Nitria, the Cells, and Rhinocorura

They call this place Nitria. It is inhabited by a great number of people devoted to a life of philosophy, and it takes its name from a nearby village where nitre is gathered. It has about fifty monasteries, built fairly close to one another. Some are inhabited by monks who live together in community, and others by monks who have chosen a solitary way of life. Further into the desert, about eight miles from this place, is another place called Cellia. Many small dwellings are scattered here and there throughout it, which is how it got its name; but they are so far apart that those who live in them can neither see nor hear one another. They gather on the first and last days of each week. If any monk is absent, it is clear that he has been kept away against his will, held back by some illness. They do not all go at once to see and nurse him, but each in turn at different times, each bringing whatever he has that is suited to the sickness. Apart from such a cause they seldom talk with one another, unless there is one among them able to impart further knowledge about God and the salvation of the soul. Those who live in the cells are those who have reached the summit of philosophy, and who are therefore able to govern their own conduct and to live alone; they are separated from the others for the sake of quiet. This is what I had to say briefly about Scetis and its philosophers. Someone would probably criticize my writing as long-winded if I went into further detail about their way of life. For they have set up individual courses of life, labors, customs, exercises, abstinence, and times, divided naturally according to each one’s age. [a]

Rhinocorura was also celebrated at this time for its holy men, who did not come from abroad but were natives of the place. I have heard that the most eminent philosophers among them were Melas, who then governed the church of that country; Dionysius, who presided over a monastery to the north of the city; and Solon, Melas’s brother, who succeeded him as bishop. It is said that when the decree was issued for driving out all priests opposed to Arianism, the officers appointed to arrest Melas found him at work as the lowest of servants, trimming the lamps of the church, with an oil-stained belt over his cloak, and carrying the wicks. When they asked him for the bishop, he answered that the bishop was inside and that he would take them to him. Since they were tired from their journey, he led them to the bishop’s house, had them sit down at table, and gave them what food he had. After the meal he brought them water to wash their hands, for he waited on the guests himself, and then he told them who he was. Amazed at his conduct, they admitted the errand they had come on; but out of respect for him they gave him full freedom to go wherever he wished. He replied, however, that he would not shrink from the sufferings to which the other bishops who held the same views as he did were exposed, and that he was willing to go into exile. He had practiced philosophy from his youth, and had trained himself in all the monastic virtues. [c]

Solon left the business of trade to take up the monastic life, a step that did him great good. For under the teaching of his brother and of other ascetics he made rapid progress in piety toward God and in goodness toward his neighbor. So the church of Rhinocorura, having been guided from the beginning by such exemplary bishops, never afterward turned aside from their teaching, and it produced good men. The clergy of this church live in one house, sit at the same table, and have everything in common.