One winter's day [St. Bessarion] was walking through a village when he came upon a dead man. Without hesitation, he took off his own coat and covered the body. A little further on, he gave his tunic to a poor man who was shivering in the cold. An army officer, who happened to be passing, saw the naked ascetic and wanted to know who had stripped him of his clothing. "He did", replied Bessarion, holding up the Gospel Book. On another occasion, he met with a poor man and, having nothing to give him in alms, he hurried to the market in order to sell his Gospel Book (his only possession). On his disciple's asking where the Book was, he replied cheerfully, "I have sold it in obedience to the words which I never cease to hear: 'Go, sell what you possess and give to the poor' (cf. Matt 19:21).
+St. Bessarion of Egypt, from his entry in The Synaxarion, for Feb 20.
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