Someone asked an old man...

…”How is it that some say, ‘We see visions of angels’?” And he replied, “Blessed is he who always sees his sins.”

It is no great thing not to judge...

…and to be sympathetic to someone who is in trouble and falls down before you, but it is a great thing not to judge or to strike back when someone, on account of his own passions, speaks against you. Likewise, it is a great thing not to disagree when someone else is honored more than you are. 

Dorotheos of Gaza 
6th century 

One Sunday when this saintly man (St. John the Almsgiver)...

…was going down to his church there came to him one whose whole house had been despoiled by burglars; they had taken everything even down to his mattress. The sufferer was in great distress but, as those who had robbed his house could not be found in spite of a strict search, he was finally obliged by his extreme want, very shamefacedly, to apply to the Saint and told him about his misfortune. The Saint was very sorry for him—for he was one of the prominent foreign residents—and whispered to the man in charge of the gold to give him fifteen pounds of gold. When the latter went out to give the money to the man he took counsel with the cashier and with the treasurer and at the Devil’s prompting they grudged him so large a sum and gave him only five pounds.

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Amma Syncletica said...

…”Imitate the Publican and you will not be condemned with the Pharisee. Choose the meekness of Moses and you will find your heart which is a rock changed into a spring of water.”

If we haven’t got control of our mind...

…during the hour of spiritual study we are not benefited at all. We simply yawn and tire ourselves without a goal, for we cannot remember anything. In the same way, when the printer doesn’t have his mind on his work and forgets to put ink in, the printing presses work without printing anything.

Elder Paisios, +1994

Abba Hyperchius said...

…”He who does not control his tongue when he is angry, will not control his passions either.”

Another father, called Abba Helle...

…had persevered since childhood in the ascetic life. He often carried fire to his neighboring brethren in the fold of his tunic, and stimulated them to advance to the point of performing miracles, saying to them, “If you practice true ascesis, then you will show the supernatural signs of virtue.” 

Once on a Sunday he went to see some monks and said to them, “Why have you not celebrated the Divine Liturgy today?” When they replied that it was because the priest had not come from the other side of the river, he said to them, “I shall go and call him.” But they said it was impossible for anyone to cross the ford, partly because of the depth, but most of all because there was a huge beast at that spot, a crocodile which had devoured many people. The father did not hesitate. At once he jumped up and rushed into the ford. And immediately the beast took him onto its back and set him down on the other side. On finding the priest at his place, he entreated him not to neglect the community of brothers. The priest, seeing that he was dressed in a rag with many patches, asked him where he had found it, saying, “You have a most beautiful mantle for your soul, brother,” for he was amazed at his humility and poverty.

He followed Helle back to the river. As they failed to find a ferry, Helle let out a cry calling the crocodile to him. The animal obeyed him instantly and offered its back as a raft. Helle asked the priest to climb on with him. But the priest was terrified at the sight of the beast and backed away. While he and the brothers who lived on the other bank watched, seized with dread, he crossed the ford with the beast, came ashore, and hauling the beast out of the water, said to it, “It is better for you to die and make restitution for all the lives you have taken.” Whereupon the animal at once sank onto its belly and died. 

Historia Monachorum in Aegypto 12.1,6-9 

If any of them committed a fault...

…many of the brothers would seek his permission to take the matter to the abbot and to accept both the responsibility and the punishment. When the great man found out that his disciples did this, he inflicted easier punishments, in the knowledge that the one punished was actually innocent. And he made no effort to discover the real culprit. 

St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, 4 

Abba Zosimos the Cilician said...

…When I was a young man, I left Mt. Sinai and went to Ammoniac to stay there in a cell. There I found an elder dressed in a short-sleeved shirt of palm-fibre. When the elder saw me, before greeting me, he said, “Why have you come here, Zosimos? Get away from here. You cannot stay in this place.” I thought he knew me. I made a prostration before him saying, “Of your charity, elder, whence do you know me?” He said to me, “Two days ago, a being appeared to me who said, ‘A monk is coming to you whose name is Zosimos. Do not allow him to stay here. It is my will to entrust him the church of the Egyptian Babylon (Old Cairo).’ He fell silent and left me, going about a stone’s throw from me. There he spent some two hours in prayer. Then he came back to me and kissed me on the forehead, saying, “Naturally, child, you are welcome, for God has brought you here to bury my body.” I asked him, “How many years have you been here, abba?” “I am completing my forty-fifth year,” he replied. It looked to me as though his face were of fire. He said to me, “Peace be with you, child; pray for me.” And with that, the servant of the Lord lay down and fell asleep. I dug a grave and buried him. Two days later I went on my way, glorifying God.

John Moschus, Leimonarion (The Spiritual Meadow) 123 

A possession ought to belong to the possessor...

…not the possessor to the possession. Whosoever, therefore, does not use his patrimony as a possession, who does not know how to give and distribute to the poor, he is the servant of his wealth, not its master; because like a servant he watches over the wealth of another and not like a master does he use it of his own. Hence, in a disposition of this kind, we say that the man belongs to his riches, not the riches to the man. 

St. Ambrose of Milan 

Let what we call [mercury]...

…be a paradigm of perfect obedience. Roll it with any substance you wish, and it will nevertheless run to the lowest place and mix with nothing defiled. 

St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, 4 

During the reign of the emperor Decius (249-251) ...

…when there was a persecution against the Christians, seven men were captured and brought before the emperor. These seven men were named Maximianus, Malchus, Martinianus, Constantinus, Dionysiu, Johannes, and Serapion. Althought though were tempted by various suggestions to yield, they never acquiesced. Because of his regard for them, the emperor granted time to think, so that they would not die immediately. But the seven men shut themselves up in a cave, and there they lived for many days. One of them would leave, purchase supplies, and bring back necessities.

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Hold me worthy, O Lord...

…to behold your mercy in my soul before I depart from this world; may I be aware in myself at that hour of your comfort, along with those who have gone forth from this world in good hope. 

Open my heart, O my God, by your grace and purify me from any association with sin. 

Tread out in my heart the path of repentance, my God and my Lord, my hope and my boast, my strong refuge; by whom may my eyes be illumined, and may I have understanding of your truth, O Lord. 

Hold my worthy, Lord, to taste the joy of the gift of repentance, by which the soul is separated from cooperating with sin and the will of flesh and blood. Hold my worthy, O Lord, to taste this state, wherein lies the gift of pure prayer. 

O my Savior, may I attain to this wondrous transition at which the soul abandons this visible world, and at which new stirrings arise on our entering into the spiritual world and the experience of new perceptions. 

St. Isaac the Syrian, 7th century

It was said concerning Abba Agathon...

…that some monks came to find him, having heard tell of his great discernment. Wanting to see if he would lose his temper, they said to him, “Aren’t you that Agathon who is said to be a fornicator and a proud man?” “Yes, it is very true,” he answered. They resumed, “Aren’t you that Agathon who is always talking nonsense?” “I am.” Again they said, “Aren’t you Agathon the heretic?” But at that, he replied, “I am not a heretic.” So they asked him, “Tell us why you accepted everything we cast you, but repudiated this last insult.” He replied, “The first accusations I take to myself, for that is good for my soul. But heresy is separation from God. Now I have no wish to be separated from God.” At this saying they were astonished at his discernment and returned, edified.

Now it happened one year...

…that the Nile did not rise enough to water all our fields, and a multitude of the poor came to Abba Aaron weeping and saying, “Our holy father, we and our children are going to die because the waters have not risen!” He said to them, “Believe in God and He will deliver you. As it is written, ‘The prayer of the poor man who is downhearted, he pours out entreaty before the Lord.’ Again it says, ‘The Lord has heard the desires of the poor.’” He quoted them numerous other passages from scripture and explained them to them, and he comforted them, and in this way they departed from him praising God. Now the holy man Aaron was not unconcerned about their distress, and he would go to the river each evening and immerse himself in the water up to his neck and he would pray to God, saying, “My good Christ, compassionate one, have compassion upon your image and likeness.” Indeed, he continued this practice until God had compassion for his tears and made the waters of the Nile flow over the face of the whole country. 

Paphnutius, Life of Abba Aaron, 131 (trans. Tim Vivian) 

While there was a crowd of refugees in the city...

…one of the strangers, noticing John’s remarkable sympathy, determined to test the blessed man (John the Almsgiver, patriarch of Alexandria, 610–619). So he put on old clothes and approached him as he was on his way to visit the sick in the hospitals (for he did this two or three times a week) and said to him, “Have mercy on me for I have been a prisoner of war.” 

John said to his purse-bearer, “Give him six nomismata.” After the man had received these he went off, changed his clothes, met John again in another street, and falling at his feet said, “Have pity on me for I am in want.” The Patriarch again said to his purse-bearer, “Give him six nomismata.” As he went away the purse-bearer whispered in the Patriarch’s ear, “By your prayers, master, this same man has had alms from you twice over!” But the Patriarch pretended not to understand. Soon the man came again for the third time to ask for money and the attendant, carrying the gold, nudged the Patriarch to let him know that it was the same man, whereupon the truly merciful and beloved of God said, “Give him twelve nomismata, for perchance it is my Christ and He is here to test me.”

Leontius, Life of St. John the Almsgiver, 9

A man should know...

…that a devil’s sickness is on him if he is seized by the urge in conversation to assert his opinion, however correct it may be. If he behaves this way while talking to his equals, then a rebuke from his elders may heal him. But if he carries on in this way with those who are greater and wiser than he, his sickness cannot be cured by human means.

St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent 4

Then we saw another old man...

…called Abba Bes, who surpassed everyone in meekness. The brothers who lived round about him assured us that he had never sworn an oath, had never told a lie, had never been angry at anyone, and had never scolded anyone. For he lived a life of the utmost stillness, and his manner was serene, since he had attained the angelic state. He was extremely humble and held himself of no account. We pressed him strongly to speak a word of encouragement to us, but he only consented to say a little about meekness, and was reluctant to do even that. 

Once when a hippopotamus was ravaging the neighboring countryside the farmers called on this father to help them. He stood at the place and waited, and when he saw the beast, which was of enormous size, he commanded it in a gentle voice, saying, “In the name of Jesus Christ, I order you not to ravage the countryside anymore.” The hippopotamus, as if driven away by an angel, vanished completely from that district. On another occasion he got rid of a crocodile in the same way. 

Historia Monachorum in Aegypto 4 

It is incumbent on one...

…who expects to receive from God the seed of grace to first of all cleanse the earth of the heart, in order that the seed of the Spirit that falls on it would bear perfect and abundant fruits.

St. Macarius

—————

When a person is in a state of natural well-being, he sings the psalms with a full voice and prefers to pray out loud. But when he is energized by the Holy Spirit, with gladness and completely at peace he sings and prays in the heart alone. The first condition is accompanied by a delusory joy, the second by spiritual tears and, thereafter, by a delight that loves stillness. For the remembrance of God, keeping its fervor because the voice is restrained, enables the heart to have thoughts that bring tears and are peaceful. In this way, with tears we sow seeds of prayer in the earth of the heart, hoping to reap the harvest of joy (Ps. 126:5). But when we are weighed down by deep despondency, we should for a while sing psalms out loud, raising our voice with joyful expectation until the thick mist is dissolved by the warmth of song.

St. Diadochos of Photiki

In this monastery...

…there was another maiden who feigned madness and demon-possession. The others felt such contempt for her that they never ate with her, which pleased her entirely. Taking herself to the kitchen, she used to perform menial service and she was, as the saying goes, the sponge of the monastery, really fulfilling the Scriptures, “If any man among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise.” She wore a rag around her head. All the others had their hair closely cropped and wore cowls. In this way she used to serve. Not one of the four hundred ever saw her chewing all the years of her life. She never sat down at table or partook of a particle of bread, but she wiped up with a sponge the crumbs from the tables and was satisfied with scouring pots. She was never angry at anyone, nor did she grumble or talk, either little or much, although she was maltreated, insulted, cursed, and loathed. 

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