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Charity
 5-A
It was said that a monk who had made baskets was putting handles on them when he heard another monk
saying nearby, “What shall I do? The trader is coming soon
and I haven’t
got any handles to put on my baskets.” So
he took off the
handles he had put on his own baskets
and took them to the
nearby monk and said, “I don’t
need these; take them
and put them on your baskets.” He
helped the brother to
finish his baskets but left his own
unfinished. [p.130]
5-B
Two hermits lived together for many years without a
quarrel. One said to the other, “Let’s have a
quarrel with each other, as other men do.” The other answered,
“I don’t know how a quarrel happens.” The first said, “Look here,
I put a brick between
us, and I say, ‘That’s mine.’ Then you
say, ‘No, it’s mine.’ That is how you begin
a quarrel.” So they put a brick between
them and one of them said, “That’s mine.” The other said, “No, it’s runic.” He answered,
“Yes, it’s yours. Take it away.” They were unable to argue with each
other. [pp.130f.]
Opening the
Heart
5-C
When Archbishop Theophilus of
holy memory was
dying, he said,
“Arsenius, you are blessed of God, because
you have always kept this moment before
your eyes.” [p.131]
5-D Jacob
said, “Like a lantern giving light in a dark little
room, so the fear of
God comes, into a man’s heart and enlightens
it, and teaches him all that is good and all the commandments of God.”
[p.132]
Discretion
5-E
They said of John the Short
that he once said to his elder
brother, “I want to be free of trouble like the angels, doing no
work, and serving God unceasingly.” He stripped himself
and went into the desert. After a week there, he went back to his
brother. When he knocked on the door, his brother answered without opening
it and said, “Who’s there?” He said,
“It’s John.” His brother replied, “John has
become an angel and is no
longer among men.” But he went
on knocking and saying, “It really is John.” His brother did not
open the door but left him outside till
morning as a punishment. At last he
opened the door and said, “if you are a man, you need to work in
order to live. If you are all
angel, why do you want to come into my
cell?” So John did penance and said,
“Forgive me, brother.” [pp.132f.]
5-F
He also said, “A grumbler is not a monk. Anyone who
gives evil for evil is not a monk. An irritable man is not a monk.”
[p.133]
Judge Not, That
You Be Not Judged
5-G
When Isaac of the Thebaid
visited a community, he saw that one
of the brothers was sinful, and passed sentence on
him. But
when lie was returning to his cell in the desert,
the angel of the Lord came and stood in
front of the door of his
cell and said, “I will not let you go in.” He asked, “Why not?”
The angel of the Lord replied, “God sent me
to ask you, ‘Where do you tell me to
send that sinful brother whom you sentenced?’” At once Isaac
repented, “I said, have sinned, forgive me.” The angel said, “Get
up, God has forgiven you. In future take
care to judge no man before God has judged him.” [p.134]
5-H
Once there was a meeting of monks in Scetis, and they
discussed the case of a guilty brother, but
Pior said nothing.
Afterward he got up and went out, took a sack, filled
it with sand, and
carried it oil his shoulders. He put a little
sand in a basket and carried it in front of him. The
monks asked him,
“What are you doing?” He answered, “The
sack with a lot of sand is my sins; they are many, so
I put them on my back
and then I shall not weep for them. The basket with a little sand is the
sins of our
brother, and they are in front of me, and I see them and
judge them. This is
not right. I ought to have in\, own
sins in front of me, and think
about them, and ask God to forgive me.” When the monks heard this, they
said, “This is the true way of salvation.” [pp.135f.]
Patience
5-I
At a meeting of the hermits in Cellia,
Evagrius made a
speech. Then the
priest there said, “Evagrius, we know
that if you were in your own country, perhaps you would
already be a bishop, ruling over many. Here
you are only a pilgrim.” Evagrius was
pierced to the heart at these words,
but he bent his head calmly and without
haste and looked at the ground, then wrote in the dust with his finger, and
said, “Truly, brothers, that is
right. But, as it is written, ‘I have spoken once and I will no
more answer’” (Job 40:5). [p.146]
Possessing
Northing
5-J Evagrius
said that there was a brother who had no possessions except a Gospel
book, and he sold it in order to feed
the poor. He said
something worth remembering: “I have
sold even the word that commands me to sell
all and give to the poor.” [p.147]
Sticking With It
5-K
Syncletica said, “If you live in a [monastic] community, do not wander
from place to place; if you do, it will harm
you. If a hen stops sitting on the eggs, she will hatch no
chickens. The monk or nun who goes from place to place grows cold and dead
in faith.” [pp.152 f.]
5-L
She also said, “The devil sometimes sends a severe fast that
is too prolonged; the
devil’s disciples do this as well as holy
men. How do we distinguish the fasting of
our God and King from the fasting of that tyrant the devil? Clearly by its
moderation. Throughout your life, then, you ought to keep an
unvarying rule of fasting. Do you fast four or five days on end
and then lose your spiritual strength by eating
a feast? That really pleases the devil! Everything that is
extreme is destructive. So do not suddenly throw away your armor,
or you may be found unarmed in the battle
and easily captured. Our body is the
armor, our soul is the warrior. Take care of both, and you will be ready
for whatever comes. [p.153]
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