January 31, 1999
St. Anthony
the Great:
the Importance of 'Discernment'
January 17 on the Julian Calendar (the "Old
Calendar"), is the day on which perhaps the greatest of all the Desert Fathers, St.
Anthony the Great, is commemorated. In today's "thought," we will get an
overview of this great saint's life and then look at his teaching on one of the most
important spiritual gifts - discernment.
BEGIN: Our Holy Father Anthony the Great was an Egyptian, born about 250 in a village
called Quemen-el-Arons near Heracleopolis. After the death of his rich and noble parents,
he shared his inherited possessions with his sister, who was still in her minority, made
sure that she was cared for, gave away his half of the inheritance to the poor and, at the
age of twenty, consecrated himself to the life of asceticism that he had desired from
childhood. At first he lived near his own village but then, in order to escape the
disturbance of men, went off into the desert, on the shores of the Red Sea, where he spent
twenty years (other sources say forty years) as a hermit in company with no-one but God,
in unceasing prayer, pondering and contemplation, patiently undergoing inexpressible
demonic temptations. His fame spread through the whole world and around him gathered many
disciples whom he, by word and example, placed on the path of salvation. In eighty-five
years of ascetic life, he went only twice to Alexandria; the first time to seek martyrdom
during a time of persecution of the Church, and the second at the invitation of St.
Athanasius, to refute the Arians' slanderous allegations that he too was a follower of the
Arian heresy. He departed this life at the age of 105, leaving behind a whole army of
disciples and followers. And, although Anthony was unlettered he was, as a counsellor and
teacher, one of the most learned men of his age, as also was St. Athanasius the Great.
When some Hellenic philosophers tried to test him with literary learning, Anthony shamed
them with the question: "Which is older, the understanding or the book? And which of
these is the source of the other?" The shamed philosophers dispersed, for they saw
that they had only book-learning without understanding, while Anthony had understanding.
Here was a man who had attained perfection insofar as man is able on earth. Here was an
educator of educators and teacher of teachers, who for a whole eighty-five years perfected
himself, and only thus was able to perfect many others. Full of years and great works,
Anthony entered into rest in the Lord in the year 356. END
from Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, "The Prologue From Ochrid," vol. I,
(Birmingham, UK: Lazarica Press, 1985), p. 69.
DISCERNMENT: The Teaching of St. Anthony the Great (from a conversation between Abba Moses
and John Cassian)
BEGIN: We had a short morning sleep and then, joyously, we saw the coming of daylight. We
began to beg for the talk which had been promised us, and so the blessed Moses began to
speak.
"I see you are fired by a very great longing. That brief interval of rest which I set
aside from our spiritual discussion for the sake of the flesh's repose can hardly have
been of much benefit to the body. And as I now look upon your zeal I have a much greater
worry. For the more insistent your demand, the greater the care I owe to your faith. As
Scripture says: 'If you sit down to dine at the table of a great man, take careful note of
what you are given and reach your hand out to it in the sure knowledge that you too must
get the like ready' (Proverbs 23: 1-2).
"We are going to talk about discernment, its goodness, its special excellence. We had
reached it last night as the concluding point of our discussion, and I think I shall first
establish its outstanding character by reference to the opinions of the fathers. When it
is clear what our predecessors thought or said about it, I shall then cite the example of
various people whose catastrophic downfall, in the past and in recent times, was due to
the fact that they had paid it scant attention. Then, to the best of my ability, I shall
deal with its use and benefit. Following on this, I shall study its goodness and value and
we will consider how we may more effectively locate it and cultivate it.
"This is no minor virtue, nor one which can be seized anywhere merely by human
effort. It is ours only as a gift from God and we read in the apostle that it is to be
numbered among the most outstanding gifts of the Holy Spirit. 'To one the gift of
preaching the word of wisdom is given by the spirit, to another is given a word of
instruction by the same spirit, to another faith in the same spirit, to another the girt
of healing through this one spirit' (I Corinthians 12:8-9). Further on is 'to another is
given the discernment of spirits' (ibid. 10). And following on the full list of the
spiritual gifts he adds that 'it is the one and same spirit which works all of these,
giving them out to each one as he chooses' (ibid. 11).
"So you see, then, that the gift of discernment is neither earthly nor of little
account, but is, rather, a very great boon of divine grace. And if a monk does not do his
utmost to acquire it and if he does not have a clear knowledge of the spirits rising up
against him he will surely stray like someone in a dark night amid gruesome shadows and
not only will he stumble into dangerous pits and down steep slopes but he will often fall
even in the level, straightforward places.
"I remember the years when I was still a boy in that section of the Thebaid where the
blessed Anthony used to live. Some older men came to visit him and to talk to him about
perfection. Their talk lasted from the evening hours until dawn and the problem we are now
discussing took up the greatest part of the night.
"There was a most searching inquiry into which of the virtues and which observance
could always preserve a monk from the snares and deceptions of the devil and could lead
him with firm tread on a sure path to the summit of perfection. Each one offered an
opinion in accordance with the understanding he had of the matter. Some declared that by
means of zealous fasting and the keeping of vigils the mind would be enlarged and would
produce purity of heart and body so as to enable one to come all the more easily into
union with God. Others posited detachment from everything in order that the mind, shorn of
everything, freed from all the snares which were holding it back, would come more speedily
to God. Others thought that what was necessary was to get completely away, to have the
solitude and secrecy of the desert where a man, living there always, could converse more
intimately with God and where union could be achieved more directly. Some opted for the
practise of charity, that is to say, the works of hospitality, since it was to people of
this kind that the Lord in the gospel promised especially that he would give the kingdom
of heaven. 'Come, you blessed ones of my father, come and possess the kingdom which has
been ready for you since the beginning of the world. I was hungry and you gave me food to
eat. I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,' and so on (Matthew 25: 34-35).
"Thus it was that the different virtues were said to give a more certain access to
God. And most of the night was spent in this inquiry.
"Finally, the blessed Anthony spoke. 'All the things that you have spoken about are
necessary and helpful to those thirsting for God and longing to reach him. But the
countless disasters and experiences of many people do not permit that any one of these
virtues should be said to be the prime influence for good. For very often we have seen
people who have been most zealous in their fasts and vigils, who have lived wondrously
solitary lives, who have endured such total privation of everything that they would not
allow themselves to hold on to even a day's food or even a single coin of the lowest
value, who have hastened to do all that is required in charity - and who have suddenly
fallen prey to illusion with the result that not only could they not give a fitting end to
the work they had undertaken but they brought to an abominable conclusion that high zeal
of theirs and that praiseworthy mode of life. Hence if we probe the exact reason for their
delusion and fall we will be able to recognize what it is that, above all else, leads us
to God. The virtuous activities, of which you were talking, flourished among them. But the
lack of discernment prevented them from reaching the end. No other cause can be found for
their downfall. Lacking the training provided by older men they could in no way acquire
this virtue of discernment which, avoiding extremes, teaches the monk to walk always on
the royal road. It keeps him from veering to the right, that is, it keeps him from going
with stupid presumption and excessive fervor beyond the boundary of reasonable restraint.
It keeps him from going to the left to carelessness and sin, to sluggishness of spirit,
and all this on the pretext of actually keeping the body under control.'
"It is discernment which in Scripture is described as they eye and the lamp of the
body. This is what the Saviour says, 'our eye is the light of your body, and if your eye
is sound then there is light in your whole body. But if your eye is diseased then your
entire body will be in darkness' (Matthew 6:22-23). This eye sees through all the thoughts
and actions of a man, examining and illuminating everything which we must do. And if it is
not sound in a man, that is, if it is not fortified by good judgment and by well-founded
knowledge, if it is deluded by error and by presumption, this makes for darkness in our
entire body. The clear thrust of the mind as well as everything we do will be shadowed and
we shall be wrapped in the blindness of sin and the blackness of passion. 'If the light
within you is darkness,' says the Saviour, 'what a darkness that will be' (Matthew 6:23).
For let no one doubt that our thoughts and our works, which originate from the
deliberative processes of discernment, will be caught up in the shadows of sin if ever the
good judgment of our heart goes astray or is taken over by the night of ignorance."
END
from John Cassian, "Conferences," (New York: Paulist Press, 1985), pp.
61-63
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