Serapion of Thmuis

Abba Serapion of Thmuis or Serapion of Nitria was one of the Desert Fathers quoted in the Apophthegmata Patrum (Sayings of the Desert Fathers).

Quotes

Ward, Benedicta (1984). The sayings of the Desert Fathers: the alphabetical collection. Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications.

• A brother said to Abba Serapion, 'Give me a word.' The old man said to him, 'What shall I say to you? You have taken the living of the widows and orphans and put it on your shelves.' For he saw them full of books.
  • Saying 2

• Abba Serapion said, 'When the soldiers of the emperor are standing at attention, they cannot look to the right or left; it is the same for the man who stands before God and looks towards him in fear at all times; he cannot then fear anything from the enemy.'
  • Saying 3

• As soon as this earth's great elder, the blessed Antony, who prayed for the whole world, departed, everything has been torn apart and is in anguish, and the Wrath devastates Egypt. While he was truly on earth, he extended his hands and prayed and spoke with God all day long. He did not let the Wrath descend on us. Lifting up his thoughts, he kept it from coming down. But now that those hands are closed, no one else can be found who might halt the violence.
  • Ep. ad discipulos Antonii (letter to two disciples of Anthony the Great) 5, 7–8, 19–20; trans. by Harmless, William (2004). Desert Christians. Oxford University Press. p. 108. ISBN 0-19-516222-6.