Two eminent phenomena distinguished the Christians of the early generations of Christianity, these are the desire for martyrdom and the love of chastity and virginity. We find the dominance of these two phenomena over the believers an ordinary matter which keeps pace with the deep spirituality they enjoyed and the wonderful sublimity they attained by …
Most of the Apophthegmata Patrum are in the form of question and answer, a clear indication of their didactic purpose: a junior “brother" approaches a senior "elder" or father, abba and asks him a question. The question is often no more than a simple request for "a word": "Say something to me", meaning: "Give me …
The Lord, wishing to show that every commandment is obligatory but that sonship is a gift bestowed on human beings by means of his own blood, says, “When you have done everything that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves, we have done only what we ought to have done”’ (Lk 17.10). …
“I sleep, but my heart is awake; it is the voice of my beloved! He knocks, saying, “Open for me, my sister, my love, My dove, my perfect one; For my head is covered with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.” Song of Songs 5:2 The virgin of the Song of Songs …
I think that, by God's help and to the extent that our limited skill was capable, I have explained the method of night-time prayer and psalms that is observed in Egypt. Now we shall have to discuss the Psalms services of terce (third), sext (Sixth), and none (Ninth), (Which when added to the night-time prayer, …
The authority of the bishop is a multifaceted and ever changing construct that continued to change as individuals adapted, necessity dictated, and circumstances permitted. The office itself underwent a process of growth and change over time during which certain aspects and tasks gained in importance, while others receded into the shadows. The main components that …
Despite the importance of work in the White Monastery, it has been argued that prayer, not labor, was the activity around which the day was structured. The monks slept two to a cell in the monastery. They rose about an hour and a half before light and immediately prayed; if they rose earlier, they were …
For as the Lord said. "Not everyone who says 'Lord, Lord, to me will go Into the kingdom. but the one who will do the will of my Father who is in heaven." (Mat 7:21) Likewise, it is not the one who reads or says or hears Him who will enter life but those who …
Tell me, O you whom I love, Where you feed your flock, Where you make it rest at noon. For why should I be as one who veils herself By the flocks of your companions? If you do not know, O fairest among women, Follow in the footsteps of the flock, And feed your little …
The fifth century saw an important development with the arrival of a group of monks from Egypt. They were perhaps among the refugees from the Byzantine Empire who refused to accept the Chalcedonian Christology. They established monasteries which became very important centers of learning and evangelization. It would indeed be true to say that all …
