When abbot Arsenius was still resident at court, he once prayed to God saying: “Lord, lead my life so that I can be saved.” And a voice came to him that said: “Arsenius, flee from people and you will be saved”.
When he separated himself and lived as a monk, he once raised up the same prayer. And he heard a voice say to him: “Arsenius, flee, shut up, keep to silence. For those are the roots of sinlessness”. Abt Arsenius
“Go to your private room, shut yourself in and pray to your Father who is in that secret place”. Mat. 6, 6.
Silence, loneliness and simplicity can help us to enter into our our selves and cultivate openess for what is essential. We only become fully human if there are moments of silence and seclusion. We come home from a long rove and rediscover the source of grace and life…
The monk organises his existence explicitly around these values: as a sentinel finding a place for God. For that reason he is called, from the beginning (3rd-4th century), monachos: alone, single, separate. A state of life – poor, simple, silent and unmarried – that assists him in merely being a searcher of the one necessary internal union and the total urge of his heart, hoping to be one spirit with God: theophilos! friend of God.