He read a little in the Bible and did not stop at the literal meaning of words, or their superficial implications, but rather should put the spiritual depth of the words. As Paul the Apostle has said, “Nevertheless, in church, I would rather speak five words with my mind, in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue” (1. Cor. 16:19).
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Contemplations on the Life of St. Antony the Great
Category: BEST OF
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He sought the virtues in every person he encountered and learned from them, although he did not copy any one person.
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St. Antony sought knowledge from every available source. That was his first quality as a student. He did not seek knowledge just from great teachers, but from everything and everybody, from every event, every person and even from sinners.
He learned his first lesson from a dead man. Isn’t it amazing that he gets his first lesson in monasticism not from a living person but from a dead man, and that dead man was his father? When his father died he looked at his body and learned something from it. He looked at his dead father who owned 300 acres of the best farm land in upper Egypt and who had the wealth, power, and influence and said, “Where is your power, your greatness and your might? You have departed from this world not by your choice; I however, will leave it by my choice before I am forced out.” That was his first lesson about dying to the world. “Behold that great rich man filling the world with power and influence, now lies motionless with no control over his own body!”
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Contemplations on the Life of St. Antony the Great
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Truth can come through anyone, they say: poets, scientists, little children, even animals and birds—For a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which has wings shall tell the matter (Ecc. 10: 20).
…Be like the honeybee, they say, going from one saintly flower to the next, in foraging for the nectar of Truth.
God’s Path to Sanity
Dee Pennock -
Many search for a benefit from a word…
If they do not read it or hear it they feel that they have not benefited!!
The wise person sees a word of benefit in everything.
Even in the silence of others, he sees benefit and wisdom… He might benefit from their silence more than he benefits from their talk.
Every incident you experience in life, your life or the life of others, holds a word of benefit for you… Therefore, many benefit from incidents more than they benefit from books, articles or talks…
Life experience is also full of countless words of benefit, for the one who knows how to benefit from such experience.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, WORDS OF SPIRITUAL BENEFIT VOL. II
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The monastic studies theological matters, not for educational purposes, but to benefit from them personally.
Sometimes when one studies, one seeks to teach others, considering it a buried talent if people do not benefit from this knowledge. If you learn theology for your own personal gain, this is good for you. If you study theology in order to teach others, then you will be fought with venturing outside your rite of isolation and meditation.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Monastic Treasures for All of Us
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When one becomes preoccupied with theological books, one tries to teach everyone what one has learned, regretting the loss if no one benefits from the research you read in the spiritual books, and in the theological books. One might think, “If people do not benefit from what you learn, then what is the benefit?” So beware of being fought with the desire to teach others.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Monastic Treasures for All of Us
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The person, however, must carefully choose the books they read and will be discipled unto, and must read with discernment and care, and must not adopt everything they read. For there are books, even by renowned authors, that contain unsound information. And not all books are without error.
Therefore, the reader should place in front of themself the saying of St. Paul the Apostle, “Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil;” and the saying of St. John also, “Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God.”
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Come, Follow Me
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7. Comparison can be a guide
Let comparison point you towards what you want, and then do things in your own way. After all, the more you know what you really want and take steps towards it, the less it tends to matter what everyone else is doing.
SO GOOD QUOTES 