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14.2 There was a certain Maesymas in the times before us, Syrian by speech, but raised in the country, and having demonstrated every form of virtue. And having shone in his own life, he was entrusted with the care of a certain village; and ministering as a priest and pasturing the divine flock, he both said and did those things which the divine law proclaimed. They say that he changed neither his tunic nor his cloak for a very long time, but by stitching other rags onto the rips that formed in them, he took care of their old age in this very way. And he took care of strangers and the poor so zealously that he opened his doors to all who passed by. And he is said to have had two jars, one of grain, the other of oil; from these he always supplied all who were in need, and he always had them full, with the blessing given to the widow of Sarephath having been brought also upon these jars. "For the same Lord of all is rich to all who call upon him"; and just as he commanded her water jar and flask to gush forth, providing the sheaves from the seeds of hospitality, so also to this wonderful man did he give a supply equal to his zeal. 14.3 And he also received great grace for wonder-working from the God of all; and I will mention one or two miracles, but I will omit the rest, being eager to come to the others. A certain woman, adorned both by birth and by faith, brought her son, who had fallen into an illness—and he was very young—to many physicians. But when their art was defeated and the physicians had given up, and had said expressly that the child would die, the woman did not cast away her better hopes, but emulating that Shunamite woman, she placed the covered litter on the mules; and having placed herself and the child in it, she came to that divine man and, wailing and showing the suffering of her nature, she begged him to help. And he, taking the child in his two hands and bringing it near the base of the altar, lay prostrate, entreating the physician of souls and bodies; and having received his request, he gave the son back to his mother, restored to health. And I have heard this from the very woman who witnessed the miracle and received the salvation of her child. 14.4 They say also that the master of that village once arrived—this was Letoius, who held the first rank in the council of the Antiochenes, but was possessed by the darkness of impiety—and was exacting the produce from the farmers more harshly than was necessary, but that divine man was both proposing and exhorting him concerning philanthropy and recounting arguments concerning mercy and pity, but he remained implacable, and came to know the harm of his disobedience by experience. For when he had to depart and the team was ready, he sat down and commanded the charioteer to urge on the mules, they pulled with all their strength, straining and eager to draw the carriage, but the wheels seemed to be fastened with iron and lead. And when the crowd of rustics also tried to move the wheels with levers, it accomplished nothing more, one of the more well-disposed men attending Letoius pointed out the cause, saying that the old priest was cursing them and that it was fitting to make him favorable. Therefore, leaping from the carriage, he supplicated the one whom he had scorned, and rolling before his feet and embracing his filthy rags, he begged him to release his anger. And he, accepting the supplication and offering it to the Master, loosed the invisible bonds of the wheels and made the vehicle move as usual. 14.5 And they relate many other such things about that divine head. And from these things it is also possible to learn how little the life in cities and villages harms those who choose to practice philosophy; for both he and the adherents of the service of God like him showed that it is possible, even while turning in the midst of many, to attain it

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14.2 Ἐγένετό τις Μαησυμᾶς ἐν τοῖς πρὸ ἡμῶν χρόνοις, Σύρος μὲν τὴν φωνήν, ἐν ἀγροικίᾳ δὲ τεθραμμένος, πᾶν δὲ εἶδος ἀρετῆς ἐπιδεδειγμένος. ∆ιαλάμψας δὲ ἐν τῷ καθ' ἑαυτὸν βίῳ κώμης τινὸς ἐνεχειρίσθη τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν· ἱερουργῶν δὲ καὶ τὰ θεῖα πρόβατα νέμων ἐκεῖνα ἔλεγέ τε καὶ ἔπραττεν ἅπερ ὁ θεῖος διηγόρευσε νόμος. Φασὶ δὲ αὐτὸν μήτε τὸν χιτῶνα μήτε τὴν σισύραν ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἀμεῖψαι, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἐν αὐτοῖς γιγνομένοις ῥήγμασιν ἕτερα ῥάκια συρράπτοντα τοῦτον αὐτὸν τὸν τρόπον θεραπεύειν τὸ γῆρας. Τῆς δὲ τῶν ξένων καὶ πενήτων θεραπείας οὕτως ἐπεμελεῖτο προθύμως ὡς τοῖς παριοῦσιν ἅπασιν ἀναπεταννύναι τὰς θύρας. ∆ύο δὲ πίθους ἐσχηκέναι λέγεται, τὸν μὲν σίτου, τὸν δὲ ἐλαίου· ἐκ τούτων ἐχορήγει μὲν ἅπασι τοῖς δεομένοις ἀεί, πλήρεις δὲ εἶχεν ἀεὶ τῆς τῇ Σαραφθίᾳ χήρᾳ δοθείσης εὐλογίας καὶ ἐπὶ τούτους ἐνεχθείσης τοὺς πίθους. "Ὁ γὰρ αὐτὸς κύριος πάντων, πλουτῶν εἰς πάντας τοὺς ἐπικαλουμένους αὐτόν"· καὶ ὥσπερ τὴν ὑδρίαν ἐκείνης καὶ τὸν καμψάκην ἀναβλύζειν ἐκέλευσε τῶν τῆς φιλοξενίας σπερμάτων παρέχων τὰ δράγματα, οὕτω καὶ τῷδε τῷ θαυμασίῳ δέδωκε τῇ προθυμίᾳ τὴν χορηγίαν ἰσόμετρον. 14.3 Πολλὴν δὲ καὶ εἰς θαυματουργίαν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων ἐδέξατο χάριν· καὶ ἑνὸς μὲν ἢ δύο θαυμάτων μνησθή σομαι, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ παρήσω καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἐλθεῖν ἐπειγόμενος. Γυνή τις καὶ γένει καὶ πίστει κοσμουμένη τὸν υἱὸν ἀρρωστίᾳ περιπεσόντα-κομιδῇ δὲ ἦν νέος-πολλοῖς προὔθηκεν ἰατροῖς. Ἡττηθείσης δὲ τῆς τέχνης καὶ τῶν ἰατρῶν ἀπειρηκότων καὶ τεθνήξεσθαι τὸ παιδίον διαρρήδην εἰπόντων, οὐκ ἀπέρριψεν ἡ γυνὴ τὰς χρηστοτέρας ἐλπίδας, ἀλλὰ τὴν Σωμανῖτιν ἐκείνην ζηλώσασα ἐπιτίθησι ταῖς ἡμιόνοις τὴν καμάραν· ταύτῃ δὲ ἑαυτὴν καὶ τὸ παιδίον ἐνθεῖσα τὸν θεῖον ἐκεῖνον κατέλαβεν ἄνθρωπον καὶ ὀλοφυ ρομένη καὶ τῆς φύσεως ὑποδεικνῦσα τὸ πάθος ἐπαμῦναι ἱκέτευεν. Ὁ δὲ λαβὼν τὸ παιδίον ταῖν χεροῖν καὶ τῇ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου κρηπῖδι πελάσας ἔκειτο πρηνὴς τὸν τῶν ψυχῶν καὶ σωμάτων ἀντιβολῶν ἰατρόν· καὶ λαβὼν τὴν αἴτησιν, ἀπέδωκεν ἐρρωμένον τῇ μητρὶ τὸν υἱόν. Ἐγὼ δὲ τοῦτο παρ' αὐτῆς ἀκήκοα τῆς τὸ θαῦμα θεασαμένης καὶ τοῦ παιδὸς δεξαμένης τὴν σωτηρίαν. 14.4 Φασὶ δὲ καὶ τὸν τῆς κώμης ἐκείνης δεσπότην ἀφικό μενόν ποτε-Λητόϊος δὲ οὗτος ἦν, τῆς μὲν Ἀντιοχέων βουλῆς τὰ πρωτεῖα ἔχων, δυσσεβείας δὲ κατεχόμενος ζόφῳ-σφοδρότερον ἢ ἔδει τοὺς γηπόνους εἰσπράττεσθαι τοὺς καρποὺς, τὸν δὲ θεῖον ἐκεῖνον ἄνθρωπον περὶ φιλαν θρωπίας εἰσηγεῖσθαί τε καὶ παραινεῖν καὶ τοὺς περὶ ἐλέου καὶ οἴκτου διεξιέναι λόγους, τὸν δὲ μεῖναι μὲν ἀμείλικτον, τῇ πείρᾳ δὲ γνῶναι τῆς ἀπειθείας τὴν βλάβην· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀπαίρειν ἔδει καὶ τὸ ζεῦγος ἦν εὐτρεπὲς καὶ καθίσας ἐκέλευε τῷ ἡνιόχῳ παροτρῦναι τὰς ἡμιόνους, αἱ μὲν εἷλκον παντὶ σθένει βιαζόμεναι καὶ ἕλκειν τὸν ῥυμὸν ἐπειγόμεναι, οἱ δὲ τροχοὶ σιδήρῳ καὶ μολίβδῳ προσδεδεμένοις ἐῴκεσαν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀγροίκων τὸ πλῆθος μοχλοῖς τοὺς τροχοὺς ἀνακίνουν οὐδὲν πλέον ἐπέραινε, τῶν εὐνουστέρων τις τῷ Λητοίῳ παρεδρεύων τὴν αἰτίαν σημαίνει, τὸν ἱερέα τὸν πρεσβύτην ἐπαρᾶσθαι λέγων καὶ ὡς προσήκει τοῦτον εὐμενῆ καταστῆσαι· τοιγάρτοι πηδήσας ἀπὸ τοῦ ζεύγους ἱκέτευε ὃν διέπτυσε καὶ τῶν ποδῶν προκαλινδούμενος καὶ τὰ πιναρὰ ῥάκια περιπτυσσόμενος χαλάσαι τὴν ὀργὴν ἠντιβόλει. Ὁ δὲ τὴν ἱκετείαν δεξάμενος καὶ ταύτην τῷ δεσπότῃ προσενεγκὼν ἔλυσε τῶν τροχῶν τοὺς ἀοράτους δεσμοὺς καὶ φέρεσθαι συνήθως τὸ ὄχημα παρεσκεύασεν. 14.5 Πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἄλλα τοιαῦτα περὶ τῆς θείας ἐκείνης κεφαλῆς διηγοῦνται. Ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἐκ τούτων καταμαθεῖν ὡς ἥκιστα λωβᾶται τοῖς φιλοσοφεῖν προαιρουμένοις ἡ ἐν ἄστεσι καὶ κώμαις διατριβή· ἔδειξε γὰρ οὗτός τε καὶ οἱ κατ' αὐτὸν τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ φροντισταὶ θεραπείας ὡς δυνατὸν καὶ ἐν μέσῳ πολλῶν στρεφομένους αὐτῆς ἐφικέσθαι