his daily round of devotion, even as a man who fleeth from vainglory.
And after these things he went forth from the desert and departed to work for the brethren who were his disciples, and who were sick; now one of these was nigh unto death, and this God had revealed unto him, and the day wherein he would pass away was nigh, and the village was far away. And because he did not wish to enter therein by night (for he suspected evil), and because he would fulfil the word of our Lord, which said, “Walk in the light whilst ye have the light, and he who walketh in the light shall not be tripped up” (St. John 12, 35), when he saw that the day was declining, he answered and said unto [the sun], “Tarry thou on the path of thy course, and wait for me a short time until I can come to the village”; and the sun stood still for a while, and went not down, and remained in his place, and he neither set nor went to rest until Petarpemôtîs had entered the village. Now this appearance was known unto all those who dwelt in the village, and they all ran, and stood still, and gazed for a long time at the sun, which set not. And when they saw Petarpemôtîs coming from the desert, they asked him, “What is the meaning of the sign of this sun which goeth not down?” Then he said unto them, “Do ye not remember the word of our Lord which said, ‘If ye have in you faith like unto a grain of mustard-seed, ye shall work miracles which shall be greater and more excellent than these’?” (St. Matthew 17, 20.) Now when they heard these things great fear laid hold upon them, and they knew immediately that it was he who had held back the sun, and large numbers of them remained with him and became his disciples.
And he went into the house of one of his disciples who had been sick, and found that he was dead, and he drew nigh to the bier whereon the dead man was lying, and he prayed, and kissed him, and said unto him, “Dost thou desire to depart to God now, O my son, or wouldst thou remain alive in the body?” And the dead man sat up, and made answer unto him, saying, “It is better for me to leave the body that I may be with Christ, for I have no desire to live in the body”; and the blessed man said unto him, “Then die in peace, my son, and make entreaty before God on my behalf that thou mayest go unto Him.” And immediately the blessed man had said these words the man died on his bier. Then fear fell upon all those who were standing there, and they said, “Verily this is a man of God”; and when the blessed man had dressed him carefully (or well), he kept vigil the whole night [by him] and prayed and sang Psalms, and [then] he buried him in a proper manner.
