12. They used to say that a certain old man went on one occasion to a city to sell his handiwork, and it chanced that he sat down by the door of a house of a rich man who was dying, and whose death was very near at hand; and as he was sitting [there] he looked and saw black horses, with their black riders, who were exceedingly terrible, and they held in their hands staves of fire. And when they had come to the door of the house, they set their horses outside, and they went in together, and as soon as the sick man saw them, he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “O Lord, help me.” Then those who had been sent unto him said, “Now that the sun hath set upon thee thou hast come to call God to remembrance; why didst thou not seek Him while it was yet day? Now thou hast neither a portion of hope nor consolation left.” Then they took away his soul and departed.
13. There were two brethren who lived in cells, and one of them was an old man who had persuaded the younger man, saying, “My brother, let us dwell together,” but he said unto him, “I am a sinner, and I cannot let thee be with me, O father.” Then the old man entreated him, saying, “Yes, we can [live together]”; now that old man was pure in his thoughts, and he was not content to hear that there was in the young man the thought of fornication. And the brother said unto him, “Father, leave me for one week, and we will speak [on the subject] again”; and when the week was ended the old man came and, wishing to try him, the brother said unto him, “During the past week, O father, I fell into great temptation, for I went to a certain village on business, and I met a woman.” The old man said unto him, “There is repentance”; and the brother said unto him, “Yea, there is.” And the old man said unto him, “I will bear the half of this sin with thee”; then the brother said unto him, “We shall now be able to dwell together.” So they dwelt together until the end of their lives.
14. Certain brethren from the great monastery went forth and departed to the desert, and they came to one of the monks who received them with gladness; and when he saw that, as was usual with monks, they had come from labour, he prepared for them a table before the appointed season, and whatsoever he had in his cell he set before them, and refreshed them. Now when the evening was come they sang twelve Psalms, and they did the same thing during the night, but the old man left them to rest, and he departed that he might sing and pray by himself. And whilst he was keeping vigil, he heard the brethren conversing together and saying, “The monks who live in the desert live more comfortably than do we who are in the monasteries.” And when they were making ready in the morning to go to an old man who was his neighbour, he said unto them, “Salute him for me”; and they said unto him, “Thou shalt not water the green herb,” and when he heard [this], he understood the matter. And he kept them until the evening working and fasting, and when the evening had come they sang the great service through, and the brother said unto them, “To-day, because ye have come from toil, we have shortened the service somewhat,” and he also said unto them, “We are not in the habit of eating every day, but because of you we will eat a little.” And he prepared for them dry bread and salt, and he said unto them, “It is fitting that on your account we should this day make a feast,” and he sprinkled a little vinegar in the salt, and they rose up to sing and pray until the morning, and he said unto them, “We are, on account of you, unable to perform the whole of the service as we are wont to do, for ye must rest a little, and ye are strangers.” Now when the morning had come they wished to escape, but he entreated them, saying, “Spend a few days with us, especially that ye may live according to the custom of the desert, for we cannot let you go”; and when they saw that he did not want to send them away, they rose up and fled secretly.
15. On one occasion a certain brother came to Mount Sinai to visit Abbâ Sylvanus, and he saw the brethren working with their hands to supply their wants, and he said unto Abbâ Sylvanus, with boasting, “Ye toil for the food which perisheth; Mary chose a good portion for herself.” Then Abbâ Sylvanus said unto Zechariah, his disciple, “Give him a book and take him to a cell wherein there is nothing.” And when the time of the ninth hour had come, the brother looked this way and that way to see if they were going to send for him to come and eat, but no man came to seek him. Then he rose up and came to the old man and said unto him, “Father, have not the brethren eaten to-day?” and he said unto him, “Yea.” And the brother said unto him, “Why have ye not called me?” The old man said unto him, “Thou art a spiritual man and hast no need of the meat which is for the body, but we are corporeal beings, and we require to eat, and it is for this reason that we work. Thou hast chosen the [good] part; read all day, and do not seek after the food of the body.” Now when that brother heard [this] he expressed his contrition, and said, “Father, forgive me”; and the old man said, “Even Mary had need of Martha, for through the labour of Martha Mary triumphed.”
16. It happened on one occasion that a certain heathen priest came to Scete, and he visited the cell of one of the brethren, and passed the night there, and he saw the labours of his rule, and marvelled; and he said unto him, “Do ye labour so greatly and yet do not see visions from your God?” and the brother said unto him, “We do not see [visions].” The priest of idols said unto him, “When we perform the part of priests to our god he hideth nothing from us, and he revealeth unto us his mysteries, whilst ye who perform the labours of vigil, and abstinence, and silent contemplation, as thou sayest, see nothing. There must be in your hearts evil thoughts which separate you from your God, and it is for this reason that He doth not reveal unto you His mysteries.” Then the brother went and informed the old men of the word[s] of that priest of idols, and they marvelled and said, “It is thus, for the thoughts which are not clean alienate a man from God.”
17. One of the brethren said unto one of the great old men, “If I could find one of the fathers according to my desire, I would choose to die with him,” and the old man said unto him with a laugh, “Good, my lord,” and the brother said, “Such is my desire.” Now he did not understand the mind (or thought) of the old man. And when the old man saw that the brother was in truth speaking concerning himself that which he thoroughly believed, he said unto him, “If thou didst find an old man according to thy desire, wouldst thou be able to dwell with him?” And he said unto him, “Yea.” The old man said unto him, “Well hast thou said, ‘If I could find [an old man] according to my desire’”; and afterwards he said unto him, “Thou dost not wish to be subject to the will of the old man, but the old man must be subject unto thee!” Then the brother rose up, and made apologies to him, saying, “Forgive me, father; I have boasted greatly. I thought that I was saying that which was good, but I find that I possess that which is of no value.”
18. Abbâ Daniel used to say about Abbâ Arsenius that immediately he heard that the fruits were [ripe] on the trees, he would tell them in his desire to bring him some, and that he used to eat once a year of every kind of fruit, so that he might give thanks to God.
19. Abbâ Abraham asked Abbâ Theodore, saying, “Father, which is the better thing for me to do, [to give] praise or to blame?” The old man said unto him, “I myself prefer to perform the works of praise, and not of blame”; and Abbâ Abraham said unto him, “How is this?” And the old man said unto him, “If I perform good works, and I be praised therefor, I find that I can bring an accusation against my mind whilst I flee from the love of approbation, and I can say that I do not deserve this praise, but blame belongeth to evil works, and how shall I be able to comfort my heart, because men are offended at me? It is necessary for us to do good works, and to be praised, without receiving upon ourselves the love of approbation, and not evil deeds, lest we be blamed.” And Abbâ Abraham said, “Thou hast said well, O father; even so is it.”
20. They used to say about one of the fathers who had lived in the world, that when he was in the desert he was occupied in fighting [his desire] to return to his wife whom he had married before [he became a monk], and when he related the matter to the fathers, they appointed him certain works, so that he might be kept back from the fight [within him]. Now because he was an obedient man and one who laboured, he performed these works in excess, and at length his body became so emaciated that he was unable to rise up from his place. And, by the operation of God, a certain father who was a stranger came to the place of Scete, and he passed by the cell of that monk and found it to be empty; and as he passed by he said in his mind, “How is it that no man hath come out to meet me from this cell?” And he went back there, and knocked, saying, “Perhaps he is sick”; and when he knocked the brother who was grievously sick went forth, and the father said unto him, “What is thy sickness, O father?” And the brother told him of all his suffering, saying, “I belonged to the world, and the Enemy made war upon me through my wife, and I told the fathers the story, and they imposed upon me severe labours; and having performed these my body hath become ill, and the war hath waxed stronger against me.” Now when the old man heard these things, he was grieved, and he said unto him, “The fathers have imposed upon thee great labours as if [thou hadst been] a mighty man, but if thou wilt hearken to my feeble [voice] thou wilt relinquish those labours, and partake of a little food, at the appointed time, and wilt sing and pray a little, and wilt cast thy business upon God. For by thy pains and sickness thou wilt not be able to conquer this matter, because our body is like unto a garment; if thou take care of it, it will last, but if thou neglect it, it will come to an end.” Now the brother having heard these things acted thus, and in a few days the war passed away from him.
21. One of the fathers asked Abbâ Nastîr, the friend of the blessed Anthony, saying, “What is the best work for me to do?” And he said unto him, “Not all kinds of labour are the same. For the book saith that Abraham was a lover of strangers, and that God was with him; and Elijah was a lover of a life of silent contemplation, and God was with him; and David was a humble man, and God was with him; therefore whatsoever work thy soul wisheth to do, provided that it be of God, that do, and keep thy heart from evil things.”
And the brother asked him again, saying, “Father, tell me other things”; and the old man said, “Abbâ Anbastiôn asked Abbâ Athrî, saying, ‘What shall I do?’ And he said unto him, ‘Go, make thy belly little, and the work of thy hands great, and be not troubled in thy cell.’”
And again the brother asked him, saying, “If there be a persecution, is it better to flee to the desert or to the habitation of men?” And the old man said unto him, “Go wheresoever thou hearest that true believers are, and have no friendship with a youth, and do not dwell with one; and if thou art able so to do, dwell in thy cell, for this is good, and cleanse thy garden herbs. This is far better than going to a man and asking him questions.”
And again the brother asked him, “I wish to dwell in close friendship with a brother, and I want to live a life of silent contemplation by myself in my cell, and he must give me what I want, and I will give him the work of my hands.” The old man said unto him, “The fathers have never sought after a thing of this kind; and if thou dost not give bread to the poor Satan will not permit thee [so to live].”
22. Abbâ Daniel Parnâyâ, the disciple of Abbâ Arsenius, used to tell about a man of Scete, and say that he was a man of great labours but simple in the faith, and in his ignorance he considered and declared that the bread which we receive is not in very truth the Body of Christ, but a similitude of His Body. And two of the fathers heard this word which he spake, but because they knew of his sublime works and labours, they imagined that he had spoken it in his innocence and simple-mindedness; and they came to him and said unto him, “Father, we have heard a thing from a man which we do not believe, for he saith that this bread which we receive is not in very truth the Body of Christ, but a mere similitude.” And he said unto them, “It is I who have said this thing,” and they entreated him, saying, “Thou must not say thus, father, but according to what the Holy Catholic Church hath handed down to us, even so do we believe, that is to say, this bread is the Body of Christ in very truth, and is not a mere similitude. As, in truth, God straightway took dust from the earth, and fashioned man in His image, [and no man is able to say that he is not the image of God], so also was it the case of the bread of which He said, ‘This is My Body,’ for it is not to be regarded as a merely commemorative thing, and we believe that it is indeed the Body of Christ.” And the old man said, “Unless I be convinced by the thing itself I will not hearken [to this]”; then the fathers said unto him, “Let us pray to God for the whole week on this mystery, and we believe that He will reveal [it] unto us,” and the old man agreed to this with great joy, and each man went to his cell. Then the old man prayed unto God, saying, “O Lord, Thou knowest that it is not from wickedness that I do not believe, but in order that I may not go astray through ignorance, reveal Thou therefore unto me, O Lord Jesus Christ, this mystery”; and the two other old men prayed unto God and said thus, “O Lord Jesus Christ, make Thou this old man to have knowledge concerning this mystery, and we believe that he will not destroy his labours.”
And God heard the entreaty of the two fathers, and when the week was ended they came to the church, and the three of them sat down by themselves on one seat, and the old man was between the other two; and the eyes of their understandings were opened, and when the time of the Mysteries had arrived, and the bread was laid upon the holy table, there appeared to the three of them as it were a child on the table. And when the priest stretched out his hand to break the bread, behold the angel of the Lord came down from heaven with a knife in his hand, and he slew the child and pressed out his blood into the cup; and when the priest broke off from the bread small members, the old man drew nigh that he might partake of the Holy Offering, and a piece of living flesh smeared and dripping with blood was given to him. Now when he saw [this] he was afraid, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying, “I believe, O Lord, that the bread is Thy Body, and that the cup is Thy Blood”; and straightway the flesh which was in his hand became bread like unto that of the Mystery, and he took it and gave thanks unto God. And the old men said unto him, “God knoweth the nature of men, and that it is unable to eat living flesh, and for this reason He turneth His Body into bread, and His Blood into wine, for those who receive Him in faith.” Then they gave thanks unto God for that old man, and because he had not permitted Satan to destroy him from his labours, and the three of them went to their cells in gladness.