Sayings of Agathon of Scetis

Sayings of Agathon of Scetis

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rated from him, and each of them dwelt in a place by himself. One day he asked one of them, and said, " How dost thou live in thy cell?" And the disciple answered and said, "I fast until " evening, and then I eat two bread-cakes"; and AbbA Agathon said unto him, "It is a beautiful way of living, but it is "very laborious." Then AbbH Agathon said unto the other disciple, "And how dost thou live?" And the disciple answered and said unto him, "I fast two days at a time, and after each " fast I eat two bread-cakes." Then the old man said unto him, "Thou toilest greatly, and maintainest a twofold strife. For "one man eateth every day and filleth not his belly, and another fasteth two days at a time and taketh whatsoever he " needeth; but thou, though thou dost fast two days at a time, "dost not fill thy belly."

171. Abbd Agathon saw Abba Nastir wearing two shoulder wrappers, and he said unto him, " If a poor man were to come, "and ask thee for a garment, which of them wouldst thou "give him?" And Abba Nastir replied, "I would give him the "better of them"; and Abba Agathon said unto him, "And if "another poor man came, what wouldst thou give him?" Abba Nastir saith unto him, "I would give him the half of "that which remained." And Abba Agathon said unto him, "Supposing yet another beggar came, what wouldst thou "give unto him?" And Nastir said untohim, "I would cut the "half which remained into two pieces, and give one to him, "and with the other I would cover my body." And Abba Agathon said unto him, "And supposing yet another beggar " were to come?" and Nastir said, "I would give him what " was left. For though I do not wish to receive anything from 6 i any man, yet I would go and sit down in some place until " God sent me wherewith to cover myself."

ON one occasion certain brethren went to Abba Agathon, because they had heard that he took the greatest possible care that his mind should not be disturbed by anything, Z83. and they sought to try him, and to see if his mind would rise [to any matter]; and they said unto him, "Art thou indeed "Agathon? We have heard that thou art a whoremonger and a "boastful man." And Agathon said unto them, "Yea, I am." And again they said unto him, " Agathon, thou art a garrulous and talkative old man"; and he said unto them, "Indeed I am." And again they said unto him, " Agathon, thou art a heretic"; and he said unto them, " I am not a heretic." Then they said unto him, " Tell us now why in answer to all these things " which we have said to thee thou hast replied, i Yea,* and that " thou hast endured them all with the exception of the accu- " sation of being a heretic." Abb& Agathon said unto them, " The earlier things I accounted as profitable to my soul, but ' i heresy meaneth separation from God, and I do not wish to "be separated from God." And when the brethren heard [these words] they marvelled at his solicitude, and went away rejoicing.

308. Abba Agathon said concerning Abba M uain that, on one occasion, he made fifty bushels of wheat into bread for the needs of the community, and then laid it out in the sun, but before it became dry and hard he saw something in the place which was not helpful to him, and he said to the brethren who were with him, "Arise, let us go hence"; and they were greatly grieved. And when he saw that they were grieved, he said unto them, "Are ye troubled about the bread? Verily I " have seen men take to flight and forsake their cells, although "they were well whitewashed and contained cupboards which "were filled with books of the Holy Scriptures and service "books, and they did not even shut the cupboard doors, but "departed leaving them wide open."

318. Abbd Daniel used to say: Abbd Alexander dwelt with Abb£ Agathon, and the old man loved Abbd Alexander because he was a man of labour, and he was gentle and gracious. And it happened that all the brethren were washing their linen armcloths in the river, and Alexander was quietly washing his with them ; but the brethren said unto Abbi Agathon, " Brother Alexander doeth nothing," and the^oldman, wishing to quiet his disciples, said unto him, " Wash well, O brother, for "the armcloth is [made] of linen." Now when Alexander heard [this] he was grieved, and afterwards the old man entreated him, saying, " What then? Do I not know that thou "canst wash well? But I spake as I did to thee before them "so that I might rebuke their minds by thine obedience."

347. AbbA Agathon used to say, "I have never lain down " to sleep and kept anger in my heart, or even a thought of "enmity against any man; and I have never allowed any man " to lie down to sleep keeping any anger against me. "

356. Abbd Agathon used to say to himself, whensoever he saw any a6i or anything which his thought wished to judge or condemn, "Do not commit the thing thyself," and in this manner he quieted his mind, and held his peace.

391. Abba Agathon asked Abba Alonis, saying, "I wish "to hold my tongue that it may not speak falsehood, [what "shall I do?]" Abbd Al&nis said unto him, "If thou dost not "lie, thou art about to commit many sins." Agathon said, " How? "And the old man said unto him, ' ' Behold, two brethren " are going to commit a murder, and one of them will flee to " thee. And it will happen that the judge will come and search

422. They used to say that, [on one occasion] when Abb£ Agathon came to the city to sell his handiwork, he found a stranger lying sick in the market, and he had no man to care for him, and the old man stayed with him; and he hired a room in the town and remained therein working with his hands, now [what he received therefor] he spent on the rent of the room and on the needs of the sick man, for a period of four months, and when the sick man was made whole the old man departed to his own cell.

425. One of the brethren said, " Whilst we were sitting and "talking about love, Abb£ Joseph said, 'Do we know what " 'love is?* And he said that Abb£ Agathon had a little knife, "and that a certain brother came to him and said, 'Father, '"the little knife which thou hast is pretty'; and Abbd Agathon "did not let him depart until he had taken it."

426. Abb4 Agathon used to say, "If I could find an Arian to " whom I could give my body and take his in its place, I would "do so, because this would be perfect love."

484. Abba Agathon said, "If a man of wrath were to raise " the dead, he would not be accepted by any man."

573. A brother asked Abb£ Agathon concerning fornication, and he said unto him, "Go, cast thy feebleness before God, " and thou shalt find relief."

100. Abb& Joseph used to say, "When we were sitting with " Abbd Poemen he made mention of Abba* Agathon, and we " said to him, ' He was a young man, why dost thou call him " 'Abbd?' Abba* Poemen said unto him, 'His mouth made him "'to be called AbbaV"

"For thus also did Abbd Sylvanus and AbbA L6t say unto "me: 'Let us not abide here any longer.' And when I asked "them, 4 Why do ye depart from us?' they spake to me as "follows: 'Up to this day we have benefited by our abiding " 'with the fathers, but from the time of Abb£ Pambd, and Abbi " 'Agathon, and AbbA Petra, and Abb£ John, the command- " 'ments of the fathers have been held lightly, and we do not " 'observe the ordinances and the laws which our fathers laid " 'down for us. And by assemblies together we suffer loss over " 'and over again through the useless things which are spoken " 'among us. And when we sit down at table, instead of doing '"so in the fear of God, and with gratitude, and eating that " 'which God hath prepared for us with praise and thanksgiv- " 'ing, we occupy ourselves by conversing together and telling " 'insipid stories; and as we sit at table in this fashion we be- " 'come so much changed that we do not even hear what is " 'being read to us on account of the noise of the profitless talk " 'which we hold with each other. And besides this, after we " 'have risen up from eating, we converse together with empty " 'talk. What benefit is it to us to live in the desert, seeing " 'that we profit nothing thereby?' And Abbd L6t said, 'Many " 'times have I heard from brethren who are strangers, and " 'from the people who live in the world, and who come to " 'visit us, that we hold the commandments of the fathers " 'lightly, and they have said of us, " We should never have " ' "thought that they were monks!" ' And one of the brethren "who were strangers said, 'I have come to the fathers on " 'several occasions, and [I see that] year by year they cer- " ' tainly observe less and less the early rules and conduft ot " ' the fathers.' What now do ye wish? Will ye correft your

308. Abbi Abraham asked Abbd Agathon, saying, " How "is it that the devils make war upon me?" And AbbA Agathon said unto him, "Do the devils make war upon thee? But " they do not make war against us so fiercely as we ourselves " do with our own wishes, though they do make war against " us in proportion as our wishes do. Our desires become devils, " and they force us to fulfil them. Now if thou wishest to see " against whom they have made war, [it is] against Moses and "those who resemble him."

315. Abb£ Agathon used to say, "The crown of the monk is "humility."

348. Abba Isidore's thoughts praised him, saying, 4 'There " is none like unto thee among the fathers"; and he said, unto them, " Am I like Anthony or Abbd Agathon?" And the devils said unto him, "After all the labours which thou hast performed thou wilt go to torment"; and he said unto them, " And ye also will be below me. For a thief through one word 44 inherited the kingdom." And Judas also, who wrought mighty deeds with the Apostles, in one night lost all his labour, and he went down from heaven to Sheol; therefore let not him that conducteth himself uprightly boast himself. For all those who have been over confident about themselves have fallen among the devils of greed. Retard thou then [thy desire], saying, "Thou hast had enough; wait a little," and eat thou temperately and slowly. For he who hasteth in his eating is like unto him that seeketh to eat much.

398. The old men who were in Egypt told Abbd Elijah that Abb& Agathon was a great man. And the old man said unto them, "Considering his youth he was a great man in his

483. AbbA Agathon also used to say, " The monk's cloak is " a sign of the absence of wickedness"; and he also said, "God " asketh from those who begin the service of the works of the " fear of God nothing except that they shall order their bodies " by obedience to the commandments against the passions of "the lusts."

484. Abbd Agathon also said, " He who removeth from before his eyes accusations, and disgrace (or insult), and loss " (or belittlement) is able to live."

485. A brother said unto Abbk Agathon, " Father, I had the " order to dwell in a certain place, and I have war there, and "I want to depart; I would fulfil the command, but I am " afraid of the war." The old man said unto him, " If it were "Agathon, he would keep the command, and overcome the "war."

500. Abb! Agathon once fell sick, and another of the old men with him, and as they both were lying in the cell a brother read the Book of Genesis to them ; and when he came to the place where Jacob said unto his sons, 44 Joseph is not, and 44 Simeon is not, and ye would take Benjamin away that ye 44 may bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to Sheol," the old man answered and said, 44 Were not the ten other sons suf 44 ficient for thee, O Jacob?" And Abb! Agathon said, 44 Hold 44 thy peace, old man, if God holdeth a man to be innocent, 44 who shall condemn him?"

531. On one occasion, when Abbd Agathon was travelling, and some young men were with him, one of them found a small bag on the road, and he said to him, "Father, dost thou " wish me to take this little bag?" and the old man looked at him in wonder, saying, "My son, didst thou place it there?" And the young man said, "No." Then the old man said unto him, "If thou didst not place it there, how canst thou desire "to take it?"