E05264: John Moschus, in his Spiritual Meadow, recounts how Abba Kyriakos, a priest at the Lavra of Calamon on the Holy Jordan had a dream in which *Mary (Mother of Christ, S00033) accompanied by *John (the Apostle and Evangelist, S00042) and *John the Baptist (S00020) came to him, and revealed that Kyriakos unwittingly had heretical Nestorian writings in his cell. Written in Greek, probably in Rome, in the 620s or 630s.

John Moschus, The Spiritual Meadow, 46

In this chapter Moschus recounts a story which he received from Abba Kyriakos, a priest at the Lavra of Calamon on the Jordan. One day, Abba Kyriakos had a dream which he narrated as follows:

Καὶ διηγήσατο ἡμῖν λέγων, ὅτι Ἐν μιᾷ θεωρῆσαί με κατὰ τοὺς ὕπνους γυναῖκά τινα σεμνοπρεπῆ, καὶ πορφυροφόρον, καὶ μετὰ ταύτης ἄνδρας δύο ἱεροπρεπεῖς καὶ τιμίους ἑστῶτας ἔξω τῆς κέλλης μου. Ἐγὼ δὲ ὑπέλαβον τὴν μὲν γυναῖκα τὴν Δέσποιναν ἡμῶν Θεοτόκον εἶναι, τοὺς δὲ σὺν αὐτῇ δύο ἄνδρας τὸν ἅγιον Ἰωάννην τὸν Θεολόγον, καὶ τὸν ἅγιον Ἰωάννην τὸν Βαπτιστήν.

'One day, in my sleep, I saw a woman of stately appearance clad in purple, and after her [I saw] two reverend and honourable men standing outside my cell. It seemed to me that was our Lady the Mother of God, and that the men were Saint John The Divine and Saint John the Baptist.'

Since all of them were standing outside his cell, he insisted at some length on them entering, but they did not. Eventually, as he kept persisting, the lady angered by his importunity said to him coldly:

Ἔχεις εἰς τὴν κέλλαν σου τὸν ἐχθρόν μου, καὶ πῶς θέλεις ἵνα εἰσέλθω;

'How can you ask me to enter your cell when you have my enemy in there?'

Then she went away.

When Kyriakos awoke, he began to worry and to wonder what the lady had meant, and if he might have offended her in his thoughts, since there was nobody except him in his cell. Then, almost overcome by remorse, he rose up and took a scroll, intending to read it in order to alleviate his distress. It was a book that he had borrowed from Hesychios, priest of Jerusalem. When he unwound it, he realised there were two writings of Nestorius written at the end of it. He immediately figured out that this was the enemy of the Mother of God. So he left his cell and gave the book back to Hesychios, telling him that it brought adversity upon him. When the latter asked what happened, Kyriakos told him of his vision. Having heard it, Hesychios immediately cut the writings of Nestorius off from the scroll, and threw them in the fire, saying: 'The enemy of our Lady, the holy Mother of God, shall not remain in my cell either.'

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