Library › Sayings of the Fathers (Systematic Collection, Latin)

Sayings of the Fathers (Systematic Collection, Latin)

tr. Chadwick, 1958; selections

10. Part 10: On Discretion

Abba Antony said: “Some wear down their bodies by fasting. But because they have no discretion, it puts them further from God.”

Some brothers came to Abba Antony to tell him their dreams and discover whether they were true or were the illusions of demons. They had with them a donkey, who died on the journey. When they arrived at the old man, he said (before they told him): “Why did your donkey die on the journey?” And they said: “How do you know, father?” And he said: “The demons showed me.” They said to him: “Indeed we came to ask you on the subject. We have seen dreams which have often come true: and we did not want to go astray.” The old man satisfied them, taking his example from the donkey, and showing them that these dreams are caused by demons.

A hunter happened to come through the brush and saw Abba Antony talking gladly with the brothers, and was displeased. The old man wanted to show him how we should sometimes be less austere for the sake of the brethren, and said to him: “Put an arrow in your bow, and draw it.” He did so. And he said: “Draw it further:” and he drew it. He said again: “Draw it yet further:” and he drew it. The hunter said to him: “If I draw it too far, the bow will snap.” Abba Antony answered: “So it is with God’s work. If we go to excess, the brothers quickly become exhausted. It is sometimes best not to be rigid.” The hunter was penitent when he heard this, and profited much from it. And the brothers, thus strengthened, went home.

A brother said to Abba Antony: “Pray for me.” And the old man answered: “Neither I nor God will have mercy on you unless you take trouble about yourself and ask God’s help.”

Abba Antony also said: “God does not let inner wars be stirred in this generation, because he knows that they are too weak to bear it.”

Abba Evagrius once said to Abba Arsenius: “How is it that we educated and learned men have no virtue, and Egyptian peasants have a great deal?” Abba Arsenius answered: “We have nothing because we go chasing worldly knowledge. These Egyptian peasants have acquired virtues by hard work.”

Abba Arsenius of blessed memory said: “A foreign monk not living in his native province will be half-hearted in nothing, and so will be at rest.”

Abba Mark asked Abba Arsenius: “Is it good not to have any comfort in one’s cell? I saw a brother who had a few cabbages, and he was rooting them out.” And Abba Arsenius said: “It is good. But each man should do what is right for his own discipline. If he has not strength to endure that, he will plant them again.”

Abba Peter, the disciple of Abba Lot, told this story. “I was once in the cell of Abba Agatho, when a brother came to him and said: ‘I want to live with the monks; tell me how to live with them.’ The old man said: ‘From the first day you join them, remember you are a pilgrim all the days of your life, and do not be too confident.’ Abba Macarius said to him: ‘What does confidence do?’ The old man said: ‘It is like a fierce drought. When it is so dry, everyone flees the land because it destroys even the fruit on the trees.’ Abba Macarius said: ‘Is bad confidence like that?’ Abba Agatho said: ‘No passion is worse than confidence—it is the mother of all passion. It is best for the monk’s progress that he should not be confident, even when he is alone in his cell.’”

Abba Daniel said: “When Abba Arsenius was dying, he charged us thus: ‘Do not make a love-offering for me. For if I have made any love-offering for myself during my life, I shall find it.’”

They said of Abba Agatho that some people went to him because they heard he was a man of much discretion. And wanting to test whether he was irritable, they said to him: “Are you Agatho? We have heard of you that you are an adulterer and an arrogant man.” And he answered: “It is true.” And they said to him: “Are you that Agatho who gossips and slanders?” And he answered: “I am.” And they asked him: “Are you Agatho the heretic?” And he answered: “I am no heretic.”

And they asked him: “Tell us, why did you patiently endure us when we so abused you, but did not endure when we said you were a heretic?” And he answered: “I assented to the first charges against myself—it is for the good of my soul. But I did not agree when you said I was a heretic because that is to be separated from God, and I do not want to be separated from God.” They admired his discretion, and went away edified.

Abba Agatho was asked: “Which is more difficult, bodily discipline, or the guard over the inner man?” The Abba said: “Man is like a tree. His bodily discipline is like the leaves of the tree, his guard over the inner man is like the fruit. Scripture says that ‘every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.’¹ So we ought to take every precaution about guarding the mind, because that is our fruit. Yet we need to be covered and beautiful with leaves, the bodily discipline.”

Abba Agatho was wise in understanding, earnest in discipline, armed at all points, careful about keeping up his manual work, sparing in food and clothing.

In Scete there was a meeting to discuss a matter; and after the decision was taken, Abba Agatho came and said: “You have not made a good decision.” They said to him: “Who are you, that say this?” And he answered: “The son of man. For it is written, ‘If ye truly speak righteousness, judge ye the thing that is right, O ye sons of men.’”²

Abba Agatho said: “If an angry man raises the dead, God is still displeased with his anger.”

Three old men came to Abba Achillas, and one of them had a bad reputation. The first old man said: “Abba, make me a fishing-net.” And he said: “I will not.” And the second said to him: “Will you give us a memento of yourself to keep in our community?” And he answered: “I have no time.” Then the third, who had the bad reputation, said to him: “Make me a fishing-net, and so I shall have a blessing from your hands, Abba.” And at once he answered: “I will do it.”

But the first two, whom he had refused, said privately to him: “Why did you refuse our requests and consent to his?” The old man answered: “I said to you that I would not do it because I had no time, and you were not vexed. But if I did not do it for this man, he would say ‘the old man has heard my reputation and for that reason has refused to make me a net.’ So immediately I set to work with the string, to soothe his soul and prevent him being sad.”

They said of one old man that for fifty years he ate no bread and drank little water. And he said: “I have destroyed lust and greed and vanity.” When Abba Abraham heard that he had said this, he came to him and said: “Was it you who said this?” And he answered: “Yes.” And Abba Abraham said to him: “Supposing you go into your cell and find a woman on your mat, could you not think she was a woman?” And he said: “No: but I attack my thought, so as not to touch her.” Abba Abraham said: “Then you have not killed lust, but the passion is still alive; you have imprisoned it. Suppose you were walking along a road and saw stones on one side and gold in jars on the other, could you think the gold and the stones of the same value?” And he answered: “No: but I resist my thought, so as not to pick it up.” And Abba Abraham said to him: “Then the passion still lives but you have imprisoned it.” And he went on: “If you heard that one brother loved you and spoke well of you, and another brother hated you and slandered you, and they both came to visit you, would you give them both the same welcome?” And he said “No: but I torture my soul, to treat him who hates me just as well as him who loves me.” And Abba Abraham said to him: “Then passions are alive: only in some measure holy men have got them chained.”

One of the fathers said that an old man was working earnestly in his cell, wrapt in his mat. He went to visit Abba Ammon, who saw him using his mat, and said to him: “This is not good for you.” And the old man said: “Three thoughts trouble me. One tries to drive me to live somewhere else in the desert: the second that I should go out and find a foreign country where no one knows me: the third, that I should shut myself in my cell, see no one, and eat every other day.” Abba Ammon said to him: “None of these three would profit you. Stay in your cell, and eat a little every day, keeping always in your heart the words of the publican in the Gospel,³ and you can be saved.”

Abba Daniel said: “If the body is strong, the soul withers. If the body withers, the soul is strong.”

He also said: “If the body is fat, the soul grows lean: if the body is lean, the soul grows fat.”

Abba Daniel also said that when Abba Arsenius was in Scete, there was a monk who stole the property of the old men. Abba Arsenius, wanting to do him good and free the old men from being troubled, took him to his cell and said: “If you will stop stealing, I will give you whatever you want.” And he gave him gold, money and trinkets, and everything he found in his bag.

But the monk stole again. The old man, seeing that he was always troubling them, expelled him, and said: “If you find a brother committing crime through bodily infirmity, you must bear with him. But if he does not stop after being warned, expel him. He hurts his own soul, and also disturbs everyone who lives there.”

Soon after Abba Evagrius had become a monk, he went to an old man and said: “Abba, speak to me a word by which I may be saved.” He said: “If you would be saved, when you go to visit a man, do not speak until he asks you a question.” Evagrius was stricken by this word, and did penance before the old man, and satisfied him, saying: “Believe me, I have read many books, and never found such learning.” And he went away much profited.

Abba Evagrius said: “A wandering mind is strengthened by reading, and prayer. Passion is dampened down by hunger and work and solitude. Anger is repressed by psalmody, and long-suffering, and mercy. But all these should be at the proper times and in due measure. If they are used at the wrong times and to excess, they are useful for a short time. But what is only useful for a short time, is harmful in the long run.”

Abba Ephraem was passing by when a harlot (she was someone’s agent) began to make every effort to attract him to unlawful intercourse: or, if she failed in this, at least to stir him to anger. For no one had ever seen him angry or brawling. He said to her: “Follow me.” When they came to a crowded place, he said to her: “Come now, I will lie with you as you wanted.” She looked round at the crowd and said: “How can we do it here, with all these people standing round? We should be ashamed.” He said: “If you blush before men, should you not blush the more before God, who discloses the hidden things of darkness?” And she went away without her pleasure, confused and nonplussed.

Some brothers once came to Abba Zeno and asked him: “What is meant by the text in the book of Job ‘Heaven is not pure in God’s sight’?”⁴ The old man answered: “These brothers have left their sins, and search the heavenly places. The meaning of that text is that since God alone is pure, it may be said that not even heaven is pure in his sight.”

Abba Theodore of Pherme said: “If a friend of yours is tempted by lust, give him a helping hand if you can and pull him back. But if he falls into heresy, and persists in spite of your efforts, go away quickly, cut off his friendship. For if you dally with him, you might be dragged with him into the deeps.”

Once Abba Theodore came to Abba John, who had been born a eunuch. While they were talking, Abba Theodore said: “When I was in Scete, I devoted myself to the soul’s work, and treated the body’s work, so to speak, as a side-issue. But now it is vice versa: I treat the soul’s work as though it was the side-issue.”

Once one of the fathers came to Abba Theodore and said: “Look, that brother has gone back to the world.” And Abba Theodore said to him: “Do not be surprised at that. Be surprised when you hear that a man has been able to escape the jaws of the enemy.”

Abba Theodore said: “Many choose the repose of this world before God gives them his rest.”

They said of Abba John the Short that he once said to his elder brother: “I wanted to be free of trouble as the angels are free, labouring not, and serving God unceasingly.” He stripped himself of his clothes and went into the desert. After a week there, he went back to his brother. And when he knocked on the door, his brother answered without opening it, and said: “Who’s there?” He said: “I am John.” And his brother answered: “John has become an angel, and is no longer among men.” But he went on knocking and saying: “It is I.” And his brother did not open the door, but left him out till morning as a punishment. At last he opened the door and said: “If you are a man, you need to work again in order to live. If you are an angel, why do you want to come into my cell?” And he did penance, and said: “Forgive me my sin, brother.”

Once some old men came to Scete, and Abba John the Short was with them. During supper, an eminent presbyter rose to give them each a little cup of water to drink. No one except John the Short accepted it. The others were surprised, and said: “How is it that you, the least of all, dared to accept the ministry of a great old man?” And he said: “When I get up to give the water round, I am glad if everyone takes it, because I have been able to do them a service and will have a reward. That is why I took it just now, to let the minister have his reward; perhaps he would have been sad if no one had accepted it.” And they all admired his discretion.

Abba Poemen once asked Abba Joseph, saying: “What am I to do, when temptations approach me? Do I resist them, or let them come in?” The old man said: “Let them come in, and then fight them.”

So he went back to his cell at Scete. And it happened that a man from the Thebaid told the brothers in Scete that he had asked Abba Joseph the question: “When temptation approaches, do I resist it, or do I let it come in?” And he said to him: “On no account let it come in, but cut it straight off.”

When Abba Poemen heard that Abba Joseph had said this to the man from the Thebaid, he rose and went back to Abba Joseph at Panephysis and said to him: “Abba, I entrusted my thoughts to your care: and you said one thing to me, and the opposite to a monk from the Thebaid.” And the old man said: “You know that I love you?” And he answered: “Yes.” And he said: “Did you not tell me to say what I thought as though I was talking for my own good? If temptations come in, and you deal with them there, they will prove you. I said this to you as I should say it to myself. But there are other men whom it is bad that passions should come near, and they should cut them straight off.”

Abba Poemen said: “In Lower Heracleon I once came to Abba Joseph, and he had in his monastery a very beautiful mulberry tree. In the morning he said to me: ‘Go fetch yourself some mulberries, and eat.’ It was Friday. So I did not eat, as it was a fast day. And I asked: ‘For the Lord’s sake, tell me why you said to me “go, eat.” I did not go because it was a fast day, but I was ashamed to disobey your command: for I think you had some reason for it.’ But he replied: ‘Elders do not at first speak straightly to brothers, but say some very twisted things. And if they see that the brothers do these twisted things, then they only speak what is good for them, because they know that the brothers will obey them in everything.’”

A brother asked Abba Joseph: “What shall I do? I cannot bear to be troubled, nor to work, nor to give alms.” And the old man said to him: “If you cannot do any of these, at least keep your conscience from every sin against your neighbour, and you will be saved: for God seeks the soul that does not sin.”

Abba Isaac from the Thebaid said to his brothers: “Do not bring children here. Children were the reason why four churches in Scete were deserted.”

Abba Longinus asked Abba Lucius: “I have three ideas, the first is to go on a pilgrimage.” And the old man answered: “If you do not control your tongue whensoever you travel, you will be no pilgrim. But control your tongue here, and you will be a pilgrim without travelling.” Abba Longinus said: “My second idea is to fast two days together.” And Abba Lucius answered: “The prophet Isaiah said: ‘Even if you bend your neck to the ground, your fast will not so be accepted’:⁵ you should rather guard your mind from evil thoughts.” And Abba Longinus said: “My third idea is to avoid the sight of men.” And Abba Lucius answered: “Unless you first correct your sin by living among men you will not be able to correct yourself when you live alone.”

Abba Macarius said: “If we remember the ill which men have done us, we cut off from our minds the power of recollecting God. But if we remember the ill which the devils raise, we shall be undisturbed.”⁶

Abba Mathois said: “Satan knows not which passion will seduce the soul, and so he scatters his tares in it without direction. At one time he throws in the seeds of lust, at another the seeds of slander, and the rest in the same way. And wheresoever he sees a soul drawn towards one of the passions, he ministers to that soul. If he knew what was most tempting to a soul, he would not scatter such a variety of temptations.”

They told this story of Abba Nathyra, who was the disciple of Abba Silvanus. When he was living in his cell on Mount Sinai, he regulated his life with moderation and allowed himself what his body needed. But after he was made bishop in Pharan, he sorely afflicted his spirit with severe austerities. And his disciple said to him: “Abba, when we were in the desert, you were not wont to torment yourself like this.” And the old man said to him: “My son, there we had solitude, and quiet, and poverty: and so I wanted to discipline my body in such a way that I did not fall sick. For if I had fallen sick, I would have needed assistance which I could not have upon Mount Sinai. But now we are in the world; and there are many opportunities of sin. And if I fall ill, there are friends who will help me, and prevent me from falling away from a monk’s purpose.”

A brother asked Abba Poemen: “I am troubled in spirit, and want to leave this place.” And the old man said: “Why?” And he said: “I have heard unedifying stories about one of the brothers.” And the old man said: “Are the stories true?” And he said: “Yes, Father. The brother who told me is a man of trust.” And the old man answered: “The brother who told you is not a man of trust. For if he was so, he would not have told you these stories. When God heard the cry of the men of Sodom, he did not believe it until he had gone down and seen with his own eyes.” And the brother said: “I too have seen it with my own eyes.”

When the old man heard this, he looked down and picked off the ground a wisp of straw: and he said: “What is this?” And he answered: “Straw.” Then the old man reached up and touched the roof of the cell, and said: “What is this?” And he answered: “It is the beam that holds up the roof.”

And the old man said: “Take it into your heart, that your sins are like this beam: and that brother’s sins are like this wisp of straw.”

When Abba Sisois heard this saying, he marvelled, and said: “How shall I bless you, Abba Poemen? Your words are like a precious jewel, full of grace and glory.”

Some neighbouring priests once came to the monastery of Abba Poemen. Abba Anub went in and said to him: “Let us invite these priests to receive the gifts of God here in charity.” But Abba Poemen stood in silence for a long time, and made no reply: and Abba Anub went out sadly. The men sitting round said to Abba Poemen: “Why did you not answer him?” And Abba Poemen said to them: “I have no reason to do so: for already I am dead. Dead men do not speak. Do not blame me, that I am here in your company.”

A brother once went out on a pilgrimage from the monastery of Abba Poemen, and came to a hermit, who lived in charity towards all and received many visitors. The brother told the hermit stories of Abba Poemen. And when he heard of Poemen’s strength of character, he longed to see him.

The brother returned to Egypt. And after some little time, the hermit rose and went from his country to Egypt to see the brother who had visited him: for he had told him where he lived. When the brother saw the hermit, he was astonished, and very glad. The hermit said to him: “Of your charity towards me, take me to Abba Poemen.” And the brother raised him up and showed him the way to the old man.

And the brother told Abba Poemen this about the hermit, “A great man of much charity, and particular honour in his own province, has come here wanting to see you.” So the old man received him kindly. And after they had exchanged greetings, they sat down.

But the hermit began to talk of the Holy Scripture, and of the things of the spirit and of heaven. But Abba Poemen turned his face away, and answered nothing. When the hermit saw that he would not speak with him, he was distressed and went out: and he said to the brother who had brought him there: “My journey was useless. I went to the old man and he does not deign to speak to me.”

The brother went to Abba Poemen, and said: “Abba, it was to talk with you that this great man came here, a man of much honour in his own land. Why did you not speak to him?” The old man answered: “He is from above, and speaks of the things of heaven. I am from below, and speak of the things of earth. If he had spoken with me on the soul’s passions, I would willingly have replied to him. But if he speaks of the things of the spirit, I know nothing about them.”

So the brother went out and told the hermit: “The reason is that the old man does not easily discuss Scripture. But if anyone talks to him about the soul’s passions, he answers.”

Then the hermit was stricken with penitence, and went to the old man and said: “What shall I do, Abba? My passions rule me.” And the old man gazed at him with gladness and said: “Now you are welcome: you have only to ask and I will speak with understanding.” And the hermit was much strengthened by their discourse, and said: “Truly, this is the way of charity.” And he thanked God that he had been able to see so holy a man, and returned to his own country.

A brother asked Abba Poemen and said: “I have committed a great sin, and I would do penance for three years.” But Abba Poemen said to him: “That is a long time.” And the brother said: “Do you order me one year’s penance?” And again the old man said: “That is a long time.” Some of the people who were nearby said: “A penance of forty days?” Again the old man said: “That is a long time.” And he added: “I think that if a man is penitent with his whole heart, and determined not to sin that sin again, God will accept a penance of even three days.”

Abba Ammon questioned him on the subject of the impure thoughts bred within a man’s heart, and on the subject of vain desire. And Abba Poemen said: “Shall the axe boast unless the woodman wield it?⁷ Do not reach out your hands for these things, and they shall do you no harm.”

Abba Isaiah asked him about the same subject. Abba Poemen said: “Clothes, left too long in a chest, become rotten. If our bodies do not bring those thoughts forward, then at length they will rot or be destroyed.”

Abba Joseph asked him about the same subject. And Abba Poemen said: “If you shut a snake or a scorpion in a box, in the end it will die. And the wicked thoughts, which the demons scatter, slowly lose their power if the victim has endurance.”

Abba Joseph asked Abba Poemen: “How should we fast?” And Abba Poemen said: “I would have everyone eat a little less than he wants, every day.” Abba Joseph said to him: “When you were a young man, did you not fast for two days on end?” And the old man said to him: “Believe me, I used to fast three days on end, even for a week. But the great elders have tested all these things, and they found that it is good to eat something every day, but on some days a little less. And they have shown us that this is the king’s highway, for it is easy and light.”

Abba Poemen said: “Do not live in a place where some are jealous of you: you will make no progress there.”

A brother came to Abba Poemen, and said to him: “I sow seed in my field, and make a love-feast with the crop.” The old man said: “You do a good work.” And he went away with purpose, and invited more to the love-feast which he was making.

When Abba Anub heard this, he said to Abba Poemen: “Are you not afraid of God that you spoke so to the brother?” And the old man said nothing. But two days later Abba Poemen sent to the brother and called him to his cell. And he said to him, in the hearing of Abba Anub: “What did you ask me the other day? My mind was elsewhere.” The brother said: “I sow my field, and make a love-feast with the crop.” And Abba Poemen said to him: “I thought you were talking about your brother, who is a layman. What you are doing is not a monk’s work.” The brother was sad when he heard this, and said: “This is the only kind of work that I can do or know: I cannot stop sowing seed in my field.”

When he had gone away, Abba Anub began to do penance before Abba Poemen, and said: “Forgive me.” Abba Poemen said to him: “Look, I knew from the beginning that it was not a monk’s work. But I spoke to his soul’s need, and stirred his soul to an increase of charity; and now he has gone away melancholy, yet he will go on with the same work.”

A brother asked Abba Poemen: “What is the meaning of the text ‘Whoever is angry with his brother without a cause’?”⁸ And he answered: “It is if you are angry with your brother for any trouble whatsoever that he tries to lay upon you—that is anger without a cause, and it is better to pluck out your right eye and cast it from you. But if anyone wants to separate you from God, be angry with him.”

Abba Poemen said: “If a man sins and denies it, saying ‘I have not sinned’—do not blame him, or you will break his purpose to amend. If you say: ‘Do not be cast down, my brother, but keep a watch on it in future,’ you stir his heart to be penitent.”

The same father said: “Experience is good. By experience men are tested.”

He also said: “If a man preaches but does not practise what he preaches, he is like a well of water where everyone can quench their thirst and wash their dirt, but which cannot clean away the filth and dung that is around it.”

He also said: “He who knows himself is a man.”

He also said: “One man seems silent of speech, but is condemning other people within his heart—he is really talking incessantly. Another man seems to talk all day, yet keeps his silence: for he always speaks in a way that is useful to his hearers.”

He also said: “Suppose there are three men living together. One lives a good life in quietness, the second is ill but gives thanks to God, the third ministers to their needs with sincerity. These three men are alike; it is as if they were all doing one work.”

He also said: “Wickedness cannot drive out wickedness. If anyone hurts you, do him good: and so by your good work you will destroy his wickedness.”

He also said: “The grumbler is no monk. The man who gives evil for evil is no monk: the irritable man is no monk.”

A brother came to Abba Poemen and said to him: “Many thoughts come into my head and put me in peril.” And the old man drove him out into the open air, and said: “Open your lungs and hold your breath.” And he answered: “I cannot do it.” And the old man said to him: “Just as you cannot stop air coming into your breast, you cannot stop thoughts coming into your mind. Your part is to resist them.”

A brother asked him: “I have been left a fortune, what am I to do with it?” And Abba Poemen said to him: “Go, and come back in three days, and I will tell you.” The brother came back as he was told, and the old man said: “What can I tell you, brother? If I say, Give it the church, they will dine off it. If I say, Give it to your relations, you will have no profit. If I say, Give it to the poor, you will be safe. So go and do what you like with it, I can give you no reasons for choosing.”

Abba Poemen also said: “If a thought about your bodily needs comes to you, and you put it aside; and then it comes again, and you put it aside, what will happen? If it comes a third time, you will not heed it, and it will do you no harm.”

A brother said to Abba Poemen: “If I see something, do you want me to tell you?” The old man said to him: “It is written, ‘If a man answers before he has heard, it is foolishness to him and discredit.’⁹ If you are asked, speak: if not, say nothing.”

Abba Poemen told a saying of Abba Ammon: “One man carries an axe all his life but cannot cut down a tree: another knows how to use it, and cuts down the tree with a few strokes.” He used to say that the axe was discretion.

He also said: “The will of a man is a brazen wall, and a stone hurled between himself and God. If he puts it aside, he can say the words of the psalm: ‘In my God I shall go over a wall’ and, ‘as for my God, his way is undefiled.’¹⁰ If righteousness helps the will, then a man does good.”

A brother asked Abba Poemen: “I am suffering the loss of my soul by being with my abba. What do you order me? Should I continue to stay with him?” And Abba Poemen knew that his soul was being harmed by his abba, and was astonished that he asked whether he ought to stay with him. And he said to him: “If you want to stay, do so.” And the brother went away and stayed with his abba.

But he came a second time to Abba Poemen, and said: “I am burdening my soul.” And Abba Poemen did not say to him: “Leave the abba.” He came a third time, and said: “Believe me, henceforth I shall no longer stay with him.” And the old man said: “Now you are saved: come, and stay with him no longer.” And he went on: “A man who sees his soul being harmed, has no need to ask. A man ought to ask about his secret thoughts, to get them tested by the elders. But there is no need to ask about obvious sins: they must at once be cut off.”

Abba Abraham, who was a disciple of Abba Agatho, once asked Abba Poemen: “Why do the demons attack me?” And Abba Poemen said to him: “Do the demons attack you? The demons do not attack us when we follow our self-wills, because then our wills become demons and themselves trouble us to obey them. If you want to know the kind of people with whom the demons fight, it is Moses and men like him.”

Abba Poemen said that a brother asked Abba Moses: “How does a man mortify himself? Is it by his neighbour?” And he answered: “Unless a man has it in his heart that he has been shut in a tomb for three years, he cannot attain to mortification.”

A brother asked Abba Poemen and said: “How ought a brother to sit in his cell?” And the old man said: “To sit in the cell is, externally, to work with the hands, eat once a day, keep silence and meditate; and, internally, to make progress by carrying a reproach wheresoever you may be, and keeping the hours of prayer, and keeping a watch on the secret thoughts of the heart. If it is time to stop working with the hands, fall to prayer and finish it in tranquillity. The end of it all is to keep company with men of good life, and avoid the company of the wicked.”

Two brothers once came to Abba Pambo. And one of them asked him: “Abba, I fast for two days, and then eat two large buns. Do you think I am saving my soul, or losing it?” And the other said: “With my hands I make two vegetable stews every day, and I keep a little for food, and give the rest away in alms: do you think I shall be saved or lost?” And although they pressed him for an answer he did not reply. After four days they were on the point of going. And the clergy said to them: “Do not be distressed, God will reward you. This is always the way of the old man, he does not talk easily, unless God gives him something to say.” So they went in to the old man and said: “Abba, pray for us.” And he said to them: “Do you want to go away?” And they said: “Yes.” And he gazed at them; and supposing himself in their place, he wrote upon the ground and said: “Pambo fasts for two days and eats two large buns: do you think this makes him a monk? No.” Then he said: “And Pambo makes two vegetable stews every day and gives them away to the poor: do you think this makes him a monk? Not yet.” He was silent for a little, and then said: “These works are good. But if you act conscientiously to your neighbour, that is the way to be saved.”

And so the brothers were edified, and went away joyfully.

A brother asked Abba Pambo: “Why do the spirits prevent me doing good to my neighbour?” The old man said: “Do not talk like that, or you will make God a liar. Say ‘I do not at all want to be kind.’ For God came down and said: ‘I have given you the power of treading upon scorpions and snakes, and over all the might of the enemy.’¹¹ Why then do you not trample on the unclean spirits?”

Abba Palladius said: “The soul which is being trained according to the will of Christ should either be earnest in learning what it does not know, or should publicly teach what it knows. If it wants to do neither, though it could, it is mad. The first step on the road away from God is contempt for teaching, when it has no desire for the foods of the soul which truly loves God.”¹²

A brother said to Abba Sisois: “Why do my passions not leave me?” And the old man said to him: “Because the vessels of those passions are within you. Give them a pledge and they will go away.”

A brother came to Abba Silvanus on Mount Sinai. And when he saw the brothers working, he said to the old man: “Labour not for the meat which perisheth”: and “Mary hath chosen the best part.”¹³ And the old man said to his disciple: “Call Zacharias, and put this brother in a cell where there is nothing.” And when three o’clock came, he kept looking at the door, to see when they would send someone and summon him to eat. But no one spoke to him. So he rose and went to the old man and said: “Abba, do not the brethren eat today?” And the old man said: “Yes, they have eaten already.” And the brother said: “Why did you not call me?” And the old man answered: “You are a spiritual person and do not need food. We are earthy, and since we want to eat, we work with our hands. But you have chosen the good part, reading all day, and not wanting to take earthly food.” When the brother heard this he prostrated himself in penitence and said: “Forgive me, Abba.” And the old man said: “I think Mary always needs Martha, and by Martha’s help Mary is praised.”

Saint Syncletice said: “Merchants toil in search of riches and are in danger of their lives from shipwreck: the more wealth they win, the more they want; and they think of no worth what they have already, but bend their whole mind to what they have not yet. But we have nothing, even of what we ought to seek, and we do not even want to possess what we need, because we fear God.”

She also said: “There is a useful sorrow, and a destructive sorrow. Sorrow is useful when we weep for sin, and for our neighbour’s ignorance, and so that we may not relax our purpose to attain to true goodness: these are the true kinds of sorrow. Our enemy adds something to this. For he sends sorrow without reason, which is something called accidie. We ought always to drive out a spirit like this with prayer and psalmody.”

71A. She also said: “It is good not to be angry. If it happens, do not give way to it for as much as one day.”

71B. She said: “‘Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.’ But you wait until the sun is going down on your life; you do not know how to say: ‘Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.’ Why do you hate the man who has harmed you? It is not he who has harmed you but the devil. You ought to hate the sickness, not the sick man.”

71C. She also said: “It is dangerous for a man to try teaching before he is trained in the good life. A man whose house is about to fall down may invite travellers inside to refresh them, but instead they are hurt in the collapse of the house. It is the same with teachers who have not carefully trained themselves in the good life: they ruin their hearers as well as themselves. Their mouth invites to salvation, their way of life leads to ruin.”

She also said: “The devil sometimes sends a severe fast, too prolonged—the devil’s disciples do this as well as holy men. How do we distinguish the fasting of our God and King from the fasting of that tyrant the devil? Clearly by its moderation. Throughout your life, then, you ought to keep an unvarying rule of fasting. Do you fast four or five days on end and then lose your spiritual strength by eating a feast? That gladdens the devil. Everything which is extreme is destructive. So do not suddenly throw away your armour, or you may be found unarmed in the battle and made an easy prisoner. Our body is like armour, our soul like the warrior. Take care of both, and you will be ready for what comes.”

Two old men came from the Pelusium country to the Abbess Sarah. On their way they said to each other: “Let us humble this old woman.” And they said to her: “Take care that your soul be not puffed up, and that you do not say: ‘Look, some hermits have come to me, a woman!’” And the Abbess Sarah said to them: “I am a woman in sex, but not in spirit.”

Abbess Sarah also said: “If I asked God that all men should be edified in me, I should be doing penance at the door of everyone. I pray rather that my heart should be pure in all things.”

Abba Hyperichius said: “The man who teaches men by his life and not his speech is the true wise man.”

There once came from the city of Rome a monk who had held a high place in the palace. He lived near the church in Scete, and had with him a servant who ministered to him. The priest of the church saw that he was infirm and knew that he was accustomed to comfort: and so he passed to him whatever the Lord gave him or was given to the church. After he had lived in Scete for twenty-five years, he became celebrated as a contemplative with the spirit of prophecy.

One of the great Egyptian monks heard of his reputation and came to see him in the hope that he would find a more austere way of life. He came into the cell and greeted him: and after they had prayed they sat down. But the Egyptian saw his soft clothing, and a bed of reeds, and a blanket under him, and a little pillow under his head, and his clean feet with sandals on them; and he was inwardly scandalized. In Scete they never used to live like this, but practised a sterner abstinence.

But the old Roman, with his gift of contemplation and second sight, saw that the Egyptian monk was inwardly scandalized. And he said to his servant: “Make us a good meal today, for this abba who has come.” And he cooked the few vegetables which he had, and they rose and ate at the proper hour: and he had a little wine by reason of his infirmity, and they drank that. And at evening they said twelve psalms, and went to sleep afterwards: and the same in the night. But at dawn the Egyptian rose, and saying: “Pray for me,” he went away, not edified at him.

And when he had gone a little way off, the old Roman wanted to heal his mind, and sent after him and called him back. And he said: “What is your province?” And he answered: “I am an Egyptian.” And he said: “Of what city?” And he answered: “Of no city, I never lived in a city.” And he said: “Before you were a monk, how did you earn your living?” And he answered: “I was a herdsman.” And he said to him: “Where did you sleep?” He answered: “In the fields.” And he said: “Had you any mattress?” And he answered: “How should I have a mattress for sleeping in a field?” And he said: “And how did you sleep?” He answered: “On the ground.” And he said: “What did you eat when you were in the fields? And what wine did you drink?” And he answered: “What kind of food and drink do you find in a field?” And he said: “How then did you live?” He answered: “I ate dry bread, and salt fish if there were any, and I drank water.” And the old man said: “A hard life.” And he said: “Was there a bath on the farm where you worked?” And the Egyptian said: “No: I washed in the river, when I wanted.”

And when the old man had extracted these answers, and knew how he lived and worked before he became a monk, he wanted to help him: and so he described his own past life in the world. “This wretch in front of you came from the great city of Rome, where I had an important post at the palace in the Emperor’s service.” And when the Egyptian heard this first sentence, he was stricken, and began to listen attentively. And he went on: “So I left Rome, and came into this desert.” And he said: “I, whom you see, had great houses and wealth: and I scorned them, and came to this little cell.” And he said: “I, whom you see, had beds ornamented with gold, with costly coverings: and instead of them God gave me this bed of reeds and this blanket. My clothes were rich and expensive: and instead of them I wear these tatters.” And he said: “On my dinner-table I used to spend much money: and instead of it he has given me these few vegetables and this little cup of wine. Many servants used to wait upon me, and instead the Lord has given this one man alone a spirit penitent enough to look after me. Instead of a bath I dip my feet in a little bowl of water, and I use sandals because of my infirmity. For the pipe and the lyre and all the varieties of music which used to delight me at dinner, I say twelve psalms in the day, and twelve psalms in the night. But for the sins which once I committed, I now offer this poor and useless service to God in quietness.

See then, Abba, do not be scandalized at my infirmity.”

And when the Egyptian heard it, he came to himself and said: “I am a wretch. I came from a hard life of labour to be at rest in the monk’s way of life: and now I have what I did not have before. But you have come of your own accord to this hard life, and have left the comforts of the world: you came from honour and wealth to loneliness and poverty.”

And he went away with much profit; and he became his friend, and used to go to the old man for his soul’s good, for he was a man of discerning, and was full of the fragrance of the Holy Spirit.

An old man said: “All this talking is unnecessary. Nowadays everyone talks: and what is needed is action. That is what God wants, not useless talking.”

A brother asked some of the fathers whether a man suffered pollution if he thought on vileness. When they were asked this question, some said: “Yes”: and some said: “No: for if he were polluted we ordinary people could not be saved. If we think of vile actions but do them not, this brings salvation.”

The questioner was discontented with the fathers’ diverse answers, and he went to an experienced old man and asked him. And the old man replied: “Everyone is required to do according to his capacity.” Then the brother asked the old man: “For the Lord’s sake, explain this saying to me.” And the old man said: “Look, suppose there was a jug of value. And two brothers came in, one of whom had a great capacity for a disciplined life, and the other a small capacity. Suppose that the mind of the more disciplined man were moved at the sight of the jug and he said inwardly ‘I would like to own that jug’—but the thought does not remain, and he quickly drives away the desire—then he would not be polluted. But if the less disciplined man coveted the jug and was strongly moved by an impulse to take it, and yet did not take it, he would not be polluted.”

An old man said: “If a man lives in a place but does not harvest the crops of that place, the place drives him out because he has not done the work of that place.”

An old man said: “If a man does anything according to his self-will, and not according to God’s will, he can afterwards return to the Lord’s way, if he did it in ignorance. But the man who obeys his self-will and not God’s, and will not listen to admonition, but thinks he knows, will hardly be able to come to the Lord’s way.”

An old man was asked: “What is meant by the text ‘Narrow and strait is the way’?” And the old man answered: “Narrow and strait is the way by which a man does violence to his thoughts and for God’s sake breaks down his self-will. This is what was written of the apostles, ‘Lo, we have left all, and followed thee.’”¹⁴

An old man said: “As the order of monks is more honourable than that of men of the world, so the travelling monk ought to be in every way a mirror for the monks of the places where he stays.”

One of the fathers said: “If a labourer remains where there are no other labourers, he can make no progress. The true labourer struggles that the work may not deteriorate. If an idle man works with a labourer the idle man becomes less idle; and if he does not make progress, at least he does not get idler by seeing someone working.”

An old man said: “If a man has words but no works, he is like a tree with leaves but no fruit. Just as a tree laden with fruit is also leafy, the man of good works will also have good words.”

An old man said that a man once committed a grave sin. Stricken with penitence, he went to confess to an old man. He did not tell him what he had done, but put it in the form of a question: “If such a thought rose in a man’s mind, would he be saved?” The old man, who had no discretion, answered: “You have lost your soul.”

When the brother heard this, he said: “Well, if I perish, I will go to the world.” But on his way he considered the matter and decided to tell his temptations to Abba Silvanus, who possessed great discretion in these matters. The brother went to him and did not tell him what he had done, but again put it in the form of the question: “If such a thought arose in a man’s mind, would he be saved?” Silvanus began to speak to him with texts from Scripture, and said: “That judgement does not fall on people tempted to sin.” The brother perceived the force of the saying, and took hope, and told him what he had done. When Abba Silvanus learnt what he had done, he acted like a skilled physician and put on his soul a poultice made of texts from Scripture, showing him that repentance is available for them who in truth and in charity turn to God. After some years Abba Silvanus met the old man who had driven the brother to despair, and told him what had happened, and said: “That brother, who despaired because of your words, and had gone back to the world, is now a bright star among the brothers.” He told him this so that we may know how perilous it is when a man confesses his thoughts or sins to people without discretion.

An old man said: “We are not condemned if ill thoughts enter us, but only if we use them ill. Through our thoughts we may suffer shipwreck, through our thoughts we may attain a crown.”

An old man said: “Do not give to or receive from men of the world. Take no notice of a woman. Do not have confidence for long in a boy.”

A brother asked an old man: “What shall I do, for I am troubled by many temptations, and know not how to repel them?” The old man said: “Do not fight against them all, but against one of them. All the temptations of monks have a single head. You must consider what it is, what kind of temptation, and fight it. And in this way all the other temptations will be defeated.”

An old man said against evil thoughts: “I beg you, my brothers, control your thoughts as you control your sins.”

An old man said: “Anyone who wants to live in the desert ought to be a teacher and not a learner. If he still needs teaching, he will suffer harm.”

An old man was asked by a brother: “How do I find God? With fasts, or labour, or watchings, or works of mercy?” The old man replied: “In all that you have said, and in discretion. I tell you that many have afflicted their body, but have gained no profit because they did it without discretion. Even if our mouths stink with fasting, and we have learnt all the Scriptures, and memorized the whole Psalter, we still lack what God wants—humility and charity.”

A brother asked an old man: “Abba, look: I ask my elders questions, and they speak to me for the salvation of my soul, and I can remember nothing that they say. Is it any use asking questions when I profit nothing? I am deep in impurity.”

There were two empty vessels nearby. And the old man said: “Go, and take one of those vessels away and put oil in it, and rinse it, and pour out the oil, and put the vessel back.” And he did so. And he said: “Do it again.” And he did it. And after he had done it several times, the old man said: “Now, take both vessels and see which is the cleaner.” And he answered: “The one into which I put oil.” The old man said: “So it is with the soul which asks questions. Although it remembers nothing that it hears, it will be cleaner than the soul which never asks questions.”

A brother was sitting quietly in his cell, and demons wanted to seduce him in the guise of angels. And they stirred him up to go out to the congregation in church, and they showed him a light. But he went to an old man and said: “Abba, angels come to me with light, and stir me to go to the congregation.” And the old man said to him: “Heed them not, my son: they are demons. When they come to stir you out, say: ‘I go when I want, and do not listen to you.’” He accepted the command and returned to his cell. On the next night the demons came again as usual to stir him. He answered as he had been told: “I go when I want, and do not listen to you.” And they said to him: “That wicked old man has trapped you. A brother came to him to borrow money; and, although he had some, he lied and said that he had none, and would give him nothing; that shows you he is a deceiver.”

At dawn the brother rose and came to the old man and told him what had happened. The old man said to him: “It is true. I had money, and I did not give to the brother who wanted to borrow some. I knew that if I gave it to him, I should be harming his soul. I thought it better to transgress one commandment than ten. If he had received money from me, we should have come into trouble on his account. So do not listen to the demons who want to seduce you.”

And the brother went back to his cell, much comforted by the words of the older man.

Three brothers once came to an old man in Scete. One of them asked him: “Abba, I have memorized the Old and New Testaments.” And the old man answered: “You have filled the air with words.” And the second asked him: “I have written the Old and New Testaments with my own hand.” But the old man said: “And you have filled the window-ledge with manuscripts.” And the third said: “The grass is growing up my chimney.” And the old man answered: “And you have driven away hospitality.”

Some of the fathers told this story of a great old man. If anyone came to ask a word of him, he used to say with great confidence: “Look, I am acting in place of God and sitting in his judgement seat: what do you want me to do for you? If you say to me, ‘Have mercy upon me,’ God says to you, ‘If you want me to have mercy on you, you must have mercy on your brothers and then I will have mercy on you. If you want me to forgive you, you must forgive your neighbour.’

Then is God the cause of guilt? God forbid. It is in our power, if we do not want to be saved.”

They said of an old man in Cellia that he was a great worker. While he was at a work, a holy man happened to come to his cell; and when he was outside the door, he heard the old man within battling with his thoughts, and saying: “Am I to lose everything because of a single word?” The man outside thought that he was quarrelling with someone else, and knocked on the door to go in and make peace between them. But when he went in and saw no one else there, he had faith in the old man, and said: “With whom were you quarrelling, Abba?” He replied: “With my thoughts. I have memorized fourteen books; and when I was outside I heard one little word. And when I came to say the divine office, I had forgotten all fourteen books and could remember only the one word which I heard outside. And that is why I am quarrelling with my thoughts.”

Some brothers from a monastery came into the desert to see a hermit: and he received them gladly. And as is the way of hermits, he saw that they were tired with their journey and made a meal for them, though it was not the proper time for a meal, and so refreshed them with what he had in his cell. And in the evening they said twelve psalms, and twelve more in the night. While the old man was keeping watch, he heard them saying: “Hermits have more rest in the desert than do monks in the monastery.”

In the morning they were departing to visit a neighbouring hermit. And he said to them: “Greet him for me, and tell him: ‘Do not water the vegetables.’” The neighbouring hermit understood the message, and kept them working until evening without any food. And at evening he prolonged the divine office to great length, and then said: “Let us rest a little for your sakes. You are tired after your labours.” And he said: “We do not usually eat today, but let us eat a little for your sake.” And he brought them dry bread and salt, and said: “Look, we have a feast today because you have come”: and he added a little sour wine to the mixture. And they rose, and began to sing psalms until dawn. And he said: “Because you travellers are here, you must rest a little, and that prevents us keeping the rule.” And at daybreak, they wanted to go hastily. But he asked them to stay, and said: “Spend a little time with me: or at least, for the commandment’s sake, keep the hermit’s way of life with me for three days.”

But when they saw that he was not letting them rest, they stole away in secret.

A brother asked one of the fathers: “If by chance I oversleep, and am late for the hour of prayer, I am ashamed that others will hear me praying so late, and so I become reluctant to keep the rule of prayer.” And the old man said: “If ever you oversleep the dawn, rise when you wake, shut the door and the windows, and say your office. For it is written ‘The day is thine and the night is thine.’¹⁵ God is glorified whatever time it is.”

An old man said: “One man eats a lot and is still hungry. Another eats a little and has had enough. The man who eats a lot and is still hungry has more merit than the man who eats a little but enough for him.”

An old man said: “If some distressing controversy rises between you and another, and the other denies it and says: ‘I said no such thing,’ do not argue with him or say: ‘You did say it.’ For he will be exasperated, and will say: ‘Very well: I did say it.’”

A brother asked an old man: “My sister is poor. If I give her alms, am I giving alms to the poor?” The old man said: “No.” The brother said: “Why, Abba?” And the old man replied: “Because your kinship draws you a little towards her.”

An old man said: “A monk ought not to listen to disparagement: he ought not to be disparaged: and he ought not to be scandalized.”

An old man said: “Do not be pleased at everything which is said, and do not agree with everything that is said. Be slow to believe, and quick to say what is true.”

103A. An old man said that even though holy men had to endure much in the desert they had already received some portion of the heavenly rest. But he meant it for those who are free from worldly cares.

103B. An old man said: “If a monk knows a person with whom he would make progress, but in a place where the life would be hard, he is an atheist if he does not go there.”

103C. A brother asked a boy monk: “Is it good to speak or keep silence?” The boy said to him: “If the words are idle, leave them unsaid. If good, find room for them and speak. But even if the words are good, do not prolong what you say but cut it short: and so you will have peace of mind.”

An old man said: “Sometimes a text enters the heart of a brother as he is sitting in his cell: and the brother, meditating inwardly upon the text, cannot understand its meaning and is not drawn by God to true understanding. Then demons come to his help, and show him whatever meaning suits them.”

One of the old men said: “When first we used to meet each other in the assembly and talk of what was helpful to our souls, we became ever more withdrawn from the things of sense, and mounted to the heavenly places. But now we meet, and spend our time in gossip, and each drags the other downwards.”

Another of the fathers said: “If our inner man behaves with seriousness, it can control the outer man: but if the inner man does not, what other means is there of controlling the tongue?”

He also said: “We need to labour in praise of God because we have come into the desert. If we are not labouring with our body, we may labour mightily in God’s praise.”

Another father said: “A man ought always to be working at something in his cell. If he is busy with the divine office, the devil comes to him day after day, but finds no resting-place there. And if he succeeds in conquering him and taking him prisoner, God’s spirit often comes again. But if we are sinners and do not let God’s spirit come to us, he goes away.”

Some Egyptian monks once went down to Scete to see the elders of that place. And they saw them famished with a long fast and so wolfing their food: and they were scandalized at them. But the priest saw it and wanted to heal their minds and send them away edified. And he preached to the people in the church, saying: “My brothers, prolong your fast yet further.” The Egyptian visitors wanted to leave, but he kept them. When they had fasted one day and then a second, they were much weakened; for he had made them fast for two days without a break. (But in Scete the monks fast for a week.)

On Saturday the Egyptians sat down to eat with the old men. And they reached voraciously for their food. And one of the old men checked their hands, and said: “Eat like monks, in a disciplined way.”

One of the Egyptians threw off his restraining hand, and said: “Leave go. I am dying, I have not eaten cooked food all the week.” And the old man said to him: “If you are so weak at a meal after a fast of only two days, why were you scandalized at brothers who always keep their abstinence for a week at a time?”

And they did penance before them, and went away gladly, edified at their abstinence.

A brother who renounced the world and took the monk’s habit, immediately shut himself up in a hermitage, saying: “I am a solitary.” When the neighbouring elders heard of it, they came and threw him out of his cell, and made him go round the cells of the brothers and do penance before them, and say: “Forgive me. I am no solitary but have only lately begun to be a monk.”

Some old men said: “If you see a young man climbing up to heaven by his own will, catch him by the foot and pull him down to earth: it is not good for him.”

A brother said to a great old man: “Abba, I wanted to find an old man after my own heart, and die with him.” And the old man said: “Your search is good, my Lord.” The brother reiterated his desire, not understanding the irony of the old man. But when the old man saw that he thought this was a good idea, he said to him: “If you find an old man after your own heart, you want to live with him?” And the brother said: “Yes. I wholeheartedly want this, if I can find one according to my mind.” Then the old man said to him: “You do not want to follow the will of an old man: you want to follow yours, and so you will be comfortable with him.”

But the brother saw the sense of what he said, and rose and prostrated himself in penitence, saying: “Forgive me. I was very proud of myself for saying something good, when in truth there was nothing good about me.”

Two earthly-minded brothers renounced the world. The younger was the first to begin the converted life. One of the fathers came to stay with them, and they brought a basin of water for him to wash. And the younger came to wash the feet of the old man. But the old man took his hand and motioned him away, and made the elder do it: it is the custom for the first men in a monastery to do this. But the brothers standing near said: “Abba, the elder brother is the younger in religion.” The old man answered: “And I take away the first place from the younger, and give it to him who is older in years.”

An old man said: “The prophets wrote books. Our fathers came after them, and worked much at them, and then their successors memorized them. But this generation has come, and it copies them on papyrus and parchment and leaves them unused on the window-ledge.”

An old man said: “The cowl we use is the symbol of innocence. The amice which covers neck and shoulders is the symbol of a cross: the girdle, the symbol of courage. Let us live our lives in the virtues symbolized by our habit. If we do everything with earnestness, we shall not fail.”

Previous · Contents · Next