Fruit of words
“Do not let your mouth speak an evil word: the vine does not bear thorns”
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V
Month: September 2013
Encouragement
Poemen said, “If a man sins and denies it, saying, ‘I have not sinned,’ do not correct him, or you will destroy any intention he might have of changing. If you say, ‘Do not be cast down, my brother, but be careful about that in future,’ you will move his heart to repent”
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V
Nativity of the Theotokos
I know I’m off in the desert and not meant to be posting, but I couldn’t really pass up a quick post for the birthday of Mary, the mother of God:
Your birth, O Theotokos, brought joy to the whole world, for from you dawned the sun of righteousness, Christ our God. Freeing us from the curse, He gave us His blessings. Abolishing death, He granted us eternal life.
– Apolytikion, Nativity of the Theotokos
Bearing Fruit
[Syncletica] also said, “The same thing cannot at once be seed and a full-grown bush. So men with a worldly reputation cannot bear heavenly fruit.”
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V
The God of hidden things
Ephriam was passing by when a harlot (she was the devil’s agent) began to make every effort to attract him to sinful intercourse: or, if she failed in this, at least to stir him to anger, for no one had ever seen him angry or brawling.
He said to her, “Come with me.” When they came to a crowded place, he said to her, “Come on, I will lie with you here as you wanted.”
She looked round at the crowed and said, “How can we do it here, with all these people standing round? We should be ashamed.”
He said, “If you blush before men, should you not blush the more before God, who discloses the hidden things of darkness?” So she went away confused and taken aback, without gaining anything.
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V
Judging Unchastity
A hermit said, “Do not judge an adulterer if you are chaste or you will break the law of God just as much as he does. For he who said “Do not commit adultery” also said “Do not judge”
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V
Taming the tongue
“The monk who cannot control his tongue when he is angry, will not control his passions at other times”.
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V