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 word of profit; and the holy old man wept, and said unto them, Let us weep, O my brethren, and let us make our eyes to overflow with tears before we go to the place where the tears of our eyeballs will burn up our bodies.” And they all wept, and they fell upon their faces, saying, “Father, pray for us.”

151. When the blessed Arsenius was about to deliver up his spirit the brethren saw him weeping, and they said unto him, “Art thou also afraid, O father?” And he said unto them, “The dread of this hour hath been with me in very truth from the time when I became a monk, and was afraid.” And so he died.

152. And when Abbâ Poemen heard that he was dead, that is to say, that Abbâ Arsenius had gone to his rest, he said, “Blessed art thou, O Abbâ Arsenius, for thou didst weep over thyself in this world. For he who weepeth not for himself in this world must weep for ever in the next. He may weep here voluntarily, or there because of the punishments [which he will receive], but it is impossible for a man to escape weeping either here or there.”

153. A brother asked Abbâ Poemen and said unto him, “What shall I do in the matter of my sins?” And the old man said unto him, “When Abraham went into the Land of Promise he bought himself a grave, and through the grave he inherited the land.” And the brother said unto him, “What is a grave?” Then the old man said unto him, “Weeping and mourning are a grave and a place [of burial].”

154. One of the brethren asked Abbâ Poemen, saying, “Father, what shall I do in the matter of my sins?” The old man said unto him, “Whosoever wisheth to blot out his offences can do so by weeping, and he who wisheth to acquire good works can do so by means of weeping; for weeping is the path which the Scriptures have taught us, and the fathers have also wept continually, and there is no other path except that of tears.”

155. And the same old man (i.e., Poemen) said, “There are two things [to remember]: We must fear our Lord, and do good unto our neighbour.”

156. Abbâ Noah asked Abbâ Macarius, and said unto him, “Speak to me a word”; and the old man said, “Flee from the children of men.” Noah said unto him, “Father, what doth it mean to flee from the children of men?” The old man said unto him, “Thou shalt sit in thy cell and weep for thy sins.”

157. A brother asked an old man, and said unto him, “What shall I do, father?” The old man said unto him, “It is right that we should sigh and lament always.” Now it happened that one of the old men fell asleep, and that after a long interval