And after His Ascension into heaven...

…Mark went with Peter to Jerusalem, and they preached the word of God to the multitudes. And the Holy Ghost appeared to Peter, and commanded him to go to the cities and the villages which were in that country. So Peter, and Mark with him, went to the district of Bethany, and preached the word of God; and Peter remained there some days. And he saw in a dream the angel of God, who said to him: “In two places there is great dearth.” So Peter said to the angel: “Which places do you mean?” He said to him: “The city of Alexandria with the land of Egypt, and the land of Rome. It is not a dearth of bread and water, but a dearth arising from ignorance of the Word of God, which you preach.” So when Peter awoke from his sleep, he told Mark what he had witnessed in his dream. And after that, Peter and Mark went to the region of Rome, and preached there the word of God.

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As a youth (in Britain)...

…nay, almost as a boy not able to speak, I was taken captive, before I knew what to pursue and what to avoid. Hence to-day I blush and fear exceedingly to reveal my lack of education; for I am unable to tell my story to those versed in the art of concise writing—in such a way, I mean, as my spirit and mind long to do, and so that the sense of my words expresses what I feel…

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One day when the venerable Benedict was keeping to his cell...

…Placidus, who was one of the holy man’s monks, went out to fetch water from the river. Lowering the bucket he was holding into the water without due care, he overbalanced and fell in after it. The current immediately took hold of him and dragged him into the middle, almost an arrow’s flight away from the bank. Although he man of God was inside his cell, he realized at once what had happened and quickly called Maurus, saying, “Run, brother Maurus! That boy who went to fetch water has fallen into the river and the current is already carrying him away.

“Then a remarkable thing happened which no one had experienced since the apostle Peter. After asking for a blessing and receiving it, Maurus, at the abba’s command, ran swiftly right to the place where the boy was being swept away by the current. Although he thought he was running on land, he was actually moving over the surface of the water. He grabbed the boy by his hair and ran back, still at great speed. As soon as he reached the bank, he came to himself and, looking behind him, he realized that he had run over the water. He would never have dared to do this! He trembled with shock at what he had done.

Maurus went back to his abba and told him what had happened. Benedict, that venerable man, tried to attribute this, not to his own virtue, but to Maurus’ obedience. But Maurus took the opposite view. He said that this had happened solely as a result of Benedict’s order and that he himself had no part in the miracle he had performed without even knowing it. Then the boy who had been saved came forward to arbitrate in this friendly dispute in which both parties were vying for humility. He said, “As I was pulled out of the water, I saw the abba’s sheepskin cloak above my head and I watched him pull me from the waters.”

Gregory Dialogos (The Great), Life of Benedict, 7.2 3
Benedict of Nursia, commemorated 14 March

Dialogue 2: "On the Life of St. Benedict"

(Gregory:) Nearby there stood a monastery where the abbot of the community had died. The whole community came to the venerable Benedict (of Nursia, 480-547) and begged him, with earnest entreaties, to become their abbot. For a long time he refused and put them off, predicting that his way of life would not suit the brothers, but at last he had to yield to their entreaties and gave his consent.

(The monks chafe under Benedict’s strict rule of life, and they attempt to poison him. God delivers Benedict and reveals the plot of the rebellious monks).
Then he returned to the place of his beloved solitude and lived with himself, alone in the sight of Him who watches from on high.

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Dialogue on the Life of St. Benedict

(Gregory): On another occasion the deacon Servandus, the abbot of the monastery that had earlier been built in Campania by the patrician Liberius, came on a visit to Benedict (of Nursia), as was his wont. Like Benedict he, too, was a man of deep spiritual understanding and he used to visit Benedict’s monastery so that they might pour into one another the sweet words of life. Although they could not yet enjoy it fully, they might at least, by sighing and longing, have a taste of the delicious food of the heavenly homeland.

But when the time of sleep demanded, Benedict took his place in the upper part of his tower while the deacon Servandus took his place in the lower part, where a staircase allowed easy communication between the lower and upper parts. In front of the tower there was a large building in which the disciples of both men slept. While the brothers were still asleep, Benedict the man of the Lord was awake, standing at the window. Anticipating the time of the night office he was praying to the almighty Lord when, suddenly, in the dead of the night, he saw a light pouring down from above that dispelled all the darkness of the night, shining so brightly that the light casting its rays amid the darkness surpassed the daylight.

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We went...

… – my master Sophronius the sophist and I, before he renounced the world – to Alexandria to see abba Palladius, a pious man and servant of God, having his monastery at Lithazomene, and we asked him to speak to us a word of edification. The elder said to us, “Children, the time that remains to us is short. Let us struggle for a little and labor, in order that we might have the enjoyment of very great things in eternity. Look at the martyrs, look at the holy men, look at the ascetics; see how courageously they persevered. We will forever wonder at the endurance of those whose remembrances have been preserved from time past.”

John Moschus, Leimonarion (The Spiritual Meadow) 69
St. Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem, 634-638 author of the Life of St. Mary of Egypt and of the Miracles of Sts. Cyrus and John commemorated 11 March

The Martyrdom of St. Boniface, Enlightener of Germany, AD 754

When the light of faith had illumined the minds of the people and the population had been loosed from its bonds of error, when also the devil’s disciples and the insidious seducers of the people, whom we have already mentioned, had been banished, Boniface, assisted by a few helpers, gathered in an abundant harvest. At first he suffered from extreme want and lacked even the necessaries of life, but, though in straitened circumstances and in deep distress, he continued to preach the Word of God. Little by little the number of believers increased, the preachers grew more numerous, church buildings were restored and the Word of God was published far and wide. At the same time the servants of God, monks of genuinely ascetic habits, were grouped together in one body and they constructed a monastery in a place called Orthorpf. In the manner of the apostles (cf. 1 Cor 4.12), they procured food and clothing with their own hands and contented themselves with constant labor.

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His First Missionary Journey

An Excerpt from the Life of St. Boniface, Enlightener of Germany, martyred 754

After long deliberation on the question of forsaking his country and his relatives, he (St. Boniface) took counsel of Abbot Winbert, of blessed memory, and frankly disclosed to him the plans that up to that moment he had carefully concealed. He importuned the holy man with loud and urgent requests to give his consent to the project, but Winbert, astounded, at first refused to grant his permission, thinking that delay might turn him away from carrying out his proposals. At last, however, the providence of God prevailed and Boniface’s petition was granted.

So great was the affection of the abbot and brethren, with whom he had lived under the monastic discipline, that they willingly provided the money for his needs and continued long afterward to pray to God on his behalf: and so he set out upon his journey and, with God’s help, safely completed it (in AD 716).

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But after the space of five years...

…the work of the great holy church was accomplished, and it was called Eudoxiana after the name of the Empress Eudoxia, most beloved of God. And the most holy Porphyry consecrated it on the day of the Resurrection of holy Pascha very sumptuously, sparing not expense; but having gathered together all the monks, to the number of about a thousand persons, with other devout people, of the clergy and laymen and bishops, he made good cheer all the days of holy Easter. And there were to be seen angelic choirs not only in the office of the church, but also in the hours when they did eat their food. For their table was not only a visible, but also a spiritual table; for after the meat was said a psalm, and after the drink and hymn. But when they of the idol-madness saw that which came to pass, their hearts were melted. For strangers came from every quarter to see the beauty and greatness of the said holy church; for it was said to be greater than all the churches of that time.

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But a great marvel came to pass on that day...

…There are wells within the enclosure of the temple (of Marnas in Gaza, recently destroyed by the Christians) whereof there is one to the southward of the present holy church of God, having no small depth. Now three boys, being athirst, went aside to drink, and coming nigh to the mouth of the well bended over, leaning upon the wood that was over the mouth, as children do; and the wood brake, and the three fell into the well. And some who were there went and told the people of that which had come to pass; and there was no small tumult, all men running together to the well. But when he learned what had come to pass, the most holy (bishop) Porphyry himself also ran to the place, and bade them keep silence, and when they were silent he began to pray and beseech God with many tears that he would keep the children alive and unharmed, and especially because of the idol-madmen, that they may not say: ’ Where is their God on whom they hoped? ’ And when he had spent one hour lying upon the ground, he arose and bade some one go down by the ropes of the buckets, to make search for the boys. For the multitude were shouting out, calling the children, and there was none that gave ear to them from below out of the well.

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It was said of young John the Theban...

…a disciple of Abba Ammoes, that he spent twelve years serving the old man when he was ill. He stayed sitting with him on his mat. But the old man did not pay much attention to him, so much so that though he worked very hard for him, never did he say to him, “Salvation be yours.” But when he was at the point of death and the old men surrounded him, he took his hand and said to him, “Salvation be yours, salvation be yours, salvation be yours!” Then he entrusted him to the old men saying, “He is an angel, not a man.”

We also saw another father in the desert...

…not far from Oxyrhynchus, called Theon, a holy man who had lived as an anchorite in a small cell and had practiced silence for many years. He had performed many miracles and was held to be clairvoyant by the people of those parts. A crowd of sick people went to see him every day, and laying his hand upon them through the window, he would send them away cured. One could see him with the face of an angel giving joy to his visitors by his gaze and abounding with much grace. 

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They said of Abba Macarius the Egyptian...

…that one day he went up from Scetis to the mountain of Nitria. As he approached the place he told his disciple to go on ahead. When the latter had gone on ahead, he met a priest of the pagans. The brother shouted after him saying, “Oh, oh, devil, where are you off to?” The priest turned back and beat him and left him half dead. Then picking up his stick, he fled. When he had gone a little further, Abba Macarius met the pagan priest running and said to him, “Greetings! Greetings, you weary man!” Quite astonished, the other came up to him and said, “What good do you see in me, that you greet me in this way?” The old man said to him, “I have seen you wearing yourself out without knowing that you are wearing yourself out in vain.” The other said to him, “I have been touched by your greeting, and I realize that you are on God’s side. But another wicked monk who met me insulted me and I have given him blows enough for him to die of them.” The old man realized that he was referring to his disciple.

Then the pagan priest fell at the feet of Macarius and said, “I will not let you go till you have made me a monk.” When they came to the place where the brother was, they put him onto their shoulders and carried him to the church in the mountain. When the people saw the priest with Macarius, they were astonished and made him a monk. Through him many pagans became Christians. So Abba Macarius said, “One evil word makes even the good evil, while one good word makes even the evil good.”

St. Macarius the Egyptian, commemorated 19 January

Abba David

We came to the Thebaid, and at the city of Antino we visited Phebamon the Sophist for the benefit of his words. He told us that in the district around Hermopolius there had been a brigand whose name was David. He had rendered many people destitute, murdered many and committed every kind of evil deed; more so that any other man, one might say. One day, while he was still engaged in brigandage on the mountain, together with a band of more than thirty, he came to his senses, conscience-stricken by his evil deeds. He left all those who were with him and went to a monastery. He knocked at the monastery gate. The porter came out and asked him what he wanted. The robber-chief replied that he wanted to become a monk, so the porter went inside and told the abbot about him. The abbot came out and, when he saw that the man was advanced in age, he said to him, “You cannot stay here, for the brethren labor very hard. They practice great austerity. Your temperament is different from ours and you could not tolerate the rule of the monastery.” But the brigand insisted that he could tolerate these things, if only the abbot would accept him. But the abbot was persistent in his conviction that the man would not be able. Then the robber-chief said to the abbot, “Know, then, that I am David the robber-chief; and the reason why I came here was that I might weep for my sins. If you do not accept me, I swear to you and before Him who dwells in heaven that I will return to my former way of life. I will bring those who were with me, kill you all and even destroy your monastery.” When the abbot heard this, he received him into the monastery, tonsured him and gave him the holy habit. Thus he began the spiritual combat and he exceeded all the other members of the monastery in self-control, obedience, and humility. There were about seventy persons in that monastery; he benefited them all, providing them with an example.

One day when he was sitting in his cell, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, saying, “David, David; the Lord has pardoned your sins and, from this time on, you shall perform miraculous signs.” David replied to the angel, “I cannot believe that in so short a time God has forgiven me all my sins, which are heavier than the sand of the sea.” The angel said to him, “I did not spare Zachariah the priest when he refused to believe me concerning his son. (Lk. 1:20) I imprisoned his tongue to teach him not to doubt what I said; how then should I spare you? You shall be totally incapable of speech from this time onwards.” Abba David prostrated himself before the angel and said, “When I was in the world, committing abominable acts and shedding blood, I had the gift of speech. Will you deprive me of it by imprisoning my tongue, now that I wish to serve God and offer up hymns of praise to Him?” The angel replied, “You will only be able to speak during the services. At all other times you shall be completely silent” and that is how it was. He sang the psalms, but he could say no other word, big or little. The one who told us these things said, I saw him many times and I glorified God.

John Moschus, Leimonarion (The Spiritual Meadow) 143