CONCERNING THE SAME FATHER AND ALSO JULIAN, THE BLIND ARAB
They also told us this about the same father: There was another elder there, an Arab by race. His name was Julian, and he was blind. This Abba Julian once took offense at Macarios, Archbishop of Jerusalem, and ceased to be in communion with him.
One day, Abba Julian said to Abba Symeon the Stylite, who passed away in 459 on the Wonderful Mountain (which is about nine miles west of Antioch), “I am blind, and I cannot go anywhere by myself, nor do I have anyone to lead me—and I refuse to be in communion with Macarios. But tell me, father, what I ought to do about the brother who was a fornicator and the one who swore an oath to him?”
Abba Symeon replied to Abba Julian, “Do not withdraw from the monastery, nor should you distance yourself from the holy church. By the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, there is no evil there. But this you must know, brother: that whoever celebrates the Eucharist in your community, you have an elder there named Patrick. This elder stands outside the sanctuary, in the lowest place of all, close by the west wall of the church. This man says the eucharistic prayer for everybody, and the holy sacrifice is reckoned to be his.”