Acacius of Beroea, Zeno and Ajax

The following details are also the result of inquiry. Acacius was outstanding among the bishops; he had already been bishop of Beroea in Syria for some time. There are, of course, many things he did that deserve to be recorded. From his youth he had been brought up in the calling of the ascetic monastic life, and he was strict in keeping all the rules of that way of life. When he was raised to the office of bishop, he gave this proof of the greatest virtue: he kept the bishop’s house open at every hour of the day, so that citizens and strangers were always free to visit him, even while he was eating or resting. In my opinion this way of living is very admirable. Either he lived in such a way that he could always be sure of himself, or he devised it as a safeguard against the evil in human nature, so that, expecting to be caught by people walking in suddenly, he would have to be continually on guard not to fail in his duties, and to be occupied instead with the acts he had pledged himself to. [a]

Zeno and Ajax, two famous brothers, flourished at about the same time. They gave themselves to a life of philosophy, but they did not settle as hermits in the desert. They lived at Gaza, a city on the sea, which was also called Maiuma. Both of them defended the truth of their religion most faithfully and confessed God with courage, so that they were often subjected to very cruel and harsh treatment by the pagans. It is said that Ajax married a very lovely woman, and that after he had lain with her three times in all, he had three sons. After that he had no further relations with her, but kept on in the exercises of the monastic life. He brought up two of his sons to the divine life and to celibacy, and he allowed the third to marry. He governed the church of Botolium properly and with distinction. [c]

Zeno had renounced the world and marriage from his youth, and he held steadfastly to the service of God. It is said, and I myself am a witness that it is true, that when he was bishop of the church in Maiuma, he was never absent from the morning or evening hymns or any other worship of God unless he was struck by some illness. And yet he was by then an old man, nearly a hundred years of age. He kept to his way of life in the monastic philosophy, and by working at his trade of weaving linen he went on earning what he needed for himself and for providing for others. He never departed from this way of life to the end, although he was older than all the other priests of that province, and although he presided over the people and the property of the largest church.

I have mentioned these men as examples of those who served as priests at this time. It would be a long task to list them all, since most of them were good, and God bore witness to their lives by readily hearing their prayers and by working many miracles.