The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1916-02-05
'LEGEN AND LORE
OF The DESERT
STORIES OF HERMlTS-HosPITAL.
ITY AND HUMILITY or
MONKS.

0iOHlES Or fEhMi IS--ftOSPiIA Al
ITY AND HUMILITY or
MONKS.
A young hermit under the tempta-
ton Of despair said to one Of the an
cient fathers who had come to visit
him: What am | to do to keep my
self from despair? This thought is
constantly in my head, that have
left the world in vain, and that I shall
never be saved" My brother" an
severed the old man, "even if we are
not worthy to enter the promised land
still it is better for us to die in the
desert than to turn back to the flesh
pots Of Egypt. Lay that to heart 7,
Another brother said to his spiritual
guide. "How happens it, my father,
that / am so often overcome by idle
ness and disgust 1T is q sign that
thou dost not duly set before thine
eyes either the glory of heaven or the
pains Of hell" was the answer.
1t is related of st. Arsenius, says
the Ave Maria" that at sunset on
the Sabbath he would turn to the east,
stretch out his hands toward heaven,
and pray in this position until the sun
rose in his face, when he would satisfy
his eyes with little slumber. And
Satan would watch him, thinking:
What athletes Of Christ there are in
this desert! 1t would be waste of
time, though have all there is, to
tempt one who prays thus. But will
do what can; will send Beezlebub,
with millions of gnats, to torment this
mortal when he tries to sleep, since
cannot reach him when he goes to
pray"
Mother Sarah, who ruled over many
ascetic women, was famed for wise
sayings, one of which was this: ''It is
o good thing for man to give aims,
even though he do so for the .approba-
ton of the children of men; for from
this he will come to do it for Gods
sake" And monk who heard this
saying took note of it for a remem-
brance, and whenever he repeated it
he would exclaim: Zone must be near
to God to have thoughts like that"
Vigilance and prayerfulness are the
weapons which all must use who hope
to gain the everlasting. Watch and
pray" was the admonition of the Mas
ter, addressed to all men. That great
desert saint, Abbot Poemen, used to
say, as told in 'The Book of Cover
nors'':: 'The evil one has three pow
,rs which go before destruction. First
of all, he lays down error; after error,
negligence, after negligence, sensual
lty. Now, when error hath obtained
the mastery over an ascetic, it taketh
away the remembrance of divine
things from his heart, and delivereth
him over to negligence, that he may
not be aroused and put away from him
the slumber of his remissness; and
after negligence cometh the madness
of concupiscence, by reason of which
the whole man becometh vessel per-
fected for destruction"
Hospitality of Monks.
On one occasion thieves came to the
cell of an old man, and said unto him:
I'VE have come to take away every
thing which thou hast in thy CELL"
And he said unto them: my sons, take
whatsoever We please. And they
took everything which they saw in his
lell and departed. Now, they forgot
to take wallet which was hanging
there, and the old man took it and ran
after them, and entreated them, say
ing: "My sons, take this wallet which
We have left behind" And the ex-
IRENE simplicity of that holy old man
made those thieves see their extreme
perversity; and one of them said unto
his companions: How little he cares
for the things that belong to him, and
how much we covet the goods that
belong to others!" Whereupon, grace
prevailing, they. abandoned their
thievish life and entered upon life
of penance. And that holy old man
prayed unto God that they might per-
severe in the paths of peace, and they
did.
There was a monk, and away on the
mountain, which was about ten miles
distant from him, was another monk;
and the first monk had some bread in
his cell, and he meditated in his mind,
and determined to invite the other
monk to come and partake of his
bread. And again he thought in his
mind saying: Since the bread is with
me, shall give my brother the labor
Of walking ten miles il invite him to
come here; but twill be more help
full to him if / take one-half of the
bread which possess, and carry it to
him." So he took the bread to carry
to the cell of the other brother. Now,
as he was journeying along, he tripped
up and fell, and injured one of his fin
gers, and as the blood was running
down he began to cry because of the
pain; and there appeared unto him
suddenly an angel, who said unto him:
"Dost thou weep because of this?
Weep not; for the number of every
step which thou takest for Our Lords
sake is written down, and is esti-
mated at a great reward before Him,
and the report of the labor of such
things goeth up to Him." And imme-
diately the monk was healed, and with
rejoicing and thanksgiving to God he
set out again on his journey to go to-
his companion. And, having come to-
him and given him the bread, he con-
versed with him concerning the love Of
man which is found in the good Lord,