E05298: John Moschus, in his Spiritual Meadow, recounts how the intact corpse of an ascetic, *Ioannes/John (anchorite of Cilicia, S01990), was found seven years after his death in a cave on a mountain, by elders living on a nearby estate, six miles from the city of Rhosos (Cilicia, south-east Asia Minor). Written in Greek, probably in Rome, in the 620s or 630s.

John Moschus, The Spiritual Meadow, 87

Summary:

In this chapter Moschus recounts a story that he heard from elders living on an estate located six miles from the city of Rhosos [Cilicia]. They showed him a grave in the church at the estate and said that a great anchorite lay in this tomb. When he asked how they knew about this, they related the following story. Seven years ago they saw a great light on the summit of the mountain, at the foot of which the estate was situated. Since they saw it for many days, one day they climbed the mountain but found no signs of fire or anything else at the top. Then they saw the same light again, which lasted for three months. So one night they took some men armed with weapons against wild animals and climbed the mountain again. At daybreak they noticed a little cave where the light had appeared and found there the anchorite dead. He was wearing a hair-shirt and a tunic of sackcloth, and was holding a gospel book with a silver cross. They found there also writing tables with an inscription reading: "I, the unworthy John, died in the fifteenth indiction". They calculated the time and discovered that he had been dead for seven years, but his body looked as if he had died that very day. They carried the corpse down and buried it in the church.

Text: Migne 1865 (PG 87.3). Summary: J. Doroszewska.