Saint Jerome, Complete Works, Vol. II

13. The humility of Antony.

—At length, exhausted variant: wearied and panting, he reached his dwelling after completing the journey. When two disciples, who had already begun to serve the aged man, met him and said, "Where have you been staying for so long, Father?" he replied, "Woe to me, a sinner, who bears the false name of monk. I have seen Elijah, I have seen John in the desert, and I have truly seen Paul in paradise." And so, with a suppressed prayer and striking his chest with his hand, he brought out the cloak from his cell. When the disciples asked him to explain more fully what the matter was, he said: A time to keep silence, and a time to speak (Ecclesiastes 3:7).

14. The soul of Paul among the choirs of angels.

—Then, going outside and not taking even a morsel of food, he returned by the path he had come, thirsting for him, desiring to see him, embracing him with his eyes and his whole mind. For he feared, as indeed happened, that in his absence Paul would render his spirit to Christ, to whom it was owed. When another day had dawned and the journey remained for a space of three hours, he saw Paul, radiant in snow-white brightness, ascending on high among the hosts of angels, among the choirs of prophets and apostles. And immediately falling upon his face, he cast sand upon his head, and weeping and wailing, he said: "Why do you leave me, Paul? Why do you depart without a farewell? Known so late, do you depart so quickly?"

15.

Blessed Antony later related that he had run the remainder of the journey with such speed that he flew like a bird. Nor was this unmerited; for upon entering the cave, he saw the lifeless body with knees bent, head erect, and hands stretched out on high. At first, thinking he was still alive, he began to pray alongside him. But after he heard none of the usual sighs of one praying, he fell into a tearful kiss and understood that even the corpse of the saint was praying to God, to whom all things live, through the performance of his gesture.

16. Christian tradition.

—Therefore, having wrapped and brought out the body, Antony chanted hymns and psalms from Christian tradition, yet he was saddened because he did not

have a spade with which to dig the earth. Fluctuating therefore in a varied storm of mind, and pondering many things to himself, he said: "If I return to the monastery, it is a journey of four days alternative: three days; if I remain here, I will make no further progress. I shall die here, then, as is worthy, beside your warrior, Christ, and falling, I will pour out my final breath." While he was revolving such things in his mind, behold, two lions came running from the inner part of the desert, their manes flying about their necks. Upon seeing them, he was at first terrified. But again turning his mind to God, he remained fearless, as if he were seeing doves. They came in a straight course to the corpse of the blessed old man and lay down at his feet, wagging their tails, roaring with a great sound, so that you might understand that they were mourning in whatever way they could. Then, not far away, they began to scrape the ground with their feet; and competing to cast out the sand, they dug a place large enough for one man. And immediately, as if asking for a reward for their work, with a movement of their ears and bowed necks, they went to Antony, licking his hands and feet. He perceived that they were seeking a blessing from him. Without delay, he burst into praise of Christ, that even mute animals could perceive that God exists, and said: "Lord, without whose nod neither the leaf of a tree falls, nor one of the sparrows falls to the ground, give to them as you know how." And with a nod of his hand, he commanded them to depart. When they had retreated, he bent his aged shoulders to the burden of the holy body; and having placed it in the hollow, he gathered the earth from above and set the mound in the customary manner. After another day dawned, so that the pious heir might not lack anything from the goods of the intestate, he claimed for himself the tunic which Paul had woven for himself out of palm leaves, in the manner of baskets. And so, having returned to the monastery, he recounted everything in order to his disciples; and on the solemn days of Easter and Pentecost, he was always clothed in the tunic of Paul.

17. Comparison of Paul and the rich of the world.

—It is pleasing at the end of this little work to interrogate those who are ignorant of their own patrimonies, who clothe their houses with marble, who weave the estates of their villas into a single thread; to this naked old man...