29. A Miracle of the Most Holy Eucharist
About twenty miles from the city
of Aegeae in Cilicia there were two stylites located about six miles from each
other. One of them was in communion with the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
The other, who had been the longer time on his column (which was near an estate
called Cassiodora) adhered to the Severan sect. The heretical stylite disputed
with the Orthodox one in various ways, contriving and desiring to win him over
to his own sect. And having disseminated many words, he seemed to have got the
better of him. The Orthodox stylite, as though by divine inspiration, intimated
that he would like the heretic to send him a portion of his Eucharist. The heretic
was delighted, thinking that he had led the other astray and he sent the
required portion immediately without the slightest delay. The Orthodox took the
portion which was sent to him by the heretic (the sacrament of the Severan
sect, that is) and cast it into a pot which he had brought to the boil before
him—and it was dissolved by the boiling of the pot. Then he took the holy Eucharist
of the Orthodox church and cast it into the pot. Immediately the pot was cooled.
The Holy Communion remained safe and undampened. He still keeps it, for he
showed it to us when we visited him.
30. The Life of Isidore the
Monk of Melitene and Another Miracle Concerning Holy Communion
There is a market-town in Cyprus
called Tadai which contains a monastery located near a place called Philoxenos.
When we arrived there, we found in the monastery a monk called Isidore, a
native of Melitene. We noticed that he was always in tears and groaning. Everybody
tried to persuade him to desist a little from his lamentation, but he would not
be comforted. He told them all: "I am as great a sinner as there has been
from Adam to this day." We said to him: "But abba, in truth, sir,
nobody is really sinless except one: God himself." He said: "Believe
me, brethren, I have found no sin amongst men which I have not committed,
whether I have learnt it from writing or by hearsay. If you think that I am
accusing myself unjustly, hear of my sin so that you can pray for me." "In
the world," he said, "I had a wife and both she and I were of the
Severan persuasion. One day when I came home, I could not find my wife, but I
heard that she had gone to a neighbor's house to take Communion. Now he was a
communicant of the Holy Catholic Church, so I ran immediately to stop my wife.
As I entered the neighbor's house, I found my wife exactly at the point of
receiving the holy portion and making her Communion. I grabbed her by the
throat and forced her to emit the Holy Portion. I seized it and threw it up and
down and it fell in the mud. All at once I saw a flash of lightening take up
the Holy Communion from the spot where it lay. And two days later I saw a
black-faced one wearing rags who said to me: "You and I are alike
condemned to the same damnation," and I said: "Who are you"? The
black-faced one who had appeared to me replied: "I am he who struck the
cheek of the Creator of all things, our Lord Jesus Christ, at the time of his
passion." "It is on this account" said the monk, "that I
cannot desist from weeping."
Romanian source:
https://theodosie.ro/2019/09/30/dreapta-credinta-in-vietile-sfintilor-4-istorisiri-din-limonariu/.
Translation based on The Spiritual Meadow of Professor John
Wortley.
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