Perfect obedience is this:
( St.
Dorotheos ) never allowed ( his disciple, Dositheos ) to become
attached to any material objects. Dositheos took everything with joy and
faith and obeyed willingly in everything. When he needed a cloack,
Dorotheos provided him with the cloth and he would go away and sow it
carefully with style. When he had finished, he would ask, “Dositheos,
did you sow that cloak?”
Dositheos would reply in simplicity , “Yes, Father, I made it most beautifully and well.”
He would then say to him, “Go and give it to that brother or to that sick man.”
He
would go and give it away willingly. Dorotheos provided him with more
material again and likewise, after he had sewn it and finished it with
great care and style, he would say to him, “Give it to that brother” and
he would immediately give it away without feeling distressed and
without grumbling, or saying, “Why should he take it away from me and
give it to someone else, after all, I was the person who took the
trouble to sew it and finish it stylishly and carefully?” Rather, he
would willingly do good whenever there was good to be done.
* * *
God
wanted to reveal the glory which was prepared for [Dositheos after
death] because of his holy obedience and also the gift which blessed
Dorotheos had, for saving souls, even while still a disciple. Dorotheos
guided Dositheos so unwaveringly and quickly to God. Therefore, shortly
after the blessed end of Dositheos, a saintly man, a great elder,
desired to see all the saints of the community who had passed away and
asked God to grant him this wish. He then saw all of them standing
together as a choir and amongst them was a certain younger monk. He
said, “I wonder who this young man I saw amongst the fathers is?” When
he described his facial features, everybody realized that it was
Dositheos. So they glorified God, marvelling at the fact that Dositheos
had become worthy of reaching such a great height in such a short time,
despite his earlier life and discipline, simply through obedience and
denying his own will.
(Excerpts from Abba Dorotheos: Practical Teachings on the Christian Life, p. 60 and p. 63).
This book is highly recommend. The English translation is superb and it comes with an audio CD of the text.
https://lessonsfromamonastery.wordpress.com
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