est to be of benefit to him, shew him [an example] by deeds and not by words, lest through observing words only he be found useless; for if thou wilt shew him by deeds, the deeds themselves will abide with him, and he will profit.”
353. Certain of the fathers said to Abbâ Macarius the Egyptian, “Whether thou eatest or whether thou fastest, thy body hath already dried up”; and the old man said unto them, “A piece of wood which hath been burned and consumed by the fire burneth wholly, and thus also the heart of a man, if he be purified by the fear of God, consumeth the lusts from his flesh, and drieth up his bones.”
354. Abbâ Theodore used to say, “If God imputeth to us carelessness in prayer, and the snare in [His] service wherein we have been captured, we shall not be able to stand.”
355. They used to say of one of the old men that he had passed twenty years in the church, and had never lifted his eyes and seen the roof thereof.
356. There was a certain monk whose name was Paul, and his rule of life and conduct was such that he did not approach the excessive labour of the work of the hands, nor any trafficking whatsoever, except such as was sufficient to provide for his small amount of daily food; but he performed one sort of work of excellence, that is, he prayed continually and ceased not, and he laid down the rule for himself that he should pray three hundred prayers each day, and he placed sand in his bosom, and at every prayer which he prayed, he would lay one grain of sand in his hand. Now this man asked Saint Macarius, saying, “Father, I am greatly afflicted”; and the old man pressed him to tell him the cause of his affliction. Then he answered and said, “I have heard about a certain virgin who hath led an ascetic life for thirty years, and Father Pîôr related concerning her that every week she went forth and recited five hundred prayers in the day. Now when I heard these things I despised myself greatly, for I am not able to recite more than three hundred prayers.” Then the holy man Macarius answered and said unto him, “I have led an ascetic life for sixty years, and I make fifty prayers a day, and I work sufficiently to provide myself with food, and I receive the brethren who come to me, and I say unto them what it is seemly to say, and I pay my debts, and my mind doth not condemn me as one who hath treated [God] lightly; but thou who makest three hundred prayers in the day, art thou condemned by thy thoughts? Perchance thou dost not offer them with purity [of heart], or thou art able to do more, and dost not do it!”
357. I used to know a certain holy man whose name was
