Chapter 40

And Josaphat, flinging himself upon his father with more reverence and lamentation than one could tell, and having washed the remains with tears, and wrapped them in the hair-cloth rag which Barlaam himself had given him in the palace, recited the appointed psalms, chanting through the whole day and the whole night, and at the same time wetting with tears the precious body of the blessed one. And on the following day, having made a grave near the cave,

and having most reverently borne up the holy remains, the good and most honoured son laid his spiritual father in the tomb. And kindled more fervently in soul, and bracing himself to more earnest prayer, he said: "Lord, my God, hearken to my voice with which I have cried out; have mercy on me and hearken to me, for I seek you from my heart. My soul has sought you out; turn not your face away from me, and turn not aside in anger from your servant. Be my helper; reject me not, and forsake me not, O God my Saviour, for my father and my mother forsook me; but you, Lord, take me up. Give me your law, Lord, in your way, and guide me in a straight path, because of my enemies. Deliver me not to the souls of those who afflict me, for upon you I was cast from the womb; from my mother's belly you are my God; depart not from me, for there is none to help me but you. For behold, in the sea of your compassions I have set the hope of my soul; steer my life, you who steer all creation by the ineffable providence of your wisdom, and make known to me the way in which I shall walk. And save me, as a good God who love mankind, by the prayers and intercessions of your servant Barlaam,

for you are my God, and I glorify you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen." Having prayed thus, he sat down near the tomb weeping. And as he sat, he fell asleep. And he sees those awesome men whom he had seen before coming to him, and leading him away to that great and wonderful plain, and bringing him into that glorified and exceedingly bright city. And as he was entering the gate, others met him, resplendent with much light, having in their hands crowns shining with ineffable beauty, such as mortal eyes have never beheld. And when Josaphat asked, "Whose are the exceedingly bright crowns of glory that I see?" "The one is yours," they said, "prepared for you for the many souls that you saved, and now adorned still more for the asceticism you pursue, if indeed you pass through it manfully to the end; but the other is yours as well—yet you must give this to your father, who through you turned aside from the evil road and genuinely repented to the Lord." But Josaphat seemed displeased, and said, "How is it possible that my father, for his repentance alone, should obtain gifts equal to mine, who have toiled so much?" He said these things, and at once seemed to see Barlaam, reproaching him as it were and saying: "These are my words, Josaphat, which I once spoke to you, that when you grow over-rich, you would not be ready to share; and you yourself were perplexed at the saying. But now how is it that you are displeased at the equal honour of your father,

and were not rather glad in soul that your much prayer for him was heard?" And Josaphat, as he was always wont to say to him, replied, "Forgive me, father, forgive me. But make known to me where you yourself dwell." "In this great and beautiful city," he said; "I have been allotted to dwell in the very middle street of the city, blazing with boundless light." And Josaphat seemed to ask Barlaam again to lead him away to his own dwelling and kindly show him round. But that man said the time had not yet come for him to come to those dwellings, while still subject to the burden of the body. "If, then, you endure manfully, as I charged you, you shall come a little later, and be counted worthy of the same dwellings, and obtain the same joy and glory, and be with me forever." Waking up at this, Josaphat had his soul still filled with that light and unspeakable glory, and with much wonder sent up a hymn of thanksgiving to the Master. And he remained to the end, truly accomplishing the angelic manner of life upon earth, and using a harsher asceticism after the passing of the old man—having left the earthly kingdom in the twenty-fifth year of his age and entered the ascetic contest, and having practised in this utter desert for thirty-five years, like one without flesh,

an asceticism beyond man—having first torn many human souls from the soul-destroying serpent and brought them to God saved, and being counted worthy in this of an apostolic grace, and having become a martyr in his resolve, and having confessed Christ with boldness before kings and tyrants, and shown himself a most loud-voiced herald of his greatness; and again, having wrestled down many spirits of wickedness in the desert, and prevailed over all by the power of Christ, and richly shared in the gift and grace from above—from then on he had the eye of his soul cleansed of all earthly mist, and foresaw the things to come as present, and Christ was to him in place of all: Christ he longed for, Christ he saw as present, the beauty of Christ he beheld continually as in a mirror, according to the Prophet who says: "I foresaw the Lord before me always, for he is at my right hand that I should not be shaken"; and again: "My soul cleaved after you; and your right hand upheld me." For his soul truly cleaved after Christ, joined to him with an unbreakable union. He did not turn away from this wonderful labour, did not alter the rule of his own asceticism, from beginning to end, keeping his zeal equal from a younger age to such great age, but rather advancing day by day to a higher virtue and being counted worthy of a purer contemplation. So indeed, having lived such a life, and rendered to the one who called him a labour so worthy of his calling,

having crucified the world to himself and himself to the world, he departs in peace to the God of peace, and goes forth to the Master ever longed for, and is presented before the face of the Lord immediately and purely, and is adorned with the crown of glory from that other world already prepared for him, and is counted worthy to see Christ, to be with Christ, to exult continually in the beauty of Christ; into whose hands committing his own soul, he passed over into the land of the living, where is the sound of those who keep festival, where is the dwelling of those who rejoice. But as for his precious body, a certain holy man who made his dwelling near him—who once also showed him the road to Barlaam—being instructed by some divine revelation, comes at the very hour of his perfection, and, having honoured him with sacred hymns, and poured out tears as a token of his longing for him, and performed all the rest of the things customary for Christians, laid him in the tomb of his father Barlaam. For it was fitting that the bodies should be together, of those whose souls were to abide forever with one another. And, persuaded by the command of a certain most awesome being who strongly enjoined it in a dream,

the hermit who buried him reaches the palace of the Indians, and coming to king Barachias, makes known to him all the matters concerning Barlaam and this blessed Josaphat. And he, without delay, goes himself with a force of a crowd, and stands at the cave, and beholds the tomb, and, having wept most warmly over it, raises the covering. And he sees both Barlaam and Josaphat with their limbs lying in order, and their bodies in no way altered from their former complexion, but whole and exactly sound, together with their garments. These holy dwellings of the holy souls, then, sending forth much fragrance and showing nothing at all unpleasant, the king, placing them in precious caskets, carries away to his own homeland. And when what had happened fell upon the ears of the people, a multitude beyond number streamed together from all the cities and the surrounding country for the veneration and viewing of those blessed bodies. Hence indeed, having sung the sacred hymns over them, and lit lamps in eager honour—fittingly, one might say, and very suitably there were lights about the sons and heirs of the light—they laid them, splendidly and magnificently together, in the church which Josaphat had raised up from its very foundations. And many wonders and healings, both in the carrying away and in the laying down,

and in the times that followed, the Lord worked through his holy servants. And king Barachias and all the crowd saw the works of power that came about through them; and many of the surrounding nations, sick with unbelief and ignorance of God, believed through the signs that came about at the tomb. And all who saw and heard of the angel-imitating life of Josaphat and his fervent longing for God from his tenderest years marvelled, glorifying God in all things—God who ever works together with those who love him and rewards them with the greatest gifts. Thus far the end of the present account, which I have set down from honourable men who handed it down to me without falsehood. And may it be granted to us, who read and hear this account profitable to the soul, to be counted worthy of the portion of those who have pleased the Lord, by the prayers and intercessions of the blessed Barlaam and Josaphat, of whom the account speaks, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom belong honour, power, majesty, and magnificence, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen"