THE TWELVE BOOKS
OF
JOHN CASSIAN
ON THE
INSTITUTES OF THE COENOBIA,
AND THE
REMEDIES FOR THE EIGHT PRINCIPAL FAULTS.
TRANSLATION AND NOTES BY
EDGAR C. S. GIBSON
From: A Select Library of Nicene and
Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series,
Volume 11
New York, 1894
Contents.
Other version available: text [470K].
Preface and Books 1-6, text.
[266K].
Books 7-12, text. [204K].
PREFACE.
The history of the Old Testament tells us that the most wise Solomon
received from heaven "wisdom and understanding exceeding much,
and largeness of heart even as the sand that is on the seashore cannot
be counted;"[1] so that by the
Lord's testimony we may say that no one either has arisen in time past
equal to him or will arise after him: and afterward, when wishing to
raise that magnificent temple to the Lord, we are told that he asked
the help of a foreigner, the king of Tyre. And when there was sent to
him one Hiram, the son of a widow woman,[2] it was by his means and ministration
that he executed all the glorious things which he devised by the
suggestion of the Divine wisdom either for the temple of the Lord or
for the sacred vessels. If, then, that power that was higher than all
the kingdoms of the earth, and that noble and illustrious scion of the
race of Israel, and that divinely inspired wisdom which excelled the
training and customs of all the Easterns and Egyptians, by no means
disdained the advice of a poor man and a foreigner, rightly also do
you, most blessed Pope[3] Castor, taught
by these examples, deign to call in me, a worthless creature though I
am, and in every respect as poor as possible, to share in so great a
work. When you are planning to build a true and reasonable temple to
God, not with inanimate stones but with a congregation of saints, and
no temporal or corruptible building, but one that is eternal and
cannot be shaken; and desiring also to consecrate to the Lord most
precious vessels not forged of dumb[4]
metal, of gold or silver, which a Babylonish monarch may afterwards
take and devote to the pleasures of his concubines and princes,[5] but fashioned of holy souls which shine
with the uprightness of innocence, righteousness, and purity, and bear
about Christ abiding in themselves as King;--since, then, you are
anxious that the institutions of the East and especially of Egypt
should be established in your province, which is at present without
monasteries,[6] although you are
yourself perfect in all virtues and knowledge and so filled with all
spiritual riches that not only your talk but even your life alone is
amply sufficient for an example to those who are seeking
perfection,--yet you ask me, not knowing what to say, and feeble in
speech and knowledge, to contribute something from the scanty supply
of my thoughts toward the satisfaction of your desire; and you charge
me to declare, although with inexpert pen, the customs of the
monasteries which we have seen observed throughout Egypt and
Palestine, as they were delivered to us by the Fathers; not looking
for graceful speech, in which you yourself are especially skilled, but
wanting the simple life of holy men to be told in simple language to
the brethren in your new monastery. But in proportion as a dutiful
desire of granting your request urges me to obey, so do manifold
difficulties and embarrassments deter me when wishing to comply.
First, because my merits are not so proportioned to my age as for me
to trust that I can worthily comprehend with my mind and heart matters
so difficult, so obscure, and so sacred. Secondly, because that which
we either tried to do or learnt or saw when from our earliest youth we
lived among them and were urged on by their daily exhortations and
examples,--this we can scarcely retain in its entirety when we have
been for so many years withdrawn from intercourse with them and from
following their mode of life; especially as the method of these things
cannot possibly be taught or understood or kept in the memory by idle
meditation and verbal teaching, for it depends entirely upon
experience and practice. And, as these things cannot be taught save
by one who has had experience of them, so they cannot even be learnt
or understood except by one who has tried with equal care and pains to
grasp them; while, unless they are often discussed and well worn in
frequent conferences with spiritual men, they quickly fade away
through carelessness of mind. Thirdly, because a discourse that is
lacking in skill cannot properly expound those things which we can
recall to mind, not as the things themselves deserve, but as our
condition allows us. To this it must be added that on this very
subject men who were noble in life and eminent for speech and
knowledge have already put forth several little books, I mean Basil
and Jerome, and some others, the former of whom, when the brethren
asked about various rules and questions, replied in language that was
not only eloquent but rich in testimonies from Holy Scripture; while
the latter not only published works that were the offspring of his own
genius, but also translated into Latin works that had been written in
Greek.[7] And, after such abundant
streams of eloquence, I might not unfairly be accused of presumption
for trying to produce this feeble rill, were it not that the
confidence of your holiness encouraged me, and the assurance that
these trifles would be acceptable to you, whatever they were like, and
that you would send them to the congregation of the brethren dwelling
in your newly founded monastery. And if by chance I have said
anything without sufficient care, may they kindly overlook it and
endure it with a somewhat indulgent pardon, asking rather for
trustworthiness of speech than for grace of style on my part.
Wherefore, most blessed Pope, remarkable example of religion and
humility, encouraged by your prayers, I will to the best of my ability
approach the work which you enjoin; and those matters which were
altogether left untouched by those who preceded us, since they
endeavoured to describe what they had heard rather than what they had
experienced, these things I will tell as to an inexperienced
monastery, and to men who are indeed[8]
athirst. Nor certainly shall I try to weave a tale of God's miracles
and signs, although we have not only heard of many such among our
elders, and those past belief, but have also seen them fulfilled under
our very eyes; yet, leaving out all these things which minister to the
reader nothing but astonishment and no instruction in the perfect
life, I shall try, so far as I can, with the help of God, faithfully
to explain only their institutions and the rules of their monasteries,
and especially the origins and causes of the principal faults, of
which they reckon eight, and the remedies for them according to their
traditions,--since my purpose is to say a few words not about God's
miracles, but about the way to improve our character, and the
attainment of the perfect life, in accordance with that which we
received from our elders. In this, too, I will try to satisfy your
directions, so that, if I happen to find that anything has been either
withdrawn or added in those countries not in accordance with the
example of the elders established by ancient custom, but according to
the fancy of any one who has founded a monastery, I will faithfully
add it or omit it, in accordance with the rule which I have seen
followed in the monasteries anciently founded throughout Egypt and
Palestine, as I do not believe that a new establishment in the West,
in the parts of Gaul could find anything more reasonable or more
perfect than are those customs, in observance of which the monasteries
that have been founded by holy and spiritually minded fathers since
the rise of apostolic preaching endure even to our own times. I
shall, however, venture to exercise this discretion in my work,--that
where I find anything in the rule of the Egyptians which, either
because of the severity of the climate, or owing to some difficulty or
diversity of habits, is impossible in these countries, or hard and
difficult, I shall to some extent balance it by the customs of the
monasteries which are found throughout Pontus and Mesopotamia;
because, if due regard be paid to what things are possible, there is
the same perfection in the observance although the power may be
unequal.
BOOK I.
OF THE DRESS OF THE MONKS.
CHAPTER I.
Of the Monk's Girdle.[9]
AS we are going to speak of the customs and rules of the monasteries,
how by God's grace can we better begin than with the actual dress of
the monks, for we shall then be able to expound in due course their
interior life when we have set their outward man before your eyes. A
monk, then, as a soldier of Christ ever ready for battle, ought always
to walk with his loins girded. For in this fashion, too, the
authority of Holy Scripture shows that they walked who in the Old
Testament started the original of this life,--I mean Elijah and
Elisha; and, moreover, we know that the leaders and authors of the New
Testament, viz., John, Peter, and Paul, and the others of the same
rank, walked in the same manner. And of these the first-mentioned,
who even in the Old Testament displayed the flowers of a virgin life
and an example of chastity and continence, when he had been sent by
the Lord to rebuke the messengers of Ahaziah, the wicked king of
Israel, because when confined by sickness he had intended to consult
Beelzebub, the god of Ekron, on the state of his health, and thereupon
the said prophet had met them and said that he should not come down
from the bed on which he lay,--this man was made known to the
bed-ridden king by the description of the character of his clothing.
For when the messengers returned to him and brought back the prophet's
message, he asked what the man who had met them and spoken such words
was like and how he was dressed. "An hairy man," they said,
"and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins;" and by
this dress the king at once saw that it was the man of God, and said:
"It is Elijah the Tishbite:"[10] i.e., by the evidence of the girdle
and the look of the hairy and unkempt body he recognized without the
slightest doubt the man of God, because this was always attached to
him as he dwelt among so many thousands of Israelites, as if it were
impressed as some special sign of his own particular style. Of John
also, who came as a sort of sacred boundary between the Old and New
Testament, being both a beginning and an ending, we know by the
testimony of the Evangelist that "the same John had his raiment
of camel's hair and a girdle of skin about his loins."[11] When Peter also had been put in
prison by Herod and was to be brought forth to be slain on the next
day, when the angel stood by him he was charged: "Gird thyself
and put on thy shoes."[12] And
the angel of the Lord would certainly not have charged him to do this
had he not seen that for the sake of his night's rest he had for a
while freed his wearied limbs from the girdle usually tied round them.
Paul also, going up to Jerusalem and soon to be put in chains by the
Jews, was met at Cæsarea by the prophet Agabus, who took his
girdle and bound his hands and feet to show by his bodily actions the
injuries which he was to suffer, and said: "So shall the Jews in
Jerusalem bind the man whose girdle this is, and deliver him into the
hands of the Gentiles."[13] And
surely the prophet would never have brought this forward, or have said
"the man whose girdle this is," unless Paul had always been
accustomed to fasten it round his loins.
CHAPTER II.
Of the Monk's Robe.
LET the robe also of the monk be such as may merely cover the body and
prevent the disgrace of nudity, and keep off harm from cold, not such
as may foster the seeds of vanity and pride; for the same apostle
tells us: "Having food and covering, with these let us be
content."[14]
"Covering," he says, not "raiment," as is wrongly
found in some Latin copies: that is, what may merely cover the body,
not what may please the fancy by the splendour of the attire;
commonplace, so that it may not be thought remarkable for novelty of
colour or fashion among other men of the same profession; and quite
free from anxious carefulness, yet not discoloured by stains acquired
through neglect. Lastly, let them be so far removed from this world's
fashions as to remain altogether common property for the use of the
servants of God. For whatever is claimed by one or a few among the
servants of God and is not the common property of the whole body of
the brethren alike is either superfluous or vain, and for that reason
to be considered harmful, and affording an appearance of vanity rather
than virtue. And, therefore, whatever models we see were not taught
either by the saints of old who laid the foundations of the monastic
life, or by the fathers of our own time who in their turn keep up at
the present day their customs, these we also should reject as
superfluous and useless: wherefore they utterly disapproved of a robe
of sackcloth as being visible to all and conspicuous, and what from
this very fact will not only confer no benefit on the soul but rather
minister to vanity and pride, and as being inconvenient and unsuitable
for the performance of necessary work for which a monk ought always to
go ready and unimpeded. But even if we hear of some respectable
persons who have been dressed in this garb, a rule for the monasteries
is not, therefore, to be passed by us, nor should the ancient decrees
of the holy fathers be upset because we do not think that a few men,
presuming on the possession of other virtues, are to be blamed even in
regard of those things which they have practised not in accordance
with the Catholic rule. For the opinion of a few ought not to be
preferred to or to interfere with the general rule for all. For we
ought to give unhesitating allegiance and unquestioning obedience, not
to those customs and rules which the will of a few have introduced,
but to those which a long standing antiquity and numbers of the holy
fathers have passed on by an unanimous decision to those that come
after. Nor, indeed, ought this to influence us as a precedent for our
daily life, that Joram, the wicked king of Israel, when surrounded by
bands of his foes, rent his clothes, and is said to have had sackcloth
inside them;[15] or that the Ninevites,
in order to mitigate the sentence of God, which had been pronounced
against them by the prophet, were clothed in rough sackcloth.[16] The former is shown to have been
clothed with it secretly underneath, so that unless the upper garment
had been rent it could not possibly have been known by any one, and
the latter tolerated a covering of sackcloth at a time when, since all
were mourning over the approaching destruction of the city and were
clothed with the same garments, none could be accused of ostentation.
For where there is no special difference and all are alike no harm is
done.[17]
CHAPTER III.
Of the Hoods of the Egyptians.
THERE are some things besides in the dress of the Egyptians which
concern not the care of the body so much as the regulation of the
character, that the observance of simplicity and innocence may be
preserved by the very character of the clothing. For they constantly
use both by day and by night very small hoods coming down to the end
of the neck and shoulders, which only cover the head, in order that
they may constantly be moved to preserve the simplicity and innocence
of little children by imitating their actual dress.[18] And these men have returned to
childhood in Christ and sing at all hours with heart and soul:
"Lord, my heart is not exalted nor are mine eyes lofty. Neither
have I walked in great matters nor in wonderful things above me. If I
was not humbly minded, but exalted my soul: as a child that is weaned
is towards his mother."[19]
CHAPTER IV.
Of the Tunics of the Egyptians.
THEY wear also linen tunics[20] which
scarcely reach to the elbows, and for the rest leave their hands bare,
that the cutting off of the sleeves may suggest that they have cut off
all the deeds and works of this world, and the garment of linen teach
that they are dead to all earthly conversation, and that hereby they
may hear the Apostle saying day by day to them: "Mortify your
members which are upon the earth;" their very dress also
declaring this: "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with
Christ in God;" and again: "And I live, yet now not I but
Christ liveth in me. To me indeed the world is crucified, and I to
the world."[21]
CHAPTER V.
Of their Cords.[22]
THEY also wear double scarves[23] woven
of woollen yarn which the Greeks call
analaboi, but which we should name girdles[24] or strings,[25] or more properly cords.[26] These falling down over the top of
the neck and divided on either side of the throat go round the folds
(of the robe) at the armpits and gather them up on either side, so
that they can draw up and tuck in close to the body the wide folds of
the dress, and so with their arms girt they are made active and ready
for all kinds of work, endeavouring with all their might to fulfil the
Apostle's charge: "For these hands have ministered not only to me
but to those also who are with me," "Neither have we eaten
any man's bread for nought, but with labour and toil working night and
day that we should not be burdensome to any of you." And:
"If any will not work neither let him eat."[27]
CHAPTER VI.
Of their Capes.[28]
NEXT they cover their necks and shoulders with a narrow cape, aiming
at modesty of dress as well as cheapness and economy; and this is
called in our language as well as theirs mafors; and so they
avoid both the expense and the display of cloaks and great coats.
CHAPTER VII.
Of the Sheepskin and the Goatskin.[29]
THE last article of their dress is the goat-skin, which is called
melotes, or pera,[30]
and a staff, which they carry in imitation of those who foreshadowed
the lines of the monastic life in the Old Testament, of whom the
Apostle says: "They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins,
being in want, distressed, afflicted; of whom the world was not
worthy; wandering in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens, and in
caves of the earth."[31] And this
garment of goatskin signifies that having destroyed all wantonness of
carnal passions they ought to continue in the utmost sobriety of
virtue, and that nothing of the wantonness or heat of youth, or of
their old lightmindedness, should remain in their bodies.
CHAPTER VIII.
Of the Staff of the Egyptians.
FOR Elisha, himself one of them, teaches that the same men used to
carry a staff; as he says to Gehazi, his servant, when sending him to
raise the woman's son to life: "Take my staff and run and go and
place it on the lad's face that he may live."[32] And the prophet would certainly not
have given it to him to take unless he had been in the habit of
constantly carrying it about in his hand. And the carrying of the
staff spiritually teaches that they ought never to walk unarmed among
so many barking dogs of faults and invisible beasts of spiritual
wickedness (from which the blessed David, in his longing to be free,
says: "Deliver not, O Lord, to the beasts the soul that trusteth
in Thee"),[33] but when they
attack them they ought to beat them off with the sign of the cross and
drive them far away; and when they rage furiously against them they
should annihilate them by the constant recollection of the Lord's
passion and by following the example of His mortified life.
CHAPTER IX.
Of their Shoes.
BUT refusing shoes, as forbidden by the command of the gospel, if
bodily weakness or the morning cold in winter or the scorching heat of
midday compels them, they merely protect their feet with sandals,
explaining that by the use of them and the Lord's permission it is
implied that if, while we are still in this world we cannot be
completely set free from care and anxiety about the flesh, nor can we
be altogether released from it, we should at least provide for the
wants of the body with as little fuss and as slight an entanglement as
possible: and as for the feet of our soul which ought to be ready for
our spiritual race and always prepared for preaching the peace of the
gospel (with which feet we run after the odour of the ointments of
Christ, and of which David says: "I ran in thirst," and
Jeremiah: "But I am not troubled, following Thee"),[34] we ought not to suffer them to be
entangled in the deadly cares of this world, filling our thoughts with
those things which concern not the supply of the wants of nature, but
unnecessary and harmful pleasures. And this we shall thus fulfil if,
as the Apostle advises, we "make not provision for the flesh with
its lusts."[35] But though
lawfully enough they make use of these sandals, as permitted by the
Lord's command, yet they never suffer them to remain on their feet
when they approach to celebrate or to receive the holy mysteries, as
they think that they ought to observe in the letter that which was
said to Moses and to Joshua, the son of Nun: "Loose the latchet
of thy shoe: for the place whereon thou standest is holy
ground."[36]
Of the modification in the observances which may be
permitted in accordance with the character of the climate or the
custom of the district.
SO much may be said, that we may not appear to have left out any
article of the dress of the Egyptians. But we need only keep to those
which the situation of the place and the customs of the district
permit. For the severity of the winter does not allow us to be
satisfied with slippers[38] or tunics
or a single frock; and the covering of tiny hoods or the wearing of a
sheepskin would afford a subject for derision instead of edifying the
spectators. Wherefore we hold that we ought to introduce only those
things which we have described above, and which are adapted to the
humble character of our profession and the nature of the climate, that
the chief thing about our dress maybe not the novelty of the garb,
which might give some offence to men of the world, but its honourable
simplicity.
CHAPTER XI.
Of the Spiritual Girdle and its Mystical
Meaning.[39]
CLAD, therefore, in these vestments, the soldier of Christ should know
first of all that he is protected by the girdle tied round him, not
only that he may be ready in mind for all the work and business of the
monastery, but also that he may always go without being hindered by
his dress. For he will be proved to be the more ardent in purity of
heart for spiritual progress and the knowledge of Divine things in
proportion as he is the more earnest in his zeal for obedience and
work. Secondly, he should realize that in the actual wearing of the
girdle there is no small mystery declaring what is demanded of him.
For the girding of the loins and binding them round with a dead skin
signifies that he bears about the mortification of those members in
which are contained the seeds of lust and lasciviousness, always
knowing that the command of the gospel, which says, "Let your
loins be girt about,"[40] is
applied to him by the Apostle's interpretation; to wit, "Mortify
your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, lust,
evil concupiscence."[41] And so
we find in Holy Scripture that only those were girt with the girdle in
whom the seeds of carnal lust are found to be destroyed, and who sing
with might and main this utterance of the blessed David: "For I
am become like a bottle in the frost,"[42] because when the sinful flesh is
destroyed in the inmost parts they can distend by the power of the
spirit the dead skin of the outward man. And therefore he
significantly adds "in the frost," because they are never
satisfied merely with the mortification of the heart, but also have
the motions of the outward man and the incentives of nature itself
frozen by the approach of the frost of continence from without, if
only, as the Apostle says, they no longer allow any reign of sin in
their mortal body, nor wear a flesh that resists the spirit.[43]
BOOK II.
OF THE CANONICAL SYSTEM OF THE NOCTURNAL PRAYERS
AND PSALMS.
CHAPTER I.
Of the Canonical System of the Nocturnal Prayers
and Psalms.
GIRT, therefore, with this twofold girdle of which we have spoken,[44] the soldier of Christ should next
learn the system of the canonical prayers and Psalms which was long
ago arranged by the holy fathers in the East. Of their character,
however, and of the way in which we can pray, as the Apostle directs,
"without ceasing,"[45] we
shall treat, as the Lord may enable us, in the proper place, when we
begin to relate the Conferences of the Elders.
CHAPTER II.
Of the difference of the number of Psalms appointed
to be sung in all the provinces.
FOR we have found that many in different countries, according to the
fancy of their mind (having, indeed, as the Apostle says, "a
zeal, for God but not according to knowledge"[46]), have made for themselves different
rules and arrangements in this matter. For some have appointed that
each night twenty or thirty Psalms should be said, and that these
should be prolonged by the music of antiphonal singing,[47] and by the addition of some
modulations as well. Others have even tried to go beyond this number.
Some use eighteen. And in this way we have found different rules
appointed in different places, and the system and regulations that we
have seen are almost as many in number as the monasteries and cells
which we have visited. There are some, too, to whom it has seemed
good that in the day offices of prayer, viz., Tierce, Sext, and
Nones,[48] the number of Psalms and
prayers should be made to correspond exactly to the number of the
hours at which the services are offered up to the Lord.[49] Some have thought fit that six Psalms
should be assigned to each service of the day. And so I think it best
to set forth the most ancient system of the fathers which is still
observed by the servants of God throughout the whole of Egypt, so that
your new monastery in its untrained infancy in Christ[50] may be instructed in the most ancient
institutions of the earliest fathers.
CHAPTER III.
Of the observance of one uniform rule throughout
the whole of Egypt, and of the election of those who are set over the
brethren.
AND so throughout the whole of Egypt and the Thebaid, where
monasteries are not founded at the fancy of every man who renounces
the world, but through a succession of fathers and their traditions
last even to the present day, or are founded so to last, in these we
have noticed that a prescribed system of prayers is observed in their
evening assemblies and nocturnal vigils. For no one is allowed to
preside over the assembly of the brethren, or even over himself,
before he has not only deprived himself of all his property but has
also learnt the fact that he is not his own maker and has no authority
over his own actions. For one who renounces the world, whatever
property or riches he may possess, must seek the common dwelling of a
Coenobium, that he may not flatter himself in any way with what he has
forsaken or what he has brought into the monastery. He must also be
obedient to all, so as to learn that he must, as the Lord says,[51] become again a little child,
arrogating nothing to himself on the score of his age and the number
of the years which he now counts as lost while they were spent to no
purpose in the world and, as he is only a beginner, and because of the
novelty of the apprenticeship, which he knows he is serving in
Christ's service, he should not hesitate to submit himself even to his
juniors. Further, he is obliged to habituate himself to work and
toil, so as to prepare with his own hands; in accordance with the
Apostle's command,[52] daily supply of
food, either for his own use or for the wants of strangers; and that
he may also forget the pride and luxury of his past life, and gain by
grinding toil humility of heart. And so no one is chosen to be set
over a congregation of brethren before that he who is to be placed in
authority has learnt by obedience what he ought to enjoin on those who
are to submit to him, and has discovered from the rules of the Elders
what he ought to teach to his juniors. For they say that to rule or
to be ruled well needs a wise man, and they call it the greatest gift
and grace of the Holy Spirit, since no one can enjoin salutary
precepts on those who submit to him but one who has previously been
trained in all the rules of virtue; nor can any one obey an EIder but
one who has been filled with the love of God and perfected in the
virtue of humility. And so we see that there is a variety of rules
and regulations in use throughout other districts, because we often
have the audacity to preside over a monastery without even having
learnt the system of the Elders, and appoint ourselves Abbots before
we have, as we ought, professed ourselves disciples, and are readier
to require the observance of our own inventions than to preserve the
well-tried teaching of our predecessors. But, while we meant to
explain the best system of prayers to be observed, we have in our
eagerness for the institutions of the fathers anticipated by a hasty
digression the account which we were keeping back for its proper
place. And so let us now return to the subject before us.
CHAPTER IV.
How throughout the whole of Egypt and the Thebaid
the number of Psalms is fixed at twelve.
SO, as we said, throughout the whole of Egypt and the Thebaid the
number of Psalms is fixed at twelve both at Vespers and in the office
of Nocturns,[53] in such a way that at
the close two lessons follow, one from the Old and the other from the
New Testament.[54] And this
arrangement, fixed ever so long ago, has continued unbroken to the
present day throughout so many ages, in all the monasteries of those
districts, because it is said that it was no appointment of man's
invention, but was brought down from heaven to the fathers by the
ministry of an angel.
CHAPTER V.
How the fact that the number of the Psalms was to
be twelve was received from the teaching of an angel.
FOR in the early days of the faith when only a few, and those the best
of men, were known by the name of monks, who, as they received that
mode of life from the Evangelist Mark of blessed memory, the first to
preside over the Church of Alexandria as Bishop, not only preserved
those grand characteristics for which we read, in the Acts of the
Apostles, that the Church and multitude of believers in primitive
times was famous ("The multitude of believers had one heart and
one soul. Nor did any of them say that any of the things which he
possessed was his own: but they had all things common; for as many as
were owners of lands or houses sold them, and brought the price of the
things which they sold, and laid it at the feet of the Apostles, and
distribution was made to every man as he had need"),[55] but they added to these
characteristics others still more sublime. For withdrawing into more
secluded spots outside the cities they led a life marked by such
rigorous abstinence that even to those of another creed the exalted
character of their life was a standing marvel. For they gave
themselves up to the reading of Holy Scripture and to prayers and to
manual labour night and day with such fervour that they had no desire
or thoughts of food--unless on the second or third day bodily
hunger[56] reminded them, and they took
their meat and drink not so much because they wished for it as because
it was necessary for life; and even then they took it not before
sunset, in order that they might connect the hours of daylight with
the practice of spiritual meditations, and the care of the body with
the night, and might perform other things much more exalted than
these. And about these matters, one who has never heard anything from
one who is at home in such things, may learn from ecclesiastical
history.[57] At that time, therefore,
when the perfection of the primitive Church remained unbroken, and was
still preserved fresh in the memory by their followers and successors,
and when the fervent faith of the few had not yet grown lukewarm by
being dispersed among the many, the venerable fathers with watchful
care made provision for those to come after them, and met together to
discuss what plan should be adopted for the daily worship throughout
the whole body of the brethren; that they might hand on to those who
should succeed them a legacy of piety and peace that was free from all
dispute and dissension, for they were afraid that in regard of the
daily services some difference or dispute might arise among those who
joined together in the same worship, and at some time or other it
might send forth a poisonous root of error or jealousy or schism among
those who came after. And when each man in proportion to his own
fervour--and unmindful of the weakness of others--thought that
that should be appointed which he judged was quite easy by
considering his own faith and strength, taking too little account of
what would be possible for the great mass of the brethren in general
(wherein a very large proportion of weak ones is sure to be found);
and when in different degrees they strove, each according to his own
powers, to fix an enormous number of Psalms, and some were for fifty,
others sixty, and some, not content with this number, thought that
they actually ought to go beyond it,--there was such a holy difference
of opinion in their pious discussion on the rule of their religion
that the time for their Vesper office came before the sacred question
was decided; and, as they were going to celebrate their daily rites
and prayers, one rose up in the midst to chant the Psalms to the Lord.
And while they were all sitting (as is still the custom in Egypt[58]), with their minds intently fixed on
the words of the chanter, when he had sung eleven Psalms, separated by
prayers introduced between them, verse after verse being evenly
enunciated,[59] he finished the twelfth
with a response of Alleluia,[60] and
then, by his sudden disappearance from the eyes of all, put an end at
once to their discussion and their service.[61]
CHAPTER VI.
Of the Custom of having Twelve Prayers.
WHEREUPON the venerable assembly of the Fathers understood that by
Divine Providence a general rule had been fixed for the congregations
of the brethren through the angel's direction, and so decreed that
this number should be preserved both in their evening and in their
nocturnal services; and when they added to these two lessons, one from
the Old and one from the New Testament, they added them simply as
extras and of their own appointment, only for those who liked, and who
were eager to gain by constant study a mind well stored with Holy
Scripture. But on Saturday and Sunday they read them both from the
New Testament; viz., one from the Epistles[62] or the Acts of the Apostles, and one
from the Gospel.[63] And this also
those do whose concern is the reading and the recollection of the
Scriptures, from Easter to Whitsuntide.[64]
CHAPTER VII.
Of their Method of Praying.
THESE aforesaid prayers, then, they begin and finish in such a way
that when the Psalm is ended they do not hurry at once to kneel down,
as some of us do in this country, who, before the Psalm is fairly
ended, make haste to prostrate themselves for prayer, in their hurry
to finish the service[65] as quickly as
possible. For though we have chosen to exceed the limit which was
anciently fixed by our predecessors, supplying the number of the
remaining Psalms, we are anxious to get to the end of the service,
thinking of the refreshment of the wearied body rather than looking
for profit and benefit from the prayer. Among them, therefore, it is
not so, but before they bend their knees they pray for a few moments,
and while they are standing up spend the greater part of the time in
prayer. And so after this, for the briefest space of time, they
prostrate themselves to the ground, as if but adoring the Divine
Mercy, and as soon as possible rise up, and again standing erect with
outspread hands--just as they had been standing to pray before--remain
with thoughts intent upon their prayers. For when you lie prostrate
for any length of time upon the ground you are more open to an attack,
they say, not only of wandering thoughts but also slumber. And would
that we too did not know the truth of this by experience and daily
practice--we who when prostrating ourselves on the ground too often
wish for this attitude to be prolonged for some time, not for the sake
of our prayer so much as for the sake of resting. But when he who is
to "collect" the prayer[66]
rises from the ground they all start up at once, so that no one would
venture to bend the knee before he bows down, nor to delay
when he has risen from the ground, lest it should be thought
that he has offered his own prayer independently instead of following
the leader to the close.
CHAPTER VIII.
Of the Prayer which follows the Psalm.
THAT practice too which we have observed in this country--viz., that
while one sings to the end of the Psalm, all standing up sing together
with a loud voice, "Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to
the Holy Ghost"--we have never heard anywhere throughout the
East, but there, while all keep silence when the Psalm is finished,
the prayer that follows is offered up by the singer. But with this
hymn in honour of the Trinity only the whole Psalmody[67] is usually ended.[68]
CHAPTER IX.
Of the characteristics of the prayer, the fuller
treatment of which is reserved for the Conferences of the EIders.
AND as the plan of these Institutes leads us to the system of the
canonical prayers, the fuller treatment of which we will however
reserve for the Conferences of the Elders (where we shall speak of
them at greater length when we have begun to tell in their own words
of the character of their prayers, and how continuous they are), still
I think it well, as far as the place and my narrative permit, as the
occasion offers itself, to glance briefly for the present at a few
points, so that by picturing in the meanwhile the movements of the
outer man, and by now laying the foundations, as it were, of the
prayer, we may afterwards, when we come to speak of the inner man,
with less labour build up the complete edifice of his prayers;
providing, above all for this, that if the end of life should overtake
us and cut us off from finishing the narration which we are anxious
(D.V.) fitly to compose, we may at least leave in this work the
beginnings of so necessary a matter to you, to whom
everything seems a delay, by reason of the fervour of your desire: so
that, if a few more years of life are granted to us, we may at least
mark out for you some outlines of their prayers, that those above all
who live in monasteries may have some information about them;
providing also, at the same time, that those who perhaps may meet only
with this book, and be unable to procure the other, may find that they
are supplied with some sort of information about the nature of their
prayers; and as they are instructed about the dress and clothing of
the outer man, so too they may not be ignorant what his behaviour
ought to be in offering spiritual sacrifices. Since, though
these books, which we are now arranging with the Lord's help
to write, are mainly taken up with what belongs to the outer man and
the customs of the Coenobia, yet those will rather be concerned with
the training of the inner man and the perfection of the heart, and the
life and doctrine of the Anchorites.
CHAPTER X.
Of the silence and conciseness with which the
Collects are offered up by the Egyptians.
WHEN, then, they meet together to celebrate the aforementioned rites,
which they term synaxes,[69]
they are all so perfectly silent that, though so large a number of the
brethren is assembled together, you would not think a single person
was present except the one who stands up and chants the Psalm in the
midst; and especially is this the case when the prayer is offered
up,[70] for then there is no spitting,
no clearing of the throat, or noise of coughing, no sleepy yawning
with open mouths, and gaping, and no groans or sighs are uttered,
likely to distract those standing near. No voice is heard save that
of the priest concluding the prayer, except perhaps one that escapes
the lips through aberration of mind and unconsciously takes the heart
by surprise, inflamed as it is with an uncontrollable and
irrepressible fervour of spirit, while that which the glowing mind is
unable to keep to itself strives through a sort of unutterable
groaning to make its escape from the inmost chambers of the breast.
But if any one infected with coldness of mind prays out loud or emits
any of those sounds we have mentioned, or is overcome by a fit of
yawning, they declare that he is guilty of a double fault.
He is blameworthy, first, as regards his own prayer because he offers
it to God in a careless way; and, secondly, because by his unmannerly
noise he disturbs the thoughts of another who would otherwise perhaps
have been able to pray with greater attention. And so their rule is
that the prayer ought to be brought to an end with a speedy
conclusion, lest while we are lingering over it some superfluity of
spittle or phlegm should interfere with the close of our prayer. And,
therefore, while it is still glowing the prayer is to be snatched as
speedily as possible out of the jaws of the enemy, who, although he is
indeed always hostile to us, is yet never more hostile than when he
sees that we are anxious to offer up prayers to God against his
attacks; and by exciting wandering thoughts and all sorts of rheums he
endeavours to distract our minds from attending to our prayers, and by
this means tries to make it grow cold, though begun with fervour.
Wherefore they think it best for the prayers to be short and offered
up very frequently:[71] on the one hand
that by so often praying to the Lord we may be able to cleave to Him
continually; on the other, that when the devil is lying in wait for
us, we may by their terse brevity avoid the darts with which he
endeavours to wound us especially when we are saying our prayers.
CHAPTER XI.
Of the system according to which the Psalms are
said among the Egyptians.
AND, therefore, they do not even attempt to finish the Psalms, which
they sing in the service, by an unbroken and continuous recitation.
But they repeat them separately and bit by bit, divided into two or
three sections, according to the number of verses, with prayers in
between.[72] For they do not care
about the quantity of verses, but about the intelligence of the mind;
aiming with all their might at this: "I will sing with the
spirit: I will sing also with the understanding."[73] And so they consider it better for
ten verses to be sung with understanding and thought[74] than for a whole Psalm to be poured
forth with a bewildered mind. And this is sometimes caused by the
hurry of the speaker, when, thinking of the character and number of
the remaining Psalms to be sung, he takes no pains to make the meaning
clear to his hearers, but hastens on to get to the end of the service.
Lastly, if any of the younger monks, either through fervour of spirit
or because he has not yet been properly taught, goes beyond the proper
limit of what is to be sung, the one who is singing the Psalm is
stopped by the senior clapping his hands where he sits in his stall,
and making them all rise for prayer. Thus they take every possible
care that no weariness may creep in among them as they sit through the
length of the Psalms, as thereby not only would the singer himself
lose the fruits of understanding, but also loss would be incurred by
those whom he made to feel the service a weariness by going on so
long. They also observe this with the greatest care; viz., that no
Psalm should be said with the response of Alleluia except those which
are marked with the inscription of Alleluia in their title.[75] But the aforesaid number of twelve
Psalms they divide in such a way that if there are two brethren they
each sing six; if there are three, then four; and if four, three each.
A smaller number than this they never sing in the congregation, and
accordingly, however large a congregation is assembled, not more than
four brethren sing in the service.[76]
CHAPTER XII.
Of the reason why while one sings the Psalms the
rest sit down during the service; and of the zeal with which they
afterwards prolong their vigils in their cells till daybreak.
THIS canonical system of twelve Psalms, of which we have spoken, they
render easier by such bodily rest that when, after their custom, they
celebrate these services, they all, except the one who stands up in
the midst to recite the Psalms, sit in very low stalls and follow the
voice of the singer with the utmost attention of heart. For they are
so worn out with fasting and working all day and night that, unless
they were helped by some such indulgence, they could not possibly get
through this number standing up. For they allow no time to pass idly
without the performance of some work, because not only do they strive
with all earnestness to do with their hands those things which can be
done in daylight, but also with anxious minds they examine into those
sorts of work which not even the darkness of night can put a stop to,
as they hold that they will gain a far deeper insight into subjects of
spiritual contemplation with purity of heart, the more earnestly that
they devote themselves to work and labour. And therefore they
consider that a moderate allowance of canonical prayers was divinely
arranged in order that for those who are very ardent in faith room
might be left in which their never-tiring flow of virtue might spend
itself, and notwithstanding no loathing arise in their wearied and
weak bodies from too large a quantity. And so, when the offices of
the canonical prayers have been duly finished, every one returns to
his own cell (which he inhabits alone, or is allowed to share with
only one other whom partnership in work or training in discipleship
and learning has joined with him, or perhaps similarity of character
has made his companion), and again they offer with greater earnestness
the same service of prayer, as their special private sacrifice, as it
were; nor do any of them give themselves up any further to rest and
sleep till when the brightness of day comes on the labours of the day
succeed the labours and meditations of the night.
CHAPTER XIII.
The reason why they are not allowed to go to sleep
after the night service.[77]
AND these labours they keep up for two reasons, besides this
consideration,--that they believe that when they are diligently
exerting themselves they are offering to God a sacrifice of the fruit
of their hands. And, if we are aiming at perfection; we also ought to
observe this with the same diligence. First, lest our envious
adversary, jealous of our purity against which he is always plotting,
and ceaselessly hostile to us, should by some illusion in a dream
pollute the purity which has been gained by the Psalms and prayers of
the night: for after that satisfaction which we have offered for our
negligence and ignorance, and the absolution implored with profuse
sighs in our confession, he anxiously tries, if he finds some time
given to repose, to defile us; then above all endeavouring to
overthrow and weaken our trust in God when he sees by the purity of
our prayers that we are making most fervent efforts towards God: so
that sometimes, when he has been unable to injure some the whole night
long, he does his utmost to disgrace them in that short hour.
Secondly, because, even if no such dreaded illusion of the devil
arises, even a pure sleep in the interval produces laziness in the
case of the monk who ought soon to wake up; and, bringing on a
sluggish torpor in the mind, it dulls his vigour throughout the whole
day, and deadens that keenness of perception and exhausts that
energy[78] of heart which would be
capable of keeping us all day long more watchful against all the
snares of the enemy and more robust. Wherefore to the Canonical
Vigils there are added these private watchings, and they submit to
them with the greater care, both in order that the purity which has
been gained by Psalms and prayers may not be lost, and also that a
more intense carefulness to guard us diligently through the day may be
secured beforehand by the meditation of the night.
CHAPTER XIV.
Of the way in which they devote themselves in their
cells equally to manual labour and to prayer.
AND therefore they supplement their prayer by the addition of labour,
lest slumber might steal upon them as idlers. For as they scarcely
enjoy any time of leisure, so there is no limit put to their spiritual
meditations. For practising equally the virtues of the body and of
the soul, they balance what is due to the outer by what is profitable
to the inner man;[79] steadying the
slippery motions of the heart and the shifting fluctuations of the
thoughts by the weight of labour, like some strong and
immoveable anchor, by which the changeableness and wanderings of the
heart, fastened within the barriers of the cell, may be shut up in
some perfectly secure harbour, and so, intent only on spiritual
meditation and watchfulness over the thoughts, may not only forbid the
watchful mind to give a hasty consent to any evil suggestions, but may
also keep it safe from any unnecessary and idle thoughts: so that it
is not easy to say which depends on the other--I mean, whether they
practise their incessant manual labour for the sake of spiritual
meditation, or whether it is for the sake of their continuous labours
that they acquire such remarkable spiritual proficiency and light of
knowledge.
CHAPTER XV.
Of the discreet rule by which every one must retire
to his cell after the close of the prayers; and[80] of the rebuke to which any one who
does otherwise is subject.
AND so, when the Psalms are finished, and the daily assembly, as we
said above, is broken up, none of them dares to loiter ever so little
or to gossip with another: nor does he presume even to leave his cell
throughout the whole day, or to forsake the work which he is wont to
carry on in it, except when they happen to be called out for the
performance of some necessary duty, which they fulfil by going out of
doors so that there may not be any chattering at all among them. But
every one does the work assigned to him in such a way that, by
repeating by heart some Psalm or passage of Scripture, he gives no
opportunity or time for dangerous schemes or evil designs, or even for
idle talk, as both mouth and heart are incessantly taken up with
spiritual meditations. For they are most particular in observing this
rule, that none of them, and especially of the younger ones, may be
caught stopping even for a moment or going anywhere together with
another, or holding his hands in his. But, if they discover any who
in defiance of the discipline of this rule have perpetrated any of
these forbidden things, they pronounce them guilty of no slight fault,
as contumacious and disobedient to the rules; nor are they free from
suspicion of plotting and nefarious designs. And, unless they expiate
their fault by public penance when all the brethren are gathered
together, none of them is allowed to be present at the prayers of the
brethren.
CHAPTER XVI.
How no one is allowed to pray with one who has been
suspended from prayer.
FURTHER, if one of them has been suspended from prayer for some fault
which he has committed, no one has any liberty of praying with him
before he performs his penance on the ground,[81] and reconciliation and pardon for his
offence has been publicly granted to him by the Abbot before all the
brethren. For by a plan of this kind they separate and cut themselves
off from fellowship with him in prayer for this reason--because they
believe that one who is suspended from prayer is, as the Apostle says,
"delivered unto Satan:"[82]
and if any one, moved by an ill-considered affection, dares to hold
communion with him in prayer before he has been received by the EIder,
he makes himself partaker of his damnation, and delivers himself up of
his own free will to Satan, to whom the other had been consigned for
the correction of his guilt. And in this he falls into a more
grievous offence because, by uniting with him in fellowship either in
talk or in prayer, he gives him grounds for still greater arrogance,
and only encourages and makes worse the obstinacy of the offender.
For, by giving him a consolation that is only hurtful, he will make
his heart still harder, and not let him humble himself for the fault
for which he was excommunicated; and through this he will make him
hold the Elder's rebuke as of no consequence, and harbour deceitful
thoughts about satisfaction and absolution.
CHAPTER XVII.
How he who rouses them for prayer ought to call
them at the usual time.
BUT he who has been entrusted with the office of summoning the
religious assembly and with the care of the service should not presume
to rouse the brethren for their daily vigils irregularly, as he
pleases, or as he may wake up in the night, or as the accident of his
own sleep or sleeplessness may incline him. But, although daily habit
may constrain him to wake at the usual hour, yet by often and
anxiously ascertaining by the course of the stars the right hour for
service, he should summon them to the office of prayer, lest he be
found careless in one of two ways: either if, overcome with sleep, he
lets the proper hour of the night go by, or if, wanting to go to bed
and impatient for his sleep, he anticipates it, and so may be thought
to have secured his own repose instead of attending to the spiritual
office and the rest of all the others.[83]
CHAPTER XVIII.
How they do not kneel from the evening of Saturday
till the evening of Sunday.
THIS, too, we ought to know,--that from the evening of Saturday which
precedes the Sunday,[84] up to the
following evening, among the Egyptians they never kneel, nor from
Easter to Whitsuntide;[85] nor do they
at these times observe a rule of fasting,[86] the reason for which shall be
explained in its proper place in the Conferences of the Elders,[87] if the Lord permits. At present we
only propose to run through the causes very briefly, lest our book
exceed its due limits and prove tiresome or burdensome to the
reader.
BOOK III.
OF THE CANONICAL SYSTEM OF THE DAILY PRAYERS AND
PSALMS.
CHAPTER I.
Of the services of the third, sixth, and ninth
hours, which are observed in the regions of Syria.
THE nocturnal system of prayers and Psalms as observed throughout
Egypt has been, I think, by God's help, explained so far as our
slender ability was able; and now we must speak of the services of
Tierce, Sext, and None, according to the rule of the monasteries of
Palestine and Mesopotamia,[88] as we
said in the Preface, and must moderate by the customs of these the
perfection and inimitable rigour of the discipline of the
Egyptians.
CHAPTER II.
How among the Egyptians they apply themselves all
day long to prayer and Psalms continually, with the addition of work,
without distinction of hours.
FOR among them (viz., the Egyptians) these offices which we are taught
to render to the Lord at separate hours and at intervals of time, with
a reminder from the convener, are celebrated continuously throughout
the whole day, with the addition of work, and that of their own free
will. For manual labour is incessantly practised by them in their
cells in such a way that meditation on the Psalms and the rest of the
Scriptures is never entirely omitted. And as with it at every moment
they mingle suffrages and prayers, they spend the whole day in those
offices which we celebrate at fixed times. Wherefore, except Vespers
and Nocturns, there are no public services among them in the day
except on Saturday and Sunday, when they meet together at the third
hour for the purpose of Holy Communion.[89] For that which is continuously
offered is more than what is rendered at intervals of time; and more
acceptable as a free gift than the duties which are performed by the
compulsion of a rule: as David for this rejoices somewhat exultingly
when he says, "Freely will I sacrifice unto Thee;" and,
"Let the free will offerings of my mouth be pleasing to Thee, O
Lord."[90]
CHAPTER III.
How throughout all the East the services of Tierce,
Sext, and None are ended with only three Psalms and prayers each; and
the reason why these spiritual offices are assigned more particularly
to those hours.
AND so in the monasteries of Palestine and Mesopotamia and all the
East the services of the above-mentioned hours are ended each day with
three Psalms apiece, so that constant prayers may be offered to God at
the appointed times, and yet, the spiritual duties being completed
with due moderation, the necessary offices of work may not be in any
way interfered with: for at these three seasons we know that Daniel
the prophet also poured forth his prayers to God day by day in his
chamber with the windows open.[91] Nor
is it without good reasons that these times are more particularly
assigned to religious offices, since at them what completed the
promises and summed up our salvation was fulfilled. For we can show
that at the third hour the Holy Spirit, who had been of old promised
by the prophets, descended in the first instance on the Apostles
assembled together for prayer. For when in their astonishment at the
speaking with tongues, which proceeded from them through the
outpouring of the Holy Ghost upon them, the unbelieving people of the
Jews mocked and said that they were full of new wine, then Peter,
standing up in the midst of them, said: "Men of Israel, and all
ye who dwell at Jerusalem, let this be known unto you, and consider my
words. For these men are not, as ye imagine, drunk, since it is the
third hour of the day; but this is that which was spoken by the
prophet Joel: and it shall come to pass in the last days, saith the
Lord, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and
your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions
and your old men shall dream dreams. And indeed upon my servants and
my handmaids in those days I will pour out of my Spirit, and they
shall prophesy."[92] And all of
this was fulfilled at the third hour, when the Holy Spirit, announced
before by the prophets, came at that hour and abode upon the Apostles.
But at the sixth hour the spotless Sacrifice, our Lord and Saviour,
was offered up to the Father, and, ascending the cross for the
salvation of the whole world, made atonement for the sins of mankind,
and, despoiling principalities and powers, led them away openly; and
all of us who were liable to death and bound by the debt of the
handwriting that could not be paid, He freed, by taking it away out of
the midst and affixing it to His cross for a trophy.[93] At the same hour, too, to Peter, in
an ecstasy of mind, there was divinely revealed both the calling of
the Gentiles by the letting down of the Gospel vessel from heaven, and
also the cleansing of all the living creatures contained in it, when a
voice came to him and said to him: "Rise, Peter; kill and
eat;"[94] which vessel, let down
from heaven by the four corners, is plainly seen to signify nothing
else than the Gospel. For although, as it is divided by the fourfold
narrative of the Evangelists, it seems to have "four
corners" (or beginnings), yet the body of the Gospel is but one;
embracing, as it does, the birth as well as the Godhead, and the
miracles a well as the passion of one and the same Christ.
Excellently, too, it says not "of linen" but
"as if of linen." For linen signifies death.
Since, then, our Lord's death and passion were not undergone by the
law of human nature, but of His own free will, it says "as if of
linen." For when dead according to the flesh He was not dead
according to the spirit, because "His soul was not left in hell,
neither did His flesh see corruption."[95] And again He says: "No man
taketh My life from Me but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to
lay it down, and I have power to take it again."[96] And so in this vessel of the Gospels
let down from heaven, that is written by the Holy Ghost, all the
nations which were formerly outside the observance of the law and
reckoned as unclean now flow together through belief in the faith that
they may to their salvation be turned away from the worship of idols
and be serviceable for health-giving food, and are brought to Peter
and cleansed by the voice of the Lord. But at the ninth hour,
penetrating to hades, He there by the brightness of His splendour
extinguished the indescribable darkness of hell, and, bursting its
brazen gates and breaking the iron bars brought away with Him to the
skies the captive band of saints which was there shut up and detained
in the darkness of inexorable hell,[97]
and, by taking away the fiery sword, restored to paradise its original
inhabitants by his pious confession. At the same hour, too,
Cornelius, the centurion, continuing with his customary devotion in
his prayers, is made aware through the converse of the angel with him
that his prayers and alms are remembered before the Lord, and at the
ninth hour the mystery[98] of the
calling of the Gentiles is clearly shown to him, which had been
revealed to Peter in his ecstasy of mind at the sixth hour. In
another passage, too, in the Acts of the Apostles, we are told as
follows about the same time: "But Peter and John went up into the
temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour."[99] And by these notices it is clearly
proved that these hours were not without good reason consecrated with
religious services by holy and apostolic men, and ought to be observed
in like manner by us, who, unless we are compelled, as it were, by
some rule to discharge these pious offices at least at stated times,
either through sloth or through forgetfulness, or being absorbed in
business, spend the whole day without engaging in prayer. But
concerning the evening sacrifices what is to be said, since even in
the Old Testament these are ordered to be offered continually by the
law of Moses? For that the morning whole-burnt offerings and evening
sacrifices were offered every day continually in the temple, although
with figurative offerings, we can show from that which is sung by
David: "Let my prayer be set forth in Thy sight as the incense,
and let the lifting up of my hands be an evening sacrifice,"[100] in which place we can understand it
in a still higher sense of that true evening sacrifice which was given
by the Lord our Saviour in the evening to the Apostles at the Supper,
when He instituted the holy mysteries of the Church, and of that
evening sacrifice which He Himself, on the following day, in the end
of the ages, offered up to the Father by the lifting up of His hands
for the salvation of the whole world; which spreading forth of His
hands on the Cross is quite correctly called a "lifting up."
For when we were all lying in hades He raised us to heaven, according
to the word of His own promise when He says: "When I am lifted up
from the earth, I will draw all men unto Me."[101] But concerning Mattins, that also
teaches us which it is customary every day to sing at it: "O God,
my God, to Thee do I watch at break of day;" and "I will
meditate on Thee in the morning;" and "I prevented the
dawning of the day and cried;" and again, "Mine eyes to Thee
have prevented the morning, that I might meditate on Thy
words."[102] At these hours too
that householder in the Gospel hired labourers into his vineyard. For
thus also is he described as having hired them in the early morning,
which time denotes the Mattin office; then at the third hour; then at
the sixth; after this, at the ninth; and last of all, at the
eleventh,[103] by which the hour of
the lamps[104] is denoted.[105]
CHAPTER IV.
How the Mattin office was not appointed by an
ancient tradition but was started in our own day for a definite
reason.
BUT you must know that this Mattins, which is now very generally
observed in Western countries, was appointed as a canonical office in
our own day, and also in our own monastery, where our Lord Jesus
Christ was born of a Virgin and deigned to submit to growth in infancy
as man, and where by His Grace He supported our own infancy, still
tender in religion, and, as it were, fed with milk.[106] For up till that time we find that
when this office of Mattins (which is generally celebrated after a
short interval after the Psalms and prayers of Nocturns in the
monasteries of Gaul) was finished, together with the daily vigils, the
remaining hours were assigned by our Elders to bodily refreshment.
But when some rather carelessly abused this indulgence and prolonged
their time for sleep too long, as they were not obliged by the
requirements of any service to leave their cells or rise from their
beds till the third hour; and when, as well as losing their labour,
they were drowsy from excess of sleep in the daytime, when they ought
to have been applying themselves to some duties, (especially on those
days when an unusually oppressive weariness was caused by their
keeping watch from the evening till the approach of morning), a
complaint was brought to the Elders by some of the brethren who were
ardent in spirit and in no slight measure disturbed by this
carelessness, and it was determined by them after long discussion and
anxious consideration that up till sunrise, when they could without
harm be ready to read or to undertake manual labour, time for rest
should be given to their wearied bodies, and after this they should
all be summoned to the observance of this service and should rise from
their beds, and by reciting three Psalms and prayers (after the order
anciently fixed for the observance of Tierce and Sext, to signify the
confession of the Trinity)[107] should
at the same time by an uniform arrangement put an end to their sleep
and make a beginning to their work. And this form, although it may
seem to have arisen out of an accident and to have been appointed
within recent memory for the reason given above, yet it clearly makes
up according to the letter that number which the blessed David
indicates (although it can be taken spiritually): "Seven times a
day do I praise Thee because of Thy righteous judgments."[108] For by the addition of this service
we certainly hold these spiritual assemblies seven times a day, and
are shown to sing praises to God seven times in it.[109] Lastly, though this same form,
starting from the East, has most beneficially spread to these parts,
yet still in some long-established monasteries in the East, which will
not brook the slightest violation of the old rules of the Fathers, it
seems never to have been introduced.[110]
CHAPTER V.
How they ought not to go back to bed again after
the Mattin prayers.
BUT some in this province, not knowing the reason why this office was
appointed and introduced, go back again to bed after their Mattin
prayers are finished, and in spite of it fall into that very habit to
check which our Elders instituted this service. For they are eager to
finish it at that hour, that an opportunity may be given, to those who
are inclined to be indifferent and not careful enough, to go back to
bed again, which most certainly ought not to be done (as we showed
more fully in the previous book when describing the service of the
Egyptians),[111] for fear least the
force of our natural passions should be aroused and stain that purity
of ours which was gained by humble confession and prayers before the
dawn, or some illusion of the enemy pollute us, or even the repose of
a pure and natural sleep interfere with the fervour of our spirit and
make us lazy and slothful throughout the whole day, as we are chilled
by the sluggishness caused by sleep. And to avoid this the Egyptians,
and especially as they are in the habit of rising at fixed times even
before the cock-crow, when the canonical office[112] has been celebrated, afterwards
prolong their vigils even to daylight, that the morning light when it
comes on them may find them established in fervour of spirit, and keep
them still more careful and fervent all through the day, as it has
found them prepared for the conflict and strengthened against their
daily struggle with the devil by the practice of nocturnal vigils and
spiritual meditation.
CHAPTER VI.
How no change was made by the Elders in the ancient
system of Psalms when the Mattin office was instituted.
BUT this too we ought to know, viz., that no change was made in the
ancient arrangement of Psalms by our Elders who decided that this
Mattin service should be added;[113]
but that office[114] was always
celebrated in their nocturnal assemblies according to the same order
as it had been before. For the hymns which in this country they used
at the Mattin service at the close of the nocturnal vigils, which they
are accustomed to finish after the cock-crowing and before dawn, these
they still sing in like manner; viz., Ps. 148, beginning "O
praise the Lord from heaven," and the rest which follow; but the
50th Psalm and the 62nd, and the 89th have, we know, been assigned to
this new service. Lastly, throughout Italy at this day, when the
Mattin hymns are ended, the 50th Psalm is sung in all the churches,
which I have no doubt can only have been derived from this source.
CHAPTER VII.
How one who does not come to the daily prayer
before the end of the first Psalm is not allowed to enter the Oratory;
but at Nocturns a late arrival up to the end of the second Psalm can
be overlooked.
BUT one who at Tierce, Sext, or None has not come to prayer before the
Psalm is begun and finished does not venture further to enter the
Oratory nor to join himself to those singing the Psalms; but, standing
outside, he awaits the breaking-up of the congregation,[115] and while they are all coming out
does penance lying on the ground, and obtains absolution for his
carelessness and lateness, knowing that he can in no other way expiate
the fault of his sloth, nor can ever be admitted to the service which
will follow three hours later, unless he has been quick to make
satisfaction at once for his present negligence by the help of true
humility. But in the nocturnal assemblies a late arrival up to the
second Psalm is allowed, provided that before the Psalm is
finished and the brethren bow down in prayer he makes haste to take
his place in the congregation and join them; but he will most
certainly be subjected to the same blame and penance which we
mentioned before if he has delayed ever so little beyond the hour
permitted for a late arrival.[116]
CHAPTER VIII.
Of the Vigil service which is celebrated on the
evening preceding the Sabbath; of its length, and the manner in which
it is observed.
IN the winter time, however, when the nights are longer, the
Vigils,[117] which are celebrated
every week on the evening at the commencing the Sabbath, are arranged
by the elders in the monasteries to last till the fourth cock-crowing,
for this reason, viz., that after the watch through the whole night
they may, by resting their bodies for the remaining time of nearly two
hours, avoid flagging through drowsiness the whole day long, and be
content with repose for this short time instead of resting the whole
night. And it is proper for us, too, to observe this with the utmost
care, that we may be content with the sleep which is allowed us after
the office of Vigils up to daybreak,--i.e., till the Mattin Psalms,[118]--and afterwards spend the whole day
in work and necessary duties, lest through weariness from the Vigils,
and feebleness, we might be forced to take by day the sleep which we
cut off from the night, and so be thought not to have cut short our
bodily rest so much as to have changed our time for repose and nightly
retirement. For our feeble flesh could not possibly be defrauded of
the whole night's rest and yet keep its vigour unshaken throughout the
following day without sleepiness of mind and heaviness of spirit, as
it will be hindered rather than helped by this unless after Vigils are
over it enjoys a short slumber. And, therefore, if, as we have
suggested, at least an hour's sleep is snatched before daybreak, we
shall save all the hours of Vigils which we have spent all through the
night in prayer, granting to nature what is due to it, and having no
necessity of taking back by day what we have cut off from the night.
For a man will certainly have to give up everything to this flesh if
he tries, not in a rational manner to withhold a part only, but to
refuse the whole, and (to speak candidly) is anxious to cut off not
what is superfluous but what is necessary. Wherefore Vigils have to
be made up for with greater interest if they are prolonged with
ill-considered and unreasonable length till daybreak. And so they
divide them into an office in three parts, that by this variety the
effort may be distributed and the exhaustion of the body relieved by
some agreeable relaxation. For when standing they have sung three
Psalms antiphonally[119] after this,
sitting on the ground or in very low stalls, one of them repeats three
Psalms, while the rest respond, each Psalm being assigned to one of
the brethren, who succeed each other in turn; and to these they add
three lessons while still sitting quietly. And so, by lessening their
bodily exertion, they manage to observe their Vigils with greater
attention of mind.[120]
CHAPTER IX.
The reason why a Vigil is appointed as the Sabbath
day dawns, and why a dispensation from fasting is enjoyed on the
Sabbath all through the East.
AND throughout the whole of the East it has been settled, ever since
the time of the preaching of the Apostles, when the Christian faith
and religion was founded, that these Vigils should be celebrated as
the Sabbath dawns,[121] for this
reason,--because, when our Lord and Saviour had been crucified on the
sixth day of the week, the disciples, overwhelmed by the freshness of
His sufferings, remained watching throughout the whole night, giving
no rest or sleep to their eyes. Wherefore, since that time, a service
of Vigils has been appointed for this night, and is still observed in
the same way up to the present day all through the East. And so,
after the exertion of the Vigil, a dispensation from fasting,
appointed in like manner for the Sabbath by apostolic men,[122] is not without reason enjoined in
all the churches of the East, in accordance with that saying of
Ecclesiastes, which, although it has another and a mystical sense, is
not misapplied to this, by which we are charged to give to both
days--that is, to the seventh and eighth equally--the same share of
the service, as it says: "Give a portion to these seven and also
to these eight."[123] For this
dispensation from fasting must not be understood as a participation in
the Jewish festival by those above all who are shown to be free from
all Jewish superstition, but as contributing to that rest of the
wearied body of which we have spoken; which, as it fasts continually
for five days in the week all through the year, would easily be worn
out and fail, unless it were revived by an interval of at least two
days.
CHAPTER X.
How it was brought about that they fast on the
Sabbath in the city.
BUT some people in some countries of the West, and especially in the
city,[124] not knowing the reason of
this indulgence, think that a dispensation from fasting ought
certainly not to be allowed on the Sabbath, because they say that on
this day the Apostle Peter fasted before his encounter with Simon.[125] But from this it is quite clear
that he did this not in accordance with a canonical rule, but rather
through the needs of his impending struggle. Since there, too, for
the same purpose, Peter seems to have imposed on his disciples not a
general but a special fast, which he certainly would not have done if
he had known that it was wont to be observed by canonical rule: just
as he would surely have been ready to appoint it even on Sunday, if
the occasion of his struggle had fallen upon it: but no canonical rule
of fasting would have been made general from this, because it was no
general observance that led to it, but a matter of necessity, which
forced it to be observed on a single occasion.
CHAPTER XI.
Of the points in which the service held on Sunday
differs from what is customary on other days.
BUT we ought to know this, too, that on Sunday only one office[126] is celebrated before dinner, at
which, out of regard for the actual service[127] and the Lord's communion, they use a
more solemn and a longer service of Psalms and prayers and lessons,
and so consider that Tierce and Sext are included in it. And hence it
results that, owing to the addition of the lessons, there is no
diminution of the amount of their devotions, and yet some difference
is made, and an indulgence over other times seems to be granted to the
brethren out of reverence for the Lord's resurrection; and this seems
to lighten the observance all through the week, and, by reason of the
difference which is interposed, it makes the day to be looked forward
to more solemnly as a festival, and owing to the anticipation of it
the fasts of the coming week are less felt. For any weariness is
always borne with greater equanimity, and labour undertaken without
aversion, if some variety is interposed or change of work succeeds.
CHAPTER XII.
Of the days on which, when supper is provided for
the brethren, a Psalm is not said as they assemble for the meals as is
usual at dinner.
LASTLY, also, on those days,--i.e., on Saturday and Sunday,--and on
holy days, on which it is usual for both dinner and supper to be
provided for the brethren, a Psalm is not said in the evening, either
when they come to supper or when they rise from it, as is usual at
their ordinary dinner[128] and the
canonical refreshment on fast days, which the customary Psalms usually
precede and follow. But they simply make a plain prayer and come to
supper, and again, when they rise from it, conclude with prayer alone;
because this repast is something special among the monks: nor are they
all obliged to come to it, but it is only for strangers who have come
to see the brethren, and those whom bodily weakness or their own
inclination invites to it.
BOOK IV.
OF THE INSTITUTES OF THE RENUNCIANTS.
CHAPTER I.
Of the training of those who renounce this world,
and of the way in which those are taught among the monks of Tabenna
and the Egyptians who are received into the monasteries.
FROM the canonical system of Psalms and prayers which ought to be
observed in the daily services throughout the monasteries, we pass, in
the due course of our narrative, to the training of one who renounces
this world; endeavouring first, as well as we can, to embrace, in a
short account, the terms on which those who desire to turn to the Lord
can be received in the monasteries; adding some things from the rule
of the Egyptians, some from that of the monks of Tabenna,[129] whose monastery in the Thebaid is
better filled as regards numbers, as it is stricter in the rigour of
its system, than all others, for there are in it more than five
thousand brethren under the rule of one Abbot; and the obedience with
which the whole number of monks is at all times subject to one Elder
is what no one among us would render to another even for a short time,
or would demand from him.
CHAPTER II.
Of the way in which among them men remain in the
monasteries even to extreme old age.
AND I think that before anything else we ought to touch on their
untiring perseverance and humility and subjection,-- how it lasts for
so long, and by what system it is formed, through which they remain in
the monasteries till they are bent double with old age; for it is so
great that we cannot recollect any one who joined our monasteries
keeping it up unbroken even for a year: so that when we have seen the
beginning of their renunciation of the world, we shall understand how
it came about that, starting from such a commencement, they reached
such a height of perfection.
CHAPTER III.
Of the ordeal by which one who is to be received in
the monastery is tested.
ONE, then, who seeks to be admitted to the discipline of the monastery
is never received before he gives, by lying outside the doors for ten
days or even longer, an evidence of his perseverance and desire, as
well as of humility and patience. And when, prostrate at the feet of
all the brethren that pass by, and of set purpose repelled and scorned
by all of them, as if he was wanting to enter the monastery not for
the sake of religion but because he was obliged; and when, too,
covered with many insults and affronts, he has given a practical proof
of his steadfastness, and has shown what he will be like in
temptations by the way he has borne the disgrace; and when, with the
ardour of his soul thus ascertained, he is admitted, then they enquire
with the utmost care whether he is contaminated by a single coin from
his former possessions clinging to him. For they know that he cannot
stay for long under the discipline of the monastery, nor ever learn
the virtue of humility and obedience, nor be content with the poverty
and difficult life of the monastery, if he knows that ever so small a
sum of money has been kept hid; but, as soon as ever a disturbance
arises on some occasion or other, he will at once dart off from the
monastery like a stone from a sling, impelled to this by trusting in
that sum of money.[130]
CHAPTER IV.
The reason why those who are received in the
monastery are not allowed to bring anything in with them.
AND for these reasons they do not agree to take from him money to be
used even for the good of the monastery: First, in case he may be
puffed up with arrogance, owing to this offering, and so not deign to
put himself on a level with the poorer brethren; and next, lest he
fail through this pride of his to stoop to the humility of Christ, and
so, when he cannot hold out under the discipline of the monastery,
leave it, and afterwards, when he has cooled down, want in a bad
spirit to receive and get back--not without loss to the
monastery--what he had contributed in the early days of his
renunciation, when he was aglow with spiritual fervour. And that this
rule should always be kept they have been frequently taught by many
instances. For in some monasteries where they are not so careful some
who have been received unreservedly have afterwards tried most
sacrilegiously to demand a return of that which they had contributed
and which had been spent on God's work.
CHAPTER V.
The reason why those who give up the world, when
they are received in the monasteries, must lay aside their own clothes
and be clothed in others by the Abbot.
WHEREFORE each one on his admission is stripped of all his former
possessions, so that he is not allowed any longer to keep even the
clothes which he has on his back: but in the council of the brethren
he is brought forward into the midst and stripped of his own clothes,
and clad by the Abbot's hands in the dress of the monastery, so that
by this he may know not only that he has been despoiled of all his old
things, but also that he has laid aside all worldly pride, and come
down to the want and poverty of Christ, and that he is now to be
supported not by wealth sought for by the world's arts, nor by
anything reserved from his former state of unbelief, but that he is to
receive out of the holy and sacred funds of the monastery his rations
for his service; and that, as he knows that he is thence to be clothed
and fed and that he has nothing of his own, he may learn,
nevertheless, not to be anxious about the morrow, according to the
saying of the Gospel, and may not be ashamed to be on a level with the
poor, that is with the body of the brethren, with whom Christ was not
ashamed to be numbered, and to call himself their brother, but that
rather he may glory that he has been made to share the lot of his own
servants.[131]
CHAPTER VI.
The reason why the clothes of the renunciants with
which they joined the monastery are preserved by the steward.
BUT those clothes, which he laid aside, are consigned to the care of
the steward and kept until by different sorts of temptations and
trials they can recognize the excellence of his progress and life and
endurance. And if they see that he can continue therein as time goes
on, and remain in that fervour with which he began, they give them
away to the poor. But if they find that he has been guilty of any
fault of murmuring, or of even the smallest piece of disobedience,
then they strip off from him the dress of the monastery in which he
had been clad, and reclothe him in his old garments which had been
confiscated, and send him away.[132]
For it is not right for him to go away with those which he had
received, nor do they allow any one to be any longer dressed in them
if they have seen him once grow cold in regard to the rule of their
institution. Wherefore, also, the opportunity of going out openly is
not given to any one, unless he escapes like a runaway slave by taking
advantage of the thickest shades of night, or is judged unworthy of
this order and profession and lays aside the dress of the monastery
and is expelled with shame and disgrace before all the brethren.
CHAPTER VII.
The reason why those who are admitted to a
monastery are not permitted to mix at once with the congregation of
the brethren, but are first committed to the guest house.
WHEN, then, any one has been received and proved by that persistence
of which we have spoken, and, laying aside his own garments, has been
clad in those of the monastery, he is not allowed to mix at once with
the congregation of the brethren, but is given into the charge of an
Elder, who lodges apart not far from the entrance of the monastery,
and is entrusted with the care of strangers and guests, and bestows
all his diligence in receiving them kindly. And when he has served
there for a whole year without any complaint, and has given evidence
of service towards strangers,[133]
being thus initiated in the first rudiments of humility and patience,
and by long practice in it acknowledged, when he is to be admitted
from this into the congregation of the brethren he is handed over to
another EIder, who is placed over ten of the juniors, who are
entrusted to him by the Abbot, and whom he both teaches and governs in
accordance with the arrangement which we read of in Exodus as made by
Moses.[134]
CHAPTER VIII.
Of the practices in which the juniors are first
exercised that they may become proficient in overcoming all their
desires.
AND his anxiety and the chief part of his instruction--through which
the juniors brought to him may be able in due course to mount to the
greatest heights of perfection--will be to teach him first to conquer
his own wishes; and, anxiously and diligently practising him in this,
he will of set purpose contrive to give him such orders as he knows to
be contrary to his liking; for, taught by many examples, they say that
a monk, and especially the younger ones, cannot bridle the desire of
his concupiscence unless he has first learnt by obedience to mortify
his wishes. And so they lay it down that the man who has not first
learnt to overcome his desires cannot possibly stamp out anger or
sulkiness, or the spirit of fornication; nor can he preserve true
humility of heart, or lasting unity with the brethren, or a stable and
continuous concord; nor remain for any length of time in the
monastery.
CHAPTER IX.
The reason why the juniors are enjoined not to
keep back any of their thoughts from the senior.
BY these practices, then, they hasten to impress and instruct those
whom they are training with the alphabet, as it were, and first
syllables in the direction of perfection, as they can clearly see by
these whether they are grounded in a false and imaginary or in a true
humility. And, that they may easily arrive at this, they are next
taught not to conceal by a false shame any itching thoughts in their
hearts, but, as soon as ever such arise, to lay them bare to the
senior, and, in forming a judgment about them, not to trust anything
to their own discretion, but to take it on trust that that is good or
bad which is considered and pronounced so by the examination of the
senior. Thus it results that our cunning adversary cannot in any way
circumvent a young and inexperienced monk, or get the better of his
ignorance, or by any craft deceive one whom he sees to be protected
not by his own discretion but by that of his senior, and who cannot be
persuaded to hide from his senior those suggestions of his which like
fiery darts he has shot into his heart; since the devil, subtle as he
is, cannot ruin or destroy a junior unless he has enticed him either
through pride or through shame to conceal his thoughts. For they lay
it down as an universal and clear proof that a thought is from the
devil if we are ashamed to disclose it to the senior.[135]
CHAPTER X.
How thorough is the obedience of the juniors even
in those things which are matters of common necessity.
NEXT, the rule is kept with such strict obedience that, without the
knowledge and permission of their superior, the juniors not only do
not dare to leave their cell but on their own authority do not venture
to satisfy their common and natural needs. And so they are quick to
fulfil without any discussion all those things that are ordered by
him, as if they were commanded by God from heaven;[136] so that sometimes, when
impossibilities are commanded them, they undertake them with such
faith and devotion as to strive with all their powers and without the
slightest hesitation to fulfil them and carry them out; and out of
reverence for their senior they do not even consider whether a command
is an impossibility.[137] But of
their obedience I omit at present to speak more particularly, for we
propose to speak of it in the proper place a little later on, with
instances of it, if through your prayers the Lord carry us safely
through. We now proceed to the other regulations, passing over all
account of those which cannot be imposed on or kept in the monasteries
in this country, as we promised to do in our Preface; for instance,
how they never use woollen garments, but only cotton, and these not
double, changes of which each superior gives out to the ten monks
under his care when he sees that those which they are wearing are
dirty.
CHAPTER XI.
The kind of food which is considered the greater
delicacy by them.
I PASS over, too, that difficult and sublime sort of self-control,
through which it is considered the greatest luxury if the plant called
cherlock,[138] prepared with salt and
steeped in water, is set on the table for the repast of the brethren;
and many other things like this, which in this country neither the
climate nor the weakness of our constitution would permit. And I
shall only follow up those matters which cannot be interfered with by
any weakness of the flesh or local situation, if only no weakness of
mind or coldness of spirit gets rid of them.
CHAPTER XII.
How they leave off every kind of work at the sound
of some one knocking at the door, in their eagerness to answer at
once.
AND so, sitting in their cells and devoting their energies equally to
work and to meditation, when they hear the sound of some one knocking
at the door and striking on the cells of each, summoning them to
prayer or some work, every one eagerly dashes out from his cell, so
that one who is practising the writer's art, although he may have just
begun to form a letter, does not venture to finish it, but runs out
with the utmost speed, at the very moment when the sound of the
knocking reaches his ears, without even waiting to finish the letter
he has begun; but, leaving the lines of the letter incomplete, he aims
not at abridging and saving his labour, but rather hastens with the
utmost earnestness and zeal to attain the virtue of obedience, which
they put not merely before manual labour and reading and silence and
quietness in the cell, but even before all virtues, so that they
consider that everything should be postponed to it, and are content to
undergo any amount of inconvenience if only it may be seen that they
have in no way neglected this virtue.[139]
CHAPTER XIII.
How wrong it is considered for any one to say that
anything, however trifling, is his own.
AMONG their other practices I fancy that it is unnecessary even to
mention this virtue, viz., that no one is allowed to possess a box or
basket as his special property, nor any such thing which he could keep
as his own and secure with his own seal, as we are well aware that
they are in all respects stripped so bare that they have nothing
whatever except their shirt, cloak, shoes, sheepskin, and rush mat;[140] for in other monasteries as well,
where some indulgence and relaxation is granted, we see that this
rule is still most strictly kept, so that no one ventures to say even
in word that anything is his own: and it is a great offence if there
drops from the mouth of a monk such an expression as "my
book," "my tablets," "my pen," "my
coat," or "my shoes;" and for this he would have to
make satisfaction by a proper penance, if by accident some such
expression escaped his lips through thoughtlessness or ignorance.
CHAPTER XIV.
How, even if a large sum of money is amassed by the
labour of each, still no one may venture to exceed the moderate limit
of what is appointed as adequate.
AND although each one of them may bring in daily by his work and
labour so great a return to the monastery that he could out of it not
only satisfy his own moderate demands but could also abundantly supply
the wants of many, yet he is no way puffed up, nor does he flatter
himself on account of his toil and this large gain from his labour,
but, except two biscuits,[141] which
are sold there for scarcely threepence, no one thinks that he has a
right to anything further. And among them there is nothing (and I am
ashamed to say this, and heartily wish it was unknown in our own
monasteries) which is claimed by any of them, I will not say in deed
but even in thought, as his special property. And though he believes
that the whole granary of the monastery forms his substance, and, as
lord of all, devotes his whole care and energy to it all, yet
nevertheless, in order to maintain that excellent state of want and
poverty which he has secured and which he strives to preserve to the
very last in unbroken perfection, he regards himself as a foreigner
and an alien to them all, so that he conducts himself as a stranger
and a sojourner in this world, and considers himself a pupil of the
monastery and a servant instead of imagining that he is lord and
master of anything.
CHAPTER XV.
Of the excessive desire of possession among
us.
TO this what shall we wretched creatures say, who though living in
Coenobia and established under the government and care of an Abbot yet
carry about our own keys, and trampling under foot all feeling of
shame and disgrace which should spring from our profession, are not
ashamed actually to wear openly upon our fingers rings with which to
seal what we have stored up; and in whose case not merely boxes and
baskets, but not even chests and closets are sufficient for those
things which we collect or which we reserved when we forsook the
world; and who sometimes get so angry over trifles and mere nothings
(to which however we lay claim as if they were our own) that if any
one dares to lay a finger on any of them, we are so filled with rage
against him that we cannot keep the wrath of our heart from being
expressed on our lips and in bodily excitement. But, passing by our
faults and treating with silence those things of which it is a shame
even to speak, according to this saying: "My mouth shall not
speak the deeds of men,"[142] let
us in accordance with the method of our narration which we have begun
proceed to those virtues which are practised among them, and which we
ought to aim at with all earnestness; and let us briefly and hastily
set down the actual rules and systems that afterwards, coming to some
of the deeds and acts of the elders which we propose carefully to
preserve for recollection, we may support by the strongest testimonies
what we have set forth in our treatise, and still further confirm
everything that we have said by examples and instances from life.
CHAPTER XVI.
On the rules for various rebukes.
IF then any one by accident breaks an earthenware jar (which they call
"baucalis"), he can only expiate his carelessness by public
penance; and when all the brethren are assembled for service he must
lie on the ground and ask for absolution until the service of the
prayers is finished; and will obtain it when by the Abbot's command he
is bidden to rise from the ground. The same satisfaction must be
given by one who when summoned to some work or to the usual service
comes rather late, or who when singing a Psalm hesitates ever so
little. Similarly if he answers unnecessarily or roughly or
impertinently, if he is careless in carrying out the services enjoined
to him, if he makes a slight complaint, if preferring reading to work
or obedience he is slow in performing his appointed duties, if when
service is over he does not make haste to go back at once to his cell,
if he stops for ever so short a time with some one else, if he goes
anywhere else even for a moment, if he takes any one else by the hand,
if he ventures to discuss anything however small with one who is not
the joint-occupant of his cell,[143]
if he prays with one who is suspended from prayer, if he sees any of
his relations or friends in the world and talks with them without his
senior, if he tries to receive a letter from any one or to write back
without his Abbot's leave.[144] To
such an extent does spiritual censure proceed and in such matters and
faults like these. But as for other things which when
indiscriminately committed among us are treated by us too as
blameworthy, viz.: open wrangling, manifest contempt, arrogant
contradictions, going out from the monastery freely and without check,
familiarity with women, wrath, quarrelling, jealousies, disputes,
claiming something as one's own property, the infection of
covetousness, the desire and acquisition of unnecessary things which
are not possessed by the rest of the brethren, taking food between
meals and by stealth, and things like these--they are dealt with not
by that spiritual censure of which we spoke, but by stripes; or are
atoned for by expulsion.
CHAPTER XVII.
Of those who introduced the plan that the holy
Lessons should be read in the Coenobia while the brethren are eating,
and of the strict silence which is kept among the Egyptians.
BUT we have been informed that the plan that, while the brethren are
eating, the holy lessons should be read in the Coenobia did not
originate in the Egyptian system but in the Cappadocian. And there is
no doubt that they meant to establish it not so much for the sake of
the spiritual exercise as for the sake of putting a stop to
unnecessary and idle conversation, and especially discussions, which
so often arise at meals; since they saw that these could not be
prevented among them in any other way.[145] For among the Egyptians and
especially those of Tabenna so strict a silence is observed by all
that when so large a number of the brethren has sat down together to a
meal, no one ventures to talk even in a low tone except the dean, who
however if he sees that anything is wanted to be put on or taken off
the table, signifies it by a sign rather than a word. And while they
are eating, the rule of this silence is so strictly kept that with
their hoods drawn down over their eyelids (to prevent their roving
looks having the opportunity of wandering inquisitively) they can see
nothing except the table, and the food that is put on it, and which
they take from it; so that no one notices what another is eating.[146]
CHAPTER XVIII.
How it is against the rule for any one to take
anything to eat or drink except at the common table.
IN between their regular meals in common they are especially careful
that no one should presume to gratify his palate with any food:[147] so that when they are walking
casually through gardens or orchards, when the fruit hanging
enticingly on the trees not only knocks against their breasts as they
pass through, but is also lying on the ground and offering itself to
be trampled under foot, and (as it is all ready to be gathered) would
easily be able to entice those who see it to gratify their appetite,
and by the chance offered to them and the quantity of the fruit, to
excite even the most severe and abstemious to long for it; still they
consider it wrong not merely to taste a single fruit, but even to
touch one with the hand, except what is put on the table openly for
the common meal of all, and supplied publicly by the steward's
catering through the service of the brethren, for their enjoyment.
CHAPTER XIX.
How throughout Palestine and Mesopotamia a daily
service is undertaken by the brethren.
IN order that we may not appear to omit any of the Institutes of the
Coenobia I think that it should be briefly mentioned that in other
countries as well there is a daily service undertaken by the brethren.
For throughout the whole of Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Cappadocia and
all the East the brethren succeed one another in turn every week for
the performance of certain duties, so that the number serving is told
off according to the whole number of monks in the Coenobium. And they
hasten to fulfil these duties with a zeal and humility such as no
slave bestows on his service even to a most harsh and powerful master;
so that not satisfied only with these services which are rendered by
canonical rule, they actually rise by night in their zeal and relieve
those whose special duty this is; and secretly anticipating them try
to finish those duties which these others would have to do. But each
one who undertakes these weeks is on duty and has to serve until
supper on Sunday, and when this is done, his duty for the whole week
is finished, so that, when all the brethren come together to chant the
Psalms (which according to custom they sing before going to bed) those
whose turn is over wash the feet of all in turn, seeking faithfully
from them the reward of this blessing for their work during the whole
week, that the prayers offered up by all the brethren together may
accompany them as they fulfil the command of Christ, the prayer, to
wit, that intercedes for their ignorances and for their sins committed
through human frailty, and may commend to God the complete service of
their devotion like some rich offering. And so on Monday after the
Mattin hymns they hand over to others who take their place the vessels
and utensils with which they have ministered, which these receive and
keep with the utmost care and anxiety, that none of them may be
injured or destroyed, as they believe that even for the smallest
vessels they must give an account, as sacred things, not only to a
present steward, but to the Lord, if by chance any of them is injured
through their carelessness. And what limit there is to this
discipline, and what fidelity and care there is in keeping it up, you
may see from one instance which I will give as an example. For while
we are anxious to satisfy that fervour of yours through which you ask
for a full account of everything, and want even what you know
perfectly well to be repeated to you in this treatise, we are also
afraid of exceeding the limits of brevity.[148]
CHAPTER XX.
Of the three lentil beans which the Steward
found.
DURING the week of a certain brother the steward passing by saw lying
on the ground three lentil beans which had slipped out of the hand of
the monk on duty for the week[149] as
he was hastily preparing them for cooking, together with the water in
which he was washing them; and immediately he consulted the Abbot on
the subject; and by him the monk was adjudged a pilferer and careless
about sacred property, and so was suspended from prayer. And the
offence of his negligence was only pardoned when he had atoned for it
by public penance. For they believe not only that they themselves are
not their own, but also that everything that they possess is
consecrated to the Lord. Wherefore if anything whatever has once been
brought into the monastery they hold that it ought to be treated with
the utmost reverence as an holy thing. And they attend to and arrange
everything with great fidelity, even in the case of things which are
considered unimportant or regarded as common and paltry, so that if
they change their position and put them in a better place, or if they
fill a bottle with water, or give anybody something to drink out of
it, or if they remove a little dust from the oratory or from their
cell they believe with implicit faith that they will receive a reward
from the Lord.
CHAPTER XXI.
Of the spontaneous service of some of the
brethren.
WE have been told of brethren in whose week there was such a scarcity
of wood that they had not enough to prepare the usual food for the
brethren; and when it had been ordered by the Abbot's authority that
until more could be brought and fetched, they should content
themselves with dried food,[150]
though this was agreed to by all and no one could expect any cooked
food; still these men as if they were cheated of the fruit and reward
of their labour and service, if they did not prepare the food for
their brethren according to custom in the order of their turn--imposed
upon themselves such uncalled-for labour and care that in those dry
and sterile regions where wood cannot possibly be procured unless it
is cut from the fruit trees (for there are no wild shrubs found there
as with us), they wander about through the wide deserts, and
traversing the wilderness which stretches towards the Dead Sea,[151] collect in their lap and the folds
of their dress the scanty stubble and brambles which the wind carries
hither and thither, and so by their voluntary service prepare all
their usual food for the brethren, so that they suffer nothing to be
diminished of the ordinary supply; discharging these duties of theirs
towards their brethren with such fidelity that though the scarcity of
wood and the Abbot's order would be a fair excuse for them, yet still
out of regard for their profit and reward they will not take advantage
of this liberty.
CHAPTER XXII.
Of the system of the Egyptians, which is appointed
for the daily service of the brethren.
THESE things have been told in accordance with the system, as we
remarked before, of the whole East, which also we say should be
observed as a matter of course in our own country. But among the
Egyptians whose chief care is for work there is not the mutual change
of weekly service, for fear lest owing to the requirements of office
they might all be hindered from keeping the rule of work. But one of
the most approved brethren is given the care of the larder and
kitchen, and he takes charge of that office for good and all as long
as his strength and years permit. For he is exhausted by no great
bodily labour, because no great care is expended among them in
preparing food or in cooking, as they so largely make use of dried and
uncooked food,[152] and among them the
leaves of leeks cut each month, and cherlock, table salt,[153] olives, tiny little salt fish which
they call sardines,[154] form the
greatest delicacy.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Of the obedience of Abbot John by which he was
exalted even to the grace of prophecy.
AND since this book is about the training of one who renounces this
world, whereby, making a beginning of true humility and perfect
obedience, he may be enabled to ascend the heights of the other
virtues as well, I think it well to set down just by way of specimen,
as we promised, some of the deeds of the elders whereby they excelled
in this virtue, selecting a few only out of many instances, that, if
any are anxious to aim at still greater heights, they may not only
receive from these an incitement towards the perfect life, but may
also be furnished with a model of what they purpose. Wherefore, to
make this book as short as possible we will produce and set down two
or three out of the whole number of the Fathers; and first of all
Abbot John who lived near Lycon[155]
which is a town in the Thebaid; and who was exalted even to the grace
of prophecy for his admirable obedience, and was so celebrated all the
world over that he was by his merits rendered famous even among kings
of this world. For though, as we said, he lived in the most remote
parts of the Thebaid, still the Emperor Theodosius did not venture to
declare war against the most powerful tyrants before he was encouraged
by his utterances and replies: trusting in which as if they had been
brought to him from heaven he gained victories over his foes in
battles which seemed hopeless.[156]
CHAPTER XXIV.
Of the dry stick which, at the bidding of his
senior, Abbot John kept on watering as if it would grow.
AND so this blessed John from his youth up even to a full and ripe age
of manhood was subject to his senior as long as he continued living in
this world, and carried out his commands with such humility that his
senior himself was utterly astounded at his obedience; and as he
wanted to make sure whether this virtue came from genuine faith and
profound simplicity of heart, or whether it was put on and as it were
constrained and only shown in the presence of the bidder, he often
laid upon him many superfluous and almost unnecessary or even
impossible commands. From which I will select three to show to those
who wish to know how perfect was his disposition and subjection. For
the old man took from his woodstack a stick which had previously been
cut and got ready to make the fire with, and which, as no opportunity
for cooking had come, was lying not merely dry but even mouldy from
the lapse of time. And when he had stuck it into the ground before
his very eyes, he ordered him to fetch water and to water it twice a
day that by this daily watering it might strike roots and be restored
to life as a tree, as it was before, and spread out its branches and
afford a pleasant sight to the eyes as well as a shade for those who
sat under it in the heat of summer. And this order the lad received
with his customary veneration, never considering its impossibility,
and day by day carried it out so that he constantly carried water for
nearly two miles and never ceased to water the stick; and for a whole
year no bodily infirmity, no festival services, no necessary business
(which might fairly have excused him from carrying out the command),
and lastly no severity of winter could interfere and hinder him from
obeying this order. And when the old man had watched this zeal of his
on the sly without saying anything for several days and had seen that
he kept this command of his with simple willingness of heart, as if it
had come from heaven, without any change of countenance or
consideration of its reasonableness--approving the unfeigned obedience
of his humility and at the same time commiserating his tedious labour
which in the zeal of his devotion he had continued for a whole
year--he came to the dry stick, and "John," said he,
"has this tree put forth roots or no?" And when the other
said that he did not know, then the old man as if seeking the truth of
the matter and trying whether it was yet depending on its roots,
pulled up the stick before him with a slight disturbance of the earth,
and throwing it away told him that for the future he might stop
watering it.[157]
CHAPTER XXV.
Of the unique vase of oil thrown away by Abbot John
at his senior's command.
THUS the youth, trained up by exercises of this sort, daily increased
in this virtue of obedience, and shone forth more and more with the
grace of humility; and when the sweet odour of his obedience spread
throughout all the monasteries, some of the brethren, coming to the
elder for the sake of testing him or rather of being edified by him,
marvelled at his obedience of which they had heard; and so the elder
called him suddenly, and said, "Go up and take this cruse of
oil"[158] (which was the only one
in the desert and which furnished a very scanty supply of the rich
liquid for their own use and for that of strangers) "and throw it
down out of window." And he flew up stairs when summoned and
threw it out of window and cast it down to the ground and broke it in
pieces without any thought or consideration of the folly of the
command, or their daily wants, and bodily infirmity, or of their
poverty, and the trials and difficulties of the wretched desert in
which, even if they had got the money for it, oil of that quality,
once lost, could not be procured or replaced.
CHAPTER XXVI.
How Abbot John obeyed his senior by trying to roll
a huge stone, which a large number of men were unable to move.
AGAIN, when some others were anxious to be edified by the example of
his obedience, the elder called him and said: "John, run and roll
that stone hither as quickly as possible;" and he forthwith,
applying now his neck, and now his whole body, tried with all his
might and main to roll an enormous stone which a great crowd of men
would not be able to move, so that not only were his clothes saturated
with sweat from his limbs, but the stone itself was wetted by his
neck; in this too never weighing the impossibility of the command and
deed, out of reverence for the old man and the unfeigned simplicity of
his service, as he believed implicitly that the old man could not
command him to do anything vain or without reason.
CHAPTER XXVII.
Of the humility and obedience of Abbot
Patermucius,[159] which he did not
hesitate to make perfect by throwing his little boy into the river at
the command of his senior.
SO far let it suffice for me to have told a few things out of many
concerning Abbot John: now I will relate a memorable deed of Abbot
Patermucius. For he, when anxious to renounce the world, remained
lying before the doors of the monastery for a long time until by his
dogged persistence he induced them--contrary to all the rules of the
Coenobia--to receive him together with his little boy who was about
eight years old. And when they were at last admitted they were at
once not only committed to the care of different superiors, but also
put to live in separate cells that the father might not be reminded by
the constant sight of the little one that out of all his possessions
and carnal treasures, which he had cast off and renounced, at least
his son remained to him; and that as he was already taught that he was
no longer a rich man, so he might also forget the fact that he was a
father. And that it might be more thoroughly tested whether he would
make affection and love[160] for his
own flesh and blood of more account than obedience and Christian
mortification (which all who renounce the world ought out of love to
Christ to prefer), the child was on purpose neglected and dressed in
rags instead of proper clothes; and so covered and disfigured with
dirt that he would rather disgust than delight the eyes of his father
whenever he saw him. And further, he was exposed to blows and slaps
from different people, which the father often saw inflicted without
the slightest reason on his innocent chi