life.onnophrius.04 Chapter 1

And I cast myself upon the ground

and made obeisance unto them,

but they raised me up

and kissed me.

And they remained in a state of great dignity (?), and they were like unto beings who had transferred themselves from another world in respect for the joy and comfort which they displayed towards me;

and they gathered fruit from the trees and placed it in my mouth.

And as for me my heart rejoiced because of the affection which they shewed towards me,

and I passed seven days with them eating of the fruit of the trees.

And I asked them, saying, 'Whence have ye come to this place? And of what region are ye natives?'

And they said unto me, ``O our brother, God hath sent thee unto us so that we may declare unto thee our whole manner of life.

For we are natives of a city of Egypt called Pemdje (Oxyrhynchus).

Our fathers were councillors (or, magistrates) of the city, and they sent us to the school there to have us educated;

and we were all in the same school together, and we were all of the same mind.

when we had finished our education in the school they sent us on to the college,

and when we had been thoroughly well taught there and had learned therein all the learning (?) and all the wisdom of this world, we wished to be instructed in the wisdom of God.

And it came to pass on a certain day that whilst we were talking together about these things a good resolution stirred in our inner man,

and we four rose up,

and we set ourselves on the way to the desert, so that we might live therein quietly until we should see what the Lord had ordained for us.

And we took with us a few loaves of bread, sufficient for seven days.

And when we had come into the mountain, straightway an ecstasy fell upon us,

and a man, who was all light, laid hold of our hands

and brought us into this place.

And when we had come into this place we found a holy man of God, and the angel of the Lord put us in his hand,

and he taught us to be servants of God for a year of days.

And at the end of the year the holy and blessed old man died,

and we remained by ourselves in this place.

``Behold, O our lord brother, we declare unto thee by God that for sixty years we have not known the taste of bread, or of any other kind of food except the fruit of these trees whereon we live.

If we wish to see each other we come here every week to do so. We pass the whole night of the First Day of the week together, and after that each one departeth to perform his spiritual labours [for the rest of the week].''

And I said unto them, 'Where do ye receive the Eucharist?''

And they said unto me, 'We assemble here for that purpose, for an angel of God cometh hither every Sabbath, and he administereth unto us the Eucharist on the Sabbath and on the First Day of the week.'

And I stayed with them, and I rejoiced exceedingly.

[And they said unto me], 'On the seventh day the angel of the Lord will come, and he will administer the Eucharist to thee and to us together.

And the man who shall receive the Eucharist at the hand of that angel shall be cleansed from all sin, and the Adversary shall never have dominion over him.'

And whilst we were talking together I smelled a strong sweet smell, the like whereof I never smelled before.

And immediately the sweet smell reached us we rose up, and we stood on our feet, and we blessed God.

And afterwards the angel came,

and he administered unto us the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of the Lord.

And I became like unto those who sleep, because of the awesome sight which I saw.

And he blessed us,

and he went up into heaven, and we watched him with our eyes.

And when he had gone up they comforted me,

and said unto me, ``Be of good cheer, for thou shalt prevail, and thou shalt become a man of might;''

and straightway I became of good cheer, even as those who are under [the influence of] wine.

And we stood on our feet during the [eve of] the First Day of the week, and we prayed the whole night long until the morning.

And when the light appeared at dawn on the First Day of the week, behold, we smelled that exceedingly sweet smell again,

and we enjoyed it, and we rejoiced after the manner of those who are in another world.

And afterwards the angel came,

and he administered unto us the Eucharist, and he blessed each one of us, saying, ``Everlasting life shall be unto thee, and [the power of] prophecy which shall never be destroyed.''

And we all, with one mouth and with one accord, answered and said, ``Amen; so be it!''

And afterwards the angel turned to me,

and said unto me, ``Arise, and depart thou to Egypt, and tell the God-loving brethren the things which thou hast seen, so that they may emulate the life and conversation of the saints.''

And I entreated him to let me remain with them,

but he said unto me, 'The Lord doth not allot unto us the work which is imagined by the heart, but God giveth unto each man according to what he is able to bear.

Now, therefore, arise and depart, for that is what the Lord hath ordained for thee.'

And he blessed me,

and went up into the heavens in great glory.

And they brought a large number of plums,

and we ate them together,

and I came forth from them, and they accompanied me on my way for a distance of six miles.

And I entreated them, saying, ``Declare unto me your names,''

and they declared me their names, each one of them.

The name of the first was John,

of the second Andrew,

of the third Heraklamon,

and of the fourth Theophilus;

and they commanded me to declare their names unto the brethren, [so that] they might remember them [in their prayers].

And I on my part entreated them to keep my name in remembrance.

And we prayed and we kissed each other.

And I journeyed forth, and I grieved exceedingly;

nevertheless, because of the blessing which the holy men had bestowed upon me, I rejoiced.

And I came into Egypt after a journey of three days,

and having found certain God-loving brethren I rested with them for ten days,

and I described unto them what had happened unto me;

and they said unto me, ``Verily thou art worthy of a great reward.''

Now those brethren were lovers of God, and they contended strenuously in the ascetic life, and they were worshippers of God with their whole hearts; and their place of abode was Shiet (Scete).

And they made haste and they wrote down these things which they had heard from Apa Papnoute,

and they quickly put them in a book,

which they sent to Shiet,

where it was deposited in the church for the benefit of those who should hear it [read].

And they spoke about it, and it was the subject of meditation in the mouth of everyone.

And they glorified God, and blessed His saints, through the grace and love to man of our Lord Jesus the Christ, to Whom be glory, and His Good Father, and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever!

Amen.

I, Victor, the least of all men, the deacon, the son of the blessed Mercurius, the deacon of [the church of] Saint Mercurius, the general-in-chief, of the city of Latopolis, wrote this book.

Remember me, O Lord, when Thou comest into Thy kingdom!

Written [in the month of] Tybi, the third day (December 30), in the Third Indiction, in the seven hundred and twenty-first year of the Era of the Martyrs (i.e. A.D. 1005), year [of Saracens] 365 (i.e. A.D. 987).

. . . by the zeal and care of our fathers and beloved brethren, Abba Abraham, the governor, and Abba Khael, the archdeacon, and the warden Zacharias, deacon and monk of the Monastery of Saint Mercurius, the general-in-chief, which is in the Mountain of Tbo (Edfu, or Utfu).

They made the book with [the proceeds of] their own labour,

and they deposited it in their monastery in order that [the brethren] may read therein, and that those who read therein, and those who hear it read with attention, may profit to the full thereby, and our Good Saviour and Saint Apa Onnophrios, the anchorite, may bless them, and all those who are assembled in their monastery, with the blessing of heaven, and the blessing of earth, in the most complete fulfilment.

May He give blessing, and fullness, and abundance, and lasting salvation in this Monastery.

May He deliver them from the wiles of the Devil and of evil-doing men,

and when they come forth from the body, according to what is ordained for every man, may they hear [the words], 'Well [done], servants good and faithful; since ye have been faithful in a few things, I will set you over many. Enter into the joy of thy Lord.'

May they be worthy of an inheritance with all the saints. Amen. So be it!