THE MONK'S PRAYER
A MONK had a friend, a lay brother.
The monk was once sick, and he said to
the layman, "Pray, brother, to God, and ask Him to heal me." He
prayed, and the monk recovered. After that the layman grew sick, and he said to
the monk, "Pray, father, to God, and ask Him to heal me." The monk
prayed, but the other did not recover; and the layman said to him, "O
father, know that this thing puzzles me. When thou wast sick, I prayed to God
for thee, and He answered me, and thou didst recover; but now thou hast prayed
for me, and thou art not answered." The monk said to him, "O my son,
when I asked thee to pray for me, I believed that thy prayer would be answered;
but thou didst ask me to pray for thee, and thou didst not believe that my
prayer would be answered. According to what thou art it has happened to
thee."
Some one said to one
of the old fathers, "From whence comes to me a
longing for women?" The old man said to him, "From thy much sleep and
over-eating."
One of the old fathers said, "Think of thy work continually, and
exercise thy soul in praise, and prayer, and in love to thy Lord, before others
exercise it in evil and wicked care."
One of the old fathers said, "As fire burneth wood, so the fear of God
burneth violence and passions."
One of the old fathers said, "The mirror of piety is prayer, and her
crown is humility." To God be the praise and the victory. Amen.
|
