Tag: desert
Left to an Unlettered Carpenter from Nazareth
(The Desert Fathers and Mothers) were life’s renegades, men in whom the spirit of denial was proof of their commitment to abandoning the worn-out husk of classicism that had for so long held men in its sway…. The long line of thinkers from Pythagorus through Heraclitus, Parmenides, Anaxagoras, Empedocles, and Zeno, down to Plato, Aristotle,… Read More ›
Try and Make Peace
There were two brothers who lived the monastic life together, and the evil devil was doing his best to sow discord between them. One day the younger brother went as usual to light the lamp at vespers, and by the machinations of a demon he knocked the candlestick over and the light was extinguished. The… Read More ›
Transfiguration
In the end we are dealing with a phenomenon that transformed the world. When Christ was transfigured on Mount Tabor, he bestowed on history what we now understand to be an uncreated and natural grace. It has affected the way we view the world ever since. Anthony and his fellow anchorites were not just uneducated… Read More ›
Dust to Dust
I, your brother Paphnutius, was thinking one day that I would go into the further desert so I could see whether there were any brother monks in the farthest reaches of the desert. So I walked four days and four nights without eating bread or drinking water. I continued walking on into the farther desert… Read More ›