he came to himself again, and the brethren asked him, saying, “What didst thou see there, O father?” and he said unto us with many tears, “I heard there the sound of the weeping of many, who were crying out and wailing incessantly, and saying, ‘Woe is me! Woe is me!’ And it is meet that we should always be saying the same thing.”
Chapter V: Of Voluntary Poverty
158. ABBÂ ARSENIUS once fell sick at Scete, and he was in need of a bowl of pottage; and since this was not to be found there, he took the remains of the Eucharist (or food of grace), and said, “I give thanks unto Thee, O Christ, that, because of Thy name, I am able to receive the food of grace.”
159. There was a certain holy man whose name was Philagrius, who lived in Jerusalem, and he worked with his hands and toiled [to earn] the food which he needed; and the old man rose up to see the work of his hands, and he found a purse containing one thousand darics which had dropped from some one [on the road], and he remained in the place where he was, saying, “The man who lost this will come back seeking for it.” And behold the man did come back, and he was weeping, and the old man took him aside and gave him the darics; and their owner laid hold upon him, and wished to give him some small sum of money, but the old man refused to accept anything. Then the owner of the darics began to cry out and say, “Come ye and see what the man of God hath done”; but the old man fled secretly and departed from the city, lest what he had done should become known, and men should pay him honour because of it.
160. They say that Abbâ Serapion the Bishop went on one occasion to one of the brethren, and found [in his cell] a hollow in the wall which was filled with books; and the brother said unto him, “Speak to me one word whereby I may live.” And the Bishop said unto him, “What have I to say to thee? For thou hast taken that which belongeth to the orphans and widows and laid it up in a hole in the wall.”
161. Abbâ Theodore of Parmê possessed some beautiful books, and he went to Abbâ Macarius and said unto him, “Father, I have three books, and I gain profit from them, and the brethren borrow them from me, and they also have profit from them; tell me, now, what shall I do with them?” And the old man answered and said, “Ascetic labours are beautiful, but the greatest of them all is voluntary poverty.” And when Abbâ Theodore heard these words he went and sold the books and gave the price of them to the poor.
