(A.D. 393.)
[Almost all Latin Martyrologies, not however that of Bede, nor by the
Greeks. Authorities:--Two lives, one by Evagrius, translated into
Latin by Ruffinus of Aquileia, the other by Palladius, in his Hist.
Lausiaca; both were contemporaries, and had visited and conversed with
the saint.]
No solitary after S. Antony acquired such renown as S. John of Egypt.
He was not only respected by the people, but by emperors. The most
celebrated doctors and ecclesiastical writers, S. Jerome, S. Augustine,
S. Prosper, Cassian, Palladius, Ruffinus, S. Eucher, and S. Fulgentius,
have extolled him. John was born at Lycopolis in the lower Thebaid,
the modern Siout. He exercised the trade of a carpenter till he was
twenty-five, and then, the desire of labouring only for his salvation,
of coming to a death-grip with flesh and blood, possessed him; and he
placed himself under the direction of an aged hermit, whom he served
with alacrity and diligence. The old man fearing lest the merit of this
service should be injured by any admixture of human affection, affected
great capriciousness, and gave his disciple many absurd orders. For
instance, he one day commanded him to plant his staff in the sand
and water it daily. John obeyed without a murmur, and though he had
to go two miles for water, continued his task for a year. On another
occasion, he ordered John to throw their dinner out of the window.
He was obeyed without a trace of hesitation. On one occasion when
some visitors were with the old man, to exhibit the docility of his
disciple, he ordered John to run to a rock some distance off, and roll
it up to his door. John ran, nothing doubting, and laid his shoulder,
and then breast against the huge mass, and toiled ineffectually to move
it, dripping with perspiration, till his master recalled him. On the
death of the hermit, John spent five years in visiting the different
monasteries of Egypt, and then he chose a cave in the face of a rock,
near his native place, and walled up the entrance, leaving only a door
and window. In this grotto he spent the remaining thirty-eight or forty
years of his life.
However great may have been his desire to live in solitude, his fame
brought great numbers to visit him, so that a great house had to be
erected at the foot of his rock to receive the pilgrims. His abstinence
was great. He ate nothing that had been cooked, not even bread, but
took only a little fruit at sun-down. He was given an extraordinary
insight into the future, and many of his prophecies have been recorded.
The most famous were those made by him to Theodosius the Great, to
whom he announced beforehand the irruption of the barbarians into
the empire, the revolts that would take place, and the means he must
employ against them. This prince specially consulted him concerning
two enemies with whom he was called to fight. One was Maximus, who had
killed the emperor Gratian in 383, and driven the emperor Valentinian
from his possessions in 387. John assured him of victory, and promised
that it would be unattended by great effusion of blood. Theodosius
defeated Maximus in two encounters in Pannonia, passed the Alps without
difficulty, pursued and surprised Maximus at Aquileia, where he cut off
his head. Four years after, Eugenius having seized on the empire of the
East, through the credit of Arbogastes, who had strangled the younger
Valentinian, Theodosius resolved to march against him. Eugenius, who
awaited him, prepared for the combat by consulting the augury and the
entrails of victims. Theodosius sent the eunuch Eutropius into Egypt
to invite the hermit John to come to him and declare to him the will
of God. The saint refused to leave his cell, but sent word to the
emperor by Eutropius that he would gain a victory, which would however
be very bloody, and that he would only survive it a short while. Both
predictions were accomplished. A battle was fought in the plains of
Aquileia, on Sept. 6th, 394, in which Eugenius was defeated; Theodosius
lived till January 17th of the following year, and died leaving the
empire divided between his two sons Arcadius and Honorius.
Palladius was in the Nitrian desert with his master Evagrius,
Albinus, Ammon, and three others; and their conversation turned on
the reputation of S. John. Evagrius expressed his desire to know if
all that was reported of his great virtue was true, and to have his
powers of discernment tested by some one of experience. Palladius at
once resolved to go. He was then aged twenty-six. He started without
communicating his design to any one, and made his journey partly on
foot, and partly in a boat, for it was the period of the overflow of
the Nile. This is an unhealthy time, owing to the evaporation of the
slime left by the retreating waters; and Palladius fell ill on his way.
On his recovery he prosecuted his journey, and reached the vestibule
of the hermit's cell, where he learnt that John only gave audiences on
the Sabbath (Saturday) and the Sunday, and that he must therefore wait
in patience till the Saturday. On that day he found the saint seated at
his window, through which he conversed with all who approached. When
John saw him, he greeted him through an interpreter, and asked his
object in visiting him, saying at the same time that he looked like a
disciple of Evagrius. Palladius satisfied his inquiries, and began to
converse with him, when Alypius, the governor of the province, arrived,
and approaching hastily, John signed to Palladius to withdraw whilst he
received the governor. Palladius waited with some impatience, thinking
in his heart that John was not free from the common infirmity of
respect of persons. But the saint divined his thoughts, and sending his
interpreter to him, bade him not be impatient, for he would speedily
dismiss the governor. When Palladius was recalled, the hermit gently
reproved him for his thoughts, saying, "It is not the whole, but those
that are sick that need the physician. Thou art constantly engaged in
labouring for thy salvation, but that man is immersed in the cares
of this world, and can scarcely snatch an hour from business for the
cultivation of his soul. Whom should I greet and prefer most readily?"
and putting out his hand he gently cuffed Palladius. "And now to
proceed with thy affairs," continued John. "I know that the thoughts of
thy father have distracted thee of late, and thou hast been thinking of
returning from the solitary life to him. But know that both he and thy
sister have entered into religion like thyself. Thy father will live
seven years longer. Think no more of returning to thy home, for it is
broken up. He that putteth his hand to the plough, and looketh back, is
not fit for the kingdom of God."
These words consoled and encouraged Palladius; and the saint having
asked him with a smile whether he wished to be a bishop, Palladius
answered in the same bantering style, that he was one already, as his
name implied. "And prithee what is thy diocese?" asked the hermit.
"I rule the diocese of the kitchen, and my episcopal jurisdiction is
exercised over pots and pans," answered Palladius. "Enough of this
joking," said the hermit. "In truth I tell thee thou shalt be a bishop
one of these days, and shalt suffer many contradictions. But, if thou
wouldest escape them, leave not thy solitude, for so long as thou
remainest there, none will ordain thee bishop."
Some years after, this prophecy was verified; for, being threatened
with dropsy, Palladius left the desert for Alexandria, and thence
afterwards for Bithynia, where he was ordained bishop of Helenopolis.
He was speedily enveloped in the persecution against S. Chrysostom, and
was obliged to remain concealed for eleven months in a dark chamber.
Palladius returned from his visit to the Nitrian desert, and related
all he had seen and heard to Evagrius, who was stirred to undertake the
journey himself, and his account of this visit is found in the pages of
Ruffinus.