History of the Monks in Egypt 8–10

I did not think I should leave out what we heard about a certain holy man named Ammon, whose place where he had lived we also saw in the desert. When we had left blessed Apollonius and were going on toward the part of the desert facing south, we saw in the sand the tracks of a huge dragon’s trail, whose size appeared so great that it looked as if a beam had been dragged through the sand. When we saw it, we were struck with great terror. But the brothers who were guiding us urged us to fear nothing at all, but rather to take courage and follow the dragon by its track. “For you will see,” they said, “how much faith can do, when you see it destroyed by us. For we have killed with our hands many dragons and snakes and horned vipers; for so we read it written, that the Saviour grants to those who believe in him to tread on serpents and scorpions and on all the power of the enemy.” But while they said this, we, through the frailty of unbelief, were more and more afraid, and begged them not to follow the dragon’s tracks but rather that we should go by the straight road. Yet one of them, impatient in his eagerness, went after the dragon. And when he had found its cave not far off, he called to us to come to him and see the outcome of the matter. But one of the brothers who lived in the nearby desert met us and forbade us to follow the dragon, saying that we could not even bear the sight of it, especially since we were not accustomed to seeing anything of the kind; he said that he himself had often seen the beast, of incredible size, fifteen cubits in length. When he had dissuaded us from going to the place, he himself hurried off and drew away the brother who was waiting there for us ready to kill the beast, called him back with him, and by much entreaty turned him, though he did not wish to go away unless he killed it. When he came to us, he rebuked our cowardice and unbelief.

Arriving at his cell, we were received by him with much love and rested. He told us that in the place where he himself lived there had been a holy man, whose disciple he was, named Ammon, through whom the Lord had done very many mighty works. Among other things he told this of him. “Robbers,” he said, “often came to him, taking away the bread on which alone he lived, and anything that seemed to be laid by for his very frugal food. When he often suffered this trouble from them, one day he went out into the desert, and coming back from there he ordered two huge dragons to accompany him, and commanded them to stay at the door of his monastery and guard the entrance. The robbers came as usual, seeing who were the guards on the threshold; and when they saw the dragons, they became lifeless and out of their minds, were struck dumb, and at once fell down. When the old man perceived it, he came out and found them half dead; and going up and raising them, he rebuked them, saying: ‘You see how much harder you are than beasts. For they obey us for God’s sake, but you neither fear God nor are ashamed to disturb the life of God’s servants.’ Nevertheless, bringing them into his cell, he set a table for them and ordered them to take food. They, pricked to the heart and converted from all the savagery of their mind, in a short time became better than many who had begun to serve the Lord before them. For they advanced so far through repentance that not long afterwards they themselves also did the same signs and the same mighty works.

“At another time, when a very savage dragon was laying waste the neighbouring regions and killing very many, the inhabitants of that place came to the father mentioned above, begging him to destroy the beast from their regions. At the same time, to move the old man to pity, they brought with them a boy, a shepherd’s son, who from the mere sight of the dragon had been terrified out of his mind and, from the mere breath of the beast, was being carried lifeless and swollen. Then he anointed the boy with oil and restored him to health. But urging himself to the killing of the dragon, he would promise them nothing for the time being, as one who could not help them. Rising early, he went to the beast’s paths and fixed his knees on the ground, praying to the Lord. Then the beast began to come on him with a great rush, sending ahead most foul blasts and hissing and shrieking. But he, fearing none of these things, turned to the dragon and said: ‘May Christ the Son of God destroy you, who is going to destroy the great sea monster.’ And when the old man had said this, at once the most dreadful dragon, vomiting out all its venom together with its breath, burst asunder in the middle. When the neighbouring inhabitants had gathered and were astonished at the miracle that had been done, unable to bear the violence of the stench, they heaped huge masses of sand over it, while father Ammon stood by there; for not even so, when the beast was dead, did they dare to approach it without him.”

There was a certain presbyter named Copres, who had a monastery in that same desert, a holy man about eighty years old, who himself did many mighty works, curing sicknesses and effecting healings, and also putting demons to flight and doing many wonderful things; some of them he did even in our presence. When he had seen us and greeted us with a kiss, and after prayer had also washed our feet according to custom, he asked us what was happening in the world. But we begged him rather to tell us something of his own deeds, and to explain by what acts, or by what merits, the Lord had given him so great a grace. He did not refuse, and began to tell us the course of his own life and of his predecessors, who, he declared, had been far more illustrious, and he said that he barely followed their examples in small things.

He said, then: “There is nothing great, little children, that you see in us, in comparison with the holy fathers. For there was before us a most renowned man named Patermuthius. He was the first monk in this place, and the first to show the way of salvation to all of us in this whole desert. He was at first a Gentile, the greatest of robbers and a violator of tombs, and most notorious in all crimes; and the occasion of salvation came to him in this way. One night he went to the house of a certain virgin consecrated to God in order to plunder it. When he had climbed onto the roof of her house with certain devices that are well known to craftsmen of this kind, seeking by what skill or by what entrance he might creep into her inner rooms, he was entangled in the difficulty of carrying out the deed, and spent most of the night on the roof without any result. After many efforts of mind applied in vain, as if exhausted he was overcome by sleep, and in a vision he saw standing by him someone in royal dress, saying: ‘Cease now from these crimes, stop the shedding of human blood, and turn your watches from accursed thefts to religious labour; take up the heavenly and angelic service, and from now on live by the virtues of the soul; and I will make you the leader and chief of this service.’ When he had gladly heard what was offered him, an army of monks was shown him, and he was ordered to hold the rule over them.

“Waking at this, he saw the virgin standing by him and asking who he was, where he had come from, and why he had come there. He, as if out of his mind, gave her no answer, but only asked her to show him the church. She, understanding that there was some work of God in him, led the man to the church and presented him to the presbyters. Throwing himself at their feet, he begged to become a Christian and to be given penance at once. The presbyters, who knew that this man was the chief of all crimes, wondered whether he spoke the truth. And when by his perseverance he had made the matter believed, they warned him that if he wanted these things, he must entirely give up the others. Then, when he had received the beginnings of religion, he begged to be given precepts by which he should walk the way of salvation. They handed him the verses of the first psalm, three in number. When he had considered them carefully, he said they were enough for him for the way of salvation and the knowledge of godliness. Staying with them three days, he set out for the desert, where he remained a very long time, persevering day and night in prayer with tears, and he took food from the roots of herbs. Returning to the church, he rendered back the three verses of the psalm that he had received from the presbyters, not only in words but in deeds and works. The presbyters wondered that, suddenly converted, he at once imposed on himself the sharpest abstinence; and instructing him more fully in the divine Scriptures, they urged him to stay with them. He, so as not to seem disobedient, spent one week with them, and went again to the desert; and living there for seven continuous years in all abstinence, he obtained from the Lord the fullness of grace, so that he held almost all the Scriptures by heart. He took bread only on the Lord’s day, and this brought by God. For when he prayed, on rising from prayer he would find bread set there which no human being had brought. When he had taken it with thanksgiving, it sufficed him until the next Lord’s day.

“After a long time, returning again from the desert, he invited very many by the example of his abstinence to imitate him. Among them a certain young man came to him, wishing to be his disciple. When he had put on him the dress of monks, that is, the lebiton, the hood, and the melote, which is a goatskin, he began to teach him the other institutions of monks. He took great care, whenever any Christian had died, to bury him. When that young man, his disciple, saw him fitting garments to the dead with the utmost diligence, he said to him: ‘I would like you to clothe and bury me too like this when I am dead, master.’ He said: ‘I will do so, my son, and I will clothe you so abundantly that you say, Enough.’ Not long afterwards the young man died, and the word foretold was fulfilled. For when he had wrapped very many garments round him, he said to him before everyone: ‘Are these enough for your burial, little son, or do you want us to add something more?’ Then the dead man uttered a voice in the hearing of all, his face already veiled and his features bound, and said: ‘Enough, father; you have done what you promised.’ Those who were present were astonished and greatly amazed at so wonderful a deed of his. But he, when the young man was buried, at once returned to the desert, avoiding boasting with the greatest zeal.

“At one time he again came from the desert to visit the brothers whom he himself had trained. And since one of them was at the point of death, it was revealed to him by the Lord that he was going to die. The hour was already declining toward evening; so he hurried to be able to see him. But the village where the sick man lay was still a long way off; and not wishing to enter the village by night, and at the same time meditating within himself the Saviour’s word in which he said, ‘Walk while it is still light, lest darkness overtake you,’ and, ‘Whoever walks in the light does not stumble,’ when he saw that the sun was already setting, he said to it: ‘In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, stand still a little on your course and wait for me until I reach the village.’ And though it had already begun to set in part, it stood still, and did not go down until the man of God reached the village. This was made plain to all those who were there. For standing and watching the sun delay in its setting, they all wondered what this meant, that for so many hours the sun did not go down to its setting. Seeing father Patermuthius coming from the desert, they asked him what this sign was that the sun had shown. He answered them: ‘Do you not remember the word of our Lord and Saviour, saying: If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will do greater signs than these?’ And when they understood that the sun had stood still at his faith, they were struck with great fear, and very many of them joined him as disciples and began to follow him. When, then, he had entered the house of that brother for whom he had hurried, and found him already dead, he prayed, went to the bed, kissed him, and said: ‘Which do you desire more, brother: to depart and be with Christ, or to remain in the flesh?’ Then he, his spirit recovered, sat up a little and said to him: ‘Why do you call me back, father? For it is better for me to go back and be with Christ; to remain in the flesh is not necessary for me.’ He said to him: ‘Sleep, then, in peace, my son, and pray for me.’ And at once, lying back on the bed, he fell asleep. Those who were present were astonished, saying: ‘Truly this is a man of God.’ Then he clothed the young man quite fittingly, as was his custom, and spending the whole night awake in psalms and hymns, gave the youth an honourable burial.

“When he had visited another brother lying sick, and saw that he was receiving the rest of death with difficulty and was heavily accused by the fear of his conscience, he said to him: ‘Why are you unprepared for your departure, my son? Your conscience, I see, goes with you as the accuser of your sloth.’ Then he begged him, saying: ‘I beseech you, father, intercede for me with God, that he may grant me a little space of time in which I may amend my life.’ He said to him: ‘Now you ask for a space for repentance, when you have filled the time of your life? What were you doing all this time of your life? Could you not heal your wounds? On the contrary, you were always adding fresh ones.’ When he kept on pleading, the old man said to him: ‘If you add no more evils to your evils, we will pray God for you. For he is good and patient, and will grant you a little time of life, so that you may pay all your debts.’ And when after this he had prayed to God, rising from prayer he said to him: ‘See, the Lord has granted you three years in this life, provided only that you turn to repentance from the heart.’ And taking his hand, he raised him from the bed. He rose and without any delay followed him into the desert. And when the three years were completed, he afterwards brought him back to the place from which he had taken him, presenting him to God no longer as a man but as an angel made from a man, so that all wondered at his conversion. When very many brothers had gathered to him, he set him in the middle, and taking his subject from him, he drew out to the brothers through the whole night teaching on the fruits of repentance and on his conversion. While he himself was speaking, that brother began as it were to doze a little, and at once fell asleep for ever. Then, having prayed over him and completed according to custom all that belongs to burial, he went off in haste to the desert.

“Often too he crossed on foot this huge river Nile, with the water up to his knees. At another time, when the doors were shut and the brothers were sitting in the upper rooms, he came in to them; and often he was carried within a moment of time to whatever place he wished, though it was far away. For at the very first time of his conversion, when he was in the desert and had fasted a week, they say that a man met him in the desert with loaves and water, who urged him to take the food that had been destined for him from heaven. At another time too a demon stood by him and showed him very many treasures of gold buried under the earth, which he said had been Pharaoh’s. Patermuthius is said to have answered him: ‘Your money go with you to ruin and perdition.’ These, then, and very many like them the Lord did through him. But there were nonetheless many other fathers before us, of whose presence the world was not worthy, doing heavenly signs and wonders. Why then do you wonder if we little men do little things, curing the lame and the blind, which doctors too can do by their art?”

While old Copres was telling us this, one of our brothers, as if from disbelief in what was being said, began to be bored, and from boredom to doze. And when he was overcome by sleep, he saw in a vision a book written in golden letters in the hands of the old man Copres, from which his narrative seemed to be drawn, and a man of most splendid appearance standing by, venerable with white hair, saying to him with a great threat: “Why do you not listen attentively to what is being recited, but doze in unbelief?” He woke up troubled, and at once told us privately in the Latin language what he had seen.

Meanwhile we saw that a countryman had come to the old man’s door, holding a vessel full of sand and waiting until the old man finished the discourse of his narrative. Seeing him, then, we asked the presbyter what that countryman meant, standing and holding sand in a vessel. The old man answered us, saying: “I ought not, little children, to reveal this to you, lest we seem to glory in the work of God and the reward of our labour perish; yet for your building up and benefit, since you have come to us by so long a journey, I will not allow even this to be hidden from you, but I will tell the works of the Lord which he deigned to fulfil through us. The land of this region, which is cultivated next to us, was very barren and unfruitful, so that, if ever it received seed of necessity from those who tilled it, it barely returned it double. For certain worms were born in the very stalks of the shoots and cut down the rising crop. The farmers of that place were Gentiles. When we had taught them to believe in God and to receive the faith of Christ, having now become Christians they came to us, asking us to pray the Lord for their crops. And when we told them that we would indeed pray, but that their own faith was required before God, which might deserve to receive this, they filled their laps with this sand that we tread on and offered it to us, asking us to bless it in the name of the Lord. And I said to them: ‘According to your faith be it done to you.’ Then they took the sand with them, mixed it with the seed they were going to sow, and scattered it over their fields; and they gathered so great a harvest as no land of Egypt anywhere could gather. Since then, therefore, it is their custom to come to us twice each year and to expect the same from us.

“Nor will I hide from you this which the Lord granted me to the glory of his name. I had once gone down to the city and found there a certain man, a teacher of the Manichees, leading the people astray. I had a contest of words with him. But because he was very crafty and I could not refute him in words, fearing that the crowds of hearers would be harmed if he went away as if superior in words, I said in the hearing of the crowds: ‘Light a great fire in the middle of the square, and let us both enter the flame; whichever of us is not burned by it, let his faith be believed to be true.’ When I had said this, it greatly pleased the people, and at once a great fire was lit. Then I took hold of him and began to drag him with me to the fire. And he said: ‘Not so; but let each of us go in singly; and you ought to go in first, since you proposed this.’ And I, signing myself in the name of Christ, entered the midst of the flames; and the flame began to scatter this way and that and to flee from me entirely. I stood in the midst of the fire for about half an hour, and in the name of the Lord I was not harmed at all. The people, seeing it, cried out with great admiration and blessed God, saying: ‘God is wonderful in his saints.’ They also began to press the Manichee to go into the fire; but he began to resist and draw back. Then the crowds seized him and threw him into the midst of the fire, and at once the flame surrounded him and burned him and left him half burned. The people threw him out of the city in disgrace, shouting and saying: ‘Burn alive, deceiver!’ But they took me with them, blessing the Lord, and brought me to the church.

“At another time, as I was passing by a certain temple, I saw Gentiles sacrificing there, and I said to them: ‘Why do you, being rational men, sacrifice to dumb and senseless images? Are you not much more without sense than those to whom you sacrifice?’ At this word the Lord opened their understanding, and leaving the error they practised, they followed me and believed in our Saviour God.

“I once had a little garden near the monastery, in which we cultivated vegetables for the brothers who arrived. A certain Gentile came in by night and stole the vegetables. When he had carried them to his house, he put them on the fire to cook. And when for three continuous hours, with a great fire heaped up, they could neither boil, nor soften, nor become warm in any degree, but remained with the same greenness with which they had been put in, and not even the water itself could be warmed even slightly, the man who had stolen them came to himself, snatched the vegetables back from the hearth and brought them back to us, and prostrating himself before our feet began to ask that he might obtain pardon for his sin and become a Christian; which he also obtained. It happened that on the same day a great number of brothers came to us as guests, for whom those very vegetables were opportunely prepared. Giving thanks, then, to the Lord for his wonders, we had a double joy, both for the man’s salvation and for the divine benefits.”

He also added this: “Abba Syrus, and Isaiah, and Paul once met one another on the bank of the river. These were righteous men, of the utmost abstinence and of all devotion. They were going to visit a certain man named Anuph; the monastery to which they were going was three stages away. When, then, they wished to cross the river and there was no means of crossing, they said among themselves: ‘Let us ask the Lord for grace, that our journey of good work may not be hindered.’ And turning to abba Syrus they said: ‘You especially, ask the Lord; for we know that you are heard, because he will grant you what you ask.’ He urged them also to kneel with him, and in prayer he threw himself on his face before the Lord. And when, the prayer completed, they rose, behold, they saw a boat put in at the bank of the river, ready and equipped for the journey they were to make. Boarding it, they began to be carried against the current of the river so swiftly that within one hour they completed the distance of the whole journey, which they were to make in three days. When they had come to land, Isaiah said: ‘The Lord has shown me that the man to whom we are hurrying is coming to meet us and will open the secrets of each one’s heart.’ But Paul said: ‘The Lord has also shown me that after three days he will bring him out of this world.’ When, then, they had begun to walk from the river along the road that leads to the monastery, and had gone on a little, the man mentioned above, whom they were going to visit, met them, and greeting them said: ‘Blessed be the Lord, who has shown you to me now in the body, and before already in the spirit.’ And then he began to recount the merits each of them had with God, and their acts. Then Paul said: ‘Since the Lord has also shown us that after three days he will take you from this world, we ask you to tell us also of your virtues and acts by which you have pleased the Lord, and not to fear the mark of boasting. For as you are about to depart from this world, leave the memory of your deeds to those who come after, for imitation.’ Then he said: ‘I do not remember having done anything great; yet I have kept this: since I confessed the name of our Saviour in persecution, no lie has come from my mouth after the confession of the truth, nor after the love of heavenly things have I loved anything earthly; and the Lord’s grace has not failed me in these things. For he never let me lack anything earthly, bringing me every food I desired by the ministry of angels. The Lord has hidden from me nothing of what is done on earth; his light has never been lacking to my heart, roused by which I did not seek the sleep of the body, always having the desire to see him. He also made his angel always stand by me, teaching me about each of the powers of the world. The light of my mind has never been extinguished. Everything I asked of the Lord I obtained without delay. He often showed me multitudes of angels standing by him; I saw also the companies of the righteous, the congregations of martyrs, the assemblies of monks and of all the saints, those namely whose work is nothing else than always to praise and bless the Lord in simplicity of heart and faith. I saw on the other hand Satan and his angels handed over to eternal fires, and again the righteous enjoying eternal gladness.’ When he had told them these and many other things like them for three whole days, he gave up his spirit. And at once they saw his soul taken up by angels and carried to heaven, so that they themselves heard the voice of the hymns with which his soul, departing together with the angels, praised the Lord.”