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

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 himself to a monastery and so approached the matter of repentance as to bring openly to the knowledge of Christ even the very demon who was his partner in evil deeds from youth and who had sinned with him. Among these things, it is said that once some robbers fell upon him as he was sitting in his cell, not knowing who he was. And there were four; 19.4 whom he bound, all of them, and putting them on his back like a sack of chaff, he carried them to the church of the brethren, saying: "Since it is not lawful for me to wrong anyone, what do you command concerning these men?" Thus they, having confessed and realizing that he was that Moses who was once famous and notorious among the robbers, glorifying God they too renounced the world on account of his conversion, reasoning that, "If this man, so capable and powerful in acts of robbery, feared God, why do we put off salvation?" 19.5 Demons attacked this Moses, driving him to the old habit of licentiousness of fornication; who was tempted to such an extent, as he himself related, that he almost swerved from his purpose. So coming to the great Isidore in Scetis, he reported the matters of the war. And he says to him: "Do not be grieved; for these are the beginnings, and for this reason they have attacked you more fiercely, seeking their old custom. 19.6 For just as a dog in a butcher-shop does not leave it out of habit, but if the butcher-shop is closed and no one gives it anything, it no longer comes near; so also if you persist, the demon, growing weary, will depart from you." So departing from that hour, he practiced asceticism more fiercely, and especially from foods, partaking of nothing except twelve ounces of dry bread, performing a great deal of work, and completing fifty prayers. So having wasted away his little body, he still remained on fire and having dreams. 19.7 Again he went to another of the saints and says to him: "What shall I do, because the dreams of the soul darken my reasoning according to the habit of pleasure?" He says to him: "Because you have not turned your mind away from the fantasies concerning these things, for this reason you suffer this; give yourself to vigil and pray soberly and you will be quickly freed from these things." Having heard this advice also, he went away into his cell and made a promise not to sleep for the entire night, nor to bend his knee. 19.8 So remaining in his cell for six years, every night he stood praying in the middle of the cell, not closing an eye; and he was not able to overcome the matter. So he undertook for himself another way of life again, and going out at night he would go to the cells of the older and more ascetic men, and taking their water jars secretly he would fill them with water. For they get their water from a distance, some from two, others from five miles, others from half a mile. 19.9 So on one of the nights, the demon, watching and not enduring it, as he was bending over into the well, struck him on the loins with some kind of club and left him for dead, not perceiving either what he had suffered or by whom. So the next day, someone coming to draw water found him lying there, and reported it to the great Isidore, the presbyter of Scetis. So taking him, he brought him to the church; and for one year he was sick, so that his body and soul were scarcely brought back to strength. 19.10 Then the great Isidore says to him: "Cease striving contentiously, Moses, with the demons; and do not attack them; for there are measures even of bravery in asceticism." But he says to him: "I will not cease until the apparition of the demons ceases for me." Then he says to him: "In the name of Jesus Christ your dreams have ceased; receive communion, therefore, with confidence; for lest you should boast as having overcome the passion, for this reason you were overpowered for your own good." 19.11 And he went away again to his cell. After these things, being asked by Isidore after about two months, he said that he no longer suffered anything. And this man was deemed worthy of the gift against demons

πεντήκοντα σημεῖα ἀπῆλθεν ὅπου τὸ κολλήγιον εἶχεν. Οὗτος ὁ τοσοῦτος ὀψέ ποτε κατανυγεὶς ἐκ περιστάσεώς τινος, ἐπέδωκεν ἑαυτὸν μοναστηρίῳ καὶ οὕτως προσῆλθε τῷ πράγματι τῆς μετανοίας ὡς καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν συμπράκτην αὐτοῦ τῶν κακῶν ἐκ νεότητος δαίμονα τὸν αὐτῷ συνα μαρτόντα ἄντικρυς εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀγαγεῖν τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἐν οἷς λέγεταί ποτε ὅτι λῃσταὶ τούτῳ ἐπέπεσον ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ καθημένῳ ἀγνοήσαντες τὸ τίς ἐστιν. Ἦσαν δὲ τέσσα ρες· 19.4 οὓς δήσας πάντας καὶ καθάπερ ζαβέρναν ἐπιθεὶς ἀχύρου τῷ νώτῳ ἤνεγκεν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τῶν ἀδελφῶν εἰπών· "Ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἔξεστί μοι ἀδικεῖν οὐδένα, τί κελεύετε περὶ τούτων;" Οὕτως ἐκεῖνοι ἐξομολογησάμενοι, καὶ γνόντες ὅτι Μωσῆς ἐστὶν ἐκεῖνος, ὅ ποτε ὀνομαστὸς καὶ περιβόητος ἐν τοῖς λῃσταῖς, δοξάσαντες τὸν θεὸν κἀκεῖνοι ἀπετάξαντο διὰ τὴν τούτου μεταβολήν, λογισάμενοι ὅτι "Εἰ οὗτος ὁ οὕτως ἱκανὸς καὶ δυνάμενος ἐν τοῖς λῃστρικοῖς τὸν θεὸν ἐφοβήθη, ἡμεῖς τί ἀναβαλλόμεθα τὴν σωτηρίαν;" 19.5 Τούτῳ τῷ Μωσεῖ ἐπέθεντο δαίμονες εἰς τὴν ἀρχαίαν συνήθειαν τῆς ἀκολασίας τῆς πορνικῆς κατελαύνοντες· ὃς ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἐπειράσθη, ὡς αὐτὸς διηγεῖτο, ὡς μικροῦ δεῖν τῆς προθέσεως ἐξοκεῖλαι. Παραγενόμενος οὖν πρὸς τὸν μέγαν Ἰσίδωρον τὸν ἐν τῇ Σκήτει, ἀνήνεγκε τὰ τοῦ πολέμου. Καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· "Μὴ λυπηθῇς· ἀρχαὶ γάρ εἰσι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο σφοδρότερόν σοι ἐπέθεντο ζητοῦντες τὴν συνήθειαν. 19.6 Ὥσπερ γὰρ κύων ἐν μακέλλῳ τῇ συνηθείᾳ οὐκ ἀφίσταται, ἂν δὲ κλεισθῇ τὸ μάκελλον καὶ μηδεὶς αὐτῷ μηδὲν δῷ, οὐκέτι ἐγγίζει· οὕτω καὶ σὺ ἐὰν ἐπιμείνῃς, ἀκηδιάσας ὁ δαίμων ἔχει σου ἀποστῆναι". Ἀναχωρήσας οὖν ἀπὸ τῆς ὥρας ἐκείνης σφοδρότερον ἠσκεῖτο, καὶ μάλιστα ἀπὸ βρωμάτων, οὐδενὸς μεταλαμβάνων πλὴν ἄρτου ξηροῦ ἐν δώδεκα οὐγκίαις, ἐργαζόμενος ἔργον πλεῖστον, καὶ πεν τήκοντα προσευχὰς ἐκτελῶν. Κατατήξας οὖν αὐτοῦ τὸ σωμά τιον, ἔμεινε πυρούμενος ἔτι καὶ ἐνυπνιαζόμενος. 19.7 Πάλιν παρέβαλεν ἄλλῳ τινὶ τῶν ἁγίων καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· "Τί ποιήσω ὅτι σκοτίζουσί μου τὸν λογισμὸν τὰ ἐνύπνια τῆς ψυχῆς κατὰ συνήθειαν ἡδονῆς;" Λέγει αὐτῷ· "Ἐπειδὴ τὸν νοῦν σου οὐκ ἀπέστησας τῶν περὶ ταῦτα φαντασιῶν, τούτου χάριν ὑφίστασαι τοῦτο· δὸς ἑαυτὸν εἰς ἀγρυπνίαν καὶ προσεύχου νηφόντως καὶ ἐλευθεροῦσαι ἀπὸ τούτων τα χέως". Ὃς ἀκούσας καὶ ταύτης τῆς ὑποθέσεως ἀπελθὼν ἐν τῇ κέλλῃ ἔδωκε λόγον μὴ κοιμηθῆναι διὰ πάσης νυκτός, μὴ κλῖναι γόνυ. 19.8 Μείνας οὖν ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ ἐπὶ ἔτη ἕξ, τὰς νύκτας πάσας εἰς τὸ μέσον τοῦ κελλίου ἵστατο προσ ευχόμενος, ὀφθαλμὸν μὴ καμμύων· καὶ τοῦ πράγματος περιγενέσθαι οὐκ ἠδυνήθη. Ὑπέθετο οὖν ἑαυτῷ πάλιν ἄλλην πολιτείαν, καὶ ἐξερχόμενος τὰς νύκτας ἀπῄει εἰς τὰς κέλ λας τῶν γερόντων καὶ ἀσκητικωτέρων, καὶ λαμβάνων τὰς ὑδρίας αὐτῶν λεληθότως ἐπλήρου ὕδατος. Ἀπὸ μήκους γὰρ ἔχουσι τὸ ὕδωρ, οἱ μὲν ἀπὸ δύο, οἱ δὲ ἀπὸ πέντε σημείων, ἄλλοι ἀπὸ ἡμίσεος. 19.9 Μιᾶς οὖν τῶν νυκτῶν ἐπιτηρήσας ὁ δαίμων καὶ μὴ καρτερήσας, ἐγκύψαντι αὐτῷ εἰς τὸ φρέαρ δέδωκε κατὰ τῶν ψοῶν ῥοπάλῳ τινὶ καὶ ἀφῆκεν αὐτὸν νεκρόν, μὴ αἰσθανόμενον μήτε ὃ πέπονθε μήτε παρὰ τίνος. Τὴν ἄλλην οὖν ἡμέραν ἐλθών τις ἀντλῆσαι ὕδωρ εὗρεν αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ κείμενον, καὶ ἀνήγγειλε τῷ μεγάλῳ Ἰσιδώρῳ τῷ πρεσ βυτέρῳ τῆς Σκήτεως. Λαβὼν οὖν αὐτὸν ἀνήνεγκεν εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν· καὶ ἐπὶ ἔτος ἓν ἐνόσησεν ὡς μόλις γενέσθαι τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐν ἰσχύϊ. 19.10 Λέγει οὖν αὐτῷ ὁ μέγας Ἰσίδωρος· "Παῦσαι φιλονεικῶν, Μωσῆ, τοῖς δαί μοσι· καὶ μὴ αὐτοῖς ἐπέμβαινε· μέτρα γάρ εἰσι καὶ τῆς ἀνδρείας τῆς ἐν τῇ ἀσκήσει". Ὁ δὲ λέγει αὐτῷ· "Οὐ μὴ παύσωμαι μέχρις οὗ παύσηταί μου ἡ φαντασία τῶν δαι μόνων". Λέγει οὖν αὐτῷ· "Ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ πέπαυταί σου τὰ ἐνύπνια· κοινώνησον οὖν μετὰ παρρησίας· ἵνα γὰρ μὴ καυχήσῃ ὡς περιγενόμενος πάθους, τούτου χάριν κατεδυναστεύθης πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον". 19.11 Καὶ ἀπῆλθε πάλιν ἐπὶ τὴν κέλλαν αὐτοῦ. Μετὰ ταῦτα ἐρωτηθεὶς παρὰ Ἰσιδώρου ὡς μετὰ μῆνας δύο, ἔλεγε μηκέτι μηδὲν πεπον θέναι. Κατηξιώθη δὲ οὗτος χαρίσματος κατὰ δαιμόνων