Lausiac History (recension G)

 having written down the lives of the fathers, Abraham and those who followed, Moses and Elijah and John, they did not relate them in order to glorify

 goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control, is acknowledged. Pref.14 For Paul himself said: For the fruit of the spirit is such and such things.

 being virgins but he entrusted them to Christ, saying: He who created you will provide for your life, as also for me. And there was with his sister

 a judge who orders one to be submitted to debauchery. 3.4 So that one, having gone mad, orders her, having been stripped, to be thrown into the cauld

 but haughty in disposition, exceedingly rich in money, giving † not † to a stranger, not to a virgin, not to the church, not an obol to a poor person.

 So having met and spent three years with the monasteries around Alexandria, with about two thousand most excellent and very zealous men, departing fro

 Lord and what do you command now? I command, he said, that each of us from now on remain by himself. But she did not agree, saying Let us rema

 without a fever, not having been sick, but sewing up the basket, being seventy years old who, having sent for me, and while the last stitch was on it

 at the martyrium called Roufinianais. Whose tomb is said to heal all who suffer from fever.] 12 .tConcerning Benjamin 12.1 In this mountain of Nitria

 were perfected. And some were pleased by this one, others by that one. When a dispute therefore arose among the brotherhood over the praises, they go

 therefore also to banish you from this. 16.3 Therefore, knowing that he had been mocked, he returned again to his first cell. And having completed th

 the tax-collectors are upon you, whose disease you also suffer. And it happened that he disobeyed after the death of Macarius, after another fifteen

 the saint, taking him, prayed over him, beseeching God. And after one or two days, when the affliction subsided, the holy Macarius says to her: 17.13

 ravens before my sight, and saying: What do you want, Macarius? What do you want, monk? Why have you come to our place? You cannot remain here. So I

 he did nothing with his hands. Therefore, when all the ascetics saw this, they rose up against the abbot, saying: From where have you brought us this

 you shall be shaken, I shall not hear you. 18.24 So after falling for a long time, he rose. And when night came, they attacked him again and filling

 fifty miles he went away to where he had his company. This so great man, at long last being pricked with compunction by some circumstance, gave himsel

 so that we should fear these flies more than he feared the demons. This was the way of life of Moses the Ethiopian, who was himself also numbered amon

 of Eulogius and worthily nourished by the disease. But after fifteen years a demon dwelt in him and he rebelled against Eulogius and he began to assa

 Do not turn aside anywhere, depart do not be separated from one another, but go to your cell where you have spent your time. For God is already sendi

 to them a way of life such as never in youth. 22.5 And having moistened palm leaves he says to him: “Take these, weave a rope as I do.” The old man we

 And standing by the rocks on the mountain he prays and says thus: You see, Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, that I will not come

 wisdom no longer approached me. 24 .tConcerning Stephen the Libyan 24.1 A certain Stephen, a Libyan by race, from the region of Marmarica and Mareoti

 to place in the little book for the security of the readers, just as among the holy plants of paradise was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

 he fell into a fall of pride. And opening the window, she received the one serving her and was mixed with him, because she had not maintained her asce

 saying to her, We do not dare to meet them for we know their drunkenness and their recklessness. 31.3 But if you will have mercy both on the whole v

 to the angel that the prayers are few, the angel says to him: I have prescribed these things so that even the lesser ones may be able to complete the

 matter. So when the elder came, the other sisters reported the matter and he ordered that not a single one of their offerings be accepted and as for

 having been enclosed for years and receiving his needs through a window from the one who served him, he was deemed worthy of the gift of prophecy. Amo

 sufficiently, I thanked God when I learned that the pretexts driving me had been accomplished. 35.10 Then again he says to me, joking: Do you want to

 about to give birth, she was having a difficult labor, the spirit crushing her. So while the woman was demon-possessed, her husband came and begged th

 All ran up to him, both those wearing the tribon and those wearing the birrus, saying to him: What is the matter with you? And where are you from? An

 and why should I go out? He says to her: If you have died to the world and the world to you, it is the same to you to go out and not to go out ther

 suggests. 38.6 He says to him: If you listen to your friend, it is not expedient for you to live in this city. Evagrius says to him: If God delive

 he died among them, having partaken of communion on Epiphany in the church. He told us then about death that, It is the third year I have not been tr

 I appoint myself as a host for you. And taking money and partitioning the porticoes and setting up about three hundred beds, he nursed the starving,

 the hill of the ascension from where Jesus was taken up, he continued standing and singing psalms and praying and whether it snowed or it rained or i

 of those boiled by fire. Having persevered in these for eighteen years, he sang the hymn of victory to Christ. This man, having been warred against in

 in Jerusalem for the sake of a vow, bishops and monks and virgins, at their own expense they edified all whom they met, and they healed the schism of

 to many souls, in some there is an excellence of intellect, in others a fitness for discipline. But when neither the action nor the excellence is for

 There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure 47.16 lest ever with the won

 having drawn [their swords], they attacked. And such a thing happened: when he raised the sword and was about to draw it against Gaddana, the hand of

 she led to the solitary life. And having catechized her younger son Publicola, she led him to Sicily and having sold all her remaining property and r

 to her own daughter. 57.2 I knew this woman, who labored through every night, grinding with her hands for the subduing of the body, explaining that,

 of this one, named Taor, who, having been thirty years in the monastery, never wished to receive a new garment or veil or sandal, saying, I have no n

 of her own. And she freed the eight thousand slaves who wished it, for the rest did not wish it but chose to serve her brother to whom she conceded t

 was said to be most learned and most faithful who received Origen the writer, as he was fleeing the insurrection of the Greeks, for two years at her

 they may stir up some of the civil disturbances, falling away from their purpose. 67 .tConcerning Magna 67.1 In this city of Ancyra many other virgins

 to slander a certain lector of the city. And when she was already pregnant, being questioned by her father, she accused the lector. But the presbyter,

 warm loaves in his sheepskin at another time again wine and loaves. At another time again, when he was speaking, I knew that You are in need go the

the tax-collectors are upon you, whose disease you also suffer." And it happened that he disobeyed after the death of Macarius, after another fifteen or twenty years, and thus he became a leper, having embezzled the goods of the poor, so that not an untouched spot could be found on his body where one could stick a finger. This, then, is the prophecy of the holy Macarius. 17.5 Concerning food and drink, then, it is superfluous to relate, since not even among the lax can gluttony or indifference be found in those places, both because of the scarcity of necessities and because of the zeal of the inhabitants. But I speak of his other asceticism; for he was said to be unceasingly in ecstasy, and to spend more time with God than with the things under heaven. Of whom also the following miracles are told. 17.6 A certain Egyptian man, having fallen in love with a free married woman, and being unable to entice her, went to a sorcerer, saying: "Either make her love me, or do something so that her husband casts her out." And the sorcerer, having received his fee, used his magic arts, and made her appear to be a mare. Therefore her husband, coming in from outside, saw and was astonished that a mare was lying on his bed. The husband weeps, he laments; he speaks to the animal; he receives no answer. He summons the elders of the village; 17.7 he brings them in, he shows them; he does not understand the matter. For three days she partook neither of fodder as a mare nor of bread as a human, being deprived of both kinds of food. Finally, so that God might be glorified and the virtue of the holy Macarius might be made manifest, it came into her husband's heart to lead her into the desert; and having put a fodder bag on her as on a horse, thus he led her into the desert. And as they drew near, the brothers were standing near the cell of Macarius, arguing with her husband and saying: 17.8 "Why have you brought this mare here?" He says to them, "So that she may receive mercy." They say to him, "What is wrong with her?" The husband answered them, "She was my wife, and she has been changed into a horse, and today is the third day she has tasted nothing." They report it to the saint praying within; for God had revealed it to him, and he was praying for her. So the holy Macarius answered the brothers and says to them: "You are horses, who have the eyes of horses. 17.9 For she is a woman, not transformed, but only in the eyes of the deceived." And having blessed water and poured it from the top of her head while she was naked, he prayed; and immediately he made her appear as a woman to all. And giving her food, he made her eat, and he sent her away with her own husband, giving thanks to the Lord. And he admonished her, saying: "Never be absent from the church, never abstain from communion; for these things happened to you because for five weeks you did not approach the mysteries." 17.10 Another of his ascetic practices: over a long period of time he made a tunnel under the ground from his cell for half a stade, and finished with a cave at the end. And whenever many people crowded him, he would secretly go out of his cell and go away to the cave, and no one would find him. So one of his zealous disciples related to us and said that going to the cave he would make twenty-four prayers, and coming back, twenty-four. 17.11 A report went out about him that he raised a dead man, in order to persuade a heretic who did not confess that there is a resurrection of bodies. And this report was prevalent in the desert. To him a demon-possessed youth was once brought by his own wailing mother, bound by two young men. And the demon had this effect: after eating three modii of loaves and drinking a Cilicium of water, belching into vapor he would dissolve the food; for thus what was eaten and drunk was consumed as if by fire. 17.12 For there is also an order called the fiery. For there are differences among demons, as also among men, not of essence but of will. This youth, then, not being satisfied by his own mother, would eat his own dung; often he also drank his own urine. So while the mother was weeping and begging

ἐπί σε τὰ τέλη, οὗ καὶ τὸ πάθος νοσεῖς". Συνέβη, δὲ αὐτὸν παρακοῦσαι μετὰ τὴν κοίμησιν τοῦ Μακα ρίου μετὰ ἄλλα δεκαπέντε ἔτη ἢ εἴκοσιν, καὶ οὕτως ἠλεφαν τίασε νοσφισάμενος τὰ τῶν πτωχῶν, ὡς μὴ εὑρεθῆναι εἰς τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ ἀκέραιον τόπον ἐν ᾧ τις δάκτυλον πήξει. Αὕτη τοίνυν ἐστὶν ἡ προφητεία τοῦ ἁγίου Μακαρίου. 17.5 Περὶ μὲν οὖν βρώσεως καὶ πόσεως περιττὸν τὸ διη γήσασθαι, ὁπότε οὐδὲ παρὰ τοῖς ῥᾳθύμοις ἔστιν εὑρεθῆναι ἀδηφαγίαν ἢ ἀδιαφορίαν ἐν τοῖς τόποις ἐκείνοις, καὶ διὰ τὴν σπάνιν τῶν χρειῶν καὶ διὰ τὸν ζῆλον τῶν κατοικούντων. Περὶ δὲ τῆς ἄλλης αὐτοῦ ἀσκήσεως λέγω· ἐλέγετο γὰρ ἀδιαλείπτως ἐξίστασθαι, καὶ μᾶλλον πλείονι χρόνῳ θεῷ προσδιατρίβειν ἢ τοῖς ὑπ' οὐρανὸν πράγμασιν. Οὗ καὶ φέ ρονται θαύματα τοιάδε. 17.6 Ἀνήρ τις Αἰγύπτιος ἐρασθεὶς ἐλευθέρας γυναικὸς ὑπάνδρου, καὶ μὴ δυνάμενος αὐτὴν δελεάσαι, προσωμίλησε γόητι λέγων· "Ἕλον αὐτὴν εἰς τὸ ἀγαπῆσαί με, ἢ ἔργασαί τι ἵνα ῥίψῃ αὐτὴν ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς". Καὶ λαβὼν ὁ γόης τὸ ἱκανὸν ἐχρήσατο ταῖς γοητικαῖς μαγγανείαις, καὶ παρα σκευάζει φοράδα αὐτὴν φανῆναι. Θεασάμενος οὖν ὁ ἀνὴρ ἔξωθεν ἐλθὼν ἐξενίζετο ὅτι εἰς τὸν κράββατον αὐτοῦ φορὰς ἀνέκειτο. Κλαίει, ὀδύρεται ὁ ἀνήρ· προσομιλεῖ τῷ ζῴῳ· ἀποκρίσεως οὐ τυγχάνει. Παρακαλεῖ τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους τῆς κώμης· 17.7 εἰσάγει, δεικνύει· οὐχ εὑρίσκει τὸ πρᾶγμα. Ἐπὶ ἡμέρας τρεῖς οὔτε χόρτου μετέλαβεν ὡς φορὰς οὔτε ἄρτου ὡς ἄνθρωπος, ἀμφοτέρων ἐστερημένη τῶν τροφῶν. Τέλος, ἵνα δοξασθῇ ὁ θεὸς καὶ φανῇ ἡ ἀρετὴ τοῦ ἁγίου Μακαρίου, ἀνέβη ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς αὐτῆς ἀγα γεῖν αὐτὴν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον· καὶ φορβεώσας αὐτὴν ὡς ἵππον, οὕτως ἤγαγεν εἰς τὴν ἔρημον. Ἐν δὲ τῷ πλησιάσαι αὐτοὺς εἱστήκεισαν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ πλησίον τῆς κέλλης τοῦ Μακαρίου, μαχόμενοι τῷ ἀνδρὶ αὐτῆς καὶ λέγοντες· 17.8 "Τί ἤγαγες ὧδε τὴν φοράδα ταύτην;" λέγει αὐτοῖς· "Ἵνα ἐλεηθῇ". Λέγουσιν αὐτῷ· "Τί γὰρ ἔχει;" ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖς ὁ ἀνὴρ ὅτι "Γυνή μου ἦν, καὶ εἰς ἵππον μετεβλήθη, καὶ σήμερον τρίτην ἡμέραν ἔχει μὴ γευσαμένη τινός". Ἀνα φέρουσι τῷ ἁγίῳ ἔνδον προσευχομένῳ· ἀπεκάλυψε γὰρ αὐτῷ ὁ θεός, καὶ προσηύχετο περὶ αὐτῆς. Ἀπεκρίνατο οὖν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς ὁ ἅγιος Μακάριος καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς· "Ἵπποι ὑμεῖς ἐστέ, οἱ τῶν ἵππων ἔχοντες τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς. 17.9 Ἐκείνη γὰρ γυνή ἐστι, μὴ μετασχηματισθεῖσα, ἀλλ' ἢ μόνον ἐν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τῶν ἠπατημένων". Καὶ εὐλο γήσας ὕδωρ καὶ ἀπὸ κορυφῆς ἐπιχέας αὐτῇ γυμνῇ ἐπηύξατο· καὶ παραχρῆμα ἐποίησεν αὐτὴν γυναῖκα φανῆναι πᾶσι. ∆οὺς δὲ αὐτῇ τροφὴν ἐποίησεν αὐτὴν φαγεῖν, καὶ ἀπέλυσεν αὐτὴν μετὰ τοῦ ἰδίου ἀνδρὸς εὐχαριστοῦσαν τῷ κυρίῳ. Καὶ ὑπέθετο αὐτῇ εἰπών· "Μηδέποτε ἀπολειφθῇς τῆς ἐκ κλησίας, μηδέποτε ἀπόσχῃ τῆς κοινωνίας· ταῦτα γάρ σοι συνέβη τῷ ἐπὶ πέντε ἑβδομάδας μὴ προσεληλυθέναι τοῖς μυστηρίοις". 17.10 Ἄλλην αὐτοῦ πρᾶξιν τῆς ἀσκήσεως· τῷ μακρῷ χρόνῳ ὑπὸ τὴν γῆν ποιήσας σύριγγα ἀπὸ τῆς κέλλης αὐτοῦ μέχρις ἡμισταδίου σπήλαιον εἰς τὸ ἄκρον ἀπετέλεσε. Καὶ εἴποτε πλείονες αὐτῷ ὤχλουν, κρυπτῶς ἐκ τῆς κέλλης αὐτοῦ ἐξιὼν ἀπίει εἰς τὸ σπήλαιον, καὶ οὐδεὶς αὐτὸν εὕρισκε. ∆ιηγεῖτο οὖν ἡμῖν τις τῶν σπουδαίων αὐτοῦ μαθητῶν καὶ ἔλεγεν ὅτι ἀπιὼν ἕως τοῦ σπηλαίου εἰκοσιτέσσαρας ἐποίει εὐχάς, καὶ ἐρχόμενος εἰκοσιτέσσαρας. 17.11 Περὶ τούτου ἐξῆλθε φήμη ὅτι νεκρὸν ἤγειρεν, ἵνα αἱρετικὸν πείσῃ μὴ ὁμολογοῦντα ἀνάστασιν εἶναι σωμάτων. Καὶ αὕτη ἡ φήμη ἐκράτει ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. Τούτῳ προσηνέχθη ποτὲ δαιμονιῶν νεανίσκος παρὰ τῆς ἰδίας μητρὸς ὀλοφυρομένης, δυσὶ νεανίσκοις δεδεμένος. Καὶ ταύτην εἶχε τὴν ἐνέργειαν ὁ δαίμων· μετὰ τὸ φαγεῖν τριῶν μοδίων ἄρτους καὶ πιεῖν κιλικίσιον ὕδατος, ἐρευγόμενος εἰς ἀτμὸν ἀνέλυε τὰ βρώματα· οὕτω γὰρ ἀνηλίσκετο τὰ βρωθέν τα καὶ ποθέντα ὡς ὑπὸ πυρός. 17.12 Ἔστι γὰρ καὶ τάγμα τὸ λεγόμενον πύρινον. ∆ιαφοραὶ γάρ εἰσι δαιμόνων, ὥσπερ καὶ ἀνθρώπων, οὐκ οὐσίας ἀλλὰ γνώμης. Οὗτος τοίνυν ὁ νεανίσκος μὴ ἐπαρκούμενος παρὰ τῆς ἰδίας μητρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν ἤσθιε κόπρον· πολλάκις καὶ τὸ ἴδιον ἔπινεν οὖρον. Κλαιούσης οὖν τῆς μητρὸς καὶ παρακαλούσης