The sayings of the desert
Apophthegmata Patrum collected
They are not written down at first. They are passed from mouth to mouth, monk to monk, generation to generation, the way wisdom has always traveled in oral cultures — in the compressed, memorable, slightly strange form that makes things stick.
A brother comes to Abba Poemen and says: Abba, give me a word.
Poemen says: As long as a pot is on the fire, no fly can get in it. But when it gets cold, then things creep in. Similarly, warmth keeps the monk safe from the demons.
A monk asks Abba Moses the secret of the spiritual life. Moses says: Go and sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.
A brother confesses to Abba Sisoes that he has fallen into grave sin. Sisoes says: Rise up again. I have fallen, says the brother. Rise again, says Sisoes. But how many times? says the brother. Until you die, says Sisoes, either falling or rising. What matters is that you rise.
The Apophthegmata Patrum — the Sayings of the Desert Fathers — are eventually collected into written form in the fifth century. The alphabetical collection organizes them by the name of the elder. The systematic collection organizes them by theme.
Both collections are still in print. Still being read. Still stopping people in their tracks with a precision that no amount of elaboration can improve.
The desert fathers said very little. What they said was enough.
“Abba, what should I do? I am troubled. He said: Go, sit in your cell, eat a little, drink a little, sleep a little, and do not go out — and the thoughts will quiet down.”
— Apophthegmata Patrum, 4th–5th century
“In the multitude of words there is no lack of disobedience, But he who restrains his lips does wisely.”
The desert fathers gave almost no lectures. They gave sentences. One word, one image, one concrete instruction — and then they trusted the person to go and live it.
This is the most ancient model of spiritual direction in the Christian tradition and it looks almost nothing like most modern discipleship programs, which tend toward comprehensiveness, curriculum, and metrics.
The sayings assume that most people already know more than they practice. That the problem is rarely information. That what a person usually needs is not another teaching but a single precise word — a word sharp enough to cut through the noise and go to work.
If someone who knew you well gave you one word to live by this year — one word — what do you think it would be?