#alypius

A devout man gave the venerable Father Alypius an icon, the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God, to paint, asking him to have it ready for the feast of the Dormition. But after a few days, the venerable father fell ill and was nearing his end; the icon remained unpainted.

For this reason, the man was upset and grieved with the saint. But Alypius said to him, "My son, do not be angry when you come to me, but cast your care upon the Lord, for He will do as He wills: The icon will be in its place for its feast." So the man, believing the words of the venerable one, went home rejoicing. Then, coming back again for the Vespers of the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God and seeing his icon unpainted and the Venerable Alipie sicker, he reproached him, saying, "Why didn't you tell me of your weakness? I would have given the icon to someone else to paint, so that my feast would be bright and honored. But now, behold, you have shamed me."

The venerable one answered with gentleness, "O, my son, did I do this out of laziness? But God can paint the icon of His Mother with a word, because I am now departing from this world, as the Lord has shown me, and I will not leave you sorrowful." Hearing this, the man left very saddened.

And behold, after the man left, a bright young man entered the room of the Venerable Alypius and began to paint the icon. Alypius, thinking that the owner of the icon was angry with him and had sent another painter, at first thought he was just a man, but the speed and beauty of the work showed that he was an angel. He would sometimes apply gold to the icon, and other times he would grind various pigments on a stone and paint with them. In this way, in three hours, he painted a very beautiful icon. Afterward, he said to the venerable one, "Father, is anything missing from here or have I made a mistake in anything?" The venerable one replied, "You have done it well, God has helped you to paint it with such beautiful adornment, and He Himself has worked this through you." Then, as evening came, the painter became invisible, along with the icon.

Meanwhile, the owner of the icon spent the whole night without sleep, grieving that he did not have the icon ready for the feast, calling himself unworthy of such a gift and very sinful. Then, getting up, he went to the church to mourn his fault. But, upon opening the church door, he saw the icon in its place, shining brightly. He then fell down in fear, thinking that a vision had appeared to him. Then, entering a little and looking, he realized that it was his icon, and therefore, being in great trembling and awe, he remembered the words of the Venerable Alypius, who had told him that the icon would be ready for its feast. So, running, he woke up his household, and they immediately went to the church with joy, with candles and incense.

And when they saw that the icon was shining like the sun, they fell on their faces to the ground, worshiped it, and kissed it with all the joy of their souls. After this, that devout man went to the abbot and began to tell him of the miracle that had happened with the icon.

So they went together to the Venerable Alypius and saw him departing from this world. But the abbot asked him, "Father, how and by whom was this man's icon painted?" And he told them all that he had seen and said, "The angel painted it, and behold, he is now standing here, wanting to take me." Saying these things, he gave up his spirit into the hands of the Lord, on the 17th day of the month of August.