As Taut As A Bow

Some brothers came to Antony to tell him their dreams and to find out whether they were true or whether they were illusions of the demons. They had set out with a donkey which had died on the journey. When they reached Antony, before they told him anything, he said, "Why did your donkey die on the journey?"

They said, "How did you know that, Abba?"

He said, "The demons showed it to me."

They said to him, "That is just what we have come to consult you about. We, too, have dreams which have often come true; and we do not want to be misled about this." Antony had answered them by taking his example from the donkey, showing them that such dreams are caused by demons.

A hunter happened to come by and saw Antony talking in a relaxed way with the brothers, and he was shocked. Antony wanted to show the hunter how we should sometimes be less austere for the sake of the brothers, and said to him, "Put an arrow in your bow and draw it."

He did so, and Antony said, "Draw it further," and he drew it further. He said again, "Draw it yet further," and he drew it some more.

Then the hunter said to him, "If I draw it too far, the bow will snap."

Antony answered, "So it is with God's work. If we always go to excess, the brothers quickly become exhausted. It is sometimes best not to be rigid."

The hunter was ashamed when he heard this, and profited much from it. The brothers were encouraged and went home.

~~Sculpture by Ulysse Gemignani (German 1907-1973) "Hercules, Greek Archer" Circa 1930,

Salvaged

Once a brother in the community of Elias fell when he was tempted. He was expelled from the community, and went to the mountain to Anthony. When he had been with him for some time, Anthony sent him back to his community, but when they saw him, they sent him away again. So he went back to Anthony and said, "They won't have me Abba."

So Anthony sent a message to them saying, " A ship was wrecked in the ocean and lost its cargo, and with great difficulty the empty ship was brought to land. Do you want to run the ship that has been rescued onto the rocks and sink it?"

They realized that Anthony had sent him back, and at once accepted him.

~~photo by Frank Logue

Empty House

The monks praised a brother to Antony. Antony went to him and tested him to see if he could endure being insulted. When he saw that he could not bear it, he said to him, "You are like a house witih a highly decorated outside, but burglars have stolen all the furniture by the back door."

Diligence

Once when Antony was living in the desert his soul was troubled by boredom and irritation. He said to God, "I want to be made whole and my thoughts do not let me. What am I to do about this about this trouble, how shall I be cured?"

After a while he got up and went outside. He saw someone like himself sitting down and working, then standing up to pray; then sitting down again to make a plait of palm leaves, and standing up again to pray. It was an angel of the Lord sent to correct Antony and make him vigilant. He heard the voice of the angel saying, "Do this and you will be cured."

When he heard it, he was very glad and recovered his confidence. He did what the angel had done, and found the salvation that he was seeking.

~~photo by Frank Logue

Give It ALL Away

A brother was leaving the world, and though he gave his goods to the poor he kept some for his own use. He went to Antony, and when Antony knew what he had done, he said, "If you want to be a monk, go to the village over there, buy some meat, hang it on your naked body and come back here."

The brother went, and dogs and birds tore at his body. He came back to Antony, who asked him if he had done what he was told. He showed him his torn body. Then Antony said, "Those who renounce the world but want to keep their money are attacked in that way by demons and torn in pieces."

Night Vigil

Daniel said about Arsenius that he used to keep vigil all night. He would stay awake all night, and about dawn when nature seemed to force him to sleep, he would say to sleep, "Come, you bad servant," and he would snatch a little sleep sitting down, but very soon he would get up again.

~~image by Ryan Bliss, 2006

Three Bodily Inclinations

Antony said, "I think the body has a natural movement within itself, which obeys the orders of the mind, a kind of inclination of which the body's actions are only symptoms. There is a second movement in the body, caused by eating and drinking, by which the blood is heated and excited. That is why Saint Paul said, 'Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess' (Ephesians 5:18), and again the Lord commanded his disciples in the Gospel, 'See that your hearts are not overcharged with surfeiting and drunkeness' (Luke 21:34). There is a third movement which comes from the deceit and envy of demons against those who are trying to live a good life. It is a help to know that there are three bodily inclinations ~ from nature, from too much food, and from the demons."


~~One of three small panels on Saint Anthony by Italian painter Bernardo Parentino (ca.1437-1531). This is the third and most disturbing scene, which shows the Saint being subjected to a beating and ill-treatment by the devils, who appear in the most monstrous forms, with the intention of incarnating the vices, which, under animal disguises, try to attack the virtuous man; one of these is in the act of tearing up a book of prayer and perhaps the Rule of the Anchorite.