On observing his zeal, they addressed their invitation to him still more zealously. When he promised his consent if they undertook
to build a church, they begged him to start operations at once, and conducted the blessed man round, showing him the more
appropriate sites, one recommending this one, another that. Having chosen the best one and laid the foundations, in a short time
he put the roof on, and now that the building was ready bade them to appoint a priest. When they said they would not choose
anyone else and begged to take him as their father and shepherd, he received the grace for the priesthood. After spending three
years with them and guiding them well towards the things of God, he got another of his companions appointed in his place and
went back to his monastic dwelling. Not to make the narrative long by narrating all he did - after gaining fame among them, he
received the see of Carrhae, a city which was steeped in the sottishness of impiety and had given itself up to the frenzy of the
demons. But after being honored by his cultivation and receiving the fire of his teaching, it has remained free of its former thorns,
and abounds now in the crops of the Spirit, offering to God sheaves of ripe ears. The man of God did not perform this cultivation
without labor; with innumerable labors and imitating the art of those entrusted with the treatment of bodies - in some cases
sweetening by fomentation, in others contracting by astringent medicines, in others again applying surgery and cautery - he
effected this sound state of health. His teaching and other attentions found support in the luster of his life. Illuminated by this, they
hearkened to what he said and gladly welcomed what he did. All the time of his episcopacy, bread was for him superfluous,
water superfluous, a bed useless, and use of fire superfluous. At night he chanted forty psalms antiphonally, doubling the length of
the prayers that occur in between; the rest of the night he sat on a chair, allowing a brief rest of his eyelids. That 'man will not
live on bread alone' had been said by Moses the lawgiver, and the Master recalled this utterance when he rejected the invitation
of the devil; but that living without water is among the things possible, we have nowhere been taught in the divine Scripture -
even the great Elijah first satisfied this need from the brook, and then on going to the widow of Zarephath first told her to bring
him water and then likewise asked for bread. But this wonderful man throughout the time of his episcopacy took neither bread nor
pulses nor greens cooked by fire and not even water, which is considered by those reputed clever about these things to be the
first of the elements in utility; but it was lettuce, chicory, celery, and all plants of the kind that he made his food and drink,
rendering superfluous the skills of baking and cooking. In the fruit-season fruit supplemented his needs. His food he took after the
evening liturgy. While wearing down his body with such labors, he was inexhaustible in the services he rendered others. For
strangers who came a bed was ready, glistening and select rolls were offered, wine of a fine bouquet, fish and vegetables and all
the other things that go with them; he himself a midday sat with the diners, offering to each portions of the fare provided, giving
goblets to all and bidding them drink, in imitation of his great namesake- I mean the Patriarch- who served his guests but did not
dine with them. Spending the whole day on the lawsuits of those in dispute, some he would persuade to be reconciled with each
other, while to those who would not obey his gentle teaching he applied compulsion. No wrongdoer went away victorious over
justice through audacity; to the wronged party he always accorded the just man's portion, making him invincible and stronger than
the one who wanted to wrong him. He was like an excellent physician who always prevents the excess of the humors and
contrives the equilibrium of the elements.”
[12] St. John Chrysostom, the Patriarch of Constantinople, wrote about Maron around 405:
"To Maron, the Monk Priest: We are bound to you by love and interior disposition, and see you here before us as if you were
actually present. For such are the eyes of love; their vision is neither interrupted by distance nor dimmed by time. We wished to
write more frequently to your reverence, but since this is not easy on account of the difficulty of the road and the problems to
which travelers are subject, whenever opportunity allows we address ourselves to your honor and assure you that we hold you
constantly in our mind and carry you about in our soul wherever we may be. And take care yourself that you write to us as often
as you can, telling us how you are, so that although separated physically we might be cheered by learning constantly about your
health and receive much consolation as we sit in solitude. For it brings us no small joy to hear about your health. And above all
please pray for us". (AbouZayd, S. Ihidayutha: A study of the Life of Singleness in the Syrian Orient: From Ignatius of Antioch
to Chalcedon 451 A.D., (Oxford, 1993), p. 363).
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