Life of John Damascene by John, Patriarch of Jerusalem (BHG 884) – Part 2

Let’s have the next four chapters of the “Jerusalem Vita” of John Damascene.  John is still a child living in Damascus under Arab rule.

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5.  John’s parents were religious.

His grandparents were religious people, who alone preserved the fragrance of piety and the sweetness of the knowledge of Christ in the midst of thorns.  For they alone preserved the name of Christian, as a bright inheritance that could not be taken away, not faltering in the orthodox faith after the descendants of Hagar captured the city.  As a result their principles made them notable among the impious, as even their opponents revered this; or rather, in the same way as God glorified Daniel among the Assyrians, because of the piety that he showed, and Joseph in Egypt, appointing captives as overseers and rulers among foreigners and enemies, so in this way also he appointed John’s grandparents as overseers over business affairs among the Saracens, and so here the pious captives ruled over the impious ones who captured them.

O, the wondrous and great works of God, and marvellous and extraordinary deeds!”  Nothing is higher than virtue, nothing more honourable or exalted than piety.  For like a banner raised on a hill, or rather like a lamp in the night, or a seed in Israel, or a spark in the ashes, so too was the family of John left in Damascus, to bring forth this bright torch, which would shine out to every corner (of the world).  Such were the forbearers of the man whom we are praising.

6.  His father was devoted to virtue.

His father, coming from such a good background, was eager to surpass his parents in piety and other virtues, and to demonstrate even greater love for God.  For it was necessary that such an illustrious man, destined to reach the highest point of virtue, should have a parent more distinguished than those before him, so that, as from a sequential progression, the rise to greatness would occur in an orderly fashion, as if the affairs concerning this great and illustrious one were arranged from above by divine providence, just as happened in the case of John the Baptist.^[1]  For since he [John the Baptist] was destined to shine forth as greater than the prophets before him and to perform a sacrament more exalted than any priestly office—the baptism of my Lord—divine providence ordained that he would not come from an ordinary lineage but from a priestly family, and that his father would be a prophet.  Thus, in this case, too, John’s father was appointed by providence to be especially pious and philanthropic.  For he was an administrator of public affairs throughout the entire country, having been appointed because of his outstanding virtue and his distinguished way of life, and in this he used to spend his wealth abundantly; not on revelry, drunkenness, or frittering it away, but rather he used all of whatever he had in gold and other movable wealth to ransom Christians who were being taken into captivity.  As for his immovable possessions—of which he had a great deal in Judea and Palestine—he gave them for the relief and livelihood of those Christians whom he had freed who chose to live in those lands.  The others he allowed to go as free men wherever they wished.  Such was the philanthropic virtue of the man.  For he lived with wealth as though he had nothing, and so he was making offerings to God both by night and by day.

7.  John is born and baptized.

Acting like this, he receives a reward, not for hospitality like Abraham, but a wondrous offspring (ὁ τόκος also means a return on investment, interest) for his love of humanity; if not from a promise, certainly from divine foreknowledge and predestination.  For God foresaw what sort of man John would become, and predestined him to be born of this man as a reward for him for the love of humanity that he showed habitually towards those who had exchanged their freedom for dreadful captivity.  Thus this glorious child was born to him, and while his [the child’s] body was still delicate, his father made him into a son of light, by rebirth through the spiritual mother (i.e. baptism in the church), accomplishing a deed which was not easy at that time, and which most people would not easily dare to do in the midst of those pagans.  Then the father’s concern for the child was not for him to learn to ride, nor to wield a spear skillfully, nor to shoot an arrow from a bow with precision, or to fight with wild animals and change natural gentleness into savage cruelty, as often happens with many who are troubled in spirit, and rush about wildly and recklessly.  For this reason, John’s father did not seek out some mountain-dwelling Chiron^[2] to nourish his pupil on deer marrow, but rather a man trained in every field of learning was sought out, having knowledge of every kind of discourse, and pouring out good teaching from the soul’s heart, so that he might also raise his own son with such nourishing food and seasonings; and God fulfilled the man’s holy desire, and the one who was seeking found the one sought.  And the manner of the finding of the one who was sought is as follows.

8.  Cosmas the Elder was taken captive and brought to Damascus.  He was a priest and a monk.

The barbarians from Damascus, making a raid by sea, as they often did, and plundered many Christians, and going down to the sea in their ships, they took a large number of captives, and brought them into the city.  They offered some to those buying and drew their swords to kill the others.^[3]  Also captured with them was a man dressed as a monk, originating from Italy, dignified in appearance, more dignified in soul, and named Cosmas.   A certain solemnity on his face shone forth, revealing his settled disposition.  Those being led to slaughter were falling at his feet: they entreated him to make God merciful to them, and to pray that they might find forgiveness for their sins from the merciful One.  Therefore the barbarians, seeing the supplication of those about to die, which they addressed to that dignified one, approached, and inquired of the man what his standing in the world might be, and what sort of prominence he held among the Christians.  But he answered, saying, “I possess no other rank in the world but that of priestly ordination.”  Indeed I am an unworthy, solitary nobody, and practising philosophy; not only the God-loving philosophy we practice, but also that [philosophy] which the sages outside [the faith] established.  But after he said these things, his eyes were filled with tears.

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That’s it for now.  On with the next four!  There are 40 chapters in all, so this may take a while!

1. ^[1]A deeply nasty sentence.↩
2. ^[2]The mythical teacher of Achilles.↩
3. ^[3]Lampe gives this meaning from this passage for οὓς δὲ μαχαίρας εἷλκον ποιήσασθαι ἀνάλωμα.↩