Page:ParadiseOfTheHolyFathersV2.djvu/266

 shall certainly depart.” Then they threw themselves on the ground, and entreated him to let them go with him.

483. Abbâ Agathon also used to say, “The monk’s cloak is a sign of the absence of wickedness”; and he also said, “God asketh from those who begin the service of the works of the fear of God nothing except that they shall order their bodies by obedience to the commandments against the passions of the lusts.”

484. Abbâ Agathon also said, “He who removeth from before his eyes accusations, and disgrace (or insult), and loss (or belittlement) is able to live.”

485. A brother said unto Abbâ Agathon, “Father, I had the order to dwell in a certain place, and I have war there, and I want to depart; I would fulfil the command, but I am afraid of the war.” The old man said unto him, “If it were Agathon, he would keep the command, and overcome the war.”

486. The same old man also said, “If the inner man be watchful he will be able to guard the outer man also; but if he be not, let us guard the tongue by every means in our power.”

487. The old man Benjamin was asked by a brother, “Of what consisteth the life of a monk?” And he answered and said, “A mouth of truth, a holy body, and a pure heart.”

488. They used to say concerning a certain old man that, on account of the great humility which he possessed, God gave him the gift of becoming a seer of visions, and he could see beforehand when anyone was coming to him, and it was revealed to him concerning it; now the old man was sorry and did not wish for this thing, and he made supplication unto God that it might be taken away from him. And he went to an old Rabbâ, and entreated him, saying, “My brother, labour for me, so that this gift may be removed from me”; then each of them sat down in his cell and made entreaty unto God concerning this matter, and a voice was heard by that old man, saying, “Behold, I remove the gift from thee, but whensoever thou wishest it is thine.” And he went straightway to the old Rabbâ and shewed him what had been said unto him, and when he heard [it] he gave thanks unto God.

489. The fathers once asked Abbâ Sylvanus, saying, “What work of ascetic excellence hast thou performed that thou didst receive the wisdom which thou dost possess, and the gift with which is endowed thy face?” And the old man answered and said unto them with great humility, “[I received these things] because I never left in my heart a thought which could provoke God to wrath.” And they used to say that the