ADMONITIONS OF ABBA ATHANASIOS AND HIS WONDROUS VISION
This same Abba Athanasios said: “Our fathers maintained self-discipline and indifference to worldly goods, but we have lined both our bellies and our purses well.” Again, he remarked: “In our fathers’ time, it was very important to avoid distractions. Now our cooking pot and our handwork rule us.”
He also shared this: One day, a thought came into my mind: what difference does it make whether we fight the fight agdaizein or not? I felt as though I fell into a trance when someone came to me and said: “Follow me.” He led me into a place filled with light and stood me before a door, the beauty of which was beyond description. We could hear what sounded like an innumerable multitude within, praising God.
We knocked, and someone inside heard us and cried, “What do you want?” My guide replied, “We want to come in.” The other answered, saying to me, “Nobody comes in here who lives negligently, ea ameleiai. If you want to come in, go and fight the fight, holding nothing to be of any account in the vain world.”