bohairic.life.isaac03 Chapter 1

But Athanasius, the tax collector we spoke of previously, caused trouble for this saint, for indeed he had power; and the old man (Isaac) set his care in God.

Immediately he received from God a rebuke for his unbelief.

God sent a sickness to his eldest son, so that he was near death.

His father brought a crowd of physicians, the cure did not come.

But the child grew worse and worse and came near death. Athanasius became discouraged, seeking rest for his son and not finding it.

And in the midst of all this, he was unfocused, and all the rulers of the city were sitting by him.

And it came to pass that night that the Lord sent a vision to the archbishop, saying to him: “Send tomorrow to Athanasius the collector and say to him: If you believe in Christ who made me sit on his holy Church, the Lord will certainly grant your son the grace of healing.”

And when the saint had reflected on the vision, he called his disciple and said: “Is there a bishop here?”

The disciple said: “Yes, there is here Abba Georgios, Abba Gregorios and Abba Piamot, the bishop of Damietta.”

The patriarch having called the bishop, he announced to them what he had seen in the vision.

Abba Gregorios answered him saying: “You know that this man is angry with your holiness; perhaps this manifestation is a deceptive vision, that the words are not true and will do us harm.”

The archbishop answered and said to him as one who knew what was between God and him: “What I have said to you, I have spoken truthfully in the presence of each one; it is the holy evangelist Mark who commands you.”

When they had gone they came to the house of Athanasius, and found him weeping for his son, and they reported to him the words of the archbishop.

Athanasius answered: “Truly, if healing comes to my son through the archbishop, I will believe in him as I did in Athanasius, Cyril, Ignatius, and Severus.”

And Athanasius and his wife fell at the feet of the bishops, saying: “We beg you, exhort the archbishop to implore God to save him; for we certainly cannot look upon the (saint) because of the evils we have done him.”

When the bishops had gone, they reported to the holy patriarch what Athanasius had said.

Then the archbishop went to the child; he stood over him, prayed over him, and signed him with his holy hand. At once the child jumped out of his bed, as if he had not been sick at all;

The archbishop ordered something to be brought to him, for since the day he had become sick he had not tasted anything.

And when Athanasius and his wife saw the healing that had taken place in their child, they prostrated their faces at the feet of the patriarch, asking his forgiveness.

The archbishop said to Athanasius: “My son, from this day take good care and do not grieve the Church any more; for he who fights against the Church fights against Christ.”

And from that day the archbishop was honored by Athanasius who gave him glory as to an angel of God. And the archbishop, when the frequentation was established between them, spoke with Athanasius about the Evangelium of Alexandria so that he would make it beautiful*, because due to the length of time this Evangelium was leaning ready to fall, and with the grace of God Athanasius raised it up and adorned it with beauty.

And during the days of his (patriarchate) a council was assembled in Alexandria, which his predecessors the archbishops had not been able to do because of the enemies of our faith.

And God made him find favor with the king of the Saracens who honored him greatly, giving him glory a multitude of times until his death, so much so that they sat together, that they had interviews, because the king saw the multitude of cures (operated) by him.

It happened that once, as our father was making the synaxis, the king happened to pass by with all the crowd that followed him; he came outside the door of the church and he looked inside. He then saw the archbishop standing at the altar surrounded by fire; a luminous virtue gave him courage.

When the king saw this great vision, he was amazed and said to one of those who accompanied him: “Go, call the archbishop”; for he wanted to know why this virtue surrounded him and who it was that spoke to him in the place and stood above him.

And when he wanted to send the man into the church, he saw virtue coming to him, fear seized him, he fled in haste with those who accompanied him. No one except the king alone saw the vision.

When he had returned to his house, he lay down for fear: he looked like a dead man, he could not speak all day.

The collectors came to him, they entered near him to visit him, they found him lying in fear.

As they questioned him about the cause of his illness, he revealed to them what his eyes had seen, and when they had heard it they were amazed and gave glory to God.

Having sent one of them, the king sent for the archbishop, and when he arrived, he questioned him, saying: “At the time when you stood at the altar, with whom were you then speaking? And who was he who stood (all) luminous (and as if) on fire?”

The holy archbishop answered and said to the king: “I was speaking with my God.”

For the archbishop was not ignorant of what power stood near him whenever he went up to the altar, as on this occasion.

The king said to him: “Whenever you go up to the altar, do you see your God?”

61

now that you are his father and that you are more exalted than he near God.”

now that you are his father and that you are more exalted than he near God.”

And from that day on he was a prophet in the eyes of the king who called him patriarch at every moment and took him with him wherever he went.

And the saint was sad because the king would not let him remain in his bishopric, for at all times he had loved the quiet life.

It happened one day that the king was in the city of Helwan which he had recently built in the days of his kingship: he sent for the archbishop, took him by the hand, brought him into his house, and did not let in any of those who were waiting for him. He led him into one of his rooms and left him alone.

The king went to his place. And the king's wife saw great multitudes of angels who were with the archbishop in the room, she also saw a great light like burning lamps: the angels were dressed in white garments given to them. In their midst was the holy patriarch Isaac who sang the praises of God all night, according to the custom of Christians.

And when the hour of light had arrived, the woman informed the king of what she had seen and said to him: “A little more and I was near death because of the fear of what I saw and heard.”

Then the king said: “I brought him, him alone, into the room, that he might pray for us and our children.”

But she swore to him, saying: “I saw a great multitude surrounding this old man, speaking to their God in their prayers.”

And the next day the king dismissed him, gave him glory. And the king built churches and monasteries of monks around his city, because he loved the Christians.

It happened at that time that there came (to Babylon) a famous man from the country of the Saracens; he was a Christian by religion.

He had two sons: one was possessed by the devil, the other had fled to Egypt wanting to deny the faith of Christ, because he had not been able to do so in his country for fear of his father who was a perfect Christian.

His father having sought him and not having found him, he arose, he came to Egypt to take him; he found him a denier of his faith, having chosen the part of Judas rather than that of Christ.

And the father of the young man had brought into Egypt his youngest son in whom was a demonic spirit, so that the bishops of Egypt might pray over him and heal him, because he had heard that they were saints of God.

And when this Christian man arrived in Egypt, 'Abd-el-'Aziz received him with great joy because he was one of his relatives, and when he had questioned him about (the cause of) his arrival to him, (the other) told him everything for which he had come, and (the king) received him with great joy and great honor.

Then the man having seen that his son did not listen to him in order to convert, he wept in affliction and said: “Let your blood be upon you my son; from this moment you are a stranger to me in this world and in the next.”

And as he was looking for a holy bishop so that he could pray over the child, he happened upon a pseudo-bishop of the heresy of the acephalous.

When he was told that this (man) was a bishop, not knowing that he was a heretic, he brought his son to the bishop, that he might pray over him, and that the child might be healed. And when that wicked bishop had done so, he was unable to heal him; but the evil spirit troubled the child without giving him rest, and the man was very sad at heart.

When the king saw that he was sad, he asked him: “What has happened to you?”

Then the man told him the cause (of his sadness).

The king asked: “Who is this bishop?” They answered: “It is the one from Niuberschenouf.”

The man was saddened when he was informed that he was a heretical bishop.

Then the king ordered that the holy patriarch Isaac be brought to him immediately. When he arrived, the king informed him of the sick child and of the great affliction in which the father was in this matter.

The patriarch took a little oil, prayed over her, and anointed the child, saying, “In the name of my God Jesus Christ, grant your servant the grace of healing.”

Immediately the demon came out of the child in the form of a flame of fire: whoever saw it was amazed and gave glory to God.

The man immediately got up, fell to the ground at our feet before the archbishop, worshiped him, and presented him with perfumes that had been chosen from his country.

The patriarch spoke to him many times, to strengthen him in the faith of Jesus Christ and the salvation of his soul.

And the man, a lover of God, asked the archbishop to write him the Gospel according to John, and he prayed over the bread of eulogy, asking the archbishop's blessing, so that it would protect him all his life. And he left him giving glory to God, according to what our good Savior said: “He who loves me, my Father will love him and I also will dwell in him.”

After this some of the Saracens who hated the faith came in to the king and accused the archbishop, saying: “Behold, you honor Isaac and receive him into your presence, and he hates us and our religion.”

The king said: “I love him because I know by his works that he is a man of God and that he is subject to us.

What you say is a lie.” They said to them: “If you want to convince yourself that he hates us and our religion, and that what we say is true, then you will make him eat with you on the (same) platter of the food that is on the platter, and that without his making (the sign of) the cross: if he does not make this sign, know that all that we have said is a lie.”

The king answered them and said: “I will follow your advice in this. “And immediately he called the collectors and said to them: “I desire that the patriarch consent to eat with me, if he loves me, without making the sign of the cross.”

The two collectors answered and said to the king: “We are Christians, we cannot eat without first making the sign of the cross: if you let the archbishop first make the sign of the cross on the food, he will consent to eat with you: if you do not allow him, we do not think that he will eat with you.”

The king answered angrily: “I will make him eat with me and will not let him make the sign of the cross: if he does, I will kill him.”

And they could not answer him because of the anger that possessed him, they were silent.

Now it happened one day that the patriarch came to visit the king according to his custom: he sat down with the king and the whole crowd, the leaders of the Saracens, many magistrates of Egypt. The archbishop was still seated when a basket of magnificent dates was brought into the king's presence.

The king ordered the archbishop to eat first. But the saint, experienced in divine and human matters and on whom the Holy Spirit had rested as on the prophet Daniel, stretched out his right hand, took with finesse the basket containing the dates and said to the king: “From which side do you want me to eat, from this side or from that side? From here or there.”

The king did not know what the archbishop had done; but the collectors and the (Christian) leaders understood what he had done, they admired his great prudence and the astonishing graces that God had given him.

The king answered: “Eat where you wish.” And when the archbishop had finished eating the dates, the king dismissed him.

And the king said to the collectors and leaders, as if congratulating himself: “I made him eat without the sign of the cross.” They said to him with joy: “He did not eat until he had traced the cross.”

The king said to them: “How did he trace the cross?” They said to him: “At the moment when he put his fingers on the four sides of the basket, saying: 'Do you want me to eat from this side or from that side? Here or there?' It was then that he traced the cross on the dates.”

Then the king was filled with admiration and said: “Truly I have not found a wise man as this one.” But God, who had given glory and grace to the prophet Daniel in the presence of the Chaldean and Persian kings, also gave glory to this saint in the presence of the kings of the Saracens. And the king honored him, called him patriarch at every moment because of the grace of God which was in him.

Listen, let me tell you also this wonderful thing.

It happened at that time that the king of Makouria sent some of his servants to the archbishop with letters, announcing to him how the bishops of his country had become few in number because of the length of the journey and the time it took on the way, because one could not pass because of the king of Maurotania, until peace had been made with him. For there were two kings established over that country and both were Christians; but they were not at peace with each other, because one of them had made peace with the king of the Saracens, that was the king of Maurotania; but the other, the king of Makuria, had not made peace with the king of the Saracens.

When the archbishop had read the king's letters and had learned what they contained, he was greatly saddened at heart, because of the churches; and immediately he wrote letters to the king of Maurotania, giving him advice and instructions with words from holy Scripture, and saying to him: “You are both Christians.”

When he had written a multitude of words to strengthen his soul in the orthodox faith in the Son of God, he then wrote to him not to prevent the men of the king of the high country from passing through his territory, when they came about their bishops, so as not to leave the churches deserted, “so that you do not receive a great reprobation from God.”

When the enemies of our faith learned this, they slandered the archbishop near the king, saying: “We warn you, O king, that the king of Makouria has sent servants with letters to Abba Isaac the archbishop, so that he may establish a bishop over them and send him to their country.

Not only that, but he has also sent (someone) to the king of Maurotania, advising him to make peace with the king of Makouria our enemy.

If it happens thus, O king, they will become one heart, they will rise up against us to make war on us. “When the king heard these words, he became very angry, and immediately he sent servants to Alexandria with letters from him for the Augustal, having written to him thus: “As soon as my messengers have arrived near you with these letters, seize the patriarch, send him to me quickly.”

The king had resolved in his heart to take off the archbishop's head with his sword, as soon as he should have come near him.

And when the king's letters had arrived, they found the holy archbishop assembled (with the people) in the church; for it was the week of the salutary Passover of Christ.

O how great was the mourning and desolation that there was on that day, not only among those of our faith, but for everyone who knew the great favor he enjoyed with God: all were in mourning for their pastor, not knowing what he was accused of with the king.

And when he had been seized in haste, he was led away to Babylon Fortress as if to kill him.

And as the holy archbishop rode on his donkey, passing through the streets of Babylon, it came to pass that all the multitude followed him according to their custom, in order to know what would come to their shepherd.

He was still walking, praying, towards the king, when he saw two tall men walking wearing white garments - no tongue of flesh could speak of their glory and honor!

And he saw them walking with him, one on his right, the other on his left, and they said to him: “Fear not, O faithful patriarch, for here we go with you; no harm will come to you.”

He asked them, saying: “And you, who are you in the midst of this great glory?” The one on his right hand, who had the appearance of an old man, answered and said: “I am Cephas, who is called Peter; this other is Mark, my legitimate son.

Since the day you were seated on the priestly throne, we have been with you in every way that you go. Take courage, do not fear, for in this year you will fulfill your life and you will be laid down in peace with your fathers. Since you have perfected the work of monasticism and the work of the pastor, the Lord desires that you endure that of the confessor, O holy shepherd.” And some of the monk fathers saw him as if he had spoken to others; but they were not certain of the thing.

When he approached the praetorium, the king was informed about him: “The archbishop has arrived,” they said.

The king ordered him to be brought in alone before him, thinking to do him some harm.

But it happened that when he saw the saint of God in the midst of the great glory that surrounded him, he was filled with astonishment and with his (own) eyes he saw the two luminous apostles entering with him. He was in great amazement, fear seized him, and, when his heart had strengthened, he said gently to the archbishop: “Is what I have been told about you true?”

So he justified himself before the king with great frankness, and when he had convinced the king's heart, he sat down near him, as it is written: “I will give you a spirit of wisdom against which no one can contend”; and also: “If you are brought before kings and rulers for my sake, do not worry about what you will say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you should say.”

Then the king questioned the archbishop and said to him: “Swear to me by God and by the glory that surrounds you that you will not hide from me what I ask you.” And the saint answered: “I will not hide from you anything that I know.”

The king answered him: “At the hour that you came to me, who were those two men who were walking with you? (For) I saw two men accompanying you, and a great light surrounded you and them? I have never seen anything like them, and if they had not made themselves invisible, I would have died of fright.”

Then the holy archbishop said to the king: “These two men that you have seen are disciples of Christ, the King of kings, by whom kings are kings; for those whom you have seen accompany me at all times.

Therefore, O king, beware of (touching) the Church, do not grieve it; for he who grieves the Church grieves God. “And when the king heard these words of the archbishop, he was filled with great fear.

After the king gave orders to the holy archbishop to build a church in Helouan, the city which he had founded.

And when he had finished the church in all its beauty, the archbishop became ill and suffered greatly. The king was informed of this, who was saddened and dismissed him. He was brought up, he was taken to Alexandria, he worshiped in the church of Saint Mark. And he was ill and suffering.

When his spiritual brothers who were in the desert of Scete heard of it, they came to him, they cared for him until the Lord visited him. And when the holy and glorious archbishop was about to rest, it happened that crowds of blessed saints, bishops, clerics, monks, were sitting near him.

And so he gave up his soul into the hands of God, the faithful and confessor archbishop, on the ninth day of Athor. And Abba John, Bishop of Terenuti, his spiritual brother, was worthy to place his hands on the eyes (of the saint), as Joseph had placed his hands on the eyes of his father Jacob.

He was buried in all glory and honor; the bishops and all the clerics spent the whole night singing psalms around him.

When morning appeared, a great crowd gathered, they celebrated for him the holy service; all the people received the body and blood of God.

Then his body was laid near (that of) his colleague, the patriarch John, in the church of St. Mark.

And his body is near us on earth, and his spirit near God in heaven watching over us. And we believe that all the saints went to meet him, patriarchs and prophets, apostles and all saints.

May it be granted to all of us to obtain mercy through his holy prayers in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory with his good Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever! Amen.