The Life of Two Brothers Who Were Syrian Money-Dealers
Abba Theodore, higoumen of the Old Lavra, told us that there were two brothers, Syrian money-dealers, in Constantinople. The elder brother said to the younger, "Come, let us go down to Syria and take possession of the paternal home." The younger replied, "Why both of us? We would have to leave the business unattended. You go, and I will stay here. Or let me go, and you stay here." They came to an agreement that the younger brother should go.
A little while after his departure, the brother who stayed in Constantinople saw an elder in his sleep who said to him, "Do you know that your brother has committed adultery with the tavern-keeper’s wife?" When he woke up, he was distressed and said to himself, "This is my fault. Why did I let him go alone?" A little later, he saw the same elder again, who said, "Do you know that your brother has forced his attentions on the tavern-keeper’s wife?" The brother was grieved again by this.
A third time, a little while later, he saw the same elder, who said, "Do you know that your brother has destroyed an honest woman and has degraded himself with the tavern-keeper’s wife?" He wrote from Constantinople to Syria, urging his brother to leave everything and return to Byzantium at once, without delay.
When the younger brother received the letter, he immediately left everything and went back to his brother. When the elder brother laid eyes on him, he took him to the Great Church and began to reproach him with a heavy heart, saying, "Did you do well in fornicating with the tavern-keeper's wife?" When the younger brother heard this, he began to swear by Almighty God that he did not know what his brother was talking about; that he had never had sinful intercourse, nor any intercourse at all except with his lawful wife.
When the elder brother heard this, he asked, "Have you then done something even worse?" The younger brother denied it, saying, "I am not aware of having done anything irregular, except that I found monks in our village of the Severan persuasion. Not knowing whether this was a bad thing, I made my communion with them. I have not done anything else, so far as I am aware."
The elder brother realized that his brother's fornication consisted of having left the holy Catholic Church for the heresy of Severus Acephalos, a tavern-keeper indeed. In this, he had fallen into disgrace and besmirched the nobility of the true faith.