St. Athanasius: The Paradise of the Holy Fathers

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CHAPTER XXV

OF ABRAHAM THE EGYPTIAN

AND there was also a certain man whose name was Abraham, and he kept a rule of life of the sternest hardness in the desert; and he was hurt in his understanding by reason of the vain opinion which he held concerning himself. One day he came to the church and strove with the elders, saying, “I have been made an elder by Christ during the past night, and ye must associate me in the ministrations of the priesthood.” And when the fathers had come to a decision concerning him, and had brought him out of the desert, they laid a light rule of life upon him, and in this manner they cured him of his arrogance, and brought him to the state of being sensible of his feebleness, and of having knowledge of his infirmity, through which the devils made a mock of him.