Month: December 2024

Cell:

Posted on by Hm Rachel

Cell: Bede’s Life of St Cuthbert: Chapter XVII

Finally! After much experience of solitude and silence within the community of the monastery, Cuthbert, with the support and authority of all of his brethren, is let go onto the seas to travel to Farne to establish a hermitage there.

I imagine the relief, and excitement and deep peace which he must have felt.  I love that there is a spade-wielding angel waiting there for him, to help him dig the foundations. If you visit Lindesfarne and the Farne Islands in Northumberland you will find the Isle of Hobthrush (St Cuthbert’s Isle – a tidal island near the monastery on Lindesfarne and accessible at low tide), and the Inner Farne. Cuthbert’s cell on the Farne (despite his extensive building works!) is no longer visible, but a short boat ride out there will give you a sense of his isolation when he was living there.

Similarly there is no remains of his cell on Hobthrush, but a Norman tower was built over the spot, and the dip of the foundation for that is still visible, marked by a cross. It gives a sense of how Cuthbert might have spent time there, gazing through the roof to the Northumbrian sky.


OF THE HABITATION WHICH HE MADE FOR HIMSELF IN THE ISLAND OF FARNE, WHEN HE HAD EXPELLED THE DEVILS

WHEN he had remained some years in the monastery, he was rejoiced to be able at length, with the blessing of the abbot and brethren accompanying him, to retire to the secrecy of solitude which he had so long coveted. He rejoiced that from the long conversation with the world he was now thought worthy to be promoted to retirement and Divine contemplation: he rejoiced that he now could reach to the condition of those of whom it is sung by the Psalmist: ” The holy shall walk from virtue to virtue; the God of Gods shall be seen in Zion. ”

At his first entrance upon the solitary life, he sought out the most retired spot in the outskirts of the monastery. But when he had for some time contended with the invisible adversary with prayer and fasting in this solitude, he then, aiming at higher things, sought out a more distant field for conflict, and more remote from the eyes of men. There is a certain island called Farne, in the middle of the sea, not made an island, like Lindisfarne, by the flow of the tide, which the Greeks call rheuma, and then restored to the mainland at its ebb, but lying off several miles to the East, and, consequently, surrounded on all sides by the deep and boundless ocean. No one, before God’s servant Cuthbert, had ever dared to inhabit this island alone, on account of the evil spirits which reside there: but when this servant of Christ came, armed with the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, all the fiery darts of the wicked were extinguished, and that wicked enemy, with all his followers, were put to flight.

Christ’s soldier, therefore, having thus, by the expulsion of the tyrants, become the lawful monarch of the land, built a city fit for his empire, and houses therein suitable to his city. The building is almost of a round form, from wall to wall about four or five poles in extent: the wall on the outside is higher than a man, but within, by excavating the rock, he made it much deeper, to prevent the eyes and the thoughts from wandering, that the mind might be wholly bent on heavenly things, and the pious inhabitant might behold nothing from his residence but the heavens above him. The wall was constructed, not of hewn stones or of brick and mortar, but of rough stones and turf, which had been taken out from the ground within. Some of them were so large that four men could hardly have lifted them, but Cuthbert himself, with angels helping him, had raised them up and placed them on the wall. There were two chambers in the house, one an oratory, the other for domestic purposes. He finished the walls of them by digging round and cutting away the natural soil within and without, and formed the roof out of rough poles and straw. Moreover, at the landing-place of the island he built a large house, in which the brethren who visited him might be received and rest themselves, and not far from it there was a fountain of water or their use.

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The life of the hermitage is solitary, but it is a solitude which is deeply embedded in the life of Creation – in the heart of Creation.  This is true of any hermit (and indeed of any person – the hermit is merely an outward sign of an inward grace which is active in the hearts of all the faithful). The hermit is there in the spaciousness of the Body of Christ – in love for the whole Body, in solidarity, in identity.  She inhabits the hermitage as in a tabernacle of the whole of Creation. 

But when a hermit is invited to the profession of Canon 603, and publicly consecrated by the Church in that charism, there is a profound, one might say ontological change.  As a liturgical sacrament is “an outward sign of an inner grace” so, by profession and consecration, the  hermit enjoins a covenant with the Church, and becomes a sacrament of the Church. An outward sign of an inner grace already received at the heart of the Church. She no longer identifies with the Church, she becomes, “in persona”, the Church, and is recognised by the Church as such. 

“She manifests to everyone the interior aspect of the mystery of the Church, that is, personal intimacy with Christ.”  cf Catechism 1992    nn 920-921.

In the context of Canon 603, this quotation recognises that the life of hermitage is not a solitary adventure – it is an endeavour of the whole Church.  The hermit is hidden – both physically in the figuration of their living arrangements, but spiritually and socially too.  They are unlikely to become a public advocate, or a preacher, or given a role in Church leadership. To fully inhabit the charism of c603 that the hermit is called to, they are not seeking personal holiness, nor excellence in study, nor spiritual fame.  They are there as the Church themselves. 

The desert fathers had a profound – and very practical – understanding of this moment of conversion from God-seeking-individual, to “persona Ecclesia”.  As ever the genius of their teaching is to express the spiritual truths they have discovered, in very simple actions.  They speak (at some length!) of “dying to your neighbour”

This sounds unnecessarily drastic, and takes a bit of unpicking to retrieve a contemporary meaning. 

The monk must die to their neighbour and never judge them at all, in any way whatever.  (Abba Moses to Abba Poeman 1)

“To die to one’s neighbour is this: to bear your own faults and not to pay attention to anyone else wondering if they are good or bad. do no harm to anyone, do not think anything bad in your heart towards anyone, do not scorn the man who does evil … this is what dying to one’s neighbour means. do not rail against anyone, but rather say, ‘God knows each one'” (Abba Moses to Abba Poeman 7)

To die to one’s neighbour is to recognise your neighbour in yourself. When you notice a fault in your neighbour, you can recognise the fault in yourself and deal with it there. When your brother is redeemed, then you rejoice to share their redemption.

In his introduction to the Synod on synodality, Pope Francis made an invitation, “Let everyone enter…. Allow yourselves to go out to meet people and to be questioned by people. Let their questions become your questions; allow yourselves to walk together. The Spirit will lead you.”

“Let their questions become your questions”.  This is such a rich and poignant and reasonable way of being Church.  Pondering the questions and joys and griefs of others, and somehow melding them into the experience of God-with-us in the hermit-tabernacle of our world. 

What is redeemed in each, is redeemed in all

Perseverance:

Posted on by Hm Rachel

Perseverance: Bede’s Life of St Cuthbert: Chapter XVI

This is another of my favourite stories/images – it is so very human – Cuthbert faced with a community of disgruntled men, and learning how best to guide and encourage them. The faces on them all! You can almost hear Cuthbert counting to ten under his breath with exasperation, and the monks muttering stolidly in protest. And I enjoy the detail in this story of monastic life – the inheritance of previous generations of monks, the insistence on tradition, the petulance of the monks who clearly don’t like being disturbed in their sleep; Cuthbert’s methods of keeping awake, “making something with his hands, thus beguiling his sleepiness by labour; or, perhaps, he walked round the island, diligently examining every thing therein, and by this exercise relieved the tediousness of psalmody and watching.” and the acknowledgement that psalms can sometimes be tedious! And finally, the little hint that Cuthbert might not have been the most melodic of psalmsters … “it was the spirit which groaned within him rather than the note of singing“. It seems Bede was a perceptive – and trying-to-be-diplomatic – writer!




HOW HE LIVED AND TAUGHT IN THE MONASTERY OF LINDISFARNE

WHILST this venerable servant of the Lord was thus during many years, distinguishing himself by such signs of spiritual excellence in the monastery of Melrose, its reverend abbot, Eata, transferred him to the monastery in the island of Lindisfarne, that there also he might teach the rules of monastic perfection with the authority of its governor, and illustrate it by the example of his virtue; for the same reverend abbot had both monasteries under his jurisdiction. And no one should wonder that, though the island of Lindisfarne is small, we have above made mention of a bishop, and now of an abbot and monks; for the case is really so. For the same island, inhabited by servants of the Lord, contains both, and all are monks. For Aidan, who was the first bishop of that place, was a monk, and with all his followers lived according to the monastic rule. Wherefore all the principals of that place from him to the present time exercise the episcopal office; so that, whilst the monastery is governed by the abbot, whom they, with the consent of the brethren, have elected, all the priests, deacons, singers, readers, and other ecclesiastical officers of different ranks, observe the monastic rule in every respect, as well as the bishop himself.

The blessed pope Gregory showed that he approved this mode of life, when in answer to Augustine, his first missionary to Britain, who asked him how bishops ought to converse with their clerks, among other remarks he replied, ” Because, my brother, having been educated in the monastic rule, you ought not to keep aloof from your clerks: in the English Church, which, thanks be to God, has lately been converted to the faith, you should institute the same system, which has existed from the first beginning of our Church among our ancestors, none of whom said that the things which he possessed were his own, but they had all things common.” When Cuthbert, therefore, came to the church or monastery of Lindisfarne, he taught the brethren monastic rules both by his life and doctrines, and often going round, as was his custom, among the neighbouring people, he kindled them up to seek after and work out a heavenly reward. Moreover, by his miracles he became more and more celebrated, and by the earnestness of his prayers restored to their former health many that were afflicted with various infirmities and sufferings; some that were vexed with unclean spirits, he not only cured whilst present by touching them, praying over them, or even by commanding or exorcising the devils to go out of them; but even when absent he restored them by his prayers, or by foretelling that they should be restored; amongst whom also was the wife of the prefect above mentioned.

There were some brethren in the monastery who preferred their ancient customs to the new regular discipline. But he got the better of these by his patience and modest virtues, and by daily practice at length brought them to the better system which he had in view. Moreover, in his discussions with the brethren, when he was fatigued by the bitter taunts of those who opposed him, he would rise from his seat with a placid look, and dismiss the meeting until the following day, when, as if he had suffered no repulse, he would use the same exhortations as before, until he converted them, as I have said before, to his own views. For his patience was most exemplary, and in enduring the opposition which was heaped equally upon his mind and body he was most resolute, and, amid the asperities which he encountered, he always exhibited such placidity of countenance, as made it evident to all that his outward vexations were compensated for by the internal consolations of the Holy Spirit.

But he was so zealous in watching and praying, that he is believed to have sometimes passed three or four nights together therein, during which time he neither went to his own bed, nor had any accommodation from the brethren for reposing himself. For he either passed the time alone, praying in some retired spot, or singing and making something with his hands, thus beguiling his sleepiness by labour; or, perhaps, he walked round the island, diligently examining every thing therein, and by this exercise relieved the tediousness of psalmody and watching. Lastly, he would reprove the faintheartedness of the brethren, who took it amiss if any one came and unseasonably importuned them to awake at night or during their afternoon naps. “No one,” said he, “can displease me by waking me out of my sleep, but, on the contrary, give me pleasure; for, by rousing me from inactivity, he enables me to do or think of something useful.” So devout and zealous was he in his desire after heavenly things, that, whilst officiating in the solemnity of the mass, he never could come to the conclusion thereof without a plentiful shedding of tears. But whilst he duly discharged the mysteries of our Lord’s passion, he would, in himself, illustrate that in which he was officiating; in contrition of heart he would sacrifice himself to the Lord; and whilst he exhorted the standers-by to lift up their hearts and to give thanks unto the Lord, his own heart was lifted up rather than his voice, and it was the spirit which groaned within him rather than the note of singing. In his zeal for righteousness he was fervid to correct sinners, he was gentle in the spirit of mildness to forgive the penitent, so that he would often shed tears over those who confessed their sins, pitying their weaknesses, and would himself point out by his own righteous example what course the sinner should pursue. He used vestments of the ordinary description, neither noticeable for their too great neatness, nor yet too slovenly. Wherefore, even to this day, it is not customary in that monastery for any one to wear vestments of a rich or valuable colour, but they are content with that appearance which the natural wool of the sheep presents.

By these and such like spiritual exercises, this venerable man both excited the good to follow his example, and recalled the wicked and perverse from their errors to regularity of life.

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So this story, charming as it is, is about doing ordinary stuff as well as you are able. Whether you are trying to teach and persuade a community of habit-bound monks (I can imagine the supressed sigh when Cuthbert turned up each morning and began again on the same sermon …), or keeping yourself awake at night to make time for prayer, or encouraging the local people in the practice of their faith, or praying the psalmody on their behalf – these are the day to day tasks of the monastery, and as long as Cuthbert was still living with the community, he focussed on doing these things to the best of his ability. There is no record here of him day-dreaming his days away with romantic visions of hermitage.

“Abba Poemen said, ‘Life in the monastery demands three things; the first is humility, the next is obedience, and the third which sets them in motion and is like a goad, is the work of the monastery.'” AC Poemen 103

There is sometimes a requirement “to have some experience of community living before embarking on hermitage. “The experience matured over the course of the history of the vocation suggests that those who feel the inclination, be asked for a time of discernment and formation in a monastery or another community of consecrated life under the guidance of an experienced person …” HLPC 31

This might remind us of that earlier story of St Anthony, who, when he began to question his life in hermitage, and to wander around looking for a different answer, was advised by an angel to go back to his hermitage and get on with his work! Perseverance in the mundane and everyday is a much treasured grace of the hermitage. Complaints about the inevitable days of accidie (frustration, boredom, meaninglessness, doubt) are met with a rather short response:

“An old man had a disciple who for many years had obeyed him in everything. Now one day when he was attacked by the devil, he made a prostration before the old man saying, ‘Let me become a monk on my own.’ The old man replied, ‘Survey the district and we will build a cell for you.’ So they found a place a mile away. They went there and built the cell. The old man said to the brother, ‘What I tell you to do, do it. Each time you are afflicted, eat, drink, sleep, only do not come out of your cell until Saturday; then come to see me.’ The brother spent two days according to these orders, but the third day, a prey to accidie, he said to himself, ‘Why did the old man arrange that for me?’ Standing outside his door he sang many psalms, and after sunset he ate, then went to lie down on his mat to sleep. But he saw an Ethiopian lying there who gnashed his teeth at him. Driven by great fear, he ran to the old man, knocked on his door and said, ‘Abba, have pity on me, open the door.’ The old man, seeing he had not obeyed his instructions did not open it till morning, very early; then he opened it, and found him outside imploring him to help him. Then, full of pity, he made him come inside. The other said, ‘Father, I need you; on my bed I saw a black Ethiopian as I was going to sleep.’ The old man replied, ‘You suffered that because you did not keep to my instructions.’ Then, according to his capacity, he taught him the discipline of the solitary life, and in a short time he became a good monk.” AC Heraclides 1

Emmaus:

Posted on by Hm Rachel

Emmaus: Bede’s Life of St Cuthbert: Chapter XV

There is something very comforting about this healing-on-the-road sort of conversation. How often do we confide our anxieties and troubles to another when we are walking together. How often does this relieve or even resolve our situation, and we can return to whatever was bothering us with new courage and perspective and heart?



HOW HE CAST OUT A DEV1L FROM THB PREFECT’S WIFE, EVEN BEFORE HIS ARRIVAL

BUT, as we have above related how this venerable man prevailed against the false stratagems of the devil, now let us show in what way he displayed his power against his open and undisguised enmity. There was a certain prefect of King Egfrid, Hildemer by name, a man devoted with all his house to good works, and therefore especially beloved by Saint Cuthbert, and often visited by him whenever he was journeying that way. This man’s wife, who was devoted to almsgiving and other fruits of virtue, was suddenly so afflicted by a devil, that she gnashed her teeth, uttered the most pitiable cries, and, throwing about her arms and limbs, caused great terror to all who saw or heard her. Whilst she was lying in this state, and expected to die, her husband mounted his horse, and, coming to the man of God, besought his help, saying,

“My wife is ill, and at the point of death: I entreat you to send a priest to visit her before she dies, and minister to her the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ; and, also, that when she is dead, she may be buried in this holy place.” He was ashamed to say that she was out of her senses, because the man of God had always seen her in her right mind. Whilst the holy man was going to find out a priest to send to her, he reflected in his mind that it was no ordinary infirmity, but a visitation of the devil; and so, returning to the man who had come to entreat him in his wife’s behalf, he said, ” I will not send any one, but I will go myself to visit her.”
Whilst they were going, the man began to cry, and the tears ran down his cheeks, for he was afraid lest Cuthbert, finding her afflicted with a devil, should think that she had been a false servant of the Lord, and that her faith was not real. The man of God consoled him: ” Do not weep because I am likely to find your wife otherwise than I could wish; for I know that she is vexed with a devil, though you are afraid to name it: and I know, moreover, that, before we arrive, she will be freed, and come to meet us, and will herself take the reins, as sound in mind as ever, and will invite us in and minister to us as before; for not only the wicked but the innocent are sometimes permitted by God to be afflicted in body, and are even taken captive in spirit by the devil.”

Whilst he thus consoled the man, they approached the house, and the evil spirit fled, not able to meet the coming of the holy man. The woman, freed from her suffering, rose up immediately, as if from sleep, and, meeting the man of God with joy, held the bridle of his horse, and, having entirely recovered her strength, both of mind and body, begged him to dismount and to bestow his blessing upon her house; and ministering sedulously to him, testified openly that, at the first touch of the rein, she had felt herself relieved from all the pain of her former suffering.

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Canon 603 does not make much provision for this sort of pastoral work – if anything, the guidance is quite discouraging “The hermit undertakes to affirm the absoluteness of God in their own existence, to renounce their own projects, such as transforming the hermitage into a centre of spirituality or hospitality, or to take pastoral initiatives not consistent with their status in life.” HLPC 21.

“The hermit provides for their needs by work compatible with the demands of hermit life, in particular solitude and prayer … the pastoral exercise of … ministry must be occasional and not prevalent.” HLPC 40

The Desert dwellers were similarly short-sentenced towards each other when invited to conversation,

“Another time the archbishop, intending to come to see him, sent someone to see if the old man would receive him. Arsenius told him, ‘If you come, I shall receive you; but if I receive you, I receive everyone and therefore I shall no longer live here.’ Hearing that, the archbishop said, ‘If I drive him away by going to him, I shall not go anymore.'”.’” AC Arsenius 8

So how to accompany others, when the guidance clearly discourages it? In the first place, the mutuality we described in chapter XII answers a lot of this question. The prayers and joys and sorrows of the world, of friends and family, are the prayers and joys and sorrows of the hermit. In Scripture – especially the psalms – the hermit shares in toil and celebration. Your presence is held in the tabernacle of the hermitage.

Many hermits will respond – briefly – to particular requests or questions. Perhaps they are not really in a position to walk the way with you, but a quiet sit down on a bench at the side of the road might offer some comfort or support.

Cuthbert was clearly adept at this “accompanying” thing, and appears to be comfortable with it. This is the period in his life when he was still prior of the monastery, and with pastoral duties for the local folk. If you remember the story of the night praying in the sea (chapter X), his days were so busy with his work for the monastery, the night time was his only opportunity for prayer.

But when (as we shall read shortly) he finally gets permission to move to the Farne Islands and live there alone as a hermit, he does not hesitate. The role of accompanier passes on. It is a role that many of us will fulfil, and pass on.

Tabernacle:

Posted on by Hm Rachel

Tabernacle: Bede’s Life of Cuthbert: Chapter XIV

I love that Cuthbert “was careful to visit very frequently” his childhood home with Kenswith – his foster-mother. It suggests a real affection for his adopted family. And I am happy to read of him responding so readily to his family’s call for help when their home was in danger.

My Rule of Life states that I will “live in solitude and silence, staying and returning there insofar as duties permit“, so the stability of my hermitage is very important to me and I stay here as much as I am able. But when I was needed, I too was able to support my parents with regular visits during their last few years. And I continue to join occasionally with friends and family to support them in important events, whilst always being alert to quickly returning to the hermitage.



HOW, WHEN A HOUSE WAS REALLY SET ON FIRE, HE PUT OUT THE FLAMES BY PRAYER

BUT it was not only in the case of an apparition of a fire that his power was shown; for he extinguished a real fire by the fervency of his tears, when many had failed in putting it out with all the water they could get. For, as he was travelling about, preaching salvation, like the apostles of old, he one day entered the house of a pious woman, whom he was in the habit of often visiting, and whom, from having been nursed by her in his infancy, he was accustomed on that account to call his mother.

The house was at the west end of the village, and Cuthbert had no sooner entered it to preach the word of God, than a house at the other end of the place caught fire and began to blaze most dreadfully. For the wind was from the same quarter, so that the sparks from the kindled thatch flew over the whole village. Those who were present tried to extinguish it with water, but were driven back by the heat. Then the aforesaid handmaid of the Lord, running to the house where Cuthbert was, besought him to help them, before her own house and the others in the village should be destroyed. ” Do not fear, mother,” said he; ” be of good cheer; this devouring flame will not hurt either you or yours.” He then went out and threw himself prostrate on the ground before the door. Whilst he was praying, the wind changed, and beginning to blow from the west, removed all danger of the fire assailing the house, into which the man of God had entered.

And thus in two miracles he imitated the virtues of two of the fathers. For in the case of the apparition of fire above mentioned, he imitated the reverend and holy father Saint Benedict, who by his prayers drove away the apparition of a fire like a burning kitchen, which the old enemy had presented before the eyes of his disciples: and, in the case of the real fire which he thus extinguished, he imitated that venerable priest Marcellinus of Ancona, who, when his native town was on fire, placed himself in front of the flames, and put them out by his prayers, though all the exertions of his fellow-countrymen had failed to extinguish them with water. Nor is it wonderful that such perfect and pious servants of God should receive power against the force of fire, considering that by their daily piety they enable themselves to conquer the desires of the flesh, and to extinguish all the fiery darts of the wicked one: and to them is applicable the saying of the prophet, [Is. 43:2] ” When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the fire kindle upon thee.” But I, and those who are, like me, conscious of our own weakness and inertness, are sure that we can do nothing in that way against material fire, and, indeed, are by no means sure that we shall be able to escape unhurt from that fire of future punishment, which never shall be extinguished. But the love of our Saviour is strong and abundant, and will bestow the grace of its protection upon us, though we are unworthy and unable in this world to extinguish the fires of vicious passions and of punishment in the world which is to come.

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I often think of my home – my hermitage – as a tabernacle. When I was consecrated as a canonical hermit, I was offered the privilege of having the Blessed Sacrament reserved within my hermitage.  I gave the invitation much prayerful consideration, but eventually decided against it. My understanding and experience of hermitage is that the whole of the hermitage is sacred space; the whole of the hermitage is tabernacle, the place where the hermit meets Christ.  Hermitage is, for the hermit, the sacred space of God-with-us. This understanding and experience is a step beyond the foothills of the God-is-everywhere theme of childhood lessons.  This is the confidence that, by God’s grace, simply to embrace and live out my humanity in the place and circumstance I find myself, is the fullest possible expression of my relationship with God during my life on this earth.  

So how does that work in practice?  The heartbeat of my hermitage is its sacred ordinariness.  It is an experience, in silence and solitude, of total immersion in the humdrum of daily life. A hermit is one who has, perhaps, become so overwhelmed by the immensity of the privilege of sharing Jesus’ humanity that she chooses to spend her whole life contemplating the mystery and manifestation of that gift in the most simple and ordinary and domestic form of living.   A hermit lives out the mystery of the Incarnation in her own body, her own blood.  A hermit says, “Christ, from the beginning of time, and in the fullness of time, chose being Jesus, being human, as the best way of expressing the love of the Trinity. Living in Christ, under the action of the Holy Spirit, and totally dedicated to God who is supremely loved 3,  I will now do likewise”.  

Because of the relentless ordinariness of her life, there is very little of worth that can be written about a hermit and her hermitage which cannot be written about every individual and community on the earth. That participation in the mystery of Christ’s humanity in Jesus is the focused privilege of the hermitage, but it is the lodestone of every human life.  The hermit inhabits the tabernacle of her hermitage, but all people wait and attend in the tabernacle of the world. Christ is close to us when we are kneeling directly in front of the Blessed Sacrament in a church, but just as close when we are sitting in the pews at the back, or standing at the boundary wall outside locked doors, or at any moment in any place when we attend inwardly to the presence of God.

Fighting demons:

Posted on by Hm Rachel

Fighting demons: Bede’s Life of Cuthbert: Chapter XIII

Both Cuthbert and the Desert dwellers seem to have similar ideas about “demons”. They are illusory – but even the illusion of them is enough to entangle, frustrate, frighten or even defeat us. C603 acknowledges these as “spiritual struggles”. The common-sense advice of all three is heartening.


HOW HE FORESAW A VISION OF A FIRE COMING FROM THE DEVIL WHILST HE WAS PREACHING, AND HOW HE PUT OUT THE SAME

ABOUT the same time, as he was preaching the word of life to a number of persons assembled in a certain village, he suddenly saw in the spirit our old enemy coming to retard the work of salvation, and forthwith began by admonitions to prevent the snares and devices which he saw were coming. “Dearest brethren,” said he, “as often as you hear the mysteries of the heavenly kingdom preached to you, you should listen with attentive heart and with watchful feelings, lest the devil, who has a thousand ways of harming you, prevent you by superfluous cares from hearing the word of salvation.” As he said these words, he resumed the thread of his discourse, and immediately that wicked enemy, bringing supernatural fire, set light to a neighbouring house, so that flakes of fire seemed to fly through the air, and a storm of wind and thunder shook the sky.

Nearly the whole multitude rushed forward, to extinguish the fire, (for he restrained a few of them himself,) but yet with all their real water they could not put out the false flames, until, at Cuthbert’s prayer, the author of the deceit was put to flight, and his fictitious fires dispersed along with him. The multitude, seeing this, were suffused with ingenuous blushes, and, falling on their knees before him, prayed to be forgiven for their fickleness of mind, acknowledging their conviction that the devil never rests even for an hour from impeding the work of man’s salvation. But he, encouraging them under their infirmity, again began to preach to them the words of everlasting life.

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...The vocation of the hermit is to remain with God alone, the Unum necessarium, through paths of liberation, of evangelical conversion, in which the fatigue of the spiritual struggle is experienced to reach the purification of the heart. HLPC 11

The fact of remaining on the margin recalls the imagery of the desert. understood by the ancient desert-dwellers as an emblematic place above all to express the separation from the world and the harshness of spiritual combat, which hermits often experience. HLPC 25

… life in solitude, while providing advantages from the point of view of meditation and inner concentration, can be the occasion of trials, discomforts, unforeseen events, which require to be approached with balance and responsibility. HLPC 30

One of the earliest tropes of ancient hermitage as they headed off into the desert, was the desire “to fight demons”. In contemporary parlance “demons” would probably indicate our personal shortcomings, foibles, frustrations, obsessions, preoccupations and passions (also a word frequently wielded by the desert dwellers). Although the imagery in the desert stories around the “demons” was quite vivid – and, indeed, presented itself as fire in the story about Cuthbert’s preaching, it is these (often minor, but insidious and persistent) personal temptations and infractions that they were primarily concerned with. How to stay focussed on Unam necessarium (the one thing necessary – God!) when beset by all these distractions and unhelpful proclivities?

The answers it seems are straight forward and forthright. Here is St Anthony despairing of getting-it-right, and being taught by an angel:

When the holy Abba Anthony lived in the desert he was beset by accidie and attacked by many sinful thoughts. He said to God, ‘Lord, I want to be saved but these thoughts do not leave me alone; what shall I do in my afflictions? How can I be saved?’ A short while afterwards, when he got up to go out, Anthony saw a man like himself sitting at his work, getting up from his work to pray, then sitting down and plaiting a rope, then getting up again to pray. It was an Angel of the Lord sent to correct and reassure him. He heard the Angel saying to him, ‘Do this and you will be saved.’ At these words Anthony was filled with joy and courage. He did this and he was saved. AC Anthony 1

And very similar advice to Abba Arsenius:

“Someone said to Abba Arsenius, ‘My thoughts trouble me, saying, ‘You can neither fast nor work; at least go and visit the sick, for that is also charity.’ ‘  But the old man, recognising the suggestions of the demons said to him, ‘Go, eat, drink, sleep, do no work, only do not leave your cell.’  For he knew that steadfastness in the cell keeps a monk in the right way.” AC Arsenius 11

The desert dwellers had learnt that the only way to deal with these obstacles was to stay where you are, and focus on what-you-are-doing. There is a lovely story of the old man who engaged with his distractions, running after them, trying to control them. It is a thankless task and will overwhelm us:

“Abba Elias said, “An old man was living in a temple and the demons came to say to him. ‘Leave this place which belongs to us’, and the old man said ‘No place belongs to you.’  Then they began to scatter his palm leaves about, one by one, and the old man went on gathering them with perseverance.  A little later the devil took his hand and pulled him to the door.  When the old man reached the door, he seized the lintel with the other hand crying out, ‘Jesus, save me!’  Immediately the devil fled.  Then the old man began to weep.  Then the Lord said to him, ‘Why are you weeping?’ and the old man said, ‘Because the devils have dared to seize a man and treat him like this.’  The Lord said to him,  ‘You had been careless.  As soon as you turned to me again, you see I was beside you.’  I say this because it is necessary to take great pains, and anyone who does not do so cannot come to his God.  For he himself was crucified for our sake.” AC Elias 7

Ultimately, what-you-are-doing is being in the presence of God. If your body and mind are occupied with your tasks, then your heart is present with God. This doesn’t mean sitting in rapt ecstasy for days on end – that is the fire that Cuthbert points out to the villagers – and extinguishes. Doing ordinary things, in the place given to you, without seeking novelty, and with focus. This is how to be present with God.