The Hermit of the Pillar 57

with trembling hands outstretched, and dim
eyes weeping, “who hath taken up Thy
cross as I have done, and the anguish of the
thorns and the nails, and the parched sorrow
of Thy thirst, and the wounding of Thy
blessed body, and borne them for years
twenty and three, and shown them as I have
shown them to the sun and stars and the
four winds, high up between heaven and
earth, that men might be drawn to Thee,
and carried them across the world from the
outmost East to the outmost West? Surely,
Lord God! Thou hast written my name
in Thy Book of Life, and has set for me a
happy place in the heavens. Surely, all I
have and am I have given Thee; and all
that a worm of the earth may do have I
done! If in anything I have failed, show
me, Lord, I beseech Thee, wherein I have
come short. If any man there be more
worthy in Thine eyes, let me, too, set eyes
upon him, that I may learn of him how
I may the better please Thee. Teach me,
Lord, that which I know not, for Thou
alone knowest and art wise!”

As. Basil was praying thus in the hour
before dawn, once more the Angel, clothed