Three Byzantine Saints

I read this book many years ago in college and recently rediscovered and re-read it, mainly as a resource to support my research into late Roman/early Byzantine culture and history. What I didn't expect--or forgot--was the profound spiritual impact that the biographies retain even after 13-15 centuries. The book consists of translations of three hagiographies from the 5th through 7th centuries from the regions of Asia Minor and Egypt. Each is written by rough contemporaries of the saint in question or his followers. Perhaps the most fascinating of these accounts is the remarkable life of St. Daniel the Stylite. An ascetic in the tradition of his mentor, St. Simeon, Daniel spent the last 30 or so years of his life standing atop a pillar. There he gained a reputation as a living saint and dispensed wisdom and miracles to commoners, patricians, bishops, and even emperors such as Leo and Zeno. His fame was such that the heretical usurper Basiliscus was cowed by St. Daniel who came down from his pillar to issue a rebuke. St. Theodore of Sykeon was another ascetic miracle worker and reluctant bishop from the area of Asia Minor near Ancyra. He lived during the tumultous late 6th and early 7th century and, much like St. Daniel, he was sought out by the great and small alike for his wisdom and for his ability to cast out demons. This biography contains numerous examples of his battles with demons--who called him "iron eater" in reference to his strength and power over them. St. Theodore was well known to the emperor Maurice and famously rebuked the tyrant Phocas who had usurped the throne and murdered the family of Maurice. St. John the Almsgiver was a married layman who was called to the patriarchate of Alexandria after his wife and children perished. He was renowned for his outstanding generosity and care of the poor in Alexandria during a time of military defeat, economic collapse, and wholesale destruction in the Greek east. Truly, St. John "spoiled the poor" as Mother Theresa of Calcutta would later put it, and is a great example of charity and piety for us today. In short, this book is very useful as a historical document, as the stories of many famous historical persons are intertwined with the lives of these saints. In several cases, these lives serve as the only known record of certain events. However, don't be surprised if these biographies have a certain spiritual impact on you as well. While some of the anecdotes related seem to suffer from the hyperbole of oral tradition, most of them are credible accounts of incredible suffering, piety, physical endurance, and miraculous events. All in all, a great read for anyone interested in this period.