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."

Endure Wicked Thoughts

Joseph questioned Poemen on the subject of the impure thoughts within the heart. Poemen said, "If you shut a snake or scorpion in a box, in the end it will die. Wicked thoughts, which the demons scatter, slowly lose their power if the victim has endurance."

~~Scorpion by Ozgur Ustundag

Become All Flame

Lot went to Joseph and said, "Abba, as far as I can, I keep a moderate rule, with a little fasting, and prayer, and meditation, and quiet: and as far as I can I try to cleanse my heart of evil thoughts. What else should I do?"

Then Joseph stood up and spread out his hands to heaven, and his fingers shone like ten flames of fire, and he said, "If you will, you can become all flame."

The Secret to Eternal Rest

Joseph asked Poemen, "Tell me how to become a monk."

Poemen said, "If you want to find rest in this life and the next, say at every moment, 'Who am I?' and judge no one."

~~Over Eternal Rest, 1894, by Russian artist Isaak Levitan (1860-1900).

Whitewashed Tomb

Archbishop John had a disciple named Eulogius. Eulogius was a presbyter and he used to fast for two days at a time, and sometimes ate nothing but bread and salt for a whole week, so he had a great reputation.

He went to see Joseph at Panephysis because he believed he would find more demanding discipline under him. Joseph welcomed him, and of his charity made ready what he had for them to eat. But the disciples of Eulogius said, "The presbyter only eats bread and salt."

Joseph began to eat without comment. The visitors spent three days in silence, and they did not even hear the sound of psalms or prayers, for the disciples of Joseph were saying the office in private.

Finally, Eulogius and his disciples went away, not edified. But, by the providence of God, a mist came over the plain and they wandered in circles and by mistake they came back to Joseph's cell. Before they knocked on the door, they heard the singing of psalms going on inside and they waited a long time outside listening.

Then they knocked on the door, and Joseph welcomed them again. Eulogius was thirsty and his disciples picked up a jug of water and gave it to him to drink. But the jug contained salt water mixed with fresh water and he could not drink it. When Eulogius had thought about this he began to ask Joseph to show him his way of life, saying, "How is it, abba, that at first you didn't sing any psalms but began after we had gone away? And why was the water salt when I tried to drink it?"

Joseph replied, "My disciple is away at work and I made a mistake and put salt in the water jug."

But Eulogius went on asking him, wanting to know the truth. So Joseph told him the truth, "That little cup is for the wine that we use in charity when we have guests. This is for the water that the brethren drink every day."

With these words, he taught him to have discretion, and cleansed him from merely human motivation. So Eulogius became like other people, and in future ate what was put before him. He learnt to be severe only in secret, and said to Joseph, "Indeed your work is a work of love."

Holy Scripture

Once some brothers came to visit Antony, and Joseph was with them. Antony, wanting to test them, began to speak about holy Scripture. He asked the younger monks first the meaning of text after text, and each of them answered as well as he could.

To each he said, "You have not yet found the right answer."

Then he said to Joseph, "What do you think is the meaning of this word?"

He replied, "I don't know."

Antony said, "Indeed Joseph alone has found the true way, for he said he did not know."

~~ The text reads: The Byble, that is to say all the holy Scripture: in whych are contayned the Olde and New Testamente truly and purely translated ino English London: imprynted by Jhon Daye and William Seres, 1549

Do Clothes Make the Man?

Some of the hermits once came to Joseph in Panephysis, to ask him if they should break their fast when they received brothers as guests, to celebrate their coming. Before they asked their question, Joseph said to them, "Think about what I am going to do today."

He put two seats made of reeds tied in bundles, one on his left and the other on his right, and said, "Sit down."

Then he went into his cell and put on rags; he came out, and walked past them, and then went into his cell again and put on his ordinary clothes. The visitors were astonished, and asked him what it meant.

He said to them, "Did you see what I did?"

They said, "Yes."

He said, "Did the rags change me for the better?"

They said, "No."

Joseph said, "Did good clothes change me for the worse?"

They said, "No."

He said, "So I am myself whether I wear good clothes or rags. I was not changed for better or for worse because I changed my clothes. That is how we ought to be when we receive guests. It is written in the Holy Gospel, 'Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's' (Matthew 22:21). When visitors come we should welcome them and celebrate with them. It is when we are by ourselves that we ought to be sorrowful."

When they heard this they were amazed that he knew what they intended to ask him, and they praised God.