By Fr. George Dorbarakis
"Having completed the full thread of your life Ammonas,
You found life that could never come to an end."
"Having completed the full thread of your life Ammonas,
You found life that could never come to an end."
(Verses from the Synaxarion)
We do not have many historical details even about this great venerable father of the Gerontikon (Sayings of the Desert Fathers). The only thing that is certain, on the basis of the sayings and incidents concerning him that have been preserved — eleven in number — in the Apophthegmata of the Fathers (other spiritual writings and letters of his are also mentioned, though outside the book of the Apophthegmata), is that he lived in the time of Saint Anthony the Great (251–356), was his disciple and perhaps his successor in the monastic skete, and later became a bishop, manifesting a life free from every passion and malice.
We shall next see what Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite records about him in his Synaxaristes, and at the end we shall choose a small chapter from the Gerontikon to comment on briefly. We should say from the outset that Saint Nikodemos, when considering whether this refers to Bishop Ammonas — the one connected, as we have said, with Saint Anthony — or to the priest mentioned in the Lausiac History who “saw” an angel of the Lord recording those present at the Divine Liturgy and striking out the absent, clearly chooses the first view: this Ammonas is the bishop. What, then, does he note about him?
“The Venerable Ammonas was the bishop about whom Anthony the Great prophesied, saying that he would make progress in the fear of God. For when Anthony showed him a stone, he said to him: ‘Insult it and strike it.’ And he did so. Then Anthony said to him: ‘So too will you reach this measure,’ which indeed came to pass. The ever-memorable Ammonas reached such forbearance and goodness that he did not know at all what malice was. For this reason, when he became a bishop, they brought to him a virgin girl who had been corrupted by someone and had become pregnant; they also brought the man who had corrupted her, asking him to punish them both. But the Venerable One not only did not punish them, he did not even condemn them. Even more, instead of reproving the woman, he sealed her womb with a blessing and gave her six pairs of sheets, saying: ‘In case either she or the child should die at the time of childbirth, let there be sheets so that she may be shrouded.’
On another occasion this venerable man went to a certain place to eat bread, and there was a brother monk about whom there was a rumor that he was committing fornication with a woman. By chance, the woman was there, inside the monk’s cell. When the locals learned that the venerable man had arrived, they went and begged him to enter the cell so that, in his presence, the monk might be caught and shamed, and thus they could drive him out of their region. But the monk anticipated this and hid the woman in a large jar, which the venerable man knew. What did he do? He entered the cell, went and sat on the mouth of the jar, and then ordered them to search the cell to find the woman. The accusers searched everywhere but did not find her. Then he said to them: ‘May God forgive you for the accusation you brought against the monk.’ And after praying, he sent them all away. Then he took the monk by the hand and said to him: ‘Take heed to yourself, brother.’ Having said this, he too departed.
This venerable man also said that when he spent fourteen years in the skete, he prayed to God night and day to grant him the grace to overcome the passion of anger.”
Let us now look at a short incident (chapter 4) from the Gerontikon:
“One of the Fathers related that there was a hardworking elder in Kellia who wore a garment of reeds. He went to visit Abba Ammonas. When Abba Ammonas saw him wearing the reed garment, he said to him: ‘The reeds do not benefit you at all.’ Then the elder asked him: ‘Three thoughts trouble me: either to wander in the deserts, or to go to a foreign land where no one knows me, or to shut myself in a cell and see no one, eating every two days.’ Abba Ammonas said to him: ‘None of the three is beneficial for you to do. Rather, remain in your cell, eat a little every day, and always keep in your heart the words of the tax collector, and then you can be saved.’”
Thus, the elder of Kellia was extremely ascetic, afflicting his body with harsh clothing — he wore reeds, which obviously chafed him — yet he was not at rest: his thoughts would not leave him in peace. They drove him to intensify his asceticism, because he felt he was not doing enough for his “God.” And what did he consider? To have not even a cell, or to practice absolute exile in unknown lands, or to choose total enclosure with increased fasting. Would we not bow down before such a figure, who so far surpasses not only the ordinary measure of worldly Christians but even that of great ascetics? We would perhaps speak of a great saint, whose prayer would be precious to us — many of us simple Christians would do anything to meet him, even taking as a talisman the dust from his footprints.
But this is how it appears to us, not to the great Venerable Ammonas. For the discerning Saint, who clearly possessed among other gifts the ability to discern spirits — what is hidden in a person’s soul and motivates his life — “sees” the danger in the elder who visited him and entrusted to him his thoughts. What danger? Excess — that is, the danger of delusion from the so-called “right-hand” weapons of the devil. Do not our saints say that excesses always come from the devil? If he cannot cast someone down in a negative way — that is, draw him away from God and God-pleasing asceticism — he tries to cast him down through excess in what appears to be good! Thus Venerable Ammonas immediately points out the subtle mode of action of the evil one. And in a modest and simple way, the way of love, he gives the answer: these “extremes” do not benefit you, elder! That is, God does not bless them. They will harm you.
Yet, as a true spiritual teacher with deep knowledge of the spiritual life, he does not stop at prohibition and denial. He offers an outlet and opens the struggler’s eyes — though he is an ascetic lacking discernment. “Continue the asceticism you are practicing,” it is as if he says, “but in a moderate way: remain in your cell (for the cell, the Saints say, always keeps the monk balanced); eat a little each day (for a person also has a body that must be given what is necessary); and above all, struggle along the path of humility (for there is no possibility of salvation for a person outside of it).”
And in this final counsel of Venerable Ammonas lies what is most important of all. For salvation means a living relationship with God in Christ, which means that the believer must struggle — always by the grace of God and therefore in an ecclesial manner — to remain within the current of Christ’s life, the river that flows from Him and gathers along its course everyone who wishes to be with Him. This current of Christ is marked, of course, by love, but by love founded upon His phronema, His mindset, which is the mind of humility. “Let this mind be in you,” notes the Apostle Paul, “which was also in Christ, who, though He was God, took the form of a servant and became man. And He humbled Himself so greatly that He became obedient to God even unto death.” And this is what Christ always “whispers” to each of His disciples: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart.” That which constitutes the “sign” of a correct course, which draws God toward the human person, is first and foremost humility — holy humility, according to Saint Porphyrios. Its perfect form eludes us human beings, for we are speaking of the mystery of the Triune God Himself; yet what is required of us is always to turn toward where its holy fragrance is found and gradually to draw near to it.
Clearly, the ascetic elder, with the fervent disposition of his relationship with God, listened to the Venerable Abba Ammonas. He obeyed and was saved, becoming himself one of the many unknown venerable ones of the desert. And how do we know this outcome, when the ascetic text says nothing further? Because he went to ask the venerable abba. That is, he showed in practice that he possessed a measure of humility, for no one without humility asks elders and other spiritual fathers who are more experienced. One does not ask because one “knows everything” and therefore has no need of guidance. But the good elder with the reed garment had a humble heart. And the great Ammonas gave him the direction of the most spiritual path of the Christian faith: the tax collector’s cry, “God make atonement for me a sinner,” or in other words, “to consider oneself beneath all creation.” This is the path that leads a person straight up to the heights of Heaven.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
