Chapter XIV. How he laboured with his hands for the common good himself upon higher matters, and often to abstain from his own personal affairs or from private study, and to prefer Spiritual gain before temporal advantages.
(3) Sometimes so many stood before his cell desiring to speak with and consult him, or to confess their secrets to a man so holy, that there was scarcely room for him to come forth, 112 and he had barely time to spare for reciting the Hours and attending duly to the needs of the body; yet he left none uncomforted, but either settled the matter out of hand, or, if his petitioner desired it left him free to return to him on a future occasion. It happened sometimes that he began to recite the Hours, but could not finish the Psalm which he had begun because so many came to him one after the other; and that he might not yield to weariness and refuse to open the door to him that knocked, he said to himself, "Once more for the sake of God," and this "once more" he did often repeat till "once" became "often," for in his brotherly love he did patiently overcome the hardships and unrestfulness of these interruptions.