Book of the Elders (Cistercian Studies) by Wortley John

Author:Wortley, John [Wortley, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780879077709
Publisher: Liturgical Press
Published: 2012-06-05T04:00:00+00:00

1 Compare with 10.66.

2 There is a wordplay here: ergon and parergon. See also 4.42.

3 The text is somewhat confused here.

4 Something like “but does it not” seems to be required here by what follows.

5 Whether this means “outside his cell” or “not in the Bible” is not clear.

6 “So what?” adds N 232.

7 Of angels?

8 The text of APsys is corrupt; see Guy, 135n1, ad loc; we give the text of N 59.

11

One Should Ever Be on Watch

1. Abba Antony said, “I know some monks who fell after many labors and came to the point of losing their reason. This was because they had hoped that their own work was well-pleasing to God and had disregarded the commandment that says, ‘Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders and they will speak to you’” [Deut 32:7]. [Antony 37]

2. He also said, “If possible, the monk ought to reveal to the elders how many steps he takes or how many drops of water he drinks in his cell [to see] whether he transgresses in those matters. For one brother found a place in the desert that was withdrawn and tranquil. He begged his father, saying, ‘Let me live in that place, for I have good hope in God and in your prayers that I am going to toil mightily,’ but his abba did not allow him to. He said, ‘I know very well that you will toil mightily, but because you will not have an elder, you will trust in your work that it is pleasing to God, and through trusting that you are completely carrying out the function of a monk, you will loose your work and your reason.’” [Antony 38; N 370]

3. Abba Antony said, “He who beats a piece of iron considers in his logismos what he is going to make: a scythe, a sword, or an axe. So ought we to consider what kind of virtue we are seeking to acquire, so that we do not labor in vain.” [Anthony 35]

4. A brother asked Abba Arsenios if he could hear a saying from him. The elder said to him, “Insofar as you are able, make a great effort for your internal working to be godly and do you overcome external passions.” [Arsenios 9]

5. He also said, “If we seek God, he will appear to us, and if we retain him, he will remain with us.” [Arsenios 10]

6. Abba Daniel used to say, “Abba Arsenios called me one day and said to me, ‘Look after your father so he might go to the Lord and personally intercede with him on your behalf; then it will be well with you.’” [Arsenios 35]

7. Abba Anoub said, “Since the name of the Lord was invoked over me, nothing false has come out of my mouth.” [Anoub 2]

8. Abba Agathon said, “The monk must not allow his conscience to be accusing him of anything whatsoever.” [Agathon 2]

9–10. When the same Abba Agathon was at the point of death, he remained with his eyes open for three days.

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