Saints of the Desert [pp. 170]

0Saints of the Desert.
have been examining. The Benedictines were the depositaries of learning
and the arts; they gathered books together, and reproduced them in the silence of their cells. and they preserved
in this way not only the volumes of
sacred writ, but many of the works
of classic lore. They started Gothic
architecture-that matchless union of
nature with art-they alone had the
secrets of chemistry and medical science; they invented many colors;
they were the first architects, artists,
glass-stainers, carvers, and mosaic
workers in mediaeval times. They
were the original illuminators of
manuscripts, and the first transcribers
of books; in fine, they were the writers, thinkers, and workers of a dark
age, who wrote for no applause,
thought with no encouragement, and
worked for no reward. Their power,
too, waxed mighty; kings trembled
before their denunciations of tyranny,
and in the hour of danger fled to
their altars for safety; and it was an
English king who made a pilgrimage
to their shrines, and, prostrate at the
feet of five Benedictine monks, bared
his back, and submitted himself to
be scourged as a penance for his
crimes.
Nearly fourteen hundred years
have rolled by since the great man
who founded this noble order died;
and he who in after years compiled
the "Saxon Chronicle" has recorded it in a simple sentence, which,
amongst the many records of that
document, we may at least believe,
and with which we will conclude the
chapter-" This year St. Benedict
the Abbot, father of all monks, went
to heaven."
From The Month.
SAINTS OF THE DESERT.
BY THE REV. J. H. NEWMAN, D.D.
1. Some old men came to Abbot
Antony, who, to try their spirits, proposed to them a difficult passage of
Scripture.
As each in turn did his best to explain it, Antony said: "You have not
hit it."
Till Abbot Joseph said: "I give it
up.
Then cried Antony: "He has hit
it; for he owns he does not know it."
2. When the Abbot Arsenius was
at the point of death, his brethren
noted that he wept. They said then:
"Is it so? art thou too afraid, 0 father?"
HIe answered: "It is so; andthe fear
that is now upon me has been with
me ever since I became a monk."
And so he went to sleep.
3. Abbot Pastor said: " We cannot
keep out bad thoughts, as we cannot
stop the wind rushing through the
door; but we can resist them when
they come."
4. Abbot Besarion said, when he
was dying: "A monk Ought to be all
eye, as the cherubim and seraphim."
5. They asked Abbot Macarius how
they ought to pray.
The old man made answer: "No
need to be voluble in prayer; but
stretch forth thy hands frequently, and
say,' L6rd, as thou wilt, and as thou
knowest, have mercy on me.' And if
war is coming on, say,' Help!' And
he who himself knoweth what is expedient for thee, will show thee mercy."
6. On a festival, when the monks
were at table, one cried out to the servers, "I eat nothing dressed, so bring
me some salt."
Blessed Theodore made reply: " My
brother, better were it to have even
secretly eaten flesh in thy cell than
thus loudly to have refused it."
7. An old man said: "A monk's
cell is that golden Babylonian furnace
in which the Three Children found
the Son of God."
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