Orthodox Parables and Stories: "The Price of One Particle"

An instructive story from the life of St. Basil the Great -

A pious priest, a contemporary of St. Basil the Great, for various reasons got into debt, and these debts grew over time, and creditors began to bother the priest about the debt, which forced him to ask for help from one neighbor,a merchant friend who, having listened to his request, hands the priest 500 gold coins, with which he paid his debt, and in satisfaction of the merchant the priest promised to commemorate his name and relatives for health and repose at the proskomedia for the rest of his life.
The merchant expected that the priest would live a long time and pray for him and his relatives at every liturgy and thus satisfy his money.
The priest, however, managed to serve only one liturgy, at which he commemorated his benefactor and his relatives, and soon after this he fell ill and died after a long illness.
The merchant, having learned of the death of the priest, was very saddened and grieved over the loss of money, for only one liturgy was performed by the priest, which the merchant did not expect, for he counted on the many years of life of the priest and his prayers, for which he handed him 500 gold coins.
The merchant began to bother the deceased priest's mother to return the money to him, keeping it for herself for one liturgy.
The mother replied that she had no money, and if she had any, she had spent it during the priest's illness and now there was nothing left.
The merchant, not paying attention to the words of the mother, persistently demanded money and threatened to sue.
She turned to Basil the Great and told the saint what had happened.
Having listened to her, Basil the Great said: "I will serve the liturgy tomorrow, come to me together with the merchant and the scales, we will weigh one particle taken from the prosphora for the health and salvation of his relatives, and how much the particle weighs on the scales, that much gold the merchant will put on the other half of the scales and with that gold he will pay you for one liturgy celebrated by the deceased priest."
The mother went to the merchant and conveyed the words of Saint Basil.
The merchant rejoiced and went to the church the next morning, taking with him the scales and the gold.
St. Basil, performing the proskomedia, took out one particle for the health and salvation of the servants of God... and placed it on the scales, and ordered the merchant to place the gold on the other half of the scales.
No matter how much gold the merchant put in, one small particle outweighed everything, and the more gold the merchant put on the scales, the lower and lower sank the half on which the particle taken out by St. Basil the Great from the prosphora during the proskomedia was placed.
The merchant, seeing the great and gracious miracle, was overcome with fear and emotion and then asked forgiveness from St. Basil and the mother of the priest who had reposed in God and no longer demanded the debt.