bohairic.life.isaac02 Chapter 1

It happened at this time that the archbishop sought a wise man to make his successor and secretary: they spoke to him of the holy Isaac, and he sent for him to Skete.

When Isaac, who could not disobey, had arrived, and the patriarch had seen him clothed in a humble garment, he asked him, “Are you Isaac?”

He replied humbly “it is I.”

He was ordered to write a letter, to see if it was as he had heard about him,

so he wrote it badly of his own free will, thinking that on account of it the patriarch would send him away and not take him, because he loved the solitary and quiet life, following the example of the prophet David when he withdrew from the presence of Achish king of Gath, and the servants said to him, “It is King David, it is the one of whom the virgins of Israel sang in their choirs, saying: Saul has killed thousands, and David tens of thousands. ”

And so he did what he wanted, and when those who were standing by the patriarch saw this letter, they said to him, “We need a man of this kind.”

When the patriarch knew that he had written of his own free will, he said to him, “It is well, go, write thus, but know that you will not leave this place.”

But when the saint saw that he had not obtained what he desired, he wrote a second letter which was very wonderful;

and when the archbishop saw it, he rejoiced greatly, after the manner of the man spoken of in the Gospel, when he found a precious stone.

And the archbishop cried out, saying, “As we had heard, we saw,” and he said to those who were standing near him, “Truly, my children, what we asked for, we have obtained, by the power of God, for it was such a man that we needed.”

Then the young man was distressed: he did not want to go into the midst of men.

And after he had prayed to the archbishop many times, he scarcely persuaded his heart to release him.

However, he promised to spend a month with him every year and to write heortasics for him, and then he left in peace, and he returned to the desert he loved.

In the meantime, the bishop of Sais passed away, and they took his spiritual father, and made him bishop of Sais.

Saint Isaac remained in the monastery with his brothers.

It happened once that they went out to visit him and see him, and when they had met each other, they rejoiced.

And there was a man named Isaac who was a tax collector of the land of Egypt, who was very much a God-loving man.

He was from a village called Djebronathonini, which had a holy bishop Abba Zacharias, in whom great confidence was placed.

And he went to him to beseech him, and said, “Since the king has sent for me to give him an account of the public money, I beg you to implore the Lord for me in this matter, that he may reveal to you what will happen to me, and that I may put my house in order.”

The holy bishop replied, “My son, I am not capable of such a thing, as you think.”

The man replied, “I trust in God, and whatever you ask of him, he will give you.”

And when evening came, it happened that the bishop said to Isaac his disciple, “Let us pray together this night, that the Lord may reveal to us what will happen to this man.”

And as they stood and prayed, behold, at that moment the whole place became resplendent with light, and the old man had not strength to endure the light, and he fell to the ground.

And the holy Isaac stood still, looking at the light of the Lord with courage, and the angel told them what was to happen to the man.

When the bishop arose, he said to the saint, “Your holy works are greater than mine, my son.”

Isaac humbly replied, “It is the Lord with (the help of) your prayers that has given me strength, O my father!”

For the holy bishop meant that because of his purity he had endured the vision.

For it is written, “Blessed are those who are pure in their hearts, for they shall see God.”

And verily it is fulfilled upon these saints the word of the Savior, saying, “If two of you gather together on earth to pray in my name, whatever they ask will be granted to them by my Father who is in heaven.”

Thus he went from his father's house, returned to the desert he loved, and stayed with the brothers in the monastery, where he was their consolation, and was looked at as a mirror

And he was to them like an angel of God encouraging them, inviting them to the struggle.

And this was his custom when he entered Holy Lent: he retired to a small dwelling outside the desert, where he received no one.

It happened that once Abba Abraham and Abba Georgios, the great ascetics, went to him.

When they came to him, they confided their thoughts to him, and they received great profit.

And when they looked into his dwelling, they found nothing but a little bread and salt: they admired his abstinence.

They asked him, “father, what do you eat in these days?”

He answered, “What the brothers eat.”

They said to him, “We see nothing but bread and salt.”

He answered them, “That's what the brothers eat.”

They beseeched him, saying, “Do you want us to bring you some olives?”

But he did not suffer it, and said, “What I need is to endure a little more suffering than the brethren.”

And when they had left him, they spoke of each of his ascetic deeds.

And he had a great good reputation with one and every place in the land of Egypt, according to the words of the holy Gospel: “A city shall not be hidden, if it be set on a mountain, and a lamp is not lighted to be placed under a bushel, but it is placed on a candlestick, so that it may give light to those who are in the house.”

And certainly they often tried to make him bishop, but with no success, as it is written, “Take heed, know that I am God.”

It happened that one day, during the holy Lent of our salvation, Saint Isaac went to his little dwelling according to his custom, and the brethren forgot and did not bring him bread.

And after he had passed the first, second, and third days, he remained five days without eating.

On the fifth day of his abstinence, he looked, and saw a large round loaf of bread in his presence, as if it had been brought from the oven at that very moment.

Immediately he got up, prayed, thanked God, and took some bread.

The next day he brought the rest to the monastery, and gave it to the brethren, who ate it.

The brothers questioned him, saying, “Where did you get this fresh bread?”

But he hid it from them and said, “It was brought to me from Egypt.”

When they asked one another, “Has any of you brought him bread this week?” they found no one who had brought him bread.

And they knew that the work was of God, as it is written, “Those who serve me have been filled, and you have hungered; those who serve me have drunk, and you have been thirsty”; and again: “If you listen to me, you will eat of all the good things of the earth.”

Does not this miracle surpass that of the prophet Elijah, when the angels brought him bread from heaven after he had killed the prophets of shame?

It happened that one day Orion, Bishop of Sais, came to him, who was still a reader and was not yet a bishop, and wanted to receive his blessing.

It was Easter week, and it was Isaac's custom not to sit at all during Easter, instead he stood upright, working with his hands.

When Orion came to him, Isaac took what he was weaving and worked on it.

The boy said to him, “Father, I wanted to become a monk; but my father's tears prevented me from doing so.”

And the saint lost consciousness into sleep, then immediately jumped up and said to him, “Orion, you cannot become a monk.”

When the young man heard this, he was frightened.

Isaac said to him, “Do not be afraid, but obey your father until he reposes, he who has just spoken to me has told me, but when your father is dead, you must go to a high rank”; he meant the episcopate of which Orion was worthy.

And when the young man heard these words from the saint, he left him, he returned in peace to his house, giving glory to God, as it is written, “The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.”

After this, his spiritual father, Abbot Zacharias, the holy bishop, was ill with the disease from which he was to die, and as God had informed him of it first, he came to his monastery.

The holy Isaac served him in his sickness.

And when he was about to repose, he called all his children as the patriarch Jacob had done, and after blessing them all, he said to Saint Isaac, “My son, when you are brought up, remember your brothers”;

He spoke thus to signify the dignity to which he was to be raised.

When he had finished giving his recommendations to his children, he committed his spirit into the hands of God, while all the great saints of Skete were seated near him.

After burying him with great glory, they laid him beside his fathers, for they still remember him and the miracles he performed during his life.

It is reported of him that he had a blind disciple: when he came to the old man, the latter laid his hands on him, and immediately he saw and gave glory to God, and he remained subject to his father until the day of his death.

He also had a relative in the world: it happened that this relative fell into this same disease, blindness.

When he heard this, he was very saddened.

After he had sent for him, and after the other had come to him at Mount Skete, the brother who had regained his sight came before the old man and beseeched him, saying, “as God has had mercy on me with you, have pity on my brother also.”

And when the holy old man saw them both weeping, he was greatly saddened, and, having given them the holy mysteries, he took the cloth on which he had placed the chalice, and wiped the man's face with it.

And at the same moment the man saw as if he had not been ill at all, and threw himself on the ground, adored him and went to his house, praising God who works his wonders.

There was a man living in the city of Sais named Georgios: he was a brave young man.

The devil caused him to fall into a sin of which no one knew, except God, who knows what is hidden and what is apparent; and immediately God punished him, as it is written (in the Psalms) by David: “The sinner was caught in the works of his hands.”

And when they got up in the morning, they found the child lying like a dead man.

His parents lifted him up and carried him to the dwelling of the holy bishop Abba Zacharias.

When they came into his presence, they threw themselves on the ground, adored him, weeping, and saying, “We pray your holiness to implore the Lord for our son, that he may be saved.”

He asked them, “What has happened to him?”

They said to him, “We do not know.”

But God had just told him before they arrived.

He rose at once, and prayed over the young man, who was immediately cured, as if he had never been ill.

The bishop said to him, “Beware of the sin you have committed; do not do it again, lest this evil happen to you.”

When his parents heard this, they were astonished; they did not know what their child had done, and they prayed to the old man, saying, “We will observe all that you have said to us.”

And they left him, giving glory to God, and he was honored by everyone.

He was given glory as the holy apostles of Christ.

It came a month days after his father's death that he was in great sorrow about his separation from this vain world.

Then the holy archbishop Abba John prayed to the Lord to show him who would be worthy after him to succeed him in shepherding the holy church.

It was revealed to him in a dream, saying: “Send for Scete, in the monastery of Abba Zacharias, the ascetic monk Isaac; it is he who will be your successor.”

As soon as he was up in the morning, he sent for him.

And after Isaac came, he did not let him go until the day when he passed away.

It came to pass in those days that the king sent for the patriarch to be in his presence.

And he did so a multitude of times, bringing the patriarch to him because of the affection he bore him.

The name of this king was Abd-el-Aziz, and he was called El-emir.

He had two tax collectors, God-loving men, Athanasius and Isaac with their children, and the whole praetorium was filled with Christians.

In the beginning when he came to Egypt, he tried to do harm to the Christians, he broke the crosses and did a host of evils to the archbishop.

But God, who once punished Pharaoh, terrified him in a dream, and said to him, “Beware of touching the archbishop.”

And he cherished him like an angel of God.

And it happened that when the archbishop was there, he became ill with the disease from which he was to die.

When the nobles heard of this, they all came to him to visit him and receive his blessing; they found him in great suffering.

And when the king was informed of his condition, he dismissed him.

When the archbishop arrived in Alexandria, he fell asleep, and his body was placed in the church of St. Mark, which he had built, and he told them to bring Isaac in his place, as he had been told to do by the Lord.

Now there was a deacon named Georgios who desired the priesthood against the will of the God who makes kings kings through him.

He persuaded the hearts of the bishops, who then assembled to give him the episcopate, and immediately he received a reprimand for his impiety.

When they had made him priest, they clothed him with the stole, thinking to make him archbishop in the middle of the week, wishing to act against the cannon.

Immediately the archdeacon at the altar cried out, as if he had been moved by God, and said: “God forbid that we should thus work against the canons; but let us wait until Sunday.”

Thus the Lord prevented him from being made pontiff for eternity, for it is written: “The man of flesh and blood the Lord hates.”

And on that day the great bishops arrived at Alexandria.

When they heard that the patriarch was dead, wishing to take the side of him whom Christ had chosen, that is, the holy Isaac, and finding that the others who had preceded them had agreed with Georgios, they became divided.

Immediately the king's servants arrived in Alexandria, who were to bring the bishops to him, so that he might know the one who had been elected.

And when they came to Babylon Fortress, Saint Isaac was serving Georgios, thinking nothing of the kind.

And as they scrutinized the life of Georgios, they found a host of causes against him, especially that he was a married man with very wicked children.

And so he was ridiculed and advised to make archbishop the one whom God had chosen, that is, Saint Isaac.

It came to pass on Sunday that all the bishops and a multitude of people from Babylon Fortress, Alexandria, and all the lands met in the church of the holy Sergios, and behold, the Saint Isaac also entered it clothed in a humble habit.

He was praying when suddenly the lamp broke on him and covered him entirely with oil.

Immediately the multitude cried out, “He is worthy, he is worthy, he is worthy, the thirteenth apostle, Isaac the archbishop.”

And immediately the bishops and the nobles took him and brought him into the sanctuary, saying, “this is the new David!”

And on that day, Isaac the truly God-loving tax collector made a celebration for the bishops and clerics.

But the bishops had him recline before them against his will, saying, “It is the Holy Spirit who invites you, it is the Holy Spirit who imposes on you, according to what is written: ‘The Lord our God has anointed you with the oil of exultation in preference to all your companions.'”

And the next day they told the king about it, and told him all that had happened, and he gave orders to bring them both before him.

And when they stood in his presence, he saw that Georgios was clothed in the priestly habit: Isaac wore the humble habit of the monks.

Ⲏⲉ to the bishops and he multitude: “Which of the two do you desire?”

They all cried out, “The monk, this is our father.”

He said to them, “He is an abject man!”

Then the bishops and the nobles cried out still more, “He is a prophet of God, since birth he has remained a pure virgin”

But Georgios said to the king, “Give me the throne and I will give you riches.”

And when the bishops and the crowds heard these words, they anathematized him, saying, “Let your money be with you in perdition, for you want to acquire the gift of God with riches.”

And so the bishops made him forever a stranger to the priesthood; what is written is fulfilled for him: “He dug a pit and made it deep, let him fall into the pit he made”;

And again: “He who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Thus, by the suffrage of God and the consent of the people, the holy Isaac was brought away with honor and glory, and he was ordained archbishop by the laying on of hands.

O how great was the joy and gladness that there was in all the land of Egypt:

the crowds formed dancing choirs to celebrate it: to the east and west of the river the villages were transformed from Babylon Fortress to Alexandria.

The crowds of bishops who had gathered to enthrone him in the churches marched with him:

among them were John, the bishop of Pschati, who was patrician over the episcopate of the high country, a man consummate in the wisdom of God and men, and Gregory, the bishop of Cais, who was also patrician over the bishops of the lower country, with all the bishops.

And when they had reached the city of Alexandria, it came to pass that the whole crowd went out: the clerics carried the gospels, crosses and lit candles.

And they sang in his honor until they had brought him into the city.

And so their hands were laid upon him as archbishop on the eighth day of Koiak, a Sunday.

And he was seated on the apostolic throne of the holy evangelist Mark, a light that enlightens us

And the service of the archpriesthood was performed according to the apostolic canons.

And when he had received the power of God to bind and loose, he shone in all the world;

To those who were in the archiepiscopal palace he gave orders that the brethren should rest in their dwellings, meditating on the Holy Scriptures, and making a synaxis with one another; he often spoke to them, provoking them to imitate the life of the men of Skete.

When the rest of the bishops and the monks of the monasteries heard that Saint Isaac was a bishop, they came to him and adored him, for they knew his great wisdom and asceticism.

He was a model for them in good works.

God granted this saint, my beloved, graces of healing a multitude of times.

Every time he entered the altar to make the oblation, as soon as he began the holy offering, his eyes shed tears until he had finished the service.

And when he arrived at the hour, the Holy Spirit descended on the altar, he saw the Holy Spirit coming upon the sacrificial offering, changing the bread and wine into the divine body of Christ.

When this saint saw this great revelation, he was seized with fear and joy.

And at that moment, his face would shine brightly, so much so that everyone was in awe and said, “God has made us worthy of such a saint.”

And his mind was enlightened for the guard of the holy dogmas, after the manner of the great Athanasius and the wise Cyril, whose successor he had become.

And when Saint Isaac went out into Egypt, he converted many of them from their heresy, he brought them the orthodox faith of our Lord Jesus the Christ.

To some he gave baptism, he received others by having them anathematize their own heresies, by the grace that God had granted him and by his words that saved souls.

When God had led him to a village called Psanascho, he baptized a multitude there, whether men or women, whether tall or short.

And it happened that at mealtime, while he was reclining together with the bishops with him, a very sick man was brought to him; his interior was so inflamed that, if he had drunk a lake of water, he would have been as if he had drunk nothing at all, because of the great inflammation of his interior.

When he was brought to him, he raised his eyes to heaven, sighed, and said, “Thou art just, O Lord, and thy judgments are right.”

And when the holy patriarch had taken a cup of wine, he made the sign of the cross in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and he gave it to the man who drank it.

Immediately the fire that was in the man's interior was extinguished, and he was immediately rested, and went to his house to give glory to God and to the saint.