Paradise of the Holy Fathers (Palladius' Lausiac History, Apophthegmata Patrum)

PUBLISHED AT LONDON BY CHATTO & WINDUS aS MCMVII 2 SDETAODGA Ce shee (0.409 PAY AF (7a *LEEP: HO. GAM : (At. 129. Gk Viana ae <VHCs MOS SAS OS9 Sogaee OH “ld He AE ONENESS 4 ‘ ie eae Moa F TF i inal . Ma d ey — RAT AOHAGSAE 520 ae AH SHA PAG Y, rou hot 40. CATHOTAIH | ae ia a. 2ETIAOHOMA art i TAIRG : HEIOUOVIS: Tp Ge VOR CHIH TOCHEA AMOKA) IAS SHY AG TUG an’ IVUOLTAL SS Ba pape ATWO re a | OS Beaks ALD 27 GF. TAU [oA ei LYOog A) MAIN Yee ‘Heh EL ATT AY eat 4 ri CeO ee ig. “OCA RW SORA Ne | See Axa A Tee | Ya-vorrs tf SUOerey eae the Third (sic) Part witb the Counsels of the holy Old Men, and the Questions and the Fe: again, we begin, by the power of our Lord, Answers [which they gave] to the Bretbren ae J Ceenia "s Chapter j, Of Flight from Men, and of Silent Cone templation, and ot Dwelling continually in the Cell, [a work] which was composed by Bishop Palladius for the Prefect Lausus i X y HEN Abba Arsenius was in the palace, he prayed to God, and said, ‘‘ O Lord, direct me how to live”; and a voice came to him, saying, ‘‘ Arsenius, flee from

**men, and thou shalt live.” 2. And when Arsenius was living the ascetic life in the monastery, he prayed to God the same prayer, and again he heard a voice saying unto him, “ Arsenius, flee, keep silence, “‘and lead a life of silent contemplation, for these are the fun- *‘ damental causes which prevent a man from committing sin.” 3. A certain man said that there were once three men who loved labours, and they were monks. The first one chose to go about and see where there was strife, which he turned into peace ; the second chose to go about and visit the sick ; but the third departed to the desert that he might dwell in quietness. Finally the first man, who had chosen to still the contentions of men, was unable to make every man to beat peace with his neighbour, and his spirit was sad ; and he went to the man who had chosen to visit the sick, and he found him in affliction because he was not able to fulfil the law which he had laid down for himself. Then the two of them went to the monk in the desert, and seeing each other they rejoiced, and the two men related to the third the tribulations which had befallen them in the world, and entreated him to tell them how he had lived in the desert. And he was silent, but after a little he said unto them, ‘‘ Come, let each of us go and fill a vessel ‘‘ of water’; and after they had filled the vessel, he said unto them, ‘‘ Pour out some of the water into a basin, and look “down to the bottom through it,” and they did so. And he said unto them, ‘‘ What do ye see ?” and they said, ‘‘ We see “‘nothing.” And after the water in the basin had ceased to move, he said to them a second time, ‘‘ Look into the water,” and they looked, and he said unto them, ‘‘ What do ye see?” And they said unto him, ‘‘ We see our own faces distinctly ”; and he said unto them, ‘‘ Thus is it with the man who dwell- “eth with men, for by reason of the disturbance caused by ‘this affair of the world he cannot see his sins ; but if he live

The Sayings of the holy Fathers ‘‘in the peace and quietness of the desert he is able to see God ‘* clearly.” ; 4. On one occasion Abbé Ammon came during the season of winter to Abba Sisoes, and he saw that the old man was grieved because he had left the desert; and Abba Ammon said unto him, ‘‘ Why art thou distressed, O father ? For what “‘ wast thou able to do in the desert in thine old age?” And the old man Sisoes looked at him fiercely, and said, ‘‘ What ‘« sayest thou tome, Ammon? Are not the mere thoughts of the ‘freedom which is in the desert better for us [than living out OL ith fm 5. teed were two brethren in the desert who were the equals of each other in the spiritual life, and they led a life of ascetic self-denial, and performed the exalted works which belong to spiritual excellence. And it happened that one of them was called to be the head of a habitation of the brethren, but the other remained in the desert, where he became a man perfect in self-denial. And he was held by God to be worthy of the gift of healing those who were possessed of devils, and he knew beforehand the things which were about to happen, and he made whole the sick. Now when he who hadbecomethe headof a habitation of brethren (i.e., a coenobium, or monastery) heard these things, he decided in his mind that his fellow monk must have acquired these powers suddenly, and he lived a life of silence and ceased from converse with men for three weeks, and he made supplication unto God continually that He would shew him how the monk in the desert wrought these mighty works, while he had not received even one of the gifts which he had. And an angel appeared and said unto him, ‘‘ He who ‘‘dwelleth in the desert maketh supplication to God both by ‘night and by day, and his pain and anxiety are for our ‘* Lord’s sake ; but thou hast care for many things, and thou ‘‘hast converse with many, and the consolation and encou- ‘‘ragement of the children of men must be sufficient for thee.”

6. Abba Arsenius on one occasion went to the brethren in a certain place where there were some reeds growing, and the wind blew upon them, and they were shaken. And the old man said, ‘‘ What is this rustling sound?” and they said unto him, ‘‘It is that caused by the reeds which are being ‘‘ shaken by the wind.” And he said unto them, “‘ Verily I say ‘‘unto you, if the man who dwelleth in silence heareth but the ‘“‘twittering of a sparrow, he shall not be able to acquire that ‘repose in his heart which he seeketh; how much less then ‘“can ye do so with all this rustling of the reeds about you?” 7. A certain brother came to Abba Arsenius, and said unto him, ‘‘ My thoughts vex me, and say, ‘ Thou canst not fast On Retreat from the World and Contemplation ‘©¢and thou art not able to labour, therefore visit the sick, “which is a great commandment.’” Then Abba Arsenius, after the manner of one who was well acquainted with the war of devils, said unto him, ‘‘ Eat, drink, and sleep, and toil not, ‘‘ but on no account go out of thy cell”; for the old man knew that dwelling constantly in the cell induceth all the habits of the solitary life. And when the brother had done these things for three days he became weary of idleness, and finding a few palm leaves on the ground, he took them and began to split them up, and on the following day he dipped them in water and began to work (i.e., to weave baskets) ; and when he felt hungry he said, ‘‘I will finish one more small piece of work, and then ‘© will eat.’ And when he was reading in the Book, he said, ‘7 will sing a few Psalms and say a few prayers, and then I ‘‘ shall eat without any compunction.” Thus little by little, by the agency of God, he advanced in the ascetic life until he reached the first rank, and received the power to resist the thoughts and to vanquish them.

8. When Abba Sisoes was dwelling in the mountain of Abba Anthony, the man who used to minister unto him departed and remained away for a period of ten months and did not come [back] to him, and he saw no man. And afterwards, as he was walking in the mountains, he saw a man hunting wild animals, and the old man said to him, “ Whence comest thou? ‘‘ And how long hast thou been here?” And the man said unto him, ‘‘ Father, I have been in this mountain eleven months, ‘Cand I have seen no man except thyself.” Then the old man having heard these things went into his cell, and smote upon his face, and said, ‘‘ Behold, O Sisoes, well mayest thou think ‘that thou hast done nothing, for thou hast not made thyself ‘‘eyen like unto this man who is in the world, and is not a ** monk.” g. Ionce asked Abba Sarmata a question, and said unto him, ‘‘ What shall I do, O my father, for I do nothing which the ‘ monks do ? On the contrary, I am negligent, and I eat, and ‘drink, and sleep, and I think many filthy thoughts, and my ‘‘ mind is ever disturbed, and I depart from one work to an- ‘other, and from one group of thoughts to another. What ‘ shall I do, then ? For I am troubled, and my soul is little.” And Abba Sarmata said unto him: ‘‘ Sit thou in thy cell, and ‘‘ whatsoever thou canst do, that do, and trouble not thyself. ‘‘For I wish thee to do now a little, even as did Abba An- ‘thony in the mountain, and I believe that by sitting in [thy] ‘6 cell for the sake of the Name of God, thou also wilt be found ‘Cin the same place as Abba Anthony.”

10. On one occasion the brethren went up from Scete to go The Sayings of the holy Fathers to AbbA Anthony, and having embarked in.a boat to journey to him, they found [there] a certain old man, who was also going to visit him, and they were not acquainted with him. And as they were sitting in the boat, they spake now and again a word of the Fathers, or a word from the Book, or they talked about the work of their hands; and the old man listened unto all they said, but held his peace. Then, having crossed the ferry, the old man was found to be going also to Abba Anthony. And when they had all arrived at the place where he was, he said unto them, ‘‘Ye found excellent com- ‘“pany in this old man”; and to the old man himself he said, ‘‘Thou didst find excellent brethren to travel with thee, O ‘«father.”’ And the old man said, ‘‘They are excellent brethren, ‘‘but they have no door to their house, and whosoever wisheth ‘‘can go into the stable, and untie the ass, and go whither- ‘*soever he pleaseth on him.” Now this he said because they uttered every word which came into their mouths.

11. A certain brother asked Abba Sisoes, saying, ‘‘ Father, ‘*how was it that thou didst leave Scete where thou wast ‘with Abba Macarius, and didst come here?” And the old man said unto him, ‘‘ When Scete began to be filled [with monks] ‘‘T heard that Abba Antonius had fallen asleep, and I came to ‘the mountain here, and found that this place was quiet, and ‘*T lived here for a little time.”’ The brother said unto him, ‘How long hast thou been here?” and the old man said, ‘* Behold, I have been here seventy years this day.” 12, They used to say concerning Abba Theodore and Abba Luk that they passed fifty years with disturbed minds, and were troubled the whole time about changing their place [of abode]; and they said, ‘‘ Behold, we wiil change in the winter”; and when the winter arrived, they said, ‘‘ We will change in ‘the summer”; and thus they did unto the end of their lives. 13. A certain father came to Abba Arsenius, and he knocked at the door, and the old man opened unto him thinking that it was his servant [who had knocked]; and when he saw who it was, he cast himself upon his face, and the father entreated him, saying, ‘‘Stand up, O father, that I may give thee the ‘salutation of peace.” But Arsenius disputed with him, saying, ‘‘I will not stand up until thou hast departed”; and though he entreated him to do so often he would not stand up, and the father left him and departed.

14. Abba Battimion said, ‘‘When I went down to Scete ‘‘they gave me some apples to take to the brethren, and when ‘‘T had knocked at the door of Abba Abhila, he said to me ‘‘when he saw me, ‘If these apples had been of gold I would ‘* “not have wished thee to knock at my door; and moreover, do On Retreat from the World and Contemplation “* ‘not knock at the door of any other brother’; so I returned ‘and placed the apples in the church and departed.” 15. They said concerning Abba Sisoes that when the church began [to fill] he fled quickly to his cell, and, [though] the brethren said, ‘‘He hath a devil,” he was performing the work of God. 16. Abba Joseph said to Abba Nestir, ‘‘ What shall I do ‘* with my tongue, for I cannot conquer it?” Abba Nestir said unto him, ‘‘If thou talkest wilt thou have relief from this ‘‘(trouble]?” And he said unto him, ‘‘ Nay.” The old man said unto him, ‘‘ If then thou hast no relief when thou talkest, why “dost thou talk?” Abba Joseph said unto him, ‘‘ What shall “‘T do? For I cannot stand against it.” The old man said unto him, ‘‘ Wilt thou have relief then?” and he said unto him, “‘Nay.” The old man said unto him, ‘‘ If thou canst not gain ‘relief by talking, then hold thy peace.”

17. A certain brother went to Abba Poemen on the second Sunday in the Fast of Forty Days and repeated unto him his thoughts, and sighing over what the old man had told him, he said unto him, ‘‘I had almost kept myself from coming here “to-day”; and the old man said, ‘‘ Why?” Then the brother said, ‘‘I said in my mind, Peradventure during the fast the ‘‘door will be closed against thee”; and Abba Poemen said unto him, ‘‘ We do not learn to shut a door made of wood, ‘but to close the door of the tongue.” 18. When a certain brother in Scete was going to the harvest, he went to Abba Moses, the Black, and said unto him, ‘‘ Father, tell me what I shall do; shall I go to the harvest?” and Abba Moses said unto him, ‘‘If I tell thee, wilt thou be ‘* persuaded to do as I say?” And the brother said unto him, ‘Vea, I will hearken unto thee.” The old man said unto him, ‘If thou wilt be persuaded by me, rise up, go, and release “ thyself from going to the harvest, and come unto me, and I ‘‘ will tell thee what thou shalt do.” The brother therefore departed and obtained his release from his companions, as the old man had told him, and then he came to him. And the old man said unto him, ‘‘Go into thy cell and keep Pentecost, and ‘<thou shalt eat dry bread and salt once a day [only], and after “thou hast done this I will tell thee something else to do later “on”: and he went and did as theold man had told him, andthen came to him again. Now when the old man saw that he was one who worked with his hands, he shewed him the proper way to live in his cell; and the brother went to his cell, and fell on his face upon the ground, and for three whole days and nights he wept before God. And after these things, when his thoughts were saying unto him, ‘‘ Thou art now an exalted

The Savings of the holy Fathers *¢yerson, and thou hast become a great man,” he used to contradict them, and set before his eyes his former shortcomings, [and say], ‘‘ Thus were all thine offences.” And again, when they used to say to him, ‘‘ Thou hast performed many things “negligently,” he would say, ‘‘ Nevertheless I do small ser- ‘‘vices for God, and He sheweth His mercy upon me.” And when by such means as these the spirits had been overcome, they appeared unto him in the form of corporeal creatures, and said unto him, ‘‘ We have been vanquished by thee”; and he said unto them, ‘‘ Why?” and they said unto him, ‘If we ‘‘humble thee, we are raised up by thee to an exalted posi- ‘‘tion, and if we exalt thee we are accounted by thee for ** humility.” 19. There was a certain brother in the monastery who worked hard, and the brethren who were in Scete heard about him, and came to see him, and they entered into the place where he used to work; and having received them, and saluted them, he turned round and began to work again. And when the brethren saw what he did, they said unto him, ‘‘John gave thee ‘the garb of the monk, and made thee a dweller in a mona- ‘‘ stery, but he did not teach thee to receive a blessing (/zterally, ‘* prayer) from the brethren, or to give one, or to say to them, ‘¢«Pray ye,’ or, ‘Sit ye down.’” And John said unto them, ‘* Nay, a sinner is not sufficient for these things.”

20. Abba Anthony said, ‘‘As a fish when it is lifted up out ‘‘of the water dieth, even so doth the monk who tarrieth out- “‘side his cell.” 21. They tell the story of a certain brother who came to Scete to see Abba Arsenius, and who went into the church and entreated the clergy to take him to see him; and the clergy said unto him, ‘‘Refresh thyself a little, and thou shalt see ‘‘him.” And the brother said unto them, ‘‘I will eat nothing ‘* before I meet him and see him”; and when the clergy heard this they sent a brother with him to shew him Abba Arsenius, because his cell was some distance away. And when they had arrived there, they knocked at the door and went inside, and having saluted him, and prayed, they sat down and held their peace; and the brother who was from the church answered and said, ‘‘I will depart, pray ye for me.”’ But when the other brother saw that he possessed not freedom of speech with the old man, he said unto the brother from the church, ‘‘I also *‘will go with thee,” and they departed together. Then he entreated him, saying, ‘‘Take me also to Abba ‘“ Moses who was a thief,” and when they went to him, the old man received them with joy, and having refreshed them greatly he dismissed them in peace. And the brother who had

— On Retreat trom the World and Contemplation brought the visitor to AbbA Moses said unto him, ‘‘ Behold, ‘“T\ brought thee to a man from a foreign land, and to an ‘‘ E\zyptian, which of the two pleaseth thee?” And he answered and said unto him, ‘‘ The Egyptian who hath just received me, ‘‘and refreshed me.”’ And when one of the old men heard what haji happened, he prayed to God, and said, “OQ Lord, shew ‘ine this matter; one fleeth from the world for Thy Name’s ‘sake, and another receiveth and is gracious for Thy Name’s “sake.” And behold, suddenly there appeared unto him on th river two great boats, and lo, Abba Arsenius and the Spirit of God were travelling in silence in the one, and Abba ‘Moses and the angels of God were in the other, and they were / feeding the monk with honey from the comb. 22. A certain brother asked AbbA Poemen a question, saying, ‘‘If I see something done, dost thou wish me to tell it ‘‘ abroad 2?” The old man said unto him, ‘‘Itis written, ‘Who- ‘‘ ¢soever shall declare a matter incorrectly, it is a disgrace to ‘¢him and [a subject for] mockery.’ And if thou art asked, ‘speak; and if thou art not asked, hold thy peace.”

23. On one occasion there was an assemblyin a great church, and all the old men were asked in a body, ‘‘ What striving is ‘‘the mightiest against the monks?” And they all agreed that there was none stronger than that which would make a man leave his cell and depart, for when this striving is overcome, all the rest can quite easily be brought low. 24. They say concerning Abba Apés, who afterwards became Bishop of Oxyrhyncus, that when he was a monk he laboured with great toil in the ascetic life, and that he was moved every hour by Divine Grace, but that after he became Bishop, though he wished to perform the same labours, he was not able to do so. And he cast himself before God, and made supplication unto Him, saying, “ Peradventure, O my ‘Lord, it is because of the Bishopric that Thou hast removed ‘‘ Thy grace from me,” and it was said unto him, ‘‘It is not ‘€s0, but formerly thou wast in the desert, and there were no ‘‘men there, and God took care of thee; here, however, thou ‘¢art ina portion of the world which is inhabited, and men care tor thee.”

25. A certain brother from the Cells soaked some palm leaves in water, and then sat down to weave ropes, and his mind said unto him, ‘‘Go and visit such and such a brother” ; and he pondered on the matter, and said, ‘‘I will go after a ‘‘few days.” And again his mind said unto him, ‘‘ Supposing ‘“thou shouldst die, what wilt thou do? for thou wouldst not ‘see thy brother”; and once again he satisfied his mind by ’ saying, “‘I will go after such and such a time.’’ Now when the The Savings of the holy Fatbers summer had come, he said within himself, ‘‘To-day is not the ‘‘right time for going,” and again he said to his mind, ‘‘ As ‘soon as thou hast cut off the end of the palm leaves it will ‘*be time for thee to go”; and he said to himself, ‘‘I will ‘finish these leaves, and then I will go.” And once again his mind urged him and said, ‘‘The weather is beautiful to-day,” and he rose up straightway and left the palm leaves soaking in the water, and he picked up a cloak and ran off on his way. Now he had as a neighboura certain old man who used to see visions, and as soon as this man saw the brother running, he cried out, and said unto him, ‘‘ Prisoner, prisoner, come ‘‘hither”; and when he had gone in the old man said unto him, ‘‘ Go back to thy cell,” and the brother went back, and he related unto him the whole story of his war. And having entered his own cell, he offered up repentance unto God, and the devils cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘‘ Thou hast ‘‘ vanquished us, thou hast vanquished us, O monk.” Now he had a palm-leaf mat under him, and it was charred as ifit had been burned in the fire, and the devils vanished like smoke; then straightway the brother perceived their wiles, and he gave thanks unto God.

26. Abba Poemen said: A certain brother asked Abba Simén, and said, ‘‘If I go out from my cell, and I find a brother ab- ‘‘sorbed and immersed in matters unnecessary for salvation, ‘‘shall I associate myself also with him? And supposing also ‘that I should find him laughing, and that I also should laugh, ‘‘when I have gone into my cell again shall I not be forgiven ‘‘my relaxation?” And the old man said unto him, ‘‘What ‘‘dost thou wish? Dost thou mean that having gone out of thy ‘‘ cell and having found a man who was laughing, and laughed ‘‘with him, and having found a man who was talking, and ‘talked with him, thou canst go back to thy cell and find thy- ‘‘ self as thou wast before thou didst go out?” And the brother said unto him, ‘‘If not, how then?” Then the old man answered and said unto him, ‘‘It is right for thee to keep a care- ‘¢ ful watch both within and without.” 27. An old man said, ‘‘One man is thought to be silent, and ‘‘yet his heart judgeth and condemneth others, and the man ‘“‘who acteth thus speaketh continually; another man speak- ‘‘eth from morning till evening, and yet keepeth silence, that ‘is to say, he speaketh nothing which is not helpful.”

28. There were two excellent brethren in the Cells, and they were held to be worthy to see things of mystery, and each one of them saw the might which was sent down by God upon his brethren. Now it happened that one of them came on Friday to the coenobium, and as he was outside, he saw that some of the On Retreat from the World and Contemplation _ brethren were eating from the morning [upwards], and he said unto them, ‘‘Is it possible that ye eat at this time on Friday ? **And do ye usually hold a congregation at the turn of the ‘“day?” And as his brother looked upon him, he saw that the _ might of God was going away from him, and he was grieved, for he was accustomed to see it upon him. And when they had - come to their own cell he said unto him, ‘‘ What hast thou - “done, O my brother? Or what thoughts hast thou had? For ‘*T do not see upon thee as usual the might of God.” And the _ brother made answer and said, ‘‘I know not; I do not feel ' “that I have any filthy thoughts in me, and I do not perceive

**in my soul that any evil act hath been committed by me.” His brother said unto him, ‘‘Peradventure some vain and ‘“empty word hath gone forth from thy mouth.” Then that brother recalled the matter to his mind, and said, ‘‘ Yea, “* yesterday I saw certain men outside the coenobium eating, ‘and I said unto them, ‘Do ye eat at this time on Friday?’ ‘*This then is my sin. But I entreat thee to labour with me ‘for two weeks, and thou and I will beg God to forgive me.” And they did even as he had said, and after two weeks his brother saw that might which is of the goodness of God come upon him as usual. 29. The old men used to say about the blessed Abba Arse- “nius, and Abba Theodore of Parmé, that they possessed in a far greater degree than many monks a hatred of the admiration of men; Abba Arsenius was never pleased at meeting and conversing with a man, and Abba Theodore, even though he was willing to meet a man, was as sharp as a sword in his conversation. 30. Abba Macarius said unto the brethren when the service in the church was ended, ‘‘Flee ye, O brethren’’; and one of the old men said, ‘‘ Father, whither can we flee farther than ‘‘this desert?’? Then Macarius laid his hand upon his mouth,

‘ saying, ‘‘Flee in this manner,” and straightway he went to | his cell and, shutting the door, sat down. 31. Abbé Poemen said:—Abba Moses asked Abba Zechariah ¢ a question when he was about to die, and said unto him, ‘Father, is it good that we should hold our peace?” And Zechariah said unto him, ‘‘Yea, my son, hold thy peace.” And at the time of his death, whilst Abba Isidore was sitting with him, Abba Moses looked up to heaven, and said, ‘‘ Re- ‘‘joice and be glad, O myson Zechariah, for the gates of heaven ‘*have been opened.”’ 32. A brother asked an old man, saying, ‘‘What is humi- “lity?” And the old man answered and said unto him, ‘‘That “thou payest not back evil for evil.” That brother said unto The Savings of the holy Fathers him, ‘‘And supposing that a man cannot attain to this mea- “sure, what must we do?” The old man said unto him, ‘‘ Let ‘us flee and follow after silence.” 33. And an old man said, ‘‘Lay hold upon silence. Look — ‘carefully into and scrutinize the manner in which thou train- ‘est thyself, both when thou art lying down, and when thou ‘art standing up. Meditate upon the fear of God, and be not ‘‘afraid of the attack of sinners. Consent not to everything. ‘‘ Be swift to hear and slow to believe.”

. An old man said: ‘The man, who hath learned by expe- ‘‘rience the sweetness of the quietness which is in his cell, ‘‘ doth not flee from meeting his neighbour because he is as one ‘‘ who despiseth him, but because of the fruits which he pluck- ‘‘eth from silence.” 35. Abba Moses used to say, ‘‘The man who fleeth from the ‘‘ world is like unto ripe grapes, but he who dwelleth among ‘(the attraGtions of the children of men is like unto sour ‘« erapes.” 36. An old man said: ‘‘ Human care and worry and anxiety ‘‘ about the things of the body destroy the faculties of know- ‘‘ledge and expression in a man, and leave him like unto a ‘“ piece of dry wood.” 37. They used to say about Abba Nastir that the old man was like unto the serpent which Moses made for the healing of the people (Numbers xxi, 9 ff.), and that he was perfect in all spiritual excellences, and that, although he kept silence, he healed every man. 38. A certain brother asked an old man a question, and said unto him, ‘‘Father, what shall I do? For, although my body ‘is in my cell, my thoughts wander about into every place, ‘and because of this they vex me greatly, saying, ‘Thou hast “«“ no benefit whatsoever, for though thy body is shut up in the ‘cell, thy thoughts wander and are scattered abroad.’ And ‘they bring me to despair, and counsel me to go back to the ‘* world: as one who has not the ability to acquire the rule of ‘life which is proper for the ascetic monk.” The old man said unto him, ‘‘ Thou must know, O my son, that this is an attack ‘‘of Satan, but go, and continue to abide in thy cell, and go ‘not out of it at any time, and pray to God that He may give ‘thee the power to endure patiently, and then thy mind shall ‘‘ collect itself in thee. For the matter is like unto that of a ‘‘she-ass which hath a sucking foal. If she be tied up, how- ‘*ever much the foal may gambol about or wander hither and ‘thither, he will come back to her eventually, either because ‘Che is hungry, or for other reasons which drive him to her; ‘‘but if it happen that his mother be also roaming about

On Retreat from the World and Contemplation ‘Joose, both animals will go to destruction. And thus is it in ‘the matter of the monk. If the body remain continually in its ‘cell, the mind thereof will certainly come back to it after all ‘its wanderings, for many reasons which will come upon it, “but if the body as well as the soul wander outside the cell, ‘both will become a prey and a thing of joy to the enemy.” . A certain brother belonging to a habitation of brethren said to Abba Bessarion, ‘‘What shall I do?” The old man said unto him, ‘‘Keep silence, and consider thyself to be “nothing.” 40. Abba Moses besought Abba Zechariah, saying, ‘‘Speak “6a word of consolation to the brethren”; and Zechariah took his cloak, and placed it under his feet, saying, “Except aman ‘die thus he cannot be a monk.” 41. Abba Poemen said, ‘‘The rule of the monk is this—to bear at all times his own blame.” 42. Abba Poemen said, * If thou holdest thyself in thine ‘Cown sight to be of no account, thou mayest dwell where ‘‘thou pleasest, and find rest.” 3. The same old man used to say, ‘‘A man will be always ‘‘ tripped up by that thing which he will not cut off from himSell.

44. Abba Alénis said, ‘If a man will only remember that ‘‘ which is written, ‘Thou shalt be justified by thy words, and « shalt be condemned by thy words’ (St. Matthew Kite 37), 0 ‘«‘ would know that it is right to hold his peace.” 45. Abba Poemen said, ‘If thou wishest to acquire the ‘‘ power to keep silence, think not and say not within thyself «“ that thou art doing the works of spiritual excellence, but say, ‘<7 am not even worthy to speak.’” 46. Abba Anthony said, * He who liveth in the desert is free ‘from three kinds of spiritual attacks, that is to say, those ‘‘ which arise through the ears, speech, and sight; he hath only ‘one kind to fight, namely, that of the heart.” . Abba Aldénits said, ‘‘Unless a man saith in his heart, “Only God and myself exist in this world,’ he will not find “rest.” 48. Abba Sisoes used to say, ‘‘It is well for a man to dwell ‘in his cell, and if he suffer with patient endurance he will ‘‘ find blessings of every kind.” 49. A certain brother asked Abba Panbé (Pambo), ‘‘Is it a ‘good thing for a man to praise his neighbour?” Saith the old man, ‘‘It isa much better thing for a man toholdhis peace.”

50. Abba Poemen said, ‘‘In all the labour which cometh ‘‘ upon a man, his victory is only assured when he holdeth his “ peace.” The Savings of the holy Fathers 51. A certain brother said unto an old man, ‘“‘Ifa brother ‘“bringeth unto me news from the outer world, dost thou wish ‘“me to tell him not to bring it to me?” The old man said unto him, ‘‘ Nay,” and the brother said unto him, ‘‘Why?” The old man said unto him, ‘‘ Because not even we are able to flee ‘‘from this. For having told our neighbour that he must not ‘‘do this, we ourselves afterwards may be found doing the ‘very same thing.” And that brother said unto him, “What ‘then is the right [course of action]?” Then the old man said unto him, ‘‘Ifwe take upon ourselves to hold our peace, the “example alone will be sufficient to make our neighbour do ‘‘the same.” 52. The blessed Theophilus, Archbishop of Alexandria, once went with a certain judge to Abba Arsenius, and begged the old man to let him hear some saying from him; and the old man held his peace for a little, and then answered him, and said, “‘TfI speak a word to you will ye observe it?”’ And they promised to keep it. The old man said unto them, ‘‘In whatsoever ‘place ye hear that Arsenius is, come not nigh thereunto.”

53. Abba Macarius said unto Abba Arsenius, ‘“‘ Why fleest **thou from us?” And the old man said unto him, ‘‘God know- “eth that I love you, but I cannot be both with God and with ‘‘men. The thousands and ten thousands of beings who are “above have only one will, but men have many wills: I can- “not, therefore, leave God and be with men.” And the old man was always uttering these words, ‘‘Arsenius, for this “thou didst go forth.” And he used to say thus: “I have ‘“ many times repented that I spoke, but that I held my peace ‘‘I have never repented.” 54. Abba Anthony said, ‘‘The cell of a monk is the furnace ‘“‘of Babylon wherein the Three Children found the Son of “God, and it is also the pillar of cloud wherefrom God spake ‘with Moses.” 55. On one occasion the Fathers in Scete were gathered together, and because certain folk were wishing to see Abba Moses, they treated him with contumely, saying, ‘‘Why doth “this Ethiopian come and go in our midst?” But Moses hearing this held his peace. And when the congregation was dismissed, they said unto him, ‘‘Abba Moses, wast thou not “‘ afraid?” And he said unto them, ‘Although I was afraid I ‘uttered not a word.”

56. On one occasion certain brethren came unto John the Less to tempt him, for they had heard that he never permitted his mind to think about any of the affairs of this world, and that he never spoke about them. And they said unto him, “‘ Father, we thank God because He hath brought down this On Retreat from the World and Contemplation “year rain in abundance, and the palms are thriving and are ‘flourishing beautifully, and work for the hands of the bre- “‘thren is abundant.” The old man John saith unto them, ‘Even thus is it with the Holy Spirit of God, for when It **descendeth upon the hearts of holy men they blossom and “bring forth the fruit of the fear of God.” 57. Acertain brother came to take some baskets from John the Less, and when he had knocked at the door, the old man came out to him, and said unto him, ‘‘What seekest thou?” And the brother said unto him, ‘‘ Father, I want baskets.” And John the Less went in to bring them out to him, but he for got to do so, and sat down, and went on plaiting. And the brother knocked at the door again, and when Abba John went : forth to answer him, he said unto him, ‘‘ Wilt thou bring out “the baskets to me, Father?” And again John went in, and sat down, and went on plaiting, and when the brother knocked | again, John went forth and said unto him, ‘‘Brother, what **seekest thou?” And he said unto John, ‘‘Baskets, Father”; , and John took his hand and led him inside, saying, ‘‘If thou “‘wishest for baskets take them and get thee gone, for I am ‘not able [to bring them to you].”

58. Some time ago Abba Evagrius went to Scete to a certain father and said unto him, ‘‘Speak some word whereby I ‘« may be able to save myself.” The old man saith unto him, ‘If thou wishest to be saved, when thou goest unto any man ‘* speak not before he asketh thee a question.” Now Evagrius was sorry about this sentence, and shewed regret because he had asked the question, saying, ‘‘Verily I have read many “books, and I cannot accept instruction of this kind”; and having profited greatly he went forth from him. 59. On one occasion there was a congregation in the Cells concerning a certain matter, and Abba Evagrius spoke. And a certain elder said unto him, ‘‘We know, Abba, that hadst ‘thou been in thine own country where thou art a bishop and ‘the governor of many, [thou wouldst have been right in ““speaking]; but in this place thou sittest [as] a stranger.” Now Evagrius was sorry, but he was not offended, and he shook his head, and bent his gaze downwards, and he wrote with his finger and said unto them, ‘‘Verily, it is even as thou ‘‘ sayest, O my fathers; I have spoken once, but I will not do “it a second time.”

60. Abba John, who was in prison, said that there was a man sitting in his cell who always made mention of God, and in this was fulfilled that which is written, ‘‘I was in prison, ‘and ye came unto Me” (St. Matthew xxv, 36). _ ( 61. They used to say about Abba Agathon that for a period The Savings of the holy Fathers of three years he placed a stone in his mouth [and kept it there], until he had learned thoroughly how to hold his peace. 62. Acertain brother went to Abba Moses in Scete, and asked him to speak a word; and the old man said unto him, ‘Get thee gone, and sit in thy cell, and thy cell shall teach ‘thee everything.” Chapter if. Of Fasting and Abstinence and of other [similar] Labours HEY used to say about Abba Paphnutius that he would not readily drink wine, and that on one occasion he came by chance upon a band of thieves, and found them 63. drinking; and the captain of the thieves recognized him, and knew that he never drank wine; and he looked closely at him [and saw that] he was a man of great ascetic works. And the captain filled a cup with wine and, taking a sword in his hand, he said unto the old man, ‘If thou wilt not drink I will slay “thee”; and the old man knew that the grace of God wished to work on the captain of the thieves through him, and sought to do good to him, so he took [the cup] and drank [the wine]. Then the captain made excuse to him and said, “ Forgive me, “father, for having distressed thee”; and the old man said unto him, ‘1 believe, by God, that through this cup God will ‘‘ forgive thee thy sins.” And the captain of thieves said unto him, ‘‘I believe, by God; from this time forth I will never vex ‘‘any man.” Thus, because for God’s sake Paphnutius gave up his own wish, he was able to do good to all that band of thieves.

64. A certain old man came unto one of the holy men who was a companion of his, and who cooked a few lentiles; and one of the two said unto his fellow, ‘‘Shall we sing a part of ‘the service?” And he sang the whole of the Psalms of David, and his companion repeated two books of the Great Prophets, and when it was morning the old man departed to his own place, and they forgot all about the food. And the old man went another evening and found the food which had been cooked, and he was sorry and said, ‘‘Oh! how was it that we ‘came to forget that little mess of lentiles, and did not eat it?” 65. On one occasion a brother came to Abba Isaiah, who threw a handful of lentiles into a saucepan to boil, but when they had just begun to boil he took them off the fire; and the brother said unto him, ‘‘Are they not yet cooked, O father?” And the old man said unto him, ‘‘Is it not sufficient for thee ‘to have seen the fire? For this [alone] is great refreshing.” 66. A certain old man became very seriously ill, for he suffered from some disease of the stomach, and much blood came

On Fasting and Abstinence away from him; and one of the brethren had some dried prunes, and because of the severe illness of the old man he cooked a little food, and put some of the prunes in it, and brought it to him, and entreated him, saying, ‘‘Father, do [me] an act of **erace, and take a little of this stew, for perhaps it will do “thee good.” And the old man lifted up his eyes and looked at him, and said, ‘‘In which of the Scriptures hast thou found “this thing? Verily I have wished that God would leave me ‘‘in this illness for the last thirty years, for when I am weak “‘then am I strong’; and the old man, although he was grievously sick, would not take even a little of the food, and when the brother saw [this] he took it and went back to his cell. 67. They used to say concerning Abba Macarius, the Egyptian, that if it happened that he ate with the brethren, he would make an agreement with himself that if there was wine (on the table] and he drank one cup of it, he would drink no water for a whole day; now the brethren, wishing him to be refreshed (or pleased), used to give him wine, and the old man took it joyfully so that he might torment his body. And when his disciple saw this thing, he said unto the brethren, ‘‘I entreat you, for *‘our Lord’s sake, not to give him wine to drink, for if he **drinketh it he will go to his cell and afflict himself because ‘*thereof’’; and when the brethren knew this they did not give him any more wine to drink.

68. There was acertain old manwho made a vow not to drink any water during the Fast of Forty Days; and when he became thirsty (zferally, hot) he would wash a potter’s vessel, and fill it with water, and hang it up in front of him. Then the brethren asked him why and wherefore he acted thus, and he said, ‘‘ That **T may labour the more, and receive a reward from God”; now he said this that he might incite them to great labours. 69. A brother asked an old man questions about comforts [or pleasures], and the old man said unto him, ‘‘ Eat grass, wear ** srass, and sleep on grass, and then thy heart will become like E iron.” 70. A certain brother was hungry one morning, and he fought against his inclination and determined not to eat until the third hour; and when the third hour had passed, he dipped his bread in water, and sat down to eat, but he forced himself to wait until the sixth hour arrived, when he said within himself, ‘‘ Let us wait till the ninth hour.’’ And when the ninth hour had come, he prayed, and saw the working of Satan rising up before him like smoke, and he suppressed his desire [to eat], and his hunger passed away from him.

71. A certain brother from the Cells brought some new bread, and he invited all the old men who were under vows at The Sayings of the holy Fathers Scete to partake of a meal; and when each of them had eaten two bread-cakes, they ceased eating. Then the brother, who knew their labours of abstinence, and that they did not usually eat, and never satisfied themselves, made excuses to them, saying, ‘‘Eat ye this day, for our Lord’s sake, until ye are ‘“ Satisfied”; and hearing this each ate ten cakes more. All this [sheweth] how much they afflicted themselves in not satisfying themselves with any kind of food. 72, On one occasion two old men were going up from Scete to Egypt, and because of the fatigue of the way they sat down on the bank of the river to eat some food, and one of them took his bread-cake in his hand and dipped it in the water; and he answered and said unto his companion, ‘‘ Wilt thou not dip ‘thy cake in water, O father?” And his companion answered andsaiduntohim, ‘‘ Itis written, When a possession increaseth ‘set not thy heart upon it” (Psalm Ixii, ro).

73. They used to say about Abba Isaac, the priest of the Celis, that he ate the ashes of the censer which was before the altar with his bread. 74. On one occasion there was an offering [made] in the mountain of Abba Anthony, and askin of wine was there, and one of the monks took some of it in a small vessel, and with a cup in his hand he went and carried it to Abba Sisoes. And he mixed him a cupful, and he drank it, and he mixed him a second cupful, and he took it and drank it, but when he mixed him a third cupful Abba Sisoes refused to drink it, saying, ‘“ Stay thy hand, brother, knowest thou not that [the third cup] ‘is of Satan?” 75, Abba John said, ‘‘ if a king wishes to subdue a city be- ‘longing to enemies, he first of all keepeth them without ‘bread and water, and the enemy being in this wise harassed ‘by hunger becometh subject unto him; and thus it is in respect ‘‘of the hostile passions, for if a man endureth fasting and ‘hunger regularly, his enemies become stricken with weak- ‘* ness in the soul.”

76. They used to say about Abba Dioscurus that his bread was made of barley and lentiles, and that at the beginning of each year he would set himself some [new] task of ascetic excellence, saying, ‘‘ This year I will not hold converse with (or ‘‘ visit) any man,” or, ‘‘I will not speak at all,” or, ‘I will not ‘¢ eat food which hath been boiled,” or, ‘‘ I will not eat fruit,” or, ‘‘I will not eat vegetables.” He began each year with resolutions of this kind and carried them out, and each year he set himself some new task. 77. On one occasion when certain brethren went to the church during the Easter Festival, they gave a brother a cup On Fasting and Abstinence of wine, and when they urged him to drink it, he said to them, ‘‘ Forgive me, O my fathers, but ye did the same thing to me ‘last year, and I drank a cup of wine, and I was greatly ‘troubled thereby for a long time.” 78. The monks were celebrating a festival in Scete, and they gave a certain old man a cup of wine, and he handed it back, saying, ‘‘ Take this death away from me’; and when the others who were eating with him saw him [do this] they also would not take the wine.

79. And again on another occasion certain first-fruits of wine were sent that it might be given to the brethren cup by cup, (i.e., a cup each). And one of the brethren went up to a roof, that he might escape from drinking, and it parted asunder beneath him, and he fell through it; and when the sound came [tothebrethren] they wentand found him lying [on theground], and they began to think about him, and said, ‘‘O lover of vain- ‘‘glory, this hath befallen thee rightly.” And an old man laid him out, saying unto them, ‘‘ Forgive ye my son, for he hath ‘done a good work. And, as the Lord liveth, this breach shall ‘not be built up in my days, for all the world shall know that “‘ because of a cup of wine a schism hath taken place in Scete.” 80. It was reported to Abba Poemen about a certain brother that he would not drink wine, and the old man Poemen said, ‘The nature of wine is not such as to make it useful to the ‘* dwellers in monasteries.” 81. They used to say about Abba Sisoes the Theban that he never ate bread. During the Easter Festival the brethren came to him, and having made excuses they entreated him to eat with them; and he answered and said, ‘‘ I will do one [of two] ‘‘ things; I will either eat bread and bread alone, or I will eat ‘« of the meats which ye have boiled.” And they said unto him, ‘‘ Then eat bread only.”

32, A certain old man said, ‘‘ Reduce thy knowledge of the “things of man, and thy belly also, and thou shalt find all ‘« manner of| delights.” 83. Abba Poemen used to say, * The Spirit of God never ‘‘entereth into the house wherein there are delights and ‘¢ pleasures.” 84. A brother asked Abba Sisoes, ‘What [good do] I do ‘in going to church, for often [the devils] recognize me and ‘¢ seize me?” The old man saith unto him, ‘‘There is work in “the matter.” 85, Abraham his disciple thereupon said unto him, ‘‘ Father, if there happen to be a congregation on the Sabbath, or on Sunday, and a brother drink three cups of wine, is that too “much?” The old man saith unto him, “‘If Satan did not The Sayings of the holy Fathers ‘exist three cups would not be too much to drink, but since ‘the doth exist three cups are too much.” 86. On one occasion some early grapes were sent to Abba Macarius because he longed for them, and to give a proof of his abstinence, he sent them to another brother who was sick, and who craved for grapes; and having received them, he rejoiced over them greatly, and then he despised his desire, and sent them on to another brother, as one who had no wish for food of any kind, and who held his self-denial in contempt. Now when the brother had received the grapes, although he desired greatly to eat them, he did the same as the other brother had done, and no man wished to eat them. And after they had gone about among many of the brethren, the last one who received them sent them to the blessed Macarius as a gift of great honour; and when the blessed Macarius saw the grapes he marvelled at the extent of the self-denial of the brethren, and gave thanks unto God, and he did not eat them.

87. On one occasion certain monks went down from Egypt to visit the Fathers, and when they saw that they were eating —now it was after prolonged hunger and very much fasting, and continual abstinence,—they were greatly offended; and when the elder of the coenobium learned [about this] he came to quiet their minds. And he proclaimed in the church of the congregation, saying, ‘‘Ye shall fast in your customary man- ‘‘ner, and honour your ascetic rule of life, so that your vol- ‘‘untary abstinence may not be held in contempt.” Now the Egyptian strangers wished to depart, but the monks shut them in cells. And when they had fasted the whole of the first day they began to feel faint, but notwithstanding this the monks made them to fast two days at a time; now the monks who were in Scete used to fast for a week at a time. And when the day of the Sabbath came, the Egyptians sat down to eat with the old men, and when one of the Egyptians began to eat hurriedly and voraciously, one of the old men caught hold of his hands, saying, ‘‘Eat moderately, (or according to rule) ‘‘like the monks.” Then one of the others clutched at the old man’s hand, saying, ‘‘Let me eat so that I may not die, for ‘*behold, I have not eaten a piece of boiled food for a whole ‘‘ week.” And the old man said unto him, ‘‘If now ye have be- ‘“‘come so very weak after having fasted but one night only, ‘‘why were ye offended at the brethren who live a life of self- ‘‘denial for long periods of time, and who fulfil their seasons ‘‘ with voluntary abstinence?” And straightway those Egyptians made excuses to the old men, and they were edified by their patient endurance, and departed rejoicing.

83, Once Abba Agathon had two disciples, and they sepa- On Fasting and Abstinence rated from him, and each of them dwelt in a place by himself. One day he asked one of them, and said, ‘‘ How dost thou live in thy cell?” And the disciple answered and said, ‘‘I fast until &§ evening, and then I eat two bread-cakes’”’; and Abba Agathon said unto him, ‘‘It is a beautiful way of living, but it is ‘‘yery laborious.” Then Abba Agathon said unto the other disciple, ‘‘And how dost thou live?” And the disciple answered and said unto him, ‘‘I fast two days at a time, and after each “‘ fast I eat two bread-cakes.’’ Then the old man said unto him, ‘Thou toilest greatly, and maintainest a twofold strife. For ‘one man eateth every day and filleth not his belly, and an- ‘‘ other fasteth two days at a time and taketh whatsoever he ‘‘needeth; but thou, though thou dost fast two days at a time, ‘dost not fill thy belly.” 89. Abba Abraham went to Abba Areus, and as they were sitting down, another brother came to Abba, and asked him, saying, ‘‘Tell me what I shall do to live?” And he said unto him, ‘‘Go and pass the whole week in plaiting palm leaves and ‘twisting ropes thereof, and eat bread and salt once each day ‘Cin the evening, and then come again to me, and I will tell ‘thee [what else to do].”” And the brother went away and did as he had told him to do, and when Abba Abraham heard this he wondered. Now when the week was ended that brother came again to the old man Areus, with whom there happened to be also Abba Abraham. And the old man said unto the brother, “Get thee gone, and pass thou the whole week in fasting “two days at a time.” And when that brother had gone, Abba Abraham said unto Abba Areus, ‘‘Why dost thou com- ‘mand all the other brethren to bear a light burden, but ‘‘ layest aheavy load upon the brother who was here?” Then the old man said unto him, ‘‘The other brethren as they come, ask, ‘‘ and according as they ask they receive and depart; but this ‘brother cometh for God’s sake, that he may hear the word of ‘‘ profit, for he is a worker, and whatsoever I say unto him he ‘‘ performeth with care and diligence.”

go. Abba Theodotus used to say, ‘‘Abstinence from bread ‘ quieteth the body of the monk.” 1. A certain old man used to say, ‘‘I knew Abba Pater- «« muthis in the cells, and he did not drink wine, but when they “took some wine and mixed it with water, and urged him ‘to drink [it], he said, ‘ Believe me, O my brethren, I hold it to ‘« (be a most beautiful thing.’ And he blamed himself and con- «‘ demned himself because of the mixing, and at the same time ‘‘he gave thanks unto God and accepted His gracious gift.” 92. They used to say about Abbé Paphnutius that he did not drink wine readily, even though he was sick. The Sayings of the holy Fatbers 93. Abba Poemen said, ‘‘The soul can be humbled by no- ‘thing except thou enfeeble it by the eating of [little] bread. 94. They used to say about Abba Sarnaés that he laboured exceedingly hard, and that he only ate two bread-cakes each day. And when he came to Abba Job, who was a man that was perfect in the laborious work of active excellence, and who was also a man that practised strict self-denial and abstinence, he said unto him, ‘‘As long as I live in my cell I can observe ‘‘my rule of life, but if I go outside my cell I make openly ‘submission because of the brethren.” Then Abba Sarnaés said unto him, ‘‘To be able to keep hold upon thy rule of life ‘only so long as thou art in thy cell is no great act of spiritual ‘excellence, but it would be if thou couldst do so when thou ‘*didst go forth outside thy cell.”

95. Abba Poemen used to say, ‘‘As smoke driveth away bees, ‘‘and men take the sweetness of their labour, even so also ‘* doth ease of the body drive away the fear of God from the ‘‘heart, and it carrieth away all the good [effect] of its labour.” 96. On one occasion Abba Sylvanus and Zechariah his disciple were going to a monastery, and they prepared a little food to eat before they set out on their journey. And when they had gone forth his disciple found water on the way, and he wished to drink, but the old man said unto him, ‘‘ Zechariah, to-day is ‘fa fast day,” but the disciple said, ‘‘Nay, O father, for behold ‘‘we have eaten.” Then Abba Sylvanus said unto him, ‘‘The ‘‘food which we ate was obligatory, but let us keep the fast, **O my son.” 97. Abba Poemen said, ‘‘Every corporeal pleasure is con- **temptible before the Lord.” 98. The disciple of Abba Sisoes had to say unto him several times, ‘‘ Rise up and let us eat.”’ And he used to say unto him, ‘“My son, have we not eaten?” And the disciple would say unto him, ‘‘ Nay, father.”” Then the old man would say unto him, ‘‘ If we have not eaten, bring the food and let us eat.”

99. Abba Daniel used to say, ‘‘In proportion as the body ‘“groweth, the soul becometh enfeebled ; and the more the ‘““body becometh emaciated, the more the soul groweth.” 100. Abba Benjamin, the priest of the Cells, said, ‘‘On one ‘“ occasion we went to a certain old man in Scete, and we ‘“‘ wanted to give him a little oil; and he said unto us, ‘Be- ‘* “hold, that little vessel of oil which ye brought to me three ‘* “years ago is still lying in the place where ye put it, and it ‘‘ “hath remained in the same state as that wherein ye brought ‘* “it.” And when we heard [this] we marvelled at the old man’s **manner of life.” 101. Abba Benjamin also said, ‘‘ We went to another old On Fasting and Abstinence ‘man, and he took some food which we were going to eat, ‘and threw into it a little oil of radishes. And we said unto ‘chim, ‘Father, throw into our food a little sweet oil,’ but ‘‘ when he heard these words, he made the sign of the Cross ‘‘ over himself, and said, ‘ If there be any other oil besides this ‘©¢T know not of it.’”

102. Abba Joseph asked Abba Poemen what was the proper way in which to fast, and Abba Poemen said unto him, ‘I ‘* prefer the man who eateth every day a very small quantity ‘“of food, and who doth not satisfy his cravings for food.” And AbbA Joseph said unto him, * When thou wast a young ‘‘ man didst thou not fast two days at atime, O father?” Then the old man said unto him, ‘‘ Yea, I did, and three days at a ‘‘time, and four days at a time, and even a week ata time; ‘and the old men, like men of might, have tried all these by ‘experience, but they have found that it is beneficial for a man ‘to eat an exceedingly small quantity of food each day, and ‘because of this they have delivered unto us an easy way to “the kingdom.” 103. One of the fathers said, ‘I knew a brother in the Cells <¢ who used to fast the whole of the Great Sabbath, and when “‘the brethren were assembled in the evening he used to flee ‘to his cell in order that he might eat nothing in the church; ‘‘and he would eat a few plantains with salt, and without ‘bread, that he might conceal his abstinence.”

104. They used to tell about a certain monk who, having gone forth from the world, and lived in the coenobium for a number of years, was gracious unto every man in his humility, and all the brethren marvelled at his abstinence from meats ; then he went tothe barren desert, and lived there for many years, eating for food wild herbs. And afterwards he entreated God to inform him what reward He would give him, and it was said unto him by an angel, ‘‘ Go forth from this desert and ‘‘ vet thee along the road, and behold a certain shepherd shall ‘‘ meet thee, and according to [what he saith] so shalt thou «« receive.” Now when he had made ready to depart, the shepherd of whom he had been told by the angel met him, and saluted him, and having sat down to hold converse with each other, the monk saw in the shepherd’s bag some green herbs, and he asked him, saying, ‘‘ What is this? And the shepherd said unto him, ‘‘ It is my food.” And the monk said unto him, “How long hast thou been feeding thyself on these green “herbs?” And the shepherd said unto him, ‘‘ Behold, for the ‘last thirty years, more or less, and I have never tasted any- ‘thing else except these herbs which I have eaten once a day, ‘Cand I drink as much water as my food requireth; and the

The Sayings of the tholy Fatbers ‘wages which are given to me by the owner of the sheep ‘““T give unto the poor.” Now when the monk heard these things he fell down at the feet of the shepherd, and said, “I ‘‘imagined that I had laid hold upon abstinence, but thou “through thy well-ordered life art worthy of a greater reward ‘than I, because I have eaten every kind of green thing im- ‘‘mediately it came in my way.” Then the shepherd said unto him, ‘‘It is not right that rational men should make them- ‘“ selves like unto the beasts, but they should eat whatsoever is ‘*prepared for them at the seasons which are duly ordered and ‘‘appointed for them, and afterwards they should fast from every- ‘“‘thing until an appointed time.” And the monk profited by these words, and he added to his labour and became perfect, and he praised God, and marvelled how many were the saints in the world who were not known to the children of men. Chapter ttf. Of the Reading of the Scriptures, and of Watching by Might, and of the Service of the Psalms, and of constant Prayers HEY used to say about Abba Arsenius that no man was

able to attain to the manner of life in his abode. And they also said about him that on the night of the Sabbath 105. which would end in the dawn of Sunday, he would leave the sun behind him, and would stretch out his hands towards heaven, and would pray [in this position] until the sun rose in his face, when he would satisfy his eyes with a little slumber. 106. A certain old man was complete in all perfection, and he could see what was happening from a very long way off ; and he said, ‘‘ I once saw ina monastery acertain brother who ‘“was meditating on the study of God in his cell, and behold, “a devil came and stood outside, and he wanted to goin, but ‘the could not do so, so long as the brother was meditating. ‘‘ Finally, however, when the monk ceased his contemplation ‘‘ the devil was able to enter his cell, for his power is not able ‘to vanquish those whose converse is with God.” 107. An old man said, ‘‘ Whensoever a man readeth the ‘Divine Books, the devils are afraid.” 108, They used to say about Abba Pachomius that he spent much time in striving with devils like a true athlete, and after the manner of Saint Anthony. And because many devils came against him in the night season, he asked God to keep away sleep from him both by day and by night, so that he might not sleep at all, and might be able to bring low the might of the Enemy, even according to that which is written, ‘I will ‘not turn back until I have made an end of them ”; for they

OF Reading, Vigil, and Prayer are powerless against the faith which is in the Lord. Now this gift was given unto him, even as he had asked, for a certain time, and because he was pure, his heart used to see God, Who is invisible, as in a mirror. 109. They used to say about Abba Pachomius and Abba John that they lived together in the same religious house (now John was larger in stature than Pachomius), but both had adopted a life of poverty voluntarily, and they possessed nothing whatsoever except the fear of God. Whatsoever they gained by the work of their hands they gave to those who were in need, and they kept for themselves only what was sufficient for their bare necessities; in respect of clothes they were wellnigh destitute, and they had so few of them that they were obliged to wash those which they wore [and put them on again]. Now Abba Pachomius always wore a garment made of hair, because of the toil of his body. And whensoever they wished to refresh their bodies by a little sleep after their vigil and prayer, each of them would sit down in the middle of the cell, and, without leaning against a wall, would go to sleep. And they continued to do this for fifteen years, and many of the fathers heard of them, and saw them living thus, and they also strove in like manner to humble their bodies for the redemption of their souls.

110, They used to say about Abba Joseph that when he was about to die, and the old men were sitting about him, he looked at the window and saw Satan sitting there; and he cried out to his disciple and said, ‘‘ Bring me a stick here, for “this devil thinketh that I have become old, and that I am ‘no longer able to stand up against him,” and as soon as he grasped the stick in his hand, Satan, in the form of a dog, threw himself from the window, and the old man saw him taking to flight. : III. They used to relate concerning Abba Sisoes that if he did not bring down his hands swiftly when he was standing up in prayer, his mind would be carried off on high; but whensoever it chanced that one of the brethren was with him he would bring his hands down hurriedly lest peradventure his mind should be carried off, and he should be left alone. 112. Abb& Isaiah, the elder of the church, rebuked the brethren when they were eating that which had been prepared for them because they began to talk with each other, and he said to them, ‘‘ Hold ye your peace, O my brethren. I know ‘a brother who eateth with us and drinketh with us full (?) ‘cups even as we do, and yet his prayer ascendeth up before ‘*God like fire.” fy

113. One day Abba Arsenius called Abbi Alexander and The Savings of the holy Fathers Abba Zétla, and said unto them, ‘‘ Because the devils are ‘striving with me, and because I do not know but that they ‘may carry me off during [my] sleep, toil ye here with me ‘this night, and keep vigil, and watch me and see a I sleep ‘during [my] vigil.” So they sat down, one on his right hand, and the other on his left, from the evening even until the morning. And they said, ‘‘ We slept and we woke up, and we ‘did not observe that he slept at all; but when it began to be ‘light there came unto us three times the sound of breathing ‘Cin his nostrils, but whether he did this purposely so that we ‘‘might think he slept or whether slumber had really fallen ‘upon him we know not.” And he stood up and said unto us, ‘«“ Have I been asleep? ” And we answered and said unto him, ““ We do not know, O father, for we ourselves went to sleep.” 114. A brother asked Abba Poemen, saying, ‘‘ How, and in ‘what manner is it right for a man to walk in the path of ‘‘ righteousness?” Abba Poemen said unto him, ‘‘ We have ‘“ seen Daniel, and also that his enemies were unable to bring ‘‘any accusation whatsoever against him except in respect “* of his service of God.”

II5. On one occasion Abba Sisoes was sitting in his cell, and when his disciple knocked at the door [meaning to] go in, the old man cried out, saying, ‘‘Flee, Abraham, and do not come ‘in now, for this place is not empty.” 116, They say concerning Abba Sisoes of Babylon that, wishing to vanquish sleep, he stood upright upon a mountain crag, and that the angel of the Lord came and rescued him from that place, and commanded him never to do sucha thing again, and not even to hand on this tradition to another. 117. An old man said, ‘‘I knew a brother who used to sit ‘‘ with the brethren at the meal which is made for the coming ‘‘of the brethren, and although the brethren ate and drank, he ‘*never made himself to be remote from converse with God in ‘‘his prayer, and he did not drink even a cup of wine. Now “this man’s manner of life was marvellous, and acertain man ‘“used to say about him, ‘I once wished to count the prayers ‘* ‘which he made, and I saw that he did not cease to pray ‘* ‘either by day or by night.’”

118. On one occasion a Bishop was sent secretly to Abba Epiphanius by the head of a certain monastery in Palestine, saying, ‘‘We have not treated lightly thy services of prayer since ‘‘thy departure from us, but we perform most carefully the ** services for the third, and sixth, and ninth hours, and also ‘* vespers.” Then Abba Epiphanius blamed those who sent him, and wrote a message, which he sent to them, saying, ‘‘ Ye must ‘‘ know that ye are indeed neglectful of the services and prayers Of Reading, Vigil, and Prayer i which belong to the other eight hours which are in the day, . for it is right for the monk who hath made himself to be remote from the world to be occupied with prayers to God un- ceasingly, and he should pray either in his heart, or in a care- ‘*fully defined service, or in that service which he performeth ‘with his will and with understanding. For the Calumniator ‘‘addeth greatly to any small failing which he may find in a ‘* monk, and by being with him continually he enlargeth greatly ‘the breach which he hath made, and by his habit of persist- ‘‘ency he acquireth his natural power, and more particularly ‘‘is this so in the case of those who are careless and lazy.”

119. Abba Epiphanius also said, ‘‘ Whatsoever food thou ‘‘ wishest to eat with gratification, that give not to thy body, ‘* especially when thou art in good health, and that which thou ‘“Justest after, eat not; and when thou feedest upon the thing's «which are sent unto thee by God, give thanks unto Him at ‘< all seasons, and receive His gracious gift, the delights and ‘the pleasures which we have received through the name of “‘ monk, [although] we do not do the works of monks. And [if] ‘it be that thou art a monk, wilt thou then not make thyself ‘* strong, lest peradventure thou art arrayed in apparel which ‘Cis strange to thee? Tell me, O brother, dost thou possess the ‘seal of the service, that is to say, humility? For the holy man ‘who seeth another man sin weepeth bitterly, saying, ‘It is ‘‘<this man who sinneth now, but some time subsequently it ‘¢ ‘may be myself.’ However much then a man may sin before “‘ thee, condemn him not, but esteem thyself a sinner far greater ‘‘than he is, even though he may be a child of this world, and ‘‘besides there is the fact that he may have sinned greatly ‘‘ against God.”

120. And he said also, ‘‘ Know thyself, and thou shalt never ‘‘ fall. Give thy soul work, that is to say, constant prayer, and ‘Jove of God, before another can giveitevil [and filthy]thoughts; ‘and pray ye that the spirit of error may be remote from you.” 121. And he also said, ‘‘ Whatsoever ye do successfully, and ‘what ye boast of, destroy, for it is not right for a monk to ‘boast of his fair deeds, and if he boasteth he will fall.” 122, [And he also said], ‘‘When thou prayest speak unto ‘God in a quiet voice and say, ‘How can I possess Thee, O ‘‘ Lord? Thou knowest full well that I am a beast, and that I “(know nothing. Thou hast brought me to the prime of this “life, deliver me then for Thy mercy’s sake; I am Thy ser- ‘‘ ‘vant, and the son of Thine handmaiden, O Lord, by Thy ‘«¢will, vivify Thou me.’ The old man is falsehood, and the new ‘‘ man is truth; the truth is the root of good works, and false- ‘hood is death. If the liar, and the thief, and the calumniator The Sayings of the holy Fathers

‘knew that they would finally be made known unto all and ‘‘{their works] revealed, they would never offend. And thus ‘also was it with the adulterous sons of Eli, Hophni and ‘* Phinehas, for they were not priests of the Lord, and they feared ‘‘not God, and they perished, together with all their house. “¢ And the man who taketh hold of, and bindeth to himself, and ‘‘shutteth within himself the memory of evil things is like unto ‘“‘the man who hideth fire in straw. If thou speakest to a man ‘concerning life, and if thou sayest a word unto him let it be ‘‘ with feeling, and penitence, and with tears; and say thy word ‘to the man who will hearken and will do it, but if not, speak ‘‘not, lest thou die, and thou depart from this world without ‘‘any profit from the words whereby thou didst wish to give ‘life unto others. For unto the sinner God saith, ‘What hast ‘““thou to do with the Books of My Commandments? For ‘*“*thou hast taken My covenant in thy mouth [only]’” (Psalm aro) Py Abba Epiphanius said, ‘‘ Whensoever a thought cometh ‘and filleth thy bosom, that is to say, thy heart, with vain- ‘* glory or with pride, say thou unto thyself, ‘Old man, behold ‘*“ thy fornication.’”

124. And he also said, ‘‘If we do evil things God will be un- ‘mindful of His longsuffering; but if we do good things, it ‘‘ will not help us greatly because we increase the advantage ‘of freedom, and the merchandise is not plundered thereby, ‘*for the will rejoiceth in the striving.” 125. Certain brethren entreated Abba Epiphanius on one occasion, saying, ‘‘Father, speak unto us some word of life, ‘even though when thou speakest we may not grasp the seed ‘*of thy word, because the soil is salt.” Then the old man answered and said unto them, ‘‘ Whosoever receiveth not all the ‘brethren, but maketh distinctions between them, cannot be- ‘“come a perfect man. If a man revile thee, bless him, whether ‘‘it be good for both of you, or whether it be not; it will be he ‘“who will receive a reward of blessing. This is the right way ‘‘for a monk to live, and in this way lived Abba Arsenius, who ‘“‘took care each day to stand up before God without sin, ‘and he drew nigh unto Him with tears like the sinful woman. ‘‘In this manner pray to the Lord God—as if He were standing ‘‘before thee, for He is nigh unto thee and He looketh upon ‘thee. It is right that the man who wisheth to dwell in the “desert should be [as] a teacher in his knowledge, and he must ‘‘ not be in need of instruction lest he be swept away by the ‘“devils; and he must look into his mind most minutely, ‘both in respect of the things which are above, and those ‘‘which are below, lest he become a laughing-stock unto them

Of Reading, Vigil, and Prayer ‘by some means or other. It is right that the manner of life ‘¢of the man who loveth God should be blameless.” 126. Acertaih man made answer to the brethren against evil thoughts, saying, ‘‘I entreat you, O my brethren, let us cease ‘from ascetic works, and let us give up also anxious thoughts. ‘* Ror what are we? A voice which cometh out of the dust, or ‘*€a cry which riseth from the mud? When Joseph of Ramah ‘*had asked to be allowed to take the body of Jesus, he took ‘it, and wrapped it round in a sheet of clean linen, and then ‘the laid it in a new sepulchre of the new man” (St. Matthew XXVii, 59). 127. On one occasion a certain monk saw a devil who was calling to his fellow to come with him, so that the two together might wake up a monk for service, and might lead him into error thereby, [and cause him to think] that angels had appeared unto him. And the monk heard the voice of the other devil, who made answer to his fellow, saying, ‘‘I cannot do ‘this. For once I woke him up, and he stood up and broke ‘‘ me with a terrible breaking, and [all the time he was doing ‘“it] he sang psalms and prayed.”

128. A brother asked an old man and said, ‘‘Why is it that ‘‘ when I go forth to labour I feel wearied and disgusted in my ‘soul, and my mind is wholly empty of spiritual thoughts?” And the old man said unto him, ‘‘ Because thou dost not de- ‘sire to fulfil that which is written, ‘I will bless the Lord al- ‘‘ ‘ways, and His praises shall be ever in my mouth’ (Psalm ‘‘xxxiv, 1). Therefore, whether thou art inside or outside, and ‘‘ whithersoever thou goest thou must not cease from blessing ‘God; not only in actions, but with word and mind thou shalt ‘bless thy Maker. For God doth not dwell in any place which ‘hath bounds and limits, but He is everywhere, and by His ‘‘ Divine Power He sustaineth all things, and is capable of all “things.” 129. A brother asked Abba Poemen concerning the thoughts which invaded his mind, and he said unto him, ‘“‘This matter ‘6s like unto that of a man who hath a fire on his left hand, ‘‘and a tank of water on his right hand ; if he wisheth to ex- ‘‘ tinguish the fire, he taketh the water from the tank and doeth ‘it, and it is right for a man to act thus every hour. Now the ‘fire is the evil thought, which cometh from enemies, and the ‘‘ water is the pouring out of the soul before the Lord which a ‘‘man should do.”

130. There was a certain monk who did not do any work whatsoever with his hands, but he prayed without ceasing ; and at eventide he would go into his cell and find his bread laid there [for him], and he would eat it. Now another monk came The Savings of the holy Fathers to him, who had upon him [materials] for the labour of his hands, and wheresoever he entered in he worked, and he made the old man, into whose cell he had entered, to work with him. And when the evening had come, he wished according to his custom, to eat, but he found nothing, and he therefore lay down in sorrow; and it was revealed unto him, saying, ‘‘ Whilst ‘thou wast occupied in converse with Me, I fed thee, but now ‘*thou hast begun to work, thou must demand thy food from ‘the labour of thy hands.” 13I. They tell the story that on one occasion, whilst the blessed Anthony was dwelling in the desert, thoughts of dejection and despair rose up in his mind, and he was in deep gloom of thought, and said unto God, ‘‘Lord, I wish to live, ‘‘but my thoughts will not permit me to do so. What shall I ‘‘do in my tribulations to be saved?” And he came a little nearer [to the town| from the place where he was, and he saw a man who was like unto himself, and was in his own form, and he was sitting down and twisting palm leaves into ropes; and this man rose up from his work, and prayed, and afterwards he sat down again and continued his work, and then he stood up once more, and prayed. Now the man was an angel who had been sent from God to correct and to admonish the blessed Anthony, who afterwards heard him say unto him, ‘‘O ‘‘ Anthony, do thou also do this and live”; and when Anthony heard this, the blessed man had great joy, and afterwards he did as the angel had done, and lived.

132, They said concerning Abba John the Less that, on one occasion, he steeped the palm leaves for two baskets in water, and sewed one basket to the other without perceiving it until he came to the side of it, for his mind was ied captive by the sight of God. 133. And Abba Daniel used to say concerning Abba Arsenius that he would pass the whole night in vigil, and when, for the sake of nature, he wished for the approach of the morning so that he might have some relief, he would struggle against sleep, and say, ‘‘Get thee gone, O wicked handmaiden”; then he would snatch a very little slumber and stand up straightway. 134. Abba Arsenius used to say, ‘‘One hour’s sleep is suffi- ‘‘cient for a monk, provided that he be strenuous. 135. They used to say about a certain monk who lived in a monastery of the brotherhood, that although he kept frequent vigil and prayed he was neglectful about praying with the congregation. And one night there appeared unto him a glorious pillar of brilliant light from the place where the brethren were congregated, and it reached up into the heavens; On Weeping and Mourning

and he saw a small spark which [flew] about the pillar, and sometimes it shone brightly, and sometimes it was extinguished. And whilst he was wondering at the vision, it was explained to him by God, Who said, ‘‘The pillar which thou seest is ‘the prayers of the many {brethren] which are gathered to- ‘‘ gether and go up to God and gratify Him; and the spark is ‘the prayers of those who dwell among the congregation, ‘“and who despise the appointed services of the brotherhood. ‘And now, if thou wouldst live, perform that which it is cus- ‘“‘tomary to perform with the brethren, and then, if thou ‘‘ wishest to do so, and art able to pray separately, do SO And the monk related all these things before the brotherhood, and they glorified God. Chapter iv. Of bow it is meet for us to Weep for our Sins and to Mourn tor them always BROTHER asked Abba Ammon, and said unto him, PNG Tell me some word whereby I may live”; and Abba Ammon said unto him, ‘‘Go and make thy mind like 136. ‘‘untothemindsof those evil-doers who are in the prison ‘‘house, and who ask those who go to them, saying, ‘Where ‘Sig the governor? When will he come here?’ And their minds ‘‘tremble in fearful expectation. Thus also is a monk bound to ‘‘ wait in expectation always, and he must admonish himself, «saying, ‘ Woe is me! For how can I stand before the throne ‘© of Christ? And how shall I be able to make answer unto ‘< ‘Him?’ If thou art able to think thus always thou wilt be ‘¢ able to live.”

137. Abba Poemen was once passing through Egypt, and he saw a woman sitting in the cemetery and weeping, and he said, ‘‘If every kind of instrument of sweet music in the world ‘were to come [here] they would not be able to change the ‘‘ grief of this woman’s soul [into gladness]; even thus it is ‘‘ meet for a monk to have pain (07 grief) within himself.” 138. Three old men once came to Abba Sisoes because they had heard that he was a great man. And the first one said unto him, ‘Father, how can I escape from the river of fire?” And Abba Sisoes answered him never a word. Then the second old man said unto him, ‘‘Father, how can I escape from the ‘‘ enashing of teeth, and from the worm which never dieth?” And Abba Sisoes answered him never a word. Then the third old man said unto him, ‘‘ Father, what shall I do? For the re- ‘© membrance of the outer darkness troubleth me.” And Abba Sisoes answered and said unto them, ‘“‘T never think on any ‘‘ of these things, but I believe that God is Merciful, and that ‘‘ He will shew mercy unto me”; then the old men went away

The Sayings of the holy Fathers grieved at the answer which Abba Sisoes had spoken unto them. Now because he did not wish to send them away sorrowful, he brought them back, and said unto them, “Blessed ‘are ye, O my brethren, for I have been jealous of you’ ; and they said unto him, ‘‘In what matter hast thou been jealous ‘‘of us?” And he said, ‘‘The first one of you spake about a ‘‘river of fire; and the second spake about the gnashing of ‘*teeth and the worm which dieth not; and the third spake ‘about the outer darkness; if remembrances of this kind ‘have dominion over your minds it is impossible for you to ‘*commit sin. What can I do who am stubborn of heart? For ‘*hardness of heart will not allow me to perceive even that ‘‘there a punishment for men existeth, and because of this ‘*T sin every hour.” And when the old men had heard these words, they made excuses to him, and said, ‘“‘In very truth ‘according to what we have heard, even so have we seen.” 139. A certain father said that on one occasion when the brethren were eating the food of grace, one of them laughed at table; and Abba Sinf saw him, and burst into tears, and said, ‘‘ What can there be in the heart of this brother who ‘“‘hath laughed? It is meet that he should weep because he is ‘eating the food of grace.”

140. They say that when Abba Sisoes was sick the old men who were sitting with him saw that he was talking [to some one], and they said unto him, ‘‘What seest thou, O father?” And he said unto them, ‘‘Some people came to take me away, ‘‘and I entreated them to leave me [here] a little longer that ‘I might repent.” Then one of the old men said unto him, ‘‘ What power hast thou in thee now for repentance?” Abba Sisoes said unto them, ‘If I can do nothing else I can sigh “‘and lament a little over my soul, and this will be sufficient ** for me.” 141. Certain brethren went to an old man and, making apologies to him, they said, ‘“‘Father, what shall we do, for Satan ‘fis hunting after us?” And he said unto them, ‘‘It is right “for you to be watchful and to weep continually. My own ‘thoughts are always fixed upon the place where our Lord ‘‘was crucified, and I sigh and lament and weep about it ‘‘always;” and thus having received a good example of repentance the brethren departed and became chosen vessels. 142. A brother asked Abba Muthues, saying, ‘‘Speak a word ‘*to me”; and the old man replied, ‘‘Cut off from thee con- ‘tention concerning every matter whatsoever, and weep, and ‘‘mourn, for the time hath come.”

143. Abba Ammon said that he saw a young man who laughed, and he said unto him, ‘‘Laugh not, O brother, for if On Weeping and Mourning is 798 dost, thou wilt drive the fear of God out of thy soul. 144. Abba Paule used to say, ‘‘I had sunk in the mire up to “my neck, and I wept and spake before God, saying, ‘Have ** mercy on me.’” 145. They used to say that Abba Theodore and Abba Or put on the skins of lambs for clothing; and they said to each other, ‘‘If God were to visit us now what should we do?” and they left [the skins], and departed to their cells weeping. 146. A blessed Archbishop, when he was about to depart from this world, said, ‘‘ Blessed art thou, O Arsenius, because “‘thou hast remembered this hour.” 147. An old man said, ‘‘God dwelleth in the man into whom ‘‘nothing alien entereth.”’ 148. A brother asked a certain old man, and said unto him, ‘My soul desireth tears, even as I have heard that the old ‘<men [desire] them, but they will not come to me, and my soul “¢ is vexed.’”’ And the old man said unto him, ‘‘The children of ‘“Israel entered into the land of promise [after] forty years; “‘ now tears are the land of promise, and since thou wouldst ‘enter therein thou must not henceforward be afraid of fight- ‘‘ing. For God wisheth to bring tribulation upon the soul in ‘this manner in order that it may at all times be wishful to ‘enter into that land [of promise].”

149. A brother asked Abba Poemen a question and said unto him, ‘‘What shall I do? for my thoughts disturb me, and they ‘say unto me, ‘Thy sins have been forgiven thee,’ and they ‘‘make me to pry into the shortcomings of the brethren.” Then Abba Poemen spake to him about Abba Isidore, who dwelt in a cell and wept over his soul, and his disciple used to dwell in another cell; and the disciple came to the old man, and finding him weeping, said unto him, ‘‘ My father, why “‘weepest thou?” And the old man said unto him, ‘‘I am ‘weeping for my sins.” Then the disciple said unto him, ‘‘ And hast thou any sins, father?” And the old man said unto ‘Chim, ‘(Indeed I have, my son, and if I were permitted to ‘see my sins, not three or even four men would suffice to “‘ weep with me for them.” Then Abba Poemen said, ‘‘ Thus ‘it is with the man who knoweth himself.” 150. I have heard that the old men who lived in Nitria sent to Macarius the Great, who was living in Scete, and entreated him, saying, ‘‘ In order that all the people may not be vexed, ‘‘ we beseech thee, O our father, to come to us so that we may see thee before [thou departest] to our Lord. And having gone [to them] they all gathered together to him, and the old men begged and entreated him to speak unto the brethren one

The Sayings of the tholy Fathers word of profit; and the holy old man wept, and said unto them, ‘‘Let us weep, O my brethren, and let us make our eyes to ‘* overflow with tears before we go to the place where the tears ‘of our eyeballs will burn up our bodies.” And they all wept, and they fell upon their faces, saying, ‘‘ Father, pray for us.” 151. When the biessed Arsenius was about to deliver up his spirit the brethren saw him weeping, and they said unto him, ‘Art thou also afraid, O father?” And he said unto them, ‘‘ The dread of this hour hath been with me in very truth from ‘the time when I became a monk, and was afraid.” And so he died. 152, And when Abba Poemen heard that he was dead, that is to say, that Abba Arsenius had gone to his rest, he said, “‘ Blessed art thou, O Abba Arsenius, for thou didst weep ‘‘ over thyself in this world. For he who weepeth not for him- ‘‘ self in this world must weep for ever in the next. He may ‘‘ weep here voluntarily, or there because of the punishments ‘‘Twhich he will receive], but it is impossible for a man to ‘‘ escape weeping either here or there.”

153. A brother asked Abba Poemen and said unto him, ‘¢ What shall I do in the matter of my sins?” And the old man said unto him, ‘‘ When Abraham went into the Land of Pro- ‘‘ mise he bought himself a grave, and through the grave he ‘‘inherited the land.” And the brother said unto him, ‘‘ What ‘is a grave?” Then the old man said unto him, ‘‘ Weeping ‘‘and mourning are a grave and a place [of burial].”’ I54. One of the brethren asked Abba Poemen, saying, ‘‘ Father, what shall I do in the matter of my sins?” The old man said unto him, ‘‘ Whosoever wisheth to blot out his offences ‘*can do so by weeping, and he who wisheth to acquire good ‘“works can do so by means of weeping; for weeping is the ‘‘path which the Scriptures have taught us, and the fathers ‘‘have also wept continually, and there is no other path except ‘that of tears.” 155. And the same old man (i.e., Poemen) said, ‘‘There are ‘‘two things [to remember]: We must fear our Lord, and do ‘* good unto our neighbour.” 156. Abba Noah asked Abba Macarius, and said unto him, ‘« Speak to me a word”’; and the old man said, ‘‘ Flee from the ‘‘children of men.” Noah said unto him, ‘‘ Father, what doth ‘it mean to flee from the children of men?” The old man said unto him, ‘Thou shalt sit in thy cell and weep for thy sins.”

157. A brother asked an old man, and said unto him, ‘‘ What ‘“shall I do, father?” The old man said unto him, ‘‘It is right ‘‘that we should sigh and lament always.” Now it happened that one of the old men fell asleep, and that after a long inter- val he came to himself again, and the brethren asked him, saying, ‘‘What didst thou see there, O father?” and he said unto us with many tears, ‘‘I heard there the sound of the weeping “‘of many, who were crying out and wailing incessantly, and “saying, ‘Woe is me! Woe is me!’ And it is meet that we ‘‘ should always be saying the same thing.” Chapter v, Of Voluntary Poverty BBA ARSENIUS once fell sick at Scete, and he was in need of a bowl of pottage; and since this was not to be found there, he took the remains of the Eucharist 158. (or food of grace), and said, ‘‘I give thanks unto Thee, ‘©O Christ, that, because of Thy name, I am able to receive the ‘food of grace.” 159. There was a certain holy man whose name was Philagrius, who lived in Jerusalem, and he worked with his hands and toiled [to earn] the food which he needed ; and the old man rose up to see the work of his hands, and he found a purse containing one thousand darics which had dropped from some one [on the road], and he remained in the place where he was, saying, ‘‘The man who lost this will come back seeking for “it.” And behold the man did come back, and he was weeping, and the old man took him aside and gave him the darics ; and their owner laid hold upon him, and wished to give him some small sum of money, but the old man refused to accept anything. Then the owner of the darics began to cry out and say, ‘‘Come ye and see what the man of God hath done”; but the old man fled secretly and departed from the city, lest what he had done should become known, and men should pay him honour because of it.

160. They say that Abba Serapion the Bishop went on one occasion to one of the brethren, and found [in his cell] a hollow in the wall which was filled with books; and the brother said unto him, ‘‘Speak to me one word whereby I may live.” And the Bishop said unto him, ‘‘What have I to say to thee? ‘‘ For thou hast taken that which belongeth to the orphans and ‘‘ widows and laid it up in a hole in the wall.” 161. Abbi Theodore of Parmé possessed some beautiful books, and he went to Abba Macarius and said unto him, ‘‘Father, I have three books, and I gain profit from them, ‘cand the brethren borrow them from me, and they also have “‘profit from them; tell me, now, what shall I do with them?” And the old man answered and said, ‘“‘Ascetic labours are ‘beautiful, but the greatest of them allis voluntary poverty.” And when Abba Theodore heard these words he went and sold the books and gave the price of them to the poor. The Savings of the holy Fathers 162. They say about a certain monk that when his food came to him he was in the habit of taking so much of it as he needed, [but that if it happened that another man was brought to him he would not accept any of it], saying, ‘‘It is sufficient ‘for me; behold my Lord hath fed me.”

163. Acertain monk used to live in a cave in the desert, and a message was sent unto him by his kinsfolk, saying, ‘‘Thy ‘‘father is grievously sick, and is nigh to die, therefore come, ‘Cand inherit his possessions”; and he made answer unto them, saying, ‘‘I died to the world long before he will die, and a ‘‘dead man cannot be the heir of a living one.” 164. An old man was asked by a brother the question, ‘‘How shall I live?” Then the old man took off his garment, and girded up his loins therewith, and lifted up his hands and said, ‘‘It is meet for a monk to be as naked in respect of this ‘‘world’s goods as I am of clothing. And in his striving ‘‘against his thoughts he must stand as upright as a vigorous ‘‘athlete, and when the athlete contendeth he also standeth ‘‘up naked, and when he is anointed with oil he is quite naked, ‘‘and hath nothing upon him; and he learneth from him that ‘*traineth him how to contend, and when the enemy cometh ‘‘ against him he throweth dust upon him, which is a matter ‘‘ of this world, that he may be able to grasp him easily. In ‘* thyself, then, O monk, thou must see the athlete, and he ‘‘ who sheweth thee how to contend is God, for it is He Who ‘‘ giveth the victory, and Who conquereth for us; and those ‘“who contend are ourselves, and the striving is [our] op- ‘ponent, and the dust is the affairs of the world. And since ‘‘thou hast seen the cunning of the Adversary, stand thou up ‘“‘and oppose him in thy nakedness, being free from any care ‘‘which belongeth to this world, and thou shalt overcome ‘‘[him]. For when the mind is weighted down with the care of ‘‘the world it cannot receive the holy word of God.”

165. They say concerning Abba Arsenius that as, when he lived in the world, his apparel was finer than that of anyone else, so, when he lived in Scete, he wore raiment which was inferior to that of every one else. And when, at long intervals, he came to church, he used to sit behind a pillar so that no one might see his face, and he might not see the faces of others; now his face was like that of an angel, and his hair was as white as snow, and as abundant as [that of] Jacob. His body was dry by reason of his labours, and his beard descended to his belly, but his eyelashes were destroyed by weeping; he was tall in stature, but somewhat bowed by old age and he ended his days when he was ninety-five years old. He lived n the world, in the palace, for forty years, in the days of Theodosius, the great king, who became the father of the Emperors Honorius and Arcadius, and he lived in Scete forty years, and he lived for ten years in the Troja of Babylon which is opposite the Memphis which is in Egypt, and he dwelt for three years in Canopus of Alexandria, and during the two remaining years he came to Troja again, where he died. And he finished his career in peace and in the fear of God.

166. On one occasion a certain Bishop came to the Fathers in Scete, and a brother went forth to meet him, and having met him, he took him and brought him into his cell; and having set before him bread and salt, he said, ‘‘Forgive me, O my ‘father, for I have nothing else to set before thee.” And the Bishop said unto him, ‘‘1 wish that when I come another year ‘‘] may not find even bread and salt in thy cell.” _ 167. One of the old men said, ‘‘If thou sittest in a place and ‘“‘seest people with abundant provisions, look not at them ; ‘but if there be a man who is destitute, look at him as one ‘¢ who hath no bread, and thou shalt find relief.” 168, Abba Isaac, the priest of the Cells, used to say that Abba Pambé said, ‘‘The manner of the apparel which a monk ‘‘ ought to wear should be such that if it were cast outside the ‘cell for three days no one would carry it away.” 169. A certain brother asked one of the old men a question, and said unto him, ‘‘Dost thou wish me to keep two darics as ‘‘ provision for the needs of the feebleness of the body?” And the old man, perceiving his mind and also that he wished to keep them, said unto him, ‘‘Yea.” Now when the brother had gone to his cell, he became troubled in his mind, and he debated in his thoughts, saying, ‘‘Did the old man speak truth- ‘(fully or not?” Then he rose up, and went back to the old man, and made excuses to him, and said, ‘‘For our Lord’s sake, ‘tell me the truth, because my thoughts are troubling me «‘ about these two darics.” The old man said unto him, ‘‘I spake ‘to thee as I did because I saw that thy mind was to keep “them, but it is not necessary for thee to keep the two darics, ‘“‘except only for the need of thy body. But why is thy hope “set upon two darics? If by chance they were lost would not ‘God take care of thee? Let us then cast [our] care upon ‘“‘Him, for it belongeth to Him to take care of us continually.”

170. Some of the old men used to tell a story about a gardener who used to work and to give away whatsoever he gained thereby in alms, but subsequently his thoughts said to him, ‘‘Gather ‘“together a few oboli, lest when thou hast grown old thou fall ‘‘ into want”; so he gathered together some money, and filled a large vessel therewith. And it fell out that he became sick, and the disease seized upon his foot, and he spent the whole The Sayings of the holy Fathers of the money in the vessel on the physicians, and was not in the least benefited thereby. At length another physician came unto him and said, ‘‘If thou dost not cut off thy foot all thy ‘*body will putrefy,” and he came to consider the cutting off of his foot. And in the night he came to himself, and he groaned, and wept, and said, ‘‘Remember, O Lord, my former deeds,” and straightway aman appeared behind him, and said untohim, ‘‘Where are thy oboli?” and the gardener said immediately, ‘‘T have sinned, forgive me”’; and straightway the man approached his leg, and it was made whole forthwith, and he rose up, and went to the garden to work. And in the morning the physician came to cut off his foot as he had said, and [the servants|told him, ‘‘ He went to this work in the night”; and straightway [the gardener] glorified God.

171. Abba Agathon saw Abba Nastir wearing two shoulder wrappers, and he said unto him, ‘‘If a poor man were to come, ‘‘and ask thee for a garment, which of them wouldst thou ‘‘give him?” And Abba Nastir replied, ‘‘I would give him the ‘‘better of them”; and Abba Agathon said unto him, ‘‘And if ‘‘another poor man came, what wouldst thou give him?” Abba Nastir saith unto him, ‘‘I would give him the half of ‘that which remained.” And Abba Agathon said unto him, ‘‘Supposing yet another beggar came, what wouldst thou ‘*give unto him?” And Nastir said unto him, ‘‘I would cut the ‘‘half which remained into two pieces, and give one to him, ‘‘and with the other I would cover my body.” And Abba Agathon said unto him, ‘‘And supposing yet another beggar ** were to come?” and Nastir said, ‘‘I would give him what ‘‘ was left. For though I do not wish to receive anything from ‘“‘any man, yet I would go and sit down in some place until ‘God sent me wherewith to cover myself.” 172. The blessed woman Eugenia said, “It is right for us to ‘“beg, but only we must be with Christ. Me who is with Christ ‘“becometh rich, but he who honoureth the things of the body ‘‘more than the things of the spirit shall fall both from the ‘‘ things which are first and the things which are last.”

173. One of the old men said, ‘‘ How can a man teach unto ‘‘his neighbour that which he himself doth not observe?” 174. They say that Abba Theodore excelled in the three following things more than any other man, and that he attained in their performance a degree which was greater than that of many, namely, voluntary poverty, self-abnegation, and flight from the children of men. 175. Abba Poemen used to say, ‘‘ He who laboureth and ‘“‘keepeth [the result of] his work for himself is a twofold ‘Spriel.27 176. Abba Isaac used to say to the brethren, ‘‘ Our fathers ‘and Abba Panbéused to wear old garments which were much ‘‘ mended and were patched with rags, but at this present ye i wear very costly apparel; get ye gone from this place, for ye ‘have laid the country waste, and I will not give you com- “‘ mandments, for ye will not keep them.” 177. On one occasion a brother came to the church of the Cells wearing a small head-cloth which came down to his shoulders, and when Abba Isaac saw him he followed him, and said, ‘‘ Monks dwell here, but thou art a man in the world, ‘‘ and thou canst not live here.”

178. A certain man, having made himself remote from the world, and divided his possessions among those who were in need, left to himself the remainder of his riches. And when the blessed Anthony heard [this] he said unto him, ‘‘ Dost thou ‘6 wish to become a monk? If thou dost, get thee to such and ‘ such a village, and take some meat, and lay it upon thy body, ‘and come hither alone”; and having done this the dogs, and the hawks and other birds of prey rent and tore his body. And when he returned to the blessed man, Saint Anthony asked him whether he had done as he had commanded him, and when the man had shewn him his body which was rent and torn, the blessed Anthony said unto him, “ Even thus are those who ‘‘ wish to go out from the world, and who nevertheless leave ‘‘themselves certain possessions, wherefrom arise for their ‘‘ owners war and strife.” 179. A brother asked Abba Poemen the question, saying, “An inheritance hath been bequeathed to me; what shall I do “¢ with it?” Abba Poemen said unto him, ‘‘ Go, and after three ‘¢ days come unto me, and I will give thee counsel.” Andthe brother came, and Abba Poemen said unto him, ‘‘ What counsel ‘ shall I give thee, O brother? If I tell thee to give it to the “© church, they will make feasts with it; and again, if | tell thee “to give it to thy kinsmen, thou wilt have no reward; but if I ‘tell thee to give it to the poor, thou wilt have no [further] ‘‘ care. Therefore go and do with thine inheritance what thou ‘‘ pleasest, for I am not able to advise thee rightly.”

180. A certain man entreated an old man to accept from him a gift of grace for his wants, but he refused to do so because the labour of his hands was sufficient for him; and when he who asked him to accept it persisted, saying, “Tf thou wilt not ‘ accept it for thine own needs, at least do so for the wants of ‘¢ others,” the old man answered and said unto him, ‘‘ It would ‘be a twofold disgrace [unto me]. First, because I should ac- ‘cept something which I do not want, and secondly, because I ‘¢ should be giving away with boasting the charity of another.” The Sayings of the tholy Fathers 181. An old man used to say, ‘It is not right for a man to ““ have any care whatsoever except the fear of God, for,” said he, ‘‘ although I am forced to take care for the needs of the ‘“ body, no thought whatsoever concerning anything riseth in ‘‘my mind before the time when I shall require to make use oS Of Tt. 182. The same old man used to say, ‘‘ When thou risest up, ‘“‘in the morning, say, ‘O body, work that thou mayest be ‘fed; O soul, rouse up that thou mayest inherit life.”

Chapter vj. Of Patient Endurance N one occasion certain brethren went to Abba Agathon, () because they had heard that he took the greatest possible care that his mind should not be disturbed by anything, 183. and they sought to try him, and to see if his mind would rise [to any matter]; and they said unto him, ‘‘Art thou indeed ‘‘Agathon? We have heard that thou art a whoremonger and a ‘‘boastful man.” And Agathonsaid unto them, ‘Yea, lam.” And again they said unto him, ‘‘ Agathon, thouarta garrulous and talkative old man”; and he said unto them, ‘‘ Indeed I am.” And again they said unto him, ‘‘ Agathon, thou art a heretic”’; and he said unto them, ‘‘I am not a heretic.” Then they said unto him, ‘‘ Tell us now why in answer to all these things ‘“ which we have said to thee thou hast replied, ‘ Yea,’ and that ‘thou hast endured them all with the exception of the accu- ‘sation of being a heretic.” Abba Agathon said unto them, ‘‘ The earlier things I accounted as profitable to my soul, but ‘““heresy meaneth separation from God, and I do not wish to ‘“‘be separated from God.” And when the brethren heard [these words] they marvelled at his solicitude, and went away rejoicing.

184. A certain father used to tell the story of a father who had a book wherein were the New Testament and the Old Testament, and the price thereof was more than eighteen darics, and he laid up the book in a hole in the wall; and there came a certain stranger and stayed there, and he coveted the book greatly, and stole it, and departed, but the old man did not go after him, although he knew that he had taken it, And the brother went to a neighbouring village and wished to sell the book, and he asked as its price sixteen darics, and the man who wanted to buy it said unto him, ‘‘ Give it to me, that I may “shew it [to a friend],” and he took it and carried it to the old man who had lost it. Then the old man said unto him, ‘‘ How ‘““much doth he ask for it?” And when he heard how much he said to him, ‘It is well” (or “it is a good price’’). Then the man went and said unto the brother who wished to sell the book, ‘‘ Behold, I have shewn it to Father So-and-so, and he ‘“hath told me that thy price is dear.” And the brother answered and said unto him, ‘‘I did not tell thee anything to the ‘*contrary,’’ and the would-be buyer said, ‘‘ No, thou didst “‘not.” Said the brother, ‘‘1 will not then sell thee the book,” and straightway he repented, and came totheoldman and made excuses to him, and offered him the book, but the old man refused to accept it. And the brother entreated him, saying, ‘« Allow me [to restore it to thee], O father, for if thou dost not “accept it I cannot obtain life”; so the old man was entreated, and he took it, and that brother remained with him until his death, and through the patient endurance of the old man he gained life.

185. On one occasion certain philosophers came to the desert to try the monks. And there was living there a man who led a life of fair works, and they said unto him, ‘‘Come “thou hither,” and his anger rose and he reviled them. Now there passed by a certain great monk who was a Libyan, and they said unto him, ‘‘O thou monk who hast grown grey- ‘‘ headed in iniquity, come hither”; and he went to them readily, and they smote him on one cheek, whereupon he turned the other to them. And when they saw this they rose up straightway and worshipped him, and they said, ‘Verily this is a “‘ monk”; then they set him in their midst, and asked him, saying, ‘‘ What things do ye who are living in the desert do ‘‘more than we? Ye fast, and we also fast; ye lead pure lives, ‘‘ and we also lead pure lives; whatsoever ye do we also do; ‘‘ what do ye who live in the desert do more than we?” The Libyan said unto them, ‘‘We keep watch over our minds”; and the philosophers said unto him, ‘‘We are unable to keep ‘©watch over our minds.”

186. They say that Abba Macarius the Egyptian on one occasion went up from Scete to the Nitrian mountain, and as he drew nigh unto a certain place, he said unto his disciple, ‘‘ Pass ‘on a little in front of me”; and when he had done so there met him a certain heathen priest, who was running along and carrying some wood about the time of noon. And that brother cried out to him and said, ‘‘O minister unto devils, whither ‘‘ runnest thou?” And the priest turned round and smote him with many severe blows, and he left him with but very little breath remaining in him, and he took up his wood and went on his way; and when he had gone ona little further the blessed Macarius met him on his journey, and said unto him, “‘ Mayest ‘‘thou be helped, O man of labours?” And the priest was astonished, and came to him and said, ‘What fair thing hast ‘‘ thou seen in me that thou shouldst salute me [in this gracious The Sayings of the holy Fathers ‘«fashion]?” And the old man said unto him, ‘‘I see that thou ‘‘ toilest, and that thou dost not know that thou art toiling for ‘‘ naught”; then he said unto the old man, ‘‘At thy salutation ‘‘T also was very sorry, and I learned that thou didst belong ‘‘to the Great God. But a wicked monk met me just before ‘‘thou didst, and he cursed me, and I smote him even unto “death.” And the old man knew that it was his disciple [of whom he spake], and the priest laid hold upon the feet of Macarius, and said unto him, ‘I will not let thee [go] until thou ‘‘makest me a monk”; and they came to the place where the brother was lying, and they carried him and brought him to the church of the mountain. Now when the fathers saw the heathen priest with him, they marvelled that he had been converted from the error which he had held; and Macarius took him and made him a monk, and through him many of the heathen became Christians. And Abba Macarius said, ‘‘‘ An evil ‘word maketh wicked even those who are good, and a good ‘‘‘word maketh good even those who are wicked,’ as it is ‘‘ written.”

187. On one occasion thieves came to the cell of an old man, and said unto him, ‘‘We have come to take away everything ‘‘ which thou hast in thy cell”; and he said unto them, ‘‘ My ‘“ sons, take whatsoever ye please”; and they took everything which they saw in his cell and departed. Now they forgot [to take] a wallet which was hanging there, and the old man took it and ran after them, and entreated them, saying, ‘‘ My sons, ‘‘take this wallet which ye have left behind in your cell.” And when the thieves saw this they marvelled at the good disposition of the old man, and they gave back everything which they had taken from his cell, and they repented, and said to each other, ‘‘Verily, this man is a man of God.” 188, Abba Macarius the monk loved money so little that, on one occasion when thieves came to his cell by night, and took out whatsoever they could find in it, as soon as he perceived what they were doing, he helped them in their work and also to carry [their plunder] out of the desert. 189. They say that once when Abba Macarius was absent a thief entered his cell, and that when he returned and found a thief therein loading upon a camel everything which he had in his cell, he also went in and took some of the things and laid them on the camel; and when the thief had loaded the camel, he began to beat it in order to make it rise up, but it would not move. Now when Abba Macarius saw that the beast would not stand up, he took a basket which was remaining, and brought it out and laid it on the camel, and said, ‘‘The camel ‘‘wisheth to carry off this also, O brother, and because of this

Of Patient Endurance ‘it would not stand up.” Then the old man cried out to the camel, ‘‘Stand up,” and straightway, because of the old man’s words, it stood up; but when it had gone forward for a little it lay down again, and it would not rise up until the thief had emptied the whole of its load. 190. And another of the fathers when he was being plundered said unto the thieves, ‘‘ Make haste, and be quick, before ‘the brethren come.” 1 191. On one occasion when some men of iniquity, and doers of wickedness, and thieves, rose up against him on the eve of the day of the congregation, an old man said unto the brethren, ‘¢ Let them do their work, and let us do ours.” 192. And when certain evil-doers rose up against one of the brethren in his cell, he brought forth a basin and entreated them to wash their feet, and the thieves were ashamed and repented. 193. And another brother who was travelling on a journey, and did not know the road, asked a man to shew him the way and to direét him; now the man whom he had asked was an evil-doer, and he led the brother out of his road into a waste place, and he made him to arrive at the river Nile, which he commanded the brother to cross over. And when he began to cross over, behold a crocodile was swiftly pursuing the man who was a thief, but the servant of God, not being unmindful of him, cried out to him, and made known to him concerning the fierce attack which the animal was about to make. Then, the thief having been delivered from death, gave thanks to that brother, and marvelled at his affection, and protected him.

194. The blessed Pidr was on one occasion working for a man in the fields in the summer time, and he was weary, and reminded the lord of his hire about his wages, and when he delayed [in paying him] Abba Pidr returned to his monastery. And on another occasion, when the time of harvest had arrived, Abba Pidr went to the same man, and reaped his crops with a good will, and he returned to his monastery, the man having given him nothing. And again in the third year Abba Piér came and helped him to harvest his crops, and when he had made an end of the work of harvest according to custom, and yet received nothing, he departed again to his monastery. Meanwhile the man, who was worthy of blessing, laboured according to his custom in the life and works of spiritual excellence, and rejoiced that he had been defrauded of his hire. And Christ worked upon the lord of his hire in his house, and he took the wages of the blessed man, and went round about among the monasteries seeking for him, and when, after the greatest difficulty, he had found him, he fell at his feet and

The Sayings of the holy Fathers entreated him to receive his hire. But when the holy man refused the wages and said, ‘‘Perhaps thou hast need of them, ‘‘and as for me God will give me my hire,” the man increased his supplications unto him, and finally the holy man permitted him to give the money to the church. 195. An old man used to say, ‘‘ We do not advance because ‘‘we do not know our capacity, and we have not sufficient ‘patience in the work which we begin, and we wish to pos- ‘“sess spiritual excellences without working for them, and we “so from place to place, and expect to find some spot where ‘Satan is not, and when we see the temptation of Satan in ‘‘that place whereunto we have been called, he who knoweth ‘‘what the war is will remain in God. For the kingdom of ** heaven is within you.” 196. An old man used to say, ‘‘If it should happen that a ‘“sickness of the body overtake thee, let it not be grievous ‘‘unto thee, for if thy Lord wisheth thee to be sick in the body, ‘‘who art thou that thou shouldst be in despair? Doth He not ‘“take care for thee in everything? Couldst thou live without ‘‘Him? Be patient, and entreat thou Him to give thee such ‘‘things as are helpful, and which are according to His will; ‘and besides this eat thou His food of grace with long-sufferLE Te yee:

19). Abba Poemen used to say, ‘‘The certain sign that ‘““amonk is a monk is made known by trials (or temp- ‘*tations).” 198. A certain brother was estranged from a fellow monk, and he came to Abba Sisoes the Theban, and said unto him, ‘‘T am estranged from a fellow monk, and I wish to take ven- *“geance for myself”; and the old man said, ‘‘ Let us pray.” And whilst he was praying, he said in his prayer, ‘‘O God, ‘“henceforward we have no need of Thee to take care ot us, ‘for we will take vengeance for ourselves”; and when the brother heard these words he fell down at the feet of the old man straightway, and said unto him, ‘‘Henceforward I will “not enter into judgement with that brother. Forgive me, ‘‘O Father.” And thus Abba Sisoes healed that brother. 199. They say that Abba John the Less, the Theban, the disciple of Abba Ammon, ministered unto the Abba in his sickness for twelve years, and he sat by him when the old man was in a state of exhaustion, and he persevered and endured so patiently, even whilst he was performing great labours, that the old man never once said unto him, ‘‘Rest, my son; rest, my **son!” And when the old man was about to die, and the other old men were sitting before him, Abba Ammon took his hand, and said unto him, ‘Live, my son, live!” Then he committed

Of Patient Endurance him to the old men and said unto them, ‘‘This is an angel, and “not a man.” 200. Abba Paulé and Timath his brother dwelt in Scete, and there was contention between them frequently; and Abba Paulé said, ‘‘How long are we to remain thus?” Abba Timath said unto him, ‘‘ When I come upon thee bear with me; and when ‘<thou comest upon me I will bear with thee.” And from that time they were at peace. 201. Certain brethren asked Abba Sisoes a question, and said unto him, ‘‘If we are going along a road, and he who is “conducting us forgetteth the way, is it necessary for us to ‘tell him?” And Abba Sisoes said unto them, ‘‘No.” Then a brother said unto him, ‘‘Are we then to let him lead us “astray?” And the old man said unto him, ‘‘What then? “Thou hast a stick, canst thou not take it and smite him? “Now I knew twelve brethren who were travelling along the “road, and in the night time he who was leading them lost the ‘‘way, and all the brethren knew that he had done so; and “every one of them struggled with his thoughts, [and de- ‘« cided] not to tell him. And when the day had come he who “had been leading them learned that he had wandered off the ‘road, and he made excuses and said unto them, ‘Forgive me “because I lost the way’; and they all said, ‘We all of us “<< knew it, brother, but we held our peace.’ And when he heard “this he marvelled, saying, ‘The brethren would endure even ‘‘¢unto death and would utter never a word’; and he glorified ‘God. Now the distance which they had wandered from the “‘road was twelve miles.”

202. Certain brethren came unto Abba Anthony, and said unto him, ‘‘Speak unto us a word whereby we may live”; and the old man said unto them, ‘‘Behold, ye have heard the “« Scriptures, and they are sufficient for you,” and the brethren said, ‘‘We wish to hear [a word] from thee also, O father.” Abba Anthony said unto them, ‘‘It is said in the Gospel, ‘If a “man smite thee on the [one] cheek, turn to him the other «<¢also’” (St. Luke vi, 29); and they said unto him, ‘‘We can- “not do this.” Abb4 Anthony said unto them, ‘‘If ye cannot turn “the other cheek, continue [to be smitten] on the one cheek”’; and they said to him, ‘‘And this we cannct do.” The old man said unto them, “‘If ye cannot do even this, do not pay back “ blows in return for the smiting which ye have received”; and they said, ‘‘ We cannot even do this.” Then the old man said unto his disciples, ‘‘ Make then for the brethren a little boiled ‘food, for they are ill”; and he said to them, “‘If ye cannot do ‘this, and ye are unable to do the other things, prayers are “necessary forthwith.”

The Sayings of the holy Fathers 203. They used to say that Mother Sara, who dwelt above the river and was sixty years old, had never looked out [from her abode] and seen the river. 5 204. A certain old man dwelt in the desert at a distance of ten miles from the monastery, wherefrom he had always to draw water, and on one occasion the matter became very wearisome to him, and he said, ‘‘What is the necessity for ‘*me to labour so much? I will come and will take up my ‘‘abode by the side of this stream.”’ And having said this, he turned behind him and he saw a man coming after him, and he was counting his footsteps, and he asked him, saying, ** Who art thou?” And he answered and said unto him, ‘‘I am ‘‘an angel of the Lord, and I have been sent to count thy foot- ““steps, and to give thee thy reward”; and having heard this the old man was consoled greatly, and he went five miles further from the place wherein he was, and took up his abode there. 205. They say that three thieves went into the cell of Abba Theodore, and that two of them laid hold upon him whilst the third carried off the things which he had in his cell; and having taken out even the books which he had there, they were going to carry away his cloak, when he said unto them, ‘‘ Leave me ‘“‘this”; and as they refused to do so, he moved his arms and hands and hurled the two men who were holding him from him, and when they saw this they were afraid. Then the old man said unto them, ‘‘Fear ye not, but divide what ye have taken “into four parts, and take three of them, and leave me one.”

206. They used to say that the cave in Pat4ra which belonged to Abba Chaeremon who was in Scete, was forty miles distant from the church, and twelve miles further froma spring of water. And he used to bring to the church, with the labour of his hands, two pitchers of water, one for each day, and when he was tired he would set one down by the roadside and go back afterwards and fetch it. 207. They used to say that the cell of the blessed Arsenius also was two and thirty miles from the church, but he never went anywhere and others broughthim whatsoever he required, 208. The blessed Arsenius never changed the water [wherein he soaked] the leaves which he twisted into ropes except once a year, but he used to add frequently to it, for he twisted palm leaves and sewed them together until the sixth hour [daily]. And the fathers entreated him, saying, ‘‘ Tell us why thou dost ‘‘not change the water of the leaves, for it is very foul”; then the old man answered, and said, “ It is right that I should en- ‘dure this foul smell in return for the odours of the sweet ‘“ scents, and oils, and delightful odours, which I enjoyed when ‘IT was in the world.”

209. It is related of a certain old man that if he heard a brother speak evilly to him he would labour very hard to make something which would please the brother who had spoken to him, and that if that brother did not live with him, the old man would send whatsoever he had made to the place where he was. 210. A certain old man used to say, ‘‘ It is a disgrace for a ‘‘ monk to enter into judgement with the man who hath done “him an injury.” arr. A brother asked a certain old man, saying, ‘‘ Tell me ‘‘ one thing, whereby, if I keep it, I shall live.” The old man said unto him, ‘‘ If thou canst endure being reviled and cursed, ‘this command is the greatest of all the commandments.” 212. A brother asked Abba Poemen, saying, ‘‘ What shall I “do to my heart which flaggeth and is frightened if a little ‘<toil, and tribulation overtake me, or if temptation come upon “me?” The old man said unto him, ‘‘Therefore we should ‘wonder and admire the righteous man Joseph who, being “only a very young man—that is to say, seventeen years “‘ of age—was sold into slavery into the land of Egypt, the ‘(land of the worshippers of idols, and he endured tempta- “tions, and God made him glorious to the end.”

213. And he said also, ‘‘ We may consider also the blessed ‘* Job, who never became slothful, for he persevered in his trust ‘‘in his God, and his enemies were not able to shake him from ‘his hope.” 214. On one occasion the brethren who were in Scete were cleaning and dressing palm leaves, and there was among them a man who had become ill through his excessive spiritual labours, and he was coughing, and bringing up clots of phlegm and spittle; and as he spat, involuntarily, some of the spittle fell upon a certain brother. Then the mind of that brother on whom the spittle had fallen said unto him, ‘‘ Tell that brother ‘not to spit upon thee”; but straightway he licked up the spittle, and he turned and said to his mind, ‘‘ Thou hast not ‘licked up the spittle, therefore do not tell him not to spit upon fSthee.” 215. Abba Poemen used to say that John Colob, who made entreaty unto God, and [his] passions were removed from him, and he was set free from anxious care, went and said unto a famous old man, ‘‘I perceive that my soul is at rest, and that “it hath neither war nor strife [to trouble it].” Then the old man said unto him, ‘‘ Go and entreat God to let war and strife ‘‘come unto thee again, for it is through war and strife that ‘the soul advanceth in spiritual excellence.” And afterwards, whensoever war stood up before him, he did not pray, “ O Lord, ‘remove striving from me,” but he made supplication unto

The Savings of the holy Fathers God, saying, ‘‘O Lord, give me patience to endure the ‘strife/? 216. There was a certain man who had within himself love and affection for the brotherhood, and who never had in his mind any evil thought whatsoever; and a certain brother stole some things and brought [them] and deposited them with him, and the man did not consider or perceive by what means the brother had obtained them. Now some days later the matter was discovered, and it was pointed out to the owner of the things that they had been deposited with the old man, who made excuses to them, saying, ‘‘ Forgive ye me, for I repent.” And after a few days the brother who had stolen the things came to him, and he began to demand [them from] the old man, and said unto him, ‘‘ Thou thyself didst take the things”; and the old man made excuses to him, saying, ‘‘ Forgive me”; and the old man brought out all the work of his hands, and gave it to him, and the brother took it and departed. Now the disposition of the old man was such that, if one of the brethren committed a fault, and denied it, he would make excuses for him, saying, ‘‘ It was I who did this thing”; thus meek and humble was the holy man, and he never wronged any man even by the least word.

217. A certain brother lived by himself, and he was disturbed in his mind, and went and revealed the matter to AbbA Theodore of Parmé. And the old man said unto him, ‘Go and ‘“humble thy mind, and submit thyself to live with the breth- **ren”; and he went and did as the old man had told him, and took up his abode with other men. And he went back to the the old man, and said unto him, ‘‘ Father, I am not content to ** dwell with other men”; then the old man said unto himself ‘thou art not content to live either by thyself or with others, ‘“why didst thou come out to be a monk? Is it not necessary ‘‘for thee to endure trials? Tell me, how long hast thou lived ‘‘ this life?”? And the brother said unto him, ‘ Eight years.” The old man said unto him, ‘‘ Verily I have led the life I lead ‘‘now for seventy years, and not one pleasure hath come in ‘‘my way [the whole time], and yet thou wishest to find plea- ‘sure (or rest) in eight years!” 218. A certain brother, who had vanquished Satan in everything, subsequently had his eyes blinded by Satan so that he could not see, yet this blessed man did not pray for himself, and that he might be able to see, but he only prayed that he might be able to endure patiently his trial; and through his constancy his eyes were opened.

219. A monk was smitten by a man on the leg and was severely injured, but the holy man was neither angry nor wroth with him that had smitten him, [but he nursed the place wherein he had been wounded, and made excuses to the man who had struck him]. 220. Abba Arsenius used to say, ‘‘ When an unbaked [or ‘‘ moist] brick is laid in the foundations of a building by the ‘ river-side, it will not support it, but if it be burnt in the fur- “nace it will support the building like a stone. And thus it is ‘¢ with the man who possesseth a carnal mind, and who doth **not become hot and burn with heat, even as did Joseph with ‘“‘the word of God, for when he cometh to have dominion ‘he will be found to be wanting. For very many of those ‘upon whom trials have come have straightway been swept ‘‘away and have fallen. It is therefore a good thing for a man **to know the gravity of dominion, and to be required to bear ‘* trials, which are like the onset of many mighty waters, so ‘that he may remain firm and unmoved.” And of this holy man Joseph—if aman wisheth to have the story told—Arsenius used to say that ‘‘He was not a being of earth at all—so much was ‘“he tempted. And [consider] the country [of Egypt] wherein ‘formerly there was not even a trace of the fear of God! But ‘*the God of his fathers was with him, and He delivered him “‘ out of all his tribulations, and Joseph is now with his fathers ‘‘in the kingdom of heaven; and let us also make supplication ‘‘ with all our might that we too may in the same manner be ‘ able to flee from and escape from the righteous judgement of God.”

221. They say that there was with Abba Isidore, the priest of Scete, a certain brother who was infirm in his mind, and he was a man who used abusive language and possessed very little intelligence, and Abba Isidore wished to turn him out from his abode ; and when that brother came to the door of the monastery, the old man said once again, ‘‘Bring him to me, ~ and he rebuked him, saying, ‘‘ Brother, be silent, lest through thy little ‘intelligence and thine impatience thou provoke our Lord to ‘‘anger”; and thus by his longsuffering Abba Isidore quieted that brother. 222. A lover of ascetic labours saw a man carrying a dead person on a bier, and he said unto him, ‘‘ Dost thou carry a ‘¢dead man? Go and carry the living.” 223. They say that there was a certain monk who, whenever he found a man reviling and cursing him, used to run towards him with all his power, saying, ‘‘ These [words] are the causes ‘‘ of spiritual excellence in those who are strenuous, for those “who ascribe blessing to a man disturb the soul, as it is ‘written, ‘Those who ascribe blessing to you lead astray “your-soul.’”