St. Athanasius: The Paradise of the Holy Fathers

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CHAPTER XXXII

OF THE BLESSED DOROTHEOS

NOW there was there besides this man Elijah, the chosen man Dorotheos, who had grown old therein leading a life of excellent and sublime ascetic rule; and as he did not wish to dwell in the nunnery by the side of the women, as Elijah had done, he shut himself up in a certain upper chamber, but left therein a window which faced and looked into the interior of the nunnery; and when he knew that it was proper to do so he used to open it or shut it. He always sat by the window, and he shewed the women that he knew everything which they were doing, and by these means they were rebuked and prevented from quarrelling. And thus he grew old in that upper chamber, and no women ever went up to him, and he was unable to go down to them, for there was no ladder, and in this manner of life he brought his days to an end according to the will of God by the help of His grace.