De sancta Thaisi meretrice
The Call to Repentance
Abbot Paphnutius confronts the courtesan Thais, leading her to recognize the presence of God and commit to a life of penance.
As we read in the Desert Fathers, Thais the courtesan was so beautiful that many men sold their property for her sake and fell into utter poverty. Because her lovers often fought over her out of jealousy, they would frequently fill the girl's doorway with the blood of young men. When Abbot Paphnutius heard this, he dressed in secular clothes, took a single gold coin, and set out to find her in an Egyptian city. He gave her the coin as if it were payment for sin. After she accepted the money, she told him, "Let's go into the bedroom." Once he had entered and was invited to climb onto a bed covered in expensive linens, he said to her, "If there's a more private room, let's go there." As he led her through several rooms, he kept saying that he was afraid of being seen. She replied, "There is a private room where no one enters, but if you truly fear God, there is no place that can be hidden from His Divinity." When the old man heard this, he asked her, "So, you know there is a God?" When she replied that she knew of God, the kingdom of the world to come, and the torments of sinners, he said to her, "If you know this, why have you destroyed so many souls?" And you will be condemned to give an account not only for your own, but for theirs as well. Upon hearing this, she threw herself at the feet of Abbot Paphnutius and begged him with tears, saying, "Father, I know there is a way of repentance, and I trust that through your prayers I can obtain forgiveness. I only ask for three hours, and after that, I will go wherever you command and do whatever you tell me."
The Discipline of the Cell
Thais destroys her ill-gotten wealth and enters a life of strict enclosure and humble prayer under Paphnutius's direction.
Once the abbot had set the place where she was to come, she gathered everything she had acquired through sin, brought it into the middle of the city, and burned it in the sight of the people, crying out, "Come, all you who have sinned with me, and see how I burn what you gave me." The gold was worth four hundred pounds. After she had burned everything, she went to the place Abbot Paphnutius had appointed. He found a convent of virgins for her, shut her in a small cell, sealed the door with lead, and left a small window through which a meager amount of food could be brought to her; he ordered that the others give her only a little bread and a small amount of water each day. When the old man was leaving, Thais said to him, "Father, where do you command me to relieve myself?" And he replied, "In your cell, as you deserve." When she asked him again how she should pray to God, he answered, "You aren't worthy to name God, or to speak the name of the Trinity with your lips, or even to lift your hands to heaven, since your lips are full of iniquity and your hands are stained with filth; but simply bow toward the east and keep repeating this prayer: 'You who created me, have mercy on me.'" So, after she had been enclosed for three years, Abbot Paphnutius felt compassion and went to Abbot Anthony to ask him if God had forgiven her sins.
The Vision of Mercy
Through a divine vision, the community learns of Thais's forgiveness, leading to her release and peaceful death.
Once the situation was explained, Saint Anthony called his disciples together and told them to stay awake in prayer that night, each one individually, so that God might reveal to one of them why Abbot Paphnutius had come. After they had prayed without ceasing, Abbot Paul, Anthony's senior disciple, suddenly saw a bed in heaven adorned with precious robes, guarded by three virgins with radiant faces. These three virgins were the fear of future punishment, which drew her back from evil; the shame of the sin committed, which earned her forgiveness; and the love of justice, which carried her up to heavenly things. When Paul told them that this great grace belonged to Anthony, a divine voice replied: 'It is not your father Anthony's, but the harlot Thais's.' When Abbot Paul reported this in the morning, having learned God's will, Abbot Paphnutius left with joy, went straight to the monastery, and broke down the door of the cell. She, however, asked to remain enclosed, but he said to her: 'Come out, for God has forgiven your sins.' She replied: 'I call God to witness that from the moment I entered here, I have gathered all my sins into a bundle and set them before my eyes. Just as breath does not depart from my nostrils, my sins have not departed from my sight; I have always wept while considering them.' Abbot Paphnutius said to her: 'God has not forgiven your sins because of your penance, but because you always kept the fear of them in your heart.' After he led her out, she lived for fifteen days and then rested in peace. Abbot Ephrem also wished to convert another harlot in a very similar way.
The Shame of Sin
Saint Ephrem uses a similar method of public confrontation to lead another woman to shame and repentance.
When that prostitute shamelessly tried to entice Saint Ephrem into sin, Ephrem said to her, "Follow me." As she followed him, they arrived at a place where a crowd had gathered, and he said, "Sit here, so I can be with you." She replied, "How can I do that, with such a large crowd standing right here?" He said, "If you're ashamed before people, shouldn't you be even more ashamed before your Creator, who reveals the hidden things of darkness?" She left, filled with shame.
Read the original Latin
Thaisis meretrix, ut in vitis patrum legitur, tantae pulchritudinis exstitit, ut mnlti propter eam venditis substantiis suisad ultimam paupertatem devenirent, sed amatores sui prae zelo litibus inter se consertis frequenter puellae limina sanguine juvenum replcbant. Quod cum audiisset abbas )Pafuntius, sumto habitu seculari et uno solido profectus est ad eam in quadam Aegypti civitate deditque ei solidum, quasi pro mercede peccandi, llla accepto pretio ait ili: ingrediamur in cameram, eumque ingressus esset et lectum pretiosis vestibus stratum adscendere invitaretur, dieit ad eam: si est interius cubiculum, in ipsum eamus. Et cum duxisset eum per plura loca, ille semper dicebat, quod videri timebat. llla autem dixit: est quoddam cubiculum, ubi nullus ingreditur, si vero Deum times, non est locus, qui Deitati ejus abscondatur. Quod tum senex audivisset, dixit ei: et scis esse Deum? Cuque illa respondisset, se scire Deum et regnum futuri saeculi necnon et tormenta peccatorum, dixit ei: si ergo nosti, cur tantas animas perdidisti? Et non solum pro tua, sed pro illorum redditura rationem damnaberis. llla vero haec audiens provoluta ad pedes abbatis Pafuntii cum lacrymis exorabat dicens: scio esse poenitentiam, pater, et confido remissionem te orante sortiri; tantum peto tribus horis inducias et post hoc, quo jusseris, ibo et, quaecumque praeceperis, faciam.
Cumque locum illi abbas constituisset, ubi venire deberet, illa collectis omnibus, quaecunque ex peccato Incrata fuerat, perlatisque in mediam civitatem populo spectante igne combussit clamans: venite omnes, qui peccastis, mecum et videte, quomodo ea, quae mihi contulistis, exuram. Erat autem pretium auri librarum quadringentarum. Quae cum omnia incendisset, ad locum, quem abbas Pafuntius constituerat, perrexit. Quam ile reperto virginum monasterio in cellulam parvam recladens ostium cellulae plumbo signavit et parvam reliquit fenestram, per quam ei victus modicus inferretur, jussitque ei omnibus diebus parum panis et paululum aquae a caeteris ministrari. Cum autem senex discederet, Thaisis ad eum ait: quo jubes, pater, ut ex naturali meatu aquam meam effundam? Et ille: in cella, sicut digna es. Cumque iterum, quomodo Deum deberet adorare, inquireret, respondit: non es digna nominare Deum neque in labiis tnis nomen trinitatis adducere, sed nec ad coelum manus expandere, quoniam labia tua iniquitate plena sunt et manus tuae sordibus inquinatae, sed tantummodo incumbens contra orientem respice, hunc sermonem frequenter iterans: qui plasmasti me, miserere mei. Cum ergo tribus annis fuisset inclusa, condoluit abbas Pafuntius et profectus est ad abbatemAÀntonium, ut ab eo requireret, si reimisisset illi Deus peccata sua.
Et narrata causa sanctus Antonius convocatis discipnlis suis praecepit iis, ut illa nocte vigilantes in oratione persisterent, singillatim utique, quatenus alicui ex his declararet Deus causam, pro qua abbas Pafuntius venerat. Cum igitur incessanter orassent, abbas Paulus major discipulus Antonii vidit subito in coelo lectum pretiosis vestibus ornatum, quem tres virgines clara facie custodiebant. Tres istae virgines fuerunt timor poenae futurae, quae ipsam a malo retraxit, pudor culpae commissae, quae ei veniam promeruit, amor justitiae, qui eam ad superna transvexit, Cumque Paulus illis diceret, gratiam illam tantam esse Antonii, vox divina respondit: non est patris tui Antonii, sed Thaisidis meretricis. Quod cum abbas Paulus mane retulisset, cognita Dei voluntate abbas Pafuntius cum gaudio discessit et mox profectus ad monasterium ostium cellae dissipavit. Ilia vero rogabat, ut adhuc maneret inclusa, Dixit autem ei: egredere, quoniam remisit tibi Deus peccata tua. Et illa respondit: testor Deum, quia, ex quo huc ingressa sum, ex omnibus peccatis feci velut sarcinam et statui ante oculos meos, et sicut non discedit anhelitus de naribus meis, sic non discesserunt peccata mea ab oculis meis, sed flebam semper illa considerans. Cui abbas Pafuntius dixit: non propter poenitentiam tuam remisit tibi Deus peccata tua, sed quia timorem semper habuisti in animo, Et cum inde illam eduxisset, XV dies supervixit et pausavit in pace. Abbas quoque Effrem aliam meretricem simili vere modo convertere voluit.
Nam cum illa meretrix sanctum Effrem ad peccandum alliceret impudenter, dixit ci Effrem: sequere me. Qua sequente cum ad quendam locum, ubi erat multitudo hominum, venisset, dixit ei: sede huc, nt commiscear fecum. Et illa: quomodo possum hoc facere, tanta multitudine hic stante? Et ille: Si homines erubescis, nonne magis tuum debes erubescere creatorem, qui revelat occulta tenebrarum? Illa autem confusa recessit.
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