My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
On the 20th of February, Our Holy Orthodox Church Commemorates
our Venerable Father BESSARION of Egypt.
Saint Bessarion, our Venerable holy Father, was born in Egypt. He lived from the end of the 4th century and into the 5th century. He was the contemporary of two other Great Desert Holy Fathers, Antony and Makarios. After Bessarion was weaned and learned the Sacred Writings, a holy light shone in his heart. From his youth, since he conceived and nurtured a love for God, he strived not to defile himself with any passion or sin. Abba (Father) Bessarion, as Abba (Father) Serapion, was called by Divine grace to the solitary life by the doctrine of the word. At an early age, he set out for wilderness parts, where he dwelt as a bodiless creature. He WAS INITIATED INTO THE ANGELIC LIFE by Saint Antony the Great. During one of their meetings, Saint Bessarion said to Saint Antony, "I stood up for forty nights and did not sleep." Abba (Father) Anthony replied, "I do not fear God; on the contrary, I love Him."
Abba (Father) Bessarion was renowned for his humility, which is admirably shown in the following account: "On one occasion, a brother committed a sin in the church. The priest, as a result, drove him out therefrom. Now there was a man of discretion present, named Bessarion. He also arose and went out of the church, saying, "If thou hast judged that this man who has committed only one offense is not fit to worship God, how very much less fit am I, who have committed many sins, to do so?"
At another time, a certain brother, who belonged to a habitation of brethren, came to see Abba Bessarion and take counsel with him. "What shall I do?" asked the visiting monk. The old man said to him, "Keep silence, and consider thyself to be nothing."
The disciples of Abba Bessarion describe their elder (Geronda) and his life in these words: "The mode of life of the old man (Geronda) was that of the birds of the heavens, and of the things which are in the waters, and of the creeping things of the earth. He passed the whole period of his life in peace and in tranquil lity. He fostered no anxiety as to the condition of his cell ( Gk. κελλίον or kellion). His soul was never occupied with the desire to live in certain places. He never ministered during the whole course of his career to the satisfying of himself with food. He never gathered together or laid up for himself possessions in clothes or books. In fact, he was free from care about everything which concerned the body, while he rejoiced in the hope of the good things which were to come. He was firm and immovable in the foundation of his Faith, as he followed the ascetic life strenuously. He wandered here and there. In the season of frost, he went about nearly naked. At the time of harvest, he was consumed with heart under the fierce rays of the sun. There was even a time that he lived among the rocks and at another desert. Now if it fellout or happened that he should come into districts which were settled, or to a place where a congregation of monks passed their whole lives together in the fulfillment of the rules of monasticism, he would take his seat contentedly outside the door of their monastery.
"Now Abba Bessarion, and men who were as perfect as he was possessed these excellences. There was an occasion when Abba Bessarion came to a certain monastery. As he was wont, he sat down outside the door like some wandering beggar. Now the Abba clearly saw with the secret eye of the mind that the great number of the monks were destitute of these spiritual excellences and gifts. He was incited by the law of affection and brotherly love, so that he cried out and wept on their behalf, as if it had been his own deprivation. He, thereupon, made supplication to the loving-kindness of God that He would make them worthy of the riches of His love, and of the possession of grace."
The disciples then recorded the wonderful things wrought by their holy Abba. One among them, Abba Doulas, a disciple of Abba Bessarion, used to say, "The Abba and I came once to the bank of a lake. I was thirsty and told the elder as much. The old man prayed, and then said to me, "Take water from the lake, and drink." I went, drank, and found the water to be sweet. I next began to draw more water and filled all the water vessels which I had with me; for I thought that peradventure I should be thirsty again when I continued my journey. Then the old man, seeing me do this, said, "Why fillest thou these vessels with water?" And I said to him, "Forgive me, father, but I did so lest peradventure, as we continue our journey, I should become thirsty again." The Abba said to me, "May God forgive thee! For it is here, and there, and everywhere, God directs us."
Abba (Father) Doulas continued his narration, saying, "And on another occasion, Abba Bessarion was travelling along a road! He came to the river Chrysoroan, where there was nothing wherewith it might be crossed. He therefore, stretched out his hands and prayed. He proceeded then to cross over to the other side. Now I was both astonished and moved to compunction. I then said to him, "Father, when thou wast passing over the river, how far up thy legs didst thou feel the water?" And he said to me, "As far as my ankles I felt the water, but all the rest of it was solid beneath my feet."
Father Doulas continued and said, "And on another occasion, we were journeying to a certain great sage. The sun was near to set, and the old man uttered aloud in prayer, "I beseech Thee, O Lord, to let the sun abide in his place until I should come to Thy servant." And immediately, it was so.
The disciples of the Saint also spoke of this miracle performed by their holy elder: "Now there was in Egypt a certain man who had a son who was a paralytic. The father left his ailing and weeping son by the door of Abba’s cell. The father then departed, going to a place some distance off. The old man heard the sound of the weeping of the young man. He looked out and saw the youth, and said to him, "Who are you?" And the young man said, "My father brought me here and then went away; and so I am weeping." Then the old man said to him, "Rise up, hasten after him, and overtake him." Straightway, the young man obeyed and was made whole. He ran to his father, who received him joyfully. Then father and son departed.
The Saint’s conduct of life was such that he freed himself to follow God’s will, thereby performing many wonderful miracles. Thus, by different signs and wonders brought about by the power of Christ, the Saint was conspicuous for causing sweet water to gush forth, miraculously crossing over a river; preventing the sun from setting in the heavens, interpreting the prophecy of uprooting the temples of the idols; healing also the young man who was a paralytic, so that he was able to run to his father; and casting out a devil from a young man who was always asleep, and for whom his parents besought the Saint to wake him up. He, therefore, may be compared with the Holy Prophets Moses and Elias who brought forth water, and as Prophet Eliseos who crossed the Jordan with Elias’ mantle, so did Saint Bessarion traverse the Nile by the power of the Cross. Thereupon, in the fullness of days and deep old age, Saint Bessarion was translated to the Lord. [Resources: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church]
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 