from much labor. When evening came, Abba Anthony soaked palm leaves for himself; and Abba Macarius says 34.244 to him, "Give the word, that I also may soak some for myself." And he said, "Soak them." And making a great bundle, he soaked them; and sitting from late in the evening, speaking about the salvation of souls, they were weaving; and the rope was going down through the window into the cave. And entering in the morning, the blessed Anthony saw the length of Abba Macarius' rope, and said: "Much power comes forth from these hands." Abba Macarius used to say to the brethren about the desertion of Scetis: "When you see a cell being built near the marsh, know that its desolation is near; when you see trees, it is at the doors. But when you see children, take up your sheepskins, and depart." He said again, wishing to comfort the brethren: "A demon-possessed child came here with his mother, and he was saying to his mother: 'Get up, old woman, let us go from here.' But she said, 'I cannot walk.' And the child said to her, 'I will carry you.' And I marveled at the wickedness of the demon, how he wished to drive them away." Abba Sisoes said: "When I was in Scetis with Macarius, seven of us went up to reap with him. And behold, a widow was gleaning behind us, and she did not cease weeping; so the old man called the master of the field and said to him, 'What is the matter with this old woman, that she is always weeping?' He says to him, 'Because her husband had a deposit from someone, and he died suddenly, and did not say where he put it; and the owner of the deposit wants to take her and her children as slaves.' The old man says to him, 'Tell her to come to us where we rest from the heat.' And when the woman had come, the old man said to her, 'Why are you always weeping so?' And she said, 'My husband died, having received a deposit from someone, and as he was dying, he did not say where he put it.' And the old man said to her, 'Come, show me where you have put him.' And taking the brethren with him, he went out with her; and when they came to the place, the old man said to her, 'Go back to your house.' And when they had prayed, the old man called 34.245 to the dead man, saying, 'So-and-so, where did you put the other man's deposit?' And he answered and said, 'It is hidden in my house under the foot of the bed.' And the old man says to him, 'Sleep again until the day of the resurrection.' But the brethren, seeing this, fell at his feet out of fear. And the old man said to them, 'This did not happen because of me; for I am nothing; but because of the widow and the orphans God did this thing; and this is the great thing, that God wants the soul to be without sin; and whatever it asks, it receives.' And he went and announced to the widow where the deposit lay; and taking it, she gave it to its owner, and freed her children. And all who heard glorified God." Abba Peter used to say about Saint Macarius that once, having gone to a certain anchorite and finding him ailing, he inquired what he wished to eat, as there was nothing in his cell. And when that man said, 'a pastilon,' the brave man did not hesitate to go to the city of the Alexandrians and give it to the one who was sick; and the wonder was that this became known to no one. He said again, that while Abba Macarius was living in simplicity toward all the brethren, some said to him, "Why do you make yourself so?" But he said, "I served my Lord for twelve years so that he might grant me this gift, and you all advise me to put it away?" They used to say about Abba Macarius that if he had occasion to be with brethren, he set a rule for himself: "that if wine should be found, drink for the sake of the brethren, and in exchange for one cup of wine, do not drink water for one day;" the brethren therefore for the sake of refreshment

ἀπὸ καμάτου πολλοῦ. ὀψίας δὲ γενομένης ἔβρεξεν ἑαυτῷ ὁ ἀββᾶς Ἀντώνιος θαλλία· καὶ λέγει 34.244 αὐτῷ ὁ ἀββᾶς Μακάριος· κέλευσον, ἵνα κἀγὼ βρέξω ἐμαυτῷ. ὁ δὲ εἶπε· βρέξον. καὶ ποιήσας δεσμὸν μέγαν ἔβρεξε· καὶ καθήμενοι ἀπὸ ὀψὲ λαλοῦντες περὶ σω τηρίας ψυχῶν ἔπλεκον· καὶ ἡ σειρὰ διὰ τῆς θυρίδος εἰς τὸ σπήλαιον κατέβαινε. καὶ εἰσελθὼν πρωῒ ὁ μα κάριος Ἀντώνιος εἶδε τὸ πλῆθος τῆς σειρᾶς τοῦ ἀββᾶ Μακαρίου, καὶ ἔλεγε· πολλὴ δύναμις ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν τούτων ἐξέρχεται. Ἔλεγεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Μακάριος περὶ τῆς ἐρημώσεως τῆς Σκήτεως τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς· ὅταν ἴδητε κελλίον οἰκο δομούμενον ἐγγὺς τοῦ ἔλους, μάθετε ὅτι ἐγγύς ἐστιν ἡ ἐρήμωσις αὐτῆς· ὅταν ἴδητε δένδρα, ἐπὶ θυ ρῶν ἐστιν. ὅταν δὲ ἴδητε παιδία, ἄρατε τὰ μηλωτάρια ὑμῶν, καὶ ἀναχωρήσατε. Ἔλεγε πάλιν, παρηγορῆσαι θέλων τοὺς ἀδελ φούς· ἦλθεν ὧδε παιδίον δαιμονιζόμενον μετὰ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔλεγε τῇ μητρὶ αὐτοῦ· ἔγειρε, γραῖα, ἄγωμεν ἔνθεν. ἡ δὲ εἶπεν· οὐ δύναμαι πε ζεῦσαι. καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῇ τὸ παιδίον· ἐγώ σε βαστάζω. καὶ ἐθαύμασα τὴν πονηρίαν τοῦ δαίμονος, πῶς ἠθέλησεν αὐτοὺς φυγαδεῦσαι. Ἔλεγεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Σισόης· ὅτε ἤμην εἰς Σκῆτιν μετὰ τοῦ Μακαρίου, ἀνέβημεν θερίσαι μετ' αὐτοῦ ἑπτὰ ὀνόματα. καὶ ἰδοὺ μία χήρα καλαμωμένη ἦν ὀπίσω ἡμῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἐπαύετο κλαίουσα· ἐφώνησεν οὖν ὁ γέρων τὸν κύριον τοῦ χωρίου καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· τί ἔχει ἡ γραῦς αὕτη, ὅτι πάντοτε κλαίει; λέγει αὐτῷ· ὅτι ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς εἶχε παραθήκην τινός, καὶ ἀπέθανεν ἄφνω, καὶ οὐκ εἶπε ποῦ ἔθηκεν αὐτήν· καὶ θέλει ὁ κύριος τῆς παραθήκης λαβεῖν αὐτὴν καὶ τὰ τέκνα αὐτῆς εἰς δούλους. λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· εἰπὲ αὐτῇ, ἵνα ἔλθῃ πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ὅπου ἀναπαυόμεθα τὸ καῦμα. καὶ ἐλθούσης τῆς γυναικὸς εἶπεν αὐτῇ ὁ γέρων· τί πάντα οὕτως κλαίεις; καὶ εἶπεν· ὁ ἀνήρ μου ἀπέθανε λαβὼν παραθήκην τινός, καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν ἀποθνήσκων, ποῦ ἔθηκεν αὐτήν. καὶ εἶπεν ὁ γέρων πρὸς αὐτήν· δεῦρο, δεῖξόν μοι ποῦ ἔθηκας αὐτόν. καὶ λαβὼν τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ, ἐξῆλθε σὺν αὐτῇ· καὶ ἐλθόν των ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον, εἶπεν αὐτῇ ὁ γέρων· ἀναχώρησον εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου. καὶ προσευξαμένων αὐτῶν, ἐφώ 34.245 νησεν ὁ γέρων τὸν νεκρὸν λέγων· ὁ δεῖνα, ποῦ ἔθηκας τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν παραθήκην; ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν· εἰς τὸν οἶκόν μου κέκρυπται ὑπὸ τὸν πόδα τῆς κλίνης. καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· κοιμῶ πάλιν ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας τῆς ἀναστάσεως. ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ ἀδελφοὶ, ἀπὸ τοῦ φόβου ἔπεσον εἰς τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ. καὶ εἶ πεν αὐτοῖς ὁ γέρων· οὐ δι' ἐμὲ γέγονε τοῦτο· οὐδὲν γάρ εἰμι· ἀλλὰ διὰ τὴν χήραν καὶ τὰ ὀρφανὰ ὁ Θεὸς ἐποίησε τὸ πρᾶγμα· τοῦτο δέ ἐστι τὸ μέγα, ὅτι ἀν αμάρτητον θέλει ὁ Θεὸς τὴν ψυχήν· καὶ εἴ τι ἂν αἰτή σεται, λαμβάνει. ἐλθὼν δὲ ἀνήγγειλε τῇ χήρᾳ ποῦ κεῖται ἡ παραθήκη· ἡ δὲ λαβοῦσα αὐτὴν ἔδωκε τῷ κυρίῳ αὐτῆς, καὶ ἠλευθέρωσε τὰ τέκνα αὐτῆς. καὶ πάντες οἱ ἀκούσαντες ἐδόξασαν τὸν Θεόν. Ἔλεγεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Πέτρος περὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Μακα ρίου, ὅτι παραγενόμενός ποτε πρός τινα ἀναχωρη τήν, καὶ εὑρὼν αὐτὸν κακούμενον, ἐπυνθάνετο τί βούλοιτο τραφῆναι οὐδενὸς ὄντος ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ αὐ τοῦ. καὶ φήσαντος ἐκείνου, πάστιλον, εἰς τὴν Ἀλε ξανδρέων πόλιν οὐκ ὤκνησεν ὁ ἀνδρεῖος παραγενέσθαι καὶ δοῦναι τῷ κάμνοντι· καὶ τὸ θαυμαστὸν μηδενὶ κατάδηλον γενόμενον. Εἶπε πάλιν, ὅτι ἐν ἀκακίᾳ τοῦ ἀββᾶ Μακαρίου πολιτευομένου πρὸς πάντας τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς, ἔφησαν αὐτῷ τινες· διὰ τί οὕτως ἑαυτὸν ποιεῖς; ὁ δὲ εἶπε· δώδεκα ἔτη ἐδούλευσα τῷ κυρίῳ μου, ἵνα μοι χαρίσηται τὸ χάρισμα τοῦτο, καὶ πάντες μοι συμβου λεύετε ἀποθέσθαι αὐτό; Ἔλεγον περὶ τοῦ ἀββᾶ Μακαρίου, ὅτι εἰ εὐ καίρησε μετὰ ἀδελφῶν, ἐτίθει ἑαυτῷ ὅρον· ὅτι ἐὰν εὑρεθῇ οἶνος, διὰ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς πίνε, καὶ ἀντὶ ἑνὸς ποτηρίου οἴνου μίαν ἡμέραν μὴ πίῃς ὕδωρ· οἱ οὖν ἀδελφοὶ χάριν ἀναπαύσεως