Chapter LXXI. What he said he knew in answer to a brother who exhorted him to apply himself to reading

105. When he was ill and oppressed by pain everywhere his companion once said to him: "Father, thou hast ever fled for refuge to the Scriptures, they have ever furnished remedies for thy pains: I pray thee now also to have something read to thee from the Prophets, and perhaps thy spirit will rejoice in the Lord". The Saint replied: "It is good to read the testimonies of Scripture, it is good to seek out our Lord God in them; but for myself, I have already mastered so much of the Scriptures that I have an ample store for meditation and reflection. I need no more, my son: I know Christ, the poor man crucified."