account here speaks. For Landulf IV, the firstborn, perished with his brother Atenulf in battle against the Saracens six months after his father's death; nor did Pandulf, the second born, who had been adopted by prince Gisulf I and had obtained the principality of Salerno, survive him by many more. Landenulf succeeded together with his mother Aloara by the decree of Otto II, and survived his mother by six months, until the 12th Kalends of May of the year 993, in which he was slain. At last Laidulf, the last born, seized his brothers' principality until the year 999, in which he was banished into exile by Otto III; and in him the seed of Aloara lost the Capuan principality, Ademar being substituted. See, if you desire more on these matters, Muratori, volume 2 of the Writers of Italian Affairs, page 303 and following.

CHAPTER XIII.

St. Nilus leaves the abbey of Vallis-Lucii as a place too comfortable for himself and his own, and migrates to another more solitary one in the territory of Gaeta; he admits women, even princesses, to conversation only under compulsion; he approaches princes and magnates only when he is to act on behalf of the wretched. Setting out for Rome, he pleads before the Pontiff and the emperor on behalf of John the antipope.

Ο τοίνυν μακαρίτης Νεῖλος ποιήσας ἐν τῇ μονῆ τοῦ λεγομένου Βαλλελουκίου περὶ τὰ πεντεκαίδεκα ἔτη, καὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν πληθυνθέντων, καὶ πάντων τῶν τῆς χρείας ὑπερεκχυνομένων, καὶ τοῦ μοναστηρίου μεγαλυνθέντος, καὶ ὀνομαστοῦ γενομένου τῇ αὐτοῦ συνεργίᾳ, οὐ πρότερον ὄντος τοιούτου, ἑώρα τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς οὐ πάνυ φροντίζοντας τῆς πνευματικῆς λειτουργίας, καὶ τῆς τοῦ κανόνος ἀκριβείας, ἐν ᾗ ἐτετύπωντο ἀρχῆθεν ἀλλὰ τῇ πλατείᾳ ὁδῷ ἡδομένους, καὶ ἀμφιβολίᾳ περιβαλλομένους τίς μείζων· συνήργει δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ ἡ κουφότης τοῦ προλεχθέντος ἡγουμένου, ἅτε δωρολήπτου καὶ μισευλαβοῦς τυγχάνοντος. Ταῦτα ἰδὼν ὁ μακάριος, καὶ γνοὺς ὡς ἡ τῶν ὑλῶν ἀφθονία αἰτία καθίσταται τῆς πολλῆς ἀταξίας καὶ παντελοῦς ἀνευλαβείας, ἀναστὰς ἀπῇρεν ἐκεῖθεν, καὶ διήρχετο ζητῶν τόπον, ὅπου εὕρῃ στενὸν, καὶ κόπῳ χορηγοῦντα τὴν τοῦ σώματος χρείαν, ἵνα κᾂν τῇ ἐνδείᾳ τῶν ἀναγκαίων ὥσπερ χαλινῷ οἱ πολλοὶ πρὸς τὸ τῆς ἀσκήσεως στάδιον ἑλκυσθῶσιν. Ὅθεν καὶ πολλῶν ἀπὸ τῶν πέριξ πόλεων προστρεχόντων καὶ προσκαλουμένων, καὶ τὰς οἰκείας ὑποστάσεις τῷ μακαρίτῃ προσφερόντων, τινῶν δὲ καὶ μοναστήρια προητοιμασμένα χαριζομένων, οὐδόλως αὐτὸς κατεδέξατο· οὐ γὰρ εὕρισκεν ἐν αὐτοῖς ὃ ἐπεζήτει, ἐρημίαν, καὶ ἡσυχίαν, καὶ τῶν πολλῶν ἀποικίαν. Ἕλεγε γὰρ, ὅτι οὐ συμφέρει τοῖς ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ μοναχοῖς ἄνεσις καὶ ἀφροντησία· οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἡ σχολὴ αὐτῶν ἐν προσευχῇ καὶ θεωρίᾳ καὶ τῇ τῶν Γραφῶν ἀναπτύξει, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν ματαιολογίᾳ καὶ κακενθυμησίᾳ καὶ τῇ τῶν ματαίων περιεργίᾳ. Διόπερ εὐρίσκονται τὸν ἐν κόπῳ περισπασμὸν ἀποτροπὴν πονηρῶν λογισμῶν καὶ πολλῶν κακῶν· προτιμητέον τε τὸ, Ἐν ἱδρῶτι τοῦ προσώπου ἐσθίειν τὸν ἄρτον. Οὕτω καὶ ἡ ἀποστολικὴ ἐντολὴ πληρωθήσεται, καὶ οἱ πυκνῶς παρερχόμενοι συμμέτρως ἀναπαυόμενοι στεφάνων ἡμῖν αἴτιοι ἀξίως γενήσονται.

[87] Ταύτης

τῆς συνέσεως τοῦ δικαίου τινὲς τῶν ἀδελφῶν μηδαμῶς αἰσθανθέντες, τοὐναντίον μὲν οὖν τὴν εὐρύχωρον ὁδὸν τῆς στενῆς προτιμῶντες, ἐναπέμειναν τῷ προλεχθέντι μοναστηρίῳ, προσδεθέντες τῇ τοῦ τόπου διαναπαύσει, καὶ ἀχθεσθέντες τῇ στρυφνότητι τοῦ ἁγίου. Οὐ μέντοι εὗρον ἀνάπαυσιν πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ἐκεῖσε αὐτῶν ἀσκήσεως· οὕτε διέλειψεν αὐτοῖς ἀκαστασία καὶ ἀταξία, θλίψις τε καὶ λογολεσχία· τέλος δε καὶ παντελῶς ἐξεώσθησαν καὶ ἀπηλάθησαν. Ὁ δὲ μακάριος μετὰ τῶν συνελθόντων αὐτῷ ἀδελφῷν, καὶ τοῦ ἀοδίμου Στεφάνου εὑρὼν ἐν τοῖς τῆς Γαΐτας μέρεσι τοπάριον, ἀληθῶς δ᾽ εἰπεῖν σπανίδριον, καὶ ἀρεσθεὶς ἐπὶ τῇ αὐτοῦ στενότητι καὶ ξηρότητι κατῴκησεν ἐκεῖ, ἐν ἀρχῇ μὲν ἐν ἐνδείᾳ καὶ λείψει τῶν σωματικῶν· μετ᾽ οὐ πολὺ δὲ πλειόνων ἀδελφῶν καὶ πάντων θεοφιλῶν συνελθόντων ἅπαντα ἐν εὐθηνίᾳ κατέστη, ἀπερισπάστως τε ἦν ἐργασία, καὶ ἀδιάλειπτος ψαλμῳδία, ψαλμολογίαι συχναὶ, καὶ γονυκλισίαι πυκναὶ, ἐγκράτεια ἑκούσιος, καὶ ὑπακοὴ ἀβίαστος· καὶ λοιπὸν ἅπαντα ἤνθουν καὶ ἐκαρποφόρουν τῇ ἀρδίᾳ τῶν λόγων καὶ ἀπαύστῳ διδασκαλίᾳ τοῦ θεοφόρου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Νείλου. Ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ᾽ αὐτὸς ὁ ἀήττητος ἐν ἀγῶσιν ἀπέκοπτε τῆς συνήθους αὐτοῦ ἐγκρατείας, καὶ τῶν ἐνθέων κατορθωμάτων· ἀλλ᾽ ὅσον τῷ σώματι ἐγήρα καὶ ἐξησθένει, τοσοῦτον τῷ πνεύματι ἀνέθαλλε καὶ ἐδυναμοῦτο. Οὐδέποτε ἦν αὐτῷ παραλύσαι νηστείαν, ἢ γεύσασθαι, ἢ πιεῖν καιρῷ μὴ νενομισμένῳ, ὠς ἔθος τῶν γηρασκόντων. Οὐδέ ποτε ἐγεύσατο κρέατος, ἢ τὸ σῶμα ἐλούσατο μέχρι τῆς τελευτῆς αὐτοῦ· καὶ ταῦτα ἐν βαθεῖ γῆρᾳ· ἐκατοστὸς γὰρ ἀποθνήσκει πέντε δεόντων· καὶ νόσοις μεγάλαις καὶ ποικίλαις πυκτεύων οὐ μόνον διὰ τὸ γῆρας, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὴν πολλὴν κακουχίαν, καὶ ἄφατον σκληραγωγίαν. Εἰς τοιαύτην γὰρ ἕξιν ἠγωνίσατο καὶ ἤγαγεν ἑαυτὸν, ὅτι καὶ εἰ ἤθελε φαγεῖν ἢ πιεῖν πρὸς τὸ ἀνακτήσασθαι ἑαυτὸν, οὐκ εἴα αὐτὸν ἡ συνήθεια· ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ ὕπνου ἠδύνατο μετασχεῖν τὸ ἀρκοῦν.

[88] Πολλάκις

δὲ καὶ ἑαυτοῦ ἐξίστατο, καὶ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον διέμενεν ἄφωνος, καὶ τῶν παρόντων μὴ αἰσθανόμενος. Πλὴν ὅτι καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ἐκστάσει εἴ ποτέ τι ἐλάλησεν, ἐκ τῶν τῆς θείας λειτουργίας ἀποκρίσεων ἀπεφθέγγετο· οἷον τὸ, Παράσχου Κύριε· ἢ τὸ, Ἅγιος, ἅγιος, ἅγιος Κούριος, καὶ τὰ ὅμοια· ἄλλοτε δὲ καὶ τὸν ἄμωμον στιχολογῶν ηὑρίσκετο. Εἰ δέ τις μετὰ ταῦτα τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἠρώτα αὐτὸν, Τί σοι γέγονε πάτερ; καὶ ποῦ ἦς ἕως ἄρτι; Ἀπεκρίνετο· Ὅτι ἐγήρασα τέκνον, καὶ ἐληρίασα, καὶ ἐδαιμονίσθην, καὶ τί πάσχω οὐκ οἶδα. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς παραβάλλουσιν ἀκαίρως, καὶ ἀπασχολοῦσιν αὐτὸν ἐκ τῆς κατὰ νοῦν θεωρίας, ἐκέλευε λέγειν· Ὅτι ἐδαιμονίσθη ὁ γέρων, καὶ οὐ δύναται τινὶ ἀπαντῆσαι. Ὅσον δὲ αὐτὸς ἐξουθένει καὶ ἐταπείνου ἑαυτὸν, τοσοῦτον διήρχετο καὶ ἐμεγαλύνετο ἡ φήμη αὐτοῦ· καὶ πάντες ἔτρεχον τοῦ θεάσασθαι αὐτὸν, καὶ ἀκοῦσαι τῆς συντυχίας αὐτοῦ. Ἐν μιᾷ γοῦν παρακαλεῖ τὸν τῆς Γαΐτας ἅρχοντα ἡ σύμβιος αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἀπελθεῖν εἰς προσκύνησιν τοῦ δούλου τοῦ Θεοῦ. Καὶ λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ ἀνήρ· Δηλώσωμεν πρῶτον αὐτῷ, μή πως φανῇ αὐτῷ βαρὺ, καὶ ἀχθεσθεὶς φύγῃ ἀπὸ τῆς χώρας ἡμῶν, καὶ ζημιωθῶμεν τὸν δοῦλον τοῦ Θεοῦ. Τότε μηνύουσιν αὐτῷ περὶ τούτου, πολλὰ παρακαλοῦντες αὐτόν· ἐγίνωσκον γὰρ, ὅτι σφόδρα ἀποστρέφεται τὴν συντυχίαν τῶν γυναικῶν· καὶ ὅτι οὐδέποτε εἰσέρχεται γυνὴ ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ αὐτοῦ. Ἀντιδηλοῖ οὖν αὐτῇ ὁ ὅσιος λέγων· Συμπάθησόν μοι διὰ τὸν Κύριον, ὅτι ἡνίκα ἤμην κοσμικὸς, ἐδαιμονιζόμην· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀφ᾽ οὗ γέγονα μοναχὸς, ἐξιάθην· νυνὶ δὲ ἐὰν ἴδω γυναῖκα, πάραυτα ὁ δαίμων ὑποστρέφει καὶ κολάζει με. Ταῦτα ἡ γυνὴ ἀκούσασα καὶ νοήσασα, πλέον ἀνεπτερώθη πρὸς τὸ αὐτὸν θεάσασθαι· καὶ τοσοῦτον ἐπύκτευσεν, ἕως ὅτου ἦλθε καὶ ἠξιώθη τῆς αὐτοῦ προσκυνήσεως· παρήγγειλε μέντοι μηδεμίαν τῶν γυναικῶν τοῦ

ἄστεος ἀκολουθῆσαι, ἀλλἀ πάντας ἄνδρας συμπορευθῆναι αὐτῇ. Ο δὲ μακάριος ὀλέγα περὶ σωφροσύνης, καὶ ἐλεημοσύνης, καὶ φόβου Θεοῦ νουθετήσας αὐτὴν, ἀπέλυσε μετὰ χαρᾶς εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτῆς.

[89] Αὐτὸς

μὲν οὖν ἄχθος μέγα ἡγεῖτο, καὶ σφόδρα ἀπεστρέφετο τὴν τῶν ἐνδόξων τῆς γῆς συντυχίαν, ὥσπερ πρόξενον κενοδοξίας καὶ ψυχικῆς ζημίας. Ἠνάγκαζε δὲ τοῦτον τοῦτο καταδέχεσθαι ἡ τῶν παρ᾽ αὐτῶν ἀδικουμένων καὶ πλεονεκτουμένων ἐνόχλησις, οὓς πολλάκις διὰ γραφῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ μόνης ἐκ τῶν φαρύγγων αὐτῶν ἀνέσπασεν. Καὶ εἴ τις ἂν τὰς τοιαύτας ἐπιστολὰς αὐτοῦ συνελέξατο, πάνυ ὠφέλιμον καὶ χρησιμωτάτην βίβλον ἐξ αὐτῶν συστῆσαι ἠδύνατο. Οὕτω δὲ πεποίηκεν καὶ εἰς τὸν συμπολίτην αὐτοῦ Φιλάγαθον τὸν ἀρχιεπίσκοπον. Ἡνίκα γὰρ ὁ ῥηθεὶς ἐπέβη τῷ Ρώμης ἀπλήστως θρόνῳ, μὴ ἀρκεσθεὶς τῇ τοῦ κόσμου μεγαλειότητι, ᾖ Θεὸς παραδόξως αὐτὸν ὑπερύψωσεν· ἐν ἄμφω γὰρ τοῖς βασιλείοις δεδόξαστο· ὁ μὲν οἷα γινώσκων τὸ μέλλον, ἐπέστελλεν αὐτὸν δυσωπῶν, παραχωρῆσαι τῇ ἀνθρωπίνῃ δόξῃ, ἅ τε ταύτης εἰς κόρον χρησάμενον, καὶ ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ πρὸς τὴν μοναχικὴν κατάστασιν ἀνακάμψαι. Ἐκεῖνος δὲ οὐ διέλιπεν συντασσόμενος, ἕως ὅτου ἐξῆλθεν ὁ βασιλεὺς σὺν τῷ ἐκδιωχθέντι προέδρῳ, καὶ τῆς αὐτῶν ἀφορήτου ὀργῆς ἔργον ἐγενέτο. Στερηθεὶς γὰρ παρ᾽ αὐτῶν τῶν χρειωδεστέρων μελῶν, ὀφθαλμῶν λέγω καὶ γλώττης καὶ ῥινὸς, ἔῤῥιπτο εἰς φυλακὴν ἐλεεινός τε καὶ ἀπροστάτευτος. Ταῦτα ἀκούσας ὁ θεοφόρος πατὴρ, καὶ τὴν καρδίαν τῇ θλίψει καταπιεσθεὶς, ἠναγκάσθη ἐν τοιούτῳ γήρᾳ καὶ νόσῳ καὶ καιρῷ· τεσσαρακοστὴ γὰρ ἦν· τὴν Ῥώμην καταλαβεῖν, καὶ τῷ βασιλεῖ μετὰ παρακλήσεως προσελθεῖν. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς σὺν τῷ πατριαρχῃ ἀκούσαντες τὴν ἔλευσιν αὐτοῦ, προϋπήντησαν αὐτῷ· καὶ κρατήσαντες αὐτὸν ἀμφοτέρωθεν τῶν χειρῶν, ἀνήγαγον εἰς τὸ πατριαρχεῖον, καθίσαντες αὐτὸν μέσον· κᾀκεῖνοι ἐκ δεξιῶν καὶ ἀριστερῶν κατεφίλουν τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ.

[90] Ὁ

δὲ ὅσιος, εἰ καὶ σφόδρα ἐβαρύνετο καὶ ἔστενεν ἐπὶ τοῖς οὕτω γινομένοις, ὅμως πάντα ὑπέμενεν, εἴ πως ἐπιτύχοι τοῦ αἰτήματος· καί φησι πρὸς αὐτοὺς. Συγχωρήσατέ μοι διὰ τὸν Κύριον τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ παρὰ πάντας ἀνθρώπους καὶ ἡμιθνήτῳ γέροντι, ὅτι ἀνάξιος ὑπάρχω τῆς τοιαύτης τιμῆς· μᾶλλον ἐμόν ἐστι τὸ προσκυνεῖν τοὺς τιμίους πόδας ὑμῶν, καὶ σέβεσθαι τὰς τοιαύτας ἀξίας ὑμῶν. Πλὴν ἐλήλυθα πρὸς τὴν ἐνδοξότητα ὑμῶν, οὐ δόξης ὀρεγόμενος, ἢ δωρεῶν, ἢ προσόδων μεγίστων, ἀλλὰ χάριν τοῦ πολλὰ δουλεύσαντος ὑμῖν, καὶ κακῶς διοικηθέντος παρ᾽ ὑμῶν· τοῦ ὑμᾶς ἀμφοτέρους ἀπὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἀναδεδεγμένου, καὶ παρ᾽ ὑμῶν τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐξορωρυγμένου. Δέομαι τῆς φιλευσεβείας ὑμῶν δωρήσασθαί μοι αὐτὸν, ἵνα καθίσας μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ, κλαύσωμεν ἀμφότεροι τὰς ἀμαρτίας ἠμῶν. Τότε ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐπιδακρύσας μικρὸν· οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἀληθῶς τὸ πᾶν τῆς αὐτοῦ βουλῆς· ἀπεκρίθη τῷ μακαρίῳ· Πάντα ἐσμὲν ἕτοιμοι τοῦ πληρῶσαι τὰ δοκοῦντα τῇ σῇ ἁγιωσύνῃ, εἴγε καὶ σὺ ἐπακούσῃς τῆς ἡμῶν παρακλήσεως, καὶ καταδέξῃ τοῦ λαβεῖν μοναστήριον ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ πόλει, οἷον ἂν βούλῃ, καὶ εἶναι μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν διὰ παντός. Τοῦ δὲ γέροντος ἀπαναινομένου τὴν ἐν τῇ πόλει διατριβὴν, προέτεινεν αὐτῷ τὸν ἅγιον Ἀναστάσιον, ὡς ἔξω θορύβου ὑπάρχοντα, καὶ ἀεὶ τῷ ἡμετέρῳ γένει προσαναφέροντα. Καὶ δὴ κατεδέξατο σπουδάζων τοῦ ζητουμένου τυχεῖν δωρήματος. Ὁ δὲ ἄγριος πάπας ἐκεῖνος μὴ χορτασθεὶς ἐφ᾽ οἷς ἔπραξεν εἰς τὸν προῤῥηθέντα Φιλάγαθον· ἀγαγών τε αὐτὸν, καὶ τὴν ἱερατικὴν στολὴν διαῤῥήξας ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ, περιήγαγεν αὐτὸν πᾶσαν τὴν Πώμην.

[91] Ὅπερ

ἀκούσας ὁ ἅγιος γέρων, καὶ πάνυ λυπηθεὶς, οὐκέτι ᾐτήσατο παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως τὸν ἀρχιεπίσκοπον. Ὡς δὲ ἔγνω τοῦτο ὁ βασιλεὺς, ἀποστέλλει ἕνα τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀρχιεπισκόπων λίαν στωμύλον πρὸς τὸ δυσωπῆσαι τὸν γέροντα. Πρὸς ὃν εἶπεν ὁ ὅσιος· Ἄπελθε, εἰπὲ τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ τῷ πάπᾳ· Τάδε λέγει ὁ ἔξηχος γέρων· Ἐχαρίσασθέ μοι τὸν τυφλὸν τοῦτον οὔτε διὰ τὸν ἐμὸν φόβον, οὔτε διὰ τὴν μεγάλην μου δυναστείαν, ἀλλὰ διὰ μόνην τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγάπην. Νῦν οὖν ὅσα αὐτῷ προσεθήκατε, οὐκ αὐτῷ ἀλλ᾽ ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε, μᾶλλον δὲ εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν Θεὸν ἐνυβρίσατε. Ἔστε τοίνυν γινώσκοντες, ὅτι καθὼς ὑμεῖς οὐ συνεπαθήσατε, οὔτε ἐνεδείξασθε ἔλεος εἰς τὸν ὑπὸ Θεοῦ παραδοθέντα εἰς τὰς χεῖρας ὑμῶν, οὕτως οὐδὲ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς συμπαθήσει τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν· Ὁ δὲ πολυλόγος ἐκεῖνος ἀρχιεπίσκοπος περιλαλῶν τὸν ὅσιον οὐκ ἐπάυετο, ἀπολολογούμενος ὑπὲρ τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ τοῦ πάπα. Καὶ ὁ γέρων κλίνας τὴν κεφαλὴν ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ, προσεποιήσατο τοῦ νυστάζειν. Ὡς οὖν εἶδεν αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνος μηδόλως προσέχοντα τοῖς αὐτοῦ λόγοις, ἀναστὰς ἐπορεύθη. Ὁ δὲ ὅσιος παρευθὺς σὺν τοῖς συνοῦσιν αὐτῷ ἀδελφοῖς ἐπιβὰς τοῖς κτήνεσι, δι᾽ ὅλης τῆς νυκτὸς ἐκείνης κατέλαβε τὸ ἴδιον μοναστήριον, τῇ προσευχῇ καὶ ἑαυτῷ προσανέχων, καὶ τὸν Θεὸν ἀπαύστως ἐξιλεούμενος. Μετ᾽ οὐ πολλὰς οὖν ἡμέρας ὁ μὲν πάπας ὥσπερ τις τύραννος βιαίως τῶν ἔνθεν ἀπήγετο, ὥς τινων λεγόντων ἀκήκοα, τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐκβρασθεὶς, καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν παρειῶν αὐτοὺς περιφέρων οὕτω τᾦ τάφῳ παρεδίδοτο. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς μετανοεῖν ἐπαγγελλόμενος, πεζοπορῶν ἀπὸ Ῥώμης πρὸς τὸν τοῦ Γαργάνου ἀπῃει ἀσώματον Ἀρχιστράτηγον· καὶ ἡ αὐτοῦ ὑποστροφὴ διὰ τῆς ξενίας τοῦ μακαρίου ἐγίγνετο.

[92] Ἐλθὼν

οὖν ἐπάνωθεν τοῦ μοναστηρίου, καὶ θεασάμενος τὰς καλύβας τῶν ἀδελφῶν περὶ τὸ εὐκτήριον πεπηγμένας, ἔφη· Ἰδοὺ αἱ σκηναὶ τοῦ Ἱσραὴλ ἐν ἐρήμῳ· ἰδοὺ οἱ πολῖται τῆς οὐρανῶν βασιλείας· οὗτοι οὐχ ὡς κάτοικοι, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς παροδῖται ἐνθάδε μένουσιν. Ὁ δὲ μακάριος κελεύσας θυμιατὸν γενέσθαι, ὑπήντησεν αὐτῷ σὺν πάσῃ τῇ ἀδελφότητι· καὶ μετὰ πάσης ταπεινοφροσύνης καὶ εὐλαβείας προσεκύνησεν αὐτῷ. Ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς ὑποθεὶς τὴν χεῖρα καὶ ὑποστηρίζων τὸν γέροντα, εἰσῄεσαν ἅμα εἰς τὸ εὐκτήριον. Εἶτα εὐχῆς γενομένης, εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεὺς τῷ ἁγίῳ· Ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ιησοὺς Χριστὸς ἕως συμπαρῆν τοῖς Ἀποστόλοις, ἐκέλευεν αὐτοῖς μὴ πήραν, μὴ ῥάβδον, μήτε μὴν δύο χιτῶνας κεκτῆσθαι. Ἐρχόμενος δὲ πρὸς τὸ πάθος, πάλιν εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· ἀλλὰ νῦν ὁ ἔχων βαλάντιον, ἀράτω καὶ πήραν. Καὶ αὐτὸς τοίνυν γηράσας, καὶ μέλλων ἀπιέναι πρὸς τὴν τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείαν, φρόντισον τῶν σῶν γεννημάτων, μήπως στενοχωρηθέντες μετὰ σὲ τῇ δυσκολίᾳ τοῦ τόπου, ἀναχωρήσαντες σκορπισθῶσιν. Ἡμεῖς δώσομεν μοναστήριον, καὶ προσόδους, ὅπου ἂν κελεύσῃς ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ ἡμετέρῳ κράτει. Ὁ ὅσιος ἀπεκρίθη· Τοῦ Δαβὶδ ἤκουσα λέγοντος· Σῶσον με Κύριε, ὅτι ἐκλέλοιπεν ὅσιος, ὅτι ὠλιγώθησαν αἱ ἀλήθειαι ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων· καὶ πάλιν· Οὐκ ἔστι ποιῶν χρηστότητα, οὐκ ἔστιν ἕως ἑνός.

[93] Εἰ

δὲ καὶ ὅλως εἰσὶ μοναχοὶ οἱ μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ ἀδελφοὶ, καὶ φυλάξουσι κατὰ δύναμιν τὰς ἐντολὰς τοῦ Χριστοῦ, αὐτὸς ὁ οἰκονομήσας αὐτοὺς ἕως τοῦ νῦν μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ, πολλῷ μᾶλλον φροντίσει αὐτῶν καὶ ἄνευ ἐμοῦ· ὃς οὐκ ἐν τῇ δυναστείᾳ τοῦ δυνατοῦ, οὐδὲ ἐν ταῖς κνήμαις τοῦ ἀνδρὸς εὐδοκεῖ, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν τοῖς ἐλπίζουσιν ἐπὶ τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ. Τούτων καὶ ἑτέρων πολλῶν λαληθέντων ἀνέστη ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀναχωρῆσαι. Καὶ πάλιν ἐπιστραφεὶς πρὸς τὸν γέροντα εἶπεν· Αἴτησόν μοι ὡς τέκνον σου, εἴ τι ἂν βούλῃ, καὶ μετὰ πάσης προθυμίας πληρώσω σοι· Ὁ δὲ μακάριος ἐκτείνας τὴν χεῖρα πρὸς τῷ στήθει τοῦ βασιλέως, εἶπεν· Οὐδὲν ἄλλο δέομαι τῆς σῆς βασιλείας, ἀλλ᾽ ἢ τὴν σωτηρίαν τῆς ψυχῆς σου· κᾄν γὰρ βασιλεὺς τυγχάνῃς, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς εἷς τῶν ἀνθρώπων τελευτῆσαι ἕχεις, καὶ εἰς κρίσιν παρασταθῆναι, καὶ λόγον δοῦναι ὧν ἔπραξας πονηρῶν τε καὶ καλῶν ἔργων. Καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς ταῦτα ἀκούων σταγόνας δακρύων προέχεεν ἀπὸ τῶν ὀμμάτων. Εἶτα τὸν στέφανον κλίνας ἐν ταῖς χερσὶ τοῦ ἁγίου, καὶ εὐλογηθεὶς παρ᾽ αὐτοῦ σὺν πᾶσι τοῖς μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ἐπορεύετο τὴν ὀδόν. Ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ οὕτως ἐξέφυγε τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ κριμάτων τὸ πέρας. Εὐθἐως γὰρ ἐλθὼν ἐν τῇ Ρώμῃ, καὶ στάσεως αὐτῷ γενομένης ἀνεχώρησε φεύγων, καὶ κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ἐτελεύτησεν. Οἱ δὲ πατέρες διεγόγγυζον κατὰ τοῦ γέροντος ὡς μὴ δεξαμένου τὴν πρὸς τοῦ βασίλεως χάριν, μοναστέριον αὐτοῖς δωρήσασθαι βουλομένου. Ὁ δὲ πατὴρ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἔφη· Ἐγὼ μὲν ὥσπερ ἄφρων ἐλάλησα ἅπερ εἶπον, ὑμεῖς δὲ μετ᾽ ὀλίγον γνώσεσθε ἃ φρονεῖτε. Μετὰ ταῦτα γοῦν ἀκούσαντες τὴν τελευτὴν τοῦ βασιλέως, ἐθαύμασαν τὴν τοῦ μεγάλου οἰκονομίαν.

Moreover the blessed Nilus, having dwelt in the monastery under the title of Vallelucium Leaving the monastery of Vallelucium as too wealthy, for about fifteen years, after the number of the brethren had grown and necessaries were superabundant, and the monastery had become large and, by his labor, famous, whereas before it had not been such — saw that the brethren were more slackly disposed toward the spiritual ministry and toward the exact discipline of the Rule which they had undertaken from the beginning, and that they took pleasure in the broad way and contended among themselves which of them was the greater. To this the levity of the aforesaid hegumen also contributed, since he delighted in gifts and piety was hateful to him. After the blessed man had perceived these things, knowing that abundance of goods is for most men a cause of dissolution and of complete relaxation in the keeping of religion, he rose and departed thence, and wandered about seeking a place narrow and supplying the body's necessaries only with labor, so that at least by scarcity of food the unlearned might be drawn as by a bridle to the pursuit of the monastic life. Wherefore, though many flocked together from the surrounding cities and invited him, and offered their own means to the blessed man, and some even bestowed monasteries already built, he rejected them all outright; for he did not find in them what he himself sought — solitude and quiet and withdrawal from the throng of men. For he used to say that for the monks of this age relaxation of mind and sloth were not useful, since they gave their leisure not to prayer, contemplation, and the exposition of the Scriptures, but to idle talk and depraved thoughts and curiosity about empty things. Wherefore, he said, the occupation of labor is for them the avoidance of depraved thoughts and of many evils; and therefore that saying is to be embraced, In the sweat of thy brow thou shalt eat bread. And thus the Apostolic precept is fulfilled, and those who pass through among us frequently, enjoying a moderate repose, deservedly become for us the authors of crowns.

[87] [he betakes himself to a less commodious place near Gaeta, where he trains his own in abstinence and austerity of life,] Not perceiving this prudence of the just man — nay rather preferring the wide-open way to the narrow — the brethren remained in the said monastery, bound to the conveniences of the place and bearing ill the holy Father's severity. Yet they were not able to enjoy quiet all the days in which they dwelt there, nor was there wanting disorder and confusion, anguish and futility, until at length they were altogether cast out and driven forth. But the blessed Father, with the brethren whom he had had for companions and with the most renowned Stephen, when in the territory of Gaeta a small

place had been found — nay, to say it truly, a retreat deserted through its dryness — its narrowness and aridity being pleasing to him, he settled there, at first indeed in great want of food; but not long after, when brethren not a few, all of them truly lovers of God, had come together, there followed an abundance of all things. And so there was unremitting labor, continual psalmody, frequent recitations of the psalms and frequent genuflection, voluntary abstinence and unforced obedience. And indeed all were now flourishing and bearing fruit under the watering of the discourses and the unceasing teaching of our God-bearing father Nilus; and he himself, unconquered in enduring arduous labors, remitted nothing of his accustomed abstinence and of his divine exercises; but the more he grew old in body and became weaker, the more keenly did he flourish again in spirit and acquire strength. Never did he indulge himself so as to break a fast, or to taste or drink outside the appointed time, as is the custom of old men; he always abstained from flesh and never used a bath until his death — and this when he was already a decrepit old man (for he was in his ninety-fifth year when he died ^a) and afflicted with great and various diseases, not only on account of old age but also because of the excessive harshness of his life and an austerity of discipline that can scarcely be related. For by his labors he had reduced himself to such a condition that, if he wished even to eat or to drink for the restoring of his strength, custom would not permit it to him; nor could he equally give himself to sufficient sleep.

[88] [and he, now an old man, perseveres; out of humility he strives carefully to conceal his ecstasies; he most reluctantly admits conversations with women,] Not rarely also he underwent an abstraction of mind, and for a long time, lacking the use of his voice, he did not even feel the presence of those standing by; although even in that very ecstasy, if he ever murmured anything, he uttered words from the responses of the sacred liturgy: as for instance, Grant it, O Lord, or Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, and the like; and sometimes also he was heard reciting the psalm, Blessed are the undefiled. And if any of the brethren afterward asked him: What has happened to you, Father, and where were you until now? — he would answer: I have grown old, son, and I am doting, and I am oppressed by a demon, and I do not know what I am suffering. Nay more, when men came to him importunately and called him away from the contemplation of his mind, he would order it to be reported that the old man was troubled by a demon and could not come to anyone. But the more he himself strove and cast himself down, the more widely was his fame published abroad and grew, and all ran together to see him and to hear him speak. And so the wife ^b of the prince of Gaeta also asked him that they might go to greet the Servant of God. But he said: Let us first signify this to him, lest perchance it seem burdensome and, moved by the annoyance, he flee from our region and we suffer the loss of the Servant of God. They signified it therefore, pleading with many prayers; for they knew that he strongly shunned conversation with women, and that there was no access for women into his monastery. But on the contrary the holy man ordered these things to be carried to her: Pardon me for the Lord's sake; for when I lived in the world I was harassed by a demon, and therefore from the time I became a monk I have been cured; but now, if I see a woman, at once the demon returns and torments me ^c. When the woman heard and understood this, she burned with a greater desire of seeing him, and struggled so long until she came and was deemed worthy of his greeting. She had given orders, however, that no woman of the town should follow, but that all who followed her should be men. Therefore the blessed man, after he had taught her in few words about chastity, about almsgiving, and about the fear of God, sent her home rejoicing.

[89] And he indeed bore most reluctantly, and with great zeal avoided, dealings with the princes of the earth, [as also with princes, whom he approached only for the sake of relieving the wretched: setting out for Rome, on behalf of John the antipope] as being the origin of vainglory and the ruin of the soul. Yet he was compelled to endure it because of the distress shown by those who had suffered wrong and were unjustly oppressed by them, many of whom he often drew out of their very jaws even by a letter alone. And if anyone should collect the letters of this kind written by him, he could put together a book exceedingly useful and destined to be of great service. He did the same also for Philagathus the archbishop, his fellow citizen. For when the latter with insatiable greed had seized the Roman see, not content with the worldly eminence to which God had raised him beyond expectation (for he had obtained great honors under both empires), the holy Father, foreseeing what was to come, wrote to him asking that he should not aspire after human glory, since he was already sated with it, but should return to the quiet of the monastic state. But while he says that he is preparing himself for this, upon the arrival of the emperor and the ejected prelate ^d he experienced their intolerable wrath. For being deprived by them of the most necessary of his members — I mean his eyes, his tongue, and his nose — and cast into prison, he lay full of miseries and destitute of every help. Hearing these things, the God-filled Father, under the pressure of grief of heart, was compelled — a man of that age, afflicted with so grave an illness, and at that season, for the Lenten fast was being kept — to set out for Rome and to approach the emperor with suppliant entreaties. And the emperor with the patriarch, hearing of his coming, went forth to meet him, and taking his hand on either side led him into the patriarchal residence, bidding him sit in the midst; while they on the right and on the left kissed his hands.

[90] But the holy man, although he was exceedingly distressed at these things and groaned, he pleads before the Pontiff and the emperor: yet bore everything, if in any way he might obtain what he asked; and he says to them: Pardon me for the Lord's sake, the greatest of all sinners and a half-dead old man, for I am unworthy of so great an honor. It is rather for me to fall down at your honorable feet and to venerate your so eminent dignities. Assuredly I have approached your glory not as one desirous of glory, or of largesses, or of very great revenues, but to ask as a favor for him who served you much and has been ill treated by you — who received you both from the font of baptism, and has been deprived of the light of his eyes, torn out by you. I beseech the zeal of your piety that you give him to me as a gift, that he may sit with me, and that together we may weep over our sins. Then the emperor, weeping a little (for not all that had happened was in truth of his counsel), answered the blessed man: We are ready to fulfil all things that are pleasing to your piety, if you also will hear our petition and will not disdain to accept a monastery in this City, whichever you shall wish, so that you may abide with us perpetually. When the old man refused a stay in the City, they offered him St. Anastasius, set far from the crowd and always attached to the Greek nation. And so he assented, desiring that what he asked might be granted him. But that harsher Pope ^e, not sated with the evils which he had inflicted upon Philagathus, of whom I made mention above, brought him forth and, the priestly habit having been rent upon him, led him about through the whole city.

[91] when they do not keep their promises, he threatens the divine vengeance. Hearing this, the holy old man grieved vehemently, and asked the archbishop from the emperor no more. When the emperor perceived this, he sent one of his archbishops, powerful in smooth eloquence, to soothe the old man's mind. To whom the holy man said: Go, tell the emperor and the Pope: Thus says that doting old man: You gave me this blind man, not out of fear of me, not because of any great power of mine, but out of the love of God alone. Now therefore whatever evils you have added to him, you have done not to him but to me — nay rather, you have been insolent toward God himself. Know therefore that it will come to pass that, just as you did not grieve for his lot nor pity him whom God delivered into your hands, so the heavenly Father will by no means forgive you your sins. But that wordy archbishop burdened the holy man with speeches, excusing the emperor and the Pope. Wherefore the old man, letting his head sink before him, feigned to be dozing. And when the other saw that his words were not attended to at all, he withdrew. At once therefore the holy man, with the brethren who accompanied him, mounted horses and made the journey through that whole night, and came to his own monastery, giving himself to prayer and to himself, and continually propitiating God. Not many days after, the Pope indeed was violently thrust out of the number of the living, like a tyrant, as I have heard certain men say ^f; and with his eyes dug out, which he carried hanging upon his cheeks, with that pomp he was committed to burial. But the emperor, showing that he had undertaken a labor for the sake of penance, made the journey on foot from the City to Gargano, to venerate Michael the archangel; on his return he visited the blessed man's dwelling.

[92] The donations offered by the emperor When therefore from a higher place he had caught sight of the monastery and of the brethren's huts fixed about the oratory: Behold, said he, the tents of Israel in the desert; behold the citizens of the kingdom of heaven. These abide here not as inhabitants but as travelers. But the holy man ordered incense to be prepared, with which he set out to meet him with all the brethren; and him too he greeted reverently with the deepest humility and reverence. And the emperor, putting his hand beneath so that the old man might lean upon it, entered the oratory together with him; and when the prayer was ended, the emperor said to the holy man: Our Lord Jesus Christ, as long as he was with the Apostles, commanded them that they should possess neither wallet, nor staff, nor two tunics. But when he was going to his passion, he said again: But now let him who has a purse take it, and a wallet also. Therefore you too, since you have now grown old and your passage to the kingdom of heaven is near, take thought for your sons, lest perchance, reduced to straits when you are gone, they withdraw because of the difficulty of the place and be scattered. We will give a monastery and revenues, wherever it shall please you throughout our whole dominion. To which the holy man: I have heard David saying: Save me, O Lord, for the holy one has failed, for truths are diminished from among the sons of men; and besides: There is none that does good, no not one.

[93] But if the brethren who are with me are monks in earnest, and have taken care of Christ's commandments according to their strength, he refuses to accept, out of love of poverty then he who has had care of them until now while I survived will much more embrace them with his care even without me — he whose good pleasure is not in the power of the powerful, nor in the legs of a man, but in those who hope in his mercy. When they had conversed of these and of many other things, the emperor set out on his way, and turning again to the old man he said: Ask of me, even as of a son, whatever you shall wish, and I will grant it with all readiness. And the holy man, stretching out his hand to the emperor's breast, said: I ask nothing else of your imperial majesty but the salvation of your soul; for although you are emperor, yet as a mortal man you are to die and to be set before the judgment, and to render an account of the things you have done, whether good or evil. Hearing which, the emperor poured drops of tears from his eyes; then

having bowed his crown into the blessed man's hands and received his blessing, he committed himself to the road with his whole retinue. Yet he did not escape the outcome of God's judgments; for as soon as he reached Rome, a sedition arose against him, and fleeing from it he died on the journey ^g. But the fathers complained of the old man, that he had rejected the gift of the emperor, who wished to bestow a monastery upon them. And the Father to them: I indeed have spoken what I said as one without understanding; but you, not long hence, will understand what your own judgment is worth. And so, when they had heard of the emperor's death, they marveled at the prudence of that excellent man.

ANNOTATA.

CHAPTER XIV.

The pious death of Stephen. St. Nilus carefully guards against having honors conferred upon him, and, leaving the monastery for that reason, sets out for Rome; but halting at the monastery of St. Agatha, and having obtained from the lord of the Tusculan territory a place for building a monastery, while he is preparing this he dies holily and is buried by his own with great mourning.

Ἐν δὲ ταῖς ἠμέραις ἐκείναις ἠῤῥώστησεν ὁ μακάριος Στέφανος τὴν ἐπιθανάτιον ἀῤῥωστίαν· ψυχοῤῥαγοῦντος οὖν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοῦ γέροντος αὐτῷ παραθημένου, συνήχθησαν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ἅπαντες κύκλῳ, καὶ λέγει ὁ μέγας· Ἀδελφὲ Στέφανε· ὁ δὲ εὐθέως ἁνακαθίσας ἔδησε τὰς χεῖρας καὶ προσεῖχε τῷ μακαρίῳ. Εἶτα λέγει πρὸς αὐτόν· Εὐλόγησον τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς, ὅτι ἐκλείπεις. Ὁ δὲ ἁπλώσας τὰς χεῖρας, καὶ ἐπευξάμενος, τὸ κελευσθὲν αὐτῷ ἐποίει. Καὶ πάλιν λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ μέγας· Ἀναπαύου λοιπὸν, ὅτι οὐκέτι ἰσχύεις· καὶ ἀνακλιθεὶς ἀνεπάε, πληρώσας τὸν τῆς ὑπακοῆς ὅρον ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ. Μετὰ δὲ τὸ αὐτὸν ἀποπνεῦσαι, ἐθρήννει ὀ γέρων ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ λέγων· Ὦ καλέ μου συναγωνιστὰ καὶ σύμπονε Στέφανε, μετὰ τοσαῦτα ἔτη χωριζόμεθα, καὶ ἀλλέλων ἀποστερούμεθα. Καὶ σὺ μὲν ἀπέρχῃ πρὸς τὴν ἀνάπαυσιν, ἣν σεαυτῷ ἡτοιμασας· ἐγὼ δὲ ἐναπέμεινα εἰς τὴν κόλασιν. Σὺ ἀθλητὴς καὶ μάρτυς τυγχάνεις, ἐγὼ γάρ σοι γέγονα δήμιος. Τοῦτο δὲ ἐλάλει ὁ γέρων, ἐπειδὴ μέχρι γήρως οὐ διέλιπεν αὐτὸν κολαφίζων, ἀγωνιστὴν αὐτὸν ἐπιστάμενος καὶ πύκτὴν. Καθάπερ γὰρ ξυστῆρα αὐτὸν εἶχεν, ἢ ἅλλό τι ἐργαλεῖον πρὸς τοὺς ἀβαστάγους καὶ ἀνυπομονήτους. Ὁπηνίκα γοῦν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τὶς τῶν ἀδελφῶν κοιμώμενος ἔῤῥεγχεν ἐν τῇ ἀναγνώσει τοῦ μεγάλου διερμηνεύοντος, ἔλεγεν αὐτὸς ὁ μακάριος ὡς ἀγνοὥν· Οὐδείς ἐστιν ὁ ῥέγχων εἰ μὴ ὁ Στέφανος· ἐκβάλετε αὐτὸν ἔξω, μήπως διδάξῃ ἡμᾶς κακὴν συνήθειαν. Πολλάκις δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῆς τραπέζης αὐτὸν μετὰ ὕβρεων καὶ ὀνειδισμῶν ἐξήγαγεν, ὡς ἀπαιδεύτως ἐσθίοντα, διορθούμενος τοὺς αὐτὸ πράττοντας. Καὶ ἁπλῶς εἴ τι ἂν πταῖσμα ἐγίνετο ἐν πάσῃ τῇ ἀδελφότητι, ὁ Στέφανος ἐπετιμᾶτο ὡς τῶν πάντων ὑπαίτιος. Καὶ οὐκ ἤρκει αὐτῷ τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετὰ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἐργαζόμενος γέρων ὢν πλέον ἢ περὶ τὰ ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη, καὶ πάνυ κυρτωθεὶς ἐκ τοῦ γήρως καὶ τῶν πολλῶν νοσημάτων, οὐκ ἀνένευεν ἐν τῷ θέρει ἢ ἐν τῇ ἅλωνι ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν. Καὶ ὅπου δ᾽ ἆν ἦν ῥυπαρώτερον ἔργον ἢ κοπωδέστερον, ἐκεῖ εὑρίσκετο. Ὅλως δὲ οὐκ οἶδεν ἀνάπαυσιν ἢ ἄνεσιν πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ ἐν οἱῳδήποτε πράγματι.

[95] Ὅτε

οὖν ἀνεπαύσατο τὴν μακαρίαν ἀνάπαυσιν, διετάξατο ὁ πατὴρ τὸν τάφον διπλοῦν γενέσθαι, ἵνα καὶ αὐτὸς τελειώσας τὸν δρόμον συνταφῇ τῷ μακαρίτῃ Στεφάνω. Ὁ δὲ ἄρχων Γαΐτας λίαν φιλόθεος ὢν, καὶ πίστιν πολλὴν ἔχων εἰς τὸν ὅσιον πατέρα, ἐρωτήσας καὶ μαθὼν τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ τάφου, εἶπε πρὸς τοὺς παρόντας· λοιπὸν ἐὰν ὁ πατὴρ τελευτήσῃ, ὧδε αὐτὸν καταλείψω, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἀπαγαγὼν ἐν τῇ πόλει μου καταθήσω, ἵνα ἔχῃ αὐτὸν καθάπερ ἄσειστον πύργον; Τοῦτο τοίνυν μαθὼν ὁ μακάριος γέρων, καὶ σφόδρα λυπηθεὶς, ἐβουλεύσατο πάλιν μετοικῆσαι ἐκεῖθεν, καὶ ἀπελθεῖν ὅπου οὐδείς ἐστιν ὁ γινώσκων. Προῃρεῖτο γὰρ ἀποθανεῖν κακῶς, ἢ ὑπόληψιν σχεῖν ἁγίου παρά τινος τῶν ἀνθρώπων· τοὐναντίον μὲν οὖν ἠγωνίζετο παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς θυμώδη, καὶ ὑβριστὴν, καὶ πάντων τῶν ἄλλων παθῶν μέτοχον ἀποδεῖξαι. Πολλοὶ δὲ ἀνόητοι καὶ ἐσκανδαλίσθησαν· ἡμεῖς δὲ, οἵτινες συνεφάγομεν καὶ συνεπίομεν αὐτῷ ἀναξίως, πεπείσμεθα καὶ πεπληροφορήμεθα, καὶ ἐνώπιον Θεοῦ καὶ ἀγγέλων ὁμολογήσομεν, ὅτι ἅγιος ἐστὶν ὁ μακάριος Νεῖλος, ὡς εἷς τῶν θεοφόρων πατέρων· καὶ ὑπερβάλλων πάντας τοὺς ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ ἀνθρώπους ἄν τε σημεῖα ποιήση, ἄν τε μή· καὶ ὅπερ οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀσυνέτων ἐπερωτῶσι, τοῦ αὐτῶν βίου μηδένα ποιούμενοι λόγον· ὅπερ καὶ ἐν πολλοῖς τῶν κακοδόξων εὑρεθη. Τοῦτο δὲ εἶπον, οὐκ ἵνα τὴν αὐτοῦ χάριν ἄπορον θαυμάτων ἐλέγξω· βλέπουσι γὰρ ἀεὶ τὴν αὐτῆς δύναμιν οἱ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ ἔχοντες· ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα τὴν ἄκαιρον καὶ ἀνόητον ἐρώτησιν ἀνατρέψω. Πᾶν γὰρ τὸ ζητούμενον ὁ βίος τυγχάνει· θαυμάτων δὲ πλῆθος καὶ δύναμις στεργομένη μὲν συνεκλάμπουσα, περιφρονουμένη δὲ μὴ συνᾴδουσα. Ἐπὶ τὴν νύσσαν τοίνυν ἐπανακάμψωμεν. Βουληθεὶς οὖν ὁ μισόδοξος πατὴρ ἡμῶν Νεῖλος καταλιπεῖν τὸ μοναστήριον, ὅπερ λέγεται Σέρπερις, ἐν ᾧ ἤσκησε περὶ τὸν δέκατον χρόνον, μόλις ἐπικαθίσας διὰ τὸ γῆρας ἵππῳ, ᾤχετο ἐπὶ τὴν Ῥώμην. Ἔλεγε δὲ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ἐποδυρομένοις τῷ χωρισμῷ αὐτοῦ· Μὴ λυπεῖσθε ὦ πατέρες καὶ ἀδελφοί· πορεύομαι γὰρ ἑτοιμάσαι τόπον καὶ μοναστήριον, ἔνθα συναγάγω πάντας τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς, καὶ τὰ διεσκορπισμένα τέκνα μου.

[96] Ἐκεῖνοι

δὲ μὴ νοοῦντες τίνα ἦν ἃ ἐλέγει αὐτοῖς, παρεμυθοῦντο. Τοῦ τοίνυν Θεοῦ καθοδηγοῦντος αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὸν προωρισμένον τῆς ταφῆς αὐτοῦ τόπον, κατὰ τὸν προεγνωσμένον θεἳκῶς αὐτῷ τρόπον, καταλαμβάνει κώμην τινὰ καλουμένην Τουσχολάναν, ἀπέχουσαν δώδεκα μίλια ἀπὸ Ῥώμης· περὶ ἣν ἵδρυται μοναστήριον ὀλίγων ἀδελφῶν ὁμοφύλων ἐπ᾽ ὀνόματι τῆς ἀγίας Ἀγάθης. Κᾷκεῖσε καταλύσας ὁ ἅγιος γέρων· καὶ τὸ, Αὕτη ἡ κατάπαυσίς μου, εἰρηκὼς, εἰς αἰῶνα αἰῶνος, οὐκετι τοῦ λοιποῦ ἴσχυσέ τις αὐτὸν ἀνασπάσαι ἐκεῖθεν, καίτοι καὶ τῶν συνόντων αὐτῷ ἀδελφὼν ἐνοχλούντων, καὶ τῶν τῆς Ρώμης μεγιστάνων πρὸς αὐτὸν παραγενομένων, καὶ δυσωπούντων τοῦ εἰσελθεῖν ἐν τῇ Ρώμῃ κᾂν διὰ τοὺς πρώτους τῶν ἀποστόλων. Ἀπεκρίνετο δὲ πᾶσι καὶ ἔλεγεν· Ὅτι τοὺς πανευφήμους καὶ ὄντως τρισμακαρίστους καὶ κορυφαίους τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ ἐντεῦθεν δυνατὸν τοῖς πίστιν ὡς κόκκον σινάπεως κεκτημένοις αὐτοὺς προσκῦνησαι, εἰ καὶ ἐγὼ ἀνάξιος καὶ τοῦ μόνον αὐτοὺς ὀνομάσαι. Ἐν μέν τοι τῷ εὐτελεῖ τόπῳ τούτῳ δι᾽ οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἐλήλυθα, εἰ μὴ μόνον διὰ τὸ τελευτῆσαι. Ὁ δὲ ἄρχων τῆς κώμης ἐκείνης Γρηγόριος τῷ ὀνόματι, περιβόητος ἐν τυραννίδι καὶ ἀδικίᾳ τυγχάνων, λίαν δὲ ἀγχίνους καὶ συνέσει κεκοσμημένος, κατελθὼν καὶ προσπεσὼν τοῖς ποσὶ τοῦ ἁγίου ἔλεγε ταῦτα· Εγὼ μὲν δοῦλε τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ὑψίστου διὰ τὰς πολλάς μου ἁμαρτίας οὐκ εἰμὶ ἱκανὸς, ἵνα μου ὑπὸ τὴν στέγην εἰσέθῃς· καὶ πόθεν μοι τοῦτο, ἵνα ἔλθῃ ὁ ἁγιος τοῦ Κυρίου μου πρός με; Ἐπειδὴ δὲ μιμούμενος τὸν σὸν διδάσκαλον καὶ Δεσπότην προετιμήσω με τὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν τῶν δικαίων, ἰδοὺ ὁ οἶκός μου, καὶ ἅπαν σὺν τοῖς περιχωρίοις αὐτοῦ τὸ καστέλλιον πρὸ προσώπου σου· εἴ τι κελεύεις περὶ αὐτῷν, πρόσταξον.

[97] Ὁ

δὲ μακάριος ἁπεκρίνατο πρὸς αὐτόν. Ευλογήσαι Κύριος καὶ σὲ καὶ τοὺς σοὺς σὺν τῷ οἴκῳ σου καὶ τῇ κώμῃ σου. Μέρος δὲ ὀλίγον ἐν τῷ κράτει σου ἡμῖν διαχώρισον, ὅπως ἐν αὐτῷ ἡσυχάσαντες τὸν Θεὸν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν ἐξιλεωσώμεθα, καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς σῆς σωτηρίας εὐξώμεθα. Τότε ὁ Γρηγόριος μετὰ πολλῆς τῆς προθυμίας ἐξεπλήρου τὸ κελευόμενον. Οἱ δὲ ἐναπομείναντες ἐν τῇ μονῇ ἀδελφοὶ μετὰ δύο ἡμέρας μηνῶν μαθόντες, ὅτι οὐχ ὑποστρέφει πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὁ πατὴρ, ἀπάραντες σὺν μηλωταρίοις καὶ περιβολαίοις καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς, κατέλαβον τὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἅρχοντος ἀφιερωθέντα τόπον αὐτοῖς ἐν λόγῳ μονῆς· μαθών τοίνυν ὁ παμμακάριστος πατὴρ τὴν ἄφιξιν αὐτῶν, ἠγαλλιάσατο τῷ πνεύματι, καὶ δεδήλωκεν αὐτοῖς· Ἀρκετόν μοι ὦ πατέρες καὶ ἀδελφοὶ, ὅτι διὰ

τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀγάπην καὶ τὴν ἐμὴν ἐσκύλητε ἕως αὐτοῦ. Νῦν οὖν παρακαλῶ τὴν ἀγάπην ὑμῶν, ἵνα περιμείνητε μέχρις ἂν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐλεύσωμαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς. Ἐν τῷ οὖν ἑτοιμάζεσθαι αὐτὸν τοῦ ἀποπληρῶσαι αὐτομάτοις ποσὶ τὴν οἰκείαν σύνταξιν· ἦσαν γὰρ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ὡς ἀπὸ μιλίων τριῶν· συγκαλεσάμενος τοὺς προσκαρτεροῦντας αὐτῷ ἀδελφοὺς σὺν τῷ ἡγουμένῳ Παύλῳ, ὧ ἦν πρὸ πολλῶν προκεχειρισμένος ἡμερῶν τὴν ἡγεμονίαν, ἀνδρὶ παλαιῷ καὶ τὴν φρόνησιν, καὶ τὴν ἡλικίαν, καὶ τὴν ἄσκησιν, καὶ τὴν φιλοσοφίαν· τούτοις διαμερίσας τὰ μικρὰ ῥάξια αὑτοῦ οὐ γὰρ ἄλλο τίποτε ἦν αὐτῷ τοῦ κόσμου, ἕως καὶ τοῦ ἐσχάτου λεπτοῦ· ἐκέλευσε μεταλαβεῖν τῶν ζωοποιῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ μυστηρίων. Ἔπειτα λέγει τῷ ἡγουμένῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς· Δέομαι ὑμῶν, ἐὰν ἀποθάνω, μὴ βραδύνητε τοῦ κατακρύψαι τῇ γῇ τὸ σῶμά μου· μήτε ἐν οἴκῳ κυριακῷ κατάθησθε· μηδὲ θελήσητε ποιῆσαι καμάραν ἐπάνω μου, ἢ ἄλλον τινὰ κόσμον οἷον δήποτε. Εἰ δὲ ὅλως βούλεσθε ποιῆσαί τι σημεῖον διὰ τὸ γνωρίζειν, ποῦ τεθείκατέ με, ὁμαλὸν ἔστω ἐπάνωθεν, ἵνα οἱ ξένοι ἐκεῖ ἐπαναπαύωνται· καὶ γὰρ κᾀγὼ ξένος ἐγενόμη πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς μου· Καὶ μνημονεύετέ μου ἐν ταῖς ἁγίαις ὑμῶν εὐχαῖς.

[98] Ταῦτα

εἰπῶν, καὶ εὐλογήσας αὐτοὺς, ἐπευξάμενός τε πᾶσι τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς, ἐξῇρε τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἥπλωσεν ἑαυτὸν ἐν τῷ κοιταρίῳ αὐτοῦ. Εποίησεν δύο ἡμέρας μὴ συντυγχάνων, μηδὲ ἀνοίγων τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὑτοῦ, καὶ ἐθαύμαζον οἱ ὁρῶντες αὐτὸν, ὅτι οὐκ ἦν ὡς ψυχοῤῥαγῶν, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἀναπαυόμενος· μόνον δὲ τὰ χείλη κινῶν, καὶ τῇ δεξιᾷ χειρὶ κατασφραγιζόμενος, ἐγνωρίζετο τοῖς παροῦσιν ὡς προσευχόμενος. Καί τις τῶν ἀδελφῶν προσεγγίσας τῷ ὠτίῳ πρὸς τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ, τοῦτον μόνον τὸν στίχον ἐνενόησε λέγοντος· Τότε οὐ μὴ αἰσχυνθῶ, ἐν τῷ με ἐπιβλέπειν ἐπὶ πάσας τὰς ἐντολάς σου. Ἀκούσας δὲ καὶ ὁ ἄρχων Γρηγόριος τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ, δρομαῖος κατῆλθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ καστελλίου αὐτοῦ, φέρων καὶ τὸν ἰατρὸν Μιχαὴλ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ὃς ἦν ἐμπειρότατος. Καὶ ἐπιπεσὼν τῷ μακαρίῳ, ἔκλαιε πικρῶς καὶ ἔλεγεν· Ὦ πάτερ, πάτερ, διατί οὕτω ταχέως με ἐγκατέλιπες; διατί ἐβδελύξω τὰς ἁμαρτίας μου, καὶ ἀφίεις με; Καταφιλῷν δὲ τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ ἔλεγεν· Ἰδοὺ οὐκέτι κωλύεις με τοῦ φιλῆσαι τὰς χεῖρας σου, καθὼς ἐποίεις τὸ πρότερον, λέγων ὅτι οὐκ εἰμὶ ἐπίσκοπος, ἢ πρεσβύτερος, οὔτε διάκονος, ἀλλὰ μόνον καλογήριον μικρόν· διατί οὖν θέλεις φιλῆσαι τὴν χεῖρά μου; Ταῦτα δὲ λέγων τοσοῦτον ἐδάκρυεν, ὥστε πάντας τοὺς παρεστῶτας διεγεῖραι πρὸς δάκρυα. Κρατήσας δὲ καὶ ὁ ἰατρὸς τὸν σφυγμὸν αὐτοῦ, διἳσχυρίζετο λέγων· ὁτι οὗτος οὐκ ἀποθνήσκει· οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἐν αὐτῷ πυρετὸς, οὔτε μὴν ἄλλο τι σημεῖον θανάτου· καὶ γὰρ οὕτως εἶχεν. Ἀναχωρησάντων τοίνυν ἐκείνων, καὶ τῆς ὥρας τοῦ λυχνικοῦ καταλαβούσης, ἦν δὲ καὶ ἡ μνήμη τοῦ ἀποστόλου Ιώαννου καὶ θεολόγου. ἔδοξε τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ἀπαγάγαι τὸν ὅσιον ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ· ἐμνήσθησαν γὰρ τοῦ πόθου καὶ τοῦ φίλτρου αὐτοῦ, οὗπερ εἰς τὰς μνείας τῶν ἁγίων ἐδείκνυτο· καὶ ὡς ἀεὶ ἔλεγεν, ὅτι δεῖ τὸν μοναχὸν, ἐκτὸς πάσης ἀνάγκης, ἐν τῷ εὐκτηρίῳ τελευτῆσαι.

[99] Τούτου

δὲ γενομένου, καὶ τοῦ ἑσπερινοῦ ὕμνου τέλος λαβόντος, ὁ ἥλιος ἔγνω τὴν δύσιν αὐτοῦ, καὶ αὐτὸς παρέδωκε τὸ πνεῦμα· καὶ ἔδυ ἀλησθῶς εἰπεῖν ὁ ἥλιος μετὰ τοῦ ἡλίου· καὶ ἐξέλιπε φῶς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ, καὶ λύχνος ἀπὸ προσώπου ὁρώντων. Ἠ γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς οὐ προέγνω τὴν παροῦσαν σκοτόμαιναν, καὶ ἀπόλειψιν τῶν φωτιζόντων ἁγίων καὶ διδασκόντων τοὺς ἅλλους; Καὶ ποῦ εὕρατο ἄλλην παραμυθίαν ὁ κόσμος, τῶν καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς λέγω, οἵαν ἀπώλεσεν ἐν τῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ; Πολλοὺς μὲν γὰρ εὑρήσεις ἐγκράτειαν ἀσκοῦντας, οἳ μέχρις αὑτῆς τὴν ὠφέλειαν διἳστῶσι, λόγου δὲ ἀμοιροῦσι· πλείστους δὲ πάλιν τοῦ λόγου μὲν ἐπιμελουμένων, ἔργου δὲ ἀμελούντων· ὧν ἐκεῖνος ἁμφοτέρων πλεονεκτων κατὰ πάντα, περιδέξιος ὄντως ὐπῆρχε καὶ ἀμφοτερόφθαλμος. καὶ ταῦτα καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἀρχαίους, ἵνα μὴ λέγω τὴν καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς γενεὰν, ὁλότυφλον μᾶλλον ἤπερ μονότυφλον οὖσαν, καὶ ἐν σκοτομήνῃ διάγουσαν. Ὅπερ καὶ αὐτῷ τῷ προβλεπτικωτάτῳ ὡς ἐν ἐκστάσει ἀπεκαλύφθη· ἑώρα γὰρ, ὡς πάντες οἱ ἄνθρωποι, καὶ πάντα τὰ ζῶα, καὶ πᾶν ἑρπετὸν κινούμενον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς τυφλώσει τε καὶ ἀβλεψίᾳ κατείχοντο· ζόφος δὲ βαθύτατος, καὶ γνόφος ἀμύθητος ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν περιεκέχυτο. Καὶ τοῦτο μὲν πρότερον· νῦν δὲ ὅτε καταλιπὼν τὰ ἐπίγεια, τῷ πνεύματι τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἐμβατεύει ὁ ἀείμνηστος, πάσαν μὲν τὴν νύκτα ἐκείνὴν ἐν ψαλμοῖς καὶ ὕμνοις ἐπιταφίοις διήλθομεν· πρωΐας δὲ γενομένης διαβαστάσαντες τὴν κλίνην μετὰ κηρῶν καὶ θυμιαμάτων καὶ ψαλμῳδιῶν, ἀπηγάγομεν τὸ λείψανον ἔνθα οἱ ἀδελφοὶ ἀπεκδέχοντο τὸν μακάριον.

[100] Ὅτε

δὲ ἐξ ἐναντίας αὐτῶν ἐγενήθημεν, καὶ τῆς ψαλμῳδίας ἀκηκόασιν, ἐξῆλθον καὶ ὑπήντησαν ἡμῖν ἅπαντες, νέοι τε καὶ γέροντες, μικροί τε καὶ μεγάλοι, ὅλοι συμπεφυρμένοι τοῖς δάκρυσι, καὶ πικρῶς ὀδυρόμενοι. Θέντες τοίνυν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν τὸ κλινίδιον, καὶ τὸ ψάλλειν ἐάσαντες, πάντες ὁμοῦ ἐθρηνοῦμεν τὴν κοινὴν ζημίαν καὶ ὀρφανίαν, καὶ τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς στέρησιν. Οὐδὲν δὲ ἄλλο ἦν ἴδεῖν καὶ εἰκάσαι, ἣ ὅπερ περὶ τοῦ Ιακὼβ γέγραπται, ὅτε παρεγένοντο οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ ἐφ᾽ ἅλωνα Ατὰδ, ἣ ἦν ἐπιπέραν τοῦ Ιορδάνου, καὶ ἐκόψαντο κοπετὸν μέγαν καὶ ἰσχυρὸν σφόδρα· Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἡμᾶς μικρὸν ἁλώνιον περιεῖχε, καὶ ὁ νέος Ιακὼβ νεκρὸς ἔκειτο ἐν τῷ σκιμποδίῳ, καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ Ισραὴλ ἐπεθρήνουν. καὶ οἱ κάτοικοι τῆς χώρας, ὅσοι εὑρέθησαν σὺν τῷ ἄρχοντι Γρηγορίῳ, οὐ μόνον τὰ γινόμενα ἐθεώρουν, ἀλλὰ καὶ συνεπένθουν ἀκολουθοῦντες· καὶ οὐ πρότερον ἀνεχώρησαν, ἕως ὅτου τὸ λείψανον ἀπηγάγομεν, καὶ ἐν τῷ προωρισμένῳ αὐτοῦ τόπῳ κατεθέμεθα, καθὼς αὐτὸς ὁ τρισόσιος διετάξατο. Παρέμεινε δὲ τῷ τάφῳ πᾶσα ἡ ἀδελφότης σὺν τῷ ἡγουμένῳ τῷ προλεχθέντι, ἐργαζομένη καὶ ἐν ὑπομονῇ κοπιῶσα διὰ τὸ ἀκατάσκευον εἶναι τὸν τόπον, τὸν ἐπιούσιον ἄρτον, τόν τε τῇ ψυχῇ ἁρμόδιον, καὶ τὸν τῇ σαρκὶ αὐτάρκη. Πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ τῶν τέκνων τοῦ ἁγίου τῶν διεσκορπισμένων συνήχθησαν τῃ ἐκείνου πρεσβείᾳ, καὶ κεκοίμηνται περὶ τὸ μνῆμα αὐτοῦ, ἄνδρες ἀληθῶς εἰπεῖν ἐπιθυμιῶν τῶν τοῦ πνεύματος, καὶ πλήρεις χάριτος καὶ δυνάμεως. Ὧν πάντων πρεσβείαις ἀξιωθείημεν καὶ ἡμεῖς, οἵ τε ἀναγινώσκοντες καὶ οἱ ἁκροώμενοι τῶν ἐνθέων καὶ ἐναρέτων πόνων αὐτῶν, κοινωνοὶ γενεσθαι αὐτῶν καὶ τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐν Χριστῷ Ιησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν. Ὧ ἡ δόξα σὺν τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ, καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.

Stephen, giving signs of obedience at the point of death, dies piously. During those days the blessed Stephen ^a fell into an illness from which he did not recover. As he was giving up his soul, therefore, the old man sat beside him, and all the brethren came together and stood around. And then the great Father said: Brother Stephen. But he at once raised himself and sat up, and with his hands folded gazed attentively upon the blessed man. And the Father: Bless the brethren, for you are now failing. And he, spreading out his hands and praying well for them, carried out what he had been bidden. And then again the great Father: Rest now, said he, for your strength fails you. And he, lying down, rested, keeping his zeal for obedience in the very article of death. And after he had breathed out his soul, the old man mourned him in these words: O my good fellow soldier and companion of my labors, Stephen, after so many years we are parted and each of us is bereft of the other; and you indeed pass over to the rest which you have prepared for yourself, but I have remained behind in punishments: you are an athlete and a martyr, for I was your torturer. And this the old man said because even in his old age he used to inflict buffets upon him; for he knew him to be a contender and a boxer, and he used him as an adze or some like instrument against the stubborn and the impatient. For if ever in the church sleep had laid hold of any of the brethren and he snored while the reading was being held and the great Father was expounding, the blessed man himself, as though not knowing, would say: He who snores is beyond doubt Stephen; cast him outside, lest he teach us a depraved habit. Often too he drove him from the table with reproaches and insults, as one eating without manners, correcting thereby those who sinned in that way. In short, whatever fault was committed throughout the whole brotherhood, Stephen was rebuked as though he were guilty of all. Nor was this enough; but even when he betook himself with the brethren to work and labor — an old man himself, and more than seventy years of age, and bowed down by age and by various illnesses — he did not straighten himself up in the harvest or on the threshing floor the whole day long, and every filthiest and most laborious task was done by him. Assuredly rest or relaxation in any matter whatsoever he did not experience in the whole course of his life.

[95] St. Nilus avoiding honors and But after he had obtained the blessed and eternal rest, the Father ordered a double sepulcher to be prepared, so that he himself also, when his course was finished, might be buried together with him. When the prince of Gaeta ^b, a man exceedingly religious and holding a great opinion of the Father's sanctity, had asked about this and had learned the reason for the sepulcher, he said to those present: Then, if the Father shall die, shall I leave him here and not transfer him to my own city, that he may be for it like an unshaken tower? When this was reported to the blessed old man, he was vehemently saddened, and thought of changing his dwelling, so as to withdraw where he might be known to none. For he preferred to die wretchedly than to be in the opinion of sanctity with any man. On the contrary, he strove rather to appear to many as irascible, insulting, and filled with all the diseases of the mind. Nor were there wanting many foolish men who took scandal. But we, who have unworthily eaten and drunk with him ^c, hold it for certain and proved, and shall confess before God and the angels, that Nilus of blessed memory is a saint, equally as one of the God-bearing Fathers, and that he surpasses all the men of this generation, whether he has wrought miracles or has not wrought them — a thing which many unskilfully inquire after, taking no care what manner of life was led, since that has been found even among men lacking the orthodox faith. And this I have said not in order to show that miracles were wanting to his grace (for those who have eyes in their head always see his powers), but that I may reject this inept and foolish question. The whole of what is sought is the life; but the abundance and greatness of miracles is indeed approved if it shines forth together with it, yet is disregarded if it is less in harmony with it. But let us return to our subject. When

therefore our father Nilus, the despiser of honors, had determined to leave the monastery which is called Serperis ^d, in which he had led the monastic life for about ten years, he was scarcely able for old age to mount a horse in order to go to Rome. And he said to the brethren, who were mourning his departure: Do not grieve, O fathers and brethren; for I am going to prepare a place and a monastery, in which I may gather together all the brethren and my scattered sons.

[96] But they, not understanding what was said, took it for consolation. [Making for Rome, he halts at the monastery of St. Agatha, and receives a place for building a monastery in the Tusculan territory:] And so, God leading and directing him to the place appointed for his burial in the manner which he had learned by God's revelation, he came to a certain town whose name is Tusculum ^e, twelve thousand paces distant from the City. Near it was situated a monastery of a few brethren of our own Greek nation, named for St. Agatha, into which the holy old man turned aside, saying: This is my rest for ever and ever. Nor could he be torn away from there by anyone, although the brethren who accompanied him were insistent, and the leading men of Rome came and asked that he would betake himself to Rome, at least for the sake of the princes of the Apostles. But he answered and said to all: To the most renowned and truly thrice-blessed chiefs of the Apostles it is permitted even from here to render veneration, for those who have faith like a grain of mustard seed — although I am unworthy so much as to name them; and I have come to this poor place for no other reason than that I may meet my day. Now the lord of that town, Gregory ^f by name, notable indeed for tyranny and wickedness, but adorned with sagacity and prudence, came down and, prostrate at the holy man's feet, spoke thus: I indeed, Servant of God most high, on account of my many sins am not worthy that you should enter under my roof; and, Whence is this to me, that the Saint of my Lord should come to me? But since after the example of your Master and Lord you have preferred me, a sinner, to the just, behold, my house and the whole town with its land is before you. Whatever shall please you concerning them, command it.

[97] The blessed Father answered: May the Lord bless both you and yours and your house and your town. [he falls into illness, and after various tokens of profound humility and sanctity,] Grant us a small portion within your dominion, that having found quiet in it we may render God propitious for our sins and pour out prayers for your salvation. And Gregory with great readiness fulfilled what was commanded. But the brethren who had remained in the monastery, after the space of two months, hearing that the Father would return no more, withdrew, carrying with them their sheepskins, girdles, and the rest, and came to the place dedicated to them by the prince for the building of a monastery. When the most blessed man learned this — namely that they had arrived — he exulted in spirit and signified these things to them by a messenger: It is enough for me, fathers and brethren, that for the love of God and of me you have undertaken the labor of coming hither. Now therefore I ask your charity to wait until I too shall come to you. While then he was preparing himself to fulfil his promise on his own feet (for the brethren were about three thousand paces away), having called to himself the brethren who were with him, together with the hegumen Paul ^g, to whom he had committed the governance many days before — a man of long standing both in prudence and in years and in the exercise of the monastic life and in the pursuits of philosophy — he distributed to them a few scraps of cloth (for he had plainly nothing of the world's goods, not even one small coin), and then bade the life-giving mysteries of Christ be given him to receive. Then to the hegumen and the brethren he said: I beseech you that, if I depart this life, you cover my body with earth without delay, and that you do not bury me in a church, nor build a vault for me over the tomb, nor add any ornament whatever. But if you altogether wish to set some sign for the knowing of where I have been buried, let it be level, so that pilgrims may rest upon it; for I too was a pilgrim all the days that I lived; and remember me in your holy prayers.

[98] [after pious aspirations to God through two whole days he is carried to the church, as he had asked, and there] These things he said, then he blessed them and prayed well for all the brethren, and lifting up his feet he stretched himself out on his little bed. For two days he lay neither speaking nor opening his eyes, and those who saw him marveled, for he was not like one giving up the soul, but like one at rest; he moved only his lips and signed himself with the sign of the Cross with his right hand, by which those present understood that he was fixed in prayer. And a certain brother, putting his ear to his mouth, heard from him distinctly this verse only: Then shall I not be confounded, when I have looked into all thy commandments. Gregory too, the lord of the place, when he had heard these things, came running down from his town, bringing with him also Michael, a most skilled physician; and falling upon the blessed man he wept abundantly and said: O Father, Father, why have you so quickly forsaken me? Why have you abhorred my sins and left me? And kissing his hands he said: Behold, you no longer forbid me to kiss your hands, as you used to do before, saying: I am not a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, but a most lowly monk; why then do you wish to kiss my hand? Saying these things he poured out such a flood of tears that he moved all the bystanders to weeping. But the physician, having felt his pulse, affirmed that he would not die, since there was neither fever in him nor any other sign of death; for so the matter stood. But when they had departed and evening was coming on — and moreover the memory of John the apostle and evangelist ^h was being kept — it seemed good to the brethren to carry the holy Father into the church; for they remembered with what affection and with what zeal he honored the memorials of the Saints, and that he was always wont to say that a monk ought, apart from all necessity, to die in the oratory.

[99] he dies holily and by his own When this had been done and the evening Office had been performed, the sun knew its setting, and he too gave up his spirit; and truly a sun set with the sun, and on that day the light failed from the earth and the lamp from before the face of those who beheld. Did not he himself also foresee the thickest darkness of this time, and the failing of the Saints who give light and who teach the rest? And where has the world in our age found another consolation such as it lost on that day? Assuredly you will find many given to continence, but who limit their usefulness by this alone and have no strength in doctrine; and many on the contrary who cultivate learning, but are empty of the practice of virtue. But he so excelled in both that he was ambidextrous in all things and most perfect in either eye — and this even if you compare him with the ancients, to say nothing of the men of our own time, who labor under utter blindness, not merely using one eye only, and who dwell in the deepest darkness. And this was revealed as it were in an ecstasy to him also, who was the most far-seeing of all. For he saw all men and all animals and all things that move by creeping upon the earth held fast by blindness and deprivation of light, and a most profound night and thickest gloom poured about the whole earth. But this indeed was formerly; now, however, when, these earthly things being left behind, the spirit of that man of eternal memory dwells in the heavens — that whole night we spent in psalms and funeral hymns. But in the morning, bearing the bier with tapers and incense and psalmody, we carried the body to the place where the brethren were awaiting the blessed man.

[100] When we came into their sight and they heard the psalmody, with the great lamentation of all he is buried. all came forth to meet us, old and young, small and great, all bathed in a flood of tears and mourning most piteously. Therefore, the bier being set down and the chanting interrupted, we all together bewailed the common loss, our orphanhood, and the taking away of our Father. Nor was there then anything else to see, or to behold more expressly, than what is written of Jacob, when his sons went forth to the threshing floor of Atad, which is situated beyond the Jordan, and celebrated the funeral rites with great and vehement lamentation; for a little threshing floor held us too ⁱ, and a new Jacob was lying on the bier, and the Sons of Israel were mourning. And the inhabitants of the region, as many as were present with the prince Gregory, were not only spectators, but following the funeral they mingled their grief with ours; nor did they depart before the body had been carried by us and laid in the appointed place, as the most holy Father himself had prescribed. And the whole brotherhood remained at the tomb with the aforesaid hegumen, giving their labor and toiling in patience, because the place was less well furnished, to procure the daily bread that should be both suited to the soul and sufficient for the body. Very many also of the holy man's sons who had been dispersed came together, his prayers helping them, and lie buried at rest about his sepulcher — men plainly of the desires of the spirit and full of grace and virtue. By the prayers of all of these may we, and those who read and those who hear of their divine and illustrious labors, be made worthy of their fellowship also in the kingdom of heaven in Christ Jesus our Lord; to whom be glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit now and always and unto ages of ages. Amen.

ANNOTATA.

Notes

a. Caryophilus expressed the title thus: Βίος καὶ πολιτεία τοῦ ὀσίου καὶ Θεοφορου πατρὸς ἡμῶν Νείλου τοῦ νέου: The Life and deeds of our holy and God-bearing father Nilus the younger. I doubt whether it is read thus prefixed to the Life in the codex, on account of the surname of Junior. Certainly Sirleto has only: The Life and manner of life of our holy father Nilus.

b. So more often, as also the Moors, the African Saracens are called, because they are believed to have sprung from Ishmael, the son of Hagar the handmaid and of Abraham. They had moreover invaded Calabria from Sicily in the year 842, and, various cities and strongholds being stormed, so struck roots there that for several centuries they were troublesome with their incursions to almost all Italy, and at last could scarcely be exterminated. Often against them Mary the Mother of God afforded aid to the Christians, on which matter see Baronius at the year of Christ 886, num. 7.

c. Sciommari in Note 18 to the Life of Bl. Bartholomew observes from the Panegyric of Pancratius that St. Nilus was called Nicholas in baptism, and that the name was changed according to custom when he put on the monastic habit; of which usage he also treats in Note 13. Further, the city of Rossano is singularly bound and dedicated to the Mother of God as its protectress. There was formerly very famous there an image of the undefiled Virgin, distinguished with the peculiar name Achiropiitos, from the Greek ἀχειροποίητος. Sciommari in Note 4, from the autograph panegyric of Pancratius, which he affirms was delivered in the year 1230 concerning Bl. Bartholomew, translates the following about that prodigious image. And behold, for nearly seven hundred years she (Mary) dwells in that city (of Rossano) in an image not painted by hand, nor made by hand, nay, to say it better, wrought by God and painted by God; and by all it is called Achiropiitos, and, invoked in this manner, it hears the prayers of all, since it delights in such a name. It is not made of any material, that is, of colours, or of any liquid or thickness in any way, but as one born of dry and withered wood, as it were of parents having eighty years, when life is labour and sorrow. So also that divine and most miraculous image of hers is not of matter and of any gross substance, but immaterially and from above painted by God, and superabounding with the graces of the Mother of God, of whose holy and sacred image it is impossible to narrate the miracles and prodigies. The same man notes that that icon was called Achiropiitos as being not made by hand, and alleges the following origin of the unusual name — which I believe may safely be held suspect as a fable — from an ancient parchment written in golden characters, which is even today preserved in the metropolitan church. The emperor Maurice, wishing at the instance of St. Ephrem to adorn the city of Rossano, sent thither about the year 586 from Constantinople several families and craftsmen. When certain of them by the Saint's command were painting an image of the Mother of God in a certain chapel, it prodigiously happened that what they had painted on one day was found on the next blotted out. And when this had happened for several days, the painters, wondering at the thing, ordered one of their number to pass the night in the chapel. He saw in that night a Woman astonishing in beauty and majesty, who commanded him to make the vision known. But on the following day they found the image complete. The people of Rossano believe that the same survives even today and is venerated in the metropolitan church. Before it Bartholomew was offered to the Mother of God, as is said in his Life, and I believe that the discourse here is about the same image.

d. Φυλακτὰ Sirleto translates incantations: Du Cange explains it by an amulet for driving away diseases: φυλακτήριον, which is the same, means both these things and others, as may be seen in Du Cange in either Lexicon. If I conjecture rightly from the attendant circumstances, the biographer speaks here not of certain magical figures or diabolical tables, but of astronomical or mathematical observations or tables, which at that time were perhaps not wont to be free from some superstition. Certainly no more praise would accrue to St. Nilus from this, that he had not given his labour to magic, than from his having abstained from parricides or sacrileges. But I do not believe that the biographer wished to praise the holy Abbot on the ground that he was free from vices and sins which are horrible even in the most abandoned of men: yet I confess that what follows, ἐξορκισμούς, favours the interpretation of the others. Were then divinations, vain observances and like arts so familiar among the Greeks in the tenth century, that it was an honour to an upright man not to have studied them?

e. Baronius had perhaps read the like in the version of Mezio, and thence, if I am not mistaken, asserts that the Saint was joined in marriage. The matter is certainly ambiguous; yet the flight which follows, with its attendant circumstances, makes the contrary more probable to me: what precedes would cry out against it, and the judgment of the superior about not admitting the Saint into the monastery, which might seem to bear upon that flight, unless again the monks who did not obey him were thus depicted as too imprudent.

f. Where, or how many, those monasteries called after St. Mercurius were, I have not been able to find distinctly. Marafioti in the Chronicle of Calabria, book 1, chapter 35, hands down that the monastery of St. Mercurius is named from St. Fantinus, once abbot there, and that it is not far distant from the castle of Palma on the shore of the Tyrrhenian sea between Reggio and Nicotera. But almost everything he writes there is confused, and it is credible that those monasteries were cut off and destroyed by the Saracens breaking in during the tenth and eleventh centuries. Agresta, in the Life of St. Basil, part 5, chapter 5, places the greater monastery of St. Mercurius near the land of Parma or of Palma, which is probably the same as that designated by Marafioti.

g. Whether the three men here named with praise are entered in the sacred Fasti does not seem able to be asserted with sufficient certainty: nor is it sufficiently certain whether they lived together in the same monastery and were abbots. Ughelli, volume 9 of the new edition, column 174, has all three, though in inverted order, entered in the catalogue of the saints of the Order of St. Basil. Ottavio Gaetani, in the catalogue prefixed to his Work on the Saints of Sicily, enters two Johns, monks of the Order of St. Basil, and assigns to the one the fifth day of February, to the other the twenty-fourth. Of the latter, who is surnamed Theristes, Henschen treated at the aforesaid day, nor can the discourse here be about him,

h. The two holy Fantini who belong to Calabria, confused by some writers, Pinius distinguished in our Work, and illustrated the Acts of the one on the twenty-fourth day of July, of the other on the thirtieth of August. Of him whose parents are commemorated as crowned with martyrdom in the time of the heathen emperors, there can be no question here: the second, who both professed the monastic life in Calabria and struggled for sixty years amid the vexations of the Saracens, and at last set out for the East and died at Thessalonica, is certainly indicated here, as will be clear in chapter 3, num. 25.

i. Gaetani has brought no Zachary into his Fasti: only one has hitherto occurred in our Work, about whom there could be any doubt at all, namely on the twenty-fourth day of March, where from a vague announcement of the Menæa a brief eulogy is woven.

k. The reason for so severe an interdict from the governor, which is here narrated, was perhaps that he had learned of St. Nilus's flight from an unwilling wife, whom, unless the wife either died about this time or consented, I should not think those elder monks could very prudently have assisted. See what was said at the letter e.

l. It is uncertain how far the jurisdiction of the governor extended, outside whose province this monastery was; but it was surely hedged within narrow limits, if St. Nilus was sent only from the monastery of St. Mercurius, which was not far from the castle of Palma, to the monastery of St. Nazarius, which today is called St. Filareto's. This the aforesaid Agresta hands down, and adds that that monastery of St. Filareto is distant only a single mile from the town of Seminara, and that in it our Saint received the monastic habit. Seminara is distant from the territory of Palma scarcely five miles. But I do not know whether, for those going from Palma to Seminara, the sea can be on the left and the groves on the right. So, however, is St. Nilus's journey described a little after.

m. From Africa into Sicily, and thence into Calabria, the Saracens had broken in.

a. The not few things which are wanting here, see at the end of the preliminary Commentary, taken from Sirleto's version.

b. Sirleto renders these words thus: He, hearing these things from the fury with whom he was committing adultery, rashly seized a sword and scattered all his own men, remaining alone. But being held rather by fear and wishing to procure safety for himself by flight, he was hindered by his own men and

c. Agresta in part 5, chapter 5, of the Life of St. Basil asserts that there were three monasteries near the territory of Palma: the first named from St. Mercurius, the second from St. Michael, and the third, finally, where St. John lived, who is probably the same man of whom we spoke at chapter 1, letter g.

d. Both here and commonly elsewhere it may be observed that the biographer does not narrate the deeds in the order of the time in which they happened, and that he frequently uses prolepsis.

e. These are probably the beginnings of the monastery which Agresta says was there named from St. Michael. See letter c.

f. We have here without doubt a biographer contemporary with the Saint.

a. The sentences from the sacred Scriptures which occur so often I do not assign, since they can easily be found by anyone. Caryophilus observes that the discourse here is about the abbot Theonas, who asserts these things in Conference 2 on nocturnal illusions.

b. Caryophilus cites the Spiritual Meadow, where in chapter 84 this admirable austerity is narrated.

c. What is enclosed in brackets is not found in the Greek text, and I suspect that it was omitted by the fault of the typesetters, both because I do not find similar amplifications elsewhere in the version of Caryophilus, and also because I read the same in Martène in the Sirletan version.

a. That is perhaps true if the evil has its obstinacy from sorcery: but why wounds inflicted by a demon with a cudgel or a like natural instrument cannot be healed by human help, no reason is at hand. I believe therefore that he recognized the divine will in it, and that St. Nilus wished to exercise his patience, until at last God's mercy came to the help of His Servant.

b. This is the same St. Fantinus who is venerated on the thirtieth day of August. He set out from Calabria into the East, and wandered through various regions there, and at last settled at Thessalonica, where, after eight years had passed, he died. His flight took place after the middle of the tenth century; hence his death seems to have to be fixed toward the end of the same.

c. In the eleventh century and toward the end of the preceding one, the Saracens filled Calabria and the neighbouring regions with horror, as often before, laying all things waste with sword and flame, as the biographers of SS. Fantinus and Bartholomew, Thietmar and others hand down; concerning all which see Baronius in his Annals.

d. The most illustrious Caryophilus observes that by these things perhaps the schism of the East was prefigured.

e. Stephen, who is everywhere adorned by our biographer with the title of Blessed and Saint, I do not find entered in the sacred Fasti. Gaetani inserted him in his second Index, that is, of those who flourished in piety and holiness, but do not have a cult approved by the Church, and fixes his memory on the twenty-seventh day of December, at which further inquiry could be made about his cult.

f. Sirleto renders it thus: Being again asked whether he had anything, which seems to be referred to the goods of fortune. Caryophilus does better, as from what follows

g. From these and other chronological notes by which Stephen's deeds are circumscribed, I have deduced some chronology in the preliminary Commentary, num. 6 and following.

h. About this monastery Agresta, on the Life of St. Basil, page 352, among the monasteries which were situated either at Rossano or in its neighbourhood, relates that monks and nuns of the Order of St. Basil dwelt there on the mountain which they call S. Opoli, where the ruins of a most famous monastery even now survive. Of Theodora I read nothing among the Saints of Sicily and Calabria or elsewhere. Further, the sense here is rendered rather freely and is cut short.

a. About George, who is here adorned with such praises, I read nothing in Gaetani or in others.

b. Hitherto I have taken Castellum for a common noun and therefore passed it by unremarked; here it is a proper name. It was perhaps situated within the walls of some city or town, whence the name is derived, since the other monasteries were wont to be set apart from cities — unless rather the discourse is about the city of Castellaneta in further Basilicata.

c. Bisinianum, which others call Besidiae and the Italians Bisignano, is a small city of Calabria; episcopal, however, under the metropolitan see of Rossano, from which it is distant about 15 Italian miles, and nearly as much from the shore of the Tyrrhenian sea.

d. Agresta, often praised, writes in the Life of St. Basil, page 361, that near the precipitous places which are called St. Demetrius's there is an abbey named from St. Adrian, rich in relics, privileges and revenues. The geographical maps show a village distinguished with the title of St. Demetrius, five miles from Bisignano to the North, and ten from Rossano toward the West, of which Agresta probably speaks.

a. Of Proclus, heaped here with so many praises, I read nothing elsewhere.

b. Sirleto renders it thus: At that time, when a great earthquake had seized Rossano, with many rains falling by night and day, and when those who inhabited the upper part had migrated to the lower parts, and when that earthquake had overwhelmed houses and churches and had revered no other places save only the church which is called by the name of Peace, it was a wonderful and dreadful miracle to all beholders, all things being changed and some made out of others. I pass over what is here hesitant and encumbered. Barrio too, at the beginning of book 5 On the Antiquity of Calabria, likewise reads the holy church of Peace, which Caryophilus rendered of St. Irene. The ambiguous Greek word εἰρήνης leaves the matter so doubtful that I nevertheless prefer to stand with Caryophilus on account of the adjoined ἁγίας. Further, there are very many St. Irenes; of some we have already treated in our Work. The most celebrated of that name is the martyr venerated at Constantinople, of whom we treated on the fifth of May, on which day she is venerated. Whether the church of Rossano was called from her or from another of the same name, I do not know.

c. Athos is a mountain of Macedonia, running out into the Ægean sea like a peninsula between the Strymonic and the Singitic gulfs. Pliny and others write very many things about its height: by the Italians it is called il monte santo, by the Greeks ἅγιον ὄρος, and by the Turks Monastir. The origin of those names is from the multitude of monasteries which occupy the mountain, where there are 24 of the caloyers, or Greek monks, of the Order of St. Basil alone, and the monks are numbered at about 6000, from whom all the bishops under the patriarch of Constantinople are taken to rule the churches. Of this mountain therefore, where so many cultivators of the monastic life dwelt, the biographer speaks.

d. This Eupraxius seems the same as the one mentioned a little after: but he must be judged to have built the chapel of St. Anastasia long before, since his administration seems to have been for no small time under Antony, from whom St. Nilus had received goods bequeathed by will and had distributed them to the poor, for which thing he was afterwards accused of avarice before Eupraxius, as is narrated below. It is further probable that the convent restored by the Saint afterwards fell, for I do not find mention of it in the often-praised Agresta.

e. Was he an archbishop, or a prefect of the palace? The addition of Calabria seems to persuade the former: a little after, the biographer calls the metropolitan an archbishop. If the discourse is about the latter, he was not of Rossano, since there was no archiepiscopal see there at that time, but at Santa Severina.

f. Δομέστικος, both among the later Greeks and among the Latin writers of the Middle Ages, has various significations besides the proper one in which it is used by the ancients. It comes not seldom for a friend, an intimate: more often for a secular dignity, and that a various one; frequently for an ecclesiastical office, as various testimonies in Du Cange in his Græco-barbarous Glossary make credible. If Theophylact was an archbishop, Leo, who is called his domestic, could have been the prefect of the ecclesiastical chant, which dignity was not among the lowest, as neither today is the office of Cantor in choirs.

a. We have reckoned among the Saints in our Work three Simeons of the same name, called Stylites. The Acts of the first, who is called the Elder, were illustrated on the fifth of January, of the second on the twenty-sixth of July: of the third, finally, who is announced on the wonderful Mountain near Antioch in Syria, where he was famed for virtues and prodigies, Janninck treated at length on the twenty-fourth of May. Of his writings there is a discussion in the same place, in §§ 4 and 5 of the preliminary Commentary.

b. Σπαθάριος means an armour-bearer: Προτοσπαθάριος a chief armour-bearer, which dignity was reckoned among the more illustrious, when they were the armour-bearers of emperors or of great princes: but the prefects of provinces too seem to have had their own, and the office of these was not so illustrious.

c. Baillet in the eulogy of our Saint writes that the emperors of the East, Basil II and his brother Constantine, called the Younger, Porphyrogenitus, promoted to the empire in the year 975, sent into Italy in the following year Leo, count of the domestics, and Nicholas the protospatharius, to govern Calabria and the other possessions there subject to the empire of the East. He adds that these, when they had arrived and had heard many things about St. Nilus, went to him with the metropolitan Theophylact, and put to him the questions given above in num. 46: and finally that into the place of Leo, who died a little after, Eupraxius succeeded, of whom below. Whence Baillet drew all these things I do not know: but if he has no guide, as I think, I wonder that a man who so often blames Metaphrastes should himself so confidently insert into Lives very many things of his own from conjectures, and those not happy enough. Such indeed are the epoch to which he affixes the deeds, and Leo's countship of the domestics, and the succession of Eupraxius after him.

a. Βασιλικὸς Caryophilus interprets as imperial Judge; Sirleto as royal, and elsewhere as regal, used adjectivally. Du Cange in his Græco-barbarous Glossary cites examples where it is taken for various offices, and in his Glossary of Medieval Latin brings forward this our passage, in which a Judge is signified. It is certain that a certain like dignity, and that among the chief ones, is designated, and therefore Caryophilus too afterwards not unfittingly calls Eupraxius viceroy.

b. To sincere sorrow, that is, and penance for the sins committed. And in those centuries even the greatest princes were wont to testify to this by taking up the monastic habit as a habit of penance: of which thing there are innumerable examples, and everywhere to be met with.

c. From these words it appears clearly enough that it is more probable that not some civil or secular dignity is designated by the biographer, but an ecclesiastical and archiepiscopal one. Further, Siberona, which today is commonly called Santa Severina, is an ancient and most fortified city of further Calabria. It is distant from the Ionian sea 10 miles, from Crotone 12. The archiepiscopal see has six suffragans, about all which see Ughelli, volume 9 of the Italia sacra. It has only one prelate of Santa Severina mentioned before Stephen, in a charter of count Roger of the year 1056, and Ughelli observes that he is there called only bishop, whence he doubts whether at that time that see was already archiepiscopal. Wrongly, as is here clear.

d. The discourse here is about the bishop of Rossano: since in that same city, as will appear below, the sick Eupraxius was staying, where the body of the dead man was afterwards buried in the church of St. Anastasia, which the same Eupraxius had founded and adorned, as is clear from chapter 6, num. 45, and at the letter d. And this was in the highest part of Rossano, as is there said. Therefore at that time, namely toward the end of the tenth century, the see of Rossano was not archiepiscopal, since its prelate is here called only bishop, and seems to have been a suffragan of Santa Severina or certainly of another metropolitan see.

e. That is, a cap or cowl, as it is in the Greek.

f. Sirleto has Mesivianum. In the geographical maps I find a village Misiano in further Calabria, five miles distant toward the East from Mileto.

a. I do not know what Sirleto is about here, when he renders thus: There ruled once over both regions, both Italy and our region of Calabria, Magistrus the victor, the first and only man endowed with the dignity, sent by the pious kings to the said regions. Μάγιστρος is the name of an office, not the proper name of a man. Its dignity and authority were always great in the Byzantine court, and so great that the magistri were not seldom held among the more illustrious and took precedence of the patricians. See Du Cange in his Græco-barbarous Glossary.

b. For Chelandia Sirleto has Caravels, which is an Italian word and signifies a certain kind of vessel. Chelandium (others write Chelandrium, Chelindrum, Salandra and Salandria) is a word usual among the writers of the Middle Ages for that kind of ship which the Greeks, and especially the Byzantines, call χελάνδιον. See Du Cange under either word.

c. In Martène it stands: Go, he said, with your like fools, and fashion an image for Nilus, and cease not to adore him and to give him thanks: since by the king's head you would not have lived longer, you would have given glory: where something is encumbered and gaping. But in the Greek text too some things seem to be wanting, for the sense there is not full enough, unless the magister meant to signify that St. Nilus was to be removed from thence, so that the occasion of imploring his patronage would be lacking to them.

d. Sirleto from the Greek κοιτωνίτης renders Cœtonetes, which however signifies the Chamberlain of a prince, as various examples in Du Cange demonstrate. Further, their dignity and authority were not small, as is clear in the same place.

e. Sciommari in Note 12 to the Life of Bl. Bartholomew demonstrates by several examples that it was common among the Greeks to call the monastic habit Angelic.

a. Sirletus's version has *puella monacha*, a nun; Caryophilus rendered μοναχὴ merely by *sola*, alone; not rightly, as it seems, since the word here signifies a nun or solitary woman.

b. Sirletus interprets ἀρχιερατεύοντος as *archbishop*, but wrongly; for the Greek word is everywhere taken for the chief men in the sacerdotal Order and for bishops, and it is evident above that at that time

c. The version here in Martene is different, where it is read thus: *Blatton, returning at one time from Africa with many captives, for this reason, that for a time the king of the Saracens had been hostile to him, with the excuse that his sister had been married to him — which was by no means true — and he put in at the shores of Rossano, etc.* But these words neither express the Greek text nor render a sense that can be understood. Furthermore, this Vlattus or Blattus was archbishop of a see in Calabria; but of which? Of Cosenza, of Reggio, or of Santa Severina? There is no mention of him in Ughelli in the series of those churches; but from other quarters nothing stands in the way of his being inserted in one or the other Catalogue toward the end of the tenth century, for which they are empty enough.

d. Amira does not seem to be a man's proper name, but that of an office. It has its origin from *Amir*, which among the Arabs signifies Lord, from whom it passed over to the Saracens and the Turks, among whom the prefects of cities and provinces were so called. Hence Anastasius the Librarian on Synod 8, Action 1: *The Greeks call the prince of the Saracens Hamiras.* And it is interpreted, as they report, in their tongue, Provost.

e. It is Nicephorus Phocas who is treated of here, a most valiant man, who through several victories made a way for himself to the throne of the empire. His expedition against Crete, which had been occupied by the Saracens, you have narrated by Cedrenus at the year of the world 6468, and Baronius makes mention of it at the year of Christ 961 in his Annals.

f. Basil and Constantine, brothers, reigned together in the East from the year 976 until 1025; and it is of them that the discourse is here.

g. This Pandulf died in the year 981, about which time accordingly these things happened. But the irruption of the Saracens, of which a little above, is fixed at the year 986, at which Lupus Protospatharius in his Chronicle says: *The Saracens seized the holy city of Chiriachus and laid waste all Calabria.*

h. To Haligernus or Aligernus, as to one venerable, Mabillon gave a place in the Acta Sanctorum of the Order of St. Benedict, Century 5, Part 1, page 645 and following, where you also have not a few excerpts from the Life of St. Nilus bearing upon this matter. Mabillon assigns the beginning of Aligernus's abbacy to the year 949, and his death to 986.

a. Ἀρχιστράτηγος Caryophilus renders "of St. Michael," and rightly, as is plain from Du Cange in his Greek-barbarous Glossary, where he brings forward examples and proves that by that word that holy archangel is very often designated; Sirletus silently passed it over. Moreover Mabillon calls that monastery now Vallis-Lucii, now Vallilucium.

b. That hymn or canon, with a Latin interpretation, Sciommarius printed at the end of the Life of Bl. Bartholomew, where, if you please, you may see it. It is the only one surviving out of the many which the saint composed, and it is a compendium of the Life of St. Benedict written by Gregory.

c. That tropological interpretation is indeed somewhat far-fetched.

d. Very ancient in the Church is the controversy between Easterns and Westerns concerning the fast of the Sabbath, and the contrary observance in different churches, as is plain from various places in SS. Ambrose and Augustine. The custom of fasting on that day flourished in the Roman Church already from the time of St. Ambrose, when it was not observed in the church of Milan, as St. Augustine testifies in Epistle 118 to Januarius. Those who have need may see on these matters what Quesnel discusses in Dissertation 6 appended to the Works of St. Leo the Great.

e. The antiquity of this custom was long ago traced back to Apostolic tradition, as SS. Augustine and John Cassian, cited by Quesnel, bear witness, where you also have a discussion of what was handed down by Peter Damian and others concerning its institution by St. Sylvester.

f. That is to say, when the commands of God, the supreme Lord of life, who orders it, are manifest and beyond doubt.

a. Pandulf, the most renowned prince of Benevento and Capua, whose surname was Ironhead, died at Capua in the year 981. He had to wife Aloara or Aloaria — here called Abara, and in Sirletus Avara — the daughter of Count Peter, who died in the year 992. Several sons by her

b. A counsel to be marveled at in so great a man, and — unless it be much softened by a kindly interpretation — altogether ridiculous.

c. Leo of Ostia, in Book 2, chapter 10 of his Chronicle, has the following, which bear upon this. *The aforesaid Aloara, when she had lived in her honor about eight years, left in the principality her son Landenulf, who after four months was cruelly slain by certain of his disloyal Capuans at the church of St. Marcellus, on the very fifth day of holy Easter, to which he had gone in procession on that day after the manner of the princes of that city.* In what follows, where he treats of the homicides that were punished, he does not reckon Laidulf among them; but in chapter 15 he speaks thus: *And so the aforesaid emperor Otto, having deposed Laidulf … and exiled him beyond the mountains, because he was said to have consented to the murder of his brother, handed over the principality of Capua to Ademar.* From this it is plainly evident that men were more probably suborned by Laidulf to kill his brother; but that the latter was butchered by Laidulf's own sword and blow does not appear sufficiently credible, since it does not seem that this could have lain hidden from the marquis Hugh, at whose order an inquiry was instituted concerning that homicide, and who, as Leo Marsicanus writes in the cited chapter 10, had six men hanged on a gibbet and the rest punished with various penalties.

d. The church of St. Germanus is situated in the town which was formerly named St. Peter's and is now called from that same St. Germanus. It lies at the foot of Monte Cassino, and in it both the monastery and the church survive even today. See Mabillon in the Annals at the year of Christ 720.

e. What Leo of Ostia relates about these matters differs by the whole heaven; for he assigns the cause of the cruelty perpetrated against Manso, the successor of Aligernus, to the ill will of the Capuans against him on account of the possessions recovered from Otto and his excessive pride, and to the wicked machinations of Alberic, bishop of the Marsi, for obtaining the abbacy of Cassino. Mabillon in any case received our biographer's statements doubtfully and as suspect, in the Acta Sanctorum of the Order of St. Benedict, Century 5, Part 1, page 651, setting against them the testimony of Leo Marsicanus, according to which at length, setting aside what is read here, he narrates the matter in the Annals at the year of Christ 996, num. 32. It would be difficult to decide the case between our biographer and Leo; but I shall not so assent to the latter's assertion as to believe the former's testimony of no weight. Our biographer lived at the time when these things were done, and probably was then in St. Nilus's company; nor did it concern him whether the punishment which the holy Father had foretold was inflicted upon Manso by the Capuans and Alberic or by the prince, and whether for that or for another cause. Leo writes of a domestic abbot, and speaks thus at the end of chapter 16, so as to win credence for what he has related: *But of these messengers whom the said pseudo-bishop (Alberic) had appointed for so great a crime (the tearing out of Manso's eyes), I myself recall having seen one, a presbyter by the name of Andrew, when I was still a small boy, scarcely able to stir himself in his bed, who, living now beyond a hundred years of age, was wont, as often as he was questioned, to confess all these things in order with tears to my uncle John, bishop of Sora, of holy memory — lest anyone perchance should think it fabulous.* These last words sufficiently suggest that Leo was aware that he was writing things new and different from what was then commonly related. Moreover he fetches his authority from the report of a man more than a hundred years old, and one who told these things not to himself but to his uncle, while he himself was still a boy; whether these things ought utterly to lessen the biographer's authority, let others see. For the rest, of what the biographer promises that he will say afterward, I find nothing.

a. From these things I have drawn out some chronology of the holy Father's life in the Commentarius prævius, num. 7, which consult.

b. Who this prince of Gaeta was, and who his wife, who burned with so great a desire of meeting the holy man, I do not find elsewhere.

c. In a moral sense the saint could say these things most truly, namely that he had experienced temptations sent by the demon from the conversation and sight of women; and in this sense assuredly they are to be understood, lest humility should have imprudently turned aside into falsehoods.

d. That is, Gregory V, the Roman Pontiff, who was formerly called Bruno, and was a kinsman of the emperor Otto III, being born namely of duke Otto, who at that time held the March of Verona. Him moreover Luitgard, daughter of Otto the Great, had brought into the world. See Muratori in the Annals of Italy at the year 996, and in the Antiquities of Italy, Dissertation 41. What the writer says about miracles outside the Church, understand of miracles that are apparent, or wrought by those who afterward fell away from the faith.

e. The biographer calls the Pope harsh; but Peter Damian and the Saxon Chronographer fasten the whole cruelty upon the Romans, who feared that the emperor might let him go unpunished. See, if you desire more of these matters, what I wrote in the Posthumous Glory of SS. Cyprian and his companions, § 3, num. 27 and 28.

f. From the report of the common people, as indeed the biographer confesses, he relates these things about the death of Gregory V, which occurred in the year 999, on the 12th day of February. No ancient writers, says Muratori in the Annals, speak of it more expressly; and he is of the opinion that Gregory's death was hastened by those who had adhered to the party of Crescentius — a conjecture which, if the emperor Otto perished by the treachery of that man's wife, is not far from probability. But what of our biographer's assertions? Since he frees his own credit by alleging the report of the people, in all likelihood the circumstances of the death were not otherwise known to him, and what he asserts to have been done to Gregory may perhaps have been perpetrated by the followers of Crescentius. However that may be, Otto, as Peter Damian writes in the Life of St. Romuald the abbot, *going forth barefoot from the city of Rome, thus proceeded as far as Mount Gargano to the church of St. Michael*; but the cause of that expiatory journey is reported by writers to be that, against the pledge of his oath, he had ordered Crescentius to be beheaded.

g. These things also the biographer seems to have received from report, and indeed from a false one. Certainly the Romans had already sued for peace, nor did Otto die in flight, but in the territory of Civita Castellana he was quietly extinguished by a slow fever and, as is conjectured, by poison he had drunk. See the aforesaid Muratori at the years 1001 and 1002.

a. Concerning Stephen, whose death is here narrated with a eulogy, we have said something at Chapter 4, letter e. For some chronology of his life according to the chronology of St. Nilus's deeds, see the Commentarius prævius, num. 7 and 8.

b. Who was prince of Gaeta toward the end of the holy Father's life and at the beginning of the eleventh century has not become known to me.

c. Here is a most manifest testimony that the biographer was not only contemporary with the saint, but was also joined to him in the closest familiarity.

d. Of this monastery Sciommarius speaks nearly thus in Note 18 to the Life of Bl. Bartholomew: it was situated near the sea in a place which was called Serapo, not far from the gate which is called the Land Gate, on the left. St. Nilus had found there a small and solitary dwelling, and there in a short time built a monastery, which was called Serperi or Serperis from the fact that it stood in the place where formerly there had been a shrine of Serapis, an Egyptian deity. Sciommarius adds, from Discourse 2 of Peter Rosettus's Description of Gaeta, that the place where the temple of Serapis and the monastery of Serperis stood is not more precisely known, but that it probably existed where today is seen the church of Our Lady, which is called della Catena, in which church Stephen is entombed.

e. This monastery too has probably been utterly destroyed; it was distant three miles from the place where today is the abbey of Grottaferrata. Moreover the city of Tusculum was utterly destroyed by the Romans in the year 1190, as the often-praised Sciommarius relates in Note 30. Concerning the translation of the body of St. Nilus from this monastery to the abbey of Grottaferrata, see what is to be noted at letter i.

f. The same Sciommarius observes in Note 17 that this Gregory, count of Tusculum, was the father of two Roman Pontiffs, namely Benedict VII (otherwise VIII) and John XIX (otherwise XX), and likewise the grandfather of Benedict VIII (otherwise IX). Consult, if you please, our Kircher's Eustathio-Marian History, part 2, chapter 4, where he treats more fully of the stock and offspring of the counts of Tusculum, from Zazara and others.

g. Since St. Nilus refused the title of abbot and hegumen, Paul presided under that name already for some time before the saint's death; but how long he survived him is not sufficiently established. In the series of the abbots of Grottaferrata there is still Cyril between Paul and Bl. Bartholomew. By Sciommarius's reckoning, the two of them together scarcely filled five years; for in Note 20 he relates that Bl. Bartholomew was only twenty years old when the prelacy was conferred upon Paul, and that he accepted it, after Cyril, only when he was already in his twenty-fifth year — all of which may be discussed at the Life of Bl. Bartholomew.

h. The memory of St. John the Theologian or Evangelist is kept on this day with a solemn Office among the Greeks, as has been noted among the Prætermissi for this day. In the most recent Greek Anthologion there is subjoined to the Office just mentioned a rubric which advises that on this day the memory of St. Nilus is to be kept in the abbey of Grottaferrata.

i. Where that threshing floor was in which the remains of St. Nilus were first laid by his own command, I do not gather with sufficient distinctness. Yet it does not seem to have been far from the monastery of St. Agatha, where he had died. But what then of the monks gathered in that place after his death and of the fixed dwelling, or rather monastery? Was that threshing floor which the saint had received from the count of Tusculum perhaps near the abbey of Grottaferrata, and is it of the beginnings of that abbey that the account here speaks? The often-praised Sciommarius, in Note 23, where he describes the adornment of the chapel of St. Nilus which adjoins the church of the abbey and is called by the Greeks Παρεκκλησία, relates that in a painting of most exquisite workmanship there is exhibited in that same place the translation of the body of that saint from the monastery of St. Agatha to that of Grottaferrata; but when this took place I do not find in him. For the rest, he notes that the saint's relics are carried about with solemn pomp on his feast.

ON ST. NILUS, ABBOT OF GROTTAFERRATA,

IN THE TUSCULAN TERRITORY OF ITALY.

IN THE YEAR MV.

PRELIMINARY COMMENTARY.

BY J. C.

CHAPTER I.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER II.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER III.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER IV.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER V.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER VI.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER VII.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER VIII.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER IX.

ANNOTATIONS.

CHAPTER X.

ANNOTATA.

CHAPTER XI.

ANNOTATA.

CHAPTER XII.

ANNOTATA.

CHAPTER XIII.

ANNOTATA.

CHAPTER XIV.

ANNOTATA.

Notes

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