You will be proclaimed charitable, not simply because you have refused to accept something from another person, but rather you will be recognized as a renunciant because you have given without looking back. When you distribute material goods, strive to cast pure seeds, lest instead of wheat you have tares come forth (Matt, 13: 24-30). …
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful, composed by the Spirit for this reason, namely, that we men, each and all of us, as if in a general hospital for souls, may select the remedy for his own condition. For, it says, “care will make the greatest sin to cease.” (Eccles10:4) Now, the …
In a word, great signs and a multitude of miracles were worked by our father abba Shenoute, truly the true prophet and the bearer of the Holy Spirit. When they were spread abroad, they filled the face of the whole earth so that his renown even reached the ears of the pious kings. They were …
It happened once that a man came to St Shenouda. He was a man from Pemje and he had with him a hundred and twenty pieces of gold. Someone else, a friend of his, came with him, and the man said to his friend: ‘I want to give a small gift to the sanctuary of …
This vocation of folly for Christ's sake is not limited only to Russia, but is also a characteristic of Greek and Syriac Christianity from the fourth century onwards. Holy fools are to be found likewise in the Christian West. One of the earliest examples in Eastern Christendom—perhaps the earliest of all—is not a man but …
The blessed father Abdel Messieh el Macarii was born in 1892 in the village of Abu Shehata, district of Mattai in the provience of El Minya. His father's name was Henain and his mother's was Estere. When he grew up he wanted to be a spiritual soldier in the army of celibates, so he gave …
Isaac describes the ascetic life as a constant variation between periods of ‘assistance’ and ‘feebleness’, presence and abandonment, spiritual ups and downs. Periods of abandonment and spiritual decay are necessary for a person so that he may feel his helplessness and dependence upon God. Abandonment is not a withdrawal of God from a person: it …
By night on my bed, feeling worn out and exhausted, I sought the one I love; I sought him, but I did not find him. The verse, I sought him, but I did not find him, is a painfully moving and disconcerting one. What is the meaning of, I sought him, but I did not …
“In a full belly there is no knowledge of the mysteries of God” By: St Isaac the Syrian Of all forms of ascetic techniques that St Isaac employs, fasting is probably the one that is most difficult to understand for modern man. This is due to some important differences between our time and that of …
The monk ought to be in his appearance and all his actions an exemplar of profit to those who see him, so that by reason of his many virtues which shine forth like sunbeams, the enemies of truth, when they look upon him, will involuntarily confess that the hope of salvation which the Christians have …
