W100

BHG 1448p/30 Anastasios A30

W100

Three anchorites who came for communion

Abba Matthias at _Αραvδoυλ_v had the task of administering holy communion to "the prisoners of the desert" each Sunday, for which purpose he had the eucharistic species "up in a cupboard, in the church." But he was always finding the cupboard tampered with and three portions missing. All was explained in a vision, where it emerged that three anchorites in the area came in regularly for holy communion.

W101

BHG 1448p/31 Anastasios A31

W101

Three dying [?] monks found and lost

The author of the tales and Cosmas the Armenian found three persons in monastic garb [τρε_ς τιvας _vακειμέvoυς φoρo_vτας σίβιvα κoλόβρια] lying in a cave, whether alive or dead, who could tell ? They went to their cell to get incense, but on returning they could no more find the place.

W102

BHG 1442/32 Anastasios A32

W102

The dying John promises his brother will follow him

When John [Climacus] the Sabaite was dying, his brother, George the Bishop, reproved him saying that he could not perform his office without the support of his brother. John said that if he found freedom of access to God, George would follow within the year. Which he did; death came to him ten months later.

W103

BHG 1448p/33 Anastasios A33

W103

A paralytic healed with a girdle

An Isaurian abba healed a paralytic monk sent to him by the Mother of God, by handing him his girdle to wear.

W104

BHG 1448p/34 Anastasios A34

W104

A future higoumen of Sinaï detected

Abba Anastasios the higoumen saw Abba John [Climacus ?] and Abba Martyrios coming down from the summit [of Sinaï] and he asked Martyrios who the youth might be. Martyrios replied that it was his disciple; and that he had tonsured him. Anastasios said to him: "Then you have tonsured a future higoumen of Sinai," and many fathers said this of "the second Moses" [sc. John Climacus.]

cf W076

W105

BHG 1448p/35 Anastasios A35

W105

The disappearance of four corpses

Abba Martyrios buried six fathers slain by barbarians beyond the Red Sea in a sealed cave. He later found that four of the bodies had disappeared, leaving only the bodies of Abba Conon the Cilician and one other.

W106

BHG 1448p/36 Anastasios A36

W106

An abba who anticipated the feast of the Holy Summit

An abba arriving for the feast of the Holy Summit [τ_ς _γίας κoρυφ_ς, of Sinaï] was advised in a vision to make his requests before the crowd arrived, and they would be granted. He went up to the summit a day earlier than most people, together with a priest and the necessary items; they celebrated the synaxis and his prayers were answered.

W107

BHG 1448p/37 Anastasios A37

W107

Fire seen on the summit of Sinaï

Elisha the Armenian, who served the Holy Summit, saw fire sitting in the holy temple almost every night.

cf W071

W108

BHG 1448p/38 Anastasios A38

W108

Fire on Sinaï

Eight hundred Armenians once ascended Sinaï. At the stone where Moses received the law, they were engulfed in fire but only their staffs were burnt. The same thing happened again an hour later. Some Saracens laughed at this, and they went on reviling the crosses there. If God were blasphemed by christians, he would not allow things like this to happen in their churches, things which are unknown in the synagogues of Jews and Arabs.

W109

BHG 1448p/39 Anastasios A39

W109

A snow-bound custodian transported to Rome

John the higoumen said that a certain custodian [paramonarios] was marooned on the summit by snow (in those days nobody dared to spend the night up there.) He was transported to Rome where he was recognised by the keys to the summit [-church] which he was carrying. The pope consecrated him bishop of a Roman city and, at his suggestion, sent money to found an infirmary at Sinaï, together with a letter giving details of the monk's visit. The narrator later became infirmarios of the infirmary.

---{ BHG 1318, a Anastasios A40 see W010 }---

W110

BHG 1318s Anastasios C04

W110

de expugnatione montis Sina

When the Saracens occupied Mount Sinaï there was a man there who, at the woman's request, slew his own wife and children and saved himself by perilous flight. He spent the rest of his life in the desert, serving God and returning only to die in the hostel at Sinaï where he was consoled by a vision of fathers slain by the Saracens, greeting him as an old friend. The writer opines that what he actually saw was angelic powers [_γγελικα_ δυvάμεις] appearing as fathers.

nb: this story is preceded by a long prologue in Cod Vatic. 2592 f.124v (in which the man and his family are christian Saracens) and a different ending: having slain wife and family, the man cast himself down to his death from a high precipice on Sinaï, thus saving his own soul, whereas all the other Christian Saracens lost theirs by apostatising.

W111

BHG Anastasios B01 (Nau 43,) part 1

W111

The eucharist visibly "transaccidentalised"

Twelve miles from Damascus there was a stylite who doubted the validity of the eucharist consecrated by a priest accused of bodily sin [σωματικ_v _μάρτημα.] Α fragment of the bread fell on the altar and became flesh [_σαρκώθη,] sticking to the priest's finger and staining the altar-cloths to the marble. There were five hundred witnesses to this, of which the narrator was one.

part 2

The eucharist used to expel a demon

The narrator obtained a fragment of this substance and placed it in a phylactery which he hung around the neck of an eighteen-year-old boy named George, who was possessed by a demon. The Mother of God announced the boy's cure; the visible sign of this was a black snake which came out of him when they passed the eucharist over him in church.

W112

BHG 1765s Anastasios B02 (Nau 44)

W112

miraculum e Prato Sophronii excerptum [sic]

At Karsatas, a village four miles from Damascus, some Saracens installed themselves in the Church of Saint Theodore Tiro and profaned it. They shot arrows at the saint's icon, which began to bleed. All the forty (or twenty-two) Saracens living in that church died. The narrator has seen and venerated this icon, and so have many who are still alive.

W113

BHG Anastasios B03 (Nau 45)

W113

Healing by a "private" fragment of the True Cross

Many years ago, "in our desert," Gregory the Armenian, troubled by an unclean spirit, began to shout when the narrator's disciple, John (now a stylite near Diospolis) drew near, wearing his master's silver cross with a fragment of the True Cross in it. They tried (in vain) to force it on Gregory's neck, but he was cured. This took place in the presence of the narrator and others.

W114

BHG Anastasios B04 (Nau 46)

W114

How a magician became a monk

A Jerusalem monk told the narrator that some years ago he saw a layman always within the ambulatory [περίπατoς] of the Holy Sepulchre. When asked, this man explained that he was a magician [φαρμακ_ς] and devils dare not enter there. But they were waiting for him at the gate. Taken to the Patriarch Modestus [632-633/4,] he was catechised and given a cell in the upper ambulatory of Saint Constantine [κελλίov ε_ς τ_v _vω περίπατov τo_ _γίoυ Κωvσταvτίvoυ] and there he stayed for the rest of his life.

cf W310

W115

BHG Anastasios B05 (Nau 47)

W115

How the eucharist came to be held earlier at the Holy Sepulchre

Zacharias [609-631,] the predecessor of the Patriarch Modestus, had a vision of the heavenly court and of all the angels of all the churches waiting to make their offerings within; waiting, that is, for the angel of the Holy Sepulchre "who always comes and announces [_ μηvύωv] us to the Lord." In the light of this experience, Zacharias had the hour of the synaxis moved earlier so that the angels of the other churches would not be kept waiting.

W116

BHG Anastasios B06 (Nau 48)

W116

A magician's warning

A Christ-loving man of Babylon in Egypt (who is still alive) was once in charge of a gaol where there were some magicians [φαρμακo_] whom he had to "examine" in order to get written statements to take before the authorities. One of them warned the man always to examine them having made his communion, and wearing a cross, for his own sake. "If demons and magicians confess it, how true must it be that the body of Christ and the cross are powerful against them."

W117

BHG 1444v Anastasios B07 (Nau49)

W117

de presbytero mago

At Triachides in Cyprus a priest became an adept magician [φαρμακ_ς,] eating and drinking from the sacred vessels, together with loose women and magicians. This was when Arcadios [d.625] was archbishop. He was brought to judgement and accused; he admitted everything, except that he claimed not to have defiled the eucharist. Whenever he went to celebrate (he said) an angel came and bound him to a column _πισθάγκωvα, performing the sacred act in his stead. The people shouted: "Let us not judge the priests, for it is angels who conscrate Christ's mysteries and give us communion." [μ_ κρίvωμεv τo_ς _ερε_ς. _γγελoι τ_ τo_ Χριτo_ μυστήρια _μ_v _γιάζoυσι κα_ μεταδιδo_σι.] He was nevertheless burnt to death.

cf W007 W854 W953

W118

BHG Anastasios B08 (Nau 50)

W118

de Hebræo mago

Daniel the Jew, accused of magic [φαρμακεία] and about to be burnt, said that he was forced by and angel to reveal, against his will, that magic can not in the least hurt a Christian man who makes his communion each day.

cf W120

W119

BHG Anastasios B09 (Nau 51)

W119

de Philippo Hebræo converso

Philip, a seventeen-year-old Jewish boy brought captive to Cyprus, asked Bishop John for baptism at Amathous. Before and throughout holy week (when he was vεoφώτιστoς) he saw many visions of youths [παλικάρια] assisting the priests [παπάδες] and taking offerings up into heaven; but he never saw any such vision again after that week.

[note: this is a very unusual and rather long series of visions: colourful, liturgical, fanciful and well writteen, but in a style which suggests a later hand, either as author or as redactor.]

"Anastasios" Nau 52 = W014

W120

BHG 1444w Anastasios C11 (Nau 53)

W120

de responsis dæmonum

John Bostrianos, chartoularios [archivist] from Damascus, was sent on a mission by the symboulos to Antioch where he found three female youths possessed of demons. He talked with the demons in Syriac, asking them what they feared most. They answered that they could not bear to hear the words of Psalm 67.2, but what they feared most was the cross, baptism and holy communion. They confessed that they had no power over one who makes a good communion. John was greatly edified by this experience.

"Anastasios" (ed. Nau 54) = de arca martyris, W040 +W916

W121

BHG 1444x "Anastasios" (ed Nau 55)

W121

de baptismo pueri mortui

("The priest of Laodicia") Λαoδίκεια πόλις _στ_ πρ_ς τ_ _ρoς τo_ Λιβάvoυ κατέvαvτι Γάζης (aut Γαυθισ¢ v). . . _ πρωτoκoμίτης τo_ τόπoυ awakened the priest to baptise a dying baby which, in fact, died between the application of the oil and the immersion in water. The priest exercised his powers of loosing and binding to demand of the angel that the child be restored to life until the baptism was completed. How much more powerful, then, must the priestly power of loosing and binding be for mere humans ?

cf W058 which refers to this

W122

BHG 1444y "Anastasios" (ed Nau 56)

W122

de sanatione tuberis

Anastasios says that Isidore the scholasticos [educated man or lawyer] says that a man in Alexandria had a tumour [χoρδύλη] on his head the size of an apple. He would make the sign of the cross over it with the holy sacrament when he came to communion. One day this man (through a chink in the door) saw the priest-warden [παραμovάριoς] making love to a woman. He refused to condemn the priest, because, in any case, it is from the hands of angels, not of men, that one receives the sacrament. He received communion and his χoρδύλη was cured.

"Anastasios" (ed Nau 57) = PS 192 BHG 721b W362

W123

BHG 1444z "Anastasios" (ed Nau 58)

W123

de numismate oeconomi

An Antiochene monk was destitute at Jerusalem. Christ appeared to him and said: "Go to Stephen the oikonomos [bursar] of the Holy Sepulchre and tell him I told you to ask him to lend you one piece of gold against your written receipt, and I will repay it." So it was; in a dream, the oikonomos saw Christ receive the written receipt and give back the coin. He summoned the monk and invited him to borrow ten pounds of gold if he wished, but the monk insisted he had all he needed.

W124

BHG 1317r

W124

de muliere in ficu

Abba Stephan said he came as a refugee from Cilicia with his parents, to Isauria, where his parents dwelt in a μovάδιov which had a great fig tree. One day, by the devil's doing, he saw a naked woman in the fig tree, so, like the Saviour, he cursed the tree. It lost half its leaves that day and half the day after.

W125

BHG 842m "Anastasios" (ed Nau 59)

W125

Miraculum de Amos

Amos, the Patriarch of Jerusalem [594-601] was a hater of monks [μισoμόvαχoς] even though he was a monk himself. He took a monk who had fallen victim to temptation and, rather than exhorting him, stripped him of his habit (which he put on a pig and sent it out in public) and whipped him. At night, John the Baptist appeared to the patriarch, questioning his action. In reparation, Amos built John the Baptist a church outside the city, but the saint appeared to him yet again saying: "Even though you built me five more and even bigger churches, you will not be forgiven for so dishonouring the monastic habit," and this is why the name of Amos does not appear in the dyptychs. [PO 8:182-3; Cod. Paris gr. 1596 pp.552-3]

HISTORIÆ MONACHORUM IN ÆGYPTO [HME]

W131

HME 1.32-37

W131

A monk destroyed by a woman

John of Lycopolis told this story as an example to illustrate the principle that monks should avoid inhabited places and converse with women: There was a monk living in a cave who became too confident. The evil one sent a good-looking woman to him, supposedly having lost her way, asking for hospitality. She led him on with flattery and caresses, but when he attempted to have intercourse with her, she slipped away and became invisible; one could hear the demons roaring with laughter. Lc. 14, 11; 18, 14. After a day of repentence, the monk returned to the world.

W132

HME 1.37-44

W132

A young man who triumphed over the demons

John of Lycopolis told of a young man who had greatly sinned, and who secluded himself in tombs to repent. He was cruelly asaulted by demons but still returned there even when his parents had taken him out, half dead. Finally, after a third assault, the demons withdrew, calling out : "You have conquered," and he became a famous thaumaturge, remaining there in the tombs for the rest of his life. Lc 14,11; 18, 14.

W133

HME 1.45-58

W133

A monk who re-attained his great piety

John of Lycopolis told of a monk of such piety that each day God provided him with a loaf of bread. But he became slack and subject to evil thoughts; at which the quality of the bread declined. One day, he went travelling; he was taken in by some other monks, who required "a word" of him. He spoke to them as requested, but then he reproved himself for instructing others, whereupon he returned to his former way of life with new vigour: but without the daily provision of bread. "I told you this" adds the narrator "so that you might practice humility." Mtt. 5,3.

W134

HME 2. 9-10

W134

Devils disguised as angels

Abba Or knew a man in the desert (the writer says it was actually Or himself) who never ate earthly food but was nourished by an angel. One day, devils came to him in great numbers, disguised as angels, accompanying a chariot of fire; they came in great pomp as though a king were visiting. The "king" said: "Worship me, and I will take you up like Elijah," but the monk replied: "My king would not ask that," and the devils disappeared.

W135

HME 4.3

W135

A hippopotamus and some crocodiles disciplined

A hippopotamus was devastating the region. Abba Bes came by and ordered it, in the name of Jesus Christ, to do so no more. After which, as though it were chased by an angel, it was seen no more. The same father once drove a crocodile away in similar manner.

W136

HME 4.4

W136

Abba Theon consorted regularly with animals by night, and shared their water.

W137

HME 6.2

W137

Thieves immobilised

Thieves came to the cell of Abba Theon by night, expecting to find much gold there. They were immobilised before his door until morning when he required that they be let go, for otherwise he would lose his healing powers.

W138

HME 8.10-13

W138

Monks impressed for military service

In the time of the Emperor Julian ["the Apostate," 361-363] Apollo and the brethren were comforting a brother who was impressed for military service. The chiliarch imprisoned them all (intending to take them on the expedition, apparently) and set a guard over them. However an angel bearing a torch appeared by night and released them all. (It may be implied that the guards fled with the monks.) Next day the chiliarch claimed that an earthquake had split the prison open, killing his servants the guards -- and setting the monks free.

W139

HME 8.16-17

W139

Apollo's vision

In his sleep, Apollo had a vision of his dead brother seated on a throne beside the Apostles, praying for him. The Saviour was answering that Apollo must remain yet a little longer on earth so that he might have many imitators.

W140

HME 8.24-29

W140

How Apollo immobilised a pagan procession

Once there was a pagan procession of an idol which, at the prayers of Apollo, was completely immobilised under the burning sun. Neighbours came with oxen but neither idol nor priests nor people could be moved. Finally they sent for Apollo, who was suspected of being the author of this contratemps. The pagans offered to forsake their idol if he would release them. He did release them; then he catechised them all and burned their idol. Many of the new converts became monks. 

cf W204

W141

HME 8.30-35

W141

Apollo and the converted bandit

Two villages were at war and one of them refused to be reconciled because it trusted in a notorious bandit whom Apollo won over by a promise of remission of sins. When proof of the remission was requested by the bandit, both he and Apollo had a dream in which they were before the tribunal of Christ; they were lying flat on their faces, but with the righteous. The voice of God questioned the presence of this homicide, but did not refuse it --because the bandit was Apollo's client. He staid with Apollo until his death. Thus do lambs pasture with wolves etc., Is. 65, 25.

W142

HME 8.33-37

W142

A pagan whose corpse was eaten by vultures and beasts

When Apollo was trying to make peace between two villages, he was frustrated by one leading pagan who simply refused. "Then you alone will die" said Apollo, "and your tomb will not be in the earth but in the bellies of vultures and beasts," which is how it was. They buried him in the sand, but the animals disinterred him and devoured his remains.

W143

HME 8.38

W143

A miraculous supply of fine fare

At Easter, Apollo suggested that each pray for what he would like to eat. At night, there came unknown men from afar bearing all kinds of rich and foreign delicacies, including a vessel of fresh milk and some warm bread. These they deposited and left in a hurry. The food lasted until Pentecost; unoubtedly it was sent by God.

W144

HME 8.44-47

W144

A multiplication of bread

There was a famine in the Thebaid. Apollo fed the people until there remained only four baskets of bread. These were sufficient to feed the people and the monks for four months, by the prayers and the faith of Apollo [3 Kgs. 17.14; Mtt 20.15] and he did the same with the oil and the wheat.

[W145-148 - unoccupied]

W149

HME 8.48

W149

Abba Apollo was once aware of the approach of certain visitors three days before their arrival; he sent some brothers to meet them.

W150

HME 9.1-4

W150

A 7m. serpant

Some visitors and their guides encountered the traces of a great serpant which the monks were anxious to track down and kill; one in particular, a monk who had seen the beast and asserted that it was more than fifteen cubits long. He even found its lair and it was only with great difficulty that he was persuaded to come away from there.

W151

HME 9.5-7

W151

Serpants on guard duty

Amoun was frequently robbed of bread by thieves on the highway. He got two serpants from the desert and stationed them at his door. The thieves were astounded and Amoun reproved them for being more savage than the beasts, which at least obeyed him and revered christians. He entertained the thieves and they mended their ways.

Gregory, Dial 1.3

W152

HME 9.8-11

W152

A child raised, a serpant destroyed

Amoun was requested to deal with a great serpant which was doing much damage. When a child swooned at the mere sight of the serpant and lay [in the sun] all day, he restored the dying child and decided to deal with the serpant. As he knelt to pray, the foul beast flung itself upon him. "Christ is going to kill you" he said, whereupon the beast vomited all its contents and died.

W153

HME 10.3-8

W153

Patermouthios, the converted brigand-chief

Narrated by Coprès: Patermouthios, who later became an abba, was formerly a brigand chief and a grave-robber. He once attacked a virgin's cell and fell asleep on the roof. In his sleep, he saw a king who reproved him and offered him power, if he would turn from vice to virtue. Next morning he asked the virgin how to get to the church, and there he received a little instruction. Then off he went into the wilderness where he remained for three years, eating wild plants. On his return he knew all the scriptures by heart. He returned for a further seven years in the wilderness; he used to find a loaf of bread by his bed each Sunday.

W154

HME 10.9-11 N008

W154

How Patermouthios kept his promise

Narrated by Coprès: Once when Patermouthios was preparing a corpse for burial, a disciple asked him if he would do the same for him. "Until you say «enough,»" came the reply. Then the disciple died. The elder very carefully prepared the corpse for burial. When asked if it was well done, the corpse replied (in the hearing of many:) "It is enough, father; you have kept your promise."

W155

HME 10.12-14

W155

Narrated by Coprès: Patermouthios once delayed the setting of the sun until he arrived at the village to which he was going.

W156

HME 10. 15-16

W156

Patermouthios questions a corpse

Narrated by Coprès: Patermouthios found a brother dead. He asked him whether he preferred life with God to life in the flesh. The corpse sat up and reponded citing Phil. 1.23. "Sleep then, brother" said the father; at which the copse lay down again. The father carefully prepared it for burial.

W157

HME 10.17-19

W157

A brother's death postponed

Narrated by Coprès: A dying brother, much tormented by his conscience, begged Patermouthios to pray for a stay of execution for him. Against his promise to ammend his ways, the father agreed -- and was able to gain three more years for him. This time the brother spent in the desert with the father, then Patermouthios brought him back to the village, "no longer a man, but an angel -- which he presented to Christ," and there he quietly died. The father gave him a decent burial.

W158

HME 10.21-23

W158

A vision and a souvenir of paradise

Narrated by Coprès: Patermouthios said that he had been corporally transported to paradise where he had seen the saints and where he had tasted the fruits, of which he brought back with him a huge fig. This object was greatly venerated and the mere fragrance of it was capable of curing disorders.

cf W036

W159

HME 10.30-32

W159

An ordeal by fire

Coprès claimed he once challenged a Manichaean to enter a bonfire with him. The other insisted that Coprès go first, which he did -- and remained for half an hour in the fire unhurt, whereas the heretic was badly burned just passing through; the people chased him away.

W160

HME 10.34-35

W160

Stolen vegetables cannot be cooked

Coprès had a garden from which vegetables were stolen, but then they could not be cooked. The water in which they were immersed would not even warm up. When they were returned, they were easily prepared by their rightful owners.

W161

HME 12.5-9

W161

A she-ass and a crocodile put to work

Abba Hellê summoned a wild she-ass to carry his baggage and himself back to his cell. And he once crossed the Nile on a crocodile to fetch a priest, but he came back alone because the priest feared the means of transport. On returning, Hellê said to the crocodile: "It is better that you should die now and reap the punishment for the people you have killed," whereupon the beast expired.

W162

HME 12.14-15

W162

A miraculous provision of food

When Abba Hellê lacked food, angels would provide it. Once he had guests and no food to offer them. "God is able to set a table in the desert" [Ps77.19] he said, and at once there stood at the door a fine-looking youth [πα_ς τις καλ_ς vεαvίας] with a large basket full of loaves and olives. The youth promptly became invisible.

W163

HME 13.1-2

W163

The devil, disguised as a woman, burnt all over

Apelles was both a priest and a blacksmith. One day the devil came to him disguised as a woman when he was making tools. He siezed a red-hot iron with his bare hand and burnt the woman all over. The brothers heard her cries. After that, Apelles always handled red-hot metal without hurting himself.

W164

HME 13.5-6

W164

The devil disguised as a priest

Narrated by Apelles: The devil once appeared to John disguised as a priest, offering him communion, but John refused. The devil boasted of having reduced another brother to insanity; but the brothers had cured him by prayer.

W165

HME 14.2-9

W165

Paphnutios and the flute-player of Heracleopolis

Paphnutios asked to whom he was similar. An angel sent him to the flute-player at Heracleopolis who, though he was an ex-brigand and sinful, admitted to having saved a virgin from being ravaged by brigands; and to having given a woman three hundred pieces of gold to redeem her husband and children. The man followed Paphnutios into the desert and for three years led a life of great piety. [continued in next item.]

cf W359 W716

W166

HME 14.10-15

W166

Paphnutios and the village chieftain

Paphnutios asked a second time to whom he was similar and he was sent to the chieftain of a village whose great virtue lay in this: that for thirty years he had slept apart from his wife, practiced great hospitality and almsgiving, observed strict morality in his farming operation, had not taken his child's side in legal action -- and so forth. Paphnoutios said however that the man lacked the acme of virtue: the knowledge of God. So he took him with him into the mountain [continued in next item.]

W167

HME 14.18-22

W167

Paphnutios and the merchant

Paphnutios asked a third time to whom he was like. A divine voice sent him to meet a rich merchant descending the Nile with a hundred ships, distributing his goods to monks and to the poor. Paphnutios led this man into the wilderness.

W168

HME 21.5-12

W168

The Paradise of Jannès and Jambrès

After a long journey, Macarios the Egyptian came to the Paradise which Jannès and Jambrès had planted in the wilderness. There they found two holy men and three fountains in the centre of the garden. After seven days, he left (with difficulty,) bearing fruits. Demons frustrated his attempts to mark the way, and the monks resisted his attempts to persuade them to go back there with him, on the grounds that it might blunt their appetite for the true paradise.

n.b.The Latin version and HL (see W190) attribute this to Macarios of Alexandria, and the latter correctly identifies the location as the Paradise of Jannès and Mambrès

J & J "the magoi" are mentioned in Synax CP 253⁴⁰. See also W190

They are also mentioned in NT: 2 Tim 3.8: _v τρόπov δ_ _Iάvvης κα_ _Iαμβρ_ς _vέστησαι Μωϋσει. See S. Gero in AB 113 (1995) 281-192 on J&J in Vita Stephani junioris, BHG 1666.

W169

HME 21.13-14 N494

W169

Macarios' grapes

Macarios was given some grapes which he gave to another, by whom they were given to someone else, by him to another and so on until they came back to Macarios, untouched.

cf W512 W884

W170

HME 21.15-16

W170

The young of a hyena cured of blindness

Macarios was wakened by a hyena which drew him to its lair, where he found the young ones, who were blind. He prayed, and gave them sight. In gratitude, the mother brought him a magnificent great ram's fleece, which he used as a carpet ever after.

cf W085, W207

W171

HME 21.17

W171

A virgin turned into a mare

By magic [μαγείαι] a malefactor [κάκoυργoς] had changed a maiden devoted to virginity into a mare [ε_ς φoράδα.] By seven days of prayer and the use of oil, Macarios changed her back again, at the request of her parents.

cf W187

W172

HME 22.3-4

W172

A rabid child

Some parents brought their child to Amoun, in chains for it was rabbid. He told them the cure was in their own hands: they must make restitution to the widow whose ox they had killed. They did, and the child was healed.

W173

HME 22.5-6

W173

The death of a camel

Amoun asked a man to bring him a large jar and the man said he would, but then changed his mind because it would kill the camel. Another man dragged the jar to where Amoun wanted it with asses and Amoun declared that the camel had died; in truth, it had been devoured by wolves.

W174

HME 25.3

W174

Piammonas

Piammonas was so tortured by devils that he could neither stand upright at the altar nor offer the sacrifice. But an angel came and, taking him by the hand, brought him back to the altar safe and sound.

------------------------------

HISTORIA LAUSIACA [HL]

W180

HL 2.4

W180

The asp in the well

Palladios saw an asp [viper in Syriac] in the well and would not draw water. He reported this to Dorotheos who said: "If the devil decided to become a serpant or a turtle in each well, would you give up drinking altogether ?" Dorotheos went, drew and drank, saying first: _πoυ σταυρ_ς _πιφoιτ_ o_κ _σχύει κακία τιvός.

W181

HL 3

W181

A virgin-martyr

Isidore, the guest-master at the Thebaïd said: a beautiful maiden served a magnate at Potamiaena. Failing to corrupt her, he handed her over to the magistrate as a christian, promising money if she could be persuaded to do his will. She was severely tortured and finally immersed in boiling oil in which she died.

cf W059

W182

HL 4.4

W182

The death of Julian

Didymos the blind related how he was fasting, praying and suffering on account of the Emperor Julian. In the evening, when he was in a light sleep, he saw white horses running by with riders who proclaimed: "Tell Didymos that Julian died this day at the seventh hour, and he is to tell Athansios," which he did.

cf W408, also Ep.Ammonis c.23 and Theodoret HE 2.14, 3.24.

W183

HL 5

W183

Alexandra who shut herself away from her lover

Melania said that Alexandra (by her own testimony) had shut herself up in a tomb for the whole of her life because she was loved and pursued by a man. She chose voluntary life-imprisonment rather than disappoint him [_vα μ_ δόξω λυπε_v α_τ_v _ διαβάλλειv.] An account of her way of life follows: linen-weaving, prayer and study.

W184

HL 6

W184

Giving to the poor purchases great wealth

A rich but tight-fisted virgin of Alexandria was approached by Macarios and offered certain choice gems and emeralds which had come his way for five hundred pieces of gold, which she paid. But when she asked to see the goods, he took her to his home for the destitute [πτωχε_ov, _σπίτιov.] There he showed her the women above and the men below, for her money had been given to the poor and needy. She was much changed by this experience.

W185

HL 14

W185

Asceticism and hospitality

When Pambo was asked about the comparative merits of two very rich brothers who had become monks (Paësios and Isaias,) one of them an ascetic and the other very hospitable, he insisted that they were equal in merit. Later he said: "I saw them both standing before God in paradise."

cf 197

W186

HL 16

W186

Nathanael

Driven from his cell by demons, Nathanael returned to it when they drove him out of second one, and he remained therein for thirty- seven years. When the devil came to him disguised as a ten-year old [Syriac: twenty year old] youth with a donkey carrying bread at nightfall, asking for help, Nathanael refused, at which the devil took the form of a whirlwind and of wild asses that fell [Syriac: emit wind.]

W187

HL 17 BHG 1438s

W187

de muliere in equum conversa

An Egyptian loved a married free-woman and spoke to a sorcerer who took money and turned her into a mare, which could eat neither man's nor animal's food. The elders of the village could do nothing for her, so the husband took her into the desert. Macarios the Egyptian said: "You are horses not to be able to see she is really a woman." He blessed water and poured it on her head and she became a woman again, eating at last after three days without food. She was warned to stay in frequent communion with the church, for she had been absent from the mysteries for five weeks.

cf W171

W188

HL 17

W188

A boy with an eating problem

A youth was brought, bound, to Macarios the Egyptian who would eat and drink huge quantities of bread and water then spew it forth into the air, where it was consumed as fire, due to the fiery demons (of which there are many kinds.) After considerable prayer Macarios got the boy down to eating three pounds of bread per day.

W189

HL 18

W189

The rumour went out that Macarios the Egyptian raised a dead man to persuade a heretic who denied the resurrection of the body; and this was widely believed in the desert.

W190

HL 18

W190

The Paradise of Jannès and Jambrès

Macarios of Alexandria said he once entered the garden-tomb [κηπoτάφιov] of Jannès and Jambrès, built by the magicians who were in power in the time of the Pharaohs. Their tomb was there and also much gold; there were trees and a well. Macarios travelled by an unmarked path, navigating by the stars. He set a reed every mile, but the demons gathered them up. He travelled nine days, then seventy demons came to drive him away, but he entered. He found the well, with its bucket and chain unused; the fruit was all dried up. It took him twenty days to return. His bread and water ran out, but he was led by a maiden in spotless white, carrying a dripping pitcher, for three days. Then he encoutered a herd of buffalo which included a cow that gave him suck.

See also W 168 and note ad loc

W191

HL 18

W191

Another asp in a well

Once when a well was being dug, a person was bitten by an asp/serpant. Macarios took the beast by the lips with his bare hands and tore it in two [lengthwise] saying: "Since God did not send you, how dare you come upon me?"

W192

HL 18

W192

An unworthy priest afflicted with cancer

A priest whose head was badly disfigured by cancer came to Macarios of Alexandria, but he would not receive him. He said the condition was a punishment - for the man was a fornicator who continued to celebrate the liturgy. When the priest promised to celebrate no more, nor to scoff at God in that way, after he had confessed his sin and returned to the lay condition, Macarios laid his hand on the man and in a few days he was cured.

cf W055

W193

HL 18

W193

A child relieved of an evil spirit

A child was brought to Macarios of Alexandria which was possessed by an unclean spirit. Putting his hands on the head and heart of the child, the elder prayed. Its body swelled up and expelled water from all its orifices. Macarios annointed it with holy oil [+ "of martyrs," Syriac] and poured water over it. He ordered that no meat or wine be given to the child for forty days.

W194

HL 19

W194

Moses, the ex-brigand chief

Moses the Ethiopian, "the black," had once been a slave, but he was turned loose on account of his disorderly conduct (which included murder.) He became a notorious brigand-chief. Once he crossed the Nile to rob a shepherd who hid hiself in the sand. Moses slew and took back four of the best sheep. They ate the best of the meat and sold the fleeces for wine (of which they drank a great quantity) and then returned to their lair [κoλλήγιov.] Coming to his senses, he enrolled in a monastery and practiced virtue.

W195

HL 19

W195

Moses as a monk

Moses was sitting in his cell when four thieves broke in. He bound them and took them to the church, asking the brothers what to do with them. Realising that their captor was the notorious ex-brigand chief, they too surrendered themselves to the quest for salvation.

W196

HL 19

W196

Moses assaulted, and restored

Moses used to draw water by night for the brothers. One night as he was stooping over the well, a demon delt him a blow in the lumbar regions with a club, leaving him for dead, and for a year he was in the church as one who was about to die. Then Isidore charged him, in the name of Christ, to be done with the demon-phantasies which troubled him, as so it was.

W197

HL 21

W197

Eulogios scholasticos and the leper

Eulogios the scholasticos [clearly a man of education here: σχoλαστικ_ς . . . _κ τ¢ v _γκυκλίωv παιδευμάτωv] gave away all but a little of his possessions -- for he could not work as a labourer [_ργάσασθαι μ_ δυvάμεvoς.] He then took home a destitute man lacking hands and feet, a leper [λελωβημέvoς,] on an ass. He cared for him for fifteen years, then the demons caused the sick man to blame Eulogios. The brothers counseled him to take the man to Anthony - in a ship. Anthony tongue-lashed the patient; does he not realise that it is Christ who cares for him ? He says the salvation of both depends on their staying together. They returned in perfect charity; Eulogios died forty days later and the other three days after that.

cf W460

W198

HL 21 Vita Antonii c.66

W198

Anthony's vision of the great black giant

Kronios said that Anthony said that a year of prayer to see the location of the just and of the unjust was answered with a vision of a great black giant, high as the clouds, with a huge lake at his feet. Souls were flying around him like birds, some rising safely into the sky, others (being struck by the hands of the giant) falling into the lake. A voice announced that these were the just and the unjust souls.

W199

HL 22

W199

How Paul the Simple expelled a demon

Paul the Simple became a monk after catching his beautiful wife committing adultery. He associated himself with Anthony, who was reluctant to receive him and who passed him a man with a very fierce and vituperative devil to expel. Paul climbed up to a high place and prayed: "Christ, I will neither go down from here nor eat nor drink until this demon is out." It left in the form of a seventy-cubit dragon which slunk off towards the Red Sea.