The “Desert Fathers” are monks who went to the deserts of Egypt, Palestine and Syria in the fourth and fifth centuries to live there in silence and prayer. Their spiritual wisdom is recorded in collections of short “sayings” and other texts. Here are a few selections.

Blessed is the monk who sees God in everyone. A monk knows that he is one with everyone, for he always finds himself in every person.

Abbot Poimen asked Father Joseph, “Tell me how to become a monk.” He answered: “If you want to find tranquility wherever you are, then, whatever you’re doing, say, ‘Me? Who am I anyway?’ and judge no one.”

One father said: “Whether you’re awake or asleep, whatever you may do, if you keep God before your eyes, then there’s nothing of which the enemy can make you anxious. If your thoughts dwell in God, then the power of God also dwells in you.”

Be careful when you’re praying that you don’t cling to representations; rather, persevere in a deep silence. Only then will he, who has mercy on the ignorant, visit such an insignificant person as you and give you the greatest of all gifts: prayer.

One of the Fathers said: “If the tree isn’t shaken back and forth by the wind, then it doesn’t grow and it doesn’t take root. So is it also with the monk: if he isn’t tempted and if he doesn’t endure the temptation, he doesn’t become a man.”

A brother asked an abbot: “Why do I become anxious when I go out alone at night?” The abbot said: “Because you still value the life of this world.”

A desert father said: “Unceasing prayer improves the spirit in a very short time.”

The person who can’t forget insults and irritations and, even so, tries to pray, is like someone who draws water out of a well and pours it into a jar full of holes.

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