By CAROLE BRESLIN
Silence. Quiet. The search for peace, serenity, and calm has led many in today’s world to take up Yoga, Eastern mysticism, or life in remote areas to escape the noise of our modern world. This is not a modern quest. The quest for quiet has been with man for millennia. Although St. Anthony the Great (died 356) is considered the father of monasticism, there were many men before and after him who lived a life of quiet and prayer.
About 100 years after St. Anthony, St. Sabbas, who frequently sought places to live in isolation, had so many followers that he founded numerous monasteries around Jerusalem and elsewhere in the Middle East.
St. Sabbas, whose name means “old man” in Greek, was born in 439 in Cappadocia or modern-day Turkey. His early years were somewhat chaotic since his father was a military man. His father’s assignments required traveling and living in foreign lands, so he and his mother left their young son, Sabbas, with an uncle when he was only five years old.
Unhappy with this life, Sabbas ran away from this home because his uncle’s wife treated him poorly. At the age of eight he sought refuge with another uncle. These two uncles then fought over the control of Sabbas’ estate. This time Sabbas ran off to a monastery in Mutalaska.
After some years the uncles were reconciled and planned to have Sabbas accept marriage. However, Sabbas refused and remained at the monastery. He had experienced the trials of a worldly life and much preferred the peace and serenity of the monastery.
Sabbas became well known for his holiness and virtue, always sensitive to the needs and feelings of others. His time at Mutalaska was not without marvels. When one of the bakers at the monastery had put his wet clothes in the oven to dry, he forgot about them. Sabbas, seeing the monk’s distress, climbed into the fire and retrieved the clothing without being burned.
In 456 Sabbas went to Jerusalem with the hope of learning from the solitaries. First he stayed at the monastery headed by Elpidius where he was highly favored. Although they begged him to stay with them, he left them in order to find a life of even more solitude and silence.
From Elpidius, he transferred to the discipleship of St. Euthymius, who — though a monastery had been built for him in which to reside — refused to abandon his complete isolation. When Sabbas visited Euthymius on his mountain, Euthymius deemed that Sabbas was much too young to live a life of solitude and advised him to join the monastery farther down the hill.
Sabbas then joined that monastery, spending long nights in prayer and working diligently to serve the brothers by performing the heavier tasks. At one point, his superior sent him on a mission to Alexandria. Oddly enough, he met his parents there, who insisted that he leave religious life and accept his position in the world.
Sabbas replied that he would not leave the monastic life. His parents then begged him to at least accept some money to live a comfortable life. To appease them, he took only three pieces of gold, which he immediately gave to his abbot upon his return to the monastery.
In 469, at the age of 30, St. Euthymius gave Sabbas permission to spend five days a week in a remote cave. Dutifully, every Sunday evening, Sabbas would leave the monastery carrying bundles of twigs on his back. Five days later he would return with 50 baskets.
St. Euthymius allowed Sabbas and a companion to accompany him on his yearly retreat in the desert. They left during the octave of the Epiphany and planned to return on Palm Sunday. However, Sabbas collapsed from thirst. Euthymius took pity on the young man and begged God to spare him. After striking his staff in the sand, a spring welled up from which Sabbas drank and was restored to strength.
When St. Euthymius died, Sabbas retreated even farther into the desert toward Jericho, where he remained for four more years. He found an abode at the top of a cliff, from which he had to drop a rope in order to ascend and descend the mountain. He lived on the meager donations of food from some countrymen and walked far each time he needed water.
Despite his isolation, he attracted many men who also wanted to serve God under his guidance. Reluctantly, he allowed them to build their own individual huts in the same area — thus developing a laura. When the shortage of water became a problem, he noticed a mule pawing at the ground and ordered a well dug which supplied water for many generations to come.
As the community reached 150 residents, they complained about the lack of a priest. As the monks went to the patriarch of Jerusalem to voice their demands and claims against Sabbas, the patriarch found no fault in Sabbas’ actions, but recognized their need for a priest. Therefore, the patriarch convinced Sabbas to be ordained a priest in 491 at the age of 53.
Men came from as far away as Armenia and Egypt to join them. Sabbas wrote offices to be sung by the monks, permitting them to sing the offices in their own tongues.
In 493, the patriarch of Jerusalem placed him in charge of all monks who lived individually in lauras, while he placed St. Theodosius in charge of all monks who lived in community. Despite his responsibility, he left for the entire season of Lent on retreat which divided the monks under his rule. Some of the monks left and established their own laura.
In 511 the Patriarch Elias sent Sabbas to the Emperor Anastasius to persuade the emperor to stop persecuting bishops who did not adhere to the Eutychian heresy. Because of his beggarly appearance, Sabbas was not allowed admittance to the emperor.
Finally, he met with the emperor several times over the course of the winter, but met with no success. The emperor had the patriarch exiled and replaced him with a man faithful to the emperor. The exiled Patriarch Elias died shortly thereafter with Sabbas at his side.
In 530 the Patriarch Peter again sent Sabbas to Constantinople. During this time, St. Sabbas fell ill, suffering greatly. The Emperor Justinian had such high regard of St. Sabbas that he tended the saint himself. The last four days of his life he asked that he be left in isolation in order to concern himself only with things of God. He died on December 5, 532. The Church celebrates his feast on the day of his death.
Dear St. Sabbas, how well you understood the need to be still in the presence of God. May we follow your example in our busy lives to take time each day for silence and prayer, that we may better experience the presence of God, grow closer to Him, and understand His will for us more clearly. Amen.
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(Carole Breslin home-schooled her four daughters and served as treasurer of the Michigan Catholic Home Educators for eight years. For over ten years, she was national coordinator for the Marian Catechists, founded by Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)
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