be that thou art ashamed of men [seeing thee, know] that no man can see [us] in this chamber; but if it be God of Whom thou art afraid He can see us in whatsoever place we enter.” And the blessed man Bessarion hearing these words, said unto her, “My daughter, dost thou know that God existeth?” And she said unto him, “Yea, I know that God existeth, and [that there will be] kingdom, and judgement.” Then the old man said unto her, “If thou knowest that God is, and [that there will be] kingdom and judgement, why dost thou destroy men in this manner?” And straightway the woman cast herself at his feet, and said unto him, “I know that there is repentance for those who sin. But I beseech thee, master, to tarry with me for three hours, and whatsoever thou wishest to do unto me that do because of all the evil things which have been wrought by me”; and having told her in what place he would await her he left her and went away.
Then in that same hour the woman took everything which she had gained by fornication and burnt it with fire in the midst of the city, and she said, “Come, O all ye who have had commerce with me, and see that I am burning before your eyes every possession which I have gathered together by means of sin”; and the things which were burned were [worth] three hundred pounds of gold, and there were there also goods and apparel of all kinds; and after she had burned up everything she went to the blessed man Bessarion. And when Bessarion saw her he took her by her hand and led her along and brought her to a religious house of sisters, and he shut her in a little cell, leaving her only one small window in the wall through which a woman passed in food to her. And the blessed Bessarion said unto the head of the house, “Give her a pound of dry bread each day, and water according to her need.” Then the blessed woman Thais said unto the venerable Bessarion, “With what petition dost thou command me to pray unto God? That He should forgive me my sins?” The blessed Bessarion said unto her, “Thou art neither worthy to pray unto God, nor to make mention of His Name with thy lips, nor to stretch out thy hands unto Him; for thy lips are unclean and polluted, and thy hands are contaminated with impurity; thou shalt only sit down and gaze towards the East, and thou shalt say nothing except, ‘O Thou who didst create me, have mercy upon me.’ ” And having dwelt in that cell for a space of about three years, the blessed Bessarion had mercy upon her, and the blessed man went to Abbâ Anthony that he might learn from him whether God had forgiven her her sins or not. Then having spoken concerning her unto Anthony that blessed man called unto his disciples, and said unto them, “Let each one of you shut himself in [his] cell all night, and pray ye unto God that we may see
