(BEGINNING OF 7TH CENT.)
[Greek Menaea. His history occurs as an episode in the life of S.
John the Almsgiver, patriarch of Alexandria, by Leontius, Bishop of
Naplous in Cyprus, from the relation of the Acts of S. John, by his
clergy. This life was commended in the seventh General Council, and
is perfectly authentic.]
The story of Vitalis, or Vitali, monk of Gaza, is brought in by the
Bishop of Naplous, in his life of S. John the Almsgiver, almost
accidentally, to illustrate the long suffering and charity of S. John,
that thinketh not evil. But I know not, in all the glorious histories of
the blessed ones, one story so deeply touching as that of the little
known, and soon forgotten, monk of Gaza.
Where he was born we know not; of what parents he was born we are
ignorant; but we do know that his was a heart full, to overflowing, with
the divine charity of Him who came to seek and to save those that were
lost.
Whilst John the Almsgiver was patriarch of Alexandria, there arrived in
that city, an old man of sixty, or thereabouts, in monk's garb. In his
cell he had thought over the crimes of that pleasure-loving city, and
having read in the Gospel the story of the woman taken in adultery, in
the old monk's heart kindled a sudden fire of zeal, which drove him to
Alexandria, that he might save some of those poor women who sold
themselves. Arrived in the city, he obtained the names of all the
harlots, and then hired himself as a day labourer. Every evening he took
his wage, and with it went to one of the unfortunate women, and supped
with her, and gave her the rest, and said, "I pay thee this, that thou
mayest spend one night without sin." Then he retired into a corner of
the room, where she slept, and passed the night in reciting psalms, and
praying with many tears for the woman present; and he rejoiced that, by
his toil of the day, he had saved her from evil on that one night.
And thus he visited all the harlots in Alexandria, and from each, as he
went forth in the morning, he took a solemn promise that she would
reveal to none what had taken place, so long as he was alive.
Now, considerable scandal arose, and Vitalis was loudly condemned. One
said to him, "Monk, take to thyself a wife, and lay aside thy religious
garb, that the name of God be not blasphemed through thee." But Vitalis
answered, "I will not take to myself a wife, nor will I change my habit.
He that will be scandalized, let him be scandalized. What hast thou to
do with me? Hath God constituted you to be my judges? Go to, look to
yourselves, ye have not to answer for me. There is one Judge and one
holy day of judgment, wherein every man shall give an account of his own
works."
One of the Defenders of the Church (this was the name of an officer who
saw to the order and morals of the clergy and monks,) came to the
patriarch John, and told him what he had heard of the abbot Vitalis. But
the patriarch closed his ears, and rebuked the accuser, saying,
"Remember what were the words of Constantine of pious memory; he said
that the crimes of priests ought not to be divulged, and that if he
detected a priest or a monk in wrong-doing, he would draw his purple
imperial robe over him, so that none might be scandalized. And when
quarrelsome individuals wrote accusations against certain prelates, he
formed them into a packet, and cast them into the fire."[38]
But Vitalis, though he bore without a murmur the shame, the hard
speeches, and false accusations that fell to his share, was deeply
sensitive for the souls of others, lest through him they should be
wounded. Yet he could not relinquish his mission;--the love of God
constrained him thereto, and many a poor woman, moved by the tears and
prayers of the holy man, deserted her evil courses, and married and
settled into ways of steadiness; and many, filled with bitter
compunction, fled from that city of temptation, to expiate their
offences in the desert. Seeing how great a blessing attended his work,
Vitalis persevered in spite of obloquy; but he prayed to God to reveal
the truth after his death, that the reproach might be wiped off the
monastic garb he wore; but he would not suffer the truth to be known
whilst he lived, or the houses of ill-fame would be closed against him,
and the prosecution of his mission would be hindered.
One morning, very early, as he left a harlot's door, a man came in, and
seeing a monk issue forth, he struck him over the head, exclaiming, "How
long, rascal, do you outrage Christ by not mending your wicked ways?"
Then said Vitalis, "Believe me, friend, thou shalt receive from me, a
humble monk, such a stroke that all Alexandria shall ring with it." So
saying, he went his way to the little chamber where he lodged, by the
church of S. Metras, near the Gate of the Sun.
What followed is not very clear. But if we put aside some absurd fable
which has attached itself to the story, we shall find that it was
something like this:--Probably from the unfortunate woman, from whom
Vitalis had gone forth, and to whom the man who had smitten him entered,
that man heard the truth; then, full of contrition, he rushed forth and
proclaimed abroad how he had wronged Vitalis, and how mistaken was the
popular opinion concerning him. So a crowd collected, and rolled in the
direction of the cell of Vitalis, by the Gate of the Sun. The man
foremost of all cried, "Pardon me my violence, Vitalis, thou man of
God!" And so the mob broke into the little hovel where he dwelt. Then
they saw the despised monk kneeling upright, with his hands clasped,
dead and rigid; and before him lay a sheet of paper, whereon were
written the words of the Apostle, 1 Cor. iv. 5, "Judge nothing before
the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden
things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the heart."
Then, when this was noised abroad, almost the whole city came together,
and the patriarch John arrived, and all the clergy, and they took up the
body of Vitalis. Thereupon, all those women who had been converted by
him, and were married, came forth, bearing lamps and candles, and went
before him, beating their breasts and crying, "We have lost our
deliverer and instructor!" And they told how, by his urgent prayers and
burning zeal for their souls, he had rescued them from a life of misery.
But he who had smitten the old monk his death-blow, struck with
compunction, renounced his vicious ways, and entered the monastery at
Gaza, and lived and died in the cell once occupied by Vitalis. Thus did
Vitalis deal him such a blow that all Alexandria rang with it.