Again, there was a certain maiden in the Persian domain, the daughter of a Christian, and she was beautiful to see and of comely appearance. More than her external appearance her mind was beautiful (p. 608) and excellent and charming, and acceptable to God. And one of the accursed fire-worshippers saw her, a basilisk who had the title of Marzevan, and he lusted after her to take her as one of his wives. For the girl, though a Christian, did not belong to any religious order. But when he sent to her parents many times, she neither gave heed to those who came nor gave them answer. For she said, "God forbid that I should go up to the bed of a vile man who worships the fire." Therefore he went and sought to get her by an order from him whom they called "King of Kings". Then seeing that she did not obey it, he seized her by force, with many people, as though by command of the "King of Kings". And when she remained constant to her resolve and said, "Though I die, I will not go up with thee to the bed, for I am the virgin of Christ," he scourged her and shutting her up inflicted severe and bitter tortures upon her. And as she stood by her first resolve and said, "Though I die, with thee to bed I will not go up," and he was ashamed to have her flout him, thereupon he commanded his menials to hang a great stone weight on her neck and throw her into the river at the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris. And as they took her out to throw her in, she raised her eyes to heaven and said, "O God of Saint Simeon, do thou help thy maidservant and see that for thy name's sake I am about to die, because I will not defile myself in the bed of the unclean and abominable man who denies thy name and worships dead idols." They put the weight on her and threw her into the river. At the very moment she fell, the Saint was there standing in the midst of the river, and reaching out his hand grasped her and drew her out and fetched her up out of the river and stood her on the dry land. Then he loosed the weight from her and said to her, "Fear not, |176 my daughter. The God in whose name thou believest is thy deliverer. As for that vile heathen, lo, the right hand of the Lord will smite him with an incurable disease." And he lead her and brought her as far as the edge of her village holding her by her right hand, while he exhorted her not to fear. When she reached her village he said to her, "My daughter, go in peace, and may the Lord be with thee." Then she entered, and her parents saw her, they who were sitting in great grief and mourning on her account, and they were amazed and trembled and were astonished. And when they asked her by what means she came, she told them everything as it had happened, and how the Saint drew her out and brought her up from the river and conducted her as far as the border of her village, and all he said to her, and how suddenly he vanished from before her eyes when she reached the edge of the village. As she was telling her parents, many gathered at sight of her, and lo, on a sudden the sound of violent weeping went up from the house of that wicked man who had seized her. For as he reclined and dined, and his servants were standing and waiting on him, and he was thinking how he would vent his spite on the parents of the girl (p. 610) as well, a fearful judgment overtook him. For as he reclined he saw a terrible man enter and draw his sword. And when he saw him, he was terrified and affrighted. He leaped to stand in front of him, and struck him on the head with the sword. Immediately his whole right side withered from his head to his toes, and he cried out violently with a loud voice and said, "Because I persecuted the maidservant of the God of the Christians it has happened to me thus; woe to him whoever assails or opposes him!" And he never spoke another sentence, but lay in that great affliction, tortured, suffering, and worn out, prostrate like a dried-up tree, and he became a source of terror to those who beheld him. Because of his experience many of the heathen were afraid and terrified, and refrained from persecuting or harassing the Christians. Then the father of the maid took the trouble to go up with many of the citizens of his place to the mandra of the Saint. And he told these things in the presence of the blessed St. Simeon before everyone. And all those who heard as he recounted, gave praise to God. And the father of the girl and the people of the village stayed with the Saint |177 a week, when, having received his blessing, they turned back in peace, rejoicing and praising and blessing God.
These things then and many besides our Lord did through his Athlete. Also, rain was restrained many times; whereupon they assembled (p. 611) and coming to him besought him. He then supplicated his Lord, and He did his will so that there was rain, and worn out souls were refreshed and confessed and praised God and went down from his rnandra rejoicing.
One time there was a great lack of rain; the whole winter passed, and Lent was now about to begin, yet not a drop of rain had fallen. Everybody prayed and made supplication, for the whole region of Beth Gubbe was exhausted by drought. And to the mandra of the Saint every day came the priests, covered with sackcloth, their heads sprinkled with ashes, and their flocks with them, with tears and groanings. So they continued in that drought, while daily all creation was bowing down in the mandra of the Saint; yet there was no relics: from any quarter. The winter now was about past and Lent therefore just commencing, when the Saint closed the door of his mandra. There happened to be there a certain procurator who had been very constantly in the mandra, and he loved, too, the disciples of the Saint. Being a man who had great freedom of speech with them, he said to them jokingly, as they stood talking together, "It is written that Elias prayed and his Lord did his will, so that there was rain. Samuel also prayed in harvest, and his Lord answered, and there was rain in harvest. But today perhaps there is no one whose will his Lord will do as he did for those ancients. For, lo! how long a time all creation is (p. 612) tormented; yet no help comes from anywhere." When prayer was finished, and everyone went to his task, those disciples of the Saint drew near and told these things and said to him, "Thus did Kuriakos the procurator say to us."
But the Saint, when he heard these things from these his disciples, was confounded greatly and said to them, "I take oath that up to this time I have not prayed before my Lord that there should be, rain upon the earth, because I see their rebellious deeds. But now that the Evil One hath sown this |178 seed in their minds, send men everywhere and summon the priests with their flocks." But the disciples of the blessed Saint Simeon drew near and used entreaty and said to him, "Lo, every day crowds fill the mandra. Now take heed lest any should be offended and they should say, 'Behold, he is sending and gathering together the world for the sake of his aggrandisement.' If thy Holiness knows that anything will happen,---but if not, send them away about their own affairs; lo, they come and go daily of their own accord." But he said to his disciples, "Do you assemble them, and as for that which our Lord will do, it is not for you to worry about it. Do you carry out that which is commanded you, and my Lord knows what he will perform for the honor of his name.' Thereupon they sent out and summoned them to come on Friday, and many people gathered there, a countless multitude. The mountains were covered, and the mandra (p. 613) was filled inside and out with men and women. They also brought in small children who were learning the letters and placed them before the Saint, and their teachers sang anti-phonally with them in the Greek language "Kyrie eleison", which is interpreted, "Lord, have mercy upon us."
Now the blessed Saint, when he saw the priests with ashes sprinkled on their heads, standing in sorrow and in anxiety, while the cries of men and women within and without ascended on high, and those children, too, like innocent lambs, and moreover the sun as hot as in summer, he was greatly grieved, his soul was moved and his compassion grew fervent. After he had prayed and made supplication before his Lord a long time, he raised his eyes to heaven and sighed and smote upon his heart with his hand three times, inside of his kasoula. Then again clasping his hands behind him he bowed himself with his face upon his knees and remained bowed a long time. All the people too were praying that his Lord might do the will of his believer. As he bowed and prayed, everyone also standing in grief and tears, they looked to see what our Lord would do; when, lo, on a sudden there appeared some mist of white cloud. Thunder too, deep-toned, resounded after it and spread to every side, until the whole heavens were filled with it, and the wind blew violently. |179 Then the rain began to fall heavily, and it was also very cold. And all the people, who a little while before had been running to the shade from the (p. 614) extreme heat, took to flight for shelter from the wind and cold and heavy rain.
And when the blessed Saint heard the sound of the water which was coming down into the cisterns as he bowed in prayer, and the voice of the people who were praising and blessing God for what they had seen, he raised himself up from the position of bowing in prayer, while his face shone like the rays of the sun, and his mind exulted and rejoiced that his Lord had done his will. And when he saw those who huddled together under shelter from the cold and rain, he called them and said to them, "A little while ago ye were weeping for rain, and now, behold, ye run from it." And he encouraged them and comforted them and said to them, "See, the Lord hath given you rain; and I trust in him and his goodness, that if ye walk uprightly, fearing him with all your hearts, keeping his laws and commandments, this year, although the winter is past, and ye have come to the conclusion that no one will reap a harvest, the Lord God will bless, so that its production will be two fold, and ye eat and be satisiied and bless the name of the Lord God." So he sent them away from him rejoicing, confessing and adoring and praising God. And there was rain again and many showers, and the year was blessed, as the Saint told them. And they filled the granaries with twice asmuch as the usual produce and gathered in large crops and filled their houses with the fruits of the earth. And they ate and were satisfied, and blessed and praised God their Sustainer.
(p. 615) Then after everyone was dismissed in peace from the presence of the Saint to his own place and dwelling, when evening came and the holy man remained with these disciples who ministered to him, they drew near, the two of them prostrating themselves before the Saint, and besought him with entreaty to reveal and show them in what manner he made the petition, or what he said in his prayer when he prayed and made supplication and entreated his Lord. But he was reluctant and declined to reveal or say either what he said or saw and heard. Again they persuaded him very earnestly. Then, solemnly adjuring them to tell no one during his lifetime, he revealed it to them and said, "When I saw these priests |180 present with their flocks, their heads sprinkled with ashes' and all the people crying and these children pleading for help, I was grieved and troubled even to death. And to my Lord in prayer I said this: 'O Lord God, merciful and compassionate, either have mercy and relieve these afflicted souls who cry to thee, who are assembled on account of thy name, or take the life of thy servant and never again let. me see the distress of thy people and thy servants." After this, while I bowed and my tears fell, I saw a beautiful youth who came passing in front of me and said to me, 'Thy prayer is heard, thy petition accepted, thy wish accomplished, and thy request granted.' And at the time he spoke to me and passed before me, I heard the sound of the thunder booming and the sound of the wind blowing and the rain falling, (p. 616) Then I praised and blessed God, that he did not turn away from the prayer of his servant."
These things then, and ten times more than these signs and wonders our Lord did through the blessed Saint Simeon. For we said before that there is no one of mortal men who could enumerate or count the benefits and deliverances which God wrought through him for men. Or who, again, is able to say and recount the wonderful things which were done by his prayers in distant places? And also many visions our Lord revealed and made known to him, a multitude of which he concealed, and did not speak of to any one; because he was careful that no one should think of him that he repeated them for his own glory. About this also a revelation was made to him. For he saw two men standing before him in fair and excellent garments, talking about this matter. One of them said to his companion, "See how many visions and revelations are shown to him, which he has concealed and hidden, and not revealed one of them to any one." Thereupon the other one answered his companion, "He does very rightly. For this also he is to be commended, because he does not reveal and tell that which is shown to him from God for his encouragement. For by this it is evident that he does not seek his own glory, and there is no more any opportunity for others to speak the thing they desire." When they had discussed with each other these things and many more than these, as they were walking (p. 617) to and fro in the mandra, they disappeared. They did not say anything to the Saint |181 about this. He held his peace and they said nothing to him, but he knew that they said it as a caution. As a result of this he was extremely careful and refrained from repeating or saying anything about that which was revealed to him from God.
As for the monastic life and labor and practice, which he led and endured and suffered before God secretly and openly, this was evident and manifest to all men: that neither among the ancients nor the moderns was there a mortal body that could endure for one hour and withstand the hardships which the body of the blessed Saint Simeon bore and withstood. For we all know and are persuaded that for wonder and marvel the Holy Spirit wrote down the glorious deeds of believers in Holy Scripture for the comfort and encouragement and help and warning of humanity. For Moses, the great prophet, the clear-seeing eye of all Israel, the glorious athlete, the wise master-builder, the profitable servant, the vigilant mariner, the skilful pilot, the practiced scribe, the prince of the believing house, twice alone fasted forty days and forty nights, each time without eating bread or drinking water, while he was on the mount with his Lord, a cloud around, thick darkness encompassing, fire burning, smoke ascending, horns sounding, trumpets blaring, angels in trepidation, the watchers of Heaven alarmed, the holy angels and cherubim shouting, (p. 618) while Moses was talking and God answering him with the voice. And he was refreshed, and his food was the divine vision, and his drink the heavenly splendor. He fared sumptuously in the fast and was purified in prayer. Elijah, too, the zealot, the consuming fire, in the strength of that food which he received from the angel at the command of his Lord, which no one had sown and no one had provided, went forty days and forty nights and came to the mount and entered the cave. By the fast of forty days he was made worthy to hear the divine voice and see that fearful vision at which heavenly beings tremble and earthly beings are terrified; then he was sent to anoint kings and prophets. And he received thence the earnest of his fast, that from the world of sorrows he should be translated and taken up to Eden which is filled with all manner of delights. Daniel, |182 also, a man to be loved, scion of the household of faith, fasted twenty one days without eating bread or drinking water, and neither washed nor anointed himself; and a watcher from heaven, prince of the angels, was sent to him, and for his fasting and prayer revealed to him secrets and made known to him the future, and brought back the captivity from Babylon. By his fasting and prayer the seed of Abraham, the friend of God, were delivered from subjection to their enemies. And we worship our Lord for his goodness, that his compassion upon the creation of his hands was kindled, and his mercy constrained him, and coming down he wove and clothed himself with the garment of flesh which he in his goodness had formed with his holy hands as seemed good to himself; when he went (p. 619) out to the wilderness that he might be tempted, it is written that for forty days and forty nights he remained in fasting and prayer, not eating bread nor drinking water. As much as his divinity knew that the flesh of mortals can endure, so much it permitted the holy flesh which it had assumed to endure. And after the forty days in which he continued in fasting and prayer, it seemed good to his divinity and he beckoned to hunger and it came; and when he commanded, it approached him, that he might make known and show that truly indeed he had assumed the flesh of Adam, that he might be subject to hunger and thirst and weariness and sleep. And in that flesh he overcame his enemy by fasting, and put Satan to confusion and scattered his hosts, trampled sin under foot, slew death, desolated Sheol, and received the crown of victory.
If then, as we have said, our Lord performed such wonders and signs through these mighty and wonderful men, by their fasting forty days at a time, what should we say about the blessed Saint Simeon, of whom no one can tell his ascetic practices, unless it is God who knows and is acquainted with his toil and his service! For he wearied himself and struggled and toiled before his God in mighty fasts untold, and in mighty prayers unconquerable. In hunger and thirst, in heat and cold, continually, unceasingly, in supplication without interruption, and standing at all times; who gave no sleep to his eyes nor repose to his body fifty six (p. 620) years night and day. For he was in the monastery nine years, in wonderful discipline and severe practices, as we have written down and recorded above. |183
Then in the mandra besides, in Telneshe, he remained forty-seven years. He stood in a corner in the mandra ten years, some of the time in a cell, in great struggle and in contest and conflict with the Enemy. After these things he stood upon those smaller pillars seven years: on one of eleven cubits, on one of seventeen cubits, and on one of twenty-two cubits. And on that one of forty cubits he stood thirty years, while our Lord gave him strength and endurance so that on this he finished the days of his life in peace and tranquillity, with deeds of beneficence. He had the good end with men of peace, and his end was ten fold greater than his beginning. His Lord did his will and pleasure and granted his request. He asked and received. He knocked at the door of his Lord in truth, and it was opened unto him. For he honored God with a perfect heart, and was honored by God with all these rewards. He loved his Lord with all his heart, more than himself and his life; for he surrendered his soul and put it into the hands of his Lord. So his Lord, who saw his diligence, gave him favor in the eyes of all men and magnified the fame of his exploits from one end of the creation to the other, and granted him besides that thing which his soul earnestly desired. For many times he asked and besought his Lord in prayer, saying thus: (p. 621) "O Lord God of Hosts, Let not thy servant come to stand in need of mortal help, and let me not descend from this place, and men see me on the ground. But upon this stone, on which I have stood at thy command and at thy word, grant me to finish the days of my life. Then from it take the soul of thy worshipper, according to the will of thy Lordship."
But perhaps there is someone who says, "What need did he have, or was this required, that he should stand upon a pillar? For on the ground or in that corner could he not please our Lord?" We all know, indeed, and are aware of the fact that God is everywhere, in Heaven and on earth, in the height and in the depth, in the sea and in the abyss, and underneath the earth and above the heavens. And there is no place devoid of his divinity, except men who do not his will. Wherever a man calls upon him in truth, there he finds him. For Jonah called upon him in the lowest abysses, and |184 he heard his prayer and accepted his petition, and from the inside of Sheol below he drew him forth. Again, Daniel cried unto him from the den, and the companions of Hananiah from the fiery furnace, and he sent an angel with his grace according to his petition and was a deliverer and a savior to them. By each one of his servants, wherever they sought him, there he was found: Elijah on Carmel, Abraham on the top of the mountain, quickly he heard their prayer and granted their wish and answered their petition and exalted them. In the manner that seemed best to his Lordship, in the case of each one of his servants in (p. 622) due season, as was pleasing and good in his eyes, he sent him to preach and to teach. And again, according as he willed, he gave them laws and commandments; the sons of Adam, that they should not eat of the tree; the sons of Seth, that with the daughters of Cain they should not mingle; Noah, the rainbow and the inviolable covenant; Abraham, the sign and seal of circumcision; Moses, the Sabbath and the keeping of the law. Elijah he clothed with zeal, like flaming fire. Isaiah he commanded that he should walk before him naked and barefoot. Jeremiah he commanded to put a yoke and thongs on his neck. To Ezekiel he said, 'Shave thy head and beard with a razor, take thy stuff upon thy shoulder and dig through the wall and go out as though insane.' Hosea, the holy prophet, he commanded, "Take a wife, a harlot." And to each one of his servants in his own season he commanded to live according to his will; because he has authority as Lord in his creation and as God over the work of his hands, and there is none who can find fault with the free will of his Lordship. Everyone who hears and observes and does, is kept and exalted and prospered. For Abraham was counted worthy to be called the friend of God, and Moses too was glorified and made chief and leader, while great exploits and wonderful our Lord performed through him. Elijah, too, was taken up and did not taste death. Thus, in the case of Saint Simeon, too: it pleased his Lord to have him stand on a pillar in these days and last times, because he saw the creation as though it were asleep, (p. 623) that by the distress of his servant he might arouse the world from the heaviness of its lethargy of sleep, and that the name of his |185 divinity might be praised through the instrumentality of his believer.
That thou mayest know that truly this was from God, I will tell thee the thing as it was and as it happened. Saint Simeon had a window in the mandra, before which a stone was placed which was three cubits high, and incense and a censer were put upon it. Once during the confinement of the forty days, when about three weeks had passed, there appeared to Saint Simeon a certain goodly man whose face was radiant as the light, who was girded as one who goes to war; and he saw him come and pray before the window of the sacred treasury. After the prayer was ended he went up and stood upon the stone, and, folding his hands behind him, he bowed and raised himself up; then looking at the Saint, again he lifted his hands towards Heaven and gazed upward. Three nights, then, he did thus from dusk to dawn. Thereupon the Saint perceived and understood that for his sake he did thus, and had been sent from the Lord to show him and teach him that thus he should be assiduous in his prayer. And when he ceased after three days and had passed out of sight, the Saint himself went and stood upon it three months. After that, he began to make for himself those small pillars, until he made the one twenty cubits high.
(p. 624) And that thou mayest know that in very truth this thing was from the Lord, that he stood upon a pillar, again I will tell thee that which really was. After he had stood upon those small ones seven years, up to that one twenty cubits high, he had the feeling that he should exchange the twenty cubit one and make one of thirty cubits. So when the Lenten fast drew near, he called that disciple of his who was with him, the one who served him many years, who closed his eyes, and on whose shoulder he laid his head as he surrendered his spirit to his Lord. And he commanded him and said to him, "Before the time when our Lord wills and the door of the mandra is opened, make and set up for me a pillar of two sections, which shall be thirty cubits high." He also summoned workmen and commanded them and said to them, "Before the door is opened, let it be made and erected and placed by the door." When the door of the mandra was closed, the workmen went about it to hew it. But it was as though something were opposing them, for whenever they quarried out |186 a section and struck it, something smote it and shattered it. So they were hewing and the stones were getting broken, until four weeks had passed, and only two weeks remained before the door would be opened. Then that disciple was troubled and the workmen as well, because the forty days were, almost gone, and up to this time they had not accomplished anything. So the disciple came to him by night and called and said (p. 625) to the Saint, in distress, "My Lord, I beseech thy holiness, entreat thy Lord on behalf of this matter, that . if it is according to his will, he will remove the difficulty and reveal to thy holiness that thus Satan is opposing us. And if it is not his will, why should we labor in vain, we and the workmen, and not accomplish anything?" But the Saint refused even to talk with the disciple, and said to him, "Go away, and come to-morrow." He did as he commanded him. And the next night he came and called and said to him, "My Lord, what does thy holiness command me? Shall we work or stop?" Then the Saint talked with him and encouraged him and said to him, "Be not troubled, for lo! God has corrected it according to his pleasure; and he revealed and made known to me, the sinner, the thing which I sought from him. For there came to me this night a certain man of goodly and pleasant appearance, who said to me, 'Be not discouraged about the matter which thy disciple reported to thee. For thus thy Lord wills, that thou shouldest make for thyself a pillar forty cubits high, and construct it of three sections symbolical of the Trinity, as thou believest.' And he gave me three gifts, pure and white, very beautiful and lovely. And thee also he called by thy name: 'Sacristan So-and-So, take this gift and cry aloud and proclaim and say, 'Sing unto the Lord a new song, all the earth.' But now go and do just as I said to thee; and I. trust the Lord God that he will open up the door before thee."
(p. 626) And when that disciple arose in the morning and took the workmen with him, that they should go out and look for a suitable stone to hew out those three sections, the Lord opened the door before them, and they found inside the mandra a suitable stone, over which they had been going out and coming in daily. They set to work at it, and by the help of the Lord in one week they quarried and shaped it and prepared it for a pillar and brought it in and placed it at the |187 door of the mandra. So when the Saint opened the door, they brought it in, raised it, and put the pillar in place. And he went up and stood upon it thirty years as a single day. And his Lord granted to him that upon it he ended his days, as he requested from God, with great renown, with deeds of beneficence, acts of righteousness, and practices of perfection. And he was of profit to many, and to himself, and the name of his Lord was praised because of him and on his behalf from one end of the creation to the other. And he waxed influential and increased in his honor and exploits in his decease more than in his life-time: The holy church was exalted by him, the horn of Christianity lifted up, and his end was much greater than his beginning, so that if there was any one of divided opinion, his mind was established and he was confirmed in the faith.
For not as an ordinary man did his Lord give him exit from the world, neither did he hide from him the day of his coronation. He revealed it to him in the manner I will describe. After he had been in the mandra (p. 627) seven years, two men appeared to him standing before him in fair and beautiful clothing. One of them grasped in his right hand a measuring rod with which he measured off forty rods, then turned to his companion and said to him, "Whenever this number forty is completed, the measure will be finished, and he will be taken. But I will make a sign the like of which has not been in these times, and then I will take him." And without the Saint fully understanding him, he repeated the measuring twice, speaking in the same way. To the Saint himself about this thing he did not say anything; only they talked with each other not a little while, then disappeared. But he was sure that it was said about him, and he was always very heedful of it. And when he saw that the number drew near, he was looking for that sign of which he had said, "I will make it, and then I will take him;" and he was reflecting as to what sort of sign this would be.
When he saw that sign of anger which occurred in the city Antioch and its district, and he saw the whole creation which assembled there, thousands and tens of thousands, a countless throng, and saw the priests leading their flocks and |188 using great diligence and care, with censers and incense and lighted tapers and crosses, and all the people running from every quarter shouting and with tears and hitter groans, and he also saw that the number was completed, he felt disturbed and summoned his first disciple and said to him privately, "As I see the number is completed, and the sign is very solemn, (p. 628) I do not know---has indeed the appointed time arrived, and am I to be taken? But before the day I will say to thee, because thou hast been with me many years and knowest that clothing of any other sort has never touched my flesh, except these skins: Now let God be thy witness if thou allowest clothing of any other kind to touch my limbs!" Thus it was that clothing of any other kind did not touch the flesh of the Saint, besides those skins. And his Lord made his departure such as I think none of those born of women in these times had For there was an assembly of the people and of all humanity, innumerable and of untold size, for fifty-one days after that last sign which occurred in the district, and no one dared either to enter his house, except in fear, or to go out to the field, except in terror. No one was doing any work at all, but upon everyone a stupor had fallen, and they had all given up in despair, and the mind of every one was confused and distracted. They stood looking to see what the Saint would command them; for as though from the mouth of his Lord they looked to receive the command of his Holiness.
After fifty-one days had passed, as we said, there was also that great commemoration in the month Tammuz. After this the Saint never made another commemoration such as that one, whose congregation no one could (p. 629) describe. For since time began there has not been its like in creation. For God had aroused the whole world that he might bring it to the greeting and reverence of his loved one, and might show him his honor while he lived, as he did to Moses the holy when he took him up to the mountain and showed him the promised land, and then took him away. The blessed Saint Simeon summoned everyone, the priests and their disciples, the nobles and the humble, and exhorted them and comforted them, and gave them commands and admonitions that they should keep the laws and precepts of our Lord. Like a father good and compassionate, who commanded his beloved children, he said to them, "Go in the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, |189 and keep vigil in your districts three days. Then go out in the name of our Lord and set to work, and let every one do his task. And I trust the Lord God, that he will he your preserver."
And after he had dismissed every one to his work in peace, thirty days passed, when, on the twenty-ninth day of the month Ah at the eleventh hour of the night between Saturday and Sunday, he suddenly felt ill, as some disciples were present with him; and pain struck him, and he began to suffer, and his whole body was feverish. He felt ill all day Sunday and Monday and Tuesday. Then lovingkindness was shown him by God, which on account of its magnitude is perhaps difficult to believe; (p. 630) but to believers everything is credible, to those who know that to their Lord everything is possible. The sign was this: The heat was severe and so intense that the ground was burned from its glow, in those days during the going out of Ab and the beginning of Elul. And to the Saint this lovingkindness was shown which I will describe; and perhaps for this purpose also that intense heat came to pass, for the sake of a test, and by reason of the sign his Lord ordained to give him an earnest of the reward of his labor, while he was in this world. For the wind blew softly, and it was cool and balmy as though heavenly dew were dropping upon the Saint. And pleasant fragrance exhaled and came from it, the like of which has not been told in the world. There was not one odor of it, but wave on wave came whose several odors were different from one another, so that neither spices nor sweet herbs and pleasant smells which are in the world, can be compared to the fragrance of those waves; because it was by the care and providence of God. For neither were they exhaled in every place, nor even the whole length of that staircase, but from its middle and upward wave on wave went forth, nor in the whole mandra. No one perceived it, because of the incense which was ascending. And when that first disciple saw it, who loved him and stayed with him day and night and did not go away from him, especially in those days when he was ill, he comforted him and encouraged him and said to him, "Behold, my lord, how thy Lord loves thee. For lo, he has done thy will and (p. 631) pleasure in everything, and brought all the world to greet thee and honor thee; and lo, he shows thee thy honor in thine eyes. And this, too, |190 which has not been the lot of man, he has done in the case of thy Holiness; and even now he has given thee the. earnest of the reward of thy labors, for it was never heard nor spoken of in the world that incense exhaled in this manner; from this time thy Lord honors thee as thy labors deserve. But we beseech by thy God whom thou hast loved from thy youth, fill thy holy mouth with blessing and bless thy disciples, because thy perfection knoweth how we honor and worship thy righteousness." So he blessed them, and admonished and commanded them that they should tell no one about this incense. For the Saint himself knew that in very deed it was a divine providence.
On the fourth day of the week, in the second of the month Elul, at the ninth hour, as all his disciples were present with him, he gave command to those two about their companions and committed them all to our Lord. Then he stood up erect, and three times bowed, and again raised himself up, and gazed heavenward, and turned about and looked on all the world. Then all the people who were there cried out, "Bless us, Master." Again he gazed eastward and westward and on every side, then raised his hand from the inside of his cloak and blessed them, thrice committing them to our Lord. As his disciples stood and kept hold of him, as sons a father good and kind, again they said to him, "Master, bless thy servants, we beseech by thy Lord, who has done thy will and is taking thee to himself (p. 632) as thou didst ask him." Thereupon he grasped the hands of both of them and commanded them about one another, that they love one another. He commanded them also about their companions. Then raising his hands to Heaven he committed them to our Lord. Then again he lifted his eyes to Heaven and smote three times upon his heart with his right hand, and bowed and put his head on the shoulder of that first disciple. And the two disciples put their hands upon his eyes, and he surrendered his spirit to his Lord. So he fell asleep, and the labor and weariness and pain were over, when he put his head on the shoulder of that disciple, while they put their hands upon his eyes, and all the people stood and looked at him.
But his disciples, because they feared the people, lest the village should gather and come to snatch him away and there should be bloodshed and murder, made him a coffin and put |191 him in it on the top of the pillar, until they might secure for it a place of honor. Suddenly this was reported, and the rumor went out and spread in all the world. And astonishment and consternation seized everybody, and amazement fell upon all flesh, because so suddenly they heard this which they had not expected. Everybody's mind fell into blank confusion, their brains grew numb and hands feeble, and mourning and grief fell upon many. There were some, indeed, who mourned and sorrowed, and some again who rejoiced and gave thanks. So that rejoicing was mingled with sadness, consolation with mourning, and cheerfulness (p. 633) with gloom. For some wept and were depressed; and others, again, lifted their hands to heaven, and to God Almighty gave thanks and blessings, that this report and the good news of the coronation of Christ's servant had reached their ears.
This event was one of sadness and of joy; of mourning mid of consolation. For it was sad, that such a wise pilot who steered his worldly ship with divine wisdom was taken away from the world. But it was a matter of rejoicing, that the fleshly ship of the watchful mariner had entered and arrived at the port of bliss, laden with a rich cargo, and he had escaped the billows which continually buffeted him. Ceased now the tempests with winds and hurricanes, which had battled with him and against him. His gain in trade was an abiding possession, and his Lord he gladdened with his profits. On the other hand, it was an occasion for lamentation, my brethren, because such a wise master-builder, laden with the petition of the weight of the creation, had been taken away from the world. For like beams in an edifice, his prayers held firm the world. On the other hand, it was matter for cheer, because his Master had stretched out the hand of relief and given him strength and endurance. He began in His Name, and finished in His Goodness. His building went up to the finish and was not shaken by the winds and rain and flood of sin, which throughout forty-seven years surged against it with every sort of trial. Again it was a matter of tears and sorrow, because such a spiritual father, who nourished and (p. 634) brought up his children with heavenly nourishment, had departed from their midst. Again it was a matter of gladness, that even if he did leave his children orphans in the flesh, yet he like a heavenly eagle soared upward in flight and |192 mounted to the craggy eyrie on high, leaving behind all fears and ascending from all harms. Again, the orphans and. widows wept with tears and sighs, saying, "Where shall we seek or where find thee, who sustained and nourished us next to his Lord?" The oppressed remembered and feared, and the downtrodden were disquieted, being depressed and troubled, saying, "Woe to us, because now is opened against us the mouth of ravening and voracious wolves. And whom shall we call to awake him, the strong lion, who slumbers and lies in the death-sleep, from whose roaring they trembled, and from whose terrible voice they hid themselves like foxes in their holes?" The sufferers, too, bewailing him said, "Whither shall we go, or where seek and find a healer like thee or comparable to thee and similar to thee? Before the disease saw thee, it fled, and before the pain had come to thee it vanished; and at thy word more than by all roots and drugs they were cured."
The church, moreover, wept for him with her children, priests and their parishes, and shepherds and their nocks, with grief and with joy, with tears and with supplications, with sighs and prayers, with sorrow and cheer. For in grief they sought him who was to them as a quiet harbor and peaceful asylum. For whenever sprang up any sort of evil, which is always a trouble and disturbance of the good, either (p. 635) winds of sin or hurricane of false doctrine, he stood ready boldly, like a wise master-builder, and like a skilful workman, and like a practical pilot, and like a watchful mariner, and like a trained athlete, and like an instructed scribe, and like an armed warrior clad with the breastplate of righteousness and nerved mightily with the true faith and strengthened spiritually with trust in his Lord. He soared in prayer, and fled for refuge with courage; he raised his eyes to heaven and lifted up his gaze on high, and asked mercy from his Lord, and sought grace and help from his God. He rebuked the winds of sin and they slept, and the whirlwinds of deceit and they became still. For he roared like a lion, and was a smiter of all who stand on the wrong side. They were comforted then and rejoiced, and their gladness was mingled with thanksgiving and blessing. For they rejoiced and blessed God their Lord, who had given to his servant so that he battled and conquered, fought and won, asked and received, sought and found, and knocked and it was opened to him. He began in truth and finished in |193 righteousness. The horn of the holy church was exalted, and all her sons rejoiced with their priests, and their folds with their flocks. All the teachers of false doctrines were ashamed and confounded, who saw one thing instead of another. They were in distress then, and troubled lest at any time a root of evil should produce a plant of bitterness like unto it, and with the taste (p. 636) of its bitterness should harm and injure many. Then where should we find a healer or a burden-bearer like him or equal to him, who before the ulcer appeared cured it, or before the disease or affliction came, healed it by his prayers?
For there was once a tempest of sin and a storm of evil against the Church of Christ, through a certain evil and wicked man, whose name was Asclepiades, an uncle of the empress. He was chief procurator in the days of Theodosius the emperor; and in the days of John, Bishop of Antioch. The mind of this evil man consented with that of heathen and Jews; but he hated the Christians. He sent out an edict that their synagogues and meeting houses which the Christians had taken from the Jews should be returned to them, and that the Christians should build and purchase some for themselves. And the edict of the king and command of the prefect in regard to this was promulgated in many cities and was read to everyone. Then there was great grief and disappointment among all the Christians, especially because they saw the Jews and heathen clothed in white and appearing glad and merry. But they did not know nor understand, the fools, that quickly sadness and regret would overtake them, and it would be in their case as it was in the days of our Lord, when their fathers and priests lost their money but did not bury the truth. So also now again (p. 637) it happened to them, that the great amount of money they had given they lost, and they became a laughing-stock in the world, while their Sabbaths and synagogues remained deserted in their desolation.
For there came to the blessed Saint Simeon bishops grieved and sorrowing, who told him this; also copies of the letters of the king and prefect they brought with them. And when they read them before the Saint, he was grieved and burned with zeal for his Lord like a flaming fire. And he took a courageous stand and boldly wrote words of might filled with rebuke. He did not call Theodosius "Emperor", but he wrote |194 to him thus: "Since thy heart is exalted and thou hast forgotten the Lord thy God who gave thee the diadem of honor and a royal throne, and thou hast become friend and confederate and abettor of unbelieving Jews, God's just judgment will suddenly overtake thee and all those who are consenting to this business. Then thou wilt lift up thy hands to heaven and say in thy distress, 'In truth, this wrath has come upon me because I played false to the Lord God.'"