him with oil, according to the custom, and then they saw that Maryânâ was a woman. Then the brethren ran quickly and called the man who had made the accusation against Maryânâ, and when he had come and seen her, great wonder laid hold upon him, and he besought God to forgive him the great sin and wrong which he had done to Maryânâ; and all those who heard and saw this glorified God that His saints fight so bravely for His Name’s sake.
Chapter xxvj: The History of a certain Sage and of the watching of the Mind
THERE was a certain old man who lived in his cell and performed mighty ascetic works, and who, whensoever the brethren of the Cells were gathered together for the vigil of the First Day of the week, would come to the general assembly, and would act in such a way as to make the brethren despise him, and indeed they regarded him as a man who had gone out of his senses, although he did everything with discretion. Now God, the Good and Compassionate, did not wish the labours of the old man to be hidden, but He revealed and made known some of them for the benefit of the community, and He sent angels, who were in the forms of rich and honourable men, to the priest of the Cells, and they came and saluted him; and when the priest saw them, he ran forward to meet them, for he thought that they who appeared to him were great and wealthy men, and he rose up immediately and saluted them. And after they had sat down and had held some converse with the old man, they besought him, saying, “O father, we beg of thee to allow us to go round the Cells that we may be blessed by the Fathers”; and he accepted their petition, and permitted them to do whatsoever they wished, and they asked him to send to them one of the brethren. Then the priest called one of the brethren, and commanded him to go with them, and beckoning him aside he said unto him secretly, “Take heed lest thou take them to the cell of that [mad] old man, for when they see that he hath lost his reason they will be sorry they have met him.” And when they had come out to go to the Cells, the honourable men fell down before the priest of the Cells, and said unto him, “O Father, give our brother orders to take us to see all the fathers,” and the priest said unto them, “I have commanded him to take you to them all.” And having gone to the fathers of the Cells, and visited them, they returned to the priest in his cell, and he said unto them, “Are ye gratified now that ye have seen the fathers?” And they said unto him, “O father, we are gratified, but we are sorry about one thing,
