When Abba Gerasimus migrated to the Lord and was buried by the fathers, by God’s disposition the lion was not in the laura; but after a short time it came back and began looking for the old man. The disciple of the Elder and Abba Sabbatius, [the Cilician, who was a friend of our holy father Gerasimus ], seeing the lion said to it: “Jordan, our old man has left us orphans and has migrated to the Lord; but come on, eat something”. However the lion refused to eat: instead, it unceasingly turned its eyes here and there, trying to discover the old man, whining aloud, unable to endure his departure. At this sight, Abba Sabbatius and the other patting the beast’s back, said to it over and over again: “Our father had gone to the Lord, he has left us”. But in spite of all their words, they could not stop the lion’s roars and wails: on the contrary, the more they thought to appease the beast with words and to divert it from its grief, the more the lion wailed and roared and increased its lamentations, showing with its voice, its countenance and its eyes the grief it felt, not finding the old man. Finally Abba Sabbatius said to it: “Come with me, if you do not believe us, and I shall show you where our Elder lies”. And he took the lion and lead it to the place where they had buried (the Saint): it was at a distance of about half a mile from the church. And Abba Sabbatius, standing upon the grave of Abba Gerasimus, said to the lion: “Here is our old man”, and bent his knees. When the lion saw him kneel [upon the grave of the holy Elder and weeping, it prostrated itself too], violently knocking its head against the ground and roaring with grief, and died at once on the grave of the old man …
(transl. Leah Di Segni)