life.pisentius.03 Chapter 1

a number of wolves attacked me;

now they ejected a lot of dung on my back, and threw up very much dust about me,

and I was obliged to abandon the beast whereon I was riding.

And again I cried out uttering prayers to God and to my holy father, Apa Pisentius, who had delivered me from the mouths of the hyenas, saying, ' Deliver thou me at this time also from these wolves.'

And before the words had escaped from my mouth one of the wolves let out a mighty cry,

and they all turned away and fled in another direction, through the prayers of my holy father, Apa Pisentius.

(Now) they all turned away through the prayers of my father Apa Pisentius.

Now as for me, I entered into the plain of the mountain of Tsente, and I ascribed glory to God because of what had happened to me, namely that He had delivered me from the mouths of (these) evil beasts.

And when I had entered into the heart [of the mountain], I found her (i.

1. the beast he had abandoned) ; and the holy man was engaged in

studying [the book of a] certain prophet.

Then I took the beast into the shed for the animals,

and my father was looking down on me [as I did so] from the wall of the tower.

And he said unto me, O John; and I made answer to him, saying, 'Bless me, my father!'

And he said unto me, 'Have I not told thee that thou art not to travel by the inner road late in the day, and that thou art only to do so in the early morning?

A very little more and the wild beasts would have eaten thee up ; they would have done so now had it not been for the mercy of God.

Thus ye may see, O my beloved, that he always knew what was happening, and no matter where the place was wherein any event happened, he was always certain to know about that event.

But he kept it secret, according to the habit of his life, for he did not desire to give any man cause to give to him the approbation which appertaineth to men, even as the wise man Paul spake, saying, 'I seek not the pnc glory of men, nor of yourselves, nor of others.'

Now, if I wished to tell you concerning all the works which we have seen done by the blessed old man Apa Pisentius, this discourse would become inordinately long,

but inasmuch as the Scriptures inform us, saying, ' The works of God are good, make thou them manifest unto every one, I will relate unto you a few more deeds, out of a very large number, concerning the splendid acts of this perfect man, and afterwards we will bring our discourse to a close.

Now it came to pass on a day that a certain man came unto him from the district of Kebt (Coptos), and there was travelling with him his son, who had reached a time of life when he might, very properly, have been permitted to undergo the yoke of matrimony.

And the two men went together into the presence of [the holy man Apa Pisentius], and they bowed low [before him], and cast themselves down at his feet.

And the holy man said unto the man, ' Why hast thou not taken a wife for thy son?

now that man was an inhabitant of the town of Coptos.

And the man answered and said, 'My father, he is a mere boy, and hath not yet arrived at the proper age for marriage; and he is prudent.

And the holy man answered and said, 'Verily thy son is a habitual fornicator, and if thou permittest him, he will tell [thee] the truth.

The man said, 'If he be a fornicator, behold, I will put him into thy hands, so that thou mayest do unto him whatsoever it pleaseth thee.'

And the holy prophet answered and said, 'When thou goest to enter into thy village thou shalt meet a certain woman in the first street of thy village

she is the daughter of such and such a man, and that which is inside her shall bear witness to thee that it is thy son who hath been sleeping with her.

But do not think that I say this wholly and solely of myself, most assuredly not, for I have been informed concerning this matter by certain men who are worthy to be believed.

Nevertheless, if thou wilt hearken unto me thou wilt take her for him to wife, inasmuch as he hath humiliated her;

and, in truth, I shall be unable to permit him to partake of the Mysteries until he hath taken her to wife.

For the Law commandeth : 'If a man lie with a maiden unto whom he hath not been betrothed, and he take her by force, and he be [found] with her, he shall give fifty 'crowns' to her [father], now fifty shekels is the proper price of a virgin,

and he shall live with her, because he hath humbled her, whether she be a poor maiden or whether she be a rich maiden'

Now therefore, since the Devil made thy son to fall in with the woman, do thou depart, and take her for him to wife.

Do not give him the opportunity to commit sin, because God will enquire of thee concerning the salvation of his soul.

For if thou wilt make him to enter into the estate of holy matrimony, and he fall afterwards into this sin, his blood by these means shall be on his own head, and on his only.

Do not give him the chance of making thee alone the excuse for his sin before the throne of the Christ, and of saying, 'My father would not take a wife for me' for then the whole danger of his sin would be upon thee, because thou hast taught him the Law of God carelessly, even as it is pointed out in the Holy Scriptures concerning Eli, the priest, saying, 'He taught his sons the Law of God carelessly.'

Then the man answered and said, ' Every word which thou hast spoken I will truly keep,

for he who sheweth himself disobedient to thee sheweth himself disobedient towards the Christ, because the words which come forth from thy mouth are the words of life.

Then the blessed Apa Pisentius said unto him, ' The Lord be with you; depart in peace,'

and they came away from his presence, and they did as he had commanded them, and their hearts enjoyed great rest.

And again it came to pass on a day that our holy father Apa Pisentius, the bishop, passed through the village to inspect his churches.

Now when he had finished he looked on them (i. e. the people), and when he was returning to the monastery, and was passing along the way by the canal, a certain husbandman brought to him an ewe which belonged to him in order that he might make the Sign of the Cross over her.

Observe ye now the power of God.

The Sign of the Cross which the holy man made on her with his finger sank down into her womb,

and when she brought forth her lamb they found on it the Sign of the Cross with which the holy man had marked her.

Now the holy man made the Sign of the Cross on the outside of the ewe, and it appeared on the body of the lamb in the form of a piece of white wool, which was like unto snow.

And in every man who was sick, no matter of what kind his sickness might be, immediately the holy man Apa Pisentius stretched out his hand over him, and made the Sign of the Cross over him, the sickness ceased.

Come ye then, all ye whose hearts are straight in respect of God and the holy man,

and let us make supplication unto him with tears and with repentance, in order that Apa Pisentius may entreat the Christ to shew mercy upon us when it shall come to us to meet Him face to face; for it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God.

Now if there be among you any one who shall be so bold as to waste his time in trying to refute the statement which I have dared to make to the effect that the holy man, Apa Pisentius, the bishop, is a companion of the Christ, let him come now and consider the words which are in the holy Gospel according to John, and let him hear God crying out by the mouth of His holy and beloved one John the Evangelist, saying, ' Ye are My companions when ye do the things which I have commanded you.

And again, 'To you whom I have called 'My friends', all the things which I have heard from My Father I have shewn unto you.'

And again 'It is not ye who have chosen Me, but it is I who have chosen you,

and I have left you in order that your fruit may be abiding, and may live for ever.'

Know ye therefore, O my beloved, that he who doeth the will of God, the same is His companion and His friend, even according to what is said in the holy Gospel, ' He who shall do the will of My Father which is in the heavens, this same is My brother, and My sister, and My mother.'

And again it came to pass on a day that they brought unto him a certain youth who was possessed of a demon,

and they besought the holy man, saying, 'Do an act of gracious goodness, and be pleased to make the Sign of the Cross over him, for the demon which possesseth him is exceedingly evil.'

And the holy man asked his father, saying, 'Did this calamity come upon him a very long time ago?'

And the father of the youth said unto him, 'Behold, it is seven years, [since we have asked] thy prayers, O my father.

And the demon is in the habit of casting him on the ground, and of making him to stagger about like a camel, his eyes being filled with blood,

and often and often this has continued until we were in despair about him, thinking that the demon would kill him.

And (sometimes) he doth not speak at all. Do an act of gracious goodness, and be pleased to help him, O my father.^

Then my father cried out unto me, ' John.'

And he said unto me, Go thou to the laver of the congregation, and bring hither to me a little water, so that I may sprinkle it upon this youth, for I cannot endure seeing this demon inflicting such severe suffering upon him.'

I went therefore into the room of the assembly, according to the command of my lord and father, the blessed Apa Pisentius, and I made Apa Elisha, the presbyter and overseer of the place (or, shrine), go into the place of the altar of sacrifice

and he poured a little of the water which was there into a vessel, and I brought it to the holy man

and the holy man dipped his finger in this water, and made the Sign of the Cross on the youth in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

And he gave some of the water to his father, saying unto him, 'Take thou thy son, and depart thou to thy house, and thou shalt give him to drink of this water which I have given thee from the laver of the congregation, and thou shalt believe in the Lord, and He shall heal him.'

Now, my father acted in this way and did not himself give the youth the water to drink with his own hands, and so make the demon come out from him immediately, lest men should ascribe praise to him, and say, Apa Pisentius hath cast the demon out of the son of such and such a man, because he did not wish to receive glorifying from the children of men.

And it came to pass that when the man had taken his son, that he might depart to his house, now, according to what the man himself confessed to me with his own mouth, (this happened) a few days after, whilst he was taking him back home, (and the man said), 'Whilst I was walking along with my son,

and when I was a long way from you, the demon suddenly hurled him to the ground, and made him writhe in agony, and then cried out inside him, Pisentius, by the Sign of the Cross which thou didst make with thy finger, thou hast driven me forth from my dwelling-place'

And immediately that the youth was purified I took him into my house with joy, and the demon never returned to him to the day of his death.'

And it came to pass that after a few days, the (father of the youth) went to the great man,

and he made obeisance to him, and he laid hold of his hand, saying, 'I tell thee that the young man is free from the demon.'

And the father of the youth confessed to him, saying, 'I tell thee, O my father, that immediately I had given him to drink of that water which thy fatherhood gave to me,

the merciful Lord graciously bestowed healing upon my son through thy holy prayers.'

And Apa Pisentius answered, saying, 'Everything is possible to him that believeth; and assuredly the water which is in the chamber of the altar of sacrifice healeth every one who believeth.

And do not think that this gracious healing is to be attributed to me, for assuredly it is in no way whatsoever due to me, but to the power of God which abideth in His holy shrine, and is given unto those who enter therein in sincere faith and with a heart wherein is no unbelief.

As for me, O my son, I am the least of anything in a matter of this kind.'

And when Apa Pisentius had said these words, the man departed from his presence, and ascribed glory to God, and rendered abundant thanks to my blessed father.

And again it came to pass on a day that the spirit of jealousy invaded the heart of a certain man,

and he became jealous about his wife.

And the Devil, the hater of that which is good, and who longeth to do evil to the race of mankind, cast a stumbling-block into the heart of her husband in respect of a man whom he believed to have had carnal intercourse with his wife.

Now the woman was innocent of that offence, and the man who was accused was himself innocent of the charge of impurity which was brought against him in respect of the woman, even as the story itself will teach us if we proceed with it to the end.

So the husband cast out his wife from his house because of the evil which existed in his own heart in respect of her.

And his father and his mother both took the greatest pains, but were wholly unable to convince the mind of the husband [of his wife's innocence], and to make him to live with her;

even according to that which Solomon spake, 'The heart of her husband is full of jealousy Finally the matter came to the ears of the clergy of his village, who had made him an assistant in the administration of the Holy Mysteries,

and the clergy informed my holy father concerning the matter.

Then my father sent a message to him, saying, 'Trouble (not) thyself : I will find for thee the defence which is necessary.

And the husband spread abroad rumours throughout the village, and he went about from place to place threatening, and saying, 'I will never again go to Pisentius;

what hath Pisentius to do with my affair?'

Now the man was a native of the town of Kebt (Coptos).

And during the time in which he was uttering (these) words he became more and more angry.

And when the sun was about to depart to his place of sunset on that same day

now it was God Who said in [the Book of] the Prophet, ' Cast [thy] dispute upon Me, I will avenge thee,' saith the Lord

a certain terrible sickness came upon that man with the darkness,

and he began to suffer great tortures in his inward parts, which caused him intense pain, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying, ' Take me to my father Apa Pisentius, for I tell thee that (these) pains have come upon me through him.

O my father, do a loving act, and help me, for indeed I am come into the straits of death (i.e. to the last gasp). And if thou dost not take me to him, I shall never find relief

And his father and his mother despaired (of his life), and thought that he would die.

And they said, 'Since he saith ''Take me to Apa Pisentius, the bishop', if he is to live, let us persuade ourselves to do as he saith.

In any case, if we take him to him, and he make the Sign of the Cross over him, at least the tortures which he is suffering will be lessened.

Now this took place very soon after my father Apa Pisentius had been made a bishop.

Then they took the sick man up to the mountain to my father, and they called out inside (the court), and I (John) went out to them.

And the father of the man said unto me, ' John, if thou wouldst ever look upon me again, do an act of love, and inform the great man,

for if thou dost not my son is in danger of dying, and I believe by God, that if he were to make the Sign of the Cross over my son he would find relief immediately.

He hath entreated me, saying, 'Take me to Apa Pisentius, the bishop, in order that I may have relief from these pains by which, through his agency, I am suffering torture.'

Now if I were to discuss the matter with the bishop in my present distracted state, I should talk like a man without understanding.'

And his son also cried out to me, saying, ' O John, do an act of love, take in the news of my arrival to the great man, for the straits of death have come upon me.

Behold thou seest me thyself in my necessity.

O why did I not keep my mouth shut, and why did I not die before I repeated the report that day?

Get thee in quickly, and inform my lord and father Apa Pisentius about my sufferings.

Help thou me, and do not abandon me to death on thy threshold

And when I had heard these things from the man and from his son, I went in and informed my father concerning (the arrival of) the man and his son.

And he said unto me, 'Keep away from him until he maketh the petition in a proper manner, for he is not a man without education.'

And I answered and said unto him, 'If I leave him outside a very little longer, he will die.

The breath which is left in him at this moment is very little, and according to what I see of him he hath contracted a fatal disease

Then my father said unto me, ' Let him (enter) in with thee.'

And when he had come in with his father, he threw himself down at the feet of my father, and remained there for a long time.

And my father said unto him, ' Rise up, O thou boorish man/

And the man answered and said, 'As the Lord liveth, if I have to pass three whole days kneeling at thy feet I will do so; unless thou liftest up thy feet on my head, I will not rise up.'

And my father laid hold upon the hair of his head,

and lifted him up, and he said unto him, 'Rise up, for behold God will bestow healing upon thee graciously, if only thou wilt hearken unto me.'

And the man answered and said, ' I swear by my necessity wherefrom thy prayers have delivered me, that whether I live one year (more) or two, I will never, never again dare to be disobedient unto thee.'

And my father answered and said unto him, ' What I have to lay upon thee is this—Thou hast driven thy wife out of thy house for no reason whatsoever.

And as concerneth the offence wherewith thou hast charged her in thy mind, she and the man also are both innocent.

But I say unto thee, supposing that thou wishest to be wholly satisfied in respect of her, and in respect of the man about whom thou hast thought evil in thy mind

now, my son, man looketh at the face only, but God looketh at the heart

when thou goest into thy house, take thy wife back into the house,

and God shall make thee to be acceptable unto her,

and if she shall incline unto thee, and shall conceive and bring forth a man child unto thee, (thou wilt know that) the report which hath been spread abroad about her is not true.

And believe me, for she is a free woman.

If, however, she shall bear thee a daughter, live not with her, but cast her forth from thy house,

for she is not innocent of the offence wherewith they have charged her, and she hath defiled her marriage (bed).

But if it be a man child which she shall bring forth, the report which hath been spread abroad about her is not true,

and she is innocent of the charge of which she was thought to be guilty.

And if thou wishest to make her swear an oath I shall not attempt to prevent thee, for the law of God giveth the following command:

If the wife of any man step out of the path, and he shall have no knowledge whatsoever of it, and another man shall lie with her and shall know her carnally, and the matter be hidden from her husband, and he knoweth nothing at all about it, and the woman herself doth not conceive, and there be no witness to stand up and testify against her, the woman shall be taken to the priest, and he shall make her take the oath, and he shall give her the water of the curse, and she shall drink it.

If the offence wherewith she is charged hath been actually committed, that water shall make her body to become covered with burning pustules (and) leprosy.

But if it be that she hath been accused falsely, she shall conceive a son.'

And now, O my son, if thou art quite satisfied about the matter, (good and well); but if not, make her take the oath. I shall not attempt to prevent thee.'

And the man answered and said, 'From that very moment when thy fatherhood (began) to speak to me my heart hath been satisfied about the matter. And I shall never po^ again hesitate to obey thee.'

And he received a blessing from the holy man, and he came forth from his presence

and departed to his house with his father, glorifying God and the holy man Apa Pisentius.

Now when he had gone into his house, he made peace with his wife, and begot a son according to the word of Apa Pisentius, who was like unto an Apostle.

And the man called the name of his son ' Pisentius ',

and he lived with his wife from that very day until the day of his death.

And the holy man performed three miracles, each of which was more wonderful than the other, and these are they: (the miracle) of the woman whom he delivered from the false accusation wherewith she had been charged; and [the miracle] of the man who was made a free man ; and the a setting free of the body of the husband of a woman, on whose navel a spell had been cast by the power of Satan,

and the making of those who had been married to live together in peace again.

Verily, exceedingly great is thy wonderful life, O thou angel of the Lord of Might!

For who is able to recount all the wonderful things which have taken place through thee, both those which belong to the period of thy youth (or, childhood), and those which have taken place during the time in which thou didst lead the life of a monk?

And as for those which took place through thy hands after thou didst become bishop, and which thou didst order, and didst wish that no man should ever gain any knowledge of them whatsoever, no man could possibly describe them completely.

Now ye must not make the soul of the blessed man to condemn me because I have related these few matters in (my) Encomium upon him, for I think that we have not exceeded the measure in declaring merely these few unimportant matters.

But let us hearken to the following commandment with which the Apostle commanded us, saying, ' Give ye unto every one such things as ye have, tribute to whom tribute is due, tax to whom tax is due, fear to whom fear is due, honour to whom honour is due/

Verily, (O Apa Pisentius,) thou art worthy of all honour and all glory, according to that which the Psalmist David saith, 'Bring honour and reverence unto the Lord, bring glory unto His holy Name'

Now hearken ye unto another great and wonderful thing, and ascribe ye glory unto the Lord!

And it came to pass on another occasion that a certain man came unto him, and made supplication unto him, saying, 'I beseech thee to perform an act of love, and to help me, O my lord and father. There is an obligation on me in respect of a certain man of thirty-six 'holokottinoi' they are pressing me urgently concerning them,

and I am not able to find them to pay them P^^ to him.

And I possess nothing whatsoever except a son, my only son, and him they have seized,

and they have put him securely in the guard-house (i. e. prison), and they are wishing to make him a slave.

I beseech thy fatherhood to shew compassion upon me.

If there was any one whom thou couldst cause to give me this small sum I could go and give it to the man, and then they would let my only son go free.'

Now that man was a soldier, and he was a native of the district, and he dwelt in a part (?) of the mountain of Teiladj.

And having heard of the fame of my father, and that he was a most charitable and generous bishop, he rose up

and came to him with his wife, and he wished to find out whether he was one who gave alms freely or not.

Now he put the woman again into the boat in which he brought her,^ and he hid thirty-six 'holokottinoi' in the boat . . . with her ;

now these he had carried off from a man whose blood he had shed,

And he came to my father wishing to try him and to see whether that which he had heard about him was true or not.

Now the day whereon he came to the holy bishop Apa Pisentius was that in which the bishop had gone into the holy congregation of Tsentei, and had taken part in the Catholic Synaxis,

for it was the day of the festival of the Archbishop and Patriarch, Apa Severus, Archbishop of Antioch.

And he sat down until Apa Pisentius came out from the congregation, when he cast himself down at his feet, and informed him of the matter whereof I have already spoken.

And when the great man had heard it, he said unto the soldier through an interpreter, 'The place of Pisentius is not a place for jesting.

Get thee gone, and take the thirtysix {sic) six 'holokottinoi' from the hand of thy wife who is on board the boat by the place of the ferry.

As for the money (?), behold, it is tied up in a bundle in her hand, and it is this which thou hast brought to tempt me therewith.

Behold now what it was that thou didst wish to do. Because thou hadst shed the blood of a man,

and hadst taken (these moneys) out of his hand, thou didst say, 'I will take them and give them as an offering for the salvation of my soul.'

Verily I say unto thee, that if the whole world were given in alms on thy behalf then the smallest act of mercy shall never be shewn unto thee, until thine own blood hath been poured out even as thou hast poured out the blood of thy neighbour, according to that which is written. Whosoever sheddeth the blood of a I man, the blood of him that sheddeth it shall be shed in its stead, because man was made according to the image of God.'

Now when the man had heard these words he marvelled exceedingly, for he thought that the matter would l)e hidden from the new Elisha, and he did not know that the Spirit which spake to the Apostles was the same as that which spake in the Prophets,

and he did not know that the same God was the God of all of them.

Now ye know, (O my beloved,) that in the beginning of this Encomium I did not fail to say that the blessed man Apa Pisentius was endowed with the gift of the Spirit,

for one whenever any man went into his presence, as soon as he had looked into his face he knew for what purpose he had come to him.

But he hated the vain approbation of men, and he hid his manner of life so that no man whatsoever might attain to the full knowledge of the same.

Now it came to pass also on another occasion when he was fleeing from before the face of the Persians (that) he might lead a life of peaceful meditation in the mountain of Djeme,

that he departed into the mountain not a little way in order that he might pray.

And when he had passed three or four hours in travelling, he prayed in place after place,

and there is no man who is able to estimate the number of the prayers which he made by day and by night.

Now, he was in the habit of praying four hundred times during the night.

And he turned to me, and he said unto me, ' Take good heed to thyself,

for I found a huge serpent in the mountain to-day ; and he is not very far from us at this moment.

But I have confidence in God that He will not permit him to remain in our neighbourhood.'

Now when the morning had come, I looked out, and at the distance of about the flight of an arrow,

I saw a very large number of birds and vultures gathered together upon a crag of the rock.

And (my father) cried out to me, and said unto me, 'I think that God hath destroyed the dragon.'

And he spake yet again unto me and said, 'Why hast thou not given thine attention to the words of the Scriptures, and understood them, according to that which the wise man David saith: Thou hast set him that was higher than thou for a place of refuge ; The evil shall not draw nigh unto thee,

neither shall the evil draw nigh to thy habitation; Thou shalt go up upon the adder and the scorpion, thou shalt tread upon the lion and the serpent; Because he hath believed in Me I will deliver him, and I will protect him because he hath known My Name;

He shall cry out unto Me, and I will hearken unto him'

And it came to pass that God wished to remove him (from this world) to the habitation of those who rejoice, the place wherefrom sorrow, and grief, and sighing have fled away, the place where are the Prophets and the Patriarchs and the Apostles,

for he was a Patriarch like Abraham, and an Apostle like unto the Apostles, and a Prophet like unto the Prophets, even like unto Samuel, and those who came after him,

and he was a high priest (worthy of) reverence, even as were Moses and Aaron and those who came after them.

And when he had come to the end of the sickness through which he went to his rest, now it was in the month of Epep of the fifth year (?), he cried out to me on the night of the eighth day of Epep, and he said, ' John, is there any one with thee?'

And I said, 'There is no one with me save Moses, and Elisha the Elder, who have come to visit thee.'

And my father cried out, 'Moses, Moses, Moses.

Be careful to make thy life exceedingly correct.

Thou knowest in what manner thou hast been brought up by me.

Take thou great care of my parchment books, for thou wilt have great need for them. And thou shalt not escape from this burden.'

And again he turned to Elisha the Presbyter, and said unto him, Elisha, 'Govern thou most carefully the brethren. Lay fast hold upon the things which I have commanded thee, and do thou pne summon the brethren regularly each hour in order that they may recite their offices according to the rules of the brethren, and do good to their souls through thee.'

Then Elisha answered and said unto him, 'My father, I have approached (the time) for going to all my fathers.

If thou art going to die it is better that I should die first, for if the pillar whereon we are all firmly established shall fall, the destruction of the mountain of Tsentei will draw nigh.

And where shall we find another who will shepherd us as thou hast done, O my lord and holy father, if thou dost depart?

Thou hast directed and made straight the course of thy ship to the haven which is fair.

Thou hast prepared thyself, and thou shalt never be disturbed (or, troubled), according to the words of the gentle David, (who said,) I have prepared myself, I shall never be disturbed' (or, troubled).

For we shall feel the lack of thee sorely, and we shall be orphans from this day forward.

And my father answered and said unto me, 'Verily, five days were given unto me from the third day.'

And I answered and said unto him, 'What was it that happened unto thee that thou sayest these things to me?'

And he said unto me, 'Before I spake unto thee an ecstasy came upon me, and a man of light came and stood before me.

And he said unto me, 'Pisentius, Pisentius, Pisentius!'—three times

prepare thyself, for there remain unto thee in this world five days, and then thou shalt come to me.'

And when he had said these things unto me, he departed.

And now, behold, I must depart the way of all my fathers.'

And when my father had said these things unto me, a great outcry broke forth with tears and sobs in (our) midst; ' Thus are we bereaved of our good father, the consoler of those who were in trouble, who gave penitence to the sinner, who provided the poor with food, and who made it his care to find clothing for their bodies.'

And I confess unto you, (O my beloved), here in the presence of God, that from the time when my father heard concerning the Persians, he never applied to his own use any of the things which could be of use to the poor, even to the cap upon his head, but he distributed everything, and gave it in alms to the poor.

The things which he gave with his own hands, and the things which he commanded me to give, and the things which he sent to the faithful, village by village, and which were distributed to each man according to his need, no man can possibly know the sum thereof.

Only God, unto Whom all praise be given, knoweth it.

And I said unto my holy father, who arrayed himself in Christ, Apa Pisentius, 'Peradventure, O my father, dost thou think that we shall not again devote ourselves (to the poor), if thou dost not bequeath any possessions which may remain to us?'

My father answered and said unto me, ' We must devote ourselves to the will of God, O my son, and whatsoever thou givest—everything—to the poor,

the Lord will give unto us twofold.'

What can I say (more), or what can I relate of the valiant deeds of this just man ?

But now let us devote ourselves to the consideration of his laying down the body.

Now he passed three days wherein he neither ate nor drank, neither did he speak unto us, nor turn from one side to the other, but he lay stretched out like a dead man in the hall of the large cell.

Then he cried out, 'John,' and I answered, 'Bless me.'

He said unto me, 'I have come nigh unto my departure, and I shall finish my course at the time when the sun shall set to-morrow, which shall be the thirteenth day.

But take good heed and do not permit any man to carry my body away from the place which shall be dug for it.

During these three days which I have just passed wherein I held no converse with you, I have been standing in the presence of God, and my speech hath been taken away since the ninth hour yesterday.

I tell you that God will shew His mercy unto me.'

And I said unto him, 'Do one act of grace, O my father, and partake of a very small quantity of nourishment, for behold, it is now four days since thou hast tasted anything at all.'

And my father answered and said unto me, 'My son, shall I eat anything else after (this) word?

I say that I will not taste any food whatsoever belonging to this world,

I shall eat nothing at all until I depart to the Christ, and break my fast with Him.'

And it came to pass that when the light had risen on the thirteenth day of the month Epep, he said unto me—now there were also certain great men sitting by him—' John, thou knowest all my affairs, and that I have nothing left belonging to the bishopric (or) to the town of Kebt (Coptos) wherewith to bury my body.

Nevertheless, I had one good 'holokottinos' by me, which I had kept since the day when I lived a life of contemplation in my cell and when I was a monk.

This I made to yield an increase through the work of my hands, and I have guarded it carefully until the day wherein I should have to clothe my body with the work of my hands, so that I might not leave behind me a matter of unpleasantness for those who should succeed me,

and who would say. Thou hast broken a custom which was seemly.

Do thou then, O John, buy a covering for my body, and do not put on me anything except the shroud wherein I am wrapped, and my monk's dress, and my skull-cap, and my girdle, and my tunic—only these—and ye shall prepare me for burial and ye shall bury me.

And I think. Behold a garden wherein they will bury me.

And behold, a place full of wolves, but they will throw a wall about [me], each one working at it according to his good pleasure.

But whatever each man doeth, let no man rebuke him, saying. The wall must be thrown round (the grave).'

And when the holy father Apa Pisentius, the holy bishop, had said these things, he cried out to us, and spake words unto (each) one of us,

and then he opened his mouth, and yielded up his spirit into the hands of God, at the moment when the sun was about to set on the thirteenth day of the month of Epep of this fifth year (of the Indiction).

And we lifted up his holy coffin, and we took it into the holy chamber of the altar of the congregation of Tsentei,

and we made it ready for burial according to the instructions which he had given us,

and we passed the whole night in lamentation for him.

And afterwards we partook of the Holy Offering over him,

and we carried him away into the mountain to the place which he had made us dig for him that he might remain in our neighbourhood.

And we buried him on the fourteenth day of this same month Epep. In the Peace of God. Amen. Amen.

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