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.

62. A brother asked Abba Pimen, "What should I do with this burden that oppresses me?" The elder said to him: both small and large ships have twine, and if there is no fair wind, then they take a rope and twine on their shoulders, and little by little they drag the vessel until God sends a favorable, favorable wind; and when they see that darkness is coming, then they land on the shore, drive a stake, and tie the ship to it, so that it does not wander on the waters. This stake is self-abasement.

63. Abba Pimen also said, "Do not live in a place where you see that you are envied; otherwise you will not be successful.

64. A brother came to Abba Pimen, and said to him, "I sow my field, and I establish alms from it." The elder answered him, 'You think it is a good deed.' "The brother returned with encouragement, and multiplied the alms. Abba Anubius heard about this, and said to Abba Pimen: Do you not fear God that you gave such an answer to your brother? The elder remained silent. Two days later, Abba Pimen sent for his brother, sent him to himself, and said to him in the presence of Abba Anubius: "What did you say to me that time?" my mind was then occupied with something else. I said, answered his brother, that I was sowing a field for myself and establishing alms from it. Abba Pimen said to him, 'I thought you were talking about your brother, a layman.' If you do it yourself, you are not doing it well; for such a thing is unbecoming for a monk. "Hearing this, the brother was grieved and said, 'Apart from this matter, I have no other business, and I do not even know of it; and therefore I cannot help sowing my field. "When the brother left, Abba Anubius bowed to the elder, saying: Forgive me! Abba Pimen said to him: "I knew before that this was not a monastic work; but he said so according to his thoughts, and thus encouraged him to increase almsgiving. Now he left us in disappointment, and he will do the same again.

65. The brother asked Abba Pimen, "What does it mean to be angry with one's brother in vain" (cf. Matthew 5:22)? "You are angry in vain," the elder answers, "if you are angry for all the covetousness that you endure from your brother, even if he put out your right eye." But if anyone tries to distance himself from God, be angry with him.

66. Abba Pimen said, "If a man sins and denies it, saying, 'I am not a sinner,' do not rebuke him; otherwise you will take away from him the disposition for good. But if you say to him, "Do not lose heart, brother, do not despair, but beware ahead," you will stir up his soul to repentance.

67. A brother said to Abba Pimen, "I wish to enter the coenobia." The elder answered: if you wish to enter the coenobia, and do not cease to care about every occasion and about every thing, then you cannot fulfill the rules of communal life; for there you cannot even dispose of the jar at will.

68. The brother asked him, "My thoughts represent to me that which is higher than me, and compel me to despise my younger brother." The elder answered him: The Apostle says that in the great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also wood and clay... For whosoever shall cleanse himself from all these things, he shall be a vessel for honor, sanctified, and of use to his Lord, prepared for every good work (2 Tim. 2:20, 21). "What does that mean?" asked the brother. The elder answered him: the house means the world, the vessels mean people: the golden vessels mean perfect people, the silver vessels that follow them, the wooden and clay vessels that have a small spiritual age in them. Whoever cleanses himself from all these, that is, without condemning anyone, will be a pure vessel, sanctified, useful to the Lord, and prepared for every good work.