St. Euthymius

from his Life, by Cyrillus. a faithful cotemporary •writer.

EUTHYMIUS, surnamed the great was born at Melitenc in the lesser Armenia, of noble and virtuous parents, anno 377. He was a child of prayer, his parents having obtained him of God after a long barrenness, by the intercession of St. Polyceutus, the martyr; and having dedicated him to God from his mother's womb, at the age of three years he was put in the hands of the holy bishop Otteus, and from that time was brought up like another Samuel, in the temple of God, in the exercises of any early piety, and in the study of the holy scriptures, on which he constantly meditated, even in those leisure hours which others of his age spend in their diversions. He was ordained lector when yet a bo}T, and gradually promoted to the higher orders, giving great edification through them,'ill, till he was thought worthy of the priestly function and then had the conduct, by commission, from th(3 bishop, of all the i^onasteries of the diocese of Melitene. In the mean time it was his custom to retire af, often as he could, from all other business to attend to God and himself in solitude and silence, to which he had a great inclination from his childhood, to spend a great part of his time in prayer in the churches of the martyrs, and to make an annual retreat alone by him self during the whole time of Lent, in a desert mountain, at some distance from the city. His love for solitude and retirement still increasing upon him, at length determined him to withdraw himself entirely from his own country, his friends, and acquaintance, and to go into the Holy Land; where, after visiting and rever encing the places consecrated by the mysteries of our redemption, he chose for his abode a solitary place, about six miles from Jerusalem, called Pharan, in the neighborhood of a Laura, or residence of divers religious men, living in separate cells at some distance from each other, but meeting for their devotions io the same church, as the hermits of Camalduli do &i present.

This solitude was quite congenial with his incline tions to retirement and silence, and therefore he male himself a cell here, employing his hands in making mats, or in other manual labors, that he might live without being burthensome to any one, and be en abled to relieve such as were in want, having his heart entirely fixed on God, and making it his whole study to please him. Here divine providence brought him acquainted with a holy solitary, named Theoctistus, who had his cell not far off, and who followed the same manner of life; and the likeness of their dispo sitions united them so closely together in the bands of a most perfect friendship and charity, that they seemed to be animated with one and the same heart and soul. Amongst other exercises of piety, these two servants of God never failed to make every year a spiritual retreat, which they began after the Epiphany, and continued till Palm-Sunday. At this time they quitted their cells and retired into the wilderness of Cutila, where being wholly separated from all conversation with mortals, they spent their whole time with God in prayer and contemplation till Palm-Sun day, when they returned home again, laden with the spiritual riches which they had acquired in their re treat, to offer them up to our Lord Jesus Christ, at the festival of his passion and resurrection.

Euthymius had practised this for some years, wheE he and Theoctistus, going according to their custom intv the wilderness, were conducted by providence ta

ST. EUTHYMICS.

the banks of a rapid torrent, where they discovered a large cavern of very difficult access, which they em braced as a place assigned by heaven for their happiress. Here they lived for some time, quite seclude.! from all human society, having no other food whereon to subsist but the wild herbs of the desert. But as ihe Almighty designed to bring about the salvation rf many souls by the means of these his servants, lie Jid not suffer the place of their abode to remain long a secret. They were at first discovered bv certain shepherds, who published to the neighboring village their place of residence and manner of life. This discovery brought about visits from the inhabitants, who cheerfully furnished them with necessaries for their temporal life, and in return received from them wholes»-me instructions and exhortations, in order to their et?rnal life.

Shortly after the monks of Pharan also came to vi. it them, when the sanctity of their discourse and m inner of life moved two of them, Marinus and Lu es;,, who were afterwards great Saints, and by degrees inny others from other places, to put themselves undt r their direction, so that after some time they built a monastery in the same place, and converted their ca:rn into a church. Euthyrnius committed the direiv.ion ard superintendency of this monastery to The octistu-i, whilst lie himself enjoyed the sweets of his belcT^d silence and repose, seated with Mary af the feet of our Lord, yet so as often to interrupt his contemplation, by laboring to purify the souls of hia brethren from their stains, and, like a skilful physician, to apply proper remedies for the cure of all their evils; for they came daily to discover their most secret thoughts to him, and to receive the rules and lessons of a spiritual life from his mouth, while Theoctistus for his part did nothing without his advice and concurrence.

He spoke to them all with the affection of n father, and constantly incalculcated to them, "That they who by their religious profession had renounced the world, and the things of the world, should make it their principal study to exercise themselves in humility and obedience, and divest themselves of their own will; they should have always the hour of their death be fore their eyes — tremble at the apprehension of a miserable eternity, and continually aspire, with the most ardent desires, after the kingdom of heaven; that they should also incessently employ themselves in manual labors, more especially when of an age in which the passions of youth stand in need of being kept under, for in that case the body must be brought down by labor, that it may be obliged to submit to the spirit; and that they should ever remember both the example and the doctrine of St. Paul, who says, 2 Thess. iii. 10. If any man ivill not work, neitJier let him eatt &c. He also strenuously recommended iilence, particularly in church and at rne^is, and could never endure to see any of the young religious, by a motion of their own will, affect to appear more austere than the rest in fasting, being desirous that, according to the precept of the Gospel, they should rather hide their good works than make them known. He preferred that kind of abstinence, as the most commendable, which at every meal, and upon every occasion, restrains the appetite from taking its fill, and always retrenches, without ostentation, some part of what it craves. He added, that they should always be upon their guard to resist every irregular desire; — that they should carry their arms always about with them to defend themselves again t their invisible enemies, and meditate day and night upon the law of God.

Whilst Euthymius was in this monastery, Aspebet, governor of a canton of Saracens, brought his son Terebon, who had quite lost the use of one half of his body by a dead palsy, to be cured by the Saint. The religious seeing a multitude of these barbarians coining towards their monastery were all in a fright; but Theoctistus, as Euthymius was then employed in his spiritual exercises, encouraged them; and going forth to meet the band, he asked them what they wanted? Aspebet answered, we want to see Euthymius. He is in his retirement, said Theoctistus, and will neither lee nor speak to any one till Saturday Then Aspo* bet showed him his son, whose whole right side wai withered in such a manner as to appear quite dead, and made a sign to the youth to tell him his case, •' The boy said he had been struck with this disorder in Persia, where his father then resided in the service cf king Isdegerdes; that in order to his cure they had not only employed all the natural remedies of physic, but also the secrets of magic, to no effect; and that since he came with his father into Arabia, they had ngain tried new experiments upon him, but all to no purpose. Wherefore finding that there was no succor to be had from man, he had turned his thoughts

CD towards the great God that made man, and prayed to him one night with great fervor, to restore him to health, promising in that case, that he would dedicate himself to his service, and become a Christian. That after this prayer he had fallen asleep and seen, in a dream, a venerable monk, who said his name was Euthymius; that he lived upon the bank of the tor rent in the wilderness, near the road that leads to Jericho, at about ten miles distance from Jerusalem: and that if he desired to be cured, and was disposed to fulfil his promise, he should come to him, and that God would restore him again to his health.

Theoctistus having heard this, went in and related the whole to Euthymius, and both of them concluding that the visions must certainly have come from God, the Saint interrupted his retreat upon this occasion and going out prayed over the young man, and made the sign of the cross upon him, at which he was in an instant perfectly cured, to the great astonishment of the multitude of barbarians present, who were all converted upon the spot, and after proper instructions received baptism. Aspebet took the name of Peter, and made such progress in Christian piety, as to be afterwards ordained bishop of the Saracens, and Maris his brother-in-law, quitted the world entirely to become a disciple of St. Euthymius.

The fame of this great miracle being spread through out the country, brought such numbers from all parts to visit the Saint, and seek the cure of their maladies which they usually obtained by his prayers, that partly to avoid the danger of vain-glory, and partly to enjoy his belovod solitude with more freedom, taking with him a holy man whose name was Domitian, he with drew himself privately from his monastery into the desert of Kuban, that lies more to the south, near the lake of Sodom. Here for some time he fixed his abode in a high mountain, on the top of which he discovered a well, and some ancient ruins, with which he built a chapel and an altar, living the whole time on the wild herbs he found there. From hence he went to the desert of Ziph, wher*~ David formerly had concealed himself when he was persecuted by Saul, the recollection of which pleased him much; but it was not long before the inhabitants of a neighboring town, called Auistobulias, found him out, by means of a young man possessed by an evil spirit, who had frequently the name of Euthymius in his mouth, and was wonderfully delivered as soon as he was brought within sight of the Saint. This miracle brought him many disciples, for whom the people of the neighbor hood built a monastery, which the Saint for some time directed in the ways of religious perfection. But his love of solitude induced him to quit this monastery also, where he found himself much importuned and distracted by visitors from all parts, and to seek out with his companion Domitian a place more agree able to his inclination for retnement, which he at length met with in a cavern not far distant from his former monastery. Theoctistus, whom he had left superior there, with all the rest of the brethren, besought him to retnrn to them again: but the most they could obtain of him was, that he would visit them every Sunday, and be present at their assemblies.

Aspebet, now named Peter, hearing where the Saint was, introduced a great number of the Saracens x> him who were desirious of becoming Christians, ffhpm Euthymius instructed and baptized. These new converts being desirous of remaining under his direction, he appointed them a place at a small distance for the building themselves a church and other dwellings, where he often visited them to instruct them in the way of eternal life, till finding them sufficiently grounded in Christian piety, he procured them a priest and some deacons for the care of their church, and the administration of the sacraments. But as by the daily arrival of many more, the number of his converts became very considerable, he proposed to Juvenal, the patriarch of Jerusalem, to give them also a bishop, who might take charge of all the Saracens of Pales tine. The patriarch readily complied with the Saint's proposition, and ordained Aspebet, or Peter, to this function, by whose means God daily added others to his church.

Hitherto Euthymius, through his love of solitude, had recommended all such as resorted to him, in order to embrace a religious life, to the monastery of Theoctistus, till he was admonished in a vision to build a laura And church for the reception of such as desired to put themselves under his direction, which was soon filled with a multitude of religious souls. The number of the monks, joined to the barrenness of the place, made it difficult to procure sufficient provisions in that wilderness; but the providence of God never forsook his servants whose whole care was to please him. It happened one day, that four hundred Armenians, in returning from Jerusalem toward the Jor.lan, missed their way, and came down to the laura of Euthymius. The Saint seeing them, immediately gave orders that they should be hospitably entertained. Domitian re presented to him, that the community was reduced ta so great straits that they had not "bread enough fof the brethren, not even for one meal. The Saint, full of confidence in God, bid him go to the bakehouse, and see what he should find there. He obeyed, and found the room covered with bread and other provi sions in such abundance that he could hardly thrust the door open.

God also favored his servant with the gifts of prophecy, of which our author mentions several remark able instances. As to the manner of life which he here followed, he assures us, from the testimony of those that were the best acquainted with him, that he was never seen to eat but on Saturdays or Sundays — that he never wilfully broke silence nor opened his lips but when necessity obliged him to speak, — that he never laid himself down to repose, but slept sitting and adds, that he was a close imitator of the great St. Arsenius, and was highly delighted with hearing from the religious who came from Egypt the particulars of his life and conversation. He had always these words of Arsenius present in hi? minfl.; Arsenius, Arsenius, on what account didst thou leave the world? and strive to copy out in his own practice all the great exam ples that Saint had given of humility — recollection — poverty of spirit — love of silence and solitude — peretual compunction of heart — profusion of tears in the ight of God — and continual watching, fasting and prayer

There happened in those days so great a drought in Palestine, that it seemed, according to the expression of the Scripture, as if the heavens were of brass, and the earth of iron. The cisterns and receptacles which they had made for water were filled with nothing but dust, and the whole country was reduced to the utmost extremity for want of rain. As the evil increased daily, an infinite multitude of the people of the towns and villages round about, carrying crosses in their hands, and singing Kyrie eleison, to implore the divine mercy, came to the Saint on the very day when he was going out, according to his custom, to make his retreat in the wilderness, as a preparation for Easter, The sight of their distress moved him to compassion, and he spoke to them as follows: " My children, as for oiy part, I am but a wretched sinner, and stand more in need than any other of the mercy of God, especially at this time in which we see his wrath thus enkindled against sinners, and therefore I am not so bold as to dare to lift up my eyes to him, as I know that he >ends these afflictions when he pleases; and that, as 10 one can shut when he is pleased to open, so no one;an open when he is pleased to shut. Our sins have leparated us from him — we have disfigured his image — we have defiled his temple — we have suffered ourselves to be carried away by our passions; — envy and avarice reign amongst us, and our hatred against each other render us Wefril to him: but as he is the fountain of all goodness, and as his rrtercy knows no bounds, let us all prostrate ourselves before his foce, and pray to him from the very bottom of our hearts, and I make no doubt but that he will forgive us, and give us a proof of his fatherly love by the seasonable aid he will send us; for as David says, The Lord is near to all them that call upon him? After he had thus spoken to the people, all cried out, begging that he would pray for them; whereupon, after exhorting them to join in prayer to the Lord with the greatest fervor of which they were capable, he retired with his religious into their oratory, and lying prostrate on the ground with many tears implored the divine mercy; when behold a sudden wind arose, the heavens were obscured by thick clouds, and immediately such an abundance of rain came pouring down as quite soaked the whole earth which was followed by the most fruitful year that had ever been known in Palestine in the memory of man.

The Saint had such an extraordinary zeal for the maintenance of the purity of the Catholic faith, that he, who was otherwise the meekest of men, could not endure the obstinate abettors of condemned errors. In his days a wicked heresy was broached by Eutychea, a monk of Constantinople, who denied the distinction of the divine and human nature in Christ. Though his impious doctrine was condemned by the Council of Chalcedon. still there were not wanting many children of iniquity, who instead of submitting to thra great authority, spread abroad such infamous slanders against that council, and misrepresentations of the Catholic doctrine, as alienated the minds of many from the faith; the principal of whom was Theodosius, a monk of Palestine, who under a religious habit covered a diabolical spirit, and by his wicked insinuations and downright calumnies, prejudiced the mind of the empress Eudocia, who was at that time in Palestine, against the council, and by the means of her interest, and the great liberalities she exercised towards the religious, gained the greatest part of them over to the Eutychian faction, the disciples of St. Euthymius excepted. Not content with this, having intruded him self into the patriarchal see of Jerusalem, he declared open war against all such as opposed themselves to his impiety, banished the orthodox bishops from their sees, and even imbrued his hands in the blood of some of them. In the mean time Euthymius opposed him self as a wall for the house of Israel, and constantly refused to have any manner of communication with this false patriarch; but as he was continually plying him with messages, in order to bring him over to bis side, by reason of the neighborhood of the laura ©f the Saint to the city of Jerusalem, he assembled his disciples, and having powerfully exhorted them to constancy in the Catholic faith, he withdrew into the desert of Ruban, where he remained till the usurper gg8 ST. EUTHYMIU3.

was obliged to quit Jerusalem, and the patriarch Jtt venal was restored to his see.

In the mean time he brought back to the Church an excellent anchoret, whose name was Gerasimus, who had been also imposed upon, with many others, and drawn in to be an abettor of the impious Theodosious, till hearing of the eminent sanctity of Euthymius, he went to confer with him in the wilderness of Ruban, and by his heavenly discourses was fully re claimed from his error, and conceived a deep and bitter regret at having suffered himself to be deceived, for which he did severe penance. His example was followed by four other anchorets, who, in like manner, renounced the communion of Theodosius. Gerasimus afterwards built a laura and a monastery near the Jordan, where he trained up many souls in great perfection, and closed a life of extraordinary sanctity by so happy a death as to have his name enrolled amongst the saints. See the Roman Martyrology, March the fifth.

The empress Eudocia, nfter having for a long time resisted the solicitations of her nearest relations, be gan at length to open her eyes to the bright rays of the catholic truth, and in order to her instruction therein she sent to St. Simon Stylites, as one to whom God imparted extraordinary lights to direct souls in the way of salvation, and opened to him, by her inesaenger, the bishop Anastasius, the whole state of Ue>

ST. EUTHVMIUS.

interior. The Saint exhorted her to disengage her self effect jally from the nets of Satan in which hei soul had been entangled by the means of the impious Theodosious, and for this purpose desired she would address herself to St. Euthymius, and to receive from his mouth the pure words of life. Having complied with the advice of the Saint, and being reconciled to the Catholic Church, her example was followed by great numbers both of the religious and laity. This princess, after having built a great many churches, monasteries, and hospitals, conceived a design of ex tending her beneficence also to the laura of St. Eu thymius, which the Saint had founded in great poverty: but before she had declared her mind to any one living, Euthymius, who by a divine light often discovered the secrets of hearts, told her, " Daughter, your departure out of this world is near at hand; wherefore, instead of busying yourself with all these cares, attend to your own interior, and think of pre paring yourself for your journey hence, rather than of settling revenues upon us; we want nothing else of you, but that you would remember us in your prayers." The empress followed his advice, and some months after made a happy end.

Amongst other favors which our Lord did to his sen-ant Euthymius, our author relates, from the testimony of the anchoret Cyriacus, who learnt it from two eye-witnesses, that me day whilst the Saint wa* laying mass, a bright fire was seen to come dowi upon his head, which encompassed both him and his disciple Domitian, and remained from the Sanctu* till after the communion. He was also often favored with the vision of angels at the time of his offering the holy sacrifice; and when he distributed the holy communion, he saw in spirit the different dispositions of the communicants; perceiving how the sacred host cast rays of light upon some, and darkness upon others, who, by being unworthy, received it to their own condemnation. The Saint was so affected with this vision, as to be ever after perpetually inculcating to his religious, the necessity of keeping their conscience always •pure, that they may worthily approach to the divine mysteries: that holy things were for holy persons: and therefore when any of them found their conscience charged with the guilt, either of hatred, or the desire of revenge, upon receiving an injury; or of envy, or of wrath, or of pride, or of speaking evil of their neighbor, or of entertaining loose thoughts or criminal desires, or of any other vice, they should by no means present themselves at the divine table, till they had in a proper manner, expiated their sins by penance.

And now the man of God, after having passed about sixty-seven years in the deserts of Palestine, which by this time he had peopled with a multitude of Saints, was given to understand, by divine revelation, that, the time of laying down his earthly taben

ST. EUTllYMlttS, ^89 nacie was near at liana. It was his custom, after the Epiphany, to begin his annual retreat, and to with draw himself into the remoter parts of the wilderness, hiiere he continued his spiritual exercises till Holy Week. Wherefore, his disciples Elias and Martyrius (both of them afterwards, according- to his prediction, patriarchs of Jerusalem), who were used to accompany him on this occasion, came on the octave of that festival to ask him if they were not to set out with him on the day following? The saint replied, that he would spend that week with them at home in the laura, but that on Saturday at midnight he would leave them. He passed the vigil of the feast of St. Antony, Jan. 17, with them in prayer,.and after the morning lauds, told them this was the. last vigil he should keep with them. Then having ordered all bin religious to be assembled, delivered to them an excel lent discourse, telling them that his hour was now at hand, and conjuring them, if they had any regard 01 affection for him, to show it, by faithfully and constantly practising the lessons he had taught them. Is particular he recommended to them charity and humility as the two principal ingredients of Christian perfection, telling them, that if all Christians wero bound to exercise themselves in these virtues, much more they who by their religious profession had in a particular manner consecrated themselves to Jestw Christ, to the end,, that being freed from all secular sa cares and ejections, they might have no other solicit ade but to please him. " Labor then," said he, " my brethren, with all your might to keep both your bodies and minds ever chaste; — continue all of you together to praise and glorify God; — practise with all possible diligence the rule he has given us, — do all in your power to comfort the afflicted, and to fortify by your exhortations and instructions such amongst the brethren as labor under temptations, that they may not fall a pray to the enemy. Let your gate be always open to hospitality; — divide the little you have with the poor and indigent, and the divine boun ty will not fail to furnish you with all that shall be needful for yourselves."

After having spoken to this effect, he asked them whom they desired to have for their superior after his death? They all, with one voice, desired it might be Domitian. " That cannot be," said the Saint, " for he shall not survive me above seven days." Whereupon they made choice of Elias, to whom the Saint earnestly recommended the care of his ilock. After this they retired, and Domitian alone remained with the Saint, who, after three days departed to our Lord at the precise time he had foretold, and his happy soul was seen at that very time by St. Gerasimus carried up by angels towards her heavenly country. His individual companion Domitian, within seven da.vs, took tha §ame happy road, being invited on the eve of his deatb in a vision in his sleep, by St. Euthymius, to come with him to the regions of light and life everlasting, where they should live together for ever in the king dom of their Father. St. Euthymius has a place in the Roman Martyrology on the twentieth of January.