For the monks humility is the courage to face the truth, the courage to accept their own earthliness, their humanity. The monks test one another in humility, so as to find out whether someone really is a man of God. “A monk was highly praised to Anthony by the brothers. Then Anthony took him and put him to the test, to see if he could endure insults. When it became clear that the man couldn’t
The following remark has been attributed to Anthony: “If you see that a young man is striving for heaven with his own will, grasp his feet and drag him down; for it will do him no good.” It makes no sense for young people to meditate too early on, to take the path to mysticism too soon. First they have to come to terms with their own reality. They have to take a good look
The spirituality bequeathed to us by the moralizing theology of modern times works from the top down. It presents high ideals that we are supposed to translate into reality. Typical ideals include selflessness, self-control, continuous amiability, selfless love, freedom from anger, and mastery of sexual desire. Spirituality from above surely has some positive meaning for young people, since it challenges them and tests their powers. It prompts them to grow up and out of themselves
For every therapist distance from the problems of the patient is the prerequisite for being able to really help the other person. So Poimen first has to get some distance from his brother. Then he can freely decide whether he wants to help and intervene in the quarrel, or if he will release him and trust him to resolve the conflict responsibly on his own. Being dead vis-a -vis the other is even viewed by
Father Poimen used to say, “It is written: ‘What your eye has seen, that you shall attest to’ (Prov. 25:7). But I say to you: ‘Even if you grasp it with your hands, do not speak about it.’ One brother was fooled in this matter. He saw something that looked as if his brother were sinning with a woman. Strongly tempted, he went over and kicked them with his foot, believing that it was they,
The monks developed methods for practicing the attitude of love, inner clarity and purity, and openness to God. In the monastic writings we find two recurrent images for our struggle to reach a life that we live ourselves, a life that corresponds to God’s image of us: we are the athletes of Christ and the soldiers of Christ the King. The monks are athletes of Christ. Their struggle is fought above all against the passions.
Temptations, the monks tell us, make us human. They bring us in to contact with the roots that bear the trunk. Facing temptations means encountering the truth. Thus one father says: “Take away temptations, and no one will be whole, for whoever flees useful temptation, flees eternal life. There are in fact temptations that have prepared crowns for the saints.” Many people might have problems with this, because when they pray the Our Father, they
For the monks humility is the courage to face the truth, the courage to accept their own earthliness, their humanity. The monks test one another in humility, so as to find out whether someone really is a man of God. “A monk was highly praised to Anthony by the brothers. Then Anthony took him and put him to the test, to see if he could endure insults. When it became clear that the man couldn’t
The following remark has been attributed to Anthony: “If you see that a young man is striving for heaven with his own will, grasp his feet and drag him down; for it will do him no good.” It makes no sense for young people to meditate too early on, to take the path to mysticism too soon. First they have to come to terms with their own reality. They have to take a good look
The spirituality bequeathed to us by the moralizing theology of modern times works from the top down. It presents high ideals that we are supposed to translate into reality. Typical ideals include selflessness, self-control, continuous amiability, selfless love, freedom from anger, and mastery of sexual desire. Spirituality from above surely has some positive meaning for young people, since it challenges them and tests their powers. It prompts them to grow up and out of themselves
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