them into the cave rejoicing; and that food sufficed to be a consolation unto me for a period of two months.”
And the blessed man wrought in Bethlehem the following miracle. A certain woman had conceived, and she was possessed of an unclean spirit, and being near to the bringing forth of her child she was greatly afflicted by birth pangs and was violently tortured by that spirit; and as she was writhing by reason of the workings of that devil, her husband came and entreated the holy man to go and pray over her, and we went into [her house] therefore that we might pray together. And having stood up and prayed, after he had knelt down twice he cast out that unclean spirit; when he stood up he said unto us, “Pray ye, for straightway the devil shall go forth.” But there was a certain sign, the fulfilment of which [he wished] to shew us, and therefore when that devil had gone forth, he overturned the whole of the courtyard wall unto its very foundations; now that woman had not spoken a word for a period of about six years, but after that devil had gone forth she brought forth her child and spake.
And, moreover, I also saw [an example] of the prophecy of this blessed man. There was a certain elder, whose name was Hieronymus, who dwelt in these parts, and he was exceedingly well versed in the art and practice of grammar and of eloquence, and he was greatly skilled in the Latin language; but he possessed the vices of envy and evil-eyedness to such a degree that the excellence of his very great skill and ability was entirely hidden. Now the blessed man Possidonius had dwelt with him for many days, and he told me that the free-woman Paula, who had taken care of him, departed from this world before her time in order that she might escape from his envy, and, according to my opinion, it was on account of this man that none of the holy men would live in these districts; and the envy of this man continued to such a degree that it overtook his own brother, which thing took place even as he had foretold. And he also persecuted the blessed man Oxyperentius, who came from Italy, and the wonderful men, Peter the Egyptian and Simeon, who were seen by me. And Possidonius the Great himself told me that for the whole period of forty years he had not tasted food made of bread, and that wrath against any man did not abide with him as long as the half of the day.
