ABBA POLYCHRONIOS STORY OF THE THREE MONKS
Abba Polychronios told us: I saw one of the brothers at the Lavra of the Towers of Jordan who was not keeping himself up to the mark, for he never fulfilled his Sunday duties. Then, some time later, I saw this man, who had formerly been so lax, devoting himself to his duties with all diligence and great zeal.
So I said to him: "Now you are doing well, brother, and looking after your own soul." He replied: "Abba, I am about to die, sir," and three days later he was dead.
This same Polychronios, priest of the New Lavra, also told me this: Once, whilst I was staying at the Lavra of the Towers, one of the brothers died. The steward said to me: "Of your charity, brother, come so we can carry that brother’s effects into the storeroom." As we began to move his things, I saw the steward weeping.
I asked him: "Come now, abba, why are you weeping in this way, sir?" He replied: "Because today I am carrying out that brother’s effects, and two days from now others shall bear away mine." And so it was; two days later the steward himself died, just as he said.