Father Vasily had the fear of God, reverence, ardent faith and zeal for the fulfillment of his pastoral duty. He received from God the gift of healing the sick. Soon the rumor about him spread throughout Cappadocia.

Nearby, in the Pontic Mountains, lived a holy hermit, whose name, unfortunately, has not survived to this day. One night an angel of the Lord appeared to him: "The time has come for you to receive a reward for your ascetic labors. God wants to call you to Himself, on Good Friday night you will stand before the Lord. Get ready, commune of the Holy Mysteries three Sundays in a row."

The hermit did what the Angel had instructed him to do, and went to Fr. Basil, the priest of the nearby village of Tsat. He told him about what had happened and asked him to commune him of the Holy Mysteries. After the celebration of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, he promised to come the following Sunday.

Father Vasily, wishing to test the hermit, on Sunday evening, on the eve of his arrival, tightly locked all the doors and even hung barn locks on them. In addition, he unleashed his wild shepherd dogs. As soon as it got dark, the ascetic appeared. At once the bolted doors opened, and the dogs not only did not bark, but did not even move from their places.

The amazed Father Vasily asked:

- How did the doors open by themselves?

- There are no locks for us. Let's go to church, you will give me communion.

After the Sacrament was performed, the priest asked:

- Holy Lord, tell me, where do you live? We will come to take care of your burial.

-Don't bother. God sends lions to dig our graves.

- What do you eat?

- God feeds us with manna from heaven.

"When you come again, bring us a piece of manna as a blessing." And also one of the books you are reading, so that it will be a comfort to me in this temporal life.

On the following Sunday, the holy hermit again visited Father Basil, who gave him communion for the last time. As he was leaving, the hermit said: "Take this piece of manna from heaven. Eat part of it, and put part in the barn of your house, so that you may have the blessing of God. May it always be full, and your family will never starve." Then he took out a leather-bound book from his bosom and, giving it to Father Vasily, said: "Take this book[7], and those whom you bind, let them be bound. And those whom you absolve, let them be absolved."