THE LIFE OF BARNABAS THE ANCHORITE
There was an anchorite at the Caves of the Holy Jordan called Barnabas. One day he went down to drink at the Jordan and got something sharp deeply embedded in his foot. However, he left it there and would not let a doctor examine it. His foot turned septic, which compelled him to seek assistance at one of the towers. As the infection worsened, he often said to everyone who called on him that the more the outer man suffered, the more the inner man flourished.
After Abba Barnabas the anchorite had left the cave, come to the Towers, and been there for some time, another anchorite went out to his cave. Upon entering, he saw an angel of God standing at the altar, which the elder Barnabas had set up and consecrated in the cave. The anchorite asked the angel, "What are you doing there?" The angel replied, "I am the angel of the Lord; and from the moment that this altar was consecrated, it was entrusted to me by God."