Saint John of Egypt

This first sacrifice was followed by that of his own will. He placed himself under the guidance of an elder hermit to practice obedience, and served him with such humility, zeal, and even skill, that the good old man feared he might be acting either out of constraint or some natural affection, which led him to ensure the purity of his intentions by commanding him to do things that were likely impossible, or that seemed to shock human sense.

The first thing he ordered him to do was to water, twice a day, a dry and half-rotted stick, until it had taken root and sprouted leaves and branches. This trial lasted a year, during which John never wavered in his obedience, even though he was obliged to fetch water from two miles away.

His blind submission became known to the religious of the neighboring monasteries, where only the practice of virtues was held in high regard; and several of them came to see his superior to verify it for themselves, and to be edified by the example of such an excellent disciple. As they spoke to him about it with admiration, the old man called John and told him in their presence to go and throw out the window a vial of oil that constituted their entire supply: which he executed immediately, without reasoning about the need they had for it.

Cassian, who reports these ex amples Cassien Hagiographical author recounting John's examples of obedience. of his obedience, says that God rewarded him for it with the gift of prophecy, to which He raised him later on. John thus exercised himself for eleven to twelve years in the renunciation of his own will. After which, his spiritual father having died, he remained for about five years in different monasteries to continue perfecting himself more and more in religious virtues, and finally retired into the desert to live there as a perfect anchorite.

The place he chose for his retreat was a deserted mountain two leagues from Lycopolis. He dug himself a cave in a rock that was difficult to access, and blocked the entrance, so as to be less distracted from the exercises of the interior and contemplative life. He was forty or forty-two years old when he retired there, and he remained enclosed until the age of ninety, without opening it to anyone, except for the last year of his life when he introduced Pallad ius, fr Pallade Disciple and historian of Saint John, future bishop of Helenopolis. om whom we learned his story. Quelque désir qu'il eût de n'y vivre qu'avec Dieu, il ne put empêcher qu'on ne recourût à lui de toute part ; de sorte qu'il fut obligé de permettre qu'on bâtit un logement à quelque distance de sa cellule, afin que ceux qui le venaient voir y fussent à couvert des injures du temps, et qu'on y exerçât envers eux l'hospitalité, si fort recommandée dans l'Évangile. But he only spoke on Saturdays and Sundays through the window that served him to receive what was necessary for him; and he never wanted to allow any woman to approach his cell. The life he led in this place was entirely heavenly. He was constantly occupied with prayer and contemplation; his heart, detached from the earth and freed from the cares of the world, rose to God with complete freedom: and God, communicating Himself to his soul in proportion to his detachment, filled it with very abundant lights and graces. It is to this purity of heart that Rufinus attributes the gift of prophecy that he received, just as Cassian attributes it to his obedience; it may have been granted to him in favor of both, since they both concur in marvelously disposing a soul for the most intimate communion with God.

God, who favored him with extraordinary graces, as we shall soon see, did not exempt him from passing through temptation, since He uses it to test the greatest Saints. The demons often endeavored to disturb him during the night, to prevent him from praying or taking any rest; and adding insult to the pain they caused him, they appeared to him in the morning in sensible forms, and feigned to ask his pardon for the harm they had done him during the night.

These spirits of malice, always attentive to take advantage of the slightest opportunities to seduce the servants of God, had on one occasion a small advantage over him. They persuaded him to prolong his fast for two days in a row, in order to break his spirit more easily by completely breaking his body, already worn by old age and exhausted by his ordinary abstinence.

The Saint, whom the love of penance would have led to suffer anything, fell into the illusion; and when at the end of the second day he wanted to sit down to eat, the demon showed himself to him in the form of a hideous Ethiopian, and throwing himself at his knees, said to him, with an insulting mockery: "Forgive me, if you please, it is I who led you to this long fast"; at this admission, the Saint came to himself, and although very skilled in the discernment of spirits, he understood by this blow that he had been seduced. It is from Cassian that we hold this: he learned it from Abbot Joseph, in the conference he had with him on the necessity of using discretion. But this only served to keep this great servant of God in greater vigilance; and this weak victory of the demon's artifice was nothing compared to those he always won over him in his turn.

He had been living enclosed in his cell for thirty years when he received from God the gift of prophecy, with such an abundance of light that nothing escaped his knowledge.

Many came to him, both from distant lands and from the neighborhood, and he would declare to them, when necessary, what they believed to be well hidden in the depths of their hearts; and when they had committed some great sin in secret, he would correct them privately, with zeal and gentleness, to stir them to repent and amend. He also announced in advance whether the flooding of the Nile would be great or moderate, upon which the good or bad harvest depended, and he warned men when they were threatened by the wrath of God for their sins, making known the crimes that provoked Him against them, and exhorting sinners to forestall His just vengeance through repentance and a change of life.

These were but the least of his predictions. Among others that made more noise, one may count that of the defeat of the Ethiopians when they entered the lands of the empire near Syene, the first city one encountered in the Upper Thebaid upon leaving their country. They had initia Sienne Italian city defining the area of activity of the blessed. lly cut to pieces the troops that had been opposed to them, caused much damage, and carried off rich spoils. It was to be feared that they would push their conquests further, because they were far superior in number to the Roman troops; so that the general who commanded the latter found no better resource than in the advice and prayers of our Saint.

He therefore came to consult him on what he had to do; and the servant of God answered him, designating the day on which his prediction was to be fulfilled, that he could march without fear against the enemies; that he would win a complete victory over them that day, that he would be enriched by their spoils, and that he would recover what they had taken. The effect followed the prediction; and as this officer, upon his return from his expedition, came to thank him, he further predicted that he would be in great favor with the emperor: which the event verified.

Another officer having come to see him, his wife, whom he had left pregnant, gave birth on the same day he had arrived at his cell; but she was in danger of dying. Whereupon the Saint said to him: "You would undoubtedly give thanks to the Lord if you knew that He has given you a son today. His mother is in peril; but God will assist her, and you will find her healed. Return home with diligence; you will arrive on the seventh day of the child's birth. Have him named John. Raise him at home until the age of seven, without allowing him to have any communication with the pagans; and after that time, entrust his education to some solitaries to raise him in a holy and heavenly discipline."

His most famous predictions were those he made to Emperor Th eodosius the Great, whom he l'empereur Théodose le Grand Roman Emperor under whom Theodulus served as prefect. informed in advance, on various occasions, of barbarian incursions into the provinces, the uprising of tyrants, the means to subdue them, and many other events of his reign. This prince consulted him primarily regarding two enemies he had to fight. One was the tyrant Maximus, already victo rious over t tyran Maxime Imperial usurper in Gaul. he two emperors Gratian and Valentinian, having killed the former in 383 and driven the latter from his states in 387. John assured him of victory. Theodosius marched on his word, albeit with inferior troops; he defeated Maximus in two battles in Pannonia, crossed the Alps without obstacle, pursued him, and finally surprised him in Aquileia, where his soldiers cut off his head.

Four years later, Eugenius having seized t he Wes Eugène Pagan nobleman, fiancé of Victoria and responsible for her captivity. tern Empire through the influence of Count Arbogast, who had had the young Valentinian strangled, Theodosius resolved to march against him to avenge the death of that prince. Eugenius, who expected this, prepared himself as a pagan through the superstitions of idolatry and magic. He had a man consulted who dabbled in predicting the future through sorcery. The idolaters of Rome also performed great sacrifices for him, curiously examined the entrails of victims, and believed they found favorable omens. But Theodosius, guided by the true religion, sought the truth in purer sources. He sent the eunuch Eutropius to the Thebaid to try to persuade Saint John to come see him, or to learn from him whether it was God's will that he should preempt the tyrant, or if he should wait for the tyrant to come and attack him.

Eutropius executed his commission as a zealous servant. He made strong entreaties to the Saint to urge him to go to the emperor; but being unable to persuade him to leave his solitude, he learned from him that the emperor would win the victory; that it would be bloodier than the one he had won over Maximus; that he would cause the tyrant to perish; that he would not survive him by much; that he would die in Italy, and would leave the Western Empire to his son. All of this was fulfilled to the letter. Theodosius marched against Eugenius and initially thought he would be defeated; for he lost ten thousand Goths on the first day; but the next day the victory declared itself entirely for him, and it appeared evident that he owed it only to the prayers of the Saint, since he had been in such great danger of losing it. The battle took place on the plain of Aquileia on September 6 of the year 394. Theodosius survived only until January 17 of the following year, and by his death left the Eastern Empire to Arcadius and the Western to Honorius, his sons.

The gift of prophecy that Saint John had received from God was accompanied by that of miracles. He even performed them in his absence, especially in favor of some women, because he never wished to allow any to approach his cell. The wife of a senator having become blind, did not cease to urge her husband to take her to the Saint. The husband, who knew that the Saint would never suffer it, found no better expedient than to come and implore him to at least pray for her. He did so, and sent her in addition some oil that he had blessed; the sick woman, having rubbed her eyes with it, recovered her sight. Besides the fact that he performed wonders without this blessed oil, he usually used it so that the healing of the sick would be attributed less to him than to the virtue of the blessing. This is how he hid by humility the grace he had received. He also attributed the effects to the faith of those who addressed themselves to him, assuring that he was not heard for any merit that might be in him, but only because God wished to grant such favors to these persons.

The firm resolution he had taken not to speak to any woman gave rise to a singular wonder, and one which Saint Augustine held in high regard. A master of camp, who was leading troops to Siena, where his wife was following him, went, at her solicitation, to the cell of the Saint, to obtain from him that he would suffer her to come there also to receive his blessing; the extreme desire she had for it having made her run great dangers. Saint John replied to him that he had never seen women since he had shut himself in his cell, and that what he was asking was quite impossible. The officer did not give in; he continued to press him with more insistence, assuring that if he refused her this grace, his wife would die of affliction, whereas by granting it to her, she would receive a marvelous advantage from the happiness of having seen him.

The Saint, admiring his faith and perseverance, and not wishing to cause him, nor his spouse, the sorrow of an entire refusal, nor to fail in his resolution, said to him: "Go, your wife will see me without coming here, and even without leaving her house." The officer withdrew upon this answer, rolling in his mind what its meaning could be; which gave no less matter for reflection to his wife, when he reported it to her; but at night, when she was asleep, the Saint appeared to her in a dream, and held this discourse to her: "O woman, your faith is great, and obliges me to come here to satisfy your prayer. I warn you nevertheless not to desire to see the material face of the servants of God, but rather to contemplate with the eyes of the spirit their life and their actions. For the flesh profits nothing; and it is the spirit that gives life. As for me, it is not at all in the capacity of a just man and prophet, as you think; but only by virtue of your faith, that having prayed for you, God has granted you the healing of all the evils that you suffered in your body. You will therefore enjoy, you and your husband, starting from today, perfect health, and your whole house will be filled with blessing; but never forget, both of you, the benefits you have received from Him. Live always in His fear, desire nothing beyond the appointments that are due to your office, and finally be content with having seen me in a dream, without asking for more."

Upon waking, this woman recounted to her husband what she had seen and heard, and detailed to him so well the features of the Saint's face, the color and shape of his habit, and all the other marks by which he could be recognized, that he could not doubt that the Saint had appeared to her during sleep; thus, full of astonishment, he returned to the grotto of Saint John, recounted to him everything that had happened to his spouse, rendered him thanks, and after having received his blessing, he continued his journey in perfect contentment.

We must now speak of the visit that Palladius and other solitaries paid him, and of the admirable instructions they received from him. Palladius was in the desert of Nitria with Evagrius his master, Albinus, Ammon, and three others. As they were talking one day about the fame of Saint John, Evagrius testified that he would have had great joy in knowing truly what the eminence of his virtue was, through someone capable of discerning his spirit and his manner of prayer.

Palladius, feeling strong enough to make the journey and go there surely by himself, for he was then only twenty-six years old, left without saying anything to anyone, and finally arrived with great difficulty at the Saint's mountain. Besides the fact that it was an eighteen-day journey, which he made partly on foot and partly by water, as it was the time of the rising of the Nile, during which illnesses were frequent, he fell ill like many others.

Upon arriving, he found that the vestibule of the Saint's cell was closed, and learned that it was only opened on Saturdays and Sundays. He waited until that time to be allowed to enter, and he saw the Saint sitting at his window, through which he spoke to those who approached. As soon as the Saint saw him, he greeted him and asked him through an interpreter what country he was from and what subject brought him, adding that he seemed to him to be of Evagrius's company.

Palladius satisfied all these requests; but while they were talking, the governor of the province, named Alypius, entered and approached Saint John in great haste. The Saint then left Palladius, who withdrew to the side to let them speak in freedom. As their conversation was long, Palladius began to grow weary of waiting, and feelings of murmuring arose in his heart, as if the Saint had thought too little of him and as if there were, in his conduct, respect of persons; so much so that he thought of leaving altogether.

The Saint knew at that moment what was happening in his soul, and sent his interpreter, named Theodore, to tell him not to become impatient, and that he would soon send the governor away. This word brought Palladius back to himself. He recognized how enlightened the Saint was by heaven, since he had penetrated his thoughts, and waited without difficulty for the governor to have withdrawn.

Then Saint John called him and gave him a gentle correction regarding the judgment he had made and the inner murmuring to which he had given way; after which, to console him, he said: "Do you not know that it is written that it is not those who are in good health, but the sick who need a physician: I can speak to you when I want, and you to me, and when I cannot console you, there are other fathers and other brothers who can do so. But this governor being engaged under the power of the demon in the temporal affairs with which he is occupied, and having come to me to receive some salutary advice in the little time he has had to breathe, like a slave fleeing the domination of a troublesome and unbearable master, what reason was there for me to leave him to speak to you, who are continually occupied with what concerns your salvation?"

Palladius, following this, begged him to pray for him; but the holy old man, giving him a little slap, as to his child, with a gentle and pleasant gaiety, continued to speak to him in these terms: "You will not be exempt from troubles, and you have already sustained great battles in the thought of leaving your solitude; but the fear of offending God has made you delay your departure. The demon torments you on this, and does not fail to allege apparent reasons and pretexts of piety. He has represented to you the regret your father has for your absence, and that your return would lead your brother and sister to embrace solitude. But I announce good news to you, by assuring you that both are safe, since they have renounced the world, and that your father will live well for another seven years. Remain therefore with a firm and constant heart in solitude, and do not think anymore of returning to your country for the love of them, since it is written: He who, after having put his hand to the plow, turns his head backward, is not fit for the kingdom of God."

These words greatly consoled and strengthened Palladius; and the Saint, having then asked him with the same gaiety if he did not desire to be a bishop, he replied that he did not, because he already was one, since according to the Greek etymology, this word means a steward and an overseer. Of what city are you then a bishop? the Saint said to him. I am, replied Palladius laughing, of the kitchen, of the pantry, of the table, for I watch with care over all these things; that is my episcopate and the stewardship that my delicacy has made me choose. Cease your joking, the Saint said to him smiling; for you will one day be a bishop, and will endure many labors and afflictions. But if you wish to avoid them, do not leave your solitude, since while you remain there, no one can ordain you bishop."

He experienced the truth of this prophecy in a few years: for, at the end of three years, being threatened with dropsy, he consented to be sent to Alexandria, from where, by the advice of the doctors, he went to Palestine and then to Bithynia, where he was made bishop of Helenopolis. He then found himself involved in the persecution that Saint John Chrysostom suffered, and was hidden for eleven months in a very dark room. He th en remembered that t évêque d'Hélénopolis Disciple and historian of Saint John, future bishop of Helenopolis. his great Prophet had predicted to him the pains he was enduring.

Meanwhile, the Saint, wishing to encourage him to suffer his solitude patiently, told him that it had been forty years that he had lived enclosed in his own without ever having seen any woman, nor a single coin, nor even having seen anyone eat.

Palladius then returned to Nitria, where he told Evagrius and the five others what he had seen of this admirable man, and inspired in them by his account a more ardent desire to go see him themselves; which they did two months later. They reported to Palladius upon their return what had happened during their visit; but he did not insert it into his history.

Saint John rendered his spirit to God while kneeling and in prayer, after having spent three consecutive days without letting himself be seen by anyone.

The solitary saint is represented watering a dry stick: this simplicity earned h im the name John Jean l'Obéissant Famous hermit and prophet of the Lower Thebaid in the 4th century. the Obedient.

The Bollandists and Boiteau believe that Saint John of Egypt died in the month of September or October of the year 594. Tillemont thinks it could have been in March or April of the year 495. The martyrologies, since the 12th century, record his feast day on March 9. Barocque says that the Greeks celebrated it on December 13; but the Bollandists maintain that they do not celebrate it at all. — See the Fathers of the Deserts of the East.