Desert Fathers

The Desert Fathers offer precious advice, born of experience, to give us. They are not just ‘fathers’ in a general sense; they actually become our fathers, if we attend to them carefully, trustingly, as sons and daughters.’

A hermit was once asked by the brethren how a monk might prevent himself from being shocked if he saw other monks returning to the outside world. He replied ‘…. a monk should remember hounds when they’re hunting a hare. One hound glimpses the hare and gives chase. The other hounds merely see a running dog and run with him but then they get tired and go back to their tracks. Only the leading hound keeps up the chase until he catches the hare. He is not deterred by the others who give up, and he thinks nothing of the cliffs or thickets or brambles. He’s often pricked and scratched by thorns, but he keeps on until he catches the hare. So, the man who runs after Jesus aims unceasingly at the cross and leaps over every obstacle in his way until he is crucified.’

Abba Moses: A fellow monk appeared at the entrance to the big, powerfully built black brother’s cell in the Sinai desert, asking him to attend a meeting of all the monks in the cluster, to decide on an appropriate penance for an erring brother. The monk, Moses the Ethiopian, refused to attend. Later, another brother appeared and demanded Moses’ attendance. So, Moses filled a leaking water jug and carried it to the meeting on his shoulder, leaving a trail of spilled water behind him. Upon his arrival, the assembled monks asked why he was carrying the jug. He replied, “My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, but today I am coming to judge the errors of another.” The monks decided to forgive the erring brother.