Book III (continued)

121. (Also in VI.ii.4 & VII.xiv.2) A secular man came to the church suffering from an unclean spirit. They all prayed for him but the unclean spirit would in no way depart.
"How can we deal with this spirit?" the brothers asked among themselves. "No one except Besarion can drive this one out. But if we tell him that, he will refuse to come to the church. But he is accustomed to coming to church with us, so let's get this poor sufferer to sit here, and later we will say to Besarion, 'Abba, wake up this sleeper.'" So that is what they did. Abba Besarion came to church, they all stood for prayer, and then they said, 'Abba, wake up this sleeper.'
"Wake up, and go outside," said Besarion, shaking him. And immediately the spirit went out of him, and the man was healed from that same hour.
122. (Also in VI.ii.7, attributed to Macarius) A man in Egypt who had a paralysed son carried him to the cell of the blessed Besarion and left him at the cell door weeping, while he went off some distance. At the sound of his weeping the old man looked out through the window and said,
"Who has left you there, my son?"
"My father put me here, and then went away."
"Well, get up and go and join him," said the old man, and the boy was immediately healed and went to join his father.
123. (Also in V.xv.28, & V.xi.34 attributed to Syncletica) Abba Muthues said, "The closer anyone comes to God the greater sinner he realises himself to be. When the prophet Isaiah saw the Lord he called himself an unclean wretch (Isaiah 6.5). Let us not be unmindful of this. For the Scripture says, 'Let him who stands take heed lest he fall' (1 Cor.10.12). We navigate through uncertain waters in this world, though we monks are seen as navigating through a calm sea, whereas seculars face great dangers. We walk in the daylight, lit up by the sun of righteousness, they in ignorance, as if in darkness. But it often happens that seculars sailing through the darkness of the night, by keeping watch and shouting warnings are able to save the ship, whereas we are often negligent through the security of sailing through calm waters, and we perish because we have relinquished our hold upon the tiller of humility. Just as it is impossible to keep the ship safe without a rudder, so it is impossible for people to be saved without humility."
124. (Also in V.xv.26 & VII.xiii.6) Abba Macarius was once returning to his cell at daybreak carrying a bundle of palm leaves, when the devil met him carrying a sharp reaping hook. He tried to strike him down but failed.
"I suffer a great deal from you, Macarius," he said, "for every time I want to harm you I am unable to do so. For whatever work you do I am forced to do even greater. You fast sometimes, I am never able to partake of any food; you frequently keep vigil, but I can never allow sleep to overcome me; I declare that there is one thing in which you always come out the winner."
"And what may that be?" inquired Macarius.
"Your humility alone it is that beats me."
As the devil said this, the blessed Macarius lifted up his hands in prayer, and the unclean spirit vanished into thin air.
125. (Also in V.xv.53) One of the old men was a hermit monk. Someone frothing at the mouth, because possessed by an evil spirit, struck the hermit hard on the cheek. The old man however offered the other cheek to be struck, and the devil immediately fled, unable to endure the fire of his humility.
126. (Also in VII.xiii.7) One of the fathers said, "Everything a monk labours at is worth nothing without humility. Humility goes before love just as John Baptist went before Christ, drawing all people to him. Humility draws you towards love, that is, to none but God, since God is love."
127.  Once when Abba Macarius was going up to Mount Nitria, he told his disciple to go on before him a little way. After he had gone on a little distance he met a pagan priest hurrying along towards him carrying a heavy piece of timber.
"Where are you running off to, you devil" the disciple shouted. The priest felt so insulted by this that he beat Macarius' disciple again and again, and went on his way leaving him almost half dead. After a little while he came upon Abba Macarius.
"I wish you well, struggling with that heavy load, I wish you well," said Macarius in greeting.
Astonished, he replied, "What do you see in me that you should wish me well?"
"I saw you were struggling, and also that you were running you know not where."
"I must say that I am greatly moved by your greeting and I can see that you are a great servant of God. Some other miserable nobody of a monk insulted me when he met me, but I gave him back blows for his words."
Then grasping Macarius' feet he cried; "I won't let go until you make me a monk."
They went on together till they came to where the injured brother was lying. He was unable to walk so they lifted him up and carried him between them until they came in to the church. When the brothers saw that priest in company with Macarius, they were astonished, and ended up by gladly accepting him as a monk. Many pagans became Christian because of him. As Abba Macarius said, proud and spiteful words can even make good men behave badly, whereas kind and gentle words can induce even evil men to behave well.
128. (Also in V.xv.80 and VII.xv.1) The blessed Antony often used to say, "If the miller does not blindfold the eyes of his animal it will consume the fruits of his labour. In the same way, by the dispensation of God, we put a blanket over our good deeds so as not to pay any attention to them, lest we beatify ourselves, and become puffed up, and lose our due reward. And when we are assailed by evil thoughts it is necessary that we should always condemn ourselves and our attitudes, lest the evil things in us should obscure what little good we have done. Even if people have good intentions, they cannot be really good unless God dwells in them, for no one is good save God. We must therefore always accuse ourselves honestly. Anyone who rebukes himself will not lose his reward."
129. Again, he said that he had seen the snares of the enemy spread out over the whole world, and he sighed and said, "Who can possibly find a way through them?"
And a voice came to him saying, "Humility alone can walk here, Antony. Here the proud can in no way prevail.
130 (Also in VII.xv.2) Once when blessed Antony was praying in his cell he heard a voice saying, "Antony you are not yet equal to the leather worker in Alexandria." When he heard this, the old man got up next morning and taking his staff hastened off to Alexandria where he sought out the leather worker, who was absolutely astonished to be visited by such a great man. The old man said,
"Tell me what it is you do, for I have left the desert in order to come here and see you."
"I don't know that I have done anything special In fact when I get out of bed in the morning, before I settle down to work, I reflect that everyone in this city from greatest to least will enter the kingdom of heaven because of their goodness. I alone for my sins will suffer eternal punishment. And before I go to bed I truthfully repeat these words from the bottom of my heart."
When he heard this, the blessed Antony replied, "Truly, my son, like a good workman sitting peacefully at home, you have arrived at the kingdom of God. But I who have spent my time badly in solitude have not arrived at equality with you."
131. (Also in VII.xv.3) A certain brother asked Abba Poemen, "What does the Apostle mean, father, when he says, 'To the pure all things are pure'?" (Titus.1.15)
And he replied, "To succeed in being able to understand this you must first see yourself as the least of all creatures."
"How could I possibly see myself as less than a murderer, say?"
"If you want to understand this saying of the Apostle, and you see someone who has killed someone else, you should say to yourself, 'This person has committed just this one sin, but I commit homicide every moment, for I am killing myself by reason of my sins.'"
And when the brother queried this he replied, "A person is righteous only when he blames himself. He is righteous because he condemns his own sins."
132.  Some of the brothers were sitting with Abba Poemen when one of them praised one of the brothers, saying, "He's a good man, that brother, for he hates what is evil".
"What does it mean, to hate evil?" the old man asked.
Not being quite sure how to answer that the brother said, "You tell me, abba, what hating evil means."
"He who hates evil", said the old man, "hates his own sins and lovingly blesses all his brothers."
133. (Also in VII.xvi.1) A brother asked Abba Poemen how it was possible to avoid speaking evil of one's neighbour, and he replied, "My neighbour and I each have an image. If I look at my own image and condemn it, the image of my brother seems to be praiseworthy by comparison. But when I praise myself the image of my brother seems contemptible. So therefore I can never disparage my brother as long as I always blame myself."
134. (Also in V.iv.51 & 52) Abba Hyperichius said, "Better to eat flesh and drink wine than devour the life of your brother by slandering him. Just as the hiss of the serpent drove Eve from paradise, so anyone who slanders his brother not only loses his own soul but the soul of anyone listening to him."
135. Abba John used to say, "To condemn ourselves is a small sacrifice to make, but to justify ourselves and condemn others is to choose a heavy burden to carry."
136. (Also in V.ix.9) Once there was a meeting in Scete when the fathers were discussing many things, including the way many of them were living their lives. Abba Pior, however, said nothing. After a while he went out and filled up a bag with sand, which he dragged behind him, and put some more sand in a small basket, which he carried in front of him.
"What is that supposed to mean?" asked the other brothers when they saw what he was doing.
"This bag which contains a great quantity of sand represents my sins, and see, I have pushed them away behind my back, because I don't want to look at them or grieve or weep for them. And see, these few sins of my brother I put in front of my eyes and I go to a great deal of trouble to condemn him. But this way of judgment is not right. I should put the greater quantity of sins before my eyes, and think about them, and ask God to have mercy."
When the fathers heard this, they said, "Truly this is the way of salvation."
137. (Also in V.ix.3) Abba Isaac once visited the coenobium and was angry because one of the brothers was negligent. He ordered that he should be expelled. When he went back to his cell an angel of the Lord came and stood before the doorway.
"I do not allow you to enter," the angel said.
"Why, what have I done wrong?"
"God has sent me to ask you where we should send that brother who has sinned."
At once he was sorry and prostrated himself'
"I have sinned; Lord, forgive me," he said.
"Rise. God has forgiven you. But do not again condemn anyone before God has judged him. 'Men take it upon themselves to judge, and don't allow me to do so,' says the Lord."
This was said so that if a mature monk happened to transgress in some small matter he should not be frightened of it being revealed.
138.  It so happened that a certain brother in the coenobium committed a crime, and when he was condemned by the brothers he fled to Abba Antony. Some brothers who wanted to reform him went after him, and began to make out a case against him because of his crime, even though he denied having done anything wrong. Among those present was Abba Paphnutius, nicknamed the Chief (Cephalas), who told the assembled brothers a parable they had not heard before.
"I saw," he said, "a man on the banks of the river up to his knees in mud. Some people came with outstretched hands trying to get him out but only succeeded in burying him further up to his neck."
Then blessed Antony said this about Abba Paphnutius, "Now there is a man who can heal souls by speaking the truth."
The brothers were conscience-stricken by this saying and apologised, and took back into the coenobium the brother who had departed.
139. One of the seniors said, "If you see someone sinning don't put the blame on him but on the one who caused him to sin. Say, 'Woe is me! That person all unwillingly has been overcome, just like me.' And weep, seeking refuge in God, for we are all subject to deception."
140. (Also in VII.xvi.3) A certain anchorite called Timothy heard about a brother who had been negligent, and when asked by the abbot what should be done about it replied that the brother should be expelled from the monastery. After he had been expelled Timothy himself was beset by temptation. He wept in the sight of God and cried, "Have mercy on me", and he heard a voice saying, "Timothy, you are in the midst of this crisis because you despised your brother in the time of his temptation."
141. (Also in V.xiv.19) One of the fathers in ecstasy saw four ranks of people standing before God. The first was made up of those who were not very strong but who constantly gave thanks to God, the second was of those who were given to hospitality and were constantly serving in this way, the third was of those who lived in solitude apart from the sight of mankind, the fourth was of those who sought to be obedient and who were subject to the fathers. This rank of people who were obedient was higher up than the others. They wore golden neckbands, and were more glorious than the others.
"This fourth rank, why were they more glorious than the others?" asked the person to whom this was being told.
"All the others find their fulfilment in exercising their own will," he replied, "albeit in doing good works. But the obedient depend upon the will of the father who instructs them. Therefore their glory is greater than that of the others".
142. (Also in V.xv.73) An old man said, "If someone asks his brother to do something with humility and the fear of God, his request will seem to be as if coming from God and will persuade the brother to comply and do what he has been asked. But if someone gives orders in a desire to exert his own authority and willpower, and not in the fear of God, God who knows the secrets of the heart will not help the brother to understand what he is being told or help him to carry it out. It is obvious that what is done for God's sake is the work of God; just as it is obvious when a person's commands spring from arrogance. Whatever is of God is grounded in humility; tyranny, anger and turmoil are of the enemy.
143. (Also in V.xiv.5) Abba Silvanus had a disciple called Mark, whom he especially loved because of his great obedience. He had eleven other disciples who were disgruntled because he was the favourite. Some of the other old men were sad when they heard about this and came to Silvanus to clarify with him why his disciples were disgruntled. But before they could say anything, he took them to the cell of each one of his disciples in turn, and called each one of them by name asking him to come out because he had some work for him to do. None of them was willing to come out, until he came to Mark's cell and knocked on his door, and called him by name. Mark came out as soon as he heard his name called. Abba Silvanus went in to Mark's cell, and found that Mark, who was a scribe, had left a letter unfinished in the manuscript he was copying, the moment he had heard his name called. His obedience was such that, hearing the old man's voice, he would not complete the letter that he had already begun.
"Indeed," said the other old men, "He whom you love we love also, for God himself loves him for his obedience."
144. (Also in V.xiv.16) An old solitary used to use the services of someone in the neighbouring village to bring him food and materials for his work. When this man was a few days late and he was running short of food and materials he was worried and asked his disciple to go into the village. In obedience he said he would, though he was fearful about it lest he commit some offence.
"I trust in the God of our fathers," said the old man, "to keep you safe from all temptation." And having said a prayer, he sent him on his way.
The brother arrived in the village, enquired where the supplier lived, found the house and knocked at the door. He found no one at home except the man's daughter. When she opened the door the brother was about to enquire why her father was so many days late, but she asked him to come in and took him by the arm. When he demurred, she showed her strength and dragged him in. He could see that he was being led into sin and his thoughts were in a turmoil and he groaned.
"Lord," he cried out to God, "by the prayers of him who sent me here save me in this hour!"
And as soon as he had said it, he suddenly found himself by the river near the monastery and went back to his father unstained.
145. (Also in V.xiv.17) Two brothers according to the flesh joined a monastery. One of them kept religiously to the rules, the other had a great capacity for obedience. When the abbot said "Do this" he did it; "Do that" and he did it. And he was very highly regarded in the monastery because of his obedience. His "religious" brother was envious and promised himself that he would put his obedience to the test. He went to the abbot and asked that he and his brother could be sent to a certain place where he was needed, and the abbot agreed. As they went out together they came to a river in which there were many crocodiles.
"Go into the river and cross over," he said, wanting to test him. He went in and the crocodiles came and began to lick his body but did him no harm.
"Come out of the river and let's go on," he said when he saw what was happening. And as they went they came across a dead body lying in the road.
"If we had some kind of cloak we should lay it over him," said the religious one.
"Let us pray," said the other. "Perhaps God will revive him." And as they stood in prayer the dead man arose, and the religious one took all the credit to himself.
"It is because I observe the rules strictly," he said, "that this dead man has been raised up."
Now God revealed all this to the abbot in the monastery, both how he had tested his brother with the crocodiles and how the dead man had been raised.
"Why did you do this to your brother?" he asked when they returned to the monastery. Let me tell you, it was because of your brother's obedience that the dead man was raised."
146.  One of the old men of Scete sent his disciple into Egypt to bring back a camel so that all the baskets he had made could be carried back into Egypt. As he was bringing back the camel he met another old man who said to him, "If I had known you were going into Egypt, brother, I would have asked you to bring back a camel for me too." He told this to his abba, who with great kindness said, "Go and take this camel to him, brother, and say that we are not yet ready to use it, load it up with his goods, and take it down to Egypt. Then bring it back again to carry our load." The brother did so and said to the old man, "Abba Pambo says we are not ready yet and for you to load it up with your goods." So the old man loaded up the camel and the brother took it down to Egypt. Once he had unloaded it he brought it back again and prepared to leave the old man, who asked him where he was going. "I'm going back to Scete again," he said, "in order to bring our own baskets here." When the old man heard this he was conscience-stricken and apologised in tears, saying, "Forgive me, my dear friend, for presuming on your charity to carry my goods."
147. (Also in V.xvii.16) There was another old man who had finished his baskets and put handles on the them all when he heard his neighbour saying,
"What shall I do, for it is nearly market time and I have not got any handles to put on my baskets?"
So he went in and took all the handles off his own baskets and took them to this brother.
"I've got too many of these," he said, "use them for your own baskets."
So of his great charity he made sure that his brother's work was completed, leaving his own unfinished.
148.  Abba John, thanks to his great charity, was completely free of guile. He once borrowed a solidus from one of the brothers in order to buy some linen to work with, some of which he quite cheerfully gave to another brother who came to him begging a bit of linen to make a bag with. He gave some more to another brother who asked him for some, and to several more as well to whom he gave quite freely. Later the lender of the solidus came seeking repayment. And he said, "I'm going away, but I'll bring it to you".
Not having the wherewithal to repay him he set out for Abba Jacob to ask him to lend him enough to pay what he owed, but on the way he saw a solidus lying on the ground, which he did not touch, but said a prayer and went back to his cell. A second time the brother repeated his request, to which he replied, "I won't keep you waiting much longer." He went out again and saw the solidus still lying in the same place, but he said a prayer and returned home. The brother came for a third time badgering him about the solid. At last the old man said, "I'm going now and I'll bring it to you." He went out and found the solidus still lying in the same place, but this time he said a prayer, picked it up, and took it to Abba Jacob.

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