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1. Some brothers from Scetis wanted to visit Antony, and set out in a ship to go there. On board they met an old man who also wanted to go to Antony, but he did not belong to their party. During the voyage they talked about the sayings of the fathers, and the Scriptures, and then the manual work that they did, but the old man said nothing at all. When they came to the landing-place, they realized that the old man also was going to see Antony. When they arrived, Antony said to them, ‘You found good company on your journey in this old man.’ He said to the old man, ‘You found good companions in these brothers.’ The old man said, ‘Yes, they are good, but their house has no door. Anyone who wants to goes into the stable and steals the donkey.’ He said this because they had said the first thing that came into their heads.
2. Daniel said about Arsenius that he used to keep vigil all night. He would stay awake all night, and about dawn when nature seemed to force him to sleep, he would say to sleep, ‘Come, you bad servant,’ and he would snatch a little sleep sitting down, but very soon he would get up again.
3. Arsenius said, ‘One hour’s sleep is enough for a monk if he is a fighter.’
4. Daniel said of him, ‘All the years he lived near us, we gave him the minimum amount of food to last each year, and every time we went to visit him, he shared it with us.’
5. He said also that Arsenius only changed the water for his palm leaves once a year, otherwise he just added to it. He would make a plait of palm leaves and weave it till noon. The elders asked him why he would not change the water for the palm leaves, which was stinking. He said to them, ‘When I was in the world I used incense and sweet-smelling ointments, so now I profit by this stink.’
6. He also said that when Arsenius heard that all the apples were ripe, he said, ‘Bring them to me.’ He took one small bite of each kind, giving thanks to God.
7. They said of Agatho that for three years he kept a stone in his mouth in order to teach himself silence.
8. Once Agatho was going on a journey with his disciples. One of them found a small bag of green peas on the road, and said to him, ‘Abba, if you say so, I will pick it up.’ Agatho looked at him in astonishment, and said, ‘Did you put it there?’ The brother replied, ‘No.’ Agatho said, ‘Why do you want to pick up something you did not put down?’
9. Once a hermit came to see Achillas, and saw blood dripping from his mouth so he asked him, ‘What is the matter, abba?’ Achillas said, ‘A brother came and said something that upset me, and I have been brooding over that grievance. I prayed God that he would take it away, and the word turned into blood in my mouth. Look, I have spat it out, and I am now at peace, and have forgotten my grievance.’
10. Once Achillas came to the cell of Isaiah in Scetis, and found him eating. He had put salt and water in a dish. Seeing that he was hiding the dish behind the plaits of palm leaves, Achillas said, ‘Tell me what you were eating.’ He answered, ‘I am sorry, abba, but I was cutting palms and began to burn with thirst. So I dipped a piece of bread in salt, and put it in my mouth. But my mouth was parched, and I could not swallow the bread, so I was forced to pour a little water on the salt so that I could swallow it. Forgive me.’ Achillas used to say, ‘Come and see Isaiah eating soup in Scetis. If you want to eat soup, go to Egypt.’
11. They said of Ammoi that though he was ill in a bed for several years, he never relaxed his discipline and never went to the store cupboard at the back of his cell to see what was in it. Many people brought him presents because he was ill. But even when his disciple, John, went in and out, he shut his eyes so as not to see what he was doing. He knew what it means to be a faithful monk.
12. Benjamin, who was a priest in Cellia, said that some brothers went to a hermit in Scetis and wanted to give him some oil. But the hermit said, ‘Look, there is the little jar of oil which you brought me three years ago. It is still where you put it.’ Benjamin said, ‘When we heard that, we were amazed by the hermit’s austerity.’
13. They said that Dioscorus of Namisias made his bread out of barley, and his soup out of lentils. Every year he made one particular resolution: either not to meet anyone for a year, or not to speak, or not to taste cooked food, or not to eat any fruit, or not to eat vegetables. This was his system in everything. He made himself master of one thing, and then started on another, and so on each year.
14. Evagrius quoted a hermit as saying, ‘I cut away bodily pleasure in order to get rid of occasions for anger. I know that it is because of pleasure that I have to struggle with anger, my mind being disturbed, and my understanding disordered.’
15. Once Epiphanius the bishop from Cyprus sent a message to Hilarion, and asked him, ‘Come, let me see you before I die.’ When they had met and had greeted each other, part of a chicken was set before them. The bishop took it and gave it to Hilarion. The hermit said to him, ‘No, thank you, abba. From the time I took the habit, I have not eaten anything that has been killed.’ Epiphanius said to him, ‘From the time I took the habit, I have let no one go to sleep who still had something against me, and I have never gone to sleep with an enemy in the world.’ Hilarion said to him, ‘I beg your pardon. Your devotion is greater than mine.’
16. They said of Helladius that he lived twenty years in his cell, and did not once raise his eyes to look at the roof.
17. Once Zeno was walking in Palestine; and when he had finished his work, he sat down to eat near a cucumber plant. His thoughts tried to persuade him, saying, ‘Pick one of those cucumbers for yourself, and eat it. What does it matter?’ He replied to his temptation, ‘Thieves go down to torment. Test yourself then to see whether you can bear torment.’ So he stood in the sun for five days, without drinking, and he was dried up by the heat. His thoughts, as it were, spoke to him saying, ‘We can’t bear such torment.’ So he said to himself, ‘If you can’t bear torment, do not steal in order to eat.’
18. Theodore said, ‘The monk’s body grows weak if he only eats a little bread.’ But someone else said, ‘It grows weaker still if he keeps watch at night.’
19. John the Short said, ‘If a king wants to take a city filled with his enemies, he first captures their food and water, and when they are starving he subdues them. So it is with gluttony. If a man is sincere about fasting and is hungry, the enemies that trouble his soul will grow weak.’
20. He also said, ‘As I was climbing up the road which leads to Scetis, carrying plaits of palms, I saw a camel-driver who spoke to me and upset me. So I dropped what I was carrying, and ran away.’
21. Isaac the presbyter of Cellia said, ‘I know a brother who was harvesting and wanted to eat an ear of wheat. He said to the owner of the field, “Will you let me eat one ear?” When the owner heard it, he wondered, and said, “The whole field is yours, abba, why do you ask me?” That brother was as scrupulous as that.’
22. One of the brothers asked Isidore, the priest of Scetis, ‘Why are the demons so afraid of you?’ He said, ‘Ever since I became a monk, I have been trying not to let anger rise as far as my mouth.’
23. He said also that though he felt impulses towards the sins of concupiscence or of anger, he had not consented to them for forty years.
24. Cassian told a story of John who went to see Paesius who had lived for forty years in the depths of the desert. Because he loved him a great deal, he asked him with the confidence of love, ‘You have been isolated so long, and cannot easily meet any with troubles, tell me, what progress have you made?’ He said, ‘From the time I began to be a solitary, the sun has never seen me eating.’ John said to him, ‘Nor me angry.’
25. He said also that Moses told him something Serapion had said to him: ‘While I was still a boy, I was staying with Theonas; and after each meal I was moved by some demon and stole one of the pieces of bread, and ate it secretly. Theonas knew nothing of the matter. For some time I went on with this, until the sin began to dominate my mind, and I could not stop myself. My conscience troubled me, and I was ashamed to say anything to him about it. But by God’s mercy it happened that some visitors came to the hermit in search of profit to their soul, and they asked him about their thoughts. He replied, “Nothing harms the monk so much, and gives such happiness to the demons, as when he conceals his thoughts from his spiritual father.” He also talked to them about self-control. While he was speaking, I thought to myself that God had revealed to him what I had done. Stricken to the heart, I began to weep. Then I pulled the piece of bread out of my robe, threw myself on the floor, and begged forgiveness for what I had done, and asked for prayers so that I might be helped not to do it again. Then Theonas said, “My son, you are set free from your captivity without me saying anything. You are freed by your own confession. The demon, which by your silence you let dwell in your heart, has been killed because you confessed your sin. You let him control you because you never said no to him, never withstood him. He will never make a home in you again, because you have thrown him out into the open.” He had hardly finished speaking when his words were visibly fulfilled and something like a flame shot out of my breast and so filled the house with its stench that the people present thought it was sulphur burning. Theonas said, “My son, by this sign the Lord has proved that what I told you is true and you are free.” ’
26. They said of Macarius that if he was asked to eat among the brothers, he made a rule for himself that if wine was offered, he would drink it for the brothers’ sake: and then, for one cup of wine he would go without water for a whole day. Some brothers wanted to refresh him and gave him some wine. He took it with joy, so as later to punish himself. But his disciple, knowing the reason, said to the brothers, ‘For God’s sake, I beg you, do not give him any wine. In the cell afterwards he pays for it with torment.’ When the brothers heard this, they gave him no more wine.
27. Macarius the Great said to the brothers in Scetis after a service in church, ‘Flee, my brothers.’ One of the brothers said to him, ‘Abba, where can we flee when we are already in the desert?’ He put his finger upon his lips and said: ‘I tell you, you must flee this.’ Then he went into his cell, shut the door, and remained alone.
28. Macarius said also, ‘If you are stirred to anger when you want to reprove someone, you are gratifying your own passions. Do not lose yourself in order to save another.’
29. Poemen said, ‘Unless Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had come, the temple of the Lord would not have been burnt (2 Kgs. 25:8–9). Unless greed has brought idleness into the soul, the mind will not fail in its fight against the enemy.’
30. They said of Poemen that when he was invited to eat and did not want to go, he went weeping, praying that he might obey his brothers and not sadden them.
31. They told Poemen that a certain monk did not drink wine. He said to them, ‘Wine is not for monks at all.’
32. Poemen also said, ‘They smoke out bees in order to steal their honey. So idleness drives the fear of God from the soul, and steals its good works.’
33. One of the hermits told this story of Poemen and his brothers, who lived in Egypt. Their mother wanted to see them, and could not. So she looked for a chance, and stood in front of them as they were going to church. The moment they saw her, they turned, went to their cell, and shut the door in her face. But she stood at the door in misery and screamed and begged them to see her. Anub, hearing her, went to Poemen and said, ‘What shall we do about the little old woman who is crying outside the door?’ Poemen got up and went to the door; he stood just inside and heard her beseeching them miserably. He said, ‘What are you screaming for, old woman?’ When she heard his voice, she cried out the more and implored them, ‘I want to see you, my sons. Why should I not see you? Am I not your mother? Have I not given you milk at the breast, and now every hair of my head is grey? When I hear your voices, I am in distress.’ Poemen said to her, ‘Do you want to see us in this world or the next?’ She said to him, ‘If I don’t see you in this world, shall I see you in the next, my sons?’ He said, ‘If you don’t insist on seeing us here, you shall see us there.’ So the woman went away happy, saying, ‘If I shall indeed see you there, I don’t want to see you here.’
34. They said of Pior that he ate while walking about. When someone asked him why he ate in that way, he replied it was accidental and not necessary. But when someone else asked the same question, he replied, ‘It is so that I do not receive bodily pleasure from eating.’
35. They said of Peter, named Pyonius, who was in Cellia, that he did not drink wine. When he grew old, they asked him to take a little wine. When he refused, they warmed some water, and offered it to him. He said, ‘My sons, I drink it as though it were spiced wine.’ He was content with warm water.
36. Once they celebrated a great service on the mountain of Antony, and a little wine was found there. One of the elders took a small cup, and carried it to Sisois, and gave it him. He drank it and a second time Sisois received it, and drank it. An elder offered it a third time but he would not accept it, and said, ‘Stop, brother, don’t you know that Satan still exists?’
37. A brother asked Sisois, ‘What am I to do? When I go to church, love for the brothers often makes me stay to the meal afterwards.’ Sisois said to him, ‘That is burdensome.’ Abraham his disciple said to him, ‘If in the meeting after church on Saturday and Sunday, a brother drinks three cups of wine, is it a lot?’ The hermit said, ‘If there were no Satan, it would not be much.’
38. Often his disciple used to say to Sisois, ‘Come, abba, let us eat.’ He would say, ‘Haven’t we already eaten, my son?’ The disciple would reply, ‘No, abba.’ The hermit used to say, ‘If we have not eaten yet, bring the food, let us eat.’
39. Sisois once said with confidence, ‘For thirty years I have not prayed to God without sin. When I pray, I say “Lord Jesus Christ, protect me from my tongue.” Even now, it causes me to fall every day.’
40. Once Silvanus and his disciple Zacharias arrived at a monastery. The monks made them eat a little before they went on their way. When they left, the disciple saw a pool by the wayside and wanted to drink. Silvanus said, ‘Zacharias, today is a fast.’ Zacharias said, ‘But surely we have already eaten today, abba?’ The hermit said to him, ‘We ate their meal out of love for them, but when we are on our own let us keep our fast, my son.’
41. The holy Syncletica said, ‘We who have chosen this holy way of life ought above all to preserve chastity. Even among men of the world chastity is highly regarded. But in the world they are also stupid about it, and sin with their other senses. For they peep indecently, and laugh immoderately.’
42. She said also, ‘Bodily poison is cured by still stronger antidotes; so fasting and prayer drive sordid temptation from us.’
43. She also said, ‘The pleasures and riches of the world must not attract you as if they were of any use to you. Because of its pleasure the art of cooking is respected, but by rigorous fasting you should trample on that pleasure. Never have enough bread to satisfy you and do not long for wine.’
44. Sisois said, ‘Our form of pilgrimage is keeping the mouth closed.’
45. Hyperichius said, ‘Donkeys are terrified of a lion. So temptations to concupiscence are terrified of an experienced monk.’
46. He also said, ‘Fasting is the monk’s control over sin. The man who stops fasting is like a stallion who lusts the moment he sees a mare.’
47. He also said, ‘When the monk’s body is dried up with fasting, this lifts his soul from the depths. Fasting dries up the channels down which worldly pleasures flow.’
48. He also said, ‘The chaste monk shall be honoured on earth, and in heaven he will be crowned in the presence of the Most High.’
49. He also said, ‘The monk who cannot control his tongue when he is angry, will not control his passions at other times.’
50. He also said, ‘Do not let your mouth speak an evil word: the vine does not bear thorns.’
51. He also said, ‘It is better to eat meat and drink wine than to eat the flesh of the brothers by disparaging them.’
52. He also said, ‘The serpent whispered to Eve and cast her out of paradise. The man who whispers against his neighbour is like the serpent. He condemns the soul of whoever listens to him, and he does not save his own.’
53. Once there was a feast in Scetis, and they gave a cup of wine to a hermit. He threw it down, saying, ‘Take this death away from me.’ When the others who were eating with him saw this, they did not drink either.
54. Another time a vessel of wine was brought there from the first fruits of the vintage, so that a cup of it could be given to each of the brothers. A brother came in and saw that they were drinking wine, and fled up on to a roof, and the roof fell in. When they heard the noise, they ran and found the brother lying half dead. They began to blame him, saying, ‘It served you right, you were guilty of vainglory.’ But one of them embraced him, and said, ‘Leave my son alone, he has done a good work. By the living Lord, this roof shall not be rebuilt in my time, as a reminder to the world that a roof fell in Scetis because of a cup of wine.’
55. Once a priest from Scetis went to see the bishop of Alexandria. When he came back to Scetis the brothers asked him, ‘What is happening in the city?’ But he said to them, ‘Indeed, my brothers,I did not see the face of any one except the bishop.’ When they heard this, they were amazed, and said, ‘What do you think has happened to all the people?’ They hesitated to believe him. But he cheered them by saying, ‘I wrestled with my soul not to look at anyone’s face except the bishop.’ So the brothers were edified, and kept themselves from raising up their eyes.
56. Once a hermit came to see another hermit. The second one said to his disciple, ‘Make us a little lentil soup, my son.’ He made it. ‘Dip the bread in it for us.’ He dipped it. They went on with their godly conversation till noon next day. Then the hermit said to his disciple, ‘Make us a little lentil soup, my son.’ He replied, ‘I made it yesterday.’ So they got up and ate their food.
57. A hermit came to see another hermit, who cooked a few lentils and said: ‘Let us worship God and then eat.’ One of them recited the whole psalter. The other read and meditated upon two of the greater prophets. In the morning the visitor went away and they had forgotten to eat the food.
58. A brother felt hungry at dawn, and struggled not to eat till nine o’clock. When nine o’clock came, he made himself wait till noon. At noon he dipped his bread and sat down to eat, but then got up again, saying, ‘I will wait till three.’ At three o’clock he prayed, and saw the devil’s work going out of him like smoke; and his hunger ceased.
59. One of the hermits was ill, and for many days he could not eat. His disciple begged him to take something and restore his strength. So the disciple went away and made some lentil cake. A jar was hanging in the cell containing a little honey: and there was another jar with evil-smelling linseed oil, which was only used for the lamp. The brother took the wrong jar in error and put grease instead of honey into the mixture. The hermit tasted it, and said nothing, but quietly ate the mouthful. The disciple forced him to take a second mouthful. The sick hermit tortured himself and ate it. Yet a third time the disciple pressed it upon him. But he did not want to eat, and said, ‘Truly, my son, I can’t.’ But his disciple coaxed him, and said, ‘It is good, abba, look, I will keep you company.’ When the disciple tasted it and saw what he had done he fell flat on his face, and said, ‘Oh dear, abba! I have killed you, and you have caused me to sin like this because you did not say anything.’ The hermit said to him, ‘Do not worry, my son. If God had willed that I should eat honey you would have been given the honey to mix in the food.’
60. They said of one hermit that he sometimes longed to eat a cucumber. So he took one and hung it in front of him where he could see it. He was not overcome by his longing, and did not eat it, but tamed himself, and repented that he had wanted it at all.
61. Once a brother went to visit his sister who was ill in a nunnery. She was someone of great faith. She herself had never agreed to see a man nor did she want to give her brother occasion for coming into the company of women. She commanded him, ‘Go away, my brother, and pray for me, for by Christ’s grace I shall see you in the kingdom of heaven.’
62. On a journey a monk met some nuns and when he saw them he turned aside off the road. The abbess said to him, ‘If you had been a true monk, you would not have looked to see that we are women.’
63. Once some brothers went to Alexandria to see Archbishop Theophilus and to be present when after the service he destroyed a pagan temple. While they were eating with the archbishop, they were served with veal, and ate it without realizing it. The archbishop took a piece of meat, and gave it to the brother who was sitting next to him, and said, ‘Look, here is a good piece of meat. Eat it, abba.’ But they answered him, ‘Till now, we thought we were eating vegetables. If this is meat, we do not eat it.’ None of them would take another mouthful.
64. A brother brought some new bread to Cellia and invited the monks to taste it. When they had each eaten two rolls of bread, they stopped. But the brother knew how austere was their abstinence, and humbly began to beg them, ‘For God’s sake eat today until you are filled.’ So they ate another two rolls each.
See how these true and self-disciplined monks ate much more than they needed, for God’s sake.
65. Once one of the hermits lay gravely ill, and was losing a lot of blood from his bowels. A brother brought him some dry fruit, and stewed it, and offered it to him, saying, ‘Eat; perhaps it will do you good.’ The hermit looked at him for a long time, and said, ‘I want you to know that I wish God would leave me my sickness for thirty years more.’ In his weakness he absolutely refused to take even a little food; so the brother took away what he had brought, and returned to his cell.
66. Another hermit had lived in the desert for a long time. It happened that a brother came to see him and found he was ill. He washed his face, and made a meal for him out of what he had brought. When the hermit saw it, he said, ‘Well, brother, I had forgotten that men found comfort in food.’ He offered him a cup of wine also. When he saw it, he wept, saying, ‘I hoped I would never drink wine before I died.’
67. A hermit made a resolution not to drink anything. If ever he was thirsty he washed a vessel and filled it with water and hung it in front of his eyes. When the brothers asked him why he was doing this, he replied, ‘So that if I do not taste what I long for although I can see it, my devotion will be greater and I shall be granted a greater reward by the Lord.’
68. On a journey, a brother had with him his old mother. They came to a river, and the old woman could not get across. Her son took off his cloak, and wrapped it round his hands, so as not to touch his mother’s body and carried her across the river. His mother said to him, ‘Why did you wrap up your hands like that, my son?’ He said, ‘Because a woman’s body is fire. Simply because I was touching you, the memory of other women might come into my mind.’
69. One of the monks said that he knew a brother who fasted in his cell for the whole of Holy Week. When at last he came to mass on Saturday, he went away as soon as he had communicated, to prevent the other brothers forcing him to join in the dinner in the church. In his own cell he only ate some boiled beetroot, with salt but without bread.
70. At a meeting of the brothers in Scetis, they were eating dates. One of them, who was ill from excessive fasting, brought up some phlegm in a fit of coughing, and unintentionally it fell on another of the brothers. The brother was tempted by an evil thought and felt driven to say, ‘Be quiet, and do not spit on me.’ So to tame himself and restrain his own angry thought he picked up what had been spat and put it in his mouth and swallowed it. Then he began to say to himself. ‘If you say to your brother what will sadden him, you will have to eat what nauseates you.’