DAY EIGHTEEN
21. It happened one day that one of the brothers in the monastery of Father Elias was tempted. Cast out of the monastery, he went over the mountain to Father Anthony. The brother lived near him for a while and then Anthony sent him back to the monastery from which he had been expelled. When the brothers saw him they cast him out yet again, and he went back to Father Anthony saying, “My Father, they will not receive me.” Then the elder sent them a message saying, “A boat was shipwrecked at sea and lost its cargo; with great difficulty it reached the shore; but you want to throw into the sea that which has found a safe harbor on the shore.” When the brothers understood that it was Father Anthony who had sent them this monk, they received him at once.
DAY NINETEEN
22. Father Anthony said, “I believe that the body possesses a natural motion, to which it is adapted, but which it cannot follow without the consent of the soul; it only signifies in the body a passionless motion. There is another motion, which comes from the nourishment and warming of the body by eating and drinking, and this causes the heat of the blood to stir up the body to work. That is why the apostle said, “Do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery” (Eph. 5:18). And in the Gospel the Lord also recommends this to his disciples: “Watch, lest your hearts be weighed down with indulgence and drunkenness” (Luke 21:34). But there is yet another motion which afflicts those who struggle, and that comes from the plotting and jealousy of the demons. You must understand what these three bodily motions are: one is natural, one comes from too much to eat, the third is caused by the demons.”
DAY TWENTY
23. He also said, “God does not allow the same warfare and temptations to this generation as he did formerly, for people are weaker now and cannot bear so much.”
DAY TWENTY-ONE
24. It was revealed to Father Anthony in the desert that there was one who was his equal in the city. He was a doctor by profession and whatever he had beyond his needs he gave to the poor, and every day he sang the Trisagion with the angels.
DAY TWENTY-TWO
25. Father Anthony said, “A time is coming when people will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying, “You are mad, because you are not like us.”
DAY TWENTY-THREE
26. The brothers came to Father Anthony and laid before him a passage from Leviticus. The elder went out into the desert, secretly followed by Father Ammonias, who knew that this was his custom. Father Anthony went a long way off and stood there praying, crying in a loud voice, “God, send Moses, to make me understand this saying.” Then there came a voice speaking with him. Father Ammonias said that although he heard the voice speaking with him, he could not understand what it said.
DAY TWENTY-FOUR
27. Three Fathers used to go and visit blessed Anthony every year. Two of them used to ask about distracting thoughts and the salvation of their souls, but the third always remained silent and did not ask him anything. After a long time, Father Anthony said to him, “You often come here to see me, but you never ask me anything,” and the other replied, “It is enough for me to see you, Father.”
DAY TWENTY-FIVE
28. They said that a certain elder asked God to let him see the Fathers and he saw them all except Father Anthony. So he asked his guide, “Where is Father Anthony?” He told him in reply that in the place where God is, there Anthony would be.
~Taken from the Website of Father Arseny, 38 Sayings of Saint Anthony, http://www.fatherarseny.com/38-sayings-of-saint-anthony.html.
