The brothers of one monastery came to the holy Bishop Ammon and began to complain about a monk who had fallen so low that a woman came to him at night, and they began to demand from the Monk Ammon that he expel this monk by removing his monastic robes.
The bishop refused:
“I won’t believe it until I can see it for myself.”
And so the monks watched how the harlot entered the cell of this unfortunate monk, and reported this to the bishop. And he said:
- Let's go together.
They knocked on the monk's door; he, trembling with fear, came out to meet them. The bishop and the brethren entered the cell. Ammon guessed that the monk hid his night guest under a barrel standing in the cell. He sat on this barrel and said to the monks:
- Search all corners of the room.
They started searching, climbed into the cellar, but, of course, they couldn’t find anyone. None of them dared to ask: “Get up, Master, we’ll look under the barrel.” After standing, they said:
- We didn't find anyone.
Ammon answered them:
- Do you see how you have sinned? Go and repent.
And he himself remained with that monk, approached him, without saying a word of reproach, but only, taking his hand with love, whispered to him quietly:
“Brother, brother, watch your soul, remember how short this life is,” and he left.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru