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Sayings of the Fathers (Systematic Collection, Latin)

tr. Chadwick, 1958; selections

4. Part 4: Of Self-control

Some brothers from Scete wanted to visit Abba Antony, and embarked in a ship to go there. In the ship they found an old man who also wanted to go to Antony, but they did not know him. During the voyage they talked about the sayings of the Fathers, and the Scriptures, and then the work of their hands. But the old man was silent through it all. When they came to the landing-place, they saw that the old man also was preparing to go up to Abba Antony. When they arrived, Abba Antony said to them: “You found good company on your journey in this old man.” And he said to the old man: “You found good companions in these brothers.” The old man said: “Yes, they are good, but their house has no door. Whoever wants, goes into the stable and steals the donkey.” He said this because they uttered the first thing that came into their heads.

Abba Daniel said of Abba Arsenius that he used to spend all night watching. He would stay awake all night, and about dawn when nature seemed to force him into sleep, he would say to sleep: “Come, you wicked servant,” and he would snatch a little sleep still sitting: and at once rose up.

Abba Arsenius said: “An hour’s sleep is enough for a monk: that is, if he is a fighter.”

Abba Daniel said of him: “All the years he stayed with us, we gave him a little enough measure of food for the year. And every time we came to visit him, he shared it with us.”

He said also, that he only changed the water for the palm-leaves once a year; otherwise he added to it. He would make a plait of the palm-leaves,¹ and weave it till noon. So the elders asked him why he would not change the water for the palm-leaves, which was stinking. And he said to them: “When I was in the world I used incense and sweet-smelling ointments, so now I must profit from this stink.”

He also said this. When he heard that all the apples were ripe, he said: “Bring them to me.” And he took one little mouthful of each kind, giving thanks to God.

They said of Abba Agatho that for three years he kept a pebble in his mouth, to teach himself silence.

Once Abba Agatho was going a journey with his disciples. And one of them found a tiny bag of green peas on the road, and said to the old man: “Father, if you command, I will take it.” The old man gazed at him in astonishment, and said: “Did you put it there?” The brother replied: “No.” And the old man said: “How is it that you want to take something which you did not put there?”

Once an old man came to Abba Achillas, and saw blood dripping from his mouth: and he asked him: “What is the matter, Father?” And the old man said: “A brother came and spoke a word which grieved me, yet I have been trying with all my might to nurse that grievance. And I prayed God that he would take it away, and the word turned into blood in my mouth. Look, I have spat it out, and am now at rest, and have forgotten my grievance.”

Once Abba Achillas came to the cell of Abba Isaiah in Scete, and found him eating. He had put salt and water in his vessel. Seeing that he hid the vessel behind the plaits of palm-leaves, Abba Achillas said: “Tell me what you were eating.” And he answered: “Forgive me, Abba; but I was cutting palms and began to be on fire with thirst. And so I dipped a piece of bread in the salt, and put it in my mouth. But my mouth was parched, and I could not swallow the bread, so I was forced to pour a little water on the salt and then I could swallow it. But forgive me.” And Abba Achillas used to say: “Come and see Isaiah eating broth in Scete. If you want to eat broth, go to Egypt.”

They said of Abba Ammoi that though he was on a bed of sickness for several years, he never relaxed his discipline; and never went into the store-cupboard at the back of his cell to see what he had. Many people brought him presents because he was sick. But even when his disciple, John, went in and out, he shut his eyes so as not to see what he was doing. He knew what it means to be a faithful monk.

Abba Benjamin, who was presbyter in Cellia, said that some brothers went to an old man in Scete and wanted to give him a measure of oil. But the old man said: “Look, there is the little vessel of oil which you brought three years ago. It has stayed there, where you put it.” And Abba Benjamin said: “When we heard it, we marvelled at the old man’s devotion.”

They told a story of Abba Dioscorus of Namisias,² that his bread was made of barley, and his gruel of lentils. And every year he made one particular resolution: not to meet anyone for a year, or not to speak, or not to taste cooked food, or not to eat any fruit, or not to eat vegetables. This was his system in everything. He made himself master of one thing, and then started on another, and so on each year.

Abba Evagrius said that an old man said: “I cut away my fleshly pleasures, to remove the opportunities of anger. For I know that it is because of pleasure that I have to struggle with anger, and trouble my mind, and throw away my understanding.”

Once Epiphanius the bishop from Cyprus sent a message to Abba Hilarion, and asked him: “Come, that I may see you before I die.” And when they had met and greeted each other, part of a fowl was set before them. The bishop took it and gave it to Abba Hilarion. And the old man said to him: “Forgive me, Father. From the time I took my habit, I have eaten nothing that has been killed.” And Epiphanius said to him: “From the time I took my habit, I have let none go to sleep who still had something against me, and I have never gone to sleep with an enemy in the world.” And the old man said to him: “Forgive me. Your devotion is greater than mine.”

They said of Abba Helladius that he lived twenty years in Cellia, and did not once lift his eyes upward to see the roof of the church.³

Once Abba Zeno was walking in Palestine; and when he had finished his work, he sat down to eat near a cucumber plant. And his soul tried to persuade him, saying: “Pick one of those cucumbers for yourself, and eat it. What does it matter?” And he replied to his temptation: “Thieves go down to torment. Test yourself then to see whether you can bear torment.” So he rose and stood in the sun for five days, without drinking, and dried himself in the heat. And his soul (so to say) spoke to him: “I cannot bear torment.” So he said to his soul: “If you cannot bear torment, do not steal to get a meal.”

Abba Theodore said: “The monk’s body grows weak with eating little bread.” But another elder said: “It grows weaker with watching in the night.”

Abba John the Short said: “If a king wants to take a city whose citizens are hostile, he first captures the food and water of the inhabitants of the city, and when they are starving subdues them. So it is with gluttony. If a man is earnest in fasting and hunger, the enemies which trouble his soul will grow weak.”

He also said: “As I was climbing up the road which leads to Scete, carrying plaits of palms, I saw a camel-driver who talked to me and annoyed me. And I dropped what I was carrying, and ran away.”

Said Abba Isaac the presbyter of Cellia: “I know a brother who was harvesting and wanted to eat an ear of wheat. And he said to the owner of the field: ‘Will you let me eat one ear?’ And when he heard it, he wondered, and said: ‘The whole field is yours, Father, why do you ask me?’ So scrupulous was that brother.”

One of the brothers asked Abba Isidore the priest of Scete: “Why are the demons so violently afraid of you?” And the old man said: “Ever since I became a monk, I have been trying not to let anger rise as far as my mouth.”

He said also that though he felt in his mind impulses towards the sins of concupiscence or anger, he had not consented to them for forty years.

Abba Cassian⁴ told a story of an Abba John who went to see Abba Paesius who had lived for forty years in the deep desert. And because he had much charity towards him, he asked him with the confidence born of charity: “You have been isolated so long, and cannot easily suffer any trouble from man—tell me, what progress have you made?” And he said: “From the time I began to be a solitary, the sun has never seen me eating.” And Abba John said to him: “Nor me angry.”

He said also:⁵ “Abba Moses told us what Abba Serapion said to him: ‘While I was still a lad, I was staying with Abba Theonas; and after each meal I was moved by some demon and stole one of the rolls of bread, and secretly ate it, Theonas knowing nothing of the matter. For some time I went on with this, until the sin began to dominate my mind, and I could not stop myself. Only my conscience judged me, for I was ashamed to say anything to the old man. But by God’s mercy it happened that some visitors came to the old man in search of profit to their soul, and they asked him about their own thoughts. The old man replied: “Nothing harms the monk so much, and gives such happiness to the demons, as when he conceals his thoughts from his fathers in the spirit.” And he also talked to them about self-control. And while he was speaking, I thought to myself that God had revealed to him what I had done. Stricken in my heart, I began to weep: then I pulled the roll of bread out of my dress, threw myself on the floor, and begged forgiveness for what I had done, and for prayer that I might be helped not to do it again.

Then the old man said: “My son, you are freed from your captivity though I have said nothing. You are freed by your own confession. The demon which by your silence you let dwell in your heart, has been killed because you confessed your sin. You let him rule you because you never said him nay, never rebuked him. Henceforth he shall never make a home in you, because you have thrown him out of doors into the open air.” The old man had not finished speaking, when his words were visibly fulfilled—something like a flame shot out of my breast and so filled the house with its stench, that the people present thought it was burning sulphur. And the old man said: “My son, see the sign, whereby the Lord has proved that I have spoken truly and you are free.”’”

They said of Abba Macarius that if he was called among the brothers, he made a rule for himself thus: if wine could be had, he used to drink it for the brothers’ sake: and then, for one cup of wine he would go without water for a whole day. And the brothers, wanting to refresh him, used to give him wine. And the old man took it with joy, so as later to crucify himself. But his disciple, knowing the reason, said to the brothers: “For God’s sake, I beg you, do not give it him. In the cell afterwards he tames himself with torments.” When the brothers knew it, they gave him no more wine.

Abba Macarius the Great said to the brothers in Scete after service in church: “Flee, my brothers.” And one of the brothers said to him: “Father, where have we to flee beyond this desert?” And he put his finger upon his lips and said: “I tell you, this you must flee.” And so he entered his cell, and shut the door, and dwelt alone.

Abba Macarius said also: “If when you want to reprove someone you are stirred to anger, you are pandering to your own passion. Lose not yourself to save another.”

Said Abba Poemen: “Unless Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had come, the temple of the Lord would not have been burnt.⁶ And unless greed brought idleness into the soul, the mind would not fail in its fight against the enemy.”

They said of Abba Poemen that when he was invited to eat and did not want to go, he went weeping, and praying that he might obey his brothers and not sadden them.

They told Abba Poemen that a certain monk did not drink wine. And he said to them: “Wine is not for monks at all.”

31A. Abba Poemen also said: “All rest of the body is an abomination to the Lord.”

31B. Abba Poemen also said: “The only way to humble the soul is by eating less bread.”

31C. He also said that if a man remembered the word of Scripture “out of thy mouth thou shalt be justified and out of thy mouth shalt thou be condemned”⁷ he would more and more choose not to speak.

31D. He also said that a monk asked Abba Pambo if it is good to praise your neighbour. And he answered: “It is a greater good to hold your peace.”

31E. A monk asked Abba Poemen: “How should I behave in my common life among the brothers?” The old man said to him: “He who lives among the brothers ought to regard them as though they were but one person, and to keep guard over his mouth and eyes; and so he will be able to win peace of mind.”

Abba Poemen also said: “They smoke out bees to steal away their honey. And so idleness drives the fear of God from the soul, and steals away good works.”

One of the old men told this story of Abba Poemen and his brothers, who lived in Egypt. Their mother wanted to see them, and could not. So she looked out for her chance, and presented herself in front of them as they were going to church. The moment they saw her, they turned, went to their cell, and shut the door in her face. But she stood at the door and screamed and besought them in her misery. Abba Anub, hearing her, went to Abba Poemen and said: “What shall we do about the little old woman who is crying outside the door?” Abba Poemen rose up, and went to the door, and stood just inside and heard her beseeching them miserably. And he said: “What are you screaming for, old woman?” When she heard his voice, she cried out the more and implored them: “I want to see you, my sons. Why should I not see you? Am I not your mother? Have I not given you milk at the breast, and now every hair of my head is grey? When I hear your voice, I am in distress.” The old man said to her: “Do you want to see us in this world or the next?” She said to him: “If I do not see you in this world, shall I see you in the next, my sons?” He said: “If you can suffer, with a calm spirit, not to see us here, you shall see us there.” And so the woman went away happy, and saying: “If I shall truly see you there, I do not want to see you here.”

They said of Abba Pior that he ate while walking about. And when someone asked him why he ate in this manner, he replied that he did it casually, as if there were no need of it. But when someone else asked the same question, he replied: “So that my soul does not receive bodily pleasure from eating.”

They said of Abba Peter, named Pyonius, who was in Cellia, that he did not drink wine. And when he grew old, they asked him to take a little wine. When he refused, they warmed some water, and offered it to him. And he said: “Believe me, my sons, I drink it as though it was spiced wine.” And he declared that he was content with warm water.

Once they celebrated a great service on the mountain of Abba Antony, and a little wine was found there. One of the elders took a small cup, and carried it to Abba Sisois, and gave it him. And he drank it. And a second time Abba Sisois received it, and drank it. And the elder offered it a third time. But he did not receive it, and said: “Stay, brother, do you not know that Satan still exists?”

A brother asked Abba Sisois: “What am I to do? When I go to church, out of charity the brothers often make me stay to the meal afterwards.” The old man said to him: “That is burdensome.”

So Abraham his disciple said to him: “If in the meeting at church on Saturday and Sunday, a brother drinks three cups, is it much?” And the old man said: “If there were no Satan, it would not be much.”

Often the disciple used to say to Abba Sisois: “Rise, Abba, let us eat.” And he would say: “Have we not eaten already, my son?” And the disciple would reply: “No, Father.” The old man used to say: “If we have not eaten yet, bring the food, let us eat.”

Abba Sisois once said with confidence: “Believe me, for thirty years I have not been in the habit of praying to God about sin. But when I pray, I say this: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, protect me from my tongue.’ And even now, it causes me to fall every day.”

Once Abba Silvanus and his disciple Zacharias came to a monastery. And the monks made them sup a little before they went on their way. And when they departed, the disciple found a pool by the wayside and wanted to drink. Abba Silvanus said: “Zacharias, today is a fast.” And Zacharias said: “Have we not already eaten today, Father?” The old man said to him: “To eat that meal was charity: but as for us, let us keep our fast, my son.”

The holy Syncletice said: “We who have chosen this holy way ought above all to keep chastity. Even among men of the world chastity is regarded. But in the world they are also stupid about it, and sin with their other senses. For they peep indecently, and laugh immoderately.”

She said also: “Animal’s poison is cured by still stronger antidotes. So fasting and prayer drive sordid temptation from the soul.”

She also said: “The pleasures of the wealthy world must not seduce you, as if those pleasures were useful. Because of this pleasure they honour the art of cooking. But by rigorous fasting, you should trample on those pleasures. Never be sated with bread, nor want wine.”

Abba Sisois said: “Our form of pilgrimage is keeping the mouth shut.”

Said Abba Hyperichius: “Donkeys are terrified of lions. So temptations to concupiscence are terrified of a proved monk.”

He also said: “Fasting is the monk’s rein over sin. The man who stops fasting is like a stallion who lusts the moment he sees a mare.”

He also said: “When the monk’s body is dried up with fasting, it lifts his soul from the depths. Fasting dries up the channels down which worldly pleasures flow.”

He also said: “The chaste monk shall be honoured on earth, and in heaven shall be crowned in the presence of the Most Highest.”

He also said: “The monk who cannot control his tongue when he is angry, will not control his passions at other times.”

He also said: “Let not thy mouth speak an evil word: the vine does not bear thorns.”

He also said: “It is better to eat flesh and drink wine than to eat the flesh of the brothers by disparaging them.”

He also said: “The serpent murmured to Eve and cast her out of paradise. The man who rails against his neighbour is like the serpent. He loses the soul of him that listens to him, and he does not save his own.”

Once there was a feast in Scete, and they gave a cup of wine to an old man. He threw it down, saying: “Take that death away from me.” When the others who were eating with him saw this, they also did not drink.

Another time a vessel of wine was brought there from the first fruits of the vintage, so that a cup of it could be given to each of the brothers. And a brother came in and saw that they were drinking wine, and fled up on a roof, and the roof fell in. And when they heard the noise, they ran and found the brother lying half-dead. And they began to abuse him, saying: “It has served you right, for you were guilty of vainglory.” But an abba embraced him, and said: “Leave my son alone, he has done a good work. By the living Lord, this roof shall not be rebuilt in my time, as a reminder to the world that a roof fell in Scete because of a cup of wine.”

Once a priest from Scete went up to see the bishop of Alexandria. And when he came back to Scete the brothers asked him: “How goes the city?” But he said to them: “Believe me, brethren, I saw no man’s face but the bishop alone.” And when they heard this, they wondered, and said: “What do you think has happened to all the population?” They hesitated to believe him. But he cheered them by saying: “I have wrestled with my soul, not to look upon the face of a man.” And so the brothers were edified, and kept themselves from lifting up their eyes.

Once an old man came to another old man. And the second said to his disciple: “Make us a little lentil broth, my son.” And he made it. “Dip the bread in it for us.” And he dipped it. And they went on with their godly discourse till noon next day. Then the old man said to his disciple: “Make us a little lentil broth, my son.” He replied: “I made it yesterday.” And so they rose and ate their food.

An old man came to a father, who cooked a few lentils and said: “Let us worship God and eat afterwards.” One of them recited the whole psalter. The other read and meditated upon two of the greater prophets. And in the morning the old man went away, and they forgot to eat their food.

A brother felt hungry at dawn, and struggled with his soul not to eat till 9 o’clock. And when 9 o’clock came, he extracted from himself a resolution to wait till noon. At noon he dipped his bread and sat down to eat—but then rose up again, saying: “I will wait till three.” And at 3 o’clock he prayed, and saw the devil’s work going out of him like smoke; and his hunger ceased.

One of the old men was ill, and for many days could not eat. His disciple asked him to take something and restore his strength. So the disciple went away and made some lentil cake. A jar was hanging in the cell containing a little honey: and there was another jar with evil-smelling linseed oil only used for the lamp. The brother took the wrong jar in error and put grease instead of honey into the mixture. The old man tasted it, and said nothing, but quietly ate the mouthful. The disciple forced him to take a second mouthful. The old man tortured himself and ate it. Yet a third time the disciple pressed it upon him. But he did not want to eat, and said: “Truly, my son, I cannot.” But his disciple encouraged him, and said: “It is good, Abba; look, I keep you company.” When the disciple tasted it and saw what he had done, he fell flat on his face, and said: “Alas, Father! I have killed you, and you have laid this sin upon me because you did not speak.” And the old man said to him. “Be not sad, my son. If God had willed that I should eat honey you would have been given the honey to mix in those buns.”

They said of one old man that he sometimes longed to eat cucumber. So he took it and hung it in front of him where he could see it. And he was not conquered by his longing, and did not eat it, but tamed himself, and did penitence that he wanted it at all.

Once a brother went to visit his sister who was ill in a nunnery. She was a person full of faith. She herself did not consent to see a man: nor did she want to give her brother occasion to come into the midst of women. So she commanded him thus: “Go, my brother, pray for me. For by Christ’s grace I shall see you in the kingdom of heaven.”

On a journey a monk met some nuns and when he saw them he turned aside off the road. The abbess said to him: “If you had been a perfect monk, you would not have looked so closely as to see that we were women.”

Once some brothers went to Alexandria, invited by Archbishop Theophilus to be present when after prayer he destroyed a pagan temple. And while they were supping with the archbishop, they were served with veal, and ate it without realizing it. And the archbishop took a piece of meat, and gave it to the old man who was reclining next to him, and said: “Look, here is a good piece of meat. Eat it, Abba.” But they answered him: “Till now, we thought we were eating vegetables. If this is meat, we do not eat it.” And not one of them would take another mouthful.

A brother brought some new bread to Cellia and invited his elders to taste. And when they had each eaten two rolls of bread, they stopped. But the brother knew how austere was their abstinence, and humbly began to beg them: “For God’s sake eat today until you are filled.” And they ate another two rolls. See how these true and self-disciplined monks ate much more than they needed, for God’s sake.

Once one of the old men lay gravely ill, and was losing a lot of blood from his bowels. And a brother brought him some dry fruit, and made gruel, and offered them to the old man, and asked him: “Eat; perhaps it is good for you.” The old man looked at him for a long time, and said: “In truth, I tell you that I have wanted God to leave me in my sickness for thirty years more.” And in his weakness he absolutely refused to take even a little food; so the brother took away what he had brought, and returned to his cell.

Another old man had lived in the desert for a long time. And it happened that a brother came to him and found him sickening. He washed his face, and made a meal for him out of what he had brought. And when the old man saw it, he said: “Truly, brother, I had forgotten that men found comfort in food.” And he offered him a cup of wine as well. And when he saw it, he wept, saying: “I hoped I would never drink wine until I died.”

An old man made a resolution not to drink for forty days. And if ever he thirsted he washed a vessel and filled it with water and hung it in front of his eyes. And when the brothers asked him why he was doing this, he replied: “So that if I do not taste what I long for and can see, my devotion will be greater and I shall be granted a greater reward by the Lord.”

On a journey, one brother had with him his mother, who had now grown old. They came to a river, and the old woman could not get across. Her son took off his cloak, and wrapt it round his hands, so as not to touch his mother’s body, and carried her across the river. His mother said to him: “Why did you wrap your hands like that, my son?” He said: “Because a woman’s body is fire. Simply because I was touching you, the memory of other women came into my soul.”

One of the fathers said that he knew a brother who fasted in his cell the whole of Easter week. And when at last he came to mass on Saturday, he ran away as soon as he had communicated, to prevent the other brothers forcing him to join in the dinner in the church. In his own cell he only ate a few boiled beetroots, with salt but without bread.

At a meeting of the brothers in Scete, they were eating dates. And one of them, who was ill from excessive fasting, brought up some phlegm in a fit of coughing, and unintentionally it fell on another of the brothers. This brother was tempted by an evil thought and driven to say: “Be quiet, and do not spit on me.” So to tame himself and restrain his own angry thought he picked up what had been spat and put it in his mouth and swallowed it. And then he began to say to himself: “If you say to your brother what will sadden him, you will have to eat what nauseates you.”

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