121. “It is good for a man to die unto every work which is evil, and he should not vex a man before his departure from the body.”
122. “If a man doth not put himself in the attitude of a sinner, his prayer will not be heard before God.” A brother said unto him, “What is a sinful soul?” And the old man said, “Every one who beareth his own sins, and considereth not [those] of his companion.”
123. The old man also said unto him, “If works do not correspond to prayer he who prayeth laboureth in vain.” And a brother asked him: “What is the equality of works with prayer?” The old man said unto him, “He who prayeth that he may receive the remission of sins must not henceforth be negligent, for if a man relinquisheth his own will, he will be accepted by God rightly.”
124. A brother asked an old man, saying, “Fasting and praying which spring from men, what do they effect?” The old man said unto him, “They make the soul to be humble before God, for it is written, ‘Look upon my subjugation, and my labour, and forgive me all my sin’ (Psalm xxv, 18). For if the soul be afflicted it will receive mercy from God.”
125. A brother said unto an old man, “What shall a man do in every temptation which cometh upon him, and during every thought of the Enemy?” The old man said unto him, “It is right for a man to weep before the grace of God so that He may help him, and he shall speedily find relief if he make his supplication with knowledge, for it is written, ‘The Lord is my Helper, I will not be afraid what man shall do unto me’” (Psalm cxviii, 6; Hebrews xiii, 6).
126. The perfection of all spiritual excellences is for a man not to judge his neighbour. For when the hand of the Lord slew the first-born of Egypt, there was no house wherein there was not one dead person. Then a brother said unto the old man, “What is the meaning of these words?” The old man said unto him, “If we allow ourselves to view closely our own sins we shall not see those of our neighbour. It is folly for a man to forsake his own dead and to lament over that of his neighbour.”
127. And in respect of the words “A man should put his own soul to death rather than [that] of his neighbour,” they mean that a man should bear his own sins, and should be remote from the anxiety of all men. And he should not say, “This is good, and this is bad”; and he should not do harm to any man; and the wickedness of thy neighbour should not be remembered in thy heart; and thou must not hold in contempt the man who hath done wickedness to thy friend; and thou must not deliver thy will over to him that doeth evil to thy neighbour; and thou must not rejoice in that which causeth evil to thy neighbour. This is the meaning of the words that a man “should die rather than [his] neighbour.” And thou shalt not speak evilly of a man, but say, “God knoweth every man”; and thou shalt not take pleasure in evil converse, and thou shalt not deliver thy will over to him that revileth thy neighbour. This is the meaning of the words, “Judge not that ye be not judged.” And thou shalt not make enmity against any man, and thou shalt not make any enmity in thy heart, and thou shalt not hate him that worketh enmity against his neighbour, and thou shalt not judge his enmity, and thou shalt not keep wrath against a brother who keepeth wrath against his neighbour. For this is peace.
128. Now the conclusion of all these things is that whatsoever thou hearest thou must speak, but this is not the opinion to which I incline, and I am a sinner; for because of these things God will give thee rest. When thou risest up in the morning each day, lay hold upon a governor who will suit every kind of spiritual excellence, and every command of God with abundant long-suffering, and in humility of soul and of body, and with patience and tribulations, and with thoughts and prayers, and supplications, and with groanings, and with the cleansing of the tongue, and with watching of the eyes, in suffering abuse without being angry and maintaining peace, in not rewarding evil for evil without discretion. And thou must not regard the lapses [of others], and thou must not measure thine own [excellence], but thou must be the lowest thing in creation through alienation from the things of the body and multitudinous affairs, through the agony of the cross, and poverty of spirit, and good desire, and spiritual self-abnegation, and fasting, and repentance, and tears, through the strife of war, and discretion, and purity of soul, through noble patience, and vigil by nights, and hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and cold, and labours. And thou must keep hold upon thy grave as if thou wert already dead, and as if death were thy neighbour every day, in the mountains, and in the caves, and in the holes of the earth; and take heed that thou dost not become merely a hearer of the Word and not a doer of it. For those who do these things are indeed they who are clothed in the wedding garments, and they it is who have worked with the talents.
129. A brother asked an old man, saying, “Father, what answer shall I return unto those who abuse us and say that we do not return to the world because of our laziness, and that by the work of our hands and the labour of our souls we do not relieve strangers?” The old man said unto him, “Although we have from the Law and from the commandments of our Lord many things wherewith we could make answer concerning the crown of perfection, yet we must make answer, with humility, in this wise: Beloved, when the Ninevites were in need of repentance, which of them did these things for the necessity of the world and the rights thereof? Did not even the king himself refrain from this thing and take the same course as the men of olden time, and those of the later time, and those who were before them? And he kept silence and was quiet, even according to all the characteristics of the world, and up to the present no [men] have described the punishment which befitted them. Thus also it is with us, and because we have sinned against and transgressed the natural and written law we bring to naught all [the characteristics] of the world until we shall perceive that reconciliation hath come, and the penalty of the rights of olden time and of the commandments hath been dissolved. And did not Paul also teach us this, [when he said], ‘He who wageth a strife keepeth his mind [free] from everything else?’ (Compare 1 Corinthians ix, 24, 25.) And a man must not rest until the Lord blot out seed from Babel.”
130. A brother asked an old man, saying, “What shall I do with my mind which fighteth [against me]? For it is better and also a greater thing for me to go into the world and to teach and convert many, and to become like unto the Apostles.” The old man said unto him, “If there be in thy mind no fear that thou hast fallen short in the matter of any of the commandments, and if thou hast also felt that thou hast arrived at the haven of rest, and if thou hast no feeling about anything in thy mind, then go; but if thou hast not all these things together in thee, [the desire] is due to the operation of wickedness which urgeth thee on, so that it may cast thee down from thine integrity.”
131. On one occasion the brethren were eating together in Scete, and John Kolob was with them, and a great priest rose up to give them a pitcher of water, but no man would accept it from him except John Kolob; and they all marvelled and said unto him, “How is it that thou who art the least among all of us hast been so bold as to take the pitcher from him, and drink, whilst none of us dared to do so?” Then Abbâ John said unto them, “When I stand up I rejoice that every man should take [the pitcher] from me and drink, so that I may have a reward, and I considered on this occasion also, and I took [the pitcher] and drank so that there might be a reward to him, and that he might not be grieved because no man accepted [water] from him, and that his [good] will might not be wronged.” And when he had said this the fathers marvelled at his intelligence, and they all obtained benefit by his word[s].
132. A brother asked Poemen, saying, “I observe my soul, so that wheresoever I go I may find help”; the old man said unto him, “Even those who bear swords have a God, Who hath mercy upon them in this life. If then we were to find ourselves in islands of terror God would deal with us according to His mercy.”
134. Abbâ Poemen used to say that Abbâ Ammon said, “One man spendeth the whole period of his life holding an axe in his hand [ready] to cut down a tree, and never findeth the opportunity of wielding it; and another man, who knoweth well how to fell trees, heweth with three axes, and wieldeth them [against trees]. Now,” he said, “the axe [in this case] is discretion [or discernment].”
135. Abbâ Poemen also said that Abbâ Anthony said concerning Abbâ Pambô, “This man feared God so greatly that he made the Spirit of God to dwell in him.”
136. Abbâ Poemen used to say, “The fear of God teacheth a man all spiritual excellences.”
137. A brother asked Abbâ Poemen, saying, “Why do my thoughts persuade me to esteem myself and compare myself with one whose rule of conduct is more excellent [than mine], and to despise that man as much as if he had been my inferior?” The old man answered and said, “The blessed Apostle spake concerning this, saying, ‘In a large house there are not only vessels of gold and vessels of silver, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware. If now a man will cleanse his soul from all these things, he shall become a vessel which is suitable and convenient for the honour of his Lord, and he will be ready for every good work’” (2 Timothy ii, 20, 21). That brother said unto him, “How are these matters to be explained?” And the old man said unto him, “They are to be explained thus. The house is the world and the vessels are the children of men. The vessels of gold must be taken as representing the perfect, and those of silver are the men who are inferior to them in the measure of ascetic deeds, and the other vessels of wood and earthenware are those who possess a little ascetic excellence. If now a man will cleanse his soul from all the things which are outside what is right, he will become a pure vessel of honour suitable for the use of his Lord, and be ready for every good work.”
138. A brother also asked Abbâ Poemen, “Why is it that I am not allowed to be free in my thoughts like the other old men?” The old man said unto him, “John Kolob used to say, ‘The Enemy doth not rejoice in anything so much as in those who do not reveal and lay bare their thoughts to their fathers.’”
139. Abbâ Poemen used to say, “Men are wont to speak great and perfect things, but in their deeds they draw nigh unto the things which are little and inferior.”
140. An old man used to say, “Neither shame nor fear confirms sin.”
141. An old man used to say, “As the company of the monks is more excellent than and superior to the children of the world, so it is meet that the monk who is a stranger should be a mirror to those who are found in a monastery which is devoted to the ascetic life.”
142. A brother asked an old man, saying, “What shall I do?” The old man said unto him, “Go, and love the constraint of thyself in everything.”
143. The same old man said unto him, “Reveal and shew forth thy gift”; and the brother said unto him, “My thoughts will not permit me [to do so].” The old man said, “It is written, ‘Call upon Me in .the day of affliction, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt praise Me’ (Psalm 1, 15); call then upon Him, and He shall deliver thee.”
144. An old man used to say, “Teach thy heart to keep and to take heed unto the things which thy tongue speaketh.”
145. An old man used to say, “If a man teacheth and performeth not he is like unto the large basin which receiveth the water for the assembly, which watereth and cleanseth many, but cannot itself be cleaned, and is full of dirt and impurity.”
146. Abbâ Jacob used to say, “As a lamp illumineth a dark chamber, so doth the fear of God, if it abide in the heart of a man, illumine him, and teach him all the excellences of the commandments of God.”
147. Abbâ Muthues used to say, “I would rather have the man with a little work, which abideth and is constant, than him who at the beginning laboureth severely, and soon ceaseth altogether.”
148. On one occasion Abbâ Theodore went to Abbâ John, who was an eunuch from his mother’s womb, and as they were talking together about spiritual excellences, he said, “When we were in Scete the cultivation of the soul was our labour, and we worked with our hands only in the ordinary way, and we only did work of this kind when it came [in the way]; to-day, however, the cultivation of the soul is made our ordinary work, which is performed whensoever it happeneth to come [in the way], and the work of our hands, which was always regarded as a common matter, hath become unto us a serious matter and an object of earnest solicitude.”
149. A brother asked an old man, saying, “What is the cultivation of the soul like? And what is the labour of the hands like?” The old man said unto him, “Whatsoever happeneth for God’s sake is the cultivation (or labour) of the soul; but whatsoever a man doeth for himself, or whatsoever he gathereth together for himself, is the labour of the hands.” That brother said unto him, “Father, teach me a proof of this matter which I do not understand.” The old man said unto him, “It is as if a man were to say, Behold, thou hearest that I am sick, and thou sayest in thyself, Now I have a piece of work to do, shall I leave [it], and go and visit him, or shall I finish it first and then go? And however many times thou art prevented [from going] for some reason or cause, and however many times the brother saith unto thee, Come, take me, and help me, thou sayest within thyself, Shall I leave my work and go and help him? But if thou goest not, behold, thou hast abrogated the commandments of God, which are for the cultivation of the soul, because of the work of the hands. If then a man ask thee, go with him, since this is a work of God, for He said, ‘If a man compel thee to go a mile with him, go two’” (St. Matthew v, 41).
150. A brother asked Abbâ Marcianus, saying, “What shall I do so that I may live?” And the old man answered and said unto him, “He who looketh above seeth not what is below; he who is occupied closely with the things which are below hath no knowledge of what is above. And he who understandeth the things which are above is not concerned with what is below, for it is written, ‘Turn ye, and know that I am God’” (Psalm xlvi, 10).
151. Abbâ Poemen said that Abbâ John cultivated all spiritual excellences.
152. A brother asked one of the old men, saying, “If I am being tempted, and a temptation come upon me, and I have no one in whom I have confidence to tell about it, what shall I do?” The old man said unto him, “I believe in God, and that He will send His Grace, and will comfort thee, and give thee strength if thou will ask Him in truth and wilt make supplication unto Him. For I have heard that a matter like unto this took place in Scete, where there was a man whose rule and conduct were excellent, and he fell into temptation, and he became oppressed in his mind, and because he had no man in whom he had confidence to reveal the matter to, and none to bid him be of good courage, he made himself ready to depart. And behold, the grace of God appeared unto him by night in the form of a virgin, and she comforted him, saying, ‘Depart not, but dwell here with me, for not one of the things of which I have heard shall be performed’; and straightway his mind was healed, and he was consoled and strengthened.”
153. A certain brother used to say, “I knew an old man who dwelt in the mountain who would never agree to accept anything from any man; now he possessed a little water, and with it he used to care for and water a few garden herbs which he had. And he lived this life for fifty years, and he never went outside the fence of his cell. He was exceedingly famous because of the numerous cures which he wrought daily upon those who came to him. He died in peace, leaving in his place five brethren.”