There came to the abbot Lucius in Enna certain monks of the kind called Euchitae, that is, the Men of Prayer: and the old man asked them, saying, “What kind of handiwork do ye do?” And they said, “We touch no kind of handiwork, but as the Apostle says, we pray without ceasing.” The old man said to them, “So ye do not eat?” They said, “Yea, we eat.” And the old man said, “Now while ye are eating, who prays for you?” And again he questioned them, saying, “Ye do not sleep?” And they said, “We sleep.” And the old man said, “And while ye sleep, who prays for you?” And they could find no answer… Continue reading
Entries from September 28th, 2010
Pray without ceasing – From the Desert Fathers
September 28th, 2010 No Comments
A case of mistaken identity
September 1st, 2010 13 Comments
When I was still living in Romania I was going for confession to a hieromonk in a monastery not very far from my hometown. One day I took Maria, my daughter, with me. We participated in the services, got a blessing from the elder and on our way home she asked me, after being very silent and observant all the way: Dad was that man Jesus?
A similar confusion happened to St. John the Baptist when the people of Israel confused him with Messiah: “this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the… Continue reading
Passions and Humility – from the Desert Fathers
September 1st, 2010 No Comments
Abba Poemen said of Abba John the Dwarf that he had prayed God to take his passions away from him so that he might become free from care.
He went and told an old man this: ‘I find myself in peace, without an enemy,’ he said. The old man said to him, ‘Go, beseech God to stir up warfare so that you may regain the affliction and humility that you used to have, for it is by warfare that the soul makes progress.’
So he besought God and when warfare came, he no longer prayed that it might be taken away, but said, ‘Lord, give me strength for the fight.’… Continue reading
Tags: Apophtegmata · Desert · Fathers · orthodox · Patrum · Sayings
