Religious History 8

That the nature of all human beings is one, and that it is easy for those who wish to practice philosophy, whether they be Greeks or barbarians, can readily be learned from many other sources; but Aphrahat alone is enough to show it clearly. For though he was born and brought up among the Persians, the most lawless of peoples, sprang from such parents and was educated in their customs, he attained such virtue as to outshine even those born of devout parents and given a devout upbringing from childhood. First he despised his family (which was distinguished and illustrious) and ran to worship the Master, imitating his forefathers the Magi. Then he preferred … to the things of his own country, and coming to Edessa (this is a very large and populous city, especially distinguished for true religion), he found a little dwelling outside the walls, shut himself in, and took care of his own soul, like an excellent farmer cutting out by the roots the thorns of the passions, cleansing the divine crop, and offering to the Master the ripe fruits of the gospel seeds. From there he came to Antioch, which was grievously surrounded by the storm of heresy; and lodging in a certain [school] of philosophy before the city, and having learned a few little phrases of the Greek tongue, he drew as many as possible to the hearing of the divine oracles. [Using] a half-barbarian tongue, he brought forth the birth-pangs of his mind, receiving such streams from the grace of the divine Spirit. For which of those who pride themselves on eloquence, knit their brows, speak pompously and swagger with the snares of syllogisms ever got the better of that uneducated and barbarian voice? He combated reasonings with reasonings, and the arguments of the philosophers with the divine oracles, crying out with the great Paul: “Even if I am unskilled in speech, yet not in [knowledge].” And he always continued in this manner, according to the apostolic saying: “Destroying arguments and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” One could see running together those in office and rank, those enrolled in military service, those who live by their hands, and, in short, both the unlearned and those [practiced in] speech and those uninitiated in letters, those who lived in poverty and those abounding in wealth; some receiving in silence what was offered, others asking questions, [objecting], and giving occasion for discourse. Though he had taken up such labor, he never consented to have anyone living with him, but preferred to serve himself rather than to be served by others. He held his conversations at the outer door, and himself opened it to those who came in, and … those who went out. Neither bread nor relish nor a garment [did he accept from anyone], but one of his acquaintances alone supplied him with bread; and when he reached deep old age, he also took vegetables after sunset. … [Anthemius], who later became [prefect] and consul, when, having been appointed ambassador, he had completed his journey to Persia, brought him a tunic woven among the Persians and said: “Father, knowing that his own homeland is sweet to every man, and the fruits that grow there sweetest, I have brought you this tunic from your homeland, and I beg you to take it and to let me receive your blessing in return.” First he told him to put it on the bench; then, after some other conversation, he said he was disheartened, his mind being divided in two. When Anthemius asked the reason, he said: “I have always chosen to have one companion, and I have laid down a law for myself [not to have more] … . A fellow countryman of mine has come, wishing to live with me and asking to be allowed to. This divides my mind; for I will not put up with having two at once. I welcome the countryman as a countryman, but to drive out the first, who has become dear to me, I consider both painful and unjust.” Anthemius said: “Rightly, Father; for it would not be holy to send away as unsuitable one who has served you for a very long time, and to receive one who has not yet given proof of his ways only because of his country.” To this the divine Aphrahat said: “Then, admirable man, I shall not take this tunic; for I will not put up with having two, and the one who has served me so long is sweeter by my verdict and better by yours.” Having thus outwitted Anthemius and made him marvel at his shrewdness, he persuaded him to say nothing more to him about that tunic. I have gone through this wishing to show two things at once: that he received from one man only the care sufficient for the body, and that he was so full of wisdom as to make [the giver approve] his refusal.

But leaving such things aside, I shall relate greater ones. When Julian, the hater of God, had paid the penalty of his impiety in the barbarian land, the nurslings of true religion enjoyed a little calm, when Jovian received the helm of Roman rule. But when he too, after reigning a very short time, received the end of his life, and Valens took over the rule of the East, hurricanes and squalls again stirred up our sea, and a grievous surge arose. The lack of pilots made the storm more grievous; for … these … . And though he used such lawlessness, he did not reach satiety of impiety, but … [like] a wild [beast], eager to tear the flock to pieces. For this reason … from the foothills, and from the river bank, and from the military exercise ground. For they kept changing all these places, being treated as a mere side-task of the armed force. Scythians and the other barbarians were plundering all Thrace without fear, from the Danube to the Propontis; but he could not even hear of these with ears that stood still, as the saying goes, while he used arms against those of his own race, his subjects, distinguished for true religion. The divine people, [in the midst] of these evils, sang that song: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.” But the rest of the song no longer fitted them; for Aphrahat and Flavian and Diodore did not allow the instruments of teaching to be hung on the willows, nor would they say, “How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?”, but in mountains and plains, in the city and the suburbs, in houses and market-places, they sang the Lord's song continually. For they had learned from David that “The earth is the Lord's and its fullness, the world and all who dwell in it.” They heard the same prophet say again: “Bless the Lord, all his works, in every place of his dominion.” They heard [Paul too say: ‘I wish] the men to pray in every place, lifting up holy hands without anger or quarreling.’ And the Master himself, conversing with the Samaritan woman, foretold this more clearly: “Truly, I tell you, woman, the hour is coming, and now is, when neither in this place nor in Jerusalem, but in every place, they will worship the Father.” Taught this, they continued “testifying publicly and from house to house,” to speak with the apostle, both in house and in market-place, like excellent generals arming their own men and wounding the enemy. That the great Flavian and the divine Diodore, who were then under-shepherds and had been counted worthy of the second seat, did what I have described is admirable and worthy of praise; but they did it as generals set at the front and subject to the laws of generalship. The most wise [Aphrahat] … the contests. For though he had been brought up in quiet and had chosen to live by himself, and sat, as the saying goes, out of range of the darts, when he saw the violence of the war he did not cling to his own safety, but bidding farewell to quiet for a time, he became the front-line fighter of the phalanx of the devout, shooting with his life, his word and his wonders, but never being hit.

Once the emperor, who was utterly foolish, saw him going out to the military exercise ground (for the devout [were meeting] there at that time). Someone pointed him out to the emperor, who was looking down from the palace as he walked along the river bank, and the emperor asked where he was hurrying. When he said that he was going to make prayers for the world and the empire, the emperor answered: “And why, when you profess the solitary life, do you leave your quiet and walk boldly through the city?” He replied (for he was accustomed, imitating the Master, to reason in parables): “Tell me, emperor: if I were a girl hidden in some chamber, and saw someone setting fire to my father's house, what would you have advised me to do when I saw the flame kindled and the house [burning]? [To sit still] and overlook the house? But then I too would have been consumed in the fire. If you say that I ought to run, fetch water, rush up and down, and put out the flame, do not blame me, emperor, for doing this very thing. For what you would have advised [the girl], that I am doing, though I have professed the solitary life. If you blame me for leaving my quiet, blame yourself, who have thrown the flame into the divine house, and not me, who am struggling to put it out. For that one must help one's father's house when it is burning, you yourself have agreed; and that God is more truly our Father than fathers on earth is plain to everyone, even to one wholly uninitiated in divine things. So we are doing nothing beside the point, nor contrary to our original purpose, emperor, when we gather and pasture the nurslings of true religion and offer them the divine fodder.” When this was said, the emperor assented, convinced by the justice of the defense. But one of those who belong neither to men nor to women, but have been deprived of becoming fathers in time, and for this reason are thought to be loyal to the emperor and get their name from this, railed at the divine man from above and threatened him with death. But not long after he paid the penalty for his boldness. For when the emperor wished to refresh his body in the bath, the wretched man went ahead to see whether the tub was well mixed; but, deranged in mind, he leaped into the one that received the unmixed hot water; and no one being inside (for he [had gone in] alone to see whether the bath … ) … . After some time had passed, the emperor sent another to call him; finding him in none of the rooms, he reported to the emperor. [All then] searched, and finally coming to that tub, saw him lying there deprived of life. There was an uproar and all lamented; some drew off that hot water, others lifted out the thrice-wretched body. From this fear fell upon the emperor and all who were arming themselves against true religion. A report echoed through the whole city of the penalty that wretched man had paid for his drunken insolence against Aphrahat, and all continued [admiring] Aphrahat and singing hymns to God. This prevented the man of God from being banished, as the opponents were pressing for it. For the emperor, terrified, turned away from those who were urging this, and held the man in respect.

He learned of his virtue from another source too. One of the emperor's horses, of good breeding and well trained to carry, was very dear to the emperor. Some affliction struck it: the passing of its urine was held back. Those practiced in this art were called in for its treatment; but when this too failed, the emperor was grieved and the man entrusted with the care of the horses lamented. Being devout and strong in faith, he came at midday with the horse to the dwelling of the great Aphrahat, told of the affliction, showed his faith, and begged him to loose the disease by prayer. He did not delay, but besought God at once, ordered water to be drawn from the well, placed on it the sign of the saving cross, and ordered it to be given to the horse. The horse, contrary to its habit, drank. Then, filling oil with blessing by the divine invocation, he anointed the horse's belly; and at the touch of his hand the affliction was at once loosed, and immediately the passing of urine took place naturally. The man, rejoicing, took the horse and [returned] to the stable. Late in the evening (for at this time the emperor used to visit the stable) he came and asked how the horse was. When the groom indicated its recovery and led out the horse, the emperor, seeing it healthy, prancing and neighing and proudly arching its neck, asked the reason for its recovery. After putting off telling him many times (for he was afraid, knowing … ), the groom was at last compelled to tell the truth, and told him the manner of the cure. The emperor was astounded and agreed that the man was admirable. Yet he was not freed from his former madness, but went on raging against the Only-begotten until … , counted worthy of [the same] as servants or beggars. The divine Aphrahat showed his virtue in that storm, and when calm came he continued doing the same.

He worked countless other wonders, of which I shall mention one or two. A woman of noble family, who drew the yoke of marriage with a dissolute husband, came to that blessed man lamenting her misfortune. For she said that her husband [was attached] to a concubine [by sorcery] and was hostile to her, who had been joined to him by the law of marriage. The woman said this standing before the door; for this was how he used to converse with the female sex, and he never admitted any woman inside the door. Pitying the woman as she lamented, he weakened the force of the sorcery by prayer, and [blessing] a little flask of oil that she offered, ordered [her to anoint her body] with it. The woman carried out these instructions, transferred her husband's love to herself, and persuaded him to prefer the lawful bed to the unlawful one. They say also that once, when locusts suddenly fell upon the land and like fire consumed everything, crops, plants, marshes, groves and meadows, a devout man came to him, begging him to help, who had one field, from which he fed himself, his wife, his children and his household, and paid besides the imperial tax. Again, [imitating] the Master's [love for humankind, he] ordered [water] to be brought. When the man who had come to ask for the prayer brought the jug, he put his hand on it and besought God to fill the water with divine power. Then, having finished the prayer, he charged him to sprinkle the water on the boundaries of the place. The man who took it did as he was ordered, and it became for those fields an unassailable and inviolable defense. For when the locusts reached the boundaries … , they turned back again, fearing the blessing that had been placed there, as if throttled by a bridle and prevented from going forward. And what need is there to tell all that was done by that blessed soul? These are enough to show the splendor of the grace that dwelt in him. I too was a spectator of him and gathered the blessing of that holy right hand, being still a youth, having shared my mother's journey to the man. Opening the door a little, as was his custom, he counted her worthy of conversation and blessing; but me he received inside and gave me a share of the wealth of his prayer. May I enjoy it now too, for I believe that he lives, dances with the angels, and enjoys greater freedom of speech with God than before. For then it was measured by the mortality of the body, so that greater freedom of speech might not become an occasion of folly; but now, having laid aside the burden of the passions, he speaks freely to the president of the games as a victorious athlete. For this reason I beg to obtain his intercession too.