CONCERNING THE SAME
The fathers of that place also told us this about the same elder, John. About twenty miles from the monastery, there is a market town called Lepté Akra, which means "the little promontory." In that market town, there was a ship-owner who had a vessel with a capacity of about 35,000 modif (approximately 750 tonnes) that he wanted to launch. He spent two weeks with many workmen on this task (he said he employed three hundred workmen each day). However, he could neither get the vessel to the sea nor even move it from the spot where it lay, for the vessel was under the spell of men who were workers of evil.
The owner of the ship was very disturbed and at a loss as to what to do next. By the providence of God, it happened that the elder came that way. When the ship-owner saw the elder, who he knew had some knowledge of spiritual matters, he said to him, “Abba, please pray for my ship, sir. On account of enchantment, it cannot be launched.” The elder replied to the shipmaster, “Go, give me something to eat, and God will come to your aid.” The elder said this so that the ship-owner would go away to his own house.
The monk approached the ship alone, made three prostrations before God, and signed the vessel three times with the sign of the cross, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The elder then returned to the house of the ship-owner and said to him, “Go now and launch your vessel.” Putting his trust in the elder, the ship-owner went with very few men, and as soon as they took the strain, the ship was found to be in the sea. Everyone glorified God.