From the deserts of Egypt and Syria to the cells of Mount Athos and beyond to
the vast forests of northern Russia these are the Chronicles of the Desert.
As Abba Bessarion wandered the desert he came upon a monastery and perceived
with the eye of his soul that the monks there struggled with passions and
worldly things and lacked divine grace. So to show them the way he sat at
the gate and began weeping until a young monk came out: "Brother, why are you
weeping? If you lack any good thing you are welcome to come inside and share our
table with us and give yourself some rest."
"I cannot live under a roof," said the old man, "so long as I have not found
again the riches of my house. For pirates fell upon me at sea and then a storm and
great waves wrecked my ship. Oh, I have dishonored my rank. How can I not weep
over the former glory and nobility from which I have miserably fallen."
Astonished, the young man gave him a morsel of bread and consoled the old man.
"Take this father and rest well. As for what you lost: home, honor, and
riches, God can restore." But the old man continued to weep and lament,
"I cannot say if I shall find again those good things which I seek but in danger
of death every day and without rest I wander until I finish my course."
Having fully renounced the world and living as a stranger on this earth Abba Bessarion
spoke not of material things as the young monk assumed. Rather, he spoke of
temptations which are like the storms lashing our ships and demons who act
like pirates and treacherous waves which are the passions, all of which the
Christian contends with while struggling to purify his or her mind, the nous, --
which is the helmsman of our ship -- in order to gain the riches and nobility of
the heavenly inheritance lost since the fall of Adam. Abba Bessarion gave up
everything for this and sought only God's love and divine grace he wandered
across the Egyptian desert for forty years and lived free like a bird in the
mountains amidst the rocks and in desolate places. He cared not for a
dwelling nor for clothing nor for any abundance of material things
but rather traversed the edge of the desert like a vagabond carrying only the
gospel in his hands and through austere asceticism became a partaker of the
divine nature here on earth. Like the one day when he and his disciple walked by
the seaside. "Abba, I am very thirsty," said his disciple. Abba Bessarion prayed
and then said, "Drink from the sea." The disciple tasted the seawater and it
tasted sweet. He then poured some into a leather
bottle. "Why are you doing this, ask Abba Bessarion. "Forgive me, Abba. It
is from fear of being thirsty later on." Abba Bessarion: "God is here.
God is everywhere!"
He gave himself over to divine providence in all matters.
Like the day he walked through a village and upon seeing a dead man covered him
with his coat. Then he saw a poor man and gave him his cloak. Later, a soldier
passed by the naked ascetic and said "Abba, who took your clothes?" Abba
Bessarion pointed at the gospel in his hands and said, "He did!"
Abba Bessarion rested very little, once standing amidst thorn bushes for fourteen days
in order to ward off sleep. For fourteen years he didn't lay down but only slept
sitting or standing. Through such ascetic feats and much prayer and fasting
he gained freedom from the passions and was granted great spiritual gifts like
the one day when a man possessed with a demon came to Scetis but the Fathers
could not cast it out. "What can we do," said the Fathers. "No one can cast this
demon out except Abba Bessarion. But if we call him he will not come out of
humility."
But they knew that Abba Bessarion came early to church and so they let the
possessed man sleep in the area where he normally prayed.
When Abba Bessarion arrived they kept to their prayer but also pointed toward the
sleeping man and said, "Abba, awaken this brother." Abba Bessarion saw the sleeping
man and said, "Rise up and go forth!" Immediately, the demon departed and from
that hour the man was healed Abba Bessarion lived as a stranger on
this earth, wandering across the desert yet always journeying toward the kingdom
of God. Let us, like him, put our trust in God and seek out that which we lost from
the beginning, caring not for the things which perish but placing our hope in
Christ and eternal life.