Venerable
Venerable Bessarion Of Egypt
кон. IV — нач. V века
Venerable Bessarion of Egypt, Wonderworker — an Egyptian desert hermit who labored in exceptionally strict silence and fasting (eating once a week, standing in prayer without sleep for forty days), who acquired the gift of wonderworking, which he concealed out of humility.
Venerable Bessarion was born in the Egyptian city of Miseri and labored in the late 4th to early 5th century. Baptized in his youth, he resolved to lead a strict life in order to preserve the grace he had received. He traveled widely to holy places: he was in Jerusalem, visited Venerable Gerasimos of the Jordan in the desert by the Jordan River, and met other great desert dwellers, learning from each of them the rules of monastic labor. Having taken a vow of silence, he observed extreme asceticism: he ate only once a week, and once spent forty days in unceasing prayer without sleep or food; he slept only standing or sitting. He acquired from God the gift of wonderworking — he could sweeten bitter water, call down rain through prayer, and cast out demons — but carefully concealed these gifts out of deep humility. Having reached a great old age, he reposed peacefully to the Lord. His memory is kept on June 6/19.
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