"Do not give me riches and poverty, but arrange for me what is necessary and self-satisfied, so that I may not be filled with lies, or steal impoverished." (Proverbs 30:8-9).

"Blessed is the rich man, who is found without blemish, and who does not follow gold. Who is this, and let us bless him, make him wondrous among men..." (Sir. 31:8-9).

Abba Daniel once came to the village to sell his needlework. He was about to return to his skete, when a man met him, surrounded by beggars and wanderers, and invited him to his place for supper. It was a stonecutter, named Eulogius, who was busy working all day, eating nothing; When evening came, he led all those of the poor whom he met on the way into the house, and spent everything he had worked out for supper, even the crumbs that remained from the table, he threw to the neighboring dogs.

The elder, marveling at his virtues, thought: "Eulogius, the poor, feeds so many beggars every day, what would the rich Eulogius do! Oh! he would be food to all who hunger, clothing to all who are naked!" And he began day and night to ask God that Eulogius, for the happiness of others, would become rich; combining his prayer with fasting, he became so exhausted that he was barely alive. Three weeks passed, and finally God heard the prayer of the elder: he fell asleep, suddenly he saw himself in the Church of the Resurrection, he saw a certain God-like Youth, sitting on a holy stone. Eulogius stood beside Him. Then the Lad said: "If you give yourself up as a guarantee for Eulogius, then I will give him wealth." "From my hands demand his soul," answered the elder, and saw that two of those who were present began to pour gold into the bosom of Eulogius. Then the elder awoke from his sleep, thanking God that his prayer had been heard.

Meanwhile, Eulogius lived as before. But one morning, when I went to work, I struck a stone with a pickaxe and felt that it was empty, I struck another time and saw a hole, I struck a third time, and gold fell from the stone... Eulogius was horrified and did not know what to do with the treasure! On that day, not a single beggar at Eulogius, and not even Eulogius himself, partook of food. The next day he bought horses and brought home gold under the guise of transporting stones, and dined alone.

For a long time Eulogius was in restless thoughts... Finally, he hired a ship and went to Constantinople; there he gave gifts to all the nobles, and he himself became a nobleman; he bought a huge, magnificent house and began to live in luxury, treating every day those who were close to the king.

Abba Daniel knew nothing about this, but two years later he again saw the Holy Lad in a dream and thought: where is Eulogius? "And suddenly he saw: someone evil was banishing Eulogius from the face of the Lad... The elder awoke from his sleep and, sighing, said to himself: "Alas! I have lost my soul!" — He took his outer garment and went to the place where Eulogius had lived before. For a long time he waited for the nourisher of the poor to come and invite him into his house, but in vain! Finally, seeing an old woman, he said to her: "Do me a favor, bring me a piece of bread, I have not eaten today." She fulfilled his request and entered into a spiritually beneficial conversation with him. Then he asked her: "Is there anyone here who receives strangers?" — "No," answered the old woman with a heavy sigh, "there was a stonemason among us, who loved hospitality most of all, but God, seeing his deeds, gave him His grace, and now he is a nobleman in Constantinople..." — Hearing this, the elder said to himself: "I have committed murder!" — and went to the capital. There he learned where Eulogius lived, sat down at the gate of his house and waited for him to come out... Finally, Eulogius appears with pride on his face, with pride in his gait, accompanied by slaves. "Have mercy on me," the elder exclaimed, "I want to tell you something..." But Eulogius did not even look at the elder; and the slaves pushed him away. The unfortunate guarantor preceded Eulogius by another street, met him again and called out to him, but having received several blows, he was forced to retire. Thus the elder sat for four weeks before the gates of Evlogiev's house, overwhelmed by snow and rain, and had no opportunity to talk to him. Finally, the elder despaired of the salvation of Eulogius, and, prostrating himself on the ground, asked God to release him from his commission. And then he dozed off, and saw in a dream the Most Holy Mother of God: "Have mercy on me, Lady?" he cried.

"What do you want?" Our Lady asks him. The Elder told Her his grief.

"I have nothing to do with this - you must fulfill your guarantee.

Waking up, the elder said to himself: "Even if I have to die, then I will not leave the gates of Eulogius," and he went again to the chambers of this nobleman. But as soon as Eulogius saw him, he ordered his slaves to beat him, and the poor elder, all wounded, was forced to depart. Grieving in his soul over the death of Eulogius, regretting that he himself was to blame for his death, and at the same time seeing no possibility of correcting the matter, Abba Daniel decided to leave everything to the will of God and withdraw to the desert of Egypt. But as soon as he boarded a ship to go to Alexandria, he fell into such cowardice that he fell as if dead... He dozed off and again saw in a dream the God-bearing Youth in the Church of the Resurrection; The lad looked at him so angrily that the elder trembled like a leaf of a tree, and could not utter a word in his defense. "Have you fulfilled what you have vouched for?" – the One who appeared asked him menacingly, and commanded two angels to torture the elder, tying him to a tree. And they beat him cruelly, repeating: "Do not argue with God, do not do things beyond your measure." But now the elder again sees the Heavenly Intercessor, begs Her to have pity on him, and She asks Her Son and God for him, kissing the feet of His Most-Pure One.

"See to it," the propitiated Lord said to him at last, "don't do that!"

"I will never," answered the elder, "I asked Eulogius for wealth, thinking that he would be better. I have sinned, O Lord, forgive me!

The elder was released, and he heard: "Go, I will bring Eulogius to his former rank.."

The elder awoke and, filled with inexpressible joy, thanked the Lord and His Most-Pure Mother.