earth, and he ate neither bread, nor pulse, nor the fruit of trees, nor anything which had been prepared by fire.
Now in the reign of Julian, the blessed Apollo heard that a certain brother, who had been seized for military service, had been thrown into prison, and he took brethren, and went to visit him, and to comfort him; and having gone to him, he told that brother to endure the suffering, and to despise the tribulations which were surging in upon him, for the sake of the hope which is to come. Now that time was a season of strife, and the believing mind was sorely tried by the temptations which came upon it. And when he had strengthened the soul of the brother by such words as these, one of those who had been appointed by the Chiliarch to guard [him] came and said unto the Chiliarch, “The brethren wish to get that man out [of the prison].” Now when the Chiliarch heard this, he rose up, and came in an evil fury, and shut the doors of the prison, and set seals [upon them], and appointed stricter guards, and thus confined the blessed man, and all the brethren who were with him, in the prison, saying, “These men also are useful for military service,” and then he departed to his house without listening to the petition they made to him. But in the middle of the night the angel of the Lord, who held a lamp in his hand, lit up with his light the whole prison-house so brightly that all the watchmen were astonished, and they entreated the brethren who were therein to go away from them, and the doors were opened before them; and they said, “It is better for us to die for them, than to neglect the freedom which hath been sent from God to men who have been imprisoned in an unseemly manner.” And the Chiliarch and the noblemen who were with him came in the morning to the prison-house, and pressed the brethren to depart from the city, for his house had fallen down through an earthquake, and had buried the noble folk of his house; and when they heard this they went forth, and glorified God with a loud voice, and they departed to the desert with rejoicings.
Now all these brethren lived together after the example of the Apostles, and they possessed one mind and one soul, and the blessed man admonished them daily that they should excel in glorious works, and that they should drive away quickly and immediately to a distance, before they came, the evil crafts of the Calumniator which burst into the thoughts. For he said, “When the head of the serpent is bruised all his body dieth, for our Lord commanded us to be watchful against the head of the serpent, which is this:—We must not only take care that filthy and corrupt thoughts do not come into our minds, but we must blot out also the hateful appearances
