If The Heavens Fell

A brother asked Theodore, "If you suddenly hear the sound of falling masonry, are you frightened, abba?"

Theodore said, "If the heavens fell down on the earth, Theodore would not be afraid." For he had prayed to God that fear might be taken from him. That was why the brother questioned him.

~~Photograph, The Sky is Falling, by Mahesh Thapa

Give Unto Others

One of the monks told this story about John the Persian, how because of his many virtues he attained a deep simplicity and innocence. He lived in the part of Arabia that is near to Egypt. Once he borrowed a shilling from another monk and bought linen with which to make things.

A brother came and asked him, "Abba, give me a little linen and I will make myself a shirt to wear." John gave it to him gladly.

Then another brother came and asked him for a little linen, so he could make himself a coat and John gave it to him. Many others came and he gave simply and cheerfully.

Later, the owner of the borrowed shilling arrived and asked for his money back. John said to him, "I will get it for you." When he could not find anything with which to pay, he went to Jacob the steward to ask him for a shilling. Along the way, he found a shilling lying on the ground. He did not touch it, but said a prayer and went back to his cell.

Again the owner of the shilling he had borrowed came and began to speak harshly to him asking for his money. John said, "I will give it back to you." Then he went away again and found and found the shilling still lying on the ground; again he prayed and went back to his cell.

Then the owner began to be demanding and John said, "Wait for me just once more and I will bring you your shilling." He went to that place where he had found the shilling lying on the ground. He said a prayer and picked it up and went to Jacob, and said, "Abba, on my way here I found this shilling lying on the ground. Of your kindness, tell all our neighbors, to see if anyone has lost it."

Then Jacob summoned everyone and announced the find, but they could discover no one who had lost it. Then John said to Jacob, "If no one has lost it, give it to that monk there, because I owe him a shilling."

Jacob was astonished that when John was being pressed to pay his debt he had not picked the shilling up at once when he had found it and used it in payment.

There was another remarkable thing about John. If anyone came to borrow something from him, he did not take it in his own hands and lend it, but said, "Come in, take what you need." When a borrower brought anything back, John used to say, "Put it back where you found it." If a man borrowed something and did not bring it back, John said nothing to him about it.

~~Legend of Saint Francis, Saint Francis Giving his Mantle to a Poor Man by Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337)

Memories

A hermit asked a brother, "Do you often talk with women?"

The brother said, "No," and added, "My temptations come from paintings old and new, memories of mine which trouble me through pictures of women."

The hermit advised him, "Do not fear the dead but flee the living; flee from consenting to sin or commiting sin, and take a longer time over your prayers."

~~Memories by Martine Jardin

Apples

Daniel said of Arsenius that when he heard all the apples were ripe, he would say, "Bring them to me." Then Arsenius would take one small bite of each kind, giving thanks to God.

Dining on Charity

There was a story that once when some brothers were eating together at a love-feast, one of the brothers at the table laughed. When John saw it, he wept and said, "What do you think that brother has in his heart, that he could laugh when he ought to weep because he is dining on charity?"

A Monk's Grief

They said of Arsenius that his cell was thirty miles away, and that he did not leave it readily, but others did his errands. But, when the monks were driven out of the place called Scetis, he went away, weeping, and saying, "The world destroyed Rome, and the monks Scetis."

~~Photo by Griffin Logue

What Makes a Monk?

Macarius said to Zacharias, "Tell me, what makes a monk?"

Zacharias said, "Isn't it wrong for you to be asking me?"

Macarius replied, "I am sure I should ask you, Zacharias my son. There is something that urges me to ask you."

Zacharias said to him, "As far as I can tell, abba, I think that anyone who controls himself and makes himself content with just what he needs and no more, is indeed a monk."