Explanation of some sayings of St. Anthony the Great, made after his death by an elder

1. Question of the monks. How should we understand the word of Saint Abba Anthony, which he said to his disciple Paul, 1 when he, having left the world, asked to live with him: “If you want to be a monk, go to a monastery, where there are many brethren who can support your weakness”? The elder's answer. From this we learn that we must accept into the monastery the frail, sick, blind and paralyzed old people and love them when they joyfully and diligently devote themselves to the acquisition of virtues, although due to their weaknesses they cannot undertake all the labors. Therefore, those abbots of monasteries are worthy of considerable reproach who do not accept frail old people, although it is known that they are of very good morals, but willingly accept strong young men to perform various services in the monastery and for sending, although they are impudent and shameless. The blessed interpreter strictly denounces such abbots in the book “On the Perfection of Management (of Monasteries)” 2, saying: they allow their disciples to remain careless in deeds of virtue, but strongly encourage them to do bodily and worldly deeds. To those who have taken monasticism in order to practice virtues, they do not give rest and peace from worldly affairs, constantly forcing them to fulfill them; and they reproach them, scold them, ridicule, condemn them if they do not carry out the work entrusted to them with particular haste; either due to weakness, or sometimes due to weakening of zeal, even though they were very careful and zealous in spiritual matters; on the contrary, they extol with great praise those who devote all their work and care to worldly affairs, although they are lazy in acquiring virtues. And this diligence in them does not come from the virtue of obedience, but from the fact that they love to do worldly things. But the worst thing is that whether they are lazy or diligent, they are owned as slaves. Abba Pimen said: if out of three Cenobites one is perfectly silent, another is sick but thanks God, and the third willingly performs obedience, then they all consist of one feat. With these words, this saint showed that in the monastery, where many cenobites are gathered, there should not only be strong in body, needed for the correction of various obediences, but also weak brethren, abandoning themselves to constant silence: otherwise all their work is vanity. 2. Question. Why did Abba Anthony say to his disciple Paul: Go and sit in solitude to study the warfare that comes from demons? Answer . <Wishing him perfection. > For the perfection of a monk consists in his ability to rule the spirit of everything in himself. But such spiritual self-government comes along with purity of heart; The purity of the heart occurs when it is ruled by the mind, and the mind is ruled by unceasing prayer. Warfare from demons occurs through thoughts and ghosts, which are more excited in solitude and silence 3 . 3. Question. What does it mean that Abba Anthony said: just as fish taken out of water die, so does it happen to a monk who lingers for a long time outside his cell? How does a monk die like a fish? Answer . The life of the soul consists in unceasing loving contemplation of God, which is worthy to be called the life of the soul, embracing and uniting the mind and heart. So, if a monk wanders around the cities, then, entertaining himself with visions and conversations, he is deprived of spiritual life and dies, because he is drawn away from God and forgets Him and drives out of his heart the love for Christ, which he acquired for himself through many labors when he was silent in his cell. Moreover, his love for hardships and difficulties relaxes in him, and he indulges in the peace of the flesh and pleasures. And the purity of his heart is disturbed due to the restless movement of images that enter and exit through the senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell and through the word. All this then leads him to fornication and other passions, which are the true death and destruction of a monk. So, Blessed Anthony said well: just as fish die when they are taken to land, so does a monk die who, leaving his cell, spends time in cities and villages. 4. Question. Abba Anthony says: “Whoever lives in solitude is free from three warfares: the warfare of the tongue, sight and hearing; all that remains for him is the war of his heart.” Please explain to us these words of the blessed one. Answer . It was not because he said so that the warfare in silence and solitude would be less than the warfare raised among the brethren, whose mind is entertained by sight, hearing and tongue; but he shows with these words that those living in solitude are alien to the battles from the senses, with which others are tormented more than those battles of the heart that demons raise in them. For this reason, our fathers went into silence, so that the battles of the heart would not be intensified by the battles of sight, tongue and hearing. For just as easily the brethren fall, who either leave or enter, now from the monastery, now into the monastery, because with them the war of the heart is joined by the war from the bodily senses, so easily do the monks who live in silence and are disturbed only by the war of the heart, if the war from the bodily senses approaches them, fall easily. This is quite fully justified by those brethren [hermits] to whom, at a time when they lived in solitude, women came on some occasion and for whom, therefore, a vision of the body and beauty of the face was added to the battle of the heart: they were immediately overcome by the intensifying battle of the heart - and fell. That it is true that among those who live in solitude, the warfare from the spiritual senses is stronger and more bitter than the warfare from the physical senses - this can also be seen from the words of Blessed Evagrius 4, who says that with those monks who live in solitude, the demons wage battle directly from themselves, without any mediation, but against those who live in monasteries and are jealous of success in virtues, they excite and incite dissolute monks, more than whom no one is crueler, more annoying and more insidious. 5. Question. What does the following saying said by Saint Abba Anthony mean: “The monk’s cell is the cave of Babylon, the place of the three youths, among whom was the Son of God, and is the pillar of fire from which God spoke to Moses”? Answer . Just as fire has two properties, one of which is heat that burns painfully, and the other is joyful illumination; Likewise, patient stay in a cell has two effects, one of which burdens and worries newcomers in silence, sometimes with extreme exhaustion, sometimes with abuse, and the other - pleases with success, making those who, having passed passions, are perfect in purity and rewarded with bright visions, repose. The meaning of what he said about the three youths, that they saw the Son of God, is the following: just as Ananias, Azariah and Mishael, being thrown into the fiery furnace in Babylon, were not burned and even burned, because the Angel of God was sent to them to remove their bonds and save them from the destructive effect of fire, so for the brethren living in solitude, at first a battle with passions, raised against them by demons, happens very difficult; but the gracious help of our Lord, the Son of God, never leaves them, clearly visiting them and dwelling with them, so that when with this help they overcome passions and enemies, he will honor them with the grace of perfect love and his bright glory. 6. Question. What does the following saying of Abba Anthony mean: “We must not repay evil for evil; and if a monk has not yet reached this degree, let him remain silent and silent”? How can one achieve this [non-anger] through silence? Answer . If a weak brother, insulting his brother with his tongue and harboring hatred for him in his heart, restrains himself in his cell, refrains from talking with people, meanwhile suppressing evil thoughts and constantly diligent in prayer and reading the Scriptures, then the grace of peace will visit him: his heart will be enlightened and his spirit will rejoice in God, having received freedom from passion. For this man, looking at the Cross of the Lord, will be inflamed with love for it and, having kissed it, will begin to reason about how God, according to Scripture, so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to death for it (John 3:16); that, of course, God showed His love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8). If God did not spare His Son, but gave Him up to death for us, and, moreover, to such a shameful death of the Cross, how will He not also give us all things with Him (Rom. 8:23) or deny us anything else? The great mercy and love of Christ towards us encourages us not only to think that we should live not for our own desires, but for Him who died for us (2 Cor. 5:14-15), but also to look, as the beginning and example of patience, to Jesus, who suffered the death of the cross for us and, having suffered such reproach, again sat down at the right hand of God on high. Therefore, if we suffer with Him, let us also be glorified with Him (Rom. 8:17), and if we suffer with Him, we will also reign with Him (2 Tim. 2:12). Therefore, the Apostle Paul exhorts us, saying: let us look, brethren, to the Cross of our Lord (Heb. 12:2). Look how much He suffered for sinners who were the enemies of their souls! Do not be discouraged and do not relax your souls because you have to endure hardship, insults, reproach and death, which are due to you for your love for Him. In your prayers, ask for forgiveness from those who cause you displeasure; just as the Lord prayed for His crucifiers, saying: Father, let them go (Luke 23:34), and how blessed Stephen asked forgiveness from our Lord for those who stoned him, saying: Lord, do not put this sin on them (Acts 7:60). If that monk, sitting alone in his cell, thinks in this way, he will be strengthened in spirit, dominate over all passions in the Lord, and not only will not offend anyone, or be angry with anyone, or repay evil for evil to someone, but he will rejoice greatly with joy and consider it an honor to himself if he happens to suffer reproach and insult. This is the moral strength to which a monk reaches in his cell due to silence, attention to himself and patient fulfillment of the commandments of Christ, such as fasting, prayer, contemplation of God and other virtues that take place in silence. So, Blessed Abba Anthony said very well: if a monk cannot restrain his tongue from causing insults, murmuring and verbosity and his heart is not able to restrain himself from such falls, let him, at least as much as he can, adhere to silence and silence. 7. Question. The brethren once came to Abba Anthony and said to him: “Give us a commandment that we could fulfill.” He tells them: “It is written in the Gospel: if someone hits you on one cheek, turn to him the other (Matthew 5:39).” They answered him: “We cannot do this in any way.” The elder told them: “If you cannot convert another cheek, patiently endure the blow to one.” They said: “And we can’t do that.” He also told them: “If you can’t do that, at least don’t hit back with blows to the one who hit you.” They said: “We can’t do that either.” Then the great elder said to his disciple: “Prepare some food for these brothers, because they are sick.” What do these words of the holy father mean? Answer . He wanted to say that there is nothing to do with such people but feed them and let them go. But as the elder said in conclusion: “You need prayer,” then one might think that by food he meant the prayers of the elders, as if saying: if you can’t do either this or that, then prayer is needed for you. For just as the sick need special food due to the weakness of their stomach, which cannot accept all kinds of food, so for you, whose thoughts are so weak that they cannot fulfill even a small part of the commandments of our Lord, you need healing and healing of souls, namely the prayers of the fathers, who could ask for them for you. 8. Question. Saint Abba Anthony said: “I saw the nets of the devil spread throughout the whole earth, I groaned at this and said: woe to the human race; who can get rid of them? And they said to me: humility saves you from them, for they cannot confuse it.” How did the saint see these nets - sensually or mentally? And who are those who said to him: “Humility saves from them, for they cannot confuse him”? Answer . Abba Macarius the Great, of Egypt, a disciple of Abba Anthony, also saw in the inner desert of Skete all the machinations of the enemy at the same time as Abba Anthony saw them, only in a different image. Saint Macarius saw demons in the likeness of two people, one of whom was dressed in clothes with holes in them with stripes of different colors; the body of the other was all covered with worn-out clothes, on top of which there was a kind of net hung with bubbles. Someone else was approaching them, covered with wings like a cover. Abba Macarius saw these bodily—with bodily eyes. And Saint Abba Anthony saw with the eye of his mind, as one sees a vision, all those nets of the devil that he always builds for the monks and with which he tries to entangle them, catch them and prevent them from successfully completing their procession along the path of virtue, as it is written: pride has hidden the net for me, and the snakes have yoked the net for my feet (Ps. 139:5). So, he saw that the devil’s nets were arranged along the earth in the same way as the trappers stretch theirs. Seeing this, he was surprised and horrified because of the many snares and nets, in which, even if an animal were caught, he could not free himself through many different snares and fetters. In this way, Abba Anthony was presented with the types of all the passions of the body and soul with which demons fight the monks. And he saw the Angels of the Saints, who identified to him by name the network of each passion, namely: the network of gluttony or gluttony, the network of love of money, the network of fornication, vanity, pride and other passions. Moreover, they showed him all the arts and tricks with which the enemies set up their networks and ambushes in order to put an obstacle on the brothers, entangle them and stop their progress along the great path of God’s love. When, struck with horror at the sight of the nets, he groaned and said: “Woe to us monks! How can we get rid of and save ourselves from these networks, so as not to get entangled in them?” – The angels told him: “Humility saves you from all of them; and whoever possesses them will never become entangled in them or fall.” But they did not say that passions and demons are not overcome by humility alone: ​​other deeds and exploits are also required along with humility. Humility alone will not bring any benefit; just as deeds without humility mean nothing, for without it they are like meat salted with earth, and not salted, which easily spoils and disappears. So, bodily labors, inner struggle of the mind, silence and unceasing prayer with perfect humility overcome all passions and demons, so that these latter are not even strong enough for the monk who possesses them, as the Angels told Abba Anthony. 9. Question. Abba Anthony said: “If we fight a good fight, we must fear deeply and be extremely humble before God, so that He, who knows our weakness, will cover us with His right hand and protect us, for if we are lifted up with pride, He will remove His cover from us - and we will perish.” What is the meaning of this saying of the blessed one? Answer . We must always humble ourselves. Both during times of cramped conditions, sorrows and battles, and during times of peace and rest from battles. At all times we need humility, since during times of battle it provides us with help and gives us strength to lift the burden of patience, and during times of peace and rest from battles, it protects us from pride and keeps us from falling. Also, because of our corruption and the forgetfulness of God that captivates us, we must humble ourselves, for our obvious weakness here will itself lead to humility and force us to drive away all pride. God does not want us to always be in danger and anxiety, but, in His goodness and love for mankind, He covers us and stops the battles of passions and the ferocity of demons. So, if during times of battle and heroism we resort to humility for the sake of danger and difficulty, and during times of calm and safety from battles we forget God and are exalted with pride, then He will, without a doubt, remove His cover from us, and we will perish in ruin and despair. Therefore, there is no time in which we do not need humility, since in every place and in all actions we always need it. 10. Question. One of the elders prayed to God to show him all the fathers, and it was given to him to see them all, except for Saint Abba Anthony. The one who showed them to him said: “Where God is, there is Abba Anthony.” How did he see all the fathers and why didn’t he see Abba Anthony? Answer . Either the old man’s mind was caught up in paradise and saw the fathers there, or the fathers themselves came to him, or an Angel showed them to him through a vision. Abba Anthony was not visible to them for two reasons: to demonstrate the greatness of the glory of Saint Abba Anthony and in order to humble the elder, so that he would not become proud of the fact that he had seen all the fathers. For, fulfilling his requests, God, by this vision of the fathers, obliged him to imitate them; and that he was not worthy to see Saint Anthony, this suggested that the elder did not have so much strength to imitate him - which gave him an incentive to suppress his pride and humble himself. 11. Question. One day Abba Ammon the virgin 5 came to Abba Anthony and said to him: “I see that I have more things to do than you; How is it that your name is more famous among men than mine?” Saint Anthony answered him: “This is because I love God more than you.” With what intention is this said? Answer . Neither Abba Ammon boasted of his deeds, nor Abba Anthony of his love, but this was the intention of their words. Since these saints were the first founders of the monastic order and the pioneers of desert living, they had in mind, by mutual agreement, to affirm and show to all monks that the internal structure of the mind is superior to physical exploits. For this inner structure of the mind directs and delights the monk’s soul to the most perfect love of God, making him worthy of visions and revelations of the glory of God. Physical feats free the monk from bodily passions, confirm him in virtues, give him strength to drive away lusts and bring purity to the body. And the feat of the mind arms the soul against demons and the thoughts they instill, and brings purity to the heart, which receives strength from love and becomes worthy of being ruled by the Spirit. Not everyone who excels in virtues and loves the Lord needs to have glory spread among people, for Abba Paul 6, the beginning of the desert dwellers and the first-born of the monks (whom Abba Anthony sometimes called the prophet Elijah, sometimes John the Baptist, sometimes the Apostle Paul), while he was alive, was not at all known among people. But, as I have already said, those two fathers wanted to mutually confirm and teach us which rite of asceticism is superior to the other - bodily or spiritual, consisting in the innermost warfare of the mind, in unceasing prayer and contemplation of God, which, having achieved perfection, elevate the monk’s mind into a spiritual order, consisting in spiritual prayer, in wonder at God, in contemplating Him and in the manifestation of the glory of our Lord God, to whom be praise forever centuries. Amen. 12. Question. Saint Abba Anthony said that God does not allow the devil to bring strong attacks on this generation, because it is weak. How is this possible? Answer . God takes pity on this race and does not allow it to be too oppressed by the devil, since we lack the fervor of love for God and zeal for good deeds. So, the devil attacks us weaker - because of our weakness and corruption. 13. Question. What do the following words of Abba Anthony mean: “If the miller had not closed the eye of the mule, he could not have acquired anything, for the mule would have fallen from dizziness and the work would have stopped. Likewise, we are covered according to the Divine dispensation. For we too do good at first without seeing it, so that we do not begin to consider ourselves blessed and therefore our labors do not perish, which is why we sometimes fall into shameful thoughts, so that, seeing them, we reproach ourselves. These shameful thoughts are a cover for the little good that we do, since a person who reproaches himself will not lose his reward. Explain to us what is useful in this saying? Answer . Not all saints are worthy to see visions; they do not even see the good they do and the promises prepared for them, although they are filled with good deeds and virtues. It is not because God does not rejoice in their virtues and is not comforted by their good deeds. For the All-Good One to detract from something from the reward prepared for the good - let it not happen! But He does all this so that virtuous people do not become proud and so that the value of their virtue does not completely perish, so that they do not lose the benefits prepared for them and do not become alien to the grace of God. Therefore, although because they are good workers and are devoted to virtues, God protects them, but sometimes allows demons to laugh at them, instill shameful thoughts in them, or instill fear, or inflict wounds - so that they know their weakness and are always careful and cautious, for while they remain in this world, their life is changeable and perverse. But just as the thought of the good that is prepared for them for good deeds supports in them zeal for constant good deeds in order to receive it, so the awareness of their shortcomings and their weakness turns them away from pride and makes them ready for every kind of humility and in every possible way fearful lest they lose their virtue at a time when they can receive extreme joy from our Lord Jesus Christ in the endless Kingdom of Heaven. 14. Question. When Abba Hellenius from Syria came to Abba Anthony, Abba Anthony, seeing him, said: “Welcome, morning star.” And Abba Hellenius answered him: “Hello, you too, the pillar of light who adorned the universe.” Who is this Elleny? And why did the blessed one call him that? Answer . This Ellenius lived during the time of Abba Anthony and was equal to him in degree of perfection and deeds. Emperor Constantine the Victor praised him, saying: “I thank the Lord Jesus Christ that in my days there are three divine luminaries - blessed Abba Anthony, Abba Hellenius and Abba Evchin.” He said this because they were far superior to all the monks who lived and were known at that time. Abba Anthony called him the Lucifer because, just as the Lucifer surpasses all other stars in size and brightness, so Abba Hellenius surpassed all other monks of his time in the light of grace. And he, for his part, wanting to show Abba Anthony that he was not unaware of the height of his perfection and the magnitude of the light of grace given to him, called him a pillar of light that adorned the universe. 15. Question. Abba Anthony said: “We do not succeed because we do not know our degree and our rank and do not understand what the work we are embarking on requires, but we want to achieve virtue without difficulty. Therefore, as soon as we encounter temptation in the place in which we live, we move to another, thinking that there is somewhere a place in which there is no devil. But whoever knows that there is warfare constantly fights [everywhere], with God’s help, because our Lord said: “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).” What does he indicate with these words? Answer . The meaning of his words is this. They move from one place to another, trying to find a place where there is no devil; but, meeting temptations even where they have passed, they retire to another place. But he who knows that there is warfare, fights, with God’s help, where he lives, and does not look for another place. The meaning of what our Lord said: The Kingdom of God is within you is that we, monks who came from the world, who took up our cross, according to the commandment of our Lord, and who followed Him, must remain in one place and, caring only about the salvation of our souls, endure all kinds of battles encountered there. Out of love for God and for the sake of fulfilling His will, which consists in keeping His commandments, we must, wherever we are, patiently endure all battles and temptations: whether they come from passions, or from demons, or from people. But these, not skilled in battle, not accustomed to enduring any hardship, rush to other places, expecting to find peace from battle and refuge from thoughts, moving from one place to another and from one country to another. Therefore, we will remain in our places and, if abuse or temptation attacks us, we will begin to fast, pray, kneel, beat ourselves in front of the Cross of our Lord, with tears and heartache, asking Him for help and salvation; since He is always inherent in us and dwells in us, as it is written: The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and will save the humble in spirit (Ps. 33:19), and as the Lord Himself said: The Kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21), that is: I dwell in you. For the Kingdom of God is Christ, who always dwells in us. Blessed Paul also says: Do you not know that Christ lives in you? (1 Cor. 3:16). And not only does He live in us, but we also abide in Him, as He Himself says: remain in Me and I in you (John 15:4). So, if we dwell in God and we ourselves are His dwelling place, then we will not leave our Lord during temptations, troubles and battles and, moving abroad, we will not seek help and refuge from countries and places; but let us remain in our places, begging the Lord who dwells in us to give us help and deliver us. At the same time, we will open our thoughts to our fathers and ask for their prayers to help us. While enduring in our places, we will always resort to the protection of our Savior, and He will undoubtedly make us winners in all our battles. The translation was made by Saint Theophan the Recluse. Published by: Philokalia. T. 1. pp. 120–132. This refers to the Monk Paul the Simple. The indicated book of sayings, or rules, has not reached us. – Approx. ed. Solitude provides constant opportunities to fight with the most subtle thoughts, possessed by demons. This battle is waged with the mind prayerfully in God who exists and listens to the heart and rules over them. The continuity of this spiritual feat with the variety of experiences of warfare teaches spiritual self-government and forms a skill for it, and in it is all the spiritual perfection of a monk and every Christian. Evagrius of Pontus was the first to systematize the experience of monastic asceticism (see: Works of Abba Evagrius. M., 1994). He took monastic vows from Rufinus at the Monastery of Olives (382), then went to the Egyptian desert, where he labored for two years on Mount Nitria, and for 14 years in the Kellia desert. Socrates Scholasticus calls him the disciples of Macarius of Egypt and Macarius of Alexandria. About him see Palladium, ch. 72. – Approx. ed. This refers to the Monk Ammon of Nitria. –Approx. ed. Venerable Paul of Thebes. For his life, see PAUL OF THEBEAS. – Approx. ed.