Words of Holy Monks

It is necessary to inquire about the paths of those who have progressed rightly and to follow them, for many things have been found said and done well by them. In these things, one of them says that a drier and not irregular lifestyle, joined with love, introduces the monk into the harbor of apatheia.

And the same, when being somewhat disturbed at night, was relieved by the brothers of the phantasms, having been commanded to serve those who are weak with fasting; for to no one, he said, when asked, are such passions quenched as by mercy.

One of the wise of that time approached the righteous Antony and asked how you endure, saying, 'O father, are you deprived of the consolation of the books?' And he says: 'My book, philosopher, is the nature of things happening, and it is possible whenever I wish to read the words of God.'

The Egyptian elder Macarius, a vessel of election, asked me: 'Why is it that, while being resentful toward men, we destroy the memory-power of the soul, but while being resentful toward demons, we remain unharmed?' And here, after having been perplexed by the answer and entreating to learn the reason, he said that the former is contrary to nature, but the latter is according to the nature of the mind.