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

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 delivers me from this misfortune and you see me in Constantinople, know that I am justly undergoing this punishment". That one says to him: "I bring the Gospel; swear to me on it that you will depart from this city and care for your soul, and I will deliver you from this constraint". 38.7 He brought the Gospel, then, and swore to him on the Gospel that "Except for one day, so that I may manage to put my clothes on the ship, I shall not remain". When the oath, then, had gone forth, he returned from the ecstasy that had come upon him in the night; and rising up, he reasoned that "Even if the oath was made in ecstasy, nevertheless I have sworn". Putting all his things, therefore, onto a ship, he comes to Jerusalem. 38.8 And there he is welcomed by the blessed Melania the Roman. But when the devil again hardened his heart, just as Pharaoh's, since he was young and vigorous in age, a certain hesitation came upon him and he was of two minds, having said nothing to anyone, and there again, changing his clothes and in his manner of speech, vainglory sheared him. But God, the hinderer of all our destruction, cast him into a circumstance of fever, and from there into a long illness, for a period of six months having withered his flesh, by which he was being hindered. 38.9 And when the physicians were at a loss and could not find a way of healing, the blessed Melania says to him: "Your long illness does not please me, son. Tell me, then, the things in your mind. For this illness of yours is not without God". Then he confessed the whole matter to her. And she says to him: "Give me your word before the Lord, that you will hold to the purpose of the solitary life; and even if I happen to be a sinner, I pray that a means of life may be given to you". And he agreed. Within a few days, therefore, he became well; and rising up, he was clothed in different attire by that very woman, and he goes out, journeying to the mountain of Nitria in Egypt. 38.10 Where, having dwelt for two years, in the third he enters the desert. Having lived, then, for fourteen years in the so-called Cells, he would eat a pound of bread, and in a three-month period a pint of oil, a man brought from a most delicate and luxurious and very moist life. And he would make one hundred prayers, writing during the year only the cost of what he ate; for he wrote the Oxyrhynchite character with skill. Within fifteen years, then, having purified his mind to the highest degree, he was deemed worthy of the gift of knowledge and of wisdom and of the discernment of spirits. This man therefore composed three holy books for monks, called the *Antirrhetica*, setting out stratagems against the demons. 38.11 The demon of fornication troubled this man severely, as he himself related to us; and through the whole night he stood naked in the well, though it was winter, so that his flesh even froze. Another time, a spirit of blasphemy troubled him; and for forty days he did not go under a roof, as he himself related to us, so that his body, like that of irrational animals, broke out in ticks. To this man came three demons in one day in the guise of clerics, discussing faith; and one said he was an Arian, another a Eunomian, and another an Apollinarian; and he overcame them with his wisdom in a few words. 38.12 Again, one day when the key to the church was lost, having sealed the face of the lock and pushed with his hand, he opened it, calling upon Christ. This man was scourged so much by demons and received such experience of demons that there is no number. And to one of his disciples he told the things that would happen to him after eighteen years, prophesying everything to him in detail. And he would say that "Since I came to the desert I have not touched lettuce, nor any other green vegetable, nor fruit, nor grape, nor meat, nor a bath". 38.13 But later, in the sixteenth year of his ascetic life without cooked food, when his flesh had need because of the weakness of his stomach to partake of food prepared with fire, he no longer touched bread, but partaking of vegetables or groats or pulses for two years, in

ὑποβάλλῃ". 38.6 Λέγει αὐτῷ· "Εἰ ἀκούεις τοῦ φίλου σου, οὐ συμφέρει σοι ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ διάγειν". Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Εὐάγριος· "Ἐὰν ὁ θεός με ταύτης τῆς συμφορᾶς ἀπαλλάξῃ καὶ ἴδῃς με ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει, γνῶθι ὅτι εὐλόγως ὑφίσταμαι ταύτην τὴν τιμωρίαν". Λέγει αὐτῷ ἐκεῖνος· "Φέρω τὸ εὐαγ γέλιον καὶ ὄμοσόν μοι ἐν αὐτῷ ὅτι ἀναχωρεῖς τῆς πόλεως ταύτης καὶ φροντίζεις σου τῆς ψυχῆς, καὶ ἀπαλλάττω σε τῆς ἀνάγκης ταύτης". 38.7 Ἤνεγκεν οὖν τὸ εὐαγ γέλιον καὶ ὤμοσεν αὐτῷ κατὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου ὅτι "Παρ εκτὸς μιᾶς ἡμέρας, ἵνα φθάσω ἐμβαλεῖν εἰς τὸ πλοῖον τὰ ἱμάτιά μου, οὐ μὴ παραμείνω". Τοῦ ὅρκου οὖν προ χωρήσαντος ἐπανῆλθεν ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκστάσεως τῆς γενομένης αὐτῷ ἐν τῇ νυκτί· καὶ ἀναστὰς ἐλογίσατο ὅτι "Εἰ καὶ ἐν ἐκστάσει γέγονεν ὁ ὅρκος ἀλλ' ὅμως ὤμοσα". Βα λὼν οὖν πάντα τὰ αὐτοῦ εἰς πλοῖον ἔρχεται εἰς Ἱεροσό λυμα. 38.8 Κἀκεῖ δεξιοῦται παρὰ τῆς μακαρίας Μελανίου τῆς Ῥωμαίας. Πάλιν δὲ τοῦ διαβόλου σκληρύναντος αὐτοῦ τὴν καρδίαν καθάπερ τοῦ Φαραώ, ὡς νέῳ καὶ σφριγῶντι τὴν ἡλικίαν γέγονεν ἐνδυασμός τις καὶ ἐδιψύχησε μηδενὶ μηδὲν εἰρηκώς, κἀκεῖσε πάλιν ἐξαλλάσσων τοῖς ἱματίοις καὶ ἐν τῇ διαλέκτῳ ἐκάρου αὐτὸν ἡ κενοδοξία. Ὁ δὲ ἐμπο διστὴς τῆς πάντων ἡμῶν ἀπωλείας θεὸς ἐνέβαλεν αὐτὸν εἰς περίστασιν πυρετοῦ, κἀκεῖθεν εἰς νόσον μακρὰν ἑξαμη νιαίῳ χρόνῳ ταριχεύσας αὐτοῦ τὸ σαρκίον, δι' οὗ ἐνε ποδίζετο. 38.9 Τῶν ἰατρῶν δὲ ἀπορούντων καὶ τρόπον θεραπείας μὴ εὑρισκόντων, λέγει αὐτῷ ἡ μακαρία Μελά νιον· "Οὐκ ἀρέσκει μοι, υἱέ, ἡ σὴ μακρονοσία. Εἰπὲ οὖν μοι τὰ ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ σου. Οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ ἀθεής σου ἡ νόσος αὕτη". Τότε ὡμολόγησεν αὐτῇ τὸ πρᾶγμα σύμπαν. Ἡ δὲ λέγει αὐτῷ· "∆ός μοι λόγον ἐπὶ κυρίου, ὅτι ἔχῃ τοῦ σκοποῦ τοῦ μονήρους βίου· καὶ εἰ καὶ ἁμαρτωλὴ τυγχάνω, προσεύχομαι ἵνα δοθῇ σοι κομίατος ζωῆς". Ὁ δὲ συν έθετο. Ἐντὸς οὖν ὀλίγων ἡμερῶν ὑγίανε· καὶ ἀναστὰς παρ' αὐτῆς ἐκείνης μετημφιάσθη, καὶ ἐξέρχεται ἐκδημή σας εἰς τὸ ὄρος τῆς Νιτρίας τὸ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ. 38.10 Ἐν ᾧ οἰκήσας δεύτερον ἔτος τὸ τρίτον εἰσβάλλει εἰς τὴν ἔρημον. Ζήσας οὖν δεκατέσσαρα ἔτη ἐν τοῖς λε γομένοις Κελλίοις ἤσθιε μὲν λίτραν ἄρτου, ἐν τριμηνιαίῳ δὲ ξέστην ἐλαίου, ἀνὴρ ἀπὸ ἁβροτάτου καὶ τρυφηλοῦ βίου καὶ ὑγροτάτου ἠγμένος. Ἐποίει δὲ εὐχὰς ἑκατόν, γράφων τοῦ ἔτους τὴν τιμὴν μόνον ὧν ἤσθιεν· εὐφυῶς γὰρ ἔγραφε τὸν ὀξύρυγχον χαρακτῆρα. Ἐντὸς οὖν δεκαπέντε ἐτῶν καθαρεύσας εἰς ἄκρον τὸν νοῦν κατηξιώθη χαρίσματος γνώσεως καὶ σοφίας καὶ διακρίσεως πνευμάτων. Συντάττει οὖν οὗτος τρία βιβλία ἱερὰ μοναχῶν ἀντιρρητικὰ οὕτω λεγόμενα, πρὸς τοὺς δαίμονας ὑποτιθέμενος τέχνας. 38.11 Τούτῳ ὤχλησεν εἰς βάρος ὁ τῆς πορνείας δαίμων, ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς ἡμῖν διηγεῖτο· καὶ διὰ πάσης νυκτὸς γυμνὸς ἔστη ἐν τῷ φρέατι χειμῶνος ὄντος, ὡς καὶ παγῆναι αὐτοῦ τὰς σάρκας. Ἄλλοτε πάλιν ὤχλησεν αὐτῷ πνεῦμα βλασφη μίας· καὶ ἐν τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέραις ὑπὸ στέγην οὐκ εἰσ ῆλθεν, ὡς αὐτὸς ἡμῖν διηγήσατο, ὡς καὶ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ καθάπερ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων κρότωνας ἐκβράσαι. Τούτῳ τρεῖς ἐπέστησαν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ δαίμονες ἐν σχήματι κληρικῶν περὶ πίστεως συζητοῦντες· καὶ ὁ μὲν ἔλεγεν ἑαυτὸν Ἀρεια νόν, ὁ δὲ Εὐνομιανόν, ὁ δὲ Ἀπολιναριανόν· καὶ τούτων περιεγένετο τῇ σοφίᾳ αὐτοῦ διὰ βραχέων λόγων. 38.12 Πάλιν μιᾶς τῶν ἡμερῶν τῆς κλειδὸς ἀπολομένης τῆς ἐκκλησίας, σφραγίσας τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ ἡλωταρίου καὶ τῇ χειρὶ ὤσας ἤνοιξεν, ἐπικαλεσάμενος τὸν Χριστόν. Τοσαῦτα ἐμαστιγώ θη οὗτος ὑπὸ δαιμόνων καὶ τοσαύτην ἔλαβε πεῖραν δαι μόνων ὧν ἀριθμὸς οὐκ ἔστιν. Ἑνὶ δὲ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ μαθη τῶν τὰ μετὰ δεκαοκτὼ ἔτη συμβησόμενα αὐτῷ εἶπε, πάντα κατ' εἶδος προφητεύσας αὐτῷ. Ἔλεγε δὲ ὅτι "Ἀφ' οὗ κατέλαβον τὴν ἔρημον οὐ θριδακίου ἡψάμην, οὐχ ἑτέρου λαχάνου τινὸς χλωροῦ, οὐκ ὀπώρας, οὐ σταφυλῆς, οὐ κρεῶν, οὐ λουτροῦ". 38.13 Ἐς ὕστερον δὲ τῷ ἑξκαιδεκάτῳ ἔτει τῆς πολιτείας τῆς ἄνευ ἑψήματος, χρείαν ἐχούσης αὐτοῦ τῆς σαρκὸς διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν τοῦ στομάχου τοῦ μετα λαμβάνειν διὰ πυρός, ἄρτου μὲν ἥψατο οὐκέτι, λαχάνων δὲ μεταλαμβάνων ἢ πτισάνης ἢ ὀσπριδίων ἐπὶ δύο ἔτη, ἐν