Abba Antonios said: "The time is coming when people will be seized by manias and will behave like madmen. And if they see anyone acting reasonably, they will rise up against him saying: 'You are insane.' And they will have accurately said this to him, for he will not be like them."
* * *
Several brothers went to Abba Antonios to relate to him certain visions which they beheld and to ascertain from him whether the visions were true or of demonic origin. They had along with them a small donkey which died on the way. Just as they reached Abba Antonios, he, expecting them, said: "How did the little donkey die on the road?"
"How did you know this, Abba?" they said to him.
"The demons revealed it to me."
And they answered him: "It is for this reason that we came to see you, for fear of being deceived, since we see visions and many times they come true."
Thus, with the foregoing example of the donkey, the elder made it known to them that their visions came forth from the demons.
* * *
The same Abba Antonios, pondering the ways of God, once asked: "Lord, how does it happen that many live very few years and yet others reach a ripe old age? And how is it that some live in poverty while others are rich? And how is it that the unjust continue to grow richer and the just are poor?" Then he heard a voice say to him: "Antonios, watch yourself, for those things which you ask about belong to the inscrutable ways of God's wisdom and it is not to your benefit to learn of them."
* * *
Once Abba Antonios received a letter from Emperor Constantine the Great which requested him to go to Constantinople. He wondered about what to do. So he said to his disciple, Abba Paul: "What do you say? Should I go?" And the Abba answered him: "If you go, you will be called 'Antonios'; however, if you do not go, 'Abba Antonios.'"
* * *
Once Abba Arsenios revealed his thoughts to an Egyptian elder and asked him about them. But a certain other Abba saw him and said to him: "Abba Arsenios, you have had so much education in Greek and Latin, yet you ask this man, so unlettered in worldly knowledge, about your thoughts?"
Abba Arsenios said to him: "Indeed, I know Roman and Greek letters well; but I have not yet learned even the alphabet of this simple man."
* * *
A young monk sadly said the following to the holy Poimen: "My body, Abba, has been weakened by ascetic practices, but my passions do not yield."
"The passions, my child," answered the wise Father, "are similar to tough thorns; in uprooting them, your hands of necessity bleed."
* * *
"What am I to do, Abba, since passions and demons beset me?" a young monk asked the holy Sisoes.
"Do not say that you are bothered by demons, child," answered the elder, "because the greater part of us are beset by our own evil desires."
* * *
While still a neophyte in monastic life, Moses the Black (the Ethiopian) was warring against carnal desire. So he went, in a state of turbulence, to confess to Abba Isidoros.
The elder listened to him sympathetically and, when he had given him words of appropriate counsel, told him to return to his cell. However, inasmuch as Abba Moses was still hesitant, for fear of the flame of evil desires rekindling during his return, Abba Isidoros took him by the hand and led him to a small roof atop his cell.
"Look here," he told him, directing him towards the West. Thereupon Moses saw an entire army of wicked spirits with drawn bows, ready for warfare, and was terrified.
"Look towards the East now," the elder told him once more. Myriads of angels in military formation were standing ready to confront the enemy.
"All of these," Abba Isidoros told him, "are assigned by God to help the struggler. Do you see how our defenders are many more and incomparably stronger than our enemies?"
Moses thanked God with his heart for this revelation and, taking courage, returned to his cell to continue his struggle.
* * *
Abba John the Short, advising the young brothers to love fasting, told them frequently: "The good soldier, undertaking to capture a strongly fortified, enemy city, blockades food and water. In this way the resistance of the enemy is weakened and he finally surrenders. Something similar happens with carnal impulses, which severely war against a person in his youth. Blessed fasting subdues the passions and the demons and ultimately removes them far from the combatant."
"And the powerful lion," he told them another time, "frequently falls into a snare because of his gluttony, and all of his strength and might disappear."
* * *
"If Nabuzardan, the court cook of the King of the Babylonians, had not gone to Jerusalem, then the Temple would not have burned (cf. 2 Kings 24)," said Abba Poimen. "That is to say, a person's mind is not attacked by the flames of carnal pleasures, if a person is not conquered by gluttony."
* * *
Once a demonized youth went to the skete of some Fathers in order to be cured by their prayers. Out of humility, however, they fled. For much time, the unfortunate man suffered thus, until a certain elder took pity on him, crossed him with a wooden cross he had on his belt, and cast out the evil spirit.
"Since you evict me from my abode," the spirit said, "I will enter you."
"Come," the elder courageously answered him.
So it is that the demon entered into him and tortured him for a full twelve years. The holy one endured the struggle with fortitude, but fought against his enemy with superhuman fasting and unceasing prayer. All of those years he never even once put food in his mouth, chewing rather a few date pits every evening and swallowing only the juice from them.
Finally, conquered by the incessant struggle of the elder, the demon freed him.
"Why are you leaving?" the elder asked him. "No one is casting you out."
"Your fasting destroyed me," answered the demon, becoming invisible.
* * *
"My brother, if your soul were pure and upright before the Lord, you would be able to profit from all things of this life. If you were to see a wandering peddler, you would say to yourself: 'my soul, from the desire to earn fleeting, earthly goods, the peddler toils a great deal and endures much, concentrating on things which will not ultimately remain under his domain. Why, then, do you not look after those things which are eternal and incorruptible?' Once again, if you were to see those who dispute in court over financial matters, you would say: 'My soul, these people, often having not a single need, show such ardor and quarrel with such shouting between themselves. You, who owe to God a myriad of talents, why do you not implore God, bowing down as one should, to obtain cancellation of that debt?'
"If you were to see a builder making houses, you would again say: 'my soul, these same, even if they build houses from mud, show such great zeal to finish the work they have laid out. You, why are you indifferent to eternal structures and why do you not struggle to erect the abode of God within the soul, forming and joining the virtues by the will?'
"Now, in order not to be prolix in citing various circumstances one by one, let us say that we must take care to transform our worldly thoughts and observations, which are born of our material perspective on things of the present life, to spiritual ones. Thereby, we shall profit from all things with the help and assistance of Divine Grace" (Saint Ephraim).
* * *
"I burn with the passion to be martyred for the love of Christ," a neophyte monk one day said to an experienced elder.
"If you gladly take up your brother's burden at a time of temptation," the elder answered him, "it is like being thrown into the furnace with the three Holy Children."
* * *
"When I was a child," the Holy Makarios once said, "I grazed cattle along with other children. One day they went to steal figs and took me along. When we returned to the herd, one of the figs fell from their basket and I picked it up and ate it. Even now that my hair has grown white, I remember that sin and I lament."
* * *
"In case we should ever fall into carnal sin," Abba Moses told his disciples, "let us repent and let us mourn now before the lamentation of our dread condemnation prevents us."
* * *
Yet another time he said: "The virtues are born with tears and through them forgiveness is given. But when we cry, we must not raise the voice of our groaning in order to be heard by others. Let not our left hand, that is, our vanity, know what our right hand, the sorrow of the heart, does."
* * *
To a certain brother, who asked what to do when he had temptations or evil thoughts in his mind, the same elder answered: "Run, weeping, to the goodness of God, crying out with all of the power of your soul, asking aid. God is near to one who appeals to Him, the Holy Scriptures tell us."
* * *
When you feel compunction in your heart," a certain elder counsels, "leave all other thoughts and say to your mind: 'Perhaps the hour of my death is approaching and God is sending me mourning and tears in order to save me.' For since the devil wars more strongly against a man at the last, in order to root him in evil, so God sends him such things within, in order to save him."
* * *
"Man's conscience is like a spring," the Fathers say, "which, the deeper you hollow it out, the more greatly you cleanse it. If, however, you cover it with soil, in little time it will be lost."
* * *
At the moment that a holy elder was in the throes of death, the devil appeared before him and shouted at him: "You destroyed me, you wretch."
"I am still not sure of that, " the Saint replied, and reposed.
* * *
When he was about to die, the holy Agathon remained in his bed motionless for three days, his eyes open and upturned towards heaven. On the third day, when he recovered some, his disciples, who had assembled around him, asked him to tell them where his soul was during all of that interval of time.
"Before the judgment of God," he murmured, trembling.
"And you are afraid, Father?" the brothers asked with perplexity.
"I tried, as best I could, to keep the laws of God all of my life. But I am a man. How do I know that I have pleased God?" the holy one responded with great pain.
"You are not sure that your works were pleasing to God?" said the astonished monks.
"Until I am before God, no," answered the holy one, "for man judges with one standard and God with another."
The brothers wanted to ask other things for the benefit of their souls, but the holy one nodded to them not to speak any further.
"I am preoccupied," his lips whispered.
His countenance began to shine! His disciples saw him leave this vain world for eternal life with the joy which one feels when he sets off to meet his most beloved acquaintance.
"The good Christian," says the wise Abba Nistheros, "must take account of himself morning and evening and say: 'What, from all that God desires, did I do, and what did I neglect to do?' Only in this manner will one succeed in conducting himself in accordance with the will of God."
* * *
An elder went to visit Abba Achillas and saw him spitting blood from his mouth.
"What happened, brother," he asked.
And this man of forbearance replied. "What you saw was the word of a brother who shortly ago upset me. I struggled with difficulty not to answer him and I asked God to take the bitterness from my soul. And see how his word became blood in my mouth. Spitting, I cast out with it the affliction in my heart."
* * *
The holy Theodora was in the habit of telling her disciples very frequently how neither great asceticism, nor extremely hard work, nor any other sufferings whatsoever can save a man as much as true humility of the heart. She also related the following anecdote:
A certain hermit had a gift from God to cast out evil spirits. One time he asked to learn what they feared most and what compelled them to flee.
"Perhaps it is fasting?" he asked one of them.
"We," the evil spirit replied, "neither ever eat nor ever drink."
"Sleepless vigils, then?"
"We do not sleep at all."
"Flight from the world?"
"Supposedly an important thing. But we spend the greater part of our time wandering around the deserts."
"I implore you to confess what it is that can subdue you," insisted the elder.
The evil spirit, compelled by a supernatural force, was pressed to answer: "Humility - which we can never overcome."
* * *
"The blacksmith, who pounds a piece of iron," says Saint Antonios the Great, "has previously thought about what he wants to make - a sickle, a knife, an axe - and works accordingly. And so let the man of God ponder in advance which virtue he wishes to acquire, in order not to toil aimlessly."
* * *
"All excesses," said another Father, "are products of the devil."
* * *
Two fellow ascetics struggled in the Thebaid desert. But they were young and inexperienced and the devil set a great many snares for them.
The younger one once was warring fervently against the flesh. It was thus that he lost his composure and patience and said resolutely to the older ascetic: "I cannot endure any longer; I am going to return to the world."
The older one, terribly distraught by the temptation which had befallen his brother, tried to constrain him.
"I will not let you leave here, to waste your efforts and to lose your purity."
But there was no convincing him!
"I am not staying," he said. "I am leaving. I will taste of everything and then we will see. If you want, come with me and we will either both return, or I will stay forever in the world."
The older brother, not knowing what to do, went to seek counsel from an elder who was their neighbor.
"Go with him," he told him after he had heard of the situation. "I do not think that God, for the sake of your efforts, will let him be lost."
And so the two fellow ascetics set off together to go down into the city. But just as they got near, the one who had been tempted suddenly said to his brother: "Suppose I were to fulfill my desire. What would I gain by it? Come, my brother, let us return to our solitude."
The older brother looked at him with confusion and could not believe his ears. Then he remembered the words of the holy elder: "God will see your efforts and will not let him come to harm."
And, indeed, the brother was relieved from his powerful battle and the two returned happily to their cells.
* * *
Abba Markos once asked the holy Arsenios why it is that the most pious and virtuous people pass through the world with numerous sorrows and in privation.
"Sorrows, for those who accept them with forbearance," the holy one answered, "are the salt which prevents putrefaction by sins and allows the soul to approach heaven cleansed."
* * *
It is said by the Fathers of Abba John the Persian that malefactors once went into his hut with the apparent intent of killing him. The blessed one prepared a basin and stooped down to wash their feet, as he would do for his best friends. At this, the malefactors, embarrassed, left him alone and departed.
* * *
One night thieves went to a certain hermit.
"We came to take your things," they said to him viciously.
Without losing composure, he said to them, "Come in and take whatever you like."
They emptied his poor hut of every last thing and left hurriedly. They forgot, however, to take a small flask that was hanging from a beam of the roof. The hermit took it down and, running behind the robbers, shouted for them to listen and to stop.
"Come back, brothers, to take this too." And he showed them from afar the small flask.
They were amazed by his forgiving nature and returned, not to take the flask, but to offer repentance and to return all of his things.
"This is, indeed, a man of God," they said among themselves.
* * *
"If our prayer is not in harmony with our deeds, we labor in vain," Abba Moses often told the young monks.
"How are we to accomplish such harmony?" they asked him one day.
"When we make that which we seek fitting to our prayer," explained the saint. "Only then can the soul be reconciled with its Creator and its prayer be acceptable, when it sets aside all of its own evil intentions."
* * *
And the very wise Abba Agathon said: "When I see that a person-even if he is very dear to me-is becoming the occasion for me to acquire some fault, I immediately cut off all ties with him."
* * *
"If you wish to progress in what is good," said another Father, "do not associate with a person of ill will."
* * *
A novice monk sought out the advice of a certain elder of discretion: "If the behavior of one of my brothers scandalizes me, should I ask his forgiveness?"
"Ask his forgiveness," the elder answered, "but cease associating with him. Have you not heard what Arsenios the Great advises? 'Have love for all, but be detached from everyone.'"
* * *
"If a man does not say with his heart, 'only God and I exist in this world,' he finds no peace," said Abba Alonios.
* * *
"Beware, Christian, never to wrong your brother, lest your prayer become unacceptable before God. If, nevertheless, you wrong someone, your prayer is not acceptable. The sighs of the one wronged do not allow it to reach heaven. If you learn that someone is speaking ill things of you and he should come at some time to visit you, do not show him in your mannerisms that you know of all this and that you are upset with him. Appear to him cheerful, with a calm face and a sweet way, so that your prayer might be bold before God," a certain Abba advises.
* * *
And see what Abba Moses says of prayer: "Take care to maintain deep in your heart cognizance of your sinful state, that your prayer might be acceptable. When you occupy your mind with your own sins, you will not have time to keep track of the faults of others."
* * *
"Do you wish God to hear your prayer immediately, brother?" asks Abba Zenon. "When you lift your hands up to heaven, pray first of all, with your heart, for your enemies and God will grant you speedily whatever else you request."
* * *
Then there was a woman who was suffering from cancer and, having heard of the reputation of Abba Longinos, decided to find him that he might restore her health. While she was looking for him here and there in the desert, she encountered an elderly monk cutting wood. She approached him and asked him where Abba Longinos stayed.
"What do you want with him?" the monk asked. "I advise you not to go to him because he is not a good man ... But maybe something is troubling you?"
The unfortunate woman then showed him an open sore which gave off an unbearable odor. The monk made the sign of the cross over her and told her: "Return to your home and God will heal you. Longinos cannot help you in anything."
She left, receiving the words of the unknown monk with faith. By the time she reached her home, not a trace of her fearful illness remained. She later learned from the other brothers that the one who made her well in this strange way was Abba Longinos himself.
* * *
A young monk asked Abba Moses to give him a piece of useful advice.
"Stay in your cell and your cell will teach you," the wise elder answered.
* * *
"It is impossible for a monk to have Christ continuously in his heart without silence, humility, and unceasing prayer," the same elder used to say.
* * *
Once the holy Makarios went to keep an ill hermit company. Casting an eye around the ill man's naked cell, he saw that there was nowhere even a scrap of food.
"What would you like to eat, brother?" asked the Saint.
The ill monk hesitated to answer. What was he supposed to ask for, since there was nothing in that wilderness? Finally, since the Saint was waiting for him to answer, he said that he had the desire for a little soup made with flour. But where was flour to be found?
The holy Makarios, so as to comfort his sick brother, went fifty miles on foot to Alexandria to find flour.
* * *
In the present time, a struggling Father went to a bishop of discernment and told him of a spiritual problem. It seems that the Father was so struck by spiritual words and Divine Services that he could not control the flow of tears from his eyes. Embarrassed by this phenomenon when it took place in the presence of others, the monk found it increasingly difficult to participate in public worship.
The wise bishop advised the Father that he was suffering from hidden pride and that the most efficacious tears spiritually were those hidden within the heart. The Father wrestled endlessly with the secret pride within him, sincerely asking for God's help, and his tears began to subside.
"I will do whatever you say," the man answered.
The elder then advised him to take a certain bus to its last stop, get off the bus, and remove all of his clothes within sight of the bystanders there. With great hesitation, but nevertheless acting out of sincere obedience, the young man went to wait for the bus that he was instructed to take.
In the meantime, the wise elder sent a brother to fetch the waiting man, explaining to him that the elder wished to speak with him once more before he boarded the bus. When the young man again approached the elder, the elder asked him: "Do you still have your lustful thoughts?"
The formerly tempted man answered, "No, Father, they have left me."
"Come, my child, and taste of the blessed life of obedience," Abba Moses told a young man who was ready to follow the monastic life. "In this life, you will find humility, strength, joy, patience, and forbearance. Within it, contrition is born and love blossoms. It aids the good monastic disciple to keep all of the divine commandments throughout his life."
"You did not find its meaning," he answered each of them.
Then came Abba Joseph's turn.
"What do you have to say about this, Joseph?" Antonios the Great asked him.
"I do not know of such things," he replied.
"Abba Joseph gave the correct answer," the holy one then said, marveling at Abba Joseph's humility.
Hearing his wise words, the other elders left their gathering and returned to their cells, pensive.
"It is enough for me to see you, Abba. Indeed, this has taught me much," the elder answered reverently.
"He who teaches others, without putting to practice any of that which he teaches," the same Father further says, "is like a spring which irrigates and flows over all that is around it, while it is filled with every sort of dirt."
Another wise Father compares one who teaches only with words, without doing works, with trees which have leaves, but bear no fruit.
One of the great Fathers of the desert told a certain elder, his neighbor, who always accepted visitors and taught them: "Be careful, brother, for while the oil lamp indeed gives light to many, its wick holder is usually burned."
The monk gathered them up again and continued on his way to the village.
"Is it possible that anyone can escape them?" he said, sighing.
He then heard a mysterious voice answering him: "He who is humble of mind."
"Acknowledge your faults with a broken heart," this Father of Fathers answered, "and humble yourself before God. Also, endure patiently the temptations which occur to you and be sure that you will be saved."
It is further said of him that sometimes he confided to certain brothers, who went to visit him on their own, that many times he would see angels plainly in front of him, liturgizing and drawing near the Holy Gifts. At the time of the communion of the Master's Body, he saw some of the communicants as though they were shining, while others darkened in appearance - namely those who were not worthy of that light and of the brightness of Holy Communion.
Thus taking the occasion of these supernatural visions, he warned the brothers against participation in the communion of the Divine Gifts without proper preparation, and counseled them excellently, relying on the Apostle, saying that every Christian should take care to examine himself with exactness to see if he is worthy, thereby, of communicating the Holy Bread and the Holy Chalice with shuddering fear.
The communicant - Euthymios the Great continually taught - must know well that whoever approaches unworthily to communicate "eats and drinks" censure and condemnation unto himself.
So if anyone has been overcome by rancor or hate or envy, by pride, abusiveness, obscenity in expression, or indecent desires, or is in any way taken by any other passion whatsoever, let him not participate in Divine Communion, if first he has not cleansed his soul from all of these noxious things through repentance. Because, as the spirit of God says through the Liturgist, the Holy Things are not fitting to those who are profane, but only to the holy.
To the extent, then, that you have a clean conscience and it inspires in you the boldness to approach the Lord, "draw near to Him and be enlightened by Him, being also certain that you will not be chastened."
And again: "Today, when there is so little external monasticism, most monks must live within themselves. This means that there is no brother to admonish you or to be your example. You must admonish yourself and set an example for yourself. All of the goals, all of the rewards, and all of the standards have become internal. And while this may seem tragic, it is probably merciful."
"For," she said, "just as those who wish to light a fire are at first choked by smoke and their eyes water from the fumes, yet later succeed at their task, so we who wish to light the divine fire within us must know that we will succeed at this only by many struggles and toil; for the Lord also says, 'I came to cast fire upon the earth, and what else do I wish if the fire be more greatly kindled?'
"Indeed some," the blessed one continues, "while tolerating the bother and hindrance of the smoke in order to do a little work at the beginning, nonetheless, out of laziness, did not light a fire; for they went away quickly and did not have the forbearance to persist to the end."
One day the hermit went down to the city to sell his baskets. The father of the girl sent a servant to buy some and to invite the hermit home to be paid. He unsuspectingly went. As soon as he set foot in the door, the demonized girl, who was hidden behind the door, rushed at him and gave him a hard slap across the face. The holy hermit, without losing his calm, turned his other cheek, thus carrying out the commandment of the Lord.
Then this surprising incident took place: the demonized girl began to quiver wildly and to utter despairing cries: "O, hurry! I must leave. I cannot stay any longer. The commandment of Christ is casting me out."
With those words, the tormented creature was set free. The whole family, along with the daughter, who had regained her rational powers, glorified God for the great miracle which they had seen with their own eyes and looked for the holy elder so they could thank him. He, however, fleeing from all human praise, had totally disappeared.
When the Fathers in the desert were informed of these facts, they said among themselves that nothing so puts down the pride of the devil as humility and obedience to the divine commandments.
One day, while he was praying, wicked spirits gathered around him and tried hard to distract him from his prayer.
"Why are you tormenting me?" the brother said with exasperation. "Was it not enough that you pulled me down into sloth so many times?"
When you were lazy, you did not give us the slightest trouble," the demons answered with malice, "and we ignored you. Now that you oppose us, we battle you."
When the brother heard these things, he pushed himself all the more in spiritual struggle and, with the grace of God, progressed in virtue.
"Fancy that! Look there-that monk had the nerve to lie down on a grave," one of them said. "Let us vex him so that he has to leave our habitation."
"Let us not waste out time with him," the other demon answered contemptuously. "He belongs to us. He eats, drinks, gossips, neglects his duties, and serves us in almost all ways. Let us go tempt those who battle us day and night with their prayer and asceticism."
The brother, seeing that even the demons disregarded him, took control and became a good monk.
"Why are you crying, Father?" the brother who was accompanying him asked.
"For two reasons," the elder answered, sighing. "First of all, for the loss of her soul, and then because I do not take as much care to please my Lord as she does to please licentious men."
Once the Patriarch of Antioch was sitting with his bishops in the courtyard of the church of Saint Julian. While they were engaged in discussion, they heard an unusual commotion in the street. At that moment a luxurious carriage was passing by outside the church. The courtesan Pelagia was pridefully seated inside. The road sparkled from the brilliance of the jewels which she wore. The air was filled with the scent of her expensive perfumes. The crowd of people cheered her as though they were out of their minds.
The bishops turned their heads aside in disgust, to avoid facing the satanic woman, who had led so many of the young aristocrats of the city into the mire of immorality. Only one, Bishop Nonos, followed her persistently with his gaze, until she disappeared at a turn in the road. Afterwards he turned to the other bishops and said to them with a sorrowful voice:
"Woe to us, brothers in Christ. This woman puts us to great shame. Did you see how much care she takes in dressing her body in order to lure her lovers? While we lazy people-what do we do to adorn our souls to attract the love of our heavenly Bridegroom?"
Saying these things, he prayed with fervor for that sinful soul. And his prayer was heard. Divine Grace restored her and Pelagia came to believe in Christ, repented her sinful life, was baptized by the holy Nonos, and came to a holy end.
"Do you want me to ask God to deliver you from this torment, my child?" he asked him one day when he was especially sorrowful.
"No, Father," said the brave struggler. "For, though I am laboring severely, I see great benefit in my soul from the struggle. Pray only that God will give me the strength to endure."
"Indeed, you are doing well, my child," the elder then told him with admiration, "and you surpass me."
"Do you know what mothers do when they want to wean their babies? They put a bitter substance on their breast. Likewise, put in your mind, instead of some bitter substance, the memory of death and eternal damnation and immediately you will cut off any unclean thought," the wise elder advised him.
With these words he would cast out temptation, in the same way that one blows on a lighted oil lamp and immediately it goes out.
When day would break, he would reflect: "For the love of Christ, I will be patient today and leave tomorrow."
Since he struggled arduously for eight whole years and was not overcome by his thoughts, the Lord took the temptation from him.
"Who are you?" he asked him.
"The one who is pushing you out of here. And I am making ready to precede you to where you plan to take refuge."
It was the devil who had tried to push him out; but he did not succeed at it, because the brother stayed in his cell after that and struggled with patience, until he conquered his temptations.
V. Rev. Chrysostomos, trans.
***
A highly respected elder of our own days was visited by a young man tempted with lustful desires. Questioning the man about the sincerity of his intent to overcome such temptation, the elder asked him if he was willing to obey without question the advice he was about to be offered."I will do whatever you say," the man answered.
The elder then advised him to take a certain bus to its last stop, get off the bus, and remove all of his clothes within sight of the bystanders there. With great hesitation, but nevertheless acting out of sincere obedience, the young man went to wait for the bus that he was instructed to take.
In the meantime, the wise elder sent a brother to fetch the waiting man, explaining to him that the elder wished to speak with him once more before he boarded the bus. When the young man again approached the elder, the elder asked him: "Do you still have your lustful thoughts?"
The formerly tempted man answered, "No, Father, they have left me."
* * *
Once I saw the devil lying in wait outside the cell of my disciple," said a sagacious elder. "So I cast an eye inside to see what my disciple was doing. He had the Holy Scriptures open in front of him and was plunged deep in study. As soon as he closed the book and ended his reading, the devil rushed in to tempt him.* * *
"The sacred writers of the Old and New Testaments, with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, authored books," said a certain elder. "The Fathers took care to apply the writings in their lives. The next generation knew them by heart. But those of modern times have copied them and shut them away in libraries.""Come, my child, and taste of the blessed life of obedience," Abba Moses told a young man who was ready to follow the monastic life. "In this life, you will find humility, strength, joy, patience, and forbearance. Within it, contrition is born and love blossoms. It aids the good monastic disciple to keep all of the divine commandments throughout his life."
* * *
Likewise, Abba Iperechios calls obedience the invaluable treasure of the monk: "Let him who has attained it be assured that his prayer will always be heard and will be presented with boldness at the altar of Him Who was obedient even unto death."* * *
Again, Abba Rouphos says that greater glory awaits the monk who is obedient to an elder than the hermit who lives by his own will in the solitude of the desert.* * *
"There are three things especially pleasing to God," said Abba Joseph the Thebite. "Illnesses suffered with patience, works done without ostentation and for His love only, and submission to a spiritual elder with perfect self-denial. This last thing will gain the greatest crown."* * *
Once some elders went to visit Abba Antonios. Along with them was Abba Joseph. The Great Father, to test them, chose a certain written maxim and asked each of them, one by one, to tell its meaning. So each one began to explain it according to his understanding"You did not find its meaning," he answered each of them.
Then came Abba Joseph's turn.
"What do you have to say about this, Joseph?" Antonios the Great asked him.
"I do not know of such things," he replied.
"Abba Joseph gave the correct answer," the holy one then said, marveling at Abba Joseph's humility.
* * *
The Fathers of the skete once gathered to speak among themselves about spiritual things, and forgot to invite Abba Kopris. They began to discuss the person of Melchizidek and did not come to agreement in their opinions. Then they remembered Abba Kopris and sent summons to him so that they could get his opinion. When he heard of the cause of their disagreement and the subject about which they had idled away so many hours arguing, he struck himself three times on the mouth and said: "Woe to you, monk. You have set aside that which God has asked of you and you have sought to find those things which He will never ask of you."Hearing his wise words, the other elders left their gathering and returned to their cells, pensive.
* * *
"Whosoever enters a perfume shop," a certain elder related, "even if he does not purchase any perfume, leaves filled with fragrance. The same thing happens to one who associates with holy people. He takes on himself the spiritual aroma of their virtue."* * *
"If a person desires, he may attain holiness as much at the setting of the sun as at its dawning," Antonios the Great said, teaching his disciples thereby the power of repentance.* * *
Three elders customarily went three times a year to the mountain of Abba Antonios to be taught by the Great Saint. Two of them would ask various questions concerning spiritual and bodily exercises. In this way they provided the occasion for the Saint to pour forth the river of wisdom flowing within him. The third elder always listened silently, without asking anything. Once the Saint asked him: "So many years you have visited me, brother, without making the slightest inquiry. Do you not wish to learn anything?""It is enough for me to see you, Abba. Indeed, this has taught me much," the elder answered reverently.
* * *
"For someone to teach another, he must be healthy in his soul and free of passions," says Abba Poimen. "There is no use in building the house of another, your own being destroyed.""He who teaches others, without putting to practice any of that which he teaches," the same Father further says, "is like a spring which irrigates and flows over all that is around it, while it is filled with every sort of dirt."
* * *
"Truly wise," said Abba Iperechios, "is he who teaches, not with words, but with deeds."Another wise Father compares one who teaches only with words, without doing works, with trees which have leaves, but bear no fruit.
One of the great Fathers of the desert told a certain elder, his neighbor, who always accepted visitors and taught them: "Be careful, brother, for while the oil lamp indeed gives light to many, its wick holder is usually burned."
* * *
"He who knows himself is a man," said Abba Poimen.* * *
A desert elder set off for the nearest village to sell his baskets. On the road that he was going down, the devil found him and, out of the intense malice he had toward the elder, snatched the baskets from his hands and disappeared. The elder, without being at all upset, raised his eyes to heaven and said, "I thank you, my God, that you have relieved me of my burden and the trouble of going down to the village." Then the devil, not suffering the calmness of the hermit, threw the baskets in his face, shouting: "Take them back, old man."The monk gathered them up again and continued on his way to the village.
* * *
"I once saw all of the snares of the devil spread out across the earth," said the Great Antonios, "and I became terrified.""Is it possible that anyone can escape them?" he said, sighing.
He then heard a mysterious voice answering him: "He who is humble of mind."
* * *
While still a young monk, Abba Poimen asked to learn from Antonios the Great what he should do to find his salvation."Acknowledge your faults with a broken heart," this Father of Fathers answered, "and humble yourself before God. Also, endure patiently the temptations which occur to you and be sure that you will be saved."
* * *
The fathers relate to us that, besides other divine gifts, there was also bestowed by God upon Saint Euthymios the following: to perceive, from the external appearance, the internal activities of the souls of people, as though seeing them in mirror images; and to know in detail the thoughts with which each one battled, and, indeed, which among these thoughts he was defeating and by which, through the operation of the devil, he was being defeated.It is further said of him that sometimes he confided to certain brothers, who went to visit him on their own, that many times he would see angels plainly in front of him, liturgizing and drawing near the Holy Gifts. At the time of the communion of the Master's Body, he saw some of the communicants as though they were shining, while others darkened in appearance - namely those who were not worthy of that light and of the brightness of Holy Communion.
Thus taking the occasion of these supernatural visions, he warned the brothers against participation in the communion of the Divine Gifts without proper preparation, and counseled them excellently, relying on the Apostle, saying that every Christian should take care to examine himself with exactness to see if he is worthy, thereby, of communicating the Holy Bread and the Holy Chalice with shuddering fear.
The communicant - Euthymios the Great continually taught - must know well that whoever approaches unworthily to communicate "eats and drinks" censure and condemnation unto himself.
So if anyone has been overcome by rancor or hate or envy, by pride, abusiveness, obscenity in expression, or indecent desires, or is in any way taken by any other passion whatsoever, let him not participate in Divine Communion, if first he has not cleansed his soul from all of these noxious things through repentance. Because, as the spirit of God says through the Liturgist, the Holy Things are not fitting to those who are profane, but only to the holy.
To the extent, then, that you have a clean conscience and it inspires in you the boldness to approach the Lord, "draw near to Him and be enlightened by Him, being also certain that you will not be chastened."
* * *
The following is said of the holy Archbishop John of San Francisco, a great luminary of our times: "So virtuous was his life on earth, that even after death he suffered the calumny of others."* * *
A contemporary monk advised his brothers thus: "If you do not live by principles, do not pretend to adhere to them."And again: "Today, when there is so little external monasticism, most monks must live within themselves. This means that there is no brother to admonish you or to be your example. You must admonish yourself and set an example for yourself. All of the goals, all of the rewards, and all of the standards have become internal. And while this may seem tragic, it is probably merciful."
* * *
The blessed Synkletike related to the Sisters that, "those who begin the life in God encounter much toil and struggles in the beginning, afterwards, however, finding indescribable joy."For," she said, "just as those who wish to light a fire are at first choked by smoke and their eyes water from the fumes, yet later succeed at their task, so we who wish to light the divine fire within us must know that we will succeed at this only by many struggles and toil; for the Lord also says, 'I came to cast fire upon the earth, and what else do I wish if the fire be more greatly kindled?'
"Indeed some," the blessed one continues, "while tolerating the bother and hindrance of the smoke in order to do a little work at the beginning, nonetheless, out of laziness, did not light a fire; for they went away quickly and did not have the forbearance to persist to the end."
* * *
The same Amma said: "Many live in the wilderness and behave as though they were in a town. The latter are wasting their time. It is possible to be a hermit in the mind while living among the masses; likewise, it is possible to be a hermit and live in the crowd of one's own thoughts."* * *
The holy woman further said: "While a person is in a monastery, obedience is preferred to ascetic practice. The former teaches humility, the latter teaches pride."* * *
The daughter of a certain rich man in Alexandria was suddenly seized by a wicked spirit and was tormented severely. Her father spent much money in order to make her well. But fruitlessly. The condition of the young girl became worse all the time. Somehow the Father learned that a hermit, who lived alone up on a mountain, had the gift from God to cast out demons. He was told, however, that the hermit was so humble that he would never agree to perform such a cure. So the nobleman had to find some other pretext by which to get him to his home.One day the hermit went down to the city to sell his baskets. The father of the girl sent a servant to buy some and to invite the hermit home to be paid. He unsuspectingly went. As soon as he set foot in the door, the demonized girl, who was hidden behind the door, rushed at him and gave him a hard slap across the face. The holy hermit, without losing his calm, turned his other cheek, thus carrying out the commandment of the Lord.
Then this surprising incident took place: the demonized girl began to quiver wildly and to utter despairing cries: "O, hurry! I must leave. I cannot stay any longer. The commandment of Christ is casting me out."
With those words, the tormented creature was set free. The whole family, along with the daughter, who had regained her rational powers, glorified God for the great miracle which they had seen with their own eyes and looked for the holy elder so they could thank him. He, however, fleeing from all human praise, had totally disappeared.
When the Fathers in the desert were informed of these facts, they said among themselves that nothing so puts down the pride of the devil as humility and obedience to the divine commandments.
* * *
"He who has his mind under control when he prays, and is careful in what he says, keeps away the demons," says Saint Ephraim the Syrian. "He, however, who elevates himself is duped."* * *
God requires these three things, which were bestowed in Holy Baptism, from every man: correct belief in his soul, truth on his tongue, and moderation in his body.* * *
A certain industrious monk, who struggled for virtue with all of his powers, once weakened and fell into laziness. However, he quickly recovered and said to himself: "You poor man. Since when do you scorn your salvation? Do you not fear death and judgment?" With such thoughts, he became more eager in God's work.One day, while he was praying, wicked spirits gathered around him and tried hard to distract him from his prayer.
"Why are you tormenting me?" the brother said with exasperation. "Was it not enough that you pulled me down into sloth so many times?"
When you were lazy, you did not give us the slightest trouble," the demons answered with malice, "and we ignored you. Now that you oppose us, we battle you."
When the brother heard these things, he pushed himself all the more in spiritual struggle and, with the grace of God, progressed in virtue.
* * *
A brother, who pointlessly passed his time neglecting his salvation, once went down to the city to sell his baskets. Evening fell while he was on his way, however, and so as not to be in danger in the dark night, he found improvised lodging in an old tomb. He lay down to rest and when, out of sleepiness, he was finally closing his eyes, he saw opposite him two demons scrutinizing him."Fancy that! Look there-that monk had the nerve to lie down on a grave," one of them said. "Let us vex him so that he has to leave our habitation."
"Let us not waste out time with him," the other demon answered contemptuously. "He belongs to us. He eats, drinks, gossips, neglects his duties, and serves us in almost all ways. Let us go tempt those who battle us day and night with their prayer and asceticism."
The brother, seeing that even the demons disregarded him, took control and became a good monk.
* * *
Saint Athanasios, when he found himself on the patriarchal throne of Alexandria, called Abba Pambo to go to the city on an ecclesiastical matter. The first person that the holy man met, on passing through the walls of the large city, was a woman dressed up so as to ensnare her victims. Seeing her, the elder became tearful."Why are you crying, Father?" the brother who was accompanying him asked.
"For two reasons," the elder answered, sighing. "First of all, for the loss of her soul, and then because I do not take as much care to please my Lord as she does to please licentious men."
* * *
And something similar happened to Bishop Nonos and Saint Pelagia, as her biographer relates to us.Once the Patriarch of Antioch was sitting with his bishops in the courtyard of the church of Saint Julian. While they were engaged in discussion, they heard an unusual commotion in the street. At that moment a luxurious carriage was passing by outside the church. The courtesan Pelagia was pridefully seated inside. The road sparkled from the brilliance of the jewels which she wore. The air was filled with the scent of her expensive perfumes. The crowd of people cheered her as though they were out of their minds.
The bishops turned their heads aside in disgust, to avoid facing the satanic woman, who had led so many of the young aristocrats of the city into the mire of immorality. Only one, Bishop Nonos, followed her persistently with his gaze, until she disappeared at a turn in the road. Afterwards he turned to the other bishops and said to them with a sorrowful voice:
"Woe to us, brothers in Christ. This woman puts us to great shame. Did you see how much care she takes in dressing her body in order to lure her lovers? While we lazy people-what do we do to adorn our souls to attract the love of our heavenly Bridegroom?"
Saying these things, he prayed with fervor for that sinful soul. And his prayer was heard. Divine Grace restored her and Pelagia came to believe in Christ, repented her sinful life, was baptized by the holy Nonos, and came to a holy end.
* * *
A monk under obedience to a certain great elder also suffered from carnal desire and struggled hard without regard for his body. Seeing him struggle mercilessly, his elder felt sorry for him."Do you want me to ask God to deliver you from this torment, my child?" he asked him one day when he was especially sorrowful.
"No, Father," said the brave struggler. "For, though I am laboring severely, I see great benefit in my soul from the struggle. Pray only that God will give me the strength to endure."
"Indeed, you are doing well, my child," the elder then told him with admiration, "and you surpass me."
* * *
"My unclean thoughts are about to kill me," a brother confessed to a certain elder."Do you know what mothers do when they want to wean their babies? They put a bitter substance on their breast. Likewise, put in your mind, instead of some bitter substance, the memory of death and eternal damnation and immediately you will cut off any unclean thought," the wise elder advised him.
* * *
A certain young monk, who struggled arduously to preserve the purity of his body and his soul, when he happened to be bothered by carnal desire, would say to the evil spirit with rage: "Go to the outer darkness. Can it be that you do not know that, even though I am unworthy, I bear parts of Christ within me?"With these words he would cast out temptation, in the same way that one blows on a lighted oil lamp and immediately it goes out.
* * *
An elder gave this advice to a certain young man who asked him to tell him how to be saved: "Force yourself, my child, to do whatever the condemned do in prison. Hear them asking continually, with agony written on their faces: 'Where is the Governor? When is he coming? Maybe he has granted a pardon.' They tremble and cry, waiting for the moment when they will be led to the place of execution. Say in your mind, too: 'My sins have condemned me. How shall I face the righteous Judge? How will I defend myself?' Grieve and weep over your sins, so as to be saved."* * *
For nine years a monk was tormented by the thought of leaving his monastery. Each evening he packed his clothes and said to himself: "I will leave tomorrow without delay."When day would break, he would reflect: "For the love of Christ, I will be patient today and leave tomorrow."
Since he struggled arduously for eight whole years and was not overcome by his thoughts, the Lord took the temptation from him.
* * *
A monk found a great deal of temptation in the place where he first began to struggle. Once he lost his patience and decided to go far away to find his peace. Just as he stooped to tie his sandals, he saw someone in front of him tying his sandals, too."Who are you?" he asked him.
"The one who is pushing you out of here. And I am making ready to precede you to where you plan to take refuge."
It was the devil who had tried to push him out; but he did not succeed at it, because the brother stayed in his cell after that and struggled with patience, until he conquered his temptations.
* * *
"When wicked thoughts war with me," Abba John the Short said, "I do what a wayfarer would do if he were walking in the wilderness and suddenly saw a wild beast pursuing him: find a tree and climb up to the top to be saved. And so I flee to God with prayer and escape from the attack of wicked thoughts."* * *
A monk of our day said: "One commandment could cure the ills of those who cause turmoil in the Church today: 'judge no one.' This should be the motto of those who hold firm to Orthodox tradition."V. Rev. Chrysostomos, trans.
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