"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.

Three months later, the elder heard that Tsar Justin had died, that his heir had begun to persecute his former favorites, that two of them had been killed, and that Eulogius had fled. However, the king appointed a great reward for the one who brought his head.

Daniel again went to the place where Eulogius had lived before. Seeing him coming home from work and surrounded by beggars, the elder wanted to rush to meet him, but Eulogius warned him and, kissing his hands, invited him to dinner. Here the elder and Eulogius explained themselves to each other. The stonecutter told him how he had returned to his fatherland, how all the inhabitants had fled to see him, and congratulated him on his dignity of nobleman; and how he, fearing to be discovered, assured them that he had gone only to Jerusalem, to worship the Sepulchre of the Lord. "I took my tools for the second time," continued Eulogius, "and went straight to the stone where I found the gold, I thought that I would find the treasure again, but no matter how much I knocked, no matter how much I hewn various stones, I found nothing. Finally, he came out of error, and thank God! I have forgotten the rank of nobleman." "Who shall tell Thy miracles and Thy destinies, O Lord Lord? Eulogius concluded his story, "my soul almost dwelt in hell... Pray for me, father, I am a great sinner!"

Проси у Бога хлеба насущного: этому поучает Сам Господь, а богатства не ищи, оно ведет ко многим искушениям; недаром же сказано: «удобее велбуду сквозе иглине уши проити, неже богату в царствие Божие внити» (Мк. 10; 25).

(Из "Пролога")

34. Ангел – Хранитель

Всякому верующему во Христа при святом Крещении дается от Бога Ангел-хранитель, на всю его жизнь, и он пребывает неразлучно с человеком, если только сам человек не отгоняет его злыми делами. Ибо как пчел прогоняет дым, и голубей смрад, так и тяжкие грехи наши — пьянство, блуд, злопамятство и другие злые дела удаляют от нас святого Ангела, хранителя нашего. О сем и пророк сказал: «...не даждь во смятение ноги твоея, да не воздремлет Храняй тя» (Пс. 120; 3), т.е. не уклоняйся от пути правого, не позволяй себе любить зрелища вместо церкви, смехотворные шутки и басни вместо книг душеполезных, да не воздремлет, т.е. да не удалится от тебя Хранитель души твоей ради злых дел твоих.