“We pray in this way,” replied the hermit. “Three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us.”
And when the old man said this, all three raised their eyes to heaven, and repeated:
“Three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us!”
The Bishop smiled.
“You have evidently heard something about the Holy Trinity,” said he. “But you do not pray aright. You have won my affection, godly men. I see you wish to please the Lord, but you do not know how to serve Him. That is not the way to pray; but listen to me, and I will teach you. I will teach you, not a way of my own, but the way in which God in the Holy Scriptures has commanded all men to pray to Him.”
And the Bishop began explaining to the hermits how God had revealed Himself to men; telling them of God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.
“God the Son came down on earth,” said he, “to save men, and this is how He taught us all to pray. Listen, and repeat after me: ‘Our Father.’ ”
And the first old man repeated after him, “Our Father,” and the second said, “Our Father,” and the third said, “Our Father.”
“Which art in heaven,” continued the Bishop.
The first hermit repeated, “Which art in heaven,” but the second blundered over the words, and the tall hermit could not say them properly. His hair had grown over his mouth so that he could not speak plainly. The very old hermit, having no teeth, also mumbled indistinctly.
The Bishop repeated the words again, and the old men repeated them after him. The Bishop sat down on a stone, and the old men stood before