devils harass the monks, and drive them out of their cells by this war of departure, and therefore the great Fathers who have felt this war of wandering and of departure have said, ‘There is no war which is more cruel to the monk than this; may Christ help us and deliver us from it.’ ”
667. The brethren said, “Abbâ Anthony used to say, ‘He who dwelleth in the desert is free from three wars, that is, from speaking, hearing, and seeing’; explain these words to us.” The old man said, “The old man did not speak [thus] because the strife of him that dwelt in spiritual repose in the desert was less fierce than that of him that wandered about and mingled with men, but that he might show how much more hard and laborious was the war of devils which taketh place in the heart of those who dwell in spiritual repose than that which cometh in the heart of those who dwell with brethren. And because of this the fathers pursued after a life of contemplation in silence, lest when the wars of speaking and seeing and hearing were added unto that which was already in their heart, they would fall by reason of their severity, even as actually happened on one occasion, for a woman came to the monks who were living a life of silent contemplation, and there was added to the war which was already in their hearts the wars of seeing, and hearing, and speaking, and they would have been vanquished by the severity thereof had it not been that the grace of our Lord supported them. That the war which taketh place in the senses of the soul against the monks who live a life of silent contemplation is mightier and fiercer than that which taketh place in the senses of the body, is well known from the words which the blessed Evagrius spake, saying, Against the monks who lead a life of silent contemplation the devils in person wage war, but against those who lead a life of spiritual excellence in a general assembly of brethren, the devils only stir up and incite the lazy brethren; but the war which ariseth from the sight, and the hearing, and the speech is much less fierce that that which is waged against the monks who dwell in silent solitude.”
668. The brethren said, “What is the meaning of that which Abbâ Anthony said, ‘A monk’s cell is the furnace of Babylon, and it is also a pillar of light’?” The old man said, “There are two things peculiar to the cell; the one warmeth and setteth on fire, and the other giveth light and rejoicing. To neophytes it is oppressive and troublesome, by reason of the many wars and the dejection which are therein, but it rejoiceth the perfect and maketh them glad, with purity of heart, and impassibility, and revelations of light; and it is
