When the holy Abba Anthony lived in the desert he
was beset by akedia, and attacked by many sinful thoughts.
He said to God, 'Lord, I want to be saved but these thoughts
do not leave me alone; what shall I do in my affliction? How
can I be saved?' A short while afterwards, when he got up to
go out, Anthony saw a man like himself sitting at his work,
getting up from his work to pray, then sitting down and
plaiting a rope, then getting up again to pray. It was an
angel of the Lord sent to correct and reassure him. He heard
the angel saying to him, 'Do this and you will be saved.' At
these words, Anthony was filled with joy and courage. He
did this, and he was saved.
He also said, 'Our life and our death is with our
neighbor. If we gain our brother, we have gained God, but
if we scandalize our brother, we have sinned against Christ.'
-Saint Anthony the Great
Follow this link to a video that shows St. Anthony's Cave
No comments:
Post a Comment