(14) Then Euthymius the great, feeling that he was pressed again by a mob – for the monastery (of Capharbarichas) was located near the villages – said to his disciple, Domitian: “Come, my son, let us go and visit saintly Theoctistus and the brothers”. And so he left the monastery of Capharbarichas and made for the holy place where his own monastery stands now, by the help of God, at a distance of about three miles from the thrice-blessed Theoctistus. He loved this place very dearly, for it was rather level, and at the same time quiet and blessed with fresh air, and, most important of all at that time, before so many monasteries were founded in the southern desert, the place was lonely and not situated on a thoroughfare; now, on the contrary it is on a pathway, since all the desert has been colonized by the spiritual seed of Euthymius. He therefore took his abode in this place, in complete seclusion, with his disciple in a small cave, where is now the tomb with his venerable remains. Then the blessed Theoctistus informed of the arrival of great Euthymius, hurriedly came up to greet him and begged him to descend to his monastery. But (Euthymius) refused, on account of his desire to enjoy the seclusion of this place, and consented only to come and celebrate the mass with them on Sundays.
(15) When Aspebetos, also called Peter, heard that great Euthymius had finally returned, he came to him with a large following of Saracens, men, women and children, and begged him to tell them words of salvation. The holy elder instructed them all, then received them in the lower monastery, and, after having baptized these people, he remained with them for the seven days <after baptism, when the new converts enjoy the status of neophyte>, then he left, taking them with him to his place. Peter brought masons and had a great cistern made, with two mouths, the same one that can be seen to this day in the garden; and he built a bakery nearby and made for the holy elder three cells and a chapel, or church, in the middle between the cells. Then those former wolves of Arabia, now belonging to the spiritual flock of Christ, begged to be permitted to remain near the saint. But the lover of solitude, Euthymius, did not consent to this, on account of the disturbance (caused by a settlement nearby) – for he loved silence very much. Instead, he led them to a suitable place, saying: “If you really want to live close to me, stay here”. This place is located between the two monasteries. So he drew for them the plan of a church, and tents all around, and urged (the Saracens) to build the church and settle there. And he used to visit these people very often, until he established a priest and deacons to take care of them. So those who had been first baptized came to live there, and others came as well in ever increasing number and were baptized by Euthymius. And so, as they had multiplied and extended their settlement to several camps, our great father Euthymius wrote a letter to the patriarch of Jerusalem, Juvenal, asking him to appoint a bishop (for the Saracen camps), and, having received his assurance, he sent him Peter, Terebon’s father, as a man most capable to lead souls to salvation. And so for the first time a bishop of the Encampements was appoointed in Palestine, namely Peter. And one could see a mob of Saracens coming to the great Euthymius and being baptized, and learnig to adore the God who reigns on all. And this is the story of the Saracens.
(16) The great Euthymius himself did not want to establish his place as a coenobium, nor as a laura. On the contrary, when people cane to him, wishing to renounce the world, he would send them to the lower monastery, to blessed Theoctistus; the same would he do with those who wanted to make an offering. But when God was pleased to decide that Euthymius’ place should be settled, He first sent three carnal brothers, Cosmas, Chrysippus and Gabriel, who came from Cappadocia, but had been educated in Syria and excelled in all spiritual knowledge. When they begged to stay with him, Euthymius did not accept them, for three reasons prevented him (from doing so): his desire for silence, their young age, and the fact that Gabriel was a eunuch from birth. But that same night he saw a vision that said to him: “Receive these brothers, for God sent them, and from now on do not turn away anybody wishing to be saved”. Then the holy man received (the three) and said to the eldest brother, Cosmas: “Behold, I have done what God has ordered me to do: but you will take care never to let your younger brother come out of his cell; for it is not right that a feminine face should be seen in a laura, on account of the attacks of the Enemy. Concerning yourself, I believe that you will not stay long here, for in the near future you are destined to be shepherd of the Church of Scythopolis”. After them Euthymius received a certain Domnus, who came from Antioch and was a nephew of John, the archbishop of Antioch. In those same days he also received three more (carnal) brothers from Melitene, Stephen, Andrew and Gaianus, cousins of that Synodius who, with Acacius, had tutored the great Euthymius. (The holy man) received also three (monks) from Rhaithou, John the priest, Thalassius and Anatolius; he received one Kyrion as well, who came from Tiberias and was a priest in the holy church of the martyr Basilius in Scythopolis. After he had received those eleven man, Euthymius requested the bishop Peter to build small cells for them and to equip the church with all the (necessary) furnishings, and so he established the place as a laura, after the type of Pharan. The arch-bishop Juvenal came down to the laura, accompanied by Passarion, now with the saints, who was then country-bishop and archimandrite of the monks, and by Hesychius the priest and teacher, he consecrated the church of the laura on May 7 of the eleventh indiction <AD 428>, in the 52nd year of great Euthymius’ life. After the laura had been consecrated, with John and Kyrion as its priests, the archbishop ordained Domitian and Domnus deacons …
(17) In the days when our father Euthymius was beginning to organize his place as a laura, and the twelve brothers who were with him suffered a dire privation of the very necessities of life, (the holy man) appointed Domitian administrator for the first year. One day a large body of Armenians, about 400 men, on their way from the holy city down to the Jordan turned aside from the road to the right and arrived at the laura as if by arrangement. I believe this was a plan of Providence to make the (holy man’s) virtue and God-given grace known to all. Seeing (the crowd approaching), the old man called Domitian and ordered “Prepare food for these people”. But he replied: “Reverend father, the store-chamber keeper has not enough to feed ten mouths: where shall I find bread for such a mob?”. Filled with prophetic inspiration, the great Euthymius answered: “Go as I told you, for thus say the Holy Spirit: ‘They shall eat and have some left’ <2 Kings 4:43>”. So Domitian went to the little store-chamber, that is sometimes called pantry’ where a few morsels of bread were kept: and he could not open the door, for a divine blessing had filled the room up to the ceiling. So he called for some men and together they took the door off its hinges, and the loaves of bread poured out of the room. The same blessing occurred also to the wine and the oil. And all ate and were satiated, and for three months (the monks) could not fasten the door of the store chamber (back on its hinges) …
(18) Since the above-mentioned miracle the laura began to be blessed in all that came in and went out, in different ways. For with God’s help the brothers grew in number and reached 50, cells were built for them and the divine service was performed in the church, and the administrator was even forced to buy the necessities for their consumptions; he also acquired beasts of burden for the service of the fathers.
(transl. Leah Di Segni)