“tribulation. We keep the fast on the fourth day of the week because on that day the Jews plotted to betray our Lord, and also on the eve of the Sabbath because on that day He was crucified, and he who remitteth these becometh one of the betrayers and a Jew; but if thy brother cometh to thee during a period of fasting, and is in need of refreshment, although the time be unseasonable, set before him thy table [and let him eat] by himself, and if he wisheth not this, constrain him not, for this is an universal tradition [of hospitality].” And the blessed man blamed severely those who wore woven stuffs and dressed their hair in such a way that they would be seen by children of men to be fasting, and he called them seekers after the vainglory of men, for monks should humble their bodies by fasting and abstinence, and should work the things which are good in secret; and those who do not these things shew themselves only unto the multitude.
And what shall one say concerning all the teachings of the blessed man, which resembled his life and deeds, and which it is impossible for a man to write down, or even to mention in a fitting manner? On several occasions we conversed together the whole Sabbath, and when he was escorting us [on our way back] he said to us, “May ye have peace one with one another, and let no man separate himself from his companion on the way.” Then he said to the brethren who were with him, “Who among you is willing of his own accord to go and escort [these] brethren on the way to the other fathers?” And, with but very few exceptions, all the brethren sought anxiously to go with us and to escort us on our way; but the holy man Apollo selected three of them, men who were mighty in their ascetic labours, and understanding in their speech. Now they had been instructed in the languages of the Greeks, and the Romans, and the Egyptians, and, sending them with us, he commanded them not to leave us until we had seen all the fathers whom we wished to see, and had rejoiced in holding converse with them. Now it would have been impossible for a man to see all the fathers, even in the whole period of his life. Then he blessed us, and sent us away, saying, “May the Lord bless thee out of Zion, and may ye see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life” (Psalm 128:5).
And as we were journeying along our way through the desert, at the season of noon, we suddenly saw the marks of a monster serpent which had been lying like a log of wood on the sand, and we were afraid, but the brethren who were with us bade us be of good courage, saying, “Fear ye not, but come and see us slay him by faith For we have slain with our own hands many snakes, and asps, and vipers, so that
