Abba Macarios the Great - 6.0

We are continuing with lessons from the Desert Saints of Christianity.  I will continue to post several of the sayings of one of the desert fathers or mothers.  Read them over and find one that interests you.  Use that one saying as something to mull over in silent reflection and meditation.

Essentially you will be using it like a zen koan.  You will be doing lectio divina - this time it will be with a short aphorism from the Apophthegmata (Sayings of the Fathers).  Repeat it inside, over and over.  Listen for what the Spirit has to teach you from these aphorisms.

We will work with these sayings for a few weeks.  Be sure to journal what you hear.  This will leave a path for you to follow later, when you want to see where you have been and how you have developed.  On-line Journal at:  http://my-diary.org/  Don't forget it has features to remind you daily to write.  It can be made public or private, as well.

Here are some sayings from the Apophthegmata Patrium to read and contemplate for our daily practice of spiritual direction + spiritual formation.

21. It was said that two brothers at Scetis had fallen into

sin and that Abba Macarius of Alexandria had

excommunicated them. Some brethren came and told Abba

Macarius the Great of Egypt about it. He said, 'It is not the

brothers who are excommunicated; it is Macarius (for he

loved him).' Hearing that the old man had excommunicated

him, Abba Macarius fled to the marsh. Then Abba Macarius

the Great went out and found him eaten up by mosquitoes.

He said to him, 'So you have excommunicated some

brothers; and yet they live apart in the village. I myself have

excommunicated you and like a pretty young girl to the

utmost privacy of her chamber, you have fled here. I have

summoned the two brothers, and have learnt from them what

happened, and I have told them nothing has happened.

Examine yourself, then, my brother, and see if you have not

been the sport of the demons, for you have lacked perception

in this matter. But repent of your fault.' Then the other

asked him, 'Please give me a penance. 'Faced with his

humility, the old man said, 'Go, fast for three weeks, eating

only once a week.' For it was his usual custom to fast for the

whole week.

22. Abba Moses said to Abba Macarius at Scetis, 'I should

like to live in quiet prayer and the brethren do not let me.'

Abba Macarius said to him, 'I see that you are a sensitive

man and incapable of sending a brother away. Well, if you

want to live in peace, go to the interior desert, to Petra, and

there you will be at peace.' And so he found peace.

23. A brother came to see Abba Macarius the Egyptian,

and said to him, 'Abba, give me a word, that I may be saved.'

So the old man said, 'Go to the cemetery and abuse the

dead.' The brother went there, abused them and threw stones

at them; then he returned and told the old man about it. The

latter said to him, 'Didn't they say anything to you?' He

replied, 'No.' The old man said, 'Go back tomorrow and

praise them.' So the brother went away and praised them,

calling them, 'Apostles, saints and righteous men.' He

returned to the old man and said to him, ‘ I have

complimented them’. And the old man said to him, 'Did they

not answer you?' The brother said no. The old man said to

him, 'You know how you insulted them and they did not

reply, and how you praised them and they did not speak; so

you too if you wish to be saved must do the same and

become a dead man. Like the dead, take no account of

either the scorn of men or their praises, and you can be

saved.'

24. One day when Abba Macarius was going down to

Egypt with some brethren, he heard a boy saying to his

mother, 'Mother, there is a rich man who likes me, but I

detest him; and on the other hand, there is a poor man who

hates me, and I love him.' Hearing these words, Abba

Macarius marvelled. So the brethren said to him: 'What is

this saying, Abba, that makes you marvel? 'The old man said

to them, 'Truly, our Lord is rich and loves us, and we do not

listen to him; while our enemy the devil is poor and hates us,

but we love his impurity.'

Ciao!

+Tom