St. Lot of Egypt (5th c.)
Commemorated on October 22
He was one of the company of ascetic Fathers who fled the
world into the Egyptian desert in the fourth and fifth centuries.
Once Abba Lot went to his spiritual father Joseph and asked him, simply, 'What
shall I do to be saved?' Abba Joseph stretched his hands toward heaven and his
fingers became ten flames. He said, 'If you desire it, you can become entirely
as a fire.'
A brother once came to Abba Lot in terrible distress and said to him, 'I have
committed a great sin, that I cannot admit to the Fathers.' 'Confess it to me
and I will bear it for you,' answered the Elder. 'I have fallen into
fornication,' the brother said, 'and to do so, I sacrificed to idols.' The Elder
said to him, 'Take heart: no sin is beyond God's mercy. Repentance is always
possible. Go and sit in your cave; eat only every other day, and we will each
take an equal share of the burden of your offence.' After three weeks of keeping
the same penance, Abba Lot received assurance from God that the brother's
repentance was acceptable. For the rest of his life, the brother served as the
Elder's disciple.