Speaking Into Solitude: The Desert Fathers

“...tell me, I pray thee, how fares the human race: if new roofs be risen in the ancient cities, whose empire is it that now sways the world”?
These words by the hermit St. Paul have a weird appropriateness today. Hermit-like, many of us are sequestered by a disease. Alone, or alone with our families, we feel like we’re losing track of the events of daily life. But of course, we can’t really be as sheltered as he was. We’re instantly informed the moment anything happens around the world, whether it affects us or not, whether we can do anything about it or not.
So in the middle of this involuntary isolation, I wanted to offer up a series of quotations from some of the ancient experts, who chose to embrace the challenges of solitude in order to mine its blessings.
 
“What therefore thou findest that thy soul desireth in following God, that do, and keep thy heart.” -anonymous
“Who sits in solitude and is quiet hath escaped from three wars: hearing, speaking, seeing: yet against one thing shall he continually battle: that is, his own heart.” -the abbot Antony
“It sufficeth... if he sleep for one hour: that is, if he be a fighter.” -the abbot Arsenius
“If in desireing to rebuke any one thou art thyself moved to anger, thou dost satisfy thine own passion; in saving another, lose not thyself.” -the abbot Marcarius
“Indeed, brother, I had forgotten what solace men may have in food.” – anonymous
“Nothing so dispirits the demon of lust as when his assaults are revealed. And nothing so heartens him as when his imaginations are kept secret.” – anonymous
“Behold, here am I alone, and nevertheless [anger] hath conquered me. I shall return to the community, for in all places there is need for struggle and for patience and above all for the help of God.” – anonymous
“When thou hast first laboured in that whereof thou speakest, then speak from out the thing itself.” -the abbot Theodore
“Unless thou shalt first amend thy life going to and fro amongst others, thou shalt not avail to amend it dwelling alone.” -the abbot Lucius
“Grant me this, Lord, in Thy tender mercy, to have at least the beginnings of right living.” -the abbot Arsenius
“This is the story... I tell you, now that I am old... And do ye tell it to those that come after you, how amid swords and deserts and wild beasts, chastity never was captive: and how a man devoted to Christ may die, but cannot be defeated.” – St. Jerome

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