THE LIFE OF CONON, PRIEST OF THE COMMUNITY OF PENTHOUCLA
At the monastery of our holy father Sabas, we met Athanasios. The elder told us this tale: When I was in the Community of Penthoucla, there was a priest there who baptized. He was a Cilician, and his name was Conon. He had been appointed to administer baptisms because he was a great elder. He would anoint and baptize those who came there; however, it was an occasion of acute embarrassment for him whenever he had to anoint a woman. For this reason, he wanted to withdraw from the community.
But whenever he thought of withdrawing, Saint John would stand by him, saying, "Persevere, and I will make the struggle easier for you." One day, a Persian damsel came to be baptized, and she was so very beautiful that the priest could not bring himself to anoint her with the holy oil. After she had waited two days, Archbishop Peter heard of it and was very angry with the elder. He wanted to appoint a woman deacon for the task, but he did not do so since this would have been contrary to custom.
Conon the priest took up his sheepskin cloak and went his way, saying, "I will not stay in this place any longer." However, when he got into the hills, Saint John the Baptist met him and said to him in a gentle voice, "Go back to your monastery, and I will make the struggle easier for you." Abba Conon replied in anger, "Believe me, I will not return. You have often made that promise to me, and you have done nothing about it."
Saint John then made him sit down on one of the hills, stripped him of his clothes, and three times made the sign of the cross beneath his navel. "Believe me, Conon the priest," he said, "I wanted you to carry away some reward from the struggle. But since you did not wish it to be so, I have caused the struggle to cease. However, you shall have no reward for this."
Conon the priest returned to the task of baptizing in the community, and the next day, he baptized and anointed the Persian without even being aware that she was of the female sex. For twelve years, he anointed and baptized without suffering any physical disturbance and with no awareness of women’s femininity; thus he drew his life to a close.