He was a bishop DanielOnce, he was walking with his disciple on a road, and when they approached a place...He said He has Armon the city, He said To his disciple: “Go to this monastery of these virgins, and tell the mother that I am here.” The monastery was known as the Monastery of Anba Armius, and there were three hundred virgins in it.
When the disciple knocked on the door, She said The gatekeeper said in a low voice: “Who is this? What do you want, father?” He said she has the father"I want to talk to mom." And she said He said to him: “Mother does not talk to anyone, so tell me what you want, and I will tell her.” And he said She said to him: “Tell her, there is a monk who wants to speak with you.” So she went and said goodbye to the mother, and she came to the door and spoke to him through the gatekeeper. And he said Her brother said to her, “Do good, and bring us to you tonight, me and my father, lest the wild beasts devour us.” She answered, “It is not our custom to have a man spend the night with us, and it is better for you to be eaten by the wild beasts of the field, and not by the beasts within, who are the enemies, the devils.” And he said Her brother said: "He is our father." DanielHe sent me to you.
When she heard that he had informed her DanielShe ran out quickly to the second door, and the virgins ran after her, spreading their balloons on the way to the place. SheikhAs soon as he entered the monastery, she brought him a jug of water and washed his feet. When she finished washing them, the virgins took the water and washed their faces, except for one sister, who they called the foolish one, lying at the door in very poor rags. When they finished washing, he went out. the father forebode Daniel At the door, he looked at that sister, but she did not greet him, nor did she pay attention to his words, so the sisters shouted at her to kiss the hands of our father, Anba. DanielShe did not stop. And she said Mother of the Anba Daniel“Father, she is crazy, and I asked many times to throw her outside the monastery gate, but I was afraid of sin.”
Then they came to the bishop Daniel food to eat, and then they ate, then He said To his disciple: “Watch with me tonight, to see the greatness of the virtues of this the SaintThe one they call crazy.
Not a moment had passed of the night when the madwoman arose, stood upright, raised her hands to heaven, opened her mouth, blessed God, and made many prostrations. Her tears flowed like a flowing fountain, because of the burning of her heart in God. This was her action every night, and if she heard a noise toward her, she threw herself on the ground and pretended to be asleep. This was her plan all the days of her life. And he said To his disciple: “Summon the mother quickly.” When she came and saw the sister, the worshipper of Christ, with the light in her hands, and the angels prostrating with her, she wept andShe said“Woe to me, the sinner, for how much I have cursed, insulted and reproached her.”
When the bell rang and the sisters gathered for prayer, the mother told them what she had seen. When she knew (the SaintAnd when they learned of her news, they wrote a paper and hung it on a reed at the door of the monastery, and left the monastery. Written on the paper was: “I am the wretched one, for my wretchedness and my opposition to the enemy, take me out from among you and distance me from your faces that are full of life. Your insults to me were the joy of my soul, and your annoyance with me was a fruit that is gathered every day. Your independence of me was my profit, and the capital increases every day and hour. Blessed is that hour in which It was said “I have in it: You foolish, you madwoman, and you are absolved from me, innocent of sin, and I will answer for you before you, before the pulpit, for my sake; there is no mocker among you, nor one who loves the throat, nor clothing, nor lust, but you are all pure.”
This is her last letter, and when Anba read it, Daniel said"I wouldn't have come here last night for any reason."
And all the sisters confessed to him that they had insulted her and slandered her, so he made them permissible. the father forebode Daniel He taught them not to mock God’s creation, as this is the greatest of sins, even if it is foolish, because the Torah Musa The Prophet said: “Man was created in the image and likeness of God with dignity, honor, patience, and forbearance.” Then, the father He prayed for them and went to his monastery.
There was near Mount Shehat, which means the Balance of Hearts, a monastery in which there were many virgins. They had a small provision, and they used to distribute it to the poor and strangers. The one who hated goodness could not bear the righteousness that they did, so he entered the heart of the leader of a tribe near them, and tempted him to rob the monastery. How happy were his men when he told them of his intention.
When they came to the monastery, they tried to find a way to take him, but they could not, because the monastery’s fortress was impregnable. And he said Their leader said to them: “Do what I tell you. Go and bring me a monk’s robe, a black pallium, and a tunic engraved with crosses, like the figure of Abba Daniel“Which is from Shihat, and when the time comes, I put on all of that, and I take a newspaper in my hand, and I knock on the door, and if they look at me, they open it for me for it, and thus I prepare the place for you to plunder it with ease.” When they heard that, they were happy, and they brought the clothes that he had asked for.
When the time came, the captain got up, dressed, took a newspaper in his hand, and knocked on the door. The porter answered him: “Who are you, my lord and father?” And he said She said to him: “Go and tell the mother that the poor man Daniel The priest, who is from Shehat, is standing at the door, and he says: “Accept me to you until morning, so that I may rest.” So the gatekeeper informed the mother of the words, and as soon as the mother heard that Abba Daniel He stood at the door, until she quickly got up, and the sisters followed her, and kissed the man's feet. Because it was evening, they did not verify his identity, but hurried and brought water in a basin and washed his feet. When they wanted to spread out a bed for him at the top of the monastery, he prevented them, saying: "I will not leave this place."
And the mother and the sisters took the water in which he had washed his feet, and put it before him, and each one began to wash her face with it, while he made the cross over her. And among the sisters was a virgin girl, blind from her mother's womb. And it came to pass, when they took her by the hand, and brought her to that man, that the father forebode Daniel He came to them in spirit at that hour, and took the Virgin’s hand and brought her to that man, and they said to him: “Our Father, we ask your holiness to cross her eyes.” And he said He said to them: “Bring her the rest of the water that is in the bowl.” His words were a mockery of the water and an insult to their minds. When the sister took the water and sprinkled the name of Christ on it, saying: “By the prayer of the Saint forebode Daniel“And immediately her eyes were opened, and the man saw.
What fear and trembling seized him, and what a great cry they cried out at that hour, and they began to kiss the feet of that thief, saying to him: “Our Father, blessed is the hour in which you came to us.”
As for the thief, And he said“Woe to me, and how estranged I am from God, if it is in the name of Anba DanielThe eyes of the blind are opened, how great is he who does the work of the Lord, woe to me, how I wasted my time in doing impurities, and the right of the prayer of Abba Daniel“From now on, I will never go back to the path I was taking,” he said, crying and pulling out his beard.
As for the virgins, they kept saying to him: “Blessed is the hour in which you came here,” but he said: “Indeed, it is a blessed hour.”
As for the men who were waiting for him to open the door for them, they were standing, with their swords in their hands, anxious to open the door. He heard them, while he was inside, saying: “Night has come, perhaps he wants to become a monk and live with them.” Another of them said: “Perhaps one of the nuns made him a Christian.” They were saying this with mockery, so he heard that and said: “Truly, the Prophet of God spoke through their mouths that I would become a monk, and that one of the nuns made me a Christian.”
And when the light shone, and their hope in it was cut off, they were afraid and went back to their place sad, and their teeth were gnashing at their arrival. And when it was morning, that thief stretched out his hands toward the east, saying: “Lord, you did not come to call the righteous, but sinners; so receive me to you through the prayers of those who have labored for your name.” Then he bade them farewell and went out, and they were certain that he had informed them. Daniel.
When he reached the middle of the road, his companions came out to him, andThey said He said to him: “What happened to you? You are sitting here because you have found beautiful jewels, and you intend to show yourself to us. Show us what you have with you.” When they searched him, they found him in the worst condition, his face had changed, his eyes were swollen from the intensity of his crying, his whole being had changed, and the beastly soul had left him. At that, they were afraid and trembled, and they began to ask him with fear and modesty to tell them the reason for the change in his entire life.
Then he began to tell them from the time he had come to them, and the matter of the blind virgin, until the hour in which he was. But when they heard, fear entered them and they kept silent.
Then he headed towards the wilderness, to Father DanielSome of his companions followed him and told him what had happened in the monastery of virgins. And he said He has a father Daniel“I am the one who brought the blind virgin to you, and from the time you entered them, I was present among you in spirit.” After that, they made him a monk, and he stayed with him in good worship and excessive asceticism until the day of his death. This thief worked great miracles, and through his prayers he dwelt in the paradise of bliss. May the blessing of his prayers be with us. Amen.