The Ancient Fathers of the Desert

[ArELa]

Personally I couldn't be bothered with the ancient JEWS of the Desert.
No fathers of mine anyway.

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

"For someone to teach another, he must be healthy in his soul and free of passions," says Abba Poimen. "There is no use in building the house of another, your own being destroyed."

"He who teaches others, without putting to practice any of that which he teaches," the same Father further says, "is like a spring which irrigates and flows over all that is around it, while it is filled with every sort of dirt."

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

"Truly wise," said Abba Iperechios, "is he who teaches, not with words, but with deeds."

Another wise Father compares one who teaches only with words, without doing works, with trees which have leaves, but bear no fruit.

One of the great Fathers of the desert told a certain elder, his neighbor, who always accepted visitors and taught them:
"Be careful, brother, for while the oil lamp indeed gives light to many, its wick holder is usually burned."

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

A desert elder set off for the nearest village to sell his baskets. On the road that he was going down, the devil found him and, out of the intense malice he had toward the elder, snatched the baskets from his hands and disappeared.
The elder, without being at all upset, raised his eyes to heaven and said, "I thank you, my God, that you have relieved me of my burden and the trouble of going down to the village.
" Then the devil, not suffering the calmness of the hermit, threw the baskets in his face, shouting: "Take them back, old man."

The monk gathered them up again and continued on his way to the village.

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

"I once saw all of the snares of the devil spread out across the earth," said the Great Antonios, "and I became terrified."

"Is it possible that anyone can escape them?" he said, sighing.

He then heard a mysterious voice answering him: "He who is humble of mind."

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

While still a young monk, Abba Poimen asked to learn from Antonios the Great what he should do to find his salvation.

"Acknowledge your faults with a broken heart," this Father of Fathers answered, "and humble yourself before God.
Also, endure patiently the temptations which occur to you and be sure that you will be saved."

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

The fathers relate to us that, besides other divine gifts, there was also bestowed by God upon Saint Euthymios the following: to perceive, from the external appearance, the internal activities of the souls of people, as though seeing them in mirror images; and to know in detail the thoughts with which each one battled, and, indeed, which among these thoughts he was defeating and by which, through the operation of the devil, he was being defeated.

It is further said of him that sometimes he confided to certain brothers, who went to visit him on their own, that many times he would see angels plainly in front of him, liturgizing and drawing near the Holy Gifts. At the time of the communion of the Master's Body, he saw some of the communicants as though they were shining, while others darkened in appearance - namely those who were not worthy of that light and of the brightness of Holy Communion.

Thus taking the occasion of these supernatural visions, he warned the brothers against participation in the communion of the Divine Gifts without proper preparation, and counseled them excellently, relying on the Apostle, saying that every Christian should take care to examine himself with exactness to see if he is worthy, thereby, of communicating the Holy Bread and the Holy Chalice with shuddering fear.

The communicant - Euthymios the Great continually taught - must know well that whoever approaches unworthily to communicate "eats and drinks" censure and condemnation unto himself.

So if anyone has been overcome by rancor or hate or envy, by pride, abusiveness, obscenity in expression, or indecent desires, or is in any way taken by any other passion whatsoever, let him not participate in Divine Communion, if first he has not cleansed his soul from all of these noxious things through repentance. Because, as the spirit of God says through the Liturgist, the Holy Things are not fitting to those who are profane, but only to the holy.

To the extent, then, that you have a clean conscience and it inspires in you the boldness to approach the Lord, "draw near to Him and be enlightened by Him, being also certain that you will not be chastened."

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

The following is said of the holy Archbishop John of San Francisco, a great luminary of our times:
"So virtuous was his life on earth, that even after death he suffered the calumny of others."

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

A contemporary monk advised his brothers thus: "If you do not live by principles, do not pretend to adhere to them."

And again: "Today, when there is so little external monasticism, most monks must live within themselves.
This means that there is no brother to admonish you or to be your example.
You must admonish yourself and set an example for yourself.
All of the goals, all of the rewards, and all of the standards have become internal.
And while this may seem tragic, it is probably merciful."

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

The blessed Synkletike related to the Sisters that, "those who begin the life in God encounter much toil and struggles in the beginning, afterwards, however, finding indescribable joy.

"For," she said, "just as those who wish to light a fire are at first choked by smoke and their eyes water from the fumes, yet later succeed at their task, so we who wish to light the divine fire within us must know that we will succeed at this only by many struggles and toil; for the Lord also says, 'I came to cast fire upon the earth, and what else do I wish if the fire be more greatly kindled?'

"Indeed some," the blessed one continues, "while tolerating the bother and hindrance of the smoke in order to do a little work at the beginning, nonetheless, out of laziness, did not light a fire; for they went away quickly and did not have the forbearance to persist to the end."

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

The same Amma said: "Many live in the wilderness and behave as though they were in a town.
The latter are wasting their time. It is possible to be a hermit in the mind while living among the masses;
likewise, it is possible to be a hermit and live in the crowd of one's own thoughts."

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

The holy woman further said: "While a person is in a monastery, obedience is preferred to ascetic practice.
The former teaches humility, the latter teaches pride."

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

The daughter of a certain rich man in Alexandria was suddenly seized by a wicked spirit and was tormented severely. Her father spent much money in order to make her well. But fruitlessly. The condition of the young girl became worse all the time. Somehow the Father learned that a hermit, who lived alone up on a mountain, had the gift from God to cast out demons. He was told, however, that the hermit was so humble that he would never agree to perform such a cure. So the nobleman had to find some other pretext by which to get him to his home.

One day the hermit went down to the city to sell his baskets. The father of the girl sent a servant to buy some and to invite the hermit home to be paid. He unsuspectingly went. As soon as he set foot in the door, the demonized girl, who was hidden behind the door, rushed at him and gave him a hard slap across the face. The holy hermit, without losing his calm, turned his other cheek, thus carrying out the commandment of the Lord.

Then this surprising incident took place: the demonized girl began to quiver wildly and to utter despairing cries: "O, hurry! I must leave. I cannot stay any longer. The commandment of Christ is casting me out."

With those words, the tormented creature was set free. The whole family, along with the daughter, who had regained her rational powers, glorified God for the great miracle which they had seen with their own eyes and looked for the holy elder so they could thank him. He, however, fleeing from all human praise, had totally disappeared.

When the Fathers in the desert were informed of these facts, they said among themselves that nothing so puts down the pride of the devil as humility and obedience to the divine commandments.

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

"He who has his mind under control when he prays, and is careful in what he says, keeps away the demons," says Saint Ephraim the Syrian.
"He, however, who elevates himself is duped."

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

God requires these three things, which were bestowed in Holy Baptism, from every man:
correct belief in his soul, truth on his tongue, and moderation in his body.

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

A certain industrious monk, who struggled for virtue with all of his powers, once weakened and fell into laziness. However, he quickly recovered and said to himself: "You poor man. Since when do you scorn your salvation? Do you not fear death and judgment?" With such thoughts, he became more eager in God's work.

One day, while he was praying, wicked spirits gathered around him and tried hard to distract him from his prayer.

"Why are you tormenting me?" the brother said with exasperation. "Was it not enough that you pulled me down into sloth so many times?"

When you were lazy, you did not give us the slightest trouble," the demons answered with malice, "and we ignored you. Now that you oppose us, we battle you."

When the brother heard these things, he pushed himself all the more in spiritual struggle and, with the grace of God, progressed in virtue.

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

A brother, who pointlessly passed his time neglecting his salvation, once went down to the city to sell his baskets. Evening fell while he was on his way, however, and so as not to be in danger in the dark night, he found improvised lodging in an old tomb. He lay down to rest and when, out of sleepiness, he was finally closing his eyes, he saw opposite him two demons scrutinizing him.

"Fancy that! Look there-that monk had the nerve to lie down on a grave," one of them said. "Let us vex him so that he has to leave our habitation."

"Let us not waste out time with him," the other demon answered contemptuously. "He belongs to us. He eats, drinks, gossips, neglects his duties, and serves us in almost all ways. Let us go tempt those who battle us day and night with their prayer and asceticism."

The brother, seeing that even the demons disregarded him, took control and became a good monk.

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

Saint Athanasios, when he found himself on the patriarchal throne of Alexandria, called Abba Pambo to go to the city on an ecclesiastical matter. The first person that the holy man met, on passing through the walls of the large city, was a woman dressed up so as to ensnare her victims. Seeing her, the elder became tearful.

"Why are you crying, Father?" the brother who was accompanying him asked.

"For two reasons," the elder answered, sighing. "First of all, for the loss of her soul, and then because I do not take as much care to please my Lord as she does to please licentious men."

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

And something similar happened to Bishop Nonos and Saint Pelagia, as her biographer relates to us.

Once the Patriarch of Antioch was sitting with his bishops in the courtyard of the church of Saint Julian. While they were engaged in discussion, they heard an unusual commotion in the street. At that moment a luxurious carriage was passing by outside the church. The courtesan Pelagia was pridefully seated inside. The road sparkled from the brilliance of the jewels which she wore. The air was filled with the scent of her expensive perfumes. The crowd of people cheered her as though they were out of their minds.

The bishops turned their heads aside in disgust, to avoid facing the satanic woman, who had led so many of the young aristocrats of the city into the mire of immorality. Only one, Bishop Nonos, followed her persistently with his gaze, until she disappeared at a turn in the road. Afterwards he turned to the other bishops and said to them with a sorrowful voice:

"Woe to us, brothers in Christ. This woman puts us to great shame. Did you see how much care she takes in dressing her body in order to lure her lovers? While we lazy people-what do we do to adorn our souls to attract the love of our heavenly Bridegroom?"

Saying these things, he prayed with fervor for that sinful soul. And his prayer was heard. Divine Grace restored her and Pelagia came to believe in Christ, repented her sinful life, was baptized by the holy Nonos, and came to a holy end.
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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

A monk under obedience to a certain great elder also suffered from carnal desire and struggled hard without regard for his body. Seeing him struggle mercilessly, his elder felt sorry for him.

"Do you want me to ask God to deliver you from this torment, my child?" he asked him one day when he was especially sorrowful.

"No, Father," said the brave struggler. "For, though I am laboring severely, I see great benefit in my soul from the struggle. Pray only that God will give me the strength to endure."

"Indeed, you are doing well, my child," the elder then told him with admiration, "and you surpass me."

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

"My unclean thoughts are about to kill me," a brother confessed to a certain elder.

"Do you know what mothers do when they want to wean their babies?
They put a bitter substance on their breast. Likewise, put in your mind, instead of some bitter substance,
the memory of death and eternal damnation and immediately you will cut off any unclean thought," the wise elder advised him.

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

A certain young monk, who struggled arduously to preserve the purity of his body and his soul, when he happened to be bothered by carnal desire, would say to the evil spirit with rage: "Go to the outer darkness.
Can it be that you do not know that, even though I am unworthy, I bear parts of Christ within me?"

With these words he would cast out temptation, in the same way that one blows on a lighted oil lamp and immediately it goes out.

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

An elder gave this advice to a certain young man who asked him to tell him how to be saved:
"Force yourself, my child, to do whatever the condemned do in prison. Hear them asking continually, with agony written on their faces:
'Where is the Governor? When is he coming? Maybe he has granted a pardon.'
They tremble and cry, waiting for the moment when they will be led to the place of execution. Say in your mind, too:
'My sins have condemned me. How shall I face the righteous Judge? How will I defend myself?'
Grieve and weep over your sins, so as to be saved."

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert
Section 2

For nine years a monk was tormented by the thought of leaving his monastery. Each evening he packed his clothes and said to himself:
"I will leave tomorrow without delay."

When day would break, he would reflect: "For the love of Christ, I will be patient today and leave tomorrow."

Since he struggled arduously for eight whole years and was not overcome by his thoughts, the Lord took the temptation from him.