tians is still preserved among the Arabs who have set- tled in Egypt, and who are accustomed to speak of the river as most holy. Mr. Bruce, in his travels in Abys- sinia, mentions that it is called by the Agows Gzeir, Geesa, or Seir, the lirst of which terms signifies a god. It is also called A b, " father," and has many other names, all implying the most profound veneration. The idolatrous worship may have led to the question which the prophet Jeremiah asks : " What hast thou to do in Egypt to drink of the waters of Sihor?" or the waters profaned by idolatrous rites.— Gardener, Diet, of Relig- ion and Sects, p. 536. See Hardwick, Christ and other Masters, ii, 274, 298; Baur, Symbolik u. Mythol. i, 171 ; ii, 2, 419 ; Edinb. Rev. 1863, ii, 104 sq. ; Nichols, Brit. Museum, p. 97 ; Trevor, Anc. Egypt, p. 147. See Niloa.
Nilus (NfTXof), St., of Constantinople, surnamed the ascetic and the monk, was a religious writer of the 5th century. He belonged to one of the most distinguished families in Constantinople, and rose to be governor of that city. He subsequently resigned his office, and with his son Theodulus retired into a monastery on Mount Sinai, while his wife and daughter wont into an Egyptian nunnery. His son was killed in an attack of the Arabs against the convent, while St. Nilus escaped and lived until 450 or 451. He wrote a num- ber of theological works, some of which arc lost, and only known to us by some extracts from Photius, others were published separately at various times, but it is only of late that what we possess of them has been published as a whole. The best edition is that of Snares, entitled Sancti Putris nostri Nili abbatis Tractatus seu opuscula ex codicibus mumtscriptis Vaticanis, Cassinentibus, Bar- berinis et A Itcempsianis eruia J, 31, Suaresius Grace nunc p)rimum edidit, Laiine vertit ac notis illustravit (Rome, 1673, fol.). The most important of Nilus's works are Hapaivkatic, advice on the manner of leading a Christian life : it is a compendium of practical theology; and 'Ettixtijtov lyxeipiSiov, arranged for the use of Christians. Schweighiiuser gives this manual in the fifth volume of his edition of Epictetus. The letters of Nilus, one of his most important works, and treating generally of the same subjects as his UapaivBcrttc, were published by Possinus (Paris, 1657, 4to) ; a better edition, with a Latin translation by Leo Allatius, appeared at Rome (1668, fol.). The latest edition of Nilus's com- plete works was published by Migne (Paris, 1860, roy. 8vo), under the title of S. P. N'. Nili abbatis Opera quce rejieriri poiue?'unt omnia, variorum curis olim, nemp)e Leonis Allatii, Petri Passim, etc., seoisim edita, mmc- primum in unum collecta et oi'dinata. See Photius, Cod. p. 276; Nicephorus, Hist. Eccl. xiv, 54; Leo Allatius, Diatribe de Nilis et eorum sci-iptls, in his edition of the letters of Nilus, and in Fabricius, Bibl. Grceca, x, 3 sq. ed. Harless; Cave, Hist. Liter.; Tillemont, Mem. piour servir a Vhist, ecclesiastique, xiv ; Ceillier, Hist, des auteurs sacres, viii, 205 sq. ; Richard and Giraud, Bibl. Sacrce, s. v.; Neander, Ch. Hist, ii, 238, 241, 250-253, 292,670,671. (J.N. P.)
Nilus, St., Jun., an Italian monastic, sometimes called St. Nilus ofGrotta Ferrata, was a Greek by birth, and came from the vicinity of Tarentum. He flourished near the close of the 10th century. He was engaged in secular pursuits when the loss of his wife turned his thoughts to God, and he became a Greek monk of the Order of St. Basil. He was soon made the superior of his community on account of his worth and learning. The chances of war drove him to the west of Italy, and he fled to the convent of Monte Cassino at Capua, which was of the Benedictine order. He was received with great kindness, and a small convent assigned to him and his followers by the abbot. At this time Capua was governed by Aloare, who was the widow of the prince of Capua, and reigned in the name and right of her two sons. This wicked mother had influenced her children to murder their cousin, who was a powerful and worthy nobleman. Now she was seized with the
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agony of remorse, and soirglit St. Nilus to confess her crime, and entreated absolution at his hands. He re- fused this, except upon condition that slie should give up one of her sons to the family of the murdered man, to be dealt with as they saw fit. This she would not consent to do. Then St. Nilus pronounced her unfor- given, and told her that what she would not give. Heaven would soon exact of her. She offered him large sums of money, and begged him to pray for her; but he threw down her money in scorn and left her. Not long after this the yomiger son killed the elder in a church, and for this double crime of fratricide and sac- rilege he was put to death by command of Ilugli Capet. Nilus afterwards went to Rome, and lived in a convent on the Avcntine, where large numbers of sick people visited him, he working many and great miracles. Among others, his cure of an epileptic boy forms a sub-