The Lausiac History 8–17

He said that Amoun had lived in this way. He was an orphan, a young man of about twenty-two, and was forced by his own uncle to be joined to a wife. Unable to resist his uncle's pressure, he agreed to be crowned, to sit in the bridal chamber, and to go through all the ceremonies of marriage. After everyone had gone out, having put them to bed in the bridal chamber and on the bed, Amoun got up, shut the door, sat down, called his blessed partner, and said to her, “Come, lady, now I will explain the matter to you. This marriage that we have contracted has nothing special about it. We shall do well, then, if from now on each of us sleeps apart, so that we may also please God by keeping our virginity untouched.” Then, taking from his bosom a little book, he read to the girl, who had no experience of the Scriptures, from the person of the apostle and the Saviour, and adding a great deal of his own understanding he set before her the teaching about virginity and purity, so that, convinced by the grace of God, she said, “I too am convinced, sir. What do you bid me do now?” “I bid,” he said, “that from now on each of us lives apart.” But she would not accept this, saying, “Let us live in the same house, but in separate beds.” So he lived eighteen years with her in the same house, spending the whole day in the garden and the balsam plantation, for he was a balsam-grower. Balsam is planted like a vine, and is cultivated and pruned with much labour. In the evening, then, he would come into the house, say prayers, and eat with her; and again, after saying the night prayer, he would go out.

While things went on in this way, and both had attained freedom from passion, Amoun's prayers took effect, and at last she said to him, “I have something to say to you, my lord, so that, if you listen to me, I may be convinced that you love me according to God.” He said to her, “Say what you wish.” She said to him, “It is right that you, being a man and practising righteousness, and I likewise, who have eagerly followed the same road as you, should live apart. For it is wrong that such virtue as yours should be hidden because you live with me in chastity.” He gave thanks to God and said to her, “Then you keep this house, and I will make myself another house.” He went out and settled in the inner part of the mountain of Nitria, for there were not yet monasteries then, and made himself two domed cells. Having lived twenty-two more years in the desert he died, or rather fell asleep, seeing his blessed partner twice a year.

The blessed Athanasius the bishop told a wonder of his in the Life of Antony: as he was crossing the river called Lycus with his disciple Theodore, and was shy of undressing lest he see himself naked, he was found on the other side without a ferry, carried across by an angel. This Amoun, then, so lived and so was perfected that the blessed Antony saw his soul being taken up by angels. I myself crossed this river by ferry, with fear; it is a canal of the great Nile.

On this mountain of Nitria there was an ascetic named Or, to whose great virtue the whole brotherhood bore witness, and especially that woman of God, Melania, who had come to this mountain before me; for I did not find him still alive. They said this in their stories: that he never lied, never swore, never cursed anyone, and never spoke except when necessary.

From this mountain came also the blessed Pambo, teacher of Dioscorus the bishop, of Ammonius, Eusebius, and Euthymius the brothers, and of Origen, the nephew of Dracontius, a wonderful man. Pambo had very many noble deeds and excellences, and among them this: he despised gold and silver as much as Scripture demands. The blessed Melania told me: “When I first came to Alexandria from Rome and heard of his virtue, the blessed Isidore telling me of it and guiding me to him in the desert, I brought him a silver chest of three hundred pounds of silver, asking him to share in my possessions. He was sitting plaiting palm leaves, and he blessed me with his voice alone and said, ‘May God give you your reward.’ And he said to his steward, Origen, ‘Take it and distribute it to the whole brotherhood in Libya and the islands, for these monasteries are poorer’; and he ordered him to give none to those in Egypt, because that region is better off. I stood there,” she said, “expecting to be honoured or praised by him for the gift, and hearing nothing from him, I said to him, ‘So that you may know, sir, how much it is: it is three hundred pounds.’ Without even looking up he answered me, ‘He to whom you brought it, child, has no need of weighing. He who weighs the mountains knows much better the quantity of the silver. If you were giving it to me, you would be right to say so; but if to God, who did not overlook the two obols, be silent.’ So the Lord arranged it,” she said, “when I came to the mountain. A little while later the man of God fell asleep, without fever or illness, while sewing a basket, at the age of seventy. He sent for me, and when the last stitch was about to complete it, as he was dying he said to me, ‘Take this basket from my hands, so that you may remember me; for I have nothing else to leave you.’” She buried him, wrapped his body in linen, and laid it to rest; and so she left the desert, keeping the basket with her until her death.

This Pambo, at the very hour of his death, is said to have spoken thus to Origen, the presbyter and steward, and to Ammonius, men of renown, and to the other brothers who stood by: “From the time I came to this place in the desert and built my cell and lived in it, I do not remember eating bread for nothing, apart from the work of my hands; and I have not repented of any word I have spoken up to this hour. And so I go to God as one who has not even begun to serve God.” Origen and Ammonius, telling us this, bore further witness that, when asked about a passage of Scripture or any other practical matter, he never answered on the spot but would say, “I have not yet found it.” Often three months would pass and he would give no answer, saying that he had not grasped it. Yet his decisions, made with such circumspection according to God, were received as if from God. For in this virtue, exactness of speech, he was said to have surpassed even the great Antony and everyone else.

This act of Pambo is also reported. Pior the ascetic visited him and brought his own bread, and when Pambo reproached him, “Why have you done this?” he answered, “So as not to be a burden to you.” Pambo taught him a lesson in silence: some time later he visited Pior, bringing his own bread already soaked, and when he was asked, “Why have you done this?” he said, “So as not to be a burden to you, I even soaked it.”

This Ammonius, his disciple, together with three other brothers and two sisters of his, having attained the height of love for God, settled in the desert; the women made a dwelling by themselves and the men by themselves, far enough apart from one another. Since the man was exceedingly learned, a certain city wanted him for its bishop, and they went to the blessed Timothy and asked him to ordain him bishop for them. He said to them, “Bring him to me and I will ordain him.” So they went with an armed escort, and when he saw that he was caught, he pleaded with them and swore that he would not accept ordination nor leave the desert; but they would not let him go. So while they watched, he took shears and cut off his left ear to the root, saying to them, “Now at least be convinced that it is impossible for me, since the law forbids one whose ear is cut off to be brought to the priesthood.” So they left him and went away, and went and told the bishop. He said to them, “Let that law be kept among the Jews. As for me, if you bring me a man even with his nose cut off, if he is worthy in character, I will ordain him.” So they went again and pleaded with him, and he swore to them, “If you force me, I will cut out my tongue.” So they left him and went away.

This wonder is reported of this Ammonius: whenever pleasure rose up in him, he never spared his body, but heated an iron in the fire and applied it to his limbs, so that he was always covered with sores. From his youth until his death his table was raw food; for he never ate anything that had passed through fire except bread. He learned the Old and New Testaments by heart, and he went through six million lines of the writings of learned men, Origen, Didymus, Pierius, and Stephen, as the fathers of the desert testify. He was as encouraging to the brothers in the desert as anyone. The blessed Evagrius, a man who bore the Spirit and had discernment, gave him his vote, saying, “I have never seen a man more free from passion than he.” [Once he came to Constantinople on some business, and after a short time he fell asleep and was buried in the martyr's shrine called Rufinianae. His tomb is said to heal all who suffer from fevers.]

On this mountain of Nitria a man called Benjamin, who lived for eighty years and practised asceticism to the highest degree, was granted the gift of healing, so that everyone on whom he laid his hand, or to whom he gave oil he had blessed, was freed from every illness. Yet this man, who had been granted such a gift, became dropsical eight months before his death, and his body swelled so much that he looked like another Job. Dioscorus the bishop, who was then a presbyter of the mountain of Nitria, took us, myself and the blessed Evagrius, and said to us, “Come and see a new Job, who in such swelling of the body and in an incurable affliction holds boundless thankfulness.” So we went and saw a body so swollen that one could not get one's fingers around one finger of his hand. Unable to look at the terrible sight of the affliction, we turned our eyes away. Then that blessed Benjamin said to us, “Pray, children, that my inner man may not become dropsical. For this outer one neither helped me when it was well nor harmed me when it was ill.” For those eight months a very broad seat was set for him, on which he sat continually, no longer able to lie down on a bed because of his other bodily needs. And while in this affliction he healed others. I have of necessity described this affliction, so that we may not be surprised when some calamity befalls righteous men. When he died, the lintels and the doorposts were taken down, so that the body could be carried out of the house; so great was the swelling.

A man named Apollonius, formerly a merchant, renounced the world and settled on the mountain of Nitria. Since he was too old to learn a craft or the practice of copying, he lived twenty years on the mountain with this as his ascetic practice: with his own money and his own labour he bought all kinds of medicines and provisions in Alexandria and supplied the whole brotherhood in their illnesses. One could see him from early morning until the ninth hour going round the monasteries, going in at each door to see whether anyone was lying ill. He carried raisins, pomegranates, eggs, and fine wheaten bread, which the sick need. He found this way of life profitable and kept to it until old age. When he died he left his stock to someone like himself, asking him to carry on this service. For since five thousand monks lived on the mountain, this visiting was needed, because the place is a desert.

Paesius and Isaiah, as they were called, were brothers, sons of a merchant who traded with Spain. When their father died they divided the property they had, real estate, five thousand gold pieces, and what was found in clothing and slaves. They took counsel with each other and deliberated together, saying, “What way of life shall we take up, brother? If we take up the trade our father followed, we too shall leave our labours to others; and perhaps we shall fall into dangers from robbers or the sea. Come, then, let us take up the solitary life, so that we may both gain the benefit of our father's goods and not lose our souls.” So the aim of the solitary life pleased them. But they were found to differ, each in his own way. Having divided the money, each held to the aim of pleasing God, but with different ways of life. One scattered everything to ascetic houses, churches, and prisons, learned a small craft by which to earn his bread, and devoted himself to asceticism and prayer. The other scattered nothing, but made himself a monastery, took a few brothers with him, and welcomed every stranger, every sick person, every old man, every poor man, setting three tables every Sunday and Saturday; in this way he spent his money.

When both had died, various beatitudes were pronounced on them, since both had been perfected; some preferred one, some the other. Since rivalry broke out in the brotherhood over their praises, they went to the blessed Pambo and referred the judgment to him, asking to learn which was the higher way of life. He said to them, “Both are perfect. One showed the work of Abraham, the other that of Elijah.” Some said, “By your feet, how can they be equal?” and preferred the ascetic, saying, “He did the gospel thing, selling everything and giving to the poor, carrying the cross every hour, day and night, and following the Saviour and the prayers.” Others contended against them, saying, “This one showed such kindness to the needy that he even sat on the highways and gathered the afflicted; and he gave rest not only to his own soul but to many others, nursing and helping them.” The blessed Pambo said to them, “Again I tell you that both are equal. And I assure each of you that the one, had he not practised asceticism so much, would not have been worthy to be compared with the goodness of the other; and the other, in giving rest to strangers, was himself refreshed with them, and even if he seemed to bear the burden of toil, he also had the rest that came with it. But wait until I also receive a revelation from God, and come afterwards and you will learn.” So they came back some days later and pleaded with him, and he said to them, “As before God, I saw both of them standing together in paradise.”

A young man named Macarius, about eighteen years old, while playing with his companions by the lake called Mareotis as he pastured cattle, committed an unintentional murder. Without saying anything to anyone he went off to the desert, and he came to such fear of God and of men that he lost all sense of himself and stayed three years in the desert without a roof. The land there has no rain, as everyone knows, both those who have heard of it and those who have experienced it. Afterwards he built himself a cell, and having lived another twenty-five years in that cell he was granted the gift of spitting on demons, delighting in solitude. I spent much time with him and asked him how his mind stood regarding the sin of the murder. He said that he was so far from grief that he even gave thanks for the murder, for the unintentional murder had become for him the occasion of salvation. And bringing testimony from the Scriptures he said that Moses would not have been counted worthy of the divine vision, of so great a gift, and of the writing of the holy words, had he not, from fear of Pharaoh because of the murder he committed in Egypt, gone to Mount Sinai. I say this not to open a road to murder, but to show that there are also virtues that come from circumstances, when someone does not come to the good of his own will; for some virtues are chosen, others come from circumstances.

There was another of the old monks named Nathanael. I did not find him alive, for he had fallen asleep fifteen years before my arrival; but I met those who had practised asceticism and spent time with him, and I inquired closely into the man's virtue. They also showed me his cell, in which no one lives any longer because it is too near the inhabited world; for he built it at a time when anchorites were rare. They told this about him especially: that he had such endurance in his cell that he was never shaken from his purpose. Among other things, he was at first mocked by the demon who mocks and deceives everyone, and he seemed to grow listless in his first cell, so he went off and built another nearer a village. After he had finished the cell and settled in it, three or four months later the demon came by night, holding an ox-hide whip like the executioners and having the appearance of a soldier in rags, and he made a noise with the whip. The blessed Nathanael answered him and said, “Who are you that do these things in my lodging?” The demon answered, “I am the one who drove you out of that cell; I have come to chase you out of this one too.” Realizing that he had been mocked, he went back again to his first cell. And he completed thirty-seven years without crossing the threshold, contending with the demon, who showed him more things than can be told to force him to come out.

Among these, the demon watched for the visit of seven holy bishops, which happened either by God's providence or by that demon's temptation, and almost drove him off course from his purpose. For when the bishops left after the visit, he did not escort them even a step. The deacons said to him, “You are doing a proud thing, abba, in not escorting the bishops.” He said to them, “I have died both to my lords the bishops and to the whole world. I have a hidden aim, and God knows my heart; that is why I do not escort them.” The demon, having failed in this plot, nine months before his death disguised himself and became a boy of about ten, driving a donkey that carried loaves in a basket. Arriving late in the evening near his cell, he made it appear that the donkey had fallen and the boy was crying out, “Abba Nathanael, have mercy on me and give me a hand!” Hearing the voice of the supposed boy, he opened the door a little and, standing inside, said to him, “Who are you, and what do you want me to do for you?” He said to him, “I am so-and-so's servant boy, and I am carrying loaves, since it is this brother's agape, and tomorrow, at dawn on Saturday, the offerings will be needed. I beg you, do not abandon me, lest I be eaten by hyenas.” For there are many hyenas in those parts. The blessed Nathanael stood speechless, very dizzy, his heart troubled, and he reasoned with himself, saying, “Either I must fall from the commandment or from my purpose.” But afterwards, considering that it was better not to shake the purpose of so many years, to the shame of the devil, he prayed and said to the supposed boy who was speaking to him, “Listen, boy. I believe in the God whom I serve that, if you are in need, God will send you help, and neither hyenas nor anything else will harm you; but if you are a temptation, God will reveal the matter right now.” And he shut the door and went in. The demon, put to shame by the defeat, dissolved into a whirlwind and into wild asses leaping and fleeing and making a din. This was the contest of the blessed Nathanael, this his way of life, and this his end.

The deeds of the two Macarii, those celebrated men, are many and great and hard to believe, and I hesitate to speak of them or write them down, lest I gain the reputation of a liar. Yet the Holy Spirit has declared that “the Lord destroys all who speak falsehood.” Since I am not lying, then, most faithful one, do not disbelieve. Of these Macarii, one was an Egyptian by birth, the other an Alexandrian, a seller of sweetmeats.

First I will tell of the Egyptian, who lived ninety years in all. Of these he spent sixty in the desert, having gone up there as a young man of thirty. He was granted such discernment that he was called “the old young man”; and so he made progress all the faster. For when he was forty he received grace against spirits, and the gifts of healing and prophecy; he was also counted worthy of the priesthood. Two disciples lived with him in the innermost desert, called Scetis. One was a servant near him because of those who came to be healed; the other spent his time in a nearby cell. As time went on, foreseeing with prophetic eye, he said to the one who served him, named John, who later became presbyter in Macarius's own place: “Listen to me, brother John, and bear with my warning. You are being tempted, and the spirit of avarice will tempt you. So I have seen; and I know that if you bear with me you will be perfected in this place and glorified, and ‘no scourge shall come near your dwelling.’ But if you disobey me, the end of Gehazi will come upon you, whose disease you already have.” It happened that he disobeyed, fifteen or twenty years after the falling asleep of Macarius, and having embezzled the money of the poor he was so stricken with elephantiasis that no sound place could be found on his body where one could put a finger. This was the prophecy of the holy Macarius.

It is superfluous to tell about his food and drink, since not even among the lax can gluttony or indifference be found in those places, both because of the scarcity of necessities and because of the zeal of the inhabitants. But I speak of the rest of his asceticism: he was said to be continually in ecstasy, and to spend much more time with God than with the things under heaven. The following wonders are told of him.

An Egyptian man fell in love with a freeborn married woman, and being unable to seduce her, he consulted a sorcerer, saying, “Draw her to love me, or do something so that her husband casts her off.” The sorcerer, having received a good sum, used his magic arts and made her appear to be a mare. When her husband came in from outside and saw this, he was astonished that a mare was lying on his bed. The husband weeps and laments; he speaks to the animal and gets no answer. He … the presbyters of the village, brings them in, shows them; he does not discover what has happened. For three days she ate neither hay as a mare nor bread as a human being, deprived of both kinds of food. At last, so that God might be glorified and the virtue of the holy Macarius be shown, it came into her husband's heart to take her to the desert; and putting a halter on her like a horse, he led her into the desert. As they drew near, the brothers were standing near Macarius's cell, quarrelling with her husband and saying, “Why have you brought this mare here?” He said to them, “So that she may receive mercy.” They said to him, “What is wrong with her?” Her husband answered them, “She was my wife, and she has been changed into a horse, and today is the third day she has tasted nothing.” They reported it to the saint, who was praying inside; for it had been revealed to him, and he was praying for her. The holy Macarius answered the brothers and said to them, “You are the horses, who have the eyes of horses. She is a woman, not transformed, except only in the eyes of those who are deceived.” And he blessed water, poured it over her bare body from the head, and prayed; and at once he made her appear a woman to all. He gave her food and made her eat, and sent her away with her own husband, giving thanks to the Lord. And he counselled her, saying, “Never stay away from the church; never abstain from Communion. This happened to you because for five weeks you had not come to the mysteries.”

Another practice of his asceticism: over a long time he made a tunnel under the ground from his cell for about half a stade and finished it at the end with a cave. Whenever crowds troubled him, he would leave his cell secretly, go off to the cave, and no one could find him. One of his zealous disciples told us that on the way to the cave he said twenty-four prayers, and twenty-four on the way back.

A report went out about him that he raised a dead man in order to convince a heretic who did not confess that there is a resurrection of bodies; and this report prevailed in the desert.

Once a demon-possessed young man was brought to him by his own weeping mother, bound to two young men. The demon worked in this way: after he had eaten three measures of bread and drunk a Cilician jar of water, he would belch and dissolve the food into vapour; so what had been eaten and drunk was consumed as if by fire. For there is an order of demons called fiery; for there are differences among demons, as among men, not of nature but of disposition. This young man, then, not getting enough from his mother, used to eat his own excrement and often drank his own urine. As his mother wept and begged the saint, he took him and prayed over him, entreating God. After a day or two, when the affliction had eased, the holy Macarius said to her, “How much do you want him to eat?” She answered, “Ten pounds of bread.” He rebuked her that this was too much, prayed over him with fasting for seven days, and set him at three pounds, so that he would also be able to work. And having so cured him he gave him back to his mother. God worked this wonder through the wonderful Macarius. I did not meet him, for he had fallen asleep a year before my entry into the desert.