Thinking of Oneself

Εἰπεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Νισθερῶς, ὅτι ὀφείλει ὁ μοναχὸς καθ' ἑσπέραν καὶ πρωιας λόγον ποιείν. Τί ὧν θέλει ὁ Θεὸς ἐποιήσαμεν, καὶ τί ὦν οὐ θέλει οὐκ ἐποιήσαμεν; καὶ οὕτως τρακτεύοντες ἑαυτῶν τὴν πᾶσαν ζωήν. Οὕτως γὰρ ἔζησεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Ἀρσένιος. Σπούδαζε ἑκάστην ἡμέραν παρεστάναι τῷ Θεῷ χωρὶς ἁμαρτίας. Οὕτω προσεύχου τῷ Θεῷ, ὡς παρὼν παρόντι· καὶ γὰρ ἀληθῶς πάρεστι. Μὴ νομοθέτει ἑαυτόν· κρῖνε δὲ μηδένα. Μοναχοῦ ἀλλότριον ὑπάρχει τὸ ὀμνύειν, ἐπιορκεῖν, ψεύδεσθαι, καταρᾶσθαι, ὑβρίζειν, γελᾷν. Ὁ δὲ πλέον τῆς ἀξίας τιμώμενος ἥ ἐπαιρούμενος, πολὺ ζημιοῦται. ᾽Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος

Father Nisteros said that every day a monk should, morning and evening, say to himself, 'Of what God wishes, what have I done? And what of those things which do not please Him have I not done?' And thus he examines his whole life. This indeed is how Father Arsenius lived. Be diligent, then, that every day you stand before God without sin, so that when you pray to God, He shall be present, for truly He is near. Do not compose laws for yourself and condemn no one. It should be foreign to a monk to denounce, to lie, to curse, to be proud, to mock. He who honours himself, or elevates himself above his worth, he shall be damned. Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia