There was a hermit in the caves of the holy Jordan, called Barnabas. One day, going down to the river to drink, he got something stuck in his foot - he remained with the thorn in his flesh, without letting a physician see him. So his foot rotted, and he was compelled to take a cell in the Laura of the Towers. His foot continued to rot, but he would say to all who came to visit him that the more the outer man suffers, the more the inner flourishes. After the accent of Abba Barnabas the hermit from his cave to the Towers, after he had been there for a while, another hermit went to his cave, and coming in he saw an angel of God standing at the altar which the old man had made in his cave. Said the hermit to the angel: “What are you doing here?” and he answered: “I am an angel of the Lord and this place was entrusted to me by God from the moment when it was consecrated”.
(transl. Leah Di Segni)