Poemen  (continued) Chapter CLXVII, Book X

"Tell me why, I beg you!"
"In our home province," (for we were both from Galatia) "where I was once a shepherd, I refused to give hospitality to a passing pilgrim, and he was devoured by dogs. I could have kept him safe, but I didn't, and sent him on his way where he was torn to pieces. So I am only too aware that I ought to die the same sort of death."
And so it came to pass. Three years later he was torn to pieces by wild beasts, as he prophesied.

Chapter CLXVIII
The sayings of ALEXANDER, one of the old men.

Here is what abba Alexander said to the brothers:
"Our fathers embraced the desert and toil. We, however, prefer cities and relaxation."
Again the old man said: "In our fathers' time these were the virtues which flourished: nakedness and humility; in us there is nothing but avarice and pride to be found."
Once more he said: "Our fathers never washed their faces, but we frequent the public baths and watering places."
Again the old man said: "Alas, my sons, we have lost the angelic way of life."
Abba Vincentius his disciple said to him, "Indeed, father, we are weak."
"Why do you say we are weak, Vincentius? Our bodies are as strong as Olympic athletes, believe me. It is our souls which are weak."
Again he said: "We are very good at eating and drinking well and also dressing well. We don't understand how to abstain or humiliate ourselves."
Once more he said: "Woe to you, Alexander, woe to you! Great will be your confusion when all the others will receive the crown of glory."

Chapter CLXIX
The life of a blind OLD MAN in the monastery of Abbot Siscus

There was an old man who was blind living in the monastery of abbot Siscus in Scete. His cell was about a mile away from the well, but he never permitted anyone to fetch his water for him. Instead, he made a rope and fixed one end of it to the well and the other to his cell. The rope lay on the ground and when he wanted water he walked along the rope. Whenever the wind stirred up the sand and buried the rope, he held it in his hand and uncovered it, and again laid it on the ground and walked along it. When one of the brothers asked the old man to let him carry the water, he replied: "My son, I have been drawing water in this way for twenty-two years, and would you now rob me of this my labour?"

Chapter CLXX
The life of a holy WOMAN, who died in the desert

From the monastery of Sampson, about twenty miles from Jerusalem, two fathers once went on pilgrimage to Mount Sinai. This what they told us when they came back:
When we were on our way back from worshipping in the holy mountain it happened that we took a wrong path and wandered completely alone in the desert for several days. At last, however we saw that we were walking towards a narrow cave in the distance. We could see a small pool of water, with grass growing round it, and signs of human habitation.
"There must surely be a servant of God in this place," we said to each other.
When we went in we could not see anybody but we could hear someone crying. After a further search we found a sort of a bed with someone lying on it. We came nearer and asked this servant of God to speak to us. When we got no reply we went nearer and lifted him up, only to find that though the body was still warm the soul had departed to the Lord. So we realised that he had died the moment we entered the cave. So we dug a grave in the cave, and one of us took off the cloak he was wearing to wrap with body in. As we lifted the body out of the place it was lying to prepare it for burial in the usual way we discovered it was a woman, and we glorified God. We said the prayers for the dead over her and buried her.

Chapter CLXXI
The life of two remarkable men, THEODORE the philosopher, and ZOILUS the lector

There were two remarkable men of great virtue in Alexandria, Theodore the philosopher, and Zoilus the lector. We were very friendly with both of them, the former because of his discipline and learning, the latter because we came from the same country and shared a similar education. Abba Theodore possessed nothing except a travelling cloak and a few books. He slept either in the lecture hall [scabellum, prop. part of the stage machinery of a theatre] or in whatever church he went into. In the end he renounced the world in the coenobium of Salcime where he lived out his life to a glorious end. Zoilus the lector showed just as much a preference for poverty. He also possessed nothing but a travelling cloak and a few books. He spent his time in copying books. When he died he was buried in the monastery of abbot Palladius.
One of the fathers went to Cosmas the scholar to question him about these two men, Theodore the philosopher and Zoilus the lector.
"Which of these two was the greater in the way he laboured in his spiritual exercises?"  he asked.
"There was nothing to choose between them in the matters of food, shelter and clothing, rejection of anything superfluous, nakedness, humility and frugality. Theodore the philosopher went barefoot and was foolish enough to damage his eyesight in learning both the old and new Testaments by heart. But he had the consolation of having brothers, a following of friends who were associated with him in working and teaching. On the other hand not only is Zoilus to be praised for his hospitality, but also worthy of commendation is his solitude, his immense capacity for work, and his custody of the tongue. But he had no following of friends and associates and no business dealings. Completely unconcerned with any worldly affairs, he allowed himself no respite or amusements, and was beholden to nobody in his personal requirements - he cooked for himself, washed his own clothes - never took pleasure in reading simply for its own sake, was always ready to accommodate himself to others, lived completely free from frivolity, sadness, extravagance of any sort, and was unmoved by any discomfort caused by the unending attentions of insects, in spite of the sparseness of his clothing. He found considerably more refreshment in the very work itself than in being idle, for he had the liberty of carrying on night and day just as he wished. For although the extent of his labours set bounds to this liberty, yet it also kept to a minimum any involvement in worldly matters, apart from the occasional business meeting.
"To each one therefore his own reward, commensurate with his own labours and the measure of his resurrected life, that is, his purity of mind and spirit, his service, his fear of God, his charity, his compunction, his labouring in psalmody and prayer, and the virtues hidden to men but laid open to God."

Chapter CLXXII
The life of the aforesaid COSMAS the scholar

On the subject of this Master Cosmas the scholar, many have said one thing, others another, many more many other things. We have looked at them all and diligently assessed them, and chosen to write down only those things which make for useful reading. He was a humble man, compassionate, abstinent, virginal, quiet, equable, sociable, friend of strangers, lover of the poor. This marvellous man was an immense help to us, not only because of his character, but also his teaching and the fact that he had a greater supply of books than anyone else in Alexandria, which he freely and gladly lent to anyone who asked. He had no other possessions. In the whole of his house you could see nothing but books, a reading desk, a small couch and a table. He let everyone come in and read and ask whatever they wanted. I used to visit him every day, and it is absolutely true that I never found him doing anything except reading, or writing commentaries against the Jews. He had a great zeal for converting that nation to the truth, so that he often sent me to Hebrew people in order to contend with them by means of his writings. He never willingly went outside his own home himself.
I went one day to this Master Cosmas the scholar, and since I had great confidence in him I asked him a question:
"Be kind to me," I said, "and tell me how long you have been pursuing this way of life."
He stayed silent. would not reply, so I asked him again.
"Tell me, for the Lord's sake."
He still kept silence for a little while, then said:
"Thirty-three years."
And hearing this I glorified God.
I questioned him again when I visited him on  another occasion.
"Do me an even greater kindness, " I said, "in the knowledge that I am only asking for the benefit of my own soul. I beg you, tell me, in all this long time you have been living in this way, how have you arrived at such quietness and continence?"
"How ever can a secular man gain any virtue at all, living always in his own home as he does?"
"Tell me, for the Lord's sake, so that I may profit from it."
At last, in the face of so much urging from me, he said:
"Forgive me, but I have been led by three things: Not to swear, not to lie, and not to mock."

Chapter CLXXIII
The wonderful deed of THEODORE the anchorite, who by his prayers turned sea water into fresh.

There was an anchorite in the Jordan district called Theodore, a eunuch, who, needing to travel to Constantinople, boarded a ship. The ship was delayed so long in the sea that the water failed, and sailors and passengers alike were in great distress and anxiety. The anchorite stood up and lifted up his hands to the God of heaven who saves our souls from death, offered a prayer and made the sign of the cross over the sea:
."Blessed be God," he said to the sailors, "Drink as much of the water as you need."
They filled all their vessels with fresh water from the sea, and all of them glorified God.

Chapter CLXXIV
The wonderful deed of a SEA CAPTAIN, a religious man, who prayed to the Lord for rain.

This is what abba Gregorius the anchorite told us.
When I boarded ship to leave Byzantium there was also a scribe and his wife on board going on pilgrimage to the holy city. The captain was a very religious man, who fasted strictly. In the course of the voyage the servants of the scribe wasted so much water that we were very short of it, with the journey only half way through. We suffered great privation. It was a pitiable sight to see women, children and infants burning with thirst, lying around half dead. We had been suffering this for three days when the scribe decided he could put up with it no longer, and drawing his sword he made as if to kill the captain and crew.
"This suffering of ours is all their fault," he cried, "because they did not load enough water."
"No, don't do it," I begged the scribe. "Let us rather pray to Jesus Christ, our true God, who does great and marvellous things without number. Look at the captain. You can see that he has been spending his time fasting and praying these three days."
The scribe was pacified, and on the fourth day at about the sixth hour the captain stood up and cried with such a loud voice: "Glory to you, Christ our God!" that his voice filled us with wonder.
"Spread out canvas sheets," he ordered the sailors, and no sooner had they obeyed than a cloud overshadowed us and poured out such quantities of rain that there was sufficient collected to fill all our containers. It was a great and awesome miracle, for the ship sailed on with the cloud following us, and the rain falling nowhere else save on the ship.

Chapter CLXXV
The story of the Emperor ZENO, a man much given to almsgiving.

One of the fathers told us about a woman whose daughter the Emperor Zeno had grievously wronged. This woman spent a lot of time in the church of our holy Lady the birthgiver of God crying and weeping.
"Grant me a judgment against the Emperor Zeno," she would pray.
After carrying on like this for quite some time, the holy birthgiver of God appeared to her.
"Believe me, woman, I have often been minded to give you vengeance, but his generosity overrides me." For he was indeed a very compassionate man and gave many alms.

Chapter CLXXVI
The beautiful story of abba ANDREAS about ten men on a journey, among whom was a young Hebrew.

While we were in Alexandria Andreas Octavusdecimus told us this story:
As a young man I was a very undisciplined trouble-maker. Once there were nine others beside myself who were in danger of being arrested because of our rioting, so we fled to Palestine. There was one of our number who was a student (? industrius), and another who was a Jew. While passing through the desert the Jew became mortally ill. As God's my witness we were in great distress about him and did not know what we could do for him. However as is usual among a band of confederates we did not desert him each one of us carried him to the limit of each one's ability, hoping to get him to some city or market town rather than let him die in the desert. But lack of food and the severity of his fever, together with the devastating effect of thirst and the heat of the sun, brought his failing strength to the brink of death. We could carry him no longer, and with many tears we decided to leave him in the desert, fearing for our own death. In great distress we put him down on the sand, and when he saw that we were about to leave him he began to plead with us.
"In the name of God who made heaven and earth, the God who spreads out the heavens, who came down for the salvation of human kind, who is judge of the living and the dead, please don't let me die a Jew, but have some Christian pity for me and baptise me, so that I may pass from this life as a Christian and go to God."
"To tell you the truth," we said, "we can't do that, for we are only laymen, and that is the work for bishops and presbyters. In any case we haven't any water."
But he went on appealing to us as before and tearfully pleaded anew.
"You are Christians. Don't deprive me of a share in that divinely gracious gift."
As we were wavering in great perplexity, the student was inspired by God.
""Lift him up and take his clothes off, " he said, and when with great difficulty we had done so, he filled both his hands with sand and poured it over his head three times, saying "Theodore is Baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit". And at the name of the one, holy, consubstantial and adorable Trinity we all said: "Amen". And as God is my witness, brothers, Christ our God immediately strengthened and healed him, so that not a trace of his former illness or any kind of suffering remained. Healthy and strong, he completed the rest of the journey through the desert with rosy cheeks and great energy, running on in front of us. In amazement at such a sudden change we all praised and glorified the ineffable majesty and benevolence of Christ our God.
When we got to Ascalon, we took him to the blessed and holy Dionysius, the bishop of that city and told him what had happened to our brother on the way. The holy and admirable Dionysius was astonished at being told of such a new and unheard of miracle, and called all the clergy together to tell them the whole matter and decide whether pouring of sand over this brother should be considered a true Baptism or not. Some said it ought to be because of the unheard of greatness of the miracle; others disagreed.
"No," they said, "because Gregory the Theologian has already listed the various forms which Baptism might take, saying: 'Firstly Moses baptised in water, in the cloud and in the sea. Secondly, John baptised, not as a Jewish Baptism, but with water and repentance. Thirdly Jesus baptised, but with the Holy Spirit, and that was the perfect Baptism. I also recognise a fourth - that is, in the blood of martyrdom, and a fifth, the Baptism of tears.' So much for Gregory; with which of these, therefore," they asked, "was this person baptised, that we may confirm there to have been a genuine Baptism? Especially in view of what the Lord said to Nicodemus: 'Except you are baptised with water and the Spirit, you cannot enter into the kingdom of God.'" (John 3.5)
"What then?" others said. "It is not written that the apostles were baptised. Did they not enter the kingdom of God?"
"They were baptised," argued others on the contrary. "For Clement Stromateus notes in Hypotyposeon 5 that Christ is said to have baptised Peter only, but Peter baptised Andrew, and James and John, and they baptised the rest of them."
These arguments and many others having been aired, it seemed good to the blessed Dionysius to send the brother to the Jordan to be baptised there, and the student he ordained to the diaconate.

Chapter CLXXVII
The unhappy death of A MONK of Egypt who wanted to live in the cell of Evagrius the heretic

While we were staying in [the monastery of] Nonnum in Alexandria abbot Johannes Cilix told us the following:
A monk visiting us from Egypt told us that a brother from a distant country once came to the Cells asking to live there, and prostrated himself before the presbyter, begging that he might be allowed to live in the cell of Evagrius.
"You can't live there," said the presbyter, taking a step backwards. "My son, there is a most fierce demon there who seduced Evagrius, robbed him of the true faith and filled him up with wicked teachings. He does not allow anyone to stay alive there."
"Nevertheless if I am to stay in this place," he persisted, "it is in that cell that I shall die."
The presbyter at last was persuaded.
"On your own head be it," he said. "Go, and take that cell."
The brother stayed in the cell for a week, and when Sunday came he appeared in church, much to the relief of the presbyter who was very worried about him.
On the next Sunday he did not appear in the church. When the presbyter missed him he sent two brothers to find out why he had not come. When they got to the cell they went inside and found that the brother had strangled himself with a fine rope.

Chapter CLXXVIII
The life of an OLD MAN of the coenobium of Scholars, a man of simplicity.

Abbot Gregorius, presbyter of the coenobium of Scholars, told us that there was a great old man there, extremely disciplined, who was nevertheless somewhat simple when it came to matters of faith. Whatever was being discussed, he was apt to make dreadful blunders. One day an angel of God appeared to him.
"Tell me, old man," the angel said, "When you die how do you want to be buried, like the monks of Egypt or the monks of Jerusalem?"
"I don't know," he said.
"Think about it," said the angel. "Weigh up the arguments. And in three weeks time I will come back and hear what you have to say."
The old man went to another monk and told him what the Angel had said to him. He was struck dumb at what he was told, but eventually looked hard at him and, inspired by God, asked him:
"Where do you receive the holy mysteries?"
"Wherever I can," he said.

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