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AND we see clear instance of this in the case of that prophet and man
of God in the third book of Kings, who was straightway destroyed by a lion
for a single fault of disobedience, in which he was implicated not of set
purpose nor by the fault of his own will but by the enticement of another,
as the Scripture speaks thus of him: "It is the man of God, who was
disobedient to the mouth of the Lord, and the Lord delivered him to the
lion, and it tare him according to the word of the Lord, which He
spake." In which case the punishment of the present offence and
carelessness together with the reward of his righteousness, for which the
Lord gave over his prophet in this world to the destroyer, are shown by the
moderation and abstinence of the beast of prey, as that most savage
creature did not dare even to taste the carcass that was given over to him.
And of the same thing a very clear and plain proof has been given in our
own days in the case of the Abbots Paul and Moses who lived in a spot in
this desert called Calamus, for the former had formerly dwelt in the
wilderness which is hard by the city of Panephysis, which we know had
only recently been made a wilderness by an inundation of salt water; which
whenever the north wind blew, was driven from the marshes and spreading
over the adjacent fields covered the face of the whole district, so as to
make the ancient villages, which on this very account had been deserted by
all their inhabitants, look like islands. Here, then, the Abbot Paul had
made such progress in purity of heart in the stillness and silence of the
desert, that he did not suffer, I will not say a woman's face, but even the
clothes of one of that sex to appear in his sight. For when as he was going
to the cell of one of the Elders together with Abbot Archebius who lived
in the same desert, by accident a woman met him, he was so disgusted at
meeting her that he dropped the business of his friendly visit which he had
taken in hand and dashed back again to his own monastery with greater speed
than a man would flee from the face of a lion or terrible dragon; so that
he was not moved even by the shouts and prayers of the aforesaid Abbot
Archebius who called him back to go on with the journey they had undertaken
to ask the old man what they had proposed to do. But though this was done
in his eagerness for chastity and desire for purity, yet because it was
done not according to knowledge, and because the observance of discipline,
and the methods of proper strictness were overstrained, for he imagined
that not merely familiarity with a woman (which is the real harm,) but even
the very form of that sex was to be execrated, he was forthwith overtaken
by such a punishment that his whole body was struck with paralysis, and
none of his limbs were able to perform their proper functions, since not
merely his hands and feet, but even the movements of the tongue, which
enables us to frame our words, (were affected) and his very ears lost the
sense of hearing, so that there was left in him nothing more of his manhood
than an immovable and insensible figure. But he was reduced to such a
condition that the utmost care of men was unable to minister to his
infirmity, but only the tender service of women could attend to his wants:
for when he was taken to a convent of holy virgins, food and drink, which
he could not ask for even by signs, were brought to him by female
attendants, and for the performance of all that nature required he was
ministered to by the same service for nearly four years, i.e., to the end
of his life. And though he was affected by such weakness of all his members
that none of his limbs retained their keen power of motion and feeling,
nevertheless such grace of goodness proceeded from him that when sick
persons were anointed with the oil which had touched what should be called
his corpse rather than his body, they were instantly healed of all
diseases, so that as regards his own malady it was made clearly and plainly
evident even to unbelievers that the infirmity of all his limbs was caused
by the providence and love of the Lord, and that the grace of these
healings was granted by the power of the Holy Ghost as a witness of his
purity and a manifestation of his merits.
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