An explanation of certain sayings of Anthony the Great, given after his repose by a certain teacher

1. A question of the monks. How are we to understand that word of Father Anthony which he said to his disciple Paul when the latter had left this world, became a monk and asked Anthony to let him live beside him; and the teacher said: if you want to be a monk, go to a monastery where there are many brethren who will help you in your weakness?

The teacher’s answer: these words impress upon us that infirm old men, and the sick, and the blind, and people weak in soul should also be received into a monastery and should be loved, since a desire has arisen in them to dedicate themselves to the gaining of virtues, though by their weakness they cannot bear all the labours. Therefore those superiors of monasteries are worthy of reproach who do not receive the infirm old men who come to them, even when they are convinced that these are of good character and have come to the monastery with good intentions. Such superiors more readily receive into the monastery strong young men, so as to entrust to them the various tasks necessary for the monastery and to send them outside it as need requires; and they do this even when they are convinced that some of these young men are insolent and shameless. Father Anthony would not have approved such superiors and would have condemned their conduct, said the teacher named above, who interpreted the words of St Anthony. To this teacher belongs the book “On the Perfect Ordering of Monasteries” (it has not come down to us), in which he reproves such superiors. A fragment has survived where he says the following: such superiors allow their disciples to slacken their diligence or even to give themselves entirely to sloth in the gaining of virtues, and thereby greatly help the growth of bodily and worldly business in their lives. At the same time they give no rest to those monks who took up monasticism only for the gaining of virtues, and unceasingly fill their life with worldly tasks, vain cares and burdens; and moreover they reproach, scold and even mock them if by bodily weakness they cannot quickly do the task laid upon them. And this they do in spite of the fact that these monks, weak in body, are most careful and diligent in the doing of spiritual works. On the contrary, these superiors heap praise on those monks who put all their effort into doing worldly tasks, even if such monks are slothful and negligent in the gaining of virtues and in the doing of spiritual works. And it must be said too that such monks have not gained this love of work in worldly tasks for the sake of obedience and the labour of humility, but act so for the simple reason that they have come to love this world and everything that passes away. But worst of all, these monks, whether they are slothful or diligent, are always like slaves to the superiors, and the superiors make them do whatever they please, taking no account at all of their spiritual and bodily capacities.

And Abba Poemen said this: if of three copyists in a monastery one passes beautifully through the labour of silence, another is sick but unceasingly glorifies God, and a third carries out his obedience, that which has been laid upon him as a duty, we can still say that all three are in one labour. By these words the saint showed us that in a monastery where many monks are gathered there should be not only monks who are sound in body and able to perform many tasks, but also the infirm and the sick, who at least can give themselves to godly silence and always offer praise to God. Otherwise the whole work of the monastery will be in vain.

2. A question. With what aim did Father Anthony say to his disciple Paul: go, be alone and come to know those wiles and oppositions that come from the demons?

The answer: with the aim that he wanted his disciple too to attain perfection in the spiritual labour. And a monk’s perfection consists in this, that he must gain the ability to direct everything in his life by the spirit and to subject everything in his being to his prudent soul. But such spiritual governing of oneself is impossible without purity of heart, and purity of heart a monk will gain only when he is guided by a prudent soul and when his mind is always turned to God in pure prayer. All this is opposed by the enemy of the human race, and the demons war cruelly against the monk by sending him evil thoughts and apparitions, and this happens with still greater force during the monk’s solitude and silence.

From this answer it is clear that solitude unceasingly gives rise to occasions of fighting with the demons, who try to stir up a thousand thoughts in the monk. This fight is waged with the mind and by means of prayer; and if the monk’s mind is turned to God, it subjects the heart to itself and directs its movement. Such a labour, which tests the monk’s soul and tempers it in many kinds of battle, in the end teaches it to govern itself as well, in which the spiritual perfection both of every monk and of every Christian consists.

3. A question. What does the following saying of Father Anthony mean: as fish cast out of the water onto the shore die, so it is with the monk who stays a long time outside his cell? Why does a monk die outside his cell like a fish left on dry land? The answer. The spiritual life is unceasing thought about God the Creator, filled with love — that is, the thinking of God, or the contemplation of God; and this thinking of God, which deserves to be called the life of the soul, unites in itself both the mind and the heart of a person. So if a monk lives in a city among many people, he will be carried away by a thousand sights and cares, and because of this he will lose the spiritual life, that is, the thinking of God, and this will drive out of his heart the love of God the Creator, which he had gained by many years of toil and labour while living a solitary and silent life in his cell. Besides such danger, self-restraint also becomes hard for a monk living in a city, as does the love of hardship and poverty, that is, of moderation in everything; and, without noticing it, he becomes enslaved to bodily comforts and pleasures; and then the purity of his heart is troubled by various thoughts, wounded by passions and desires which enter his soul by means of the senses and also by means of words; and all this moves him to fornication and to other evil passions, which foretells the monk’s death and destruction. So blessed Anthony said very well: as fish cast out of the water onto the shore die, so a monk too will die if he leaves the cell of his solitude and begins to live in a city or a village.

4. A question. Father Anthony says: he who lives in solitude is free from three kinds of temptation: from the temptation of the tongue, of sight and of hearing. Does it follow, then, that in such a monk only the temptation of the heart remains? Explain to us, teacher, these words of the blessed father! The answer. St Anthony did not say this as though the temptation that comes in silence and solitude were less than that which overtakes one who lives among many brethren, brethren whose mind is carried away by the temptation that arises from sight, hearing and the tongue. No. By these words the holy father shows us that for one living in solitude the temptations that come by way of the senses are foreign — temptations by which monks living together are more often wounded. Monks living in solitude, as we have said, are tormented by the temptation of the heart, which the demons send upon them. Our fathers took up the labour of the solitary life precisely so that these temptations of the heart might not be strengthened in them still more by the temptations of sight, hearing and the tongue. But with this it must be said that in both cases a fall threatens the monk equally: both in life with brethren, who often go out of the monastery and to whose temptation of the heart the temptations of the senses are added, and in life in solitude, when the demon wars against him with the temptation of the heart alone. This is confirmed fully enough by the experience of those solitary brethren to whom, during their solitary life, women came for some reason, and because of this to their temptation of the heart the outward temptation of the sight of a woman’s body and face was added; these brethren were overcome by the temptation thus strengthened, and fell. And that the temptation which enters the souls of monks living in solitude from the side of the senses is stronger and crueller than bodily temptations may be seen also from the words of the blessed Evagrius, who says: with a solitary monk the demons fight themselves, without the agency of others, but against monks living together they stir up unworthy monks, than whom there is no one crueller, craftier and more terrible in this world.

5. A question. What does the following saying of Father Anthony mean: the monk’s cell is the Babylonian furnace, in the fire of which the three holy youths were tried, and among them at that time was the Son of God; and again, the monk’s cell is the pillar of fire out of which God Himself spoke to holy Moses? The answer. As fire has two natural properties — one heat, which burns everything and is painful to every living creature, and the other illuminating, giving joy — so also patient abiding in the cell has two workings, two powers, of which one weighs down, presses and takes away the peace of newly-begun monks who have entered the labour of silence — now by extreme exhaustion, now by wiles and inward turmoil — while the other fills with joy over successful labour and gives true peace to those monks who have overcome the evil passions, have attained spiritual perfection and have become worthy to see luminous visions. And the meaning of his mention of the holy youths, who were tried in the fire and who saw the Son of God, is this: as Ananias, Azarias and Misael, cast into the fiery Babylonian furnace, were not burned and suffered no pain from the heat of the fire, since an angel of God appeared to help them, who loosed and freed them from their bonds and kept them from the all-devouring working of the fire — so also for the monk living in solitude the war with the passions and desires which are stirred up in them by the efforts of the evil spirits is at first very heavy and unbearable; but the grace-filled help of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, will never abandon the monk who has entered upon the spiritual labour; He appears to him plainly and abides with him, so that, after the monk by His help overcomes the evil passions and the enemies, He may make him worthy to gain perfect love and to see the true light.

6. A question. What does the following saying of Father Anthony mean: we should not repay evil with evil; and if a monk has not yet reached this height of virtue, let him keep silence and stillness? How are we to attain such freedom from anger of soul by way of the labour of silence? The answer. If some monk by his weakness offends his brother and is filled in his heart with hatred toward him, it befits him to shut himself in his cell and give himself to silence, that is, to keep from conversation with people; and with this he must suppress his evil thoughts and abide in unceasing prayer and in the reading of Holy Scripture. If the monk who gave the offence can do this, then the grace of true peace will be given to his heart by the Lord: his heart will be enlightened and his soul will rejoice in the Lord, since it will be freed from its former evil passions. Such a monk, looking on the cross of the Lord, will be inflamed with love for Him who suffered on it for the salvation of people; and, kissing the cross, he will begin to consider how measureless must have been God’s love for this world and for people, that He sent even His Only-begotten Son as Saviour and did not spare Him even to death (John 3:16). And “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). And if God did not spare even His beloved Son for our salvation, and that to so shameful a death on the cross, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things (Rom. 8:32)? Will He refuse us anything? And this greatest mercy of God toward us and His measureless love for His creature makes us think only of this: that it does not befit us to live for the satisfying of our own desires, but that we too should live for Him who died for us, as the Apostle Paul teaches us (Second Cor. 5:14–15). We should live in this world so as to see in our Lord Jesus Christ the image and beginning of patience, which He showed us by His death on the cross, after enduring so much abuse, blame and insult, and rose again to heaven and sat down at the right hand of God on high. So if, like the Lord, we accept suffering, we shall also be glorified with Him (Rom. 8:17); and if, like Him, we endure much, we shall also reign with Him (Second Timothy 2:12). That is why the Apostle Paul urges us: “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). So see how much He endured for sinners, who were themselves the enemies of their own souls! So do not lose heart and do not grow weak in soul if you have to endure hardship, persecution, reviling and blasphemy, or even death itself, since all this befits you for the sake of the love of the Lord. In your unceasing prayers ask the Lord’s forgiveness for those who cause you trouble or insult you, and do this like our Lord Jesus Christ, who prayed to God the Father for His tormentors: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Acts of the Apostles 7:60).

If the monk who offended his brother too will be alone in his cell and will think in this way, then he will be strengthened in spirit, will gain the mastery over his passions, will overcome them with the Lord’s help, and will not only beware of offending others — that is, of hurting anyone, or being angry for nothing and repaying people evil for evil — but will become so perfect that he will rejoice with the greatest joy and will count it a mercy for himself if he is given the chance to endure blame, reviling or insult from someone. Such moral firmness will a monk attain by solitude in his cell and by bearing the labour of silence, by deepening his attention to himself and by the patient fulfilling of the Lord’s commandments — fasting, prayer, the mind’s contemplation of the greatness of God, and the other virtues which a monk takes up in the time of silence. So Father Anthony said very well: if a monk cannot keep his tongue from insulting another, from quarrelling and from talking much, and if he has not the strength to keep his heart too from such thoughts and falls, then let him be alone in his cell and give himself as far as he can to the labour of silence and stillness, and the Lord will help him who acts so.

7. A question. Once brethren came to Father Anthony and said to him: give us, father, such a commandment as we shall have the strength to fulfil. And St Anthony instructed them thus: it is written in the Gospel, “…whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matt. 5:39); fulfil this commandment of the Lord. But the brethren answered: we cannot fulfil this at all. The teacher said: if you cannot turn the other cheek to the one who has offended you, then do at least this, that you bear the first offence patiently. The brethren could not do this either. Then, at the very least, said Father Anthony, do not answer a blow with a blow. And when in reply he again heard: we cannot do this either — the teacher turned to his disciple and said: prepare these brethren a little food and medicine, for they are very sick. What do these words of the saint mean?

The answer. By these words Father Anthony wanted to say that such weak brethren we cannot help in any other way than by feeding them and letting them go in peace. But since at the end the teacher still said to them, what you need most of all is prayer, we must think that by food and medicine he meant the prayers of teachers, as though saying to them: if you can do neither the one nor the other, then you need someone to pray for your healing and strengthening. For as those sick in body need special healing food because of the weakness of their stomach, which cannot take in and digest every kind of food, so you too, so weakened in soul and mind that you cannot fulfil even the least of the Lord’s commandments, likewise need spiritual healing and strengthening; and such a medicine for those weak in soul is the prayer of spiritual fathers and teachers, who have the power to ask God for healing for your sick souls. This is what Father Anthony’s words mean — what you need most of all is prayer — when he was instructing the weak brethren.

8. A question. Father Anthony once said to his disciples: I saw the snares of the devil spread over the whole world; I sighed and said bitterly: woe to the human race! Who will escape so many snares? And they answered me: humility will deliver you from every temptation, since the devil’s snare is powerless before the humble. So explain to us: how did the saint see these snares — with the senses or with the sight of the mind? And who were they who said to Anthony: humility delivers a person from these snares, since the devil cannot catch the humble in them?

The answer. Father Macarius the Great (of Egypt), a disciple of St Anthony, while alone in the furthest desert, saw all the devices of the devil at the very time when his teacher saw them, only in quite another form. St Macarius saw the demons in the guise of two men, of whom one was dressed in a tattered garment, and this garment was all covered with many seams of different colours, while the body of the other was covered with a worn garment, on the upper part of which was something like a net strung with little balls. To these two a third then drew near, who had wings instead of a covering. These Macarius the Great saw bodily and with bodily eyes. But Father Anthony, with the eyes of the mind, as the saints are made worthy of divine visions, saw all those snares of the devil which he sets everywhere for monks, to take them captive and to hinder them from bringing the spiritual labour to a good end, as in the words of the prophet David, who tells us: “The proud have hid a snare for me, and have stretched out ropes for nets for my feet; and near the path they have set a stumbling-block for me” (Ps. 139:6).

So Father Anthony saw that the devil’s snares are set in this world just as hunters set traps for wild beasts. This sight horrified Father Anthony, for their number was exceedingly great, and moreover each trap was set so cunningly that one who fell into it could by no means free himself. In such a form he saw all those bodily and spiritual passions by means of which the demons war against monks; but with this the holy father also saw the angels of God, who named these snares to him one by one and explained their meaning — which of them was which temptation and which passion it used as a bait for catching people. Among these snares Father Anthony saw, in particular, the snare of gluttony, that is, the service of the belly, the snare of the love of money, the snare of fornication, of the love of glory, of pride and of many other evil passions. Besides this, the holy angels showed Father Anthony all the craft and skill of the enemy — how he sets his snares, how he lies in wait for his prey, so as by every means to hinder monks on the way of virtue, to entangle them in his net and to destroy them. It was then, shaken by all this sight, that Father Anthony cried out bitterly: woe to us monks! How shall we escape these dreadful snares and how shall we keep ourselves from falling into them? And the angels answered him: humility will deliver you from all these snares! Whoever has gained true humility will never be entangled in the trap set by the devil and will not fall.

Thus the angels of the Lord answered Father Anthony; but they did not say that by humility alone are the evil passions and foul desires overcome in the soul of a labourer, with which the devil wars against them. Therefore other virtues too are needed along with the virtue of humility. This one virtue, humility, by itself will bring a monk no profit, just as the other virtues without humility are without power, since without it every good work is like meat without salt, which easily spoils and becomes fit to be thrown away. So bodily toil, the work of the mind, silence and perfect prayer, joined with perfect humility, by one power overcome all evil passions and drive away the demons, so that these can no longer harm in any way a monk adorned with all these virtues. This is what the angels of the Lord said to Father Anthony; that is, it was they who answered Father Anthony when he was shaken by the vision of the devil’s snares.

9. A question. Father Anthony once said this: if we labour with a good labour, it befits us greatly to fear God and to humble ourselves utterly before Him, so that our Creator, who knows our weaknesses well, may cover us with His right hand in every time of trial; for if we do not act so and are lifted up with pride, He will deprive us of His help, will not defend us with His shelter, and we shall certainly perish. Tell us, teacher, what is the sense and meaning of this saying of the blessed father?

The answer. We monks should always humble ourselves utterly — both in times of trouble, straitness, sorrow and wiles, and in times of peace and rest, when we are not cruelly wounded by the devil. So at every time it is most needful for us to be humble and obedient, and by this we shall always be strengthened: in the time of wiles and of the devil’s attack, humility will give us help in the fight with the enemy and will give us strength to carry the heavy burden of patience; while in the time of peace and rest from wiles it will keep us from pride and will not let us fall. Likewise it is because of our sloth and our forgetting of God that we fall into sin, and therefore all the more does it befit us to humble ourselves: for we are indeed weak, and the sense of this will of itself lead us to humility and will make us drive from ourselves all vain self-importance and the spirit of pride.

God does not want us monks who have entered upon the spiritual labour to be always in danger and temptation, so that our soul too would be in unceasing turmoil; no, God in His goodness and love for mankind wants to defend us from the evil one and to put an end to the wiles and cruelty of the demons directed against us. So if in times of wiles and of spiritual labours we clothe ourselves in true humility, we shall escape danger and every straitness of soul; but if in times of peace and of rest from wiles we forget God the Creator and are lifted up with pride, then He will certainly deprive us of His shelter, and we, in despair and taken captive by the devil, shall perish. Therefore in our earthly life there can be no time when the true humbling of ourselves would not be necessary for us; so at every time and in every place this greatest virtue of the soul — humility — is wholly necessary for every monk and every person in this world.

10. A question. A certain teacher, they say, prayed to God: show me all the holy fathers of Christ’s Church — and indeed he was counted worthy to see all the great fathers who had lived up to his own time; but he was greatly astonished that among them he did not see St Anthony. Then the one who was showing this teacher the holy fathers said to him: where God is, there is Father Anthony. Explain to us, teacher: how did this father see the saints, and why did he not see Father Anthony among them? The answer. Either the mind of this teacher was caught up into paradise and he saw the holy fathers dwelling in blessedness, or these fathers themselves in some way appeared to him, or an angel of the Lord showed them to him in a vision. And he did not see St Anthony among them for two reasons: first, so that the whole greatness of this saint might be made known to people, and second, so that the said teacher might be filled with humility and might not think with pride: I have become worthy to see all the holy fathers. In granting his request, God, by giving him this vision, also bound this teacher to imitate the holy fathers; while by not making him worthy to see St Anthony too, He as it were instructed him: you have not strength enough to imitate Father Anthony in virtue; and by this the Lord moved him to put down pride and to clothe himself in true humility.

11. A question. Once the reverent Abba Ammon came to Father Anthony and said to him: I see that I have performed more labours than you; why then is your name more glorified among people than mine? St Anthony answered him thus: it is because I love God the Creator more than you love Him. Tell us, teacher, with what intention did Father Anthony say these words to Ammon?

The answer. Without doubt neither did Abba Ammon boast vainly of his good works, nor did Abba Anthony exalt himself beyond measure by pointing to his love for God. And the true intention of both fathers in such words was this: these two holy fathers, as you know well, were the first founders of the monastic order, and they were the first to begin the solitary life in the desert; therefore they, by a mutual, unspoken spiritual agreement, intended to establish in every monk this instruction: that the inward ordering of the mind is higher than labours performed with the body, since it is precisely this inward ordering of the mind that directs and raises the soul of a monk by the most perfect love for God the Creator and in the end makes him worthy to see the true glory of God, that is, to reach it with the eye of the mind. Labours performed by bodily effort free the monk from bodily passions and desires, establish him in the virtues, give him strength to drive away foul desires and thereby give purity to the body too. But the monk’s labours of the mind arm his soul with a mighty weapon against the demons and against evil thoughts, which are suggested to the labourer precisely by the demons and are his cruellest enemy; and with this the labour of the mind gives purity to the heart as well, which gains firmness in virtue from true love and becomes worthy to be directed in every work by the Holy Spirit.

The fame of every worthy monk need not spread among people, even if they have made great progress in spiritual labour and have gained true love for God; for let us take the example of Abba Paul, who was also one of the first beginners of the desert life and one of the firstborn among monks; for Father Anthony compared this labourer now with the prophet Elijah, now with John the Baptist, now with the Apostle Paul, and, despite such perfection, during his earthly life his name was not glorified among people at all. But, as I have already noted, both these holy fathers, Ammon and Anthony, by a spiritual mutual agreement intended to establish and instruct us, the monks to come, as to which form of labour is higher — the labours of the body or those of the soul, which consist in the inward, hidden warfare of the mind with evil passions and desires, together with unceasing prayer and the contemplation of God; such an activity of the monk’s mind inclines him to the spiritual and brings him to perfection in virtue, which is shown in his amazement before God, in his contemplation, when he becomes worthy of the manifestation of the glory of our Lord and God, to whom belong glory and honour now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

12. A question. Father Anthony once said that God does not allow the devil to wage a great war against this sinful race of Adam, since it is weak. Tell us, teacher, how are we to understand this saying of the holy father?

The answer. God has mercy on this race of Adam; He does not allow it to be pressed too hard by the devil, since in us there is not enough of the heat of divine fire and of zeal for good works. So the devil does not fall upon us with all his force, because God has looked upon us mercifully and had mercy on us because of our weakness and sloth.

13. A question. Father Anthony once said this: if the miller did not bind the donkey’s eyes, he would have no profit in his work, since the animal’s head would spin, it would fall and would not be able to turn the millstone; in just the same way, by divine providence, the eyes of our mind are bound at first, since at the beginning of our spiritual labour we do good works in such a way that we do not see them, so that we may not count ourselves blessed and for that reason ruin our labour; that is why it happens that sometimes shameful thoughts take hold of us and we think what is unseemly, so that we may clearly see our own weakness and always blame ourselves for our sins. It is precisely these shameful thoughts and imaginings that are that blindfold by means of which God hides our good works from our own eyes; and He does this so that the person who blames and reproaches himself for his sins may not lose his reward and may receive a good recompense for everything. Explain to us, teacher, what is profitable for our souls in this saying of Father Anthony? The answer. Not every saint becomes worthy to see divine visions; more than that, many of them do not see even those good things which they themselves do during their earthly life; and at the same time they do not see the promised blessings either, that is, they do not expect for themselves what will be rendered to the righteous for good works, although they are full of good deeds and virtues. But this is so ordered not because God the Creator does not rejoice in their virtue and is not pleased with their good works. Our Lord will not in the least diminish the reward He has promised to the righteous. God forbid! But this (that a person does not see his own good works) happens by the will of the good God so that virtuous people may not exalt themselves vainly, may not be filled with the spirit of pride and by this wholly destroy all the good fruits of their spiritual labour; for by this cause they may even lose the blessings promised to them and become strangers to divine grace. That is why it happens that, although God does not deprive virtuous people of His shelter for the reason that they are diligent in doing good and are zealous for God as they should be, yet sometimes He allows the demons to try them, to suggest shameful thoughts and imaginings to them and to subject them to various trials — to frighten them, to mock them, even to cover their body with sores; and all this God allows in order that people may know their weakness well and therefore always be careful and reverent. For as long as a person lives in this world, nothing around him is constant, and his very life is passing and changeable along with everything else. But as the thought of the blessings promised for virtues strengthens in a person zeal for God and makes him seek unceasingly to do good works, so also the awareness of his own shortcomings and weaknesses removes the labourer from the spirit of pride and works in him this: that he is always ready for every obedience and, always full of humility, takes care not to lose the virtues he has gained and not to be deprived of the full joy in the eternal blessedness of the Kingdom of Heaven in our Lord Jesus Christ.

14. A question. Once, when Abba Helenius came to Father Anthony from Syria, the holy teacher addressed him with these words: blessed be your coming, morning star that rises at dawn! And Abba Helenius answered him thus: hail to you also, light that adorns the world! Tell us, teacher, who was this Abba Helenius, and why did Father Anthony call him the morning star that rises at dawn?

The answer. This Helenius lived in the time of St Anthony and was his equal in worth and in perfection in the spiritual labour. For his good works he was greatly praised by the holy emperor Constantine the Great himself, when he said publicly: I thank God and our Lord Jesus Christ that in my lifetime there live and labour great divine luminaries — Abba Anthony, Abba Helenius and Abba Euxinius! The great sovereign said this because these holy fathers far surpassed all the monks of that time, though many of them too were known to the whole world. So Father Anthony’s address to this Helenius, when he called him the morning star that rises at dawn, corresponds fully to the truth. For his part, Abba Helenius, wishing to show St Anthony that he too knew of his spiritual perfection and of the divine grace given him, justly called our great teacher that pillar of light which has adorned the whole world. So the words of both fathers were directed to us, that we might fully know their greatness.

15. A question. Once Father Anthony said this: often we do not make progress in the labour because we do not know as we should the degree and rank of our monastic dignity and do not properly understand what the work we have entered upon requires of us; on the contrary, we want to reach the height of the virtues easily and without toil. Therefore, as soon as a temptation meets us in the place we have chosen for our labour, we want to move to another place, since we falsely suppose that in this world there can be such a place where there will be no devil and no temptations coming from him. But whoever has come to know by his own experience what the fight with temptation is, what this earthly life is and why the evil spirit wars against us, will not want to change the place of his labour, however great the trial that meets him, but will always and everywhere fight against the passions and, with God’s help, be victorious; and this because the Lord Himself said: “…behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). Tell us, teacher, what does Father Anthony teach us by this saying?

The answer. The meaning of these words of St Anthony is this: monks often move from one place to another for their labour in the hope that in the new place there will be no devil and no temptations coming from him. But, disappointed in their hope and meeting temptation in the new place of labour as well, they again hope in what is vain, again seek a new place and hasten there in search of a restful life. But whoever knows well what the devil’s warfare is and what temptation comes from it, such a monk always fights in the place where he brought forth the first fruit of virtue; he is not frightened by temptation and does not seek another place to live, where he would be at rest and in peace, far from the crafty enemy; he does not seek it, since to seek such a place in this world is a vain work. And the meaning of the Lord’s words — behold, the kingdom of God is within you — which Father Anthony recalled in connection with the above saying, must be this: we monks, since we have come out of this world, have left all its goods, our kinsfolk and friends, and by God’s command have taken up the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and followed Him, the true God — we who do all this should always labour in one place and care only to gain virtue and to save our soul from destruction; and with this we should be ready to endure in the place of our labour every temptation and the wiles of the devil. For the sake of the true love of God and for the doing of His will, wherever we may be, everywhere we should meet temptations and trials patiently, whether they come from our own evil passions, from evil spirits or from evil people.

But those weak monks who are always in search of a safe place are untried in such warfare, cannot endure hardships, are not used to the constant attacks of the demons, and for all this falsely suppose that there is a place where they would find refuge from the devil’s wiles and from the evil thoughts which are born in their minds from their own weakness. Therefore they, as I have said, often move from one place to another, or even from one country to another, though a hard journey of many days awaits them. So it is better for us not to leave the first place of our labour; and if great wiles and temptations come upon us here, let us give ourselves with greater diligence to fasting, to prayer, to bowing the knee, to beating our breast and to other labours before our Lord Jesus Christ, whom with tears and with contrite hearts let us entreat for help and salvation, since He is always with us and is our Saviour, as it is said in Holy Scripture: “The righteous cried, and the Lord heard them, and delivered them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the contrite in heart, and will save the humble in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, and the Lord shall deliver him out of them all” (Psalm 33:18–20); and, as we said above, the Lord Himself commanded: the kingdom of God is within you — that is, I Myself have taken up My dwelling among you, since the Kingdom of God, which the Creator promised to the righteous, is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, who always abides among us. For the blessed Apostle Paul says the same: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” (1 Cor. 3:16–17). And not only does He, God our Creator, abide in us, but we too, His creatures, abide in Him, as He Himself tells us in the holy Gospel: “…now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me” (John 15:4).

So if we live by God and are established in Him, then He too will be with us and will make us His dwelling. Let us therefore not abandon our Lord in the time of trial, of trouble and of the wiles brought upon us by the evil demons, and let us not, moving to another place, seek help and refuge from this world; but let each of us labour in his own place and here entreat the Lord who has taken up His dwelling in us, that He may send us His help and deliver us from trials. And with this it befits us to disclose our thoughts to our spiritual fathers and teachers and to ask them to pray for help for us. And we shall be victorious over the demons in every battle in our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belong honour and glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.