The life of our reverend father Serapion Sindonit

And there was an old man in Egypt, whose name was Serapion, and he was called Sindonita, because he covered his nakedness with one garment; and he was a hermit from his youth, and had no land, neither had he a cell, and had no shelter, and dwelt as a bird of the heavens, and never entered into a house.

And he went from place to place, and lodged wherever the night fell upon him; and when he arose in the morning, he did not remain in the same place, but went on his way again, as though he had no body, wherefore many called him a man without passion.

And they said unto him, Why weepest thou, old man? And he said unto them, My lord hath given me his riches, and I have lost them, and behold, he will punish me.

And when they heard this answer, and understood not what was said, they thought that the old man spoke of gold; and they cast unto him as much as they could, bread, and vegetables, and said, Take, my brother, even this; but of the wealth that thou hast lost, grieve not; for God is able to restore it to thee. And the old man said, Amen, Amen. And when Serapion came to Alexandria, he found a certain poor man, completely naked, and trembling with the cold; and the old man thought to himself,

"How can I, who imagine myself a prisoner and a faithful executor of Christ's commandments, wear clothes, and this poor man, who is the image of Christ himself, suffers in the cold? How can I not pity him? Indeed, if I do not cover his nakedness and let him die in the cold, I will be condemned on the day of judgment as a murderer.

Then he took off his cloak, gave it to the poor man, and sat down naked near the place, holding only the holy Gospel on his chest, which he never left. It happened that a man who knew the old man was passing by. Seeing Serapion naked, the passerby asked him: "Father Serapion, who uncovered your nakedness?" Serapion, pointing to the holy Gospel, answered: "This has revealed my nakedness".

Then the blessed man met a man who had been taken to prison for a debt, and being sorry for him, but having nothing to give him, the monk sold the Gospel that he had with him, and gave the money that he had obtained, paying the man's debt. Then Serapion came to the hut where he sometimes stayed.

I sent him to a place where we would find many times better. The disciple said again, "Where's the small good news?" The old man said,

"Child, every day [the Gospel] said to me, 'Sell your possessions and give to the poor' (Matthew 19:21) so that you can buy it on Judgment Day".

When he came to Athens, he spent three days in Athens; and he was very desirous to eat, and could not get a morsel of bread, because no one gave him anything, and he had nothing to buy bread.

On the fourth day, while he was in the city, Serapion stood on the forum and wept.

I am an Egyptian, and I was driven out of the land of my nativity three times, namely, to my two lenders, who had nothing to borrow from me, and the third lender has not left me until now, and he is demanding his debt from me. And they said to him, Who are these lenders, and who is your demander? Tell us, and we will help you.

"From my youth I have been troubled by lust, by the love of money, and by the desire of abundance; but these two I have rid myself of, and they no longer trouble me, for I feel no lust for the flesh; I have neither riches nor wealth, yet my appetite for food does not cease. This is the fourth day that I have had nothing in my mouth; therefore my appetite for food does not cease, embarrassing me and demanding my usual duty.

Some of the philosophers thought that he was deceiving them and gave him a gold coin, but they were watching him from a distance.

And the old man took the coin, and went in haste to the bread-sellers, and laid the coin before them, and took a loaf of bread, and departed, and he appeared no more in the city. Then the philosophers saw that the old man was indeed a virtuous man.

The region of the Peloponnese, bordered on the north by Argolida and Arcadia, on the east by the Myrtaic Sea, on the south by the Laconian or Gifeatic Gulf, on the west by Messenia.] , and learned that one of the town chiefs here was a manichaean [Manichaeism - heretical false teaching, which is a mixture of Christian teaching and the beginnings of the religion of Zoroaster.

Man is also, according to Manes, a mixture of two elements, light and darkness, and has as it were two souls, good and evil, that are constantly fighting each other.

And after two years, by the grace of God, Serapion persuaded him to renounce heresy, and he joined the holy Orthodox Church with all his household. Then all loved the elder here not as a faithful slave, but as a father of the family, and they greatly honored him, rejoicing in his salvation from heresy, and they praised God.

And he departed from thence, as he was accustomed to do, and passed through many countries and cities. And it was told of the old man, that when he was yet a youth he sold himself to a Greek for twenty pieces of silver, and kept the money, and dwelt with him until he had converted him and all his household to Christ.

But when Paul saw what had happened, he was moved and immediately was baptized, along with his wife and his whole household.

And now, behold, my God has brought you salvation: I was not a bondman, but a freeman; and I saw that you were in distress, and I was moved with pity for you, and sold myself to you, that I might lead you by the way of salvation. And now, seeing that you have been instructed in this way, take your silver, and I will go and redeem others.

And they urged him many days, saying, Let us now honour thee, as our father, and as our lord; be our lord, and we will be thy servants; only depart not from us. And they could not persuade him to remain in the land.

But they urged him to stay on for a year. So he left.

Finding a ship sailing from Alexandria, we boarded it and set sail. They expected to get some money from him, because they saw that he was wearing a robe of shame.

And when they had gone about five hundred furlongs, and had eaten in the evening, and had not eaten in the evening, and had not eaten in the morning, and had not eaten in the morning, and had not eaten in the morning, and had not eaten in the evening, and had not eaten in the evening, and had not eaten in the evening,

Man, why eatest thou? And he said unto them, I have nothing to eat. And as they talked among themselves concerning the man's baggage, and saw that he had not paid the journey's wages, they began to murmur against the priest, saying, Why hast thou come in here empty-handed? What hast thou to eat here? and what wilt thou pay us for the journey? And the old man said unto them,

And they said to the captain of the ship, If thou wouldest give us a hundred pieces of silver to return to thee alone, we would not be willing to do this thing, for the wind is upon us.

And they let the old man stay on the ship, feeding him for God's sake.

And when he was come to Rome, he visited all the citizens, and talked with them, and was strengthened in spirit, that he might buy unto himself a heavenly inheritance in everlasting peace, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

I 'm not going to tell you what to do .