lax behaviour, and observe carefully the commandments of our fathers, or must I also depart from you?”
And it came to pass that when the brethren heard these things, they beat the board for assembling the monks, and the whole brotherhood gathered itself together, and Abbâ Joseph spake unto them all the words which are [written] above. And when all the brethren heard the words of Abbâ Joseph, and learned the reason of his pain and grief, and that he wished to depart from them, they cast themselves down upon their faces weeping, and they expressed their contrition to him, saying, “Forgive us, O father, for the sake of Jesus. We have made God angry by our deeds, and we have caused thy holiness grief.” Then each of the fathers said, “Would that thou hadst rebuked us on the very first day wherein thou didst hear [about us] from the fathers, and that they had not departed from us! And would, too, that we had roused ourselves up from our slumber and sluggishness! But what are we to do? For the old men and the holy men do not teach us, and they do not even take their proper places in our congregations, or when we sit at meat. Very many of us wish to hear the histories and commandments of the fathers read, either whilst we are sitting at table or between one sitting and the next, but we are never able to hear a word of their talk.” And Abbâ Elijah said, “Abbâ Abraham and Abbâ John spake much at table, and at the time of reading, and at the time of the service; and they began to become excited against each other, and the one said, ‘Father, such and such a man is excited,’ and the other said, ‘Such and such a man maketh us excited.’ Now when Abbâ Joseph saw that the whole brotherhood was stirred up, he made supplication unto them, and besought them, saying, ‘I beseech you, O my brethren, to cease from your commotion, for God hath called us to peace, and I therefore beg you to come and pray, and to make supplication unto God that He may make to pass by us the legions and the host of the enemy. For, behold, I see them standing up in wrath and anger, with their swords drawn, and they wish to destroy us all if God doth not stand up to help our wretchedness.’ ”
And when he had said these things he was able, with some difficulty, to quiet them, and Abbâ Joseph himself began to sing the words of the harpist David, saying, “Their swords shall enter their own hearts, and their bows shall be broken, and God shall make them like a wheel and as dust before the wind. And God shall arise and all His enemies shall be scattered. O God, deliver me, O Lord, remain to help [me]” (Psalm 37:15; 83:13; 68:1; 7:1). And when they
