Barlaam and Ioasaph 1 part 16/18

King Abenner, however, having thus departed from that former wretched way of life and being repentant for the things he had done, handed over the entire royal rule to his son.

And he himself, living quietly by himself, continually pouring dust upon his head, uttering heavy groans and bathing himself with tears, conversed alone with the One who is present everywhere, begging forgiveness from him for his own transgressions.

And he let himself down into such an abyss of compunction and humility that he refused even to name the name of God with his own lips, and only barely, through his son's admonition, did he dare to do so.

And he was so changed with this good change, and walked the path leading toward virtue, that he surpassed, by his piety, the guilt of his former transgressions.

And having lived thus for four years in repentance and tears and every virtue, he fell into sickness, in which he also died.

And when the end drew near, he began to fear and be distressed, calling to mind the evils he had done.

But Ioasaph, with consoling words, lightened the burden that had fallen upon him, saying: 'Why are you so grieved, O father, and why do you trouble yourself? Hope in God and confess to him, who is the hope of all the ends of the earth and of those far off at sea, who cries out through the prophet, saying:'

'Wash yourselves, become clean;'

'remove your wickednesses from your souls, from before my eyes;'

and, 'Though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow;'

'though they be as crimson, I will make them white as wool.'

Do not fear, therefore, O father, nor doubt;

for the sins of those who turn back to God do not overcome his infinite goodness.

For these sins, however many they may be, are under measure and number;

but that goodness is immeasurable and innumerable.

It is not possible, therefore, for that which is subject to measure to prevail over the immeasurable.

With such consoling words he charmed his father's soul, and made him full of hope.

Then the father, stretching out his hands, giving thanks, prayed fervently for him, and blessed the day on which he himself had been begotten, saying: 'Sweetest child, child not of mine, but of the heavenly Father, what favor shall I render to you? With what blessings shall I bless you? And what thanksgiving shall I send up to God concerning you? For I was lost, and through you I was found;'

'I was dead in sin, and I came to life again;'

'an enemy and apostate of God, and I was reconciled.'

'What then shall I repay you for all these things? It is God who grants you worthy rewards.'

Saying these things, he kissed his most beloved child many times.

Then, having prayed, and having said, 'Into your hands, O God who loves mankind, I commit my spirit,' he committed his soul to the Lord in repentance and peace.

And Ioasaph, having honored with tears

his father who had died, and having honorably prepared his remains for burial, laid him in the tomb of pious men, not, however, clothing him in royal garb, but adorning him with the garments of repentance.

And standing at the tomb, and stretching his hands toward heaven, and letting tears flow like a river from his eyes, he cried out to God, saying:

O God, I thank you, King of glory, only mighty and immortal one, that you did not disregard my supplication, and did not remain silent at my tears, but were well-pleased to turn this your servant, and my father, from the way of iniquities, and to draw him to yourself, the Savior of all, having turned him away from the deceit of idols, and deeming him worthy to know you, the true and loving God.

And now, O my Lord and God, who possess the unsearchable sea of goodness, appoint him in a verdant place, in a place of rest, where the light of your countenance shines;

and do not remember his ancient transgressions, but according to your great mercy blot out the handwriting of his offenses, and tear up the bonds of his debts, and reconcile to him your saints whom he slew by fire and by sword;

command them not to be angry against him.

For all things are possible to you, the Master of all, except only this: not to show mercy to those who do not turn back to you;

for your mercy is poured out upon all, and you save those who call upon you, Lord Jesus Christ, for to you belongs glory forever.

Such prayers and supplications he offered to God for a full seven days, not departing from the tomb at all, not thinking at all of food or drink, nor even partaking of the rest of sleep;

but with tears he wetted the ground, and with unceasing groans he continued praying.

And on the eighth day, having returned to the palace, he distributed all his wealth and money to the poor, so that no one in need was left unassisted.

In a few days, having completed such service and having emptied out all the treasuries, so that the mass of wealth might not hinder him at all when about to enter the narrow gate, on the fortieth day after his father's death, performing a memorial for him, he summoned together all those in office, and those girded with military rank, and not a few of the civic populace.

And having sat down in front, as was customary, he spoke in the hearing of all:

'Behold, as you see, Abenner my father and king has died like one of the poor, and neither wealth nor royal glory, nor even I, his father-loving son, nor any of his other friends and relatives, was able to help him and rescue him from the inescapable verdict.'

'But he goes to the tribunals of that place, to render an account of his conduct in the present life, bringing with him no helper at all, but only whatever deeds he himself has done, of whatever kind they may be.'

'And this same thing is naturally bound to happen to all who have received mortal nature, and it cannot be otherwise.'

'Now therefore hear me, friends and brothers, people of the Lord and holy inheritance, whom Christ our God redeemed with his precious blood and delivered from the ancient error and the slavery of the adversary.'

'You yourselves know my conduct among you: how from the time I came to know Christ and was deemed worthy to become his servant, having hated all things, I longed for him alone; and this was my heart's desire — having withdrawn from the storm of life and its vain tumult, to be alone with him alone, and in the untroubled calm of soul to serve my God and Master.'

'But my father's insistence held me back, and the commandment which bids us to honor our parents.'

Therefore, by the grace and cooperation of God, I have not labored in vain, nor have I spent such days for nothing;

but I have made that one akin to Christ, and have taught all of you to know Him alone as the true God and Lord of all,

not I who did this, but His grace which was with me — the grace that delivered even me from superstitious error and the worship of idols, and freed you, my people, from grievous captivity.

It is time, then, now at last, to fulfill the works promised to God;

it is time to depart to wherever He may guide me, and to render my vows which I vowed to Him.

Now, therefore, consider among yourselves whom you would wish to lead you and to reign;

for you are already fitted for the will of the Lord, and none of His commandments has been hidden from you.

Do not turn aside to the right or to the left;

and may the God of peace be with you all."

When that people and the populace heard these things, there was at once uproar, tumult, very great outcry, and confusion, all weeping and lamenting their impending orphanhood.

Lamenting in this way, besides their lamentations they also confirmed with oaths that they would not let go at all, but would hold fast, and would not permit him to withdraw in the least.

As the populace and all the officials were crying out thus, the king took up the matter, waved down the crowd, and commanded them to be silent.

And saying that he would yield to their insistence, he sent them home, though grieving still and bearing on their cheeks the marks of lamentation.

He himself then took aside one of the officials — who was foremost with him, admired for piety and gravity of life, named Barachias, the very man the narrative had already mentioned above, when Nachor, impersonating Barlaam, was disputing with the philosophers, and Barachias alone was prepared to stand beside him and contend along with him, his heart kindled with divine zeal — this man the king took aside privately, and conversed with him gently, and most fervently begged him to take up the kingdom, and to shepherd his people in the fear of God, so that he himself might go the way he longed for.

But when he saw him refusing and declining altogether, and saying, "O king, your judgment is unjust;

this proposal is not in keeping with your own commandment;

for if you were taught to love your neighbor as yourself, by what reasoning do you hasten to lay upon me the burden which you yourself are eager to cast off? For if to reign is a good thing, keep the good thing for yourself;

but if it is a stumbling-block and a snare to the soul, why do you set it before me, and wish to trip me up?" — so when he saw him speaking and insisting in this way, he ceased the conversation.

And then, deep in the night, he composed a letter to the people, full of much wisdom and setting forth all piety — what opinion they ought to hold concerning God, what manner of life they should offer to Him, what hymns, what thanksgivings —

then he commanded them to receive no one other than Barachias into the royal rule.

And leaving in his own bedchamber the paper on which the letter was written, he went out of the palace unnoticed by all.

But he was not able to remain unnoticed to the end.

For as soon as this was heard at dawn, it at once caused turmoil and lamentation among the people;

and all went out with great haste in search of him, contriving by every means to head off his flight beforehand;

and so their effort did not go for nothing.

For as they occupied all the roads in advance, and encircled all the mountains, and went about the trackless ravines, they found him at a certain torrent, his hands stretched out to heaven, performing the prayer of the sixth hour.

And seeing him, they poured about him in tears, imploring him and reproaching his departure.

"Why," he said, "do you labor in vain? For no longer hope to have me as king."

But yielding to their great insistence, he turned back again to the palace.

And having gathered everyone together, he made known his own resolve.

Then he also confirmed his word with oaths, that he would remain with them no further day.

"For I," he said, "have fully completed my ministry to you, and have left out nothing, nor did I shrink back from what was profitable, from announcing to you and teaching, testifying to all, the faith in our Lord Jesus

Christ, and showing the ways of repentance.

And now, behold, I go the way which I have long desired;

and you shall no longer see my face, all of you.

Therefore I testify to you this day, according to the divine Apostle, that I am pure from the blood of all of you;

for I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole counsel of God."

Having heard these things, and knowing the firmness of his resolve, that nothing could hinder his purpose, they lamented their orphanhood, but had no power at all to persuade him.

Then the king, taking hold of that Barachias whom the narrative had already made known, said, "This man, brothers, I appoint as king for you."

But since he strongly refused the matter, he installed him — unwilling and reluctant — into the royal rule, placed the diadem upon his head, and put the royal ring into his hand.

And standing facing the east, he prayed a prayer for King Barachias:

that his faith toward God might be kept unshaken, and that he might find an unswerving course according to the commandments of Christ.

And along with this he prayed also on behalf of the clergy and the whole flock, asking for them help and salvation from the Lord, and everything that might be requested for their benefit, ordered according to what was expedient.

Having prayed thus, he turned and said to Barachias:

"Behold, brother, I charge you, just as the Apostle once solemnly declared:

'Take heed to yourself and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you king, to shepherd the people of the Lord, whom He acquired through His own blood.'

And just as before me you knew God and served Him with a pure conscience, so also now show greater diligence to be well pleasing to Him.

For inasmuch as you have been deemed worthy by God of a great rule, by so much the more are you a debtor of a greater recompense.

Therefore render to your Benefactor the debt of thanksgiving, keeping His holy commandments and turning aside from every path leading to destruction.

For just as among those who sail, when a sailor errs, he brings small harm to those sailing;

but when the helmsman errs, he works the destruction of the whole ship;

so also in kingdoms, if one of the subjects sins, he wrongs himself more than he wrongs the common good; but if the king himself sins, he brings harm upon the whole commonwealth.

Since, then, you will be held to great account if you neglect anything that is required, guard yourself with great precision in what is good.

Hate every pleasure that draws toward sin;

'Pursue peace with all, and the sanctification without which no one shall see the Lord.'

Take heed to the cycle that runs around human affairs, bearing and turning them about now one way, now another;

and amid their swift-turning change, keep your pious reasoning unchangeable.

For to be changed along with the changes of circumstances is proof of an unstable mind.

But be steadfast, wholly grounded in the good.

Do not be exalted by transient glory into vain arrogance;

but with a purified mind, consider the worthlessness of your own nature, the brevity and swift-fading course of this present life, and the death that is yoked to the flesh.

And reckoning these things, you will not be cast into the pit of arrogance, but will fear God, the true and heavenly King, and will truly be blessed.

'For blessed,' he says, 'are all who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways;

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord;

he shall greatly delight in His commandments.'

But which commandments ought you to keep before all others? 'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy;

Be compassionate, as your heavenly Father is compassionate.'

For this commandment above all is required of those who hold the greatest authority.

And truly, he who has laid hold of great authority ought, as far as possible, to imitate the Giver of that authority;

and in this especially he will imitate God."

in accounting nothing more to be preferred than showing mercy,

but nothing so draws the subject people toward good will as the grace of beneficence given to those in need;

for service rendered out of fear is but a disguised flattery, deceiving with a feigned name of honor those who devote themselves to it;

and that which is subjected unwillingly rises in rebellion the moment it seizes an opportunity;

but that which is held fast by the bonds of good will maintains firm obedience toward the one who holds it.

Therefore be accessible to those who are in need, and open your ears to the poor, that you may find God's ear open to you;

for such as we become toward our fellow-servants, such a Master shall we find toward ourselves; and as we hear, so shall we be heard; as we see, so shall we be seen, by that divine and all-beholding gaze.

Let us therefore offer mercy in advance, that we may in turn receive like for like.

But hear also another commandment, the companion of the former one:

'Forgive, and you shall be forgiven';

and, 'If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive you your trespasses.'

Therefore bear no grudge against those who offend;

but, when asking pardon for your own sins, you yourself also forgive those who trespass against you, because forgiveness is repaid with forgiveness, and by reconciliation with our fellow-servants comes release from the Master's wrath.

And again, our lack of compassion toward those who offend makes our own offenses unforgivable to us;

just as you hear what happened to the debtor of ten thousand talents, who, by his lack of pity toward his fellow-servant, renewed for himself the exaction of so great a debt.

Therefore we must take exact heed, lest we too suffer the same;

but let us forgive every debt, and cast out all wrath from the heart, that our own many debts may also be forgiven us.

And above all things, and before all things, guard the good deposit, the pious word of the faith which you learned and were taught;

and let no tare of heresy sprout up among you;

but keep the divine seed pure and unadulterated, that you may show forth abundant fruit to the Master, when he comes demanding an account from each one for the things lived, and rendering to each according to what we have done, when the righteous shall shine forth as the sun, but darkness and eternal shame shall cover the sinners.

And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

And having said these things, he knelt down, as it is written, and prayed again with tears.

And turning, he kissed Barachias, whom he had appointed king, and all those in office.

Then indeed took place a scene truly worthy of tears.

For all of them, standing around him, as though they lived only by being with him, and were now about to be robbed even of their very souls by this parting, what did they not say for pity's sake? what excess of lamentation did they leave undone? they kissed him, they embraced him;

grief made them beside themselves.

'Woe to us,' they cried, 'for this grievous misfortune!'

They called him master, father, savior, benefactor;

'Through you,' they said, 'we came to know God;

we found rest from all evils.'

'What then shall become of us after your departure? what evils shall not overtake us?' Saying such things, they beat their breasts, and bewailed the calamity that had seized them.

But he, having silenced their many wailings with words of consolation, and having promised to be with them in spirit, since in body this could no longer be, having said such things, went out of the palace as all looked on.

And immediately all followed along with him.

They refused to turn back;

they fled the city, as though resolved that their own eyes should never again behold it.

But when they had come outside the city, at last, with difficulty—through the incisiveness of his exhortation, and his bringing to bear a somewhat sharper rebuke—from him

they were torn away, and turned back unwillingly, their eyes constantly turning back, and their feet hindering their own march.

But some of the more fervent, weeping, followed him from afar, until night came on and separated them from one another.

So that noble one went forth from the palace rejoicing, as when someone returning from long exile to his own land journeys with gladness.

And he was clothed, on the outside with his customary garments, but underneath with that hair-cloth rag which Barlaam had given him.

And on that night, having come to the small dwelling of a certain poor man, he took off the garments that were on him, and gave them to the poor man as this final act of beneficence.

and thus, having made God his helper through the prayers of that man and of many other poor people, and having clothed himself, as with a garment of salvation and a tunic of gladness, with God's grace and help, he went forth to the eremitic life, carrying with him neither bread, nor water, nor anything else fit for food, nor wearing any garment, but only that harsh rag alone which we mentioned a little before.

For, wounded in soul by some extraordinary longing and divine love for the immortal King Christ, he was wholly beside himself with desire for the one he longed for, wholly transformed toward God, possessed by love of him;

for, it is said, 'love is strong as fire';

such an intoxication he himself received from divine love, and thus he was inflamed with thirst, according to him who said:

'As the deer longs for the springs of water, so my soul longs for you, O God;

my soul thirsted for God, the mighty, the living [God].'

and as the soul wounded with such love cries out in the Song of Songs:

'You have ravished our heart with your desire, you have ravished our heart;

show me your face, and let me hear your voice;

for your voice is sweet, and your face is beautiful.'

Having received in their heart the longing for this ineffable beauty of Christ, the choir of the apostles and the multitudes of the martyrs despised all things visible, and all temporal life, and chose instead the countless kinds of torments and deaths, having fallen in love with the divine beauty, and having reckoned upon the love which the divine Word bears toward us.

This fire also this good man—noble indeed in body, but far more noble still, and most kingly, in soul—having received within himself, he despises together all earthly things, tramples underfoot all the pleasures of the body, looks down upon wealth and glory and honor from men, lays aside diadem and purple robe, reckoning these things more worthless than spider-webs, and eagerly gives himself over to all the toils and griefs of the ascetic life, crying out, 'My soul has clung, O my Christ, my soul has clung after you;

and your right hand has upheld me.'

And thus, going without turning back into the depth of the desert, and having laid aside, like some burden and most heavy yoke, the confusion of temporal things, he rejoiced in spirit, and gazing intently upon Christ his beloved, he cried out to him, speaking as to one who was present and hearing his voice:

'Let my eye no longer see the good things of this world, O Lord;

may I never henceforth be lifted up in mind by the present vanity;

but fill my eyes, O Lord, with spiritual tears, and direct my steps, and show me your servant Barlaam;

show me the one who became for me the agent of salvation, that through him I may learn the exactness of this eremitic and ascetic life, and not be tripped up by inexperience in the battles of the enemy;

grant me, O Lord, to find the way by which I may attain to you, for my soul is wounded with longing for you, and I thirst for you, the fountain of salvation.'

These things he continually turned over within himself, and conversed with God, being united to him through prayer and most exalted contemplation.

And thus he pressed on intently with his journey, hastening to reach the place where Barlaam dwelt.

And he was nourished by the plants growing in the desert;

for he carried nothing else, as I have already said, except only his own body and the rag which he wore.

But though he procured for himself moderate and scant nourishment from the plants, he was entirely without water, that desert being waterless and dry.

Now already about midday, when the sun was blazing fiercely, as he continued on his journey, he himself was burning even more fiercely with the thirst of the heat in that waterless place, and was suffering the utmost hardship;

but longing conquered nature, and the thirst which he thirsted for God cooled the flame of his thirst for water.

But the devil, hater of the good and full of envy, unable to bear seeing in him such resolve and so ardent a love toward God, stirred up against him many temptations in the desert, suggesting to him the memory of his royal glory, and the most splendid bodyguard that had attended him, of friends and kinsmen and companions of his own age, and how the souls of all had hung upon his own soul, and the other comforts of life;

then he set before him the harshness of virtue and its many toils, the weakness of his body and its unaccustomedness to such hardship, and the length of time, the present necessity of thirst at hand, and that from nowhere was any consolation or end of so great a labor to be expected;

and altogether he stirred up in his mind a great cloud of dust of thoughts, just as is written somewhere also concerning the great Antony.

When the enemy saw himself to be weak against that man's resolve (for he, contemplating Christ and burning with desire for him, being well strengthened by hope and established by faith, reckoned those excesses as nothing), the adversary was put to shame, having fallen, as they say, at the first assault.

He therefore comes by another way (for many are his paths of wickedness), and tried with various phantasms to overturn him and cast him into cowardice, sometimes appearing to him black, as he indeed is;

at other times, holding a drawn sword, he would leap upon him, and threaten to strike him, if he did not quickly turn back;

at other times he took on the forms of all manner of wild beasts, roaring against him and producing a most terrible bellowing and noise;

then he would also transform himself into a dragon, and an asp, and a basilisk.

But that good and most noble contestant remained unshaken in soul, having made the Most High his refuge.

And being sober in mind and mocking the evil one, he said:

You have not escaped my notice, O deceiver, whoever you are, you who raise these things against me, you who from the beginning have contrived evils against the race of men, and who are ever wicked and never cease from doing harm.

But it is a fitting and most appropriate form for you, this very likening yourself to wild beasts and reptiles, displaying the bestial and crooked nature of your mind, and the venomous and harmful character of your purpose.

Why then do you attempt what cannot be accomplished, wretch? For since I have known these devices and terrors to be of your malice, I have no more concern for you.

The Lord is my helper, and I will look upon my enemies; and upon you, the asp and the basilisk, to which you have made yourself like, I will tread, and I will trample you, the lion and the dragon, being made strong by the power of Christ.

Let all my enemies be ashamed and utterly confounded;

let them turn back and be greatly ashamed, suddenly.

Saying these things, and putting on himself the sign of the cross as an invincible weapon, he abolished all the phantasms of the devil.

For immediately the beasts and the reptiles vanished, as smoke vanishes, and as wax melts before the face of fire;

and he himself, being strong in the power of Christ, went on his way,

rejoicing and giving thanks to the Lord.

But that desert also nourished many and various wild beasts, and all manner of serpents, and dragon-like creatures, which, meeting him, appeared no longer in phantasm but in reality, so that from this the way was full of fear and toil;

but he, by his own reasoning, soared above both, love, as Scripture says, casting fear outside, and desire lightening the toil.

Thus then, having contended with many and various misfortunes and hardships, after not a few days he reached that desert of the land of Senaar, in which Barlaam dwelt;

where, finding water, he also quenched the flame of his thirst.

Ioasaph remained wandering for a whole two years over the expanse of this desert, not finding Barlaam, God here too testing the firmness of his reasoning and the nobility of his soul,