From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Appreciating God's Grace   
      
      Be grateful, therefore, for the least gift and you will be worthy   
   to receive a greater. Consider the least gift as the greatest, the   
   most contemptible as something special. And, if you but look to the   
   dignity of the Giver, no gift will appear too small or worthless. Even   
   though He gives punishments and scourges, accept them, because He acts   
   for our welfare in whatever He allows to befall us.   
      He who desires to keep the grace of God ought to be grateful when   
   it is given and patient when it is withdrawn. Let him pray that it   
   return; let him be cautious and humble lest he lose it.   
   Imitation of Christ:-- a Kempis Bk II  Ch 10   
      
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   August 27th - St Pimen the Great   
   ( Also known as Poemen)   
      
   He went to one of the Egyptian monasteries with his two brothers,   
   Anoub and Paisius, and all three received monastic tonsure.   
      
   Born about the year 340 in Egypt. The brothers were such strict   
   ascetics that when their mother came to the monastery to see her   
   children, they did not come out to her from their cells. The mother   
   stood there for a long time and wept. Then St. Pimen said to her   
   through the closed door of the cell, "Do you wish to see us now, or in   
   the future life?" St. Pimen promised that if she would endure the   
   sorrow of not seeing her children in this life, then surely she would   
   see them in the next. The mother was humbled and returned home.   
      
   Fame of St. Pimen's deeds and virtues spread throughout the land.   
   Once, the governor of the district wanted to see him. St. Pimen,   
   shunning fame, thought to himself, "If dignitaries start coming to me   
   and show me respect, then many other people will also start coming to   
   me and disturb my quiet, and I shall be deprived of the grace of   
   humility, which I have acquired only with the help of God." So he   
   refused to see the governor, asking him not to come.   
      
   For many of the monks, St. Pimen was a spiritual guide and instructor.   
   They wrote down his answers to serve for the edification of others   
   besides themselves. A certain monk asked, "If I see my brother   
   sinning, should I conceal his fault?" The Elder answered, "If we   
   reproach the sins of brothers, then God will reproach our sins. If you   
   see a brother sinning, do not believe your eyes. Know that your own   
   sin is like a beam of wood, but the sin of your brother is like a   
   splinter (Mt. 7:3-5), and then you will not enter into distress or   
   temptation."   
      
   Another monk said to the saint, "I have sinned grievously and I want   
   to spend three years at repentance. Is that enough time?" The Elder   
   replied, "That is a long time." The monk continued to ask how long the   
   saint wished him to repent. Perhaps only a year? St. Pimen said, "That   
   is a long time." The other brethren asked, "Should he repent for forty   
   days?" The Elder answered, "I think that if a man repents from the   
   depths of his heart and has a firm intention not to return to the sin,   
   then God will accept three days of repentance."   
      
   When asked how to get rid of persistent evil thoughts, the saint replied,   
   "This is like a man who has fire on his left side, and a vessel full   
   of water on his right side. If he starts burning from the fire, he   
   takes water from the vessel and extinguishes the fire. The fire   
   represents the evil thoughts placed in the heart of man by the Enemy   
   of our salvation, which can enkindle sinful desires within man like a   
   spark in a hut. The water is the force of prayer which impels a man   
   toward God."   
      
   St. Pimen was strict in his fasting and sometimes would not partake of   
   food for a week or more.   
    He advised others to eat every day, but without eating their fill.   
   Abba Pimen heard of a certain monk who went for a week without eating,   
   but had lost his temper. The saint lamented that the monk was able to   
   fast for an entire week, but was unable to abstain from anger for even   
   a single day.   
      
   To the question of whether it is better to speak or be silent, the Elder said,   
   "Whoever speaks on account of God, does well, and whoever is silent on   
   account of God, that one also does well."   
      
   He also said, "If man seems to be silent, but his heart condemns   
   others, then he is always speaking. There may be a man who talks all   
   day long, but he is actually silent, because he says nothing   
   unprofitable."   
      
   The saint said, "It is useful to observe three things: to fear God, to   
   pray often, and to do good for one's neighbor."   
   "Wickedness never eradicates wickedness. If someone does evil to you,   
   do good to them, and your goodness will conquer their wickedness."   
      
   Once, after St. Pimen and his disciples arrived at the monastery of   
   Scetis, he learned that the Elder living there was annoyed at his   
   arrival and was also jealous of him, because monks were leaving the   
   Elder to see Abba Pimen.   
      
   In order to console the hermit, the saint went to him with his   
   brethren, taking food with them as a present. The Elder refused to   
   receive them, however. Then St. Pimen said, "We shall not depart from   
   here until we are permitted to see the holy Elder." He remained   
   standing at the door of the cell in the heat. Seeing St. Pimen's   
   humility and patience, the Elder received him graciously and said,   
   "Not only is what I have heard about you true, but I see that your   
   works are a hundred times greater."   
   He possessed such great humility that he often sighed and said, "I   
   shall be cast down to that place where Satan was cast down!"   
      
   Once, a monk from another country came to the saint to receive his   
   guidance. He began to speak about sublime matters difficult to grasp.   
   The saint turned away from him and was silent. They explained to the   
   bewildered monk that the saint did not like to speak of lofty matters.   
   Then the monk began to ask him about the struggle with passions of   
   soul. The saint turned to him with a joyful face, "Now you have spoken   
   well, and I will answer." For a long while he provided instruction on   
   how one ought to struggle with the passions and conquer them.   
      
   St. Pimen died at age 110, about the year 450. Soon after his death,   
   he was acknowledged as a saint pleasing to God. He was called "the   
   Great" as a sign of his great humility, uprightness, ascetic   
   struggles, and self-denying service to God.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   A man may seem to be silent, but if his heart is condemning others, he   
   is babbling ceaselessly. But there may be another who talks from   
   morning till night and yet he is truly silent, that is, he says   
   nothing that is not profitable.   
   --Abba Pimen (an early Desert Father)   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   Give in to God: resist the devil, and he will run away from you. The   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)