Saint Euthymius the Great

As soon as Euthymius was of an age to learn the sciences, the holy bishop placed him in the hands of Acacius and Synodus, who had both sustained many battles for the faith of Jesus Christ. He made such progress in letters and in virtue, under such excellent masters, that he was judged worthy to be raised to the priesthood and to take charge of all the monasteries of religious and solitaries that were in the diocese of Melitene. But as the love of solitude and silence seemed to have been born with Euthymius, he resolved to free himself from this great care by secretly leaving the city to go and visit the Holy Places in Jerusalem. After hav ing satis Jérusalem Holy city where the Cross was lost and subsequently recovered. fied his devotion, he went to see the Fathers who were retired in the deserts; their way of life redoubled his ardor for retreat. He wished to see the Laura of Pharan, six miles from Jerusalem, and finding there a cell very suitable for rest and silence, he established his dwelling there. There, he proposed to imitate the great Arsenius, who se reputation w le grand Arsène Desert Father whose asceticism was imitated by Euthymius. as then spreading throughout the East. He fasted all week without taking anything except on Sunday; no one ever saw him lying down to rest; when nature was overwhelmed, he would only lean against the wall where he held onto a rope hanging from the ceiling; as soon as he had closed his eyes, he would awaken himself by inciting himself with these words of the same Arsenius: 'What are you thinking of, coward and wretch?'

He became acquainted with another holy religious, named T heoctistus Théoctiste Ascetic companion and co-founder of monasteries with Euthymius. , so that they might mutually inflame one another in divine love through their pious conversations. Every year, after the Octave of the Epiphany, they would not fail to go into the solitude of Kutila, to occupy themselves only with God, until Palm Sunday, the day on which they returned to their cells in Pharan, filled with graces and spiritual riches. After five years, they withdrew together into a large cave, four small leagues from Jerusalem, towards Jericho, where God led them as if by the hand while they were walking in a more remote desert; but, after having lived there for a long time unknown and with no other food than the herbs that the earth produced in that place, God, who destined them for the salvation of many, permitted them to be discovered by shepherds from the village of Lazarus. Two religious from Pharan, named Marinus and Lucas, having learned where they were, and touched by their virtue, placed themselves under their guidance, under which they became such great masters of the religious life that they later built several monasteries and raised the illustrious Theodosius, their disciple, to that point of perfection which made him the head and founder of so many monasteries in Palestine. Many others having also placed themselves under their guidance, this hermitage was soon changed into a convent, and their cave into a church.

Saint Euthymius left to his colleague Theoctistus the care of admitting and instructing those who presented themselves to be received, as well as the governance of the monastery, his own inclination always drawing him toward the hidden life and silence. The brothers came to him each day to reveal their most secret thoughts, and he gave to each of them remedies appropriate to their ailments. He spoke to them with the affection of a father and exhorted them primarily to humility, to the stripping away of their own will, to manual labor, to silence, and to mortification, virtues of which he constantly showed the example himself. He could not, however, suffer that some young religious should affect to fast more austerely than the elders, because he desired, according to the precept of the Gospel, that instead of making a show of the good one did, one should hide it as much as possible. He said that the weapons necessary for a religious, to withstand the efforts of invisible enemies, were gentleness, moderation, discretion, obedience, and a continuous meditation on the law of God.

Christians were not the only ones who sought out this holy hermit even in his cave; the Saracens themselves went to find him there on the occasion I am about to relate. Terebon, son of a chieftain of these barbarians named As Aspébète Saracen chieftain converted after the healing of his son. pebetos, was afflicted with paralysis of half his body, and neither medicine nor magic could relieve him; he turned to the true God and promised that if he were healed, he would embrace Christianity. He was in these thoughts when, having fallen into a gentle sleep, he saw in a dream a person who told him to go to the cave of Euthymius and showed him the way. The young man having recounted this vision to his father, they both went, with a large retinue, to find the holy hermit who, by making the sign of the cross over the paralytic, restored him to perfect health. This miracle was the cause of the conversion of the chieftain and all his people, who received holy baptism, where Aspebetos took the name Peter; Maris, his brother-in-law, embraced the religious life, not wishing to return with the others.

Some time later, the Arab prince, who had become a preacher of the Gospel, returned to find Euthymius with a troop of Saracens whom he had won over to Jesus Christ, to offer him the means to build monasteries in that solitude, in order to house the great number of servants of God he was bringing to him. But as our Saint breathed only for retreat and silence, he sent this multitude to his faithful Theoctistus, and meanwhile sought new deserts where he could devote himself only to God. To this end, he took with him a holy religious named Domitian and went away, without anyone noticing, t o the de Domitien Roman emperor who persecuted John. sert of Ruban near the Dead Sea, which is regarded as the one where the Savior chose to be tempted in order to triumph over the tempter himself, and which for this reason is called the Desert of the Quarantine. There, he climbed the mountain of Mardes where the same Savior was carried by the demon; then he descended into the solitude of Ziph, otherwise known as Engaddi, which is near the town of Aristobula, to see the cave where David took refuge when Saul was persecuting him. The inhabitants of this town and other neighboring places built him a monastery, after having seen him cast the demon out of the body of a young man who was cruelly tormented.

Euthymius, seeing that the influx of those who came to see him was ever increasing, wished to flee again and set out with his disciple Domitian to return to Theoctistus. He was not a league away from the monastery when he discovered a place very suitable for his desire to live alone, and he stopped there. As soon as Theoctistus learned of it, he went to find him and conjured him to return to the monastery to spend his life there with the other solitaries. But, as this admirable man had an extraordinary love for retreat and silence, all that Theoctistus could obtain from him was that he would come to see them every Sunday and be present at their assemblies.

When he said the Holy Mass, he often saw troops of Angels who assisted at this august sacrifice, and when he administered the Holy Eucharist, God made known to him the state of the communicants, some of whom received death, while others found life in this heavenly bread. But, since we are speaking of the extraordinary graces of Saint Euthymius, I will tell of some wonders that are recounted of him. Four hundred Armenians, who were descending from Jerusalem toward the Jordan, having lost their way, came to the laura to ask for provisions. The Saint, although there was not enough to feed the brothers for a day, commanded them to prepare food; by a miracle worthy of the power of Jesus Christ, the bakery was found so full of bread that they had difficulty opening the door. Wine and oil also multiplied in such abundance that there was enough to supply this numerous caravan. In a time of drought, when one could say with Scripture that "the earth was of iron and the sky of brass," the inhabitants of the towns and villages of the laura came to find the Saint with crosses in their hands and singing with more heart than mouth: *Kyrie eleison!* Lord have mercy on us. Then, Euthymius, touched with compassion, said to them: "My children, as I am but a miserable sinner and have greater need than any other of the mercy of God, especially in a time when He makes His anger manifest, I am not bold enough to dare to address Him; but because He is infinitely good, let us prostrate ourselves before His face and He will hear us." After having ordered the people to pray, he entered an oratory with the solitaries; when he had finished his prayer, such a great storm occurred that the earth was abundantly watered. Several predictions of Saint Euthymius are also reported: thus, he announced long in advance the episcopate of Anastasius, who was Patriarch of Jerusalem, and the fall of the Princess Eudocia: this woman remained for some time in the heresy of the Eutychians who confused the two natures in Jesus Christ; as she was ver y virtu Eudoxie Wife of Theodosius II and rival of Pulcheria. ous, she did not persist long in her error, having made abjuration through the care of our Saint, to whom Saint Simeon Stylites, whom she had consulted on the matter, had sent her. One of his religious, named Domnus, manifesting the desire to go find John, Patriarch of A saint Siméon Stylite Famous ascetic who directed Empress Eudocia to Euthymius. ntioch, his uncle, who had allowed himself to be surprised by the sentiments of Nestorius, our Saint tried to dissuade him, predicting that this journey would be fatal to him. Domnus went ahead. His uncle having died, he succeeded him; but after a few years, he was dispossessed of the patriarchate, just as the Saint had told him: which made him return to himself. Touched with extreme regret for not having believed him, he came to find him, melting into tears.

Besides the gift of prophecy, the blessed Euthymius also had the grace of penetrating the depths of consciences and knowing, at the slightest gesture, what was most hidden in the souls of the persons who presented themselves to him. He used this favor from heaven very usefully for the guidance of his religious. By this means, he reassured in their vocation two brothers, named Maron and Clemas, who, weary of the austerities of the rule, had plotted together to flee by night; he delivered another religious from the spirit of fornication, of which he recognized he was possessed for having succumbed to an evil thought; he saw the guardian angel of a monk tear his soul away with a trident, because he was only a lecher, although in appearance he seemed to lead a very chaste life; finally, by this heavenly light, he saw the state of several other persons who were near to entering into glory, or to being cast into hell.

It would be too long to recount examples of all the virtues of the blessed Euthymius; it suffices to say in general that his gentleness and kindness were such that he won over the most savage spirits by this means, that his chastity was like that of the Angels, that his humility was very profound, that his charity was tireless, and that his modesty inspired devotion. However, we cannot refrain from saying something of the great zeal he had for the defense of the Catholic faith, since this is the praise given to him by the Roman Martyrology. One could not tire of admiring that the divine Euthymius, of such a gentle and moderate nature, burned with such great zeal when it came to the faith; he fought with incredible ardor against the heretics, particularly the Manichaeans and the Origenists, a great number of whom he brought back to the bosom of the holy Church. He acted with no less vigor against those who were infected with the errors of Arius, Sabellius, and Nestorius, which then reigned throughout the East. People were so convinced of the sincerity of his zeal that some bishops would not subscribe to the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon until the y had communicated its acts to Sa concile œcuménique de Chalcédoine Ecumenical council confirmed by Hilary. int Euthymius, to know if he would approve of what had been resolved. An approval of such weight would have persuaded almost all the religious; but a man named Theodosius, who, under the habit of a monk, hid a diabolical spirit, forged objections to this council at will, to show that it renewed the dogmas of Nestorius. Having won the good graces of the Empress Eudocia through his artifices and usurped the patriarchate of Jerusalem, he kept most of the monks in their errors. The Church of Palestine was in the most deplorable state: there were, among all the religious, only the disciples of the great Euthymius who refused to communicate with this false patriarch; and, although this impious man made several attempts to engage such an excellent man to his party, he always found in him an unshakable firmness in the orthodox faith and for the defense of the holy council. Our Saint then had enough to satisfy his zeal, working to fortify the faithful in the dogmas of the Catholic Church and to bring back those whom the wretched Theodosius had perverted by his violence or his artifices. Among those he brought back to the faith, besides the empress, one notes an excellent anchorite named Gerasimus, who had been surprised by the heretics. It is this holy man who later built a laura where one lived in an admirable manner.

Finally, after this most holy abbot had sent several of his disciples to heaven, God, who had revealed so many secrets to him during the course of his life, did not wish to hide from him the most important of all, that of his death. Three days before it occurred, he gave notice of it to all his religious, whom he assembled in a particular place to exhort them to the observance of their holy rule and to the practice of all virtues, mainly charity, humility, and chastity. He also recommended that they take care of three types of people: the tempted, the sick, and guests. Then he asked whom they wished to have as their superior: to which they all replied with one voice: Domitian! "That cannot be," replied the Saint, "for he will survive me by only seven days." They therefore begged him to give them Elias, who was the steward of one of the lower monasteries and a native of Jericho. These were his last words: "If I find grace before God, the first thing I will ask of Him will be to always be in spirit with you and with those who will succeed you." After which he dismissed them and kept only Domitian with him, with whom he spent the following three days; finally, on Saturday, at midnight, he fell asleep in the Lord, on January 20 of the year 473, at the age of ninety-seven; he had spent sixty-eight of them in solitude.

The news of this precious death spread immediately on all sides, and such a great multitude of people as well as religious flocked there, that Anastasius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, who was present with his clergy, was forced to use soldiers to break through the crowd, in order to be able to perform the funeral ceremonies. Gerasimus, who, from his cell, had seen this blessed soul go to heaven in the company of the Angels, did not fail to attend. Martyrius and Elias, faithful disciples of Euthymius, laid this holy body in the earth. Domitian, who had remained more than fifty years with the Saint, did not leave his tomb where, on the night of the seventh day, he appeared to him with a cheerful face and called him with these words: "Come to enjoy the glory that is prepared for you: for God wants us to remain together." Domitian then went to find the whole community which was then assembled, told them of this vision, and died with the consolation given to him by the hope of going to enjoy eternal goods in the company of Euthymius.

The following year, on May 7, the body of our Saint was solemnly transferred from the cave where he had been placed and which had been for so long the repository of his sighs, his tears, his prayers, and all his austerities, into a beautiful church that the Patriarch of Jerusalem had built in his honor. Since that time, the feast of Saint Euthymius was so celebrated among the ancient anchorites and cenobites that they solemnized it with as much veneration as that of the great Saint Anthony, on January 20, as it is marked in the Roman Martyrology. Many miracles have occurred since his death, through the invocation of his name, and at his sepulcher, where it is said that a certain oil flowed which served for the healing of the sick.

The life of Saint Euthymius was written by the monk C yril, o Cyrille Monk and primary biographer of Saint Euthymius. ne of the most faithful authors of antiquity; it is reported in Surius, and Botlandus added scholarly annotations to it.