Such, my beloved brethren, was the life of the Monk Meletius, such was his extraordinary zeal for Orthodoxy, and such were the miracles manifested by him. Having lived seventy-seven years, he left all this, temporary, and departed to God, where he prays for all of us to the Most Holy Trinity, to Whom is due glory, honor and worship forever and ever. Amen.

 (Written by Macarius of Philadelphia Chrysokephalos)

The Life and Deeds of Our Venerable and God-bearing Father Cosmas, Who Asceticized in the Honorable Monastery of Zograf in the Thirteenth Century

 This venerable father Cosmas was a Bulgarian, and was born according to a vow, of pious and noble parents. He received a good upbringing, and at school he learned Greek and Bulgarian literacy. After school, his parents decided to marry him, but the young man, having a strong desire to become a monk, secretly left his homeland and came to the Holy Mountain. On the way to the Holy Mountain, he was tempted by the hater of good, the envious devil, who, wishing not to allow him to reach the Holy Mountain, showed him in a vision the Holy Mountain as an island located in the middle of the ocean. Thinking about how monks get to the Mountain, whether they use ladders or boats, Blessed Cosmas, having no one to ask, turned to God with the following prayer: "Lord, Jesus Christ, through the prayers of the All-Pure Mother, show me the way by which monks come to the Holy Mountain." Immediately the ghostly sea disappeared, and the youth, guessing that these were the snares of the devil, thanked God and the Mother of God.

 Freely entering the Holy Mountain, Cosmas came to the honorable monastery of Zograf. Joyfully received by the hegumen and all the brethren, the youth spent a sufficient time there, after which he was vested in the monastic image by the then hegumen, who appointed him together with others to serve in the church.

 When the feast of the Annunciation approached, the youth received permission from the abbot, and together with other brethren he went to the Vatopedi monastery to venerate the Precious Belt of our Most Holy Lady the Mother of God and the relics of the saints found there. Entering the church, Cosmas saw a certain wife, who served as an altar boy in the church, at a meal, and participated in all the monastic obediences. Not knowing that this was the MostHoly Virgin, the monk was greatly grieved that the monks were allowing women into the monastery, for it was dangerous.

 When he returned to the Zograph monastery, the abbot, seeing his sorrow, asked what was the matter. The monk told him about everything, and the hegumen said: "Know, child, that the Woman Whom thou hast seen was the MostHoly Mother of God, the patroness of that monastery and of all this Mountain." Having learned everything, Cosmas thanked the Most Holy Virgin, Who deigned to appear to him. After some time the monk was ordained a deacon, and then a presbyter, and from that time he asceticized even more, without complaint and with great zeal fulfilling all monastic obediences.

 Once, when Cosmas was alone in the church, he turned to the Mother of God on the icon with the following words: "Most Holy Mother of God, beseech Thy Son and our God, that He may guide me on the path of salvation." And at the same moment he heard a voice from the icon: "My Son and My God, guide Thy servant on the path of salvation." Christ answered the Mother of God: "Let him leave the monastery and go to silence." Leaving the church, the monk told the hegumen about all that he had heard, and he settled him in a quiet cell near the monastery. Remaining silent there for several years, the monk, with the help of God, attained all the virtues, and was even vouchsafed to receive the gift of clairvoyance, so that many came to him for confession.

 Once two hieromonks came to him from the Hilandar monastery, who hid a pumpkin with wine on the way in order to pick it up on the way back. Having received a blessing from the monk, they were about to leave, when the clairvoyant elder said to them: "Break the pumpkin that you have hidden near the road, for a snake has crawled into it; and do not drink this wine, otherwise you will be poisoned." The hieromonks did so: having broken the pumpkin, they found a snake inside and glorified God, Who had delivered them from death, while also thanking the Monk Cosmas.

 There was a certain monk of a virtuous life named Damian. He asceticized near the monastery of Esphigmenou in a place called Samaria, and had a blessing not to spend the night in someone else's cell. One day, Damian came to an acquaintance on some urgent business, and since he was not at home, he had to wait for him until the evening. Having done his business, Damian was about to return to his cell, but his friend urged him to stay, because it was already very dark and it began to rain. But Damian, because of the blessing he had, did not stay with his friend. Since it was very dark and it was raining heavily, he eventually got lost. Not knowing what to do, he cried out to the Lord: "Lord, save me, I am perishing." After this request, he immediately found himself in his cell. Later, coming to the monk, he told him about what had happened to him, in order to find out why it had happened and whether he had not involuntarily sinned in anything before God. The saint answered him: "Brother, thou hast fulfilled the commandment, and God hath preserved thee from death." Thus comforted, Damian returned to his cell, glorifying God.

 Once the monk fell ill and, like a simple man, wanted fish. At the same moment (lo and behold!) an eagle brought him a fish. And next to him asceticized a certain spiritual elder Christopher, who also fell ill and asked a man to send him fish. When Christopher was already washing this fish, an eagle flew in and snatched it from the hands of the elder. It was this fish that he put in front of Cosmas. Thanking God, Cosmas fried the fish and was about to eat it, when he heard a voice: "Leave a part for Christopher, so that he too may taste it." Soon Christopher came to the monk and knocked at the door of the cell. The monk answered: "Enter, for I am waiting for thee, that thou mayest eat thy part of the fish." Christopher asked the saint with amazement how he knew whose fish it was. And he told him everything in detail, after which both rejoiced, and Christopher returned to his cell. Once, on Great Thursday, the monk saw in the air a soul tormented by demons. Learning that this was the soul of the Hilandar abbot, he sent his disciple to the monastery to tell the brethren to pray to God for this soul. The disciple came and announced to the brethren about the vision of the monk, but they did not believe it, and said: "The hegumen had just left the church and went to his cell to bring everything necessary for the Liturgy, and he, deceived, commanded us to pray for him." Nevertheless, they went to the abbot's cell, where they discovered that the abbot had indeed died.

 On another occasion the same Christopher came to the monk to converse about the word of God. Knocking on the door, he heard voices and thought that someone was confessing in the cell. He waited a long time until the conversation ended, and then knocked on the door. The monk met him, kissed him, they went inside, made a prayer and sat down. Since Christopher saw no one, he asked the saint with whom he had spoken. The elder could not conceal this and replied that he had talked with Christ: "He told me what the demons would soon do to me, and that in a few days I would repose and pass into His Kingdom. You go in peace, but on such and such a day be sure to come here again." Christopher departed, and on the appointed day he again came to the monk, whom he found lying in bed and dying. Asking for the reason, he heard the answer:

 "The chief of demons came tonight with many demons, wept and said: 'O powerless and negligent ones, none of you could kill this terrible enemy of mine, who so grieved me that in the end he took my throne from me.' With these words, the evil demon took the rod and beat me severely, as you see.

 Christopher remained there and cared for the sick man. Two days later the monk asked to commune of the Most-Pure Ones, and having reverently received them and thanked God, he gave up his spirit into His hands in the month of September, on the 22nd day of the year 1233 from the Nativity of Christ.