The true monastic life requires a genuine monk who could persevere till death with full devotion & this is what the elder father Matta tried to say not only with words but with his behavior, deeds & acts through his life. He wasn't a savant whose purpose was knowledge; He rather used knowledge & search as tools to help monks persevere till death in their warfare. If he was just a knowledgeable person and a brilliant researcher he would have left the monastic life back then when he was confronted with hindrances in his early life .

He could simply study theology in the most prestigious universities to become a reverent theologian. He could also remain virgin like many of many scholars & theologians of other churches. Nevertheless, he preferred the monastic life where he favored the humble life being the last of all but never the least. So knowledge & research became a means of super exalting into the inner heavens conquering the foe plots. At the same time as the world needed Athanasius & Basilius & John the golden mouth in the patriarchy, it needed Antonios, Makkarius, Gregorious of Nazianzus in their inner wilderness.

None of them is greater than the other; it is God who distributes the roles to each of us according to the need of the parish. Nonetheless, the honesty & the simplicity of father Matta's heart made the Holy Spirit pours on him, giving him the spiritual knowledge & perception. The theologian is neither a scientist nor a researcher. More willingly he is a spiritual person who is very honest with himself to the point that he is entrusted to the deepest secrets .

Excerpts from the spiritual basics founded by father Matta & witnessed in his life. 

1) The genuine versus the fake struggle

2) The true seclusion

3) I hear a whisper from behind the stone calling to each struggling monk