CHAPTER IV

OF THE FUNERAL OF A CERTAIN HOLY MAN WHO DIED

NOW whilst Abbâ Pachomius was still there he heard that a certain brother from the monastery of Beth Râyâ was sick, [and it was said to him], “He wisheth to see thee and to be blessed by thee before he dieth.” And when the man of God heard these things he rose up, and departed on the journey, but when he was about two miles from the monastery, the holy man heard a holy voice in the air, and he lifted up his eyes and saw the soul of the sick brother with the holy angels, singing hymns, and being borne aloft to a blessed and divine life; now the brethren who were accompanying him neither heard nor saw anything. And when the holy man had stood there and gazed for a long time towards the East, they said unto him, “Why standest thou [here], O father? Let us hurry on so that we may reach him whilst he is still alive.” And he said unto them, “We shall not reach him there, for I have just seen him ascending to everlasting life; depart ye then, O my children, to your monastery.” And when those brethren entreated him [to tell them] in what [form] he had seen the soul of the brother who had died, he said unto them, “In a certain form”; and when they had heard this they departed to their monastery. And they [enquired], and ascertained exactly from the brethren who were in the monastery, concerning the hour whereof Rabbâ had spoken to them, and then they recognized that the things which had been said unto them about the brother who had died were true.