Letters, Volume 1

Letters to a monk who used riddles

LETTERS TO A MONK WHO USED RIDDLES (132–137B) LETTER 132 A brother, who had three thoughts, wanted to ask the Great Old Man about these. He did not, however, pose his question clearly; instead, he used riddles so that the abbot would not understand. Therefore, he wrote down certain letters of the alphabet, and each time he thought of something he wanted to ask, he would engrave the letters that he thought of at the beginning of each section. These letters were as follows: First, the iota (the Greek letter M),1 each time that he thought of formulating a question about rigorous stillness and complete silence without meeting anyone at all. Second, the letter kappa (the Greek O),2 to ask a question about diet; so this letter symbolized whether he should eat dried foods and abstain from wine, meeting only with his own attendant. Third, there was the lambda (the Greek letter P),3 through which he asked whether he should meet with others and eat some food in order to condescend to his body. To all this, the Old Man responded as follows. O NOT SWERVE to the right or to the left”4 until the two actually meet. LETTER 133 The same brother addressed another question to the same Great Old Man, but again did not pose the question clearly. This time, he did not even use letters as riddles, in the manner that he for1 . Possibly from the word M?HMSb, meaning “individual” or “aloneness.” 2. Possibly from the word OSMPMZE, meaning “stomach” or “diet.” 3. Possibly from the word PESZb, meaning “people.” 4. Prv 4.27; cf. also Nm 20.17. On the royal or middle way, as well as deviations to the left- or right-hand side, in the early desert tradition, see M. Djuth, “Cassian’s use of the figure via regia in Collatio II ‘On Discretion,’” Studia Patristica 30 (Louvain: Peeters, 1997), 167–75. Cf. Letters 315–316. 154 “ mulated the first question, but simply conceived the question in his mind. It had to do with heavy sleep and illness of soul; there was also a question about assistance and prayer for his salvation. Finally, what do the words of the previous response mean, that the two—right and left—will actually meet? To this, the Old Man replied as follows. The first is harmful, the second beneficial. In fact, as harmful as the first is, so much more beneficial is the second. LETTER 134 After all this, the brother was again perplexed and asked in order to learn in what way it is harmful and what he should do to remedy this; furthermore, what are “the two” things implied in the earlier response? The Old Man replied to him as follows. Everything is right for those who understand; nature itself teaches us this. As for what the two are, I was speaking about the two of you, about you that ask the question and about my attendant who conveys the response. As for the matter of sleep, the “two” refers to the soul and the body. For if the physical is not subjected to the spiritual, then one’s passions cannot be subdued . This is why I brought the two thoughts closer together. LETTER 135 The same brother was again perplexed, and asked what bringing the two thoughts closer together meant. He wanted to know about this, and so the Old Man replied as follows. Forgive me, for the Lord’s sake; for I am speaking in utter madness.5 The Lord said to his disciples: “Are you also still without understanding?”6 The first and the second points are one and the same. LETTER 136 When the brother heard this, he declared to the Old Man: “Father , I commend my soul to the mercy of God and into your LETTERS 132–137B 155 5. Cf. 2 Cor 11.17. 6. Mt 15.16. hands.7 Therefore, pray for the salvation of my humble soul.” In response to this, the Old Man sent him the following answer in the form of a letter. Brother, let us pay very close attention to ourselves. For it is not possible to deal properly with these matters all at once. If, indeed, the Apostle who had reached such heights declared himself as hardly having reached them,8 how much more so should we, who are good for nothing, think...