when we had ended the service Ammon answered and said unto me, ‘Whilst I was standing up during the service it seemed that I was standing on fire and was being consumed, and my mind was unable to make me turn aside either to the right hand or to the left. And as for thee, where was thy mind when we were singing the service? for thou didst omit a verse from the Psalm. Didst thou not know that thou wast standing in the presence of God, and that thou wast speaking unto Him?’ ”
252. A certain brother came to dwell in a cell with one of the fathers, and he told him of a thought whereby he was afflicted; and the old man said unto him, “Thou hast left upon the earth the excellent service of the fear of God, and thou hast taken and hast laid hold upon a staff made of a reed, that is to say, evil thoughts. Take unto thyself the fear of God, which is the fire, and as soon as they come nigh unto thee they shall be burned like reeds.” Now this man was, according to what his disciple related about him, a great old man, and for twenty years he never lay upon either of his sides, but slept upon the seat whereon he sat to work. Sometimes he ate once in two days, and at other times once in four days, and at others once in five days, and in this manner he passed twenty years. Now I said unto him, “What is this which thou doest, O father?” And he said unto me, “Because I set the judgement of God before my eyes I cannot be negligent, for I keep in remembrance [the fact that] my sins are many.
253. Whilst Abbâ Arsenius was dwelling in Canopus of Alexandria a certain noble lady came to him; she was a virgin, and was exceedingly rich, and she feared the Lord, and she was from Rome and had come to see Abbâ Arsenius. Now Theophilus, Archbishop of Alexandria, received her, and she begged him to entreat the old man to receive her. Then Theophilus went to Abbâ Arsenius and entreated him, saying, “Such and such a noble lady hath come from Rome, and she wisheth to see thee, and to be blessed by thee”; but the old man refused to receive her. And when Theophilus informed her that the old man refused to receive her, she commanded them to make ready the beasts [for travelling], and she said, “By God, I believe that I shall see him. I did not come to see men, for there are men in my own city, but I came to see a prophet.” And when she came outside the cell of the old man, he happened, through the working of God, to be there, and she saw him, and fell down at his feet; then he lifted her up eagerly, and looking at her, said, “If thou wishest to look upon my face, behold, look”; but she by reason of her bashfulness, was not able to look upon his face. Then the old man said unto
