Fr Hugh MacMahon SSC Photo: Irish Columbans Mission Sunday
Fr Hugh MacMahon SSC has travelled the world for his missionary work, including assignments in China and Korea. However, it was a location here in Ireland that inspired his recent book, Voices from the Desert. During a visit to the Skellig Islands, he pondered why individuals would choose such an isolated and difficult life.
His answer came in the writings of John Cassian and his companion Germanus who visited the Egyptian Desert Fathers in 384AD. What the monks had to say about Christianity and their spiritual practices is as relevant now as it was back then. From the interviews there is an opportunity “to understand what Christian life was like before it became cluttered by later theologising and devotions,” according to Fr Hugh.
Pattern
These hermits set the pattern for what was to be a distinctively Irish Church. Perhaps their uncomplicated vision of what it means to be a Christian was closer to the original spirit of the gospels and has something to tell us today?
As Fr Hugh says, “This question had implications not only for my own idea of what it means to be a Christian but as a missionary trying to present the basic Christian message to people encountering it for the first time.”
The book features a condensed version of each of the twenty four interviews, alongside an introduction, a commentary on each chapter and a conclusion. It’s a project that anyone looking for a fresh view of what it means to be a Christian will appreciate.
EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT
Voices from the Desert
Our next discussions were with Theonas. While he was young his parents persuaded Theonas to marry because they were concerned about his moral welfare. After five years of wedded life and becoming a wealthy man, Theonas approached Abba John who had been put in charge of administering alms.
Abba John took the opportunity to repay his devotion with spiritual guidance. Those who kept the law faithfully believed their harvest would be abundantly blessed and they themselves rewarded a hundredfold in this world. Yet, not even those who keep the law faithfully were promised perfection.
When Theonas heard the words of Abba John he was filled with an uncontrollable desire for the perfection of the gospel. He felt he had not only failed to attain the perfection it implied but had scarcely fulfilled the commands of the law. He returned home and related all this to his wife. He suggested they should serve God in sanctity and chastity while they were still young, as no one knows how long they have left to live.
His wife objected. She was still young and needed the support of a husband. If she was deserted by him and fell into sin, it would be his fault. He replied that it was not right to cut oneself off from something good when it became known, and it was more dangerous to disregard goodness when discovered than to fail to love it before it was discovered.
Even then his wife would not accept his wishes so, leaving all his earthly goods behind, he departed for a monastery where he soon became noted for his sanctity and humility. When Abba John, and after him the holy Elias, died Theonas was entrusted with the management of almsgiving.
Many holy men have praised Theonas and we wanted to hear more from him. He came to visit our cell during Eastertide and we first asked him about aspects of the festival that puzzled us. Why is it that during the fifty days before Pentecost no one would bend the knee in prayer or venture to fast until the ninth hour? That custom had not been observed in the monasteries in Syria.
Theonas: It is good to accept the authority of the Fathers when we cannot understand the reasons for a custom. But, since you want to know, I will try to explain.
What is the time for fasting? Is fasting good, like justice, prudence and temperance, which cannot be anything but good? Or is it something that is useful but can be omitted? If we say that fasting is good in itself, then partaking of food would be bad and wrong. But the authority of Holy Scripture does not allow us to say that. So fasting is an indifferent act. It brings justification when observed, but does not bring condemnation when not observed, unless it was commanded.
Fasting is not a good in itself, it is a means to a goal and should not be sought for its own sake alone. We can fast to improve our patience and love but we do not practise our patience and love so that we can fast. There are times set for practising it and it has its rules and conditions.
Germanus: Why then do we relax the rigour of our abstinence for the fifty days before Pentecost, whereas Christ remained with his disciples for only forty days after his resurrection?
Theonas: Jesus ascended into heaven after forty days and the disciples waited another ten days for the Holy Spirit to descend on Pentecost. So the total is fifty days. This is the tradition handed down to us, and during the fifty days we do not bend our knees in prayer because bending the knee is a sign of penitence and mourning. We also observe those days as solemnities and do not fast out of reverence for the Lord’s resurrection.
Germanus: The apostle promises freedom from care not only to monks but to all Christians. So how is it that the domination of sin holds vigorous sway over all baptised?
Theonas: To understand the domination of sin and how to drive it out, let us take some examples. The law encourages people to seek the bonds of marriage. On the other hand, grace invites us to the purity of perpetual chastity. The law says, offer up your tithes and first fruits and share with others. The gospel says, ‘if you will be perfect, go and sell all that you have and give to the poor’ (Matthew 19:21). The law says, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. The gospel tells us to forgive our enemies and turn the other cheek when struck.
The height of evangelical perfection raises such virtue above every law and recognises that we are subject only to the grace of the Saviour by whose aid we can attain that most exalted condition.
Therefore, the freedom granted to followers of Christ does not remove the obligations of the old law nor the requirements of evangelical perfection. It is the aim of him, who by the grace of adoption accepts all those whom he has received, not to destroy but to build up, not to abolish but to fulfil, the Mosaic commands.
Germanus: We are grateful for your detailed description of the role and need for fasting. But how is it that often after a strict fast we awake in the morning feeling no improvement, rather to have sinned again? We can feel so disappointed that we have little energy for prayer.
Theonas: I recognise the sincerity of your question and your desire to reach perfection, not just in outward appearance, but also in purity of heart. Such matters should be discussed quietly and with a mind entirely free from all bustling thoughts. Therefore, let us take up this topic again tomorrow.
Theonas’s story leads to an enduring question: Is the celibate life in a monastery superior to that of sincere Christians living out their faith in a family and society?
Cassian takes great care to clarify that he is not endorsing Theonas’s decision to leave his wife and become a monk. It was still a very sensitive issue in the Church. Origen argued that in marriage the mutual love of the spouses is more important than the desire of one for a chastity that would conflict with the good of the other.
Cassian begs the reader, ‘First of all to find me blameless, whether you are pleased or dismayed at this account of Theonas’s choice, then you can praise or blame him as you wish.’ Yet he continues to explore the idea that in some way a monastic life is of greater value than family bonds and social commitment.
Theonas assures us that the greatness of perfection belongs to all, regardless of age, sex or occupation. All Christians are urged to climb the heights of virtue. The paths followed may be different, but all are united in a common desire to live continuously in the presence of God, both in this world and the next.
Germanus’s final question is a reminder that the demands and activities of the body are as real and complex as those of the soul seeking fulfilment. Accommodating both challenges all Christians, both celibate and married.
Voices from the Desert (€14.99) by Fr Hugh MacMahon is available from Columba Books.