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From the sayings of ABBA ANTHONY about Tolerating Insults

From the sayings of ABBA ANTHONY about Tolerating Insults

 

The brethren came to the Abba Anthony and said to him, 'Speak a word; how are we to be saved?' The old man said to them, 'You have heard the Scriptures. That should teach you how.' But they said, 'We want to hear from you too, Father.' Then the old man said to them, 'The Gospel says, "If anyone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matt. 5.39) They said, 'We cannot do that.' The old man said, 'If you cannot offer the other cheek, at least allow one cheek to be struck.' 'We cannot do that either, ' they said. So he said, 'If you are not able to do that, do not return evil for evil, ' and they said, 'we cannot do that either.' Then the old man said to his disciple, 'Prepare a little brew of corn for these invalids. If you cannot do this, or that, what can I do for you? What you need is prayers.'

“Do not allow anything in this world to affect you negatively, and do not worry if everyone insults you, for those who mock you are likened to the dust that is carried by the wind…however, beware if you did something that caused them to mock you.”

“What are the benefits of the words of praise, for they are dispersed in thin air?  The words of insult that fly by freely also drift away – people die, and their dignity will also die with them along with their insults.”

The brothers praised a monk before Father Anthony.  When the monk came to see him, Anthony wanted to know how he would bear insults; and seeing that he could not bear them at all, he said to him, “You are like a village beautifully decorated on the outside, but destroyed from within by robbers.”