Acta Joannis

Acts of John. The Apocryphal New Testament, being the Apocryphal Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Apocalypses. James, Montague Rhodes, translator. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.

Now the multitude of one aspect (al. ⟨not› of one aspect) that is about the cross is the lower nature: and they whom thou seest in the cross, if they have not one form, it is because not yet hath every member of him that came down been comprehended. But when the human nature (or the upper nature) is taken up, and the race which draweth near unto me and obeyeth my voice, he that now heareth me shall be united therewith, and shall no more be that which now he is, but above them, as I also now am. For so long as thou callest not thyself mine, I am not that which I am (or was): but if thou hear me, thou, hearing, shalt be as I am, and I shall be that which I was, when I ⟨have› thee as I am with myself. For from me thou art that (which I am). Care not therefore for the many, and them that are outside the mystery despise; for know thou that I am wholly with the Father, and the Father with me.

Nothing, therefore, of the things which they will say of me have I suffered: nay, that suffering also which I showed unto thee and the rest in the dance, I will that it be called a mystery. For what thou art, thou seest, for I showed it thee; but what I am I alone know, and no man else. Suffer me then

to keep that which is mine, and that which is thine behold thou through me, and behold me in truth, that I am, not what I said, but what thou art able to know, because thou art akin thereto. Thou hearest that I suffered, yet did I not suffer; that I suffered not, yet did I suffer; that I was pierced, yet I was not smitten; hanged, and I was not hanged; that blood flowed from me, and it flowed not; and, in a word, what they say of me, that befell me not, but what they say not, that did I suffer. Now what those things are I signify unto thee, for I know that thou wilt understand. Perceive thou therefore in me the praising (al . slaying al . rest) of the (or a) Word (Logos), the piercing of the Word, the blood of the Word, the wound of the Word, the hanging up of the Word, the suffering of the Word, the nailing (fixing) of the Word, the death of the Word. And so speak I, separating off the manhood. Perceive thou therefore in the first place of the Word; then shalt thou perceive the Lord, and in the third place the man, and what he hath suffered.

When he had spoken unto me these things, and others which I know not how to say as he would have me, he was taken up, no one of the multitudes having beheld him. And when I went down I laughed them all to scorn, inasmuch as he had told me the things which they have said concerning him; holding fast this one thing in myself, that the Lord contrived all things symbolically and by a dispensation toward men, for their conversion and salvation.

Having therefore beheld, brethren, the grace of the Lord and his kindly affection toward us, let us worship him as those unto whom he hath shown mercy, not with our fingers, nor our mouth, nor our tongue, nor with any part whatsoever of our body, but with the disposition of our soul—even him who became a man apart from this body; and let us watch because (or we shall find that) now also he keepeth ward over prisons for our sake, and over tombs, in bonds and dungeons, in reproaches and insults, by sea and on dry land, in scourgings, condemnations, conspiracies, frauds, punishments, and in a word, he is with all of us, and himself suffereth with us when we suffer, brethren. When he is called upon by each one of us, he endureth not to shut his ears to us, but as being everywhere he hearkeneth to all of us; and now both to me and to Drusiana,—forasmuch as he is the God of them that are shut up—bringing us help by his own compassion.

Be ye also persuaded, therefore, beloved, that it is not a man whom I preach unto you to worship, but God unchangeable, God invincible, God higher than all authority and all power, and elder and mightier than all angels and creatures that are named, and all aeons. If then ye abide in him, and are builded up in him, ye shall possess your soul indestructible.

And when he had delivered these things unto the brethren,

John departed, with Andronicus, to walk. And Drusiana also followed afar off with all the brethren, that they might behold the acts that were done by him, and hear his speech at all times in the Lord.

[*](The remaining episode which is extant in the Greek is the conclusion of the book, the Death or Assumption of John. Before it must be placed the stories which we have only in the Latin (of ‘Abdias’ and another text by ‘Mellitus’, i. e. Melito), and the two or three isolated fragments.)

Now on the next (or another) day Craton, a philosopher, had proclaimed in the market-place that he would give an example of the contempt of riches: and the spectacle was after this manner. He had persuaded two young men, the richest of the city, who were brothers, to spend their whole inheritance and buy each of them a jewel, and these they brake in pieces publicly in the sight of the people. And while they were doing this, it happened by chance that the apostle passed by. And calling Craton the philosopher to him, he said: That is a foolish despising of the world which is praised by the mouths of men, but long ago condemned by the judgement of God. For as that is a vain medicine whereby the disease is not extirpated, so is it a vain teaching by which the faults of souls and of conduct are not cured. But indeed my master taught a youth who desired to attain to eternal life, in these words; saying that if he would be perfect, he should sell all his goods and give to the poor, and so doing he would gain treasure in heaven and find the life that has no ending. And Craton said to him: Here the fruit of covetousness is set forth in the midst of men, and hath been broken to pieces. But if God is indeed thy master and willeth this to be, that the sum of the price of these jewels should be given to the poor, cause thou the gems to be restored whole, that what I have done for the praise of men, thou mayest do for the glory of him whom thou callest thy master. Then the blessed John gathered together the fragments of the gems, and holding them in his hands, lifted up his eyes to heaven and said: Lord Jesu Christ, unto whom nothing is impossible: who when the world was broken by the tree of concupiscence, didst restore it again in thy faithfulness by the tree of the cross: who didst give to one born blind the eyes which nature had denied him, who didst recall Lazarus, dead and buried, after the fourth day unto the light; and has subjected all diseases and all sicknesses unto the word of thy power: so also now do with these precious stones which these, not knowing the fruits of almsgiving, have broken in pieces for the praise of men: recover thou them, Lord, now by the hands of thine angels, that by their value the work of mercy may be fulfilled, and make these men believe in thee the unbegotten Father through thine only-begotten Son Jesus Christ our Lord, with the Holy Ghost the illuminator and sanctifier of

the whole Church, world without end. And when the faithful who were with the apostle had answered and said Amen, the fragments of the gems were forthwith so joined in one that no mark at all that they had been broken remained in them . And Craton the philosopher, with his disciples, seeing this, fell at the feet of the apostle and believed thenceforth (or immediately) and was baptized, with them all, and began himself publicly to preach the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Those two brothers, therefore, of whom we spake, sold the gems which they had bought by the sale of their inheritance, and gave the price to the poor; and thereafter a very great multitude of believers began to be joined to the apostle .

And when all this was done, it happened that after the same example, two honourable men of the city of the Ephesians[*](Rather, as Pseudo-Mellitus has it, the same two brothers .) sold all their goods and distributed them to the needy, and followed the apostle as he went through the cities preaching the word of God But it came to pass, when they entered the city of Pergamum, that they saw their servants walking abroad arrayed in silken raiment and shining with the glory of this world: whence it happened that they were pierced with the arrow of the devil and became sad, seeing themselves poor and clad with a single cloak while their own servants were powerful and prosperous But the apostle of Christ, perceiving these wiles of the devil, said: I see that ye have changed your minds and your countenances on this account, that, obeying the teaching of my Lord Jesus Christ, ye have given all ye had to the poor Now, if ye desire to recover that which ye formerly possessed of gold, silver, and precious stones, bring me some straight rods, each of you a bundle And when they had done so, he called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they were turned into gold And the apostle said to them: Bring me small stones from the seashore And when they had done this also, he called upon the majesty of the Lord, and all the pebbles were turned into gems Then the blessed John turned to those men and said to them: Go about to the goldsmiths and jewellers for seven days, and when ye have proved that these are true gold and true jewels, tell me And they went, both of them, and after seven days returned to the apostle, saying: Lord, we have gone about the shops of all the goldsmiths, and they have all said that they never saw such pure gold Likewise the jewellers have said the same, that they never saw such excellent and precious gems

Then the holy John said unto them: Go, and redeem to you the lands which ye have sold, for ye have lost the estates of heaven Buy yourselves silken raiment, that for a time ye may shine like the rose which showeth its fragrance and redness and suddenly fadeth away For ye sighed at beholding your servants and groaned that ye were become poor Flourish, therefore,

that ye may fade: be rich for the time, that ye may be beggars for ever Is not the Lord’s hand able to make riches overflowing and unsurpassably glorious? but he hath appointed a conflict for souls, that they may believe that they shall have eternal riches, who for his name’s sake have refused temporal wealth Indeed, our master told us concerning a certain rich man who feasted every day and shone with gold and purple, at whose door lay a beggar, Lazarus, who desired to receive even the crumbs that fell from his table, and no man gave unto him And it came to pass that on one day they died, both of them, and that beggar was taken into the rest which is in Abraham’s bosom, but the rich man was cast into flaming fire: out of which he lifted up his eyes and saw Lazarus, and prayed him to dip his finger in water and cool his mouth, for he was tormented in the flames And Abraham answered him and said: Remember, son, that thou receivedst good things in thy life, but this Lazarus likewise evil things Wherefore rightly is he now comforted, while thou art tormented, and besides all this, a great gulf is fixed between you and us, so that neither can they come thence hither, nor hither thence But he answered: I have five brethren: I pray that some one may go to warn them, that they come not into this flame And Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them To that he answered: Lord, unless one rise up again, they will not believe Abraham said to him: If they believe not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe, if one rise again And these words our Lord and Master confirmed by examples of mighty works: for when they said to him: Who hath come hither from thence, that we may believe him? he answered: Bring hither the dead whom ye have And when they had brought unto him a young man which was dead (Ps-Mellitus: three dead corpses), he was waked up by him as one that sleepeth, and confirmed all his words

But wherefore should I speak of my Lord, when at this present there are those whom in his name and in your presence and sight I have raised from the dead: in whose name ye have seen palsied men healed, lepers cleansed, blind men enlightened, and many delivered from evil spirits? But the riches of these mighty works they cannot have who have desired to have earthly wealth Finally, when ye yourselves went unto the sick and called upon the name of Jesus Christ, they were healed: ye did drive out devils and restore light to the blind Behold, this grace is taken from you, and ye are become wretched, who were mighty and great And whereas there was such fear of you upon the devils that at your bidding they left the men whom they possessed, now ye will be in fear of the devils For he that loveth money is the s ervant of Mammon: and Mammon is the name of a devil who is set over carnal gains, and is the master of them that love the world But even the lovers of the world do not possess riches,

but are possessed of them For it is out of reason that for one belly there should be laid up so much food as would suffice a thousand, and for one body so many garments as would furnish clothing for a thousand men In vain, therefore, is that stored up which cometh not into use, and for whom it is kept, no man knoweth, as the Holy Ghost saith by the prophet: In vain is every man troubled who heapeth up riches and knoweth not for whom he gathereth them Naked did our birth from women bring us into this light, destitute of food and drink: naked will the earth receive us which brought us forth We possess in common the riches of the heaven; the brightness of the sun is equal for the rich and the poor, and likewise the light of the moon and the stars, the softness of the air and the drops of rain, and the gate of the church and the fount of sanctification, and the forgiveness of sins, and the sharing in the altar, and the eating of the body and drinking of the blood of Christ, and the anointing of the chrism, and the grace of the giver, and the visitation of the Lord, and the pardon of sin: in all these the dispensing of the Creator is equal, without respect of persons Neither doth the rich man use these gifts after one manner and the poor after another

But wretched and unhappy is the man who would have something more than sufficeth him: for of this come heats of fevers, rigours of cold, divers pains in all the members of the body, and he can neither be fed with food nor sated with drink; that covetousness may learn that money will not profit it, which being laid up bringeth to the keepers thereof anxiety by day and night, and suffereth them not even for an hour to be quiet and secure For while they guard their houses against thieves, till their estate, ply the plough, pay taxes, build storehouses, strive for gain, try to bafiile the attacks of the strong, and to strip the weak, exercise their wrath on whom they can, and hardly bear it from others, shrink not from playing at tables and from public shows, fear not to defile or to be defiled, suddenly do they depart out of this world, naked, bearing only their own sins with them, for which they shall suffer eternal punishment

While the apostle was thus speaking, behold there was brought to him by his mother, who was a widow, a young man who thirty days before had first married a wife And the people which were waiting upon the burial came with the widowed mother and cast themselves at the apostle’s feet all together with groans, weeping, and mourning, and besought him that in the name of his God, as he had done with Drusiana, so he would raise up this young man also And there was so great weeping of them all that the apostle himself could hardly refrain from crying and tears He cast himself down, therefore, in prayer, and wept a long time: and rising from prayer spread out his hands to heaven, and for a long space prayed within himself And when he had so done

thrice, he commanded the body which was swathed to be loosed, and said: Thou youth Stacteus, who for love of thy flesh hast quickly lost thy soul: thou youth which knewest not thy creator, nor perceivedst the Saviour of men, and wast ignorant of thy true friend, and therefore didst fall into the snare of the worst enemy: behold, I have poured out tears and prayers unto my Lord for thine ignorance, that thou mayest rise from the dead, the bands of death being loosed, and declare unto these two, to Atticus and Eugenius, how great glory they have lost, and how great punishment they have incurred Then Stacteus arose and worshipped the apostle, and began to reproach his disciples, saying: I beheld your angels weeping, and the angels of Satan rejoicing at your overthrow For now in a little time ye have lost the kingdom that was prepared for you, and the dwelling-places builded of shining stones, full of joy, of feasting and delights, full of everlasting life and eternal light: and have gotten yourselves places of darkness, full of dragons, of roaring flames, of torments, and punishments unsurpassable, of pains and anguish, fear and horrible trembling Ye have lost the places full of unfading flowers, shining, full of the sounds of instruments of music (organs), and have gotten on the other hand places wherein roaring and howling and mourning ceaseth not day nor night Nothing else remaineth for you save to ask the apostle of the Lord that like as he hath raised me to life, he would raise you also from death unto salvation and bring back your souls which now are blotted out of the book of life

Then both he that had been raised and all the people, together with Atticus and Eugenius, cast themselves at the apostle’s feet and besought him to intercede for them with the Lord Unto whom the holy apostle gave this answer: that for thirty days they should offer penitence to God, and in that space pray especially that the rods of gold might return to their nature and likewise the stones return to the meanness wherein they were made And it came to pass that after thirty days were accomplished, and neither the rods were turned into wood nor the gems into pebbles, Atticus and Eugenius came and said to the apostle: Thou hast always taught mercy, and preached forgiveness, and bidden that one man should spare another And if God willeth that a man should forgive a man, how much more shall he, as he is God, both forgive and spare men We are confounded for our sin: and whereas we have cried with our eyes which lusted after the world, we do now repent with eyes that weep We pray thee, Lord, we pray thee, apostle of God, show in deed that mercy which in word thou hast always promised Then the holy John said unto them as they wept and repented, and all interceded for them likewise: Our Lord God used these words when he spake concerning sinners: I will not the death of a sinner, but I will rather that he be converted and live For

when the Lord Jesus Christ taught us concerning the penitent, he said: Verily I say unto you, there is great joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth and turneth himself from his sins: and there is more joy over him than over ninety and nine which have not sinned Wherefore I would have you know that the Lord accepteth the repentance of these men And he turned unto Atticus and Eugenius and said: Go, carry back the rods unto the wood whence ye took them, for now are they returned to their own nature, and the stones unto the sea-shore, for they are become common stones as they were before And when this was accomplished, they received again the grace which they had lost, so that again they cast out devils as before time and healed the sick and enlightened the blind, and daily the Lord did many mighty works by their means.

[*](XIX tells shortly the destruction of the temple of Ephesus and the conversion of 12, 000 peopleThen follows the episode of the poison - cup in a form which probably represents the story in the Leucian Acts (We have seen that the late Greek texts place it at the beginning, in the presence of Domitian))

Now when Aristodemus, who was chief priest of all those idols, saw this, filled with a wicked spirit, he stirred up sedition among the people, so that one people prepared themselves to fight against the other And John turned to him and said: Tell me, Aristodemus, what can I do to take away the anger from thy soul? And Aristodemus said: If thou wilt have me believe in thy God, I will give thee poison to drink, and if thou drink it, and die not, it will appear that thy God is true The apostle answered: If thou give me poison to drink, when I call on the name of my Lord, it will not be able to harm me Aristodemus said again: I will that thou first see others drink it and die straightway, that so thy heart may recoil from that cup And the blessed John said: I have told thee already that I am prepared to drink it, that thou mayest believe on the Lord Jesus Christ when thou seest me whole after the cup of poison Aristodemus therefore went to the proconsul and asked of him two men who were to undergo the sentence of death And when he had set them in the midst of the market-place before all the people, in the sight of the apostle he made them drink the poison: and as soon as they had drunk it, they gave up the ghost Then Aristodemus turned to John and said: Hearken to me and depart from thy teaching wherewith thou callest away the people from the worship of the gods; or take and drink this, that thou mayest show that thy God is almighty, if after thou hast drunk, thou canst remain whole Then the blessed John, as they lay dead which had drunk the poison, like a fearless and brave man took the cup, and making the sign of the cross, spake thus: My God, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whose word the heavens were established, unto whom all things are subject, whom all creation serveth,

whom all power obeyeth, feareth, and trembleth, when we call on thee for succour: whose name the serpent hearing is still, the dragon fleeth, the viper is quiet, the toad (which is called a frog) is still and strengthless, the scorpion is quenched, the basilisk vanquished, and the phalangia (spider) doth no hurt; in a word, all venomous things, and the fiercest reptiles and noisome beasts, are pierced (or covered with darkness) [*]([Ps. Mellitus adds: and all roots hurtful to the health of men dry up.]) Do thou, I say, quench the venom of this poison, put out the deadly workings thereof, and void it of the strength which it hath in it: and grant in thy sight unto all these whom thou hast created, eyes that they may see, and ears that they may hear, and a heart that they may understand thy greatness And when he had thus said, he armed his mouth and all his body with the sign of the cross and drank all that was in the cup And after he had drunk, he said: I ask that they for whose sake I have drunk, be turned unto thee, O Lord, and by thine enlightening receive the salvation which is in thee And when for the space of three hours the people saw that John was of a cheerful countenance, and that there was no sign at all of paleness or fear in him, they began to cry out with a loud voice: He is the one true God whom John worshippeth

But Aristodemus even so believed not, though the people reproached him: but turned unto John and said: This one thing I lack — if thou in the name of thy God raise up these that have died by this poison, my mind will be cleansed of all doubt When he said that, the people rose against Aristodemus, saying: We will burn thee and thine house if thou goest on to trouble the apostle further with thy words John, therefore, seeing that there was a fierce sedition, asked for silence, and said in the hearing of all: The first of the virtues of God which we ought to imitate is patience, by which we are able to bear with the foolishness of unbelievers Wherefore if Aristodemus is still held by unbelief, let us loose the knots of his unbelief He shall be compelled, even though late, to acknowledge his creator; for I will not cease from this work until a remedy shall bring help to his wounds, and like physicians which have in their hands a sick man needing medicine, so also, if Aristodemus be not yet cured by that which hath now been done, he shall be cured by that which I will now do And he called Aristodemus to him, and gave him his coat, and he himself stood clad only in his mantle And Aristodemus said to him: Wherefore hast thou given me thy coat? John said to him: That thou mayest even so be put to shame and depart from thine unbelief And Aristodemus said: And how shall thy coat make me to depart from unbelief? The apostle answered: Go and cast it upon the bodies of the dead, and thou shalt say thus: The apostle of our Lord Jesus Christ hath sent me that

[*](This bracketed sentence, of late complexion, serves to introduce the last episode of the bookHere we may insert a notice of three detached fragments of the Actsa. The upper portion of a papyrus leaf of the fourth century, Oxyrhynchus papyri, no 850 (vol vi, 1908) The order of the two pages is doubted by the editors, who suggest that the recto should follow the verso)

Recto

departure
. . . . Andronicus and his wife . . . .
(this is the title of the following episode)
ll. 1, 2 And when a few days had passed, John went forth with many of the brethren to . . .
3 . . . . to cross a bridge under which a deep river ran
4 (and as John) went to the brethren
5 (behold a man) came towards him clad in the manner of a soldier
6 and standing before him said: John, into
7 (my) hands thou shall shortly come And John (in wrath)
8 (said): the Lord shall quench thy threatening and thy wrath and
9 (thy trans) gression And lo he vanished away (When therefore)
10 John was come to those to whom he went, and found

11 (them) gathered together, he said: Rise up my breth
12 (ren) let us bow our knees unto the Lord and
12, 13 brought to nought the unseen working of the great enemy
14 bowed his knees together with them . . . said
15 . . . . God

[*](Here is the appearance of a demon disguised as a soldier who threatens John, perhaps predicting his arrest, and is routed John is about to pray with the brethren)

Verso

1 for him
2 groanings and
3 but John
4 to Zeuxis, having risen and taken up a (cup)
5 . . . . who didst compel me with
6, 7 thinking to strangle himself: that dost turn things despaired of unto thee: 7, 8 that makest known . . . . the things that
8 are known to no man: that weepest for the afflicted
9 that raisest up those that have been put to death
10 of the helpless: Jesu the comforter of the
11 we praise thee and worship and give thanks
12 for all thy gifts: and for thy present dispensation
13, 14 and ministry And unto Zeuxis only he gave of the eucharist, and afterward gave to them that would receive
15 looking on him durst not: but the proconsul
16 (? sending a) centurion in the midst of the assembly (church?) saith to John
17 : Servant of the unnameable (God
18 hath brought letters from Caesar
19 (? in which is contained: Domitianus Caesar) and the sen (ate . . . .

[*](Zeuxis has tried to hang himself He has been delivered and a service of thanksgiving is held The proconsul is already there and has seen the miracle: he brings letters from the emperorThe editor questions whether there is room in the lower part of the recto to finish John’s prayer and introduce the episode of Zeuxis But the author, while often very prolix, can also get over much ground in few lines And it is equally difficult to see how the emperor’s letter should be dismissed and done with in half a page and a story about Andronicus follow immediatelyThe interest of the fragment for the general course of the story lies in this, that it confirms our belief that John was represented as coming under the notice of the emperor; and probably either exile or the caldron of oil, or both, were the sequels of the transaction: I doubt, however, whether the trial was laid at Romeb and c are quotations preserved in a barbarous Latin Apocryphon called the Epistle of Titus, mainly a declamation about virginity, which exists in one manuscript at Würzburg (eighth century) Dom Donatien de Bruyne printed them in the Revue Bénédictine for 1908 (pp 149 – 60))

b. Or is that outside the law which we are taught, how the very devils (when they ] confessed to Dyrus (read Verus) the deacon as to the coming of John: consider what they said: Many will come to us in the last times to turn us out of our vessels (i. e. the bodies possessed by them), saying that they are pure and clean from women and are not held by desire of them: whom (MS. while) if we desired, we (could) possess them also

[*](This should come from an early part of the book I take it to precede John’s first visit to Ephesus My rendering indicates the obscurity of the originalc is so confused (and wearisome) that it defies translation It is a diatribe of John’s against matrimony and begins thus:)

Receive therefore in thy heart the admonition of the blessed John, who, when he was bidden to a marriage, came not save for the sake of chastity, and consider what he said: Little children, while yet your flesh is pure and ye have your body untouched and not destroyed, and are not defiled by Satan, the great enemy and shameless (foe) of chastity: know therefore more fully the mystery of the nuptial union: it is the experiment of the serpent, the ignorance of teaching, injury of the seed, the gift of death, . . . (thirty-one (!) clauses follow, many of which are quite corrupt; the last are) the impediment which separateth from the Lord, the beginning of disobedience, the end of life, and death Hearing this, little children, join yourselves together in an inseparable marriage, holy and true, waiting for the one true incomparable bridegroom from heaven, even Christ, the everlasting bridegroom

If, then, the apostle severed a marriage, lest it should be an occasion of sin . . . etc

[*](This is the most avowedly Encratite passage in the Acts: true, John persuaded Andronicus and others to dissolve their marriage in all but name: but there is nowhere else such a wealth of abuse of the institution of marriage as such The speech belongs to an episode of which we know nothing; it cannot refer to Andronicus or Lycomedes, who were both married when first we hear of themA third quotation in the Epistle of Titus is taken from an extant part of the Acts, the last prayer of JohnThe last episode of these Acts (as is the case with several others of the Apocryphal Acts) was preserved separately for reading in church on the Saint’s day We have it in at least nine Greek manuscripts, and in many versions: Latin, Syriac, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopic, Slavonic)

John therefore continued with the brethren, rejoicing in the Lord And on the morrow, being the Lord’s day, and all the brethren being gathered together, he began to say unto them: Brethren and fellow-servants and coheirs and partakers with me in the kingdom of the Lord, ye know the Lord, how

many mighty works he hath granted you by my means, how many wonders, healings, signs, how great spiritual gifts, teachings, governings, refreshings, ministries, knowledges, glories, graces, gifts, beliefs, communions, all which ye have seen given you by him in your sight, yet not seen by these eyes nor heard by these ears Be ye therefore stablished in him, remembering him in your every deed, knowing the mystery of the dispensation which hath come to pass towards men, for what cause the Lord hath accomplished it He beseecheth you by me, brethren, and entreateth you, desiring to remain without grief, without insult, not conspired against, not chastened: for he knoweth even the insult that cometh of you, he knoweth even dishonour, he knoweth even conspiracy, he knoweth even chastisement, from them that hearken not to his commandments

Let not then our good God be grieved, the compassionate, the merciful, the holy, the pure, the undefiled, the immaterial, the only, the one, the unchangeable, the simple, the guileless, the unwrathful, even our God Jesus Christ, who is above every name that we can utter or conceive, and more exalted Let him rejoice with us because we walk aright, let him be glad because we live purely, let him be refreshed because our conversation is sober Let him be without care because we live continently, let him be pleased because we communicate one with another, let him smile because we are chaste, let him be merry because we love him These things I now speak unto you, brethren, because I am hasting unto the work set before me, and already being perfected by the Lord For what else could I have to say unto you? Ye have the pledge of our God, ye have the earnest of ħis goodness, ye have his presence that cannot be shunned If, then, ye sin no more, he forgiveth you that ye did in ignorance: but if after that ye have known him and he hath had mercy on you, ye walk again in the like deeds, both the former will be laid to your charge, and also ye will not have a part nor mercy before him

And when he had spoken this unto them, he prayed thus: O Jesu who hast woven this crown with thy weaving, who hast joined together these many blossoms into the unfading flower of thy countenance, who hast sown in them these words: thou only tender of thy servants, and physician who healest freely: only doer of good and despiser of none, only merciful and lover of men, only saviour and righteous, only seer of all, who art in all and everywhere present and containing all things and filling all things: Christ Jesu, God, Lord, that with thy gifts and thy mercy shelterest them that trust in thee, that knowest clearly the wiles and the assaults of him that is everywhere our adversary, which he deviseth against us: do thou only, O Lord, succour thy servants by thy visitation Even so, Lord

And he asked for bread, and gave thanks thus: What praise or what offering or what thanksgiving shall we, breaking this bread, name save thee only, O Lord Jesu? We glorify thy name that was said by the Father: we glorify thy name that was said through the Son (or we glorify the name of Father that was said by thee . . . the name of Son that was said by thee): we glorify thine entering of the Door We glorify the resurrection shown unto us by thee We glorify thy way, we glorify of thee the seed, the word, the grace, the faith, the salt, the unspeakable (al chosen) pearl, the treasure, the plough, the net, the greatness, the diadem, him that for us was called Son of man, that gave unto us truth, rest, knowledge, power, the commandment, the confidence, hope, love, liberty, refuge in thee For thou, Lord, art alone the root of immortality, and the fount of incorruption, and the seat of the ages: called by all these names for us now, that calling on thee by them we may make known thy greatness which at the present is invisible unto us, but visible only unto the pure, being portrayed in thy manhood only

And he brake the bread and gave unto all of us, praying over each of the brethren that he might be worthy of the grace of the Lord and of the most holy eucharist And he partook also himself likewise, and said: Unto me also be there a part with you, and: Peace be with you, my beloved

After that he said unto Verus: Take with thee some two men, with baskets and shovels, and follow me And Verus without delay did as he was bidden by John the servant of God The blessed John therefore went out of the house and walked forth of the gates, having told the more part to depart from him And when he was come to the tomb of a certain brother of ours, he said to the young men: Dig, my children And they dug: and he was instant with them yet more, saying: Let the trench be deeper And as they dug he spoke unto them the word of God and exhorted them that were come with him out of the house, edifying and perfecting them unto the greatness of God, and praying over each one of us And when the young men had finished the trench as he desired, we knowing nothing of it, he took off his garments wherein he was clad and laid them as it were for a pallet in the bottom of the trench: and standing in his shift only he stretched his hands upward and prayed thus: