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

The Fruit of Obedience

They told this story of John the Short. He went to live with a hermit from Thebaid, who was living in the desert of Skete. His abba once took a dead stick and planted it, and told him, "Pour a jug of water over its base every day until it bears fruit."

Water was so far from their cell that John had to go off every evening to fetch it and it was dawn before he returned. At the end of three years the stick turned green, and bore fruit.

The hermit picked some of the fruit and took it to church, and said to the brothers, "Take and eat of the fruit of obedience."

The Wedding Feast

Cassian said, We came from Palestine to Egypt, and visited one of the hermits. After he had welcomed us, we asked him, "When you receive guests, why don't you fast? In Palestine they do."

He answered, "Fasting is always possible but I cannot keep you here forever. Fasting is useful and necessary, but we can choose to fast or not fast. God's law demands from us perfect love. I receive Christ when I receive you, so I must do all I can to show you love. When I have said goodbye to you, I can take up my rule of fasting again. 'The sons of the bridegroom cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them; when he is taken from them, then they can fast' (Matthew 9:15)."

~~A still from one of my favorite films, which portrays a story of an amazing gift of hospitality, Babette's Feast.

Doulas' Tales of Bessarion

Doulas, the disciple of Bessarion, said, "I once went into the cell of my abba, and found him standing up, praying, with his hands outstretched to heaven. He stayed like that for fourteen days.

At the end he called me and said, "Come with me."

We went out and went through the desert. I grew thirsty, and said to him, "Abba, I am thirsty." He took off his cloak and went a stone's throw away; he prayed and brought me the cloak full of water.

We went to the city of Lycus, and visited John, and greeted him and prayed. Then they sat down and began to talk about a vision that they had seen. Bessarion said, "The Lord has commanded the destruction of the pagan temples."

So, it was done and they were destroyed.

~~Sometimes called Bessarion the Great or Bessarion the Wonder Worker, Saint Bessarion (circa 4th Century) was an Egyptian who became a monk at Skete under Anthony of Egypt. Bes, as he is also known, was later a disciple of Macarius the Great. Before founding his own monastery, Bessarion wandered among the cells of Skete. He is said to have kept vigil 40 nights in a row and to have slept sitting or standing for 40 years. He is also said to have had a vision of Theophilus of Alexandria destroying the pagan temples and to have changed salt water into fresh without aid of scientific equipment. His disciple, Doulas, whose name means slave, recorded the stories and sayings of Bessarion.

For the Soul's Good

They say of Ammoi that when he went to church, he did not let his disciple walk beside him, but made him follow a long way behind. If the disciple came near to ask him something, he gave him a brief answer and sent him back at once, saying, "I'm afraid that while we are talking for the soul's good, some irrelevant words will be spoken; that is why I don't let you walk by my side."

~~Icon of a monk by Ann Lang

Pray

A brother said to Antony, "Pray for me."

He answered, "Neither I nor God will have mercy on you unless you do something about it yourself and ask God's help."

~~Photograph, Prayer, by Mark Kitaoka, June 20, 2006, Moments of Humanity Series

Pantocrator

When Isaac of Thebaid visited a community, he saw that one of the brothers was sinful, and passed sentence on him.

But, when he was returning to his cell in the desert, the angel of the Lord came and stood in front of the door of his cell, and said, "I will not let you go in."

Isaac asked, "Why not?"

The angel of the Lord replied, "God sent me to ask you, 'Where do you tell me to send that sinful brother whom you sentenced?'"

At once Isaac repented, saying, "I have sinned, forgive me."

The angel said, "Get up, God has forgiven you. In the future take care to judge no man before God has judged him."

~~Christ Pantocrator from St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai (550 C.E.)