Becoming Fire: Throught the Year with the Desert Fathers and Mothers

564 Pages·18.085 MB·English

by  Tim Vivian

Through the Y ear with tl
Desert Fathers ai nd Mothe
Edited by Tim Vivian
Translations by
Apostolos N. Athanassakis, John Eudes Bamberger ocso, John Chryssavgis
Maged S. A. Mikhail, Birger A. Pearson, Pachomios (Robert) Penkett,
Norman Russell, Armand Veilleux ocso, Tim Vivian, and Benedicta Ward
Preface by Stephen Emmel
Foreword by Aelred Glidden osb

CISTERCIAN STUDIES SERIES; NUMBER TWO HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE
BeCOMIKlC FlRe
THROV/CH THFVFAR
WITH THE OeSeRT FATHERS AND MOTHERS

CISTERCIAN STUDIES SERIES: NUMBER TWO HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE
BecoMiKiq FiRe
THROVCH THFVeAR
WITH THF DFSeRT FATHERS
AND MOTHERS
Edited by
Tim Vivian
Translations by
Apostolos N. Athanassakis,John Eudes Bamberger ocso,
John Chryssavgis, Maged S. A. Mikhail, Birger A. Pearson,
Pachomios (Robert) Penkett, Norman Russell,
ArmandVeilleux ocso, Tim Vivian, & Benedicta Ward slg
Preface by Stephen Emmel
Foreword by Aelred Glidden OSB
a
Cistencian Publications
LITURGICAL PRESS
Collegeville, Minnesota
www.litpress.org
A Cistercian Publications title published by Liturgical Press
Cistercian Publications
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Abbey of Gethsemani
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Trappist, Kentucky 40051
www.cistercianpublications.org
Pubhcation of this book was made possible by support from
Western Michigan University to The Institute of Cistercian Studies.
© 2008 by Tim Vivian.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form,
by print, microfilm, microfiche, mechanical recording, photocopying, trans¬
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except brief quotations in reviews, without the previous written permission
of Liturgical Press, Saint John’s Abbey, P.O. Box 7500, CoUegeviUe, Minnesota
56321-7500. Printed in the United States of America.
\_2 3_4_5_6_7_8_9
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Becoming fire : through the year with the Desert Fathers and mothers /
edited by Tim Vivian ; translations by Apostolos N. Athanassakis . . .
[et ah] ; preface by Stephen Emniel ; foreword by Aelred Glidden.
p. cm. — (Cistercian studies series ; no. 225)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-87907-525-5 (pbk.)
1. Desert Fathers. 2. Spiritual life—Christianity—History—
Early church, ca. 30—600. 1.Vivian,Tim. IF Athanassakis,
Apostolos N. III.Title. IV. Series.
BR195.C5B4313 2008
270.2—dc22
2008021411
To Gary
spiritual person, radical life
gospel life
To Hany N.Takla
founding president of
The Saint Shenoute the Archimandrite Coptic Society
To the founding members of
Remain Episcopal, Bakersfield,
now Grace Episcopal Church

Ill the morning^, ii'hilc it u>as still very dark, Jesus <^ot up and went out
to a deserted place, and there he prayed. Mark 1:35
There is a difference between merely collecting’ recipes and actually
cooking and eating. Sufi master Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri
The spiritual life is the life of man’s real self, the life of that interior
self whose flame is so often allowed to be smothered under the ashes of
anxiety and futile concern. . . . The life of the spirit, by integrating us
in the real order established by God, puts us in the fullest possible con¬
tact with reality—not as we imagine it, but as it really is. It does so by
putting us in contact with our own real selves and placing them in the
presence of God.
Thomas Merton ocso, No Man is an Island
The work of the spiritual life is the radical remaking of the whole person.
John Eudes Bamberger ocso,
Thomas Merton: Prophet of Renewal
In Navajo, the word for ‘teach’ does not translate as ‘to tell’ but literally
means ‘to show’, ‘to describe by action’.
Joseph Epes Brown, Teaching Spirits
How could anyone really think that true reconciliation could avoid a
proper confrontation?
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, No Future without Forgiveness
That dangerous solitude.
Tim Farrington, The Monk Downstairs
You cannot be a monk unless you become like a consuming fire.
The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, joseph of Panephysis 6
Let the monk’s life be one that imitates the angel of the Lord, consum¬
ing sin with fire, for a monk’s life is a ivhole burnt-offering for those
who sin.
Flyperechius, Exhortation to the Monks 25
In the bej^inning there are a great many battles and a good deal of suf¬
fering for those udio arc advancing towards God and, afterwards, inef¬
fable joy. It is like those who wish to light a fire: at frst they are choked
by smoke and cry, and by this means obtain what they seek (as it is
said: ‘Our God is a consinning fire’). So we also must kindle the divine
fire in ourselves through tears and hard work.
Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Syncletica 1
A brother came to the cell of Abba Arsenins in Scetis. Waiting outside
the door, he saw the old man entirely like flame.
The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Arsenius 27
Abba Isaiah called one of the brothers, washed his feet, put a handful
of lentils into the pot, and brought them to him as soon as they had
boiled. The brother said to him, ‘They are not cooked, Abba’.
The old man replied, ‘Is it not enough simply to have seen the fire?
That alone is a great consolation’.
The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Isaiah 6
Abba Lot went to see Abba foseph and said to him, ‘Abba, as far as
I can, I say my little office, ffast a little, I pray and meditate, I live in
peace and, as far as I can, I purify my thoughts. What else can I do?’
Then the old man stood up and stretched his hands towards heaven.
His fingers became like ten lamps of fire and he said to him, ‘If you
want to, you can become all flame’.
The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Joseph of Panephysis 7