Metaphrastical hagiographical texts edited by K. Kekelidze

There was a certain monk, dwelling in the desert, and his name was Zosime. For forty years he ate no bread and drank no wine, and saw no human face. And he prayed to God night and day, that he might go and see the blessed anchorites, where they abide. And behold, an angel of the Lord came and said to him: "Zosime, man of God, behold, I have been sent to you to tell you to go to the blessed ones. But do not dwell with them, lest you exalt your mind and say, 'For forty years I have not eaten bread,' for the word of God is greater than wine, or if you say, 'I have not seen a human face,' behold, the face of the Lord is upon you." Zosime answered and said to the angel: "I believe and know that whatever God wills, everything is easy before Him." The angel said to him: "You are worthy of this grace, but now arise and go.

I, Zosime, came out of my cave, and God guided me, and I did not know it, until I had journeyed for forty days. And my spirit departed from me, and I grew weary, and I prayed to God, and I sat down somewhere in that place. And behold, a camel came forth, knelt down, and lifted me onto its back, and carried me for forty days, and set me down in a desert place, and I saw there a great turmoil of beasts, and I prayed to the Lord. And there was a great trembling in that place, among many caves. And a great wind blew, and snatched me from the earth, and lifted me onto something, and I journeyed thus by that wind, and I did not know whither I went. And it brought me and cast me upon the bank of a river, and the name of the river was "of God." Then I desired to cross that river, but the water spoke and said to me: "Zosime, man of God! Over me no bird has crossed, nor any spirit of the wind, nor the sun, nor the moon, nor the tempter of the world, the devil." And I, Zosime, trembled in wonder and prayed to God, and immediately, on both sides of that river, two trees sprang up, one on this side and one on that, beautiful to behold, and they were full of fruit and fragrance.

And one of those trees, which stood before my face on the bank of the river, bent down, lifted me onto its branches, and raised me high, and bent down to the middle of that river, as far as fifteen million. And the other tree, which stood opposite the river, bent down, lifted me onto its branches, raised me into the air, and bent down and set me down on the far side of the earth. Then I rested in that place for three days and three nights, and afterwards I arose and went on, not knowing where. 3. And that place was a mountain, full of fragrances, and there was no other mountain on either side. And that place was a plain, full of fragrances and many flowers. And I looked and saw a man, fearful, who stood on the earth, and I marveled and said: "Is this not the tempter?" Then I remembered the voice of that river, which had said to me, "No one has crossed over me." And thus I strengthened myself and said to him: "Hail, brother!" And he answered me and said thus: "Peace be with you!" And I said to him: "Who are you, this man?" And he answered me and said: "And who are you?" And I told him everything that was about me, and how I came to that place by the will of God.

And he answered me and said to me: "How is it that you are a man of God, for if you were not, you could not cross this river, nor the cloud, nor the gentle wind, for the width of this river is twenty million, and the cloud reaches to the sky, and the depth of the river reaches to the abyss." And when he had finished these words, he said to me: "You have come here from the vanity of the world." And I said: "Why are you afraid?" And he said to me: "If only you knew yourself, that you are the only one who is afraid, you who are clothed in sheepskin, and you are the prince of the sons of the earth. For that which you wear will decay together with your flesh, but I looked up to the height of the sky and saw his face, which was like that of an angel, and his garment was like lightning, and I was afraid and said that this is the Son of God. And he arose and gave me his hand and said to me: 'I am one of the blessed ones, and I will lead you to the elders.' And he took my hand and led me to some assembly.

And there were those men, like unto the Son of God, and the youths stood before the elders. And when they saw me, they said to me: "You have come from this vain world, O man. Now let us come and pray to God, that He might reveal this matter to us, whether the end has indeed come, for this man from the vain world has arrived here." And they arose and prayed. And two angels descended from heaven and said: "Fear not that man, for God has sent him to be with you for seven days, to see your works, and then to depart to his own place in the desert." Then they gave me to one of the blessed servants of those men, and said to him: "Keep him until the seven days are done." And he led me into his cave. And we dwelt beneath those trees, and we were nourished by the grace of God. And water flowed from those trees, sweeter than honey, and we drank of it, and we ate of the fruit of the trees from time to time. Then, when the tribes heard that a man from this vain world had come, they quickly came to see me, for I had newly appeared to them; they asked me one by one: "For what purpose have you come here?" And before I could tell them, I was greatly amazed.

I prayed to the servant and said: "I beg you, brother, if anyone comes to see me, say that I am not here, so that I may rest a little." And as I said this, the man cried out and said: "Woe is me, for this man makes me out to be a liar, for I am here and he says I am not here. Take him away from here, or else I will leave my dwelling." And all those elders rose up against me: "Go from us, man," they said, "we do not know whence you came!" But I wept and besought those elders that they might quiet that multitude of people. And those elders made peace concerning me and said to me: "What do you wish that we do for you?" And I said: "I wish to learn your works." 5. And they rejoiced greatly and took up stone tablets and wrote with their own fingernail and said thus: "O sons of men, who have become blessed as we are, for we also are of your race. When the prophet Jeremiah preached in the city of Jerusalem that it would fall into the hands of the destroyers, at that time the king of the city put on his garment and donned sackcloth and poured ashes over himself and commanded the people to turn from the crooked ways.

When our father Rekab, son of Ionadab, heard this, he said to us: "Hear, sons of Rekab, and strip off the garments from your bodies. Do not eat bread and honey, and do not drink wine and mead, until the Lord hears the prayer." And we said: "Everything that you command, we shall do!" And then we began to weep and pray. And the Lord heard our prayer and turned away the wrath from the city of Jerusalem, and there was peace and mercy from God the Lord. And after this, the king of our holy city died, and another king arose.

And all his kinsmen gathered and told them about us and said: "There are men here who have changed their glory from us, but summon them and inquire into their affair." Then the king summoned us and questioned us: "Who are you, or of what lineage are you?" And we said: "We are of your people and of the city of Jerusalem." And the king said to us: "And whose sons are you?" And we said: "We are sons of our servant and father Rekab, son of Ionadab, and while your father Josiah was still alive, the prophet Jeremiah preached the destruction of this city, that after three days this whole city would be destroyed by death, and when that king who was before you heard it, he repented of his sin and commanded all to turn from evil." And when Rekab, our father, heard this, he instructed us and said: "Do not eat bread, do not drink wine, and do not wear garments, so that the Lord may hear your prayer." And we obeyed our father and did all that he instructed us, and we prayed for this city, and God had mercy on his people. And we understood and knew that this is pleasing and good before God to do, and we did not violate the commandment of our father.

Then the king said to us: "You have done well, but now join my people, eat and drink and clothe yourselves, and serve your Lord God and your king!" And we did not disobey the commandment of our father. Then the king became angry with us and cast us into prison with our wife. And we were awake that night and prayed to God. And behold, a great light shone upon us in that prison, for an angel of the Lord came and opened the door of the prison and led us out to the bank of this river, which flows before you, and said to us: "As long as this water flows, go along with it." And we went along with that river with the angel, and when he brought us to that place, the waters dried up and the field became beautiful with the beauty of flowers, trees, and springs. And this land was covered with a cloud of light, and it does not permit us at all to disperse over the earth; he settled us here, and we are sinless, but not immortal. And the earth brought forth trees, which have fruit of fragrance, and a spring at the roots of these trees, and these are for us food and drink, and we pray day and night, and this is the swiftness of our affair. Hear, O sons of men!

There is no boat with us, nor fruit, nor any work of wood or stone, nor iron, nor silver, nor gold, nor any wind for sailing, nor any place for dying. When we took wives, two children were born to us, and from that time we separated from each other and lived in purity, as if we knew nothing of the nature of women, but we remained always as virgins. And one child became fruitful and one a virgin. And there is no count of the hours, for all our days are one. And we gathered leaves of trees, and this is our bed beneath these trees. And we are not ashamed, as you think, but we have a garment of righteousness, and we are not ashamed before each other. At the sixth hour we eat the fruit of the trees every day, for at the sixth hour the fruit falls from the trees, and we eat until we are satisfied. And water comes out from the roots, we drink and rejoice, and then the outflow of water ceases. I inform you also, who are in this world, both righteous and sinful, that at every hour the angels of God come and tell us of your numbers, for we pray, for we are from you, but they chose us and settled us in this place...

After forty days the fruits of the trees dried up, and manna from heaven, which the Lord gave to our fathers in the wilderness for forty years. But when the time of fulfillment came, the fruit of the trees gave forth fragrance, and by that we know that it is the beginning of that year... 6. All this the blessed ones wrote, the deeds of their life, and gave to me, Zosime, and sent me as far as the river of God. And I entreated those blessed ones that they might pray for me and that the trees might receive me and carry me across, as they had the first... And I commanded the trees that they might bend and carry me across that river. And as soon as they finished the prayer, immediately the trees bent and carried me across... After this I prayed to the Lord, and a great wind came and received me upon its wings and brought me to the very place where I had been sitting... Then a lion came and placed me upon its back and carried me for forty-five days and set me down in a peaceful place and departed. And a camel came and placed me upon its back and carried me for forty days and set me down in that place where it had first found me, and departed in peace... I, Kyros, was one of those who were settled in that wilderness, and behold, I saw and heard the voice of angels, sweet, at the entrance of the cave of the blessed Zosime...

We took up those stone tablets and read before everyone what was written thus: "This is the life of those blessed ones and the death of the blessed Zosime, and we gave those tablets to their brothers.