THE MIRACLE OF SOME WOOD GIVEN TO ABBA BROCHA, THE EGYPTIAN
Athanasios the Egyptian, who was connected with the civil authority, said that Abba Brocha found a spot in the wilderness outside the city of Seleucia near Antioch and tried to build a small cell there. As his building progressed, he wanted wood to build the roof.
One day, he went into the city and found Anatolios, known as ‘the hunchback,’ a magnate of Seleucia, sitting outside his house. He approached him and said, “Of your charity, give me a little wood to roof my house with.” The magnate replied testily, “Look, there is wood over there; take it, and go,” indicating a large mast that he had lying in front of his house, which he had made for a vessel of fifty-thousand bushels.
Abba Brocha responded, “The Lord bless you; I will take it.” Still in a bad humor, Anatolios remarked, “Blessed be God.” The elder grasped the mast, lifted it from the ground all by himself, and put it on his shoulders. In this way, he took it away to his cell.
Anatolios was so taken aback by this extraordinary miracle that he granted him as much wood as he required for his needs. With this, Abba Brocha was able not only to roof his cell but also to do many other things for his monastery.