DAY ONE
1. When the holy Father (Abba) Anthony was living in the desert he was afflicted with lethargy (“accidie” – despondency/melancholy), and attacked by many imaginations (“logismoi”- thoughts/imaginations). He said to God, “Lord, I want to be saved but these thoughts will not leave me alone. What shall I do in my afflictions? How can I be saved? A little later, when he went outside, Anthony saw a man like himself sitting at his work, getting up from his work to pray, then sitting down and braiding a rope, then getting up again to pray. It was an angel of the Lord sent to correct and reassure him. He heard the angel saying to him, “Do this and you will be saved.” At these words, Anthony was filled with joy and courage. He did this, and he was saved.
DAY TWO
2. When the same Father Anthony meditated on the depth of the judgment of God, he asked, “Lord, how is it that some die when they are young, while others drag on to extreme old age? And why are some poor and others rich? Why do wicked people prosper and why are the just in need? He heard a voice answering him, “Anthony, keep your attention on yourself; these things are according to the judgment of God, and it is not to your benefit to know anything about them.
DAY THREE
3. Someone asked Father Anthony, “What must one do in order to please God?” The old man replied, “Pay attention to what I tell you: whoever you may be, always have God before your eyes; whatever you do, do it according to the witness of the holy Scriptures; in whatever place you live, do not easily leave it. Keep these three precepts and you will be saved.”
DAY FOUR
4. Father Anthony said to Father Poemen, “This is the great work of man: always to take the blame for his own sins before God and to expect temptation until the last breath.”
5. He also said, “Whoever has not experienced temptation cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.” He even added, “Without temptations no one can be saved.”
DAY FIVE
6. Father Pambo asked Father Anthony, “What ought I to do?” and the elder said to him, “Do not trust in your own righteousness, do not worry about the past, but control your tongue and your stomach (appetite).”
DAY SIX
7. Father Anthony said, “I saw all the traps that the enemy spreads out over the world and I said groaning, ‘What can get through such snares?’ Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Humility.’”
DAY SEVEN
8. He also said, “Some have worn out their bodies by asceticism, but they lack discernment, and so they are far from God.”
9. He also said, “Our life and our death is with our neighbor. If we gain our brother, we have gained God, but if we scandalize our brother, we have sinned against Christ.”
~Taken from the Website of Father Arseny, 38 Sayings of Saint Anthony, http://www.fatherarseny.com/38-sayings-of-saint-anthony.html.
