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 giveth us His protection for nothing, but if we boast ourselves, He removeth it from us and we perish.”

520. A brother asked an old man, saying, “What is the perfection of a monk?” The old man saith unto him, “Humility, for when once a man hath arrived at humility, he can reach forward to the goal.”

521. The old man said, “If a man can say unto his brother, ‘Forgive me,’ and can humble himself, this belongeth to the perfection of the monk.”

522. One of the old men said, “When a man saith unto his companion, ‘Forgive me,’ and at the same time humbleth himself, the devils are consumed.”

523. A certain brother was offended at his brother, and when the latter heard thereof he went to him to express his contrition, but he would not open the door; then he who had offended his brother went to another old man and related the matter unto him, and the old man answered and said, “Observe lest in thine own mind thou art justifying thyself, and art condemning thy brother, as if he were the offender, for it may be that because of this he would not be persuaded to open unto thee. Nevertheless, do thou what I am going to tell thee. For although he hath offended thee, go thou, and hold firmly [to the belief] that thou hast offended against him, and may God put it into thy brother’s mind to be reconciled to thee.”

524. And the old man related unto him a story which explained the matter, saying, “There were two men who were living in the world, and were fearers of God, and they were both of the same mind, and they went forth and became monks; and when they heard in a plain manner the word of the Gospel which saith, ‘There are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven’ (St. Matthew 19:12), they arrived at the hottest point of their love, and they made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Now when the Bishopheard [of this] he set them aside and excommunicated them. Then those men, wishing to show that they had done what was good, said unto one another, ‘We have made ourselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, and this Bishop driveth us out! Let us go and make a complaint against him to the head of our monasteries, that is, to the Bishop of Jerusalem’; and when they had gone to him they related unto him the whole matter. Then the Bishop said unto them, ‘And I also set you aside and excommunicate you’; and being greatly grieved at this remark also they went to the Bishop of Antioch, and related the matter unto him, and he also drove them away with the same words.