Venerable Zeno, Disciple of Basil the Great (V)

The Venerable Zeno, a disciple of Basil the Great, was the son of rich parents of Pontus. He served at the court of the Emperor Valens (364–378), and after his death withdrew from the world and settled in a cave near Antioch. For forty years he laboured in this cave; every Sunday he went to church and received Communion. In his cell he had neither bed nor hearth nor lamp; he wore old rags and took only bread and water, which he brought from very far away along a hard road. Saint Zeno treated with special love the divine books which those who came to him for spiritual instruction brought with them. Filled with divine grace, the blessed ascetic was distinguished by wonderful humility. He died at the beginning of the fifth century.