Abba Macarius: If scorn has become to you as praise, and poverty as wealth, and want as abundance, you will not die. For it is impossible for one who believes rightly and labors in piety to fall into the impurity of the passions and the deception of demons. They said that two brothers made a mistake [in] Scetis; and Abba Macarius the city-dweller separated them; and some came and told Abba Macarius the Great, the Egyptian. And he said: The brothers are not separated, but Macarius is separated; for he loved him. Abba Macarius heard that he was separated by the elder, and he fled to the marsh. So Abba Macarius the Great went out; and he finds him being wounded by the gnats; and says to him: You separated the brothers, and behold, they were about to depart to the village. But I separated you, and you, like a good virgin, fled here into the inner chamber. Having called the brothers, I learned from them and I said: None of these things has happened. See then, you too, brother, lest you have been mocked by demons, for you have seen nothing; but make repentance for your mistake. And he said: If you wish, give me a penance. And the elder, seeing his humility, said: Go, and fast for three weeks, eating once a week; for this was always his practice, to fast for weeks at a time. Abba Moses said to Abba Macarius in Scetis: I want to live in stillness, and the brothers do not leave me alone. And Abba Macarius says to him: I see that your nature is gentle, and you are not able to turn away a brother; but if you wish to live in stillness, go into the inner desert to the rock, and there you will live in stillness. And he did this and was at rest. A brother went to Abba Macarius the Egyptian, and says to him: Abba, tell me a word, how I may be saved. And the elder says: Go to the tomb, and insult the dead. So the brother went and insulted and stoned them; and coming back he reported it to the elder. And he says to him: Did they say nothing to you? 34.252 And he said: No. The elder says to him: Go again tomorrow, and praise them. So the brother went and praised them, saying: Apostles, saints, and righteous men; and he came to the elder, and said to him: I praised them. And he says to him: Did they answer nothing to you? The brother said: No. The elder says to him: You know how much you dishonored them, and they answered nothing, and how much you praised them, and they said nothing to you. So you too, if you wish to be saved, become dead; take no account of the injustice of men, nor of their praise, like the dead; and you can be saved. Once when Abba Macarius was passing through Egypt with some brothers, he heard a little child saying to its mother: Mother, a certain rich man loves me, and I hate him; and a poor man hates me, and I love him. And hearing this, Abba Macarius marveled. And the brothers say to him: What is this saying, father, that you marveled at? And the elder says to them: Truly our Lord is rich and loves us, and we do not want to listen to him; but our enemy the devil is poor and hates us, and we love his impurity. Abba Poemen besought him with many tears, saying: Tell me a word, how I may be saved. And the elder answered and said to him: The thing you seek has now departed from the monks. Once Abba Macarius visited Abba Antony; and having spoken with him he returned to Scetis; and the fathers came to meet him; and as they were speaking, the elder said to them: I said to Abba Antony that we do not have an offering in our place. And the fathers began to speak about other things, and they did not ask further to learn the response from the elder, nor did the elder tell them. Therefore one of the fathers was saying that if the fathers see that it escapes the brothers' notice to ask about

ὁ ἀββᾶς Μακάριος· εἰ γέγονεν ἐν σοὶ ἡ ἐξουδένωσις ὡς ὁ ἔπαινος, καὶ ἡ πενία ὡς ὁ πλοῦ τος, καὶ ἡ ἔνδεια ὡς ἡ δαψίλεια, οὐκ ἀποθνήσκεις· ἀμήχανον γάρ ἐστι τὸν καλῶς πιστεύοντα, καὶ ἐν εὐσεβείᾳ ἐργαζόμενον, ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς ἀκαθαρσίαν παθῶν καὶ δαιμόνων πλάνην. Ἔλεγον, ὅτι ἐσφάλησαν δύο ἀδελφοὶ [εἰς] Σκῆτιν· καὶ ἐχώρισεν αὐτοὺς ὁ ἀββᾶς Μακάριος ὁ πολιτικός· καὶ ἦλθόν τινες, καὶ εἶπον τῷ ἀββᾷ Μα καρίῳ τῷ μεγάλῳ τῷ Αἰγυπτίῳ. Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· Οὐκ εἰσὶν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ κεχωρισμένοι, ἀλλὰ Μακάριός ἐστι κεχω ρισμένος· ἦν γὰρ ἀγαπῶν αὐτόν. ἤκουσεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Μακάριος, ὅτι ἐχωρίσθη ὑπὸ τοῦ γέροντος, καὶ ἔφυ γεν εἰς τὸ ἕλος. ἐξῆλθεν οὖν ὁ ἀββᾶς Μακάριος ὁ μέ γας· καὶ εὑρίσκει αὐτὸν τιτρωσκόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν κω νώπων· καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· σὺ ἐχώρισας τοὺς ἀδελφούς, καὶ ἰδοὺ εἶχον ἀναχωρῆσαι εἰς τὴν κώμην. ἐγὼ δέ σε ἐχώρισα, καὶ σὺ ὡς καλὴ παρθένος εἰς τὸν ἐσώτερον κοιτῶνα ἔφυγες ὧδε. ἐγὼ καλέσας τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς, ἔμαθον παρ' αὐτῶν καὶ εἶπον· οὐδὲν τούτων γέγονε. βλέπε οὖν καὶ σύ, ἀδελφέ, μὴ ἀπὸ δαιμόνων ἐχλευά σθης, οὐδὲν γὰρ ἑώρακας· ἀλλὰ βάλε μετάνοιαν ὑπὲρ τοῦ σφάλματός σου. ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· εἰ θέλεις δός μοι μετάνοιαν. ἰδὼν δὲ ὁ γέρων τὴν ταπείνωσιν αὐ τοῦ, ἔλεγεν· ὕπαγε, καὶ νήστευσον τρεῖς ἑβδομάδας, κατὰ ἑβδομάδα ἐσθίων· αὕτη γὰρ ἦν ἡ ἐργασία αὐ τοῦ πάντοτε, τὰς ἑβδομάδας νηστεύειν. Εἶπεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Μωϋσῆς τῷ ἀββᾷ Μακαρίῳ εἰς Σκῆτιν· θέλω ἡσυχάσαι, καὶ οὐκ ἀφιοῦσί με οἱ ἀδελ φοί. καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ ἀββᾶς Μακάριος· θεωρῶ, ὅτι ἡ φύσις σου ἁπαλή ἐστι, καὶ οὐ δύνασαι ἀποστρέψαι ἀδελφόν· ἀλλ' ἐὰν θέλῃς ἡσυχάσαι, ὕπαγε εἰς τὴν ἔρημον ἔσω εἰς τὴν πέτραν, κἀκεῖ ἡσυχάζεις. καὶ τοῦτο ἐποίησε καὶ ἀνεπάη. Ἀδελφὸς παρέβαλε τῷ ἀββᾷ Μακαρίῳ τῷ Αἰγυπτίῳ, καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· ἀββᾶ, εἰπέ μοι ῥῆμα πῶς σωθῶ. καὶ λέγει ὁ γέρων· ὕπαγε εἰς τὸ μνη μεῖον, καὶ ὕβρισον τοὺς νεκρούς. ἀπελθὼν οὖν ὁ ἀδελφὸς ὕβρισε καὶ ἐλίθασε· καὶ ἐλθὼν ἀπήγγειλε τῷ γέροντι. καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· οὐδέν σοι ἐλάλησαν; 34.252 ὁ δὲ ἔφη· οὐχί. λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· ὕπαγε πάλιν αὔριον, καὶ δόξασον αὐτούς. ἀπελθὼν οὖν ὁ ἀδελφὸς ἐδόξασεν αὐτοὺς λέγων· ἀπόστολοι, ἅγιοι, καὶ δίκαιοι· καὶ ἦλθε πρὸς τὸν γέροντα, καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· ἐδόξασα. καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· οὐδέν σοι ἀπεκρίθη σαν; ἔφη ὁ ἀδελφός· οὐχί. λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ γέρων· οἶδας πόσα ἠτίμασας αὐτούς, καὶ οὐδὲν ἀπεκρίθησαν, καὶ πόσα ἐδόξασας αὐτούς, καὶ οὐδέν σοι ἐλάλησαν. οὕ τως καὶ σύ, ἐὰν θέλῃς σωθῆναι, γενοῦ νεκρός· μήτε τὴν ἀδικίαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, μήτε τὴν δόξαν αὐτῶν λογίσῃ, ὡς οἱ νεκροί· καὶ δύνασαι σωθῆναι. Παρερχόμενός ποτε ὁ ἀββᾶς Μακάριος μετὰ ἀδελφῶν διὰ τῆς Αἰγύπτου, ἤκουσε παιδίου λέγοντος τῇ μητρὶ αὐτοῦ· ἀμμᾶ, πλούσιός τις ἀγαπᾷ με, καὶ μισῶ αὐτόν· καὶ πτωχὸς μισεῖ με, καὶ ἀγαπῶ αὐτόν. καὶ ἀκούσας ὁ ἀββᾶς Μακάριος ἐθαύμασε. καὶ λέγου σιν αὐτῷ οἱ ἀδελφοί· τί ἐστι τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο, πάτερ, ὅτι ἐθαύμασας; καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς ὁ γέρων· ἀληθῶς ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν πλούσιός ἐστι καὶ ἀγαπᾷ ἡμᾶς, καὶ οὐ θέλομεν αὐτοῦ ἀκοῦσαι· ὁ δὲ ἐχθρὸς ἡμῶν διάβολος πτωχός ἐστι καὶ μισεῖ ἡμᾶς, καὶ ἀγα πῶμεν αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀκαθαρσίαν. Παρεκάλεσεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Ποιμὴν αὐτὸν μετὰ πολλῶν δακρύων λέγων· εἰπέ μοι ῥῆμα πῶς σωθῶ. ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ γέρων εἶπεν αὐτῷ· τὸ πρᾶγμα ὃ ζητεῖς, ἀπῆλθε νῦν ἀπὸ τῶν μοναχῶν. Παρέβαλέ ποτε ὁ ἀββᾶς Μακάριος τῷ ἀββᾷ Ἀντωνίῳ· καὶ λαλήσας αὐτῷ ὑπέστρεψεν εἰς Σκῆ τιν· καὶ ἦλθον οἱ πατέρες εἰς ἀπάντησιν αὐτοῦ· καὶ ὡς ἐλάλουν, εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὁ γέρων· ἔφην τῷ ἀββᾷ Ἀντωνίῳ, ὡς οὐκ ἔχομεν προσφορὰν ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἡμῶν. καὶ ἤρξαντο οἱ πατέρες λαλεῖν περὶ ἄλλων, καὶ οὐκ ἠρώτησαν ἔτι μαθεῖν τὴν ἀπόκρισιν παρὰ τοῦ γέροντος, οὔτε ὁ γέρων αὐτοῖς εἶπε. τοῦτο οὖν ἔλεγέ τις τῶν πατέρων, ὅτι ἐὰν ἴδωσιν οἱ πατέρες ὅτι λανθάνει τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς τὸ ἐρωτῆσαι περὶ