Not Quite Acceptable
16 Nov 2010, 9:29 pm
I love this, though in our increasingly uniformitarian setting its conclusion may be troubling:
21. They tell the story of a certain brother who came to Scete to see Abba Arsenius, and who went into the church and entreated the clergy to take him to see him; and the clergy said unto him, "Refresh thyself a little, and thou shalt see him." And the brother said unto them, "I will eat nothing before I meet him and see him" ; and when the clergy heard this they sent a brother with him to shew him Abba Arsenius, because his cell was some distance away. And when they had arrived there, they knocked at the door and went inside, and having saluted him, and prayed, they sat down and held their peace; and the brother who was from the church answered and said, "I will depart, pray ye for me." But when the other brother saw that he possessed not freedom of speech with the old man, he said unto the brother from the church, "I also will go with thee," and they departed together. Then he entreated him, saying, "Take me also to Abba Moses who was a thief," and when they went to him, the old man received them with joy, and having refreshed them greatly he dismissed them in peace. And the brother who had brought the visitor to Abba Moses said unto him, "Behold, I brought thee to a man from a foreign land, and to an Egyptian, which of the two pleaseth thee?" And he answered and said unto him, ”The Egyptian who hath just received me, and refreshed me." And when one of the old men heard what had happened, he prayed to God, and said, "O Lord, shew me this matter; one fleeth from the world for Thy Name's sake, and another receiveth and is gracious for Thy Name's sake." And behold, suddenly there appeared unto him on the river two great boats, and lo, Abba Arsenius and the Spirit of God were travelling in silence in the one, and Abba Moses and the angels of God were in the other, and they were feeding the monk with honey from the comb.
Arsenius is arguably my favorite Desert Father - much more compatible than the sometimes difficult Jerome. I suspect Arsenius belongs with Wrong Planet - though less likely to post HERE than Jerome would be.
