A Fish on Dry Land

“Abbot Anthony said: Just as fish die if they remain on dry land so monks, remaining away from their cells, or dwelling with men of the world, lose their determination to persevere in solitary prayer. Therefore, just as the fish should go back to the sea, so we must return to our cells, lest remaining outside we forget to watch over ourselves interiorly.”
—Wisdom of the Desert

Perhaps this is the greatest gift of the Desert Fathers to modern people: they remind us of what we have lost in the way of solitude, quiet and inner re-creation. Notice that Abbot Anthony does not claim that being in “the world” corrupts the monk morally. He is much more practical than that. Rather, the problem is that the pace of the world detracts from the monk’s time and capacity for prayer and meditation. We would all do well to regularly “return to our cells” and “watch over ourselves interiorly.”