Page:ParadiseOfTheHolyFathersV2.djvu/252



412. A certain stranger came to Scete, and brought there much gold, and he entreated the priest that it might be given to the brethren, and the priest said unto him, “It is useless to them”; and having entreated him many times, and the priest not consenting [to this], the man laid the gold down openly at the door of the church. And the priest said, “My brethren, if any man hath need let him take [some],” but they refused to touch it, and some of them would not even look at it. Then the priest said unto him, “God hath accepted thy gift, go, and give it to the poor”; and having been greatly helped he departed.

413. On one occasion the steward of Scete went up to Constantinople, and the Emperor seeing him asked him how the fathers in Egypt were; and the steward did homage, and answered and said to the Emperor, “Behold, they eat each other, and live.” Now when the Emperor heard this, he marvelled, and asked him, “What is the meaning of ‘They eat each other?’ ” And the steward said, “The meaning of ‘They eat each other’ is this:—When it happeneth that one of them is going to die, he commandeth that whatsoever he hath shall be given to various men according to their needs; and similarly when a man worketh he bringeth [the results of] his labour, and refresheth all the brethren therewith, and in this way they live.” The Emperor said unto for ye are saved and freed from thim, “Verily blessed are ye, he cares of the world, and also from the judgement of Gehenna. We, on the other hand, are troubled by the cares of the world, and Gehenna is prepared for us because of our sins.”

414. They used to say of Abbâ Betimius that, when [the brethren] were coming down from the harvest to Scete, they brought down as a gift for the brethren who were there a jar of oil, which contained the measure of a kestâ and was sealed with plaster. And at the return of the period the year following when they were going to the harvest, they brought everything which was of benefit to the church; and Abbâ Betimius made a small hole with a needle in the vessel of oil, and poured out a little for himself, and thought that he had done some great thing in not having consumed the whole of the oil which was in the vessel. And when the brethren brought their vessels with the plaster coverings intact and the vessels themselves unopened, whilst his vessel had been perforated, he stood there full of shame, just like a man who thinketh that he hath been found [committing] fornication.

415. There was a great and holy man who used to dwell in the inner desert, in a state of glorious ascetic excellence, and the gifts of casting out devils and of healing the sick had been given to him by God, and he used to work great miracles in