Rufus

Saint Rufus the Venerable was a wise ascetic of the desert who reposed in peace. The Greek synaxarion commemorates him on 22 October (new style, the Greek calendar), and sayings of his are preserved in the Paradise of the Fathers (Gerontikon), where Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain also cites him.

Asked what stillness (hesychia) is and what benefit it brings, Rufus answered that it means sitting in the cell with knowledge and fear of God, free of resentment and pride. Such stillness gives birth to all the virtues and protects the monk from the fiery arrows of the enemy. He also said that one who lives in obedience to a spiritual father receives a greater reward than one who keeps stillness alone in the desert. In this connection the account is told of a father who saw four ranks in heaven: the one who is ill and gives thanks to God, the one who welcomes strangers, the one who keeps stillness in the desert, and the one who obeys an elder. The last had the greatest glory, because, giving up his own will, he depended only on the will of his father.