The principal struggle - St Anthony the Great

And that said, the man who lives in the desert and abides in contemplation is free from the threefold struggle: for hearing, for speaking and for seeing. He only has to fight for the heart.

The first thing that struck me in the above sentence was the information that the desert dweller is not free from struggle at all. There is a constant battle for his heart - the most important battle that can take place in a person's life.

It seems to me that Abba Anthony emphasises this on purpose, so that some people don't think that escaping to the desert is a demanding but ultimately comfortable option, because it relieves them of a lot of effort. It is not.

In fact. Retreating to the desert frees one from certain circumstances which, in normal life, give rise to temptations and can lead to falling into sin. But the absence of occasions to sin does not make a person virtuous, nor does it guarantee that he will turn his heart to God.

The struggle of which Anthony speaks is precisely this. For the heart of man not only to be free from sin, but to be full of love for God. It is a struggle for this love to find concrete expression. Concrete manifestations. 

It is interesting to read this reflection from the perspective of modern man, who has come to live in a world that is as far from the ideal of the desert as it is possible to be. In a world where it is difficult to find a space of true silence, where no sound can reach except that of nature. In a world where streams of messages (because not even words themselves, if you consider any kind of social media based on film or images) are thrown out. In a world that tries to influence people in so many ways through what they see.

So the basic struggle of many modern people is the struggle to find at least a patch of desert for themselves. It is a struggle, by the way, that many lose because they see no point in it.

This struggle is so absorbing that it often overshadows the need to fight for one's heart. 

And that seems to be something worth thinking about.

Love your cell - St Anthony the Great

He also said: "Just as a fish that lingers too long on the shore perishes, so monks who delay returning to their cells or who quarrel with lay people lose their ability to concentrate. Therefore, as a fish returns to the sea, so we must return to our cells: lest, by staying too long outside, we forget our inner vigilance".

For the desert monks, the cell was the centre of all life. It was a defined area where they lived, worked, prayed and ate their meals. They rarely and reluctantly left it, seeing the permanence of the place as one of the means of attaining holiness.

The cell offered a certain space of freedom from distractions that made it difficult to concentrate on the things of God.

The comparison used by Saint Anthony is reminiscent of the description of a living environment, specific to certain organisms. For fish it is water, for monks it is a cell.

It is possible to be outside the right environment, but only for a short time. If it is prolonged, there are negative consequences.

The question that arises in me after reading this Apoftegma is: What is my environment? What conditions help me to develop optimally?

In other words. In which places am I most distracted? What harms me most?

In other words, what is my purpose? Where is it?

I know that I will not be able to live like the monks, like Saint Anthony. I don't have the opportunity to lock myself up in a small cell, completely cut off from the world. But perhaps I should create a kind of substitute? To find my place, a time when I can concentrate on my relationship with God. A fixed ritual through which my inner alertness and focus will grow.

Life of the neighbour - St Anthony the Great

He also said: "Life or death depends on our neighbour. For if we have won our brother, we have won God; but if we have rebuked our brother, we have sinned against Christ".

There is much room for charity in the spirituality of the Desert Fathers.

They are not hindered by an ascetic life, they are not hindered by seclusion. In their neighbour they try to see Christ coming to them, in accordance with the Gospel.

Therefore, the above sentence of Saint Anthony should not be considered in relation to the Gospel in which we read: "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me".

This seems to be the source of the thought expressed by Saint Anthony.

This phrase also shows that even if the flight to the desert involved a withdrawal from the community, from a certain way of life in which it was more difficult to focus on God, it was not a withdrawal from human beings. Going into the desert, motivated by the commandment to love God, did not exempt one from the obligation to observe the commandment to love one's neighbour.

The fact was, as we will see in the later Apocalypses, that this demonstration of love for others could sometimes take a hard or harsh form. Sometimes it involved a difficult trial or a harsh admonition. But showing love to the other person was never neglected.

In fact, I would like to say a few words on the subject of scandal as we read this Apophthegmata. It seems that modern man does not really understand it. Perhaps in a different way. He understands it in a very one-sided way.

It's very easy for us to use the concept of scandal when we are offended by someone's unseemly, inappropriate or downright evil behaviour. We are then able to clearly identify the source of our offence and condemn the offender and his offending behaviour. We adopt an attitude of indignation and are prepared to draw the consequences, or at least to demand them from people who are in a position to do so.

Outrage also has the ability to become an excuse for us to walk away, change a decision, etc.

We take a more lenient view of the issue when we are the ones accused of the offending behaviour. When we are the ones being blamed. 

Then it is much easier for us to wave our hands, to dismiss the matter with disdain, to treat it as unimportant.

In fact, it is easier for us to make demands on others than on ourselves.

Sometimes it is worth stopping and thinking. Is what I am doing wrong? For example, is someone offended by the fact that I speak beautifully about the things of God, but on closer inspection of my life it is impossible to see that I am at all concerned about my own words?

If we have despised a brother.... That is, if we have in any way made him a worse person, if we have made him doubt, if we have made him fall....

"Whatever you did to one of the least of these brothers of mine..."