Religious History 1 part 10/13

and may He support our weakness by this man's prayers, so that, being strengthened, we may wrestle back from our many defeats, and depart from this life in victory.

THALASSIUS OR LIMNAEUS. There is among us a village called Tillima, which of old received the seeds of the impiety of Marcion, but now enjoys the cultivation of the Gospel.

To the south of it is a certain hill, neither very rough nor very steep.

On this hill the wonderful Thalassius built his ascetic dwelling, a man adorned with many other good qualities, but surpassing the men of his time in simplicity of character, in gentleness, and in moderation of disposition.

And I say this, trusting not to hearsay alone, but having also had experience of it;

for I found the man, and often enjoyed his sweet company.

Into the company of this man was enrolled Limnaeus, who is now sung by all;

and, being quite young, having taken possession of that wrestling-school, he was there excellently trained in this highest way of life.

And first, knowing how prone the tongue is to slip, while still a youth he imposed upon it a law of silence, and continued for a very long time indeed speaking nothing to anyone.

And when he had sufficiently partaken of the teaching of the divine elder, and had shown himself an imprint of that man's virtue, he came to the great Maron, of whom we made mention before.

He arrived at the same time as the divine James also.

And having again reaped much benefit from there, and having emulated the life lived under the open sky, he took possession of another peak, situated above a certain village which they call Targalla.

On this peak he has continued even to this day, having no little house, no tent, no hut, but enclosed by a bare parapet built of stones, not even joined together with clay.

He has a certain small door, continually plastered over with clay, which he never opens when others arrive, but permits himself to do so only when I come.

For this reason very many gather from every side, on perceiving my arrival, desiring to share with me in the entrance.

But to those who at other times come to him, conversing through a certain small window, he imparts his blessing, granting health to very many through it.

For by using the name of our Savior, he both stops diseases and drives out demons, and imitates the wonder-working of the apostles.

He does not pour forth healing only to those who come to him, but has also often applied it to his own body.

For long ago the affliction of colic once rose up against him.

Those who have had the experience know it, and so too do those who became witnesses of it.

For they roll about just as those raving with madness do, turning this way and that, and at the same time stretching out and drawing in their feet.

And there are times when they also sit, and rise, and walk about, contriving to find some means of relief.

For this reason they also frequent the baths and often go in, enjoying some diversion.

And what need is there to prolong the account, listing things clear and evident to all? Wrestling with such an affliction, and struck by pains so many and so great, he did not enjoy the assistance of medicine, did not resort to a bed, did not accept the comfort that comes from drugs or food, but sitting upon a plank laid on the ground, he received his cure through prayer and the sign of the cross, and by the incantation of the divine name lulled his pains to sleep.

And at another time, walking by night, he stepped with his heel upon a sleeping viper.

And it seized hold of the sole of his foot and fixed its teeth into it.

Attempting to come to the aid of his foot, he bent down and brought his hand to it, and thereby transferred the beast's mouth onto the hand.

And again, using his left hand to help the other, he drew the beast's fury against this one too.

But when it had had its fill of frenzy—for it had inflicted upon him more than ten bites—the viper withdrew and took possession of its own hole, while he was struck on every side with bitter pains.

But not even then did he submit to the art of medicine, but applied to the wounds only the remedies of faith: the sign of the cross, prayer, and the invocation of God.

For we see this same dispensation of his also in the case of the noble Job.

For he allowed him to be engulfed by many and manifold billows, wishing to display to all the wisdom of the Pilot.

For from what other source would we have known either that man's courage, or this man's endurance, had the adversary of piety not received occasion to hurl all manner of darts against them? These things, then, are sufficient to teach us the man's endurance.

Let us now demonstrate his benevolence from another source.

For having gathered together many who had been deprived of sight and forced to beg, and having built lodgings on both sides, to the east and to the west, he directed them to dwell in these and to hymn God, commanding that their necessary food be supplied by those who came to him.

He himself, shut up in the middle, rouses both these and those to hymn-singing, and one can hear them continually hymning the Master.

He continues to exercise such great benevolence toward his fellow men.

The duration of his open-air contests is the same as that of the great James.

For they have already completed their thirty-eighth year.

JOHN. This way of life was also embraced by John, a man shining, among other things, with gentleness and meekness.

Having taken possession of a very rugged ridge, stormy and facing north, he has continued there for twenty-five years thus far, receiving the hostile assaults of the wind.

As for all the rest, so that I need not go through each item, his food, his clothing, and his burdens of iron are similar to those already described.

He is so far superior to all human things that he reaps no comfort from them at all.

And of this I shall presently offer clear proof.

He had planted an almond tree right beside his pallet; then, when in time it had become a tree and afforded him shade and delighted the sight, he ordered it cut down, so that he might enjoy no diversion from it.

This life was embraced also by Moses, contending on a certain lofty peak situated above the village of Rama; and by Antiochus, an elderly man, who built his enclosure on a most desolate mountain; and by Antoninus, who, though his body was aged, contended just like the young.

And their clothing is the same, and their food, and their standing, and their prayer, and their labors both all-night and all-day.

And neither length of time, nor old age, nor bodily weakness convicts their endurance of failure, but the love of labor remains ever in full bloom within them.

And God, the judge of virtue's contest, has very many other contestants in our mountains and plains, whom it is not even easy merely to count, let alone to write the life of each one.

Having therefore set forth sufficient benefit from these accounts also for those wishing to gain profit, I shall turn to another kind of narrative, deeming it worthy also to share in their blessing.

ZEBINAS OR POLYCHRONIUS. Those who were deemed worthy of seeing him sing the praises of Zebinas even to this day.

They say that although he had advanced into deep old age, and continued the same labors right up to his very death, he changed nothing of the practices of his youth, though hard-pressed by the heaviest of old age.

He surpassed, as they said, all the men of his time in constancy of prayer.

For spending both his days and his nights in prayer, he not only did not become sated, but even made his longing more fervent.

And even when speaking a few words with those who came to him, he would not allow his mind to be brought down from the heavens, but immediately, on being freed of them, as though not even for a moment separated from the God of all, he offered his supplication once more.

But since old age would not allow him to bear continual standing without pain, he brought a staff to support himself, and leaning upon it, he both hymned the Master and prayed.

Adorned, besides other good qualities, with hospitality, he would urge many of those who came to him to remain for the evening.

But they, fearing his all-night standing, would plead various occupations and withdraw themselves from those labors.

This man that great Maron also greatly admired, and he charged all who came to him to run to him and gather the elder's blessing, calling him father and teacher, and naming him the archetype of every virtue.

And he asked to share burial with him as well.

But those who plundered that sacred body and carried it off to the aforementioned place did not permit this.

But the divinely inspired Zebinas, having died first, received the customary rites in the village near him—it is called Kittika.

And they also built a very great shrine over his tomb.

For it pours forth healing of every kind to those who approach with faith.

It now also has martyrs sharing its roof, who contended in the land of the Persians, and who are honored among us with annual festivals.

The great Polychronius benefited from his teaching.

And the most divine James said that this man was the first to give him a hair-cloth tunic.

But I, who never once beheld that man—for he had reached the end of his life before my birth—see in this very Polychronius the philosophy of the divine Zebinas.

For wax does not take the impressions of signet rings so faithfully as this man bears about him the characteristic marks of that one.

And this I know clearly, by comparing the stories told about that man with what is done by this one.

And though bound to the body, he has a winged soul, and passes through both the air and the upper heaven, and becomes higher than the heavens, and continually beholds the divine contemplation in vision.

And he never allows his mind to be dragged down from there, but even while conversing with those who come to him, he continues to roam among the things above.

And I have learned of his all-night vigil and standing from the following incident.

Seeing him wrestling at once with old age and with sickness, and enjoying no care whatsoever, I persuaded him, entreating him many times, to take two companions to live with him and to enjoy the comfort that comes from them.

And since he asked for men shining in virtue, who were living apart by themselves in another retreat, I also persuaded those admirable men to choose, above all things, the service of the divine man.

These men, after spending a short time with him, attempted to flee, unable to bear the all-night standing.

But when they entreated the divine man to measure the labor according to the weakness of the body—

"Not only," he said, "do I not compel them to share continually in my standing, but I even often urge them to lie down and rest."

"And how could we," they said, "lie down to rest — we men who are healthy and in the middle of our years — when he who has grown old amid labors stands, and disdains the weakness of the body?" Thus did I learn of the nightly labors of that venerable master.

These men, in the course of time, acquired such virtue that they pursued the same ascetic discipline as this great man.

And Moses — for this was his name — has remained until the present, offering every service as to a father and master, and diligently copying upon himself the virtue that flashes forth from that sacred soul.

For the same simplicity, gentleness, and moderation, mildness of speech and sweetness of company, watchfulness of soul and contemplation of God, standing and labor and sleeplessness and diet, and the non-possession according to the divine law, were his.

For except for a small basket containing soaked lentils, the dwelling has nothing.

He derived so great a benefit from association with the great Polychronius.

But I, leaving the disciple, will return to the teacher.

For it is from the spring that the stream pours forth its waters.

This man, then, having driven out, along with the other passions, the ambition of the soul, and having trampled underfoot the tyranny of vain glory, was always eager to conceal his labors.

And he would not endure to wear iron chains, fearing lest he should draw some harm from it, the soul thereby receiving an inflammation of conceit.

And whenever someone arrived and knocked on the door, he would hide it in a certain place.

Someone, having seen it, showed it to me.

And wishing to know how heavy the burden was, I could scarcely lift it with both hands.

But he, seeing me, ordered me to put it down.

But I begged in return to take it, so that I might steal some occasion for hardship.

But when I saw that he was distressed, I yielded the victory to his desire.

From these labors of his, God-given grace blooms upon him, and many wonders are wrought through his prayers.

For indeed, when that grievous drought, wearing men down, roused them to supplication, a multitude of priests came to him.

And with them was also a certain man of the region of Antioch, appointed to shepherd many villages.

This man begged the elders among those present to persuade the man to lay his right hand upon a certain small flask.

When they said that he would not allow it, afterward, as prayer was taking place and that inspired man was praying for me, he, standing behind, held out the flask with both hands.

And it gushed forth so that two or three of those present stretched out their hands and took them filled with the oil.

But nevertheless, though sending forth the rays of grace, and laden with achievements of every kind, and daily gathering the wealth of the ascetic life, he is so moderate in disposition that he embraces the feet of each one who comes to him and lays his forehead to the ground, whether that person be a soldier, an artisan, or a rustic.

A certain earnest man, who had obtained the governorship of this province and had come to Cyrrhus, wished, together with me, to enjoy the sight of these great athletes of virtue.

Having gone round visiting the others, then, we came also to this man whose virtue we are now recounting.

When, then, I had said that the man who had come with me was a governor, a champion of justice and a lover of the pious, the divine man, stretching out both his hands and taking hold of both his feet, said:

"I wish," he said, "to make a certain request to you."

But when he was greatly distressed, and begged him to rise, and promised to do whatever he might command — for he supposed he was interceding on behalf of some subject — the divine man said:

"Well then, since you have promised, and have confirmed your promise with an oath, earnestly offer to God prayers on my behalf."

But he, striking his forehead, begged to be released from the oath, as being unworthy even to offer supplications to the Master on his own behalf.

What speech, then, could suffice for worthy praise of one who, at so great a height of the ascetic life, possesses such moderation of disposition? Not even manifold afflictions befalling him could disprove his diligence in labor; but though besieged by various sickness, he still perseveres in the same labors.

And having many times used many words of persuasion, we with difficulty built this little cell, contriving a little warmth for a body altogether chilled.

Many, having gold in abundance, often brought offerings to him, and some also left it to him upon their deaths;

but he never accepted anything from anyone, but bade them themselves become stewards of the things offered.

And the great James sent him a fur cloak that had been brought to him by someone;

but this too he sent back, seeing that it was too warm and too finely made.

For he continues to wear very cheap and inexpensive garments.

And he considers poverty more desirable than any kingdom, to such a degree that he does not always even have the food he needs.

For I know — having often come and asked for a blessing, and found nothing else but two dried figs only.

The honey of this man is thrice desired by those who see it, and exceedingly lovely to those who hear of it.

For I know of no man, not even among those utterly fond of mockery, who has ever laid blame upon him;

but all sing his praises and speak well of him, and those who go to visit him do not wish to depart.

ASCLEPIUS. Of this same company also is the admirable Asclepius, dwelling ten stades away, but having emulated the same way of life —

— wealth, and all the other things which we have related concerning that sacred person.

They say that he, when he was numbered among the brothers dwelling in the village, embraced the ascetic and orderly life, and drew no harm from mingling with the many.

Having thus distinguished himself in both ways of life, the communal and the anchoritic, he will fittingly be deemed worthy of a double crown.

Many others also emulated his virtue, and not only our own region is filled with this kind of ascetic philosophy, but also the neighboring cities and villages.

One of these is also the most divine James, confined in a certain small cell near a village called Nimouzan, who, though already at the very end of his life — for he is more than ninety years old — remains shut up alone, making his replies through a certain short passage dug in spiral fashion, being heard but not seen, and neither using fire nor enjoying the light of a lamp.

But as for me, he had the door dug open twice, and bade me come inside, thus honoring me and showing the affection he holds for me.

Those, then, who are still living have no need of my words;

for they are able, if they wish, to become eyewitnesses of these men's ascetic life;

but for those who will come after, and who will not share in the sight of these men, this account too suffices for their benefit, showing the character of these men's ascetic life.

Here, then, having concluded the account concerning these men, and having promised the return of the blessing, I shall pass on to another narrative.

SYMEON. Symeon the Great, the great wonder of the inhabited world, all who are subject to the dominion of the Romans know; and the Persians and Medes and Ethiopians have also come to know him; and even to the nomadic Scythians, fame, running forth, has taught his diligence and ascetic philosophy.

But I, though having, so to speak, all men as witnesses of contests beyond description, fear that my narrative may seem to those who come after to be a fable, utterly stripped of truth.

For the things that happen are loftier than human nature;

but men by nature are wont to measure what is said by their own experience.

And if anything is said which lies beyond the bounds of that experience, the account is deemed false by those uninitiated in divine things.

But since land and sea are full of pious people, and those who have been instructed in divine matters and taught by the grace of the all-holy Spirit will not disbelieve what is about to be said, but will indeed believe it fully, I shall make my narration readily and boldly.

And I shall begin from that point whence he was also deemed worthy of the calling from above.

There is a certain village situated on the border between our region and the land of the Cilicians;

they call it Sisan.

When once a great snowfall occurred, and the sheep were compelled to remain indoors, having enjoyed a respite, he went to the divine temple together with those who had begotten him.

These things I heard from his own sacred tongue as he recounted them.

He said, then, that he heard the evangelical voice, which pronounces blessed those who weep and mourn, and calls wretched those who laugh, and calls enviable those who possess a pure soul, and all the other things joined to these;

then he asked one of those present what one must do in order to obtain each of these;

and that man prescribed to him the monastic life, and pointed out to him that most extreme ascetic discipline.

Having well hidden these things in the furrows of his soul, he said he ran to the nearby shrine of the holy martyrs.

And there he pressed his knees and forehead to the ground, and besought him who wills to save all men to guide him upon the perfect path of piety.

And after he had spent much time in this manner, a certain sweet sleep came upon him, and he saw a dream of this sort:

"I seemed," he said, "to be digging foundations, and then to hear someone standing by say that I must still deepen the pit."

So having deepened it as he commanded, I again tried to rest.

But again he commanded me to dig, and not to cease from the labor.

Having enjoined me to do this three times, even a fourth, at last he said the depth was now sufficient, and commanded me thenceforth to build without toil, since the labor had ceased and the building would be effortless.

The events bear witness to this prediction:

for what came to pass is beyond nature.

Rising up from there, he came to the dwelling of certain ascetics living nearby.

but the divine Symeon did not go to this one, but to the other that had sprung from it.

For Eusebonas and Abibion, having sufficiently enjoyed the teaching of the great Eusebius, built this retreat of the philosophic life.

Being of one mind and of like character throughout their life, and displaying, as it were, one soul in two bodies, they won many fellow-lovers of this way of life.

When these had departed this life with good repute, the marvelous Heliodorus received the leadership of those living together with him; he lived sixty-five years, and spent sixty-two of them continuously shut up within;

for having been reared three years by his parents, he entered this flock, and never once saw any of the things that happen in the world.

He used to say that he did not even know the appearance of pigs, or roosters, or other such animals.

I too often enjoyed the sight of him, and admired the simplicity of his manners, and greatly marveled at the purity of his soul.

Coming to him, this all-round champion of piety continued in his contest for ten years;

and though he had eighty fellow-contestants, he far surpassed them all;

and while the others partook of food every two days, he himself remained the whole week without food, though the superiors were greatly displeased and constantly quarreled with him, calling the practice disorderly, yet could neither persuade him by their words nor curb his zeal.

I heard from that very man who now leads the same flock, relating how Symeon once took a rope made of palm fronds — extremely rough, even to the touch of the hands — and girded his loins with it, not placing it over his garment, but fastening it directly against the skin;

and he drew it so extremely tight that it ulcerated the whole area around which it was wound.

When he had continued in this manner for more than ten days, and the ulcer, growing worse, was letting drops of blood, someone who saw him asked what was the cause of the blood.

When he said he had nothing troubling him, his fellow-contestant forced his way in, put his hand to it, learned the cause, and reported it to the superior.

At once, by rebuking him, entreating him, and denouncing the cruelty of the deed, he with difficulty made him undo that bond.

But not even so did he persuade him to apply any treatment to that ulcer.

...lest it become a cause of harm to those who attempt to emulate what is beyond their strength.

So going out and reaching the more desolate parts of the mountain, and finding a certain waterless pit, not very deep, he let himself down into it and offered hymns to God.

When five days had passed, the leaders of that wrestling-school, having repented, sent out two men, charging them to seek him out and bring him back.

So these men, wandering about the mountain, asked some people pasturing flocks there whether they had seen anyone of such a color and wearing such a garb.

When the shepherds pointed out the pit, they at once cried out loudly;

and having brought a rope, they drew him up with great labor;

for the ascent is not as easy as the descent.

So, having spent a little time among them, he came to the village of Telanissos, which lies below the summit on which he now stands.

Finding a small hut there, he remained shut up in it for three years;

and ever striving to increase the wealth of virtue, he desired, like the divine men Moses and Elijah, to remain forty days without food.

And he persuaded the admirable Bassus, who at that time was traveling around many villages overseeing the priests in each village, to leave nothing inside and to seal the door with clay.

When Bassus pointed out the difficulty of the thing, and urged him not to consider a violent death to be virtue — for this would be an accusation, and the greatest and first one —

"But you, father," he said, "set aside for me ten loaves and a jar of water, and should I see that my body needs food, I will partake of these."

So these things were set aside, and the door received the clay seal.

After the appointed days had ended, that admirable man of God, Bassus, came, and removing the clay and entering through the door, he found the loaves at their full number, found the jar of water full, but him lying prostrate, breathless, able neither to speak nor to move.

So he asked for a sponge, and having moistened and rinsed his mouth with it, he brought to him the symbols of the divine mysteries.

And thus revived through these, he raised himself up and partook of some moderate food, chewing lettuce and chicory and things similar to these little by little, and passing them down to his stomach.

So the great Bassus, in utter astonishment, returned to his own flock, relating this great wonder.

For he had charge of more than two hundred devotees, permitting them to keep neither livestock nor a mill, nor to accept gold offered to them, nor to go outside the door either to buy any necessities or to see any acquaintance, but to remain within and receive the food sent by divine grace.

This law the devotees keep even to this day, and though they have grown more numerous, they have not transgressed the commandments given.

But I shall now turn to the great Symeon.

From that time until this very day — twenty-eight years have now passed — he continues to remain forty days without food.

And time, together with the practice of the labor, has taken away the greater part of its difficulty.

For in the first days he was accustomed to stand and hymn God; then, when his body, on account of the fasting, could no longer bear the standing, to sit thereafter and perform the divine liturgy; and in the last days, even to lean against something;

for as his strength was gradually spent and extinguished, he was forced to lie half-dead.

But once he took his stand upon the pillar, he could no longer bear to come down, and so he devised the standing in another way.

Having received such grace, he no longer needed even this help, but stands the forty days partaking of no food, sustained instead by zeal and by divine grace.

So, as I have said, having spent three years in that hut, he ascended to this much-talked-of summit, having ordered a wall to be built around it in a circle; and having made an iron chain twenty cubits long, and fastened one end of it to a very large rock and fitted the other to his right foot, so that even had he wished, he could not go beyond those bounds — he remained continually within, envisioning heaven, and striving to behold the things above the heavens;

for the iron bond did not hinder the flight of his mind.