***

One brother said to Abba Pimen: "I am troubled by thoughts and do not allow me to think about my sins, but force me to notice only the shortcomings of my brother. Abba Pimen told him about Abba Dioscorus, that he had wept for himself in his cell; and his disciple lived in another cell. When a disciple came to the elder and found him crying, he asked him: "Father! What are you crying about? He answered him, "I weep for my sins, child." - The disciple said to him: "You have no sins, father! But the elder answered him: I assure you, my son! If I could see my sins, then four more people would not be enough to mourn them with me. At the same time, Abba Pimen said: "He is truly a man who has come to know himself" (ch. 3:22).

***

Abba Sisoy once said with boldness: "Believe me, for thirty years now I have not prayed to God for my other sins, but, praying, I say to Him: Lord, Jesus Christ, cover me from my tongue! For even to this day I fall, sinning through him (4:47).

***

The brother asked the elder: "What should I do, father?" Shameful thoughts kill me. The elder said to him: when a mother wants to wean her child from milk, she puts a bitter sea onion to her nipples. The infant usually falls to the breast to suck milk, but because of bitterness he turns away from it. In the same way, if you wish, put your bitterness on your thoughts. His brother asked him, 'What bitterness is this that I ought to put down?' "Remembrance of death and torment in the future life," said the elder (5:33).

***

One of the fathers said: when I was in the city of Oxyrhynchus (a city in Central Egypt, on the left bank of the Nile), beggars came there on Saturday evening to beg alms. When they slept, one of them had only a mat - half of it was under him, and half of it was above him. There was a severe frost there. When I went out at night, I heard him shivering from the cold and comforting himself, saying, "I thank You, Lord! How many are now in the prisons of the rich, weighed down with irons, and others have their feet hammered into wood. But I, as a king, can stretch out my legs and go whither I please. I stood and listened as he said it. Going inside, I told this to the brethren, and those who heard it benefited (7:54).

***

Abba Isaac of Thebes came to the coenobia, saw his brother who had fallen into sin, and condemned him. When he returned to the wilderness, an angel of the Lord came, stood before the door of his cell and said, "I will not let you enter." The abba begged him, saying, "What is the reason for this?" The angel answered and said to him, "God has sent me to you, saying, 'Ask him, where does He command Me to throw my fallen brother?' Abba Isaac immediately threw himself down on the ground, saying, 'I have sinned against You, forgive me!' - The angel said to him, "Get up, God has forgiven you; but henceforth beware of condemning anyone before God condemns him (9:5).

***

One of the fathers, seeing a certain sinner, said with bitter tears: "This one has fallen today, and I tomorrow" (9:17).

***

They spoke of Abba Agathon: some came to him, hearing that he had great prudence. Wishing to test him, whether he would not be angry, they asked him: "Are you Agathon?" We have heard of you that you are a fornicator and a proud man. "Yes, that's true," he answered. - They asked him again: are you Agathon, a slanderer and an empty talker? "I am," he answered. "And they also say to him, 'Are you, Agathon, a heretic?' "No, I am not a heretic," he answered. Then they asked him, 'Tell us, why did you agree to everything that was said to you, and did not endure the last word?' - He answered them: "I admit the first vices for myself; for this confession is profitable to my soul. And to recognize oneself as a heretic means excommunication from God, and I do not want to be excommunicated from my God. - When they heard this, they marveled at his prudence, and departed, having received instruction (10:12).