But the true saint forgets himself in love. So it does not occur to him that there is any splendor in him. When Elizabeth Fry reached heaven she was doubtless surprised to see the mighty, acclaimed among men, waved aside, and double surprised when Jesus said to her, “Come, … blessed of my Father” (25:34). […]
Archives for 2019
We need a viable third-party option
Have you ever wondered whether we need a new, moderate, third-party in USA politics? There are two stories I have been following that make me wish for a viable third option. One is the incredible meltdown of the Democratic party leadership in Virginia. One begins to wonder how far down the leadership chain the sex […]
Jesus did not arrange his death
“He, the Life of all, our Lord and Saviour, did not arrange the manner of his own death lest He should seem to be afraid of some other kind. No. He accepted and bore upon the cross a death inflicted by others, and those other His special enemies, a death which to them was supremely […]
St. Anthony the Great on visions
Some of the brothers came to Abba Anthony to tell him the dreams they had seen, and to learn from him if they are true, or from demons. Now they had a donkey, and it died on the way. When they finally came to the elder, he said to them first, How did the little […]
The dangers of extreme spirituality
“There is an old saying: ‘Excesses meet.’ Too much fasting and too much eating come to the same end. Keeping too long a vigil brings the same disastrous cost as … sluggishness… Too much self-denial brings weakness and induces the same condition as carelessness. Often I have seen men who would not be snared by […]
The Perils of Moderation
It is a perilous time to be a moderate. Less than a week ago the above comic was published. It well expresses the dilemma of the moderate, but it expresses it even better than I thought when I first read the comic. You see, to my surprise, many of those who read the comic read […]
St. Anthony on praying your own prayers
A brother said to Father Anthony, “Pray for me,” The elder said to him, “I will have no mercy upon you, nor will God have any, if you yourself do not make an effort and if you do not pray to God.” 38 Sayings of Saint Anthony the Great But, Saint Anthony discerned something about […]
St. Anthony on judgment of others
A brother in a monastery was falsely accused of fornication, and he got up and went to Abba Anthony. And the brothers came from the monastery to heal him and take him back, and they started to charge that he did so. But he defended himself that he did no such thing. Now Abba Paphnutius […]
St. Anthony redux
“Abba Anthony said, ‘A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying, “You are mad, you are not like us.”‘” The 38 Counsels of St. Anthony the Great The advent of post-modernism various decades ago set us on the path to […]
More from St. Anthony
“A hunter in the desert saw Abba Anthony enjoying himself with the brethren and he was shocked. Wanting to show him that it was necessary sometimes to meet the needs of the brethren, the old man said to him, ‘Put an arrow in your bow and shoot it.’ So he did. The old man then […]
