THE LIFE OF ABBA AUXANON
At the same place, we saw Abba Auxanón in his cell—a man of compassion, continence, and solitude—who treated himself so harshly that over a period of four days, he would only eat a twenty-epta loaf of bread, such as we offer at the Eucharist. Sometimes, this was sufficient for him during a whole week. Towards the end of his life, this ever-memorable father fell ill with a stomach complaint. They carried him to the patriarchal infirmary at the Holy City.
One day, when we were visiting him, Abba Conon, the higoumen of the Lavra of our saintly father Sabas, sent him a small basket containing the church dole and six pieces of gold, along with a message: "Forgive me, but my sickness prevents me from coming to greet you." The elder accepted the dole but sent the gold back with this message: "If it be the will of God that I be in this life, father, I have ten pieces of gold. If I have need of these others, I will let you know, and do you send them to me. But you should know, father, that two days from now I will go forth out of this world"—which indeed he did.
We bore him to the Lavra of Pharén and buried him there. This blessed one had been the fellow-monk of those saintly men Eustochios and Gregory, but, leaving them both, he completed his formation in the wilderness. He was a native of Ancyra in Galatia.