Uphold the Living Rather than Hold the Dead
A monk, seeing two men carrying a dead body on a stretcher, said to one of them: ‘Are you holding the dead? Go and uphold the living!’
An old monk received a visit from some thieves one day: ‘We’ve come to strip your cell.’ He answered: ‘My children, all you like to take is yours.’ The thieves cleared the place out and left. They forgot, however, a bag that was hanging on the wall.
The monk unhooked the bag and ran after them: ‘My children, you’ve forgotten this!’ They were astonished by the patience of the old man, and they went back and restored everything to its place in the cell, saying to one another: ‘Here truly is a man of God.’
Another old monk knew one of the brothers who, when he came to his cell, would always take something. He realized what was going on, but did not rebuke him. ‘Without doubt,’ he thought to himself, ‘he took it because he needed it.’
When the old monk was about to die, all the brothers were gathered round. He noticed the one who had so often stolen from him and called: ‘Come closer!’ Then he embraced the brother and said: ‘I’m thanking these hands of yours because through their merits I am going to the kingdom of heaven.’
The brother did penance and became an excellent monk, thanks to the lesson he had received.
Two brothers lived in the same place. One day an old man turned up, anxious to test them. With his walking-stick he began to wreak havoc on the vegetable patch of the first brother.
This brother saw him and hid. But when there was only one cabbage left, he came out of hiding and said to the old man: ‘Father, if you like, leave this one; I will cook it for you and we will eat it together.’
The old man bowed to the ground before him and exclaimed: ‘The Holy Spirit is with you, brother, because of your forbearance!’
Sayings of the Desert Fathers nos. 204ff. (PG65, 79)
Patience is our Martyrdom
Gregory the Great said:
‘You cannot acquire the gift of peace if by your anger you destroy the peace of the Lord.
‘True patience is to suffer the wrongs done to us by others in an unruffled spirit and without feeling resentment. Patience bears with others because it loves them; to bear with them and yet to hate them is not the virtue of patience but a smokescreen for anger.
‘True patience grows with the growth of love. We put up with our neighbours to the extent that we love them. If you love, you are patient. If you cease loving, you will cease being patient. The less we love, the less patience we show.
‘If we truly preserve patience in our souls, we are martyrs without being killed.’
Defensor Grammaticus
Book of Sparkling Sayings, 2 (SC77, pp.74ff.)
~ Thomas Spidlik, Drinking from the Hidden Fountain, A Patristic Breviary: Ancient Wisdom for Today’s World
