The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-04-29

tianity. According To liarnack. the Church
was ALREADY sccularized to a great extcn, ~
the middle OF the third century. II was not.
however, until nearly a century later. after
the conversion OF Constantine. that the great
exodus Of Christians from the cities ana towns
10 mountains aud deserts began. Although
from the time Of Christ there had been away !.
some who understood Chrstanity to demand
complete separation from all earthly pleasures,
yet II was three hundred years or more before
large numbers began tO adOpt a hefnIts NE
as the only method OF attaining, salvation;
onIisnan monastloism was slowly eN",y Yea
as a product Of u medley OF heatheil-JeWlsh
Christian influence,
Between the time of Christ and that Of Paul
OF Thebes. who died In the first half Of the fourth
century, and il usually recognized as the
pioneer Of the anchoretic syttem. many Chris
tian disciples voluntarily abandoned their
wealth. renounced marriage and adopted an
ascetic mode OF life while still living In or near tho
villages or cities. As the corruption OF society
and the despair oil p~ure-minded men became
more widespread. anxious Christians wandered
further and further away from fixed habita-
tons, until. in an excess Of spiritual iervor.
they found themselves In the caves OF the noun
tains, desolats and dreary, where no sound OF
human voice broke In upon the silence. Egypt
was the mother Of Christian monasticism.
Some OF the hermit saints Of the Egyptian
desert became famous for plety and miracu-
lous gifts, Athanasius, fleeing from persecu-
ton, visited them. and Jerome sought them out
TO learn the stories of their lives, Less than
fifty years after Paul of Thebes died, or about
375 A, D., the story Of his life was penned by
Jerome. who tells us that this Paul was the real
originator Of the hermit's life. although not the
first To bear the hermit's name. During the
Decian persecution, when churches were laid
waste, and Christians were slain with barbar-
ouS cruelty, Paul and his sister were deprived
OF both their parents. He was then a lad of
10. an inheritor Of wealth. and skilled for one
OF his years in Greek and Christian learning.
On account of his riches, he was denounced
as a Christian by an envious brother-in-law.
and compelled to flee TO the mountains in order
TO save his life. He took up his abode In a cave.
shaded by a palm that afforded him food and
clothing. The story. however, that most
strongly impressed the fourth century Of our
era was the biography of st. Anthony, the
patriarch Of monks, and the virtual founder
Of Christian monastericS. II was said 10 have
been written b" Athanasius, the famous de-
fender OF orthodoxy and Archbishop Of Alex
andria. unquestionably. IL exerted a power over
the minds OF men beyond all calculation. II
scattered the seeds OF asceticism wherever il
was read. Traces OF its influence are found
all over the Roman Empire. in Egypt. Asia
Minor. Palestine, Italy and Gaul. Given the
character Of Athanasius, We may feel assured
that he sincerely believed all that he personally
recorded of the strange life Of Anthony. and,
whether 1t were true or false, thousands Of
others believed the story. Augustine. the
theologian, acknowledged that this book was
one Of the influences that led TO his conversion.
and Jerome was nightly swayed by Il,
Among the early Eg, ptian ~ascetics there
was a pious rivalry in self-torture. Their
imaginations were necessarily employed In
devising new tests Of holiness and courage.
They lived in holes In the ground. or in dried-up
wells; they slept in thorn bushes, or passed
days and weeks without sleep; they cour,ed the
company Of the widest beasts, and exposed
their naked bodies TO the broiling sun. Ma
carius became angry because an insect bit him,
and. In penitence, he flung himself into amarsh.
where he lived for weeks. He came forth so
badly st,ng by gnats and flies that his friends
hardly knew him. Hilariop al twenty years of
age was more like a spectre than a living man;
his cell was only Ave feet high, a little lower than
ITO SAdltAS' WIN y uiNp
equal to eighty. or even one hundred and
fifty pounds, suspended from their bodies.
Others slept standing against tho rocks. For
three years, "a 1t ia recorded. one of them never
lay down. In their zeal to obey The Scriptures
they paid no heed to physical cleanliness. 1t was
their boast that they never washed. One saint
would not even use water TO drink. but quenched
his thirst with the dew that fell on the grass.
a.. l.l- 1880. ..o,lal Ii F.,~ g.. ara.
years. THERE'S a story about Abbot Theodosius
who prayed for water that his monks might
drink. In response to his petition, a sire am
burst from the rocks, but the monks. over
nome by a weakness for cleanliness, persuaded
the Abbot TO erect n bath, whereupon the stream
dried up. Supplications and repentance
availed nothing, After a week had passed,
the monks. promising never again to insult
Heaven by wishing for a bath, had a second
Mosaic miracle vouchsafed 10 them. Thus. I'M
washed. clothed in rags. their hair uncut and
their faces unshaven, the Egyptian ascetcs
lived. For the strangest of all strange mar
ratives. however. we must turn from Egy pit to
Asia Minor. and make the acquaintance Of the
saint immortalized by Tennyson. ST. Simeon
Stylites. lie lived between the years 800 and
450 A. D. He was a shepherds SON, but, at
an early age. entered a monastery. Here
he distinguished himself by Excessive austerity.
One day he went to the well, removed the rope
from the bucket, and bound it tightly around
his body underneath hiS clothes. 4 few days
later, tho abbot, being angry with him be-
cause of his extreme sclf-torture. babe his COM
panions to strip him. What was their astonish-
mcnt to find the rope from the well sunk deeply
into his flesh. With great trouble they unwound
the rope and the flesh with II, aud taking care
Of him until no was well, they sent him forth
to begin the life of austerities that was to make
him famous. His piety and his miracles at
tracted such crowds that he determined to
invent n mode of lite which would deliver him
from the pressing multitudes. His fanciful
genius hit upon a scheme that gave him his
peculiar name. lie took up his abode on the
top OF a column which was Mt first about twelve
feet high. but was gradually elevated until it
measured sixty-iour feet. Hence he is called
Stylitcs, or tho Pillar saint. On this lofty
column, betwixt earth and heaven, the hermit
braved the heat and cold of thirty years.
Once a week. only. he partook OF food. Many
times a day he bowed his head 10 his feet, one
man counted i.2A times, and then stopped
in sheer WEAKNESS from gazing At the miracle
OF endurance aloft Again. from the setting
of the sun to its appearance in the East, h.
would stand unsoothed by sleep, with his arms
like n cross, One day n disciple,
the column. found that his master
was no more. His body was lowered from the
Of the column and carried down the
to Antioch.