The Three Hermits by Leo Tolstoy. Short summary

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The bishop visited the elders on the island and taught them the Lord’s Prayer. He sailed onward. The elders ran across the sea after the ship because they had forgotten the text. The Archbishop realized that it was not the words, but the holy life.

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The Archbishop sailed to the Solovetsky Islands. He went out on deck and heard a fisherman telling the passengers about his visit to three holy elders. They live on a small flat island in a dugout, old and infirm, but they work.

The bishop wanted to see the elders. Paid all the expenses to the captain. A boat took him to the island.

Asked the archbishop how they prayed. They answered, «Three of you, three of us, have mercy on us.» «You are not praying correctly,» said the archbishop, and taught the elders the Lord’s Prayer. Learned the text of the prayer with them until evening.

The archbishop continued on his way. At night he went out on deck and saw a distant glow. It was the elders who were catching up with the ship on the sea as if it were dry land. They said they had forgotten the text of the prayer and asked him to repeat it. The bishop said that it was not for him to teach them, and that their former prayer was pleasing to God.