The life of the reverend father of our Dio

His motherland was Antioch of Syria; he was born of Christian parents, was brought up in piety, from youth he began to perform the postnic feat, instructed by God-inspired husbands to a virtuous pagan life, he fought a lot with the invisible enemy <unk> devil and with a closer enemy, his own flesh, leading the soul into temptation.

He overcame the devil by constant prayer, and overcame his flesh by fasting and vigilance, and by many other labors he put his earthly body to death in every way, enslaving the flesh of the spirit.

And when he had dwelt a long time in Antioch, he was told in a vision to go down to Constantinople,

At first, he did not believe the vision and feared that it might be a ploy of the Devil, for he knew that the Devil himself could transform himself into an angel of light.

And when the Lord had given him the same commandment and the same vision, and he had seen in a vision the whole kingdom, he departed from Antioch, and came to Antioch.

And when he was come into the city, and had seen the churches of God, and the palaces, and the buildings of the city, he was astonished, and knew that the vision which he had seen in Antioch was true.

Walking not only through the city but also through its surroundings, he found a deserted place outside the city, where there were ancient pagan tombs and where many demons lived; passersby were very afraid of this place because of the demonic ghosts and terrors; but he liked this place, and armed with the power of the cross and prayer as a weapon against the demons, he settled there, building himself a small hut.

It is impossible to recount all the troubles that the demons inflicted on him day and night, and that they constantly assaulted him in various strange apparitions, desiring to frighten and drive him from that place, but he, as a valiant soldier of the heavenly King, invoking the terrible name of Christ, courageously resisted them without feeling fear and overcame them.

Wishing to know if the Lord blessed him to live in this place, he prayed three times to the Triune God and took his dry staff and stuck it into the ground saying: "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, if this staff grows here and takes root, I will stay here too".

But God, who answers the prayers of those who fear Him, heard the prayer of the one who pleased Him and granted his request. He revived the dry staff with water. He took the staff, and it put out roots, and it grew branches, and it began to grow little by little, until it grew into a great oak tree, which afterwards, after the death of the saint, stood not one hundred years, but many as long as Christianity flourished.

And when he saw that the staff was dry, he knew that it was the will of his Lord that he should dwell there, and he strengthened his hand against the devils, cleansing the place of their evil ghosts and terrors.

And when he came to the house of the Lord, he said, 'O my Lord, I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee, and I have sinned against Thee.

When they saw that he had nothing in the storehouse, they brought him what he needed, and he taught those who came to him the ways of salvation and used them with inspired words, and with what they brought him, he hosted those who brought, and he fed the poor and the wayfarer.

His fame was especially great when, by the grace of God that was upon him, he began to heal people's infirmities, and a multitude of sick people began to flock to him, and he soon gave them not only physical but also mental health: to physical infirmities, he applied prayer as a healing bandage, and to spiritual wounds he bound up with useful teaching, bringing to repentance and persuading them to repent.

At that time, the pious and Christ-loving king Theodosius the Younger (Feodosius II (the Younger) ruled the eastern half of the Roman Empire from 408 to 450), the grandson of Theodosius the Great, was reigning.

He also admired the dry staff that grew into a tree: he ordered that a church and a monastery be built there at his own expense, so that the holy father would lead many and guide them to salvation, and the most holy patriarch Atticus persuaded the holy man to accept the priesthood.

And the godly man became the abbot of the brethren that were gathered unto him, and a glorious teacher of all that came to him, and a wonderful physician of the soul of the body, and he was profitable to all the city; and his dwelling-place was a resting-place for them that had no place to lay their heads.

So the brothers asked the monk to allow them to dig a well in the monastery, not only for the monastic needs, but also for the benefit of those who came there.

The brothers were in despair, and the workmen would cease to work, for the water had ceased to wait; then the priest came to the place of work, and taking the stand, commanded to plunge himself into the well; when he had been lowered to the half of the well, he ordered the basket in which he was lowered to be stopped, and he struck the earthen wall three times with his staff, pronouncing the name of the Most Holy Trinity; and immediately there came out a plentiful spring of water; hardly had they time to pull out the workers who were working at the bottom.

The well came right away and was filled with water. Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God for what had happened.

And one of the workmen, standing on the top of the house, saw the water flowing out of the earthen wall, and believed it not, and said secretly to another, That the old man by some sorcery had caused the water to flow out; for he thought to himself, How is it that there is water at the bottom of the wall, and suddenly it flows so abundantly from the top of the wall? At these words the judgment of God came upon him suddenly, and he slipped and fell into the water and drowned.

And his wife came running, and wept loudly, and cried unto the priest, and rebuked him with cursing words, saying, Why dost thou not come hither, old man, sorcerer, seducer, destroyer?

"Wait a little, woman, hope and take your husband from here". The woman became even more angry and cried out, "Liar monk, where will you get my husband? Will you raise the dead?" And, throwing herself upon the saint, she grabbed hold of his garment, wanting to tear it at him.

Let her alone, for she does not blaspheme us, but the devil who teaches her, and who will soon be ashamed of the grace of God that helps us. When he said this, he ordered to look for the drowning man in the water, and they found him and pulled him out. He lay dead.

And the woman was afraid, for she saw that her husband was alive; and she ran with him, and came to the house, and he was not yet in the way, when he fell down on his knees and died.

She returned to the monastery, weeping and weeping, and fell at the priest's feet and asked forgiveness: "Honest father, my husband", she said, "whom God raised from the dead by your prayers, he died again for my sins".

And the priest urged the woman to spend the rest of her life in repentance, weeping for her sins, and he sent his brother with an order to give her husband a burial as usual.

Many other miracles were wrought by the power and assistance of Almighty God (but they remain unknown to us, because of the antiquity of time, and as a result of various, often occurring persecutions against the Church and the ruination of the Cathedral, many books have perished and the few that we tell about the holy Goddess have reached us).

The miracle worker lived a long time, and in his old age he fell ill and was at the point of death; and when he had called his brother, he instructed her, and, having received the Divine Mysteries, he became as if dead, without movement, without breathing.

The most holy patriarch of Constantinople, Atticus, and the patriarch of Antioch, Alexander, who happened to be in the city at the time, and many other eminent persons of the clergy and laity, who wanted to bury the saint with honor, arrived.

And he rose up healthy, and all rejoiced at his return from the gates of death, because he was useful to all: he had a spiritual and godly conversation with the saints, he was a prayer to kings and an intercession to God, he was an example of virtuous living to those seeking salvation, he led sinners to repentance, he healed the sick, he gave hospitality to strangers, fed the poor, and helped everyone in every need.

He was like a real father to me.

And when he had spent the fifteen years which God had given him in the ordinary labors of the fast, and had served the souls of many, and had been the light of the world, he came near to the end of his earthly life, when he went into the church to pray at the holy altar, and behold, there stood before him a bright man clothed in priestly apparel, and said unto him, Thy days are fulfilled, and the time is come for thy departure into everlasting life: prepare thyself to depart from the body, and to depart unto the Lord.

The monk bowed to the man who had appeared to him and heartily thanked God for such an announcement of the hour of death, then called his brother, addressed her with his last words of instruction and regarding his burial he bequeathed not to allow anyone to take his body to the city, but to bury it in his monastery.

Then, having prepared all that was necessary for his good Christian death, having prayed enough for all and for himself and saying goodbye to all for the last time, he saw the angel of God before him and gladly gave him his honest soul.

The king and the patriarch wanted to take his body to the city to protect the city, but the monks made a vow not to place his body anywhere but in the monastery tomb. They did not dare to break the old man's vow, but they did his will and gave him an honest burial in his monastery, praising the wonderful God in the saints, the One in the Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, to whom and from us may be honor and glory, now and forever and ever. Amen.

Desert-dweller, and in the flesh an angel, and a miracle-worker appeared to thee, the bearer of the gods, our father God, by fasting, vigil, prayer receive the heavenly gifts, heal the sick, and the souls of those who come to thee by faith.

Godly armed with the purity of the soul, unceasing prayer as a spear received powerfully, he cut off the demons of the regiment, miraculously Father our God. Pray unceasingly for all of us.