had beheld
heaven and hell; this hermit, who from a cave in the rock, governed
the Christian Church; this saint, who had sustained the faith of the
martyrs; this scholar, whose eloquence had paralysed the heretics, spoke
tenderly to each of his sons, and bade them a kindly farewell, on the
eve of the blessed death, which God, who loved him, had at last promised
him.

He said to the abbots Ephrem and Serapion--

"You command large armies, and you are both great generals. Therefore,
you shall put on in heaven an armour of gold, and the Archangel Michael
shall give you the title of kiliarchs of his hosts."

Perceiving the old man Philemon, he embraced him, and said--

"Behold, the kindest and best of all my children. His soul exhales a
perfume as sweet as the flower of the beans he sows every year."

To Abbot Zozimus he addressed these words--

"Thou hast never mistrusted divine goodness, and therefore the peace
of the Lord is in thee. The lily of thy virtues has flowered upon the
dunghill of thy corruption."

To all he spoke words of unerring wisdom.

To the old hermits he said--

"The apostle saw, round the throne of God, eighty old men seated, clad
in white robes, and wearing crowns on their heads."

To the young men--

"Be joyful; leave sadness to the happy ones of this world."

Thus he passed along the front of his filial army, exhorting and
comforting. Paphnutius, seeing him approach, fell on his knees, his
heart torn by fear and hope.

"My father! my father!" he cried in his agony. "My father! come to my
help, for I perish. I have given to God the soul of Thais; I have lived
upon the top of a column, and in the chamber of a tomb. My forehead,
unceasingly in the dust, has become horny as a camel's knee. And yet God
has gone from me. Bless me, my father, and I shall be saved; shake the
hyssop, and I shall be washed, and I shall shine as the snow."

Anthony did not reply. He turned to the monks of Antinoe those eyes
whose looks no man could sustain. He gazed for a long time at Paul,
called the Fool; then he made a sign to him to approach. And, as all
were astonished that the saint should address himself to a man who was
not in his senses, Anthony said--

"God has granted to him more grace than to any of you. Lift thy eyes, my
son Paul, and tell me what thou seest in heaven."

Paul the Fool raised his eyes; his face shone, and his tongue was
unloosed.

"I see in heaven," he said, "a bed adorned wit