AP Antony

The words of the elders concerning Abba Antony. (104) Some elders said concerning Abba Antony that he became a pneumatophoros, but he did not wish to speak with people about the things of the world. For those who are in the world, he knew them by their appearance, and he gave signs concerning them. For Abba Antony said, "A sword is sharpened so that the people of Libya, if they see one who is not a Libyan, will rise up against him, saying, 'You are the one who is afflicted because he did not become like them.'" Abba Antony said to Abba Pamo, "Do not stand upon your truth." Abba Antony said, "One begets death, but if he does what is good for him, he will beget life." Abba Hilarion turned back from Syria to the place of Abba Antony on the mountain. Abba Antony said to him, "For...

... those who came to the old man, he said to them, "How did the little donkey find the way?" They said to him, "You know, our father." He said to them, "The demons told me." They said to him, "We have come to you because we see many fantasies, and they often become true, lest we be deceived." And the old man set their heart at ease, saying, "It is from the demons that they go out to you, giving you a sign from God." An old man asked Abba Antony, "Is it right to go down to the brothers?" And the old man wished to set his heart at ease, saying, "It is right sometimes to go down to the brothers." And when he saw one who was entangled with the animals, he said to him, "Put a little oil on your lamp and draw it." And he drew it. Again he said to him, "Draw again." He said to him, "If I draw more than the wick, the lamp will go out." The old man said to him, "Likewise it is with the work of God. If one goes beyond the measure of his drawing of the brothers, they will be scattered in confusion. But it is right sometimes...

... those who came to the old man, he said to them, "How did the little donkey find the way?" They said to him, "You know, our father." He said to them, "The demons told me." They said to him, "We have come to you because he came down to them from the mountain of the desert, and he found many people, and he went on his way. Abba Antony said, "God places the struggles upon the men of this generation, not like the ancients, for they know that they are not things that are difficult." Abba Antony said, "If you would practice the spiritual life with Christ, let your cry become a groan for you, and do not forget your taking from the body, and do not forget the eternal judgment that will come, and there will be no sin for your soul at all. Partake of the Holy Spirit so that you may live with the Lord until the end. If you persevere, God will forgive your sins and set you on your feet, you being renewed in his kingdom." They cast a brother into a prison because of a fornication, and he came to the place of Abba Antony, and the brothers also came from the desert to him, saying that they had killed him. And they began to accuse him, saying, "You did this thing." But he made an apology, saying, "I did nothing at all in these things." Then Abba Paphnouti the anchorite also gave testimony, and he spoke a parable like this: "I saw a man at the bank of the river, and they cast him down into a pit up to his neck, and some people came to give him a hand, and they drew him up to his chest." When Abba Antony heard these things from Abba Paphnouti, he said, "Behold, the truth! Behold, a man who is able to help some souls.

And when the brothers had eaten, they repented of their words to the old men, and they gave repentance to the brother and released him to his own heart. They went out to Abba Antony in the desert, saying, "There is a man in a city who is a physician, skilled in his craft, who heals you, and he who is greater than him gives himself to those in need, and the sick one will sing psalms with the angels and with the Holy Spirit." Abba Antony said, "Like the fish, if they remain in the dry land, they die; likewise, the monks, if they remain outside the monastery and with the worldly, they give out and it is fitting. For like the fish of the sea, so also we, let us reach the mountain, lest we remain and become like the inner garment, which is the taking of the root to God." A brother was overtaken by a temptation once in the heart of Abba Eli.

And when they had caught up with him, he went to the place of Abba Antony on the mountain. After he had spent some time with him, he sent him away to his own heart, which had been taken from within him. But when they saw him again, they caught up with him once more, and he returned to the place of Abba Antony, saying, "A ship was wrecked in the Pelagos, it destroyed the light, and with difficulty the ship reached the shore. And you who have reached the shore, do you wish to sink it?" But when they heard that it was Abba Antony who had sent him away, they received him with joy. Now the elder was three years old according to the years of the blessed Abba Antony the Great. Some would ask him about thoughts and about the salvation of the soul, while another would keep silent at all times, asking about nothing himself. After a long time, Abba Antony said to him, "Behold, this long time you have been with me and you ask me nothing." But he said to him, "Is it not enough for me to see you, my father?

Abba Antony learned about a young monk that he had performed a sign in the desert. This one had taken pity on some old men who were walking and wandering on the road to the mountain. He gave orders to some mountain goats to come and carry the old men. They informed Abba Antony about him, and he said, "This young monk is like a ship, even if he is good, I do not know if he will reach a harbor." And after a time, Abba Antony began to weep with fear, and he trembled and hid himself. His disciples said to him, "Why are you weeping, our father?" The old man said, "A great pillar of the church has fallen." He said this concerning the young monk, but he said, "Let us go to him and see what has happened to him." When the disciples went, they found the monk sitting on a stone weeping over the sin he had committed. When the young monk saw the disciples of the old man, he said to them, "Tell the old man to pray to God to give me my days alone, and I hope to make amends." And after a few days, the young man died. They said

The old men said, "If you see a young monk who is eager to ascend to heaven according to his own will, do not hinder him, for they are not his enemies." They spoke concerning a brother that he had conquered anger. He went once to Abba Antony after they had finished performing the synaxis. Abba Antony wished to test him, whether he had conquered passion. He said to him, "Stand up and make a small apostate." And when the brother stood up, he said to the old man, "Do you wish me to recite in the Old or the New?" When Abba Antony heard these things, he said to him, "Sit down, you who are proud of heart, unteachable." When the brother sat down, the old man said to him again, "I told you, 'Stand up and make a small recitation of the apostate.'" When the brother stood up, he said to the old man, "Do you wish me to recite in the New until I recite in the Old?" The old man said to him again, "Sit down, you who are great and proud of heart." Again the brother sat down. The old man said to him again, "Stand up and make a small

He meditated on the Apostle. The brother said to him again, "I have done in the Old [Testament] until I have done in the New." The old man said to him, "Truly, my son, you have fulfilled the entire Old and New [Testament] as you wished." It was said concerning a brother, that they gave testimony in a monastery: one was a perfect ascetic, and the other was a hearer of the word. And they asked one another, saying, "What kind of work is it that is great?" And when they came to the river, there was a multitude of scribes there. And the hearer came to be bound in their midst, and they bowed down to him. And he said to the ascetic, "Come, be bound also." He said to him, "Let me go, my brother, do not touch this shame." And they bound him to the monastery. A voice came from Abba Antony (the 15th) on the mountain, saying, "The one who hears from him has become higher than the ascetic." A brother who was troubled by thoughts, so that he might go out from

His place of dwelling, he said to Abba Antony. The old man said to him, "Sit down in your cell, let your body be still, and do not let your mind go out from it. Let the thought of his going to the place where he wishes go. Only do not let the body go out from the cell, and it will suffer, it will accomplish nothing at all. Then it will become hungry and it will come in the time of eating, seeking from you to eat. If it says to you over the time, 'Eat a little bread for yourself,' say to it, 'Does man live by bread alone? No, but by the words that come forth from his mouth of God.' And again it will say to you, 'A little wine for you,' like the blessed Timothy, and answer it, 'Remember the children of the Maccabees who kept the commandment of their father.' If it brings you a garment, do not accept it for yourself. For it is written in the holy Gospels, 'Watch and pray.' And again it is written, 'They slept and found nothing.' Let your soul be nourished by the words of God, by vigils and prayers, but especially remember the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in these you will find the teaching to know the victory over evil thoughts. If

...let it go out from your cell, for the deceiver of evil will strangle you. And do not let yourself be overcome by the desire to go out without discretion, for they are not in need. Until then, he will trouble you in many ways: whether in the feet, or in the hands, or in the heart, or in the sight, or in the hearing, or in the deeds, or in the tongue and mouth, or in the gait. (117) If you sit in your cell, you will be freed from all these things that I have told you. Abba Antony said to the brothers, "I was walking once in the mountains, and I came upon an ostrich with its chicks. When they saw me, they fled. I heard the mother saying to the children, 'Throw stones at them, lest they catch you.' Likewise, we also, if the demons throw thoughts at us, let us throw stones at them—the stone that was hewn from the inviolable womb of the holy virgin Mary, the stone that crushes the enemy, the one who fights well against us, and that saves us from an evil fall." Abba Antony said, "Woe to evil! Do not give yourself over...

...let it go out from your cell, for the deceiver of evil will strangle you. And do not let yourself be overcome by the desire to go out without discretion, for they are not in need. Until then, he will trouble you in many ways. Do not let the simplicity of the eye of the evil one cast you down, nor the blindness of heart. Do not despise any person, nor walk with one who is hostile to you, but with one who is higher than you—(18)—your mouth and work upon the practical. Do not fear the shame of the reproach of men. Despise all works that are heavy for your soul. Do not abandon the will of God for your sake, but do the will of men so that God may be with you. Abba Antony said, "If someone loves Christ with his whole heart and his whole strength, he begets fear. Fear gives birth to weeping, weeping gives birth to joy, the joy of the spiritual gives birth to the taking of angelic life, and the taking of angelic life gives birth to the power of the Paraclete. The soul receives a mother who nourishes it with the chosen fruit. If the one who gives her power, Christ, sees her strength and her endurance from him in all things, he takes her to himself in joy. Thus she becomes in heavenly delight in the places of rest that have no end." Abba Antony said, "There is a movement of the body

...it wishes to converse with him, for this is the nature, but it has no power. (3rd) No one should let the soul give itself over to it, except that it gives a sign in the body of a passionless movement. And the other movements in the body also come about through the agitation of the body in many different ways and with a body that is not bound. These are the ones from which the heat of the blood rouses the body up against it. Therefore the apostle says: "Do not be drunk with wine, in which there is no salvation." And also in the holy Gospel, the Lord says to his holy apostles: "See how those whose hearts are in eating and drinking are troubled." There is another movement in the body from those who struggle through a counsel and a war of the demons, so that it is fitting for us to know that there are three movements of the body: one from nature, one from need, (20th) and the third from the demons. A brother came to Abba Antony and said to him: "Teach me how to become a monk." The old man said to him: "If you wish to become a monk, go to the place of the cemetery, sit there for some days, and care for your body which is decaying. After that, come to me." And when the brother did this, the jackals and hyenas began to tear at him completely, and he came under the old man and asked him: "Have I not done what you told me?" But he showed him his body, which was in pieces.

Abba Antony said to him, "Those who have renounced the world and also wish to cast gold from themselves, the demons of this kind who give to them are confounded." It was said to Abba Antony concerning a brother, "He is not yet sober." Abba Antony said, "Wine is not for monks." Abba Antony said, "The entire strength of a man is this: that he may raise his anchor to himself at all times before God and that he may be vigilant continually, for temptation is behind him until the last breath." Abba Antony said, "I saw the Spirit of God coming down upon this man in the world; it came upon Athanasius, and they gave...

to him the metropolitanate and Apa Makarios gave him the gift of healing, and Apa Pamo gave him the diaconate. It was said concerning an old man of the monks that he went once to Abba Antony. They told the old man about him, and he came out from his cell to them. They entered the monastery, prayed, and sat down. Abba Antony said to him, "Tell me a word, father." The old man of the monks said to him, "There are three things I ask from this prayer: first, that a monk be given to me from it, which is like fire; second, that I be given from it, which is like the wolves; third, that I be given from it, which is like the wild beasts." Abba Antony said to him, "I see you, how you are, father." The old man said to him, "I see myself like Adam before he transgressed." Abba Antony said to him, "You are a gospel yourself, father." The old man said to him, "No, but my great one is within me, which is God." The brothers asked Abba Antony about the end of the world. The saint said to them, "The prophets have ceased to prophesy, and Christ has spoken from his mouth, and after them the apostles.

They placed a burden upon her, the end. Who am I to speak about her? The brothers said to him, "You yourself are a prophet and an apostle and a father of this age. Have mercy on us, tell us." He said to them, "You will see the first world, which God destroyed because of the fornications and the acts of violence that happened in them. Likewise also Sodom and Gomorrah, because of the fornications and the injustices, God cast them out of this age. In the same way, the end of this world will come about in this manner of thing, if the acts of violence increase among men and if fornication increases among the monks. This is the completion of the end. If you see some old monks who have left the desert behind them and the monasteries, and they have found a place to settle their feet in the cities and the villages, and they imitate a false anchorite, dwelling in the houses of the worldly and with a woman, and young monks dwelling in the cells of the virgins, their door closed to them, their humility placed in their hands, and the wild beasts also love eating and drinking more than the labor of self-control and asceticism. If you see the monks being scattered, dwelling and giving out in the manner of the worldly, this is the completion of the end. There will be no rest for us in the world, except for labor and misery until the completion of this age.

Abba Antony said, "The one who is strong in a single work (—124—) is this enkrates, and the one who does not persevere in a single one of those who bring virtue within is the chosen one. For if enkrateia is a boast, virtue has a multitude of evils that are hostile to it, but they are worthy of the one who wishes to help his vigilance in all things concerning those who are hostile to him, and of his prayer for the goodness of God that it might save him." Abba Antony also said, "The one who hastens to be perfect in enkrateia does not become a slave to any passion, for the one who is a slave to a single evil is far from the path of God." Abba Antony also said, "All the labors that the wrathful one will do are destroyed by him continually." It was also said about Abba Antony that once when he was sitting in the desert, he fell into a state of astonishment and disturbance because of the multitude of thoughts, and

He prayed to God, saying, "My Lord, I wish to be saved." The thoughts that trouble me do not allow me to be saved in any way. And when he stood a little outside the mountain, he saw one like a man sitting down, weaving in a rope, and rising a little from the work of his hands, praying, and then sitting down again to work. And it was an angel of the Lord who had been sent to establish Antony and strengthen him against the evil adversary. He heard him saying to him, "Do this, and you will be saved." And when he heard, he was filled with great joy, he took strength, and he did this for all the days of his life. Abba Antony also said, "I spent a whole year praying to God that he might reveal to me the path of the righteous and the path of the sinners. I saw one who was black like an ape, standing, filled up to the armpits, and his hands were stretched out downward from heaven and downward from him, and a lake was boiling like the sea. I also saw souls hanging like fish, and they...

all of them were cast to the top of his hands and to the top of his head, and they moved, and all those that were in his hands and that he had touched fell into the lake of fire that was full. Then a voice came to me from heaven saying, "Antony, these souls that you saw, they too are the souls of sinners being dragged down into hell because the desires of the flesh and the weakness of this short time and the memories of evil things, for truly they did their evil desires until they fell into the fire." Abba Antony said, "Be without distraction in everything, for distraction itself is the body of disobedience, disobedience that gives birth to the one who receives instruction, the one who receives instruction that gives birth to faith, faith that gives birth to obedience to God, obedience to God that gives birth to brotherly love." A brother asked the old man Abba Antony about the saying written in the Gospel: "Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself alone until the day and its evil." And he said

The old man said to him, "I think that this is the word of the church to you, that the needs of the body until the end of a hundred years, you do not care more about your taking of life outside in a time that is prepared, so that you might be saved." It was said about Abba Antony that he was once revealed concerning a virgin who had fallen into a transgression. He arose, took his cloak, the one that was in his hand, and set out on the road of the monastery (—138—) so that he might cut them off in some places that were very difficult because of the purity of the practical life that was in him. And as he was walking, he arrived at the monastery. Behold, Christ the King of glory, the only-begotten Son of the hours of the hearts that are bound, the one who forgives and absolves the sins and transgressions of men, revealed himself to him. The Savior said to him with a joyful face and a gracious smile, "Antony, is there still a burden of this great trouble of yours until now?" When the old man heard these things from the Lord, he cast himself down on his face upon the ground and said to him, "My Lord, in the taking of your visitation, am I worthy of the time of your presence? You have first come to me in this ignorance of my trouble, what it is." The good philanthropist said to him,

... that you have become this ascetic discipline and this great labor because of the one hundred and twenty-four-year-old virgin. Abba Antony said to him, bowing his face down to the ground, "You are the one who knows all things that have not yet happened." And the one said to him, "Follow me." And he went in with him, and the doors were closed in the place where the virgin was within. And he heard the virgin weeping, saying, "My Lord Jesus Christ, if you have turned your attention to me, what is this lawlessness that will stand before you? For truly, the forgiveness that is in your hands, my Lord Jesus Christ, will you take my shame and that of the one who envied me and released me? My Lord Jesus Christ, I am ashamed before you; do not turn your face away from me, for I am a vessel of sin." And as she was saying these things in tears and lamentations, the inquirer said, "By the mercy of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, has Antony's compassion not been moved in you? Now let your eyes give meaning, as you hear the weakness of her humility and her cry to the heights for me, in painful tears." Truly, she drew the inquirers to her like the harlot who had first let down her hair from her head and spread it out from the nape of her neck, and through her faith she received the forgiveness of her sins from him. Therefore, I will not let your ascetic discipline be in vain, but take a little practice upon yourself. Go. And when the Savior had said these things, he revealed himself to him.

Abba Antony turned around on his way, giving glory to God, while his tears fell down upon the ground, marveling greatly at the goodness of God and the abundance of his compassionate heart, which is wholly directed inward to his hands and the manner in which he behaves toward every person who will sin and then turn to repentance with a sincere heart. Abba Antony said, "If some thoughts move against you, disturbing you, and you are not capable of driving them out, come out into the open air, and they will flee from you." Abba Antony also said, "It is a great wonder for us to flee into our cell and to pay close attention to ourselves in our entire life until we know ourselves, what manner we are, if we are to persevere.

in your dwelling place, or you have become looking out from the heart of your death. If you go out, you pray with the dawn and the evening, or you look out from the heart of your death. If your dwelling is in the desert, you find no one of your relatives according to the flesh, or you wish to die from the world. For I say to you that I have spent my entire youth eating a piece of bread, my father, drinking a cup of water mixed with salt, and if I wished to go to a place, I would guard myself, walking so as not to step down upon any plant that had been watered by a woman at all. Abba Antony also said, "The written law is not the truth, but the pure heart, that is the truth of the man." (132) Abba Antony said, "I wished to go to the desert of Maries, but they prevented me, saying, 'Do not go, but go to the mountain.' For there are three things in the world, and they are on the mountain: the eye, the man, the tongue, and the ear. The mountain, however, is only the heart that gives to it. Is it not good that one is except for four?" Abba Antony also said, "If I come from my...

I go out to the people, I tear my garment, I come out having torn it. If I go inside, I put it on again, that is, I come out to the people, I become flesh, and when I return to my dwelling place again, I become spirit. I become a man among men, and I become spirit with God. The body is a house of the heart, whose door is open to the winds. If I come out to the people, they are all open, and the seraphim and the doves enter. That is, they hear and see and speak and also pray. If I am in my cell, they are closed, and I am without disturbance. My heart alone is the one that is awake with him, and I am a servant of the Lord. For he who speaks in a cell builds himself, he builds his neighbor. He who keeps his mouth shut is without danger. For Mary performed the first act before she came to the knowledge of the truth of God. A brother asked Abba Antony, "What is the manner of sitting in the cell, my father?" The old man said to him, "He who appears to the people, this is the one who... until evening daily with the labor and the meditation. But those who are hidden...

These people are my repentance and my opposition to evil thoughts, and my humility, and the casting down of your pride before you, and the humility of heart, the garment of all the virtues. Abba Antony said, "I saw all the snares of the devil spread out over the whole world, and I sighed, saying, 'Lord, who is it that will be able to escape all these that cling to humanity?' And a voice came to me, saying, 'The humility and the endurance before God will escape all these, for they do not resist the one who will generate them, nor do they find anyone to do them violence.'" A brother asked Abba Antony, saying, "My father, what is it that I should do so that I may please God?" The old man said to him, "The one who will tell you will do it." The brother said to him, "Yes, my father." The old man said to him, "Give me the things that you will grasp, place God before your eyes at all times, and all the works that you do, let their testimony be for you from the holy scriptures. And also, in every place where you will be, do not kill the worm in them. This manner of work, keep them, and you will be saved.

Apa Antony said, "Do not walk with a proud heart, nor with an angry man, but walk with those who are humble at all times. Let your words be humble in a lowly manner, so that they may become a benefit to those who will hear them. Be diligent, being grieved in heart for your brother. Be a shield for him. Let your word be sweet at all times. I love humility greatly. Love labor. Flee into it. Accept pain in your flesh so that you may conquer the passions of the body. Struggle so that you may conquer the wars that give themselves to him. For the wise man knows his way of walking, so that he may meet the heavenly luminaries of the skies." Apa Antony also said, "The camel has a small neck, but it guards it within itself until it reaches its destination. It brings it up high, and it does not speak over it until it enters into its bones and its limbs. But the horse, on the other hand, has a large neck. It eats at all times, destroying them all immediately. Now, then, let us not become like the horse.

that is, "We read all the words of God and all the breaths, but we do not act on a single one of them (—rls—). But let us take the example of the camel, reading each one of the words of the Holy Scripture, striving to fulfill it within ourselves, for those who have fulfilled it are men like us, yet the passions are dead within them." Abba Antony said, while the brothers sat around him, "Let us struggle, for truly the garment of the monk is a thing of abhorrence before the demons. For I once wished to test them concerning this matter. I took a kolobion, a goat-hair cloak, and a hood, and I put them on a reed, and I fashioned it into a shape and set it upright. I saw the demons standing at a distance, gnashing their teeth at it. I said to them, 'O evil spirits, what is this that you are doing? For it is not a man, but an image of a man.' They said to me, 'We know that too, but we do not attack him; we attack the garments that he wears and the habit (—rlz—).' I said to them, 'What evil is it that you do to them?' They said to me, 'These are the warlike instruments of those who cause us toil and trouble us at all times, because of

This enters into the other lamp, causing us toil. But these that I have heard, I have given thanks to God, who helps those who hope in him from the hands of the evil spirits of the devil, which are abominable to the holy ones of the day and the night, which are strong in their counsel. Abba Antony said, "The man who carried his companion in the Gospel in the joy of the night, who said to him, 'Give me bread,' until evening, for a companion of mine came to me from the road. The bread I give is for the work of hospitality, of poverty, and of humility, which repentance calls for, so that he might show concerning this, as if he knew that these are the ways of the man to do the will of God." Abba Antony said, "It is not right for a man who is a monk to go to a place of women, or to be bold with them, except for one who has received the power of God, for they are not at rest in a house. If he sits in the street, one said to him, 'It is not right for us to go to them to give them counsel.' And the old man said to him,

If you have received the Spirit completely, if you do not wish that you go, for he who gives you place until you fall, he himself is the one who gives them strength all, that they may fall. For one is the nature of the law of the heart, that the heart of man inclines to evil. And the brother said to him, "What have I done concerning the economy that they have entrusted to me? Is he a deceiver?" And the elder said to him, "If you have received the Spirit, or walk, if you do not wish that you go, he who beseeches you until your downfall, he draws them all, that they may fall. However, if a man gives his (strength) to God, he will become fire while he is upon the earth." The brother said to him, "I say, my father, that the faithful man will guard himself in all places where he will enter." The elder said, "Not so, but see for yourself: if there is a river of fire coming down from the river, with waves of strength, and you walk in their midst, even if they do not cast you down, they will lick you like a flame." Our holy father Abba Anthony also said, "It happened to me that I went to Rakote because I had received the blessing of the pillar that gives light, the lamp, and the steadfastness of the faith of the apostolic one who made...

...become the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, he whose heart has become a pure throne of the Pantocrator, he who has become steadfast upon the faith of the consubstantial Trinity, and the beloved monk of our Lord Jesus Christ the Great, Athanasius, the son of the apostles, he who became a martyr many times at the hands of the kings because of the right faith of Orthodoxy. And I sat at his feet for two days. And he spoke with me concerning some chapters of the Scripture, and from the sweetness of his sweet and living words I profited a little. And when he had blessed me, he said to me, "Antony, where are you from?" Then he turned to me in this manner, saying, "Truly, the Holy Spirit said, 'They turned in their turning and found nothing,' and 'He who watches and he who is vigilant, this is he who rejoices and is glad in eternal life.' For truly, the joy of this place is not the joy, and also the sweetness of this world is not the sweetness." Now these things he said to me, I bowed down, I worshipped him, I returned to my place, giving glory to God. Abba Antony said to the one who brought him out to the brothers, the monks, who deemed him worthy to hear a word from him, he said to them...

The Scriptures are indeed excellent teachers for us, instructing us. But it is also a good thing for us to give encouragement to one another in the right faith of our fathers. Abba Antony also said: I prayed to God once, that he might show me the help that surrounds the monk. And while I was still praying, I saw lamps of fire and a chorus of angels surrounding the monk, guarding him like the pupil of an eye. And a voice came from heaven saying: Do not let him go as long as he is in the body. And when I saw this help surrounding the man in this way, I myself took fright, saying: Woe to you, Antony, for this great help God has appointed for you, and you are negligent towards yourself at all times. Abba Antony said: I prayed to God, saying: My Lord, how is it that this help of this kind (—152—) you have appointed for the monk, and Satan carries him off in this way? I heard a voice saying: It is not possible for the one who seizes him by force; for I am the one who is without strength, I who rebuke him with all his power, and I have humbled him. But each one will be tempted by his own desire.

...and he himself with negligence, that truly it is he who is negligent of his own salvation himself, and the seal of his heart, that truly he does not seek to help. And I said, "My Lord, each one among the monks has assigned to himself this kind of assistance." And they showed me many monks for whom this assistance was seeking all of them in the manner I had first seen. And I said, "O blessed one of the race of men, for this good and humane Lord has hidden them there." An old man made a request of God to see the holy ones, and he saw all of them until...