48. It was told about Abba Peter, a disciple of Abba Silouan: when he lived in his cell on Mount Sinai, he governed himself with moderation in regard to bodily needs; but when he became a bishop in Pharan, he began to live much more strictly. His disciple said to him, 'Abba! When we were in the wilderness, you didn't live so strictly. The elder answered: there was a desert, silence and poverty, and I tried to hold my body so as not to exhaust me, and to have the strength to acquire what I did not have. And now we live in the world — there are many temptations here, and therefore I dry up my body, so as not to destroy the monk in me. If I happen to get sick here, then there is someone to help me.

49. The brother asked Abba Pimen, "Am I indignant and want to leave my place?" The elder said to him, 'For what reason?' "Because," answered the brother, "I hear words about a certain brother that are not edifying to me. The elder said to him: is what you have heard true? "Father," he answered, "the brother who told me is faithful!" The elder said to him, 'Not faithful,' for if he had been faithful, he would not have told you this. And God Himself, hearing the cry of the Sodomites, did not believe until He saw with His own eyes (Gen. 18:20, 21); So we don't always have to believe words. The brother said to him, "I have seen with my own eyes." "Hearing this, the elder sat down on the ground, and taking a small branch, said to him, 'What is this?' "A," answered his brother. Then the elder looked at the roof of the cell and said to him: "And what is this?" "A log," answered the brother. The elder said to him: put on your heart that your sins are like this beam, and your brother's sins are like this little bough. Abba Tiphoi, hearing such a word, was amazed and said, 'How shall I please you, Abba Pimen?' Thy words are precious stones, full of grace and all glory.

50. Abba Pimen said: In my opinion, a man who sins and acknowledges his sin and repents is better than a man who does not sin and does not humble himself. The one considers himself a sinner, and humbles himself in his thoughts, but this one presents himself as a righteous man, as if he were righteous, and is exalted.

51. Once the local presbyters came to the monastery where Abba Pimen was. Abba Anubius came to him and said, "Call here the presbyters." But Abba Pimen did not give him an answer, although he stood before him for a long time. Abba Anubius went out with sorrow. "Those who sat near the elder said to him: Abba, why did you not give him an answer? He left in disappointment. "Abba Pimen said to them: this does not concern me, I am dead, but the dead do not speak. Now, let them not think that I am here with them.

52. Once upon a time, a brother who lived not far from Abba Pimen went to another country. There he met a certain hermit, whom they loved very much, and many came to him. His brother told him about Abba Pimen. "Hearing about his virtue, the hermit wished to see him. After some time after the return of the brother to Egypt, the hermit also went from his country to Egypt to this very brother who was with him, for he had told him where he lived. "My brother, seeing him, was surprised, and very happy. The hermit said to him: show me love, take me to Abba Pimen. The brother, taking him, went to the elder, and spoke of him thus: he is a great man, he enjoys great love and respect in his country; I told him about you, and he came desiring to see you. "Then the hermit began to speak from the Scriptures about spiritual and heavenly things. But Abba Pimen turned his face away from him, and gave no answer. Seeing that the elder did not speak to him, he left him with sorrow, and said to the brother who had brought him: "In vain have I undertaken all this journey; I went to the elder for the sake of benefit, but he does not even want to talk to me! "The brother went to Abba Pimen and said to him: Abba, this great man, so famous in his country, has come for you — why did you not speak to him? The elder answered him, "He is from the highest," and speaks of heavenly things; but I am from the lowly, and I speak of earthly things (John 8:23; cf. 3:31). If he were to talk to me about the passions of the soul, I would answer him; but if he speaks of spiritual things, then I do not know this. Leaving him, the brother said to the hermit: "The elder does not suddenly speak from the Scriptures; but if anyone speaks to him about the passions of the soul, he answers him. "Crushed in himself, the hermit went up to the elder and said to him, 'What shall I do, Abba?' I am seized by the passions of the soul. The elder looked at him with joy, and said, "Now it is well that you have come; now open thy mouth, and I will fulfill their blessings. "The hermit, having received great edification, said: truly, this is the true path! And he returned to his own country, thanking God for vouchsafed him to see such a great man.

53. Abba Pimen said: What is the use of building someone else's house, and destroying your own?

54. And he said, "What is the use of going to the school of art and not learning it?"

55. A brother asked Abba Pimen, "I have committed a great sin, and I want to repent for three years?" "A lot," Abba Pimen said to him. "Or at least one year, says my brother. "And that's a lot," the elder said again. Those who were with the elder asked: is not forty days enough? "And that's a lot," said the elder. If a man, he added, repents with all his heart, and sins no more, then God will receive him in three days.

56. Abba Ammoy asked him about certain impure thoughts born in the human heart, and about vain desires. Abba Pimen answered him: "Will food be glorified by the axe without him who cuts it" (Isaiah 10:15)? Do not give them your hand, and do not delight in them, and they will pass away.

57. Abba Isaiah asked him the same thing. Abba Pimen said to him: like a chest of clothes, if left unattended, the clothes will decay over time; In the same way, thoughts, if we do not do them bodily, decay and disappear in time.

58. Abba Joseph asked him the same thing. Abba Pimen said to him, "If a man puts a serpent and a scorpion in a vessel and closes it, they will die out completely; so evil thoughts disappear from patience.

59. And he also asked Abba Pimen, "How should we fast?" Abba Pimen answered: I think it is possible to eat every day, but eat a little, so as not to be full. "And you," said Abba Joseph, "when you were still young, did you not fast for two days?" "Exactly," the elder answered him, "I fasted for three days, and for four, and for a week, — and all this the elders experienced like strong men, and found that it was better to eat a little every day, and handed over to us this path; for it is the royal path and convenient for us.

60. His brother asked him, "If a man falls into any sin and converts, will God forgive him?" The elder answered him: "He who commanded people to do this, will He not do it more Himself?" And He commanded Peter to forgive his brother up to seventy times a week (Matt. 18:22).

61. The brother, being disturbed by the demons of blasphemy, went to Abba Pimen, with the intention of revealing his thoughts. But he returned without saying anything to the elder. And then again, seeing that this spirit greatly disturbed him, he again went to the elder; but, ashamed to reveal himself to him, he returned again, without saying anything to the elder. And so he did several times: when he came to the elder to confess his thoughts to him, he returned from shame without saying anything. The elder learned that his brother was tormented by thoughts, but was ashamed to reveal them. Thus, when the brother, as usual, came to him again, and did not reveal anything, Abba Pimen said to him: "What is the matter with you, brother? "You're leaving without saying anything to me. "The brother answered, 'What can I say to you, father!' The elder said to him: I feel that your thoughts are struggling with you, but you do not want to open up to me, fearing that I will tell someone. Believe me, brother, just as this wall cannot speak, so I do not reveal someone else's thoughts to anyone. Encouraged by this, the brother said to the elder: "Father, I am in danger of perishing from the spirit of blasphemy; for he tries almost to convince me that there is no God, which even the Gentiles do not admit and do not think. The elder said to him: "Do not be indignant at this thought: for although carnal warfare often befalls us from our negligence, this thought comes upon us not from our negligence, but is the guidance of the serpent himself. Therefore, when this thought comes to you, get up and pray, and making the sign of the cross, say within yourself, as if to the enemy himself: Anathema to you, Satan, I myself believe that there is a God who cares for everything, and this thought does not come from me, but from you, the ill-wisher. "And I believe," the elder concluded, "that God will deliver you from such sorrow." "Leaving the elder, the brother departed and acted according to his instructions. The demon, seeing that his intent had been discovered, departed from him, by the grace of God.