Gregory of Constantinople:
The Life of St. Romylos, died c. 1371
MARK BARTUSIS, KHALIFA BEN NASSER, and ANGELIKI E. LAIOU (New
Brunswick, N.J., U.S.A.):
Days and Deeds of a Hesychast Saint:
A Translation of the Greek Life of Saint Romylos
Byzantine Studies/Etudes Byzantines, 9:1 (1982), 24-47
Introduction, [pp. 24-25]
The Palaeologan period, beset as it was with religious and theological
disputes, produced a number of saints. Most of them were monks,
several practiced the monastic life on Mount Athos, and some reached
high ecclesiastical office, becoming bishops, archbishops or even
patriarchs of Constantinople. Their Lives provide precious
information about the society and the culture of the period; they
are all the more important because they were mostly written by
contemporaries, and provide information which is generally close
to the truth. The discussion of miracles is not, of course, to
be taken literally. But information about the saints' families,
their daybyday lives, their social and cultural milieu
is usually reliable, and therefore precious. [l]
The Life of St. Romylos is of particular interest. [2]
For one thing, the Saint was born in Bulgaria, in Vidin, of a
Greek father and a Bulgarian mother. and his activities took him
to Bulgarian and Greek territories, as well as to Valona in Albania
and to Ravanica in Serbia. His travels thus give us a picture
of the frontier areas of the Byzantine Empire with Bulgaria and
Serbia. Also. his life extends into the second half of the fourteenth
century (he died after 1371), which is particularly poorly documented;
some details can be gleaned to fill out the historical picture
of this period. Thus, we hear about Turkish raids in Thrace after
1346 (#11, 12), and their effects on monastic communities, as
well as about the disorder that befell Macedonia after the battle
of the Marica (#22). We hear, too, of the terrifying raids of
brigands in the area where St. Gregory of Sinai had built his
monastic communities, and of the suppression of brigandage by
Ivan Alexander, tsar of Bulgaria (# 8, 9). [3]
St. Romylos' Life also gives a relatively full discussion
of the difficulties and the details of the life of a hesychast
monk. It describes a cold and harsh winter on the Byzantine-Bulgarian
frontier (#6, 7), the privations to which the monks deliberately
exposed themselves, famine in Mt. Athos and elsewhere (#13). Discipline
to one's master was a primary virtue of hesychast monks and it
is stressed in this text (#5, 6, 8, 9, and 20). Solitary monks
were unproductive; they survived by collecting food, begging for
it, or by receiving an adelphaton from a monastery (# 6,
7, 10, and 13). The monks themselves built their huts or cells
(# 5, 14, and 15); they spent most of their time there, alone,
except on specific days when all the disciples of a master met
together to partake of food and elevating conversation (# 10,
14). Despite all of these privations, they preferred the solitary
life to a cenobitic life, and would only enter a monastery when
external factors-such as enemy invasions-were particularly pressing
(# 11, 21).
Because of the multiple interest presented by the Life of
St. Romylos, it has seemed to us useful to provide an English
translation of the text. We have used, for this purpose, the Greek Vita, although in certain places where there is a lacuna
in the text, we have filled it with the concordances with the
Slavic Vita which are provided by P. Devos.[4] We have
incorporated some of Halkin's explanatory notes, indicating this
by adding the word (Halkin) at the end of the footnote.
Notes:
1. On this se .Angeliki E. Laiou. "Saints and Society in
the Late Byz;lntine Empire' in idem. ed. Charanis Studies.
Essays in Honor of Peter Charanis, (New Brunswick,
N.J .: Rutgers Univ. Press, 1980).
2 This translation of the saint's Greek life was done by
Mark Bartusis and Khalita Ben Nasser in a graduate seminar under
the direction ot Angeliki E. Laiou. at Rutgers L niversitv in
197778
3. 1. Pomialovskii, [RUSSIAN TEXT] (1896), 36,7, 4041
4. The Greek Vita is published by F. Halkin, "Un ermite des
Balkans au XlVe siecle. La vie grecque inedite de St. Romylos," Byzantion, 31(1961), 11645; see also 1. Dujcev "Un
fragment de la vie de St. Romile," Byzantinoslavica, 7
(1937/38), 12427. The Slavic vita may be found in
P. A. Syrku, [RUSSIA TEXT], N° 136 (St. Peterburg
1900). The Greek text is considered to be the original one. See
P. Devos, "La version slave de la vie de St. Romylos," Byzantion, 31(1961),14887.
[HTML Editor's note: In the printed texts footnotes are
at the bottom of each page. In this HTML version, the notes will
follow each "chapter" of the text.]
Life and Partial Story of the Miracles
of
Our Holy Father Romylos, the Modern
1. Nothing is as appropriate nor as worthy of the lovers
of good things as to transmit through writing the achievements
and struggles of saintly men who lived their life in a holy and
Godpleasing manner, and to narrate them so that posterity
may be incited to follow and imitate them. For men, especially
those of us who wish to remain according to the image of God,
and have kept the eye of the soul sound, desire to be familiar
with all praiseworthy and honorable things and desire to acquire
them. It is good to see with the eyes of the soul the struggles
of good men and champions of virtue, and from these struggles
to draw profit. For when the laudable things become visible, they
are shown to be worth seeking, and become desirable, and those
who see them are moved to acquire them. And when the story of
these things is transmitted from those who know to the ears of
the audience, it brings no mean profit. [5]
If the memory of wonderful stories were precise and were to remain
firm, and if forgetfulness were not to obscure it, like a fog,
then it would, I think, have been unnecessary to commit these
things to writing, so as to benefit posterity and ease its way.
But because time destroys, bringing old age and death to the body,
and also destroys great deeds, since it obscures them and darkens
the memory, let no one justly blame us for writing the Godloving
and virtuous life of the holy man, this true teacher of the love
of God and the ardent lover of the heavenly life. And I hope that
those who will look at this story will not disbelieve what I say,
as it is customary for many to do because of envy, or because
they are ignorant of better things. I set myself to this task
not for his (the saint's) sake and glory-for what praise and glory
does he need from us since he has been suitably and justly granted
it by God?-but in order that through this, God the provider of
good things might be glorified, and those who hear these things
might imitate virtue and seek to do similar things, as though
goaded.
It has been said that the narration about those who have been
distinguished in virtue places an incentive of emulation into
the souls of those who hear it, especially in these latest times
when the godly life is disregarded. Furthermore, those who are
nourished by the divine words know well that those who are now
searching out God are worthy of more praise than those in past
times. And this is clear from the words of the Lord which were
said to the great Pachomius. For when the pious man and the greatest
spiritual champion of all, that is, this holy man, wondered before
God and inquired concerning t his spiritual seed and the condition
of the monks thereafter and what shall be the things to come to
future generations, and said,[6] "Remember, O Lord, that
you agreed my spiritual seed will not disappear until the end
of time," he heard from the Lord in addition to other things
this: "Take heart, because the root of your spiritual seed
shall not vanish for eternity, and those future few who shall
remain in those times, because of the great fog of indifference
of the times, will be found to be greater than those living the
good life now, since these now have you as a luminary before their
eyes and conduct themselves virtuously, relying upon your light.
But if the future ones, who happen to live in a dry place, of
their own will and with no one guiding them toward the truth,
turn away from the wickedness of deceit and acquire justice, truly
I say unto you that they shall be found among those who now live
the good and faultless life, and will enjoy the same salvation
as they." I say this as a digression in order to show this
holy man's love of God which will also be shown from his many
other deeds and struggles for God, as the story proceeding in
order will show most clearly. Let us begin.
Notes:
5. There is a lacuna of about fourteen lines in the Greek manuscript.
The translation follows the reconstruction of the text as made
by Devos, "Version slave," pp. 16061.
6. F . Halkin, ed. Sancti Pachomii vitae Graecae, Subsidia
Hagiographica, 19 (Bruxelles: Soc. des Bollandistes, 1932), p.
308, 1. 1820. (Hereafter, Halkin.)
2. According to custom we must make known the country which
bore him and the earthly parents who gave birth to Romylos, among
ascetics a wonderful and true servant of God. The famous city
of Vidin [7] bore him and both his parents were pious and Godfearing.
They could not boast of much wealth, but had enough so that their
need for selfsufficiency lacked nothing and so that they
could distribute to the poor. And while his father was of Roman
stock, his mother came from among the Bulgarians. From this blessed
pair was born this good child, Raikos, [8] who God knew would
shine in virtue. For thus was the name by which, from the time
of his baptism, he was called by his parents. And they raised
him in accordance with the teaching and admonition of the Lord.
With the passage of time, the grace of the Holy Spirit within
him appeared along with his bodily growth in both the questions
and answers he gave with persuasive and holy words in his conversations
with men.
And because it was necessary that this good child should not lack
an education in sacred letters, his parents gave him to a teacher
for instruction. Obeying the teacher as is proper, he outdistanced
all the other children with him, and in a very short time. But
more than this, he admonished them to abstain from the usual children's
games and foolish pursuits, since folly follows youth and folly
leads to ruin: "You must therefore, dear friends, sit quietly
in your rooms and with both sobriety and diligence be constantly
busy with your lessons and study." And from this, there came
to him unusual praise. For this oldyoung [9] boy Raikos
was admired not only by his peers and classmates, but even by
their teacher himself due to his premature understanding and piety,
and even by many of the inhabitants of that city, who were always
speaking of the child's sagacity and wisdom. But his parents who,
as parents, were more interested in material things and who had
no foreknowledge of the youth's love of God nor of how much divine
love he had within his heart, were planning to marry him to a
woman. They declared their decision to him by a word. But he didn't
want to hear the word; in fact he didn't even want to hear the
sound of their voices, since he was thinking of abandoning the
tumult of the world and of joining the monastic life. For how
could they persuade this lover of chastity, strengthened by grace,
to abandon his love of God?
Notes:
7. The fragment published by Dujcev specifies Vidin on the Danube,
at the northwest extremity of Bulgaria. See also Devos, "Version
slave," p. 161. The place names have been discussed by Syrku;
the reader should consult his introduction. (Halkin)
8. According to the Slavic Vita of Saint Romylos, his baptismal
name was Rousko. (Halkin)
9. The child who already has the wisdom of an old man; a hagiographic
theme which may be found, for example, in the Vita of St
Stephen Sabaites. See G. Garitte, in Analecta Bollandiana,
77 (1959), 350, n. 2. (Halkin)
3. His parents, as was said, were planning, as parents
do, to bend him even unwillingly to their own will. When this
man, who desired with his entire soul the nonperishable
and eternal things, heard of their plan, he secretly stole away~frorn
his country and came to Zagora. [10] He entered the fortified
town called Trinovon [11] in this same province, and made his
home in one of the monasteries there, the one called "of
the Mother of God Hodegetria (who Leads the Way). As is the custom,
the superior of the monastery asked, "Where are you from,
my son, and how is it you have come here?" And having explained
the whole story about himself to the superior, he further said,
"I have come here wishing to become a monk." The superior
received him gladly, tonsured him and changed his name to Romanos.[12]
After listening attentively and understanding from a little conversation
the future total obedience and piety of the youth, he at once
allowed him to serve in the church. The youth served for some
years well and as is proper, so that the superior was happy to
see how the youth worked day by day for the propriety of the church.
He was also pleased with his good morals and humility, for this
saintly man was truly humble in appearance, in habits, and in
way of life, above all others. And those who have seen him from
the first [13] will testify with me in this, that on sight alone
sensible men could see the humility dwelling within his soul.
His humility, as was said, had reached the highest point. As for
his love of his neighbor, did he lack it? Or did he have it only
in part? Indeed not. For who more than he has achieved it entirely
and has been able to transmit it, both in earthly and in spiritual
things? Who more than he provided abundantly the things necessary
for the sustenance of the body, as if rejoicing more in giving
than in receiving, while often living in straitened circumstances,
deprived of the very essentials? As for the kind of man he was
in terms of his admonition and advice to his fellow disciples
and especially to novices, words are entirely unable to express
it, for in his compassion he imitated God: It is not possible
to speak of the extent of his contrition nor of his many tears,
nor is it possible to compare him to anyone else on earth in this.
In him was fulfilled the saying of the prophet: "Every night
make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.'' [14]
And also: "My tears have been my t meat day and night.''
[15] But let us return to the matter at hand.
Notes:
10. The toponymic Zagora, "beyond the mountains, on the mountains,"
is very common in the Balkans: see St. P. Kyriakidis, Buzantini
Meletai, 7 parts (Thessaloniki, 193350), IIV,
264. The Zagora mentioned here is so close to Turnovo that the
monastery of the Hodegetria of Turnovo, which is mentioned in
the Vita, is placed in Zagora (par. 4). According to par. 8, Zagora
was a region rather than a specific place. (Halkin)
11. Turnovo, the capital of the second Bulgarian Empire. The monastery
of the Hodegetria is also mentioned in the Vita of Saint
Theodosius of Trnovo, another disciple of Gregory of Sinai: see
E. Turdeanu, La literature bulgare du XIVe siecle et sa diffusion
dans les pays roumains (Paris: Imprimerie nationale, 1947),
p. 34. (Halkin)
12. According to usage, the religious name has the same initial
as the baptismal name: see Analecta Bollandiana, 54 (1936),
69, n. 2, and infra, par. 12 (Halkin)
13. The author appeals to the testimony of those who had known
the saint when he began his monastic life, that is, around the
years 133540. Therefore, he composed his narrative before
the end of the fourteenth century. (Halkin)
14. Ps. 6: 6 (all biblical quotations follow the Authorized
Version).
15. Ps. 41 (42): 3.
4 While the superior rejoiced and was delighted with Romanos'
obedience, zeal and propriety, in his mind Romanos pined away,
desiring that he might again abandon the tumult of the world,
and that he might live in a a deserted place far from men, like
the turtledove which loves solitude. He had learned about
Paroria [16] where a monastery was being built by a great man
before God, Gregory of Sinai,[17] who brought souls to God each
day by the music of his words and the example of his life. Romanos
was engrossed in planning a departure and wished he had wings
so that he could fly through the air and get there as quickly
as possible. So great a yearning did word of that holy man inspire
in him, as I have heard him relate.
From that time on then, while Zagora held his body, the wilderness
of Paroria possessed his soul. Just as the thirstiest deer seeks
the fountainhead he thirsted, and he asked God that he might go
to Paroria. But the superior's pietv and love did not permit him
because he dearly loved this good Romanos. For a while he was
also hindered because of this, since he did not want to cause
his superior pain. Keeping his thoughts to himself, he grew impatient
and distressed because a persistent concern breaks the heart.[18]
But since his desire to leave grew stronger, and as it could not
be done otherwise, he seized . the opportune moment and explained
his plan of departure to the superior who after listening to it
became very deeply grieved for he wished never to be separated
from him for his whole life. But the superior, having considered
to himself whether this might be according to the will of God,
blessed Romanos and prayed for him, and after giving him many
provisions he allowed him to leave.
Taking along another brother, a companion and fellowinitiate
named Ilarion, he reached the wilderness of Paroria in haste.
Once they had arrived at the monastery of the said holy father,
the Sinaite, they gave the great man the proper devotion. He asked
them where they were from, "and for what purpose have you
come to us?" They explained and made clear everything about
themselves to the great man, and said that they had come to become
his disciples.
Notes:
16. According to its etymology, Paroria should be located on the
frontiers between Bulgaria and the Byzantine Empire. It is difficult
to locate it more precisely, and Bulgarian archaeologists have
proposed different hypotheses: see, among others, G. Aianov in Bulletin de l'Insitut atcheologique bulgare, 13 (1939),
25364; cf. N. Bees in ByzantinischNeugriechische
Jahrbucher, 15 (1939), 18795 (esp. the last page). (Halkin)
17. In his Vita of Saint Gregory of Sinai (Bibliotheca
hagiographica graeca (hereafter, BHG) [Bruxelles: Societe
des Bollandistes, l909] ), Patriarch Callistus of Constantinople
mentions three times the desert of Paroria and the monastery founded
there by the saint: Pomialovskiu, [SLAVIC TEXT]" pp. 35,
39 and 43. (Halkin)
18. Gregory Nazianzenus, in Patrologiae cursus completus, (hereafter, PG), Series Graeca, ed. J. P. Migne, 161 vols. in 166 (Paris:
J. P. Migne, 185766), XXXVI, col. 552C; cf. Devos, "Vie
slave," p. l5l. (Halkin)
5. The great man received them gladly, and knowing the
capacity and intent of each of them through the divine grace within
him, he assigned them the proper duties. While he prescribed the
lighter services in the monastery to the weaker llarion, he assigned
the heavier and more burdensome duties to the strong Romanos.
At that time, this great father was building the above mentioned
monastery. It was then possible to see Romanos, the servant of
obedience, running around in all his duties, sometimes carrying
timber from the mountain, sometimes stones, and sometimes water
from the river below. There were even times when he mixed lime
with water, and many times he helped in the kitchen and bakery.
In a word, he was an able servant in all his duties. He was more
capable than anyone else toward the infirm, so much so that one
could almost say he gave the sick health along with service, and
therefore he was beloved and sought after by all as a result of
his humility and love. They named him Kaloromanos (Romanos the
Good) instead of simply Romanos, exalting his piety and the peace
he felt toward all. This man, brave in body and soul always hurried
to all his duties with the proper disposotion and affection for
that great luminary the Sinaite, the head of the monastery, as
the divine words say, especially as is written in the divine Climax: "As much as faith flourishes in the heart so much will
the body be eager in its duties.: [19] And as is said by St. Mark
the Ascetic "The Lord, he said, lies hidden in His commands;
let him who wishes to find Him carry out His commands, and in
carrying them out he will find Him in the midst of them."
[20] But let the story keep to the thread of the narrative at
hand.
Notes:
19. John Climacus, PG, LXXXVIII, cols. 68081. (Halkin)
20. PG, LXV, col. 928, no. 191. (Halkin)
6. When the building of the monastery had been completed,
the inhabitants of the monastery rested their bodies in their
own cells as is proper, busying themselves with spiritual matters
assigned to each by the superior. Seeing that Kaloromanos was
still stong in body and more so in his soul, the superior, being
wise in divine things and prudent, considered and gave him work
appropriate to the purpose of his becoming a spiritual fighter
and champion. But here we must see the kind of man this holy man
was from the beginning of his monastic life. He was energetic
and pleasing to God in all his labors.
There was a venerable old man there, weak in body but boiling
with a wrathful spirit. Because of this temperament none of those
there was able to either help him or give him rest. Knowing this,
and knowing the good Romanos' everyready assistance towards
the infirm, and that no one else could help the old man as well,
the great shepherd ordered him to serve the infirm man. It was
then possible to see the new Acacius [21] accept nobly all the
harsh words pronounced by that feeble old man, just as somewhere
John of the Climax says in regard to him who truly subjects
himself to another: "Drink sneering and scoffing every day
as if it were living water." [22]
Since the old man had a failing stomach apart from his other frailties
and was able to accept gladly no other nourishment except fish,
what did this good champion do? He learned well the art of fishing-by
night he knit nets, by day he went fishing-and in this way he
brought useful nourishment to the old man During the other seasons
of the year he fished easily and his skill served him well, but
in winter he had a very difficult time, inasmuch as that area
was excessively cold, and the water turned hard as stone by excessive
freezing. The snow often did not melt until the month of April
or even beyond. During that time, those pools of standing water
which the inhabitants call "viroi," [23] having become
utterly frozen by the severe cold, as we have said, did not allow
him to fish as was his habit. Therefore both of them were afflicted
with pain: the old man because he was deprived of fish, and the
good servant in turn for him. Seeing the sick man sorrowing thus,
he suffered along with him, since he was a true servant before
God. He, therefore, pondered with much anxiety what he should
do in order to be able to fish. But behold! he discovered a way,
for necessity breeds invention and leads the mind to many designs.
But it is more probable that God gave him the knowledge to do
this because he pleaded for it. What was it then? My mind grows
dizzy and my hand grows numb and cannot write. My eyes, full of
tears, are amazed at this athlete's endeavor, for he invented
a method that had not been attempted by many or rather, by any
others. Taking a shovel and a hammer he went down, and throwing
the snow here and there with the shovel and crushing the ice with
the hammer and shaking all over with cold, his teeth chattering,
he went into the pool. He disturbed the water below with his feet
and made the fish in it come up from the water unwillingly, and
he at once caught them in a leather sack.[24] He truly invented
a strange and wonderful way of fishing. Was not the pool of this
spiritual athlete like the pond of the Forty Martyrs? [25] And
indeed it was so. If anyone wonders that he did not die the bodily
death that they died, we might reply this, that if he also had
not placed death before his eyes, he would not have gone into
the frozen water, and that is what is meant by laying down one's
life for one's neighbor.
Notes:
21. The edifying story of Acacius, a model of obedience, is narrated
by John Climacus, inPG, LXXXVIII, col. 720. Cf. Synax. Eccl
CP., 27 Nov. (Halkin)
22. John Climacus,PG, LXXXVIII, cols. 701A, 713B, and 724B. (Halkin)
23. In Bulgarian, vir [SLAVIC] means "pool."
24. The word karukion is not found in the dictionaries;
H. Gregoire suggests the reading kOrukion, diminutive of kOrukos, i.e., "a leather sack. a purse." (Halkin)
25. The martyrdom of the Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia, who were
placed on a frozen lake, is described in their Passion, BHG, cols. 120101e. (Halkin)
26. Gregory of Sinai died on 27 November 1346. (Halkin)
7. Once his master, that infirm old man, ordered him to
go and catch fish. He had given him an order to spend a specific
amount of time fishing, but the good fisherman, having success
fishing, extended the appointed time. When Romanos returned, the
old man did not receive him gladly, even though Romanos was carrying
more fish than ever before, but knowing his patient endurance
and the humble disposition of his spirit, heaped as much ridicule
as possible upon him. Thus, while the old man took the fish inside
the cell, he made the fisherman spend the night in the open air.
During that night, a lot of snow came down from heaven since it
was wintertime. It covered this spiritual athlete to such an extent
that he could not be seen. So then in the morning they dug in
the snow and found him half dead; and this, I think, is not lacking
in comparison with his descent into the pool and the coldness
of the ice as we mentioned above. Let us continue our discourse
and discuss everything in order, that those ignorant of it may
know more fully how from the beginning he greatly loved virtue
in all its forms, especially that of subordination to holy men.
8. Because the infirm old man, his master as our story
already explained, departed to the Lord rendering dust to dust,
and before him the great luminary and universal father of those
there, kyris Gregory of Sinai, [26] also died, one could
see this holy Kaloromanos weeping and mourning day and night,
for he did not wish to carry on by himself without being subject
to another. After seeking he found another master who was living
in quietude far from the monastery, [27] under whom was already
placed the aforementioned kyris llarion, his fellowtraveler
from the beginning. He bent his neck to this master, as is the
law, serving and obeying him with his entire soul just as he did
for the one who had died. But the old man was not to be consoled
in any way, for there was at the time a severe famine throughout
the area, so that nothing else was to be found for sustenance
in the old man's cell except for a little rye which they ate boiled
in water instead of other food. Whether because of this need in
their great distress, or rather because of the trials caused by
the robbers whom the local people called chosiarioi, [28]
(who would place hot irons in the stomachs of the monks and demand
from them the few necessary things they had; and taking these
they would depart, leaving the servants and worshippers of God
in need even of the very necessities of life), taking the old
man, the two men, Kaloromanos of whom we are talking and the aforementioned kyris Ilarion, left Paroria returning again to Zagora.
Here they made their habitation at one day's distance from Trinovon,
and lived there in a place called Mogrin. [29]
But this holy and Good Romanos-as he was called by everyone because
of his virtuous mode of life and especially because of his humility
and love- whether through providence and for his greater benefit,
as the story will eventually show, or through the envy of the
Devil, left the service of the old man and settled in a desolate
place far away. But one should not bring such easy blame upon
this holy man for his retreat, for the old man had kyris Ilarion
for his service, which is why it was not an entirely painful event.
After a short time, the old man, advanced in age, left this life
and went to the Lord whom he desired deeply and longed for. "For
I yearn," said St. Paul who spoke with Christ's grace, and
those after him who agreed with him, "to depart and be with
Christ."[30]
Notes:
27. On hesychasm see, among others, J. Meyendorff, A Study
of Gregory Palamas (London: The Faith Press, 1964); K. Ware,
'The Jesus Prayer in St. Gregory of Sinai, Eastern Churches
Review, 4 (1972), 322; and M. Heppel, "The Hesychast
Movement in Bulgaria", Eastern Churches Review, 7
(1975), 920.
28. On the etymology of this word, meaning "brigands,"
see H. Gregoire and P. Orgels "Qu'estce qu'un hussard?"
in Melanges Emde Boisacq, 2 vols. (Bruxelles: Secretariat
des editions de l'lnstitut, 1937), 1, 44355; and
primarily H. Gregoire,"Origine et etymologle de la Hanse,"
in Bulletin de l'Academie royale de Belgique (1954), pp. 1828.
29. In par. 11, the same place is called "Mogre." (Halkin)
30. Phd 1: 23. (Halkin)
9. After learning this, that good mourner shed tear after
tear and lamented deeply. He was struck by the sting of regret-for
a contrite and repentant heart, such as the heart of that holy
man, if it happens by chance to stray ( from its intended purpose
as I suppose, becomes inconsolable afterwards, considering that
it had lost such a good thing. Therefore, as is proper he came
most quickly to the old man's grave, and falling atop of it he
filled the air with his wailing, mourning his weakness in deserting
his master. And if kyris Ilarion had not, with exhorting
words, persuaded him to rise from there, he probably would have
suffered like that wild beast, the lion on the grave of the blessed
Gerasimos.[31] Then rising up at Ilarion's great exhortation,
he at once fell at Ilarion's feet saying through his many tears,
"Since I disobeyed the old man's command and left your cohabitation,
from this day on I place myself under you in the name of the Lord
as I was under him." Seeing that Romanos was greater than
he himself in virtue, Ilarion put him off and did not comply.
The truly humble Romanos insisted saying to him, "I shall
not rise from the ground unless you receive me under your authority
in the name of the Lord from today on." And beholding his
strong petition together with he great humility Ilarion received
him, and from then on one could see this great man among ascetics
travelling the path of a novice and running around in all his
duties.
Things being thus, they learned that the wilderness of Paroria
was faring well since Emperor Alexander [32] had severely threatened
the robbers and plunderers, who used to make trials for the servants
of God, that if they did not stop, they would be executed. Those
holy servants, having heard carefully the good news, abandoned
Zagora and headed back to Paroria, their beloved wilderness and
retreat. Truly this was such a place which on sight alone could
bring tears of compunction to Godloving souls. For dwellingplaces,
as it is written somewhere in the Scriptures, have been created
to lead our mind to contemplation. At any rate, as we said, they
went there quickly, and arriving near the monastery of the great
Gregory, they built cells and settled down.
Notes:
31. The famous lion of St. Gerasimos had been cured by
the old monk and had stayed in his service for several years.
After his death, it was inconsolable, and died on its master's
tomb. The story is narrated in Joannis Moschi, Pratum Spirituale, in PG, LXXXVII, cols. 296569; cf. BHC, col. 696e. (Halkin)
32. Ivan Alexander, Tsar of Bulgaria (133171) is called basileas in the text.
10. At that time I, piteous among solitaries, having come
to that place from Constantinople [33] and having heard of their
virtuous life and conduct, bent my head in subjection to kyris Ilarion, to whom the holy man himself was subject as our story
explained earlier. It is now the proper time to describe fully
the great deeds performed in his path toward God, for the benefit
of those who read them.
Since the allholy and great Lent drew near, and as it was
the custom for those of one heart to eat together Sunday evening,
for they would then live apart and would be alone each to himself,
this is what we then did. While we were eating with the old man,
we received a command from him to spend the first week each in
his own cell, privately and in solitide:" And on the coming
Saturday of St. Theodore [34] we should meet together and eat
a little cooked food for the sake of sustaining the body."
All this was done as kyris Ilarion, our master, ordered.
When we were sitting at the table eating, the old man was speaking
to me ordering me about the things that had to be done. The good
Romanos sat deep in thought, not accepting food gladly, but like
someone retiring from himself, with his mind somewhere else. Leaving
his seat at the table-for the gift of contrition did not permit
him to be idle - he went to his own cell and began to give himself
entirely to grieving. And we expected him, for we thought that
he left to relieve his physical need.
Since a long time passed, contrary to expectation, I went searching
him out as I was urged by the old man. I looked around here and
there, but since I was unable to find him, I went to his cell
as quickly as possible, and standing outside - by the Lord I speak
the truth- I heard him wailing like a woman who is burying her
only son. Therefor being afraid to knock, I returned to the old
man filled with amazement. Questioning me he said, "Where
is your brother?". I answered him, "Father, we eat food
for the body, and he for the soul." Hearing this the old
man quickly searched the meaning of my words and when I made clear
what I had heard, the old man sat a little while deep in thought.
"Go back," he said to me, "and summon him so that
we may feast together and then we will rise from the table."
At the old man's order I went quickly to his cell, and listening
outside - O Christ, what marvelous grace you give to those who
fear you-I heard him wailing and crying more than before. I then
knocked on the door and he who came out was entirely possessed
by God: his face was bright although his cheeks were very wet.
At other times this good griever had held the grace of tears,
but only in part and at intervals, but now, because of his great
pains and his unquestioning obedience, and also because of his
week's fast, the grace of the all-holy Spirit visited him and
handed him this gift richly, so that he not only lamented quietly
but also cried aloud, as we have already said. But let us return
to the matter at hand.
He then wiped his face with his napkin and we returned to the
old man and sat down at the table. Both the old man and I had
some of the food set before us and we recovered our strength a
little, but Romanos in no way touched the food, for he was filled
not with bread, he said, but with the gift and grace of tears.
From that time on he asked the old man to allow him to build a
cell one stadius away from us, close to the river, so that
he might catch fish and bring them to the old man who had a weak
stomach like that aforementioned old man who was now dead. That
good griever went there and greatly enjoyed the solitude and seclusion
as he had wished, adding trial upon trial and tear upon tear.
How great a stream of tears did this most contrite of men pour
out, alone and talking only to God, with no one annoying him?
For if quietude brings contrition as the holy fathers teach us,
[35] this purifies a man and makes him sinless. Must one say how
much spiritual food of tears and all kinds of spiritual grace
this man earned? Our mind is puzzled and our tongue is unable
to put the unexplainable into the narrative. But those men who
have experienced and have struggled have known it by experience,
even if we may not be able to explain it by words. And staying
there and catching fish, was he eating any of them? Not at all.
His own job was to catch fish and to bring them to the old man,
his father in the Lord, for he was sick. He himself ate the usual
food.
Notes:
33. The author here enters the story. He says he came from Constantinople,
but does he mean that the capital was his birthplace, or simply
his last place of residence? In any case, he did not consider
himself to be Bulgarian, for he calls the Athonite compatriots
of St. Romylos 'those of his own races (par. 12). (Halkin)
34. The first Saturday of Lent is dedicated to st. Theodore and
to the commemoration of the famous miracle of the Kollyva; cf. H. Delehaye in Acta Sanctorum, 4 Nov. (1925), 21,
no. 38; and the texts in BHG, cols. 1768 and 1768a.
(Halkin)
35. Cf. 1. Hausherr, Penthos, La doctrine de la componction
dans l'OHent chretien, Orientalia Christiana Analecta, 132
(Roma: Pont. Institutum Orientalium Studiorum 1944), ch. 8: "Effets
du penthos, purification." (Halkin)
11. Things being this way with us, the governor of Scopelos
[36] informed us through a letter that, "the Hagarenes wish
to come here to hunt wild beasts, so you must do one of two things:
either come and live within the tower, or retire from the area.
[37] I recommend this because I am concerned about your comfort
and wellbeing." It is not possible to describe how
filled with grief we were at hearing such abhorrent news. Tears
ran from our eyes, for we were about to leave our beloved solitude.
Since we could not live with the monks within the tower because
we had become used to the solitary life, as the initiates know,
we left Paroria unwillingly and arrived in Zagora. Finding the
cells in which we had lived earlier in Mogre, we settled in them,
the old man kyris Ilarion and I in one place, kyris Romylos [38] far away from us in another, having planned this,
I think, so that he could attend to his labor of contrition undisturbed.
For solitude with reflection and with a very divine purpose is
the mother of contrition. This the holy man of whom we are speaking
showed very clearly. Whenever I went to him being ordered by the
old man for some reason or another, standing outside I would hear
him weeping and wailing. But he again remembered Paroria, since
he was a lover of solitude and one who had rid himself of the
tumult of the world, and, after spending a little time with us,
he abandoned Zagora and returned to Paroria as quickly as he could,
without taking into any account the threat of the infidel. His
love of solitude persuaded him to disregard the thought of bodily
danger.
Notes:
36. The Byzantine fortress of Scopelos in eastern Thrace, today
Uskub in Turkish (Skopo in Bulgarian), east of Kirkkilise or Kirklareli
(in Greek Saranta Ekklesiai, in Bulgarian Lozengrad): see the
map in the article by Aianov, cited above (n. 16), p. 256. (Halkin)
37. On towers, see M. Zivojinovic, [SLAVIC TEXT] (Beograd: [SLAVIC
TEXT], 1972): and N. Oikonomides, Actes de Dionysiou (Paris:
P. Lethielleux, 1968), p. 90.
38. Our saint was still called Romanos; he took the name Romylos
a little later. See infra, par. 12. (Halkin)
12. Arriving there, in the interior of the mountains, he
built himself a hut, and there being deemed worthy of wearing
the great habit, [39] he changed his name to Romylos.[40] He spent
the next five years there, separated from all association with
men except when through some need he approached the monastery
of the Holy Sinaite. But who is able to describe the weeping and
I wailing of this long period, and the struggles with demons and
those terrors ! which he suffered from the demons, as he himself
described to us? For the I blessed man said that without God's
help no one, while still in the body, is able to wrestle with
demons. "From my arrival in the interior of the mountain,"
he said, "the demons, suffering out of jealousy, created
many visions and terrors to entice me to depart from there; sometimes
displaying lights, sometimes lightning and thunder, sometimes
great noises, and sometimes shouting all together. The ravines
of the mountains echoed the roars so that I thought that the trees
themselves were shouting. But I, he said, fought them offwith
the name of the Lord and regarded those terrors as if they were
childish playthings."
Many times the descendants of Hagar came to the mountain range
and surrounded the tower attacking the monks with arrows, having
first robbed them of their beasts of burden. And so the terrified
monks fled after setting the tower on fire. It was then that the
good Romylos left the wilderness unwillingly and returned once
again to Zagora where he built himself a hut in a deserted place.
The common enemy of our salvation sowed envy into the hearts of
the neighboring monks toward the holy man. Therefore, the saint,
perceiving their envy, departed as quickly as possible from there
and went to the Holy Mount Athos. Finding many holy men who were
living the same life, especially those of his own race, [41] he
led them to the path of salvation. But since many monks came toward
him, not only the anchorites, but cenobites too-for his words
had grace since he had experience in the life of a monk from his
youth, and he could attract toward the path of salvation those
who had repented with faith-he became annoyed by the great persistence
of the monks, because he wished to live in quietude and associate
with God alone. Because of this he travelled from place to place,
[42] avoiding the tumult and shaking off human glory. Changing
many places on the Holy Mountain, he came at last to the mountain
that was near the sacred Lavra, which was called Melana. [43]
Here I, the unworthy Gregory having come from Zagora, found him
building a cell for his dwelling place. There, bending my head,
I submitted to him, since I had known him for a long time and
he was dear to me in the Lord.
Notes:
39. The great habit was worn by monks advanced in perfection.
See C. D. du Cange, Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis
. . ., 2 parts (Paris: Librairie des sciences et des arts,
193738), s . v. schema and H. G. Beck, Kirche und theologische
Literatur im byzantinischen Reich, Handbuch der Altertumswissenschaft,
12 (Munchen: Beck, 1959), pp. 13132. (Halkin)
40. In the second change of name, as in the first, the initial
is retained: Raikos, Romanos, Romylos. (Halkin)
41. On the Bulgarian monks of Mt. Athos, especially those of the
monastery of Zographou, see s. Ivanov, [SLAVIC TEXT], 2nd
ed. (Sofia: [SLAVIC TEXT], 1931), pp. 23079. (Halkin)
42. These constant displacements were not uncommon in the lives
of the saintly monks of the period. See, among others, Gergory
of Sinai, Theodosius of Turnovo and Maximus Kausokalybites. (Halkin)
43. Mount Melana is described in the Vitae of saint Athanasius,
founder of Lavra; see, for example Analecta Bollandiana, 24
(1906), 3031, and 34 (1916), 3s36. (Halkin)
13. At the time there was a famine in the area and the
dearth of necessities was unbearable and unendurable. So he sent
some men here and there in the Holy Mountain to buy the necessary
things for food. For the father did not yet have the assistance
from the holy Lavra, which others call adelphaton,[44] because he had very recently come to that place and was not
known to many people, not out of extreme inability, but out of
his virtuous devotion. Those who were sent returned unsuccessfully
without the necessities sought. Seeing this I was crushed and
filled with shame. "Woe is me, O father, for I am miserable,"
I said, "for I have come to your holiness at a time when
you are in need of necessities, and thereby increase your needs
further." But objecting he said to me severely, "Alas!
for your disbelief, O miserable one, for with my whole soul I
have undoubted faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, that he will not
leave us without provisions and in need of bodily things."
Thus did this firm believer put my little faith to shame. And
God acted according to the faith of his true servant. As he managed,
with a simple disposition, as was usual for him, to distribute
to everyone the things they needed, not bound by stinginess or
a mean spirit as many are in times of trouble, so was his faith
realized.
After two days he sent me to the monastery toward one of his acquaintances
for a certain need of his. I left, and while I was sitting outside
in the guestroom, waiting to see the man to whom he had sent me,
a poor leper came to me and said, "I see that you have just
now arrived, brother." When he learned our affairs better,
having heard from me that I was staying with an old man in Melana,
he said to me, "Might you have need of bread?" Seeing
that he was poor and a leper, I said to him, "And where did
you, such a poor and sick man find bread?" He said, "Have
faith; I came here to beg fresh bread from someone since I have
more dry bread than I need." Since I asked for some of this
bread, he went and brought me a full sack which I took and swiftly
went back up to the holy one. When he saw this, and asked and
learned that I had received it from a poor leper, he raised his
hands up toward heaven. "Glory to God," he proclaimed,
"for You showed us Your mercy not through the powerful, but
through the poor, so as to put our little faith to shame."
And laying hold of this welltimed opportunity, he chastised
me as a father and put to shame my lack of faith and my stinginess.
Notes:
44. On the adelphata, see M. Zivoiinovic [SLAVIC TEXT] 12, 1 (= Melanges G. Ostrogorsky) (1974), 29 1303
.
14. For the holy man had great faith in God and opened
his compassionate heart equally to all, not only to men, but to
the birds, snakes and wild beasts. [45] In addition to all his
other works before God, he had particularly acquired this: If
ever any of the monks on the Holy Mountain intended to build a
cell for his own habitation and needed some help from us, as is
usual, and if he came to us and asked Romylos to allow me to go
and help him, then he would readily accept him, and say: "Yes,
O holy father, I shall send him in the morning to help you."
When the man had departed, he would order me, saying, "Through
the night boil the best food you have because a certain father
needs us to help him build a cell." And I would act according
to his command. Early in the morning, then, we would get bread,
wine and the boiled food, and whatever fruit there was, and we
would go to the father who had asked us for help on the previous
evening. And one could see this holy man helping into the night,
as if he were a youth, along with the others who were there. And
thus we would return to our cells weary.
Notes:
45. Compassion toward birds, reptiles and wild beasts is a characteristic
which brings to mind St. Francis of Assisi, and is not common
in Byzantine hagiography. (Halkin)
15. Our story wishes to make known another work dear to
God, so that He may be further glorified by His true servants,
and that those who fear Him may become more eager to do good things.
Once, the holy man came into our refectory so that we could eat
bread together. For each of us ate and chanted alone and by himself
except on certain days, as is the custom for those living in solitude.
And an unknown monk came and began cutting wood near our cell.
I came out and very severely said to him, "Who are you, brother,
that dare to cut wood near our dwelling?" He, speaking as
a stranger and in a gentle voice, said, "Forgive me, father,
for I am a stranger, and did not know there was a cell here."
And the holy man, hearing this, said to me, "Tell him to
come in." When he had come, the holy man told me, "Give
him something to eat." And I did this. Then he said to the
stranger, "Where are you from, brother?" "I am
from Trebizond, father," he said, "I have just arrived
at the Holy Mountain." When he had learned from him, after
close inquiry, everything about him, and that he was hardly able
to find his daily bread, he said to me at once, "Gregory,
divide what you have in your cell into two, and give half to this
poor man." I replied to him, "We are many, father, and
we clearly need more than he." He gave me a stern look and
said, "Did I not say to you that if you have faith, then
you will never lack the necessary things?" But let us go
back to where we started from and proceed with our story in its
proper order.
The cell being completed, we settled in it and returned again
to our customary labors, since we had been thrown into confusion
and disorder by the distraction of building. After we had rested
for a little while as was explained, another clamor took us up,
although this was a spiritual one, which brought much benefit
to the soul. For one could see the monks of the Holy Mountain,
like bees that run around dewy fields, absorbing both his holy
words and his holy deeds. And as the magnet draws iron to itself,
so did his words and his sweetest conversation attract men's souls.
And thus there followed an unusual spiritual profit for those
taught by him. For if anyone had some kind of suffering in regard
to the soul, he would be cured at once upon having the pleasure
of his conversation. For I saw some of those who had arrived who
were downcast, dry, harsh, suffering this because of demons or
men, and who, through his most sweet and welcome reproof, returned
home entirely radiant in countenance and rejoicing in their souls.
And indeed one ought to record a portion of his counselling in
the present writing for the benefit of those who read it.
16. "My brothers and fathers," he said, 'let
us keep a pure conscience toward our neighbor, and let us preserve
a heart pure from evil thoughts which tend to corrupt the miserable
soul. But we cannot obtain this unless we have the soul's three
parts according to nature. I speak of these three parts: Reason,
Spirit and Appetite. [46] For the allgood God has put these
things into the soul of man, just as if they were a fortress or
citadel, so that man, using them according to nature and as it
pleases God, may live his life peacefully and without passion,
as our holy fathers instructed us through their wise and holy
teaching and even more so through their deeds. The Theologian
[47] said to set your spirit only against the Serpent through
which you fell. Direct all your desires toward God, not toward
anything treacherous or perilous. Let reason preside over all,
and do not let the better be drawn down by the worse. Rather,
whenever we arm the Spirit against its perceptible enemies, that
is, against demons or passions, as the holy man said, but also
against all those things which go contrary to the salvation of
the soul, then we act according to nature. In this way we are
able to love God and our neighbor with our entire soul as the
Holy Gospel teaches. [48] When Reason moves contrary to nature,
we grow angry with our brothers, giving precedence to an earthly
desire within us, hedonism perhaps, or glory or greed. Hence,
there arises anger, vindictiveness, envy of one's neighbor and,
in the end the product of envy, murder. And when we preserve the
Appetite according to nature and as it was given to us by God,
we eagerly desire the eternally good things which no eye has ever
seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of impassioned and bodily man
conceived, and which God has prepared for those who love Him.
[49] And for these things we endure all bodily and spiritual suffering,
undertaking with delight such virtuous acts as fasting, vigilance,
poverty, purity of the body, and incessant prayer. To put it simply,
day and night we practice everything which contributes to the
salvation of the soul. When the Appetite moves contrary to nature
and in a beastly fashion, we behave most irrationally, as the
Scriptures say: "But man abideth not in honor: He is like
the beasts that perish." [50] And from this we desire earthly
and ephemeral things, luxury and glory, gold and silver, and the
impurity which comes from them, and because of these we grow angry
with men, as it has been said, and going astray we are always
vindictive. Since Reason, which is the rational part of the soul,
was set over everything to preside over them as if it was the
ruler, when it guards the gift: given to it by God according to
His image and likeness, man lives his life always thinking good
things. He chants and prays, he studies and reads, and his delight
lies in the law of the Lord, [51] day and night, thinking good
things about every pious man. But if Reason should turn aside
from the better things, need one speak of what [52] irrationality
fills man? Talkativeness, slander, abuse and all kinds of sinful
acts will dominate man the insensibility of his reason, even if
one, in his insensibility, believes that he is living sinlessly.
He who has the said three parts of the soul according to nature
possesses a safe and sound conscience which indicates good and
evil to him, like a natural law given to man from the beginning.
And it advises man to preserve good and to throw off evil. Because
of this we will be (rewarded for our good deeds and) [53] justly
punished for the evil ones as rational and free men. Therefore,
every demonic assault customarily attacks these three things.
We are not blamed because of the attack; rather, we receive a
reward from God for being virtuous if we, from the beginning,
cast away the seeds sown by the devil. But if we, from the first
assault, accept these hostile seeds, we will come to an alliance
with the devil, and from there to a pact. [54] From this we are
led to evil acts, and therefore we shall be justly condemned,
as has been foretold."
Notes:
46. The hagiographer undoubtedly borrowed this tripartite division
of the soul from St. Maximos (PG, LXXXVIII, col. 1077D).
Ultimately, it goes back to Plato, Republic, IV. 441E42A,
or rather to Aristotle, De anima, 111. 9. 432a. 2s26.
(Halkin mentions that he owes these two references to Father Emile
de Strycker.) In the Loeb edition, the three parts of the soul
are rendered as "calculative, emotional, and desiderative."
47. Gregory Nazianzenus: cf. PG, XXXVI, coL 61 3CD.
(Hauscin
48. Mark 12: 3031. (Halkin)
49.1 Cor. 2: 9. (Halkin)
50. Ps. 48 (49): 12. (Halkin)
51. Ps. 1: 2. (Halkin)
52. There are four words missing from the Greek text; they have
been supplied from Devos, "Version slave," p. 181.
53. Five words have been added to the text by Halkin.
54. John Climacus, in PG, LXXXVIII, col. 896cD. (Halkin)
17. And he also said this to them: "Whenever you arrive
at the cell of a friend and find the door open, do not enter at
once, but first knock, staying outside, [55] as is the custom,
and go in when the host urges you to. Once you have entered and
sat down, do not gaze here and there, examining the things in
the cell, but, keeping your head and sight down, converse with
your host. If you see a letter lying there, do not pick it up
and read it, whether in your host's presence or in his absence,
for that is crass and contrary to conscience. If you see a book
lying there, do not at once open it, but first ask the owner of
the book. And if he gives permission, then open it. If you were
to choose the best way of action, you would not ask him for permission
to open it, unless he himself suggested this to you. If a friend
entrusts you with a bag of gold and silver for safekeeping, you
should not be tempted to open it and examine (the contents, for
this is crassness; and if it happens to be some other) [56] container,
do not put your hand inside and grope around for the things which
lie within. For this is crass, as I said, and damaging to the
soul, since we'll be led from this to theft. If you find a bag
belonging to your neighbor, which is lying inside the monastery,
or on the road, or perhaps in a deserted place, you should not
keep it for your own purposes, but give it right away to its owner.
If not, this will be reckoned as a theft on the day of your death."
Notes:
55. A word has been added to the text by Halkin.
56. Twelve missing words have been supplied from Devos, "Vie
slave," p. 182.
18. My father once sent me to an old man to ask for a book
of his and to bring it to him. After obtaining the book, I started
climbing back to our cell. Since I grew tired walking uphill,
I sat down for a little while and opened the book, and immediately
found the chapter which the father wanted to read. After reading
it I closed the book and brought it to him. He took it and opened
it, perusing here and there in order to find that particular chapter,
but he did not find it. I said to him, "Which chapter are
you looking for in this book, father?" When I learned from
him that it was the one that I had found and read on the road,
I said to him, "If you want, I'll show it to you." He
said to me, "Show me." And taking the book, I found
the chapter he wanted to read and showed it to him. Looking sternly
at me, he said, "How did you know that this chapter was in
this book?" I, realizing my fault from the look on the holy
man's face, threw myself down at his feet asking forgiveness and
confessing to what had happened. He heaped much abuse upon me
and said, "How dare you, O miserable one, to open my cupboard
and chest, and examine the things Iying within them? Go away from
me, for I don't want such a pupil who follows his own mind and
doesn't obey my counsel." Since I was grovelling at his feet,
as I said, and repeatedly asked forgiveness, he forgave me, not
without penance, but with much punishment. In this fashion he
knew how to provide for those under his power and in various ways
looked after the wellbeing of his followers.
19. Not only his own disciples did he set right and correct
spiritually, as much as he could, through his most wise thoughts
and deeds, but also if it happened that a disciple of some other
old man was dominated by contrariness and disobedience, or by
some other passion, and was sent to him to be reformed, he said
such words to him: "My beloved brother, you walk the apostolic
path. Each one of us must show such reverence to his own father
as the apostles showed toward our Lord God Jesus Christ, and we
must deny entirely our own will, as the Lord taught us. He said,
'I am come down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will
of him that sent me.' [57] The apostles who were being taught
by Him did not contradict Him, they did not quarrel, they did
not follow their own personal counsel and thoughts, but complying
with the precepts and judgment of their teacher, they justly heard
Him say that 'Where I am, there shall also my servants be.' [58]
And their hopes were not deceived. Therefore I believe confidently
that if each of us suffers wisely the extirpation of his own will,
and endures with humility and self-abasement his own father's
rebukes and chastisings, not contradicting, nor judging his father
at all, he shall be crowned along with the holy apostles, rejoicing
for all eternity in Christ."
Notes:
57. Jn 6: 38. (Halkin)
58. Jn 12: 26. (Halkin)
20. I would like to relate vet another soulinspiring
story. There was an old man who lived about one stadius below
us who was ruled by a wrathful disposition, though he was spiritually
militant and zealous. And no wonder: he had a disciple who was
exceedingly obedient and eager in his duties and services to the
old man, but who could not suffer the old man's harshness. Because
of this he often wanted to flee from the old man. But every time
the old man realized that the brother had these thoughts, he got
hold of him and they went together to that holy man. Since this
man had the Godgiven ability to bolster and advise those
who were being tempted by the enemy who hates good, he would take
each of them separately and admonish and advise them of the right
things. To the old man he said, "O father and brother in
the Lord, you ought not to set yourself so harshly and fiercely
upon your brother, but be gentle and eventempered in your
severity," and many such things. And while he listened,
he promised to take the father's advice, but would be vanquished
by his own nature and resume the usual severity. In like manner
the holy man advised similar things to the young man, as a holy
father and true worker of love. He said, "Do not dare leave
the old man, lest you be tempted by a greater temptation. For
those who renounce submission are led astray by the enemy. In
any case, either you or the old man will die in a little while
and you will lose the reward for your pains. If you should stay
with the old man till the end, you will be crowned among the martyrs
and form part of the choir of angels, exalting along with them
in all eternity." And rejoicing upon hearing this, he left
promising to stay with the old man. And this is what happened.
But then let the prudent and obedient listener [59] know God's
judgment. For this young brother was ordered by his father to
go to the monastery three times a week (which is to say Tuesday,
Thursday and Saturday), to help out with the baking, and then
to take fresh bread and return to the old man. He departed, as
is the custom, on the evening of Holy Wednesday to help out with
the baking at dawn (matins) on Holy Thursday. He was ordered by
his father, the aforementioned old man, to participate in the
Divine Liturgy, to take Holy Communion and then to go to him bearing
the customary bread. This happened as the old man ordered. When
the Mass had concluded and the brother had taken Holy Communion,
he went to the bakery to get the bread as is the custom. And while
he was asking for the bread, he at once came down with the most
raging fever and met his end at this hour. The fathers of the
monastery gave him an honorable funeral and buried him soon. When
the old man heard this, which was unexpected, it was as if he
had been struck in his heart, and, shedding tear upon tear and
lamentation upon lamentation, he did not stop doing this until
death, saying like the master of the holy Acacius, "Forgive
me for I have committed murder." [60] These things did not,
I believe, happen by chance or fortune, as one might say, but
by some holier way according to God's mysterious judgment, which
is beyond understanding, as proof of salvation for both. For the
brother, having taken Holy Communion on that most venerable and
terrible day, departed at once to the Lord, while the old man
did not stop mourning until his death, so that even his grave
sent forth a certain fragrance. To me the narration of these things
is not untimely. It shows to those who listen how much benefit
and results the words and instructions of this holy man had. Let
the story return to him, and let us discuss everything concerning
him in order, so that we may come to the end of the narration
of this spiritual subject, setting forth this story, as was said
earlier, for the glory of God and for the benefit of those who
come by it.
Notes:
59. Since the biographer mentions "listeners " he must
have intended his writing to be read publicly; cf. pars. 1 and
20.
60 Cf. PG, LXXXVIII, col. 721A. (Halkin)
21. Because a great number of monks were streaming towards
him wishing to delight in his conversation, which stopped and
hindered him from his customary spiritual service and his spiritual
vision of God, he was grieved and distressed in his soul at the
clamor and became filled with pain. Therefore he once said to
me, "Go, brother, to the foot of the northern part of Mount
Athos and look around well to find a level place in order that
I may make my dwelling place there. Perhaps the solitude of the
place will free me from the tumult of those who come. For men
do not let me live peacefully as you see." Leaving then and
examining the area well, I found a suitable place for building
cells in which there was a spring full of very clear water. Arriving
there as quickly as possible with some brothers who were experienced
in such things, we soon completed the cell. Sitting within the
cell, he conversed one to one with God, [61] removed from crowded
living and tumult for some time. Yet men again learned his place
of habitation as the words of the master say "A city set
on a hill cannot be hid." [62] For the peak of virtue is
a hill on which those who have ascended shine forth like a light.
They came to him as before so that the words may be fulfilled
with regard to him also: "The more one flees the glory of
men, the more this glory finds him." [63]
Notes:
61 To converse alone with God is the ideal of the contemplative.
(Halkin).
62. Matthew 5: 14. (Halkin)
63. Undoubtedly an apophthegm of a monk who became a saint,
cf. Vita S Cuannathi, in Bibliotheca hagibgraphica latina
antiquae et mediae aetatis, 2 vols. (Bruxelles, 1898-1901),
col. 1996, par. 8: Laus enim seu fama sequitur fugientem,
ait Ieronimus (Halkin mentions that he owes this reference
to Father Grosjean.)
22. After a little while, the most Christian Ugljesa was
killed, [64] and all the monks on the Holy Mountain, especially
the solitaries and those dwelling in deserted places, were filled
with tumult and fear, and therefore many of the anchorites fled
from the Mountain. In like manner the holy man, persuaded by them,
abandoned the Holy Mountain and departed quickly to another place
called Avlona [65] by the inhabitants, which seemed very little
known and obscure, just as this lover of solitude liked and wanted.
But the righteous one failed to obtain his goal here also. For
as much as he wanted to hide the light of his godly life under
the bushel of modesty, so God set him upon the lamp-stand to be
visible to all. For he said, "Let your light shine before
men, that men may see your good works and glorify your Father
which is in heaven" [66] One could then see many people,
both monks and laymen, coming toward him, desiring to hear his
words with pleasure. For they were as sheep not having a shepherd.
[67] Most of them were crass in every way, ignorant and generally
savage, accustomed to brigandage and murder. Others failed in
the orthodox and true faith [68] and were dominated by other passions.
The governors of this place [69] were doing many injustices, killing
innocent men, and surrendering their souls to the devil. The monks
were seized by error and vindictiveness and countless other passions,
and the priests ministered unworthily. To put it simply, all those
there were subject to countless passions from ancient habit. He,
by the sound of his words that were full of grace invited them
all into the community of the true faith and safe return to the
flock of Christ, so that all of them would say, "Glory to
You, O God, Who sent Your star to us, who led us from darkness
to light." [70] The governors also honored him greatly and
called him an equal to the apostles. And for this, I suppose,
God led him to that place in order that he might correct many
souls.
Notes:
64. The Serbian despot John Ugljesa was killed by the Turks at
the battle of the Marlca, on 26 September 1371. His
death allowed the Muslims to launch an attack against Mount Athos;
see the Vita of St. Niphon in Analecta Bollandiana, 58 (1940), 2425.
65. Valona, in Albania, on the Adriatic coast. (Halkin)
66. Matthew 5: 15 16. (Halkin)
67. Matthew 9: 36. (Halkin)
68. An allusion to the Latin elements in the population?
(Halkin).
69. The reference is undoubtedly to Balsa, who ruled Valona
after 1372, and died fighting the Turks in 1385. (Halkin)
70. 1 Petr. 2: 9. (Halkin)
23. While things were thus with the holy man, the thought
came to him again to retire from that place. But he did not want
to follow his own mind unless another old man advised him, in
order that he might be able to learn God's will. And learning
that one of the Athonite old men, in whom he had trust and spiritual
love, was in Constantinople, he sent one of his disciples to him
and wrote him a letter containing the following: "O holy
father, since my mind does not let me live here, but urges me
to either return to the Holy Mountain or go elsewhere, between
these two then, where do you bid me go? Show me, please, for I
ask in faith." Receiving the letter and reading it, the old
man explained to him: "Since you ask in faith, it seems to
me it would be better for you to go to another place where God
will lead you, and not to the Holy Mountain."
24. Taking this advice he left Avlona and went. into Serbia
with his disciples to a place called Ravenitza, [71] where there
is a monastery of our most holy Lady the Mother of God, near which
he made his dwelling. Spending a little time there he left this
life and went to the eternal resting place, committing his blessed
soul into the hands of God. His grave sent forth a great fragrance.
I, his piteous and unworthy disciple, have transmitted through
my writing and according to my ability the beneficial and Godloving
works of his life, from the beginning of his retreat from this
vain world until his departure from the Holy Mountain, for the
spiritual benefit of those who come across them. As for what happened
after his holy death, this was seen by men beloved by God and
lovers of the truth who were nearby and saw it with their own
eyes. God gave him the ability, as they themselves said, to chase
demons away from men, to cast out serpents from men's bowels through
vomiting, and to restore health to the lame and sight to the blind,
[72] and, to put it simply, to heal all sickness and suffering.
He brought grace from God whom he pleased during his lifetime
as much as he could. Thus the Lord glorifies those, who serve
and glorify Him with all their soul.
Notes:
71. Ravanica, to the northwest of Paracin, about midway
between Nis and Belgrade. The famous monastery was founded in
1381 by King Lazar of Serbia. Cf. V. R. Petkovic, in [SLAVIC TEXT], ed. S. Stanojevic, 4 vols. (Zagreb: [SLAVIC TEXT], 192529),
III, 87s77 ; V. R. Petkovic. ed., [SLAVIC TEXT] . . .
(Beograd, 1950), pp. 27175 (the article by V.
Vrdnik). (Halkin)
72. Mark 16: 1718; Matthew 15: 31. (Halkin)
25. O father of fathers, adornment of ascetics, trainer
of solitaries and fairest nursling of the desert, summit of quietude
and ardent worker of contrition, observer of the divine and author
of wonders, endlessly intercede, as a most true servant and friend
of God, for the peace and health of the pious emperors and the
entire Christian people, and for this flock [74] in which your
precious remains lie, for those who dwell in it and all those
who attend your holy coffin. Moreover, I beseech you to intercede
for me your unworthy servant (and if in something I caused you
sorrow as a man, disregard it and be forgiving, imitating the philanthropos and merciful God),, and for those who served
your greatness in body, so that we may, through your mediation
and welcome entreaties, obtain the mercy and favor of Christ our
God, to whom belongs all glory, honor and worship, along with
His eternal Father and the allholy, good and life-giving
Spirit, now and forever, for all eternity. Amen.
Notes:
73. Probably John V Palaeologus (d. 1391) and his son Manuel 11,
coemperor since 1373. (Halkin)
74. That is, of Ravanica. (Halkin)
Source: Mark Bartusis,. Khalifa Ben Nasser, and Angeliki E. Laiou,
"Days and Deeds of a Hesychast Saint: A Translation of the
Greek Life of Saint Romylos, Byzantine Studies/Etudes Byzantines,
9:1 (1982), 24-47
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Paul Halsall November 1997
halsall@murray.fordham.edu
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