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

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 sending for you. For this temptation has befallen you because you both are near the end and are about to be deemed worthy of crowns. Therefore do nothing else, lest the angel come and not find you in the place". So, traveling quickly, they came to their own cell. And within forty days Eulogius died; and within another three days the leper died." 21.15 And Cronius, after spending time in the regions around the Thebaid, went down to the monasteries of Alexandria. And it happened that the fortieth-day rites were being performed for the one, and the third-day rites for the other, by the brotherhood. So Cronius learned of it and was astonished; and taking a Gospel and placing it in the midst of the brotherhood, he swore an oath after narrating what had happened, saying, "Of all these words I have been the interpreter, as the blessed Antony did not know Greek; for I knew both languages, and I interpreted for them, to the one in Greek, and to him in Egyptian." 21.16 And Cronius also related this, that, "On that night the blessed Antony related to us that, 'For a whole year I prayed that the place of the righteous and of sinners might be revealed to me. And I beheld a certain tall giant, reaching to the clouds, black, having his hands stretched out to heaven, and beneath him a lake the size of the sea; and I saw souls flying up like birds. 21.17 And as many as flew above his hands and his head were saved; but as many as were struck down by his hands fell into the lake. Then a voice came to me, saying: 'These that you see flying above are the souls of the righteous which are saved into paradise; but the others are those being dragged down into Hades, having followed the desires of the flesh and resentfulness'". 22 .tConcerning Paul the Simple 22.1 And Cronius and the holy Hierax and many others used to relate this also, concerning whom I am about to speak, that a certain Paul, a rustic farmer, exceedingly guileless and simple, was joined to a most beautiful wife of wicked disposition, who for a very long time sinned without his knowledge. So Paul, coming in suddenly from the field, found them engaged in a shameful act, with providence guiding Paul to what was for his good. And laughing a dignified laugh, he cried out to them and said: "Well, well; truly it does not concern me. By Jesus, I will no longer take her. Go, have her and her children; for I am going to become a monk". 22.2 And without saying anything to anyone, he ran the eight stations and went to the blessed Antony and knocked at the door. So coming out, he asked him: "What do you want?" He said to him: "I want to become a monk." Antony answered and said to him: "A sixty-year-old man, you cannot become a monk here; but rather go away to a village and work, and live a life of labor, giving thanks to God; for you cannot endure the afflictions of the desert". The old man answered again and said: "Whatever you teach me, that I will do". 22.3 Antony said to him: "I have told you that you are an old man and you are not able; if you really wish to become a monk, go to a cenobium of many brothers, who are able to put up with your weakness. For I sit here alone, eating every five days, and that sparingly". With these and such words he tried to drive Paul away; and since he would not put up with him, Antony, having closed the door, did not come out for three days on his account, not even for his needs. But he did not depart. 22.4 But on the fourth day, when need compelled him, he opened the door and came out and again said to him: "Go away from here, old man; why do you vex me? You cannot remain here". Paul said to him: "It is impossible for me to die anywhere else but here". So Antony, looking around and seeing that he was not carrying things for sustenance, neither bread nor water, and was on his fourth day of fasting patiently, said, "Lest he also die and stain my soul," and he took him in. And Antony undertook such a thing in those days

περιστραφῆτε μηδαμοῦ, ἀπέλθετε· μὴ χωρισθῆτε ἀπ' ἀλλήλων, ἀλλ' ἢ εἰς τὴν κέλλαν ὑμῶν εἰς ἣν ἐχρο νίσατε. Ἤδη γὰρ ἀποστέλλει ὁ θεὸς ἐφ' ὑμᾶς. Ὁ πειρασμὸς γὰρ οὗτος συνέβη ὑμῖν ἐπειδὴ ἀμφότεροι περὶ τὸ τέλος ἔχετε καὶ στεφάνων μέλλετε ἀξιοῦσθαι. Μὴ οὖν ἄλλο τι ποιήσητε, καὶ ἐλθὼν ὁ ἄγγελος μὴ εὕρῃ ὑμᾶς ἐν τῷ τόπῳ". Θᾶττον οὖν ὁδεύσαντες ἦλθον εἰς τὴν κέλλαν ἑαυτῶν. Καὶ ἐντὸς τεσσαράκοντα ἡμερῶν τελευτᾷ ὁ Εὐλόγιος· ἐντὸς δὲ ἄλλων τριῶν ἡμερῶν τελευτᾷ ὁ λελωβημένος." 21.15 Χρονοτριβήσας δὲ ὁ Κρόνιος ἐν τοῖς περὶ τὴν Θηβαΐδα τόποις κατῆλθεν εἰς τὰ μοναστήρια Ἀλεξανδρείας. Καὶ συνέβη τοῦ μὲν τὰ τεσσαρακοστὰ ἐπιτελεῖσθαι, τοῦ δὲ τὰ τρίτα παρὰ τῆς ἀδελφότητος. Ἔμαθεν οὖν ὁ Κρόνιος καὶ ἐξέστη· καὶ λαβὼν εὐαγγέλιον καὶ θεὶς ἐν μέσῳ τῆς ἀδελ φότητος διωμόσατο ἀφηγησάμενος τὸ συμβὰν ὅτι "Τῶν λόγων τούτων ὅλων ἑρμηνεὺς γέγονα, τοῦ μακαρίου Ἀντω νίου ἑλληνιστὶ μὴ εἰδότος· ἐγὼ γὰρ ἠπιστάμην ἀμφοτέρας τὰς γλώσσας, καὶ ἡρμήνευσα αὐτοῖς, τοῖς μὲν ἑλληνιστί, ἐκείνῳ δὲ αἰγυπτιστί." 21.16 Καὶ τοῦτο δὲ διηγήσατο ὁ Κρόνιος, ὅτι "Ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ ἐκείνῃ διηγήσατο ἡμῖν ὁ μακάριος Ἀντώνιος ὅτι " ̓Ενιαυτὸν ὁλόκληρον ηὐξάμην ἀποκαλυφθῆναί μοι τὸν τόπον τῶν δικαίων καὶ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν. Καὶ ἐθεασάμην μακρόν τινα γίγαντα μέχρι τῶν νεφελῶν, μέλανα, τὰς χεῖρας ἐκτε ταμένας ἔχοντα ἐπὶ τὸν οὐρανόν, καὶ ὑποκάτω αὐτοῦ λίμνην ἔχουσαν μέτρον θαλάσσης· καὶ ἑώρων ψυχὰς ἀνιπταμένας ὡς ὄρνεα. 21.17 Καὶ ὅσαι μὲν ὑπερίπταντο αὐτοῦ τῶν χει ρῶν καὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς διεσώζοντο· ὅσαι δὲ παρὰ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ ἐκοσσίζοντο ἐνέπιπτον εἰς τὴν λίμνην. Ἦλθεν οὖν μοι φωνὴ λέγουσα· Ταύτας ἃς βλέπεις ὑπεριπταμένας ψυχὰς τῶν δικαίων αἱ ψυχαί εἰσιν αἳ εἰς τὸν παράδεισον σώζονται· αἱ δὲ ἄλλαι εἰσὶν αἱ εἰς τὸν ᾅδην ὑποσυρόμεναι, τοῖς θελή μασι τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ τῇ μνησικακίᾳ ἐξακολουθήσασαι"". 22 .tΠερὶ Παύλου τοῦ ἁπλοῦ 22.1 ∆ιηγεῖτο δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ὁ Κρόνιος καὶ ὁ ἅγιος Ἱέραξ καὶ πλείονες ἄλλοι περὶ ὧν μέλλω λέγειν, ὅτι Παῦλός τις ἄγροικος γεωργός, καθ' ὑπερβολὴν ἄκακος καὶ ἁπλοῦς, ὡραιοτάτῃ ἐζεύχθη γυναικὶ κακοτρόπῳ τῇ γνώμῃ, ἥτις διελάνθανεν ἁμαρτάνουσα ἐπὶ μήκιστον χρόνον. Εἰσελθὼν οὖν ἐξ ἀγροῦ αἰφνίδιον ὁ Παῦλος εὗρεν αὐτοὺς αἰσχρο πραγοῦντας, τῆς προνοίας εἰς τὸ συμφέρον ὁδηγούσης τὸν Παῦλον. Καὶ γελάσας σεμνὸν ἐπιφωνεῖ αὐτοῖς καὶ λέγει· "Καλῶς, καλῶς· ἀληθῶς οὐ μέλει μοι. Μὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἐγὼ αὐτὴν οὐκέτι αἴρω. Ὕπαγε, ἔχε αὐτὴν καὶ τὰ παιδία αὐτῆς· ἐγὼ γὰρ ὑπάγω γίνομαι μοναχός". 22.2 Καὶ μηδενὶ μηδὲν εἰρηκὼς ἀνατρέχει τὰς ὀκτὼ μονὰς καὶ ἀπέρχεται πρὸς τὸν μακάριον Ἀντώνιον καὶ κρούει τὴν θύραν. Ἐξελθὼν οὖν ἐρωτᾷ αὐτόν· "Τί θέλεις;" Λέγει αὐτῷ· "Μοναχὸς θέλω γενέσθαι." Ἀποκρίνεται ὁ Ἀντώνιος καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ· "Ἐτῶν ἑξήκοντα γέρων ἄνθρωπος ὧδε μοναχὸς οὐ δύνασαι γενέσθαι· ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἄπελθε εἰς κώμην καὶ ἐργάζου, καὶ ζῆθι ἐργατικὸν βίον εὐχαριστῶν τῷ θεῷ· ὑπομεῖναι γὰρ τὰς θλίψεις τῆς ἐρήμου οὐ δύνασαι". Ἀποκρίνεται ὁ γέρων πάλιν καὶ λέγει· "Εἴ τι ἄν με διδάξῃς ἐκεῖνο ποιῶ". 22.3 Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἀντώνιος· "Εἴρηκά σοι ὅτι γέρων εἶ καὶ οὐ δύνασαι· ἄπελθε εἰ ἄρα θέλεις μοναχὸς γενέσθαι εἰς κοινόβιον πλειόνων ἀδελφῶν, οἵτινες δύνανταί σου τῆς ἀσθενείας ἀνέ χεσθαι. Ἐγὼ γὰρ μόνος κάθημαι ὧδε διὰ πέντε ἐσθίων καὶ τοῦτο λιμῷ". Τούτοις καὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις ῥήμασιν ἀπεσόβει τὸν Παῦλον· καὶ ὡς οὐκ ἠνείχετο αὐτοῦ κλείσας τὴν θύραν ὁ Ἀντώνιος οὐκ ἐξῆλθεν ἐπὶ ἡμέρας τρεῖς δι' αὐτόν, οὐδὲ πρὸς τὴν χρείαν. Ὁ δὲ οὐκ ἀνεχώρησε. 22.4 Τῇ δὲ τετάρτῃ ἡμέρᾳ χρείας αὐτὸν ἀναγκαζούσης ἀνοίξας ἐξῆλθε καὶ πάλιν λέγει αὐτῷ· "Ἄπελθε ἐντεῦθεν, γέρον· τί με ὑποπιάζεις; Οὐ δύνασαι ὧδε μεῖναι". Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Παῦλος· "Ἀμήχανόν μοί ἐστιν ἀλλαχοῦ τελευτῆσαι ἀλλ' ἢ ὧδε". Περιβλεψάμενος οὖν ὁ Ἀντώνιος καὶ θεασάμενος ὅτι τὰ πρὸς τροφὴν οὐ βαστάζει, οὐκ ἄρτον, οὐχ ὕδωρ, καὶ τετάρτην ἔχει καρτερήσας νῆστις, "Μήποτε καὶ ἀποθάνῃ, φησί, καὶ κηλιδώσῃ μου τὴν ψυχήν", εἰσδέχεται αὐτόν. Καὶ τοιαύτην ἀνέλαβεν ὁ Ἀντώνιος ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις