Inspirations

2 I do not know how to stretch the thread, nor weave the cloth, nor what they weave as they enter the contest. Whose son could speak here such words that he would be above and his father below?

3 He is the one who knows how to stretch the thread and weave the cloth; he will speak the right words. He who understands this is the guardian of immortality; though he moves below another, he sees above him.

4 This is the first priest of the oblation; look at him. This is the immortal light among mortals. This is the one who was born and firmly fixed, the immortal growing great in his body.

5 He is light firmly fixed for everyone to see, the thought swiftest among all who fly. All the gods, with one mind and one will, rightly come to the one source of thought.

6 My ears fly open, my eye opens, as does this light that is fixed in my heart. My mind flies up, straining into the distance. What shall I say? What shall I think?

7 All the gods bowed to you in fear, Agni, when you hid yourself in darkness. May Agni Of-all-men save us with his help; may the immortal save us with his help.

The Hidden Agni

1 The one sea with many births, support of treasures, he sees out of our heart. He clings to the udder in the lap of the two who are concealed; the path of the bird is hidden in the midst of the fountain.

2 The buffaloes bursting with seed, veiling themselves have united with the mares in the same stable. The poets hide the path of the Truth; they keep secret their highest names.

3 The two who are made of Truth yet made of magic have come together; they have made a child and given birth to him and made him grow. He is the navel of all that moves and is firm, who with his mind stretches the thread of the poet.

4 For the waves of truth, the refreshing foods, have always clung to the well-born child for reward. Wearing a cloak, the two world-halves made him grow on butter and food and honey.

5 Full of desire, the wise one brought the seven red sisters out of the honey to see. Born long ago, he was yoked in mid-air; seeking a robe to hide him, he found Puan’s.

6 The poets fashioned seven boundaries; he who was trapped went to only one of them. The pillar of life’s vigour, he stands in the nest of the Highest, among the supports at the end of the paths.

7 Non-existence and existence are in the highest heaven, in the lap of Aditi and the birth of Daka. Agni is for us the first-born of Truth in the ancient vigour of life: the bull – and also the cow.

From The Desert Fathers

Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

Visions

1. A brother went to the cell of Arsenius in Scetis, and looked in through the window, and saw him like fire from head to foot. (He was a brother worthy to see such sights.) When he knocked, Arsenius came out, and saw the brother standing there amazed, and said to him, ‘Have you been knocking long? Did you see anything?’ He answered, ‘No.’ After talking with him, Arsenius sent him on his way.

2. Daniel used to say that Arsenius told him a story, as if he were speaking of some other man, and it went like this: Whilst a certain hermit was sitting in his cell, a voice came to him which said, ‘Come here, and I will show you the works of the children of men,’ so he got up and went out. The voice led him out and showed him a black man cutting wood; he made up a large bundle and wanted to take it away, but he could not do so. Then instead of making the bundle smaller, he went and cut down some more wood, and added it to the first, and this he did many times. When he had gone on a little further, the voice showed him a man who was standing by a pit drawing up water; he poured it out into a certain hollowed-out place, and when he had poured the water into it, it ran down back into the pit. Again the voice said to him, ‘Come, and I will show you other things.’ Then he looked, and, behold, there was a temple, and two men on horseback were carrying a piece of wood as wide as the temple between them. They wanted to go in through the door, but the width of the wood did not let them do so, and they would not humble themselves to go in one after his companion to bring it in end-wise, and so they remained outside the door. Now these are the men who bear the yoke of righteousness with boasting, and they will not be humble enough to correct themselves and go in by the humble way of Christ, and therefore they remain outside the kingdom of God. The man who was cutting wood is the man who labours at many sins, and who, instead of repenting and diminishing his sins, adds other wickednesses to them. Now he who was drawing water is the man who does good works, but because other things are mingled in his good works they are lost. It is right for us to be watchful in all we do, lest we toil in vain.

3. Daniel the disciple of Arsenius used to talk also about a hermit in Scetis, saying that he was a great man but simple in the faith, and in his ignorance he thought and said that the bread which we receive is not in very truth the Body of Christ, but a symbol of His Body. Two of the monks heard what he said but because they knew of his sublime works and labours, they imagined that he had said it in innocence and simple-mindedness; and so they came to him and said unto him, ‘Abba, someone told us something that we do not believe; he said that this bread that we receive is not in very truth the Body of Christ, but a mere symbol.’ He said to them, ‘I said that.’ They begged him, saying, ‘You mustn’t say that, abba; according to what the Catholic Church has handed down to us, even so do we believ

e, that is to say, this bread is the Body of Christ in very truth, and is not a mere symbol. It is the same as when God took dust from the earth, and made man in His image; just as no one can say that he is not the image of God, so also with the bread of which He said, “This is My Body” is not to be regarded as a merely commemorative thing; we believe that it is indeed the Body of Christ.’ The hermit said, ‘Unless I can be convinced by the thing itself I will not listen to this.’ Then the monks said to him, ‘Let us pray to God all week about this mystery, and we believe that He will reveal the truth to us.’ The hermit agreed to this with great joy, and each went to his cell. Then the hermit prayed, saying, ‘O Lord, you know that it is not out of wickedness that I do not believe, so in order that I may not go astray through ignorance, reveal to me, Lord Jesus Christ, the truth of this mystery.’ The other two brothers prayed to God and said, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, give this hermit understanding about this mystery, and we believe that he will not be lost.’ God heard the prayer of the two monks. When the week was over they came to the church, and the three of them sat down by themselves on one seat, the hermit between the other two. The eyes of their understanding were opened, and when the time of the mysteries arrived, and the bread was laid upon the holy table, there appeared to the three of them as it were a child on the table. Then the priest stretched out his hand to break the bread, and behold the angel of the Lord came down from heaven with a knife in his hand, and he killed the child and pressed out his blood into the cup. When the priest broke off from the bread small pieces, the hermit went forward to receive communion and a piece of living flesh smeared and dripping with blood was given to him. Now when he saw this he was afraid and he cried out loudly, saying, ‘Lord, I believe that the bread is Your Body, and that the cup is Your Blood.’ At once the flesh that was in his hand became bread, and he took it and gave thanks to God. The brothers said to him, ‘God knows the nature of men, and that we are unable to eat living flesh, and so He turneth His Body into bread, and His Blood into wine for those who receive Him in faith.’ Then they gave thanks to God for the hermit, because He had not let Satan destroy him, and the three of them went back to their cells joyfully.

4. Daniel told a story of another hermit who used to live in the lower parts of Egypt, and who said in his simplicity that Melchizedek was the Son of God. Now when the blessed man Theophilus, the archbishop of Alexandria, heard of it, he sent a message asking the monks to bring the hermit to him. When he saw him, he realized that he was a man of vision and that everything that he had asked for God had given him, and that he had only said this out of simplicity. The archbishop dealt with him wisely in the following manner, saying, ‘Abba, pray to God for me, because I have begun to think that Melchizedek was the Son of God,’ and he added, ‘It cannot be true, for the high priest of God was a man. But because I had doubts in my mind about this, I sent for you to pray to God for me that He may reveal the truth of the matter to you.’ Then, because the hermit had confidence in the power of prayer, he said to him firmly, ‘Wait three days, and I will ask God about this and then I shall be able to tell you who Melchizedek was.’ So the hermit went away, and returned after three days, and said to the blessed Archbishop Theophilus, ‘Melchizedek was a man.’ The archbishop said unto him, ‘How do you know that, abba?’ The hermit said, ‘God showed me all the Patriarchs, one by one, and they passed before me one after the other, from Adam to Melchizedek, and an angel said to me, “This is Melchizedek.” That is indeed how the truth of this matter appeared to me.’ The hermit went away, and he himself proclaimed that Melchizedek was a man, and the blessed Theophilus rejoiced greatly.

5. In that place when Ephriam of holy memory was a boy, he saw in sleep, or by revelation, that a vine was planted on his tongue and it grew and filled the whole earth with very great fruitfulness and so all the birds of the air came and ate the fruits of that vine and spread the fruit further.

6. One of the monks saw in a dream a company of angels coming down from heaven by the commandment of God, and one of them held in his hand a scroll that was written on the inside and on the outside, and the angels said to each other, ‘Who is fit to be entrusted with this?’ Then some of them mentioned one man and others another, and others answered and said, ‘Indeed those you mention are holy and righteous, but not sufficiently so to be trusted with this thing.’ After they had considered many names of the saints, they finally said, ‘No one is fit to be entrusted with this except Ephriam.’ Then the hermit who was having this vision saw that they gave the scroll to Ephriam. When he got up in the morning, he heard that they were saying, ‘Ephriam is teaching, and words flow from his mouth like water from a fountain.’ Then the hermit who had seen the vision realized that whatever he said came from the Holy Spirit.

7. It was said about Zeno that when he was living in Scetis he went out of his cell at night, going towards the marshes. He spent three days and three nights there wandering at random. At last, tired out, his strength failed him, and he fell down as though dying when suddenly a little child stood before him with bread and a jar of water and said to him, ‘Get up, and eat.’ He stood up and prayed, thinking that it was an illusion. The child said to him, ‘You have done well.’ He prayed a second, and then a third time. The child said again, ‘You have done well.’ Then the hermit got up, took some of the food and ate. The child said to him, ‘As far as you have walked, so far are you from your cell. So then, get up and follow me.’ Immediately he found himself in his cell. Then the hermit said to the child, ‘Come in and let us pray.’ But when Zeno went inside, the other had vanished.

8. John said that a hermit saw in a rapture three monks standing on the edge of the sea and a voice came to them from the other side saying, ‘Take wings of fire and come to me.’ The first two did so and reached the other shore, but the third stayed where he was crying and weeping. Later on wings were given to him also, not of fire but weak and feeble so that he reached the other shore with great difficulty, sometimes in the water, sometimes over it. So it is with the present generation: the wings they are given are not of fire; they are weak and feeble.

9. When Macarius was living in the utter desert he was the only one who lived as a solitary, but lower down there was another desert where several brothers lived. One day he glanced down the road and he saw Satan coming along looking like a man, who passed by Macarius’ dwelling. He seemed to be wearing a cotton garment full of holes and a small flask hung at each hole. Macarius said to him, ‘Hey, mister, where are you off to?’ He said, ‘I’m going to stir up the memories of the monks.’ The hermit said, ‘What are these small flasks for?’ He replied, ‘I’m taking food for the brethren to taste.’ The hermit said, ‘So many kinds?’ He replied, ‘Yes, if a brother doesn’t like one sort of food, I offer him another, and if he doesn’t like the second any better, I offer him a third; and of all these varieties he’ll like one at least.’ With these words he went on; Macarius remained watching the road until he saw him coming back again. When he saw the devil, he said to him, ‘Good health to you.’ The other replied, ‘How can I be in good health?’ The hermit asked him what he meant, and he replied, ‘Because they all opposed me, and no one received me.’ Macarius said, ‘Ah, so you didn’t find any friends down there?’ He replied, ‘Yes, I have one monk who is a friend down there. He at least obeys me and when he sees me he changes like the wind.’ The hermit asked him the name of this monk: ‘Theopemptus,’ he replied. With these words he went away. Then Macarius got up and went to the desert below his own. When they heard of it the brothers took branches of palm to go to meet him. Each one got ready, thinking that it was to him that the hermit was coming. But he asked which was the one called Theopemptus, and when he had found out, it was to his cell that he went. Theopemptus received him with joy. When he was alone with him Macarius asked him, ‘How are you getting on?’ Theopemptus replied, ‘Thanks to your prayers, all goes well.’ The hermit asked him, ‘Don’t your thoughts war against you?’ He replied: ‘Up to now, it’s all ri

ght,’ for he was afraid to admit anything. The hermit said to him, ‘Well, after so many years living as an ascetic, and being praised by all, though I am old, the spirit of fornication troubles me.’ Theopemptus said, ‘As a matter of fact, abba, it is the same for me.’ Macarius went on admitting that other thoughts still warred against him, until he had brought him to admit them about himself. Then Macarius said, ‘How long do you fast?’ He replied, ‘Till the ninth hour.’ ‘Practise fasting till a little later,’ he said. ‘Meditate on the Gospel and the other Scriptures; if a bad thought comes to you, don’t look at it but always look upwards, and the Lord will come at once to your help.’ When he had given the brother this rule, Macarius returned to his solitude. He was watching the road once more when he saw the devil, and he said to him, ‘Where are you going this time?’ He replied, ‘To stir up the memories of the brothers,’ and he went on his way. When he came back the saint asked him, ‘How are the brothers?’ He told him that it had gone badly and Macarius asked him why. He replied, ‘They are all obdurate, and the worst is the one friend I had who used to obey me. I don’t know what has changed him, but he doesn’t obey me any more; he’s become the most stubborn of them all. So I have decided not to go down there again or at least not for a very long time.’ When he had said this he went away and Macarius returned to his cell adoring and thanking God the Saviour.

10. Macarius wanted to encourage the brothers so he said, ‘A little while ago a mother came here with her son who was vexed by a devil, and he said to his mother, “Get up, let us go away from here.” But she said, “My feet are so bad that I can’t walk away.” So her son said to her, “I will carry you.” I am amazed at the cleverness of the devil, how much he wanted them to flee from this place.’

11. He also told the brothers about the devastation of Scetis. He said, ‘When you see cells built beside the swamp know that the desolation of Scetis is near; when you see trees planted there know that it is at the door; when you see boys there, take your sheepskins and go away.’