COPTIC LITERATURE IN ENGLISH
translated by frederic krueger

(1) With God! A sermon and report of a vision which our holy father Apa Benjamin, the archbishop of the great city Alexandria, saw and beheld on the occasion of the consecration of the great catholic and apostolic Church of the great God- and Spirit-bearer, our father Abba Makarios of the holy mountain of Scetis, when he was informing us as is customary and as befits God that its1 commissioning, its erection, and its consecration came from God, his only begotten son Jesus Christ, and the Holy, life-giving Spirit, while our father Abba Makarios <shared in the joy>2 and rejoiced as a protector3 whom they saw in the heavens on high while they were in the midst of his Sanctuary/Altar-precinct4 sanctifying it on the 8th day of the month Tôbi. In God’s peace, amen.

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(2) For those whose mind is in the heavens were shining5 with the divine glory of the father of the lights, and there is nothing (as) sweet in their presence as the spiritual charities, as it is written, “Taste and see that the Lord is sweet.”6 Such a one is Benjamin, the all-virtuous father, doctor, and archbishop, the true grammarian and the fame of orthodoxy, he who knows the meaning of the Scriptures, the faithful hermit, he who has discovered many mysteries of the men of God and partook in them, for he has crucified his flesh and his passions7 for Jesus Christ, the true judge of the contest who is above all and looks down to all those who compete like <my>8 father.

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(3) Now I myself, the most humble Agathou (sic), was a son9 to my father Abba Benjamin the archbishop and I myself have learned of many of my father’s corrections, for I remained at his side, and how he beheld a great mystery of the Lord in an exceedingly frightful revelation—namely the consecration of the Holy Sanctuary/Altar-precinct,10 at the same time the Tabernacle of the Lord among humans,11 i.e., the great Church of our righteous father, the great Abba Makarios of the Mountain of Scetis—, and (I learned) how he established canons and rules for the priests and deacons of this Altar (precinct), to (make sure they) fear the Altars of the whole world, for he, our father, has testified to us full of great awe of that unspeakable vision:

 

(4) “It happened to me,” said he, “when I was in my city and my episcopal residence and had found a little moment of peace from the persecutions at the hands of the heretics, when we came to the day of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the 28th day of the month Khoiak, we were gathered in the Church of the holy God-bearer Mary, which is called ‘at the Angelion,’12 where we performed a great and awesome Communion while the entire clergy was gathered to me as well as the nobles of the city, all the people small and great, the rich and the poor, and also many faithful women of senatorial rank, and we celebrated the true queen, Mary, the virgin who truly birthed God into the world for us, the Lord of lords, the King of kings13 to whom all glory is due, and to his Good Father, and to the Holy Spirit, a single divinity, perfect and indivisible.

 

(5) And as we were celebrating the feast of the only begotten Logos who took on flesh and became human for our salvation and whom she, the holy God-bearer Mary, did birth for us in Bethlehem of Judea, as we were celebrating the indivisible Christ, our God and Lord, on the 28th day of the month Khoiak, as I have said, I looked about,” said my father the patriarch, “and I beheld some ascetic monks who had approached from amidst the congregation, and there were some clerics among them who had come out of the Desert of Abba Makarios, the man of truth. You see, I beheld them being in piety and discipline in the manner of Angels of God, and I recognized by their pious and humble conduct that they were from the holy Mountain of Scetis. But they were unable to meet me on account of the great multitudes who were pressing upon me. Then one of the great ones of the clergy of Alexandria looked on and realized that they were from the Desert of Abba Makarios, and so he approached me and told me about them. I commanded to have them brought to me, and when I beheld them and their beautiful discipline, I then realized that they were perfect men who had come out of the Holy Land.

 

(6) Then I inquired of them, ‘Where have you come from, my holy fathers?’ Then they said to me, ‘We have come out of the Mountain of Abba Makarios.’ And I said to them, ‘O my fathers, for what reason have you come here?’ And they said to me, ‘Your lordship will find out.’ And I said to them, ‘Tell me, my sons, (so that) we find out by which necessity you have taken on this great distance on that desert road.’ They answered and said to me, ‘We have come to your fatherhood that we might beg you to undertake the journey for God’s sake to the holy Mountain of Scetis, the dwelling place of our holy father, the righteous and great Abba Makarios, so that you might consecrate for us the new Church which we have built for him in the calm of the rock, in the midst of the dwellings, for there are many monk-elders without strength living in the dwellings which lie below, close to the water, who struggle to come up to the upper places. Therefore, my lord father, put yourself at ease for the Lord’s sake and come with your servants, and grant us this favor, and may our fathers receive your holy blessing, for truly they all await you, yearning to see you. And above all, our God-bearing father Abba Makarios awaits your presence with us, his sons.’

 

(7) Then I, when I had heard these things from these God-loving brethren, I felt a great joy beyond the limits of my infirmity, and I said (to myself), ‘Shall God make me worthy of this (saint) who is such a mighty ascete and orthodox one?’ I said to them, ‘Stay with me, my fathers, today and tomorrow, until we have celebrated the feast of our Lord Jesus Christ and we have given Communion to this congregation and consoled them with the word of the Lord, and then we are ready to go with you, God willing, that we might receive your blessing.’

 

(8) Then, when we had spent the two feast days of our Lord Jesus Christ, which are the 28th and the 29th day of the month Khoiak, we arose on the last day of that same month. I said to Agathou, the priest of mine, and Kosma, the secretary of mine, ‘Take care, O my sons, so that we can be on our way to the Mountain of Scetis, that we might receive the blessing of our monastic fathers, the sons of our righteous father, the great Abba Makarios.’ Then, when we had arisen on the 2nd day of the month Tobi, and set out on the walking route, God’s protection being with us as we marched along the shore of the Lake,14 we came to Thereugi. Then the people of that place received us unto them with great honor. From there, we came to the cells of the holy mountain of our father Abba Isaac, next to the mountain of Pernoudj. O what joy those brethren had for us, and what sweetness both spiritual and corporeal! We were held back15 by them for two days, then we arose early and mounted the animals while all those God-loving brethren accompanied us, they from whose encounter we obtained great benefit. When we had taken on the distance of the walking road to the inner desert in that wilderness, some brethren of the cells were accompanying us, providing us with expertise in traveling with regard to the animals that were with us.

 

(9) Great protection from God was with us until we came upon the shore of the marshland of the inner desert of the Mountain of Natron,16 and we went at once to the precinct17 of our Roman fathers Maximus and Domitius. We rested there in the Church of Abba Isidore the priest for a day. Then those brethren who had visited us in Alexandria went at once to the great precinct of our father Abba Makarios and announced the good news to all the brethren and the elders of our18 coming to the desert, after they had left two of their clerics with us who accompanied us, as well as some brethren of the cells. Then we arose on the 7th day of the month and passed through the precincts of our fathers, our father Abba Pishoi and our father Abba John. After we had received their holy blessing, we came at once to the precinct of our father Abba Makarios. Then, when we had approached the Topos by about two miles, there came out to us in advance some youths carrying palm branches in their hands, and then some elders carrying censers and crosses, singing antiphonies and giving praise though prayers in the manner of the children of the Hebrews when they sang to our Lord Jesus Christ until they brought him into Jerusalem, that is how they treated my humbleness when they came out to me. As the elders were singing, the entire mountain shook from their multitude19 and their choir which resembled the hosts of heaven as they stood in rank and file. The great doctor Basil, the bishop of the city Pshati, was also with them.

 

(10) And I, when I beheld that aforementioned sight, and their love for me, glorified Christ our God, saying, ‘I thank you, my Lord Jesus Christ, that you have made me worthy again to see the freedom of expression of the orthodox faith and the emergence of the Holy Church, as a collapse and demolition of the godless heretics! Thanks be to you, O good Savior, for this, that you have allowed me to see the churches again in (all) their glory and good order! I thank you, my Lord Jesus Christ, that you have saved my soul from the hands of the serpentine and apostate tyrant20 who was persecuting me on account of the right faith! I thank you, my Lord Christ, that you have allowed me to see my sons again surrounding me in your glory, my Lord Jesus!’ Then the entire clergy and the monks walked up to me (and with me) until we came into the new Church which they had built. At that moment I said, ‘I have been taken to the paradise of God, the gathering place of the angels, the joy of the saints, the resting place of the righteous!’

 

(11) Then, when we had rested on that day, seeing how we had come (all the way) from the (monastery of) the Romans,  and we had arisen21 on the 8th day of that same month, I summoned Agathou (sic), the priest of mine, who had suffered with me for the faith during the time of the affliction, when Kyros the Colchian,22 the enemy of all that is true, was persecuting me. I said to him, ‘Arise, my son, and lay out the books for the pulpits which are appropriate for the consecration of the Church, that I might consecrate it and the Altar.’ Then, when I had begun the first prayer, while Abba Basilios, the bishop of Pshati was with me, and the clergy was surrounding me, as I beheld the congregation of the monks and the clergy, I saw one among them whose face shone bright, radiating amidst the clergy. I became stupefied for a long time, not <knowing>23 who that great and mighty man was—our father Abba Makarios, the father of the mountain, who had come to the consecration of the Church—, and I contemplated about him, saying, ‘Behold, (here stands) a father of congregations and a shepherd of sheep! If the Lord wants that a seat be vacated, I shall make him father over it, for verily, this one is a saint and that is what befits him, and the position of father24 belongs to the perfect ones of this kind!’

 

(12) Then, as I was contemplating these things in my mind about that saint, behold, a Cherub with six wings appeared next to me and said to me, ‘O bishop, how can he put these contemplations into your mind? That, you see, is Abba Makarios, the father of the patriarchs and the bishops! For he is the Spirit-bearer, the father of all the monks of this entire mountain!’ Then I became amazed as I looked at him, standing in the midst of his sons, rejoicing with them, and (amazed by) the voice of the holy Cherub echoing in my ears, terrifying me. The Cherub also said to me, ‘If his sons walk on the road which is straight and the king’s road, on which Abba Makarios did walk, they shall enter on the king’s road with him <and rejoice> with him in the eons of the light. (But) if they do not obey him or follow his commandments, they have no share with him, instead they shall be cast out from the herd and they shall have no share in his inheritance.’

 

(13) The righteous Abba Makarios himself answered full of compassion and love for his sons, ‘O my lord, do not excommunicate my sons like that! Instead, if a single grape is found in the cluster, it is said, “Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing of the Lord in it!”25 For I myself trust in Christ, the beloved of my soul, that if a single commandment of God is found among my sons, namely (that of) brotherly love for each other, and compassion towards everyone, whether (they obey) a little of the commandments completely, or that they raise their eyes up to heaven to our Lord Christ once a day, I trust in His benevolence that he shall not forget their sufferings but save them from the eternal punishments. God who loves humanity did establish repentance for the sinner, desiring not the death of the sinner so much as that he turn back in repentance.’26 Then, when I had heard these things from the man of God Abba Makarios, I understood that he is one who loves his sons, for truly this one is the actual Makarios27 and he is greatly honored by God and men in accordance with the meaning of his name, “the blessed one.” For these are the fishing nets which gather each race to the kingdom of God and do not reject anyone. Then I also understood in truth that an apostle of God is he, our father Abba Makarios, the righteous man.

 

(14) At that moment I myself answered, ‘Blessed are you, O Abba Makarios! Blessed is your rank!28 Blessed are your sons that they have become worthy of such a great intercessor on their behalf before the judgment-seat of God the Father, his only begotten son Jesus Christ our Lord, and the Holy Spirit, when he comes in his second coming to repay each one for his deeds.29 Truly you are Abba Makarios, the great boat which carries a multitude of souls, carrying them to the harbor of salvation! And he is a protector30 of them all, for David the prophet and father of Christ according to the flesh honors your name in the first Psalm when he exclaims thusly, saying, “Blessed is the man who did not walk in the counsel of the impious, nor stand in the way of the sinners, nor sit on the seat of the pernicious.”31 Truly, O Abba Makarios, you have become chosen among your entire generation! Blessed are you, O contender of the king Christ! Truly blessed is the womb that birthed you into the world! Remember me, O saint of God!’

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(15) Basil the bishop of Pshati and Agathou, the priest of mine, said to me, ‘Our father, with whom are you speaking?’ I said to them, ‘O my brethren, I am speaking with Abba Makarios, the prophet, the father of this Mountain, but (there is) a time for speaking and a time for silence.’32 Then, when I had come to the Altar, I said the prayer of the holy sweet oil. Then, when I had taken the sweet oil, as I was about to let it drop onto the holy Altar, I heard a voice that said, ‘Pay attention, O bishop, while I (let the oil) drop onto the table.’ I saw the hand of the Savior anointing the Altar. Then great awe and disturbance seized me so that I said with the patriarch Jacob, ‘Behold, this Place is awesome! It is nothing else than the House of God, and this is the gate of heaven, the resting place of the Most High!’”33 When we looked at him, we saw that he was all fiery, his face emitting flashes of light, and none of us was able to dare say a(nother) word to him, but we were in a state of confusion.34 He answered and said, ‘This is the Tabernacle of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.’ He walked around it,35 saying the three Halleluiahs, giving the (proper) readings for them, saying, ‘Loveworthy are your dwelling places, O Lord, God of the Powers, my king and my God! My soul desires and faints to enter your courts, your altars, O Lord, God of the Powers, my king and my God for ever and ever!’36 And when he had consecrated the Tabernacle, he came out to the congregation <and consecrated the pillars>37 and the walls.

 

(16) And then he went back inside, sat down in the Tabernacle, and answered us, and he said, ‘I have been taken to the paradise of the Lord Sabaoth, and I have heard voices that cannot be described,38 nor comprehended by the human mind,39 according to the saying of the wise one, Paul. Believe me, O my brethren, I have seen the glory of Christ this day as it filled the Tabernacle, and I have seen with my own sinner’s eyes the invisible arm and the most high hand of our Savior Jesus Christ as it anointed the table of the holy place, and I have also seen the Cherubs and the Seraphs, the Angels and the Archangels, and all the Powers on high as they sang to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in this Tabernacle this day. I have seen the father of the patriarchs, the bishops, and all the doctors of orthodoxy as he stood in our midst this day, rejoicing in the midst of his sons, namely the great Abba Makarios. Truly, the throne of God, the Father, the Almighty, his only begotten son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Trinity is down here in this holy place. Truly, this is the Altar of which Isaiah the prophet spoke, saying, ‘There shall be an Altar to the Lord in the land of the Egyptians, and a stele to the Lord on its holy borders.’40 So rise now, O my children, that we might complete this holy service, receive the blessing of our fathers, and give glory to God the Most High!’

 

(17) Then, when I had completed the liturgy, as I was <giving> Communion to the clergy, I saw another great (sign of) grace which cannot be passed over. I came and was about to give Communion to the elders, when I saw the entire row of the elders spreading smoke of incense upward until it reached the top of the Basilica, and so the roof of the Church opened up for the smoke, and the incense reached up to heaven, and I thought to myself, ‘Each one of our fathers offers up incense until they partake of the Holy Mysteries of the Son of God the Most High in gratitude.’ Then, when I had praised the elders as they prayed with the incense out of their mouths and ascending to heaven, then I understood the whole truth: They speak in prayers and supplications until they partake of the Holy Mysteries, the body and the venerable blood of Christ. I saw the prayers of the saints, how the Angels seized them and carried them before the throne of God.41 Then, by the multitude of their prayers, I understood truly that this is the golden lampstand on which is set the lamp, the true chosen light, the morning star that rises and illuminates the whole world. I gave glory, and I sang, reciting the hymn of the Three Saints, Azarias and his brethren Ananias and Misael, which they sang in the fiery furnace of Nebukadnezzar, the king of Babylon, ‘Blessed is the God of our fathers, you are more blessed, you are more exalted than the ages!’42 Blessed is the God of the monks! Truly, the whole world is stabilized by these saints and those like them. For this is the Gathering Place of the Angels and the harbor of all the souls who have fled to God, the Savior of everyone.

 

(18) Then, when I had seen these aforementioned things, I gave glory to our Lord Christ, who had made me worthy of this vision so exalted, and I was amazed by all that I had seen and so a heavy sleep took me, and I slept a little,43 and behold, a Man of Light stood over me, and he said to me, “Rise up, O bishop, that you might set down canons for this Church and this very Tabernacle, so that each one might heed <them>44 when he passes therein, from the priests to the deacons, in perfect perseverance and good order, for verily, Christ is in this Place with all his Angels accompanying him. And this is why I have established these canons which commemorate this Tabernacle for ever and ever, for a generation is coming who love the glory of humans more than the glory of God, and who tread on this Holy Place with audacity and savage arrogance, and they trade with the gift of the Holy Spirit, which He had bestowed liberally on His holy Church, and they trade it in for money. They shall transgress the apostolic canons.

 

(19) Anyone, therefore, who shall seek to inherit this Holy Place without fear (of God) and without having first been examined, who trade with the glory of this venerable Place, keeping it to them like a herd of cattle, neither a literate nor an understanding one, they are all cast out, having at once become unworthy. Those whose hope and glory is placed in their belly,45 as they rest on their belly46 like the snakes who also breathe and bite, who are arrogant people who despise their fellow man, amuse themselves, look for places to eat and drink, resemble the mindless animals, and just like them (the latter) they are cast out from the Blessed, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

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(20) No priest shall go up to the Altar without putting on the cloak first before he offers up incense over it. No deacon shall receive Communion from the priest without clothing himself in the stole,47 or also a cloak. No priest or deacon shall speak wantonly in this holy Tabernacle, nor shall he sit in it and read any book. Whoever shall transgress this canon shall be anathema.

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(21) Any cleric or monk who shall enter this Place without being ordained for this Tabernacle, as well as those who invoke its name for themselves, shall be anathema. Anyone from the clergy who shall bring an outside cleric from Egypt,48 or a magistrate, into this holy Tabernacle, for the sake of human glory, he shall be anathema. Any man who shall use oppressive means to enter this holy Place, Christ Jesus casts them out.

 

(22) Any person who shall dare inherit49 this holy Place in exchange for gifts or for money, as well as the one who shall make the arrangement for his entering for the sake of human glory, and especially if he is known by many to be a conceited tyrant and a pedophile,50 he is in the same manner rejected along with those who shall make the arrangement for him.

 

(23) Understand, O my brethren, after (hearing) these things, that the share of Jacob is not of such a kind, (for) someone of this kind.51 For this Tabernacle and the Power that is assigned to it and its Altar52 do not consent to anything except for gifts of a gentle and merciful person who is perfect in all good ways, as the chief apostle Paul testifies to us in the word of this summoning.53

 

(24) Look, do not think, O my brethren, that we have put in place these rules for excommunication because of this generation, no, but it is necessary for them to exist like they were revealed to me by the one who informed me, saying, ‘It is necessary for them to exist at the end of days. That is why I have written this canon resolutely; I have laid it down for the sake of those who shall come in their time, so that they might withdraw from the glory of humans and love the glory of God the Most High.’

 

(25) The one with the luminous appearance also said this additional word to me, saying, ‘It is necessary that the day of your leaving the body fall upon the (very) day of this consecration of this holy church, that you might go to Christ whom you love, and you shall be at rest with all the righteous in Jerusalem, the city of all who rejoice.’ I said to him, ‘My lord, will God make me worthy of Him receiving me unto Him on this holy day, and visiting me on it, me, his sinful servant? Blessed be my Lord Christ, the beloved of my soul and my spirit, that he has shown his great mercy to me!’ And at once the Cherub vanished from my sight.

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(26) Then I summoned Agathou (sic) the priest and said to him, ‘My good son, write (an account of) this day of this consecration by your hand, and remember me thereby each day, so that I might remember my sins, for verily, the Cherub said to me, ‘The day of your leaving the body shall fall on the day of this consecration of this Catholic Church of our just father, the great Abba Makarios the righteous.’

 

(27) Now let us also focus on a great miracle which happened on the day of this consecration and about which we must not keep silent. There was a great magistrate of the city Pshati there on that day whose name was Anatolios, who had come to the consecration with his little son who was accompanying him and who suffered from elephantiasis.54 Let us listen attentively to the wonders and miracles which were revealed by our holy father, the great Abba Makarios, the man of God, the father of this holy Mountain of Scetis, the consolation of all the monks, the bishops, and all the great doctors in the whole world, the fame of whose manifold virtues and whose pure life has: glowed up to the entire heaven, and whose lamp shines on everyone who comes to him.

 

(28) Now this magistrate whom we mentioned, Anatolios, it was his habit to go to Scetis many times and to enjoy the blessing of the elders. But this time he had brought his little sick son with him to the consecration of the Catholic Church of our blessed father, the great Abba Makarios. Therefore, due to being ashamed in front of people, Anatolios carried his son, brought him up to the Mountain, and entrusted him to the care of a saintly elder of God who was holy and a God-fearing servant, that he (the elder) might care for him (the boy). And he would go to Scetis and take part in three celebrations55 with the elders each year, for he would spend the day of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ with them in the month Khoiak, and then he would stay in the desert places and not depart from them until he had received the holy baptism and also taken part in the celebration56 with the elders, and then he would return to his dwelling place. And he would also do so during the feast of the Holy Resurrection.

 

(29) Then it happened, when we had finished the consecration of the holy Church, we also performed the service and gave Communion to the congregation, that the handicapped one who was sleeping in the holy Church57 cried out a great many cries in his sleep, so that the elders were disturbed by his many cries. Then one of the elders came and covered the little boy, <gave>58 him courage, and woke him. Then, when the boy had risen, they all saw that he was as healthy as someone who was just born from the womb, being pure in his entire body. And he gave glory to God on account of this great miracle which had happened. And when I had finished the holy service, the father of the boy came to me and told me about everything that had happened to his son.

 

(30) Then I questioned the boy, saying, ‘What did you see, my son? Tell me, do not conceal from me any of the things you have seen!’ The little boy answered me, saying, ‘It happened to me as I was sleeping that I beheld a tall man, a man of the (monk’s) habit, whose beard reached down over his chest. He crushed my entire body with his hands and I cried out because of my pain. And he seized the bottom of my garment and pulled it up over my head. Then I saw my full illness and my wounds that stuck to my garment. He said to me, “Take courage, my son, behold, the healing has happened to you.” Then, when one of my fathers had woken me, I rose and found that the healing had (really) happened to me, O my lord father.’ And I beheld him with my (own) eyes as he had changed like that from his erstwhile illness, being pure in his entire body.

 

(31) I gave glory to our Lord Jesus Christ who had revealed his wonders and signs through the great Abba Makarios the Spirit-bearer, to whom the Lord Jesus had given glory after he (Jesus) had truly fulfilled all his wishes through him (Makarios), and our righteous father, the great Abba Makarios, had become a harbor of salvation for the whole world who heals every illness, those of the soul as well as those of the body at once, and still after the death of our Spirit-bearing father Abba Makarios, he lives righteously in the midst of his sons, healing their illnesses. Blessed are you, O Mountain of Natron, that you have become worthy of this general so great,59 who has assembled unto himself all his soldiers whom he has enlisted into the service of Christ […]

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(Here begins a gap in the manuscript. A parallel Arabic witness shows that the praise of the Wadi al-Natrun continues with a series of acclamations that begin with “O mountain”)60

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(32) […] the spiritual [mountain] that salts61 the souls that had become insipid through the lawless acts and returns62 them to the God who created them, who caused the chiefs of robbers63 to become lawgivers, teachers, and martyrs all at once. So now, O my holy fathers, let us pray with perseverance that our Lord Christ might fasten us on the foundation of his Holy Church, and that He might become for us a wall in His benevolence, and that He might cause the Orthodox Faith to endure, for he enjoys freedom of speech and fearlessness at all times, and we, the Christians, pride ourselves on him, and that He might save us from being disturbed by those who rule, and from the envy of the Hunter, the Enemy of all that is true, the Devil, for the Kingdom, the power, and the authority belong to our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, through whom all glory, all reverence,64 and all worship are owed to the Father in addition to Himself and the Holy Spirit that is life-giving and consubstantial with Himself, now and always for ever and all ages, amen.