XV
The

Burning of Abbot Spiridion
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ANY wonderful things are told of the
Abbot Spiridion, who lived a hun-
dred years and four and yet grew never old;
neither was the brightness of his eyes dimmed
nor his hair silvered, nor was his frame bowed
and palsied with the weakness of age.
During the long years in which he ruled
the abbey he had founded, he seemed to live
less in this world than in the communion of
the blessed souls of men redeemed. The
whole earth was as clear to him as though it
had been of crystal, and when he raised his
eyes he saw not solely what other men saw,
but the vision of all that is under the heavens.
And this vision of life was at once his trial
and his consolation. For it was an unspeak-
able sorrow and anguish to see on all sides
the sin and suffering and misery of creation,
and often he wept bitterly when no one