Benedicta Ward trans. The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks (London: Penguin Books, 2003)
Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline was translated into Chinese in the early 1980s and began a whirlwind. People suddenly became interested in other spiritual traditions. I read the Life of Antony by Athanasius and one or two books of Nouwen at that time. But to be honest, I forgot them all.
Though the stories are grouped under topics, it is difficult to summarize systematic thoughts or practices on a specific topic. It seems to me that monks had their different ways of doing things. So, here are my random thoughts:
1. Their whole life seemed to be fighting against their sin.
2. They were very frank about their sins, from jealousy to fornication. Humility was the highest virtue.
3. They seemed forgiving and understanding. Repentant monks were readily accepted.
4. The cell was their centre of living as a hermit.
5. They lived on the minimum, and some acts seemed to go to extremes (clothing, shelter, food)
6. Flexible towards others but harsh on oneself.
6. Their community life seemed negligent.
7. Mentor-discipleship was the way to teach.
Highlighted sentences
“Keep your tongue and your belly under control.” (1.2)
“If anyone speaks to you on a controversial matter, do not argue with him. If he speaks well, say, “Yes.” If he speaks ill, say, “I don’t know anything about that.” Don’t argue with what he has said, and then your mind will be at peace.” (1.23)
“If a man sits in silence and hears the voice of a bird, he does not have quiet in his heart.” (2.5)
“Go and sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.” (2.9)
“(Do not live in a crowd) because of the turbulence, he does not see his sins: but when he has been quiet, above all in solitude, then he recognizes his own faults.”(2.16)
“A brother asked Sisois, ‘What am I to do ? When I go to church, love for the brothers often makes me stay to the meal afterwards.’ Sisois said to him, ‘That is burdensome.'” (3.37)
“We ate their meal out of love for them, but when we are on our own let us keep our fast.” (3.40)
“The monk who cannot control his tongue when he is angry, will not control his passions at other times.”(3.49)
“I’ve been a monk for seventy years, and I’ve not been able to get a single day’s peace.” (7.5)
“…’I find that I am at peace, with no war between flesh and spirit.’ The hermit said to him, ‘Go and ask the Lord to stir up a new war in you. Fighting is good for the soul.'”(7.8)
“The character of the genuine monk only appears when he is tempted.” (7.13)
“An open treasury is quickly spent; any virtue will be lost if it is published abroad and is known about everywhere.” (8.19)
“If we always go to excess, the brothers quickly become exhausted. It is sometimes best not to be rigid.” (10.2)
“If the body is prosperous, the soul grows lean; if the body is lean, the soul grows prosperous.” (10.17)
” Evagrius said, ‘A wandering mind is strengthened by reading, and prayer. Passion is dampened down by hunger and work and solitude. Anger is repressed by psalmody and long-suffering and mercy. But all these should be at the proper times and in due measure. If they are used at the wrong times and to excess, they are useful for a short time. But what is only useful for a short time, is harmful in the long run.'” (10.20)
“But the great hermits have tested all these things, and they found that 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.” (10.44)
“‘Just as you can’t stop air coming into your lungs, so you can’t stop thoughts coming into your mind. Your part is to resist them.”(10.54)
A brother questioned Poemen and said, ‘How should a monk live in his cell?’ He said, ‘To stay in the cell is this: externally, to work with the hands, eat once a day, keep silence and meditate and, internally, to make progress by remembering your sins wherever you may be, and keeping the hours of prayer, and keeping a watch on the secret thoughts of the heart. If it is time to stop working with the hands, begin to pray and finish your work later in tranquillity. The aim of all this is to be with those who are good and to avoid the company of the wicked.'(10.64)
“Our body is the armour, our soul is the warrior. Take care of both, and you will be ready for whatever comes.”(10.75)
“If ever you oversleep in the morning, get up when you wake, shut the door and the windows, and say your psalms. For it is written, “The day is thine and the night is thine” (Ps. 74:16). God is glorified whatever time it is.”(10.101)
“One hermit visited another hermit and said during their conversation, ‘I’m dead to the world.’ The other said, ‘Don’t be so confident until you have actually died. You may say about yourself that you are dead, but Satan is not dead.'”(11.38)
“Some brothers asked Macarius, ‘How should we pray?’ He said, ‘There is no need to talk much in prayer. Reach out your hands often, and say, “Lord have mercy on me, as you will and as you know.” But if conflict troubles you, say, “Lord, help me.” He knows what is best for us, and has mercy.”(12.10).
“Antony was confused as he meditated upon the depths of God’s judgements, and he asked God, ‘Lord, how is it that some die young and others grow old and sick? Why are there some poor and some rich? Why are there those who are bad and rich and oppress the good poor?’ He heard a voice saying to him, ‘Antony, worry about yourself; these other matters are up to God, and it will not do you any good to know them.'”(15.1)
“Mathois said, ‘The nearer a man comes to God, the more he sees himself to be a sinner. Isaiah the prophet saw the Lord and knew himself to be wretched and unclean (Is. 6:5).'”(15.28)
“A hermit said, ‘I would learn rather than teach.’ He also said, ‘Do not teach too early, or you will have less understanding during the rest of your life.'”(15.81)
“A hermit was asked how it was that some people said they had seen angels. He answered, ‘Blessed is he who always sees his own sins.'”(15.87)
