Wisdom from the Thebaid

Remaining sick today, after returning to work yesterday, I'm reading the sayings of the desert fathers.

A few of the sayings refer to that temptation which has been mentioned so frequently in our time. It made me think of the scandals in the Church that might have been avoided if there had been a greater vigilance on the part of the elders.

"Isaac from the Thebaid said to his brothers, 'Do not bring boys here. Boys are the reason why four monasteries in Scetis were deserted.'"

"A hermit said, 'Do not give or receive anything from worldly people. Take no notice of women. Do not remain long in the company of a boy.'"

To be honest, I found the warnings against boys or young men strange. Then Gustav Aschenbach, obsessed in his pathetic infatuation with Tadzio, came to mind. ("Death In Venice") In another place I again read that monks should avoid spending a long time in the company of the junior monks and never to steady one's gaze upon young men. I can't remember if it was from Dostoyevsky or Archbishop Brianchaninov - but I believe it was from the Russian Thebaid. It would be prudent to say these cautions would easily be applied to looking at young women as well.

Then for those who may pass judgement upon others, suspecting everyone as gay, there is this story.

"A brother, being tempted by a demon, went to a hermit and said, 'Those two monks over there who live together, live sinfully.' But the hermit knew that a demon was deceiving him. So he called the brothers to him. In the evening he put out a mat for them, and covered them with a single blanket and said, 'They are sons of God and holy persons.' But he said to his disciple, 'Shut this slandering brother away in a cell by himself; he is suffering from the passion of which he accuses them.'"

The desert fathers were hermits of course, yet their teachings are profitable for all, informing us of all sorts of temptations the demon uses. Discretion and vigilance are good sentries for any state of life.