Saying of the Day

Keep a careful watch over yourself, and do not allow yourself to be swept away by external obsessions. The tumultuous movements of the soul, in particular, can be rendered quiet by stillness (hesychia). If, however, you keep encouraging and stimulating them, they will start to terrorize you, and can disorder your whole life. Once they are in control, it is as hard to heal them as it is to soothe a sore that we cannot stop scratching.
- Abba Philemon

Directions: Repeat this until you stop obsessing about the president, economy, HDTV and drill presses.

(HT: Mind in the Heart)

Saying of the Day

One day blessed Theophilus the archbishop came to the mountain of Nitria and the abba of the mountain came to meet him. The archbishop said to him, "Father, in this way of life which you follow, what do you find to be best?" The old man said to him, "The act of accusing myself, and of constantly reproaching myself to myself." Abba Theophilus said to him, "There is no other way but this."

Sayings. Theophilus the Archbishop. 1

Saying of the Day

[Bishop Epiphanius] said, "God remits the debts of sinners who are penitent, for example, the sinful woman and the publican, but of the righteous man he even asks interest. This is what he says to his apostles, 'Except your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.'"

Sayings. Epiphanius. 15

Saying of the Day

[Abba Cassian] also said, "There was a distinguished official who had renounced everything and distributed his goods to the poor/ He kept a little bit for his persona; use beacuse he did not want to accept the humiliation that comes from total renunciation, nor did he sincerely want to submit to the rule of the monastery. Saint Basil said to him, 'You have lost your senatorial rank without becoming a monk.'"

Sayings. Cassian 7

Note: This saying applies to us when we commit half-heartedly to our vocation or any other holy calling. But it also applies to the sinner who might "cut back" on certain sins, but not repent whole-heartedly. The effect of this is all loss and no gain, so to speak.

Saying of the Day

Abba Copres said, "Blessed is he who bears affliction with thankfulness."

Sayings. Copres, 1

Saying of the Day

Abba Gerontius of Petra said that many, tempted by the pleasures of the body, commit fornication, not in their body but in their spirit, and while preserving their bodily virginity, commit prostitution in their soul. "Thus it is good, my well-beloved, to do that which is written, and for each one to guard his own heart with all possible care." (Prov. 4:23)

Sayings. Gerontius, 1.

Saying of the Day

Abba Ammonas was asked, "What is the 'narrow and hard way?'" (Matt. 7:14)

He replied, "The 'narrow and hard way' is this, to control your thoughts, and to strip yourself of your own will, for the sake of God. This is also the meaning of the sentence, 'Lo, we have left everything and followed you.'" (Matt. 19:27)

Sayings. Ammonas. 11

For the Months Ahead

A few weeks ago I posted a review of The Faith of Barack Obama. Thomas Nelson had made a special offer for free review copies for bloggers if they posted a review.

I am pleased to report that Thomas Nelson has expanded this program, and soon I will be regularly reviewing books they publish. Stay tuned for these as they come in. The publisher also wishes to enroll many more bloggers into the program, so if you're interested, you can find out more here.

In other news, the Sayings of the Desert Fathers project needs to change. The number of sayings that I would like to share is dwindling--some are too long and others are too hard. As the response to this feature has been enthusiastic from a few, and very muted from most, I've decided to limit the sayings to one or two a week, and re-commit to more regular writing from me.

Saying of the Day

One day when [Abba John the Dwarf] was sitting in front of the church, the brethren were consulting him about their thoughts. One of te old men who aw it became a prey for jealousy and said to him, "John, your vessel is full of poison."

Abba John said to him, "That is very true, abba; and you have said that when you only see the outside, but if you were able to see the inside, too, what would you say then?"

Sayings. John the Dwarf. 8

Saying of the Day

[Abba Nilus] also said, "If you want to pray properly, do not let yourself be upset or you will run in vain."

Sayings. Nilus, 6

Saying of the Day

[Abba Nilus] also said, "Prayer is a remedy against grief and depression."

Sayings. Nilus, 3

Saying of the Day

[Abba Nilus] also said, "Prayer is the seed of gentleness and the absence of anger."

Sayings. Nilus, 2

Saying of the Day

[Abba Nilus] also said, "Do not be always wanting everything to turn out as you think it should, but rather as God pleases, then you will be undisturbed and thankful in your prayer."

Sayings. Nilus, 7

Saying of the Day

Abba Nisterus said that a monk ought to ask himself every night and every morning, "What have we done that is as God wills and what have we left undone of that which he does not will?" He must do this throughout his whole life. This is how Abba Arsenius used to live. Every day strive to come before God without sin. Pray to God in his presence, for he really is present. Do not impose rules on yourself; do not judge anyone. Swearing, making false oaths, lying, getting angry, insulting people laughing, all that is alien to monks, and he who is esteemed or exalted above that which he deserves suffers great harm.

Sayings. Nisterus, 5

Saying of the Day

Abba Nicetas said of two brothers that they met with the intention of living together. The first thought within himself, "If my brother wants something, I will do it," and the second thought the same, "I will do the will of my brother."

So they lived many years in great charity. Seeing this, the enemy set out to separate them. He stood at the entrance to the cell, appearing to the one like a dove and to the other like a raven. The first said, "Do you see that little dove?"

The other said, "It is a raven." They began to argue and to contradict one another, then they stood up and fought till they drew blood, to the great joy of the enemy; and they separated. After three days they returned and came to their senses and each asked the other's forgiveness. They had recognized that each of them had believed the bird to be what he had seen and recognized that their conflict came from the enemy. So they lived to the end without being separated.

Sayings. Nicetas, 1.

Saying of the Day

Abba Olympius of the Cells was tempted to fornication. His thoughts said to him, "Go, and take a wife."

He got up, found some mud, made a woman and said to himself, "Here is your wife, now you must work hard in order to feed her." So he worked, giving himself a great deal of trouble. The next day, making some again, he formed it into a girl and said to his thoughts, "Your wife has had a child, you must work harder so as to be able to feed her and clothe your child." So, he wore himself out doing this, and said to his thoughts, "I cannot bear this weariness any longer." They answered, "If you cannot bear such weariness, stop wanting a wife."

God, seeing his efforts, took away the conflict from him and he was at peace.

Sayings. Olympius, 2.

Saying of the Day

[Abba Orsisius] has also said, "I think that if a man does not guard his heart well, he will forget and neglect everything he has heard, and thus the enemy, finding room in him, will overthrow him. It is like a lamp filled with oil and lit; if you forget to replenish the oil, gradually it goes out and eventually darkness will prevail. It is still worse if a rat happens to get near the lamp and tries to eat the wick; it cannot do so before the oil is exhausted, but when it sees the lamp not only without light, but also without heat, it tries to pull out the wick and it brings the lamp down. If it is earthenware it breaks, but if it is brass, the master of the house will fill it with oil again. In the same way, through the soul's negligence, the Holy Spirit gradually withdraws until his warmth is completely extinguished. Finally the enemy devours the ardour of the soul and wickedness spoils the body, too. But if a man is sound in his attachment to God, and has only been led away through negligence, God, in his mercy, sends his fear to him and the remembrance of punishment and so prepares him to be vigilant and to guard himself with more prudence in the future, until his visitation.

Sayings. Orsisius, 2

Saying of the Day

Abba Poemen said, "Teach your mouth to say what is in your heart."

Sayings. Poemen 164.

Saying of the Day

It was said of Abba Poemen that he dwelt at Scetis with his two brothers, and the younger one was a nuisance to them. So he said to the other brother, "This lad is making us powerless, let us get up and go away from here." So they went away and left him. When he saw that they did not come back for a long time, the young brother realized that they were going far away and he began to run after them, crying out. Abba Poemen said, "Let us wait for our brother, for he is worn out."

When he reached them he bowed to them and said, "Where are you going? Are you leaving me on my own?"

The old man said to him, "It is because you are a worry to us that we are going away."

He said to them, "Yes, yes, let us go together wherever you wish."

The old man, seeing his lack of malice, said to his brother, "Brother, let us go back, for he is not doing this on purpose but it is the devil who is doing it." So they turned back and went home again.

Sayings. Poemen. 180.

Saying of the Day

Abba John, who had been exiled by the Emperor Marcian, said, "We went to Syria one day to see Abba Poemen and we wanted to ask about purity of the heart. But the old man did not know Greek and no interpreter could be found. So, seeing our embarrassment, the old man began to speak Greek, saying, 'The nature of water is soft, that of stone is hard; but if a bottle is hung above the stone, allowing the water to fall drop by drop, it wears away the stone. So it is with the word of God; it is soft and our heart is hard, but the man who hears the word of God often, opens his heart to the fear of God.'"

Sayings. Poemen. 183