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| How humanely he counselled those who resorted to him.
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55.
So after certain days he went in again to the mountain. And henceforth
many resorted to him, and others who were suffering ventured to go in.
To all the monks therefore who came to him, he continually gave this
precept: ‘Believe on the Lord and love Him; keep yourselves from
filthy thoughts and fleshly pleasures, and as it is written in the
Proverbs, be not deceived “by the fulness of the belly1098
| 1098 Prov. xxiv. 15, LXX. | .” Pray continually; avoid vainglory; sing psalms before sleep and on
awaking; hold in your heart the commandments of Scripture; be mindful
of the works of the saints that your souls being put in remembrance of
the commandments may be brought into harmony with the zeal of the
saints.’ And especially he counselled them to meditate
continually on the apostle’s word, ‘Let not the sun go down
upon your wrath1099
.’ And he
considered this was spoken of all commandments in common, and that not
on wrath alone, but not on any other sin of ours, ought the sun to go
down. For it was good and needful that neither the sun should condemn
us for an evil by day nor the moon for a sin by night, or even for an
evil thought. That this state may be preserved in us it is good to hear
the apostle and keep his words, for he says, ‘Try your own selves
and prove your own selves1100
.’ Daily,
therefore, let each one take from himself the tale of his actions both
by day and night; and if he have sinned, let him cease from it; while
if he have not, let him not be boastful. But let him abide in that
which is good, without being negligent, nor condemning his neighbours,
nor justifying himself, ‘until the Lord come who searcheth out
hidden things1101
,’ as saith
the blessed apostle Paul. For often unawares we do things that we know
not of; but the Lord seeth all things. Wherefore committing the
judgment to Him, let us have sympathy one with another. Let us bear
each other’s burdens1102
: but let us examine
our own selves and hasten to fill up that in which we are lacking. And
as a safeguard against sin let the following be observed. Let us each
one note and write down our actions and the impulses of our soul as
though we were going to relate them to each other. And be assured that
if we should be utterly ashamed to have them known, we shall abstain
from sin and harbour no base thoughts in our mind. For who wishes to be
seen while sinning? or who will not rather lie after the commission of
a sin, through the wish to escape notice? As then while we are looking
at one another, we would not commit carnal sin, so if we record our
thoughts as though about to tell them to one another, we shall the more
easily keep ourselves free from vile thoughts through shame lest they
should be known. Wherefore let that which is written be to us in place
of the eyes of our fellow hermits, that blushing as much to write as if
we had been caught, we may never think of what is unseemly. Thus
fashioning ourselves we shall be able to keep the body in subjection,
to please the Lord, and to trample on the devices of the enemy.
56. This was the advice he gave to those who came
to him. And with those who suffered he sympathised and prayed. And
oft-times the Lord heard him on behalf of many: yet he boasted not
because he was heard, nor did he murmur if he were not. But always he
gave the Lord thanks and besought the sufferer to be patient, and to
know that healing belonged neither to him nor to man at all, but only
to the Lord, who doeth good when and to whom He will. The sufferers
therefore used to receive the words of the old man as though they were
a cure, learning not to be downhearted but rather to be long-suffering.
And those who were healed were taught not to give thanks to Antony but
to God alone. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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