![[St. Pachomius Library]](title.gif)
Translated by W. A. Craig, M.A., B.A., Oxon.
The text is nevertheless typical of the sort of literature which inspired the great explosion of monasticism in the later Roman Empire, and may well represent an Orthodox original modified by sectarian redactors.
Norman Hugh Redington
I. About that time there was in the desert a certain man named Zosimus,
who for forty years ate no bread, and drank no wine, and saw not the face
of man. This man was entreating God that he might see the way of life of
the blessed, and behold an angel of the Lord was sent saying to him,
Zosimus, man of God, behold I am sent by the Most High, the God of all, to
tell thee that thou shalt journey to the blessed, but shalt not dwell with
them. But exalt not thy heart, saying, For forty years I have not eaten
bread, for the word of God is more than bread, and the spirit of God is
more than wine. And as for thy saying, I have not seen the face of man,
behold the face of the great king is nigh thee. Zosimus said, I know that
the Lord can do whatsoever he will. The angel said to him, Know this also,
that thou art not worthy of one of their delights, but arise and set out.
II. And I, Zosimus, issuing from my cave with God leading me, set out not
knowing which way I went, and after I had travelled forty days my spirit
grew faint and my body failed, and being exhausted I sat down, and
continued praying in that place for three days. And, behold, there came a
beast from the desert, whose name is the camel, and placing its knees on
the ground, it received me upon its neck and went into the desert and set
me down. There there was much howling of wild beasts, and gnashing of
teeth, and deadly poison. And becoming afraid, I prayed to the Lord, and
there came in that place a great earthquake with noise, and a storm of
wind blew and lifted me from the earth, and exalted me on its wing, and I
was praying and journeying till it set me upon a place beside a river, and
the name of the river is Eumeles. And behold when I desired to cross the
river, some one cried as if from the water, saying, Zosimus, man of God,
thou canst not pass through me, for no man can divide my waters: but look
up from the waters to the heaven. And looking up I saw a wall of cloud
stretching from the waters to the heaven, and the cloud said, Zosimus, man
of God, through me no bird passes out of this world, nor breath of wind,
nor the sun itself, nor can the tempter in this world pass through me.
III. And I was astonished at these words, and at the voice that spake
these things to me. And as I prayed, behold two trees sprang up out of the
earth, fair and beautiful, laden with fragrant fruits. And the tree on
this side bent down and received me on its top, and was lifted up
exceedingly above the middle of the river, and the other tree met me and
received me in its branches and bending down set me on the ground; and
both trees were lifted up and set me away from the river on the other
side. In that place I rested three days, and arising again I went forward,
whither I knew not, and that place was filled with much fragrance, and
there was no mountain on either hand, but the place was level and flowery,
all crowned with garlands, and all the land beautiful.
IV. And I saw there a naked man sitting, and said in myself, Surely this
is not the tempter. And I remembered the voice of the cloud that it said
to me, Not even the tempter in this world passes through me. And thus
taking courage I said to him, Hail, brother. And he answering said to me,
The grace of my God be with thee. Again I said to him, Tell me, man of
God, who thou art? He answered and said to me, Who art thou rather? And I
answered and told him all concerning myself, and that I had prayed to God
and he had brought me into that place. He answered and said to me, I also
know that thou art a man of God, for if not, thou couldst not have passed
through the cloud and the river and the air. For the breadth of the river
is about thirty thousand paces, and the cloud reaches to heaven, and the
depth of the river to the abyss.
V. And having ended this discourse the man spoke again, Hast thou come
hither out of the vanity of the world? I said to him, Wherefore art thou
naked? He said, How knowest thou that I am naked? Thou wearest skins of
the cattle of the earth, that decay together with thy body, but look up to
the height of heaven and behold of what nature my clothing is. And looking
up into heaven I saw his face as the face of an angel, and his clothing as
lightning, which passes from the east to the west, and I was greatly
afraid, thinking that it was the son of God, and trembled, falling upon
the ground. And giving me his hand he raised me up, saying, Arise, I also
am one of the blessed. Come with me, that I may lead thee to the elders.
And laying hold of my hand he walked about with me and led me toward a
certain crowd, and there were in that crowd elders like sons of God, and
young men were standing beside the elders. And as I came near to them,
they
said, This man has come hither out of the vanity of the world; come, let
us beseech the Lord and he will reveal to us this mystery. Surely the end
is not at hand, that the man of vanity is come hither? Then they arose and
besought the Lord with one accord, and behold two angels came down from
heaven and said, Fear not the man, for God has sent him, that he may
remain seven days and learn your ways of life, and then he shall go forth
and depart to his own place. The angels of God having said this ascended
into heaven before our eyes.
VI. Then the elders of the blessed gave me over to one of the attendants,
saying, Keep him for seven days. So the attendant receiving me led me to
his cave, and we sat under a tree partaking of food. For from the sixth
hour even to the sixth, then we ate, and the water came out from the root
of the tree sweeter than honey, and we drank our fill, and again the water
sank down into its place. And all the country of those there heard of me,
that there had come thither a man out of the vanity of the world, and all
the country was stirred up, and they came to see me because it seemed
strange to them. Therefore they were asking me all things and I was
answering them, and I became faint in spirit and in body, and besought the
man of God that served me, and said, I beseech thee, brother, if any come
to see me, tell them He is not here, so that I may rest a little. And the
man of God cried out saying, Woe is me, that the story of Adam is summed
up in me, for Satan deceived him through Eve, and this man by his flattery
desires to make me a liar while he is here. Take me away from hence, for I
shall flee from the place. For behold he wishes to sow in me seeds of the
world of vanity. And all the multitude and the elders rose up against me,
and said. Depart from us, man; we know not whence thou art come to us. But
I lamented with great lamentation, and my senses left me. and I cried out
to the elders, saying, Forgive me, my lords, and the elders stilled them
and made quietness. Then I related to them all from the beginning till
that time, and said, I besought the Lord to come to you, and he deemed me
worthy. And the elders said, And now what wilt thou we should do to thee?
I said to them, I desire to learn of you your way of life.
VII. And they rejoiced with great joy, and taking up tables of stone they
wrote on them with their nails, thus, Hear, ye sons of men, hear ye us who
are become blessed, that we also are of you; for when the prophet Jeremiah
proclaimed that the city of Jerusalem should be delivered into the hands
of the destroyers, he rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins,
and sprinkled dust upon his head, and took earth upon his bed, and told
all the people to turn from their wicked way. And our father Rechab, the
son of Aminadab, heard him and said to us, Ye sons and daughters of
Rechab, hearken to your father, and put off your garments from your body,
and drink no vessel of wine, and eat no bread from the fire, and drink not
strong drink and honey until the Lord hear your entreaty. And we said, All
that he has commanded us we shall do and hearken. So we cast away our
clothing from our bodies, and we ate no bread from the fire, and drank no
vessel of wine nor honey nor strong drink, and we lamented with a great
lamentation and besought the Lord, and he heard our prayer and turned away
his anger from the city of Jerusalem, and there came to the city of
Jerusalem mercy from the Lord, and he pitied its people, and turned away
his deadly anger.
VIII. And after these things the king of the city of Jerusalem died, and
there arose another king. And all the people gathered to him and informed
him concerning us, and said, There are certain of thy people, who have
changed their way from us. Therefore the king summoned them, and asked
them wherefore they had done this; and he sent for us and asked, Who are
ye and of what worship and of what country? And we said to him, We are the
sons of thy servant, and our father is Rechab the son of Jonadab, and when
Jeremiah the prophet preached in the days of thy father the king, he
proclaimed death to the city of Jerusalem, saying, Yet three days and all
the city shall be put to death. And the king thy father hearing this
repented of his sins, and issued a command to all to turn aside from their
wicked way. And our father thy servant hearing it charged us, saying,
Drink no vessel of wine, and eat no bread from the fire, until the Lord
shall hear your entreaty. And we hearkened to the commandment of our
father, and made naked our bodies, we drank no wine and ate no bread, and
we prayed to the Lord for the city of Jerusalem, and the Lord pitied his
people and turned away his anger, and we saw it and our soul was rejoiced,
and we said, It is good for us to be so.
IX. And the king said to us, Ye have done well. Now therefore mingle with
my people, and eat bread and drink wine, and glorify your Lord, and ye
shall be serving God and the king. But we said, We will not disobey God.
Then the king was enraged and set us in prison, and we passed that night
there. And behold a light shone in the building, and an angel uncovered
the prison and laid hold of the crowns of our heads, and took us out of
the prison, and set us beside the water of the river, and said to us,
Whithersoever the water goes, go ye also. And we travelled with the water
and with the angel. When therefore he had brought us to this place, the
river was dried up and the water was swallowed up by the abyss, and he
made a wall round this country, and there came a wall of cloud, and
shadowed above the water; and he did not scatter us over all the earth,
but gave to us this country.
X. Hear, ye sons of men, hear the way of life of the blessed. For God
placed us in this land, for we are holy but not immortal. For the earth
produces most fragrant fruit, and out of the trunks of the trees comes
water sweeter than honey, and these are our food and drink. We are also
praying night and day, and this is all our occupation. Hear, ye sons of
men; with us there is no vine, nor ploughed field, nor works of wood or
iron, nor have we any house or building, nor fire nor sword, nor iron
wrought or unwrought, nor silver nor gold, nor air too heavy or too keen.
Neither do any of us take to themselves wives, except for so long as to
beget two children, and after they have produced two children they
withdraw from each other and continue in chastity, not knowing that they
were ever in the intercourse of marriage, but being in virginity as from
the beginning. And the one child remains for marriage, and the other for
virginity.
XI. And there is no count of time, neither weeks nor months nor years, for
all our day is one day. In our caves lie the leaves of trees, and this is
our couch under the trees. But we are not naked of body, as ye wrongly
imagine, for we have the garment of immortality and are not ashamed of
each other. At the sixth hour of every day we eat, for the fruit of the
tree falls of itself at the sixth hour, and we eat and drink our fill, and
again the water sinks into its place. We also know you who are there in
the
world, and who are in sins, and your works, for every day the angels of
the Lord come and tell them to us, and the number of your years. But we
pray for you to the Lord, because we also are of you and of your race,
except that God has chosen us, and has set us in this place without sin.
And the angels of God dwell with us every day, and tell us all things
concerning you, and we rejoice with the angels over the works of the just,
but over the works of sinners we mourn and lament, praying to the Lord
that he may cease from Iris anger and spare your offences.
XII. But when the time of the forty days comes, all the trees cease from
their fruits, and the manna that he gave to our fathers rains down from
heaven, and the manna is sweeter than honey. Thus we know that the season
of the year is changed. But when the time of the holy passover comes, then
again the trees put forth fragrant fruit, and thus we know that it is the
beginning of the year. But the feast of the resurrection of the Lord is
performed with much watching, for we continue watching for three days and
three nights.
XIII. We know also the time of our end, for we have no torment nor disease
nor pain in our bodies, nor exhaustion nor weakness, but peace and great
patience and love. For our soul is not troubled by the angels to go forth,
for the angels rejoice when they receive our souls, and the souls also
rejoice with the angels when they behold them; as a bride receives the
bridegroom, so our soul receives the announcement of the holy angels,
saying nothing more than only this, the Lord calls thee. Then the soul
quits the body and goes to the angels, and the angels seeing the soul
coming forth spotless rejoice, and spreading out their robes receive it.
Then the angels call it blessed, saying, Blessed art then, O soul, because
the will of the Lord is fulfilled in thee.
XIV. The time of our life is this. If one quits the body in his youth, the
days of his life here are three hundred and sixty years, and he that quits
the body in old age, the days of his life here are six hundred and
eighty-eight years. And the day of our completion is made known to us by
the angels, and when the angels of God come to take us, we go with them,
and the elders, seeing the angels, gather together all the people and we
depart together with the angels, singing psalms, until the angels arrive
at the place of our abode. And because we have no tools, the angels of God
themselves make the grave for our body, and thus he that is called by God
goes down, and all salute him from small to great, sending him on his way
and bidding him farewell. Then the soul quits the body and the angels
receive it, but we see the shape of the soul as a shape of light, perfect
in all the body apart from the distinction of male and female.
XV. Then the angels taking it up sing a song and hymn, making melody to
God, and again other troops of angels come in haste to meet them, saluting
the soul that is coming and entering into the firmaments. And when it has
come to the place where it is to worship God, the son of God himself,
together with the angels, receives the soul of the blessed one and bears
it to the undefiled father of the ages, and again, when the angels sing
above, we being below listen to them, and again we sing and they listen in
heaven above, and thus between us and the angels there arises a giving of
praise in hymns. But when the soul of the blessed one, falling upon its
face, worships the Lord, then we also falling down worship the Lord in
that same hour, and when the Lord raises it up then we also arise; and
when it goes to its appointed place, we also go into the church,
fulfilling the eucharist of the Lord.
Having written these things, and all the life of the blessed, we gave them
to our brother Zosimus, and escorted him as far as the place of trees
beside the river Eumeles.
XVI. And I, Zosimus, besought again the blessed ones to make entreaty for
me to the Lord that the trees might receive me to take me across. And they
all cried to the Lord and said, O God that hast shown us thy marvels and
hast made thy servant Zosimus to come to us out of the world of vanity,
set him again in his own place with peace, and command these trees to bow
down and take up thy servant and set him on the further side. And as they
finished their prayer, the trees straightway bent down before them, and
received me as on the second day before; and being set on the other side
of the river I cried with a loud voice and said, Men of righteousness, who
are brothers of the holy angels, grant me your prayer in peace, for behold
I depart from you. And making prayer they all cried out, saying, Peace,
peace be with you, brother.
XVII. Then I prayed to the Lord, and there came to me a storm of wind, and
received me upon its wings, and carried me to the place where it found me
sitting, and left me there in peace. And raising its voice the wind said
to me, Blessed art thou, Zosimus, that thou hast been numbered with the
blessed. And the beast from the desert, whose name is the camel, came and
received me upon its neck and carried me eighty and five stations, and set
me in the place where it found me praying, and left me in peace, crying
and saying, Blessed art thou, Zosimus, that thou hast been numbered with
the blessed.
XVIII. But seeing me thus praised, Satan desired to tempt me and throw his
dart at me from his station, but an angel
of God came and said to me, Zosimus, behold Satan is coming to tempt thee,
but the Lord
will fight for thee, for the glory of thy faith must bind Satan. And an
angel of God appeared, crying and saying, Welcome, blessed one of Christ.
Come and I shall lead thee to the cave that is the dwelling-place of thy
body, for thy cave shall be a testimony of the desert, a healing of the
sick that come to it, a place of trial and touch-stone of demons. And
laying hold of my hand he strengthened me, and led me for forty days to
the cave where I had dwelt. And there was there a table of righteousness,
and I spent the night with the angels of God. And I placed the tablets
that were given me by the holy blessed ones on the step of the altar in my
cave.
XIX. And, behold, when the angels of God ascended, the Devil came, having
a fierce shape, and possessed with anger and gall, and said to me, I knew
that God would do with thee as with the blessed ones, and that they shall
be free from sin and be above the angels, and therefore I brought in an
evil design, and entered into the vessel of the serpent, an evil-doer
added to evil-doer. And by this I made the first man Adam to transgress
and taste of the tree of life, since God had commanded him not to eat of
it, that he might remain equal in glory to God and the holy angels; and
thou again hast gone and brought this commandment, but now that they may
not be without sin, I shall show thee how I shall destroy thee and all
those that receive this commandment, so that they may not be without sin,
and the book that thou hast brought.
XX. Saying these things the Devil departed from me, and after eight days
he brought with him one thousand three hundred and sixty demons, and
dragged me from the cave as I prayed, and they beat me, tossing me about
between them, for forty days. And after the forty days the devil lamented
before me and said, Woe is me that through one man I have lost the world,
for he has vanquished me by his prayer. And he began to run from me, but I
laying hold of him stayed him and said, Thou shalt not run away and flee
from me until thou swearest to me never again to tempt man. And lamenting
with great and violent lamentation he swore to me by the firmament of
heaven, So long as thy dwelling is here, and after thee, I will not come
upon this place. Then I let him go, sending him and the demons with him
into eternal fire. Then the angel came, who had companied with me at the
table, and led me into my cave with great glory.