Wednesday, September 16, 2009

The Desert Fathers: On Earthly Possessions

A story from the 4th century Desert Fathers, a an intensive experiment in monastic Christian living which began to flourish in Egypt, Syria and Palestine, uniting the ancient forms of monastic life with the Gospel:

When abba Macarius was into Egypt, he found a man who had brought a beast to his cell and he was stealing his possessions. He went up to the thief as though he were a traveller who did not live there and helped him to load the beast and led him on his way in peace, saying to himself, "We brought nothing into this world; but the Lord gave; as he willed, so is it done; blessed be the Lord in all things."

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