Monks as Seers

Migne Patrologia Graeca 26,835-976
The Life of St. Antony, tr. R.T. Meyer, ser. Ancient Christian Writers, (New York, 1950), tr. modified

60. And again, on another occasion as [Antony] was sitting on the mountain and looking upwards, he saw in the air someone borne aloft amid great rejoicing of others who met him.	Καὶ γάρ ποτε πάλιν͵ καθήμενος ἐν τῷ ὄρει καὶ ἀναβλέψας͵ εἶδεν ἐν τῷ ἀέρι ἀναγόμενόν τινα͵ πολλήν τε τῶν ἀπαντώντων γινομένην τὴν χαράν.
Wondering at such a great host and thinking how blessed they were, he prayed to learn what this might be. And atonce a voice came to him saying that this was the soul of the monk Amoun in Nitria. He had lived the life of an ascetic up to old age.	Εἶτα θαυμάζων καὶ μακαρίζων τὸν τοιοῦτον χορὸν͵ ηὔχετο μαθεῖν͵ τί ἂν εἴη τοῦτο. Καὶ εὐθὺς ἦλθεν αὐ τῷ φωνὴ͵ ταύτην εἶναι τοῦ Ἀμοῦν τὴν ψυχὴν͵ τοῦ ἐν τῇ Νιτρίᾳ μοναχοῦ. ῏ην δὲ οὗτος ἕως γήρως ἀσκητὴς διαμείνας.
Now, the distance from Nitria to the mountain where Antony was takes thirteen days to travel. Those who were with Antony, seeing the old man in wonderment, asked what it meant and were told that Amoun had just died.	Καὶ τὸ διάστημα δὲ τὸ ἀπὸ Νι τρίας ἕως τοῦ ὄρους͵ ἔνθα ἦν ὁ Ἀντώνιος͵ ἡμερῶν ἐστι δεκατριῶν. Οἱ τοίνυν ὄντες μετὰ Ἀντωνίου͵ βλέποντες τὸν γέροντα θαυμάζοντα͵ ἠξίωσαν μαθεῖν· καὶ ἤκουσαν͵ ὅτι ἄρτι τετελεύτηκεν ὁ Ἀμοῦν.

24. A few days later he told us about the revelations he had seen. He never hid anything from his disciples. “It happened,” he said, “while I was sitting in my cell at night with the lamp burning beside me, meditatively reading one of the prophets. In the middle of the night I became enraptured and I found myself as though I were in a dream in sleep and I saw myself as though I were suspended in the air up to he clouds and I looked down on the whole inhabited world.”

“And the one who suspended me said to me, Do you see all these things?’ He raised me up to the clouds and I saw the whole universe at the same time. I said to him, ‘Yes.’ He said to me, ‘I am going to give you a commandment. If you keep it, you will be the ruler of all these things that you see.’ He spoke to me again, ‘Go, be compassionate, humble, and keep your thoughts pointed straight to God. You will rule over all these things.’”

“When he had finished saying these things to me, I saw myself holding the book once again with the wick burning and I did not know how I had been taken up to the clouds. Whether I was in the flesh, I do not know; God knows. Or whether I was in the mind, once again I do not know.” And so he contended with these two virtues (of compassion and humility) as though he possessed all the virtues.

BENEDICT and SCHOLASTICA (Book 4, Ch. 33-34)
and BENEDICT in the TOWER WINDOW (Ch. 35)
Latin text in SC 260, pp. 230-241. Tr. L. Dysinger, O.S.B.

CHAPTER 33
[Gregory:] TELL me, Peter: who in this life could achieve greater heights than St. Paul, who appealed to the Lord three times about the sting in his flesh, yet did not have the power to obtain what he willed? (2 Cor. 12.7-9). In this connection I must tell you how the venerable father Benedict once willed something he was powerless to accomplish.	[Gregorius.] Quisnam erit, Petre, in hac vita Paulo sublimior, qui de carnis suae stimulo ter Dominum rogavit, et tamen quod voluit obtinere non valuit? Ex qua re necesse est ut tibi de venerabili patre Benedicto narrem, quia fuit quiddam quod voluit, sed non valuit inplere
⁽²⁾ HIS sister Scholastica, who had been dedicated to Almighty God from her infancy, used to visit with him once every year. The man of God would go down to meet her on the property of the monastery not far from the entrance.	(2) Soror namque eius, Scolastica nomine, omnipotenti Domino ab ipso infantiae tempore dicata, ad eum semel per annum venire consueverat, ad quam vir Dei non longe extra ianuam in posessione monasteri descendebat.
One day she came as usual and her venerable brother came down with his disciples to meet her. They spent the whole day praising God and in holy conversation, and when darkness of night was approaching they shared their meal together. They continued their holy conversation at table until it was quite late; then his monastic sister appealed to him, “Please do not leave me tonight; let us continue speaking about the joys of the heavenly life until morning.”	Quadam vero die venit ex more, atque ad eam cum discupulis venerabilis eius descendit frater. Qui totum diem in Dei laudibus sacrisque conloquiis ducentes, incumbentibus iam noctis tenebris, simul acceperunt cibos. Cumque adhuc ad mensam sederent et inter sacra conloquia tardior se hora protraheret, eadem sanctimonialis femina, soror eius, eius rogavit, dicens: “Quaeso te, ne ista nocte me deseras, ut usque mane aliquid de caelestis vitae gaudiis loquamur."
“WHAT are you saying, sister?” he replied. “It is not possible for me to stay outside the monastery for any reason.”	Cui ille respondit: “quid est loqueris, soror? Manere extra cellam nullatenus possum.”

⁽³⁾ Now the sky was so clear at the time that there was not a cloud in sight. But upon hearing her brother’s refusal the nun intertwined her fingers, placed her hands on the table and bent her head down upon them, appealing to Almighty God. As she lifted her head from the table there was such a violent burst of lightning and thunder accompanied by such a flood of rain that the venerable Benedict and the brothers with him were powerless to set foot outside the threshold of the place.	(3) Tanta vero erat caeli serenitas, ut nulla in aere nubes appareret. Sanctimonialis autem femina, cum verba fratris negantis audisset, insertas digitis manus super mensam posuit, et caput in manibus omnipotentem Dominum rogatura declinavit. Cumque levaret de mensa caput, tanta coruscationis et tonitrui virtus tantaque inundatio pluviae erupit, ut neque venerabilis Benedictus, neque fratres qui cum eo aderant, extra loci limen quo consederant pedem movere potuissent.
[1] This nun, by bending her head down upon her hands and shedding a flood of tears on the table, had changed clear skies into rain.	Sanctimoniales quippe femina, caput in manibus declinans, lacrimarum fluvios in mensam fuderat, per quos serenitatem aeris ad pluviam traxit.
[2] Between her prayer and the downpour there was not even a pause: [3] prayer and downpour so coincided that it was thundering as she raised her head from the table. [4] At exactly the same moment as she raised her head, the rain descended.	Nec paulo tardius post orationem inundatio illa secuta est, sed tanta fuit convenientia orationis et inundationis, ut de mensa caput iam cum tonitruo levaret, quatenus unum idemque esset momentum et levaare caput et pluvium deponere.
Then the man of God, realizing that he could not return to the monastery through the thunder, lightning, and driving rain, became deeply annoyed and protested, “May Almighty God forgive you, sister! What have you done?”	(4) Tunc vir Dei inter coruscos et tonitruos atque ingentis pluviae inundationem videns se ad monasterium non posse remeare, coepit conqueri contristatus, dicens: “Parcat tibi omnipotens Deus, soror. Quid est quod fecisti?”
To which she responded, “Well! I appealed to you and you refused to hear me. So I appealed my Lord and He has heard me. So, go now - if you can. Leave me and return to the monastery.”	Cui illa respondit : “Ecce te rogavi, et audire me noluisti. Rogavi Dominum meum, et audivit me. Modo ergo, si potes, egredere, et me dimissa ad monasterium recede.”
He, however, was powerless to leave the shelter, so he stayed there unwillingly, forced to remain in the place despite himself. And so it was that they spent the entire night awake, sharing with each other to their hearts’ content holy conversation on the spiritual life.	Ipse autem exire extra tectum non valens, qui remanere sponte noluit, in loco mansit invitus, sicque factum est ut totam noctem pervigilem ducerent, atque per sacra spiritalis vitae conloquia sese vicaria relatione satiarent.

This, then, is why I said he once willed something he was unable to attain. For if we consider the mind of this venerable man, we cannot doubt that he wanted the sky to remain as clear as it had been when he first came down.	(5) Qua de re dixi eum voluisse aliquid, sed minime potuisse, quia, si venerabilis viri mentem aspicimus, dubium non est quod eandem serenitatem voluerit, in qua descenderat, permanere.
But blocking his will he discovered a miracle - the power of Almighty God aroused by the heart of a woman.	Sed contra hoc voluit, in virtute omnipotentis Dei ex feminae pectore miraculum invenit
It is not surprising that this woman, who had for so long yearned to see her brother, prevailed on this occasion; for according to the text of St. John, God is love (cf. 1 Jn 4.16). Thus by an entirely just judgment she proved the more powerful, since hers was the greater love. (cf. Luke 7:44)	Nec mirum quod plus illo femina, quae diu fratrem videre cupiebat, in eodem tempore valuit. Quia enim iuxta Iohannis vocem Deus caritas est, iusto valde iudicio illa plus potuit, quae amplius amavit.
[In the House of Simon the Pharisee, Simon has not honored Christ, but the woman has kissed his feet, and annointed them with tears and ointment: Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.	*remittentur ei peccata multa quoniam dilexit multum*
[*Peter*:] I certainly enjoy what you have said.	[Petrus:] Fateor, multum placet quod dicis

CHAPTER 34
[*Gregory*:] The next day the venerable woman went back to her cell, and the man of God returned to the monastery. Three days later, standing in his cell, he lifted his eyes to the sky and saw his sister’s soul leave her body and, in the form of a dove, penetrate the secret recesses of heaven. Overjoyed at her great glory, he gave thanks to Almighty God in hymns and elegies of praise, and announced her death to the brethren.	[Gregorius.] Cumque die altero eadem venerabilis femina ad cellam propriam recessisset, vir Dei ad monasterium rediit. Cum esse post triduum in cella consistens, elevatis in aera oculis, vidit eiusdem sororis suae animam, de eius corpore egressam, in columbae specie caeli secreta penetrare. Qui tante eius gloriae congaudens, omnipotenti Deo in hymnis et laudibus gratias rededit, eiusque obitum fratribus denuntiavit.
⁽²⁾ He then sent them at once to bear her body back to the monastery and place it within the tomb he had prepared for himself. So it came to pass that those whose minds had always been united in God were not separated in body even by the tomb.	(2) Quos etiam protinus misit, ut eius corpus ad monasterium deferrent, atque in sepulcro, quod sibi ipse paraverat, ponerent. Quo facto contigit, ut quorum mens una semper in Deo fuerat, eorum quoque corpora nec sepultura separet.

CHAPTER 35
ON another occasion the deacon Servandus, abbot of the monastery in Campania built by the former patrician Liberius, paid a visit as was his custom.	Alio quoque tempore Servandus diaconus atque abbas eius monasterii, quod in Campaniae partibus a Liberio quondam patricio fuerat constructum, ad eum visitationis gratia ex more convenerat.
He used to frequent the monastery in order that he, a man infused with spiritual wisdom and heavenly grace, and Benedict might mutually imbue one another with the sweet words of life. Thus the delightful banquet of their heavenly homeland which they were not yet able to enjoy perfectly, but for which they longed, could at least be tasted.	Eius quippe monasterium frequentabat, ut, quia isdem quoque vir doctrina gratiae caelestis influebat, dulcia sibi invicem vitae verba transfunderent, et suavem cibum caelestis patriae, quia adhuc perfecte gaudendo non poterant, saltem suspirando gustarent.
⁽²⁾ WHEN the hour for rest arrived the venerable Benedict retired to the upper part of the tower and the deacon Servandus went to the lower, the two places being connected by a stairway. In front of the tower stood the large building where their disciples slept.	(2) Cum vero hora iam quietis exigeret, in cuius turris superioribus se venerabilis Benedictus, in eius quoque inferioribus se Servandus diaconus conlocavit, quo videlicet in loco inferiora superioribus pervius continuabat ascensus. Ante eandem vero turrem largius erat habitaculum, in quo utriusque discipuli quiescebant.

BENEDICT the man of God stood keeping vigil while the brethren slept, thus anticipating the night office through prayer. As he stood before the window praying to Almighty God in the dead of night, he suddenly beheld an outpouring of light from above which swept away the darkness of night, shining with such splendor that it surpassed the light of day, illuminating the darkness as it shined.	Cumque vir Domini Benedictus, adhuc quiescentibus fratribus, instans vigiliis, nocturnae orationis tempora praevenisset, ad fenestram stans et omnipotentem Dominum deprecans, subito intempesta noctis hora respiciens, vidit fusam lucem desuper cunctas noctis tenebras exfugasse, tantoque splendore clarescere, ut diem vinceret lux illa, quae inter tenebras radiasset.
⁽³⁾ A great marvel followed this contemplative vision: namely, as he explained it later, the whole world was gathered beneath a single sunbeam and brought before his eyes. As the venerable father intently fixed his eyes on the brilliant, scintillating light, he beheld the soul of Germanus the bishop of Capua in a sphere of fire, being carried by the angels to heaven.	(3) Mira autem valde res in hac speculatione secuta est, quia, sicut post ipse narravit, omnis etiam mundus, velut sub uno solis radio collectus, ante oculus eius aductus est. qui venerabilis pater, dum intentam oculorum aciem inhoc splendore coruscae lucis infigeret, vidit Germani Capuani episcopi animam in spera ignea ab angelis in caelum ferri.
⁽⁴⁾ Wishing to have someone else witness this great miracle, he called out to Servandus the deacon, repeating his name two or three times in a loud voice.	(4) Tunc tanti sibi testem volens adhibere miraculi, Servandum diaconum iterato bis terque eius nomine cum clamoris magnitudine vocavit.
AWAKENED by the disturbing clamor, he ascended, looked, and beheld a trace of the vanishing light. He stood dumbfounded at the miracle as the man of God first recounted to him the sequence of events and then immediately ordered the devout Theoprobus in Cassino to send a messenger to Capua that very night, to find out and tell them what had happened to Germanus the bishop.	Cumque ille fuisset insolito tanti viri clamore turbatus, ascendit, respexit, partemque lucis exiguam vidit. Cui tantum hoc stupescenti miraculum, vir Dei per ordinem quae fuerant gesta narravit, statimque in Casinum castrum religioso viro Theopropo mandavit, ut ad capuanam urbem sub eadem nocte transmitteret, et quid de Germano episcopo ageretur agnosceret et indicaret.
So it was done; and the messenger learned that the revered bishop Germanus had already died. After requesting more precise details he learned that the death had taken place at the same moment that the man of God came to know of the ascent.	Factumque est, et reverentissimum virum Germanum episcopum is qui missus fuerat iam defunctum repperit, et requirens subtiliter agnovit, eodem momento fuisse illius obitum, quo vir Domini eius cognovit ascensum.

⁽⁵⁾ [*Peter*:] WHAT an astonishing thing: I am completely amazed! For to say that before his eyes, collected as it were beneath a single sunbeam, lay the whole world gathered together - this is unlike anything I have ever experienced. I cannot even imagine it. In what way is it possible for the whole world to be seen by a human being?	(5) [Petrus.] Mira res valde et vehementer stupenda. Sed hoc dictum est, quia ante oculos ipsius, quasi sub uno solis radio collectus, omnis mundus adductus est, sicut numquam expertus sum, ita nec conicere scio; quoniam quo ordine fieri potest, ut mundus omnis ab homine videatur?
⁽⁶⁾ [Gregory:] Hold fast, Peter, to what I say: to the soul beholding its creator all created things seem narrow.	(6) [Gregorius.] Fixum tene, Petre, quod loquor, quia animae videnti creatorem angusta est omnis creatura.
EVEN if it perceives only a little of the creator’s light, all created things will appear small to it.	Quamlibet etenim parum de luce creatoris aspexerit, breve ei fit omne quod creatum est,
For by the light of the mind’s interior contemplation the heart is widened [lit: unbound]	quia ipsa luce visionis intimae mentis laxatur sinus,
- so much so that it expands in God until it stands above the whole world.	tantumque expanditur in Deo, ut superior existat mundo.
For truly, in contemplation the soul rises even above itself. In the light of God, transported above itself, the inner self expands.	Fit vero ipsa videntis anima etiam super semetipsam. Cumque in Dei lumine rapitur super se, in interioribus ampliatur,
And as it looks down beneath itself, it comprehends in exaltation how small the things were that it could not comprehend in its lowly state.	et dum sub se conspicit, exaltata conprehendit quam breve sit, quod conprehendere humiliata non poterat.
THE man who perceived the fiery globe and beheld the angels returning to heaven could doubtless never have seen these things except in the light of God.	Vir ergo qui [intueri] globum igneum, angelos quoque ad caelum redeuntes videbat, haec procul dubio cernere nonnisi in Dei lumine poterat.
Why then should we marvel that he saw the whole world gathered before him, since he had been raised up through the mind’s light beyond the world?	Quid itaque mirum, si mundum ante se collectum vidit, qui sublevatus in mentis lumine extra mundum fuit?
⁽⁷⁾ To say that the whole world was gathered up before his eyes does not mean that heaven and earth shrank: rather, in contemplation his soul opened wide.	(7) Quod autem collectus mundus ante eius oculos dicitur, non caelum et terra contracta est, sed videntis animus dilatatus,
TRANSPORTED [lit: enraptured] as he was in God, he was able to behold without difficulty all that lies beneath God.	qui, in Deo raptus, videre sine difficultate potuit omne quod infra Deum est.
Corresponding to the exterior light gleaming before his eyes there was an interior light within his mind, which revealed to his soul in contemplation - transported above [lit: enraptured] as it was in God - the narrowness of all that lies below.	In illa ergo luce, quae exterioribus oculis fulsit, lux interior in mente fuit, quae videntis animum quia ad superiora rapuit, ei quam angusta essent omnia inferiora monstravit.

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