Desert Fathers: Guarding the wellspring
A brother said to Sisois, “I want to guard my heart.”
He said to him, “How can we guard the heart if our tongue leaves the door of the fortress open?”
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V
TOT: Getting Right With God
This month’s theology on Tap was brought to a close by Deacon Ray Arnold with his talk entitled “Getting right with God: Making the most of your Lent”. The talk, the Q&A session and the audience response are all available for download below.
Main Talk (Download)
Q&A (Download)
Response (Download)
I had my last meeting for the Young Adult Commission recently – we’ve got some more great talks lined up for the next Theology On Tap!
Desert Fathers: Meribah Men
A grumbler is not a monk. Anyone who gives evil for evil is not a monk. An irritable man is not a monk
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V
Desert Fathers: The Devil Loves Dusty Bibles
A hermit said, “the prophets wrote books. Our predecessors came after them, and worked hard at them, and then their successors memorized them. But this generation copies them onto papyrus and parchment and leaves them unused on the window-ledge.
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V
Desert Fathers: Our sins and the sins of others
Once there was a meeting of monks in Scetis, and they discussed the case of a guilty brother but Pior said nothing.
Afterwards he got up and went out, took a sack, filled it with sand, and carried it on his shoulders. He put a little sand in a basket and carried it in front of him.
The monks asked him, “What are you doing?” He answered, “The sack with a lot of sand is my sins; they are many, so I put them on my back and then I shall not weep for them. The basket with a little sand is the sins of our brother and they are in front of me, and I see them and judge them. This is not right. I ought to have my own sins in front of me, and think about them, and ask God to forgive me.”
When the monks heard this, they said, “This is the true way of salvation”Â
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V
“How to become Pope” aka “My Master Plan”
I’m sneaking in a non-Desert Fathers related post because I’m sure most Catholics are going to be increasingly pestered with more questions as to how a Pope is elected. So, if you want to sound smart you can either read about it over at Shameless Popery, or watch this snazzy video:
Desert Fathers: Away from annoying people
A brother was restless in his community and he was often irritated. So he said, “I will go and live somewhere by myself. I will not be able to talk or listen to anyone and so I shall be at peace, and my passionate anger will cease.” He went out and lived alone in a cave.
But one day he filled his jug with water and put it on the ground. Suddenly it happened to fall over. He filled it again, and again it fell. This happened a third time. In a rage he snatched up the jug and smashed it.
Coming to his senses, he knew that the demon of anger had mocked him, and he said, “Here am I by myself, and he has beaten me. I will return to the community. Where you live, you need effort and patience and above all God’s help.” So he got up, and went back.
– De vitis Patrum, Sive Verba Seniorum, Liber V