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

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 received the prices, she came to Jerusalem; and having distributed the goods within forty days, she fell asleep in a good old age and with the deepest meekness, leaving behind also a monastery in Jerusalem and its expenses. 54.7 But when all these departed from Rome a certain barbarian storm, which also long lay in prophecies, came upon Rome, and did not even leave the bronze statues in the marketplace, but having sacked everything with barbarian madness, delivered it to destruction; so that Rome, which had been beautified for one thousand and two hundred years, became a ruin. Then those who had been catechized and those who had opposed the catechesis glorified God who by the change of circumstances persuaded the unbelievers that when all others were taken captive, only these houses were saved, having become whole burnt offerings to the Lord by the zeal of Melania. 55.1 It happened that we were traveling together from Aelia to Egypt, escorting the blessed virgin Silvania, the sister-in-law of Rufinus, the former prefect; among whom was with us also Jovinus, at that time a deacon but now bishop of the church of Ascalon, a pious and learned man. Therefore when a most intense heat overtook us and we arrived at Pelusium, it happened that Jovinus took a basin and washed his hands and feet with a handful of very cold water, and after washing, to rest upon a skin thrown on the ground. 55.2 She, standing over him like a wise mother over a true son, mocked his softness, saying: "How do you dare at this age, while your blood is still boiling, to thus pamper your little flesh, not perceiving the harmful things born from it? Courage, courage, for I am in my sixtieth year of age, and except for the tips of my hands, neither my foot nor my face nor any one of my limbs has touched water, although I have been seized by various illnesses and forced by doctors, I did not endure giving in to the habit of the flesh, not resting on a couch nor have I traveled anywhere in a litter". 55.3 Having become most learned, or rather having loved learning, she turned nights into days, going through every writing of the ancient commentators; among which were three million lines of Origen, and two and a half million of Gregory and Stephen and Pierius and Basil and certain other most diligent men; not going through them simply or haphazardly, but laboriously going through each book a seventh or eighth time. Therefore, having been freed from falsely-named knowledge, she was also able to be winged by the grace of words, having made herself a spiritual bird with good hopes, passing over to Christ. 56 .tAbout Olympias 56.1 Following in her appearance and footsteps, the most revered and zealous Olympias followed in her purpose; being the daughter of Seleucus the count, and granddaughter of Ablabius the former prefect, and bride for a few days of Nebridius the city prefect, but wife to no one; for she is said to have fallen asleep a virgin, but a companion of the word of truth. 56.2 Who, having scattered all her possessions, distributed them to the poor; having fought no small contests for the truth, and having catechized many women, and having spoken reverently of presbyters, and having honored bishops, she was also deemed worthy of confession for the truth's sake; whose life those dwelling in Constantinople judge to be among the confessors, having thus ended her life and departed to the Lord in the struggles for God. 57 .tAbout Candida and Gelasia 57.1 Following in her appearance and as in a mirror, the blessed Candida, the daughter of Trajan the general, having lived worthily and reached the height of reverence, and having honored churches and bishops, catechized her own daughter into the order of virginity and sent her forth to Christ, a gift from her own loins, afterwards following in chastity and in the scattering of her wealth the

ἤγαγεν ἐπὶ τὸν μονήρη βίον. Καὶ τὸν Πουπλι κούλα δὲ υἱὸν τὸν νεώτερον κατηχήσασα ἤγαγεν ἐπὶ τὴν Σικελίαν· καὶ πάντα αὐτῆς τὰ ὑπόλοιπα διαπωλήσασα καὶ τὰς τιμὰς λαβοῦσα ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα· καὶ διανεί μασα τὰς ὕλας ἐντὸς τεσσαράκοντα ἡμερῶν ἐκοιμήθη ἐν γήρᾳ καλῷ καὶ βαθυτάτῃ πραότητι, καταλείψασα καὶ μο ναστήριον ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις καὶ τὰ τούτου ἀναλώματα. 54.7 Ὡς δὲ πάντες οὗτοι ἀπέστησαν τῆς Ῥώμης θύελλά τις βαρβαρική, ἡ καὶ ἐν προφητείαις πάλαι κειμένη, ἐπέστη τῇ Ῥώμῃ, καὶ οὐκ εἴασεν οὐδὲ τοὺς ἐπ' ἀγορᾶς ἀνδριάντας χαλκοῦς, ἀλλὰ πάντα πορθήσασα βαρβαρικῇ ἀπονοίᾳ παρέ δωκεν ἀπωλείᾳ· ὡς γενέσθαι τὴν Ῥώμην, τὴν ἐν χιλίοις ἔτεσι καὶ διακοσίοις φιλοκαληθεῖσαν, ἐρείπιον. Τότε οἱ κα τηχηθέντες καὶ οἱ ἐναντιωθέντες τῇ κατηχήσει ἐδόξασαν τὸν θεὸν τὸν τῇ μεταβολῇ τῶν πραγμάτων πείσαντα τοὺς ἀπίσ τους ὅτι τῶν ἄλλων πάντων αἰχμαλωτισθέντων οὗτοι μόνοι διεσώθησαν οἱ οἶκοι, ὁλοκαυτώματα γενόμενοι τῷ κυρίῳ σπουδῇ Μελανίου. 55.1 Συνέβη ἅμα ὁδεύειν ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ Αἰλίας ἐπὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον, προπέμποντας τὴν μακαρίαν Σιλβανίαν τὴν παρ θένον γυναικαδέλφην Ῥουφίνου τοῦ ἀπὸ ἐπάρχων· ἐν οἷς ἦν σὺν ἡμῖν καὶ Ἰουβῖνος, τὸ τηνικαῦτα μὲν διάκονος νυνὶ δὲ ἐπίσκοπος τῆς Ἀσκάλωνος ἐκκλησίας, ἀνὴρ εὐλαβὴς καὶ φιλόλογος. Σφοδροτάτου οὖν καύματος καταλαβόντος ἡμᾶς καὶ καταντησάντων ἡμῶν εἰς τὸ Πηλούσιον, ἔτυχε τὸν Ἰου βῖνον νιπτῆρα λαβόντα νίψασθαι τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τοὺς πόδας πυγμῇ ὕδατι ψυχροτάτῳ, καὶ μετὰ τὸ νίψασθαι δερμοτύλῳ ἐπαναπαῆναι ῥιφέντι κατὰ τοῦ ἐδάφους. 55.2 Ἐπιστᾶσα ἐκείνη ὡς μήτηρ σοφὴ υἱοῦ γνησίου ἐπέσκωπτεν αὐτοῦ τῇ ἁπαλότητι λέγουσα· "Πῶς θαρρεῖς ταύτην ἄγων τὴν ἡλικίαν ἔτι ζέοντος τοῦ αἵματός σου οὕτω φιλοκαλεῖν τὸ σαρκίον, μὴ αἰσθανόμενος τῶν ἐξ αὐτοῦ τικτομένων βλαβερῶν; Θάρσει, θάρσει ὅτι ἑξηκοστὸν ἄγω ἔτος τῆς ἡλικίας, ἐκτὸς τῶν ἄκρων τῶν χειρῶν οὐ ποῦς μου ἥψατο ὕδατος οὐκ ὄψις οὐδὲ ἓν τῶν μελῶν, καίπερ διαφόροις ληφθεῖσα ἀρρωστίαις, καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν ἰατρῶν ἀναγκαζομένη οὐκ ἠνεσχόμην ἀποδοῦναι τῇ σαρκὶ τὸ ἔθος, οὐκ ἐπὶ κλίνης ἀναπαεῖσα οὐ λεκτικίῳ ὥδευσά που". 55.3 Αὕτη λογιωτάτη γενομένη ἢ καὶ φιλήσασα τὸν λόγον τὰς νύκτας εἰς ἡμέρας μετέβαλε πᾶν σύγγραμμα τῶν ἀρ χαίων ὑπομνηματιστῶν διελθοῦσα· ἐν οἷς Ὠριγένους μυριά δας τριακοσίας, Γρηγορίου καὶ Στεφάνου καὶ Πιερίου καὶ Βασιλείου καὶ ἑτέρων τινῶν σπουδαιοτάτων μυριάδας εἰ κοσιπέντε· οὐχ ἁπλῶς οὐδὲ ὡς ἔτυχε διελθοῦσα, ἀλλὰ πεπονημένως ἕκαστον βιβλίον ἕβδομον ἢ ὄγδοον διελθοῦσα. ∆ιὸ καὶ ἠδυνήθη ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως ἐλευθερωθεῖσα πτερωθῆναι τῇ χάριτι τῶν λόγων ἐλπίσι χρησταῖς ἑαυτὴν ὄρνιν ἐργασαμένη πνευματικὴν διαπεράσασα πρὸς τὸν Χριστόν. 56 .tΠερὶ Ὀλυμπιάδοσ 56.1 Ταύτης κατ' ὄπιν καὶ ἴχνος ἡ σεμνοτάτη Ὀλυμ πιὰς καὶ ζηλωτικωτάτη βαίνουσα ἠκολούθησε τῇ γνώμῃ· θυγάτηρ μὲν γενομένη Σελεύκου τοῦ ἀπὸ κομήτων, ἐγγόνη δὲ Ἀβλαβίου τοῦ ἀπὸ ἐπάρχων, νύμφη δὲ πρὸς ὀλίγας ἡμέρας Νεβριδίου τοῦ ἀπὸ ἐπάρχων τῆς πόλεως, γυνὴ δὲ οὐδενός· λέγεται γὰρ κεκοιμῆσθαι παρθένος, ἀλλὰ σύμβιος τοῦ λόγου τῆς ἀληθείας. 56.2 Ἥτις πάντα διασκορπίσασα ἑαυτῆς τὰ ὑπάρχοντα διέδωκε πτωχοῖς· οὐ μικροὺς ἀγῶνας ἀγωνισαμένη ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας, πολλάς τε κατηχήσασα γυ ναῖκας, καὶ σεμνολογήσασα πρεσβυτέρους, καὶ τιμήσασα ἐπισκόπους, καὶ ὁμολογίας κατηξιώθη τῆς ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας· ἧς τὸν βίον ἐν ὁμολογηταῖς κρίνουσιν οἱ Κωνσταντινούπολιν οἰκοῦντες, οὕτως τελευτησάσης καὶ πρὸς κύριον ἐκδημη σάσης ἐν τοῖς κατὰ θεὸν ἀγῶσιν. 57 .tΠερὶ Κανδίδας καὶ Γελασίασ 57.1 Ἧς κατ' ὄπιν καὶ ὡς ἐν ἐσόπτρῳ ἡ μακαρία Κανδίδα, ἡ Τραϊανοῦ τοῦ στρατηλάτου θυγάτηρ, ἀξίως βιώσασα καὶ εἰς ἄκρον σεμνότητος ἐλάσασα, ἐκκλησίας τε καὶ ἐπισκόπους τιμήσασα, τὴν μὲν ἰδίαν θυγατέρα κατη χήσασα εἰς τὸν τῆς παρθενίας κλῆρον προέπεμψε πρὸς Χρι στόν, δῶρον τῶν ἑαυτῆς λαγόνων, ἐς ὕστερον σωφροσύνῃ καὶ καὶ τοῖς τῶν χρημάτων σκορπισμοῖς ἐπακολουθήσασα τῇ