Saint Sabas of Mutalasca

Saint Sabas lived in this house until the age of thirty, after which he was so moved by the desire for solitude that he begged Longinus, who had succeeded Theoctistus after Martin, to allow him to withdraw into it. The venerable abbot permitted him, with the consent of Saint Euthymius; and then Sabas, believing he had yet done nothing, undertook a life so austere and so elevated above nature that he seemed to have no body left, but to have become entirely spiritual. A cave was his ordinary dwelling; he spent five days of the week there without eating, and always applied to prayer, the chanting of the Psalms, or manual labor, he would leave it on Saturday to place into the hands of the officers fifty baskets that he had made during the week; and on Sunday, after having attended the holy Mysteries and the spiritual conference, he would return with as many palm branches as he needed to continue his work for the other days.

When he had led this kind of life for five years, Saint Euthymius, who was accustomed to calling him the young old man because of his extraordinary wisdom, no longer able to doubt that he was capable of sustaining the harshest labors, brought him near to him and had him stay in his laura. Sabas tried to make himself a perfect copy of this great man; but, as he died shortly after, the monastery having fallen into laxity, he left it and retired near the Jordan, to Saint Gerasimus. There he was attacked with fury by the demons, who tried to terrify him with horrible specters; but he always put them to flight by the sign of the cross, prayer, the recitation of the Psalms, and the contempt he held for their efforts. From there, the Spirit of God led him as if by the hand to the mountain where Saint Theodosius the Cenobiarch had lived and into a cave that was at the very top . It was very difficult to ca saint Théodose le Cénobiarque Abbot of the cenobites and close collaborator of Sabas. rry water there, the fountain being at the bottom and six or seven miles away; but he did it with joy, helping himself for this with a rope that hung from the top of the cave. He also had for food only the herbs that grew in the surroundings; but, by the disposition of divine Providence, barbarian men, charmed by his signal piety, voluntarily committed themselves to bringing him on certain days bread, cheese, and dates, with as much water as he needed.

He was forty-five years old when he began to apply himself to the spiritual guidance of the Brethren. Many came to him, and he instructed them in all the duties of the religious life. At first, he received up to one hundred and fifty, and he gave each of them a place to build their cell; so that in a short time he created the larges t lavra in Palestine. He also built la plus grande laure de la Palestine The principal monastery founded by Sabbas in Palestine. a chapel there with an altar, which he had blessed; and when a priest visited him, he would ask him to celebrate the divine mysteries there; for, as for him, his humility, his modesty, and his profound respect for the infinite greatness of the majesty of God prevented him for a long time from allowing himself to be ordained a priest. Nor did he want those under his guidance to aspire to this dignity, for fear that it might become a subject of ambition and partiality in his monastery. Moreover, he provided what was necessary for their maintenance, in order to remove any pretext for them to go into the world to the detriment of the silence and retreat, which are so necessary for the support of regular observance.

But as tares usually grow among the good grain, there were some of his disciples wicked enough to complain to Sallust, Patriarch of Jerusalem, tha t he was too simple and too unref Salluste, patriarche de Jérusalem Patriarch of Jerusalem who ordained Sabas as a priest. ined to govern a community as large and as considerable as theirs; especially because, due to this simplicity, he did not want to be a priest and did not allow any of the brothers to be raised to the priesthood. The patriarch, having listened to them, put the matter off until the next day and immediately sent for the holy abbot, who was in no way informed of what was happening; the complainants believed it was to deprive him of his office; but the event showed that it was, on the contrary, to silence them. Indeed, as soon as he had arrived, the patriarch, having assembled all these malcontents, ordained him a priest in their presence; then, taking him by the hand, he said to them: « Here is your father and the true superior of your lavra. It is God Himself who has chosen him, and not I; I have only lent my ministry to the Holy Spirit, and I have looked more to your advantage in raising him to the priesthood than to his own ». He then led him to his lavra and consecrated its church, enriching it with several very precious relics.

The reputation of this excellent Father of the congregation having spread as far as Armenia, several Armenians came to his desert and begged him to receive them among his disciples. He lodged them in his laura and gave them a small oratory to sing the praises of God in their own language on Saturdays and Sundays. Every year, he would go to spend Lent in the depths of the wilderness until Palm Sunday, without seeing or speaking to anyone, and even without any food other than the adorable Eucharist, which he took twice a week. During one of his journeys, where he was accompanied by one of his disciples named Agapet, he discovered in a cave a holy old man who, for thirty-eight years, had spoken to no one, but had always led an angelic life in sweet conversation with God. They spoke together of heavenly things; and the old man, who had called Sabas by his name without ever having known him, also gave him his blessing. A few days later he died, and our Saint, upon his return, having entered his cave, found him on his knees in the state and posture of a man at prayer: he approached him to commend himself to his prayers; but, recognizing that he was dead, he gave him burial with his disciple Agapet, and sang psalms, according to the custom of the Church, for the repose of his soul.

While he was advancing with such great strides on the path of holiness, his father died in Alexandria, and his mother, touched by the report of his virtues, came to find him and brought him a large sum of money from the sale of her property; then, renouncing all earthly things, she placed herself under his direction. She lived for some time longer in great holiness, and died in the arms of her dear son, in the hope of eternal life. He could not have made better use of the money she had brought him; for he employed it to build two buildings to serve as hospitals: one near his laura, for foreign religious, and the other in Jericho, for travelers. He also had two new monasteries built: one on a hill called Castelle, of which Saint Theodosius the C enobiar Jéricho Place where Sabas had a hospital built. ch was superior; the other, to the north of his laura, where he established directors of consummate prudence and virtue. He placed in the first only religious of mature age and very exact observers of the Rule. As for the beginners, who were still full of worldly ideas, he placed them in the second until they knew the psalter and had passed through all the exercises of religious life: "For a religious," he said, "must be studious, prudent, sober, moderate, temperate, capable of teaching others, instead of needing to be taught, and such that he knows how to regulate his mind no less than to tame his flesh." When he saw them in this state, and entirely detached from earthly things, he had them come to his laura or to that of Saint Theodosius; and there, if they were weak of body, he gave them a built cell; but, if they were strong and robust, he obliged them to build one. For the young children who wished to leave the world, he lodged them in a separate house located to the West, which Saint Theodosius also cared for, saying that he had learned this practice from the ancient Fathers, and that it was absolutely necessary to prevent the temptations of the demon.

There was such a union of spirit between these two excellent abbots, Sabas and Theodosius, that they had but one will and the same sentiments: which caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commonly call them the two apostles, and the Patriarch Sallust finally gave them the conduct of all the monasteries under his authority, after having been urgently requested to do so by the abbots and religious of each house.

Sabas was made general superior of all the anchorites and solitaries, and Theodosius was made superior of all the cenobites.

However, these libertine and jealous religious men, of whom we have already spoken, gathering all the more as they saw their blessed Father grow in esteem and increase the number of his cells and disciples, conspired together again and resolved to try all sorts of ways to discredit him and make him leave his laura. He was warned of this; but, as he had learned from Jesus Christ to be meek and humble of heart, far from opposing their design, he preferred to satisfy them by moving away and banishing himself: "For," he said, "one must fight the demons, but one must yield to men." He therefore abandoned his monastery and withdrew towards Scythopolis, into a desert, on the banks of the Gadarar River.

There, having entered a cavern that served as a retreat for a lion of prodigious size, he said his prayers and then fell asleep. During his sleep, the lion, which had gone out, returned, and finding this guest he did not expect, he took him gently by his habit, as if to order him to go away and leave the place free. The Saint awoke, and, not at all astonished by the sight of this terrible animal, he began to say Matins. The lion, by a strange wonder, withdrew at that very hour and waited until he had finished, after which he returned and pulled him as before. Then Sabas said to him with gentleness: "This cavern is large enough for you and for me, and we can both lodge there. But if you wish to be alone, seek another dwelling: for, since I am created in the image of God, it is more just that you yield to me than I to you." At these words, the lion went away and left the entire cavern to the holy abbot. He led a hidden life there for some time; but the reputation of his holiness having spread to the surroundings, several people came to find him and obliged him to receive them as his disciples.

Thieves, imagining that he had a lot of money, went one night to rob him; but, having found that poverty was his only treasure, they returned without doing him any harm, charmed by the greatness of his virtue. On the way, they encountered lions with a terrible gaze that filled them with fear. All their hope was in the one they had just spared. They therefore said to these lions: "We command you, in the name of Saint Sabas, to leave our passage free"; and at that very hour these animals took flight: which caused the thieves to convert. Since then, Saint Sabas being visited by an infinity of people who came to receive instructions and consolation, this great gathering, which took away his freedom of conversation with his God, made him resolve to leave this cavern.

He spent several years often changing his dwelling to flee the honor that seemed to pursue him on all sides; but after having by this means carried the light of evangelical counsels to various places, he finally returned to his laura, believing that such a long absence would have softened the spirit of his rebellious children. He found them, on the contrary, even more indocile and stubborn than before; their cabal had even been strengthened by the union of twenty others who did not want any yoke. He opposed his gentleness to their anger, his charity to their aversion, and his goodness to their malice; but, seeing in them no hope of correction, he abandoned them once more, and went towards Nicopolis, where a cell was built for him under a tree, whose shade covered him and whose fruits served as his food. This cell was also changed into a monastery.

While he was there, his rebellious religious men spread the rumor in his laura that he had been devoured by a lion near the Dead Sea, and went thereupon to pray Patriarch Elias, successor of Sallustius, to give them a superior. This prelate, who was extremely prudent, not adding faith to this report, but suspecting some impostu re, told them t patriarche Elie Patriarch of Jerusalem in exile, supported by Sabas. hat they would do much better to look for Sabas, or to wait some more time for his return, than to believe such a strange piece of news. This answer filled them with confusion and dashed all their hope. After a few days, the Saint came, according to his custom, to the feast of the dedication of the cathedral church of Jerusalem. The patriarch begged him to return to his children who had been deprived of his presence for so many years. The Saint resisted for some time, excusing himself not on the indocility of his disciples, but on his own incapacity; but the patriarch made so many instances on this point that he was obliged to defer to his sentiments. He warned him nevertheless of the evil designs of some of the Brothers, and then wrote to the whole community in these terms: "I inform you, my Brothers in Jesus Christ, that your Father has not been devoured by beasts, as it had been reported to you; but that he is alive, and that he has come here for the feast. I have kept him and I am sending him back to you, not judging it reasonable that the laura he built with so much pain should be under any other conduct than his. Receive him then, and render him the obedience that you owe him; if any one of you does not want to submit to his authority, we command him to leave the laura at this very instant."

This letter, which the Saint had read publicly in the church upon arriving, filled these rebels with fury. They committed much violence, and, having seized the poor furniture of the laura, they left in a rage and went to another place towards the torrent of Theon. They repaired some old cells there, they built new ones, and by this means made a monastery which they called the new laura. Sabas, notwithstanding their outrages, did not forget them; but, filled with that charity which loves enemies and forgives injuries, he helped them corporally and spiritually in everything that was possible for him. As they lacked the most necessary things, and no one wanted to assist them, he procured them considerable alms and brought them money, food, and clothes himself; and because they were in a terrible division, for lack of superiors, he gave them some who brought them back little by little to the sentiments of religion from which they had so unfortunately strayed. Thus, his laura was purged of this bad grain, and he had the joy of seeing these libertines again on the path of salvation. There are still in his life various examples of several disobedient or heretical solitaries, whom he converted by his extreme gentleness and even by his miracles; but so as not to extend this summary too much, we leave to the reader the care of seeing them in his complete history.

The opposition of the Church of Alexandria to the holy Council of Chalcedon, and the obstinacy of the Church of Constantinople in not erasing from the holy diptychs the name of Acacius, its former bishop, excommunicated by the Sovereign Pontiffs, had filled the entire East with confusion in the third ye ar of the reign of l'empereur Anastase Byzantine emperor who favored the Monophysite heresy. Emperor Anastasius, who favored the heresy of these two sees: Patriarch Elias, to remedy such a great evil, and to try to bring this prince back to Catholic sentiments, sent to Constantinople Saint Sabas, then seventy years old, with several other of the most notable solitaries of Palestine; he charged them with a letter conceived in these terms: "I send to Your Majesty, in the name of the Churches, a company of solitaries led by Sabas, chief of all those who inhabit the desert, in the hope that the respect you will have for their virtue and their labors will lead you to put an end to the war by which these Churches are troubled. Do not permit, I beseech you, that such a great evil should go further, since you desire to please God who has placed the crown upon your head."

When these blessed deputies were at the imperial palace, the guards, seeing Sabas poorly dressed and without any outward appearance, pushed him back and would not allow him entry; the others went as far as the prince's cabinet and had an audience there. He asked them which of them was Sabas, who was mentioned in their letter of credence. Everyone looked for him with their eyes, and as he was not to be found, bodyguards were immediately sent to bring him. He was in front of the door, in a small place apart, where he was quietly reciting psalms. They told him that the emperor was asking for him, and they promptly brought him before His Majesty. When he was near his throne, God, to teach him how dear the Saint was to Him, made him see an angel all shining with light who walked before him and surrounded him with his rays. He recognized by this that he was a divine man; and, having risen, he welcomed him with great respect and paid him great honors; then he commanded them all to sit and gave them the freedom to propose what they desired. Then, each one leaving the common good, thought only of his particular interests or those of his community: Sabas was the only one who spoke vigorously for the defense of Patriarch Elias, whom the emperor was persecuting, and for the peace of the Churches that were in trouble. Anastasius, far from conceiving indignation and hatred against him, loved him all the more; he had a thousand gold pieces given to him for the assistance of his monasteries. He also wanted him to remain for some time in Constantinople, in order to converse with him sometimes; and, in one of these conferences, Sabas removed the bad impression that had been given to him of Patriarch Elias, and made him revoke the sentence of exile that he had had published against him.

He also worked for the relief of several towns in Palestine and the surroundings of Jerusalem, upon which, by imperial edict, the taxes of other towns that plague and famine had depopulated were being cast. He showed the injustice of this edict and how prejudicial it was to the empire, because, little by little, it was ruining the good towns that remained and putting them in a state where they could not pay anything to the treasury in the future. The emperor was quite inclined to follow his advice; but a treasurer of finances, named Marinus, overturned all these good dispositions, alleging that the inhabitants of Jerusalem and its surroundings were not worthy of this grace, because they were Nestorians. That was what the new heretics called all those who held for the Council of Chalcedon. Saint Sabas severely rebuked Marinus for such bad counsel, and told him that, if he did not retract, he would soon feel the hand of God weighing heavily upon his head. He felt it indeed, for in a sedition, his goods were looted, his house was burned, and the only resolution he took to do penance made God save his life. However, the emperor, having deferred more to his sentiment than to that of the blessed abbot, left the taxes he had established, and it was only in the following reigns that they were suppressed.

The winter preventing Saint Sabas from going back to sea and returning to his monastery as soon as he would have wished, he retired to the suburb of Rufinianae, to avoid the trouble and tumult of the city, and he was visited there by the greatest princesses, whom he encouraged to work for their spiritual advancement.

As soon as the season was favorable, he returned to his laura, where he found new occasions for combat. This was for the defense of the same Council of Chalcedon, for the emperor, notwithstanding the remonstrances that this admirable man had made to him and the hopes he had given of leaving the Church in peace, did not cease to oppress it by persecuting those who upheld its purity and its decrees. He therefore assembled the most enlightened and virtuous of the solitaries, and, surrounded by this great number of defenders of the faith, he opposed such cruel tyranny with incredible generosity. He first delivered Patriarch Elias from a crowd of Eutychians and Severians, who surrounded him and wished to outrage him. Then, this blessed prelate having been deposed from his see and sent into exile by Olympius, the emperor's deputy, and John, son of Marcian, having been put in his place, he had so much influence over the mind of the latter that he obliged him to pronounce anathema against Eutyches, Severus, and their partisans, and to embrace once again the orthodox faith, which his weakness or his ambition had caused him to abandon.

Finally, as he saw that the emperor would not fail after this to unleash himself against the Church of Jerusalem and the monasteries, he wrote him a letter full of the spirit of God and apostolic vigor. In this letter, he represents the incredible violence that his officers were doing to the priests, deacons, and religious of the Church of Jerusalem, which one could call the mother of all others, since it had received the heavenly doctrine from the very mouth of the Savior, which it had then communicated to the whole universe, and he humbly begs him to put an end to these scandals, to stop the insolence of his ministers, to restore liberty and peace to her to whom Our Lord had the goodness to give it, and not to leave any longer in persecution those who had no other design than to maintain the faith confirmed and established in the four General Councils. The emperor did not answer this letter immediately, because he was then occupied with a war against the barbarians.

Meanwhile, all of Palestine was afflicted for five years by famine, drought, the infestation of locusts, and many other plagues that reduced it to extreme misery. The seven monasteries of Saint Sabas shared in this great necessity, because they had no income, and those who gave them alms had themselves fallen into incredible indigence; but the blessed abbot, without losing courage, assembled the superiors of these houses and exhorted them to expect everything from the mercy of God, who knew their needs and could, by His omnipotence, remedy them. Indeed, his laura having found itself in such an extremity that there was not even bread to offer to God the holy sacrifice, he had recourse to His goodness and there were brought to him, without his knowing from where, thirty horses loaded with wheat, wine, oil, and other provisions suitable for religious, so that he had enough to restore the exhausted strength of his disciples.

The friendship he bore for Patriarch Elias caused him to go visit him in his exile, and he remained there several days with him. It was at that time that they both had a revelation of the fatal death of Emperor Anastasius, the very night it happened, which was July 9, 518. Sabas, for his part, saw in a dream thunderbolts launched from on high against this prince, and how, while fleeing into the most secret places of his palace to try to avoid them, he gave up the ghost in a terrifying manner; as for Saint Elias, he learned of this death through a heavenly light, and had at the same time a revelation that he himself was to die in ten days, to go plead his cause at the judgment of God against this persecutor of the orthodox. Justin succeeded him, and, as soon as he was in possession of the empire, he had an edict published in all his states by which he ordered that the holy Council of Chalcedon be received by everyone; he recalled the exiles, restored the prelates to their sees, and returned calm to the whole Church.

Our blessed abbot was then eighty years old, and his strength was exhausted; but, his zeal giving him new vigor, he traveled to Caesarea, to Scythopolis, and to several other places, to publish this edict and have the four general councils registered in the records of these Churches. He also worked with great success for the conversion of all those whom the heretics had seduced and engaged in their party. Moreover, he remedied by his prayers and his tears the evils with which Palestine was afflicted; for it was through them that he obtained rain at one of the lauras where they were dying of thirst, and then for the whole country, where, for lack of water, they were reduced to extreme misery.

Being ninety-one years old, he still had the courage to undertake the long journey to Constantinople, to appease the anger of Emperor Justinian, su ccessor t Justinien Byzantine emperor under whose reign Simeon began his religious life. o Justin, against the Christians of Palestine, to whom the Samaritans had maliciously imputed the cause of their revolt in that province. The welcome he received at court was marvelous. As soon as Justinian learned of his arrival, he sent the patriarch of that imperial city to meet him, along with lords and his bodyguards to bring him to him. When he was in his chamber, he perceived on his head a shining crown, which clearly showed that he was a child of light. He rose from his seat, came to meet him, embraced him tenderly, and compelled him to give him his blessing. The empress also came to receive him; but as she begged him to obtain for her from heaven fertility and the birth of a son, the Saint answered nothing to her request, although she repeated it three times; he contented himself only with telling her that he would pray to God to be pleased to preserve her, adding that, if she had children, it was to be feared that they would be even greater supporters of the heresy of Severus than Anastasius had been. He then obtained from Justinian everything he asked of him, and this prince, at his prayer, drove all the Samaritans from Jerusalem, abolished their synagogues, and took away their power to succeed one another, to prevent them from becoming too rich. He also condemned to death the authors of the sedition that had caused so many murders, which so astonished a lord of that sect, named Arsenius, that, the fear of God mingling with that of men, he converted and asked for baptism, which was administered to him by Saint Sabas.

The emperor wished to give him even greater marks of his affection, for he offered a certain and annual income for each of the monasteries that were under his guidance. But this generous abbot, who wanted no other riches than the funds of divine Providence, upon which he placed and wanted his religious to place all their trust, answered him with a marvelous disinterestedness: "For us, my lord, we will always have enough goods if we are faithful in fulfilling our duties; but, since Your Majesty is willing to open your treasures in our favor, we beg you to exercise your magnificence toward this poor people of Palestine. The Samaritans have ruined their houses, burned their churches, devastated their fields, carried off their livestock, and they now find themselves reduced to the last extremity; relieve them for some time of all taxes, so that they may be in a state to pay them in the future. The pilgrims, who come to Jerusalem to adore the Holy Sepulcher, find no lodgings there where they can rest. Have a hospital built there to receive them. The church of the Holy Virgin, begun by the patriarch Elias, lacks all the things necessary for divine service; give it ornaments for the holy sacrifice and for the other ecclesiastical ministries. There are no strongholds near the monasteries where the solitaries can take refuge during the sudden incursions of the barbarians; have one built. Finally, the errors of Arius, Nestorius, Eutyches, Severus, and Origen are publicly taught, to the great scandal of the Church; remedy this evil by your edicts and ensure that the doctrine is one as Jesus Christ is one. If you do this, I hope that you will soon see Italy, Africa, and other great countries that have been withdrawn from it return under your dominion." Justinian agreed to all these requests and held several councils to have them executed. In one of these councils, where he wanted Sabas to be always present, this great servant of God showed his exactitude regarding what concerned the service of his divine Master, for, the hour of Terce having arrived, he left to go and say it. One of his disciples pointed out to him that he was lacking in propriety by leaving the emperor thus while he was working with such zeal to oblige him: "There is nothing in that but what is good," he replied, "for the emperor, in working for the relief of his people and the conversion of the faith, does what he must, and I, in saying my prayers at the prescribed hours, fulfill what I must."

God had poured out His graces with such abundance into the soul of this heavenly man that, not only did he predict future things, but he also healed all kinds of diseases and performed an infinity of miracles. He was modest, gentle, of easy access, pleasant in his words, simple in his actions, prudent in his conduct, full of charity toward everyone, and extremely zealous for religious mortification; and it is reported that, walking one day along the Jordan with a young brother, a company of worldly people, among whom was a very well-formed young girl, passed before them. The Saint, to know if his disciple had been mortified, told him that it seemed to him that this young girl was unpleasant and that she had only one eye. "Forgive me, my father," replied the novice, "I assure you that she has two beautiful eyes and I have looked at her well." The holy abbot took this as an occasion to give him a severe reprimand, and, to punish him for his levity, he drove him from his cell and sent him to a place to do penance, where he had the leisure to learn to mortify his senses.

When the affairs of Constantinople were concluded, Saint Sabas returned to Jerusalem, reported to Peter, Patriarch of that city, who had sent him, on what he had obtained from the Emperor, and visited the holy places for the last time. Afterwards, he returned to his first laura to end his days in solitude; shortly after, he fell ill and had a revelation of his death. The Patriarch visited him, and, seeing him destitute of all things in his cell, had him carried to a house under his jurisdiction to better treat him; but the Saint, who had only suffered this transport out of obedience, seeing his hour near, had himself carried back to his poor hut, where, having given the kiss of peace to his children and established a holy man named Melitas as superior in his place, he rendered his soul into the hands of God on December 5, 531, being ninety-two years old, as proven by Cardinal Baronius.

His body was solemnly buried in the middle of his laura, between the two churches, by the bishops, the religious, and the inhabitants of Palestine; his soul was led to heaven by the angels and the holy martyrs, as Saint Theodore revealed to Romulus, deacon of Gethsemani. The miracles that were performed at his tomb have made his memory famous and venerable in the East and the West. There is in Rome a church and a monastery in his name, which Gregory III gave to the college of the Germans, which he had founded for the restoration of the Catholic faith in the provinces of the North. It is believed that his body was transported to Venice and that it is preserved there religiously.

Sa int Sa Venise Final location of the transfer of relics in 1200. bas is represented: 1st holding the Rule of his monastery, which he presents to the monks of his Order; 2nd sitting on the edge of a precipice which serves as his retreat: he is discovered by two travelers; 3rd sitting in a cave, praying, having a lion near him. — He can also be represented conferring with the emperors Anastasius and Justinian, to whom he had been sent by the Patriarch of Jerusalem for various difficult questions to address, for the good of the Church.

This account is by Father Giry.