Abba Anthony the Great - 4.0

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

18. Some brothers were coming from Scetis to see Abba Anthony. When they were getting into a boat to go there, they found an old man who also wanted to go there. The brothers did not know him. They sat in the boat, occupied by turns with the words of the Fathers, Scripture and their manual work. As for the old man, he remained silent. When they arrived on shore they found that the old man was going to the cell of Abba Anthony too. When they reached the place, Anthony said to them, 'You found this old man a good companion for the journey?' Then he said to the old man, 'You have brought many good brethren with you, father.' The old man said, 'No doubt they are good, but they do not have a door to their house and anyone who wishes can enter the stable and loose the ass.' He meant that the brethren said
whatever came into their mouths.

19. The brethren came to the Abba Anthony and said to
him, 'Speak a word; how are we to be saved?' The old man
said to them, 'You have heard the Scriptures. That should
teach you how.' But they said, 'We want to hear from you
too, Father.' Then the old man said to them, 'The Gospel
says, "if anyone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the
other also." (Matt. 5.39) They said, 'We cannot do that.' The
old man said, 'If you cannot offer the other cheek, at least
allow one cheek to be struck.' 'We cannot do that either, '
they said. So he said, 'If you are not able to do that, do not
return evil for evil, ' and they said, 'we cannot do that either.'
Then the old man said to his disciple, 'Prepare a little brew of
corn for these invalids. If you cannot do this, or that, what
can I do for you? What you need is prayers.'

20. A brother renounced the world and gave his goods to the
poor, but he kept back a little for his personal expenses. He
went to see Abba Anthony. When he told him this, the old
man said to him, 'If you want to be a monk, go into the
village, buy some meat, cover your naked body with it and
come here like that.' The brother did so, and the dogs and
birds tore at his flesh. When he came back the old man
asked him whether he had followed his advice. He showed
him his wounded body, and Saint Anthony said, 'Those who
renounce the world but want to keep something for
themselves are torn in this way by the demons who make war
on them.'

Ciao!

+Tom

Abba Anthony the Great - 3.0

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


13. A hunter in the desert saw Abba Anthony enjoying himself with the brethren and he was shocked. Wanting to show him that it was necessary sometimes to meet the needs of the brethren, the old man said to him, 'Put an arrow in your bow and shoot it.' So he did. The old man then said, 'Shoot another,' and he did so. Then the old man said, 'Shoot yet again and the hunter replied 'If I bend my bow so much I will break it.' Then the old man said to him, 'It is the same with the work of God. If we stretch the brethren beyond measure they will soon break. Sometimes it is necessary to come down to meet their needs.' When he heard these words “the hunter was pierced by compunction and, greatly edified by the old man, he went away. As for the brethren, they went home strengthened.

14. Abba Anthony heard of a very young monk who had
performed a miracle on the road. Seeing the old men
walking with difficulty along the road, he ordered the wild
asses to come and carry them until they reached Abba
Anthony. Those whom they had carried told Abba Anthony
about it. He said to them, 'This monk seems to me to be a
ship loaded with goods but I do not know if he will reach
harbour.' After a while, Anthony suddenly began to weep, to
tear his hair and lament. His disciples said to him, 'Why are
you weeping, Father?' and the old man replied, 'A great pillar
of the Church has just fallen (he meant the young monk) but
go to him and see what has happened.' So the disciples went
and found the monk sitting on a mat and weeping for the sin
he had committed. Seeing the disciples of the old man he
said, 'Tell the old man to pray that God will give me just ten
days and I hope I will have made satisfaction.' But in the
space of five days he died.

15. The brothers praised a monk before Abba Anthony.
When the monk came to see him, Anthony wanted to know
how he would bear insults; and seeing that he could not bear
them at all, he said to him, 'You are like a village
magnificently decorated on the outside, but destroyed from
within by robbers.'

16. A brother said to Abba Anthony, 'Pray for me.' The
old man said to him, 'I will have no mercy upon you, nor will
God have any, if you yourself do not make an effort and if
you do not pray to God.'

17. One day some old men came to see Abba Anthony.
In the midst of them was Abba Joseph. Wanting to test
them, the old man suggested a text from the Scriptures, and,
beginning with the youngest, he asked them what it meant.
Each gave his opinion as he was able. But to each one the
old man said, 'You have not understood it.' Last of all he said
to Abba Joseph, 'How would you explain this saying?' and he
replied, 'I do not know.' Then Abba Anthony 'Indeed Abba
Joseph has found the way, for he has said: "I do said, not
know."

Ciao!

+Tom

Abba Anthony the Great - 2.0

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

7. Abba Anthony said, 'I saw the snares that the enemy
spreads out over the world and I said groaning, "What can
get through from such snares?" Then I heard a voice saying
to me, "Humility."'

8. He also said, 'Some have afflicted their bodies by asceticism, but they lack discernment, and so they are far from God.'

9. He also said, 'Our life and our death is with our
neighbour. If we gain our brother, we have gained God, but
if we scandalise our brother, we have sinned against Christ.'

10. He said also, 'just as fish die if they stay too long out
of water, so the monks who loiter outside their cells or pass
their time with men of the world lose the intensity of inner
peace. So like a fish going towards the sea, we must hurry
to reach our cell, for fear that if we delay outside we will
lose our interior watchfulness.'

11. He said also, 'He who wishes to live in solitude in the
desert is delivered from three conflicts: hearing, speech, and
sight; there is only one conflict for him and that is with
fornication.'

12. Some brothers came to find Abba Anthony to tell him
about the visions they were having, and to find out from him
if they were true or if they came from the demons. They had
a donkey, which died on the way. When they reached the
place where the old man was, he said to them before they
could ask him anything, 'How was it that the little donkey
died on the way here?' They said, 'How do you know about
that, Father?' And he told them, 'The demons showed me
what happened.' So they said, 'That was what we came to
question you about, for fear we were being deceived, for we
have visions which often turn out to be true.' Thus the old
man convinced them, by the example of the donkey, that
their visions came from the demons.

Ciao,

+Tom

Abba Anthony the Great - 1.0

So, we started with several weeks of keeping a journal.  We wrote about the various texts supplied on line.  We went back and read our journal entries and noted patterns and development.  Next, we moved on to lectio divina - holy reading.  We read daily passages of scripture, over and over until we heard a message from the Spirit coming through.  Then, we sat with that message and listened to it in our heart.  Hopefully there was some journaling of the messages we heard so we can go back to them in the future.

Today we are going to begin with lessons from the desert Saints of Christianity.  Each day I will 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 doinglectio divina - this time it will be with a short aphorism from theApophthegmata (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/


Abba Anthony



Anthony the Great, called 'The Father of Monks' was born
in central Egypt about AD the son of peasant farmers who
were Christian. In c. 269 he heard the Gospel read in
church and applied to himself the words. 'Go, sell all that
you have and give to the poor and come . . .’ He devoted
himself to a life of asceticism under the guidance of a
recluse near his village. In c. 285 he went alone into the
desert to live in complete solitude. His reputation attracted
followers, who settled near him, and in c. 305 he came out
of his hermitage in order to act as their spiritual father.
Five years later he again retired into solitude. He visited
Alexandria at least twice. Once during the persecution of
Christians and again to support the Bishop Athanasius
against heresy. He died at the age of one hundred and five.
His life was written by Saint Athanasius and was very
influential in spreading the ideals of monasticism
throughout the Christian World.

1. When the holy Abba Anthony lived in the desert he
was beset by accidie, and attacked by many sinful thoughts.
He said to God, 'Lord, I want to be saved but these thoughts
do not leave me alone; what shall I do in my affliction? How
can I be saved?' A short while afterwards, when he got up to
go out, Anthony saw a man like himself sitting at his work,
getting up from his work to pray, then sitting down and
plaiting a rope, then getting up again to pray. It was an
angel of the Lord sent to correct and reassure him. He heard
the angel saying to him, 'Do this and you will be saved.' At
these words, Anthony was filled with joy and courage. He
did this, and he was saved.

2. When the same Abba Anthony thought about the
depth of the judgements of God, he asked, 'Lord, how is it
that some die when they are young, while others drag on to
extreme old age? Why are there those who are poor and
those who are rich? Why do wicked men prosper and why
are the just in need?' He heard a voice answering him,
'Anthony, keep your attention on yourself; these things are
according to the judgement of God, and it is not to your
advantage to know anything about them.'

3. Someone asked Abba Anthony, 'What must one do in
order to please God?' The old man replied, 'Pay attention to
what I tell you: whoever you may be, always have God
before your eyes; whatever you do, do it according to the
testimony of the holy Scriptures; in whatever place you live,
do not easily leave it. Keep these three precepts and you will
be saved.'

4. Abba Anthony said to Abba Poemen, 'this is the great
work of a man: always to take the blame for his own sins
before God and to expect temptation to his last breath.'

5. He also said, 'Whoever has not experienced
temptation cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. 'He
even added, 'Without temptations no-one can be saved.'

6. Abba Pambo asked Abba Anthony, 'What ought I to
do?' and the old man said to him 'Do not trust in your own
righteousness do not worry about the past, but control your
tongue and your stomach.'

Ciao!

+Tom

Abba Arsenios - 4.0

21. It was said of him that his cell was thirty-two miles away and that he did not readily leave it: that in fact others did his errands. When Scetis was destroyed he left weeping and said, 'The world has lost Rome and the monks have lost Scetis.

22. Abba Mark asked Abba Arsenius 'Is it good to have nothing extra in the cell? I know a brother who had some vegetables and he has pulled them up.' Abba Arsenius replied, 'Undoubtedly that is good but it must be done according to a man's capacity. For if he does not have the strength for such a practice he will soon plant others.'

23. Abba Daniel, the disciple of Abba Arsenius, related this: 'One day I found myself close to Abba Alexander and he was full of sorrow. He lay down and stared up into the air because of his sorrow. Now it happened that the blessed Arsenius came to speak with him and saw him lying down. During their conversation he said to him, 'And who was the layman whom I saw here?' Abba Alexander said, here did you see him?' He said, 'As I was coming down the mountain I cast my eyes in this direction towards the cave and I saw a man stretched full length looking up into the air.' So Abba Alexander did penance, saying, 'Forgive me, it was I; I was overcome by sorrow. 'The old man said to him, 'Well now, so it was you? Good; I thought it was a layman and that was why I asked you.'

24. Another time Abba Arsenius said to Abba Alexander,
'When you have cut your palm-leaves, come and eat with me,
but if visitors come, eat with them.' Now Abba Alexander
worked slowly and carefully. When the time came, he had
not finished the palm leaves and wishing to follow the old
man's instructions, he waited until he had finished them.
When Abba Arsenius saw that he was late, he ate, thinking
that he had had guests. But Abba Alexander, when at last he
had finished, came away. And the old man said to him, 'Have
you had visitors? "No, 'he said. 'Then why did you not come?
'The other replied, 'You told me to come when I had cut the
palm-leaves; and following your instructions, I did not come,
because I had not finished.' The old man marvelled at his
exactitude and said to him, 'Break. your fast at once so as to
celebrate the synaxis untroubled, and drink some water,
otherwise your body will soon suffer.'

Ciao!

+TOM

Abba Arsenios - 3.0

So, we started with several weeks of keeping a journal.  We wrote about the various texts supplied on line.  We went back and read our journal entries and noted patterns and development.  Next, we moved on to lectio divina - holy reading.  We read daily passages of scripture, over and over until we heard a message from the Spirit coming through.  Then, we sat with that message and listened to it in our heart.  Hopefully there was some journaling of the messages we heard so we can go back to them in the future.

Today we are going to begin with lessons from the desert Saints of Christianity.  Each day I will 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 doinglectio divina - this time it will be with a short aphorism from theApophthegmata (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/



ABBA ARSENIOS



13. Abba Mark said to Abba Arsenius, 'Why do you
avoid us?' The old man said to him, 'God knows that I love
you, but I cannot live with God and with men. The
thousands and ten thousands of the heavenly hosts have but
one will, while men have many. So I cannot leave God to
be with men.'

14. Abba Daniel said of Abba Arsenius that he used to
pass the whole night without sleeping, and in the early
morning when nature compelled him to go to sleep, he
would say to sleep, 'Come here, wicked servant.' Then,
seated, he would snatch a little sleep and soon wake up
again.

15. Abba Arsenius used to say that one-hour's sleep
is enough for a monk if he is a good fighter.

16. The old man used to tell how one day someone
handed round a few dried figs in Scetis. Because they were
not worth anything, no one took any to Abba Arsenius in
order not to offend him. Learning of it, the old man did not
come to the synaxis saying, 'You have cast me out by not
giving me a share of the blessing which God had given the
brethren and which I was not worthy to receive.' Everyone
heard of this and was edified at the old man's humility.
Then the priest went to take him the small dried figs and
brought him to the synaxis with joy.

17. Abba Daniel used to say, 'He lived with us many a
long year and every year we used to take him only one
basket of bread and when we went to find him the next year
we would eat some of that bread.'

18. It was said of the same Abba Arsenius that he only
changed the water for his palm-leaves once a year; the rest of
the time he simply added to it. One old man implored him in
these words, 'Why do you not change the water for these
palm-leaves when it smells 'Instead of the perfumes and
aromatics which bad?' He said to him, I used in the world I
must bear this bad smell.'

19. Abba Daniel used to tell how when Abba Arsenius
learned that all the varieties of fruit were ripe he would say,
'Bring me some.' He would taste a very little of each, just
once, giving thanks to God.

20. Once at Scetis Abba Arsenius was ill and he was
without even a scrap of linen. As he had nothing with which

to buy any, he received some through another's charity and
he said, 'I give you thanks, Lord, for having considered me
worthy to receive this charity in your name.'

+Tom

Abba Arsenios - 2.0

7. Blessed Archbishop Theophilus, accompanied by a

magistrate, came one day to find Abba Arsenius. He

questioned the old man, to hear a word from him. After a

short silence the old man answered him ‘Will you put into

practice what I say to you?' They promised him this. 'If you

hear Arsenius is anywhere, do not go there.'

8. Another time the archbishop, intending to come to

see him, sent someone to see if the old man would receive

him. Arsenius told him 'If you come, I shall receive you; but

if I receive you, I receive everyone and therefore I shall no

longer live here.' Hearing that, the archbishop said, 'If I drive

him away by going to him, I shall not go any more.?

9. A brother questioned Abba Arsenius to hear a word

of him and the old man said to him, 'Strive with all your

might to bring your interior activity into accord with God,

and you will overcome exterior passions.'

10. He also said, 'If we seek God, he will show himself to

us, and if we keep him, he will remain close to us.'

11. Someone said to Abba Arsenius, 'My thoughts trouble

me, saying, "You can neither fast nor work; at least go and

visit the sick, for that is also charity."' But the old man,

recognising the suggestions of the demons, said to him, 'Go,

eat, drink, sleep, do no work, only do not leave your cell.'

For he knew that steadfastness in the cell keeps a monk in

the right way.

12. Abba Arsenius used to say that a monk travelling

abroad should not get involved in anything; thus he will

remain in peace.

Sayings of the Fathers and Mothers

So, we started with several weeks of keeping a journal.  We wrote about the various texts supplied on line.  We went back and read our journal entries and noted patterns and development.  Next, we moved on to lectio divina - holy reading.  We read daily passages of scripture, over and over until we heard a message from the Spirit coming through.  Then, we sat with that message and listened to it in our heart.  Hopefully there was some journaling of the messages we heard so we can go back to them in the future.

Today we are going to begin with lessons from the desert Saints of Christianity.  Each day I will 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/

ABBA ARSENIOS (Arsenius)

Arsenius was born in Rome about 36o. A well-educated
man, of senatorial rank, he was appointed by the Emperor
Tbeodosius 1 as tutor to the princes Arcadius and
Honorius. He left the palace in 394 and sailed secretly to
Alexandria. From there he went to Scetis and placed
himself under the guidance of Abba John the Dwarf. He
became an anchorite near Petra in Scetis. He seems to
have had only three disciples, Alexander, Zoilus and
Daniel. He was renowned for his austerity and silence and
his combined with his learning made him seem somewhat
forbidding to the Coptic monks. After the second
devastation of Scetis in 434 he went to the mountain of
Troe where he died in 449.

1. While still living in the palace, Abba Arsenius prayed
to God in these words, 'Lord, lead me in the way of
salvation.' And a voice came saying to him, 'Arsenius, flee
from men and you will be saved.'

2. Having withdrawn to the solitary life he made the
same prayer again and he heard a voice saying to him,
'Arsenius, flee, be silent, pray always, for these are the
source of sinlessness.'

3. It happened that when Abba Arsenius was sitting in
his cell that he was harassed by demons. His servants, on
their return, stood outside his cell and heard him praying to
God in these words, 'O God, do not leave me. I have done
nothing good in your sight, but according to your
goodness, let me now make a beginning of good.'

4. It was said of him that, just as none in the palace had
worn more splendid garments than he when he lived there,
so no one in the Church wore such poor clothing.

5. Someone said to blessed Arsenius, 'How is it that we,
with all our education and our wide knowledge get nowhere,
while these Egyptian peasants acquire so many
virtues?' Abba Arsenius said to him, 'We indeed get nothing
from our secular education, but these Egyptian peasants
acquire the virtues by hard work.'

6. One day Abba Arsenius consulted an old Egyptian
monk about his own thoughts. Someone noticed this and
said to him, 'Abba Arsenius, how is it that you with such a
good Latin and Greek education ask this peasant about your
thoughts?' He replied, 'I have indeed been taught Latin and
Greek, but I do not know even the alphabet of this peasant.'

Amen.

+Tom

Arsenios the Great