Charity And Slander

April 9, 2016 | A Word From the Desert

A brother asked an old man, 'How is it that in these days some afflict themselves in their manner of life and do not receive grace as the ancients did?' The old man said to him, 'In those days there was charity and each one caused his neighbour to make progress, but now that charity has grown cold, each one pulls his neighbour back, and that is why we do not receive grace.'

Sayings of the Desert Fathers
Artwork: Phyllis Nicoll