Trial By Prostitute

Ἄλλοτε πάλιν παριόντος τοῦ Ἐφραὶμ, ἐξ ὑποβολῆς τινος ἔρχεται μία ἑταιρὶς κολακεύειν αὐτὸν εἰς αἰσχρὰν μίξιν, εἰ δὲ μὴ, κἂν εἰς ἀγανάκτησιν κινῆσαι αὐτὸν, ὅτι οὐδέποτε τις εἶδεν αὐτὸν ὀργιζόμενον. Καὶ λέγει πρὸς αὐτήν· Ἀκολούθει μοι· πλησιάσας δὲ τόπῳ πολυοχλουμένῳ, εἶπεν αὐτῇ· Ἐν τῷ τοπῳ τούτῳ δεῦρο καθὼς ἠθέλνσας. Ἐκείνη δὲ θεασαμένη τὸν ὄχλον, λέγει αὐτῷ· Πῶς δυνάμεθα τοῦτο ποιῆσαι, τοσούτου ὄχλου ἑστῶτος, καὶ οὐκ αἰσχυνόμεθα; Ὁ δὲ λέγει πρὸς αὐτήν· Εἰ ἀνθρώπους αἰσχυνόμεθα, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὀφείλομεν αἰσχύνεσθαι τὸν Θεὸν, τὸν τὰ κρυπτὰ τοῦ σκότους ἐλέγχοντα. Ἡ δὲ ἐντραπεῖσα ἀπῆλθεν ἄπρακτος. Ἄποφθέγματα των Αγίων Γερόντων, Παλλάδιος Ελενουπόλεως Source: Migne PG 65.168c-d

Another time, when Ephrem was travelling, a prostitute tried by flattery to lead him to shameful intercourse, and if not that, at least to move him to anger, for no one had ever seen him angry. He said to her, 'Follow me,' and when they had reached a place where there were many people, he said to her, 'In this place, come, do what you wish.' But she, seeing the crowd, said to him, 'How can we do this in the presence of such a crowd and not be ashamed?' He said to her, 'If we are ashamed before men, how much more should we be before God, who knows what is hidden in darkness?' And abashed she went away without having achieved anything. Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

The Errors Of Crowds

Ad negligentiam vitae, non nos negligentium turba persuadeat, nec ad damnum propriae salutis, alienis ducamur erroribus. Quid nobis in illo Dei judicio proderit multitudo; ubi singuli judicabuntur, ubi sola examinatio merilorum, actus quemque, non populus absolvent? Cessent, cessent solatia malesuada discriminis. Nimirum praestat vitam propagasse cum paucioribus quam perdidisse cum pluribus. Atque adeo, non nos ad incuriam peccatorum, sola peccantium numerositas pertrahat, neque hoc, quod sibi alii parum consulunt, quaedam nobis efficiatur auctoritas. Obsecro te, delictum alienum semper ut opprobrium respice, numquam ut exemplum. Sanctus Eucherius Lugdonensis, Epistola Paraenetica ad Valerianum Cognatum, de Contemptu Mundi Source: Migne PL 50.718a

To the neglect of life let not the negligence of the crowd persuade us, nor to the loss of your own salvation let us be lead by the errors of others. How will the multitude profit us in that day of God’s judgement, when each will be sentenced separately, when his own deeds, not the peole, will absolve him? Let them cease, let them cease, the evil leading comforts that separate. Without doubt the superior life is to have spent it with the poor and not to have been ruined with the many. And, therefore, let not the carelessness of sinners attact our attention but the grave number of sins. Let us not allow those who counsel themselves so poorly to be made into an authority for us. I beseech you, always look upon the wrongs of others as a disgrace, never as an example. Saint Eucherius of Lyon, Letter Of Exhortation To His Kinsman Valerian, On Contempt For The World

Respecting the Enemy

Τοῦτου τοῦ γενναιοτατου ἀθλητοῦ πλησίον κατῴκει Καπίτων τις ἀπὸ λῃστῶν γεγονὼς μοναχὸς δοκιμώτατος. Οὐτος πεντήκοντα ἔτη πληρώσας ἐν τοῖς σπηλαίοις, ἀπὸ τεσσάρων μιλίων τῆς πόλεως Ἀντινόου, οὐ κατῆλθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ σπληλαίου ἑαυτοῦ, οὐδὲ μέχρι τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ Νείλου, λέγων, μήπω δύνασθαι αὐτὸν συντυγχάνειν τοὶς ὄχλοις, τῷ ἀκμὴν ἀντιπραττειν αὐτῲ τὸν ὑπεναντίον.  Ἡ Προς Λαυσον Ἱστορια, Παλλαδιος

There lived nearby a certain Kapiton, who was once a bandit but was now an esteemed monk. He had spent fifty years in the caves four miles from the city of Antinoe, and he would not come down from his cave, not even as far as the river Nile. He said that he was not yet able to encounter crowds since the adversary at that instant would oppose him. Lausiac History, Palladius of Galatia