afterwards he worked and toiled more, and finally received her whom he loved? Thus is it with the monk also, for he shall fast and keep vigil, and yet shall not receive that which he asketh; and again, he shall labour with fasting and vigil, and shall receive the gift of grace which he asketh.”
69. One of the old men asked Abbâ Sisoes, saying, “Did Satan persecute the men of olden time as he doth those of to-day?” Sisoes said unto them, “He persecuteth the men of this age especially, because his time hath come.”
70. Abbâ John the Less, who was a young man, and had an elder brother, used to say, “I wanted to be without any care whatsoever, and to be like the angels of God, who do nothing except sing and pray to Him.” And straightway he cast from him the garments which he had on, and went forth to the wilderness, and when he had passed one week there, he returned to his brother; now when he knocked at the door his brother did not answer it, but asked him, “Who art thou?” And John said unto him, “I am John,” and his brother answered and said unto him, “John hath become an angel and is no longer among men”; and John entreated him, saying, “I indeed am John,” but his brother left him outside in affliction, and did not open the door until the morning. And when he came to open the door he said unto John, “If thou art indeed a man, it is necessary for thee to work so that thou mayest live.”
71. Abbâ Pûrtê said, “If God wisheth me to live, He knoweth how to lead me, and to strengthen me, and to provide for me; but if He desireth it not unto whom shall I go to live?” And he would accept nothing from any man, not even when he was lying upon his bed, “For,” he used to say, “if a man maketh an offering of any kind to me, and not for the sake of God, I myself have nothing whatsoever to give him, and he will receive nothing from God, for I am not in the place of God, so therefore he who offereth will suffer loss.”
72. Abbâ Poemen used to say, “Everything which ariseth through passion is sin”; and he used to say also, “Every [exercise of] power which is for God’s sake, is thanksgiving (or confession).”
73. An old man used to say, “Acquire silence, and take no care for any earthly thing, and examine closely thy meditations, and when thou sleepest and when thou risest up, be with God, and fear not the attack of the wicked.”
74. On one occasion a brother came to a father, and said unto him, “Abbâ, I sow a field, and I reap the harvest therefrom, and I give alms also thereof”; and the old man said unto him, “Be strong, my son, for thou doest well.” So the brother went away rejoicing in this desire. And Abbâ Job said unto Abbâ
