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

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 among the great fathers. He died, then, at the age of seventy-five, having become a presbyter in Scetis, and leaving behind seventy disciples. 20 .tAbout Paul 20.1 There is a mountain in Egypt leading to the utter desert of Scetis, which is called Pherme. In this mountain about five hundred men lived as ascetics; among them was a certain Paul, so named, who had this way of life: he did no work, engaged in no business, and received nothing from anyone except what he ate. But his work and ascetic practice was to pray without ceasing. He had, therefore, three hundred prescribed prayers, so he would gather that many pebbles and hold them in his lap, and for each prayer he would cast one pebble out of his lap. 20.2 This man, having gone to meet the holy Macarius, who was called the city-dweller, for the sake of an interview, said to him, "Abba Macarius, I am afflicted." So he compelled him to say for what reason. And he said to him: "In a certain village a certain virgin lives as an ascetic, being thirty years old; about whom they told me that except on Saturday or the Lord's day she never eats; but for the whole time, spending the weeks eating every five days, she says seven hundred prayers. And I lost heart in myself when I learned this, because I was not able to say more than three hundred." 20.3 Saint Macarius answered him, "I am sixty years old, saying one hundred prescribed prayers and working for my food and paying the debt of meeting with the brothers, and my conscience does not judge me as being neglectful. But if you, saying three hundred, are judged by your conscience, it is clear that you are either not praying them with a pure heart, or that you are able to pray more and are not doing so." 21 .tAbout Eulogius and the cripple 21.1 Cronius, the presbyter of Nitria, narrated to me that, "When I was younger and had fled from the monastery of my archimandrite on account of acedia, wandering about I reached the mountain of Saint Antony. He lived between Babylon and Heracleopolis in the utter desert which leads toward the Red Sea, about thirty milestones from the river. So when I came to his monastery by the river, where his disciples lived, at the place called Pispir—Macarius and Amatas, who also buried him when he fell asleep—I waited for five days in order to meet with Saint Antony. 21.2 For it was said that he visited this monastery, sometimes every ten, sometimes every twenty, and sometimes every five days, as God led him for the benefit of those who happened to be at the monastery. So various brothers gathered, having various needs; among them was a certain Eulogius, a monk from Alexandria, and another, a cripple, who had come for the following reason. 21.3 This Eulogius was a scholar from the general studies, who, being struck with a love for immortality, renounced worldly tumults, and having scattered all his possessions, he left himself a small amount of money, being unable to work. So being beset with acedia by himself, and neither wanting to enter a community nor being fulfilled on his own, he found a certain cripple cast out in the marketplace who had neither hands nor feet. For this man, only his tongue was unworn, to the misfortune of those who encountered him. 21.4 So Eulogius, stopping, stared at him and prayed to God, and made a covenant with God, saying, "Lord, in your name I take this cripple and will care for him until death, so that through him I too might be saved. Grant me patience for his service." And approaching the cripple, he said to him: "Do you want, sir, for me to take you to my house and care for you?" He said to him, "Very much so." "Therefore," he said, "shall I bring a donkey and take you?" He agreed. So bringing a donkey he lifted him, and carried him away to his own lodging, and he was taking care of him. 21.5 So for fifteen years the cripple persevered, being cared for by him, being washed and tended to by the hands of

οὕτως ὡς τὰς μυίας ταύτας ἡμᾶς φοβεῖσθαι μᾶλλον ἢ ἐκεῖνον τοὺς δαίμονας. Αὕτη ἡ πολιτεία Μωσέως τοῦ Αἰθίοπος, ὃς καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν ἐν τοῖς μεγάλοις τῶν πατέρων συναριθμού μενος. Τελευτᾷ οὖν ἐτῶν ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε ἐν τῇ Σκήτει γενόμενος πρεσβύτερος, καταλιπὼν καὶ μαθητὰς ἑβδομή κοντα. 20 .tΠερὶ Παύλου 20.1 Ὄρος ἐστὶν ἐν τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ ἀπάγον ἐπὶ τὴν Σκῆτιν τὴν πανέρημον ὃ καλεῖται Φέρμη. Ἐν τούτῳ τῷ ὄρει κα θέζονται ὡς πεντακόσιοι ἄνδρες ἀσκούμενοι· ἐν οἷς καὶ Παῦλός τις, οὕτω καλούμενος, ταύτην ἔσχε τὴν πολιτείαν· οὐκ ἔργου ἥψατο, οὐ πραγματείας, οὐκ ἔλαβε παρά τινος παρεκτὸς οὗ ἤσθιεν. Ἔργον δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ ἄσκησις γέγονε τὸ ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχεσθαι. Τετυπωμένας οὖν εἶχεν εὐχὰς τριακοσίας, τοσαῦτα οὖν ψηφία συνάγων καὶ ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ κατέχων, καὶ ῥίπτων καθ' ἑκάστην εὐχὴν ἔξω τοῦ κόλπου μίαν ψῆφον. 20.2 Οὗτος παραβαλὼν συντυχίας ἕνεκεν τῷ ἁγίῳ Μακαρίῳ τῷ λεγομένῳ πολιτικῷ, λέγει αὐτῷ· "Ἀββᾶ Μακάριε, θλίβομαι". Ἠνάγκασεν οὖν αὐτὸν εἰπεῖν διὰ ποίαν αἰτίαν. Ὁ δὲ λέγει αὐτῷ· "Ἐν κώμῃ τινὶ παρθένος κατοικεῖ τις τριακοστὸν ἔτος ἔχουσα ἀσκουμένη· περὶ ἧς μοι διηγήσαντο ὅτι παρεκτὸς σαββάτου ἢ κυριακῆς οὐδέποτε γεύεται· ἀλλὰ τὸν χρόνον ὅλον ἕλκουσα τὰς ἑβδομάδας διὰ πέντε ἐσθίουσα ἡμερῶν ποιεῖ εὐχὰς ἑπτακοσίας. Καὶ ἀπευ δόκησα ἐμαυτοῦ τοῦτο μαθὼν ὅτι ὑπὲρ τὰς τριακοσίας οὐκ ἠδυνήθην ποιῆσαι". 20.3 Ἀποκρίνεται αὐτῷ ὁ ἅγιος Μακάριος· "Ἐγὼ ἑξηκοστὸν ἔτος ἔχω τεταγμένας ἑκατὸν εὐχὰς ποιῶν καὶ τὰ πρὸς τροφὴν ἐργαζόμενος καὶ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς τὴν ὀφειλὴν τῆς συντυχίας ἀποδιδούς, καὶ οὐ κρίνει με ὁ λογισμὸς ὡς ἀμελήσαντα. Εἰ δὲ σὺ τριακοσίας ποιῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ συνειδότος κρίνῃ, δῆλος εἶ καθαρῶς αὐτὰς μὴ εὐχό μενος, ἢ δυνάμενος πλείονας εὔχεσθαι καὶ μὴ εὐχόμενος". 21 .tΠερὶ Εὐλογίου καὶ τοῦ λελωβημένου 21.1 Κρόνιός μοι διηγήσατο ὁ πρεσβύτερος τῆς Νιτρίας ὅτι "Νεώτερος ὢν καὶ ἀκηδίας χάριν φυγὼν ἐκ τῆς μονῆς τοῦ ἀρχιμανδρίτου μου, ἀλώμενος ἔφθασα ἕως τοῦ ὄρους τοῦ ἁγίου Ἀντωνίου. Ἐκάθητο δὲ μεταξὺ Βαβυλῶνος καὶ Ἡρακλέους εἰς τὴν πανέρημον τὴν φέρουσαν κατὰ θάλασσαν τὴν ἐρυθρὰν ὡς ἀπὸ τριάκοντα σημείων τοῦ ποταμοῦ. Ἐλ θὼν οὖν αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον τὸ παρὰ τὸν ποταμόν, ἔνθα οἱ τούτου μαθηταὶ ἐκαθέζοντο εἰς τὸ λεγόμενον Πίσπιρ Μακάριος καὶ Ἀμάτας οἳ καὶ ἔθαψαν αὐτὸν κοιμηθέντα, ἐξεδεξάμην ἡμέρας πέντε ἵνα συντύχω τῷ ἁγίῳ Ἀντωνίῳ. 21.2 Ἐλέγετο γὰρ παραβάλλειν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ τούτῳ, ποτὲ μὲν διὰ δέκα, ποτὲ δὲ διὰ εἴκοσι, ποτὲ δὲ διὰ πέντε ἡμερῶν, καθὼς ἂν αὐτὸν ὁ θεὸς ἦγεν ἐπ' εὐεργεσίᾳ τῶν παρατυγχα νόντων τῷ μοναστηρίῳ. ∆ιάφοροι οὖν συνήχθησαν ἀδελφοί, διαφόρους ἔχοντες χρείας· ἐν οἷς καὶ Εὐλόγιός τις Ἀλεξαν δρεὺς μονάζων καὶ ἄλλος λελωβημένος, οἳ καὶ παρεγένοντο δι' αἰτίαν τοιάνδε. 21.3 Οὗτος ὁ Εὐλόγιος σχολαστικὸς ὑπῆρχεν ἐκ τῶν ἐγκυκλίων παιδευμάτων, ὃς ἔρωτι πληγεὶς ἀθανασίας ἀπετάξατο τοῖς θορύβοις, καὶ πάντα διασκορπίσας τὰ ὑπάρχοντα κατέλιπεν ἑαυτῷ βραχέα νομίσματα, ἐργά σασθαι μὴ δυνάμενος. Ἀκηδιῶν οὖν καθ' ἑαυτὸν καὶ μήτε εἰς συνοδίαν βουλόμενος εἰσελθεῖν μήτε μόνος πληροφο ρούμενος, εὗρέ τινα κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν ἐρριμμένον λελωβημέ νον ὃς οὔτε χεῖρας εἶχεν οὔτε πόδας. Τούτῳ μόνη ἡ γλῶττα ἀκατάτριπτος ὑπῆρχε πρὸς συμφορὰν τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων. 21.4 Ὁ οὖν Εὐλόγιος στὰς ἐνατενίζει αὐτῷ καὶ προσεύχε ται τῷ θεῷ, καὶ τίθεται διαθήκην μετὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ὅτι "Κύριε, ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί σου λαμβάνω τοῦτον τὸν λελωβημένον καὶ διαναπαύω αὐτὸν μέχρι θανάτου, ἵνα διὰ τούτου κἀγὼ σωθῶ. Χάρισαί μοι ὑπομονὴν τῆς τούτου ὑπηρεσίας". Καὶ προσ ελθὼν τῷ λελωβημένῳ λέγει αὐτῷ· "Θέλεις, ὁ μέγας, λαμβάνω σε εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν καὶ διαναπαύω σε;" Λέγει αὐτῷ· "Καὶ πάνυ". "Οὐκοῦν, φησί, φέρω ὄνον καὶ λαμβάνω σε;" Συνέθετο. Ἐνέγκας οὖν ὄνον ἦρεν αὐτόν, καὶ ἀπήνεγκεν εἰς τὸ ἴδιον ξενίδιον, καὶ ἦν αὐτοῦ ἐπιμελούμενος. 21.5 ∆ιακαρ τερήσας οὖν ὁ λελωβημένος ἐπὶ ἔτη δεκαπέντε ἐνοσοκομεῖτο παρ' αὐτοῦ, λουόμενος καὶ θεραπευόμενος ταῖς χερσὶ τοῦ