Home_files/2000 Fall.Vol22.#3.pdf - Coptic Church Review

COPTIC PALLADIANA III: THE LIFE OF MACARIUS OF EGYPT 101was in punishment, suddenly a royal personage came down where I was;there was a golden crown on his head and going before him was a cross ofgold. That king whom I saw I recognize today, standing and commandinghis friend and saying, ‘Lazarus, come, bring this soul and place it in its formerbody and give it to Macarius the righteous because he is standing theretoday before my judgement seat.’” 96When the man who had been raised had spoken, Abba Macarius spoketo Hieracas, “Ask this man who has been raised whether or not those whohave died and who will rise again have flesh.” And when the heretic stoodrefuted, his demon fled and left him filled with shame, for he saw the greatsign. He threw himself to the ground, therefore, and worshipped God, kissingthe feet of the holy man Abba Macarius with the whole crowd in prayer.The crowd was trying to get their hands on him in order to kill him butthe old man would not allow them to do it but instead took him with himinto his cell in the interior desert. Hieracas practiced asceticism with AbbaMacarius with great repentance and with abundant tears and when he hadspent three years doing acts of penance for God, God put his body at ease 97while he diligently practiced asceticism with the aid of the holy prayers ofAbba Macarius the Great.As for the man who had been raised from the dead, Abba Macariustook him to the cell where his disciples lived and he baptized him in hischurch because he had said “I am a pagan who does not know Christ.”And he entrusted him to his disciples until the repentance of Hieracas wascompleted. When he died and was buried, the old man transferred hisremains to his church. He took the man who had been raised under hisdirection for three years and instructed him with determination until hesuccessfuly completed his life and died. He lived six years, having gone tohis rest in good repose 98 so that the word of Christ was fulfilled 99 concerninghim: “Neither this man nor his parents sinned but . . . in order that theglory of God might be revealed in him.” 100[And yet another thing happened in the tomb: the stone that was placedat the entrance of the tomb that Saint Abba Macarius had knocked on withthe palm-tree staff in his hand rolled away by itself from the entrance of thetomb where he had approached and stood, and no one has been able tomove it inside from there since the day that God placed it with anothertomb as a sign for everyone who wanted to see it.] 10196 See Rom 14:10, 2 Cor 5:10. On Lazarus, see Jn 11:1-44.97 Chaf ebol can also mean “forgive.”98 See 1 Tim 1:18, 1 Tim 6:12, 2 Tim 4:7 for this construction (BV).99 “Fulfilled” and “completed” both translate jôk.100 See Jn 9:3. The editor has omitted “he was born blind” (indicated by the ellipses), the omission ofwhich fits his purpose but jars the syntax.101 One ms. adds.