St. Athanasius: The Paradise of the Holy Fathers

[Stone]

CHAPTER XVI

OF TWO OF THE FATHERS WHO WENT NAKED

ABBÂ Macarius, the Egyptian, once came from Scete to the mountain of Nitria to the Offering of Abbâ Pambô, and the fathers said unto him, “Speak with the brethren, O father.” And he said, “I am not yet a monk, but I have seen monks. For once when I was sitting in my cell at Scete my thoughts said unto me, ‘Go forth, get thee gone into the desert, and consider intently what thou wilt see there’; and I remained five years in struggling with my thought, and trying it, lest it might be from Satan. And since the thought continued with me, I rose up and journeyed into the inner desert, and I found there a fountain of water with an island in the middle of it, and the beasts of the desert used to drink therefrom, and I saw in the midst of the beasts two naked men; then fear took up its abode in my limbs, and I thought that they were perhaps spirits. Now when they saw that I was afraid they spoke unto me and said, ‘Fear not, we also are men.’ And I said unto them, ‘Whence are ye? And how have ye come to this desert?’ And they said unto me, ‘We were once in a large monastery, and the desire of both of us was the same, and we went forth and came here, where we have been for forty years. One of us is an Egyptian and the other is a Libyan.’ And they also questioned me, saying, ‘What news is there in the world? Do the waters of the river come as usual? And is the world flourishing?’ And I said unto them, ‘Yes,’ and I also asked them, ‘How can I become a monk?’ And they said, ‘Except a man make himself to be remote from everything which is in this world he cannot be a monk.’ And I said unto them, ‘I am feeble and I am not able to do as ye do’; and they said unto me, ‘If thou canst not [do as we do] sit in thy cell, and weep for thy sins.’ And I asked them, ‘When it is winter are ye not frozen? And in the season of the heat are not your bodies consumed?’ And they answered me, saying, ‘God in His Providence hath made us to be so that in the winter we do not freeze and in the summer we are not burnt up.’ And it was because of this that I said, ‘I am not yeta monk,but I have seen monks.’ Permit me [to be silent].”

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CHAPTER XVIII

OF ANOTHER HOLY MAN

ACERTAIN old man, who was held worthy to be the Bishop of a city in Egypt, told the following story (which he tried to make one think he had heard from another man, but he himself had actually done the things which he described), and he said:—Once there came to me the thought that I would go into the inner desert which is over against Usa (Οὔση), that I might see if I could find therein [any] holy men who worshipped Christ, and taking with me food and water for four days I set out on my journey; and after four days my food came to an end, and I wondered what I should do [for more], and I plucked up courage and committed myself to God. Then I went on for another four days, when I became so weak that I could not stand up any longer, because through hunger and exhaustion I had no strength in me; and I became sick in spirit and threw myself on the ground. And a certain man came and drew his finger across my lips, and forthwith I became so strong that I thought that neither fatigue nor hunger had ever drawn nigh me; and as soon as I perceived the strength which had come to me I rose up again and continued my journey for four days more. Then once more I became weary, and stretched out my hands to heaven, and behold, that man who had given me strength before, drew nigh to my lips and made me strong, and I continued my journey in the desert after this for seven days more, when I found a booth, with a palm tree and water by the side of it; and there was standing [there] a man, the hair of whose head was quite white, and he had made clothing for himself, and his face was awesome [to look upon]. Now on seeing me he stood up in prayer, and when he had prayed and I had answered “Amen,” he knew that I was a man. Then he took hold of my hands and questioned me, and said, “How didst thou come hither? Doth everything in the world still exist? Are the Christians being persecuted?” And I said unto him, “By the help of your prayers, for in truth ye serve God, I have traveiled and come into this desert; and, by the power of Christ, the persecution of the Christians is at an end.” And in turn I said unto him, “Father, tell me how thou didst come hither.” And with sighs and tears he began to say unto me: “I was a bishop, and during the period of the persecution many sufferings came upon me, but finally, because I could bear the tribulations no longer, I sacrificed [unto idols]. And having come to my senses I recognized the wickedness which I had committed, and I made myself come to this desert that I might die here. And I have passed forty-nine years here in making supplication to God for my folly, and in entreating Him to forgive me the sin which I sinned; now God gave me life from this palm tree, but I did not receive any encouragement to hope for the forgiveness of my sins until the completion of forty-eight years.”

And after he had said these things to me, he rose up suddenly and went outside the booth and stood up for many hours in prayer; and when he had finished his prayer he came to me, and as I looked upon his face fear and wonder fell upon me, for it was a face as of fire. And seeing that I was afraid he said unto me, “Fear not, for the Lord hath sent thee to me that thou mayest bury my body,” and as soon as he had finished speaking, he stretched out his hands and his feet and died. Then I took the garment which I had on me [and tore it in two], and in one half of it I rolled him up and laid him in it in the earth, and the other half formed my apparel. Now as soon as I had buried him the palm tree dried up, and the booth fell down. Then I made many entreaties unto God, and I prayed unto Him to leave me the palm tree, so that I might pass the rest of my life there, but as this did not take place, I perceived that it was not the will of God that I should remain here; so I prayed, and returned to the habitation of the children of men. And behold, that man who had given me strength before came again to me and gave me courage, and thus I arrived and came to the brethren; and having related unto them these things I encouraged them not to be in despair about their souls, but [to feel] that in patient endurance they would find our Lord.

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CHAPTER XIX

OF A CERTAIN SOLITARY MONK WHO USED TO FEED ON GRASS BY THE JORDAN

ACERTAIN monk was feeding on grass by the Jordan, and at noontide he went into a cave to rest, and he found there a lion which began to roar; and he said to the lion, “What vexeth thee? There is room enough here both for thee and for me, and if thou dost not wish [for a companion], get up and go out;” and because the lion could not bear [him], he rose up, and went out.

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CHAPTER XX

OF A CERTAIN HOLY VIRGIN

ONCE certain of the great sages of Scete were travelling along a road in the desert when they heard a sound, like the groan of a sick person, [rise up] from the ground; and they searched, and found a path which led into a cave, and when they had descended into it they discovered [there] a certain holy virgin. Then they said unto her, “O mother, when didst thou come here? And who ministereth unto thee?” For they saw nothing in the cave except the holy woman herself who was lying on the earth. And she said unto them, “Behold, I have passed eight and thirty years in this cave, and I have satisfied my wants with grass, for I labour for Christ. And I have never seen a man except this day, and God hath sent you to me this day to bury my body”; and having said these words, she died. And when the fathers saw [this], they glorified God, and they buried her body, and prayed, and departed from the place.