Evagrius’s ideal monk lives simply, at the edge of poverty, so to speak, accumulating only enough to support himself and to provide basic hospitality to his guests; any surplus to this amount is to be given to the poor. Possessions, Evagrius argues, weigh down the monk, distract him from prayer, and exacerbate the irritable aspect …
The gift of tears is something ‘native’ to historical Christianity which distinguishes it from the ascetic or mystical traditions of other religions. There is a whole tradition in the Christian East concerning tears which can be traced back to the New Testament, then through the desert Fathers to Climacus himself, who added new dimensions to …
Louis Armstrong flared our passions, almost teasing our poignant yet innocent desires singing the lyrics of his song “What a Wonderful World” as such we all hope to love and live. The imagery of red roses blooming, the truly wonderful creation we are surrounded by, and the beauty of love that is lived not just …
The brethren said, “Is it possible for a man to fast and not to be redeemed?” The old man said, “There is a fasting which is a matter of habit, another which is of desire, another which is of constraint, another which is of the sight, another which is of vainglory, another of tribulation, another …
St. Anthony's humility took many forms. St. Anthony listened to others without insisting on his own opinion from his childhood. As an adult, St. Anthony committed himself to solitude and practiced it by living enclosed for twenty years during which he did not see a single human face. This, it is thought, is the life …
In the Orthodox Church the rite of monastic tonsure has a sacramental character. It is called a ‘sacrament’ (mystery) by Dionysius the Areopagite and other early Christian authors. It is also called a 'sacrament' in the rite itself. Like Baptism, it is death to fleshly life and a birth into a new, spiritual mode of …
If it happens that I show longsuffering in some matter, my thought becomes high-minded; how should I be thinking about this? When you happen to do something good, you should know that this is a gift of God, given to you by God’s goodness; for God has mercy on all. But pay heed to yourself, …
The holy look of virginity is precious indeed in the judgment of all who make purity the test of beauty; but it belongs to those alone whose struggles to gain this object of a noble love are favoured and helped by the grace of God. Now if the achievement of this saintly virtue consists in …
What then do we say about him who has begun to fear the day of judgment? If love were perfected in him, he would not fear. For perfect love would make perfect justice and he would not have a reason to fear; rather, he would have a reason to desire that iniquity pass away and …
I am not sure that Shenoute ever explicitly called himself a prophet, but others have used the label for him frequently. What have they meant in doing so? Already in antiquity Shenoute's first biographers called him a prophet. To be sure, disciples and admirers of other monks called their heroes prophets or compared them to …
