An Ear of Wheat

Isaac the presbyter of Celia said, "I know a brother who was harvesting and wanted to eat an ear of wheat. He said to the owner of the field, 'Will you let me eat one ear?'

When the owner heard it, he wondered, and said, 'The whole field is yours, abba, why do you ask me?'

That brother was as scrupulous as that."

Poverty and Obedience

Isaac said to the brothers, "Pambo and our predecessors used to wear old and much-patched clothes. You wear good clothes. Go away, you do not belong here." When they were starting out for the harvest, he said, "I shall give you no more orders, for you never obey me."

Photo by Frank Logue; statue of Saint Francis at San Damiano, Italy

Monks Live Here

It was said that a monk once came to the congregation at Cellia and went to see Isaac wearing a small hood.

Isaac rebuked him, saying, "This is where monks live. You are a man of the world, you cannot stay here."

~~St. Bishoy monastery in Wadi Natroun, Egypt