Amma Syncletica said, “For those who draw near to God, there is struggle and great toil at first, but afterward there is unspeakable joy. Those who want to light a fire are first filled with smoke and made to weep, and afterward they obtain what they wanted—for Scripture says, ‘Our God is a consuming fire.’ In the same way, we must kindle the divine fire within ourselves with tears and toil.”
She also said, “We who have taken up this calling must possess self-control to the highest degree. For self-control seems to exist among people in the world as well, but alongside it there is also foolishness in the soul, because they sin through all the other senses: they look improperly and laugh without restraint.”
She also said, “Just as the stronger medicines drive out poisonous animals, so prayer together with fasting drives out an evil thought.”
She also said, “Do not let the luxury of wealthy people in the world entice you as though it contained something useful, merely because of empty pleasure. They value the art of preparing delicacies; but through fasting and simple foods you surpass their abundance of provisions. For Scripture says, ‘A soul living in luxury mocks honeycombs.’ Do not fill yourself with bread, and you will not desire wine.”
The blessed Syncletica was asked whether non-possession is a perfect good. She said, “It is indeed perfect for those who are able to bear it. Those who endure it have affliction in the flesh but rest in the soul. Just as strong clothes are washed by being trampled and forcibly turned over, so a strong soul is made still stronger through voluntary poverty.”
She also said, “If you are living in a cenobium, do not change your place, for it will harm you greatly. Just as a bird that leaves its eggs makes them cold and unfruitful, so a monk or virgin grows cold and dies in faith by wandering from place to place.”
She also said, “The devil has many snares. If he cannot move a soul through poverty, he offers riches as bait. If he has not prevailed through insults and reproaches, he sets praise and glory before it. If he is defeated while the body is healthy, he makes the body sick. Since he could not deceive through pleasures, he tries to cause a fall through involuntary sufferings. With permission he brings very severe illnesses, so that through them he may darken love for God by bringing people to discouragement and negligence. The body is cut down by violent fevers and tormented by unbearable thirst. If you suffer these things because you are guilty of sin, remember the punishments to come, the eternal fire, and the torments of judgment, and do not lose heart over the present. Rejoice that God has visited you, and keep this holy saying on your lips: ‘The Lord disciplined me severely, but He did not give me over to death.’ You were iron, but through the fire you have cast off the rust. If you are righteous and have fallen ill, you are advancing from great things to greater things. Are you gold? Through fire you become more proven. Has an angel been given to your flesh? Rejoice. See whom you have become like: you have been judged worthy of Paul’s portion. Are you tested by fever? Are you trained by cold? Scripture says, ‘We passed through fire and water, and You brought us into refreshment.’ You have received the first; wait for the second. As you practice virtue, cry out the words of the saint: ‘I am poor and in pain.’ Through this pair of afflictions you will become perfect, for he says, ‘In tribulation You enlarged me.’ Let us train our souls especially by these exercises, since we have the adversary before our eyes.”
She also said, “When troublesome illness comes upon us, let us not be grieved because sickness and bodily weakness keep us from chanting psalms aloud. All these things work for us toward the destruction of desires. Fasting and sleeping on the ground are prescribed because of pleasures; so when illness has already blunted those pleasures, the reason for those practices has become unnecessary. This is the great ascetic practice in illness: to endure patiently and send hymns of thanksgiving to God.”
She also said, “When fasting, do not make illness your excuse. Those who do not fast often fall into the same sicknesses. Have you begun something good? Do not stop because the enemy obstructs you, for he himself will be destroyed by your endurance. Those who begin a voyage are carried at first by a favorable wind; after they have spread the sails, they may meet a contrary wind. But sailors do not unload the ship because of the wind that has come against them. They remain quiet for a little while or struggle against the storm, and then continue their voyage. So also, when a contrary spirit comes against us, let us stretch out the cross as our sail and safely complete the voyage.”
She also said, “Those who gather visible riches through the labors and dangers of the sea, after gaining much, desire still more. They regard what they have as nothing and stretch their attention toward what they do not have. But we, though completely lacking the things we need, do not want to acquire any of them because of the fear of God.”
She also said, “Imitate the publican, so that you are not condemned with the Pharisee. Choose the meekness of Moses, so that you may turn your heart, which is a rock, into springs of water.”
She also said, “It is dangerous for someone who has not been trained through the active life to teach. If a person living in a collapsing house receives guests, he harms them when the building falls; in the same way, those who have not first built themselves up also destroy those who come to them. By their words they may call people to salvation, but by the badness of their conduct they do even greater harm to those who are striving.”
Amma Syncletica also said, “It is good not to become angry. But if it happens, the one who said, ‘Do not let the sun go down,’ did not grant you even the space of a day for the passion. Will you then wait until the whole span of your life has gone down? Why do you hate the person who grieved you? It was not that person who harmed you, but the devil. Hate the sickness, not the one who is sick.”
She also said, “The more the athletes make progress, the stronger are the opponents against whom they are matched.”
She also said, “Intense ascetic practice can also come from the enemy, for his disciples do this too. How then shall we distinguish the divine and royal ascetic practice from the tyrannical and demonic one? Clearly, by moderation. Let one rule of fasting govern your whole time. Do not go without food for four or five days and then break the fast the next day with a great quantity of food. Lack of measure is destructive everywhere. While you are young and healthy, fast; old age will come with weakness. So, while you can, lay up a treasure through fasting from food, so that when you can no longer do so, you may find rest.”
She also said, “When we live in a cenobium, let us put obedience before ascetic severity. The latter teaches pride, but obedience teaches humility.”
She also said, “We must govern the soul with discernment. While living in a cenobium, let us not seek what is our own or serve our own will, but obey the one who is our father according to the faith.”
She also said, “It is written, ‘Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.’ To become like serpents means that we should not be ignorant of the devil’s attacks and devices, for like is quickly recognized by like. The innocence of the dove points to purity of action.”