From The Month.
SAINTS OF THE DESERT.
BY THE REV. J. H. NEWMAN. D.D.
1. A sportsman fell in with Abbot Antony, when pleasantly conversing with his brethren, and was scandalized.
The old man said: "Put an arrow on the string, and bend your bow." He did so.
Then Antony said: "Bend it more;" and he bent it more.
Antony said: "More still." He answered: "I shall break it."
Then said Antony: "This will befal the brethren, if their minds are always on the stretch."
2. It is told of Abbot Arsenius, how he was used to remain all night without sleep.
Then, when morning broke, and he needed rest, he used to say to sleep: Come, you good-for-nothing.
Then he took a nap, as he sat; and soon woke up again.
3. A brother said to Abbot Theodore, "Say some good word to me, for I am perishing."