Taken
here, from Amma Theodora and Amma Sarah, ascetics that lived in the desert sometime around the 4th century. I think.
Amma Theodora
She also said that neither asceticism, nor vigils nor any kind of suffering are able to save, only true humility can do that. There was an anchorite who was able to banish the demons; and he asked them, ‘What makes you go away? Is it fasting?’ They replied, ‘We do not eat or drink.’ ‘Is it vigils?’ They replied, ‘We do not sleep.’ ‘Is it separation from the world?’ ‘We live in the deserts.’ ‘What power sends you away then?’ They said, ‘Nothing can overcome us, but only humility.’ ‘Do you see how humility is victorious over the demons?’
Amma Theodora also said, ‘There was a monk, who, because of the great number of his temptations said, “I will go away from here.” As he was putting on his sandals, he saw another man who was also putting on his sandals and this other monk said to him, “Is it on my account that you are going away? Because I go before you wherever you are going.”
The same Amma was asked about the conversations one hears; ‘If one is habitually listening to secular speech, how can one yet live for God alone, as you suggest?’ She said, ‘Just as when you are sitting at table and there are many courses, you take some but without pleasure, so when secular conversations come your way, have your heart turned towards God, and thanks to this disposition, you will hear them without pleasure, and they will not do you any harm.'
And Amma Sarah:
Once the same spirit of fornication attacked her more insistently, reminding her of the vanities of the world. But she gave herself up to the fear of God and to asceticism and went up onto her little terrace to pray. Then the spirit of fornication appeared corporally to her and said, ‘Sarah, you have overcome me.’ But she said, ‘It is not I who have overcome you, but my master, Christ.’
It was said concerning her that for sixty years she lived beside a river and never lifted her eyes to look at it.
Another time, two old men, great anchorites, came to the district of Pelusia to visit her. When they arrived one said to the other, ‘Let us humiliate this old woman.’ So they said to her, ‘Be careful not to become conceited thinking to yourself: “Look how anchorites are coming to see me, a mere woman.” ‘But Amma Sarah said to them, ‘According to nature I am a woman, but not according to my thoughts.’
Amma Sarah said, ‘If I prayed God that all men should approve of my conduct, I should find myself a penitent at the door of each one, but I shall rather pray that my heart may be pure towards all.’
She also said, ‘I put out my foot to ascend the ladder, and I place death before my eyes before going up it.’
She also said, ‘It is good to give alms for men’s sake. Even if it is only done to please men, through it one can begin to seek to please God.’
Some monks of Scetis came one day to visit Amma Sarah. She offered them a small basket of fruit. They left the good fruit and ate the bad. So she said to them, ‘You are true monks of Scetis.’
She also said to the brothers, ‘It is I who am a man, you who are women.'
This week has been somewhat busy. I forgot my cell phone charger at Mat's place when I slept over there last weekend, so I went to get it Wed. night and slept over at the same time. Then last night I went to eat at
Frite Alors! after work. It's only about 15 minutes away from my job by metro and bus. I had the Rudolf Burger and fries with the Indonesian sauce. It was amaaaaaazing!!! The bun was some sort of delicious fresh-baked bread, not your usual mass-produced fluffy white hamburger bun, and there was REAL CHEESE on the hamburger! Gruyere, not some orange plastic cheese look-alike! And there were delicious sweet caramelized onions in there too, with fresh lettuce and tomatoes and mayo, no ketchup, relish or mustard in sight! Which is a Good Thing, IMO. The meat, caribou, was delicious too. And the fries were the most amazingly crispy fries I've had in I don't know how long! I'm the kind of person who digs in the bottom of the fries to find all the almost-burnt, super-crispy bits for the CRUNCH. These fries, ALL of them were crunchy, I didn't have to dig in the bottom! And nowhere near overcooked either. Fry perfection. The indonesian sauce was spicy but not enough to prevent me from being able to eat it. I'm somewhat sensitive to spice but this was tolerable. And very yummy. The decor is nice, the wait staff was nice, the prices were decent ($16.50 incl. tax and tip), end of amateur resto review lol. I've been reading too much at
Montreal Food lol.
I'm definitely going back there with Mat :D Next time I'm gonna try the Hamburger Kebab:) After I got home at around 8:30 last night I packed my bags, did a bit of cleaning, and went to bed. Tonight I'm going to sleep over at Mat's mom's place, then tomorrow morning we're going to his dad's place to plaster and paint :D. We'll be sleeping at his dad's place tomorrow night too, so I won't be able to make it to Liturgy but oh well.
This week has passed quickly, it's already friday :D And I'm gonna spend the weekend with Mat :D I have to get as much time with him as possible now cause I don't know when he's starting his training in the army. Not within the next month I think, but I'm pretty sure within the next 4-6 months. Then 2 months (I think) before he has weekends off. He still has to go for more hearing tests and get the results and wait for the army's decision on when he'll have his eardrum grafted.
Yawn. Off I go to find something to do on the internet between calls till 5:58pm tonight...
