II. JULIAN

1. Julian, who was honored by the local inhabitants with the name "Sava", which means "elder" in Greek, established his ascetic cell in the land, which was then Parthian, and is now called Osroene. This country extends to the west to the very bank of the river, the name of which is Euphrates, and to the east it borders on the Roman possessions and passes into Assyria, the western part of the Persian kingdom, which was later called Adiabene. In this country there were many large and populous cities; there was much land in it, both inhabited and uninhabited and desolate.

2. Withdrawing into the depths of the desert and finding there a cave not made by hands, although not well and beautifully made, but capable of giving close shelter to those who wish solitude, this divine man gladly settled in this place, considering it better than magnificent palaces resplendent with gold and silver. It was here that he spent his life, eating once a week; and his food was barley bread (and that was made of bran), the seasoning was salt, and the most pleasant drink was spring water. All this was used not with satiety, but in a measure taken once and for all. For him, the true food, luxury, and pleasure were David's psalmody and uninterrupted conversation with God. Greedily enjoying them, he could never be satisfied, but, always satiated with them, he constantly sang: "If thy words are sweet to my throat, more than honey to my lips" (Psalm 118:103). He also heard other words of David: "The destinies of the Lord are true, justified together: they are more desirable than gold, and more precious than stone, and sweeter than honey and honeycomb" (Psalm 18:10-11); I have also heard others: "Delight in the Lord, and he will give thee the petitions of thy heart" (Psalm 36:4), "My heart rejoices in fearing Thy name" (Psalm 85:4 and 11), and taste and see how good the Lord is (Psalm 33:9). He also listened to these words: "My soul thirsts for the mighty living God" (Psalm 41:3), and my soul cleaves to Thee (Psalm 62:9). And heeding these words, he also took into himself the love of the one who spoke them. After all, the great David, singing these songs, said that he would like to gain many accomplices and partners in the love of God. So he was not deceived in his hope, but attracted to Divine love this pious man, and a multitude of others. Julian was inflamed with such love for God that he was, as it were, intoxicated with it; he did not notice anything earthly, day and night dreaming and thinking only of the Beloved.

3. Many of those who lived near him and at a distance from him learned from him the sublime wisdom (for the fame of him quickly spread everywhere); Many came and begged him to accept them into his school of asceticism, asking to be allowed to live with him as a mentor and guide. Thus, not only do birds lure birds of their own kind by their song, attracting their own kind and luring them into their nets, but people also draw their own kind: some to destruction, others to salvation. Soon ten people gathered around Julian, then this number doubled and tripled, and finally reached a hundred.

4. And though there were many of them, his cave contained them all; because they learned from the elder to neglect the care of the body. They ate, like their teacher, barley bread seasoned with salt. And later they gathered wild vegetables, put them in vessels and filled them with the right amount of brine - this was a supply of them, saved in case of need for the sick. For the stored vegetables, their presence in the same cave was harmful: they could become moldy and rot here from dampness. When this really happened with vegetables (for it was damp in all corners of the cave), the brethren began to ask the elder for permission to build some small house, which would be enough to store supplies there. At first he did not heed their requests, but then, being convinced by them and having learned from the great Paul not to seek his own (1 Corinthians 13:5), but to yield to the inferior, he determined the size of a small and narrow house, and he himself withdrew far from the cave in order to make his usual prayers to God. For he was in the habit of going deep into the wilderness, often fifty stades, and sometimes twice as far as this, to withdraw from all human society, to go deep into himself, to converse alone with God, and to contemplate, as in a mirror, the divine and ineffable Beauty. Taking advantage of Julian's absence, those who lived under his care built a house in proportion to the need, but larger than the size indicated by the elder. And he, returning ten days later from those ineffable contemplations, like Moses coming down from the mountain, saw that the house was larger than he had intended, and said: "I am afraid, brethren, that by enlarging our earthly dwellings, we shall not diminish the heavenly ones; while earthly ones are temporary and only for a short time, and heavenly ones are eternal and cannot have limits." He said this to them, instructing his monastic choir regarding the highest perfection, and forgave them their guilt, heeding the word of the Apostle: "I seek not my own profit, but the benefit of many, that they may be saved" (1 Corinthians 10:33).

5. He taught the brethren to praise God together in songs, when all were in the cave, and after dawn to retire two by two into the wilderness, and there, kneeling alone, offer the Lord proper worship, and the other, standing up, sing the fifteen Psalms of David; then, on the contrary, to sing to the first standing up, and to the second, falling to the ground, to pray; And they did this constantly from morning until dusk. Before sunset, having rested for a while, some from here, others from there, all from different sides gathered in the cave, and together they sang the evening hymn to the Lord.

6. The elder also had a habit of admitting one of the best among the brethren to participate in his ministry. Most often the elder was accompanied by one man, a Persian by birth, who had a majestic and astonishing appearance, but an even more amazing soul. His name was James. Even after the death of the elder, he shone with all his virtues, was famous and respected not only among his own people, but also in the schools of wisdom in Syria, where he died, living, as they say, one hundred and four years. When the great elder honored him with participation in his hymns in the wilderness, he followed him from afar; for the teacher did not allow him to walk near him, so that there would be no occasion for mutual conversation, and the conversation would not distract the mind from the contemplation of God. Once, accompanying the elder, Jacob saw a huge dragon lying on the road. When he saw it, he did not dare to go forward; but, seized with fear, he wanted to go back, wavering in his soul. Then, stooping, he took a stone and, throwing it at the dragon, noticed that the dragon remained in the same position without any movement. After making sure that the dragon was dead, he thought that the death of the beast was the work of the old man. At the end of the journey and after the completion of the psalmody, when the time for rest came, the elder, sitting down himself, commanded Jacob to give a little rest to his body, and at first he sat in silence. When he began some conversation, Jacob with a gentle smile asked him to explain an incomprehensible phenomenon. To the elder's question what he wanted to know, Jacob answered: "I saw a huge dragon stretched out on the way; At first he was afraid, believing him to be alive, but when he realized that he was dead, he continued his journey without fear. Tell me, father, who killed him? You walked in front, and no one else walked this way." The Elder answered: "Cease to be curious about that which cannot bring any benefit to the examiners." However, the wondrous Jacob continued to insist, wanting to know the truth. Finally, the elder, who tried to conceal this, being no longer able to torment his favorite, said: "I will answer you, if you wish to know this so much, but I command you not to tell anyone what I tell you during my lifetime; for it is necessary to conceal that which often excites pride and vanity. And when I depart from this life and am freed from such passions, then you can talk about the power of God's grace. Now," said the great Julian, "know that the beast fell upon me as I was making my way, and opened its mouth to swallow me. And I, having made the sign of the cross with my finger and called upon the name of God, drove away all fear from me and saw that the beast immediately fell to the ground lifeless. Having given glory to the Savior of all, I continued on my way." Having finished this story, the elder got up and returned to the cave.

7. В другой раз некий юноша благородного происхождения, воспитанный в неге, но имевший ревность о благочестии, превосходившую его силы, стал умолять старца позволить сопровождать его в пустыню не в обыкновенном, всеми совершаемом ежедневно путешествии, но в путешествии гораздо более продолжительном, продолжавшемся иногда дней семь, а иногда и десять. Это был знаменитый Астерий. Благочестивый старец отговаривал юношу, указывая, что в пустыне нет воды, но юноша не переставал умолять удостоить его такого благодеяния. Убеждённый старец, наконец, согласился на его просьбу. Юноша последовал за ним, сначала весь преисполненный ревностью, однако, по прошествии первого, второго и третьего дня, будучи опаляем солнечными лучами (потому что тогда было лето, а в середине лета солнечный зной бывает нестерпимым), он стал совершенно изнемогать, мучимый жаждой. Сначала он стыдился объявить о своём страдании, припоминая то, что предсказывал ему учитель; но, совершенно ослабев и впадая в обморок, начал просить старца сжалиться над ним. Старец, напомнив юноше о своих предостережениях, приказал ему вернуться назад. Когда же юноша сказал, что он ни пути, ведущего к пещере, не знает, да если бы и знал, всё равно не может идти, потому что от жажды силы его истощились, человек Божий, сжалившись над страданиями юноши и снисходя к слабости его тела, преклонил колена, начал молить Господа и горячими слезами оросил землю, прося спасти юношу. Господь, исполняющий желания боящихся Его и внемлющий молитвам их, превратил упавшие в пыль капли слёз в источник воды. Когда юноша напился её, старец повелел ему удалиться.

8. Этот источник сохранился и поныне, как свидетельство молитвы божественного старца, подобной молитве Моисея. Ибо как некогда Моисей, ударив жезлом по бесплодному камню, извёл из него потоки воды, дабы напоить много тысяч людей, изнемогавших от жажды (Исх.17,1–7), так и этот человек Божий, оросив слезами самый сухой песок, произвёл источник воды, чтобы утолить жажду не многих тысяч, а лишь одного юноши.

9. Просвещенный Божией благодатью, он ясно провидел будущее совершенство этого юноши. И действительно, спустя много времени, призванный Божией благодатью наставлять других в той же добродетели, Астерий основал школу подвижничества в окрестностях Гиндара (селения близ Антиохии). Он привлёк к себе и многих других подвижников любомудрия, и среди прочих — Акакия, мужа великого и, скажу даже, знаменитого. Этот Акакий отличался возвышенностью монашеского жития своего и воссиял светлыми лучами добродетели, когда удостоен был сана епископского и получил в пастырское окормление Верию. Управляя вверенным ему стадом Христовым пятьдесят восемь лет, он не отказался от образа подвижнической жизни и умел совместить добродетели отшельнические с общественными. Точным соблюдением подвижнических правил и домостроительной снисходительностью в делах общественных, он крайности соединил в одно целое.

10. Но ловцом и наставником людей для таких добродетелей был упомянутый Астерий, который так горячо любил великого старца Иулиана, что иногда по два раза, а иногда и по три раза в год предпринимал путешествие к нему. Отправляясь к учителю, Астерий обыкновенно запасал для братии смоквы, нагружал ими трёх или четырёх мулов, а два медимна смокв, собрав отдельно, взваливал на свои плечи и нёс, как мул своего учителя. Нёс же он эту тяжесть не десять и не двадцать стадий, а в продолжение семидневного путешествия. Однажды, увидев, как ученик несёт мешок со смоквами на своих плечах, старец огорчился и сказал, что эти смоквы не будут употребляемы им в пищу, потому что несправедливо, чтобы Астерий переносил такой труд, а он наслаждался бы его потом. Когда же Астерий поклялся, что не сложит тяжести со своих плеч, пока старец не согласится принять принесённую ношу, то старец сказал:"Сделаю, как велишь, только прежде сложи поскорее с плеч тяжесть".

11. Здесь старец подражал первому из Апостолов, который, когда Господь хотел умыть его ноги, сначала отказался, торжественно утверждая, что этого не будет (Ин.13,8–9), но услышав, что он не будет иметь части с Господом, если не позволит умыть себе ноги, не только это допустил, но и попросил умыть, вместе с ногами, и руки и главу. Подобным же образом и славный Иоанн Креститель, когда Спаситель требовал, чтобы он крестил Его, сначала исповедовал своё рабство и в ищущем крещения указал Господа, а потом исполнил приказание (Мф.3,13–16) - не по дерзости, но из покорности Спасителю. Так и этот святой муж тяготился принять пищу, добытую трудом другого, но когда увидел горячее усердие оказавшего ему услугу, то предпочел эту услугу своей собственной воле.