Desert Fathers and Mothers

The desert fathers and mothers were a monastic community in the Egyptian desert starting from the 3rd century AD. In this episode, we discuss Christian monasticism, and what we can learn from the desert fathers and mothers and from monks and nuns today. We read from  the Apophthegmata Patrum, a collection of their sayings and stories. We use an English translation given by Henri Nouwen, in his collection Desert Wisdom: Sayings from the Desert Fathers.

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Transcript

 God is glorious in his saints!
 
 Welcome to the Christian Saints Podcast. My name is Darren Ong, recording from Sepang in Malaysia. All music is composed by my good friend James John Marks, of Generative Sounds. In this podcast, we explore the lives of the Christian saints, from the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. Today’s episode is about the Desert Fathers and Mothers.
 
 The Desert Father and Mothers were the Christian faith’s first monastic community, emerging sometime in the 3rd century in the Egyptian desert. Monasticism refers to the practice of withdrawing from society in order to devote oneself more completely to God.
 
 There are precedents in the bible to the idea of monasticism. God tells the old testement prophet Elijah to flee to the wilderness, after a dramatic confrontation with the godless King Ahab. God famously sustains Elijah by sending ravens to feed him. John the baptist is also another pre-monastic figure in the Bible. The gospels describe John the Baptist as appearing in the wilderness, wearing clothing made of camel’s hair, eating locusts and wild honey. Jesus himself also spends 40 days in the wilderness, to fast and to face temptation by the devil.
 
 St Anthony the great was not the first Christian to flee to the Egyptian desert to seek after God , but he is regarded as the founder of this movement of “Desert Fathers and Mothers”. So let us begin by learning a little about his story.
 
 
 He was born in Egypt in the village of Coma, by the desert. He came from a wealthy Christian family, but his parents passed when he was 20 years old. At this time he was deeply affected by two passages in scripture. First, the Acts 4 passage about the charity in the early church:
 
 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
 
 The second verse that challenged him was “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow Me” (Mt.19:21).
 
 Anthony felt that these words applied to him. Therefore, he sold the property that he received after the death of his parents, then distributed the money to the poor.
 
 Ascetic life in the desert, tormented by demons that he fends off by the power of prayer. This scene of St Anthony fighting against demons inspired a lot of artists. Among them, a 12 or 13-year old Michaelangelo, whose earliest known painting, the “torment of St Anthony” depicts this scene,
 
 Anthony’s struggle against demons is a direct parallel to Jesus’ own struggle in the wilderness.
 From Luke 4:1-11:
 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’[b]”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
     and they will lift you up in their hands,
     so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[c]”

7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[d]”

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’[e]”

11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

 For Anthony and the monks and nuns that would follow him, their vocation was to be in a spiritual struggle against the dark forces of human nature, greed, lust, pride, anger, and so on. By casting off material comforts, and living ascetic lives surrendered completely to Christ, by his grace they hoped to conform himself to Christ’s likeness.
 
 While there were monks who fled to the desert before him, but St. Anthony was notable for building a community of these desert fathers and mothers. Even today there is a distinction between “eremetic” monasticism (hermits) who seclude themselves and embark on their spiritual struggle alone, and cenobitic monsaticism, where the monks and nuns struggle together in community.
 
 The lives of these desert fathers and mothers were characterized by a vow of poverty, renunciation of material possessions, Of a vow of chastity, giving up marriage and sexual fulfillment, and a vow of obedience, declining to live a life on one’s own authority, but instead living life in submission to an elder. These three vows are followed by monks and nuns even today.
 
 The idea of renouncing material and physical comfort to seclude oneself from society seems utterly bizarre to modern ears. But to our society, obsessed with wealth, obsessed with sex, obsessed with self, the desert fathers and mothers point to a better way. True joy comes not in possessing great wealth, but in generously giving what we have to those in need, and trusting in God to provide. True joy comes not from sexual ecstasy, but in experiencing an encounter with the divine. True joy comes not from being free to live life the way we want, but in serving others, and submitting ourselves to others, in love putting their needs over our own.
 
 Indeed, the lives of these desert fathers and mothers are characterized by great joy, despite their poverty and strictly ascetic ways of life. This joy pours forth in their writings, collected in a compilation called “Sayings of the Desert Fathers.” or the Apophthegmata Patrum. I think to understand these desert fathres and mothers, hearing from them directly is more effective than anything I can say. So I’ll just read from some of my favourite these sayings and stories, in no particular order. . The desert fathers and mothers go by the title Abba and Amma. Here “Abba” means father, and “Amma” means mother.
These translations are by Henri Nouwen, in his book “Desert Wisdom: sayings from the desert fathers”
For any listeners interested in learning more of this desert community, I strongly recommend getting this book. Henri Nouwen translates these sayings and stories in a way that captures their Christlike essence, and the book is beautifully illustrated by Japanese artist Yushi Nomura. 
 
Amma Syncletica said: In the beginning, there is struggle and a lot of work for those who come near to God. But after that, there is indescribable joy! It is just like building a fire. At first it is smoky and your eyes water, but later you get the desired result. Thus we ought to light the divine fire in ourselves with tears and effort.
 
Abba Xanthias said: A dog is better than I am, because it also has love, but it does not pass judgment.
 
A brother said to an old man: There are two brothers. One of them stays quietly in his cell, fasting for six days at a time, and imposing on himself a good deal of discipline, and the other serves the sick. Which one of them is more acceptable to God? The old man replied: Even if the brother who fasts six days were to hang himself bu the nose, he would not equal the one who serves the sick.
 
Abba Sarmatas said: I prefer a person who has sinned if he knows that he sinned and has repented, over a person who has not sinned and considers himself to be righteous.

It was said about one brother that when he had woven baskets and put handles on them, he heard a monk next door saying: What shall I do? The trader is coming but I don’t have handles to put on my baskets! Then he took the handles off his own baskets and brought them to his neighbor, saying: Look, I have these left over. Why don’t you put them on your baskets? And he made his brother’s work complete, as there was need, leaving his own unfinished.

One of the fathers said: Just as it is impossible to see your face in troubled water, so also the soul, unless it is clear of alien thoughts, is not able to pray to God in contemplation.

Abba John the Little said: We have abandoned a light burden, namely self-criticism, and taken up a heavy burden, namely self-justification.

There was a brother, called Serapion, who didn’t own anything except a copy of the Gospel, and this he sold to feed the poor. And he said these words, which are worth remembering: I have even sold the very word which commanded me: Sell everything, and give to the poor.

Once two brothers went to visit an old man. It was not the old man’s habit, however, to eat every day. When he saw the brothers, he welcomed them with joy, and said: Fasting has its own reward, but if you eat for the sake of love you satisfy two commandments: for you give up your own will and also fulfill the commandment to refresh others.

Abba Poemen said: The nature of water is yielding, and that of the stone is hard. Yet if you hang a bottle filled with water above the stone so that the water drips drop by drop, it will wear a hole in the stone. In the same way, the word of God is tender, and our heart is hard. So when people hear the word of God frequently, their hearts are opened to the fear of God.

Amma Syncletica said: Just as a treasure exposed is quickly spent, so also any virtue that becomes famous or well publicized vanishes. Just as wax is quickly melted by fire, so the soul is emptied by praise, and loses firmness of virtue.

Abba Pambo used to say that the monk’s coat should be such that even if he threw it out of the cell and left it for three days, still nobody would take it.

 Amma Theodora said: A teacher ought to be a stranger to love of domination, and a foreigner to vainglory, far from arrogance, neither deceived by flattery, nor blinded by gift, nor a slave to the stomach, nor held back by anger, but rather should be patient, kind, and as far as possible humble. He ought to be self-disciplined, tolerant, diligent, and a lover of souls.
 

Some old men came to see Abba Poemen, and said to him: Tell us, when we see brothers dozing during the sacred office, should we pinch them so they will stay awake? The old man said to them: Actually, if I saw a brother sleeping, I would put his head on my knees and let him rest.

One day Abba Arsenios was asking an old Egyptian man for advice about what he was thinking. There was someone who saw this and said to him: Abba Arsenios, why is a person like you, who has such a great knowledge of Greek and Latin, asking a peasant like this about your thoughts? He replied: Indeed, I have learned the knowledge of Latin and Greek, yet I have not learned even the alphabet of this peasant.

A brother who had sinned was expelled by the priest from church. But Abba Bessarion stood up and went out with him, saying: I too am a sinner.

Amma Syncletica said: It is good not to get angry. But if it should happen, do not allow you day to go by affected by it. For it is said: Do not let the sun go down. Otherwise, the rest of your life may be affected by it. Why hate a person who hurts you, for it is not that person who is unjust, but the devil. Hate the sickness, but not the sick person.

 Abba James said; We do not want words alone, for there are too many words among people today. What we need is action, for that is what we are looking for, not words which do not bear fruit.
 
 

I would like to dedicate this episode to the Monastery of St John the Baptist in Essex, England and the St Nicholas’ womens’ monastery of Horodok in Ukraine. I spend four days at the St John the Baptist monastery, and I loved it. The monks and nuns were very kind, and their hospitality was amazing, and full of love and care. The St Nicholas women’s monastery in Horodok, Ukraine has sent nuns to serve in Russian orthodox missions all over the world and espeically in southeast asia, and I have been impressed by their kindness, and their willingness to serve Christ in strange foreign lands.
 
 I will end this podcast with my favourite of these sayings, one that exemplifies the great love and mercy that characerized the lives of this desert fathers. 
 
 When Abba Macarius was in Egypt, he found a man with a mule stealing his belongings. Then, as though he were a stranger, he helped the robber to load the animal, and peacefully sent him off, saying: We have brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything with us. The Lord has given, and as he has wished, so it has happened. Blessed be the Lord in all things.