life.onnophrius.03 Chapter 1

And when we had finished the prayer we gave (i.e. said) the 'Amen',

and we sat down together

and talked on about the majesty of God.

And at the time when the sun was about to set I looked

and I saw a loaf of bread and a vessel of water.

And he said unto me, ``Rise up, my brother, and eat, and drink this small quantity of water, for I see that thou art exhausted by hunger and thirst, and by the toil of the road.''

And I said unto him, ``As God Almighty liveth, I will neither eat nor drink unless we stretch ourselves out and eat the bread together.''

And when I continued to press him with difficulty [he agreed], and we stretched ourselves out together,

and we divided the bread,

and ate,

and put back some of it;

and the two of us drank from the vessel of water,

and we were satisfied, and we left some of it in the vessel.

And we passed the whole night in prayer, and we prayed to God until the morning.

And when it was morning I saw that his face was changed,

and was altogether transformed, and that it was like unto that of another man,

and that it seemed to be [made] wholly of fire.

And his form terrified me exceedingly.

And he said unto me, 'Fear thou not, O my brother in God, for the Lord hath sent thee to care for my body, and to bury it.

In a day or two I shall fulfil my stewardship, and shall go to the place of everlasting rest.'

Now that day was the sixteenth day of the month Paone [June 10].

And he also said unto me, 'When thou departest into Egypt proclaim the remembrance of me as a sweet-smelling thing to the brethren.

Whosoever shall make an offering in my name, and keep me in remembrance, Jesus Himself shall bring him in the first hour of a thousand years.'

And I said unto him, 'If he be a poor man he will not be able to give an offering in thy name.'

And he said unto me, 'Let him feed a poor brother in my name.'

And I said unto him, 'If he be a poor man he will not be able to feed him; wilt thou not take him in to the feast at the first hour of a thousand years?'

And he said unto me, 'Let him give a little scent in my name.'

And I said unto him, 'If he be a poor man he will not be able to give scent in thy name because of [his] poverty.

O my good father, let thy grace be with us all, for whatsoever thou shalt ask of God that will God give unto thee.'

And he said unto me, 'Let him stand up and say three times prayers to God in my name, and the Lord Jesus shall bring him to the thousand years, and he shall receive an inheritance with all the saints.'

And I said unto him, 'O my holy father, if I am worthy of it, I should like to be present in thy holy abode when thou shalt cease [to be] in this body.'

And he said unto me, 'Certainly thou shalt, my son.

For thou hast not been appointed to the stewardship, but the Lord hath appointed thee to console the holy brethren who live in the desert, and to proclaim their sweet odour among the brethren who worship God for the benefit of those who hearken unto thee.

Get thee forth to Egypt, O my son, and do thou continue to carry on the good work.'

And straightway I fell down upon the ground,

and I said unto him, 'Bless me, O my father, that I may be made to stand before God, and that as I have been held worthy to see thee upon the earth, I may also be held worthy to see thee in the Other World before the Lord Jesus the Christ.'

And he said unto me, 'O my son, may God not cause thee to grieve about any matter whatsoever, and may He strengthen thee in His love, so that thine eyes may receive the light of His Godhead, and so that thou mayest neither lean to one side nor fall, but mayest end successfully the work whereunto thou has set thy hand.

May the angels shelter thee, and deliver thee from the plottings of the Jews, and may no accusation fall upon thee when thou hast to meet God.'

And when he had made an end of saying these things he rose up,

and prayed to God with sighings and many tears;

and afterwards he laid himself upon the ground,

and he completed his stewardship in God, and yielded up his spirit into the hand of God on the sixteenth day of the month Paone.

And I heard the voices of the angels singing hymns before the blessed Apa Onnofrios, and there was great joy at his meeting God.

And I took off the garment wherewith I was clothed,

and tore it into two pieces; in the one I wrapped up [the holy man] for burial, and the other I used as raiment, so that I might not be naked.

And I placed his body down in a cleft in the rock,

and I heard the sounds of a multitude of angels rejoicing, and crying out, 'Alleluia;'

and I said my prayer over him, and I rolled several stones upon him.

And I stood up

and prayed the second time, and straightway the palm-tree fell down,

and I marvelled exceedingly at what had taken place;

and I ate what was left of the bread, and I drank of the water which was left to us.

And when I perceived that it was not according to the will of God for me to remain in this place, I spread out my hands,

and I prayed unto the Lord; and behold, the man who had come to me at the first, and who had given me strength, came to me again as he had done before.

And he said unto me, 'My God, our Lord, informed us this day that thou wast coming to us in this place.

Behold, for six years we have seen no man except thyself.'

And when we had talked together for a long time . . . . . .

. . . said unto him, ``O our brother, stablish thy heart with a little bread, for thou hast travelled from a place afar off.

The Lord hath ordained that we are to remain with each other for some days,

and we will rejoice with thee, O our beloved brother.''

And whilst we were talking to each other, behold, five loaves of bread were brought in, and they were warm and soft as if they had been [just] baked in the oven,

And whilst we were talking to each other, behold, five loaves of bread were brought in, and they were warm and soft as if they had been [just] baked in the oven,

and we sat down and ate together.

And he said unto me, ``Behold, this is the sixth year since we came to this place,

and four loaves of bread have been allotted to us daily, and these came to us through God;

but as soon as thou didst come unto us this day, behold, a fifth loaf hath been brought for thee.

And we have never known whence they came, but when we came in we found them placed here.''

And when we had finished eating together we passed the whole night in praying, and we prayed till morning.

And when the morning had come I entreated them to let me remain with them until the day of my death.

And they said unto me, 'O our brother labourer, it is not ordained for thee to tarry in this place.

But rise up, and go into Egypt, and tell those whom thou shalt see there that the brethren [here] remember them; and it shall be a benefit unto those who hearken.'

And I entreated them to tell me their names, but they would no be persuaded to utter them,

and although I pressed them to do so they would not tell me their names.

And they answered and said, 'He Who hath given names unto everything, and Who knoweth everything, He it is Who knoweth our names.

Now therefore, O our brother, keep us in thy memory until we see thee in the House of God.

And be thou most careful and let not the world lead thee astray as it hath lead astray many.'

And when they had finished [saying] these things they blessed me, and they saluted me,

and I came forth from their mountain.

And when I had journeyed away from them for some days I came to a well of water,

and I sat down there for a little because of [my] fatigue; and large trees were growing by the well.

And when I had refreshed myself and had rested a little, I walked among the trees, and I marvelled,

and I said unto myself, ``Who was it that planted them in this place?''

And among them there were date-palms, loaded with fruit, and citron trees, and pomegranate trees, and fig trees, and apple trees, and vines, and dorakion trees, and kisma trees, and trees which emitted sweet odours.

And the well supplied water, and it watered all the trees which were growing in that place.

And whilst I was marvelling at the trees, and was looking at them, and at the fruit that was on them, behold four young men appeared in the distance, and their forms were goodly, and they were dressed in fine skin garments which, as it were, covered all their bodies.

And when they had come up to me they said unto me, ``Hail, thou man of God, O our beloved brother!''