Desert Fathers

In his own words on 1 Thessalonians

• 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4

  Gregory said, 'God asks three things of anyone who is baptized: to keep the true faith with all his soul and all his might; to control his tongue; to be chaste in his body.'

  The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

• 1 Thessalonians 5:15

  A brother asked Poemen about the words, 'Do not render evil for evil' (1 Thess. 5:15). He said to him, 'The passions work in four stages: first in the heart, then in the face, third in words, fourth in deeds – and it is in deeds that it is essential not to render evil for evil. If you purify your heart, passion will not show in your expression, but if it does, take care not to speak about it; if you do speak, cut the conversation short in case you render evil for evil.'

  The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

• 1 Thessalonians 5:17

  Bishop Epiphanius of Cyprus, of holy memory, was told this by the abbot of his monastery in Palestine. 'By your prayers we have kept our rule; we carefully observe the offices of terce, sext, none and vespers.' But Epiphanius rebuked him and said, 'Then you are failing to pray at other times. The true monk ought to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17). He should always be singing psalms in his heart.'

  The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

• 1 Thessalonians 5:17

  Some monks called Euchites, or 'men of prayer', once came to Lucius in the ninth region of Alexandria. He asked them, 'What manual work do you do?' They said, 'We do not work with our hands. We obey St Paul's command and pray without ceasing' (1 Thess. 5:17). He said to them, 'Don't you eat?' They said, 'Yes, we do.' He said to them: 'When you are eating who prays for you?' Then he asked them, 'Don't you sleep?' They said, 'Yes, we do.' He said, 'Who prays for you while you are asleep?' and they could not answer him. Then he said to them, 'I may be wrong, brothers, but it seems to me that you don't do what you say. I will show you how I pray without ceasing although I work with my hands. With God's help, I sit down with a few palm leaves, and plait them, and say, 'Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great mercy: and according to the multitude of thy mercies do away with mine iniquity' (Ps. 51:1). He asked them, 'Is that prayer, or not?' They said, 'It's prayer all right.' He said, 'When I spend all day working and praying in my heart, I make about sixteen pence. Two of these I put outside the door, and with the rest I buy food. Whoever finds the two pennies outside the door prays for me while I am eating and sleeping: and so by God's grace I fulfil the text, "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17).'

  The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

• 1 Thessalonians 5:17

  A brother asked one of the hermits, 'If I happen to over-sleep, and am late for the hour of prayer, I am ashamed that others will hear me praying so late, and so I become reluctant to keep the rule of prayer.' He said, 'If ever you oversleep in the morning, get up when you wake, shut the door and the windows, and say your psalms. For it is written, "The day is thine and the night is thine" (Ps. 74:16). God is glorified whatever time it is.'

  The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks

• 1 Thessalonians 5:17

  The brothers told this story: We once visited some hermits, and after the usual prayer we exchanged greetings and sat down. After we had talked with them, we got ready to go, and asked once again for prayers to be said. But one of the hermits said to us, 'What, haven't you prayed already?' We said: 'Yes, abba, when we came in, we prayed, and since then we have been talking.' He said, 'I may be wrong, brothers; but one of you, while he was sitting and talking with you, offered a hundred and three prayers.' With these words he prayed, and sent us away.

  The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks