604. The brethren said:—There were two brethren who were the sons of a merchant, and their father died, and they divided their inheritance between themselves, and unto each one there came five thousand dînârs. And one of the brethren divided his inheritance among the churches, and the monasteries, and the poor, and he himself became a monk, and he chose for himself a life of continual silence, and fasting, and prayer; now the other brother built a monastery for himself, and gathered brethren to him, and he took care of the strangers, and the poor, and the sick, whom he received and relieved. When the two brothers were dead there was questioning among the brethren about them, and they went to Abbâ Pambô and asked him, “Which manner of life and conduct was the more excellent and exalted?” And having learned from God, he said unto them, “They are both perfect, and in my sight they appear to be of equal merit.” Explain to us now the old man’s words, for how can the man who is destitute, and the man who hath possessions be equal [in merit]? The old man said, “Since the whole conduct of these brethren was to God, and since whatsoever they did they did it for God, with an upright aim, and since the aim of each was the same, they appeared to be in the old man’s opinion of equal merit before God.”
605. The brethren asked Abbâ Nastîr, “What rule of life and conduct should a man follow?”
The old man said, “All rules of conduct are not alike. Abraham was a lover of strangers, David was a humble man, Elijah loved silence, and God accepted the work of all of them. Whatsoever work is of God, if thy soul desireth it, that do, and God be with thee.”
606. The brethren said:—Abbâ Pambô said, “If there be three monks in one place, and one of them live in silence [it is] well, and if another be sick and he give thanks in his weakness, and if another minister to men and relieve them, all three of them are in the same service.” Reveal to us now the mind of this holy man.
And Abbâ Pambô said, “If a man dwell in silence for God’s sake, and not for the sake of vainglory, or any other human thing; and if another, who is sick, give thanks to God for his sickness, and he endure him that ministereth unto him with longsuffering, he becometh like unto him that is in silence; and if he who ministereth unto men doeth it not for a reward of this world, but for God’s sake, and if he constraineth himself in everything, and doeth the will of those who are ministered unto by him in love and gladness, he thus becometh like unto him who shutteth himself up in silence, and like unto him that is sick, and in this way the work of all three is of equal merit. For Abbâ Joseph and Abbâ Poemen divided the perfect ascetic life into three classes, and therefore Abbâ Nastîr said to that brother, ‘If thou conduct thyself according to any one of the three thou shalt be perfect.’ And this is well known from that which Abbâ Anthony said, ‘Many have afflicted themselves with labours and tribulations, and because they had not in them the power of discernment, they did not know the way of truth.’ And again he said, ‘One man might live in a cell for a hundred years, and yet not know how to dwell therein [rightly] for one day, because he humbleth not himself, and accounteth not himself a sinner, and a feeble man, and ignorant, but he justifieth himself, and blameth others; nevertheless it is right that we should know that, even though some are sick, and others relieve the wants of men and minister unto them with an upright aim, those who lead a life of silence lead a superior life, and follow a line of conduct which is more excellent than all the rules of life which are followed among brethren. And this life is superior in the same way that the Spirit of God is more exalted than the holy angels, according to what we have learned from the history of the holy men Abbâ Arsenius and Abbâ Moses the Ethiopian. For when one of the brethren went to the blessed Arsenius [to enquire of him] concerning the love of a silent life of contemplation, he neither set a table for him nor gave him refreshment; then he went to the blessed Abbâ Moses and he both welcomed him and gave him refreshment. And when one of the great fathers heard [this], he entreated our Lord to reveal to him this matter, saying, “How is it that one fleeth for Thy Name’s sake, and another welcometh and giveth refreshment for Thy Name’s sake?” And there appeared unto him on the river two ships, in one of which were Abbâ Arsenius, and the Spirit of God Who was travelling along in silence, and in the other was Abbâ Moses, who was travelling with holy angels that were feeding him upon honey, with the comb thereof. And by this the fathers understood that the life of silent contemplation was as greatly exalted above alms and ministrations as was the conduct of Matthew the Evangelist above that of Zacchaeus the tax-gatherer.’”
607. The brethren said: The brethren asked Abbâ Pambô, saying, “Supposing that a man who liveth in the world hath a wife and children, and supposing that he giveth much alms, and setteth free slaves, and redeemeth those in captivity, and visiteth the sick, and relieveth those who are afflicted, and fulfilleth all the things which are proper for him [to fulfil], is not such a man equal in labour to one of the three classes of monks, that is, to the man that dwelleth in silence, or him that is sick, or him that ministereth unto the poor?”
And the old man said, “Not altogether.”
And the brethren said, “Wherefore?”
And the old man said, “Because, although the man who is in the world leadeth a life of righteousness, his whole conduct is outside the body, but all the labour of the monks is inside the body, that is, fasting, and prayer, and vigil, and hunger, and thirst, and the constraint of the will at every moment, and wars, both secret and manifest. And it is well known and manifest that the men, who are in the world and who are exceedingly excellent in their conduct, are not equal to the monks in their labours; for our Lord Jesus Christ surnamed the monks ‘sons of light,’ and those who are in the world ‘sons of the world.’ Now the monks with their members, and with their thoughts, and with their bodies, and with their conduct serve God perfectly with stern labours and afflictions, and they offer themselves up to God as a living, and rational, and holy sacrifice, with rational and spiritual service, and they are crucified unto the world, and the world is crucified unto them, according to the word of our Lord, Who said, ‘Whosoever wisheth to come after Me, let him take up his cross, and follow Me,’ that is to say, Let him not fulfil his own will, but let him do My will only, and bear tribulations of all kinds. And monks shall leave father, and mother, and brothers, and sisters, and kinsfolk, and country, and in return for these they shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. And to the men who are in the world, He said, ‘Acquire for yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, so that when it hath come to an end they may receive you into their everlasting habitations.’ For as men who are in the world receive monks into their houses, so shall the monks receive those who have lived in the world into the kingdom of heaven; and by this our Lord shewed that all the good things of God and His kingdom belong to the monks who, from their youth even to their old age, have laboured to God in the excellent works of the ascetic and monastic life. But it is right that we should know to what degree the soul is superior to the body. The life which is led by the monks in silent contemplation, and the works thereof, are as much superior to the life which is led by righteous men in the world, as the life and conduct of the angels are superior to those of men. And the life and conduct of the monks are superior to those of men who are in the world, because the latter please God because of their love for men, whilst the monks do so because of their love for God.”
608. The brethren said, “Into how many orders have the fathers arranged the monastic life?” And the old man said, “Into three orders.”
609. The brethren said, “What are they?” And the old man said, “The perfect, those who are half perfect, and the beginners.”
610. The brethren said, “Whence canst thou prove to us that this is so?” The old man said: “From the words of our Lord in the Gospel. For he said, ‘The sower went forth to sow. And some [seeds] fell on the roadside, and others fell on the rock, and others among thorns’ (St. Matthew xiii, 3 ff.) Now these three [kinds of] seed are those who are in the world. And as concerning the other seed of which He spake, saying that it fell on good ground, and gave fruit, some thirtyfold, and some sixtyfold, and some a hundredfold, these are the grades of monks, for the seed which yielded fruit thirtyfold is the beginners, and that which yielded sixtyfold is the half-perfect, and that which yielded one hundredfold is the perfect.”
611. The brethren said, “And supposing a man in the world conducteth himself in a wholly perfect manner, and according to what is right, is not his labour equal unto that of a beginner?” The old man said, “No.”
612. The brethren said, “Why [not]?” The old man said, “Although the monk is little and is a beginner, he is still more excellent than the man in the world who keepeth every just [demand] of righteousness.”
613. “Why did Abbâ Anthony say unto Paule, his disciple, ‘Go and dwell in silence that thou mayest receive the temptations of devils?’” The old man said, “Because the perfection of the monk ariseth from spiritual conduct, and spiritual conduct is acquired by the conduct of the heart, and purity of heart ariseth from the conduct of the mind, and the conduct of the mind from prayer which is unceasing, and from strife with devils; but unceasing prayer, and the contendings with devils, both in the thoughts and in visions, have no opportunity for existence without silence and solitariness.”
614. The brethren said, “What is the meaning of that which Paphnutius and James the Lame said to Mâr Evagrius, ‘Every lapse which taketh place through the tongue, or through lust, or through an action, or through the whole body, is in proportion to the measure of pride which a man possesseth’? Now what is the lapse which cometh through lust? And what is the lapse which cometh through an action? And what is the lapse which cometh through the whole body? Enlighten us about these [various] kinds of lapses.” The old man said, “The lapse through lust is the fall which taketh place inwardly through pride, even as the blessed Macarius said, ‘Thou shalt not be lifted up in thy heart and in thy mind through the knowledge of the Scriptures, lest thou fall into a spirit of blasphemy in thy mind.’ And the lapse through the tongue resembleth that into which one of the monks once fell through his pride, and he reviled the holy man Evagrius and the fathers who were in the desert of Scete. And the lapse through an action resembleth that into which another monk fell when he became lascivious and abominable; and the lapse through the whole body resembleth that when, through his pride, one of the brethren was abandoned to the hands of thieves, and they burned him with fire.”
615. The brethren said:—Palladius said, “Once the blessed man Diocles said, ‘The mind which falleth from God is either delivered over to the devil of wrath, or to the devil of fornication.’ And I said unto him, ‘How is it possible for the human mind to be with God uninterruptedly?’ And he said, ‘In whatsoever work of the fear of God the soul [is engaged], provided that the soul hath due care, its mind is with God.’ What is the meaning of the action of which the old man spake?”
The old man said, “He calleth [a man’s] care concerning God’s promises ‘action of the fear of God,’ wishing to say thus:—If thou art unable to bind thy thought continually in various ways to God, though thou thinkest about His Majesty, and His power, and His grace, and thou prayest to Him without ceasing and without wandering [in thy prayer, thy mind cannot be with Him]; but if thou reducest thine understanding by means of the constant labour of prayer and by the thought which is on God, and more particularly through the war with devils that [accompanieth] this work, bring down thy mind by degrees from the thought which is about God, and from prayer, and fetter it with the thought which is lower than this, and meditate on the promises of God, and think upon His commandments and the correction of thyself. And set not free thy mind from spiritual care, and do not make it wander and think the thought of possibility, but fetter thy mind to some thought of excellence, which will make it gain profit. And when it hath rested somewhat, then raise it up on high, and make it to labour in the thought which is of God, and in pure prayer which hath no wandering therein. For as the growth of the capacity of those who are as yet in the grade of bodily prayer and the reading [of the Scriptures] still existeth, even when they are exhausted by standing up, and by the singing of the Psalms, and they rest their bodies for a little by sitting down and by meditation upon the reading, and when they have rested their bodies and their mind hath become enlightened through the reading, they stand up for service and prayer, so also it is right for those who have arrived at a correct conduct of the mind, and who think continually about God, and who pray to Him without wandering, when they are exhausted by this severe labour, to bring down their minds from time to time, and to relieve it by means of thought concerning some profitable subject which is less exalted than the thought about God. And this thought must take the place to them of reading, and they must meditate upon God’s promises and commandments, and upon their straightness which is in God; and if some abominable thought knock [at the door of their minds] they must quickly make their minds to enter into prayer and into the thought which is upon God. And if there stir in their heart a thought of passion, as soon as they have refreshed themselves by means of thinking about some profitable subject, they must make their mind to enter into the height of prayer, and they must pray without ceasing, and meditate upon God. And from this we know that when the soul meditateth with understanding upon some profitable subject, or upon some profitable action, its mind is with God, even as the blessed man Diocles said. Similarly, whensoever a monk thinketh about the passions of sin, or about deeds connected with the world, his mind is with Satan.”
616. The brethren said, “Why is it that the Divine Light did not shine in the hearts of all the monks until a long time after they had been cleansed by labours and contests? And why is it that the light of grace did shine upon some men before they went forth from the world and came to the ascetic life, as it did in the heart of Abraham Kindônâyâ through the Divine revelation on the day of his feast, and straightway he left his feast, and went forth from the world?”
The old man said, “Whensoever this light riseth in its order in the hearts of men, according to what the fathers say, it cometh in this wise. First of all Divine Grace maketh a man hot with the love of God, and he hateth all the glories and honours of this world; and next he cometh in a state of poverty to this rule of life, and Divine Grace itself first giveth him the love of labours, and it maketh the things which are hard easy to him. And it protecteth him from the fierce attacks of the war of devils, so that they may not, whensoever they wish and will, assault him, but only according to his strength, and his capacity, and as is convenient for his growth. And thus after many labours and contests, his heart is purified with abundant humility, and he shineth with the light of grace, and he is held to be worthy to see Christ in a revelation of light. And the fathers also said, that in proportion as the monk himself travelleth along the path of ascetic excellences to meet our Lord by means of labours and contests, so doth our Lord advance to meet him with light until they meet each other, and then the monk remaineth in our Lord by means of labours, and our Lord remaineth in him by means of his light, even as Abbâ Isaiah said in his interpretation of that which our Lord said, ‘Remain in Me and I in you.’ Thus thou seest, O my brother, that He wisheth us to remain in him first of all by the labours of righteousness, and then He will remain Himself in us in purity and in light. And the words, ‘The monk travelleth along the path of ascetic excellences until he seeth Him and is illumined by Him,’ explain the verse, ‘My soul thirsteth for Thee, the Living God,’” et cetera.