Homilies 1 part 1/2

A certain one of the brethren questioned Abba Macarius the Great, asking what perfection might be, and wherein it consisted. The old man answered and said: Unless a man acquire great humility — which he holds not only in his heart but also displays in his body, esteeming himself in nothing, but rather abasing himself in lowly thought of himself beneath every creature; never judging anyone at all save only himself; bearing insult, casting out from his heart all malice; doing violence to himself unto this end, that he may be long-suffering, kind, a lover of the brethren, sober, chaste, continent. For it is written: 'The kingdom of heaven is for those who do violence to themselves.' Using the eyes rightly, to look upon only those things that help the soul; keeping watch over the tongue;

and turning the ears away from all vain and harmful hearing; keeping the hands from working anything save what is just; preserving the heart pure before God and the body undefiled; having daily before one's eyes the remembrance of death; renouncing within, in the spirit, anger and malice, and outwardly the matter and the things of sense, kinsmen too according to the flesh, and likewise pleasures; renouncing also the devil and all his works; praying unceasingly toward these things, and at every time, place, business, and work, standing before God, perceiving and venerating Him as present. Unless a man, I say, do all these things, he cannot be perfect. A certain brother questioning the old man said:

Abba, how does it happen that, although I in my cell do all that is fitting, yet I find no consolation from God? The old man said to him: This befalls you because you indulge in idle, vain conversations with the slothful; and because you altogether wish to obtain by your own will whatever you desire. He replied to the old man: What then do you bid me do, father? The old man answered: Go, enter into familiarity with a man who fears God, and humble yourself before him, and renounce your own will; and then you shall find consolation from God. The old man said: He who enters a perfumer's shop and walks about in the spice-market, even if he buy or touch nothing of the aromatics, nevertheless wholly and for the time enjoys the fragrance, and himself smells sweet for a while:

so he who associates with the fathers draws from them, by a salutary contagion, that which may help him: for if indeed he wish to act rightly, he sees the way of humiliation shown him by them for this end; and their examples and words are to him like a wall to ward off the assaults of demons. The old man said: If infirmity of body seize you, be not troubled, giving yourself over to idle sorrow. For if your Lord wish to afflict you with bodily sickness, who are you, that you should dare to be angry or take it ill? Does He not Himself care for you in all things? Or can you even live without Him? Bear it then patiently, and pray Him to grant you what He knows to be expedient. For this is His will. Sit with long-suffering, and eat charity. The old man said:

If a man bring forth a keen nature for striving lawfully, God requires of him that he cling not with excessive affection to bodily matter in anyone, not even to the smallest needle; for if he love anything of the sort too devotedly, his mind will be hindered from the senses and desires worthy of God, possessed by the vehemence of a longing that broods over it; and he will conceive the grief which, from the loss of the things he loved — frequently and inevitably occurring — he will take on. The old man said: Prayer, and sober and attentive senses, together with affliction of the body, offered perseveringly to God with the more abundant diligence, instruct a man to have power over the passions. The old man was asked: What is it for a man to live as a guest and a stranger? Say to yourself, he said: Be silent, and I have no business here.

Repeat this and do it in every place and work; then you will truly be in the state of a sojourner and a stranger. The old man said: A holy life without learning accomplishes more good than learning without a holy life. For the holy man, though unlearned or silent, profits those who see him; the learned man without sanctity, even merely thinking, disturbs. But if sound doctrine and a holy life run together into one, they make complete the true and full likeness of the whole philosopher. The old man said: Do not aspire to, nor gladly accept, becoming the head of a congregation of brethren, lest perhaps you lay upon your neck the burdens of others' sins. The same old man said: To do violence to oneself in praying, and to bear dryness long with patience, begets the praying with joy and with quiet.

To do violence to oneself pertains to the strength of a good resolve; but to pray with quiet is the gift of grace. [I] Abba Macarius related concerning himself in this manner: When I was young and was residing in a cell in Egypt, they laid hold of me and made me a cleric in a village; but, unwilling to consent, I fled to another place. There came to me a devout secular man, who used to take what I worked with my hands and minister to me. But it happened, through temptation, that a certain maiden was forced and fell into defilement. When she became pregnant, she was questioned, who was the author of the crime? She answered, therefore, that it was the Anchorite. Whereupon they came out, seized me, and led me to the village;

and they hung about my neck pots blackened with soot, together with the handles of vessels, and so led me around in the village through the crossroads, beating me and saying: This monk has violated our maiden; seize him, seize him! And they struck me almost to death. But a certain one of the elders, approaching, said: How long will you beat this stranger monk? But he who ministered to me followed behind me, overspread with shame; for they had heaped many insults upon him, saying: Behold the Anchorite to whom you bore witness — what has he done? To this the maiden's parents said: We will not let him go until he has given a surety that he will provide for her. So I signified to that minister of mine, and he pledged on my behalf.

Afterward, having set out for my cell, I gave him the baskets I had, saying: Sell them and bring food to my wife. Then I said within myself: Macarius, behold, you have found yourself a wife; it is necessary that you labor a little more, that you may nourish her. And I worked night and day, and sent to her. But when the time of the wretched woman came, that she should give birth, she remained in torments for many days and did not give birth. They inquired, what this was? She answered: I know it, for I slandered the Anchorite and accused him with a fabricated lie; for he is not in fault, but that youth. Then he who ministered to me, coming joyful, announced: That maiden could not give birth until she thus confessed: The Anchorite is free from fault;

but I lied against him, and behold, the whole village wishes to come here with honor, to ask pardon of you as a suppliant. When I heard these things, lest the people should cause me trouble, I arose and fled hither into Scetis. Hence has my coming here its beginning and its cause. [II] Macarius the Egyptian once came from Scetis to the mountain of Nitria, at an offering of Abba Pambo, and the elders say to him: Bring forth a word for the brethren, father. Then he begins: I have not yet turned out a monk, but I have seen monks. For once, when I was sitting in my cell at Scetis, troublesome thoughts were upon me: Go forth into the wilderness, and see what shall there meet your eyes.

And I persisted for five years, fighting against the thought, lest perchance it were from the demons. And as the thought persevered, I went off into the desert. There I found a pool with an island in the midst of it, and to it came the beasts of the desert to drink. Among them I beheld two naked men, and my body trembled; for I supposed them to be spirits. But they, after they saw me trembling, spoke thus: Fear not, we too are men. I said to them: Whence are you, and how came you into this solitude? They answered: We are from a monastery, and by mutual consent we went out and came hither; behold, forty years have now passed. One of us is an Egyptian, the other a Libyan.

They too questioned me, in these words: How does the world fare? Does the water come in its season? Does the world enjoy its accustomed abundance? I answered: Yes. In turn I inquired: By what means can I become a monk? They say to me: Unless a man renounce all the things of the world, he cannot become a monk. I objected: I am weak, and cannot do as you do. They too objected: If you cannot do as we, sit in your cell and weep for your sins. I asked of them, when it is winter, are you not cold? When it is heat, is your body not burned? They gave answer: God has used this dispensation toward us; neither do we freeze in winter, nor in summer does the heat harm us.

Therefore I told you that I have not yet turned out a monk, but have seen monks. Forgive me, brethren. [III] When Abba Macarius dwelt in the utmost desert, that is, in solitude of every kind — and there alone he led the anchoretic life; but lower down there was another wilderness, in which more brethren dwelt. In that place, I say, the old man once, looking about along the way, saw Satan coming in the figure of a man, that he might pass through the place where he was; and he appeared as if wearing a perforated linen tunic, from whose holes hung little flasks. The great old man says to him: Where are you going? He answered: I am setting out to the brethren, to make suggestions to them. Then the old man: And why these flasks for you? He: I am bringing condiments to the brethren. The old man: And all these?

He answered: Yes; if one does not please someone, I offer another; if not this either, I give another; but at any rate, out of these, at least one will please him. And having said this, he went off. But the old man remained, watching the ways until he should return. And when he caught sight of him, he said: Be safe! He answered: How can it come to me that I should be safe? The old man: Why? He: Because all were harsh to me, and none endured me. The old man to him: No friend, then, for you there? Satan to the old man: Not one friend have I there who would even himself obey me; and when he sees me, he turns like a north wind. Then the old man: How is that brother called? Satan to this: Theopemptus. And having said this, he departed.

And so, rising up, Abba Macarius proceeded to the lower wilderness. And when this was learned, the brethren, taking palm branches, came out to meet him. Moreover, each one of them prepared himself, supposing that the old man would lodge with him. But he sought out who it was on the mountain that was called Theopemptus. And having found him, he entered his cell. Theopemptus received him gladly. And when he began to be alone with him, the old man said: How do your affairs stand, brother? He says: Rightly, through your prayers. And the old man: Do thoughts not assail you? He: For the moment it is well with me. For he was ashamed to declare it. The old man said to him: Behold, for how many years now I lead the ascetic life, and am honored by all;

yet me, an old man, the spirit of fornication harasses. Theopemptus replied: Believe me, Abba, me too. But the old man pretended that he was assailed by other thoughts as well, until he should bring him to confession. Afterward he says to him: How do you fast? He answered: Until the ninth hour. Then the old man: Fast until evening, exercise yourself, meditate, and recite from memory out of the Gospel and the other Scriptures; and when a thought comes upon you, never look downward, but always upward; and at once the Lord will furnish you aid. And after the old man had instructed the brother, he returned to his own solitude. There, watching again, he sees that demon, and says to him: Where are you going again? To the brethren, he says, having stirred them up. And he went off.

But when he passed by again, the old man asked him how the brethren fared. He answered: Badly. And the old man: Why? The demon: All are fierce; and what is worse, he whom I had as a friend and obedient to me, even he himself — whence I know not — has turned back, and is no longer persuaded by me, but has become fiercer than all: wherefore I have sworn that I will tread those places no more, except after a time. Having pronounced this, he departed, leaving the old man. Then the holy man entered his cell. [IV] Abba Macarius the Great came to Abba Antony on the mountain; and when he had knocked at the door, Antony came out and asked: Who are you? But he said: I am Macarius. And, having shut the door, he went in, leaving him.

But after he recognized his patience, he opened. And dealing courteously with him, he said: For a long time I had been desiring to see you, having heard your fame. And he hospitably received and refreshed him, for he was wearied from much labor. But when evening came, Abba Antony soaked palm branches for himself. Abba Macarius says to him: Bid me too soak some for myself. He: Soak them, he says. And having made up a great bundle, he wove it. So, sitting from evening on, conversing about the salvation of souls, they plaited; and the plaited work descended through the window into the cave. And Antony, entering in the morning, beheld the abundance of Abba Macarius's plaiting, and exclaims: Much virtue goes forth from these hands. [V] Abba Macarius foretold to the brethren concerning the desolation of Scetis:

When you shall see a cell built beside the marsh, know that the desolation of Scetis is near; when you shall see the trees, it is at the doors; but when you shall behold the boys, take up your sheepskins and depart. [VI] He said again, wishing to console the brethren: There came hither a boy with his mother, who was vexed by a demon, and he said to his mother: Arise, old woman, let us go from here. But she: I cannot, she says, walk on foot. Then the boy to her: I will carry you. And I marveled at the demon's wickedness, how he wished to drive them hence. [VII] Abba Sisoes related: When I was in Scetis with Macarius, we went up — seven persons, that is, men — to reap with him:

and behold, a certain widow behind us was gathering ears of grain, and did not cease from weeping. The old man therefore called the lord of the estate and said to him: What ails this old woman, that she always weeps? He answered: Because, while her husband was keeping someone's deposit, he died suddenly, and did not declare where he had placed it; and the owner of the deposit wishes to claim her and her children for himself as slaves. The old man replied: Tell her to come to us, where we rest from the heat. And when the woman had come, the old man said to her: Why do you weep so continually? She answered: My husband, having received a deposit, departed this life, and dying did not signify where he had placed it. Then the old man to her: Come, show me where you buried him. And so, taking the brethren with him, he went out with her.

When they had reached the place, the old man said to the woman: Withdraw to your house. And after they had prayed, the old man called the dead man with these words: So-and-so, where did you put the deposit that belonged to another? The man gave answer: It is hidden in my house, under the foot of the bed. The old man to him: Sleep again until the day of resurrection. The brethren, seeing this, for fear fell at his feet. Then the old man to them: It happened not on my account, for I am nothing; but on account of the widow and the orphans God did the thing; and this indeed is great, that God wills the soul to be without sin, and whatever it shall ask, it shall receive. Having set out, then, he announced to the widow where the deposit lay.

She, receiving it, gave it to the owner, and asserted her children into freedom; and all who heard of the miracle gave glory to God. [VIII] Abba Peter related concerning blessed Macarius, that when he had once come to a certain anchorite and found him sick, he inquired what food he might wish to take: for there was nothing in his cell. And after he had said 'a little cake,' the brave man did not shrink from setting out for Alexandria to give to the sick man: and the wondrous thing was made manifest to no one. [IX] He recounted again: To Abba Macarius, conversing with all the brethren in simplicity, certain ones said: Why do you show yourself such a one? He answered: Twelve years I served my Lord, that He might bestow on me this grace;

and do you all give me counsel that I should lay it aside? [X] They said concerning Abba Macarius, that if he should be at leisure among the brethren, he resolved thus with himself: If wine be present, drink it for the brethren's sake; and for one cup of wine, go without water for one day. So the brethren, wishing to refresh him, would give it to him. But the old man received it with joy, that he might torment himself. Yet his disciple, to whom the matter was known, would say to the brethren: By the Lord, do not give it to him; otherwise he will finish himself off in his cell. When the brethren learned this, they no longer offered it to him. [XI] Abba Macarius, setting out once from the marsh to his cell, was carrying palm branches; and behold, the devil met him on the way, bearing a sickle.

And though the demon wished to strike him, he could not. So he said to him: 'You ask much of me, Macarius, for I can do nothing against you. For behold, whatever you do, I do also. You abstain from food, and so do I; you keep vigil, and I never sleep at all. There is only one thing in which you surpass me.' Abba Macarius asked: 'What is that?' He answered: 'Your humility. And for that reason I can do nothing against you.' [XII] Some of the fathers asked Abba Macarius the Egyptian, saying: 'How does it come about that, whether you eat or whether you fast, your body is equally lean?' And the old man answered them: 'The wood that turns the brushwood which is burned is wholly consumed by the fire. In like manner, if a man cleanses his mind in the fear of God, the fear of God itself consumes his body.'

[XIII] Once Abba Macarius set out from Scetis to Terenuthis, and he entered a temple to sleep. Now there were there some ancient corpses of the heathen; and taking one of them he placed it under his head, as a pillow. The demons therefore, seeing his boldness, were moved by envy; and wishing to terrify him, they called out as if to a woman by name, saying: 'Lady, come with us to the bath.' But another demon answered from beneath him, as if from among the dead, thus: 'I have a stranger upon me, and I cannot come.' Yet the old man was not frightened, but boldly struck the body, saying: 'Get up and go into the darkness, if you can.' Hearing this, the demons cried out with a loud voice: 'You have conquered us.' Then, covered with shame, they fled away.

[XIV] They used to say of Abba Macarius the Egyptian that, as he was going up from Scetis carrying baskets, he grew weary and sat down, and prayed in this manner: 'O God, you know that no strength remains in me.' And immediately he was carried to beside the river. [XV] A certain man in Egypt had a paralytic son, and he brought him to the cell of Abba Macarius; but leaving him weeping at the door, he withdrew far off. So the old man, looking down, saw the boy and asked him: 'Who brought you here?' He answered: 'My father threw me down here and went away.' The old man said to him: 'Rise and follow him.' And immediately, having recovered his health, he rose and overtook his father; and thus they returned to their home.

[XVI] The great Abba Macarius used to say to the brethren in Scetis, after he had dismissed the assembly: 'Flee, brethren.' One of the elders said to him: 'Where can we flee beyond this wilderness?' But he would put his finger to his mouth, saying: 'Flee this.' Then he would enter his cell, and, having shut the door, would sit down. [XVII] The same Abba Macarius said: 'If, in rebuking someone, you are stirred to anger, you are gratifying your own passion. For you should not destroy yourself in order to save others.' [XVIII] The same Abba Macarius, while he was in Egypt, found a man with a beast of burden who was plundering the goods he possessed for his own use; and he himself, standing by the thief as though a stranger, helped him load the beast, and with great calm led it away for him, saying:

"We brought nothing into the world; it is beyond doubt that we can take nothing out of it either. The Lord gave; as he himself willed, so also it was done. Blessed be the Lord in all things." [XIX] Some asked Abba Macarius, saying: 'How ought we to pray?' That old man answered: 'There is no need to speak much, but the hands are to be stretched out, and one should say: Lord, as you will and as you know, have mercy. And if the assault of temptation should press in, one ought to say: Lord, help. He himself knows what is profitable, and he deals mercifully with us.' [XX] Abba Macarius said: 'If contempt becomes for you as praise, poverty as riches, and want as abundance, you shall not die.'

For it cannot happen that one who believes rightly and acts in godliness should fall into the filth of vices and the error of demons. [XXI] They related: Two brothers in Scetis transgressed, and Abba Macarius of the City separated, that is, excommunicated them; and certain men came and reported this to the great Abba Macarius the Egyptian. He declared that it was not the brothers who had been separated, but Macarius — for he loved him. Abba Macarius learned by report that he had been excommunicated by the elder, and he fled to the marsh. So the great Abba Macarius went out and found him pierced by gnats; and he said to him: 'You separated the brothers, and they are about to withdraw to the village. But I have separated you; and you, like a beautiful maiden, have fled here into an inner chamber.'

'But I, having called the brothers, learned from them that none of these things had been done. See then, brother, lest you have been deceived by demons. For you saw nothing. Rather, bow down and ask pardon for your fault.' But he said: 'If you will, give me a penance.' So the old man, seeing his humility, said: 'Go, fast three weeks, eating once each week.' This indeed was that man's perpetual practice, to fast for weeks. [XXII] Abba Moses said to Abba Macarius in Scetis: 'I wish to live in quiet and silence, but the brothers will not let me.' Abba Macarius said to him: 'I see that you are of too soft a disposition, and unable to turn a brother away from you;

but if you desire a quiet life, set out for the desert, go into the rock, and there you will live in quiet.' And he did this, and found rest. [XXIII] A brother came to Abba Macarius the Egyptian and said to him: 'Abba, speak to me a word, by what means I may be saved.' The old man said: 'Go to the tomb and assail the dead with curses.' So the brother went and attacked them with insults and stones, and returning he reported to the elder. He asked him: 'Did they answer you nothing?' The brother: 'Nothing.' Then the old man said: 'Go again tomorrow, and extol them with praises.' So the brother went on, and praised them, calling out: 'Apostles, saints, righteous ones.' Then he came to the elder and said: 'I praised them.' He said to him: 'Did they answer you nothing?' The brother: 'In no way.' Then the old man said:

'You know with how many insults you assailed them, and they answered you nothing; and with how many praises you adorned them, and they spoke nothing to you. So too you, if you desire to attain salvation, must become dead; reckon neither the injuries of men nor their praises, but like the dead — thus you will be able to be saved.' [XXIV] Once, as Abba Macarius was passing through Egypt together with the brethren, he heard a boy speaking thus to his mother: 'Mother, a certain rich man loves me, and I hate him; but a poor man hates me, and yet I love him.' Hearing these words, Abba Macarius marveled. The brethren said to him: 'What word is this, father, that you are seized with wonder?' The old man answered them:

'Truly our Lord is rich and loves us, yet we will not obey him; but our enemy the devil is poor, and pursues us with hatred, and yet we love his impurity.' [XXV] Abba Poemen entreated him with many tears, saying: 'Speak to me a word, how I may attain salvation.' But the old man answered him: 'The thing you ask has now departed from the monks.' [XXVI] Once Abba Macarius visited Abba Antony, and having held discourse with him, he returned to Scetis. The fathers came out to meet him. And in conversation the old man said to them: 'I told Abba Antony that in our place we lack the offering [of the Eucharist].'

The fathers began to discourse of other matters, and they did not seek to learn the answer from the old man, nor did the old man speak to them. So one of the fathers used to declare this: 'When the fathers see that it has slipped from the brothers' memory to inquire about a matter useful to them, they impose upon themselves the necessity of taking the initiative in speech; but if they are not pressed by the brothers, they do not pursue the discourse — lest they be caught speaking when neither asked nor questioned, and the talk seem to be idle.' [XXVII] In this manner Abba Esaias questioned Abba Macarius: 'Speak me a saying.' And the old man said to him: 'Flee men.' Again Abba Esaias: 'What is it to flee men?' But the old man: 'To sit in your cell and weep over your sins.'

[XXVIII] Abba Paphnutius, the disciple of Abba Macarius, used to relate this: 'I asked my father to say something to me. And his saying was: Hurt no one, condemn no one. Observe these things and you will be saved.' [XXIX] Abba Macarius said: 'Do not sleep in the cell of a brother who has an evil reputation.' [XXX] Once some brothers came to Abba Macarius while he was living in Scetis, and they found nothing in his cell but stagnant water. They said to him: 'Abba, go up to the village, and we will refresh you.' The old man replied: 'You know, brothers, the bakery of such-and-such a man in the village?' They answered: 'Yes.' Then the old man: 'I know it too. And do you know that man's estate where the river leaps?' They said: 'We know it.' 'I know it too,' said the old man.

'So then, whenever I please, I have no need of you, but I bring it to myself.' [XXXI] They used to say of Abba Macarius that if a brother approached him with fear, as to a holy and great elder, he said nothing to him. But if one of the brothers, as though making nothing of him, said to him: 'Abba, when you were a camel-driver and used to steal natron and sell it, did not the guards beat you?' — if anyone spoke thus, to this man he would gladly give an answer if he asked anything. [XXXII] Of the great Abba Macarius they affirmed that he was, as it is written, an earthly god. For just as God covers the world, so Abba Macarius covered over offenses; the things he had seen, as though he had not seen them; the things he had heard, as though he had not heard them.