Page:Aelfric's Lives of Saints Vol 2.djvu/25

of Christ's right-believing congregation is now pastured.' Zosimus answered her: ' Oh thou holy mother, God hath granted permanent peace to thy holy prayers. [But fulfil the consolation of an unworthy] monk, and for the Lord's sake [pray for the] world and for me, a sinful man, that the toil of this journey may not be [rendered vain] to me, and the way over so much desert.' [Then said she:] 'It becometh thee, abbot Zosimus, to pray for me and for all, because that [thou art in the priestjhood, as I before said. [But for thy sake] and because we have the command of obedience, [that which is commanded me by thee] I will do with a good will.' And thus saying, she, [having turned to the east,] with eyes uplifted towards heaven and with her arms stretched out, began to pray with the motions of her lips in silence, so that no voice at all was heard that anyone could perceive; and thus Zosimus could not understand anything of the prayer. He stood indeed, as he himself said, trembling and looking down upon the earth, and speaking nothing at all. He swore verily, taking God as a witness to his words, that while she thus [continued] in the perseverance of her prayer, and he lifted up his eyes a little while from the earth, that he saw her lifted up, as it were the space of a man's ell, above the earth, and began to pray hanging in the air. When he saw this, he was seized with great fright, and prostrated himself on the earth, and was suffused with sweat and vehemently agitated. He durst not speak anything, save only, to himself, ['Lord, have mercy upon me']. Whilst then he lay prostrate on the earth, he [was troubled in his mind, considering whether] at all it might be a spirit that, by some strange appearance, was praying there. She then, I mean the woman, turned about and lifted up the monk, thus saying: ' Why dost thou trouble thy thoughts to take offence at me, as if I were some spirit praying deceitfully? But know, thou man, that I am a sinful woman, though endued, nevertheless, with