Abba Isaac the Theban once saw a brother committing a fault and judged him. When he later returned to the desert, an angel of the Lord came and stood before the door of his cell, saying, “I will not let you enter.” Isaac pleaded with him, saying, “What is it?” The angel answered, “God sent me and said, ‘Tell him: Where do you command me to cast the brother who fell, whom you judged?’” Isaac immediately made a prostration and said, “I have sinned; forgive me.” The angel said, “Rise. God has forgiven you. From now on, guard yourself from judging anyone before God judges him.”
They said of another Abba Isaac, a disciple of Abba Apollo, that he was trained to the highest degree in every good work and acquired the stillness of the holy offering. When he went to church, he would not allow anyone to approach him and speak with him. His saying was, “Everything is good in its own time, for there is a time for every matter.” When the synaxis was dismissed, it was as though he were being chased by fire, and he hurried to reach his cell. Often after the synaxis the brothers were given a rusk and a cup of wine, but he would not take them—not because he rejected the brothers’ blessing, but because he wanted to preserve the stillness of the synaxis. Once he became ill, and when the brothers heard, they came to visit him. As they sat there, they asked him, “Abba Isaac, why do you flee from the brothers after the synaxis?” He said to them, “I do not flee from the brothers, but from the wickedness of the demons. For if someone holds a lighted lamp and delays while standing in the open air, it is extinguished. So it is with us: when we have been illumined by the holy offering, if we linger outside the cell, our mind becomes darkened.” This was the way of life of the holy Abba Isaac.