“How can we attain the purity of heart?”

Abba John, who had been exiled by the Emperor Marcian, said,

‘We went to Syria one day to see Abba Poemen and we wanted to ask him about purity of heart. But the old man did not know Greek and no interpreter could be found.

So, seeing our embarrassment, the old man began to speak Greek, saying,

“The nature of water is soft, that of stone is hard; but if a bottle is hung above the stone, allowing the water to fall drop by drop, it wears away the stone. So it is with the word of God; it is soft and our heart is hard, but the man who hears the word of God often, opens his heart to the fear of God.”’