ashamed before the righteous angels, and if it were not that it would cause scandal, I would make my confession to the children of men. Therefore have compassion upon me, for from this time forward I will teach others that their hearts must not be outside Thy fear, even for a moment; and now I make supplication unto Thy goodness, O make me to live, and I entreat Thee [so to do], for I am about to die.” And the monk prayed in this manner three times, and then he was heard by God, for when he went back the fourth time [to see if the lamp had been lighted] he found it burning brightly; and he was strengthened with hope, and rejoiced, and wept abundantly, and he marvelled at Divine Grace, and he made prayer to the Lord about this also, saying, “Thou didst shew compassion upon the life of this world of him that is unworthy, and especially by the great and new sign [which Thou hast given]; yea, Lord, Thou dost always shew Thy compassion upon the miserable soul, and dost spare it.” And the monk continued [to give] simple thanks [until] the day dawned, and he rejoiced in the Lord, and forgot the food of the body; and he tended the light of the lamp every day, and poured oil therein, and he trimmed it from above, and kept it covered so that it should not be extinguished. And thus that man became like one who had risen in the resurrection of the righteous, and like the chaste man, and like the humble man in the Spirit of God [who obeyeth] readily, and [who giveth] gladly unto the Lord gratitude and thanks. And when he was about to yield up unto the Lord the soul which had been graciously given to him, he related the story gladly unto the brethren who happened to be there, that it might cause them fear, and he said, “Let that lamp be placed in [my] grave in commemoration of [my] repentance.” And we, who heard concerning the grace of God, have written down these things in order that men may be watchful in the Lord.
Chapter xiv: The History of the Blessed Evagrius, the Solitary and Strenuous Monk
IT is not meet that we should veil the history of this holy man in silence, for we must set it down plainly in writing, both for the help and edification of those who shall come across it, and for the glory of that God Whose wont is to change bitterness to sweetness; we shall, therefore, make clear the history of the blessed man from the beginning, and tell how he journeyed step by step to the goal of spiritual excellence, and how he was carried onwards to the ascetic life, and how he arrived at purity of heart, and how he departed from this world at the age of fifty-four years.
