A brother asked an old man, ‘How can I be saved?’ The latter took off his habit, girded his loins and raised his hands to heaven, saying, ‘So should the monk be: denuded of all the things of this world, and crucified. In the contest, the athlete fights with his fists; in his thoughts, the monk stands, his arms stretched out in the form of a cross to heaven, calling on God. The athlete stands naked when fighting in a contest; the monk stands naked and stripped of all things, anointed with oil and taught by his master how to fight. So God leads us to victory.’
The Wisdom of the Desert Fathers, #11
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