Speak Right With Your Heart

Poemen said, "If a man appears silent in speech but is condemning other people in his heart, he is really talking incessantly. Another man may seem to talk all day, but he is keeping silence since he always speaks in a way that is right with his heart."

Practice What You Preach

Poemen said, "Experience is good. By experience men are tested."

He also said, "If a man preaches but does not practice what he preaches, he is like a well of water where everyone can quench their thirst and wash off their dirt, but which cannot clean away the filth and dung that is around it."

~~Wishing Well by Dan A. Diaz

The King's Highway

Joseph asked Poemen, "How should we fast?"

Poemen said, "I suggest that everyone should eat a little less than he wants, every day."

Joseph said to him, "When you were a young man, didn't you fast for two days on end?"

Poemen said, "I used to fast for three days on end, even for a week. But the great hermits have tested all these things, and they found it is good to eat something every day, but on some days a little less. They have shown us that this is the king's highway, for it is easy and light."

Put Your Thoughts Aside

Poemen said, "If a thought about your bodily needs comes to you, and you put it aside; and then it comes again, and you put it aside, what will happen if it comes a third time? You will not notice it, and it will do you no harm."

~~Thoughts by Martine Rhyner

Self-examen

They used to say about Poemen that when he was ready to go out to the meeting for prayer, he first sat by himself for an hour in self-examination, and then went out.

~~Deep Silence by Joseph Eagle and EagleZen

A Shepherd of Sheep

When Poemen was a young man, he once went to a hermit to ask him three questions. When he arrived at the hermit's cell he forgot one of his three questions, and went back home. He was just reaching out his hand for the key of his cell when he remembered the question which he had forgotten. He left the key lying there, and went back to the hermit.

The hermit said to him, "You have traveled fast to get here, brother."

Poemen explained, "When I was stretching out my hand for the key, I remembered the question; so I did not open my cell door, but immediately returned to you."

The distance between the cells was very great. The hermit said to him, "You live up to your name of "Poemen," which means shepherd of sheep; your name shall be famous throughout Egypt."

Purify Your Heart

A brother asked Poemen about the words, "Do not render evil for evil" (I Thessalonians 5:15).

He said to him, "The passions work in four stages: first in the heart, then in the face, third in words, fourth in deeds -- and it is in deeds that it is essential not to render evil for evil. If you purify your heart, passion will not show in your expression, but if it does, take care not to speak about it; if you do speak, cut the conversation short in case you render evil for evil."

~~Pure Heart by Lisa Rough

Three Parts

Poemen said, "Poverty, suffering and wise discernment are the three parts of a hermit's life. It is written that there were these three, Noah, Job and Daniel. Noah is the type of those who own nothing, Job of those who are suffering, Daniel of those who judge wisely. Where there are these three qualities, there God dwells."

~~Job I by Oldrich Kulhanek

The Faith of Daniel

A brother asked Poemen, "How ought we to live?"

Poemen replied, "We have seen the example of Daniel. They accused him of nothing except that he served his God."

~~Daniel and the Lions' Den by Peter Paul Rubens

Where There is Work There is Rest

Poemen said this: Isidore, the presbyter in Scetis, once spoke to a group of monks and said, "My brothers, isn't work the reason we are here? But now I see that no work is done here. So, I will take my cloak and go where there is work and so I shall find rest."

Three Works of the Soul

Poemen said, "To be on guard, to meditate within, to judge with discernment: these are the three works of the soul."

~~Neshema/Soul by Jeffrey Schrier

Imprisoned

A provincial judge once wanted to see Poemen and he would not allow it. So the judge arrested Poemen's nephew as if he were a criminal and imprisoned him, saying, "I will release him when Poemen comes to ask about him."

The boy's mother came to her brother, Poemen, and began to weep outside the door to his cell. Bitterly unhappy, she began to reproach him, saying, "You may have a heart of steel, you may be pitiless, but at least have some mercy on your kin and relent."

But her told her, "Poemen is not a father of children." So she went away.

When the judge heard this, he sent a messenger to say, "You have only to ask and I will release him."

Poemen sent back this message, "Try his case legally. If he ought to die, let him die. If he is innocent, do as you say."

A Genuine Monk

Poemen said, "The character of the genuine monk only appears when he is tempted."

~~St. Paul the Hermit by Mattia Preti

The Burying Place

A brother asked Poemen, "What should I do?"

He said, "When Abraham entered the land of promise, he built himself a grave, and bought the land as a burying place for posterity."

The brother said to him, "What is this burying place?

Poemen said, "A place of weeping and sorrow."

~~Photo by Frank Logue

Flee From the Body

Poemen said, "The beginning of evil is to diversify the mind."

He also said, "It is good to flee from the things of the body. When a man is engaged in conflict about the body, he is like a man standing on the edge of a very deep pool, into which his enemy can knock him the moment he sees him. But, when he has put aside bodily things, he is like a man standing a long way from the pool, where, if the enemy drags him along to throw him in, God will help him while he is being dragged there."

The Nature of Water

John said, "One day we went into Syria to see Poemen for we wanted to ask him about hardness of heart. But he did not know Greek and we did not have an interpreter. When he saw we were embarrassed, he began to speak in Greek, saying, 'The nature of water is soft, the nature of stone is hard; but if a bottle is hung above a stone letting the water drip down, it wears away the stone. It is like that with the word of God; it is soft and our heart is hard, but if a man hears the word of God often, it will break open his heart to the fear of God.'"

~~Image of Antelope Canyon by E.J. Peiker