The Parable of the Plucked Chicken (St. George Karslides)

St. George Karslides said the following parable:

 

One time someone went and confessed to a spiritual father and he gave a penance for him to take a chicken and come and find him.

On the way he would pluck the chicken until he took out all the feathers.

Indeed, this is what he did.

The Monk Who Pictured Every Woman as an Icon of the Virgin Mary

By Hieromonk Anastasios,

Cell of the Honorable Forerunner and Dionysios of Fourna 

Karyes, Mount Athos

We passed a cell outside Karyes, the cell of Papa-Gregory. He came to Mount Athos when he was very young, about ten or twelve years old, and became a monk.

When we visited he was about eighty-five to ninety, and he had never been outside of Mount Athos.

"Elder, do you remember women?"

"Yes, I remember them."

Holy Two Ascetics of the Desert

Holy Two Ascetics of the Desert (Feast Day - June 20)

Verses

Both of you with unwashed flesh and sleeping on the ground,
Washed your souls, and dwell in celestial heights.

The Holy Two Ascetics of the Desert met their end in peace.

It is not known exactly who these two ascetics were, as there are a number of possibilities, nonetheless we offer the following beneficial tale about two anonymous ascetics recorded by Palladius in the Lausiac History (Ch. 36), who may or may not be the two ascetics commemorated today:

80 Sayings of Saint Amphilochios Makris

The following sayings of Saint Amphilochios Makris were addressed to his spiritual children, primarily the nuns under his care.

= When you cultivate prayer, the Tempter's blusterings will not trouble you. Prayer diminishes his strength; he cannot do anything to us.

= The end of my life draws near. I ask you to live a holy life, to walk along holy paths, so that you may help both our Church and Greece.

= Remaining faithful to Monasticism is considered to be a martyrdom.

Saint Ischyrion the Bishop

St. Ischyrion the Bishop (Feast Day - November 23)

Verses

Ischyrion lived as one mighty in the Church,
Who though dead noetically strengthens.

Saint Ischyrion the Bishop met his end in peace. Some sources have him as a Bishop of Tarsus. Others regard him as the Holy Abba of Egypt of whom the following saying is attributed:

Life and Sayings of the Holy Abba Milesios

Saint Milos and his two disciples are commemorated together in the Orthodox Church on November 10th. In the Synaxarion of Constantinople, Sozomen (Eccl. Hist. 2:14) and in their Acts, there are both differences and similarities than what is recorded about them in the Paradise of the Fathers. Though his name is usually recorded as Milos, here he is known as Milesios. He was also a Bishop in Persia who sought to spread the Christian faith, and suffered for it. The martyrdom accounts, however, are very similar despite differences, confirming that they are not two different people, but these are two accounts with different yet similar traditions. Thus, in the Sayings of the Desert Fathers, the following two sayings are given for him.

Life and Sayings of the Holy Abba Helladios

Venerable Helladios (Feast Day - November 9)

Verses

Although you departed from life Helladios,
You remained a table of virtue in life.

Sayings

1. It was said of Abba Helladios that he spent twenty years in the Cells, without ever raising his eyes to see the roof of the church.

Life and Sayings of Holy Abba Chaeremon of Scetis

Venerable Chaeremon (Feast Day - August 16)

Verses

Blessed Chaeremon rejoiced at the cessation of his life,
For it was the beginning of the compensation of labor.

Our Venerable Father Chaeremon is the one mentioned in the Paradise of the Holy Fathers and in the Lausiac History:

Sayings of Holy Abba Simon

Venerable Simon (Feast Day - June 25)

Verses

The vessel of the flesh of Simon is a shrine,
The dwelling place of his spirit is the heavens.

Sayings of Abba Simon

1. A magistrate came to see Abba Simon one day. When he heard of it, he put on his apron and went out to attend to a palm-tree. When the visitors arrived they called out to him, ‘Old man, where is the anchorite?’ He replied, ‘There is no anchorite here.’ Hearing these words, they went away again.

Life and Sayings of Holy Abba Zeno the Wonderworker

Venerable Zeno (Feast Day - June 19)

Verses

What is common in Zeno, is that he was mortal in life?
He departed to the Angels in the life beyond.

Life

Zeno was a famous disciple of Abba Silvanus, on Sinai. Like other monks in the early days in Egypt, he moved about a good deal in Egypt, Syria and Palestine. At the end of his life he settled near Gaza and in 451 he shut himself up and would see no one until he reposed in peace at the age of 62. The Synaxarion of Constantinople says that because of his exceeding obedience, and extreme asceticism and poverty, he became a wonderworker and sign-bearer, vanquishing demons from people.

Holy Abba Cyrus of Alexandria

Venerable Cyrus of Alexandria (Feast Day - June 9)

Verses

With the noetic image is defilement Cyrus,
You stand before God, indeed as His image.

Abba Cyrus of Alexandria was asked about the temptation of fornication, and he replied, 'If you do not think about it, you have no hope, for if you are not thinking about it, you are doing it. I mean, he who does not fight against the sin and resist it in his spirit will commit the sin physically. It is very true that he who is fornicating in fact is not worried about thinking about it.'

Holy Abba Athre of Nitria

St. Athre of Nitria (Feast Day - June 8)

Verses

Turning your mind away with disgust from the things of the earth,
You gazed Athre at the beauty of your Master.

Abba Pistus related that which follows: ‘We were seven anchorites who went to see Abba Sisoes who lived at Clysma, begging him to give us word.

He said to us, “Forgive me, for I am a very simple man. But I have been to Abba Or and to Abba Athre. Abba Or was ill for eighteen years. I made a prostration before him and asked him to give me a word. Abba Or said to me, ‘What shall I say to you? Go, and do what you see is right; God comes to him who reproaches himself and does violence to himself in everything.’

Of the Harlot Whom a Subdeacon Drove Out of the Church

By Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis

A certain old man said: 'There was a harlot who was so beautiful and so rich that all princes flocked unto her. One day she went into the church and desired to pass inside the gates, but a subdeacon who was standing at the door would not allow her to do so, and he said, “You are not allowed to enter into the house of God, because you are an unclean woman.”

On Those Who Do Not Accept Our Forgiveness (Abba Poemen)

Abba Betimius asked Abba Poemen, saying, "If a man be angry with me, and I express my contrition, and he will not accept it, what am I to do ?" The old man said unto him, "Take with you two of your friends, and express your contrition in their presence." And the old man Betimius said unto him, "And if he will not be persuaded to accept it then?" And Abba Poemen answered and said, "Take with you five others." And Abba Betimius answered and said, "And if he will not be persuaded by these?" Abba Poemen said, "Then take with you a priest." And Abba Betimius said, "And if he will not be persuaded then?" Abba Poemen said unto him, "Without anger and without excitement pray unto God that he may put into his mind the desire for peace, and straightway you shall have no further care." 

Life and Sayings of Holy Abba Makarios the Great of Egypt

Life

Macarius (Makarios) the Great (the Egyptian), born c. A.D. 300, was a former camel-driver, who traded in nitre. He was one of the pioneers of Scetis. He was ordained priest and lived as an anchorite in a village until he was falsely blamed for the pregnancy of a girl there; when he was cleared, he went to Scetis. Like many of the early monks, he traveled about and was not fixed in any one place, as these stories show. Cassian said of him, ‘He was the first who found a way to inhabit the desert of Scetis.' He was much influenced by Anthony the Great and visited him at least twice. He died in A.D. 390.

Sayings

1. Abba Macarius said this about himself: ‘When I was young and was living in a cell in Egypt, they took me to make me a cleric in the village. Because I did not wish to receive this dignity, I fled to another place. Then a devout layman joined me; he sold my manual work for me and served me. Now it happened that a virgin in the village, under the weight of temptation, committed sin. When she became pregnant, they asked her who was to blame. She said, “The anchorite.” Then they came to seize me, led me to the village and hung pots black with soot and various other things round my neck and led me through the village in all directions, beating me and saying, “This monk has defiled our virgin, catch him, catch him and they beat me almost to death. Then one of the old men came and said: “What are you doing, how long w ‘ ill you go on beating this strange monk?” The man who served me was walking behind me, full of shame, for they covered him with insults too, saying, “Look at this anchorite, for whom you stood surety; what has he done?” The girl’s parents said, “Do not let him go till he has given a pledge that he will keep her.” I spoke to my servant and he vouched for me. Going to my cell, I gave him all the baskets I had, saying, “Sell them, and give my wife something to eat.” Then I said to myself, “Macarius, you have found yourself a wife; you must work a little more in order to keep her.” So I worked night and day and sent my work to her. But when the time came for the wretch to give birth, she remained in labour many days without bringing forth, and they said to her, “What is the matter?” She said, “I know what it is, it is because I slandered the anchorite, and accused him unjustly; it is not he who is to blame, but such and such a young man.” Then the man who served me came to me full of joy saying, “The virgin could not give birth until she had said ‘The anchorite had nothing to do with it, but I have lied about him.’ The whole village wants to come here solemnly and do penance before you.” But when I heard this, for fear people would disturb me, I got up and fled here to Scetis. That is the original reason why I came here.’

Life and Sayings of Holy Abba Silvanus of Palestine

Venerable Silvanus (Feast Day - January 18)

Life

Silvanus, a Palestinian by birth, was the head of a community of twelve disciples in Scetis, among whom was Mark the Calligrapher. The group moved to Sinai in 380, and later went to Syria where they settled in the region of Gaza in Gerar. They lived in a lavra, with scattered cells and a central church for worship on Saturday and Sunday. On account of his high virtue, an angel was once seen to minister to him. Silvanus died before 414 and was succeeded by his disciple Zacharias.

Sayings

1. Abba Silvanus and his disciple Zacharias went to a certain monastery one day. They were given something to eat a little before taking the road and when they got outside his disciple found some water beside the path and wanted to drink. The old man said to him, 'Zacharias, it is a fast day.' The latter said to him, 'But, Father, have we not eaten?' The old man said to him, 'What we have eaten came through charity but, my child, let us keep our own fast.'

On the Evils That Proceed from Rejecting Free Will (St. Syncletike of Alexandria)

By St. Athanasius of Alexandria

(From the Teachings of Saint Syncletike)

81. One of the soul-destroying wild beasts is to be dragged down on the part of those who talk about fate, even if they call it 'genesis.' This is the most terrible nail of the devil. When often he only moves pestilential illusion against the mind of serious souls, and then he flies away; but he dominates the more negligent. For no one of those living according to virtue believes in or accepts the deranged and vain notion of this one. For he places God as the beginning of all goods that have existed and that now exist; and secondly he appoints God in his own mind as the chief and judge of virtue and vice. Such ones who have suffered from thoughtlessness and apathy come immediately to that demon. For just as children who desert their post and do not recall the education from their parents for their use, they, shrinking back, gain possession of the desert spaces and are united with wild and barbarous demons. For fearing to place the blame for their own actions on their intentions, they calumniate things that are not there.

Ten Simple Yet Profound Sayings of Saint Methodia of Kimolos

By St. Methodia of Kimolos

1. We carnal humans do not turn our minds to death. God tells us to prepare ourselves, because we do not know the hour and the moment.

2. This world is like a dream.

3. Hate the corruptible things of this vain world and its pleasures, and follow our Creator.

Additional Tales and Sayings of Abba Moses the Ethiopian in the 'Apophthegmata'

1. When a certain brother in Scete was going to the harvest, he went to Abba Moses the Ethiopian, and said unto him, “Father, tell me what I shall do; shall I go to the harvest?” and Abba Moses said unto him, “If I tell you, will you be persuaded to do as I say?” And the brother said unto him, “Yes, I will hearken unto you.” The old man said unto him, “If you will be persuaded by me, rise up, go, and release yourself from going to the harvest, and come unto me, and I will tell you what you shall do.” The brother therefore departed and obtained his release from his companions, as the old man had told him, and then he came to him. And the old man said unto him, “Go into your cell and keep Pentecost, and you shall eat dry bread and salt once a day, and after you have done this I will tell you something else to do later on.” And he went and did as the old man had told him, and then came to him again. Now when the old man saw that he was one who worked with his hands, he showed him the proper way to live in his cell; and the brother went to his cell, and fell on his face upon the ground, and for three whole days and nights he wept before God. And after these things, when his thoughts were saying unto him, “TYou are now an exalted person, and you have become a great man,” he used to contradict them, and set before his eyes his former shortcomings, and say, “Thus were all your offenses.” And again, when they used to say to him, “You have performed many things negligently,” he would say, “Nevertheless I do small services for God, and He shows His mercy upon me.” And when by such means as these the spirits had been overcome, they appeared unto him in the form of corporeal creatures, and said unto him, “We have been vanquished by you”; and he said unto them, “Why?” and they said unto him, “If we humble you, we are raised up by you to an exalted position, and if we exalt you we are accounted by you for humility.”

Three Sayings Attributed to the Apostle Matthias

1. But the begining of this is to marvel at things, as Plato says in the Theatetus and as Matthias says in the Traditions when he urges, "Marvel at what is present," laying this down as the first step toward the knowledge of things beyond.

- Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 2.9.45.4