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might enclose [them] in the nets of heretics. But the divine and blessed men, Flavian and Diodore, deemed worthy of the priesthood and protectors of the pious people, and Aphraates, whose life I shall, God willing, add for you on its own, persuaded that great Acacius, whom we have already mentioned, to take as a companion for the journey his own teacher, but a pupil of this holy old man, that famous Asterius, and to run to the common glory of piety, the bulwark of the evangelical teaching, and to persuade him to leave his sojourn in the desert, and to come to the aid of so many myriads who were perishing through deceit, and to quench the flame of Arius with the dew of his arrival. The divine Acacius ran, and taking the great Asterius as he had been ordered, he came to the greatest luminary of the church, and greeting him, he said, "Tell me, father, why do you endure all this toil with pleasure?" And when he answered: "The service of God is more precious to me than body and soul and life and all existence, and I try as best I can to offer to him a ministry clean of filth, and in all things to please him." - "I will show you," said Acacius, "a way by which you will serve him more than you do now, and I will say this, not using reasoning alone, but having learned it from his own teaching. For having once asked Peter if he loved him more than the others, and having learned what he knew even before Peter's utterance: "3For you know, Lord, that I love you"3, he showed him what he might do to serve him more: "3If you love me, he says, shepherd my sheep and feed my lambs"3. This is what you also must do, father. For the flocks are in danger of being destroyed by wolves, and he who is loved by you loves them very much; and it is characteristic of lovers to do those things which delight the beloved when they are done. Besides, there is no small danger and loss of those many and great labors, if you should endure in silence to betray the truth which is harshly warred against, and those who adhere to it being hunted, while your name becomes the bait for those being hunted; for the leaders of the Arian abomination boast that they have you as a partner in their impiety." 2.17 As soon as the Elder heard this, bidding farewell for a time to his tranquility, and not shrinking from the unfamiliarity of the city's turmoil, he ran to Antioch. And having completed two or three stages through the desert, he arrived at a certain village as evening fell. A certain well-to-do woman, learning that that sacred company had arrived, ran to gather their blessing; and rolling at their feet, she implored that her house become their lodging. The Elder yielded, and this though he had been separated from such a sight for more than forty years. While that wonderful woman was occupied with the care of those holy men, a seven-year-old child, whose only mother she happened to be, who emulated the hospitality of Sarah, fell into the well, as evening came and it was dark. When, as was likely, a commotion arose about this, the mother, becoming aware of it, urged everyone to be quiet, and placing a cover on the well, she kept to her service. When the table was set for the divine men, the divine Elder ordered the woman's child to be called in to partake of the blessing. When the wonderful woman said he was overcome with illness, he insisted, commanding him to be brought. When the mother made the tragedy known, the Elder left the table, and running to the well, and ordering the cover to be removed and lights to be brought, he saw the child sitting on the surface of the waters and striking the waters with his hand like a child, and the supposed destruction a kind of game and

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αἱρετικῶν περιβάλοι δικτύοις. Ἀλλ' οἱ θεσπέσιοι καὶ μακάριοι ἄνδρες, Φλαβιανὸς καὶ ∆ιόδωρος, ἱερουργίας ἠξιωμένοι καὶ τοῦ εὐσεβοῦς λαοῦ προστατεύοντες, καὶ Ἀφραάτης, οὗ τὸν βίον αὐτὸν καθ' ἑαυ τὸν ὑμῖν, σὺν θεῷ φάναι, προσθήσω, τὸν μέγαν ἐκεῖνον Ἀκάκιον πείθουσιν, οὗ ἤδη τὴν μνήμην ἐποιησάμεθα, λαβεῖν μὲν τῆς ὁδοῦ κοινωνὸν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ μὲν διδάσκαλον, τοῦδε δὲ τοῦ ἁγίου γέροντος φοιτητήν, Ἀστέριον ἐκεῖνον τὸν πάνυ, δραμεῖν δὲ πρὸς τὸ κοινὸν τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀγλάϊσμα, τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς διδασκαλίας τὸ ἔρεισμα, καὶ πεῖσαι κατα λιπεῖν μὲν τὴν ἐν ἐρήμῳ διατριβήν, ἀφικέσθαι δὲ εἰς ἐπικουρίαν μυριάδων τοσούτων ὑπ' ἐξαπάτης ἀπολλυμένων καὶ τὴν Ἀρείου κατασβέσαι φλόγα τῇ τῆς ἀφίξεως δρόσῳ. Ἔδραμεν ὁ θεῖος Ἀκάκιος, καὶ τὸν μέγαν Ἀστέριον ὡς προσετάχθη λαβὼν ἀφίκετο πρὸς τὸν μέγιστον τῆς ἐκκλησίας φωστῆρα, καὶ ἀσπασάμενος· "Εἰπέ μοι, ἔφη, ὦ πάτερ, τίνος ἕνεκα τοῦτον ἅπαντα τὸν πόνον μεθ' ἡδονῆς ὑπομένεις;" Τοῦ δὲ ἀποκριναμένου ὡς· "Καὶ σώματος καὶ ψυχῆς καὶ ζωῆς καὶ τοῦ βίου παντὸς ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ μοι θεραπεία τιμιωτέρα, καὶ πειρῶμαι ὡς ἂν δύνωμαι καθαρὰν αὐτῷ ῥύπου τὴν λειτουργίαν προσφέρειν, καὶ διὰ πάντων ἀρέσκειν." - "Ὑποδείκνυμί σοι, ἔφη ὁ Ἀκάκιος, τρόπον δι' οὗ πλέον ἢ νῦν αὐτὸν θεραπεύσεις, καὶ τοῦτο ἐρῶ, οὐ λογισμῷ μόνῳ χρώμενος, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ διδασκαλίας μεμαθηκώς. Ἐρόμενος γάρ ποτε τὸν Πέτρον εἰ πλεῖον αὐτὸν τῶν ἄλλων φιλεῖ, καὶ μαθὼν ὅπερ ἠπίστατο καὶ πρὸ τῆς Πέτρου φωνῆς· "3Σὺ γὰρ οἶδας, κύριε, ὅτι φιλῶ σε"3, ὑπέδειξεν αὐτῷ τί δράσας πλέον αὐτὸν θεραπεύσειε· "3Εἰ γὰρ φιλεῖς μέ, φησι, ποίμαινέ μου τὰ πρόβατα καὶ βόσκε μου τὰ ἀρνία"3. Τοῦτο καί σοι, ὦ πάτερ, ποιητέον ἐστί. Κινδυνεύει γὰρ ὑπὸ λύκων διαφθαρῆναι τὰ ποίμνια, φιλεῖ δὲ αὐτὰ λίαν ὁ ὑπὸ σοῦ φιλούμενος· ἴδιον δὲ τῶν ἐρώντων ἐκεῖνα ποιεῖν ἃ τοὺς ἐρωμένους ἐπιτέρπει γινόμενα. Ἄλλως τε δὲ καὶ κίνδυνος οὐ σμικρὸς καὶ τῶν πολλῶν καὶ μεγάλων ἐκείνων ἱδρώτων ζημία, εἰ ἀνάσχοιο σιγῇ προέσθαι τὴν μὲν ἀλήθειαν χαλεπῶς πολεμουμένην, τοὺς δὲ ταύτῃ προσ κειμένους ἀγρευομένους, δέλεαρ δὲ τῶν θηρευομένων τὴν σὴν γινομένην προσηγορίαν· κοινωνὸν γὰρ ἔχειν σε τῆς σφετέρας δυσσεβείας οἱ τῆς Ἀρείου βδελυρίας προστάται νεανιεύονται." 2.17 Εὐθὺς ἀκούσας ὁ Πρεσβύτης, τῇ μὲν ἡσυχίᾳ χαίρειν εἰπὼν εἰς καιρόν, τῶν δὲ πολιτικῶν θορύβων οὐκ ἀγωνιάσας τὸ ἄηθες, ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀντιόχειαν ἔτρεχεν. ∆ύο δὲ καὶ τρεῖς ἐξανύσας διὰ τῆς ἐρήμου σταθμοὺς εἴς τι χωρίον, ἑσπέρας καταλαβούσης, ἀφίκετο. Γύναιον δέ τι τῶν εὐπόρων τὸν ἱερὸν ἐκεῖνον ἥκειν πυθομένη χορὸν ἔδραμε αὐτῶν τρυγῆσαι τὴν εὐλογίαν· καὶ πρὸ τῶν ποδῶν καλινδουμένη τὴν οἰκίαν αὐτῆς γενέσθαι καταγώγιον ἠντιβόλει. Εἶξεν ὁ Πρεσβύτης, καὶ ταῦτα πλείονα ἢ τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη τῆς τοιαύτης θέας κεχωρισμένος. Τῆς δὲ θαυμασίας ἐκείνης γυναικὸς περὶ τὴν τῶν ἱερῶν ἐκείνων ἀνδρῶν θεραπείαν διατριβούσης, ἑπτάετες παιδίον, οὗ μόνου μήτηρ οὖσα ἐτύγχανεν ἡ τῆς Σάρρας τὴν φιλοξενίαν ζηλώσασα, ἑσπέρας οὔσης καὶ σκότους, εἰς τὸ φρέαρ κατέπεσεν. Θορύβου δὲ περὶ τούτου, ὡς εἰκός, γενομένου, αἰσθομένη ἡ μήτηρ, ἡσυχίαν μὲν ἅπασιν ἄγειν παρακελεύεται, κάλυμμα δέ τι τῷ φρέατι ἐπιθεῖσα, τῆς διακονίας εἴχετο. Τῆς δὲ τραπέζης τοῖς θείοις ἀνδράσι παρατεθείσης, ὁ θεῖος Πρεσβύτης ἐκέλευσε τὸ τῆς γυναικὸς εἰσκληθῆναι παιδίον καὶ τῆς εὐλογίας μεταλαχεῖν. Τῆς δὲ θαυμασίας γυναικὸς ἀρρωστίᾳ κατέ χεσθαι λεγούσης, ἐπέμενεν ἀχθῆναι τοῦτο παρεγγυῶν. Ὡς δὲ τὸ πάθος ἡ μήτηρ ἐγνώρισε, καταλείπει μὲν τὴν τράπεζαν ὁ Πρεσβύτης, παρὰ δὲ τὸ φρέαρ δραμὼν καὶ τὸ μὲν κάλυμμα περιαιρεθῆναι, φῶτα δὲ κομισθῆναι κελεύσας, ὁρᾷ τὸ παιδίον τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ τῶν ὑδάτων ἐπικαθήμενον καὶ τῇ χειρὶ παιδικῶς τὰ ὕδατα παίοντα καὶ τὸν νομισθέντα ὄλεθρον παιδιάν τινα καὶ