Speaking To An Elder

Ἒλεγον περὶ τοῦ ἀββᾶ Μακαρίου, ὅτι εἰ προσήρχετο αὐτῷ ἀδελφὸς, ὡς ἀγίῳ γέροντι καὶ μεγάλῳ μετὰ φόβου, οὐδὲν ἐλάλει αὐτῷ. Εἰ δὲ ἔλεγεν αὐτῷ τις τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὡς ἐξουθενῶν αὐτον· Ἀββᾶ, ἆρα ὃταν ἦς καμηλίτης καὶ ἔκλεπτες νίτρον καὶ ἐπώλεις αὐτὸ, οὐκ ἔδερόν σε οἱ τηρηταί; Εἰ ταῦτά τις ἔλεγεν αὐτῷ ἐλάλει αὐτῳ μετὰ χαρᾶς, εἴ τι αὐτὸν ἠρώτα.  ᾽Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

They said about Father Macarius that if one of the brothers came to him and treated him as a holy elder, in great awe, he spoke nothing to him; but if one of the brothers spoke to him as to one of little worth, saying, 'Father, when you were a camel driver and stole nitre and sold it, did those who caught you whip you?' to the one who spoke so, he would reply cheerfully to whatever was asked. Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia