Lord Have Mercy On Me, A Sinner!

It was said that a hermit was working earnestly in his cell, wrapped up in his mat. He went to visit Ammon, who saw him using his mat like this, and said to him, "That is not a good idea."

The hermit said, "Three thoughts trouble me. The first is that I ought to go and live somewhere else in the desert; the second is that I should go out and find a foreign country where no one knows me; the third is that I should shut myself in my cell, see no one, and eat every other day."

Ammon said to him, "None of these three would be any use to you. Stay in your cell, eat a little every day, always keep in your heart the words of the publican in the Gospel, and you can be saved (Luke 18:13)."

~~The Pharisee and the Publican by Christian Dare

Speak Simply

Ammon (of the place called Raithu) brought this question to Sisois: "When I read Scripture, I am tempted to make elaborate commentaries and prepare myself to answer questions on it."

He replied, "You don't need to do that. It is better to speak simply, with a good conscience and a pure mind."

~~Photo by Dean Koenig

The Fool

They say of Ammon that some people asked him to arbitrate in their quarrel but the hermit took no notice of them. So, a woman said to her neighbor, "What a fool this hermit is!"

Ammon heard her; and called her, and said, "You can't imagine how hard I have tried in different deserts to be thought of as a fool! But now that you have recognized that it is part of my nature to be foolish, you have made all my efforts to pretend to folly pointless."

May It Be Well With You

John the Less of the Thebaid, a disciple of Ammon, was said to have lived for twelve years serving a hermit who was ill, sitting on a mat near him. But the hermit was always cross with him, and although John worked a long time for him, he never said, "May it be well with you."

But when the hermit was on his deathbed, in the presence of the brothers of the place, he held John's hand and said, "May it be well with you. May it be well with you."

The hermit commended John to the others, saying, "He is an angel, not a man."

~~Photo of "Doves" in Assisi by Frank Logue

Compunction

A brother asked Ammon, "Speak a word to me." He said to him, "Go and meditate like the criminals in prison. They keep asking, where is the judge? When will he come? And because they are waiting for him they dread their punishment. The monk should always be waiting for his trial, chiding his soul, saying: 'Alas, how shall I stand before the judgment seat of Christ? How shall I give an account of my actions?' If you always meditate like this, you will be saved."