Salaman the Silent

Salaman the Silent ( Dr. Greek Σαλαμάνης ὁ Ἡσυχαστής ; Latin Salamanes Silentiarius ; IV – V centuries) - Christian ascetic, Syrian hermit, reverend.

Theodoret of Cyrus reports on the life of Salaman in the 19th chapter of his book “ The History of God-Lovers ”.

Salaman was born in the village of Capersana ( dr. Greek Καπερσανᾶ ), which was located on the western bank of the Euphrates River. Salaman chose the Christian feat - silence . On the other side of the river, he found a small refuge and shut himself in it, leaving no doors or windows. Once a year, Salaman crawled under the wall of his refuge and brought himself food for a whole year, while he never entered into conversations with any of the people. Salaman lived a very long time in his cell. Having learned about the virtues of Salaman, the bishop of the city, to which the village of Capersana belonged, came to him, wishing to ordain him as priests . The bishop ordered to break a part of the wall of Salaman’s cell, he went into his cell, laid his hands on Salaman and read a prayer for ordination in the priest. Having made Salaman a priest, the bishop uttered a lengthy sermon said, explaining what grace was now given to Salaman, and left the cell, not hearing a word from the ascetic, after which the archpastor ordered to close the gap in the wall of Salaman's cell.

Residents of the village of Kapersana crossed the river at night, destroyed the hut of Salaman, took him himself and quickly transferred to his village. At the same time, Salaman showed neither resistance nor consent. In the morning they built a hut for Salaman, similar to the former, and again enclosed it in it. Salaman continued to remain silent and did not say anything to anyone. After some time, the inhabitants of another village on the opposite bank of the river, having come at night and breaking the hut, took Salaman the Silent to his village. Salaman did not resist, did not ask to be left, but did not express readiness to settle in a new place. Theodorite of Cyrus writes that in this way Salaman, having made himself dead for earthly life, in the most accurate sense repeated the words of the apostle Paul: “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And what I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and betrayed Himself for me ”( Gal. 2: 19-20 ).

The church honors Salaman as the first saint to take on the feat of silence, which he carried until his death.