Eusebius the Hermit

Venerable Eusebius the Hermit was a Syrian monk of the fourth or fifth century, who lived in harsh ascetic labour, without a roof, near a large mountain village called Asikha (Asicha). He is commemorated on 15 February. His life is known from Theodoret of Cyrrhus, in the eighteenth chapter of his History of the Lovers of God. The sources give neither his birthplace nor his parents.

Eusebius became a monk in a monastery and, after living in it for some time, left it, choosing the hermit's life. He settled on the ridge of a mountain near the village of Asikha. His dwelling had no roof and was merely an enclosed place of stones bound together with clay. He spent his life in prayer and fasting under the open sky. His clothing was sewn of animal skins; he ate peas and beans soaked in water, and sometimes figs, to strengthen his weak body. He reached great old age, almost toothless, but changed neither his food nor his dwelling. In frost and heat he patiently endured the changes of weather. His face was wrinkled and all his limbs withered; he had worn his body down so far that his belt could not stay on his hips, the muscles were gone and the belt slid down. To keep it up Eusebius sewed it to his tunic.

He led a contemplative life and avoided speech. At first he met only a few people, allowing them to open the door and enter; he spoke with them about God, and at the end of the conversation told them to plaster the door with mud. Later he decided to avoid meeting even a few; he walled up the entrance entirely, rolling a large stone against the door. He spoke only with a few brethren through an opening through which he could not be seen, and through the same opening he received the little food that was brought him. In the end he refused to speak with all people, except the bishop Theodoret of Cyrrhus, with whom he held long conversations; often, when Theodoret was about to leave, the old man would keep him, continuing to speak of heavenly things.

Many began to come to Eusebius for a blessing, and he was displeased with the crowd; in the end he went to ascetics nearby and, in their small monastery, an enclosure built against the wall, he continued to labour in his usual ways. The abbot of that monastery told that Eusebius spent the seven weeks of Great Lent content with only fifteen figs. He died shortly before Theodoret wrote the History of the Lovers of God, before 444. The Serbian source says that he died in 440, at the age of 95, and that he ate not even fruit, only plant food.