De sanctis Barlaam et Josaphat
The Call of Josaphat
King Avennir attempts to shield his son Josaphat from the truth of the Christian faith and the realities of human suffering.
Baarlaam, whose story John of Damascus compiled with diligent study, converted the holy King Josaphat to the faith through the working of divine grace within him; for when all of India was full of Christians and monks, a certain powerful king named Avennir arose who persecuted the Christians, and especially the monks, most severely. It happened, however, that a certain friend of the king, a man of high standing in his palace, was moved by divine grace to leave the royal court and enter the monastic life; when the king heard this, he was driven mad with rage and sent him into the wilderness. He had him sought out and ordered him to be brought before him, and seeing him covered in a cheap tunic and wasted by hunger—he who had been accustomed to being adorned in splendid garments and enjoying great wealth—the king said to him, "You fool, you lost soul, why have you traded honor for disgrace?" "Look," he said, "you've made yourself a child's plaything." To which he replied, "If you want to hear the reason for this from me, you must cast your enemies far from you." When the king asked who these enemies were, he said, "Anger and desire; for these prevent me from seeing the truth, whereas prudence and equity should sit in judgment of what is said." The king said to him, "So be it, as you say." And he replied, "The foolish despise the things that are, as if they were not, but they strive to grasp the things that are not, as if they were." Anyone who hasn't tasted the sweetness of what is, won't be able to learn the truth of what is not. As he went on at length about the mystery of the Incarnation and the faith, the king said, "If I hadn't promised you at the start that I would remove anger from the center of my counsel, I would certainly have your flesh thrown into the fire right now. Get up, then, and flee from my sight, so I don't see you anymore and destroy you in my rage." The man of God left, sad that he hadn't suffered martyrdom. Meanwhile, while the king had no children, a very beautiful boy was born to him and named Josaphat. The king gathered an infinite multitude to offer sacrifices to the gods for the birth of the boy, and he summoned sixty astrologers, from whom he diligently asked what would become of his son. When they all replied that he would be great in power and wealth, one of them, wiser than the rest, said, "This boy who has been born to you, O king, will not be in your kingdom, but in another incomparably better one; for, as I judge, he is to be a follower of that Christian religion which you persecute." He said this not of his own accord, but by God's inspiration. Hearing this, the king was terrified and had a very beautiful palace built for him in a separate part of the city, where he placed the boy to live and gathered very beautiful young men to be with him, ordering them not to mention death, old age, or sickness. or. poverty, or anything that could bring him sadness. They were to name nothing, but were to present everything pleasant to him, so that his mind might be filled with joys. She was so occupied that she could think of nothing concerning the future. If, however, anyone... If one of the attendants happened to fall ill, the king immediately ordered him to be cast out and replaced with someone healthy; he also commanded... so that... they wouldn't mention Christ to him at all. At that same time, there was... a man with the king who was a most devout Christian, though he kept it secret; he was the first among the king's noble princes. When he went hunting with the king one day, he found a poor man with an injured foot.
The Merchant and the Parables
Barlaam arrives in the guise of a merchant to instruct Josaphat through allegorical tales about the vanity of the world.
He found a man lying on the ground, injured by a beast, who begged him to take him in, because he might perhaps be of some use to him. The soldier said, "I'll gladly take you in." But... "I don't know how you could be useful." And he replied, "I am a doctor of words; for if anyone is wounded in their words, I know how to apply the proper remedy." The soldier, however, thought nothing of what the man was saying, yet he took him in and cared for him for God's sake. He did so. - Some envious and malicious men, seeing that the prince was in such high favor with the king, accused him, claiming that not. to the Christians. He hadn't just turned away from the faith, but was also trying to steal the kingdom for himself by stirring up the crowd and to himself. winning them over. "But if you really want to know if this is true, O King," they said, "call him in privately and remind him that this life must soon end, and that for this reason you want to abandon the glory of the kingdom and take up the monk’s habit—which you have, until now, unknowingly persecuted—and then you will see what he says." When the king had done exactly as they suggested, the man, unaware of the trick, was moved to tears, praised the king’s intention, and, reflecting on the vanity of the world, advised him to carry it out as soon as possible. When the king heard this and believed what they had said was true, he was filled with rage, though he said nothing to him; but the man, realizing that the king had taken his words badly, left trembling and, remembering that he had a wise counselor, told him everything. The counselor said to him, “You should know that the king suspects you said this because you want to seize his kingdom; so get up, shave your head, throw away your clothes, put on a hairshirt, and go to the king at daybreak. When the king asks you what this means, you will answer: ‘Look, King, I am ready to follow you; for even if the path you wish to take is difficult, it will be easy for me if I am with you. Just as you had me as a companion in good times, you will have me just the same in bad times. Now, therefore, I am ready—why do you delay?’” When he had done all this in order, the king was stunned and, rebuking the liars, honored the man with even greater favor. His son, however, was raised in the palace until he reached adulthood and was fully instructed in all wisdom. Wondering why his father had kept him so secluded, he secretly asked a servant he was close to about the matter, saying he was in great distress because he wasn't allowed to go outside, to the point that he had no appetite for food or drink. When the father heard this and was saddened, he had suitable horses prepared and sent cheering crowds before him, carefully forbidding anything unpleasant to cross his path. As the young man was traveling this way, he happened to meet a leper and a blind man. Seeing them and being stunned, he asked who they were and what was wrong with them, and the attendants said, "These are sufferings that happen to people." And he asked, "Who among men can know the future?" He became deeply anxious because of how strange the matter was. On another occasion, he found a very old man with a wrinkled face, a hunched back, and teeth that chattered as he spoke. Stupefied, he wanted to learn the secret of this sight, and when he learned that it was the weight of many years that had brought him to such a state, he asked, "And what is the end of this?" "Death," they replied. He asked, "Is death for everyone, or only for some?" And he said, "Is death for everyone, or only for some?" When he learned that everyone must die, he asked, "And how many years does it take for this to happen?" He replied, "Old age comes in eighty or a hundred years, and then death itself follows." The young man often reflected on this in his heart and was deeply troubled, yet he kept a cheerful face before his father, longing to be guided and taught in these matters. There was a monk named Barlaam, a man of perfect life and reputation, who lived in the desert of Sennaar. Through the Spirit, he knew what was happening with the king's son, so he disguised himself as a merchant and arrived at the city. He approached the prince's tutor and said, "I am a merchant with a precious stone for sale. It gives sight to the blind, opens the ears of the deaf, makes the mute speak, and pours wisdom into the foolish. Take me to the king's son now, and I will hand it over to him." The tutor replied, "You seem to be a man of mature wisdom, but your words don't match it. Nevertheless, since I know something about stones, show it to me. If it proves to be as you claim, you will receive great honors from the king's son." To him, Barlaam said: "My stone has this further virtue: anyone who does not have clear vision or who does not keep his chastity intact will lose the very virtue it visibly possesses if he happens to look at it. I, being not without medical skill, see that you do not have healthy eyes, but I have heard that the king's son is chaste and has beautiful, healthy eyes." The tutor replied, "If that is the case, you must show it to me, for I do not have healthy eyes either." "And I am stained with sins." Having said this, he brought him to the king's son as quickly as possible. When he had been introduced and the king had received him reverently, Barlaam said, "In this, O King, you have done well, because you did not judge by outward appearance; for a certain great king, while riding in a gilded chariot, met some men who were worn out..." When he encountered those dressed in rags and worn thin by hunger, he would immediately jump from his chariot, fall to the ground, and worship them; then, after rising, he would rush to kiss them. His nobles, however, were offended by this, but since they were afraid to rebuke the king, they reported to his brother how the king had acted unworthy of his royal majesty, and the brother then rebuked the king. He rebuked him for this. . . It was the king's custom that whenever someone was sentenced to death, he would send a herald with a trumpet designated for this purpose to stand before the person's door. When evening came, he had the trumpet sounded before his brother's door. Hearing this and despairing of his own salvation, the brother spent the whole night without sleep and made his will. When morning came, he dressed in black clothes and, with his wife and children, went weeping to the palace gates. The king had him brought in and said, 'You fool, if you were so afraid of your brother's herald—a man against whom you know you have committed no offense—how can I not fear the heralds of my Lord, against whom I have sinned so greatly, who signify death to me more clearly with a trumpet and announce to me the terrible coming of the Judge?' Then he ordered four chests to be made; he had two of them covered on the outside with gold and filled with the rotting bones of the dead, while he had the other two coated with pitch and filled with precious gems and pearls. Calling the nobles who he knew had complained to his brother, he placed the four chests before them and asked which were the more precious. They judged the two gilded ones to be of great value and the others to be of little value. The king then ordered the gilded ones to be opened, and immediately an intolerable stench poured out from them. To them the king said, 'These are like those who are dressed in glorious clothes but are inwardly full of the filth of vices.' Then he had the others opened, and look—a wonderful fragrance drifted out from them. The king said to them, "These are like those very poor men I honored; even though they are covered in shabby clothes, inside they shine with the fragrance of every virtue. You, however, pay attention only to what is on the outside, and you don't consider what is within." Following that king, you too have done well to welcome me. Barlaam began to weave together a long discourse, starting with the creation of the world, the fall of man, the incarnation of the Son of God, his passion and resurrection; he also spoke at length about the day of judgment and the retribution of the good and the wicked, rebuking those who served idols and offering this example to illustrate their foolishness. A certain archer caught a small bird named a nightingale, and when he wanted to kill it, a voice was given to the nightingale, and it said, "What good will it do you, man, if you kill me? You won't be able to fill your belly with me; but if you were willing to let me go, I would give you three commands that, if you kept them diligently, would bring you great benefit." Stunned by her speech, he promised to let her go if she would share these instructions with him. She said: Never try to grasp what cannot be grasped; never grieve over a loss that cannot be recovered; never believe an unbelievable word. Keep these three things, and you'll be well. He let her go as he had promised, and the nightingale, flying through the air, said to him: Woe to you, man, for you had poor judgment and lost a great treasure today; for inside my body there is a pearl that is larger than an ostrich egg. When he heard this, he was deeply saddened that he had let her go, and he tried to catch her, saying: Come into my house, and I will show you every kindness and let you go with honor. To which the nightingale replied: Now I know for certain that you are a fool, for you have gained nothing from what I told you; you grieve over me as if I were lost and unrecoverable, and you try to catch me when you cannot follow my path, and furthermore, you believed there was a pearl so large inside my body, when I am not even as large as an ostrich egg. So, those who trust in idols are fools, because they worship what they themselves have fashioned and call their own creations their guardians. He began to argue at length against the deceptive pleasure and vanity of the world, and more, to bring forward examples for this, saying:
The Allegories of Life and Faith
Barlaam continues his instruction with vivid allegories regarding the dangers of worldly pleasure and the necessity of choosing eternal goods.
Those who crave worldly pleasures and let their souls die of hunger are like a man who, while fleeing a unicorn to avoid being devoured, ran faster and fell into a great pit; as he was falling, he grabbed onto a small bush and... braced his feet on a slippery, unstable ledge. Looking back, he saw two mice—one white and one black—ceaselessly gnawing at the roots of the bush he had grabbed, and they were already close to cutting it through. In the bottom of the pit, he saw a terrible dragon breathing fire, its mouth open and eager to devour him. On the ledge where he stood, he saw the heads of four snakes emerging. Raising his eyes, he saw a little honey dripping from the branches of that bush, and, forgetting the danger he was in on every side, he gave himself over entirely to the sweetness of that little bit of honey. The unicorn represents death, which always pursues man and seeks to catch him; the pit is the world, full of all evils. The bush is a person's life, which, through the hours of day and night, is gnawed away as if by the white and black mice. It is constantly being consumed and is nearing its end. The base of the four snakes is the body, made of the four elements, which are in disorder. The structure of the body is falling apart. The terrible dragon is the mouth of hell, eager to devour everyone; the sweetness of the little branch is the deceptive pleasure of the world, by which a person is seduced so that they barely notice their own danger. He added, "Those who love the world are like a man who..." He had three friends: he loved the first more than himself, the second just as much as himself, and the third less than himself—in fact, he barely loved him at all. . So, finding himself in great danger and summoned by the king, he ran to his first friend, seeking his help and constantly reminding him of how he had loved him. The friend replied, "I don't know who you are. O man, I have other friends with whom I must enjoy myself today, and those are the friends I will keep from now on. Still, I'll give you two rough garments so you have something to cover yourself with." Confused, he then went to the second friend and asked for his help in the same way. The friend said to him, "I have no time to struggle alongside you; I am surrounded by many cares. However, I will accompany you as far as the palace gate, but then I must return home immediately to attend to my own business." Sad and despairing, he went to the third friend and, with his face cast down, said to him, "I have no face to speak to you, since I did not love you as I should have. But now, surrounded by tribulation and abandoned by my friends, I ask that you bring me help and grant me mercy." He said with a cheerful face, "I admit that you are a very dear friend, and because I haven't forgotten your kindness—small as it was—I will go ahead of you and intercede with the king so he doesn't hand you over to your enemies." The first friend is wealth, which subjects a person to many dangers; yet when the end of life comes, he receives nothing from it all except the cheap rags for his burial. The second friend is one's wife, children, and relatives, who only go with you as far as the grave and then immediately turn back, busy with their own concerns. The third friend is faith, hope, and charity, along with almsgiving and other good works, which can go before us when we leave the body, intercede for us before God, and deliver us from the enemy demons. He added this as well: In a certain great city, it was the custom to elect a stranger and unknown person as prince every year, and once he had accepted all the power, whatever he wanted to do was permitted. He was there and ruled the land without any constitution. While he lived in luxury and assumed it would always stay that way, the citizens would suddenly rise up against him, drag him naked through the city, and send him into exile on a remote island, where he was left to suffer from hunger and cold without food or clothing. Finally, another man who was raised to the kingdom learned of the citizens' custom and sent vast treasures ahead to that island; after his year of exile, while the others were dying of hunger, he lived in immense luxury. This city is the world; its citizens are the princes of darkness who entice us with the world's false pleasures. When we least expect it, death overtakes us and we are plunged into the place of darkness. However, the way to send riches ahead to the eternal place is through the hands of the needy. When Barlaam had taught the king's son perfectly and the son wanted to leave his father to follow him, Barlaam said, "If you do this, you'll be like a young man who, not wanting to marry a noblewoman, fled. Arriving in a certain place, he saw a virgin—the daughter of a poor old man—working and praising God aloud." He asked her, "What are you doing, woman?" Even though you are so poor, you still give thanks to God as if you had received great things from Him. To whom she replied: "Just as a small medicine often frees one from a great illness, so do thanks." Acting on small gifts is the author of greater ones. Yet these external things aren't truly ours; the things that are in us and are ours, I have received as great gifts from God, because He made me in His image, gave me understanding, called me to His glory, and has already opened the door of His kingdom to me. For such great gifts, it is fitting to praise Him. Seeing her prudence, the young man asked her father for her hand in marriage. The father replied, "You cannot take my daughter, because you are the son of the rich and noble, while I am a poor man." But when he insisted entirely, the old man said: "I cannot give her to you to take into your father's house, since she is my only one." He replied, "I will stay with you and conform myself to you in everything." So he set aside his fine clothes, put on the old man’s habit, and stayed with him, taking the maiden as his wife. After the old man had tested him for some time, he led him into his inner chamber and showed him an immense amount of wealth, such as he had never seen before. . . And he gave everything to him. Josaphat said, "This story touches me deeply, and I believe you are speaking of me. But tell me, father, how old are you and where do you live? For I never want to be separated from you." He replied, "I've spent forty-five years living in the deserts of the land of Shinar."
The Trial of Faith
The king attempts to deceive Josaphat with a false hermit, but the truth prevails through the unexpected conversion of the deceiver.
Josaphat replied, "Father, you look to be about seventy years old." He answered, "If you're counting the years of my life since birth, you've guessed well, but I don't count them as a measure of life, for they were all spent in the vanity of the world. Back then, I was dead in my inner self, and I'll never call those years of death a life." When Josaphat wanted to follow him into the desert, Barlaam said, "If you do that, I'll be deprived of your company, and I'll be the cause of persecution for my brothers. But when you see that the time is right, come to me." Barlaam then baptized the king's son, instructed him perfectly in the faith, kissed him, and returned to his own place. When the king heard that his son had become a Christian, he was filled with immense grief. A friend of his named Arachis tried to comfort him, saying, "King, I know an old hermit who belongs to our sect and is in every way like Barlaam. This man will pretend to be Barlaam, defend the Christian faith at first, then allow himself to be defeated and retract everything he taught. In this way, the king's son will return to us." So the king took the aforementioned prince and a large army and went to find Barlaam; he captured that hermit and claimed he had caught Barlaam. When the king's son heard that his master had been captured, he wept for love of him, but later, through a revelation from God, he realized it wasn't him. The king then went to his son and said, "My son, you've plunged me into great sadness, dishonored my gray hair, and taken away the light of my eyes. Why, my son, have you done this and abandoned the worship of my gods?" He replied: 'Father, I have fled the darkness, run toward the light, abandoned error, and recognized the truth. Don't waste your effort, because you'll never be able to turn me back from Christ. Just as it's impossible for you to touch the height of heaven with your hand or dry up the vast ocean, know that this is just as impossible.' Then the king said: 'And who is responsible for these evils if not me, who have done such great things for you—things no father has ever done for a son?' That is why your stubborn will and your unbridled defiance of my authority have made you lose your mind. The astrologers were right at your birth when they said you would be arrogant and disobedient to your parents. But now, unless you agree with me, you will lose your place as my son; instead of a father, I will become your enemy and do things to you that I haven't even done to my enemies yet.' Josaphat replied: 'Why, King, are you sad that I have become a partaker of good things?' I have become? What father has ever appeared sad at his son's prosperity? Therefore, I will no longer call you father, but if you oppose me, I will flee from you as I would from a serpent.' The king, therefore, left him in anger and informed his friend Arachis of his son's stubbornness. Arachis advised him not to deal with him using harsh words, because a boy is better drawn in by gentle and mild ones. The following day, the king came to his son, embraced him, and kissed him, saying: "My sweetest son, honor the gray hair of your father; respect your father, my son. Don't you know what a good thing it is to obey your father and to bring him joy, just as, conversely, it is an evil thing to provoke him?" Everyone who has done so has come to a bad end. Josaphat replied, "There is a time to love and a time to obey, a time for peace and a time for war. We must not obey in any way that turns us away from God, whether it be a mother or a father."✦ Seeing his son's resolve, the king said, "Since I see your stubbornness and that you won't obey me, at least come, and let us both together believe in the truth. Barlaam, who led you away from me, is in chains. Let our people and yours meet with Barlaam, and I will send a herald so that all the Galileans may come without fear. Once the debate begins, if your Barlaam wins, we will believe you; but if ours wins, you will agree with us." When this pleased the king's son, and they had arranged with the fake Barlaam how he should first pretend to defend the Christian faith and then promise to be defeated, they all gathered together. Josaphat turned to Nachor and said: "You know, Barlaam, how you taught me. If you defend the faith you taught me, I will remain in your teaching until the end of my life. But if you are defeated, I will immediately avenge this insult to me upon you, and I will tear out your heart and tongue with my own hands and give them to the dogs, so that others will no longer presume to lead the sons of kings into error." Hearing this, Nachor became deeply sad and terrified, seeing that he had fallen into the pit he himself had dug and was caught in his own trap. Realizing this, he understood that it was better to stick with the king's son so that he might escape the danger of death.✦ The king, however, had openly told him to defend his faith without fear. So one of the rhetoricians stood up and said, "Are you Barlaam, who led the king's son astray?" He replied, "I am Barlaam; I didn't lead the king's son into error, but rather freed him from it." The rhetor said, "Since distinguished and marvelous men have worshipped our gods, how do you dare to rise up against them?" He answered: "The Chaldeans, Greeks, and Egyptians were mistaken when they called created things gods. The Chaldeans, for instance, thought the elements were gods, even though they were created for the benefit of humanity, to be subject to their rule and to be corrupted by many passions." The Greeks also consider wicked men to be gods, such as Saturn, whom they claim devoured his own children, cut off his own genitals and threw them into the sea, and that Venus was born from that, and that he was later bound by his own son Jupiter and cast into Tartarus." Jupiter is also described as the king of the other gods, yet they often say he transformed himself into animals to commit adultery." They also say Venus was an adulterous goddess, for at one time she had Mars as a lover, and at another, Adonis; the Egyptians, meanwhile, worshipped animals, such as sheep, calves, pigs, and the like." Christians, however, worship the Son of the Most High, who descended from heaven and took on flesh." Nachor then began to defend the Christian faith clearly and support it with arguments, so that those rhetoricians were struck dumb and couldn't answer a single thing. Josaphat rejoiced greatly that the Lord had defended the truth through an enemy of the truth, but the king was filled with rage.
Temptation and Vision
Josaphat faces intense spiritual and physical temptations, ultimately finding strength through a vision of the heavenly kingdom.
He ordered the council to be dissolved as if he intended to discuss these matters again the following day, and said to his father, 'Josaphat, either allow my teacher to stay with me tonight so we can discuss the answers to be given tomorrow, and bring your own people to confer with them, or if you allow yours to be with me, accept mine; otherwise, you aren't exercising justice, but violence.' Because of this, Nachor gave in to him, still holding onto the hope that he might lead him astray. When the king's son had returned home with Nachor, Josaphat said to him, 'Don't think I'm unaware of who you are; know that you aren't Barlaam, but Nachor the astrologer.' Then, beginning to preach the way of salvation to him, Josaphat converted him to the faith and sent him off in the morning to the desert, where he received baptism and led an eremitic life. However, a certain magician named Theodas, hearing of what was happening, came to the king and promised that he would make his son return to the laws of his father. The king said to him, 'If you do this, I will erect a golden statue to you and I myself will offer sacrifice to it as to the gods.' And he replied, 'Remove everyone from your son and order beautiful and adorned women to be brought in, so that they may always be with him, serve him, spend time with him, and dwell with him. I, for my part, will send one of my spirits to him who will inflame him with lust, for nothing can seduce young men like the faces of women.' For when a certain king had barely had a son, the most skilled physicians said that if he saw the sun or the moon within ten years, he would be deprived of the light of his eyes. The king, therefore, had his son stay in a cave carved out of a rock until he was ten years old. When these years were finished, the king ordered that all kinds of things be brought before him, so that he could have the names and knowledge of everything. So, after they had brought gold, silver, precious stones, fine clothing, royal horses, and all kinds of things before him, he would ask the name of each item, and the attendants would tell him what they were called. But when he anxiously asked to learn the name for women, the king’s sword-bearer [REDACTED] told him that they were demons who seduce men. When the king asked his son which of all the things he had seen he loved most, he replied, “What else, Father, but those demons who seduce men?” “For my soul has burned for nothing as it has for these; don't think, therefore, that you can overcome your son in any other way.” So the king dismissed all the attendants and paired him with beautiful girls who would constantly provoke him to lust; he had no one else to look at, speak with, or eat with. But the evil spirit sent by the magician rushed upon the young man and kindled a great furnace of fire within him. The evil spirit inflamed him from within, while the girls stirred up a terrible passion from without. Feeling himself so fiercely tormented, he was troubled; but by commending himself entirely to God, he received divine consolation, and every temptation vanished; then, he sent to him a certain very beautiful girl, the daughter of a king, though she was orphaned of her father. When the man of God preached to her, she replied: "If you want to save me from the care of idols, join me in the bond of marriage, for even Christians don't reject marriage, but praise it, since their patriarchs, prophets, and their apostle Peter had wives." To this he said: "Woman, you're pursuing this in vain; it's permitted for Christians to take wives, but not for those who have promised to keep their virginity for Christ." She said: "Let it be as you wish; but if you desire to save my soul, grant me one small request: lie with me just this night, and I promise you that by daybreak I will become a Christian." For if, as you say, there is joy in heaven among the angels over one sinner who repents, doesn't a great reward belong to the very author of that conversion? Just give in to me this once, and you will save my soul." She began, therefore, to shake the tower of his soul with great force. Seeing this, the demon said to his companions: "Do you see how this girl has shaken him, whom we could not shake? Come, therefore, and let us attack him with all our might, now that we have found a suitable time." Perceiving, therefore, that he was so strongly besieged—because both concupiscence was inciting him and the salvation of a single girl, at the devil's suggestion, was moving him—the holy youth gave himself to prayer, bathed in tears. Falling asleep during this prayer, he saw himself being led into a meadow adorned with beautiful flowers, where the leaves of the trees gave off a sweet sound as they were stirred by a pleasant breeze, and they emitted a wonderful fragrance; where the fruits were most beautiful to look upon and desirable to the taste; where seats were placed, fashioned of gold and gems, with bright beds and most precious ornaments, and crystal-clear waters flowed past. Then they led him into a city whose walls were of refined gold, which shone with a marvelous brightness, where certain heavenly hosts were. They were singing a song that no human ear has ever heard. He had not heard it, and it was said to him, "This is the place of the blessed." But when the men wanted to lead him back, he begged them to let him stay there. They replied, "You will come here again only with great labor, if you are even able to force your way in." Then they led him to places of utter filth, and it was said, "This is the place of the unjust." When he woke up, the beauty of that girl and the others seemed like filth to him. He reads. Gold and refined gold. It seemed more foul to him. But when the evil spirits returned to Theodas and he reproached them, they said, "Before he was signed with the sign of the cross, we rushed upon him and troubled him greatly; but as soon as he armed himself with the sign of the cross, he pursued us with anger." Then Theodas went in to him with the king, hoping he could persuade him.
The Final Journey
Josaphat fully embraces the monastic life, reunites with Barlaam, and both saints pass into eternal peace.
But the aforementioned magician was captured by the very one he had intended to capture; he was converted by him, received baptism, and lived a praiseworthy life. The king, therefore, in despair and on the advice of his friends, ceded half of his kingdom to him. Although he longed with his whole heart for the desert, he nevertheless took on the kingdom for a time for the sake of spreading the faith, and he erected temples and crosses in his cities and converted everyone to Christ. The father, eventually yielding to his son’s arguments and preaching, accepted the faith of Christ, received baptism, and, handing over the entire kingdom to his son, occupied himself with works of mercy and thereafter finished his life in a praiseworthy manner. Josaphat, however, declaring Barachias king, wanted to flee many times, but he was always captured by the people and only with difficulty escaped at last. When he was traveling through the desert, he gave his royal robes to a poor man and remained himself in the poorest of clothing, while the devil prepared many traps for him. Sometimes the devil would rush at him with a drawn sword and threaten to strike him unless he gave up; at other times he would appear to him in the form of wild beasts, gnashing his teeth and letting out a terrifying roar. But he would say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what man can do to me.” Josaphat wandered in the desert for two years and could not find Barlaam, but finally he found the cave and, standing before the entrance, said, “Bless me, Father, bless me.” Hearing his voice, Barlaam rushed out, and they kissed and embraced one another most fervently, unable to get enough of each other. Josaphat told Barlaam everything that had happened to him, and he gave immense thanks to God. Josaphat remained there for many years in remarkable abstinence and virtue; finally, when his days were complete, Barlaam rested in peace around the year of our Lord 380. Josaphat, therefore, having abandoned the kingdom in his twenty-fifth year, underwent the labor of a hermit for thirty-five years, and thus, famous for many virtues, he rested in peace and was laid to rest with the body of Barlaam. Hearing this, King Barachias came there with a large army and, reverently taking up their bodies, transferred them to his own city, and many miracles are performed at their tomb.
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Baarlaam, cujus hystoriam Johannes- Damascenus diligenti studio compilavit, operante in eo divina gratia sanctum Josaphat regem àil fidem convertit, Etenim cum universa India christianis et monachis plena esset, surrexit rex quidam praepotens, nomine Auennir, qui christianos et praecipue monachos plurimum persequebatur. Accidit autem, nut quidam regis amicus et in palatio suo primus divina commonitus gratia regiam aulam relinqueret et monásticum ordinem introiret, Quod rex audiens prae ira insaniens eum per quaeque deserta. inquiri fecit et vix inventum ad se adduci mandavit, vidensque eum vili tunica coopertum et fame maceratum, qui splendidis vestimentis: ornabatur et multis divitiis afflaere consueverat, dixit ei: o stulte et mentis perdite, cur homorem in contumeliam commutasti? Ecce, ludum puerorum te fevisti. Cni ille: si hujus à me rationem audire desideras, inimicos tuos procul a te abjicias. Rege autem, qui essent hujusmodi inimici, quaerente àit: ira et concupiscentia; haec enim impediunt, me veritas videatur, assideant antem ad audientiam dicendorum prudentia et aequitas. Cui rex: fiat, ut loqueris. Et ille: insipientes ea, quae sunt, despiciunt, quasi non sint, ea vero, quae non sunt, quasi sint, apprehendere moliuntur.
Qui autem non gustaverit eorum, quae sunt, dulcedinem , non poterit eorum, quae non sunt, addiscere veritatem. Multa autem illo de mysterio incarnationis et fidei prosequente rex ait: nisi tibi in principio promisissem, quod de medio consilii iram removerem, nunc utique igni carnes tuas traderem; surge igitur et fuge ex oculis meis, no ultra te videam et male te perdam, Vir Dei autem tristis abScessit eo, quod martirium perpessus non esset, Interea dum rex liberos non haberet, puer ei pulcherrimus nascitur et Josaphat appellatur. Gongregante autem rege infinitam mnltitudinem, ut Diis pro ortu pueri immolarent,sexaginta astrologos convocavit, a quibus, quid futurum esset filio suo, diligenter quaesivit. Cunctis autem respondentibus, eum magnum in potentia et divitiis futurum, unus sapientior ex ipsis dixit; puer iste, qui natus est tibi, o rex, non in tuo erit regno, sed in alio incomparabiliter meliori, nam illius, quam persequeris, christianae religionis, ut aestimo, futurus est cultor. Hoc autem non a semet ipso, sed a Deo inspirante dixit, Audiens hoc rex et plurimum expavescens in civitate seorsum palatium speciosissimum construi fecit et ibi puerum ad habitandum posuit ibique secum juvenes pulcherrimos collocavit, praeCipiens illis, ut nec mortem nec senectutem mec infirmitatem. vel. paupertatem nec aliquid, quod posset sibi afferre tristitiam , ei. nominarent, sed omnia jucunda ei proponerent, quatenus mens ejus laetitiis.
occupata nil de futuris cogitare posset. Si quem vero. ministrantium infirmari contingeret, hunc protinus rex praecipiebat ejici et alium loco ejus incolumem subrogari, praecepitque , . ne. sibi de Christo aliquam facerent mentionem. Eodem tempore erat. cum rege vir quidam christianissimus, sed occultus; qui inter no+ biles regis principes primus erat. Hic cum aliquando cum rege ad venandum ivisset, hominem quendam pauperem, pedem laesum.
à bestia habentem et in terra jacentem, invenit, a quo rogatur, ut se suscipere debeat, quia sibi in aliquo forsitan prodesse posset. Cui miles dixit: ego quidem te libenter suscipio ,. sed. in quo utilis: inveniaris, ignoro. Et ille dixit: ego homo medicus sum verborum ; si enim aliquis in verbis laedatur, congruam cio adhibere medelam. Miles autem, quod ille dicebat, pro nihilo computavit, propter Deum tamen ipsum suscipiens ejus curam. egit. -.
Viri autem quidam invidi et malitiosi videntes, praedictum principem in tanta gratia esse regis, ipsum apud regem accusaverunt, - quod. non. 0lum ad christianorum. fidem declinasset, sed insuper-regnum conasbatur sibi surripere turbam sollicitans et. sibi. -concilians. - Sed si hoc, inquiunt, ita esse, o rex, scire desideras, ipsum secreto advoca et vitam hanc cito finiendam commemora et idcirco gloriam regni te velle derelinquere et monachorum habitum assumere-asse--ras, quos tamen ignoranter hactenus fueras persecutus, et tunc videbis, quid. tibi responderit, Quod cum rex omnia, ut illi suase-rant, fecisset, ille doli ignarus perfusus lacrymis propositum regis laudavit et vanitatem mundi rememorans quantocius hoc adimplendum consuluit.
Quod rex audiens et verum esse, quod dixerant, credens furore repletus est, nihil tamen sibi respondit, vir autem perpendens, quod rex graviter verba sua acceperat, tremens abscessit et medicum verborum se habere recolens omnia sibi narravit, Cui ille: notum sit tibi, quod rex suspicatur, ut propter hoc dixeris, quod ejus regnum velis invadere; surge igitur el comam tnam tonde et vestimenta abjiciens cilicium indue et summo diluculo ad regem ingredere, cumque rex, quid sibi hoc velit, interrogaverit, respondebis: ecce, rex, paratus sum sequi te, nam etsi via, per quam cupis ire, difficilis sit, tecum tamen exsistenti facilis mihi erit, sicnt enim socium me habuisti in prosperis, sic habebis pariter in adversis; nunc igitur praesto sum, quid moraris? Quod eum ille per ordinem fecisset, rex obstupuit et falsarios arguens virum ampliore honore ditavit. Filius autem ejus in palatio educatus ad aetatem adullam pervenit et in omni sapientia plene edoctus fuit. Admirans autem, cur pater sic eum reclusisset, unum de servis sibi familiariorem secreto de hac re interrogavit dicens, se in multa moestitia positum pro eo, quod sibi foras egredi non liceret, adeo ut nec cibus sibi saperet nec potus. Quod pater audiens et dolens equos idoneos parari fecit et choros plaudentes ante eum mittens, ne quid sibi foedum occurreret, diligenter prohibuit, Praedicto igitur juvene taliter procedente quadam vice wms leprosus et unus caecus sibi obviaverunt. Quos ille videns et stupens, qui sint et quidnam habeant, inquisivit et ministri dixerunt: passiones istae sunt, quae hominibus accidunt. Et ille: omnibus hominibus hoc contingere solet? —Negantibus illis respondet: noti sunt igitur, qui hoc páti debeant, an sic indefinite proveniunt?
Etilli: quis hominum futura scire valet? Valde igitur anxius esse coepit pro inconsuetudine rei. Alia autem vice quendam valde senem, rugosam habentem faciem et dorsum ineurvatum et candentibus dentibus balbutiendo loquentem invenit. Stupefactus ígitur discere eupit visionis miraculum, cumque didicisset, quod propter annorum multitudinem ad talem statum venisset, ait: et quis est hujus finis? Dicunt. ei: mors. Et ille: omniumne mors vel aliquorum? Cumque didicisset, omnes mori debere, interrogavit: et quot annis haec superveniunt?
Et ille; in octoginta vel centum annis senectus inducitur, deinde mors ipsa subsequitur. Haec igitur juvenis frequenter in corde suo recogitans in multa: desolatione erat, sed coram patre laetitiam protendebat, plurimum desiderans in hujusmodi dirigi et doceri. Igitur quidam monachus vita et opinione perfectus habitans in deserto terrae Sennaar, nomine Barlaam, hic, quae circa filium regis agebantur, per spiritum cognovit et mercatoris habitum sumens ad civitatem illam devenit accedensque paedagogo filii regis locutus est: ego, cum negotiator sim, lapidem pretiosum venalem habeo, qui caecis Inmen tribuit, surdis aures aperit, mutos loqui facit, insipientibus sapientiam infundit; nunc igitur due me ad filium regis et hunc sibi tradam. Cui ille: videris homo maturae prudentiae, sed verba tua prudentiae non concordant, verumtamen cum lapidum notitiam habeam, ipsum lapidem mihi ostende et, si talis, ut asseris, fuerit comprobatus, a filio regis honores maximos consequeris. Ad quem ille: lapis meus insuper hane habet virtutem, quia , qui-non habet sanam oculorum aciem et qui non servat integran castitatem, si forte illum adspexerit, ipsam virtutem, quam habet visibilem, perdit; ego autem medicinalis artis non expers video te sanos oculos non habere, filium autem regis audivi pudicum esse et oculos pulcherrimos habere et sanos. Qui ille: sie si est, moli mihi ostendere, quia et oculos sanos non habeo. et in peccatis sordesco, Nuntians igitur filio regis ipsum ad eum quantocius introduxit. Cum ergo introductus fuisset et rex eum - reverenter suscepisset, ait Barlaam: in hoc, rex, bene fecisti, quia de forisparvitati apparenti non attendisti, nam rex quidam magnus iu curru deaurato procedens, cum quibusdam attritis.
vestibus indutis et macie attenuatis obviasset, continuo de curru exsiliens-ad pedes procidens ipsos adoravit et surgens in oscula eorum ruit, proceres autem ejus indigne hoc ferentes, sed regem super hoc arguere formidantes fratri ejus retulerunt, quomodo rex magnificentiae regali indigna fecisset, frater autem rogem. super- hoc- redarguit. . . Erat autem regi consuetudo, quod, quando aliquis morti- traditus erat, ‘rex ante ejus januam praeconem cum tuba ad hoc deputata mittebat, Vespere igitur veniente ante fratris januam tubam -sonari fecit, Quod ille audiens et de sua salvatione desperans totam noctem insomnem duxit et testamentum fecit, mane autem facto indutus nigris vestibus cum uxore et filiis ad fores palatii lugens accessit, Quem rex ad se ingredi faciens dixit: o stulte, si praeconem fratris tni, cni nihil te deliquisse cognoscis, adeo timuisti, quomodo praecones domini mei, in quem adeo peccavi, timere non debeam, qui sonabilius tuba mihi mortem significant et terribilem judicis adventum mihi denuntiant? Deinde quatuor capsas fieri jussit et duas earum extrinsecus auro undique operiri et ossibus mortuorum putridis impleri, duas vero pice liniri et gemmis et margaritis pretiosis impleri fecit, vocansque illos magnates, quos sciebat querimoniam apud fratrem deposuisse, quatuor illas capsas ante eos posuit et, quae pretiosiores essent, inquisivit. Hli vero duas deauratas magni esse pretii, reliquas vero vilis pretii esse judicaverunt, Praecepit igitur rex deauratas aperiri et continuo inde foetor intolerabilis emanavit. , Quibus rex: hae illis similes sunt, qui gloriosis vestibus sunt amicti, intus vero immunditia- Yitiorum pleni.
Deinde alias —aperiri fecit et ecce odor mirabilis inde exhalavit, Quibus rex: istae illis pauperrimis, quos honoravi, similes sunt, qui, etsi vilibus vestimentis operiantur, intus tamen omni virtutum odore resplendent; vos autem solum, quae de foris sunt, attenditis et quae de intus sunt, non consideratis. Secundum igitur illum regem tn quoque fecisti bene suscipiens me. Incipiensque igitar Barlaam coepit et de mundi creatione et hominis praevaricatione ac filii Dei incarnatione, passione et resurrectione longum sermonem contexere necnon et de die judicii et de retributione bonorum et malorum multa proferre et servientes ydolis plurimum exprobrare ac de eorum fatuitate tale exemplum ponere dicens. Sagittarius quidam 7 aviculam parvam, nomine philomenam, capiens cum vellet eam occidere, vox data est philomenae et ait: quid tibi proderit, o homo, si me occideris? neque enim ventrem tuum de me implere valebis, sed, si me dimittere velles, tria tibi mandata darem, quae si diligentius conservares, magnam inde utilitatem consequi posses.
Ille vero ad ejus loquelam stupefactus promisit, quod eam dimitteret, si haec sibi mandata proferret. Et illa: nunquam rem, quae apprehendi non potest, apprehendere studeas; de re perdita irrecuperabili nunquam doleas; verbum incredibile nunquam credas; haec tria custodi et bene tibi erit. Ille autem, ut promiserat, eam dimisit, philomena igitur per aéra volitans dixit ei: vaeh tibi, homo, quod malum consilium habuisti et quod magnum thesaurum hodie perdidisti, est enim in meis visceribus margarita, quae struthionis ovum sua vincit magnitudine. Quod ille audiens valde contristatus est, quod eam dimiserit, et cam apprehendere conabatur dicens: veni in domum meam et omnem libi humanitatem exhibebo et honorifice te dimittam. Cui philomena: nunc pro certo cognovi te fatuum esse, nam ex his, quae tibi dixi, nullum profectum habuisti, quia et de me perdita et irrecuperabili doles et me tentas capere, cum nequeas meo itinere pergere, et insuper margaritam tam grandem in meis visceribus credidisti esse, cum ego tota ad magnitudinem ovi struthionis non valeam pertingere. Sic ergo 77 lulti sunt illi, qui confidunt in ydolis, quia plasmatos a se adorant et custoditos a se custodes suos appellant. Coepitque contra fallacem mundi delectationem et vanitatem multa disputare et plura. ad hoc exempla adducere dicens.
Qui corporales delectationes desiderant et animas suas fame mori permittunt, similes sunt cuidam homini, qui, dum à facie unicornis, ne ab eo devoraretur, velocius fugeret, in quoddam barathrum magnum cecidit, dum autem caderet, manibus arbustulam apprehendit quandam et. in base quadam lubrica et instabili pedes fixit. Respiciens vero vidit duos mures, unum album et unum nigrum, incessanter radicem arbustulae, quam apprehenderat, corrodentes et jam prope erat, ut ipsam absciderent, In fundo autem barathri vidit draconem terribilem spirantem ignem et aperto ore ipsum devorare eupientem, super basem vero, ubi pedes tenebat, vidit quatuor aspidum capita inde prodeuntia, Elevans autem oculos vidit exiguum mellis de ramis illius arbustulae stillans oblitusque periculi, in quo undique poSitus erat, se ipsum dulcedini illius modici mellis totum dedit, Unicornis autem mortis tenet figuram, quae hominem semper persequitur et apprehendere cupit, barathrum vero mundus est omnibus malis plenus. Arbustula uniuscujusque vita est, quae per horas diei et noctis quasi per murem album et nigrum. incessanter consumitur et incisioni appropinquat. Basis vero aspidum quatuor corpus ex quatuor elementis compositum, quibus inordinatis. corporis compago dissolvitur. Draco terribilis os inferni cunctos devorare cupiens, dulcedo ramusculi delectatio fallax mundi, per quam homo seducilur, ut periculum suum minime intueatur.
Addidit quoque dicens: similes sunt iterum mundi amatores homini, qui . tres amicos habuit, quorum unum plus quam se, secundum tantum quantum se, tertium minus quam se et quasi nihil dilexit. . In magno itaque periculo positus et a rege citatus cucurrit ad primum amicum, ejus auxilium quaerens et, qualiter eum dilexerit, semper commemorans. Cui ille; nescio, quis sis; o homo, habeo alios amicos, cum quibus me hodie laetarl oportet, quos et amicos amodo possidebo, praebeo tamen tibi duo ciliciola, ut habeas, quibus valeas operiri. Confusus igitur ad secundum venit et similiter ejus auxilium postulavit. Cui ille: non vacat mihi tecum subire agonem; curis etenim multis circumdor, modicum tamen usque ad ostium palatii te sociabo ct statim domum revertar propriis vacans negotiis. Tristis igilur et desperans ad tertium amicum perrexit sibique facie demissa dixit: non habeo os loquendi ad te, quoniam non, ut debui, amavi te, sed in tribulatione cirenmdatus et ab amicis destitutus rogo, ut mihi auxilium feras et mihi veniam pracbeas.
Et ille hilari vultu dixit: certe amicum carissimum fateor te esse et tui, licet modici, beneficii non immemor praecedam te et apud regem interveniam pro te, ne in manibus te tradat inimicorum. Primus igitur amicus est divitiarum possessio, pro quibus homo multis periculis subjacet, veniente vero mortis termino nihil ex omnibus nisi viles accipit ad sepeliendum panniculos. Secundus amicus est uxor, filii et parentes, qui tantum usque ad monumentum secum pergentes protinus revertüntur-suis vacantes curis; terfius amicus est fides, spes et caritas et elemosina et caetera bona opera, quae nos, cum eximus de corpore, possunt praecedere et pro nobis apud Deum intervenire ct ab inimicis daemonibus nos liberare. Hoc insuper addidit dicens. In quadam magna civitate consuetudo fuit, quod hominem extraneum et ignotum omni anno in principem eligebant, cui omni potestate accepta, quidquid volebat facere, licitum. erat et sine omni constitutione terram regebat. Illo igitur in omnibus deliciis permanente et semper sibi sic esse existimante, repentg cives in eum insurgebant et per totam civitatem nudum trahentes in remotam insulam exsulem transmittebant, ubi nec cibum nec vestimentum inveniens fame et frigore urgebatur. Tandem quidam alius sublimatus in regno, cum illorum civium consuetudinem didicisset, infinitos thesauros ad insulam illam praemisit, ubi post annum in exsilium relegatus cacteris fame deficientibus ille immensis deliciis abundabat.
Civitas haec mundus iste est; cives tenebrarum principes, qui nos falsa mundi delectatione alliciunt, nobisque insperantibus mors supervenit et in locum tenebrarum demergimur; divitiarum vero ad aeternum locum praemissio fit manibus egenorum. Igitnr cum Barlaam perfecte filium regis docuisset et ipse eum jam relicto patre sequi vellet, dixit Barlaam: si hoc feceris, cuidam juveni similis eris, qui, cum quandam nobilem nollet desponsare uxorem, ipse renuens aufugit et in quendam locum deveniens virginem quandám, cujusdam senis pauperis filiam, laborantem et ore Deum laudantem vidit, Ad quam ille: quid est, quod agis, mulier? cum enim ita pauper sis, graliam tamen agis Deo, ac si magna recepisses ab eo. Ad quem illa: sicut parva medicina saepe a magno languore liberat, sic gratiarum. actio in parvis donis magnorum efficitar auctrix donorum; haec tamen, quae extrinsecus sunt, nostra non sunt, sed ea, quae in nobis sunt et nostra sunt, a Deo magna accepi, quia me ad suam imaginem feeit, intellectum mihi dedit, ad suam me gloriam vocavit et januam regni sui jam mihi aperuit; pro tantis ergo et tam magnis donis ipsum landare convenit. Videns juvenis ejus prudentiam eam a patre suo in uxorem petiit. Gui ille: filiam meam accipere non vales, quia divitum et nobiliam filius es, ego autem pauper sum. Sed cum ille omnino instaret, ait senex: non possum eam tibi dare, ut in domum patris tui ducas eam, cum unica mihi sit.
Et ille: apud vos manebo et vobis me in omnibus conformabo. Deponens igitur pretiosum ornamentum habitum senis induit et apud eum manens ipsam in uxorem accepit. Postquam autem senex dintius eum probavit, in thalamum eum daxit et immensum pondus divitiarum, quantum, nunquam viderat, sihi ostendit . . . et omnia sibi dedit. Dixit autem Josaphat: convenienter me ista tangit narratio et a te hoc dietum esse de me existimo, sed dic mihi, pater, quot annorum es et ubi conversarís, quia a te nunquam volo separari. Et ille: annorum sum XLV in desertis terrae Sennaar degens.
Ad quem Josaphat: ainplius pater mihi appares LXX annorum, Etille: si anativitate mea omnes annos meos quacris discere, bene eos existimasti, sed nullo modo a me in mensura vitae computantur, quotquot in vanitate mundi expensi sunt; tunc enim in interiori homine mortuus eram et annos mortis nunquam vitae nominabo. Cum igitur Josaphat eum in desertum sequi vellet, dixit Barlaam: si hoc feceris, et tuo consortio carebo et persecutionis fratribus meis anctor exsistam, sed, cum opportunum tempus videris, ad me venies. Barlaam igitnr filium regis baptizans et in fide optime instruens eum osculatus est et ad locum suum reversus est. Postquam antem rex filium christianum factam audivit, in dolore nimio positus est. Quem quidam amicus suus, nomine Arachis, consolans ait: cognosco, rex senex, quendam ercmitam, qui de nostra secta est, qui per omnia Batlaam similis est; hic igitur Barlaam se simulans primo christianorum fidem defendet, deinde se superari permittet et omnia, quae docuerat, revocabit et sic filius regis ad nos redibit. Assumto igitur praedicto principe magno exercitu ad quaerendum Barlaam ivit ct eremitam illum capiens se Barlaam cepisse dixit. Quod filius regis audiens, captum scilicet magistrum amare flevit, sed postmodum per Dei revelationem hunc non esse cognovit. Ingressus igitur pater ad filium ait: fili mi, in tristitia magna me posuisti et meam canitiem inhonorasti ct lumen oculorum meorum abstulisti; quare, fili, hoc fecisti et Deoram meorum culinm reliquisti?
Cni ille: tenebras, pater, fugi, ad lumen cucurri et errorem deserüi et veritatem agnovi, noli autem frustra laborare, quoniam nunquam à Christo me poteris revocare, sicut enim tibi impossibile est, altitudinem coeli manu tangere ant maximum siccare pelagus, sic el islud esse cognosce. Tunc rex ait: et quis horum mihi auctor est malorum, nisi ego, qui tam magnifica tibi feci, quae nunquam aliquis patrum fecil filio? Quapropter pravitas volnntatis tuae et contentio effrenata adversus caput meum te insanire fecit. Merito astrologi in nativitate tua dixerunt te arrogantem et parentihus inobedientem futurum; nunc vero, nisi mihi acquicveris, a mea discedes filiatione et pro patre inimicus effectus illa tibi faciam, quae nec hostibus adhuc feci, Cui Josaphat: cur, rex, tristaris, quia bonorum particeps. effectus sum? Quis unquam pater in filii sui prosperitate tristis apparuit? Non ergo jam patrem te vocabo, sed, si mihi adversaberis, sicut a serpente fugiam a te. Rex igitur ab eo cum ira discedens Arachi amico notam fecit filii duritium, qui sibi consuluit, ut non asperis verbis cum eo nteretur, quia blandis et lenibus puer melius traheretur.
Sequente igitur die rex ad filium venit et circumplectens osculabatur eum dicens: fili dulcissime, honora canitiem patris tui, verere, fili, patrem iuum; an nescis, quale bonum est, patri obedire et euim laetificare, Sicut econtra malum est, ipsos exacerbare? Quotquot enim fecerunt, male perierunt. Cui Josaphat: tempus amandi et tempus obediendi, tempus pacis et tempus belli; nullo enim modo avertentibus nos a Deo obedire debemus, sive sit mater, sive sil pater. Videns igitur pater ejus constantiam ait: ex quo video tuam pertinaciam nec mihi obedire vis, saltem veni et ambo pariter veritati credamus, Barlaam enim, qui te seduxit, a me vinctus tenetur; nostri igitur et vestri cum Barlaam conveniant et praeconem mittam, ut omues Galilaei sine timore veniant, et disputatione incepta, si vester 52 Barlaam obtinuerit, vobis credemus, si autem nostri, nobis consentietis. Quod cum regis filio placuisset et illi cum simulato Barlaam ordinassent, quomodo prius deberet simulare, se fidem christianorum defendere et postea se promittere superari, omnes insimul convenerunt. Conversus igitur Josaphat ad Nachor dixit: nosti, o Barlaam, qualiter me docuisti; si igitur fidem, quam me docuisti, defenderis, in doctrina tua usque ad finem vitae permanebo, si autem superatus fueris, statim in te meam contumeliam vindicabo et cor tuum et linguam manibus extrahens dabo canibus, ne alii amplius praesumant, filios regum in errorem mittere. His auditis Nachor tristis et pavidus vehementer factus est, videns se ipsum in foveam, quam fecit, decidisse et laqueo suo comprehensum esse, Animadvertens igitur cognovit melius esse, filio sui regis adhaerere, ut periculum mortis evadere posset. Rex autem sibi palam dixerat, ut fidem suam sine timore defenderet, Unus ergo rhetorum surgens dixit: tu es Barlaam, qui filium regis seduxisti?
Et ille: ego sum Barlaam, qui filium regis in errorem non misi, sed ab errore liberavi. Et rhetor: cum eximii et mirabiles viri Deos nostros adoraverunt, quomodo tu adversus cos audes insurgere? Et ille respondens ait: Chaldaei, Graeci et Aegyptii errantes creaturas Deos esse dixerunt, nam Chaldaei elementa Deos esse arbitrati sunt, cum creata sint ad ntilitatem hominum, ut eorum dominationi subjaceant et multis passionibus corrumpantur. Graeci quoque nefandos homines Deos putant, sicut Saturnum, quem ajunt filios suos comedisse et virilia sibi abscidisse et in mare projecisse et Venerem inde natam esse, a filio quoque suo Jove alligatum et in tartarum projectum esse. Jupiter quoque rex aliorum Deorum esse describitur, quem tamen in animalia transformatum saepe dicunt, ut adulteria committeret. Venerem quoque Deam adulteram esse dicunt, nam aliquando habuit moechum Martem, aliquando Adonidem, Aegyptii autem animalia coluerunt, scilicet ovem, vitulum, porcum et hujusmodi. Christiani autem filium altissimi colunt, qui de coelo descendit et carnem assumsit. Coepit igitur Nachor fidem christianorum evidenter defendere et rationibus communire, ita quod rhetores illi muti effecti nihil omnino respondere sciverunt, Josaphat igitur vehementer exsultabat, eo quod dominus per inimicum veritatis veritatem defendisset, rex autem furore repletus est.
Jussit igitur consilium dissolvi, quasi de his sequenti die denuo tractaturus, dixitque Josaphat patri: ant magistrum meum permitte mecum hac nocte manere, ut simul de responsionibus fiendis crastino conferamus, et tn tuos tecum assumas et cun lis conferas, aut tuis mecum permissis accipe meum, alioquin non justitiam, sed violentiam exercebis. Quapropter Nachor sibi concessit, spem adhuc habens, quod eum seduceret. Cum igitur filius regis cum Nachor domum rediisset, dixit ei Josfphat: ne putes me ignorare, quis sis; sciote non esse Barlaam, sed Nachor astrologum, incipiensque Josaphat viam salutis ei praedicavit et ad fidem convertens mane ad eremum misit, ubi baptismum suscipiens eremiticam vitam duxit. Magus autem quidam, nomine Theodas, haec, quae gerebantur, audiens ad regem venit et, quod filium suum ad leges patris redire faceret, promisit. Cui rex: si hoc feceris, statuam auream tibi erigan semap et ipse sicut Diis sacrificium offeram, Et ille: a filio tuo cunctos remove et mulieres decoras et ornatas introduci praecipe, ut semper cum eo sint et ministrent et conversentur et morentur cum eo; ego autem unum de spiritibus meis ad enm dirigam, qui enm ad libidinem inflammabit, nihil enim jnvenes sic potest seducere, sicut facies mulierum. Rex enim qnidam cum filium vix habuisset, dixerunt peritissimi medici, quod, si infra decem annos solem vel lunam viderit, lumine oculorum privabitur. Rex igitnr in quadam petra spelunca excisa filium ibi usque ad annos decem manere fecit. Quibus finitis jussit rex, ut omnium rerüm genera ante eum adducerentur, ut omnium nomina et notitiam posset habere.
Addactis igitur ante eum auro ect argento, lapidibus pretiosis, vestibus splendidis, equis regalibus et omnium rerum generibus, cum de uniuscujusque rei nomine interrogaret, ministri omnium sibi nomina indicabant. Cum autem nomen mulierum discere anxie quaereret, spatharius regis ludendo dixit, daemones eas esse, quae homines seducant. Rege autem interrogante- filium, quid de omnibus, quae viderat, plus amaret: quid, inquit, pater, alind, quam daemones illos, qui seducunt homines? in nullo enim, sicut in his, sic exarsit anima mea, Non igitur aliter putes te filium tnum superare, nisi hoc modo. Rex igitur omnibus ministris ejectis puellas decoras ei sociavit, quae eum semper ad libidinem provocabant, nec habebat alium, ad quem respiceret, aut cum quo loqueretur vel cum quo vesceretur. Malignus vero spiritus a mago missus in juvenem irruit et magnum intus caminum ignis accendit. Malignus igitur spiritus intus inflammabat, puellae autem exterius dirum excitabant ardorem. Qni se tam fortiter vexari sentiens turbabatur et Deo se totum recommendans divinam consolationem recepit et omnis tentatio abscessit, Deinde quandam puellam pulcherrimam enjusdam regis filiam, sed patre orbatam ad eum misit.
Cui eum vir Dei praedicaret, illa respondit: si me ab ydolorum cura salvare desideras, conjungere mihi nuptiarum copula, nam et christiani eonjugia non abhorrent, séd laudant, quia patriarchae eorum et prophetae et Petrus eorum apostolus conjuges habuerunt. Ad quam ille: inaniter, mulier, ista mihi prosequeris; permittitur quidem christianis uxores ducere, sed non his, qui promiserunt Christo virginitatem servare. Et illa: sit ita, ut vis; sed, si animam meam salvare desideras, unam minimam pelitionem mihi perfice, cancumbe mecum tantam hac nocte et promitto tibi, quod summo diluenlo efficiar christiana. Nam si, ut dicitis, gaudium est angelis in coelo super uno peccatore poenitentiam agente, ipsi autori conversionis nonne magna merces debetur? semel tantum mihi acquiesce et sic me ipsam salvabis. llla igitur turrim animae illius fortiter concutere coepit. Quod daemon videns sociis suis ait: videtis, quomodo puella ista concussit, quae nos non potuimus concutere ; venite ergo et in eum fortiter irruamus, ex quo congruum tempus invenimus, Cernens igitur sanctus juvenis, se tam fortiter captivatum, quia et concupiscentia incitabat et salus unius puellae, dyabolo suggerente, ipsum commovebat, lacrymis infusus orationi se dedit. In qua oratione obdormiens vidit se daci in quoddam pratum decoris floribus exornatum, ubi folia arborum dulcem sonum reddebant aura quadam grata agitata, et odorem mirificum emanabant, ubi fractus visu speciosissimi et gustu desiderabiles, ubi sedes positae erant auro et gemmis fabricatae, lecti lucidi cum pretiosissimis ornamentis, aquae limpidissimae praeterfluentes, Dehine in civitatem ipsum introduxerunt, cujns muri ex auro 'obrizo erant, quod claritate mirabili refulgebat, ubi aetherei quidam exercitus.
cantantes canticum, quod auris mortalium. non audivit, dictumque est ci: iste est locus beatorum. Cum autem viri vellent emm reducere, rogabat, ut enm ibi manere permitterent, Qni dixerunt: cum labore multo adhac venies huc, si tamen tibi vim inferre poteris, Deinde ad loca telerrima ipsum duxerunt omni foeditate plena dictmmque est: iste est locus injustornm. Cum antem evigilasset, pnlcehritndo illins puellae et caeterarum stercore y kd. Fro legit. auro et obriso. foetidior ei videbatur, Verum cum maligni spiritus ad Theodam rediissent et ipse eos exprobraret, dixerunt: priusquam signo crucis signarelur, super ipsum irruentes fortiter ipsum contarbavimus; ut autem se ipsum signo crucis munivit, nos persecutus est cum ira. Tunc Theodas cum rege ad eum intravit sperans, quod ei persuadere posset.
Sed praedictus magus captus est ab eo, quem capere voluit, et ab eo conversus baptisma suscepit et laudabilem vitam duxit, Rex igitur desperans dimisit ei de consilio amicorum medium regni sui. llle autem licet desertum tota mente desideraret, tamen propter fidei dilatationem ad tempus ipsum regnum suscepit ac in suis civitatibus templa et cruces erexit et omnes ad Christum convertit, Pater autem tandem filii rationibus et praedicationibus assensum praebens fidem Christi recepit et baptismum suscipiens et tolum regnum filio suo dimittens ipse misericordiae operibus vacabat et post hoc laudabiliter vitam finivit, Josaphat autem Barachiam regem pronuntians pluries fugere voluit, sed semper à populo captus vix tandem evasit, Cum ergo per desertum pergeret, cuidam pauperi regalem habitum dedit et ipse in pauperrima veste remansit, dyabolus autem multas ei insidias parabat. Aliquando enim gladio evaginato in eum irruebat et eum percutere minabatur, nisi desisteret, aliquando in forma ferarum sibi apparebat frendens et dirum mugitum emittens. llle antem dicebat: dominus mihi adjutor est, non timebo , quid faciat mihi homo, Duobus igitur annis in eremo Josaphat vagabundus mansit nec Barlaam invenire potuit, tandem antem speluncam invenit et ante ostium stans dicebat: benedic, pater, benedic. Cujus vocem Barlaam audiens foras exsiliit et osculantes ferventissime sese alterutrum amplexibus constringebant nec satiari poterant, Retulit autem Josaphat Barlaam omnia, quae ei acciderant, et ille immensas gratias egit Deo. Mansit autem Josaphat ibidem multis annis in abstinentia mirabili et virtute, tandem completis diebus Barlaam in pace quievit circa annos domini CCCLXXX. Josaphat igitur in anno XXV regnum deserens triginta quinque annis eremiticum laborem subiit et sic multis clarus virtutibus in pace quievit el cum corpore Barlaam positus fuit. Qnod audiens rex Barachias illuc cum multo exercitu venit et eorpora reverenter assumens in civitatem snam transtulit, ad quorum tumulum miracula multa fiunt.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Eccl.3.1-Eccl.3.8 — For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven. Eccl.3.2 — a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted Eccl.3.3 — a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up Eccl.3.4 — a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. Eccl.3.5 — a time to cast stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing. Eccl.3.6 — a time to seek and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to throw away Eccl.3.7 — a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak Eccl.3.8 — a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace
- ↩Ps.7.16 — He dug a pit and hollowed it out, and he fell into the pit he had made.
The Golden Legend (Legenda Aurea) companion
Continue through all 240 chapters, one saint a day
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The Legenda Aurea was organized for day-by-day use across the liturgical year, and Chosen Portion restores that original one-feast-per-day reading rhythm
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