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 with a certain brother, he sighed unknowingly, and he did not perceive that the brother was with him, because his mind was carried away by the noonday [prayer]; and he made apologies to that brother, and said unto him, “Forgive me, O my brother, that I heaved a sigh before thee [proves] that I have not yet become a monk.”

379. An old man used to say, “Whensoever I bring down the bar of the loom, and before I raise it up again, I always set my death before mine eyes.”

380. Another old man used to say, “When I am plaiting (or sewing) a basket, with every stitch which I put into it I set my death before my eyes before I take another stitch.”

381. Abbâ Daniel used to say, “On one occasion we went to Abbâ Poemen, and having eaten together, he said unto us subsequently, ‘Go ye and rest yourselves a little, O my brethren’; and when the brethren had gone to rest themselves I remained that I might be able to talk to the old man privately. And I rose up and came to his cell, and I saw that he was sitting outside on a mat, and seeing me he lay down; now he did not know that I had seen him seated, and he pretended to be asleep. And this was the custom of the old man, for everything which he did was done by him in secret.”

382. One of the fathers asked Abbâ Sisoes, saying, “If I am living in the desert and the barbarians come against me to kill me, supposing that I have strength may I kill one of them?” The old man said unto him, “No. Commit thyself unto God, and leave [it to Him]. For with every trial which cometh upon a man he should say, ‘It hath come because of my sins’; but if something good happeneth to him, let him say, ‘It is of the Providence of God.’ ”

383. One of the old men used to say, “When the eyes of the ox are covered over then he is subjugated by the yoke bar, but if they do not cover [his] eyes he cannot be made to bow beneath the yoke; and thus is it with Satan, for if he can cover over the eyes of a man he can bring him low with every kind of sin, but if his eyes be able to see (or shine), he is able to flee from him.”

384. Abbâ Anthony said, “It is not seemly for us to remember the time which hath passed, but let a man be each day as one who beginneth his toil, so that the excessive weariness [which we shall feel] may be to our advantage. And let him say, as Paul said, ‘That which is behind me I forget, and I reach out to that which is before me’ ” (Philippians 3:13). And let him also remember the word of Elijah, who said, ‘As the Lord liveth, before Whom I stand this day’ ” (1 Kings 17:1).