to entreat him and to bring him to his monastery; and when they had arrived at the place where Abbâ Sôrîôn used to dwell, they left their cloaks there, and the aggrieved brother was with them. And when the fathers had knocked, the old man brought forward a ladder, and he recognized them, and said unto them, “Where are your cloaks?” And they said, “They are here with us, with such and such a brother.” Now when the old man heard the name of that brother, in sheer joy he took an axe and opened the door, and he ran to the place where that brother was, and the holy man fell at the feet of the saint, and he made entreaty to him, and he kissed him, and saluted him, and he brought him and the fathers to his cell, and he refreshed both him and them for three days; and he made ready a meal, which he was not in the habit of doing, and he rose up and went with them with great joy. Now afterwards he was called to the office of Bishop, and he became a worker of signs and miracles, and he also made his disciple Abbâ Isaac a Bishop, and he continued to lead a life of spiritual excellence until the end of his life.
386. They used to say of Abbâ Serapion, the Bishop, that whensoever a man came to him to receive the monastic garb, he said these words to him, “When thou prayest say, ‘Lord, teach me to do Thy will.’ ”
387. On one occasion Abbâ Paphnutius was living in a remote desert, and it happened that a certain brother came to him and found him sick, and the brother took him, and washed him, and of the food which he had with him he boiled a little, and brought it to him to eat. And when he saw [this] he answered and said, “In very truth it had passed from my mind that this gratification for the children of men existed”; and he brought him a cup of cream. Now when the old man saw him, he wept, and said, “I never expected that, even to the day of my death, I should drink wine.”
388. One of the fathers told a story, saying: “On one occasion two brethren according to the body came to the desert to a certain monk, and they conducted themselves in an excellent manner, and they were praised by the whole brotherhood. And it came to pass that one of them fell into a sickness which lasted not a few years, and his brother ministered unto him, and certain fathers came to visit him, and they began to praise him that ministered unto him, saying, ‘Thy willingness and thy abstinence profit the whole brotherhood.’ And he answered and said unto them with great humility, Forgive me, O my fathers, for I have not as yet begun to lead a life of rule, but it is my brother who doeth the works of excellence, and that ye may indeed learn that such is the
