How Abbot John Was Deceived by a Fast

In this way, we have heard, Abbot John, who lived at Lycon, was recently deceived. His body was exhausted and failing, because he had put off eating during a fast of two days. On the third day, as he was on his way to take some food, the devil came to him in the shape of a filthy Ethiopian, fell at his feet, and cried out: “Forgive me, because it was I who set this labor on you.” So that great man, who was so perfect in discernment, understood that he had been deceived by the craft of the devil, under the pretense of an abstinence practiced unsuitably. He had taken up a fast of such a kind that it burdened his worn-out body with a weariness that was unnecessary, and even harmful to the spirit. He had been deceived by a counterfeit coin: while he paid respect to the image of the true king on it, he had not been alert enough to whether it was rightly cut and stamped. [a]

The last duty of this “good money-changer,” which, as we said before, concerns checking the weight, will be fulfilled if, whenever our thoughts suggest that something should be done, we think it over scrupulously. We lay it in the scales of our heart and weigh it on the most exact balance. Is it full of good for all, heavy with the fear of God, whole and sound in its meaning? Or is it light with human display or some conceit of novelty? Has the pride of foolish empty glory reduced or lessened the weight of its merit? So let us at once weigh our thoughts in the public balance, that is, test them by the acts and proofs of the apostles and prophets. Then let us either keep them as whole and perfect and of full weight, or else reject them with all care and diligence as imperfect, counterfeit, and underweight.