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We are looking for a part-time development director. Click here for details.

CONNECTION, COMMUNITY, COMPASSIONATE LISTENING: The Franciscan Spirituality Center is a sacred place of peace and hospitality for those seeking spiritual renewal, personal and professional growth, healing, transformation and deeper self-awareness. We are dedicated to supporting anyone in their search for God, meaning and wholeness. We invite you to explore our many offerings: individual and group compassionate listening, daylong programs, guided and preached retreats, mind-body-spirit classes, opportunities for creative expression, meeting room space for organizations, hermitage stays and an innovative training program for spiritual directors. No visit is complete without a stop in our fabulous Sophia Bookstore or well-stocked lending library. Staff is also available for off-site workshops, presentations and programs. All are welcome!
Click here for a virtual tour of the FSC.

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We are looking for a part-time development director. Click here for details. CONNECTION, COMMUNITY, COMPASSIONATE LISTENING: The Franciscan Spirituality Center is a sacred place of peace and hospitality for those seeking spiritual renewal, personal and professional growth, healing, transformation and deeper self-awareness. We are dedicated to supporting anyone in their search for God, meaning and wholeness.

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The Ignatian Spirituality Institute can offer presenters, programs, days of reflection for your faith community. The ISI team is available to explore possible programming with and for Diocesan Offices, Parishes, Schools, and other religious organizations. Contact ISI by phone: 940-268-8788, or via email here.

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Welcome to the Parish of St. Ignatius of Loyola

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As a Jesuit parish community, animated by the spirit of St. Ignatius, we welcome all to share in the joy of the Gospel and to come to "know, love and serve" God and one another. Read More...

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Ignatian Spirituality | Ignatian Spirituality

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Ignatian spirituality is grounded in the conviction that God is active in our world. As the great Jesuit paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote: "God is not remote from us. He is at the point of my pen, my pick, my paintbrush, my needle-and my heart and my thoughts."

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Ignatian spirituality is an approach to spirituality based on the teachings of St. Ignatius. Learn more about Ignatian spirituality at Loyola Press.

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Ignatian spirituality is a spirituality for everyday life. It insists that God is present in our world and active in our lives. It is a pathway to deeper prayer, good decisions guided by keen discernment, and an active life of service to others.

Getting Started with Ignatian Spirituality
Beyond the Basics of Ignatian Spirituality
For the Ignatian Expert

Getting Started with Ignatian Spirituality

Where Can I Find God?
Ignatian spirituality is rooted in the conviction that God is active, personal, and-above all-present to us.

How Can I Pray?
Overview of the Examen, a technique of prayerful reflection on the events of the day.

10 Elements of Ignatian Spirituality
An overview of its unique insights, attributes, and history.

The Ignatian Way
A series of online presentations that introduce the main ideas of Ignatian spirituality, based on materials written by Brian Grogan, SJ.

31 Days with St. Ignatius
A month-long celebration that serves as a good introduction to the riches of Ignatian spirituality.

God in All Things Video
"The key insight of Ignatius Loyola is that we can find God in all things."

St. Ignatius Loyola
Biographies and other resources for learning about Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits and the namesake for Ignatian spirituality.

Beyond the Basics of Ignatian Spirituality

Magis Video
"Magis," Latin for "more," is a key concept in Ignatian spirituality.

Magis (PDF)
By Fr. Fran Daly, SJ
Short essay from Partners magazine explaining the Ignatian concept of the Magis.

AMDG Video
This short video features students from Jesuit high schools explaining what "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam" means to them.

For the Ignatian Expert

Searching for Meaning Today: An Ignatian Contribution (PDF)
By Brian O'Leary, SJ
In this 2005 article from the Review of Ignatian Spirituality, O'Leary brings the 16th century Ignatian experience and insight into dialogue with our postmodern search for meaning. The article is best suited to those already at an advanced level of knowledge about Ignatian spirituality.

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Ignatian spirituality is a spirituality for everyday life. It insists that God is present in our world and active in our lives. It is a pathway to deeper prayer, good decisions guided by keen discernment, and an active life of service to others.

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'A Pilgrimage of Hope': Historical Background Information

Rome

Welcome to Rome! This is an ancient place, a place of beauty, of faith and of pilgrimage down through the centuries. It is also a living city, the capital of Italy and the birthplace of the European Union, where the treaty of Rome was signed in 1957.

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Welcome to Rome! This is an ancient place, a place of beauty, of faith and of pilgrimage down through the centuries. It is also a living city, the capital of Italy and the birthplace of the European Union, where the treaty of Rome was signed in 1957.

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The Charism of Carmel embraces a healthy balance of solitude and community-living.

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In order to foster and facilitate relationship with God, through prayer and contemplation, Carmelite spirituality proposes certain means, both personal and communal, namely meditation on the word of God, liturgy, silence and solitude, and asceticism. The Rule of St.

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Franciscan Spirituality | Felician Sisters

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Our spirituality draws upon four fundamental Franciscan values: minority-serving among and standing in solidarity with the poor and oppressed; prayer-from which all service flows; poverty-to live i

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francis franciscan sister sisters little falls minnesota community serve gospel peace donate clare women prayer music mission earth franciscan sisters little falls francis music music center  jesus christ roman catholic  francis music center
st francis

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The Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, Minnesota, is a community of Roman Catholic women religious who follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ, walking in the footsteps of Saints Francis and Clare of Assisi.

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When people ask us "What is a monk", we often have to decide on the short, medium or long answer.

SHORT: We are 40 Benedictine monks of the Roman Catholic Church living in Subiaco, Arkansas, USA. We follow the 1,500 year old Rule as written by our holy father Saint Benedict who lived in Italy (you can learn more about that Rule by clicking HERE). This Rule and monastic way of life flow from the ancient biblical model of radical Christian discipleship as found in Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-35. Those men and women who lived out this radical way of life (most often alone in the desert) were referred to as "monks" or "monastics". Our balanced life of prayer and work (known in Latin as "Ora et Labora") has existed in Arkansas since our founding in 1878 by monks from St. Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana.

MEDIUM: The life of a monk is concerned with the one thing necessary: quaerere Deum (to seek God). He lives in the Monastery, submits to the authority of the Abbot, and follows the Rule of Our Holy Father Benedict. Monasticism is the most ancient manifestation of the religious state in the Church, which itself has always been held to be the highest and most privileged means to the universal end of the Christian religion.

Through the three vows of Obedience, Stability, and Conversatio Morum a monk pursues the perfect fulfillment of the Gospel precepts. He sacrifices the lesser goods of this world in order to make room for Christ above all and before all, who is Goodness Itself. The monk accepts Christ's words to the rich young man: "If you wish to be perfect, go and sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." (Matthew 19.21). This Rule and monastic way of life flow from the ancient biblical model of radical Christian discipleship as found in Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-35.

The monk seeks here and now that union that Jesus Christ shares with the Father. Like the prophet Elijah in the Old Testament, or St. Paul in the New Testament, the monk leads a celibate life as a means to this union. This is an eschatological sign of his exclusive dedication to God, the infinite Good. This union grows through prayer and charity, and the daily joys and sufferings of life in this valley of tears. In prayer the monk spends time with the one he loves. In as much as the neighbor is made in the image of God and redeemed by Christ's Precious Blood, the monk practices Christian charity towards his brethren for the sake of God and in God. A similar dynamic occurs in marriage.

The monk seeks God exclusively. Detached from all creatures, he gives himself totally to the Creator. For the sake of Our Lord, he renounces the highest natural goods: marriage, children, and free will. The monk makes an oblation of his whole being to God, intellect and will, body and soul.

As monks called to such a vocation, unworthy though we be, we hope in the words of Our Holy Father Benedict to "persevere in fidelity to God's teaching in the monastery until death so that through our patience we may be granted a share in the sufferings of Christ, and so receive a share in His Kingdom." ( Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue).

LONG: Because of the long and varied history of Benedictine Monasticism over the past 1,500 years, it would take volumes of books to do justice to the subject. We will, though, show you one really cool papyrus and direct you to one nicely written LONG article.

First, we know that monks exhisted in the Church from its earliest days. In fact, the presence of those Christians that we now call monks were attested by scholars well before the end of the first century. These were men and women who were called by God to live out the radical Christian discipleship that was lived by the early church found in Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-35. Some of these men and women lived alone in the desert ("monochos"), others lived in cities, and even others lived this way of life as a group in a single monastic community (sometimes referred to as "coenobitic monasticism"--St. Augustine was a monk and liked to quote Psalm 133:1 in this regard--"Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!") The earliest "written" use of the word "monk" ("monachos") can be found in a petition that was written in Greek by Arsinoites of Karanis (south of Cairo), Egypt, sometime around 324 AD. The writer was suing his neighbor (and seeking justice) because the neighbor's cow kept getting loose and trampling the writer's garden. The writer was able to grab the cow out of the garden, when the owner and friends with clubs started beating him. Luckily, a Deacon named Antonius was traveling on the road with a MONK named Isaac. They came to the aid of Arsinoites so he was not killed (If you would like to see a copy of this actual papyrus, then click HERE. You can also click the link on this page to see the Greek with it's English translation). The existence of Christian monks certainly pre-dated this, but this is the first instance we have of where the actual word MONACHOS was used in writing. We also know from the ancient Pilgrimage Diary of Egeria that a diverse group of monks (coenobitic and anchorites/hermits) were present in vast numbers throughout Egypt and the Holy Land when she made her pilgrimage in 381-384 AD.

Next, the history of monasticism (and in particular where St. Benedict enters the story) is so extensive that a former Abbot Primate, Jerome Theisen, took the time to provide a brief introduction for the general public. This introduction has numerous links which you can use to further explore this fascinating subject. You can find this introduction by clicking HERE

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When people ask us "What is a monk", we often have to decide on the short, medium or long answer. SHORT: We are 40 Benedictine monks of the Roman Catholic Church living in Subiaco, Arkansas, USA.

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Other articles where Benedictine Rule is discussed: Gregory, in his only reference to the Rule, described it as clear in language and outstanding in its discretion. Benedict had begun his monastic life as a hermit, but he had come to see the difficulties and spiritual dangers of a...

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First: 4th and 5th Centuries Egypt: Men and Women Go into the Desert to Seek the Divine through Extreme Asceticism and Meditation

"In the fourth century a.d. the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, Arabia and Persia were peopled by a race of men.... They sought a way to God that was uncharted and freely chosen, not inherited from others who had mapped it out beforehand. They sought a God whom they alone could find, not one who was 'given' in a set stereotyped form by somebody else." ...Thomas Merton, The Wisdom of the Desert

Second: 4th and 5th Centuries Egypt: In Alexandria, Many Seek the Divine through Philosophy, Mysticism, and Alexandrine Teaching

"Many centuries before our time, in the learned circles of a wonderful city, men were greatly interested in the stars, in the elements, in the cosmic process, in time and space, in the relations of the spiritual to the material, in the possibilities of the ages yet to be and in the perennial riddle of the future of the human soul."... R. Tollinton, Alexandrine Teaching.

Neoplatonism and the Desert Fathers in Late Roman Antiquity

Just before the dark ages, in the learned circles located in Alexandria, Egypt, early Christianity competed with other philosophies and religions to explain the nature of God, the afterlife,

and the fate of the human soul. During the 2nd to 4th centuries, the two Alexandrian schools, The Catechetical School of Alexandria (a Christian theological school)and the Alexandrine Schools, (a secular prototype university) flourished side by side as early church fathers, Clement and Origen blended Platonic philosophy into an early version of Christian philosophy.

The Platonic view of man as a soul imprisoned within a body or viewing the body as a sarcophagus eventually became known as Neoplatonic philosophy or Neoplatonism. Eventually the Christian view of man favored the Hebrew concept of man as an antimated body, an idea taken from the mythical Genesis story of creation. This shift in the view of man from an imprisoned soul to an animated man would eventually prove significant.

By the 5th Century Christian view of man, based on the mythical Genesis story, became ossified by a largely political process that began with the firstecumenical council, chaired by Roman Emperor Constantine in 325 CE. Subsequently the emergence of a new definition for the concept of heresy, for the first time in recorded history (The word "heresy" means a "choice" or an "opinion," but it came to mean an "incorrect" theological belief.), eventually led to the two schools becoming mortal enemies.

Many of the early desert fathers were monks educated at the Alexandrine University and the related Catechetical School, both located in Alexandria, Egypt. Many of these monks were exposed to the teachings of Plato that tended to fuse the writings of Plato and Christianity into Neoplatonism. Two of the early Church FathersClement (150 - 215) and Origen (185 - 254), as heads of the Cathechetical School in Alexandria, were instrumental in the education of these monks. The teachings and writings from both these early Church fathers were influenced by Neoplatonism. Origen's writing were declared heretical by the Church in the 6th century.

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First: 4th and 5th Centuries Egypt: Men and Women Go into the Desert to Seek the Divine through Extreme Asceticism and Meditation "In the fourth century a.d. the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, Arabia and Persia were peopled by a race of men....

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In this transcript of a retreat talk, Trevor Miller offers an outline for Understanding Desert Monasticism.

DESERT FATHERS

In the early centuries of the Church's history, spreading as it did along the trade routes of the Middle East and the Mediterranean and Aegean coastlands, places of worship were the homes of believers or the open air, wherever they could meet unseen because there was much persecution of the followers of Christ.

This all changed early in the 4th Century, when the Roman Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity, elevating it to the state religion through the Edict of Milan in 313 AD and by doing so ushered in a major cultural shift. After 3 centuries of 'being homeless in the world' Christians began to find themselves in favour, rather than persecuted. The result was confusion and bewilderment in those who had accepted themselves as aliens and strangers in this world. Many accepted Constantine's edict of toleration but it resulted in the cutting edge of the Church's life being blunted as for the first time nominalism took root (believers in name only) further resulting in mediocrity, accommodation and compromise as social standing became the reason for faith and not love of Jesus Christ.

It was at this point, when Christians began to find themselves at home in the world, where those who had previously persecuted the Christians were putting out the welcome mat and sitting in the 'same pew', that the response to the 'call of the desert' began to gain momentum, beginning at first with a few, and then a multitude.

Thomas Merton wrote "It should seem to us much stranger than it does, that this paradoxical flight from the world attained its greatest dimensions (I almost said frenzy) when the 'world' officially became Christian."

Was this Christian withdrawal into the desert purely a negative move? Was it a retreat from all the complications and compromise in those attempting to Christianise society? Was it a judgmental act, motivated to shame those Christians who had decided to stay and work out their salvation in the city? Which group of Christians made the right response to this new and 'favourable' situation, those who stayed in the 'city' or those who withdrew to the desert? In the mystery of God the answer has to be - BOTH.

One of my favourite stories, which I think will illustrate this point, comes from Elizabeth Goudges' book on the life of St Francis of Assisi. There is a moment when St Francis meets with Cardinal John, and the two embrace. You can imagine the scene, Francis in his robes of poverty and the cardinal dressed elegantly. Yet as they embrace they realise they share the same heart and devotion for the Lord. Yet, one is called to the temptations of poverty, and the other to the temptations of riches or, to put it another way, one is called to the temptations of the desert, and the other to the temptations of the city.

The moral of the story is that we each have to follow our vocation; to be who we are. Our Hild liturgy puts it well as we each pray, 'Lord, show me the right seat; Find me the fitting task; Give me the willing heart.'

The Desert Fathers and Mothers retreated to the outskirts of the cities and into the Deserts of Egypt, Syria and Palestine to think through the meaning of such change and to find a different way of being a Christian in the world.

Paradoxically so many people came to them for spiritual guidance, help and instruction so that within 50 years eyewitness accounts reported that the population of the desert equalled that of the towns. Some of the pilgrims stayed and this became the beginnings of Community. However, the Desert Fathers again sought solitude and withdrew from the new Community expression but the cycle repeated itself, resulting in many Communities springing up all over. Much of what was taught was in the form of pithy sayings and observations of wisdom. Here is a good example:

A brother came to visit Abba Sylvanus at Mount Sinai. When he saw the brothers working hard, he said to the old man, "Do not work for food that perishes, for Mary has chosen the good part." Then the old man called his disciple, "Zachary, give this brother a book and put him in an empty cell." Now when it was three o'clock the brother kept looking out of the door to see if someone would call him for the meal. But nobody called him, so he got up, went to see the old man, and asked: "Abba, didn't the brothers eat today?" The old man said, "Of course we did." "Then why didn't you call me?" he said. The old man replied, "You are a spiritual person, and do not need that kind of food, but since we are earthly, we want to eat and that's why we work. Indeed you have chosen the good part, reading all day long, and not wanting to eat earthly food." When the brother heard this he repented and said, "Forgive me, Abba." Then the old man said to him: "Mary certainly needed Martha, and it is really by Martha's help that Mary is praised'.

MONASTICISM

Antony of Egypt is generally regarded as the original desert father. He exemplified the Anchorites, those who were largely hermits, living in isolation. His life became the first written account of the monastic expression becoming widely read and revered.

Community life in a monastic sense first appeared with Pachomius in the 4 th Century. These were Cenobites, paradoxically described by Pachomius as 'a community of hermits', each living alone in their own cells yet together in work and worship.

The term Monasticism helps us to answer the question, what is a monk? The root word Monachos means 'alone, solitary'. In the beginning it stood for the ascetic who was not married and lived alone. Cenobites did not use this word in the beginning preferring 'brother'. However it quickly acquired a deeper meaning: a person who is 'one' in his inmost being. It means a person united within himself, a person with a single gaze, a single desire. Monos = monk, one, single minded; and this 'one thing necessary' was seeking God in repentance because it was a continual confrontation with the Cross, with self, with sin, with the wrong of the world.

The link between Celtic spirituality and desert spirituality is monasticism and Celtic spirituality embraced the meaning of the desert symbolically and metaphorically. Jesus used the term 'desert' in this way - a good example is Mark 6:31 where Jesus using the word for desert says 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest' Not a reference to desert dryness, uninhabited waste but a picture of solitude, stillness, the heart alone with God. Same word used in Luke 4:42 'At daybreak Jesus went to a solitary place.' Also Luke 6:12, 9:18, 11:1 - a place of privacy, aloneness, often whole nights in close company with his Father, expressive of his single minded devotion to the Father's will. Latin = solitudo. Russian = Poustinia, Greek = Eremos - stillness, desert, lonely place. A further understanding was seen in the example of the Temptations of Jesus. The desert for Jesus was a period of testing and discovery and just as He was 'led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted of the devil' so it would be for those who sought to follow Him. There is a strong tradition that Jesus (like his cousin John the Baptist before him) spent many of the so called hidden years in the desert regions. Jesus spent 18 years hidden; and only 3 years in public ministry.

So putting these together the desert was not just a place, a physical location but a type of Christian experience. It was a journey - an inner journey of the heart. The Bible begins in a Garden and ends in a City but much of the terrain in between is a desert. This was the ethos of what became monasticism - the inner journey of abandonment, stripping away, a place of encounter and discovery, of identity and vocation, of testing and preparation of heart for the life God has for us.

NORTHUMBRIA COMMUNITY

As a Community we are following on in our own generation this tradition. Our core vision is to respond to the call of God to seek Him in and through the embracing, exploring and expressing of a new monastic spirituality as a different way of living in and relating to, today's world.

This is our heart, our reason to be, the constant theme of Psalm 27. 'One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.' It is the daily renewal of our vows encapsulated in our morning office 'Who is it that you seek?'

It is the continual commitment to 'the one thing necessary.' Single minded focus on the mystery of God in Christ, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, not only in the narrow 'evangelical' interpretation of doctrinal exclusiveness but in the deeper awareness that all things come together in and through Christ. Then to offer the fruit of our life in incarnational ordinariness with all who come our way, cross our path in the everydayness of our roles, responsibilities and relationships, asking with them 'How then shall we live? How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?'

BACKGROUND

As a Community we have been and are united in this quest for 'a new monasticism' a Northumbrian spirituality. Not as an escapist, nostalgic quest for a golden era that didn't exist or to replicate the past but informed by the Celtic monastic tradition which is our heritage, we are 'looking with them to Him who inspires us both' in order to find a way to engage with the paradox and complexities of real life as it is, by drawing from the well of faith and love for the Lord expressed in that period of our history, and applying it to our contemporary situation.

Two of the more significant milestones in the journey of seeking to understand ourselves was a] the discovery of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and in particular his belief that 'The renewal of the church will come from a new type of monasticism which only has in common with the old an uncompromising allegiance to the Sermon on the Mount. It is high time men and women banded together to do this'

And b] strongly identifying with those believers described by William Stringfellow in his book 'An ethic for Christians and other aliens in a strange land' as the hidden future of the Church 'Dynamic and erratic, spontaneous and radical, audacious and immature, committed if not altogether coherent. Ecumenically open and often experimental, visible here and there, now and then but unsettled institutionally. Almost monastic in nature but most of all enacting a fearful hope for society.'

All this resonated with us as we firmly believed (and still believe) that we are experiencing as a Community, (along with many, many others) a 'holy restlessness' and a 'divine concern' regarding the nature of faith, which for us has only begun to make sense of the nonsense within us and around us through an embracing of monastic values and disciplines. Why is this? Because these distinct values enable us to 'marry' the inner journey, the landscape of the heart - a call to repentance, a call to self denial, and a call to recognise and to resist evil - with the outer journey, the landscape of the land, which has given us a platform to 'find a different way' of being a Christian in the society that we live in.

The whole purpose of the Nether Springs was to have a place, a residential centre, rooted in the spirituality of Northumbria, where we could explore and research this call of God, where we could be ourselves, no pretence or having to behave, while seeking God for Himself and getting to know our own hearts and at the same time, provide a facility for others to join us in their individual search for God.

MONASTICISM OLD AND NEW

In order for us to understand about 'a new monasticism' we needed to understand a little about 'old' monasticism because it was from that tradition that we drew so much. In this we were influenced by the way of life expressed in the monastic Community's at Roslin in Scotland and at Clonfert in Ireland, where Roland Walls and Michael Cullen respectively gave significant example.

We discovered that monasticism is 'a way of life with a spiritual goal which transcends the objectives of this earthly life. The attainment of this goal is considered the 'one thing necessary.' Christian monasticism i.e. that which is centred in and consecrated to Christ being informed, inspired and illumined by His Love) has three essential elements namely, Separation from the world, Ascetical practices, Mystical Aspiration.

A] Separation from the world - the physical separation of the enclosure; a tonsure, a distinctive habit etc. all of which marked the separateness.

B] Ascetical Practices - Poverty, chastity, obedience, regularity of life in a Community under a Rule, stability, self denial, silence, solitude, cultivation of lectio divina, public prayer of the Church e.g. the story in Exodus 17 where the continuous prayer of the liturgical offices is likened to the holding up the hands of Moses, and engaging in spiritual warfare.

C] Mystical Aspiration - Searching for God in his Absolute Mystery and Beyondness. God is both concealed and revealed. Contemplation of Christ the Living Word and of Christ in the written Word, allowing self to be caught up in the movement of repentance, of returning to God. Giving oneself to His action in us thro Availability and Vulnerability, surrender, abandonment, and prayer.

A new monasticism which is 'An interior monasticism of the heart' seeks to draw from these truths and attempts to live a contemporary expression of 'contemplation in a world of action.' So the differences are in emphases

A] Separation - not separatism, isolationist but withdrawal as strategic retreat. An awareness of the importance of the inner journey, poustinia, cloister of the heart, solitude, hiddenness, alone yet together.

B] Ascetical practises - a way for living that incorporates the spiritual disciplines to encourage this interior vigilence. Ascesis = training, living. It is training for life needing a Rule of life, a rhythm of prayer, a reason to be. Seeking God, knowing self so as to better live with others. So we have both solitude and Community, both Alone and Together as spiritual disciplines. This is seeking "truth in the inward parts" Ps 51, a life of repentance, humility and teachableness with a willingness to embrace the spiritual disciplines that bring life.

C] Mystical aspiration - awareness of God as Mystery, seeking God, longing, monasticism of the heart, compunction, a contemplative approach to life and prayer where an awareness of the cell, Desert, dark night, inner life, logismoi, monsters is needed. This is where God is concealed from us yet revealed to us in the paradoxical 'ever-present absence of God'..

All the spiritual disciplines and monastic values are there not as ends in themselves but as aids, tools, signposts to the heart of it all which is Christ. Thus we have many of our daily meditations (e.g. Day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 17, 21 etc ) pointing to the inner journey as paramount and foundational.

This is our ethos, our heart, that which gives us identity. It is something we can only do alone but we are Together in our Aloneness. We have many Companions sharing our journey. It is the 'single minded search for God' given coherence by desert and Celtic spirituality which was essentially monastic and any expression of Monasticism stands in the wisdom tradition which is not an accumulation of knowledge for its own sake, but a constant application to life actually lived 'A wise person does not gather and dispense insights, but rather has the heart to live those insights'

1] MONASTIC DISCERNMENT - Relationship with God, self and others

2] MONASTIC DISCIPLINE - Rule of life - Availability and Vulnerability

3] MONASTIC DAY - Rhythm of prayer and life, giving a pattern to my days

MONASTIC DISCERNMENT

This was the purpose of going to the Cell. Your cell may have a physical representation; a hut or poustinia, a chair in a corner of a room etc. But whatever it is, it is symbolic of the heart alone with God. This is the heart of the inner journey. It is encounter and discernment of that which is constructive and destructive, enabling us to choose life and not death.

That process of looking inward in order to discover the true self as opposed to the false self, the deeper meaning of all your actions and reactions, and this 'going to the cell' would eventually teach you everything and so bring you closer to the true humanity of Christlikeness.

One of the first effects of 'going to the cell' is the release of the energies of the unconscious, which gives rise to two different psychological states:-

a] Exposure to the love of God: expressed and experienced in our personal development in the form of spiritual consolation; experiencing his mercy, grace and forgiveness in Christ through his Cross.

b] Exposure to the sinfulness of humanity: experiencing our own human weakness through humiliating self knowledge and encounter with the false self, the dark side of our personality. 'It takes a moment to get you out of Egypt but a lifetime to get Egypt out of you.'

This dual awareness is what the Fathers called 'compunction' and it's captured in the hymn 'Beneath the Cross of Jesus two wonders I confess: the wonder of his glorious love and my own worthlessness.

MONASTIC DISCIPLINE

This is why a Rule of life is absolutely essential to any monastic expression. It says this is who we are, this is our story and all who are part of us must keep to and live in the story that God has written as foundational. Monastic stability is to be accountable to a Rule of life NOT to a set of rules that restrict or deny life. It is, to use the words of Benedict 'simply a handbook to make the very radical demands of the gospel a practical reality in daily life'.

A Rule is like a pair of eye glasses (spectacles) - we don't look AT them but THROUGH them to life. How foolish to constantly look at them, the gold frames the bi-focul lenses and never look through them so as to actually see.

The word comes from the Old English REULE. In Latin it is REGULA which means 'rhythm, regularity of pattern, a recognisable standard' for the conduct of life. Esther De Waal writes that the Latin REGULA 'is a feminine noun which carried gentle connotations'. Not harsh negatives that we often associate with the phrase 'rules and regulations' today.

Esther De Waal tells us that the word has a root meaning of 'a signpost' which has a purpose of pointing away from itself so as to inform the traveller that they are going in the right direction on their journey. It would be foolish to claim we have arrived at our destination if in fact we are only at a signpost, however near or far from the destination it is.

Another root meaning of REGULA is 'a banister railing' which is something that gives support as you move forward, climbing or descending on your journey.

A Rule of life gives creative boundaries and spiritual disciplines while still leaving plenty of room for growth, development and flexibility. It gives us something to hold on to as we journey in our search for God, and when we be blown off course, it gives a safe haven to come back to. It gives us a means of perception, a way of seeing so that we can attempt to handle our lives and relationships wisely. This is why we can all be helped by embracing a

MONASTIC DAY

A workable rhythm to your day that draws from Monastic values that actually works for you according to your own unique situation and circumstances. It has to bring life and freedom not straightjacket you.

Our Rule of life is deliberately flexible and adaptable. It is also timeless because it does not PRESCRIBE, it PROVOKES. It is descriptive rather than prescriptive! It's the very opposite - its seek God for yourself, who you are, where you are - with your unique experience, knowledge and understanding of life. With all your idiosyncrasies, prejudices and crap - bring it all to the Rule of Availability and Vulneraility. We must hold it loosely so as to make our own discoveries. To realise there won't always be an answer so we keep asking/living the questions.

How then shall we live? Who is God? Who am I? What is Real?

It is to realise that God gives different answers to different people in different situations and circumstances, which is why we can't prescribe, can't meet individual agenda's and expectations.

In many ways it would be so much easier to say this is the prescription - do this, don't do that - take 3 Hail Mary's, 2 Our Father's 4 times a day. It has to be broad strokes, general principles to which you apply your specifics - your own unique set of circumstances and relationships.

Henri Nouwen expresses it well when he speaks of the spiritual life being a constant reaching out in the midst of paradox and chaos to these three areas of connectedness. This Reaching Out constitute the three Movements of the Spiritual Life.

1] Connecting in relation to self - From loneliness to solitude. With courageous honesty to our inmost selves, facing inner restlessness, our passions, weaknesses.

2] Connecting in relation to others - From hostility to hospitality. With relentless care to others, despite our mixed feelings and hostility.

3] Connecting in relation to God - From illusion to prayer. With increasing prayer to God, facing our doubts, disappointments and darkness. Living in incarnational reality.

It is the call to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, strength - to love our neighbour as ourselves - to love one another as Christ has loved us.

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Understanding Desert Monasticism - Northumbria Community

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In this transcript of a retreat talk, Trevor Miller offers an outline for Understanding Desert Monasticism. DESERT FATHERS In the early centuries of the Church's history, spreading as it did along the trade routes of the Middle East and the Mediterranean and Aegean coastlands, places of worship were the homes of believers or the open ...

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Introduction

As Eastern Orthodoxy grows among English-speaking peoples, Western Christians are becoming increasingly familiar with Christianity's oldest tradition, with the Church which claims to bring to modernity the very spirit and essence of the Apostolic Church. Yet this familiarity, as flattering as it might be to a venerable faith which has seen the ancient witness of millions upon millions of its children fade into social and historical obscurity in the West, is fraught with danger. For, paradoxically, the growth of Eastern Orthodoxy is occurring at a time when Orthodox spirituality is at a particular low. A vast majority of the Church struggles in Eastern Europe under the yoke of political persecution. In many places the simple discussion of Orthodoxy is perilous. Monasticism, often characterized by Eastern Fathers as the barometer by which Orthodox spiritual health is measured, is engaged in what appears to be a losing battle with contemporary social ideals and morality. Some of the most popular Orthodox theologians are tainted in their teachings by Western thought and by a non-Orthodox mentality. And with overwhelming sadness, we have seen, in the last several decades, the passing of many of the spiritual giants (Elder Philotheos Zervakos of Greece and Archimandrite Justin Popovich of Serbia, among others) who have been our living links to Orthodoxy's healthier spiritual past.

More importantly, Eastern Orthodox in the Western diaspora are struggling to establish a firm spirituality in the very midst of this world-wide crisis in the Church. The dangers of being cut off from the more mature and developed centers of historical Orthodoxy are heightened by the fact that in the West we have the mere rudiments of traditional Orthodoxy. The Orthodox goal par excellence is the deification of man, his union through grace with Christ, and his attainment in this present life of the virtues of Christian perfection -- sainthood. But the Saints, these exemplars of Orthodoxy and the fulfilled Christian life, fading as they are in world Orthodoxy, are hardly to be found here in the West, however painful or discomforting this fact may be. If we have attained any spiritual maturity, it is by merciful grace and at the cost of factionalism and spiritual pride nurtured in an atmosphere which hardly augurs well of future growth. The dangers which these weaknesses brew, as though they were not dreadful enough for Orthodox Christians, are compounded many times over when a non-Orthodox Westerner wishes to learn or avail himself of the spirituality of the Orthodox East. Blinded by the fearful forces which bombard Orthodoxy in these days, an Orthodox Christian in the West is hard-pressed to see his own way, let alone guide a stranger to his path.

Yet, as always, though the darkness seems encompassing, there is a glimmer of light to which we can turn. If the living Fathers of the Church are disappearing and their availability to some Orthodox is ever so slight, they have none the less left us, as one spiritual man has assured me, "elders bound in leather and gold." They have left to us their words and their written instructions. We can add, therefore, to the bare essentials of Orthodoxy present in the West, the thunderingly silent printed patristic witness. We can begin slowly to see the essence and substance of the unique truth that Orthodoxy is, not in catechisms or statements of belief, but in actual practice. For, ultimately Orthodoxy is not expressed only in correct beliefs, doctrines, or dogmas. It is lived and felt and experienced. Beliefs, doctrines, and dogmas reflect a "theology of facts," as one great Church Father expressed it, and the locus of these facts is personal spiritual experience and practice. Until we know what we believe as it is expressed in lives lived and transformed by real individuals, rather than from logical dicta rising out of rigorous philosophical systems, we cannot adequately express to the Westerner the truth of the Orthodox Faith. And to know these real individuals, these incarnate pillars of philosophical truth, we must turn to the largely unknown spiritual treasures of Orthodoxy, the ascetic parables and writings of those who struggled with the passions for perfection in Christ.

There are two outstanding and indispensable compilations of the writings of the Holy Fathers of the Church which are most important for Orthodox in the West: the Philokalia and the Evergetinos. The Philokalia, a collection of writings by Fathers living approximately between 300 and 1400 A.D., contains exalted theological writings by some thirty Fathers. These writings are essentially instructions to monks and spiritual aspirants in methods by which, to quote the full title of the collection, "the mind is purified, illumined, and made perfect through practical and contemplative moral philosophy." It contains very advanced teachings ranging from advice on the proper control of the breath during prayerful contemplation to detailed instructions for the attainment of freedom from the passions. Though it has appeared in part in English, it is relatively unknown in its entirety to many Orthodox. Even in its Greek, Slavonic, and Russian editions, it is not widely read in modern times. The transition from an Orthodoxy lacking spiritual maturity and beset by formidable external foes to the perfection of the theoretical philosophy of the Philokalia is not an easy one and, even in translation, this collection is not a first solution to the spiritual naivetï¿½ of contemporary Orthodox.

The Evergetinos is probably the beginning point for Orthodox in the West who wish to capture something of the essence of their faith. If the Philokalia teaches pure prayer and the path to deification and union with God, the Evergetinos provides us with anecdotal evidence that the practice of Christian virtues, such as humility, chastity, love for our neighbor, and submission to the will of God, can bring us to the brink of the ultimate encounter with the divine by which we are elevated to the philosophical and higher struggle for perfection. If from the Philokalia we are instructed in the philosophical way to perfection, in the Evergetinos we are guided to the pragmatic life of humility and self-control (composure), the indispensable requisites for the more advanced endeavor of the former. In the Evergetinos we see the virtuous lives of the desert monks who, during the first few centuries of Christianity, fled to the barren deserts around the Mediterranean and lived the most extreme and awe-inspiring lives of asceticism in a search for God.

The Fathers (and among the Fathers, we include the spiritual Mothers) who dwelled in the desert and whose lives fill the Evergetinos are much like the sacred icons of the Orthodox Church. By naturalistic standards, they are distorted, strange, and foreign to us, images at times seemingly appropriate to the fanciful. Nevertheless, just as icons draw us into their spiritual auras and become windows through which we see faint glimpses of the heavenly world, so the Fathers of the desert draw us into the sphere of their spiritual power and force us deep into the recesses of our consciences and allow us to look on the almost lost spiritual powers dwelling unheeded within ourselves. Their asceticism cannot be - perhaps should not be - imitated by many. They are simply a standard to which we should strive, a flame so bright as to kindle within us the spark of spiritual desire. But this is not to say that they are removed from us.

The desert Fathers speak of sexual desire, envy, greed, jealousy, hate, and the most complex human foibles. They expose to us what is all too familiar and obvious. They let us see with alarming clarity the depth of our depravity and the labyrinths of our sinful inner chasms. And though we probably cannot attain to the fullest extent the virtues by which these holy hermits overcame human depravity, we can see clearly the folly of a modern world seeking goodness, truth, purity, and virtue without first humbling itself before its Creator and the subtle inward world of spiritual truth. Hearing today of virtues, the ancient Fathers show them, by their examples, to be plastic virtues. Seeing today monuments of faith built with stone and mortar, the desert dwellers show us monuments of faith built on flesh and blood.

As we enter into the world of beginning monks, freshly having left the world, and accomplished elders who have gained discernment of the inner life, spiritual discretion, the ability to see into the hearts and minds of others, we embark on a journey into a strangely real world. In the small communities of monks gathered in the wilderness ( sketes), we find those who, in their lives and by their experience, vivify the rules and commandments of Christian conduct. We see the living source of the rules which most Christians today emptily follow. And we see the mystical rewards and products of virtuous lives in these examples of perfection attained on earth. Indeed, we have an elemental encounter with what the Orthodox Christian life encompasses: a set of beliefs and practices gleaned from experience and a profound way of life, not a system based on regimented acts coldly governed by abstract beliefs and rules propped up with mere emotionalism. We touch what gives our otherwise vain and fruitless efforts in the Christian life their meaning and content. Standing before us is the answer to modern disbelief: the possibility of deeper life and the fulfillment of lost goals which, at least in the wild attempts by many contemporary religious groups to give external meaning to an internally moribund Christianity, have become meaningless, if not ignominious, pursuits.

The Evergetinos was first published in the eighteenth century through the efforts of Saint Makarios of Corinth and Saint Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain. It was thus taken from the hands of the monks of Mount Athos and made available to the Orthodox faithful. In addition to recent, excellent editions published in Greece, parts of the Evergetinos have appeared in English. However, these English translations have not adequately provided for the spiritual needs of Orthodox in the West. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the writings in the Evergetinos, as we have observed, though not as advanced as those in the Philokalia, still express some very profound philosophical and psychological precepts. They are written in an ironic tone, often having shades and levels of meaning not immediately apparent. Moreover, since they are written largely for those seriously engaged in the spiritual struggle, they often assume some ascetic experience on the part of the reader.

Therefore, selections from the Evergetinos designed for the general reader should be made by those with spiritual experience and the discernment to know what is and what is not too complex for the beginner. This has not, in general, been the case. For the most part, the available translations are by Roman Catholics working from Latin texts with anecdotes that relate to an Eastern monasticism foreign to the traditions and development of Western monasticism, or by scholars with largely academic interest in the desert Fathers. However noble the efforts of these translators may be, they lack the very experience which the Evergetinos transmits and which is necessary in order to produce a useful introduction to Orthodox spirituality for the beginner or lay reader.

Secondly, there are today very few individuals who truly understand what translation is. I have noted that the presentation of deep spiritual writings demands very careful selection of passages by spiritually experienced individuals. How much more, then, we should expect such experience to play a role in the translation of the passages. Too many times we find that translators have fallen into a supercilious style of translation in which they unwittingly lose the meaning of a passage in their misguided efforts to show technical precision and, one might suspect, to demonstrate their superior knowledge of some language. They produce lengthy introductions in criticism of one or another translator, thereby, in the case of spiritual writings, acting against the very charity embodied in what they translate.

Even in the case of some superb translations, such as the translation of the Philokalia now in progress with the aid of such superior translators as Archimandrite Kallistos Ware and Professor Constantine Cavarnos, the publishers often show a complete lack of spiritual sensitivity. Certainly against the better judgment of Dr. Cavarnos (and no doubt other translators), the first volume of this project violated the arrangement of the writings made by Saint Nikodemos of the Holy Mountain, the first publisher of the Philokalia. In the interest of supposed "scholarly objectivity," the writings of Saint Anthony the Great were appended to the text with effusive accusations against their authenticity. An acquiescence to the spiritual authority of Saint Nikodemos, natural for anyone of spiritual knowledge, would have been the proper course. It would have reflected the understanding which is absolutely necessary for the preparation of spiritual books.

Thus it is that I offer the present slim volume of selections from the Evergetinos. They are not meant as pedantic considerations of the Greek text, but as comparative translations which bring out the simple messages of the easier lessons of the desert Fathers. They are meant as beginnings for beginners. The passages are translated primarily from the demotic Greek, the colloquial dialect of Greece, and therefore reflect the same concise, simplified versions which the less-sophisticated and less learned (albeit, perhaps more pious) faithful of Greece have received. Some will find this offensive, since in places phrases and expressions, magnificently expressed in the better Greek dialect, but difficult to understand and confusing to the beginner, have been omitted. Still in other places, though as seldom as possible, the modern Greek renderings have been supplemented by phrases from the standard Evergetinos to insure clarity of meaning. Where extant English translations of the passages seem to express better the spiritual intent of the text, despite some disloyalty to the demotic Greek version, they have been incorporated into the final rendering.

There is, then, nothing precisely scholarly in what I have done. The concern has been for the transmission of certain spiritual precepts and for the selection of passages which are as beneficial to the layman as they are to the experienced monk. But even in this, a few words have to be said about the underlying theology of the desert Fathers and about their spiritual psychology. Let us take several important examples. It is almost impossible to capture in translation the Greek words diakrisis and penthos. The former word implies discretion, discernment, and even a supernatural kind of cognition. So when a monk possessed of spiritual diakrisis appears in the proverbs of the Fathers, I have arbitrarily called him a monk of discretion or a monk endowed with discernment. In the case of the latter word, one can render it grief, mourning, lamentation, and even, at times, something akin to repentance. I have tried not to be arbitrary in translating this word. In both cases it would be foolish to try, in the simple translation of a word, to convey the characteristics of an accomplished monk. Diakrisis and penthos have technical meanings in Orthodox patristic writings. If one can be somewhat arbitrary with the one and not with the other, this allowance can only result from some familiarity with the theology of those writings. For this reason I strongly suggest that the reader acquaint himself with Professor Constantine Cavarnos' essay, " The Philokalia," which constitutes the fourth chapter of his readable and essential book, Byzantine Thought and Art (Belmont, Mass., 1968). In a few pages one can gain an understanding of the spiritual terminology of the Fathers and enhance greatly his comprehension of their writing and deeds.

I must say, also, something about my style of translation. Demotic is, as it were, a short-hand version of the "pure" Greek dialect. This has necessitated, for clear understanding in the English text, some changes in the verb tenses and in the sequence of adjectival expressions. As well, I have taken the liberty of repeating nouns in some clauses where references are made by Greek pronouns having no counterparts in English. In the case of particularly complex or ironic statements, sometimes rendered idiomatically in the Greek, I have used an underlining purely of my own invention. In addition, I have felt free to include some idiosyncratic uses. While names are usually transliterated directly from the Greek (according to the modern rule) even when English translations are available (e.g., "Antonios" instead of "Anthony," or "Markos" instead of "Mark") in some cases I did not find this comfortable; hence, Abba "Moses" the Black. Further, I have used the word "Abba" much as we use today the word "Father." At times I have arbitrarily interchanged the words. And finally, the Greek word "hosios" I have translated as "holy" in most places, though, in order to enhance the text, as "Saint" in others. Otherwise, I have usually rendered the word "hagios" as "Saint" (except when used as an adjective). I apologize for these oddities.

Now, lest anyone think that I have proceeded with an overestimation of my own abilities, may I add a crucial disclaimer? The following passages, by virtue of being translated from a demotic Greek version of the writings of the desert Fathers, aim at giving a simple and very understandable introduction to Orthodox spirituality. Moreover, they are comprised of selections which provide a deliberate and balanced view of the inner life of the desert dwellers. These two qualities, we have said, are the earmarks of a good translator and a good spiritual guide. I am neither. In no sense do I pretend to have adequate abilities to translate the sublime spiritual words of the Fathers. Nor, as is well known to those around me, am I a man of any spiritual attainment whatever. I have, rather, followed very closely and used as my primary original source a small volume, the Mikros ("Small" or "Shorter") Evergetinos (Hagion Oros-Athens, 1977), by the monk Kallinikos of the Skete of Saint Ann on Mount Athos. In following his selections, I have necessarily benefited from the wisdom of Father Kallinikos. Whatever I have presented that is good is his; the errors and the poorness in presentation are my own.

I have taken a final liberty in this small effort. Combined with the anecdotes of the desert Fathers are a few anecdotes which I have attributed to spiritual people of our own times, mostly holy men and women living in Greece. I have done this to emphasize that, despite the waning tide of Orthodox spirituality today, there are still some spiritual Fathers of the stature of the ancients. The desert exists not just in the past years; it is also in our hearts. And though they are few and silent and hidden, there are today Fathers and Mothers dwelling in the deserts of their hearts. To the extent that we, too, search our hearts and turn to the inner life, God will no doubt raise up these men and cure, with their perfect examples, the spiritual malaise of our age. Then they can do with deeds what poor spiritual pariahs such as myself can only ape with limited offerings such as the present little book.

Comments On The Book

These translations, by the Very Rev. Dr. Chrysostomos, of the anecdotes and tales of the early Fathers of the desert are superb. They express, beyond the theological discernment necessary for their adequate translation, the essence of poetic insight.

Robert J. McGovern, Co-Editor, The Ashland Poetry Press

One of the primary goals of the historian is to know the thoughts and minds of those who lived before us and who have shaped the realities of the present. Archimandrite Chrysostomos, in his trenchant and careful translations of the ancient parables of the desert Fathers, gives us our Christian past in a beautiful and vivid way. His superb introduction to these writings reminds us that all of us have forgotten all too much about the sources of our contemporary Christian traditions. He has thus given us something to think about as historians. But in addition to this; he has done something more. He has brought back to mind the psychology of a Christianity that is common to all of us - which lingers intuitively in the mind of anyone who is historically conscious.

Charles D. Ferroni, Professor of History, Ashland College

Anyone reading (in translation) the writings of the Holy Fathers cannot but regret not possessing the knowledge of Greek, so as fully to savor their beauty. In this work we have before us charming, yet profound, anecdotes and deep spiritual advice. The holy men become all but personally known to us. Archimandrite Chrysostomos has indeed done a great work in making so many of the desert Fathers as accessible and vivid in the English language as they are in the Greek.

Mother Alexandra, Abbess of the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration (formerly Her Highness, Illeana, Princess of Romania)
Read other parts of this book:

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The Ancient Fathers of the Desert: Introduction and Commentary - Theology - Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

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As Eastern Orthodoxy grows among English-speaking peoples, Western Christians are becoming increasingly familiar with Christianity's oldest tradition, with the Church which claims to bring to modernity the very spirit and essence of the Apostolic Church. As Eastern Orthodoxy grows among English-speaking peoples, Western Christians are becoming increasingly familiar with Christianity's oldest tradition, with the Church which claims to bring to...

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christianity; spirituality; spiritual life; religion; western monasticism; desert; desert spirituality; desert sages; monks; abbas; ammas; sayings of the desert fathers; personal growth; purity of heart; heart-centered spirituality ; humility; patience; spiritual awakening; benedicta ward; christine valters paintner; www.abbeyofthehearts.com

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Desert Fathers and Mothers - SkyLight Paths Publishing

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Be inspired by the writings of ordinary Christians who chose to renounce the world in order to individually follow God's call. Insightful commentary and historical background illustrates how you can use this wisdom in your own spiritual quest.

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Benedictine Abbey of Christ in the Desert

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Timeless Spiritual Wisdom Found in the Sayings and Stories of the Early Christian Monks of the Desert
The earliest Christian monks inhabited the desert land of the Middle East starting at the end of the second century AD. Known as the "Desert Fathers", they left everything in search of knowing Jesus Christ by making the Gospels absolutely integral to their daily lives. They wanted to commit themselves totally (body, soul, mind, and will) to being a disciple of the Lord Jesus with a profound holy zeal moving them to become ever more like Christ. These monks practiced integrity of character with an unrelenting courage that required their whole being to remain in the state of constant humility that comes from knowing that they were loved by God. Paradoxically, their extraordinarily harsh penances often resulted in gentleness and patience towards others, especially other monks but also visitors who came seeking an understanding of the essence of spiritual life. These monks sought most of all to experience union with God in the quiet of the desert and in the silence of their hearts. The Monastery of Christ in the Desert offers for your spiritual edification a short alphabetical collection of sayings from various Desert "Abbas" and a topical collection of such stories and sayings that list a number of monastic and Christian virtues that are integral to an authentic spiritual life.
The brothers praised a monk before Abba Anthony 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.'

Abba Anthony 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.'

Abba Daniel said, 'The body prospers in the measure in which the soul is weakened, and the soul prospers in the measure in which the body is weakened.'

Abba Elias said, 'An old man was living in a temple and the demons came to say to him, "Leave this place which belongs to us," and the old man said, "No place belongs to you." Then they began to scatter his palm leaves about, one by one, and the old man went on gathering them together with perseverance. A little later the devil took his hand and pulled him to the door. When the old man reached the door, he seized the lintel with the other hand crying out, "Jesus, save me." Immediately the devil fled away. Then the old man began to weep. Then the Lord said to him, "Why are you weeping?" and the old man said, "Because, the devils have dared to seize a man and treat him like this.' The Lord said to him, "You had been careless. As soon as you turned to me again, you see I was beside you." I say this, because it is necessary to take great pains, and anyone who does not do so, cannot come to his God. For He himself was crucified for our sake.

Abba Epiphanius said, 'The acquisition of Christian books is necessary for those who can use them. For the mere sight of these books renders us less inclined to sin, and incites us to believe more firmly in righteousness.'

He also said, 'Reading the Scriptures is a great safeguard against sin.'

Abba Hyperechius said, 'It was through whispering that the serpent drove Eve out of Paradise, so he who speaks against his neighbor will be the serpent, for he corrupts the soul of him who listens to him and he does not save his own soul.'

Abba Or said to his disciple Paul, 'Be careful never to let an irrelevant word come into this cell.'

One of the Fathers used to tell of a certain Abba Paul, from Lower Egypt, who lived in the Thebaid. He used to take various kinds of snakes in his hands and cut them through the middle. The brethren made prostration before him saying, 'Tell us what you have done to receive this grace.' He said, 'Forgive me, Fathers, but if someone has obtained purity, everything is in submission to him, as it was to Adam, when he was in paradise before he transgressed the commandment.'

Abba Poemen said of Abba John the Dwarf that he had prayed God to take his passions away from him so that he might become free from care. He went and told an old man this: 'I find myself in peace, without an enemy,' he said. The old man said to him, 'Go, beseech God to stir up warfare so that you regain the affliction and humility that you used to have, for it is by warfare that the soul makes progress.' So he besought God and when warfare came, he no longer prayed that it might be taken away, but said, 'Lord, give me strength for the fight.'

Abba Poemen said to Abba Joseph, 'Tell me how to become a monk.' He said, 'If you want to find rest here below all circumstances say, 'Who am I? and do not judge anyone.'

A brother lived in the cells and in his solitude he was troubled. He went to tell Abba Theodore of Pherme about it. The old man said to him, 'Go, be more humble in your aspirations, place yourself under obedience and live with others.' Later, he came back to the old man and said, 'I do not find any peace with others.' The old man said to him, 'If you are not at peace either alone or with others, why have you become a monk? Is it not to suffer trials? Tell me how many years you have worn the habit?' He replied, 'For eight years.' Then the old man said to him, 'I have worn the habit seventy years and on no day have I found peace. Do you expect to obtain peace in eight years?' At these words the brother went away strengthened.

He also said, 'In these days many take their rest before He gives it them.'

Abba Theophilus, the archbishop, came to Scetis one day. The brethren who were assembled said to Abba Pambo, 'Say something to the archbishop, so that he may be edified.' The old man said to them, 'If he is not edified by my silence, he will not be edified by my speech.'

He also said that there were three philosopher who were friends. The first died and left his son to the care the others. When he grew up he had intercourse with the wife of his guardian, who found them out and turned the boy out of doors. Although the young man came and asked his guardian to forgive him, he would not receive him, but said, 'Go and work for three years as a ferryman and I will forgive you.' After three years the young man came to him again, and this time he said, 'You still have not done penance; go and work for three more years, and give away all you earn, bearing all insults.' So he did this, and then his guardian said to him, 'Now go to Athens and learn philosophy.' There was an old man who sat at the philosophers' gate and he used to insult everyone who entered it. When he insulted this young man, the boy began to laugh, and the old man said, 'Why are you laughing, when I have insulted you?' He told him, 'Would you not expect me to laugh? For three years I have paid to be insulted and now I am insulted free of charge. That is why I laughed.' Abba John said, 'The gate of the Lord is like that, and we Fathers go through many insults in order to enter joyfully into the city of God.'

Abba Zeno said, 'If a man wants God to hear his prayer quickly, then before he prays for anything else, even his own soul, when he stands and stretches out his hands towards God, he must pray with all his heart for his enemies. Through this action God will hear everything that he asks.'

For more wisdom from our Desert Fathers, explore the topical collection indexed on this page.

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Sayings and Stories from the Desert Fathers - Benedictine Abbey of Christ in the Desert

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The earliest Christian monks inhabited the desert land of the Middle East starting at the end of the second century AD. Known as the "Desert Fathers", they left everything in search of knowing Jesus Christ by making the Gospels absolutely integral to their daily lives.