12.16 Abba HELLES, concerning Abba Copres:

[12.]16. Having finished telling us these  and even more astonishing things, and having treated us with all proper kindness, Father Copres took us into his own garden and showed us date palms and other fruit trees which he had planted himself in the desert.

Ταῦτά τε καὶ ἄλλα πλείονα θαυμαστὰ ὁ πατὴρ Κόπρης ὑφηγησάμενος καὶ φιλοφρονησάμενος ἡμᾶς κατὰ τρόπον εἰς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ κῆπον εἰσῆγεν δεικνύων ἡμῖν φοίνικας καὶ ἄλλα ὀπω ρικὰ ἅπερ αὐτὸς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ἐφύτευσεν

Abba MACARIUS 21.5
Visit to Garden of Jannes and Jambres
(cf. Evag.Antir.4.23)

7. After he had prayed he made a bold effort and succeeded in entering. Inside the garden he found two holy men. They had entered by the same means themselves, and had already spent a considerable time there. When they had said a prayer, they embraced each other, overjoyed at the meeting. Then they washed his feet and set before him some of the fruit of paradise. He partook and gave thanks to God, marvelling at the size of the fruit and its varied colours. And they said to each other, ‘How good it would be if all the monks were here.’

 ἦν δὲ παμμέγεθες τὸ χωρίον καὶ πολὺ τὸ διάστημα εἶχεν. ὡς δὲ προσευξάμενος εἰσελθεῖν κατετόλ μησεν͵ εὗρεν ἔνδον δύο ἄνδρας ἁγίους͵ οἳ καὶ αὐτοὶ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ἐκεῖ ἐληλύθεισαν χρόνον ἱκανὸν ἤδη ἔχοντες. προσευξά μενοι δὲ ἀλλήλους ἠσπάσαντο͵ λίαν ἐπ΄ ἀλλήλοις χαιρόμενοι. νίψαντες οὖν αὐτοῦ τοὺς πόδας τῶν καρπῶν τοῦ παραδείσου παρ έθηκαν. ὁ δὲ μετειληφὼς ηὐχαρίστησεν τῷ θεῷ θαυμάζων ἐπὶ τοῖς καρποῖς μεγάλοις καὶ παμποικίλοις οὖσιν. ἔλεγον δὲ πρὸς ἀλλήλους· Καλὸν ἦν ὧδε πάντας εἶναι τοὺς μοναχούς.

8. ‘In the middle of the paradise,’ he said, ‘there were three large springs which welled up from the depths and watered the garden and its huge trees, which were very productive and bore every kind of fruit that exists under the heavens.’

῏ησαν δέ͵ φησί͵ πηγαὶ τρεῖς ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ παραδείσου μεγάλαι ἐκ τῆς ἀβύσσου βρύουσαι καὶ ποτίζουσαι τὸν παράδεισον͵ δένδρα δὲ παμ μεγέθη καὶ πολύκαρπα πᾶν γένος ὀπώρας τῆς ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν καρποφοροῦντα.

9. When he had stayed with them for seven days, Macarius asked if he could go back to the settled region and bring the monks with him. But those holy men said to him that he could not do this. For the desert was a vast trackless waste, and there were many demons in every part of it who made monks lose their way and destroyed them, so that many others who had often wished to come had perished.

ἐπιμείνας δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἡμέρας ἑπτὰ ἠξίου ἀπελθεῖν ὁ Μακάριος εἰς τὴν οἰκουμένην καὶ ἄξαι σὺν αὐτῷ τοὺς μοναχούς. οἱ δὲ ἅγιοι ἄνδρες ἔλεγον πρὸς αὐτὸν μὴ δύνα σθαι αὐτὸν τοῦτο ποιεῖν· πολλὴν γὰρ εἶναι τὴν ἔρημον καὶ ἐκτε ταμένην καὶ πολλοὺς εἶναι δαίμονας κατὰ πᾶσαν τὴν ἔρημον τοὺς πλανῶντας τοὺς μοναχοὺς καὶ ἀναιροῦντας͵ ὡς πολλοὺς καὶ ἄλ λους πολλάκις βουληθέντας ἐλθεῖν ἀνῃρῆσθαι.

10. But Macarius could not bear to remain here any longer and said, ‘I must bring them here that they might enjoy this delight.’ He set off in haste for the settled region, carrying some of the fruit as proof. And taking with him a large bundle of palm branches, he planted them as markers in the desert so that he should not lose his way when he came back. Then he slept for a while in the desert, and when he woke up he found that all the palm branches had been gathered up by the demons and placed by his head. Then getting up, he said to them, ‘If it is the will of God, you cannot prevent us from entering into the garden.’

ὁ δὲ Μακάριος μὴ ἀνασχόμενος ἔτι μένειν ἐκεῖ͵ ἀλλ΄ εἰπὼν ὅτι Δεῖ με ἀγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐνθάδε͵ ἵνα τῆς τρυφῆς ἀπολαύσωσιν͵ ὥρμησεν ἐπὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐπιφερόμενός τινα τῶν καρπῶν πρὸς ἐπίδειξιν. καὶ βαίων δὲ πλῆθος συλλέξας ἐβάσταζεν σημεῖα τιθεὶς ἐξ αὐτῶν κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον ὡς ἵνα μὴ σφαλῇ που ἐρχόμενος. ἀπονυ στάξας δέ που κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον καὶ ἔξυπνος γενόμενος εὗρε πάντα τὰ βαῖα πρὸς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ συνηγμένα ὑπὸ δαιμόνων. πρὸς οὕς φησιν ἀναστάς· Εἰ θέλημά ἐστι θεοῦ͵ οὐ δυνήσεσθε ἡμᾶς κω λῦσαι τοῦ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸν παράδεισον.

12.When he arrived at the settled region, he kept showing the fruit to the monks to persuade them to come away to the paradise. Many fathers gathered round him and said to him,

παραγενάμενος δὲ εἰς τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐπεδείκνυεν τοὺς καρποὺς τοῖς μοναχοῖς προ τρεπόμενος αὐτοὺς ἀπελθεῖν εἰς τὸν παράδεισον. συναχθέντες δὲ πατέρες πολλοὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν εἶπον·

‘Could it not be that this paradise has come into being for the destruction of our souls? For if we were to enjoy it in this life, we should have received our portion of good things while still on earth. What reward would we have afterwards when we come into the presence of God? For what kind of virtue shall we be recompensed?’

Μὴ ἐπ΄ ὀλέθρῳ τῶν ψυχῶν τῶν ἡμετέρων ὁ παράδεισος ἐκεῖνος γέγονεν; εἰ γὰρ αὐτοῦ νῦν ἀπολαύσωμεν͵ ἀπειλήφαμεν τὰ ἀγαθὰ ἡμῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. τίνα δὲ μισθὸν ὕστερον ἕξομεν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἀφικόμενοι ἢ ὑπὲρ ποίας ἀρετῆς τιμηθησόμεθα;