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13.13 A certain woman of the patricians and exceedingly wealthy- they called her Astrion-had gone out of her mind; she recognized none of her household, and could not bear to partake of food or drink. She continued in a deranged state for a very long time; and while others called this the work of a demon, the doctors called it a disease of the brain. Therefore, when all their skill had been exhausted and not a single remedy had come from it, her husband - he was Obodianus, a man of rank and great worth -ran to that divine person and recounted his wife's suffering and begged to obtain a cure. The divine man yielded and went to the house and offered earnest supplication to God; and concluding the prayer and ordering water to be brought, and impressing the seal of salvation upon it, he urged her to drink; but when the doctors forbade it, saying that the affliction would be increased by the cold drink, the husband, pushing aside their entire company, offered the drink to his wife; and she at once drank and came back to herself and became sane; and being completely delivered from her suffering, she recognized the divine man and begged to take his right hand and placed it on her eyes and brought it to her mouth; and for the rest of her time she remained, possessing a sound mind. 13.14 And when he was embracing the mountain life, a certain shepherd searching for stray sheep came to that place where the man of God was. And it was deep night and much snow was falling, and he saw, as he said, a fire kindled around him and two men in white garments supplying wood to the fire. For by contributing his zeal, he enjoyed the divine assistance. 13.15 And he had also partaken of the gift of prophecy. And once a general, shining with piety, came to him - for who does not know the virtue of Lupicinus? -he said he was worried about some men bringing him provisions from the imperial city by sea. For he said fifty days had passed since they set sail from the harbor, and he had received no news about them. But he, without any delay: "The one ship," he said, "O friend, is lost; but the other will reach the harbor of Seleucia on the next day." And this he heard from the divine tongue that spoke, and learned by experience the truth of the words. 13.16 But that I may leave aside the other things, I will relate what concerns ourselves. After living with my father for thirteen years, my mother did not become a mother of children; for she was barren, prevented by nature from bearing fruit; and this did not overly grieve her - for having been instructed in divine things, she believed this was advantageous - but childlessness greatly grieved my father, and going about everywhere he begged the divine servants to ask for children for him from God. The others, then, both promised to pray and urged him to be content with the divine will; but this divine man expressly promised to ask for one son from the creator of all and promised that he would receive what he asked. Therefore, when three years had passed and the promise had not received its fulfillment, my father ran again, demanding the promise; but he ordered his wife to be sent to him; and when my mother arrived, that divine man said that he would both ask for and would receive the child, and that it was fitting that this child be given back to the one who had given him. But when my mother besought only to receive the salvation of her soul and deliverance from Gehenna; "In addition to this," he said, "the great-giver will also give the son; for to those who ask sincerely he grants their requests twofold." My mother returned from there carrying the blessing of the promise; and in the fourth year of the promise she conceives and her womb is laden; and to the divine man

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13.13 Τῶν εὐπατριδῶν τις γυνὴ καὶ λίαν εὐπορωτάτων- Ἄστριον δὲ αὐτὴν προσηγόρευον-ἔξω μὲν τῶν φρενῶν ἐγεγόνει· ἐπεγίνωσκε δὲ τῶν οἰκείων οὐδένα, σιτίων δὲ ἢ ποτῶν μεταλαβεῖν οὐκ ἠνείχετο. Παραπαίουσα δὲ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον διετέλεσε χρόνον· καὶ τοῦτο οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι δαίμονος ἐκάλουν ἐνέργειαν, οἱ δὲ ἰατροὶ τοῦ ἐγκεφάλου προσηγόρευον νόσημα. Πάσης τοίνυν δαπανηθείσης τῆς τέχνης καὶ μηδε μιᾶς ἐκεῖθεν ἐπικουρίας προσγενομένης, ὁ ταύτης ἀνὴρ -̓Οβοδιανὸς δὲ οὗτος ἦν, ἀνὴρ τῶν ἐν τέλει καὶ ἀξιωτάτων -παρὰ τὴν θείαν ἐκείνην δραμὼν κεφαλὴν καὶ τῆς ὁμοζύγου διηγεῖτο τὸ πάθος καὶ τυχεῖν τῆς θεραπείας ἱκέτευεν. Εἶξε δὲ ὁ θεσπέσιος ἄνθρωπος καὶ τὴν οἰκίαν κατέλαβε καὶ σπουδαίαν τῷ θεῷ τὴν ἱκετείαν προσήνεγκε· τὴν δὲ προσευχὴν συμπεράνας καὶ ὕδωρ κομισθῆναι κελεύσας καὶ τὴν σωτήριον ἐντυπώσας σφραγῖδα πιεῖν αὐτῇ παρηγγύησε· τῶν δὲ ἰατρῶν ἀπαγορευόντων ὡς τῇ ψυχροποσίᾳ αὔξησιν δεχομένου τοῦ πάθους, πᾶσαν ἐκείνων τὴν συμμορίαν ὁ ἀνὴρ ἀπωσάμενος τῇ γυναικὶ τὸ πόμα προσέφερεν· ἡ δὲ ἔπινέ τε ἅμα καὶ εἰς ἑαυτὴν ἐπανῄει καὶ φρενήρης ἐγίνετο· καὶ πάμπαν ἀπαλλαττομένη τοῦ πάθους τὸν θεῖον ἐπεγίνωσκεν ἄνδρα καὶ τὴν δεξιὰν λαβεῖν ἱκέτευε καὶ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς ἐπετίθει καὶ τῷ στόματι προσέφερε· καὶ εἰς τὸν ἔπειτα διέμεινε χρόνον φρεσὶν ἐρρωμέναις χρωμένη. 13.14 Καὶ ἡνίκα δὲ τὴν ὄρειον πολιτείαν ἠσπάζετο, ποιμήν τις μαστεύων ἁλώμενα πρόβατα εἰς ἐκεῖνο τὸ χωρίον ἀφίκετο ἔνθα ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ ἄνθρωπος ἦν. Νὺξ δὲ ἦν βαθεῖα καὶ νιφετὸς κατῄει πολὺς καὶ εἶδεν, ὡς ἔφησε, πυρὰν περὶ αὐτὸν ἁπτομένην καὶ δύο τινὰς λευχειμονοῦντας ὕλην τῷ πυρὶ χορηγοῦντας. Τὴν γὰρ προθυμίαν εἰσφέρων τῆς θείας ἐπικουρίας ἀπέλαυεν. 13.15 Καὶ προφητικοῦ δὲ μετειλήφει χαρίσματος. Καί ποτε πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀφικόμενος στρατηγὸς εὐσεβείᾳ λαμπρυνόμενος -τίς δὲ ἀγνοεῖ Λουπικίνου τὴν ἀρετήν; -φροντίζειν ἔλεγε περί τινων ἀπὸ τῆς βασιλευούσης πόλεως διὰ τῆς θαλάττης αὐτῷ τὰ ἐπιτήδεια κομιζόντων. Πεντήκοντα γὰρ ἔφασκε διεληλυθέναι ἡμέρας ἐξ οὗ τοῦ λιμένος ἀνήχθησαν, οὐδεμίαν δὲ περὶ αὐτῶν ὑποδέξασθαι φήμην. Ὁ δὲ μηδὲν μελλήσας· "Τὸ ἕν, ἔφη, σκάφος, ὦ φίλος, ἀπόλωλε· τὸ ἕτερον δὲ τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ τὸν Σελευκείας καταλήψεται λιμένα." Καὶ τοῦτο ἤκουσε μὲν τῆς θείας ἐπιφθεγξαμένης γλώττης, ἔμαθε δὲ τῇ πείρᾳ τὴν τῶν λόγων ἀλήθειαν. 13.16 Ἵνα δὲ τὰ ἄλλα καταλίπω, τὸ καθ' ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς διηγήσομαι. Τρία καὶ δέκα ἔτη συνοικήσασα τῷ ἐμῷ πατρὶ ἡ μήτηρ παιδῶν οὐκ ἐγένετο μήτηρ· στεριφὴ γὰρ ἦν, φέρειν καρπὸν ὑπὸ τῆς φύσεως εἰργομένη· καὶ τοῦτο τὴν μὲν οὐ λίαν ἠνία-τὰ γὰρ θεῖα πεπαιδευμένη τοῦτο συμφέρειν ἐπίστευεν-, ἐλύπει δὲ τὸν πατέρα λίαν ἡ ἀπαιδία καὶ πάντοσε περινοστῶν ἱκέτευε τοὺς θείους θεράποντας αἰτῆσαί οἱ παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ παῖδας. Οἱ μὲν οὖν ἄλλοι καὶ προσεύχεσθαι ὑπισχνοῦντο καὶ στέργειν αὐτῷ τὸ θεῖον βούλημα παρηγγύων· ὁ δὲ θεῖος οὗτος ἄνθρωπος διαρρήδην αἰτήσειν ἐπηγγείλετο υἱὸν ἕνα παρὰ τοῦ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργοῦ καὶ λήψεσθαι τὴν αἴτησιν ὑπισχνεῖτο. Τριῶν τοίνυν διελ θόντων ἐνιαυτῶν καὶ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τὸ τέλος οὐ δεξαμένης, πάλιν ἔτρεχεν ὁ πατὴρ τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν ἀπαιτῶν· ὁ δὲ πεμφθῆναι αὐτῷ προσέταττε τὴν ὁμόζυγα· ἀφικομένης δὲ τῆς μητρός, ἔλεγεν ὁ θεῖος ἐκεῖνος ἀνὴρ ὡς καὶ αἰτήσει καὶ λήψεται τὸ παιδίον καὶ ὡς προσήκει τοῦτο τῷ δεδωκότι ἀντιδοθῆναι. Τῆς δὲ μητρὸς σωτηρίαν ψυχῆς μόνην ἀντι βολούσης λαβεῖν καὶ τὴν τῆς γεέννης ἀπαλλαγήν· "Πρὸς τούτῳ, ἔφη, καὶ τὸν υἱὸν ὁ μεγαλόδωρος δώσει· τοῖς γὰρ εἰλικρινῶς αἰτοῦσι διπλᾶς τὰς αἰτήσεις χαρίζεται". Ἐπα νῆκεν ἐκεῖθεν ἡ μήτηρ τὴν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας εὐλογίαν κομίζουσα· καὶ τῷ τετάρτῳ τῆς ὑποσχέσεως ἐνιαυτῷ κύει καὶ τὴν γαστέρα φορτίζεται· καὶ πρὸς τὸν θεῖον ἄνθρωπον