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APOLLOS flourished about the same period in Thebais. He early
devoted himself to a life of philosophy; and after having passed forty
years in the desert, he shut himself up, by the command of God, in a
cave formed at the foot of a mountain, near a very populous district.
By the multitude of his miracles, he soon became distinguished, and
was the head of many monks for he directed them profitably by his
instructions. Timothy, who conducted the church of Alexandria, has
given us a history of his method of discipline and of what divine and
marvelous deeds he was a worker; he also narrates the lives of other
approved monks, many of whom I have mentioned.
In that time many good monks, to the number of about two thousand,
preached philosophy in the neighborhood of Alexandria; some in a
district called the Hermitage, and others more towards Mareotis and
Libya. Dorotheus, a native of Thebes, was among the most
celebrated of these monks. He spent the day in collecting stones upon
the seashore, which he used in erecting cells to be given to those who
were unable to build them. During the night, he employed himself in
weaving baskets of palm leaves; and these he sold, to obtain the means
of subsistence. He ate six ounces of bread with a few vegetables
daily, and drank nothing but water. Having accustomed himself to this
extreme abstinence from his youth, he continued to observe it in old
age. He was never seen to recline on a mat or a bed, nor even to
place his limbs in an easy attitude, or willingly to surrender himself
to sleep. Sometimes, from natural lassitude, his eyes would
involuntarily close when he was at his daily labor or his meals; and
when nodding during his eating, the food would fall from his mouth.
One day, being utterly overcome by drowsiness, he fell down on the
mat; he was displeased at finding himself in this position, and said,
in an undertone of voice, "If angels are persuaded to sleep, you
will persuade also the zealous." Perhaps he might have said this to
himself, or perhaps to the demon who had become an impediment to his
zealous exercises. He was once asked by a person who came to him while
he was exhausting himself, why he destroyed his body. "Because it
destroys me," was his reply.
Piammon and John presided over two celebrated Egyptian monasteries
near Diolcus. They were presbyters who discharged their priesthood
very carefully and reverently. It is said that one day, when Piammon
was officiating as priest, he beheld an angel standing near the holy
table and writing down in a book the names of the monks who were
present, while he erased the names of those who were absent. John had
received from God such power over sufferings and diseases, that he
healed the gouty and restored the paralytic.
A very old man, named Benjamin, was practicing philosophy very
brilliantly about this period, in the desert near Scetis. God had
bestowed upon him the power of relieving the sick of every disease
without medicine, by the touch only of his hand, or by means of a
little oil consecrated by prayer. The story is, that he was attacked
by a dropsy, and his body was swollen to such a size that it became
necessary, in order to carry him from his cell, to enlarge the door.
As his malady would not admit of his lying in a recumbent posture, he
remained, during eight months, seated on a very large skin, and
continued to heal the sick, without regretting that his own recovery
was not effected. He comforted those who came to visit him, and
requested them to pray for his soul; adding that he cared little for
his body, for it had been of no service to him when in health, and
could not, now that it was diseased, be of any injury to him.
About the same time the celebrated Mark, Marcarius the younger,
Apollonius, and Moses, an Egyptian, dwelt at Scetis. It is said
that Mark was, from his youth upwards, distinguished by extreme
mildness and prudence; he committed the Sacred Scriptures to memory,
and manifested such eminent piety that Macarius himself, the presbyter
of Celliae, declared that he had never given to him what priests
present to the initiated at the holy table, but that an angel
administered it to him whose hand up to the forearm he declares himself
to have seen.
Macarius had received from God the power of dispelling demons. A
murder which be had unintentionally committed was the original cause of
his embracing a life of philosophy. He was a shepherd, and led his
flock to graze on the banks of Lake Mareotis, when in sport he slew
one of his companions. Fearful of being delivered up to justice, he
fled to the desert. Here he concealed himself during three years, and
afterwards erected a small dwelling on the spot, in which he dwelt
twenty five years. He was accustomed to say that he owed much to the
calamity that had befallen him in early life, and even called the
unintentional murder he had committed a salutary deed, inasmuch as it
had been the cause of his embracing philosophy and a blessed mode of
life.
Apollonius, after passing his life in the pursuits of commerce,
retired in his old age to Scetis. On reflecting that he was too old
to learn writing or any other art, he purchased with his own money a
supply of every kind of drug, and of food suited for the sick, some of
which he carried until the ninth hour to the door of every monastery,
for the relief of those who were suffering from disease. Finding this
practice advantageous to himself, he adopted this mode of life; and
when he felt death approaching he delivered his drugs to one whom he
exhorted to go and do as he had done.
Moses was originally a slave, but was driven from his master's house
on account of his immorality. He joined some robbers, and became
leader of the band. After having perpetrated many evil deeds and dared
some murders, by some sudden conversion he embraced the monastic life,
and attained the highest point of philosophy. As the healthful and
vigorous habit of body which had been induced by his former avocations
acted as a stimulus to his imagination and excited a desire for
pleasure, he resorted to every possible means of macerating his body;
thus, he subsisted on a little bread without cooked food, subjected
himself to severe labor, and prayed fifty times daily; he prayed
standing, without bending his knees or closing his eyes in sleep. He
sometimes went during the night to the cells of the monks and secretly
filled their pitchers with water, and this was very laborious, for he
had sometimes to go ten, sometimes twenty, and sometimes thirty and
more, stadia in quest of water. Notwithstanding all his efforts to
macerate his body, it was long before he could subdue his natural vigor
of constitution. It is reported that robbers once broke into the
dwelling where he was practicing philosophy; he seized and bound them,
threw the four men across his shoulders, and bore them to the church,
that the monks who were there assembled might deal with them as they
thought fit, for he did not consider himself authorized to punish any
one. For they say so sudden a conversion from vice to virtue was never
before witnessed, nor such rapid attainments in monastical philosophy.
Hence God rendered him an object of dread to the demons, and he was
ordained presbyter over the monks at Scetis. After a life spent in
this manner, he died at the age of seventy five, leaving behind him
numerous eminent disciples.
Paul, Pachon, Stephen, and Moses, of whom the two latter were
Libyans, and Pior, who was an Egyptian, flourished during this
reign. Paul dwelt at Ferme, a mountain of Scetis, and presided
over five hundred ascetics. He did not labor with his hands, neither
did he receive alms of any one, except such food as was necessary for
his subsistence. He did nothing but pray, and daily offered up to
God three hundred prayers. He placed three hundred pebbles in his
bosom, for fear of omitting any of these prayers; and, at the
conclusion of each, he took away one of the pebbles. When there were
no pebbles remaining, he knew that he had gone through the whole course
of his prescribed prayers.
Pachon also flourished during this period at Scetis. He followed
this career from youth to extreme old age, without ever being found
unmanly in self-control by the appetites of the body, the passions of
the soul, or a demon, in short, in all those things which the
philosopher should conquer.
Stephen dwelt at Mareotis near Marmarica. During sixty years,
through exactness, he attained the perfection of asceticism, became
very noted as a monk, and was intimate with Antony the Great. He
was very mild and prudent, and his usual style of conversation was
sweet and profitable, and well calculated to comfort the souls of the
afflicted, to transform them into good spirits, if even they had
previously been depressed by griefs which seemed necessary. He behaved
similarly about his own afflictions. He was troubled with a severe and
incurable ulcer, and surgeons were employed to operate upon the
diseased members. During the operation Stephen employed himself in
weaving palm leaves, and exhorted those who were around him not to
concern themselves about his sufferings. He told them to have no other
thought than that God does nothing but for our good, and that his
affliction would tend to his real welfare, inasmuch as it would perhaps
atone for his sins, it being better to be judged in this life than in
the life to come.
Moses was celebrated for his meekness, his love, and his power of
healing of sufferings by prayer. Pior determined, from his youth, to
devote himself to a life of philosophy; and, with this view, quitted
his father's house after having made a vow that he would never again
look upon any of his relations. After fifty years had expired, one of
his sisters heard that he was still alive, and she was so transported
with joy at this unexpected intelligence, that she could not rest till
she had seen him. The bishop of the place where she resided was so
affected by the groans and tears of the aged woman, that he wrote to
the leaders of the monks in the desert of Scetis, desiring them to
send Pior to him. The superiors accordingly directed him to repair to
the city of his birth, and he could not say nay, for disobedience was
regarded as unlawful by the monks of Egypt, and I think also by other
monks. He went with another monk to the door of his father's house,
and caused himself to be announced. When he heard the door being
opened, he closed his eyes, and calling his sister by name, he said
to her, "I am Pior, your brother; look at me as much as you
please."
His sister was delighted beyond measure at again beholding him, and
returned thanks to God. He prayed at the door where he stood, and
then returned to the place where he lived; there he dug a well, and
found that the water was bitter, but he persevered in the use of it
till his death. Then the height to which he had carried his
self-denial was known; for after he died, several attempted to
practice philosophy in the place where he had dwelt, but found it
impossible to remain there. I am convinced that, had it not been for
the principles of philosophy which he had espoused, he could easily
have changed the water to a sweet taste by prayer; for he caused water
to flow in a spot where none had existed previously. It is said that
some monks, under the guidance of Moses undertook to dig a well, but
the expected vein did not appear, nor did any depth yield the water,
and they were about to abandon the task, when, about midday, Pior
joined them; he first embraced them, and then rebuked their want of
faith and littleness of soul; he then descended into the pit they had
excavated; and, after engaging in prayer, struck the ground thrice
with a rod. A spring of water soon after rose to the surface, and
filled the whole excavation. After prayer, Pior departed; and
though the monks urged him to break his fast with them, he refused,
alleging that he had not been sent to them for that purpose, but merely
in order to perform the act he had effected.
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