There was an old man and each day he would eat three biscuits. A brother came to visit the old man and when they had sat down to eat, he set three biscuits before the brother.When the old man saw that the brother was still hungry, he brought him three more. When they had their fill and stood up, the old man condemned the brother and said to him, ‘It is not fitting, brother, to serve the flesh.’ The brother asked the old man’s forgiveness and left.
The next day, when it was time for the old man to eat, he placed before himself, as was his custom, the three biscuits; after eating them he was still hungry but restrained himself. The following day the same thing happened to him. As a result, the old man began to lose his willpower and thought that he had been forsaken by God. Throwing himself before God, with tears he was imploring God for the reason why he had been forsaken and he saw an angel speaking to him, `This has happened to you because you condemned the brother. Know, therefore, that when someone is able to exercise self-control or do any other good thing, he is able to do it not on his own power but because it is the grace of God that empowers each person.’
Source: Becoming Fire, Through the Years with the Desert Father and Mothers. Tim Vivian, ed. Cistercian Publications, 2008. p. 99.
