Religious History 1 part 6/13

from there, for the sake of visiting the holy places, he went on to Palestine, so that, having beheld the places that received the saving sufferings, he might in those very places worship the God who had saved us—not as though God were circumscribed by place (for he knew that the divine nature admits no circumscription), but so that he might also feast his eyes with the sight of the things he longed for, and might not, with the soul's eye alone and apart from actual sight, enjoy only the spiritual delight that comes through faith.

For it is somehow natural for those who are tenderly disposed toward someone not to reap delight from the sight of that person alone, but also to behold with all joy his house, garments, and shoes;

Having this love for the bridegroom, the bride spoken of in the Song of Songs cries out, saying:

"As an apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons;"

"I delighted to sit in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste."

It is, then, nothing unreasonable that this divine man did, having received the same love for the bridegroom, and having used the words of the bride;

and desiring, as it were, to behold a shadow of the bridegroom, he went off to see the places that had poured forth the saving fountains for all mankind.

Having thus enjoyed what he longed for, he then came down to Antioch;

and having beheld the city's love of God, he chose the foreign city over his homeland, considering as fellow-citizens not those of the same race and kin, but those of the same mind, sharers of the same faith, and those drawing the same yoke of piety.

Having come to love this dwelling-place, he did not pitch a tent, did not build a hut, did not erect a small house, but spent the whole time in a tomb belonging to another.

He had an upper chamber, with a certain railing set before it, to which a fitted ladder gave access to those wishing to ascend.

Confined in this chamber, he spent the greater part of his time using only cold water, eating only bread, and that not every day, but remaining without food one day, and on the next partaking of these same things.

When a certain man came, raving in Corybantic frenzy, and mad, and full of the working of the evil demon, he cleansed him by prayer, and freed him from that diabolical frenzy.

But since the man was unwilling to leave, but earnestly entreated to render service in return for that healing, he made him his housemate.

I too know this man, and I remember the wonder, and I have seen the reward of the healing, and I have heard the conversation that took place between them concerning me.

but that inspired man did not agree that this should happen, taking into account the natural affection of my parents toward me.

Often he set me upon his knees and nourished me with grapes and bread;

and he would bid me pluck that blessed fruit every day.

He became known to her for the following reason:

An affliction that had fallen upon one of her eyes proved to be beyond the power of medical science;

for there was nothing, whether written down by the ancients or discovered by those who came later, that was not applied to the disease.

But when the disease had refuted all these remedies and shown them to be of no benefit, a certain acquaintance came, announcing the divine man and telling of a wonder that had been performed by him;

for she said that he had healed the wife of the man who at that time held the helm of the East—this man was from Pergamum—who had fallen into this same affliction, using prayer and the sign of the cross.

The mother heard, and immediately ran to the divine man.

She wore earrings and necklaces and other gold ornaments, and elaborate clothing woven from silk threads;

for she had not yet tasted the more perfect virtue.

She was also in the flower of her years, and still clung to the adornment of youth.

That inspired head, having observed these things, first healed the malady of her love of adornment, using words such as these:

"Tell me," he said, "O little child" (for I shall use his own word, and shall not change the address of that holy tongue), "if some painter, well-trained in his art, should paint an image according to the rules that his art prescribes, and should set it forth for those who wished to see it; and then some other person should come, one who did not accurately know that art, but who improvised at his own whim whatever he wished to paint, and then, finding fault with that skilled painting, should add longer lines to the eyebrows and eyelids, and should render the face whiter, and should add red coloring to the cheeks—does it not seem to you that the first painter would justly be indignant, on the ground that his art had been grossly insulted, and had received, at the hands of an unskilled hand, additions it did not need? Well then," he said, "do you not also believe that the Maker of all things, the Molder and Painter of our nature, is justly indignant, when you accuse that ineffable wisdom of ignorance?"

For you would not pour on the red and white and black coloring, unless you thought that you were lacking this addition;

and by supposing that the body needs these things, you are condemning the Maker for weakness.

But it is fitting to know that His power is commensurate with His will;

and providing beforehand for what is beneficial to all, He does not give whatever would cause harm.

Do not, therefore, corrupt the image of God, nor attempt to add what He, in His wisdom, has not given, nor devise this counterfeit beauty, which does harm even to chaste women, by plotting against those who behold it.

The woman, altogether excellent, heard these things, and was immediately caught within Peter's net—for he too, like his namesake, was a fisherman [of men]—and, clasping his feet and imploring him, she besought that healing be given to her eye.

But he said that he was a man, and had the same nature as she, but that he carried a great load of sins, and on this account had been deprived of boldness before God.

But when the mother wept and entreated, and said she would not leave unless she obtained the cure, he said that God was the healer of these things, and that He always grants their requests to those who believe;

"If, then, you have this faith pure and sincere, and free from all doubt, bid farewell to physicians and medicines, and receive this God-given remedy."

Having said this, he laid his hand upon her eye, and, having imprinted the sign of the saving cross, he drove away the disease.

Having cast off all imported adornment, she conducted her life according to the laws laid down by the Physician, neither putting on elaborate clothing nor adorning herself with gold ornaments, and this although she was still quite young in age;

for she was in her twenty-third year from birth, not yet having become a mother;

for having lived seven more years, only then did she receive the pains of my birth, which she received as both first and only.

So greatly did she benefit from the teaching of the great Peter, and she received a twofold healing: while seeking a cure for the body, she acquired in addition the well-being of the soul.

Such were the things that man accomplished by his very word, and such was his power when he prayed.

On another occasion she brought a household cook who was being troubled by a certain evil demon, and implored to obtain help from him.

The divine man, having prayed, commanded the demon to declare the cause of his power over God's creature.

He, like some murderer or housebreaker standing before the judgment seat and being ordered to say what he had done, thus recounted everything, being compelled by fear, contrary to his custom, to speak the truth;

and he said that in Heliopolis the master of the servant had fallen ill, and the mistress was sitting beside her husband, since he was ill;

and that the maidservants of the mistress, in the house where they were staying, were recounting the life of the monks who practiced philosophy in Antioch, and how great was their power against demons;

then these girls, delighting in play as girls do, pretended to be the ones possessed by demons and raving, while that servant himself, wrapping himself in a shaggy cloak in the manner of a monk, exorcised them.

'While these things were being performed,' he said, 'I was standing by the door, and not enduring the boastful talk about the monks, I wished to learn by experience the power which they had boasted those men to possess.'

'For this reason, leaving the maidservants, I insinuated myself into this man, wishing to learn how I would be driven out by the monks.'

'And now,' he said, 'I have learned, and I need no further trial;'

'and at once, at your command, I will depart.' Saying these things, it fled, and the servant enjoyed his freedom.

Also, the mother of my mother — who was my nurse — brought another rustic man possessed by a demon, and entreated the adversary of wickedness to come to his aid.

And he again inquired whence it was, and from whom it had received power over God's creature.

As that spirit stood in silence, making no reply, he bent his knees and prayed, and besought God to show the wretch the power of His own servants.

And again he rose, and again that one, resisting, was silent; and this went on until the ninth hour.

But when he had offered a more fervent and earnest prayer to the Master, rising he said to the wretch:

'It is not Peter who commands you, but the God of Peter.'

'Answer, therefore, compelled by His power.'

The evil spirit, shameless though he was, was made to feel shame at the gentleness of the saint, and, using a very loud voice, cried out that he dwelt on Mount Amanus, and that having seen this man on the road drawing water from a certain spring and drinking it, he had made him his own dwelling.

'But depart,' said the man of God, 'for He who was crucified for the world commands you this.' That one heard and fled, and the farmer, freed from the madness, was restored to the nurse.

And though I have countless other such narratives concerning that blessed soul, I will omit the greater part of the many, fearing the weakness of my readers;

for, looking to themselves, they disbelieve the wonder-working of the divine men.

But having related one or two, I will move on to another contestant.

There was a certain licentious military commander in earlier times.

A virgin of marriageable age, subject to this man's authority, left her mother and household and fled into a women's community that had a company of female ascetics;

for women too contend in like manner as men, and descend into the arena of virtue.

Learning of her flight, the general scourged the mother and hung her up;

and he did not release her from her bonds until she disclosed the lodging of the pious women.

Then, giving vent to his own frenzy, he seized the maiden from there and brought her back to his house;

and the wretch hoped to satisfy his own licentiousness.

But He who afflicted Pharaoh with great and grievous plagues on account of Sarah, the wife of Abraham, and kept that chaste woman untouched, and who struck the Sodomites with blindness because they had attempted to outrage strangers who were in truth incorporeal beings — this same One, striking this man's sight likewise with blindness, caused the prey to escape from the midst of the nets;

and he entered the bedchamber, but she, though guarded within, immediately went out and was gone, and reached the thrice-longed-for dwelling.

Thus the foolish man, learning that he would not prevail over one who had chosen the divine Bridegroom, was compelled to keep quiet, no longer seeking her who had been caught and had escaped by divine power.

This woman, after time had passed, fell into a grievous affliction — the affliction was cancer;

and as the breast swelled, the pain increased along with it.

But at the height of her pain she would call upon the great Peter, and she said that as soon as that sacred voice fell upon her ears, all the pain was lulled to sleep, and she received not even a slight painful sensation from it thereafter.

For this reason, sending for him more frequently, she enjoyed comfort of soul;

for she said that during the whole time of his presence the pains would depart altogether.

But he sent her forth from this life, when she had thus contended, with praises of victory.

Again, when my mother, after the pains of my birth, had come right to the very gates of death, he, being earnestly entreated by my nurse, came and snatched her from the hands of death.

For she lay, as they say, with the physicians having given up hope, and her relatives lamenting and awaiting the end, her eyes closed, gripped by a raging fever, recognizing none of her familiars.

But when he arrived, the man who had been deemed worthy of both the apostolic name and grace, and said, 'Peace be to you, my child' — for this was his customary greeting — immediately, it is said, she opened her eyelids, gazed intently upon him, and declared the fruit of his blessing.

When the company of women cried aloud — for despondency and joy were mingled together at once — and raised that clamor, the divine man bade them all share with him in prayer;

for thus, he said, Tabitha too had obtained her salvation, when the widows were lamenting and the great Peter offered their tears to God.

They implored as he commanded, and they received as he had foretold;

for as soon as the prayer received its fulfillment, the illness too received its end, and sweat suddenly flowed from every part, and that fever was quenched, and the signs of health appeared.

Such wonders even in our own times the Master works through the prayers of His servants.

And the touch of this man's body, conveyed through his garments, worked in the same manner as that of the most divine Paul.

And I have set this down not by using any exaggeration, but having the truth in agreement with it.

For, cutting his own belt in two — it was broad and long, woven of thick linen — with one half he girded his own loins, and with the other he girded mine.

This belt my mother often placed upon me when I was ill, and often upon my father, and drove away the illness;

and many of our acquaintances too, on learning of this, continually took the belt to aid the sick;

and everywhere it demonstrated the working of his grace.

Thus someone, taking it, deprived those who had given it, having become ungrateful toward his benefactors.

In this way we were stripped of that gift.

Having thus shone forth, and illumined Antioch with his rays, he passed beyond the contests, awaiting the crown laid up for the victorious.

And I, having entreated to enjoy now also that blessing which I enjoyed while he was living, will set the close upon this narrative as well.

To the east and south of this city there is a lofty mountain, thickly wooded and shady;

and it nurtures wild beasts also in its thickets.

On this mountain, having found a certain wooded glen sloping toward the sea, the great and much-renowned Theodosius built for himself a small dwelling and, alone, embraced the evangelical way of life;

a man who came from Antioch, distinguished by the splendor of his lineage, but who nonetheless, abandoning house and kindred and everything else, bought — to speak in evangelical terms — the pearl of great price.

Now concerning his abstinence from food, his sleeping on the ground, and his garment of hair, it is superfluous to speak to those who behold his companions and disciples and see this same way of life in them;

yet he pursued these practices in an exceptional manner, since he set himself forth as an example to those under his guidance.

To these he added a burden of iron upon his neck, his loins, and both his hands;

he also wore his hair unkempt, reaching down to his very feet and extending even further, and for this reason bound to his waist.

By continually engaging in prayer and hymn-singing, he lulled to sleep desire and anger and vanity and the other wild beasts of the soul.

Ever adding labors to labors, he also pursued handwork: at one time weaving the so-called baskets and fans, at another preparing small plots of land in the glen, sowing seeds, and gathering from there sufficient food.

But as time went on, his fame spread in every direction, and many came running together from many places, desiring to share with him both dwelling and labors and way of life;

and receiving these men, he guided them into this way of life.

And one could see some weaving sails, others weaving hair-cloth curtains, others plaiting fans or baskets, and yet others taking up farming.

And since the place was by the sea, he later built a ferry-boat and used it for the transport of goods, carrying out the products of his fellow-dwellers and bringing in what was needed.

For he was mindful of the apostolic voice which says:

"Working night and day so as not to burden any of you"; and:

"These hands sufficed for me and for those who were with me"; and he himself labored, and exhorted his fellow tent-dwellers to contribute bodily sweat along with the labors of the soul.

Saying these things and the like, he urged them on to labor, performing the divine liturgies everywhere customary at their appointed time, and devoting the intervening time to work.

And he was not least concerned with the care of strangers, having entrusted this charge to men adorned with gentleness and moderation of mind, who also possessed love for their neighbor.

He himself oversaw everything, examining whether each thing was being carried out according to the established rules.

And he became so celebrated from this that sailors, even when more than a thousand stades distant, would call upon "the God of Theodosius" in their dangers, and by the name of Theodosius would lull to rest the raging of the sea.

Even bold and savage enemies revered him — those of the East who plundered and enslaved the greater part of the land.

For who among those who inhabit our world is unacquainted with the evils that occurred in that time at the hands of those formerly called the Solymi, but now named the Isaurians? Yet although they spared neither city nor village, but plundered and gave over to fire all that they were able to seize, they revered that philosophy, and asking only for bread and promising prayers, they left that ascetic dwelling unharmed — and this not once, but they have done it even twice.

For already they have taken captive two presidents of the churches, and deemed them worthy of every care;

and having received fourteen thousand gold pieces for both, they thus permitted them to return wherever they wished.

And when he arrived at Antioch, he dwelt in a lodging situated beside the river, and drew to himself all who knew how to reap such fruits.

But being carried along by the momentum of my narrative, I omitted to relate a wonder wrought by this divinely-inspired man, which will perhaps seem incredible to many, yet it remains even to this day, testifying to the account and showing what grace and boldness before God this admirable man obtained.

A certain precipitous rock overhangs the monastery which he himself built;

and it was formerly entirely without moisture and dry.

On this rock he made an aqueduct, carried from the summit down to the monastery, as though he held the flow of the waters under his own hand.

And being full of confidence toward God, and trusting, as was fitting, that he possessed a gracious Master, and having unwavering faith, he rose by night and went up to the top of the aqueduct before the brotherhood arose for their customary prayers; and having entreated God through prayer, trusting in him who performs the will of those who fear him, he struck the rock with the staff on which he happened to be leaning;

and it, being split open, gushed forth water like a river;

and this water, having come inside the monastery through the aqueduct and richly supplying every need, discharges into the neighboring sea, and to this very day the Mosaic grace of the great Theodosius is shown to be at work.

And it suffices to show this much alone of the man's boldness before God.

Having lived on but a little time longer, he passed over to the angelic choir.

...adorned by that, with all the leaders, and those entrusted with the great offices, present...

And there was strife around the bier, and a contest, as all pressed forward to carry it and longed for the blessing that came from it.

Being thus carried, he was laid in the shrine of the holy martyrs, having become a tent-companion and roof-fellow of Julian, the victorious contender for piety.

A tomb received him, the same that had also received that divinely-inspired and blessed Aphraates.

Helladius the wonderful succeeded to the leadership of the flock; he spent sixty years in those places, and then received from God the presidency of the Cilicians, neither abandoning his former philosophy, but daily adding to those labors the toils of the high priesthood.

Having been his disciple, the blessed Romulus was also declared leader of a very great flock.

And his community has remained until now, holding fast to the same way of life.

Adjoining the monastery is a village called in Syriac Marato.

And having made this the end of this narrative, I entreat also to obtain the blessing that comes from it.

ROMANUS. Now the great Theodosius, setting out from Antioch and having contended in the mountains of Rhosus, having returned to the city of Antioch, thus received the end of his life.

But the divine Romanus, born in Rhosus and first reared there, undertook the contests of virtue in Antioch, having pitched his dwelling outside the circuit of the city, near the foot of the mountain, and having lived his whole life in a small house belonging to another.

For his food was bread and salt, his drink the water of a spring, his hair like that of the great Theodosius, and likewise his clothing and his iron.

And he excelled in simplicity of character, gentleness of manner, and moderation of mind.

And on account of these things he let forth the radiance of divine grace.

"For upon whom shall I look," he says, "but upon him who is gentle and quiet and trembles at my words?" And again he said to his own disciples:

"Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." And again:

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." And this too was the mark of the achievements of Moses the lawgiver:

"For Moses," it says, "was the meekest of all men who were upon the earth."

And concerning the patriarch Jacob we have learned that he was without guile, dwelling in a tent.

Having gathered these virtues, like a bee, from those divine meadows, he produced the honey of true philosophy.

But he alone did not enjoy the fruits of his labors;

but there flowed forth from him also to those outside the sweetest streams.

And to those who came to him, using a gentle and sweet voice, he offered many exhortations concerning brotherly love, and many concerning concord and peace;

and many, merely by beholding him, he rendered lovers of things divine.

For who would not have marveled exceedingly, beholding an old man with his body worn out, bearing much hair, choosing to carry as much iron as possible, clothed in a garment made of hair, and partaking of food only sufficient to prevent death from starvation? And besides the greatness and multitude of his labors, the grace that flowered upon him also persuaded all to marvel at him and to honor him.

...he drove away sicknesses, and to many barren women he granted children;

and having received such power from the divine Spirit, he yet called himself a poor man and a beggar.

Thus, both by his appearing and by his speaking, he continued throughout his whole life to fill with benefit all who resorted to him.

And having departed from here and having been transferred to the angelic choir, he left behind a memory not buried together with his body, but blooming and flourishing and remaining unquenched forever, sufficient for the benefit of those who desire it.

And having thus gathered a blessing from this account as well, I shall now relate, as far as possible, the accounts concerning the other contenders.

ZENO. Not many know the wonderful Zeno, and those who know him are not able to marvel at him as he deserves.

For having left behind the greatest possible wealth in his homeland — and this was Pontus — he enjoyed, as he himself said, the streams of Basil the Great, who dwelt nearby and irrigated the land of the Cappadocians, and he rendered fruits worthy of that irrigation.

For as soon as the emperor Valens was slain, he laid aside the military belt;

for he had been enrolled among those who swiftly conveyed the emperor's letters.

And setting out from the palace for a certain tomb — and the mountain adjoining Antioch has many — he lived there alone, purifying his soul and ever cleansing its faculty of vision, picturing to himself the divine contemplation, setting the ascents of God in his heart, longing to receive wings like a dove, and desiring to fly up into the divine rest.

For this reason he had no bed, no lamp, no hearth, no cooking-pot, no oil-flask, no chest, no book, nothing else at all;

but he wore old rags, and likewise sandals in need of binding;

for the leather of the soles had come apart.

And from one only of his acquaintances did he receive his necessary food;

and this was a single loaf, supplied every two days;

and the water he himself carried, drawing it from far off.

And once someone, seeing him carrying his load, entreated to relieve him of the labor.

But at first he resisted, insisting that he would not endure to partake of water carried by another.

But since he could not be persuaded, he gave over the jars;

for he was accustomed to carry two, one in each hand.

But when he came inside the courtyard door, he poured out the water and spilled it, and ran again to the spring, confirming his words by deed.

And I too, when I first went up the mountain, desiring to visit him, beheld him holding the jars in both hands.

Then I asked where the dwelling of the admirable Zeno might be;

but he said he knew of no monk at all who was called by that name.

But I followed him, having guessed that he himself was the man, taking the modesty of his words as proof.

When I came inside the door, I saw a pallet made of hay, and some other litter spread over the stones, so that those sitting upon it would suffer no harm from it.

When we had exchanged many words concerning the philosophic life — for I would ask questions, and he himself would unfold to us the matters we sought — and it was now time to return home, I begged him to give us provisions of blessing for the journey.

But he resisted, saying that it was proper for us to complete the prayer, calling himself a layman and calling us soldiers;

for indeed at that time he happened to be reading the sacred books aloud to the divine people.

"We shall not come here again, if we are now compelled to do this ourselves" — scarcely, and only late at last, overcome by many entreaties, did he offer up the intercession to God;

and he extended a lengthy explanation on behalf of the intercession, saying that he had done this for love's sake and out of obedience;

for indeed, as we drew near, we heard him praying.