Quotes from the Desert Fathers

[Shin]

These two are ones I can't forget.

The former reminds me of St. Poemen's advice about anger.

[odhiambo]

   One day the patriarch John (the Almsgiver) gave to one of his servants who had
been reduced to extreme poverty two pounds of gold with his own hands
so that no one might know of it.  When his servant said, "After this
gift I shall no longer have the courage to look you in the face, a
face so dear, so like an angel's," he made this wise and praiseworthy
answer, "I have not yet shed my blood on your behalf, brother, as
Christ, our God, my Master and the Master of us all, commanded me."

[odhiambo]

Hold me worthy, O Lord, to behold your mercy in my soul before I depart
from this world; may I be aware in myself at that hour of your comfort,
along with those who have gone forth from this world in good hope.
Open my heart, O my God, by your grace and purify me from any
association with sin.
Tread out in my heart the path of repentance, my God and my Lord,
my hope and my boast, my strong refuge, by whom may my eyes be
illumined, and may I have understanding of your truth, O Lord.
Hold my worthy, Lord, to taste the joy of the gift of repentance,
by which the soul is separated from cooperating with sin and the
will of flesh and blood.  Hold my worthy, O Lord, to taste this
state, wherein lies the gift of pure prayer.
O my Saviour, may I attain to this wondrous transition at which
the soul abandons this visible world, and at which new stirrings
arise on our entering into the spiritual world and the experience
of new perceptions.
St. Isaac the Syrian
 
Amen!

[odhiambo]

Abba Anthony said,
 'I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, "What can get through from such snares?" Then I heard a voice saying to me, "Humility."'

He also said, 'Some have afflicted their bodies by
asceticism, but they lack discernment, and so they are far
from God.'

[odhiambo]

He also said, 'Some have afflicted their bodies by
asceticism, but they lack discernment, and so they are far
from God.'

Did Saint Anthony mean that these people do not understand the reason underlying the practice of asceticism?

[odhiambo]

This next story or saying from the desert is posted more for others' opinion as to how they understand it. I have often read it without really understanding what is being communicated. Here it is:


" Abba Anthony heard of a very young monk who had
performed a miracle on the road. Seeing the old men
walking with difficulty along the road, he ordered the wild
asses to come and carry them until they reached Abba
Anthony. Those whom they had carried told Abba Anthony
about it. He said to them, 'This monk seems to me to be a
ship loaded with goods but I do not know if he will reach
harbour.' After a while, Anthony suddenly began to weep, to
tear his hair and lament. His disciples said to him, 'Why are
you weeping, Father?' and the old man replied, 'A great pillar
of the Church has just fallen (he meant the young monk) but
go to him and see what has happened.' So the disciples went
and found the monk sitting on a mat and weeping for the sin
he had committed. Seeing the disciples of the old man he10
said, 'Tell the old man to pray that God will give me just ten
days and I hope I will have made satisfaction.' But in the
space of five days he died"

[Shin]

I recall the passage. If I recall correctly, there were further comments by the fathers on this topic surrounding it in the collection I read.

The sense of it, as far as I remember, was that this young man was loaded with gifts and graces, but not sufficiently tried and experienced enough to bear them all properly.

It reminded me of a young monk who, on being ordered to guard some grain by his fellows, was left to do it alone. Then the rain came, which would spoil it all. Desperately, to save the grain, he threw himself on the ground, and prayed with all his strength.

And everywhere it rained, but upon the grain. Upon returning, the abbot and the brothers saw and learned what had happened, and so the Abbot had the young monk scourged.

He did this for the sake of the monk's humility, lest he think back on this day and become proud.

With gifts can come trials and responsibilities..

[Shin]

Several brothers went one day to test Abba John the Short, since he never allowed his mind to be distracted and did not speak about the things of this transitory life. The brothers greeted him and said: "We thank God that it rained a good deal this year, that the palm trees received sufficient water to put forth leaves, and that the brothers are finding materials for their handiwork."

Abba John replied to them: "So it is when the Holy Spirit descends into the hearts of men: they are renewed and put forth leaves in the fear of God."

[Shin]

Abba Euprepius said, ‘Knowing that God is faithful and mighty, have faith in him and you will share what is his. If you are depressed, you do not believe. We all believe that he is mighty and we believe all is possible to him. As for your own affairs, behave with faith in him about them, too, for he is able to work miracles in you also.’

[Shin]

"They related of abbot Macarius the Egyptian, that one day he was going up from Scetis to the Nitrian hills, and when he drew near the place, he said to his disciple, 'Go a little in front.' And as he walked in front, he met a certain heathen priest, and the brother called out to him, crying, 'Aha, devil, where art thou running?' 'The man turned, and beat him well, and left him half killed, and took up his stick and ran.

When he got a little further, the abbot Macarius met him, and said to him, 'Salvation to thee, weary one.' Surprised at this, the man came to him and said, 'What good sawest thou in me, that thou didst accost me?'

The old man said to him, 'Because I saw thee tired, and thou knowest not that thy labour is in vain.' The other said to him, 'And I was touched by thy salutation, and saw that thou art on God's side; but another bad monk met me and insulted me, and I beat him to death.' And the old man knew that it was his disciple.

Then the heathen priest seized him by the feet and said, 'I will not leave thee till thou makest a monk of me.' Then they went up to where the monk was, and they carried him, and brought him into the church of the hill. And when they saw the priest with him, they were astonished; and they made him a monk, and many of the heathens became Christians because of him.
 
Therefore the abbot Macarius said that a bad word makes even good people bad, but a good word turns bad people into good.

[Shin]

Once a brother visited Abba Felix, accompanied by some laymen who were living in the world. He asked the Abba to tell them a word of benefit to the soul. But the Elder kept silent. Since, however, the brother persistently continued to question him, Abba Felix said at last:

"Do you want to hear a word?"

"Yes, Abba," answered the visitors.

"Now a 'word' no longer exists, because when brothers would ask the Elders and apply what the Elders told them, God would send a word for the spiritual benefit of those asking. But now, since the brothers ask, but do not apply what they hear, God has taken away the gift of words from the Elders, and they cannot find any words to say, since there is no one to realize virtuous words."

As soon as the visitors heard this, they sighed and said:

"Abba, pray for us."

[Shin]

The peer of all his contemporaries, the ascetic Ammonios, a disciple of St. Pambo, was exceedingly literate and well-educated. For this reason, the whole population of a certain city wanted him to be appointed their Bishop. To this end, the most eminent of the city's men appeared before the blessed Timothy, Metropolitan of the region, asking him to consecrated Abba Ammonios to the Episcopacy.

Metropolitan Timothy said to them, "Bring him here, and I will immediately consecrate him a Bishop for you."

And so, a committee left for the place where he was living as a hermit, all of them strong enough to lay hands on him, in case he should refuse, and take him by force to the Metropolitan. The Saint, however, realizing their intetions, took flight. But when the delegation -- with some labor -- caught up with him, he stopped and begged them not to insist on their demand. They, however, obdurately insisted. So, St. Ammonios swore to them that he would never accept their request and that he would never leave the desert.

Despite all of this, the representatives of the city would not oblige him. In the face of their insistance, while they stood by in astonishment, Ammonios grabbed some shears and completely cut off his ear.

"Let this at least convince you," he told them, "that what you are trying to force me to do is completely impossible, since the laws of the Church forbid someone with one ear [in fact, any person with any form of physical deformity - Trans.] to advance to the rank of Priest.

The delegation subsequently returned to the Metropolitan and conveyed to him the events that had taken place.

The Metropolitan, reflecting a bit, answered them:

"Let the Jews apply that law. Bring him to me, and even if he should cut off his nose, I will consecrate him. It is enough that he is worthy and that his life is virtuous."

After that, the delegation went again to where Abba Ammonios lived in asceticism, and they asked him anew to accept their offer and to be consecrated Bishop of their city.

In reply, Ammonios spoke to them assuring them of his firm intention: "Heed me! If you force me to leave my hermitage against my will, I will not hesitate to cut off my tongue, as well."

When the men of the city heard this threat, they finally left him alone and went on their way.

[Shin]

When the brethren were talking to an old man about the thoughts they said unto him, "Our hearts are hard, and we do not fear God; what are we to do so that we may come to fear God?" The old man said unto them, "I think that if a man will lay hold in his heart upon that which rebuketh him, it will bring to him the fear of God."

And they said unto him, "What is the rebuke?" The old man said unto him, In every act a man should rebuke his soul, and say unto it, 'Remember that thou hast to go forth to meet God.' And let him say also, 'What do I seek with man?' I think that if a man remain in these things the fear of God will come to him."

[Shin]

The brethren said, "What are works?" The old man said, "The keeping of the commandments of God in the purity "of the inner man, together with the [performance of] labours "by the outer man."

The brethren said, "Is every man who is destitute of "works also destitute of love?" The old man said, "It is impossible for the man who is in God not to love and it is impossible that he who loveth should not work; and it is incredible that he who teacheth and doth not work is indeed a believer, for his tongue is the enemy of his actions, and although he speaketh life, he is in subjection unto death."

[Shin]

On one occasion a brother came to Abba Isaiah, who threw a handful of lentiles into a saucepan to boil, but when they had just begun to boil he took them off the fire; and the brother said unto him, "Are they not yet cooked, O father?" And the old man said unto him, "Is it not sufficient for thee "to have seen the fire? For this [alone] is great refreshing."

[Shin]

ABBA POEMEN used to say, "Satan hath three kinds "of power which precede all sin. The first is error, and the second is neglect (or laxity), and the third is lust." "When error hath come it produceth neglect, and from neglect springeth lust, and by lust man fell; if we watch against error neglect will not come, and if we be not negligent, lust will not appear, and if a man worketh not lust, he will, through the help of Christ, never fall."