212. Abbâ Hilarion was asked, “How can it be right for a strenuous brother not to be offended when he seeth other monks returning to the world?” The old man said, “It is meet that he should consider the hunting dogs which follow after hares, for as one of these dogs giveth chase to the hare so soon as he seeth it (now the other dogs which are his companions look at that dog as he runneth, and although they run with him for a certain time, they at length become exhausted and turn back, whilst he continueth his running by himself, and is not impeded in his headlong course, and he striveth to advance, and neither resteth nor ceaseth from running because of those who have remained behind, but he runneth until he hath overtaken that which he seeth, even as I have already said, and he feareth neither the stones which come in his way, nor the thorny brambles and briars, and passeth on among the thorns, and though often torn and lacerated thereby he neither resteth nor ceaseth from his course), so also for the brother, who wisheth to follow after the love of Christ, is it right to fasten his gaze upon the Cross until he overtaketh Him that was crucified, even though he see others who have begun to turn back.”
213. A brother asked an old man, saying, “What work ought the soul to do in order to produce fruits of excellence?” The old man said unto him, “In my opinion the work of the soul is as follows: To live in silence, persistent endurance, self-denial, labour, humility of body, and constant prayer. And a man should not consider the shortcomings of men, but his own lapses; if now a man will persist in these things the soul will after no great time make manifest the fruits of spiritual excellence.”
214. An old man used to say, “Strife delivereth a man over to anger, and anger delivereth him over to blindness of the mind, and the blindness of the mind maketh him to do everything which is bad.”
215. Abbâ Elijah used to say, “I am afraid of three things: When my soul shall be about to go forth from the body; and when I am about to go forth to meet Christ; and when the sentence of doom shall be about to be sent forth upon me.”
216. Abbâ John used to say, concerning the soul which wisheth to repent, thus: There was a certain harlot in the city who had many lovers, and a certain judge came and said unto her, “Consent to lead a good life, and I will marry thee”; and she agreed, and he took her and brought her up to his house. Now when her lovers wanted her, they said, “A judge hath taken her up to his house, and if we go to his door, and he learn about it he will punish us. But let us come behind the door and whistle to her, and she will recognize the whistle and will come down to us, and we shall be blameless.” And when the harlot heard the sound of the whistling, she sealed up the hearing of her ears, and she jumped up and went into the inner bed-chamber, and shut herself in. Now the harlot is the sinful soul, and the lovers are the passions, and the judge is Christ, and the house is the wakeful mind, and those who whistle to the soul are the wicked devils; but the soul always fleeth to God.
217. They used to tell a story of a certain great old man, and say that when he was travelling along a road two angels cleaved to him and journeyed with him, one on his right hand and the other on his left. And as they were going along they found lying on the road a dead body which stank, and the old man closed his nostrils because of the evil smell, and the angels did the same. Now after they had gone on a little farther, the old man said unto them, “Do ye also smell as we do?” And they said unto him, “No, but because of thee we closed our nostrils. For it is not for us to smell the rottenness of this world, but we do smell the souls which stink of sin, because the breath of such is nigh unto us.”
218. Abbâ Anthony besought God to inform him why young children died whilst so many old men lived, and why upright men were poor whilst the wicked were rich, and why some were blind and others had their sight, and why the righteous suffered from illness whilst the wicked were healthy, and a voice came, which said, “Anthony, take care of thine own self, for these matters are the judgements of God.”
219. Whilst Abbâ Sylvanus was sitting down and the brethren with him, he dropped into a stupor which was of God, and he fell upon his face; and after a long time, when he was standing up, he wept, and the brethren entreated him, saying, “What aileth thee, O father?” But he held his peace, and they continued to press him to tell them what [ailed him]. Then he answered and said unto them, “I have just been snatched away to the place of the judgement of God, and I have seen many who belonged to our order, that is to say, Christians, going to punishment, and many men who have lived in the world going into the kingdom”; and the old man mourned and refused to come out of his cell. And he covered his face with his cloak, saying, “Why should I seek to see the light of time wherein there is no profit?”
220. On another occasion his disciple Zechariah came to him, and found him in the stupor of prayer, and his hands were raised up to heaven, and he went out and closed the door; and he came [again] at the ninth hour, and found him in the same attitude, and when he came again about the tenth hour, and found him still in the same attitude, he knocked at the door, and then went in and found him in a state of silence. And he said unto him, “What hath happened unto thee to-day, O father?” And the old man said unto him, “My son, I felt weak and ill”; but the disciple laid hold upon his feet, saying, “I will not leave thee until thou tellest me what thou hast seen.” The old man said unto him, “Swear to me that thou wilt not reveal the matter unto any man until I go forth from the body, and then I will tell thee”; and the disciple entreated him, and the old man said, “I was snatched up into the heavens, and I saw the glory of God, and I remained there until now, when I was dismissed.”
221. On one occasion Abbâ Macarius went to Abbâ Anthony in the mountain, and he knocked at his door, and he went out unto him, and said unto him, “Who art thou?” And Macarius said unto him, “I am Macarius,” whereupon Abbâ Anthony closed the door and went inside, and left him outside, but when he saw the patient endurance of Macarius he opened the door to him, and said unto him with a smile, “O Macarius, I have been wishing to see thee for a long time past, for I have heard about thee”; and having welcomed him he made him rest and refresh himself, through his love for strangers, for Abbâ Macarius had [come] from great toil. Now when the evening had come, Abbâ Anthony soaked a few palm leaves in water for himself, and Abbâ Macarius said unto him, “Give the command, and I will soak some for myself,” and Abbâ Anthony said, “Soak [some]”; and he made up a large bundle for himself, and soaked it in water, and they sat down from the evening [until the morning], and they talked together about the redemption of souls as they plaited the palm leaves, and they threw their work into the cave through the window. And when the blessed Anthony went into the cave in the morning, and saw the heap of palm-leaf work of Abbâ Macarius, he marvelled, and he seized his hands and kissed them, saying, “Great strength hath gone forth from these hands.”
222. Abbâ Poemen said, “If a man will throw himself before God, and will not esteem himself, and will cast his pleasures behind his back, [he will find that] such things are the instruments of the work of the soul.”
223. The same old man also said, “If a man observeth his grade he will not be troubled.”
224. The same old man also said, “Make thou the desire of thy lust of no effect through the remembrance of God, and thou shalt find rest.”
225. He also said, “A certain brother went to Abbâ Sîmôn to ask him for a word, and although he remained with him for seven days the old man returned him no answer; but as he was making himself ready to go away he said unto him, ‘Go, and take good heed unto thyself, for at present my sins have become a dense wall between myself and God.’”
226. Abbâ Alônîs said, “If I had not hidden (or suppressed) myself wholly I should not have been able to build myself.”
227. The same old man said, “A man is not able to know outside himself the thoughts which are in him, but when they resist him from within, if he be a warrior, he will cast them out from him.”
228. The same old man also said, “A man, wheresoever he cleaveth, is built up; look not upon thy mind.”
229. The old man often said, “Esteem not thyself, but cleave thou to him that leadeth a good life.”
230. He also said, “[In] this [life] we do not discern matters, and it doth not permit us to profit by the things which are good.”
231. The old man said, “If a thought about some bodily need come to thee and thou cast it forth once, and it come to thee a second time, and thou drivest it away, if it come to thee a third time, look not upon it, because it is war.”
232. A father who was about to die said to his sons, “Dwell ye not with heretics, and have no converse with a brother who hath a sister, and have no business with the Government, and let not thy hands be spread out to gather in, but to give to the poor who are in need.”
233. On one occasion Abbâ Evagrius said unto Abbâ Arsenius, “Since we are without learning according to the world, and we have no wisdom whatsoever, [how is it that] these Egyptian villagers possess such spiritual excellences?” Abbâ Arsenius (or Abbâ Macarius) said unto him, “We possess nothing whatsoever of the learning of the world, but these Egyptian villagers have acquired spiritual excellences through their labours.”
234. On one occasion Abbâ Arsenius asked an Egyptian old man about the thoughts, and afterwards another brother said unto Abbâ Arsenius, “How is it that whilst thou hast so much learning, both Greek and Latin, thou askest questions about the thoughts of this villager?” Then Abbâ Arsenius said unto him, “With Greek and Latin learning I am well acquainted, but I have not yet learned the alphabet of this villager.”
235. Now on one occasion when the Archbishop wished to go to visit him, he sent a message to this effect to him, and the old man sent him [back] word, saying, “If thou comest I will open unto thee, and if I open unto thee I must open unto every man, and if I open unto every man I cannot remain here.” And when the Archbishop heard these things, he said, “If I would drive him away I must go to the old man, therefore I will not go.”
236. On one occasion a brother entreated him to let him hear a word from him; and the old man said, “As far as it lieth in thy power, lead an ascetic life; and work thou that secret work which is within, if it be for God’s sake, [for] it shall vanquish [thy] passions which are external.”
237. Abbâ Poemen said, “If there be three [brethren] together, and one leadeth a fair life of silent contemplation, and the other being a weak man giveth thanks, and the other singeth and prayeth with a lowly mind, all three are performing work [of equal merit].”
238. A brother asked Abbâ Poemen, and said unto him, “Tell me: what meaneth it that thou dost not reward evil for evil?” Abbâ Poemen said unto him, “In this perception there are four divisions; the first is of the heart, the second is of the sight, the third is of the tongue, and the fourth is that in actions a man returneth evil for evil. If now thou art able to overcome the heart, thou wilt not come to the sight, but if thou comest to the sight, take heed that thou dost not speak with the tongue; but if thou speakest cut it off immediately, so that thou mayest not actually reward evil for evil; and this is the first of the four which a man may cut off, and the tongue is the second, and the third is the sight, and the fourth is the heart.”
239. The old man Anthony used to say also, “If the baker did not put a covering over the eyes of [his] animal, it would turn round and eat up its hire, and in like manner we also have received a covering by the operation of God, so that we may first of all be working good deeds without seeing them, so that we may not ascribe happiness to ourselves and so destroy the hire of our labour. Therefore are we left from time to time in unclean thoughts, and we see these only so that we may condemn ourselves, and those filthy thoughts may become a covering of the few good things which we perform. For when a man blameth himself he will not destroy his hire.”
240. Abbâ Moses asked Abbâ Sylvanus, saying, “Is it possible for a man to make a beginning each day?” And he said unto him, “If he be a man who is a worker it is possible for him to make a beginning every day.”
241. A brother asked Abbâ Sisoes, “Why do my thoughts not depart from me?” He said unto him, “Because thy things are within thee; give them their pledge and they will depart.”
242. A brother asked Abbâ Theodore, and said unto him, “If an earthquake were to take place suddenly wouldst thou not be afraid, O father?” The old man said unto him, “Even if the heavens were to cleave to the earth Theodore would not be afraid”; now he besought God formerly that trembling might be removed from him, and it was because of this fact that he who put the question to him asked him.
243. They used to say that when Abbâ Theodore was a deacon in Scete he refused to perform the ministrations of deacon, and that he fled to several places [to avoid doing so], but the old men would bring him back again, saying, “Thou shalt not forsake thy place.” Abbâ Theodore said unto them, “Permit me to make a request unto God, and if He permit me I will stand up in my place”; and when he made his petition to God, he said, “If it be Thy will, O my Lord, for me to remain, permit me [so to do].” Then there appeared unto him a pillar of fire [which reached] from earth to heaven, and a voice said unto him, “If thou art able to be like unto this pillar, go and perform thy ministrations”; but although he heard these things he would not consent to minister. And when he came to the church the brethren fell down before him and entreated him, saying, “If thou refusest to minister, at least hold the cup,” but he refused and said, “If ye will not allow me [to be] here [as I am], I will depart from these places”; and so they left him [there].
244. They used to tell a story about Abbâ Macarius the Great, who became, as it is written, an earthly God, for as God overshadoweth the world so also did Abbâ Macarius cover over the shortcomings which he saw as if he did not see them, and the things which he heard as if he heard them not.
245. On one occasion a maiden came to Abbâ Macarius to be healed of a devil, and a certain brother arrived from a monastery which is in Egypt, also, and the old man went out by night and saw that the brother was committing sin with that woman, but he did not rebuke him. And he said, “If God Who fashioned him seeth [him], and is long-suffering, for if He so desired He could consume him, who am I that I should rebuke him?”
246. I heard that the blessed man Anthony used to say, “God doth not permit wars to wax as fierce in this generation as He did in the generations of old, for He knoweth that men are [more] feeble [now], and that they could not bear [them].”
247. Abbâ Macarius used to say to the brethren concerning the desert of Scete, “Whensoever ye see cells which are turned towards the wood, know that the fall thereof is near; and whensoever ye see trees planted near the doors, [know] that it is near the door; and whensoever ye see young men dwelling therein, then take up your possessions and depart.”
248. Abbâ Muthues used to say, “Satan knoweth not by means of what passion the soul may be conquered, but he soweth, not knowing whether he will reap; but with the thoughts of fornication, and of calumny, and of all the passions towards which he seeth the soul incline doth he fight against it, and fetter it.”
249. When, on one occasion, I was sitting with a certain old man at Oxyrhyncus, now this old man used to make great alms and oblations, a widow came to him and demanded a little wheat, and he said unto her, “Go and bring a measure, and I will measure out [some] for thee.” And when she had brought it, and he took the measure in his hand he said unto her, “This is too large”; and he put the widow to the blush. And when she had gone, I said unto the Abbâ and priest, “Wast thou selling the wheat to the widow?” and he said, “No; I gave it to her in charity.” Then I said unto him, “If thou didst give all this wheat to her in charity, why didst thou act harshly with her, and measure it, and [so] put her to shame?”