The Elder Who Never Ate Alone

We saw another, who lived alone, who declared that he had never enjoyed food by himself alone. Even if none of the brothers came to his cell for five days running, he kept putting off eating until, on Saturday or Sunday, he went to church for the service and found some stranger. He would bring him home to his cell at once, and together with him take food for the body, not so much because of his own need as for the sake of kindness and for his brother’s sake. And so, since they know that the daily fast is broken without scruple when brothers arrive, once the brothers leave they make up for the meal eaten on their account by greater abstinence. They sternly balance out even a very little food taken with a more severe discipline, not only in bread but also by cutting back their usual amount of sleep. [a]