Sayings of The Holy Fathers:
On Hospitality:
"With regard to receiving the brethren, Abba Apollo said that one should bow before the brethren who come, because it is not before them, but before God that we prostrate ourselves. "When you see you brother," he said, "you see the Lord your God." He added, "We have learnt that from Abraham. When you receive the brethren, invite them to rest awhile, for this is what we learn from Lot who invited the angels to do so."
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On the Value of the Virtue of Obedience:
"Four monks of Scetis, clothed in skins, came one day to see the great Pambo. Each one revealed the virtue of his neighbor. The first fasted a great deal; the second was poor; the third had acquired great charity; and they said of the fourth that he had lived for twenty-two years in obedience to an old man. Abba Pambo said to them, "I tell you, the virtue of this last one is the greatest. Each of the others has obtained the virtue he wished to acquire; but the last one, restraining his own will, does the will of another. Now it is of such men that the martyrs are made, if they persevere to the end."
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From St. Mark the Ascetic:
"When Scripture says, 'He will reward every man according to his works' (Matt. 16:27), do not imagine that works in themselves merit either hell or the Kingdom. On the contrary, Christ rewards each man according to whether his works are done with Faith or without Faith in Himself; and He is not a dealer bound by contract, but God our Creator and Redeemer.”
"With regard to receiving the brethren, Abba Apollo said that one should bow before the brethren who come, because it is not before them, but before God that we prostrate ourselves. "When you see you brother," he said, "you see the Lord your God." He added, "We have learnt that from Abraham. When you receive the brethren, invite them to rest awhile, for this is what we learn from Lot who invited the angels to do so."
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On the Value of the Virtue of Obedience:
"Four monks of Scetis, clothed in skins, came one day to see the great Pambo. Each one revealed the virtue of his neighbor. The first fasted a great deal; the second was poor; the third had acquired great charity; and they said of the fourth that he had lived for twenty-two years in obedience to an old man. Abba Pambo said to them, "I tell you, the virtue of this last one is the greatest. Each of the others has obtained the virtue he wished to acquire; but the last one, restraining his own will, does the will of another. Now it is of such men that the martyrs are made, if they persevere to the end."
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From St. Mark the Ascetic:
"When Scripture says, 'He will reward every man according to his works' (Matt. 16:27), do not imagine that works in themselves merit either hell or the Kingdom. On the contrary, Christ rewards each man according to whether his works are done with Faith or without Faith in Himself; and He is not a dealer bound by contract, but God our Creator and Redeemer.”
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