HABITS OF THE HEART: SOME COPTIC SAYINGS OF ST. ANTONY THE GREAT FROM VATICAN COPT 64: A MEDITATION1
Tim Vivian
To Maged Mikhail colleague and friend
“Insight develops, from heart to head to hands.” — Elizabeth A. Johnson, CSJ, Quest for the Living God, p. 2
“in the monastery it is the heart alone that fights with a person.” — Saying XIX
INTRODUCTION
A camel, a horse, a troupe of pigs rising from the waters of the Nile; an ostrich with its young; genuflecting crocodiles; souls flying up to heaven, a malevolent giant stopping some of them; a female monk who has transgressed; a dummy dressed up like a monk with demons attacking it; fiery lamps and a chorus of angels. These “characters” in the sayings translated below may seem to a modern reader the fanciful trappings of the picaresque, the overstuffed stage props of a simple people in a simpler time. Sayings about ubiquitous
Tim Vivian is an independent scholar who lives at 10105 Mountaingate Lane, Bakersfield, CA. He is an Episcopal priest and a retired professor at California State University, Bakersfield. 1 I wish to thank Lisa Agaiby for reading a draft of this article and offering suggestions, John Wortley for the references he sent me, and Maged S. A. Mikhail for his help with some of the Coptic. Habits of the Heart is the title of an excellent book by the late American sociologist Robert Bellah (1985). The sayings translated here will appear with translations of other non- Greek apophthegmata in John Wortley, ed., More Sayings of the Desert Fathers: An English Translation with Notes (Cambridge: Cambridge UP: forthcoming). The complete Coptic sayings will appear in Coptica with a re-editing, vis-a-vis Vatican Copt 64, of Emile Amelineau’s Coptic text (with French translation): Histoire des Monasteres de la Basse-Egypte: Monuments pour servir a l 'Histoire de I 'Egypte chretienne, Annales du Musee Guimet 25 (Paris: Lemoux, 1894), available online. For a better French translation, see Lucien Regnault, Les Sentences des Peres du desert: troisieme recueil & tables (Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes: Solesmes, 1976).
375 ABR 69:4 - DECEMBER 2018 and fantastical demons2 instead of journalism about acts of terrorism, sayings seemingly obsessed with transgressions and sins instead of debates about the merits or demerits of tax cuts, may seem like the warp and woof of monastic hagiography rather than the worrisome rusting nuts and bolts of a country’s physical and moral infrastructure. But such a reader, misled, would miss the central element that informs each human life: the habits of the heart. In Coptic,3 the language of these sayings translated here into English for the first time, het (pronounced “heat”) means both “heart” and “mind.”4 Thus, Coptic does not share the Western dualism between intellect and emotion, as if each existed independent of the other. In the thirty Coptic sayings selected here (out of fifty-four) attributed to St. Antony the Great (251-356), forms of het occur twenty-five times, sometimes obscured by the necessary English renderings.5 The sayings in Greek do not have this emphasis; thus, the Coptic sayings “read” much differently. In the sayings here, the heart is not a lonely hunter; the heart has other hearts within community.6 As these sayings show over and over, early monastic communities had spiritual teachers, guides, to help discern the heart’s habits. A pre-eminent guide was Abba Antony. Saying XVI especially illustrates both the importance of het in these sayings and the difficulty of preserving the word in English translation. Het occurs eight times in this saying, either as a simplex or compound noun or compound verb. Of these eight occurrences, only one can preserve “heart” in English. In fact, the Coptic may begin
2 Although this Introduction will not discuss monastic demonology (see David Brakke, Demons and the Making of the Monk), it is worth noting vis-a-vis early monasticism what the poet Seamus Heaney observes in his translation of the Old-English epic Beowulf. Heaney speaks of as archetypes, three agons, in Beowulf, “three struggles in which the preternatural force-for- evil of the hero’s enemies comes springing at him in demonic shapes.” See Beowulf: A New Verse Translation, trans. Heaney (New York & London: Norton, 2000) xii. Greek agon originally meant “a contest, struggle,” and then in Patristic Greek “a spiritual struggle.” It and its related verb agOntzomai occur frequently in early monastic literature. See the sentence “We need to fight” in Saying 25. 3 Coptic is the final form of Egyptian, the language evolving from hieroglyphics to demotic to Coptic. Coptic, like Russian, became a missionary language for early Christians; they used Greek letters for Coptic sounds, adding six symbols from Egyptian for sounds not found in Greek. 4 Walter Ewing Crum, ed., A Coptic Dictionarv (Oxford: Clarendon, 1939, repr. 1979) 714a-718a. 5 For the occurrences of het in the sayings translated here (the Roman numerals indicate the numbers of the Sayings while the numerals in parentheses indicate footnote numbers), see II (26), IV (34), VI (38, 39), XIII (78), XVI (in the Introduction), XVIII (82), XIX (87), XX (90), XXI (94), XXII (104). XXIII (106, 109), XXVII (132), and XXX (145). 6 The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940) is the title of a novel by the American writer Carson McCullers.
TIM VIVIAN 376 the saying with a sly play on words: when Antony “set out on the road,” “set out” translates -er hets. “to begin,” from he, “forepart, beginning,” while the similar-sounding er nhet (het: heart/mind) means “to reflect, criticize, repent, regret.” Thus Coptic here may foreshadow the saying’s theme that Antony, in being judgmental, first criticizes in his mind the fall of a female monk, but then repents. It is worth quoting Saying XVI here in full so the reader gets the full effect of the ubiquity of “heart” in this passage. Words translating a form of het are in boldface.
It was said about Abba Antony that the matter of a virgin who had fallen into a transgression was revealed to him one time. He got up, took in his hand his staff made from a palm branch and set out on the road, walking to the monastery so he could, because of the purity of his ascetic practice, severely rebuke them and condemn them. While he was still walking, getting near the monastery, there suddenly appeared to him Christ, the King of glory, he alone who is compassionate, who has numerous treasuries of compassion 1 metshenhet: shenhet literally means “to seek/ask (shine) the heart (het)]. who forgives and takes away human sins and transgressions.”
The Savior, with a face of gentleness and a smile full of grace, said to him, “Antony! What is the reason for this great suffering of yours?” When the elder heard these words of the Savior, he threw himself to the ground face down on the earth and said to him, “My Lord, since you have made me worthy to see your presence, you already know the cause of the outrageous 1 -metathet. “senseless,” literally “without (at) heart-ness” or “without mind-ness”] behavior that’s causing my suffering.” The good lover of humankind said to him, “You have taken on this suffering and this immense hardship because of the transgression of this young virgin.” Abba Antony, still face down on the ground, said to him, “You, Lord, know everything before it happens!” The Lord said to him, “Get up, follow me.” When Antony went into the wilderness with him and was drawing near the monastery, the gates were shut where the virgin was and he heard her weeping, saying, “My Lord Jesus Christ, when you have
377 ABR 69:4 - DECEMBER 2018 taken into consideration [ti hthet: “consider, reflect on, ponder, observe, watch”] all our sin, who can stand before you [Ps 129/130 3-4]? When we stand in your presence, forgiveness truly lies solely in your hands. Jesus Christ, you who are my Lord, take vengeance on the jealous person who has acted out of spite against me and destroyed me! Jesus, you who are my Lord, I entreat you, do not turn your face from me [Ps 26:9]: I am a weak and fragile vessel [1 Pet 3:7]!” She spoke these words with numerous tears. The merciful \-refshenhet: literally “person seeking heart”] and compassionate God, our Lord Jesus Christ, said, “Antony, are you not moved with compassion now? Do your eyes not weep when you hear how frail and weak she is and how she cries out to me with many tears of grief? Truly, she has summoned my compassion [metshenhet]. like the harlot who washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head [Lk 7:36-50] ;7 because of her repentance [-ouem hthef: literally “her eating of her heart”], she has received forgiveness of her sins from me on account of her faith. But I will not let your suffering be in vain. Offer them some respect, in deference to them, and go.” After the Savior said this, he disappeared from Antony’s sight. Abba Antony returned; while on the road he glorified God. His tears flowed down to the ground as he marveled greatly at the goodness of God and the numerous mercies [metshenhet] he has for every creature of his hands that he has made and the way he quickly takes to himself every person who sins and turns to him with an upright heart [~het\. As Saying XVI illustrates, Antony’s teachings in these Sayings (and his own spiritual education), and his compassionate (-metshenhet) spiritual direction, are pages from a brief guide of pastoral care, one, for us, not restricted to clergy and monastics but available to any searching, aspiring, soul. These sayings are still pedagogical and illuminative because of their bracing realism. I occasionally wonder where the idea that monks were (and are) escapist comes from. It’s actually just the opposite: we are all escape artists (perhaps this is our “original” sin), and our society daily gives us both a stage and an audience for our Houdini-like sleights-of-hand. In Saying XXIX Abba Antony exclaims, “My Lord, what help you have so readily given to each monk! How does Satan just as easily trip them up?” All of us, not just monastics, carry with us pocketsful, and even backpacks, of stumbling blocks.
7 The story in Luke does not name her an adulterous but rather a sinner. This is an example of “sin inflation.”
TIM VIVIAN 378 In other words, God’s grace is often not sufficient.8 Or is it? Channeling the prophet Ezekiel, a voice, presumably God’s, tells Antony that “the one who is violent,” Satan, is, in reality, impotent. “No,” the voice instructs from within the contours and cleavings of the heart, “each person is tempted by his [or her] own desires.”9 Numerous early monastic sayings redirect the glorious Easter hymn: at least in this life, “the strife is never o’er, the battle never done.” As Saying XXVII grimly catechizes, “The nature of the heart and the law within it are one: truly the human heart is inclined toward what is evil.” And yet . . . and yet . . . just as that hymn emphasizes Christ’s resurrection victory at the first and each succeeding Easter, Saying XXVII actually reverses its own grim near-conclusion: the last paragraph of the saying emphasizes, indirectly, that each person does have the strength to “seek his [or her] own heart [het].” Saying XVIII expands on this affirmation: “There are [or: there are] very good practices that we can take refuge in in our cells and intensely use to reflect on ourselves [literally, give heart/mind (het) to ourselves] throughout our lives so we can know what kind of person we are.” As Thomas Merton explored and as many others have taught, “taking refuge” brings the Christian spiritual seeker intimately close to Buddhist wisdom:
the purpose of taking refuge is to awaken from confusion and associate oneself with wakefulness. Taking refuge is a matter of commitment and acceptance and, at the same time, of openness and freedom. By taking the refuge vow we commit ourselves to freedom.10
As noted above, in early monastic thought, practice (Buddhist “mindfulness”) does not make perfect. Even a cursory internet search of Hebrews 4:12 (“the word of God,” sharper “than any double-edged sword . . . penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit”) reveals stark dualistic theologies in conservative Protestant American thinking. However one understands the author of Hebrews here, it is clear that the sayings of Antony are much more unitive than dualistic. And the Antony of these sayings, not surprisingly, finds union in the het, the heart. It’s not that these discoveries are all conscious and deliberate
8 See 2 Cor 12:9. 9 Ezk 18, esp. 18:1-4. 10 Chogyan Trungpa Rinpoche, “The Decision to Become a Buddhist,” online.
379 ABR 69:4 - DECEMBER 2018 (or deliberative), lecture notes on a dry-erase board; rather, they’re exterior and interior: bone, and bone’s marrow. Without marrow, the bone dies, and then cracks and splinters, eventually becoming dust. The heart and mind, as each of us knows from interior and exterior lived experience, are (is) co-conspirators, sometimes confraternal and consororal; 11 at times fraternal twins and at times identical twins. “Arrogant” (Saying II) translates -khasi het, from khisi + het, “to exalt the heart/mind,” and “self-important” (Saying XXIII) also renders kasi het. “Outrageous” (Saying XVI) translates -metathet, “senselessness,” literally “without-mind-ness.” These are the derelictions, the misprisions, the misperegrinations of not only the heart and mind but also the soul and the spirit: the spiritual corpus of the human person. Antony says that a person should “expect temptation until his [or her] last breath.” 12 But—and this pumps the blood at the heart of Christianity—there is forgiveness. “Repentance” (Saying XVI) wanly captures Coptic -ouem hthci. Christ tells a judgmental Antony, who is walking to a women’s monastery “so he could, because of the purity of his ascetic practice, severely rebuke them and condemn them,” that a female monastic who has committed a transgression “has received forgiveness of her sins from me on account of her faith.” 13 “Repentance” in Greek is metanoia, a change of mind (meta + nous)', the Coptic is stark: repentance, -ouem hthef, is literally “the eating [oudm\ of the heart [het].”H Thus het is the statuary hall of the virtues. At Bawit, and possibly Saqqara, in Late Antique monastic Egypt, Ama Sibylla centers two rooms containing paintings of her with the twelve Virtues. 15 The monks at Bawit may have seen Sibylla as the “Mother of the Virtues,” and possibly their spiritual mother and patron (matron) in the cultivation of the virtues. Concomitantly, in these sayings of Antony’s, het now
11 Although “consororal” (Latin soror, “sister” + cum, “with,” “together”) is not used in English, “consoror” occurs in German, (mil-) Schwester, in Latin as a “co-religious” or “fellow nun,” and in English as a third-order female monastic. 12 Alphabetical Apophthegmata Patrum (AlphAP) Antony 4 and Poemen 124. For a recent translation of the AlphAP, see John Wortley, trans., Give Me a Word: The Alphabetical Sayings o f the Desert Fathers, Popular Patristics Series (Yonkers, NY: St Vladimir’s, 2014). 13 On the restorative powers of faith in the Gospels, see, e.g. Mk 10:46-52; Mt 9:18-26; and Lk 17:1-19. 14 An interesting comparison is English “something’s eating (at) him.” 15 Chapelle III with eleven medallions—ten Virtues with Sibylla at the center—and Chapelle VI with twelve Virtues surrounding her. See Tim Vivian, “Ama Sibylla of Saqqara: Prioress or Prophet, Monastic or Mythological Being?” Bulletin o f the Saint Shenouda the Archimandrite Coptic Society 5 (1998-1999) 1-17; repr. in Vivian, Words to Live By: Journeys in Ancient and Modern Egyptian Monasticism (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian, 2005) 377-393.
TIM VIVIAN 380 becomes the church, with hef s blessings emblazoned across the wall as ennobling icons:
• Christ “quickly takes to himself every person who sins and turns to him with an upright heart” (XVI). An “upright heart” is ouhet efsouton, but, just as important, for the person who “turns to” God, “turns to” in Coptic can also mean “returns to.” 16 • “Merciful” and “mercies” (God’s mercies are “numerous”) include het (XVI). • “Open-heartedness” (timetbal nhet) is the antidote to the evil eye (“eye” is bal) (VI). • “Compassion” renders - metshenhet:17 Christ’s “treasuries of compassion” are “numerous.”
This brief meditation has tried to show that the good heart, the good mind, in early Coptic monastic thought, empowered by God, or at least nudged along, will prevail. Daily facts, then and now, seem to prove otherwise. But these sayings suggest—no, they urge—that God- and Christ-inspirited self-reflection will guide the person of faith. Christ does consider (ti hthet) a person’s sins (XII) but, as spiritual pilgrims, we can join the monks in reflecting on ourselves (literally, “give heart/ mind to ourselves”). Abba Poemen, an eminent early monastic, a teacher within community, speaks of “three guiding virtues”: “being on the alert, paying attention to oneself, and discretion.” 18 These are all enduring habits of the heart.
SAYINGS
/. Living Continually with God
Abba Antony said, “If you want to have a way of life19 that is with Christ, make your cell a prison for yourself. Remember at all times your departure from your body and don’t ever forget the judgment that’s coming, and no sin of any kind will ever come to your soul.
16 Tasthon harof. 17 -metshenhet'. in Coptic, -met is a prefix to nouns or adjectives forming abstracts; shen < shine, “seek, ask”; and het, “heart/mind.” On het see n. 5. 18 AlphAP Poemen 35; Wortley, 233. 19 “Have a way of life”: politeuesthai/Greek politeuesthai < politeud, politeia, way of life, especially a monastic way of life.
381 ABR 69:4 - DECEMBER 2018 Partner with the Holy Spirit in order to live with the Lord forever. If your practice is to live continually with God, you will obtain life eternal and God will wipe away your sins20 and will establish you anew in his kingdom.”
II. Bringing to Completion Both Testaments
It was said about a brother that he had defeated anger. He paid a visit to Abba Antony one time. When they had finished the synaxis,2' Abba Antony wanted to test the brother to see whether or not he had defeated this passion.22 He said to him, “Get up; speak a bit about some scripture you’ve learned by heart.” 23 Standing up, the brother said to the elder,24 “What do you want me to offer a reflection on? 25 Do you want me to offer something for you on the Old Testament or the New Testament?” When Abba Antony heard these words, he said to him “Sit down, you! You’re arrogant26 and rash!” After the brother had sat down again, the elder again spoke to him: “I just finished telling you ‘Stand up!’ and ‘Reflect on a bit of scripture you’ve learned by heart!”’ After the brother stood, he said to the elder, “Do you want me to offer something for you on the New Testament or do you want something on the Old Testament?”
20 See Is 43:25 (“I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins”); Ps 51:9; Acts 3:19. Unless otherwise indicated, all biblical translations are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). 21 There are at least 28 occurrences of synaxis in the Alphabetical Apophthegmata (AlphAP), The Sayings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers (e.g. Poemen 11, 32, 92, 168), and considerably more in the Systematic Apophthegmata (SysAP) and numerous occurrences of the sibling verb sundgO. 22 To use an old Anglican phrase, the “passions” are “the devices and desires of our own hearts” that draw us away from God and neighbor. The New Testament usually distinguishes between pathema (pi. pathemata), “that which is suffered or endured, suffering, misfortune," and pathos (pi. pdthe), “experience of strong desire, passion.” See Frederick William Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon o f the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3r TIM VIVIAN 382 Once again the elder said to him, “Sit down! You’re being even more arrogant than before!” Once again the brother sat down. The elder said to him again, “Get up and reflect a bit on some scripture you’ve learned by heart.” The brother said to him again, “Should I offer something on the Old Testament or the New Testament?” The elder said to him, “In all truth, my son, you have brought to completion all of the Old Testament and New Testament. Whatever you wish to say, say.” III. Measuring Up It was said about two brothers who lived together successfully27 in a monastic community that one was an accomplished ascetic while the other was humble and obedient. They inquired of each other, saying, “What is the greatest work?” When they came to the Nile there was a large group of crocodiles there. The one who was obedient went to the other side through their midst and they did obeisance to him.28 He said to the ascetic, “You too, come on over to the other side.” The ascetic said to him, “Forgive me, my brother, I don’t measure up to where you are.” They returned to the monastery. Word reached Abba Antony at his monastic community29 informing him that the one who was obedient was someone who surpassed the ascetic. IV. Sit in Your Cell! A brother who was so distressed by his thoughts that he wanted to leave his monastic dwelling spoke with Abba Antony. 27 Coptic ti mati can suggest that the two had successfully reached or obtained their goal; it also suggests that they had agreed or decided to live together. The negative, ti atmati, means “not agreeing.” 28 This is a folklore motif. In his commentary on Jacob wrestling the unknown man at the river Jabbok (Gen 32:22-32), Claus Westermann notes that a text speaking “of a hostile demon or an evil spirit” “of the night or of the river,” represented by the crocodiles here, “is a common mark of the fairy tale.” Westermann, Genesis 12-36: A Continental Commentary (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1995) 516, note on Gen 32:25. 29 Monastic community: Coptic toou translates a different word from “monastery” above. Toou indicates a mountain and came to indicate a monastery. See n. 89. In Antony’s day the word most likely meant a (remote) monastic community. See Tim Vivian, “Mountain and Desert: the Geographies of Early Coptic Monasticism,” Coptic Church Review 12:1 (Spring, 1991). 383 ABR 69:4 - DECEMBER 2018 The elder said to him, “Hurry! Go! Sit in your cell! Give your body as a pledge to the walls of your cell and don’t leave your cell; let your thoughts go where they please, only do not take your body outside your cell and they won’t trouble you or be able to do a thing to you. Later, your body’s going to get hungry and will be sure you know when it’s time to eat. If it says to you, before it’s time to eat, ‘Eat a little bread; it’ll do you good,’ be careful and say to it, ‘A person will not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’ [Dt 8:3; Mt 4:4], “Again it will say to you, ‘Drink a little wine, like blessed Timothy. It’ll do you good.’ [see 1 Tim 5:23], For your part, respond to it by saying ‘Keep in mind the children of Aminadab, who did what their father commanded’ [Jer 35:6]. If your body causes you to be hungry while you’re sleeping, don’t welcome it: it’s written in the holy Gospel: ‘Be vigilant and pray’ [Mt 26:41]. Again it is written: ‘Those who sleep gain nothing’ [Ps 75:6]. Instead, nourish your soul with the words of God, with vigils, and with prayer, and especially with constantly keeping in mind the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. “By these means you will find instruction: knowledge30 how to be victorious over evil thoughts.31 If your body hauls you out of your cell, the one who hunts32 for evil will cut you into pieces and swallow you, leaving you without the ability to properly discern33 whether what you’re doing is to your advantage or not. Your body will, like an army arrayed for battle, fight against you in a wide variety of ways, whether through your feet or your hands or your heart34 or sight or hearing or actions or tongue and mouth [see James 3:1-12] or the way you walk.35 If you stay in your cell, you will be someone who’s free from all these things I’ve told you about.” 30 “Knowledge,” emi, can translate Greek gndsis, an important term in the New Testament (in the Gospels, only in Luke, but nineteen times in the letters certainly by Paul) and in Alexandrian (Clement and Origen), Gnostic, and monastic spirituality. 31 “Thoughts” renders meui, while “knowledge” is emi, so there is a connection in sound. 32 Jorj means “to waylay, hunt,” and the noun indicates a snare; refjorj is a hunter. 33 Discern/discernment: Greek diakrisis. Discernment (of spirits) is very important in early monastic literature. See Anthony D. Rich, Discernment in the Desert Fathers: Diakrisis in the Life and Thought of Early Egyptian Monasticism, Studies in Early Christian History and Thought (Bletchley, Milton Keynes, UK; and Waynesboro, GA: Wipf & Stock, 2007). 34 Coptic hit. See n. 5 35 “Walk,” as in English, can indicate “walk of life,” “way of life.” See nn. 40, 72, 110, and 114. TIM VIVIAN 384 V. Stones from the Cornerstone Abba Antony spoke to the brothers: “While I was walking one time on the mountain,361 encountered an ostrich and its young. When they saw me, they ran away. I heard the mother saying to her offspring, ‘Throw stones at him so you don’t get captured!’ It’s the same with us, too: if the demons throw thoughts at as, we need to throw stones at them from the stone cut [Dan 2:34,45] from the immaculate womb of Saint Virgin Mary; he is the cornerstone [Ps 117/118:22; Acts 4:11; Mk 12:10 and parallels] who fights so well on our behalf and delivers us from evil snares.” V7. God Will be with You Abba Antony said, “Strip yourself of evil; clothe yourself with singlemindedness.37 Strip yourself of the evil eye;38 clothe yourself with open-heartedness and a compassionate heart.39 Hate no one, nor walk with someone who is your inferior but rather with someone who is superior to you,40 and practice a life of asceticism.41 Do not fear people’s contempt. Hate everything that damages your soul. Do not abandon what God wills for you in order to follow human will.42 If you do this, God will be with you. VII. Athanasius, Macarius, and Pambo Abba Antony said, “I saw the Spirit of God descending on three persons in this world.43 It descended upon Athanasius: to him was given 36 Mountain: see n. 29. 37 Or “simplicity.” Greek Impious can suggest moral and spiritual singleness of mind or heart. 38 The Coptic for “eye” is bal\ the “evil eye” is -bal mponeron (Greek poneros), while “open-heartedness” renders timetbal nhet, literally “giving the eye of the heart.” On “heart,” see n. 5 39 On “heart” see n. 5. 411 That is, inferior and superior spiritually: Do not walk with someone who is less advanced than you in the spiritual life but rather with someone who is more advanced. On “walk”, moshi, see n. 35. 41 Or: practice a life of contemplation. “Practice”: -praktikon. For Evagrius, pratike is contemplation of the physical world and of God; see his Praktikos. 42 “Wills” and “will” translate ouosh, which also means “desire, love.” Thus: Do not abandon what God desires for you so you can follow human desires. 43 The spirit/Spirit often descends on important figures (Jephthah, David), God’s appointed (Is 11:2), and the prophets (Is 59:21) in the Hebrew Bible; in Mt 3:16 the Spirit of God descends like a dove upon Jesus at his baptism. 385 ABR 69:4 - DECEMBER 2018 the archiepiscopacy.44 And Abba Macarius: to him was given the grace to heal the sick.45 And Abba Pambo: to him was given the diaconate.46 VIII. My Great Love is for God It was said about an elder, one who cultivated the land, that he paid a visit to Abba Antony one time. The elder [Antony] had been informed of his visit so he went outside to greet him. After they had gone inside the cell, they prayed and sat down.47 Abba Antony said to him, “Tell me something, my father.” The faithful elder who was a cultivator said to him, “There are three kinds48 of people among the tribe called monks: the first is those who are a flaming fire;49 the second is those who are like lions; the third is those who are like foxes.”50 Abba Antony said to him, “Which of these do you see yourself as, my father?” The elder said to him, “I see myself like Adam before he transgressed” [Gen 3], Abba Antony said to him, “You yourself are a promise, my father.”51 The elder said to him, “No, but my great love is for God.” IX. The Consummation of This Age The brothers asked Abba Antony, who was going to die soon, about the end of the world. The holy man said to them, “The prophets 44 Athanasius (c. 296-373) was archbishop of Alexandria, a defender of Nicene theology against the Arians and of church unity against the Melitians. 45 Macarius the Great (c. 300-390) was an eminent monk at the Wadi Natrun (Scetis); numerous sayings and works are by him or were attributed to him. See Vivian, St Macarius the Spiritbearer and the Bohairic Life o f Pachomius 43-46. The Life o f Saint Macarius o f Scetis 24 (Vivian, 180) states: “Saint Macarius would be brought numbers of sick people from many places, even from far away lands, too, and he would heal all of them, almost like one of the apostles.” 46 AlphAP Macarius of Egypt 2 suggests that Pambo was a priest; Abba Macarius goes to “the Mount of Nitria for the Eucharist of Abba Pambo” (Wortley, 178). AP Pambo 11 speaks of “[t]he priest of Nitria” speaking to Pambo, but a variant of the saying says “a priest” (Wortley, 263). The Life of Pambo does not say he was ordained. There were probably several Pambos. 47 This sentence shows that Egyptian monks prayed while standing, the orans position. 48 Greek -phyle, literally “tribes, races.” 49 See Joseph of Panephysis 7 (Wortley, 152); Ps 103:4 and Heb 1:7. 50 Fire: perhaps Mt 3:11; lions, perhaps Is 11:7 and Rev 4:7; foxes, Lk 9:58. 51 Promise is a prominent theme in the Hebrew Bible (for example, Gen 18:9, God’s promise to Abraham, and to Sarah in Gen. 21:1). In the New Testament, 2 Tim 1:1 speaks of “the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus” and Heb 6:13 speaks of God’s promise to Abraham. TIM VIVIAN 386 already prophesied52 and Christ in his own words spoke about this.53 Afterwards, the apostles preached about the end.54 As for me, what can I say about it?” The brothers said to him, “You too are a prophet and an apostle and a father at the end of this present age.55 Have compassion for us. Tell us about it.” He said to them, “You have seen the first world that God destroyed on account of the sexual sin56 and violence taking place among them [Gen 6:11]. In the same way, moreover, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah at that time on account of their sexual sins and pitilessness57 [Gen 18:16-19:29]. So too now: the end of this world will take place because of these three [sic] things: if violence increases among people and sexual sin increases among the monks. This will bring about the consummation of the age. “IP8 you see certain monks, spiritual elders, abandoning the desert and monasteries, leaving them behind, and finding any pretext59 whatsoever to go into towns and villages, imitating60 the anchoritic life while living in the homes of those living in the world61 with their women; if you see young male monks living in the monasteries of virgins, their cells adjoining one another, their windows accessible to each other; if you see even the inhabitants of the desert loving to eat and drink more than laboring62 to practice self-control63 and circumspection; if you see monks acting like merchants, buying and selling like those in the world64—all these things signal the consummation of the end. There 52 See Is 2:12; Am 5:18-20; Joel 2:1-11; Dan 12:12. 53 Mt 24:14; 28:20. 541 Thes 5:2; 2 Cor 1:14. 55 Coptic seou can indicate both the New Testament’s kairds (the right, proper, favorable time) and aidn (time, present age, eternity, the world); see Danker 497a-498b and 32a-33a. 56 Sexual sin: Greek porneia. 57 Pitilessness: literally, lack of compassion. 58 Coptic eshop, here and often in these sayings, can mean “if ’ or “when.” If the meaning is “when” here, it considerably deepens the saying’s eschatological warnings. Isje more definitively means “if.” 54 Coptic sho nsoou can also mean “forsake, renounce." “ Greek mimei'sthai, mimesis, is a vital monastic practice: the emulation of one’s spiritual elders; thus, its use here is not only ironic but devastating. 61 -kosmikos. 62 Laboring: or “suffering.” “Suffering” renders Coptic khisi (Sahidic hise), translated as “laboring” above; not laboring to practice self-control and circumspection, then, will bring about suffering and hardship. See nn. 62, 73, and 111. 63 Self-control: Greek -enkrateia\ the Greek can also mean “abstinence,” “temperance,” in a wide variety of matters. See nn. 67 and 70. 64 -kosmikos. 387 ABR 69:4 - DECEMBER 2018 will be no relief for the world, only suffering65 and hardship, until the consummation of this age.66 X. Keep Watch over Everything Abba Antony said, “It is not the person who is victorious in one thing only, namely self-control,67 nor the person who masters only one of the things that oppose virtue who is better.68 If self-control boasts that it’s virtuous, a multitude of evils are enemies of it. But the person who is saved must watch over everything because of his enemies and pray that God’s goodness will save him.” XI. Slavery Again Abba Antony said, “The person who hastens to be perfect69 in self-control70 is not a slave of any passion.71 The person who’s a slave of a single evil is far from the path of God.” 72 XII. Each and Every Day Again Abba Antony said, “Every labor73 that the angry person takes on will be destroyed and taken away from him—each and every day.” 65 Suffering: see n. 62. “ Consummation: sunteleia/Gveek sunteleia. Both sunteleia and its verb sunteleo, “completion, close, end/bring to an end, complete, finish, close; carry out, fulfill, accomplish,” occur frequently in the New Testament; e.g. Mt 13:39ff., 13:49: Heb 9:26; Rom 9:28. 67 Self-control: Greek enkrates; see n. 63. 68 Coptic sotp also means “chosen.” 69 Greek teleios\ see Mt 5:48 and 19:21. 70 Greek enkrateta; see nn. 63 and 67. 71 Passion: see n. 21. 72 “Path” translates moil, “walk,” so walk or way of life with God; See n. 35. 73 Coptic khisi can mean “labor, product of labor, weariness, suffering” (Crum 711b). See n. 62. TIM VIVIAN 388 XIII. Sheep and Goats74 Again Abba Antony said, “I spent an entire year entreating God to reveal to me the path of the righteous75 and the path of those who sin. I saw someone as large as a giant standing there reaching up to the clouds. His hands stretched as far as the heavens; beneath him was a lake as large and broad as the ocean. I also saw souls flying like birds and all those who were flying high above his hands and high above his head were saved and all those whom he had caught in his hands and whom he had beaten plummeted into the lake filled with fire.76 “Then a voice came to me from heaven, saying, ‘Antony, these souls that you have seen flying high above his hands are the very souls of the righteous who will be in paradise. And those whom you have seen falling into his hands are the souls of sinners being drawn down into Amente77 because their desires78 were for the things of the flesh and their pleasures that last but a short time and they were people whose thoughts were so evil that, truly, their evil desires threw them into the fire. ’” 79 XIV. The Spiritual Body giving Birth Abba Antony said, “In everything you do, think nothing of yourself: thinking nothing of yourself is the body of humility. Humility gives birth to a person willing to learn, and the willingness to learn gives birth to faith. Faith brings forth obedience to God; obedience to God brings forth love for your brother.” 74 On heavenly ascent, see Eph 2:1-2 and Life o f Antony 65. David Brakke has persuasively argued that “the myth of heavenly ascent” is central to Athanasius’ presentation of Antony: “The visions in chapters 65 and 66 of the Life of Antony provide programmatic depictions of the ascetic life in mythical terms as the eluding of demons who would thwart the monk’s progress toward heaven.” See his Athanasius and the Politics o f Asceticism, Oxford Early Christian Studies (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1995) 216-226; the quotation is on 218. 75 Coptic mei, like Greek dikaiosune, can also mean “just, justice.” As an adjective, mei means “truthful, righteous, real, genuine.” See n. 88. 76 A lake or lakes of fire figure in both ancient Egyptian religion and in Rev 19:20, 20:10, 20:14-15, and 21:18. 77 The Life of Paphnutius 22 speaks of “the punishments in Amente” and 128 speaks of being thrown “into the pit of Amente.” On Amente, see David Frankfurter, “Amente, Demons, and Christian Syncretism,” Archiv fur Religionsgeschichte, 14.1 (2013) 83-102. Online. His study emphasizes the role of scribes, pre-Christian and monastic, in the syncretistic acculturation of Amente and its eschatological demons in classical Egyptian, Roman, and Christian milieus. 78 Desires; ouosh nhet. literally, “desires of their heart”; on het see n. 5. 79 Amelineau’s text towards the end here is corrupt; my translation is based on that of Regnault’s French translation, 145, and Codex Vaticanus Copt 64. 389 ABR 69:4 - DECEMBER 2018 XV. Stop Worrying A brother asked the elder Abba Antony concerning what is written in the Gospel: “Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough wickedness80 of its own” [Mt 6:34], The elder said to him, “I think this verse is telling you to stop worrying yourself for one year about what the body needs so you won’t be excessively concerned about life’s needs beyond its basic necessities. In this way you can be saved.” XVI. Antony Learns about Compassion and Forgiveness81 It was said about Abba Antony that the matter of a virgin who had fallen into a transgression was revealed to him one time. He got up, took in his hand his staff made from a palm branch and set out on the road,82 walking to the monastery so he could, because of the purity of his ascetic practice,83 severely rebuke them and condemn them.84 While he was still walking, getting near the monastery, there suddenly appeared to him Christ, the King of glory, he alone who is compassionate, who has numerous treasuries of compassion,85 who forgives and takes away human sins and transgressions. The Savior, with a face of gentleness and a smile full of grace said to him, “Antony! What is the reason for this great suffering of yours?” When the elder heard these words of the Savior, he threw himself to the ground face down on the earth and said to him, “My Lord, since 80 Wickedness: the NRSV translation of Mt 6:34 has “trouble,” but kakia here, Greek kakta, is “the quality or state of wickedness, baseness, depravity, wickedness, vice’, kakta is the opposite of areti and all virtue, and therefore lacking in social value” (Danker, ed., 500a). 81 Am 33.4-35.10 82 There may be a sly play on words here: “set out” translates —er hets, “to begin,” from he, “forepart, beginning,” while er nhet (her. heart/mind) means “to reflect, criticize, repent, regret” and foreshadows events later in the story. On het see II (29), IV (39), VI (45,46), XIV (90), XVI (100, 102, 103, 105, 107, 108, 112, 114), XVIII (118), XIX (124), XX (128), XXI (133), XXII (144), XXIII (147, 150), XXVII (176), and XXX (192). 83 “Ascetic practice”: Greek praktikos. 84 “Condemn” translates shot ebol. Shot itself means “to cut, slay.” Shot ebol means “to cut, cut off,” so there is a suggestion of excommunication here. 85 “Compassion”: Coptic metshenhet. Forms of het, “heart” or “mind,” occur four times in this saying, obscured sometimes by the English. In AP Alph Pambo 10, Pambo says, “If you have a heart you can be saved.” Wortley, 263. On het see II (29), IV (39), VI (45, 46), XIV (90), XVI (97, 102, 103, 105, 107, 108, 112, 114), XVIII (118), XIX (124), XX (128), XXI (133), XXII (144), XXIII (147, 150), XXVII (176), and XXX (192). TIM VIVIAN 390 you have made me worthy to see your presence,86 you already know the cause of the outrageous behavior that’s causing my suffering.”87 The good lover of humankind said to him, “You have taken on this suffering and this immense hardship because of the transgression of this young virgin.” Abba Antony, still face down on the ground, said to him, “You, Lord, know everything before it happens!” The Lord said to him, “Get up, follow me.” When Antony went into the wilderness with him and was drawing near the monastery, the gates were shut where the virgin was and he heard her weeping, saying, “My Lord Jesus Christ, when you consider all our sin,88 who can stand before you [Ps 129/130 3-4]? When we stand in your presence, forgiveness truly lies solely in your hands. Jesus Christ, you who are my Lord, take vengeance on the jealous person who has acted out of spite against me and destroyed me! Jesus, you who are my Lord, I beseech you, do not turn your face89 from me [Ps 26:9]: I am a weak and fragile vessel [1 Pet 3:7]!” She spoke these words with numerous tears. The merciful90 and compassionate God, our Lord Jesus Christ, said, “Antony, are you not moved with compassion now?91 Do your eyes not weep when you hear how frail and weak she is and how she cries out to me with many tears of grief? Truly, she has summoned my mercy,92 like the adulterous woman who washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head; because of her repentance,93 86 Greek parousia. 87 “Outrageous” renders -metathet. “senseless,” literally, “without heart-ness” or “without mind-ness.” On het see II (29), IV (39), VI (45,46), XIV (90), XVI (97,100, 103, 105. 107, 108, 112, 114), XVIII (118), XIX (124). XX (128), XXI (133), XXII (144). XXIII (147, 150), XXVII (176), and XXX (192). 88 Consider: the Coptic root here is hthet < het, “heart/mind.” Ti hthet suggests “consider, reflect on, ponder, observe, watch.” On het see II (29), IV (39), VI (45,46), XIV (90), XVI (97, 100, 102, 103. 105, 107, 108, 112, 114), XVIII (118), XIX (124), XX (128), XXI (133), XXII (144), XXIII (147, 150), XXVII (176), and XXX (192). 89 “Beseech” in Coptic includes ho, “face.” 90 “Merciful” in Coptic includes het. On het see II (29), IV (39), VI (45,46), XIV (90), XVI (97, 100, 102, 103, 107, 108, 112, 114), XVIII (118), XIX (124), XX (128), XXI (133), XXII (144), XXIII (147, 150), XXVII (176), and XXX (192). 91 “Compassion”: Greek -splagchnon here draws our attention to the compassion (.splagchru'zomai) of Jesus in Mt 14:4, Lk 7:13, and others. See n. 151. 92 -het again; On see II (29), IV (39), VI (45, 46), XIV (90), XVI (97, 100, 102, 103, 105, 108, 112, 114), XVIII (118), XIX (124), XX (128), XXI (133), XXII (144), XXIII (147, 150), XXVII (176), and XXX (192). 93 Coptic -ouem hthef, literally “her eating of her heart” (het). On het see II (29), IV (39), VI (45.46). XIV (90),XVI (97,100, 102,103,105,107,112,114), XVIII (118), XIX (124), XX (128), XXI (133), XXII (144), XXIII (147, 150), XXVII (176), and XXX (192). 391 ABR 69:4-DECEMBER 2018 she has received forgiveness of her sins from me on account of her faith.94 But I will not let your suffering be in vain. Offer them some respect, in deference to them, and go.” 95 After the Savior said this, he disappeared from Antony’s sight. Abba Antony returned; while on the road96 he glorified God. His tears flowed down to the ground as he marveled greatly at the goodness of God and the numerous mercies97 he has for every creature of his hands that he has made and the way he quickly takes to himself every person who sins and turns to him98 with an upright heart.99 XVII. A Breath of Fresh Air Abba Antony said, “When100 you are moved by thoughts that distress you and that you’re not able to chase away sufficiently, go outside into the fresh air and they will leave you.” XVIII. Very Good Practices Abba Antony again said, “There are very good practices that we can take refuge in in our cells and intensely use to reflect on ourselves101 throughout our lives so we can know what kind of person we are. When you [j i c ] remain in your dwelling, then you become someone who has anticipated the time of his death; when you persevere in praying night and day, then you have anticipated the time of your death; 102 when you remain in the desert without any kind of friendship according to the flesh, 103 then you’re ready to die to the world. I say 94 Coptic nahti. like Greek ptstis, can also mean “trust/trust in.” On the restorative powers of faith in the Gospels, see Mt 9:18-22; Mk 5:25-34; Lk 18:35-43, among others. 95 The translation of this sentence is uncertain. The Coptic is ma nkouji nhexis (Greek htfxis). Perhaps it suggests “reverence” or “homage,” inferring a customary act or gesture of respect. 96 Road: moir, See nn. 47, 84, 148, 155, and 173. Thus Antony continues on his spiritual journey, edified. 97 Coptic -het again; see II (29), IV (39), VI (45, 46), XIV (90), XVI (97, 100, 102, 103, 105, 107, 108. 114), XVIII (118), XIX (124), XX (128), XXI (133), XXII (144), XXIII (147, 150), XXVII (176), and XXX (192). 98 Turns to: Coptic tasthou harof. can also mean “return to.” 99 Heart: Coptic hit. On het see'll (29), IV (39), VI (45, 46), XIV (90), XVI (97, 100, 102. 103,105, 107, 108,112,114), XVIII (118), XIX (124), XX (128), XXI (133), XXII (144), XXIII (147, 150), XXVII (176), and XXX (192). 100 When: or “if ’ (see n. 58), but given the monks’ constant efforts at a realistic understanding of humans, “when” seems more appropriate. 101 Reflect on ourselves: literally “give heart/mind {het) to ourselves. On het see n. 5. 102 “Persevere” in this sentence translates Coptic -moun and “death” translates -mou. 103 Flesh: Greek sarx. Sarx occurs over 50 times in the certain letters of Paul. See n. 93. TIM VIVIAN 392 this to you (pi.): 1 have passed all my time eating one measure of barley bread,104 while drinking one measure of cloudy water, and when I wish to go somewhere I am careful while walking not to place my foot anywhere105 where there’s the slightest trace of a woman.” XIX. The Purified Heart Again Abba Antony said, “It isn’t what’s written in the letter of the law that makes for righteousness; rather, it is the purified heart:106 this is what makes for human righteousness.”107 XX. The Heart Alone Abba Antony said, “I wanted to go to Upper Egypt, but I was held back: ‘Don’t go; instead, go to the monastery.”108 There are three things that belong to the world and do not belong to the monastery: the eye fights with each person; so do the tongue [James 3:5] and the ear. But in the monastery it is the heart109 alone that fights with a person. Isn’t that one more valuable than the [three]?110 XXI. Flesh, Spirit, and Heart Abba Antony said, “If I come out of my cell to meet with people, I strip myself of my clothing and am naked.111 When I go back inside, I put it back on. That is to say, when I go outside to be with people, I become flesh,112 and when I return to my dwelling I again become spirit. I become mortal with mortals and I become spirit with God. Truly, the body houses the heart:113 the heart has a door and windows. If I leave to be with people, they—all of them—open their homes and squalls and waves come in. That is, they hear and see and speak and 104 That is, as opposed to higher quality wheat bread. 105 “Anywhere.” and “any” earlier both translate Coptic hli. “nothing.” 10,5 Heart: On het see n. 5. 107 Righteousness: or “justice”; see n. 75. 108 Coptic tOou\ see n. 29. 109 Heart: on het see n. 5. 110 Three: the text has “four” (delta), as does Vat Copt 64. 111 I strip myself: bosh mmoi; “naked” translates besh. the qualitative of bosh. “Clothing” renders Greek stole, “garment” or “clothing,” but stole can also indicate a vestment, especially for the Eucharist or baptism (English “stole”), and can also mean the robe of baptism. See Lampe. 1261b-1262a. 112 Flesh: see n. 84. 113 heart: het; see n. 5. 393 ABR 69:4 - DECEMBER 2018 smell. If I remain in my cell, the door and windows stay shut and I become unperturbed.114 My heart115 is by itself; my concerns are with it and I become someone who is free from the four.116 The person who speaks with understanding edifies himself, edifying also his fellow monks;117 the one who remains silent is not in danger. This is what Mary first practiced118 before arriving at the true knowledge of God” [Lk 1:28-29], XXII. The Consummation of Everything Good One time a brother asked Abba Antony, “How do you sit119 in your cell, my father?” The elder said to him, “What appears to human beings is this: [fasting]120 until evening every day, keeping vigil, and meditation.121 But on the other hand, what is hidden from people are these: having no regard for yourself, the struggle against evil thoughts, being without anger, keeping the approach of your death in front of you,122 and maintaining a humble heart.123 These are the consummation124 of everything good.” XXIII. The Wise Person Knows the Path Abba Antony said, “Do not walk with someone who is self- important125 and haughty and arrogant, nor with someone who is angry, but walk with those who are always humble. Let your words be measured in a balance126 so they’re profitable for those who will 114 “Unperturbed,” atjosm, literally means “without darkness, storm, tempest”; compare English “turbulence.” 115 Or “mind.” See n. 5. 116 It’s not clear what “the four” refers to. 117 Coptic kot, like English “edify,” has building as its metaphorical foundation; English “edifice.” 118 “Practiced”: Greek praxis. 119 Sit: hemsi can also mean “remain, dwell.” Amelineau, 137 n. 4, says that a word is missing. Regnault, 148, has “le jeune” without brackets or comment. Vat Copt 64 also lacks a word here. 121 “Meditation” translates - melete/Gk melete. See n. 24 above 122 See Saying XXIX. 123 Humble heart: thebio nhet: on het see n. 5. 124 Consummation: Coptic lobsh can mean “bulwark, battlement.” 175 Self-important: khasi het, literally “one who exalts one’s heart/mind; On het see n. 5. 126 Balance: mashi; “walk” translates moshi. See n. 35. TIM VIVIAN 394 hear them. Be zealous;127 let your heart feel grief128 for your brother, showing compassion for him.129 May your speech always be sweet. It is poverty that you should especially love. Love toil;130 take refuge in it.131 Welcome suffering in your flesh [see 2 Cor 2:7] so that you may be victorious over the passions132 of the body; do battle in order to be victorious in the war being waged against it. The wise person knows the path133 he walks in order to meet the heavenly stars in the heavens above [see Is 40:26; Dt 4:19].” XXIV. Be Like the Camel, Not the Horse Again Abba Antony said, “The camel needs just a little food; it conserves it within until it goes to where it lives. The camel regurgitates and ruminates it until it enters its bones and flesh. The horse, on the other hand, needs a great amount of food; eating all the time, it consumes at once everything it’s eaten. Now, therefore, do not be like the horse. That is, we recite the words of God all the time and we don’t keep a single one of them. No, let’s be like the camel, reciting one by one the words of Holy Scripture, safeguarding it within us,134 until it accomplishes its purpose: those who have brought to completion135 the words of Scripture were themselves people like us: the passions136 clung to them, too.”137 127 Greek spoudaTos, forms of which occur frequently in the New Testament. 128 Heart feel grief: on het see n. 5. 129 In Coptic, shanthmakht is a compassionate person; metshanthmakht is compassion. Makht is “bowels, compassion,” as in Greek sptanchm'zomai < splanchnS. “bowels, guts,” “the seat and source of love” (Danker, 938b). See Mt 18:27, among many. 130 Coptic khisi can also mean “suffering, affliction”; see n. 62. 131 Take refuge in: or “flee to”; phot. 132 Passions: see n. 21. 133 Path: or “walk”; see n. 35. 134 Safeguarding: the primary meaning of rois is “to be awake, watch”; with the preposition e-, “to watch over, keep guard over” (Greek phulassd). The noun means “a watch, a guard” (phulax). 135 “Completion” and “accomplishes” both render jok ebol. 136 Passions: see n. 21. 137 Clung: the nuance of cheout seems a bit more internalized: “grafted,” “planted”; more loosely, “ingrained.” 395 ABR 69:4 - DECEMBER 2018 XXV. The Monastic Habit Gives Us All This Trouble! While the brothers were sitting around him, Abba Antony said, “We need to fight.” 138 I’m telling you, 139 the very habit of the monk is worthy of being hated in the presence of the demons. One time I wanted to test140 them concerning this matter: I brought a short garment, dalmatic, and scapular and hood. I threw them on a dummy; I dressed it; 141 I set it up; I saw the demons standing around it in the distance. They were shooting arrows at it. 142 “I said to them, ‘You, you evil spirits—what is this you’re doing to it? It’s not a person! It’s a dummy! ’ 143 “They said to me, ‘We know that. We’re not shooting arrows at it. No, we’re shooting at the clothing it’s wearing and the monastic habit. ’ 144 “I said to them, ‘What evils are these you’re doing to it?’ “They said to me, ‘These are the implements of war of those who afflict us and beat us all the time. It’s this clothing that gives us all this trouble! ’ 145 “When I heard what they were saying, I gave glory to God who saves those who have hope146 in him, that he will rescue them from the evil spirits of the Devil, these who fight against the saints day and night as God brings their counsels to nothing.” 147 XXVI. The Three Loaves of Bread Abba Antony said, “A person went to his neighbor in the Gospel in the middle of the night and said to him, ‘Let me borrow three loaves 138 We need to fight: literally “Let us fight.” Fight: Greek agom'zesthai (see n. 2) occurs eight times in the New Testament, e.g. Lk 13: 24 (“Strive to enter through the narrow door”) and 1 Tim 4:10 (“ For to this end we toil and struggle,because we have our hope set on the living God . . . ”). 139 I’m telling you: literally “truly.” 140 Test: -dokimazein!Greek dokimazein. The Synoptic Gospels all use forms of peirdzo, “test, tempt,” in the story of the temptation of Jesus (Mk4:2; Mt 1:13; Lk 4:2). ,4i Greek -schematizeirr, the schema was the monastic habit, as in a few lines below. 142 Coptic mrom, “pillow,” “dummy,” is masculine in gender; thus “it” refers to it. But the resumptive pronoun -/a lso means “him,” thus making Antony’s statement nicely ambiguous, suggesting that the demons think the dummy is in fact a (male) monk. 143 “Person” translates rOmi, while “dummy” translates emrom (rom earlier). 144 The schema; see n. 122. 145 Coptic khisi, “suffer” means also here “afflicted,” “caused to suffer.” See n. 62. 146 Hope: Greek elpts. 147 “Night” is -ejorh while “bringing to nothing,” “nullifying,” is -jor. Jor means “to scatter, disperse,” hence “bring to naught, nullify.” TIM VIVIAN 396 of bread because a friend of mine on a journey has come to visit me’ [Lk 11:5], The three loaves of bread that the man gave his neighbor are the three practices of hospitality, hunger, and need.148 Repentance has knocked, seeking compassionate giving, as though it knew that these things guide149 the person who does the will of God.” XXVII. The Habit of the Heart Abba Antony said, “Let the monk not go to a women’s monastery and speak freely with them unless it’s with women who possess the power of God. Here’s the truth: when he sees them, they will not allow him any rest when he sits in his cell.” One of the monks said to him, “Isn’t it permissible to visit them so we can encourage them?” The elder said to him, “If you’ve received the Spirit, go.150 Otherwise, I don’t want you to. What assaults you until you fall is what encourages them to fall, too. The nature of the heart and the law within it are one: truly, the human heart151 is inclined152 towards what’s evil.” The brother said to him, “What do I do concerning the stewardship of the women’s monastery, which I’m entrusted with?” (His service was at the women’s monastery.) The elder said to him, “If you’ve received the Spirit, then go. Otherwise, I don’t want you to go. The one who flatters you until you fall is the one who entices them until they fall, too. If, however, the person gives the power to God, that person will become fire upon the earth” [Lk 12:49-53; Mt 10:34-39]. The brother said to him, “What I meant, my father, is that the person who is faithful will take precautions everywhere he goes.” The elder said, “No. Watch out. If a herd of pigs rises up from the Nile smeared with mud and you walk through their midst, even if they don’t knock you down they will, nevertheless, turn you black and blue.”153 148 Need: or “distress.” 149 Guide (or: lead), chi moit, picks up the earlier moil, “journey,” thus linguistically confirming that repentance both knocks and leads/guides. See n. 35. 150 On receiving the Spirit, see VII above and n. 43 there. 151 Heart; her, see n. 5. 152 Or: bent. 153 Turn you black and blue: chemi, literally “the black land,” from chmom, “be, become black,” like the fertile soil of the Nile. Lelechemi combines a form of eloole, “grape,” + chemi, “bruise, dark colored like grapes”; “injure,” “wound.” 397 ABR 69:4 - DECEMBER 2018 XXVIII. Athanasius the Great, the Foundation of the Apostolic Faith154 Our holy father Abba Antony said, “It happened that I went to Alexandria in order to receive the blessing of the luminous pillar [Ex 13:21], the crown and strong tower [Prv 18:10; Ps 61:3], the foundation of the apostolic faith; he who made a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit [1 Cor 6:191, the Paraclete [Jn 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7]; he whose heart became a holy throne of the Pantocrator;155 he who was made protector of the faith of the consubstantial156 Trinity and sole157 beloved of our Lord Jesus Christ: Athanasius the Great, the son of the apostles, he who, on account of the emperors, bore witness158 many times for the truth faith of orthodoxy.159 “I stayed with him two days and it came about that he spoke with me about some scriptural matters160 and, as a result of the sweetness of his sweet and living words, I slept a little. When I woke, he said to me, ‘Antony, get up! Stop sleeping like this! The truth is that the Holy Spirit has said, “Those who slumber deep asleep find no profit in it [perhaps Is 56:10] and the person who keeps watch and is vigilant [1 Th 5:6; 1 Pt 5:8| is the person who rejoices and is filled with joy in eternal life.” Here is the truth: the rejoicing here is not rejoicing and the sweetness of this world is not sweetness. “These are the things he said to me. I prostrated myself; I venerated him; I returned home, glorifying God.” XXIX. What Great Help God Has Appointed! Abba Antony again said, “I entreated God one time to tell me about the help that surrounds each monk. While I was praying, I saw fiery lamps and a chorus of angels surrounding each monk, protecting each as the apple of his eye [Dt 32:10], A voice came down from heaven saying, ‘Do not let them perish while you are in the body.’ And 154 Athanasius: see n. 44. 155 The first uses of pantokrator, “all-powerful ruler,” that Lampe cites, 1005a-1005b, are the Sibylline Oracles 1.66 and 2.20 (2nd-4,h c.), and Justin Martyr (d. c. 165), Dialogue with Trypho 16.4. 156 (H)omoousios. 157 -monaslGreek monas; see Lampe, 877b-878a. 158 Bore witness: -martyros. 159 Athanasius was exiled four times by various emperors, sometimes taking refuge among monks. 160 Matters: Greek kephalaton can mean “topic” or “subject,” but it can also mean a chapter of a work. TIM VIVIAN 398 as I saw such great help surrounding each person, I groaned, saying, ‘God help you, Antony! What great help God has appointed for you— and yet you are negligent all the time!”’161 XXX. Individual Responsibility Abba Antony said, “I entreated God, saying, “My Lord, what help you have so readily given to each monk! How does Satan just as readily trip them up? “I heard a voice saying, ‘No, the one who is violent has no power to do violence. He has no power to do violence because I am the one who has rebuked him with complete power [see Mt 4:11; Lk 4:1-13], and I have crushed him. No, each person is tempted by his own desires;162 truly, he is negligent163 about his well-being and is responsible for the hardening of his own heart.164 Truly, such a person does not seek his own heart.’165 I asked him, ‘Lord, have you ordained help such as this for each monk?’ and he showed me a multitude of monks who have such help surrounding each and every one of them in the same way I had seen earlier. I said, ‘How blessed is the human race that this good Savior, the lover of humankind, has done this for them!”’ 161 Coptic ari metashiri is to be diligent, while iri nameles (Greek ameles) is the opposite: to be negligent. On “negligent,” Greek ameleia < ameleo, see e.g. Heb 2:3 (“how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”). See n. 144. 162 Desires: Greek epithymia can be positive but in the New Testament is often negative; see Rom 7:7-13 and James 1:14-16, among others. On this idea, see Ezek 18,esp. 18:1-4. 163 Negligent: see n. 142. In Ex 4:21 God hardens Pharaoh’s heart and in 14:17 the hearts of the Egyptians, but Ezekiel emphasizes personal responsibility (18:1-4). 164 Hardening of the heart: pithom nte pefhet: “crushed” renders themthom. both from thorn. The imagery behind -thorn is the shutting of a door, mouth, or eyes; here, the door of the heart. As a noun, thorn means “fence, barrier.” On het see n.5. 165 Both -oujai, “well-being,” and - nohem, “salvation,” include the idea of health, safety, wholeness; to be saved. With certain prepositions following, oujai means “to be saved.” 399 ABR 69:4 - DECEMBER 2018 Copyright of American Benedictine Review is the property of American Benedictine Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use.