Religious History 1 part 8/13

And when the bishop of the church also arrived, he pressed him to take up the yoke of the priesthood;

‘I know,’ he said, ‘O father, both the loftiness of your philosophy and the excess of my own poverty; but since I have been entrusted with the administration of the high priesthood, it is by this office—not by that—that I put men forward for ordination.’

In reply to this, he is said to have answered that, since he would be departing from this world after only a few days, he would by no means contend about these matters;

for if I were destined to live a very long time, I would altogether have fled this heavy and fearful burden of the priesthood, dreading the reckoning to be rendered for the trust deposited with me;

but since I shall depart before long, leaving behind the things of this world, I will obediently accept what is commanded.

At once, then, with no one compelling him, the one bent his knees and awaited the grace, while the other laid on his hand and ministered to the Spirit.

… he received a portion unaging and free from grief, in place of the one full of many cares.

As everyone wished to seize the body and each meant to carry it off to his own village, someone disclosed the saint’s oaths and thereby dissolved the dispute;

for he said that the saint had made him swear, in that very place, to give this body to burial.

Thus even after death did the citizens of heaven attend to their own lowliness;

and neither while they lived did they ever tolerate thinking highly of themselves, nor when they died did they seek the honor that comes from men; rather they transferred all their affection to the Bridegroom, after the manner of chaste wives who are eager to be loved and praised only by their own husbands, disdaining the praise that comes from others.

For this reason the Bridegroom made them renowned even against their will, and out of his abundance imparted to them the glory that is among men.

For whenever someone, pursuing the things divine, asks for the things heavenly, he adds to those also many other things besides, bestowing gifts many times greater than what was asked;

this is what he was also saying when laying down the law:

‘Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all the rest shall be added unto you.’

‘Whoever leaves father and mother and brothers and wife and children for my sake and the gospel’s shall receive a hundredfold in this age, and in the age to come shall inherit eternal life.’ These things he both said and did.

May it be granted to us, instructed both by word and by deed, and supported by their prayers, to press on toward the goal, unto the prize of the calling on high in Christ Jesus our Lord.

MARON. After him I shall make mention of Maron;

for he too adorned the divine chorus of the saints;

having embraced life under the open sky, he took possession of a certain hilltop that had once been honored by the impious of old;

and having consecrated to God the precinct of the demons that was there, he dwelt in it, having pitched a small tent, which however he used but seldom.

He did not confine himself to the customary labors alone, but also devised others, gathering together the wealth of philosophy.

And the Judge of the contest measured out grace in proportion to his labors;

for the all-bountiful God bestowed on him the gift of healing so richly that his fame ran everywhere, drew all people from every quarter, and taught them by experience the truth of his renown;

for one could see fevers quenched by the dew of his blessing, shivering fits stopped, demons put to flight, and all manner of varied ailments healed by a single remedy;

for the disciples of physicians apply to each ailment its appropriate remedy, but the prayer of the saints is a single antidote for all sufferings alike.

He healed not only bodily illnesses, but also brought the fitting remedy to souls, curing in one man his greed, in another his anger; to this one he offered the teaching of self-control, to that one he added the instruction of righteousness; the licentiousness of the one he chastised, the sluggishness of the other he roused.

By practicing this husbandry, he brought forth many plants of philosophy, and it was he who himself planted for God the paradise now flourishing in the region of Cyrrhus.

A product of his cultivation is the great James, to whom one might fittingly apply that prophetic word:

‘like the cedar of Lebanon shall he multiply;’

and all the others as well, of whom, God willing, I shall make separate mention.

…bodies—having endured but a brief illness, so that we might learn both the weakness of nature and the courage of his resolve, he himself departed this life, but a fierce contest arose among his neighbors over his body.

A certain populous village among the neighboring ones, coming out in full force, scattered the others and seized that thrice-longed-for treasure; and having built a very great shrine, they reap the benefit from it even to this day, honoring that victor with a public annual festival.

As for us, even though absent, we too reap the blessing;

for the remembrance suffices us in place of the shrine.

ABRAHAM. Nor is it right to pass over the memory of the wondrous Abraham, on the pretext that after his solitary life he adorned the presidency of the high priesthood;

for indeed, precisely on this account, he would rightly be all the more worthy of remembrance, in that, though compelled to change his manner of life, he did not change his life itself, but passed over together with his ascetic hardship, and, hemmed in equally by monastic labors and episcopal cares, completed the course of his life.

He too is a fruit of the region of Cyrrhus;

for here he was both born and raised, and here he gathered the wealth of ascetic virtue.

For those who lived with him say that he subdued his body with such sleeplessness, standing, and fasting, that he remained motionless for a very long time, scarcely able to walk.

But when, by divine providence, he was delivered from that infirmity, he chose to undertake pious dangers in return for the divine grace he had received, and he made his way to Lebanon, having learned that a very large village there was held fast in the darkness of impiety;

and having concealed his monastic face behind a merchant’s mask, and carrying, together with his companions, sacks as though he were going to buy nuts—for this was the crop that village especially produced—and having rented a house and paid the owners a small sum in advance, he kept still for three or four days;

then, little by little, he began the divine service, using a subdued voice.

And when they perceived the psalmody, the herald cried out and summoned everyone together;

and men, boys, and women gathered together, and having barred the doors from outside, they piled up from above, from the roof, a great quantity of earth and cast it down.

But when they saw them being suffocated and buried, yet willing to do or say nothing, only offering prayer to God, at the elders’ suggestion they ceased their madness;

then, opening the doors and pulling them out from under the earth, they ordered them to depart at once.

But at that very moment tax-collectors arrived, compelling the payment of the levies;

and they bound some, and abused others.

But that divine man, without recalling anything that had been done to him by them, imitating the Master who, nailed to the cross, cared for those who had done this, entreated those tax-collectors to carry out the collection with gentleness.

And when they also demanded sureties, he willingly accepted the obligation and promised to give a hundred gold pieces after a few days.

Those who had committed those terrible deeds, utterly amazed at the man’s benevolence, asked forgiveness for what they had dared to do, and entreated him to become their patron;

for the village had no lord;

they themselves were both the farmers and the masters.

So then, having arrived at the city—it was Emesa—with the hundred gold pieces, and having found certain acquaintances, he arranged the loan;

then, returning to the village on the appointed day, he fulfilled the promise.

Having witnessed this zeal of his, they offered him an even more earnest entreaty.

When he promised to do this if they undertook to build a church, they urged him to begin at once, and led the blessed man about, pointing out the most suitable sites;

and one praised this site, another that one;

having chosen the better one and laid the foundations, in a short time he set the roof in place, and when the building had received its completion, he directed them to designate a priest.

But when they said that they would choose no other, and begged to have him himself as both father and shepherd, he accepted the grace of the priesthood.

And having spent three years among them, guiding them well toward things divine, he arranged for another of his companions to be put forward in his place, and returned once more to his monastic dwelling.

And, so that I may not lengthen the narrative by relating everything about him, having shone forth in these things he came to receive the presidency of Carrhae;

and this city was wrapped about with impiety, given over to drunkenness and to the bacchic revelry of demons.

But having been deemed worthy of his husbandry and having received the fire of his teaching, it remained free from its former thorns, and now flourishes with the harvest of the Spirit, offering to God sheaves of ripened ears of grain.

Yet it was not without labor that this divine man accomplished this husbandry;

rather, employing countless labors, and imitating the art of those entrusted with the care of bodies, sweetening some wounds with fomentation, while astringing others with harsh remedies, and at times even cutting and cauterizing, he brought about this health.

And the splendors of his life bore witness alongside his teaching and his other diligent care.

For, illumined by these, they both obeyed his words and gladly welcomed his deeds.

For during the entire time of his presidency, bread was superfluous to him, water was superfluous, the bed was of no use, and the need of fire was superfluous.

For by night he would complete forty antiphonal hymns, doubling the measure of the prayers that came between them.

For the remainder of the night he would sit upon a chair, granting his eyelids a brief respite.

That man shall not live by bread alone, Moses the lawgiver declared; and the Lord recalled this saying when he refused the devil's challenge.

But that it is even possible to live without water, we have nowhere been taught by the divine Scripture.

For even the great Elijah first satisfied this need from the wadi, and afterward, coming to the widow of Zarephath, he first bade water be brought to him, and only then asked for bread.

But this admirable man, throughout the whole time of his high priesthood, partook neither of bread, nor of pulses, nor of vegetables that had touched fire, nor even of water — which, among the four elements, is reckoned first in importance by those deemed expert in such matters, on account of its necessity.

Instead, lettuces, endive, celery, and the like served him as both food and drink, rendering the crafts of bakers and cooks superfluous.

But in the season of autumn fruit, that produce met his need.

And even of these he partook only after the evening liturgy.

Yet while wasting his body away with such labors, he showed unstinting care for others.

For strangers who arrived, a couch was made ready, and fine, choice loaves were served, along with fragrant wine, fish, vegetables, and everything else that accompanies such fare.

He waited upon his guests, but did not dine with them.

Spending his days over the lawsuits of those at strife with one another, some he persuaded to be reconciled, while those not persuaded by his gentle teaching he compelled.

And none of the unjust ever went away having overcome justice by sheer insolence.

For by always siding with the wronged party's claim to justice, he rendered it unassailable, and stronger than the one bent on committing injustice.

And he resembled an excellent physician, always checking whatever humor was in excess and contriving a due balance among the elements.

The emperor too longed to behold him — for fame, being winged, readily reports all things, both good and ill — and summoned him to his presence; and when he arrived, the emperor embraced him, and deemed that rustic sheepskin cloak more precious than his own imperial purple.

And the company of the royal ladies laid hold of his hands and his knees.

And they made supplication to a man who did not even understand the Greek language.

So true it is that the philosophic life is a thing worthy of reverence, both to emperors and to all men.

And its lovers and devotees, once they have died, obtain even greater renown.

This one may learn from many quarters, and not least from what concerns this god-inspired man.

For when he died and the emperor learned of it, he wished to lay him to rest in one of the sacred shrines.

But when he learned that it was fitting for the shepherd's body to be restored to his flock, he himself led the funeral procession, with the company of royal ladies following, and all the rulers and the ruled, soldiers and private citizens alike.

With like zeal the city of Antioch received him, and the cities after it, until he reached that great river.

Along the bank of the Euphrates, townsfolk ran together, strangers ran together, and all the country people, and the neighboring peoples too hastened to partake of the blessing.

Many staff-bearers accompanied the bier, threatening with blows those who tried to strip the body of its garment and who were eager to snatch bits of cloth from it.

And one could hear some chanting psalms, and others singing lamentations.

For one woman, wailing, called him her protector, another her nourisher, another her shepherd and teacher.

And one man, in tears, called him father, another, helper and guardian.

Amid such acclamations and lamentations they committed that holy and sacred body to the tomb.

And I, marveling that, though he changed his manner of life, he did not change his way of living along with it, nor did he embrace an indulgent regimen in his presidency, but rather increased his ascetic labors, have included him in this account of the monks, and have not separated him from the company he so loved — desiring thereby to obtain his blessing as well.

EUSEBIUS. To the saints already mentioned I shall add also the great Eusebius, who died not long ago, having lived very many years; he endured labor commensurate with his lifespan, and gathered virtue commensurate with his labor, and from this reaped a many-fold gain.

For the president of the contest, in the generosity of his recompense, surpasses the labors endured.

This man, then, having at first entrusted his own formation to others, allowed himself to be led wherever they led.

For they too were godly men, athletes and trainers in virtue alike.

Having spent time with them and duly and thoroughly acquired the discipline of the ascetic life, he embraced the solitary way.

He spent the rest of his life in hardship, clad in a garment of skins, and nourished on chickpeas and beans soaked in water.

At times he also partook of dried figs, thereby seeking to sustain his body's weakness.

And even when he had come to a deep old age, so that he lost most of his teeth, he changed neither his diet nor his dwelling.

But freezing in winter and scorched in summer, he bore steadfastly the opposing extremes of climate, his face shriveled, and all the limbs of his body withered like a mummy's.

So thoroughly did his many labors waste away his body that his belt would not stay on his waist, but kept slipping down.

For both his buttocks and his hips had wasted away, allowing the belt easy passage downward.

And so he sewed the belt to his tunic, thus devising a way to keep it in place.

Association with crowds thoroughly wore him down.

For, being continually absorbed in contemplation of divine things, he was unwilling to draw his mind away from it.

Yet, notwithstanding so ardent a longing, he permitted a few acquaintances to unbar the door and come inside.

And after offering them nourishment from the divine oracles, he would, when they departed, bid them seal the door again with clay.

And, judging it better to avoid even the company of the few, he walled up the entrance completely, fitting a huge stone against that door.

And it was through there that he received even that scant portion of food.

And again, having forbidden conversation with everyone else, he deemed me alone worthy of that sweet voice of his, dear also to God.

And when I wished to leave, he would detain me a long while, discoursing on heavenly matters.

But when many came to him demanding the gift of his blessing, greatly vexed at the commotion they caused, taking no account of his old age nor reckoning the infirmity that weighed upon him, he climbed over the parapet — no easy feat even for men in full vigor — and, reaching the neighboring community of ascetics, made use once more of a small parapet by the corner of the wall, and continued his accustomed labors.

The man presiding over this flock — one full of every virtue — related that he passed through the seven weeks of the holy fast on just fifteen dried figs.

And he waged this struggle though he had lived more than ninety years, and though worn down by an infirmity hard to describe.

But his eagerness proved stronger than his infirmity, and his divine longing made everything seem light and easy.

Streaming with these same labors' sweat, he too reached the finish-post of the race, his eyes fixed on the judge of the contest and his heart set on the crown.

And I pray that I may obtain that same intercession which I used to enjoy while he was still living.

For I believe that he lives, and now possesses an even purer confidence before God.

SALAMANES. Judging that I would do virtue an injustice if I failed to make known the life of the wondrous Salamanes to generations to come, and instead let it be buried and overlooked in oblivion, I shall set down the account in brief.

There is a village situated on the very bank of the Euphrates River, toward the west, called Capersana.

Setting out from there, and embracing the life of stillness, he found a small hut in the village on the opposite bank, and shut himself up in it, leaving neither door nor window.

Once a year, by digging at ground level, he would receive food for the entire year, never at any time conversing with anyone.

And in this manner he continued, not for a little while, but for a very long time indeed.

And the bishop of the city to which the village belonged, having learned of the man's virtue, came, wishing to confer upon him the gift of the priesthood.

And digging through part of the hut, he entered, laid his hand upon him, and performed the prayer of ordination, and said much to him, disclosing the grace that had thus come upon him.

But hearing not a single word in reply, he departed, having ordered that the opening be walled up again.

At another time again, the people of that village from which he had originally set out, crossing the ford of the river by night and breaking through the wall of his dwelling, took him — he neither resisting nor giving orders — and carried him off on a litter to their own village, and building at dawn just such a little house, immediately shut him up in it.

But he likewise kept stillness, speaking to no one about anything.

And again after a few days, the people of the village on the opposite bank, coming again by night and breaking through the wall of the dwelling, led him off to themselves — he neither objecting, nor forcing himself to stay, nor again eagerly setting out.

Thus he made himself utterly dead to this life, and spoke, truly fulfilling that apostolic saying:

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me;

and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Such a man he too became.

For even these things suffice to show the whole purpose of his life.

And I, having reaped a blessing from this account as well, will now pass on to the narration of the others.

MARIS. There is among us a village called the Village of Homerus.

Beside this village the divine Maris built a small dwelling, and remained shut up in it for thirty-seven years.

And he received much dampness from the neighboring mountain;

and in the season of winter it even welled up with certain trickles of water.

How great the harm to the body that arises from this, both townsmen and villagers know;

for indeed even to country folk the afflictions arising from this are evident.

But nevertheless not even these things persuaded that sacred head to change his little dwelling; rather he continued enduring until he finished the course.

His earlier life, too, he passed through amid the labors of virtue, whereby he preserved purity both in body and in soul.

And this he himself clearly disclosed to me, teaching that his body had remained incorrupt, just as it had come forth from his mother's womb — and this though he had celebrated many festivals of the martyrs when he was young, and had charmed the crowds with the sweetness of his voice;

for he continued chanting for a very long time, and he was also resplendent in the beauty of his body.

But nevertheless neither the beauty of his body, nor the brilliance of his voice, nor his mingling with the crowds, marred the beauty of his soul; rather, living in a manner like those who are shut up in confinement, he took care of his own soul;

and he increased his virtue through the labors of his confinement.

I often enjoyed his company;

for he would bid me shut the door, and when I entered, he would embrace me and extend long discourses concerning the philosophic [ascetic] life.

He too was resplendent in simplicity, and utterly abhorred varied and complex characters;

and he loved poverty above the utmost wealth.

Though he had lived ninety years, he wore garments made of goat's hair.

A little bread and salt sufficed to meet his need for food.

Having longed, after a long time, to see the spiritual and mystical sacrifice offered, he asked that the presentation of the divine gift take place there.

...the place — and, using the hands of the deacons in place of an altar, I offered the mystical, divine, and saving sacrifice.

And he was filled with every spiritual pleasure, and supposed that he was seeing heaven itself, and declared that he had never before enjoyed so great a joy.

And I, having been very warmly loved by him, thought I would do him wrong if I did not praise him even after his death, and thought I would wrong others too if I did not set forth this excellent philosophic [ascetic] life for imitation.

And now, therefore, having entreated to obtain assistance from him, I shall bring this narrative to an end.

JAMES. Since we have gone through the contests of the athletes of virtue already recounted, narrating in summary both the labors of their training and the sweat of their contests and their most brilliant and illustrious victories, come, let us also record in writing the way of life of those who are still living and are contending magnificently and striving to surpass by their sweat those who went before them, and let us leave behind for those who are to come a memory that will profit them.

For just as the way of life of the saints who once long ago excelled brought the greatest benefit to those who came after, so too these accounts will become archetypes for those who come after us.

And I shall make the great James the beginning of these accounts;

for he holds first place among the others both in time and in labor, and those who have emulated him do wondrous and extraordinary things.

And it happened, I know not how, that this same name holds first place both among those who have departed and among those who still survive.

For indeed, when I narrated their way of life, I made my beginning with that divine James who scattered that Persian army by prayer, and, when the walls of the city had fallen, neither allowed the city to be taken, but compelled the enemies to flee, marshaling against them gnats and mosquitoes.

Let him, then, who bears that man's name and shares his character hold first place in the company of the contenders still living — not because he shares the name, but because he has emulated that man's virtue, and has himself become an example of the philosophic [ascetic] life for others.

For having closely associated with the great Maron and having partaken of his divine teaching, he has, by greater labors, surpassed [eclipsed] his teacher.

For the one [Maron] had as his enclosure the precinct of an ancient error [a pagan shrine], and pitched a tent of hair-cloth curtains, and by using this he escaped the assaults of rain and snow;

but this man, having bidden farewell to all these — tent, hut, and enclosure alike — has the sky itself as his roof, receiving all the contrary assaults of the air: now deluged by driving rain, now frozen stiff by frost and snow, and at other times scorched and set ablaze by the sun's rays — enduring all of it.

And as though contending in a body not his own, and striving eagerly to conquer the nature of his body — for though clothed in this mortal and passible flesh, he lives as though clothed in one incapable of suffering — and practicing an incorporeal life within a body, he cries out with the divine Paul:

Though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh;

for the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds;

casting down reasonings and every high thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

But he trained for these contests beyond nature by means of lesser labors first.

Having freed his soul and fixed his mind upon the remembrance of God, thus he pursued the practice of perfect virtue.

And having trained himself excellently, and having made his soul accustomed to good labors, he ventured upon the greater contests;

and taking possession of this mountain, which is thirty stades distant from this city, he made it notable and venerable, though it was formerly obscure and utterly barren.

And it is now believed to have received so great a blessing that the very soil resting upon it is being used up, as those who come from every quarter carry it away for their benefit.

Dwelling there, he is seen by all who come to him, having, as I said, neither cave, nor tent, nor hut, nor parapet, nor an enclosing wall of stones; but he is seen both praying and resting, both standing and sitting, both when in good health and when held by some sickness, so that he contends continually before spectators and must repel even the necessities of nature [before onlookers].

For not even other men, who have been brought up with but a little privacy, find it easy to relieve themselves of bodily wastes when strangers are present — let alone a man who has practiced the utmost philosophic [ascetic] life.

And I say this, not having learned it from another, but having myself become an eyewitness.

For fourteen years ago, a severe illness befell him and afflicted him as was to be expected for one who possessed a mortal body.

For it was the height of summer, and the sun's blazing ray burned all the more fiercely, since the winds had fallen still and the air remained motionless.

And the malady was a flood of bile carried downward, biting into the intestine, pressing it together, and forcing it to run outward.

Then I witnessed the man's great endurance.

For when a very great number of villagers had gathered, as though about to seize his victorious body, he sat there, assailed from two sides;

for on the one hand nature compelled him to go relieve himself, while on the other hand shame before the crowd standing by forced him to remain in his fixed posture.

And I, knowing this, gave many exhortations to those who had gathered, and many threats as well, bidding them to depart;