Авва Даниил

1. Abba Daniel, presbyter of the monastery, in his youth renounced the world and came to the monastery. At first he lived in a hostel for forty years, then he labored as a hermit 240. 2. Abba Daniel of the monastery said: “I lived both in a hostel and as a hermit; Having experienced both life, I find that in hostels one succeeds more quickly and more if one conducts one’s life correctly” 241 . 3. When Abba Daniel lived in Skete, barbarians attacked Skete and captured Abba. He remained in captivity with them for two years. A certain lover of Christ ransomed him. After a short time, the barbarians again attacked Skete and again captured the abba. After staying with them for six months, he fled. The barbarians came a third time and, taking Abba captive, mercilessly tormented and tortured him. One day, finding a convenient time, he took a stone and hit his barbarian master with it. The barbarian died from the blow. Abba Daniel fled and got rid of captivity. After that, he began to grieve about the murder he committed. In these feelings, he went to Alexandria and confessed to Archbishop Timothy what had happened to him. The archbishop did not approve of his action, saying: “It would be better for you to rely on God: he who delivered you twice could not have delivered you a third time? however, you did not commit murder, because you killed not a man, but an animal.” Not satisfied with this answer, Abba Daniel boarded a ship, came to Rome, and there he confessed to the pope what had happened to him. The Pope gave the same answer as the Archbishop of Alexandria. Daniel returned to Alexandria and said to himself: “Daniel, who committed murder, let him himself be killed.” He went to the praetor and betrayed himself to the civil authorities, saying: “I quarreled and, being carried away by anger, hit my opponent with a stone, which is why he died: why do I ask to bring me to justice; let me die for the murder I committed, so that punishment in time will save me from punishment in eternity.” Ava was sent to prison; after thirty days, he was reported to the governor. The ruler, calling him from prison, asked him about the murder. He told about everything with all accuracy and detail. The governor, surprised by Abba Daniel’s reasoning, released him, saying: “Go, Abba, and pray to God for me: I regret that you killed one, and not six.” Then the elder said to himself: “I trust in the love of my God that the murder I committed will be forgiven. From now on I make a promise to my Christ to serve the leper all the days of my life for the murder I committed.” He put it in himself: if this leper whom I took dies, then I will go to Egypt and take another. None of the monastery knew that the elder had a leper in his cell, because the leper was in the inner compartment of the cell, and no one except the elder could have a meeting with him. But one day, at the sixth hour, the elder invited his disciple to share a meal according to custom, and according to God’s will, it so happened that the elder forgot to close the doors to the inner compartment of the cell; he left them open while he ministered to the leper. The leper's whole body rotted from many severe wounds. The disciple entered at the time when the mentioned doors were open, and saw how the old man served the leper, how he brought him food, how he placed food in his mouth, because the leper had no hands; and since he could not chew food because his mouth had rotted, the elder put food into his mouth with his own hands, and what the leper could not eat, the elder ate himself. The disciple, seeing the elder’s wonderful feat, was surprised and glorified God, who had granted such patience to the elder in serving the leper 242. 4. They told about Abba Daniel: When the barbarians attacked Skete, the brethren fled from it. But the elder said: “If God does not care about me, then why should I live?” And he passed through the midst of the barbarians, but they did not see him. Then the elders said to him: “God helped you, and you did not die: do what befits a man: run, as the fathers ran.”243 5. Abba Daniel said: “He who loves silence remains unwounded by the arrows of the enemy: but he who mixes with many is constantly exposed to ulcers” 244. 6. A certain Father said that Abba Daniel once came to the village to sell handicrafts. A young man, a resident of that village, begged him to enter his house and say a prayer for his wife, who was barren. The elder obeyed him, entered his house, and prayed for his wife. By the grace of God, his wife became pregnant. Some, strangers to the fear of God, began to speak evil, saying: “The young man is not capable of bearing children! His wife conceived from Abba Daniel.” These rumors also reached the elder; he sent to tell the young man: “When your wife gives birth, let me know.” When the wife gave birth, her husband came to the Skete and said to the elder: “God, through your prayers, gave us a child.” Abba told him: “When the child is baptized, make dinner and treats that day, call me, your relatives and friends.” The young man did so. During lunch, when everyone was sitting at the table, the elder took the child in his arms and asked him in front of everyone: “Who is your father?” The child extended his hand, and pointing his finger at the young man, said: “Here is my father.” The child was twelve days old. Everyone who saw this glorified God, and the elder got up from the table and fled to Skete 245. 7. Abba Daniel said: “The fatter the body, the weaker the soul, and the drier the body, the stronger the soul.” He also said: “The more the body dries out, the more refined the soul becomes; the soul, the more refined it becomes, the more fiery it becomes” 246. 8. Abba Daniel said: “In Babylon, the daughter of one of the idolaters had a demon in her. Her father knew a certain monk. This monk told him: “No one can heal your daughter except the hermits I know; but even those, if you ask them, will not want to do this out of humility. Here's what we'll do: when they come to the auction, we'll pretend that we want to buy their handicrafts from them. When they come to the house to receive money for the things bought from them, we will tell them to say a prayer, and I believe that your daughter will be healed.” They went to bargain; there a disciple of a certain old man sat and sold baskets. They invited him into the house with baskets to give him money for them. When the monk entered the house, the mad woman ran out to meet him and hit him on the cheek. He turned her other cheek according to the commandment. The demon felt torment and cried out: “Oh, trouble! the commandment of Jesus Christ drives me out!” The girl immediately cleared herself. The elders were told about what had happened. They glorified God, saying: “It is usual for the pride of the devil to fall before the humility of the commandment of Christ” 247 . 9. Abba Daniel, passing through a certain place one day, saw that several laymen had detained a monk, accusing him of committing murder. The elder stopped and, learning that his brother had been slandered, said to those who detained him: “Where is the murdered man?” They showed it to him. Approaching the dead man, he said: “Let’s pray.” When the elder raised his hands to God, the murdered man stood up. The elder said to him in front of everyone: “Tell me who killed you!” He answered: “Having entered the church, I gave a lot of gold to the presbyter who was here, and he killed me, and, having carried me out, threw this old man into the monastery; but I beg you, take the gold from him and give it to my children.” Then the elder said: “Now go to sleep until God resurrects you.” The resurrected one lay down and became dead again. 10. Abba Palladius said: “Once, when a need arose, Abba Daniel went to Alexandria, taking me with him. As we entered the city, we were met by a very young monk coming out of the bathhouse in which he had washed. Seeing him, the elder sighed greatly and said to me: “I’m very sorry for this brother! The name of God will be blasphemed because of him! but let us follow him and see where he is.” We followed him. The elder took him aside and said to him: “My son! you are young and healthy in body: you should not wash in the bathhouse. Believe me, my son, that you seduce many, not only lay people, but also monks.” The brother answered the elder: “Even if he were still pleasing to man, he would not be a servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10). Scripture says: “Do not condemn, lest you be condemned” (Luke 6:37). Then the elder bowed to him, saying: “Forgive me, my son: I have sinned like a man.” Leaving him, we went. I said to the elder: “Abba! Isn’t it true that your brother is sick, and there is no sin in his action?” The elder sighed and, shedding tears, said to me: “Brother, may the fact itself convince you of the truth: I saw that more than fifty demons would follow him and sprinkle him with stench; one murin sat on his shoulders and kissed him, and another murin, small in stature, walked in front of him, inciting him and teaching him debauchery. Many demons surrounded him and rejoiced over him, but I did not see the Holy Angel either near him or in the distance; why I conclude that this brother is filled with some demonic activity. His exquisite clothes testify to his residence and the fact that he, being young, so shamelessly stays in the middle of the city, into which fasters and hermits enter with caution and try to leave it as soon as possible. If he had not been voluptuous and peace-loving, he would not have entered the bathhouse naked and would not have shamelessly looked at the nudity of others. Our Holy Fathers Anthony the Great, Pachomius, Ammonius, Serapion and others commanded that none of the monks expose their bodies except because of great illness or need. We see in their lives that when they encountered the need to be naked in order to cross the river, when there was no boat, they, not being visible to anyone, were ashamed of the holy Angel accompanying them and the sun shining on them. When one of the Fathers was brought to cross a river, and his disciple was with him, they did not expose themselves except by separating from each other at a sufficient distance at which they could not see each other’s nakedness.” Having said this to me, the elder fell silent. We returned to Skete. After a few days, some brothers from Alexandria came to the Skete and reported that a monk who had arrived from Constantinople and lived at the church of St. Isidore had been caught committing fornication with the eparch’s wife; mutilated by the servants, he was sick for three days and died. This event served as a reproach and reproach to all the monks. Hearing this, I began to cry and went to Abba Daniel. Abba Isaac, the abbot of the monastery, was then sitting with him. I told them about what happened to the monk, whom, when we entered the city, the elder saw coming out of the bathhouse, who rejected the elder’s instructions. The elder, shedding tears, said: “The punishment of the proud is their downfall.” In private, I recounted to Abba Isaac what the elder had seen and what he was saying to me. All this, as worthy of being written down, Abba Isaac ordered to be included in the book about the standard-bearing Fathers, for the benefit and edification of those reading.” 11. Abba Daniel and his disciple once went from Skete to Thebaid - that was the name of Upper Egypt from its main city, Thebes - to the monastery in which Abba Apollos lived. The fathers of the monastery, having heard about the coming to them of the great skete elder, went out to meet him seven miles from their monastery. There were more than five thousand of them. And a wonderful sight presented itself! they fell on their faces and lay on the sandy plain, waiting, like the face of the Angels, for the elder to receive him as Christ. Some spread their clothes under his feet, others laid their dolls, and streams of tears were visible from their eyes. Abba Apollos came and bowed to the elder seven times before the elder approached him. They greeted each other with love. The brothers asked the elder to tell them the word of salvation, because the elder did not soon begin to talk to anyone. They sat outside the monastery on the sand because the church could not accommodate them. Father Daniel commanded his disciple: “Write the following: “If you want to be saved, observe non-covetousness and silence: all monastic life is based on these two deeds.” The student wrote what the elder said to him and passed it on to one of the brethren to read, who read it to the Egyptian brethren. Everyone, moved into emotion, began to cry 248. 12. Having left there, Abba Daniel came to Hieromopolis and said to his disciple: “Go to the women’s monastery, and knock on the gate, tell the abbess that I have come. This monastery is called the monastery of Abba Jeremiah; Three hundred fasting women live in it.” The student went and knocked on the gate. The gatekeeper came up and said to him in a quiet voice from within: “Save yourself! blessed is your coming! what do you desire? He answered: “I have something to say to the abbess.” The gatekeeper said to this: “The Great One does not talk to anyone; but tell me what you want, and I’ll tell her.” He answered: “Go and tell her that a certain monk needs to talk to her.” The gatekeeper hurriedly went and told the abbess. The abbess came and said in a quiet voice: “Save yourself, brother! what do you desire? The monk answered: “Show love, let me spend this night here with another brother, so that the animals do not eat us.” The abbess told him: “Brother! never a man came here. It will be easier for you if external animals eat you than internal ones.” The brother answered: “Here is Abba the skete, Daniel.” Hearing this, she opened both halves of the gate and went out to meet the elder with all the fasting women. They covered the entire path from the gate to the place where the elder was with their clothes, and, bowing before him, kissed his feet. Thus, with great joy and joy they brought him into the monastery. The abbess ordered a basin to be brought, poured water warmed with fragrant herbs into it, and, placing the fasting women in two faces, she herself washed the feet of the elder and his disciple with her own hands. Then she brought the fasting women one by one to the washbasin and sprinkled them with this holy ablution; what remained after all she poured on her head and into her bosom. The nuns presented a wonderful sight: they were silent, like stones, and talked to one another by signs. Their gait and appearance were angelic. The elder asked the abbess: “Are the sisters ashamed of us, or are they always like this?” The abbess answered: “Your slaves, sir, are always like this; but pray for them.” The elder said to her: “Tell my disciple to learn silence from them: because, living with me, he behaves like Gott” 249. One of the sisters lay in the middle of the monastery and slept; she was wearing rubbish clothes. The elder asked the abbess: “Who is this lying?” She answered him: “One of the sisters, devoted to the passion of drunkenness. What to do with her? Don't know. Should she be kicked out of the monastery? I'm afraid of sin. Should I leave it like that? but she confuses the sisters.” The elder said to his disciple: “Take the washbasin and pour water on it.” He did so. She stood up as those drunk with wine get up. At the same time, the abbess said: “Vladyka! She is always the way you see her now.” And the abbess brought Abba Daniel into the meal, offered supper to the sisters and said: “Abba! bless your handmaids to eat with you.” He blessed them. The Great One and the second one sat down with him. The elder was offered soaked juice, uncooked greens, dates and water; Before his disciple they placed some bread, boiled herbs and wine dissolved in water; The nuns were offered various boiled food, fish, and wine in sufficient quantities. At the same time, no one uttered a single word. When they got up from the meal, the elder said to the abbess: “Why did you do this? We should have eaten better food, but you ate it.” The abbess answered the elder: “Lord! you are a monk: and therefore I offered you monastic food; your disciple, since he is a disciple of the elder, is also offered monastic food; We are novices, and therefore we have eaten the food of novices.” The elder said to this: “May God fulfill your love: because we have received great benefit from your actions.” When everyone had gone to bed, the elder said to his disciple: “Go and see where the drunk woman lying in the middle of the monastery will sleep.” He looked and said to the elder: “Where the sisters relieve their bodily needs, near the latrine.” The elder said to the disciple: “Let us fight this night.” When all the nuns fell asleep, the elder took the disciple and went to the place where the imaginary drunk woman lay. They saw that she stood up and raised her hands to the sky; her tears flowed like a stream, and she performed countless genuflections. When she heard that one of the sisters came to correct a bodily need, she threw herself to the ground and appeared to be sleeping and snoring. This is how she spent the beginning of every night. And the elder said to his disciple: “Call the abbess and her second in line to me, call them secretly.” He went and called the abbess and her second, and all night they watched the feat of the imaginary drunken woman. Then the abbess began to say with tears: “Oh, how much evil I did to her!” When the church bell was struck, the abbess told all the nuns what she had seen, and everyone gave themselves up to great weeping. She, realizing that her secret had been revealed, came, unnoticed by anyone, to where the elder’s lodgings were set aside for the night, stole his staff and mantle, then opened the gates of the monastery and left, leaving an inscription on the gate: “Mothers and sisters! forgive me for sinning against you, and pray for me.” When daylight came, they began to look for her, and did not find her; Having arrived at the gate, they saw it open and an inscription on it. They could not find the blessed one anywhere, and they cried and sobbed a lot for her in the monastery. The elder said to the abbess: “I came here for her sake: and God loves such drunkards.” And all the fasting women began to confess to the elder what insult they had inflicted on her. The elder, having made a prayer for the sisters, immediately left the monastery and went to his cell, thanking and praising God, who leads his hidden servants and does not allow them to remain hidden for a long time, but opens them for everyone to see, not only during their lifetime, but also after their death, to the praise and glory of His holy name. 13. One day his disciple, Abba Ammon, was walking with Abba Daniel and said to the elder: “Father! When will we stop wandering and will constantly remain in our cells?” Abba Daniel answered him: “Who can take away our cell? when we are in the cell, then God is with us, and when we are outside the cell, God is also with us” 250. The elder’s success in spiritual activity was such that he constantly remained with his mind in the cell of his heart; He strove to raise his disciple to such perfection. The guidance of a spirit-bearing mentor is so important that the holy fathers advise a new monk to prefer the market place to the desert, if a spirit-bearing mentor lives in that market place 251 . 14. One day Abba Daniel, a skete presbyter, went to Thebaid, taking with him one of his disciples. They sailed up the Nile River, and when they reached a certain village, the elder ordered the boatmen to land on the shore. And the elder said to his disciple: “We must stop here.” The disciple, hearing this, began to grumble, saying: “How long shall we wander! Let's go to Skete." The elder said: “No! Let's stay here." They sat down in the middle of the village, like strangers. The student said to the elder: “Does this behavior please God that we sit here like laymen? at least let's go to church." The elder answered him: “No! Let's stay here." They stayed here until late in the evening. The brother began to express grief at the elder, insulting him and saying: “I’m in trouble with you, old man! because of you I have to die! When the student reproached the elder in this way, an elderly layman approached them, all gray-haired, hunched over with age. Seeing Abba Daniel, he fell at his feet and began to kiss them and shed them with tears. He also greeted the student. Then he said to them: “If it pleases you, let us go to my house.” He had a lantern in his hand, with which he walked through the streets, looking for strange people, and brought them into his house. He took the old man and his disciple and the other strangers he found and brought them into the house. Having poured water into the laver, he washed the feet of the elder and the other brothers. Apart from God alone, he had nothing else either in the house or in any other place. A meal was offered to the wanderers. When they had dinner, the owner collected the remaining ukrukhas and threw them out to the dogs of that village. This was his custom: he did not leave a single crumb of the bread that was offered at dinner for the next day. The elder took the owner to a special place, and there they talked alone until the morning, talking about spiritual benefits with many tears. When morning came, they said goodbye and went their separate ways. On the way, the disciple bowed to the elder, saying: “Show love, Abba, tell me who this man is, and how do you know him?” But the elder did not want to say. And again the brother bowed to him, saying: “Abba! You told me about many other things, but you don’t want to tell me about this man.” Exactly: the elder told him about the virtuous life of many saints, but did not want to tell him about the elderly layman. The brother was very offended by this, and did not talk about anything with the elder the whole way. When they came to their cell, the brother did not want to bring bread to the elder at the usual time, who ate daily at the tenth hour (at four in the afternoon). Evening came. The elder came to his brother’s cell and said to him: “Son! what does this mean? you left me, your father, without food.” The brother answered: “If I had a father, the father would love his son.” Hearing this, the elder turned and wanted to leave the cell, but his brother caught up with him, stopped him, and began to kiss his feet, saying: “As the Lord lives! I will not leave you until you tell me who this man is.” The brother did not want to leave the elder in grief, because he loved him very much. Then the elder said: “Give me a little food, and I will tell you.” After eating the food, the elder said to his brother: “Do not be disobedient. I didn’t want to tell you about the contradiction that you allowed yourself in the village. Look, don't tell anyone what you hear from me. This man is called Eulogius. By his trade, he is a stonecutter; he spends the whole day at work, not eating anything even until the evening. When evening comes, he returns to his house, where he brings with him all the strange people he finds in the village, both monks and laymen, offers them food, as you saw, and throws out the remaining scraps to the dogs. He has been engaged in his craft from his youth to this day; Now he is more than a hundred years old, but even today God gives him the same strength in work that he had in his youth. Every day he produces a gold coin. Forty years ago I came to this village to sell handicrafts. I was not yet old then. When evening came, Eulogius came according to his custom, took me and the other strangers he found into his house, and treated us, as you saw. I was surprised at his virtuous life and began to fast for a week and pray to God for him to give him significant property for the cause of hospitality. I spent three weeks or more in such a fast, and was so exhausted from fasting that I was barely alive. Here! I see a certain sacred figure who came to me and said: “What is the matter with you, Abba Daniel?” I answered him: “I have given my word before God not to eat bread until God hears my prayer for Eulogia the stonecutter and sends him a blessing so that he can abound in the work of welcoming strangers.” He said: “In vain! it is better for him to remain in the position in which he is now.” I told him: “No, Lord, grant him that everyone glorify Your Holy Name.” He answered: “I tell you that his present situation is good for him. If you absolutely want me to give it to him, will you agree to take upon yourself a guarantee for his soul, that he will save it when his property increases? On this condition I will give it to him.” I said: “Lord! Take his soul from my hand.” While I was saying this, I saw myself standing in the Church of the Holy Resurrection in Jerusalem. There I saw the Sacred Youth, who was sitting on a stone; Eulogius stood on His right side. The youth ordered one of those standing before Him to call me to Him. When I approached, He said to me: “Are you the one who vouched for Eulogius?” Those present said: “Exactly so, Master: he.” The youth said: “I will exact your surety from you.” I said: “Require it, O Master, from me; just multiply his wealth.” After this, I saw that certain two began to put a great amount of gold into the bowels of Eulogius, and the more they put in, the more the bowels contained. When I woke up, I realized that I had been heard and glorified God. At this time, Eulogius, having gone out to his usual work one day, struck a stone and heard that there was emptiness in the stone; he repeated the blow, which created a small hole; he struck a third time, and a large void filled with gold opened up. Overcome with horror, he said to himself: “What should I do? Don't know. If I take gold into my house, the ruler will hear, steal the treasure for himself, and expose me to attack. However, I will take the gold and put it in a place where no one will know about it.” He bought oxen supposedly to transport stones, and at night, with great caution, he transported the gold to his house. The good deed of welcoming strangers, which he had hitherto performed daily, was abandoned by him. He hired a ship and arrived in Constantinople. Justin, uncle of the Justinians, reigned there at that time. Eulogius gave a lot of gold to the king and his nobles, received the rank of eparch and bought himself magnificent chambers, which are still called Egyptian. After two years, I again saw in a dream the sacredly sculpted Youth, whom I had seen before, in the Holy Church of the Resurrection, and I said to myself: “Where is Eulogius?” After a short time I see that Eulogius is being driven out from the presence of the Youth, and a certain Ethiopian is dragging him away. When I woke up, I said to myself: “Woe is me a sinner! what did I do? ruined my soul! I went to the village where Eulogius had previously lived, as if to sell my handicrafts. Arriving at the village, I expected Eulogius to come and, according to custom, lead me into his house; but no one came and invited me. I got up and, seeing a certain old woman, asked her to bring me some bread, because that day I had not eaten yet. She hurriedly went and brought me bread and boiled food, and, sitting down next to me, began to speak spiritual edifying words to me. “It’s not good for you,” she said, “to go out into worldly villages. Don’t you know that monastic life needs to be kept away from rumors?” And she told me many other useful things. I objected to her: “After all, I came to sell my handicrafts.” She said to this: “Although you came to sell handicrafts; but he should not have stayed in the village until such a late night.” I answered: “Yes, yes!” Then I asked her: “Tell me, mother, is there anyone in this village who fears God and accepts strangers?” She sighed and told me: “Oh, father and lord! We had a stonecutter here who was very merciful to the strange. But God, seeing his virtue, poured out his bounties on him: we hear about him that he is now in Constantinople, and has become a noble man.” Hearing this, I said to myself: “I did this murder.” I immediately went to Alexandria, boarded a ship and arrived at Constantinople. There I began to ask where the Egyptian chambers were and how I could find them. They told me this, I went and sat at the gate of Evlogiev’s house, waiting for the nobleman to come out. I see: he came out with great pride; I called out to him: “Have mercy on me, I have something to tell you!” He not only did not want to look at me, but also ordered his slaves to beat me. I hastily moved to another place, past which he should have walked, and again called out to him. He again ordered to beat me more than before. Thus I spent four weeks before the gates of his house, overwhelmed by snow and rain, and could not talk to him. Exhausted, I left there, prostrated myself before the image of our Lord Jesus Christ and prayed with tears, saying: “Lord, release me from bail for this man! otherwise I will leave monasticism and go into the world.” When I said this in my mind, I dozed off, and behold, I heard extraordinary confusion and a voice: “The Queen is coming!” Before Her walked regiments - thousands of thousands and thousands of people. I cried out to Her: “Have mercy on me, Lady!” She stopped and said, “What do you want?” I answered: “I vouched for Eulogius the eparch: command that I be released from this vouch.” She said: “I am not involved in this matter: satisfy your guarantee as you wish.” When I woke up, I said to myself: “Even if I have to die, I will not retreat from the gates of Eulogius until I have the opportunity to talk with him.” Again I went to his gate, and when he wanted to go out, I again called to him. Then one of his servants ran up to me and dealt me ​​so many blows that he crushed my whole body. Coming into complete bewilderment and despondency, I said to myself: “I will return to Skete, and if God pleases, He will save Eulogius by His destinies, known to Him alone.” I went looking and found a ship that was supposed to sail to Alexandria. I entered this ship and fell from grief as if dead. In this position I dozed off, and I see myself in the Church of the Holy Resurrection, I again see the sacred Youth, who sat on the stone of the honest tomb. The boy looked at me angrily: as a result, my heart seemed to harden, and I could not open my mouth. And the Youth said to me: “Why don’t you act on your guarantee?” He ordered two of those standing before Him to hang me, and they beat me quite hard, saying: “Don’t start anything that exceeds your standards, don’t argue with God, don’t be a cold to the Divine.” For fear I could not open my mouth. While I was still hanging, a voice was heard: “The Queen is coming!” Seeing Her, I was somewhat encouraged and said to Her in a quiet voice: “Mistress of the world, have mercy on me.” She asked, just like the first time: “What do you want?” I said: “I am hanged here for my guarantee for Eulogius.” She told me: “I will beg for you.” And I saw that She approached the Youth and began to kiss His feet. The boy said to me: “Will you not do this in the future?” “I won’t, Master! - I answered. – I prayed for Eulogia, wanting the best. Master! I have sinned: forgive me, and command me to resolve it.” He told me: “Go to your cell, and no longer worry about Eulogius, whom I will return to his former virtuous life in a way known to Me.” I woke up indescribably joyful, having gotten rid of such a guarantee and thanked God and the Most Holy Lady Our Lady. After three months, a rumor reached me that King Justin had died, that a new king had reigned in his place, and he had launched a persecution against the nobles of the deceased king, against the Hypatians and Dixicrats, and against my eparch Eulogius. Two of these nobles were killed, their estate was plundered, as well as the wealth of Eulogius, and he himself fled from Constantinople at night: because the king ordered to look for him and kill him where they found him. Eulogius, having changed his clothes, putting on the same clothes that he had worn before, in the days of his poverty, returned to his former place of residence. The villagers flocked to him, wanting to see him, and told him: “We heard about you that you have become a nobleman.” He answered: “If I had been elevated to the rank of nobleman, you would not have seen me here. You heard about someone else, but I went to holy places to worship.” Having come to his senses from the rapture of the vanity of the world, Eulogius said to himself: “Humble Eulogius! get up, get to work on your tools, and go to work. This is not Constantinople! otherwise, perhaps, they will take your head off.” He took the tools of his craft and came to the stone in which he had previously found the property, believing that he would find something similar again. He struck the stone until noon and found nothing. Then he remembered the abundance of dishes and pleasures that he had while living in chambers, in the seduction and pride of this world. At the same time, he again said to himself: “Get up, work: here is Egypt.” Little by little, the holy Youth and our holy Lady brought him to his former pious dispensation. The righteous God did not forget his former virtuous life. After several years, I went again to this village. When evening came, Eulogius invited me into his house according to his previous custom. As soon as I saw him, I sighed from the depths of my heart, shed tears and said: “For Thy works are magnified, O Lord, Thou hast done all things with wisdom” (Ps. 103:24). Who is the Great God, even as we are our God, lift up the poor from the earth, and lift up the needy from the rot” (Ps. 76:14, 113:7). Master, Lord! Who can confess Your miracles and Your destinies? I, a sinner, have already begun to perish; My soul almost entered hell!..” Eulogius took the water and washed my feet according to custom; He also offered a meal. At the end of dinner, I asked him: “How are you, brother?” He answered me: “Pray for me, father: because I am a sinful man, and I have no property.” I said to him: “Oh, if only you didn’t have the one you had!” - “Why is that, Abba and Vladyka? - he objected, “Did I seduce you with anything?” Then I told him everything that had happened, and we cried together. Then he told me: “Pray for me, so that I may improve from now on.” And I said to him: “Truly I tell you, brother: do not expect to receive more wealth than what you have; you will receive one gold coin per day.” “God gave him this for his daily allowance.” Here, child, I told you how I know him, and you don’t tell this to anyone. The disciple kept the event a secret until the death of the holy elder. We should be amazed at God’s humane view of us! In a short time, God raised Eulogius to such a height and again humbled him for his spiritual benefit. Let us also pray that we may be granted to humble ourselves in the fear of our Lord Jesus Christ, in order to receive mercy at the Last Judgment through His prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary and all the saints 252. The Goths were very loud. Rev. Simeon, Nov. Theologian. You might be interested in: