- St Hilarion the New, abbot of the Dalmatian Monastery (845)
- He was born in 775 in Cappadocia. He became abbot of the Monastery
of Dalmatus, where he fervently defended the icons against the attacks
of the Emperor Leo the Armenian. He was exiled twice, first by Leo, then
by Theophilus, but was finally freed by the Empress Theodora and again
became abbot of the monastery, where he served until his repose.
- St Bessarion the Great, wonder-worker of Egypt (466)
- "An Egyptian by birth, Abba Bessarion was initiated into the angelic
life by Saint Anthony the Great. He later became a disciple of Saint
Macarius, the founder of Scetis (19 Jan.), and then set out to lead the
life of a wanderer, borne hither and thither by Providence like a bird
by the wind. All his wealth lay in the Gospel, which he always had in
his hand. Living in the open air, he patiently endured all weathers,
untroubled by care for a dwelling or for clothing. Fortified by the
strength of the faith, he thus remained untouched by all the passions of
the flesh.
-
"On coming to a monastery where the brethren led the common life, he
would sit weeping at the gate. A brother once offered him hospitality
and asked why he was distressed. 'I cannot live under a roof, until I
have regained the wealth of my house,' he replied, meaning the heavenly
inheritance lost since Adam. 'I am afflicted, in danger of death every
day, and without rest because of my huge misfortunes, which oblige me
ever to travel on in order to finish my course.'
-
"He wandered for forty years without ever lying down to sleep, and he
spent all of forty days and forty nights standing wide awake in a thorn
bush. One winter's day, he was walking through a village when he came
upon a dead man. Without hesitation, he took off his own coat and
covered the body. A little further on, he gave his tunic to a poor man
who was shivering in the cold. An army officer, who happened to be
passing, saw the naked ascetic and wanted to know who had stripped him
of his clothing. 'He did!' replied Bessarion, holding up the Gospel
Book. On another occasion, he met with a poor man and, having nothing
to give him in alms, he hurried to the market in order to sell his
Gospel Book. On his disciple's asking him where the Book was, he
replied cheerfully, 'I have sold it in obedience to the words which I
never cease to hear: God, sell what you possess and give to the poor (Matt. 19:21).
-
"Through this evangelic way of life he became a chosen vessel of Grace,
and God wrought many miracles through him. One day, for example, he
made sea water sweet through the sign of the Cross, to quench his
disciple's thirst. When the latter wanted to keep some for the
remainder of the journey, he prevented him, saying, 'God is here, God is
everywhere!' At another time, having stood for two weeks in prayer
with hands raised to heaven, he brought about rain enough to fill a
thirsty brother's coat. Then there was the time when he stopped the sun
from setting until he reached the cell of an elder whom he wished to
meet; and the time when he walked across the waters of a river. Through
these and many other wonders wrought by the Saint, God showed, as He
did with Moses, Joshua and Elias, that He grants His servants mastery
even over natural phenomena. Through the power of Christ, he raised a
paralytic, drove out demons and showed himself truly to be a 'god' upon
the earth.
-
"When, having reached his goal, he was at the point of regaining that
dwelling in heaven which he had sought throughout his wanderings, he
said to those about him, 'The monk ought, like the cherubim, to be all
eye.'
-
"In answer to a brother who asked what a monk living in community ought
to do, he replied: 'Keep silence and do not measure yourself.' Indeed,
this is how even in the midst of people one can obtain the grace of the
great anchorites." (Synaxarion)
source: http://www.abbamoses.com
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