Entries Tagged as 'Desert Fathers'
The daughter of a certain rich man in Alexandria was suddenly seized by a wicked spirit and was tormented severely. Her father spent much money in order to make her well. But fruitlessly. The condition of the young girl became worse all the time. Somehow the Father learned that a hermit, who lived alone up on a mountain, had the gift from God to cast out demons. He was told, however, that the hermit was so humble that he would never agree to perform such a cure. So the nobleman had to find some other pretext by which to get him to his home.
One day the hermit went down to the city to sell… Continue reading
Tags: cheek · Desert · devil · Fathers · humility · monk · turn
The slogan “Work hard, play hard” has been in iconic standard for corporate culture for years. It initially meant to be as involved in your daily work as you are in your extra-curricular activities, but was rapidly transformed into a great excuse for irrational and destructive behavior in the after hours like alcohol abuse, recreational drugs, heavy partying etc. More so the idea has infiltrated from the initial corporate environment to our homes rendering even our everyday life into a two dimensional universe of work and play; everything we do falls into one of these two buckets.
The Holy Grail of a happy life becomes therefore finding the balance between carrier and leisure. A plethora of… Continue reading
Tags: attitude · christian · hard · life · orthodox · pray · Work
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
Tags: Desert · Fathers · prayer · unceasing
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
An old man was asked, “What is humility?” and he said in reply, “Humility is a great work, and a work of God. The way of humility is to undertake bodily labour and believe yourself a sinner and make yourself subject to all.” Then a brother said, “What does it mean, to be subject to all?” Continue reading
Tags: Add new tag · desert fathers · humility · orthodox · saints
The daughter of a certain rich man in Alexandria was suddenly seized by a wicked spirit and was tormented severely. Her father spent much money in order to make her well. But fruitlessly. The condition of the young girl became worse all the time. Somehow the Father learned that a hermit, who lived alone up on a mountain, had the gift from God to cast out demons. He was told, however, that the hermit was so humble that he would never agree to perform such a cure. So the nobleman had to find some other pretext by which to get him to his home. 
