Monasteries
are indeed houses of mourning. There is sackcloth and ashes, there is
solitude, there is no laughter, no pressure of worldly business. There
is fasting,
and lying upon the ground; there is no impure savor of rich food, no
blood shed, no tumult, no disturbance, or crowding. There is a serene
harbor. They are as lights shining from a lofty place to mariners afar
off. They are stationed at the port, drawing all men
to their own calm, and preserving from shipwreck those who gaze on
them, and not letting those walk in darkness who look there. Go to them,
and make friends with them, embrace their holy feet, more honorable to touch than the heads of others. If some clasp the feet of statues,
because they bear but a likeness of the king, will you not clasp his
feet who has Christ within him, and be saved? The Saints' feet are holy, though they are poor men, but not even the head of the profane is honorable.
Such efficacy is there in the feet of the Saints, that when they shake
off the dust of their feet, they inflict punishment. When a saint is
among us, let us not be ashamed of anything that belongs to him. And
all are saints, who unite a holy life with a right faith and though they do not work miracles nor cast out devils, still they are saints.
Go then to their tabernacles. To go to the monastery of a holy
man is to pass, as it were, from earth to heaven. You see not there
what is seen in a private house. That company is free from all impurity.
There is silence and profound quiet. The words mine and yours
are not in use among them. And if you remain there a whole day or even
two, the more pleasure you will enjoy. There, as soon as it is day, or
rather before day, the cock crows, and you see it not as you may see it
in a house, the servants snoring, the doors shut, all sleeping like the
dead, while the muleteer without is ringing his bells. There is nothing
of all this. All, immediately shaking off sleep, reverently rise when
their President calls them, and forming themselves into a holy choir, they stand, and lifting up their hands all at once sing the sacred hymns.
For they are not like us, who require many hours to shake off sleep
from our heavy heads. We indeed, as soon as we are waked, sit some time
stretching our limbs, go as nature calls, then proceed to wash our face
and our hands; afterwards we take our shoes and clothes, and a deal of
time is spent.
It is not so there. No one calls for his servant, for each waits upon
himself: neither does he require many clothes, nor need to shake off
sleep. For as soon as he opens his eyes, he is like one who has been
long awake in collectedness. For when the heart is not stifled within
by excess of food, it soon recovers itself, and is immediately wakeful.
The hands are always pure; for his sleep is composed and regular. No one
among them is found snoring or breathing hard, or tossing about in
sleep, or with his body exposed; but they lie in sleep as decently as
those who are awake, and all this is the effect of the orderly state of
their souls. These are truly saints and angels among men. And marvel not when you hear these things. For their great fear
of God suffers them not to go down into the depths of sleep, and to
drown their minds, but it falls lightly upon them, merely affording them
rest. And as their sleep is, such are their dreams, not full of wild
fancies and monstrous visions.
But, as I said, at the crowing of the cock their President comes, and
gently touching the sleeper with his foot, rouses them all. For there
are none sleeping naked. Then as soon as they have arisen they stand up,
and sing the prophetic hymns
with much harmony, and well composed tunes. And neither harp nor pipe
nor other musical instrument utters such sweet melodies, as you hear
from the singing of these saints in their deep and quiet solitudes. And the songs themselves too are suitable, and full of the love of God. In the night,
they say, lift up your hands unto God. With my soul have I desired You in the night, yea with my spirit within me will I seek You early,
Isaiah 26:9 And the Psalms of David, that cause fountains of tears to flow. For when he sings, I am weary with my groaning, all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears
Psalm 6:6: and, again, I have eaten ashes like bread.
Psalm 102:9 What is man that you are mindful of him?
Psalm 8:4 Man is like to vanity, his days are as a shadow that passes away.
Psalm 144:4 Be not afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased
Psalm 49:16; and, Who makes men to be of one mind in a house
Psalm 68:6: and, Seven times a day do I praise You, because of Your righteous judgments
Psalm 119:164: and, At midnight will I rise to give thanks unto You, because of Your righteous judgments
Psalm 119:62: and, God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave
Psalm 49:15: and, Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me
Psalm 23:4: and, I
will not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that
flies by day, nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor for the
destruction that wasts at noonday
Psalm 91:5-6: and, We are counted as sheep for the slaughter
Psalm 43:22: he expresses their ardent love to God. And again, when they sing with the Angels, (for Angels too are singing then,) Praise the Lord from the Heavens.
Psalm 148:1
And we meanwhile are snoring, or scratching our heads, or lying supine
meditating endless deceits. Think what it was for them to spend the
whole night in this employment.
And when the day is coming on, they take rest again; for when we
begin our works, they have a season of rest. But each of us, when it is
day, calls upon his neighbor, takes account of his outgoings, then
goes into the forum; trembling he appears before the magistrate, and
dreads a reckoning. Another visits the stage, another goes about his own
business. But these holy men, having performed their morning prayers and hymns, proceed to the reading of the Scriptures.
There are some too that have learned to write out books, each having
his own apartment assigned to him, where he lives in perpetual quiet; no
one is trifling, not one speaks a word. Then at the third, sixth, and
ninth hours, and in the evening, they perform their devotions, having
divided the day into four parts, and at the conclusion of each they honor God with psalms and hymns, and while others are dining, laughing, and sporting, and bursting with gluttony, they are occupied with their hymns.
For they have no time for the table nor for these things of sense.
After their meal they again pursue the same course, having previously
given themselves a while to sleep. The men of the world sleep during the
day: but these watch during the night. Truly children of light are
they! And while the former, having slept away the greater part of the
day, go forth oppressed with heaviness, these are still collected,
remaining without food till the evening, and occupied in hymns.
Other men, when evening overtakes them, hasten to the baths, and
different recreations, but these, being relieved from their labors, then
betake themselves to their table, not calling up a multitude of
servants, nor throwing the house into bustle and confusion, nor setting
before them high-seasoned dishes, and rich-steaming viands, but some
only partaking of bread and salt,
to which others add oil, while the weakly have also herbs and pulse.
Then after sitting a short time, or rather after concluding all with hymns,
they each go to rest upon a bed made for repose only and not for
luxury. There is no dread of magistrates, no lordly arrogance, no terror
of slaves, no disturbance of women
or children, no multitudes of chests, or superfluous laying by of
garments, no gold or silver, no guards and sentinels, no storehouse.
Nothing of all these, but all there is full of prayer, of hymns, and of a spiritual savor. Nothing carnal is there. They fear no attacks of robbers, having nothing of which they can be deprived, no wealth, but a soul and body, of which if they are robbed, it is not a loss but a gain. For it is said, To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:21 They have freed themselves from all bonds. Truly, The voice of gladness is in the tabernacles of the righteous.
Psalm 118:15
There is no such thing to be heard there as wailing and lamentation.
Their roof is free from that melancholy and those cries. Deaths happen
there indeed, for their bodies are not immortal, but they know not death, as death. The departed are accompanied to the grave with hymns.
This they call a procession, not a burial; and when it is reported
that any one is dead, great is their cheerfulness, great their pleasure;
or rather not one of them can bear to say that one is dead, but that he
is perfected. Then there is thanksgiving, and great glory, and joy, every one praying
that such may be his own end, that so his own combat may terminate, and
he may rest from his labor and struggles, and may see Christ. And if
any is sick, instead of tears and lamentations they have recourse to prayers. Often not the care of physicians, but faith alone relieves the sick. And if a physician be necessary, then too there is the greatest firmness and philosophy.
There is no wife tearing her hair, nor children bewailing their orphan
state before the time, nor slaves entreating the dying man to give them
an assurance that they shall be committed to good hands. Escaping from
all these, the soul looks but to one thing at its last breath, that it may depart in favor with God. And if disease occurs, the causes of it are matter of glory rather than of reproach, as in other cases. For it proceeds not from gluttony nor fullness of the head, but from intense watchfulness and fasting,
or the like causes; and hence it is easily removed, for it is
sufficient for its removal to abate the severity of these exercises.
