A pagan priest once came down to Scetis and slept in Abba Olympius’s cell. After observing the monks’ way of life, he said to him, “Since you live like this, do you receive no visions from your God?” Olympius said, “No.” The priest replied, “When we perform our service for our god, he hides nothing from us but reveals his mysteries. Yet you practice such labors, vigils, stillness, and ascetic practices, and you say you see nothing. Surely you have evil thoughts in your hearts, and they separate you from your God; that is why His mysteries are not revealed to you.”
Olympius went and told the elders. They were amazed and said, “Indeed, this is so. Impure thoughts separate God from a person.”
Abba Olympius of the Cells was once attacked by fornication. His thought said to him, “Go and take a wife.” He got up, made a woman out of clay, and said to himself, “Here is your wife. Now you must work hard to feed her.” So he labored greatly. The next day he made a daughter out of clay and said to his thought, “Your wife has given birth. You must work even more to feed and clothe your child.” He exhausted himself with labor and said to his thought, “I can no longer endure this toil.” Then he said, “If you cannot endure the toil, do not seek a wife.” God saw his labor and took away the warfare, and he found rest.