Keeping Watch Until the Sun Returns

Father Charbel Abernethy
Dec 24, 2025
2 min read

A Dialogue with St. Arsenius on Sleep, Vigilance, and the Sabbath

Disciple:

Abba, my body grows heavy when night comes. My thoughts scatter, and sleep presses upon me like a command. I want to pray, but my eyes close against my will. What shall I do?

St. Arsenius:

You speak as though sleep were your master.

Disciple:

Is it not? Nature demands it.

St. Arsenius:

Nature asks. It does not command. Only God commands.

Disciple:

Yet even you, Abba, slept.

St. Arsenius:

Yes. And when it came, I spoke to it as to a servant, not as to a lord.

“Come here, wicked servant,” I would say, and I gave it what was necessary, not what it desired.

Disciple:

How much is necessary?

St. Arsenius:

One hour is enough for a monk who is a good fighter.

Disciple:

That frightens me.

St. Arsenius:

It should. The night reveals whom you truly serve.

Disciple:

Why is the night so difficult, Abba?

St. Arsenius:

Because it is honest.

By day, many things carry you. Voices, tasks, obligations, even good works. At night, these fall away. The soul stands uncovered before God, and the heart is known.

Disciple:

Then why do we flee it?

St. Arsenius:

Because remembrance begins there.

The night does not distract. It strips. It gathers the mind into one place. What you avoid in the night, you will never face in the light.

Disciple:

Is this why you kept vigil until dawn?

St. Arsenius:

Yes. I did not watch to conquer sleep, but to make room for God.

When the world slept, the soul could speak plainly. No audience. No labor to be seen. Only God, who sees in secret.

Disciple:

And the Sabbath, Abba? Why did you keep such watch on Saturday night?

St. Arsenius:

Because the Lord rose while it was still dark.

Disciple:

I had not thought of this.

St. Arsenius:

Few do. Yet the Sabbath is not prepared by rest alone, but by longing.

On Saturday evening, I turned my back to the sun and stretched out my hands to heaven. I remained so until the sun returned to my face. Then I sat down.

Disciple:

Why did you do this?

St. Arsenius:

To teach my body what my soul already knew.

That Sunday is not entered casually. The glory of the Resurrection is not met by a drowsy heart.

Disciple:

Must everyone do as you did?

St. Arsenius:

No. But everyone must learn watchfulness.

Discipline is not cruelty to the body. It is mercy to the soul. Sleep taken without measure steals the heart’s attention. Sleep governed teaches the heart to wait.

Disciple:

And if I fail?

St. Arsenius:

Then rise again.

The monk is not the one who never sleeps, but the one who does not surrender his night to forgetfulness.

Disciple:

What should I remember when I wake in the darkness?

St. Arsenius:

That God is nearer than your breath.

That angels keep watch while men sleep.

That the Resurrection is prepared in silence.

Disciple: