The Lausiac History 46–60
Greek text: Butler 1904.English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: W. K. Lowther Clarke, The Lausiac History of Palladius (London: SPCK, 1918).
Chapter 46
46Butler 1904 2:134–136
Ἡ τρισμακαρία Μελανία Σπανὴ γέγονε τὸ γένος, εἶτ᾽ οὖν Ῥωμαία' θυγάτηρ μὲν γέγονε Μαρκελλίνου τοῦ ἀπὸ ὑπάτων, ἀνδρὸς δέ τινος τῶν ἀπὸ ἀξιωμάτων γυνή, οὗ καλῶς οὐκ ἐπιμέμνημαι. αὐτὴ χηρεύσασα εἰκοστὸν δεύτερον ἄγουσα ἔτος ἔρωτος θείου κατηξιώθη, καὶ μηδενὶ μηδὲν εἰρηκυῖα, ἐκωλύετο γὰρ ἐν τοῖς καιροῖς Οὐάλεντος ἀρχὴν ἔχοντος ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ, ποιήσασα ἐπίτροπον τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτῆς ὀνομασθῆναι, τὰ κινητὰ πάντα αὐτῆς λαβοῦσα καὶ ἐμβαλοῦσα εἰς πλοῖον, μετὰ φανερῶν παίδων καὶ γυναικῶν δρομαία κατέπλευσεν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν. κἀκεῖθεν διαπωλήσασα τὰς ὕλας καὶ εἰς χρυσὸν κατακερματίσασα εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸ ὄρος τῆς Νιτρίας, τοῖς πατράσι περιτυγχάνουσα τοῖς περὶ Παμβὼ καὶ ᾿Αρσίσιον καὶ Σαραπίωνα τὸν μέγαν καὶ Παφνούτιον τὸν Σκητιώτην καὶ Ἰσίδωρον τὸν ὁμολογητὴν ἐπίσκοπον Ἑρμουπόλεως καὶ Διόσκορον. καὶ ἐχρόνισε παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς ἕως ἥμισυ ἔτους ἀνὰ τὴν ἔρημον κυκλεύουσα καὶ ἱστοροῦσα πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους. μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο τοῦ αὐγουσταλίου ᾿Αλεξανδρείας ἐξορίσαντος ᾿Ισίδωρον καὶ Πισίμιον καὶ ᾿Αδέλφιον καὶ Παφνούτιον καὶ Παμβώ, ἐν οἷς καὶ ᾿Αμμώνιον τὸν παρώτην, καὶ δώδεκα ἐπισκόπους καὶ πρεσβυτέρους, εἰς τὴν Παλαιστίνην περὶ Διοκαισάρειαν᾽ οἷς ἠκολούθησεν αὕτη ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων χρημάτων ὑπηρετουμένη. κωλυομένων δὲ τῶν ὑπηρετῶν, ὡς διηγοῦντο, συνέτυχον γὰρ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πισιμέῳ καὶ ᾿Ισιδώρῳ καὶ Παφνουτίῳ καὶ ᾿Αμμωνίῳ, αὕτη παιδαρίου καρακάλλιον λαβοῦσα ἐν ταῖς ἑσπέραις ἔφερεν αὐτοῖς τὰ πρὸς τὴν χρείαν. γνοὺς δὲ ὁ ὑπατικὸς τῆς Παλαιστίνης, θελήσας τὸν κόλπον πληρῶσαι προσεδόκησεν αὐτὴν καπνίζειν᾽ καὶ κατασχὼν αὐτὴν ἔβαλεν εἰς φυλακὴν ἀγνοῶν τὴν ἐλευθερίαν. αὕτη δὲ δηλοῖ αὐτῷ" ᾿Εγὼ τοῦδε μὲν γέγονα θυγάτηρ, τοῦδε δὲ γυνή" τοῦ δὲ Χριστοῦ εἰμὶ δούλη. καὶ μὴ τῆς εὐτελείας τοῦ σχήματός μου καταπτύσῃς" δύναμαι γὰρ ἐμαυτὴν ἐὰν θέλω ὑψῶσαι, καὶ οὐκ ἔχεις με ἐν τούτῳ καπνίσαι οὐδὲ τῶν ἐμῶν τι λαβεῖν. ὥστε οὖν ἵνα μὴ ἀγνοήσας ἐγκλήμασι περιπέσῃς ἐδήλωσά σοι" δεῖ γὰρ κατὰ τῶν ἀναισθήτων καθάπερ ἱέρακι τῷ τύφῳ κεχρῆσθαι. τότε γνοὺς ὁ δικαστὴς καὶ προσαπελογήσατο καὶ προσεκύνησεν αὐτῇ, καὶ ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὴν ἀκωλύτως συντυγχάνειν τοῖς ἁγίοις. Αὕτη μετὰ τὴν ἀνάκλησιν τούτων μοναστήριον κτίσασα ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις εἰκοσιεπτὰ ἔτεσιν ἐνεχρόνισεν ἐκεῖ ἔχουσα συνοδίαν παρθένων πεντήκοντα. ἡ συνέζη καὶ ὁ εὐγενέστατος καὶ ὁμότροπος καὶ στιβαρώτατος Ῥουφῖνος ὁ ἀπὸ Ἰταλίας ἐξ ᾿Ακυληΐας τῆς πόλεως, πρεσβυτερίου ἐς ὕστερον καταξιωθείς" οὗ γνωστικώτερος καὶ ἐπιεικέστερος ἐν ἀνδράσιν οὐχ εὑρίσκετο. δεξιούμενοι οὖν ἀμφότεροι ἐν τοῖς εἰκοσιεπτὰ ἔτεσι τοὺς παρατυγχάνοντας ἐν τοῖς 'Ιεροσολύμοις εὐχῆς ἕνεκεν, ἐπισκόπους τε καὶ μονάζοντας καὶ παρθένους, οἰκείοις ἀναλώμασιν ᾠκοδόμησαν μὲν πάντας τοὺς παρατυγχάνοντας, ἥνωσαν δὲ τὸ σχίσμα τὸ κατὰ Παυλῖνον ὡς ἀνδρῶν τετρακοσίων μοναζόντων, καὶ πάντα αἱρετικὸν πνευματομάχον συμπείσαντες εἰσήγαγον εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, τιμῶντες τοὺς κατὰ τόπον κληρικοὺς δώροις καὶ τροφαῖς, οὕτω διετέλεσαν μηδένα σκανδαλίσαντες.
Hē trismakaria Melania Spanē gegone to genos, eit᾽ oun Rhōmaia' thygatēr men gegone Markellinou tou apo hypatōn, andros de tinos tōn apo axiōmatōn gynē, hou kalōs ouk epimemnēmai. autē chēreusasa eikoston deuteron agousa etos erōtos theiou katēxiōthē, kai mēdeni mēden eirēkuia, ekōlyeto gar en tois kairois Oualentos archēn echontos en tę̄ basileią, poiēsasa epitropon tou huiou autēs onomasthēnai, ta kinēta panta autēs labousa kai embalousa eis ploion, meta phanerōn paidōn kai gynaikōn dromaia katepleusen epi tēn Alexandreian. kakeithen diapōlēsasa tas hylas kai eis chryson katakermatisasa eisēlthen eis to oros tēs Nitrias, tois patrasi peritynchanousa tois peri Pambō kai ᾿Arsision kai Sarapiōna ton megan kai Paphnoution ton Skētiōtēn kai Isidōron ton homologētēn episkopon Hermoupoleōs kai Dioskoron. kai echronise par᾽ autois heōs hēmisy etous ana tēn erēmon kykleuousa kai historousa pantas tous hagious. meta de touto tou augoustaliou ᾿Alexandreias exorisantos ᾿Isidōron kai Pisimion kai ᾿Adelphion kai Paphnoution kai Pambō, en hois kai ᾿Ammōnion ton parōtēn, kai dōdeka episkopous kai presbyterous, eis tēn Palaistinēn peri Diokaisareian᾽ hois ēkolouthēsen hautē ek tōn idiōn chrēmatōn hypēretoumenē. kōlyomenōn de tōn hypēretōn, hōs diēgounto, synetychon gar tǭ hagiǭ Pisimeǭ kai ᾿Isidōrǭ kai Paphnoutiǭ kai ᾿Ammōniǭ, hautē paidariou karakallion labousa en tais hesperais epheren autois ta pros tēn chreian. gnous de ho hypatikos tēs Palaistinēs, thelēsas ton kolpon plērōsai prosedokēsen autēn kapnizein᾽ kai kataschōn autēn ebalen eis phylakēn agnoōn tēn eleutherian. hautē de dēloi autǭ" ᾿Egō toude men gegona thygatēr, toude de gynē" tou de Christou eimi doulē. kai mē tēs euteleias tou schēmatos mou kataptysę̄s" dynamai gar emautēn ean thelō hypsōsai, kai ouk echeis me en toutǭ kapnisai oude tōn emōn ti labein. hōste oun hina mē agnoēsas enklēmasi peripesę̄s edēlōsa soi" dei gar kata tōn anaisthētōn kathaper hieraki tǭ typhǭ kechrēsthai. tote gnous ho dikastēs kai prosapelogēsato kai prosekynēsen autę̄, kai ekeleusen autēn akōlytōs syntynchanein tois hagiois. Hautē meta tēn anaklēsin toutōn monastērion ktisasa en Hierosolymois eikosiepta etesin enechronisen ekei echousa synodian parthenōn pentēkonta. hē synezē kai ho eugenestatos kai homotropos kai stibarōtatos Rhouphinos ho apo Italias ex ᾿Akylēïas tēs poleōs, presbyteriou es hysteron kataxiōtheis" hou gnōstikōteros kai epieikesteros en andrasin ouch heurisketo. dexioumenoi oun amphoteroi en tois eikosiepta etesi tous paratynchanontas en tois 'Ierosolymois euchēs heneken, episkopous te kai monazontas kai parthenous, oikeiois analōmasin ǭkodomēsan men pantas tous paratynchanontas, hēnōsan de to schisma to kata Paulinon hōs andrōn tetrakosiōn monazontōn, kai panta hairetikon pneumatomachon sympeisantes eisēgagon eis tēn ekklēsian, timōntes tous kata topon klērikous dōrois kai trophais, houtō dietelesan mēdena skandalisantes.
The thrice-blessed Melania was Spanish by race, or rather Roman. She was the daughter of Marcellinus the ex-consul and the wife of a certain man of high rank, whom I do not clearly remember. Widowed in her twenty-second year, she was counted worthy of divine love. Saying nothing to anyone (for she would have been prevented, in the times when Valens held power in the empire), she had a guardian appointed for her son, took all her movable property, put it on a ship, and with children and women of rank sailed swiftly to Alexandria. There she sold her goods, turned them into gold, and went to the mountain of Nitria, meeting the fathers, Pambo, Arsisius, Sarapion the Great, Paphnutius of Scetis, Isidore the confessor, bishop of Hermopolis, and Dioscorus. She spent up to half a year with them, going round the desert and visiting all the saints. After this, when the Augustal prefect of Alexandria banished Isidore, Pisimius, Adelphius, Paphnutius, and Pambo, and among them Ammonius Parotes, and twelve bishops and presbyters, to Palestine near Diocaesarea, she followed them and served them from her own money. When servants were forbidden (as they told it; for I met the holy Pisimius, Isidore, Paphnutius, and Ammonius), she put on a slave-boy's hooded cloak and in the evenings brought them what they needed. The consular of Palestine learned of it, and wishing to fill his pocket he thought he could frighten her into paying; he arrested her and put her in prison, not knowing she was free-born. She informed him, “I am the daughter of so-and-so and the wife of so-and-so; but I am Christ's slave. Do not despise the cheapness of my dress; for I can exalt myself if I wish, and you cannot frighten me in this way or take any of my property. So I have informed you, so that you may not fall into charges through ignorance; for with the senseless one must use pride like a hawk.” Then the judge, realizing the situation, apologized, paid her homage, and ordered that she be allowed to meet the saints without hindrance.
After their recall she built a monastery in Jerusalem and stayed there twenty-seven years, having a community of fifty virgins. With her lived the most noble Rufinus, of like character and most steadfast, from Italy, from the city of Aquileia, who was later counted worthy of the presbyterate; a man more learned and more reasonable was not to be found among men. Both of them, during the twenty-seven years, welcomed at their own expense those who came to Jerusalem to pray, bishops, monks, and virgins, and edified all who came; they united the schism concerning Paulinus, of about four hundred monks, and persuading every heretic who fought against the Spirit, they brought them into the church. They honoured the local clergy with gifts and food, and so they continued to the end without scandalizing anyone.
Notes and citation
Summary: Melania the Elder, widowed young, goes to the Egyptian monks, serves the exiled confessors in Palestine, faces down a greedy governor, and with Rufinus founds monasteries in Jerusalem.
- “Ammonius Parotes” (“Earless”) is the Ammonius of chapter 11. “The schism concerning Paulinus” is the Antiochene schism. “Those who fought against the Spirit” (pneumatomachi) denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit. “Use pride like a hawk” renders the Greek literally; the sense is to use one's rank as a weapon against the insensible. Butler's square brackets after the end of the chapter are not reproduced.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris; OCR doubled letter; OCR slip; OCR slip and stray stop; OCR slips; OCR stray letter; line-break hyphen rejoined; stray bracket; stray letter; stray line number; stray mark; stray marker): τὸ γένος, . εἰτοῦν → τὸ γένος, εἶτ᾽ οὖν; εἰρηκνῖα → εἰρηκυῖα; ἐκω- : λύετο → ἐκωλύετο; τὴν το᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν → τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν; “Ἑρμουπόλεως → Ἑρμουπόλεως; ἸΠισίμιον → Πισίμιον; ἸΠαμβώ → Παμβώ; ἐκ. τῶν ἰδίων χρημάτῶν → ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων χρημάτων; δούλη. το καὶ → δούλη. καὶ; τούτῳ τ- καπνίσαι → τούτῳ καπνίσαι; δικαστὴς ᾽ι56. καὶ → δικαστὴς καὶ; ἁγίοις. Ϊ Αὕτη → ἁγίοις. Αὕτη; καὶ :ο ὁμότροπος → καὶ ὁμότροπος; ἹῬουφῖνος → Ῥουφῖνος; ᾿οὗ γνωστικώτερος → οὗ γνωστικώτερος; ἐπισκόπους τε : καὶ → ἐπισκόπους τε καὶ; φκοδόμησαν → ᾠκοδόμησαν; ἐκτιοκλησίαν → ἐκκλησίαν; σκανδαλίσαντες: ] → σκανδαλίσαντες..
Topics: Heresy, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Palladius, Hist. Laus. 46 (Butler 1904 2:134–136; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/46). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/46
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Butler's Greek text (Texts and Studies 6.2, 1904; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Lowther Clarke's English (1918).
Chapter 47
47Butler 1904 2:136–142
Χρόνιός τις ὀνόματι ἐκ τῆς κώμης τῆς λεγομένης Φοινίκης, ἀπομετρήσας ἀπὸ τῆς ἰδίας κώμης πλησίον οὔσης τῆς ἐρήμου μύρια πεντακισχίλια βήματα τῷ δεξιῷ ποδὶ ἀριθμούμενα, ἐκεῖσε προσευξάμενος ὥρυξε φρέαρ᾽ καὶ εὑρὼν κάλλιστον ὕδωρ ἀπέχον ὀργυιὰς ἑπτὰ ᾠκοδόμησεν ἑαυτῷ ἐκεῖ ξενίαν μικράν. καὶ ἀφ᾽ ἧς ἡμέρας ἐνεθρόνισεν ἑαυτὸν τῇ μονῇ ηὔξατο τῷ θεῷ μὴ ἀνακάμψαι μηκέτι εἰς οἰκούμενον τόπον. παρελθόντων δὲ ὀλίγων ἐτῶν ἠξιώθη πρεσβυτερίου ἀδελφότητος περὶ αὐτὸν συναχθείσης ὡς ἀνδρῶν διακοσίων. αὕτη οὖν αὐτοῦ φέρεται τῆς ἀσκήσεως ἡ ἀρετή, ὅτι ἑξήκοντα ἔτη παρεδρεύσας τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ ἱερατεύων οὐ τῆς ἐρήμου ἐξῆλθεν, οὐκ ἐκτὸς ἔργου ἰδίων χειρῶν βέβρωκεν ἄρτον. Τούτῳ συνῴκει Ἰακώβ τις ἐκ γειτόνων ὁ ἐπίκλην χωλός, γνωστικώτατος εἰς ἄκρον. ἀμφότεροι δὲ γνώριμοι ἦσαν τοῦ μακαρίου ᾿Αντωνίου. μιᾶς οὖν τῶν ἡμερῶν συνδραμόντος καὶ Παφνουτίου τοῦ ἐπιλεγομένου Κεφαλᾶ, ὃς χάρισμα γνώσεως εἶχε τῶν θείων γραφῶν παλαιᾶς καὶ καινῆς διαθήκης, πᾶσαν αὐτὴν ἑρμηνεύων μὴ ἀναγνοὺς γραφάς, πρᾶος δὲ ἦν ὡς καλύπτεσθαι προφητικὴν ἀρετήν' οὗ φέρεται ὅτι ὀγδοήκοντα ἔτη ὑφ᾽ ἕν δύο χιτῶνας οὐκ ἔσχε. τούτοις συντυχόντες ἐγώ τε καὶ οἱ μακάριοι Εὐάγριος καὶ ᾿Αλβάνιος ἐζητοῦμεν μαθεῖν τὰς αἰτίας τῶν παραπιπτόντων ἢ καὶ ἐκπιπτόντων ἀδελφῶν ἢ σφαλλομένων ἐν τῷ καθήκοντι βίῳ. συνέβη γὰρ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις καὶ Χαιρήμονα τὸν ἀσκητὴν καθεζόμενον τελευτῆσαι καὶ εὑρεθῆναι αὐτὸν νεκρὸν ἐν τῇ καθέδρᾳ κατέχοντα τὸ ἔργον εἰς τὰς χεῖρας. συνέβη δὲ καὶ ἄλλον ἀδελφὸν ὀρύσσοντα φρέαρ καταχωσθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ φρέατος" καὶ ἄλλον ἀπὸ τῆς Σκήτεως κατερχόμενον ἀποθανεῖν ἀπὸ λείψεως ὕδατος" ἐν οἷς καὶ τὰ κατὰ Στέφανον τὸν ἐκπεσόντα εἰς αἰσχρὰν ἀσωτίαν, καὶ Εὐκάρπιον, καὶ τὰ κατὰ Ἥρωνα τὸν ᾿Αλεξανδρέα, καὶ τὰ κατὰ Οὐάλην τὸν Παλαιστῖνον, καὶ τὰ κατὰ Πτολεμαῖον τὸν ἐν τῇ Σκήτει Αἰγύπτιον. συνηρωτῶμεν οὖν τίς ἡ αἰτία τοῦ οὕτω ζῶντας ἀνθρώπους ἐν τῇ ἐρημίᾳ τοὺς μὲν ἀπατηθῆναι τὴν φρένα τοὺς δὲ περιρραγῆναι ἀκολασίᾳ. ταύτην οὖν ἡμῖν ἔδωκε τὴν ἀπόκρισιν Παφνούτιος ὁ γνωστικώτατος, ὅτιπερ Πάντα τὰ γινόμενα διαιρεῖται εἰς δύο, εἴς τε εὐδοκίαν θεοῦ καὶ συγχώρησιν. ὅσα τοίνυν γίνεται κατὰ ἀρετὴν εἰς δόξαν θεοῦ, ταῦτα γίνεται εὐδοκίᾳ θεοῦ: ὅσα δ᾽ αὖ πάλιν ἐπιζήμια καὶ ἐπικίνδυνα καὶ περιστατικὰ καὶ ἐκπτωτικά, ταῦτα γίνεται κατὰ θεοῦ συγχώρῆσιν. ἡ δὲ συγχώρησις ἐκ λόγου γίνεται: ἀδύνατον γὰρ τὸν ὀρθῶς φρονοῦντα καὶ ὀρθῶς βιοῦντα περιπεσεῖν πταίσμασιν αἰσχύνης ἣ πλάνης δαιμόνων. ὅσοι τοίνυν διεφθαρμένῳ σκοπῷ νόσῳ ἀνθρωπαρεσκείας καὶ αὐθαδείᾳ λογισμῶν μετέρχεσθαι δοκοῦσι τὴν ἀρετήν, οὗτοι καὶ σφάλμασι περιπίπτουσι, θεοῦ πρὸς τὸ συμφέρον αὐτῶν ἐγκαταλιμπάνοντος αὐτούς, ἵνα διὰ τῆς ἐγκαταλείψεως αἰσθανόμενοι τὴν ἐκ τῆς μεταβολῆς ἀλλοίωσιν διορθώσωνται ἢ τὴν πρόθεσιν ἢ τὴν πρᾶξιν. ποτὲ μὲν γὰρ ἡ πρόθεσις ἐξαμαρτάνει, ὅταν κακῷ σκοπῷ γένηται" ποτὲ δὲ καὶ ἡ πρᾶξις, ὅταν διεφθαρμένως ἢ καθ᾽ ὃν δεῖ τρόπον μὴ γένηται. ὅπερ συμβαίνει πολλάκις καὶ τὸν ἀκόλαστον διεφθαρμένῳ σκοπῷ ποιεῖν τὴν ἐλεημοσύνην ἐπὶ νεωτέρας διὰ τέλος αἰσχρόν, πρᾶξιν δὲ εὔλογον τῷ ὡς ὀρφανῇ καὶ μόνῃ καὶ ἀσκουμένῃ διδόναι ἐπικουρίαν. συμβαίνει δὲ καὶ σκοπῷ ὀρθῷ ποιεῖν ἐλεημοσύνην εἰς νοσοῦντας ἢ γεγηρακότας ἢ ἐκπεπτωκότας πλούτου, φειδωλῶς δὲ καὶ μετὰ γογγυσμοῦ, καὶ εἶναι τὸν μὲν σκοπὸν ὀρθόν, τὴν δὲ πρᾶξιν τοῦ σκοποῦ ἀναξίαν' δεῖ γὰρ τὸν ἐλεήμονα ἐν ἱλαρότητι ἐλεεῖν καὶ ἀφειδίᾳ. ἔλεγον δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ὅτι Προτερήματά εἰσιν ἐν πολλαῖς ψυχαῖς, ἐν ταῖς μὲν εὐφυία διανοίας, ἐν ταῖς δὲ ἐπιτηδειότης ἀσκήσεως. ἀλλ᾽ ὅταν μὴ γένηται δι’ αὐτὸ τὸ καλὸν μήτε ἡ πρᾶξις μήτε ἡ εὐφυία, μήτε οἱ τὰ προτερήματα κεκτημένοι οὐ τῷ δοτῆρι τῶν ἀγαθῶν θεῷ ἐπιγράφουσιν, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἰδίᾳ προαιρέσει καὶ εὐφυίᾳ καὶ ἱκανότητι, οἱ τοιοῦτοι ἐγκαταλειφθέντες, ἢ εἰς αἰσχρουργίαν ἢ εἰς αἰσχροπάθειαν καὶ αἰσχύνην ληφθέντες, διὰ τῆς ἐπιγινομένης ταπεινώσεως καὶ αἰσχύνης ἠρέμα πως τὸν ἐπὶ τῇ νομιζομένῃ ἀρετῇ ἀποτρίβονται τῦφον. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ὁ πεφυσιωμένος ἐπὶ εὐφυΐᾳ λόγων ἐπαιρόμενος οὐκ ἐπιγράφει θεῷ τὴν εὐφυίαν οὐδὲ τὴν χορηγίαν τῆς γνώσεως, ἀλλὰ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ἀσκήσει ἢ φύσει, ἀφιστᾷ ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἄγγελον τῆς προνοίας ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ" οὗ ἀποστραφέντος καταδυναστευθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀντικειμένου ὁ ἐπαιρόμενος ἐπὶ τῇ εὐφυίᾳ περιπίπτει τῇ ἀκολασίᾳ διὰ τῆς ὑπερηφανίας, ἵνα τοῦ μάρτυρος τῆς σωφροσύνης ἀφαιρεθέντος ἀναξιόπιστα γένηται τὰ λεγόμενα παρ᾽ αὐτῶν, φευγόντων τῶν εὐλαβῶν τὴν τ5 ἐκ τοῦ τοιούτου στόματος διδασκαλίαν καθάπερ πηγὴν βδέλλας ἔχουσαν: ὡς πληροῦσθαι τὸ γεγραμμένον: Τῷ δὲ ἁμαρτωλῷ εἶπεν ὁ θεός· Ἵνα τί σὺ ἐκδιηγῇ τὰ δικαιώματά μου καὶ ἀναλαμβάνεις τὴν διαθήκην μου διὰ στόματός σου; ἐοίκασι γὰρ ἀληθῶς αἱ τῶν ἐμπαθῶν ψυχαὶ διαφόροις πηγαῖς" οἱ μὲν γαστρίμαργοι καὶ οἰνόφιλοι πηγαῖς βορβορώδεσιν" οἱ δὲ φιλάργυροι καὶ πλεονεκταὶ πηγαῖς βατράχους ἐχούσαις᾽ οἱ δὲ βάσκανοι καὶ ὑπερήφανοι ἐπιτηδειότητα δὲ γνώσεως ἔχοντες, πηγαῖς ὄφεις τρεφούσαις, αἷς ἀεὶ μὲν ἐνλιμνάζει ὁ λόγος, μηδένα δὲ ἡδέως ἀρύεσθαι τούτων διὰ τὴν πικρίαν τοῦ ἤθους. ὅθεν ὁ Δαβὶδ παρεκάλει τρία αἰτῶν, χρηστότητα καὶ παιδείαν καὶ γνῶσιν. ἄνευ γὰρ χρηστότητος γνῶσις ἄχρηστος" καὶ ἐὰν μὲν διορθώσηται ὁ τοιοῦτος, τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς ἐγκαταλείψεως ἀποθέμενος, τουτέστι τὸν τῦφον, καὶ ἀναλάβῃ ταπεινοφροσύνην καὶ ἐπιγνῷ ἑαυτοῦ τὰ μέτρα, μήτε κατά τινος ἐπαιρόμενος, καὶ τῷ θεῷ εὐχαριστῶν, ἐπανέρχεται πάλιν εἰς αὐτὸν ἡ ἐμμάρτυρος γνῶσις. λόγοι γὰρ πνευματικοὶ βίον σεμνὸν καὶ σώφρονα μὴ ἔχοντες συνιππάζοντα στάχυές εἰσιν ἀνεμόφθοροι, τὸ μὲν σχῆμα ἔχοντες, τὸ δὲ τρόφιμον ὑποκλαπέντες. πᾶσα οὖν πτῶσις, εἴτε διὰ γλώσσης εἴτε δι’ αἰσθήσεως εἴτε ἡ διὰ πράξεως, εἴτε ἡ δι ὅλου τοῦ σώματος, πρὸς τὴν ἀναλογίαν τῆς ὑπερηφανίας κατ᾽ ἐγκατάλειψιν γίνεται, θεοῦ φειδομένου τῶν ἐγκαταλιμπανομένων. εἰ γὰρ μετὰ τῆς ἀκολασίας καὶ τῇ εὐφυίᾳ αὐτῶν μαρτυρήσει τῇ χορηγίᾳ τῶν λόγων ὁ κύριος, δαίμονας αὐτοὺς ἀπεργάζεται ἡ ὑπερηφανία ἐπαιρομένους μετὰ ἀκαθαρσίας. Καὶ ταῦτα δὲ ἡμῖν ἔλεγον οἱ ὅσιοι ἐκεῖνοι ἄνδρες" Ὅταν ἴδῃς, φησί, τινὰ βίῳ μὲν χαλεπὸν λόγῳ δὲ πιθανόν, μνημόνευσον τοῦ δαίμονος τοῦ ἀπὸ τῆς ἁγίας γραφῆς Χριστῷ ὁμιλοῦντος, καὶ τῆς λεγούσης μαρτυρίας: Ὁ δὲ ὄφις ἦν φρονιμώτατος πάντων τῶν θηρίων τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ᾧ ἡ φρόνησις μᾶλλον εἰς βλάβην γεγένηται ἄλλης ἀρετῆς αὐτῷ μὴ συνδραμούσης. δεῖ γὰρ τὸν πιστὸν καὶ ἀγαθὸν φρονεῖν μὲν ἃ δίδωσιν ὁ θεός, λαλεῖν δὲ ἃ φρονεῖ, ποιεῖν δὲ ἃ λαλεῖ, ἐὰν γὰρ μὴ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ τῶν λόγων ἡ τοῦ βίου συντρέχῃ συγγένεια, ἄρτος ἐστὶν ἄνευ ἁλὸς κατὰ τὸν Ἰώβ, ὃς οὐ βρωθήσεται οὐδαμῶς, ἢ βρωθεὶς ἄξει εἰς καχεξίαν τοὺς ἐσθίοντας αὐτόν" Εἰ βρωθήσεται γάρ, φησίν, ἄρτος ἄνευ ἁλός; καὶ εἰ ἔστι γεῦμα ἐν ῥήμασι κενοῖς μὴ πεπληρωμένοις τῇ μαρτυρίᾳ τῶν ἔργων ; τῶν οὖν ἐγκαταλείψεων αἱ αἰτίαι ἡ μέν ἐστι διὰ κεκρυμμένην ἀρετήν, ἵνα φανερωθῇ, ὡς ἡ τοῦ Ἰώβ, τοῦ θεοῦ χρηματίζοντος αὐτῷ καὶ λέγοντος" Μὴ ἀποποιοῦ μου τὸ κρῖμα, μηδὲ οἴου με ἄλλως σοι κεχρηματικέναι, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα ἀναφανῇς δίκαιος: ἐμοὶ γὰρ ἧς γνωστὸς τῷ ὁρῶντι τὰ κρυπτά, ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἠγνόουν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, ὑπονοούντων σε διὰ τὸν πλοῦτον θεραπεύειν με, ἐπήγαγον τὴν περίστασιν, ἀπεθέρισα τὸν πλοῦτον, ἵνα δείξω αὐτοῖς τὴν εὐχάριστόν σου φιλοσοφίαν' ἡ δὲ δι᾽ ἀποτροπὴν ὑπερηφανίας, ὡς ἐπὶ τοῦ Παύλου" ἐγκατελείφθη γὰρ ὁ Παῦλος περιστάσεσι καὶ κολαφισμοῖς καὶ διαφόροις θλίψεσι βαλλόμενος, καὶ ἔλεγεν: Ἐδόθη μοι σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκί, ἄγγελος σατᾶν, ἵνα με κολαφίζῃ, ἵνα μὴ ὑπεραίρωμαι: μήποτε μετὰ τῶν θαυμάτων καὶ ἡ ἄνεσις καὶ ἡ εὐθηνία καὶ ἡ τιμὴ αὐτῷ προσγενομένη εἰς τῦφον αὐτὸν ἐμβάλλῃ διαβολικὸν χαυνωθέντα. ἐγκατελείφθη καὶ ὁ παραλυτικὸς δι’ ἁμαρτίας, ὡς λέγει ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς" Ἴδε, ὑγιὴς γέγονας, μηκέτι ἁμάρτανε. ἐγκατελείφθη καὶ ὁ Ἰούδας προτιμήσας λόγου ἀργύριον, διὸ καὶ ἀπήγξατο. ἐγκατελείφθη καὶ ὁ Ἠσαῦ καὶ περιέπεσεν ἀκολασίᾳ, προτιμήσας κόπρον ἐντέρων εὐλογίας πατρικῆς. ὡς ταῦτα πάντα συναισθανόμενον τὸν Παῦλον εἰπεῖν περί τινων μέν: Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἐδοκίμασαν τὸν θεὸν ἔχειν ἐν ἐπιγνώσει, παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς ὁ θεὸς εἰς ἀδόκιμον νοῦν, ποιεῖν τὰ μὴ καθήκοντα" περὶ δὲ ἑτέρων τινῶν τῶν δοκούντων ἔχειν γνῶσιν θεοῦ μετὰ διεφθαρμένης γνώμης" Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ γνόντες τὸν θεὸν οὐχ ὡς θεὸν ἐδόξασαν ἢ ηὐχαρίστησαν, παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς ὁ θεὸς εἰς πάθη ἀτιμίας" ὡς ἐκ τούτου γινώσκειν ἡμᾶς ὅτι ἀμήχανόν ἐστι πεσεῖν τινὰ εἰς ἀκολασίαν μὴ ἐγκαταλειφθέντα ὑπὸ τῆς προνοίας τοῦ θεοῦ.
Chronios tis onomati ek tēs kōmēs tēs legomenēs Phoinikēs, apometrēsas apo tēs idias kōmēs plēsion ousēs tēs erēmou myria pentakischilia bēmata tǭ dexiǭ podi arithmoumena, ekeise proseuxamenos hōryxe phrear᾽ kai heurōn kalliston hydōr apechon orguias hepta ǭkodomēsen heautǭ ekei xenian mikran. kai aph᾽ hēs hēmeras enethronisen heauton tę̄ monę̄ ēuxato tǭ theǭ mē anakampsai mēketi eis oikoumenon topon. parelthontōn de oligōn etōn ēxiōthē presbyteriou adelphotētos peri auton synachtheisēs hōs andrōn diakosiōn. hautē oun autou pheretai tēs askēseōs hē aretē, hoti hexēkonta etē paredreusas tǭ thysiastēriǭ hierateuōn ou tēs erēmou exēlthen, ouk ektos ergou idiōn cheirōn bebrōken arton. Toutǭ synǭkei Iakōb tis ek geitonōn ho epiklēn chōlos, gnōstikōtatos eis akron. amphoteroi de gnōrimoi ēsan tou makariou ᾿Antōniou. mias oun tōn hēmerōn syndramontos kai Paphnoutiou tou epilegomenou Kephala, hos charisma gnōseōs eiche tōn theiōn graphōn palaias kai kainēs diathēkēs, pasan autēn hermēneuōn mē anagnous graphas, praos de ēn hōs kalyptesthai prophētikēn aretēn' hou pheretai hoti ogdoēkonta etē hyph᾽ hen dyo chitōnas ouk esche. toutois syntychontes egō te kai hoi makarioi Euagrios kai ᾿Albanios ezētoumen mathein tas aitias tōn parapiptontōn ē kai ekpiptontōn adelphōn ē sphallomenōn en tǭ kathēkonti biǭ. synebē gar en tais hēmerais ekeinais kai Chairēmona ton askētēn kathezomenon teleutēsai kai heurethēnai auton nekron en tę̄ kathedrą katechonta to ergon eis tas cheiras. synebē de kai allon adelphon oryssonta phrear katachōsthēnai hypo tou phreatos" kai allon apo tēs Skēteōs katerchomenon apothanein apo leipseōs hydatos" en hois kai ta kata Stephanon ton ekpesonta eis aischran asōtian, kai Eukarpion, kai ta kata Hērōna ton ᾿Alexandrea, kai ta kata Oualēn ton Palaistinon, kai ta kata Ptolemaion ton en tę̄ Skētei Aigyption. synērōtōmen oun tis hē aitia tou houtō zōntas anthrōpous en tę̄ erēmią tous men apatēthēnai tēn phrena tous de perirragēnai akolasią. tautēn oun hēmin edōke tēn apokrisin Paphnoutios ho gnōstikōtatos, hotiper Panta ta ginomena diaireitai eis dyo, eis te eudokian theou kai synchōrēsin. hosa toinyn ginetai kata aretēn eis doxan theou, tauta ginetai eudokią theou: hosa d᾽ au palin epizēmia kai epikindyna kai peristatika kai ekptōtika, tauta ginetai kata theou synchōrēsin. hē de synchōrēsis ek logou ginetai: adynaton gar ton orthōs phronounta kai orthōs biounta peripesein ptaismasin aischynēs hē planēs daimonōn. hosoi toinyn diephtharmenǭ skopǭ nosǭ anthrōpareskeias kai authadeią logismōn meterchesthai dokousi tēn aretēn, houtoi kai sphalmasi peripiptousi, theou pros to sympheron autōn enkatalimpanontos autous, hina dia tēs enkataleipseōs aisthanomenoi tēn ek tēs metabolēs alloiōsin diorthōsōntai ē tēn prothesin ē tēn praxin. pote men gar hē prothesis examartanei, hotan kakǭ skopǭ genētai" pote de kai hē praxis, hotan diephtharmenōs ē kath᾽ hon dei tropon mē genētai. hoper symbainei pollakis kai ton akolaston diephtharmenǭ skopǭ poiein tēn eleēmosynēn epi neōteras dia telos aischron, praxin de eulogon tǭ hōs orphanę̄ kai monę̄ kai askoumenę̄ didonai epikourian. symbainei de kai skopǭ orthǭ poiein eleēmosynēn eis nosountas ē gegērakotas ē ekpeptōkotas ploutou, pheidōlōs de kai meta gongysmou, kai einai ton men skopon orthon, tēn de praxin tou skopou anaxian' dei gar ton eleēmona en hilarotēti eleein kai apheidią. elegon de kai touto hoti Proterēmata eisin en pollais psychais, en tais men euphuia dianoias, en tais de epitēdeiotēs askēseōs. all᾽ hotan mē genētai di’ auto to kalon mēte hē praxis mēte hē euphuia, mēte hoi ta proterēmata kektēmenoi ou tǭ dotēri tōn agathōn theǭ epigraphousin, alla tę̄ idią proairesei kai euphuią kai hikanotēti, hoi toioutoi enkataleiphthentes, ē eis aischrourgian ē eis aischropatheian kai aischynēn lēphthentes, dia tēs epiginomenēs tapeinōseōs kai aischynēs ērema pōs ton epi tę̄ nomizomenę̄ aretę̄ apotribontai typhon. epeidē gar ho pephysiōmenos epi euphyïą logōn epairomenos ouk epigraphei theǭ tēn euphuian oude tēn chorēgian tēs gnōseōs, alla tę̄ heautou askēsei ē physei, aphistą ho theos ton angelon tēs pronoias ap᾽ autou" hou apostraphentos katadynasteutheis hypo tou antikeimenou ho epairomenos epi tę̄ euphuią peripiptei tę̄ akolasią dia tēs hyperēphanias, hina tou martyros tēs sōphrosynēs aphairethentos anaxiopista genētai ta legomena par᾽ autōn, pheugontōn tōn eulabōn tēn t5 ek tou toioutou stomatos didaskalian kathaper pēgēn bdellas echousan: hōs plērousthai to gegrammenon: Tǭ de hamartōlǭ eipen ho theos; Hina ti sy ekdiēgę̄ ta dikaiōmata mou kai analambaneis tēn diathēkēn mou dia stomatos sou? eoikasi gar alēthōs hai tōn empathōn psychai diaphorois pēgais" hoi men gastrimargoi kai oinophiloi pēgais borborōdesin" hoi de philargyroi kai pleonektai pēgais batrachous echousais᾽ hoi de baskanoi kai hyperēphanoi epitēdeiotēta de gnōseōs echontes, pēgais opheis trephousais, hais aei men enlimnazei ho logos, mēdena de hēdeōs aryesthai toutōn dia tēn pikrian tou ēthous. hothen ho Dabid parekalei tria aitōn, chrēstotēta kai paideian kai gnōsin. aneu gar chrēstotētos gnōsis achrēstos" kai ean men diorthōsētai ho toioutos, tēn aitian tēs enkataleipseōs apothemenos, toutesti ton typhon, kai analabę̄ tapeinophrosynēn kai epignǭ heautou ta metra, mēte kata tinos epairomenos, kai tǭ theǭ eucharistōn, epanerchetai palin eis auton hē emmartyros gnōsis. logoi gar pneumatikoi bion semnon kai sōphrona mē echontes synippazonta stachyes eisin anemophthoroi, to men schēma echontes, to de trophimon hypoklapentes. pasa oun ptōsis, eite dia glōssēs eite di’ aisthēseōs eite hē dia praxeōs, eite hē di holou tou sōmatos, pros tēn analogian tēs hyperēphanias kat᾽ enkataleipsin ginetai, theou pheidomenou tōn enkatalimpanomenōn. ei gar meta tēs akolasias kai tę̄ euphuią autōn martyrēsei tę̄ chorēgią tōn logōn ho kyrios, daimonas autous apergazetai hē hyperēphania epairomenous meta akatharsias. Kai tauta de hēmin elegon hoi hosioi ekeinoi andres" Hotan idę̄s, phēsi, tina biǭ men chalepon logǭ de pithanon, mnēmoneuson tou daimonos tou apo tēs hagias graphēs Christǭ homilountos, kai tēs legousēs martyrias: Ho de ophis ēn phronimōtatos pantōn tōn thēriōn tōn epi tēs gēs hǭ hē phronēsis mallon eis blabēn gegenētai allēs aretēs autǭ mē syndramousēs. dei gar ton piston kai agathon phronein men ha didōsin ho theos, lalein de ha phronei, poiein de ha lalei, ean gar mē tę̄ alētheią tōn logōn hē tou biou syntrechę̄ syngeneia, artos estin aneu halos kata ton Iōb, hos ou brōthēsetai oudamōs, ē brōtheis axei eis kachexian tous esthiontas auton" Ei brōthēsetai gar, phēsin, artos aneu halos? kai ei esti geuma en rhēmasi kenois mē peplērōmenois tę̄ martyrią tōn ergōn ? tōn oun enkataleipseōn hai aitiai hē men esti dia kekrymmenēn aretēn, hina phanerōthę̄, hōs hē tou Iōb, tou theou chrēmatizontos autǭ kai legontos" Mē apopoiou mou to krima, mēde oiou me allōs soi kechrēmatikenai, all᾽ hina anaphanę̄s dikaios: emoi gar hēs gnōstos tǭ horōnti ta krypta, epeidē de ēgnooun tois anthrōpois, hyponoountōn se dia ton plouton therapeuein me, epēgagon tēn peristasin, apetherisa ton plouton, hina deixō autois tēn euchariston sou philosophian' hē de di᾽ apotropēn hyperēphanias, hōs epi tou Paulou" enkateleiphthē gar ho Paulos peristasesi kai kolaphismois kai diaphorois thlipsesi ballomenos, kai elegen: Edothē moi skolops tę̄ sarki, angelos satan, hina me kolaphizę̄, hina mē hyperairōmai: mēpote meta tōn thaumatōn kai hē anesis kai hē euthēnia kai hē timē autǭ prosgenomenē eis typhon auton emballę̄ diabolikon chaunōthenta. enkateleiphthē kai ho paralytikos di’ hamartias, hōs legei ho ᾿Iēsous" Ide, hygiēs gegonas, mēketi hamartane. enkateleiphthē kai ho Ioudas protimēsas logou argyrion, dio kai apēnxato. enkateleiphthē kai ho Ēsau kai periepesen akolasią, protimēsas kopron enterōn eulogias patrikēs. hōs tauta panta synaisthanomenon ton Paulon eipein peri tinōn men: Epeidē gar ouk edokimasan ton theon echein en epignōsei, paredōken autous ho theos eis adokimon noun, poiein ta mē kathēkonta" peri de heterōn tinōn tōn dokountōn echein gnōsin theou meta diephtharmenēs gnōmēs" Epeidē gar gnontes ton theon ouch hōs theon edoxasan ē ēucharistēsan, paredōken autous ho theos eis pathē atimias" hōs ek toutou ginōskein hēmas hoti amēchanon esti pesein tina eis akolasian mē enkataleiphthenta hypo tēs pronoias tou theou.
A man named Chronius, from the village called Phoenix, measured from his own village, which is near the desert, fifteen thousand paces counted with his right foot, and there, after praying, he dug a well. Finding excellent water seven fathoms down, he built himself a small lodging there. And from the day he established himself in that dwelling he prayed to God never again to return to an inhabited place. A few years later he was counted worthy of the presbyterate, a brotherhood of about two hundred men having gathered round him. This is reported as the virtue of his asceticism: that for sixty years, attending the altar as priest, he did not leave the desert, and did not eat bread that was not the work of his own hands.
With him lived a neighbour, James, surnamed the Lame, a man of the highest knowledge. Both were acquaintances of the blessed Antony. One day Paphnutius, surnamed Kephalas, also joined them; he had the gift of knowledge of the divine Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, interpreting all of it without having read the Scriptures, and he was so gentle that his prophetic virtue was hidden. It is reported of him that for eighty years he never had two tunics at the same time. Meeting them, I and the blessed Evagrius and Albanius sought to learn the causes of the brothers who lapse or fall away or stumble in the proper life. For it happened in those days that Chaeremon the ascetic died sitting down and was found dead in his seat holding his work in his hands; and that another brother, digging a well, was buried by the well; and another, coming down from Scetis, died for lack of water; and among them the stories of Stephen, who fell into shameful debauchery, of Eucarpius, of Heron the Alexandrian, of Valens the Palestinian, and of Ptolemy the Egyptian in Scetis. So we asked together what was the cause that, of men living thus in the desert, some were deceived in mind and others broke out into licentiousness.
Paphnutius, the man of great knowledge, gave us this answer: “Everything that happens is divided into two: God's good pleasure and his permission. Whatever happens according to virtue, to the glory of God, happens by God's good pleasure; but whatever on the other hand is harmful, dangerous, calamitous, and ruinous happens by God's permission. And the permission happens for a reason; for it is impossible for one who thinks rightly and lives rightly to fall into shameful sins or the deceit of demons. Those, then, who seem to pursue virtue with a corrupt aim, from the disease of pleasing men and from self-willed thoughts, fall into errors, God abandoning them for their own good, so that through the abandonment, perceiving the alteration brought by the change, they may correct either their purpose or their action. For sometimes the purpose goes wrong, when it is done with a bad aim; sometimes the action, when it is done corruptly or not in the way it should be. So it often happens that a licentious man gives alms with a corrupt aim to young women for a shameful end, though the action, giving help to one who is an orphan, alone, and practising asceticism, is reasonable. It happens too that someone gives alms with a right aim to the sick, the old, or those fallen from wealth, but sparingly and with grumbling, so that the aim is right but the action unworthy of the aim; for one who shows mercy should show it with cheerfulness and liberality.”
They also said this: “There are advantages in many souls: in some a gifted mind, in others aptitude for asceticism. But when neither the action nor the gift is for the sake of the good itself, and those who possess the advantages do not ascribe them to God, the giver of good things, but to their own choice, giftedness, and capacity, such people are abandoned and taken either in shameful acts or in shameful passions and disgrace, and through the humiliation and shame that follow they gradually rub off the pride they had in their supposed virtue. For since the one who is puffed up and exalted by his gift of speech does not ascribe his giftedness or the supply of knowledge to God, but to his own discipline or nature, God withdraws the angel of providence from him; and when that angel has turned away, the one exalted by his giftedness is overpowered by the adversary and falls into licentiousness through his pride, so that, the witness of chastity being taken away, what such people say may become untrustworthy, the devout fleeing teaching from such a mouth as they would a spring containing leeches; so that what is written is fulfilled: ‘But to the sinner God said, Why do you declare my statutes and take my covenant in your mouth?’ For truly the souls of the passionate are like various springs: the gluttonous and the lovers of wine like muddy springs; the avaricious and grasping like springs with frogs; the envious and proud who have an aptitude for knowledge like springs that breed snakes, in which the word is always lying stagnant, but no one gladly draws from them because of the bitterness of their character. That is why David asked for three things: kindness, discipline, and knowledge; for without kindness knowledge is useless. And if such a one corrects himself, laying aside the cause of the abandonment, that is, pride, and takes up humility, recognizes his own limits, and is exalted against no one but gives thanks to God, then knowledge, with its witness, returns to him again. For spiritual words that have not a holy and chaste life riding along with them are ears of corn blasted by the wind, having the form but robbed of the nourishment. Every fall, then, whether through the tongue, through a sense, through action, or through the whole body, comes by abandonment in proportion to the pride, God sparing those who are abandoned. For if, together with their licentiousness, the Lord also bore witness to their giftedness by the supply of words, their pride would make them into demons, exalted in their uncleanness.”
Those holy men also said this to us: “When you see someone harsh in life but persuasive in speech, remember the demon who conversed with Christ from the holy Scripture, and the testimony that says, ‘Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the beasts on the earth.’ His cunning turned rather to harm, since no other virtue went with it. For the faithful and good man must think what God gives, say what he thinks, and do what he says. For if the kinship of the life does not run together with the truth of the words, it is bread without salt, according to Job, which will not be eaten at all, or if eaten will bring those who eat it into ill health: ‘Will bread be eaten without salt? And is there taste in empty words,’ not filled with the testimony of works? Of the causes of abandonment, one is because of hidden virtue, so that it may be revealed, as in the case of Job, when God gave him an oracle, saying, ‘Do not reject my judgment, and do not think that I have dealt with you otherwise than that you might be shown righteous.’ For to me, who see what is hidden, you were known; but since you were unknown to men, who suspected that you served me for your wealth, I brought on the calamity and cut down your wealth, to show them your grateful wisdom. Another is for the averting of pride, as in the case of Paul. For Paul was abandoned, being struck by calamities, blows, and various afflictions, and he said, ‘A thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, so that I might not be exalted’; lest, along with the miracles, the ease, prosperity, and honour that came to him should throw him, grown slack, into devilish pride. The paralytic too was abandoned because of sins, as Jesus says: ‘See, you have become well; sin no more.’ Judas too was abandoned, having preferred money to the Word; and therefore he hanged himself. Esau too was abandoned and fell into licentiousness, having preferred the dung of the bowels to his father's blessing. So Paul, perceiving all these things, said of some: ‘Since they did not see fit to have God in knowledge, God gave them up to an unfit mind, to do what is not proper’; and of certain others who seem to have knowledge of God with a corrupt mind: ‘Since, knowing God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks, God gave them up to dishonourable passions.’ From this we know that it is impossible for anyone to fall into licentiousness who has not been abandoned by the providence of God.”
Ps 50:16 (49:16 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:66 (118:66 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 3:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Job 6:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Job 40:8 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 12:7 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 1:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 1:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 1:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 25:29–34 (allusion, medium confidence) · Heb 12:16 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 4:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 27:5 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 9:7 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Chronius, James the Lame, and Paphnutius Kephalas explain to Palladius and Evagrius why monks fall: God abandons the proud to humble them, or allows trials to reveal hidden virtue.
- Scripture (garbled forms restored by logged corrections): Ps 50:16 (49:16 LXX); Ps 119:66 (118:66 LXX); Gen 3:1 (LXX wording, “on the earth”); Job 6:6; Job 40:8 (LXX wording); 2 Cor 12:7; John 5:14; Rom 1:28; Rom 1:21, 26. “Preferred the dung of the bowels to his father's blessing” refers to Esau selling his birthright for food (Gen 25:29–34; cf. Heb 12:16). “The demon who conversed with Christ from the holy Scripture” refers to the temptation (Matt 4:6). “Cheerfulness” echoes 2 Cor 9:7. The doctrine of providence, good pleasure, and permission is translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris; OCR garble of Scripture type restored (2 Cor 12:7); OCR garble of Scripture type restored (Gen 3:1 LXX); OCR garble of Scripture type restored (Job 40:8 LXX); OCR garble of Scripture type restored (Job 6:6 LXX); OCR garble of Scripture type restored (John 5:14); OCR garble of Scripture type restored (Ps 118:66 LXX); OCR garble of Scripture type restored (Ps 49:16 LXX); OCR garble of Scripture type restored (Rom 1:21, 26); OCR garble of Scripture type restored (Rom 1:28); OCR slip; OCR slip and stray marker; OCR stray letter; OCR ξ for ζ; line-break debris; line-break hyphen and stray line number; running-head debris; stray bracket; stray bracket and mark; stray line number; stray line number and OCR ξ for ζ; stray mark; stray stop): κάλλιστον ' ὕδωρ → κάλλιστον ὕδωρ; φκοδόμησεν → ᾠκοδόμησεν; περὶ . «οαὐτὸν → περὶ αὐτὸν; Ἰακώβ «τις → Ἰακώβ τις; τοῦ. μακαρίου → τοῦ μακαρίου; σφαλλο- το μένων → σφαλλομένων; ἀπὸ τῆς τ5 Σκήτεως → ἀπὸ τῆς Σκήτεως; καὶ ᾿ Ἑὐκάρπιον → καὶ Εὐκάρπιον; “ἤρωνα → Ἥρωνα; οὕτω ":ο ξῶντας → οὕτω ζῶντας; εἴς τε [ εὐδοκίαν → εἴς τε εὐδοκίαν; βεὐδοκίᾳ → εὐδοκίᾳ; ἐπικίνδυνα καὶ ; ο΄ περιστατικὰ → ἐπικίνδυνα καὶ περιστατικὰ; σκοπῷ ιονόσῳ → σκοπῷ νόσῳ; δι’ αὐτὸ Ν ΝΥ μ Ἶ φι τὸ καλὸν → δι’ αὐτὸ τὸ καλὸν; θεῷ ἐπυγράφουσιν → θεῷ ἐπιγράφουσιν; εὐφνυίᾳ → εὐφυίᾳ; ἐπυγινομένης → ἐπιγινομένης; φύσει, το Η “ΠΥ ΗΝ ΝΥ Ν , ν᾽» » “ιν ἀφιστᾷ → φύσει, ἀφιστᾷ; Τῷ λὲ ἁμάρτωλῷ εἶπεν ὁ θεός" Ἵνὰ τί οὐ ἐκδιηγη τὰ δικδιώμδτα ΜΟΥ κἀὶ ἀνάὰλαμβάνειο τὴν λιδθήκην ΜΟΥ διὰ στόματός σου; → Τῷ δὲ ἁμαρτωλῷ εἶπεν ὁ θεός· Ἵνα τί σὺ ἐκδιηγῇ τὰ δικαιώματά μου καὶ ἀναλαμβάνεις τὴν διαθήκην μου διὰ στόματός σου;; καὶ :ο οἰνόφιλοι → καὶ οἰνόφιλοι; ὑπερήιῖι 1 ΔΒ φανοι → ὑπερήφανοι; ἔχοντες, ] πηγαῖς → ἔχοντες, πηγαῖς; ἐνλιμνάξει → ἐνλιμνάζει; χρηοτότητλ καὶ πδιλείδν καὶ γνῶοιν → χρηστότητα καὶ παιδείαν καὶ γνῶσιν; ὠποθέμενος → ἀποθέμενος; ἀναλάβῃ. ταπεινοφροσύνην → ἀναλάβῃ ταπεινοφροσύνην; ἐπανέρχέτανι → ἐπανέρχεται; ἐγκατάλειψὲν → ἐγκατάλειψιν; ἀπεργάξεται → ἀπεργάζεται; Ὅταν ν Η Ἀ , Ὶ Ν Υ̓ Ἀ , , 1ο ἴδῃς → Ὅταν ἴδῃς; Ὃ λὲ ὄφις ἦν φρονιμά τάτος πάντων τῶν θηρίων τῶν. ἐπὶ τηῖς γῆς → Ὁ δὲ ὄφις ἦν φρονιμώτατος πάντων τῶν θηρίων τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς; τῶν ῬΑ ΤΑΙ ἬΠΙΟΝ λόγων → τῶν λόγων; γεῦμὰ ἐν ῥήμδοι κενοῖς → γεῦμα ἐν ῥήμασι κενοῖς; χρηματίξοντος → χρηματίζοντος; Λλὴ ἀποποιοῦ ΜΟΥ τὸ κρῖμα, μηδὲ οἴου με ἄλλως οοἱ κεχρημδτικένδι, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνὰ ἀνδφδνεῆς Δίκδιοσ → Μὴ ἀποποιοῦ μου τὸ κρῖμα, μηδὲ οἴου με ἄλλως σοι κεχρηματικέναι, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα ἀναφανῇς δίκαιος; πλοῦτον το θεραπεύειν → πλοῦτον θεραπεύειν; σον φιλοσοφίαν → σου φιλοσοφίαν; ᾿Ελόθη μοι οκόλοψ τη οἀρκὶ ἄγγελος οἀτᾶν, ἵνὰ μὲ κολλφίζῃ, ἵνα μὴ ὑπερδίρωμδι → Ἐδόθη μοι σκόλοψ τῇ σαρκί, ἄγγελος σατᾶν, ἵνα με κολαφίζῃ, ἵνα μὴ ὑπεραίρωμαι; διαβολικὸν [ χαυνωθέντα → διαβολικὸν χαυνωθέντα; Ἴλε, ὑγιὴς γέγονδο → Ἴδε, ὑγιὴς γέγονας; ᾿Ιούδας :ο προτιμήσας → Ἰούδας προτιμήσας; ἐγκατεει ν᾿ λείφθη → ἐγκατελείφθη; Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἐλοκίμδοὰν τὸν θεὸν ἔχειν ἐν ἐπιγνώςει, παρέδωκεν δύτογς ὁ θεός εἰς ἀδόκιμον νοῦν, ποιεῖν τὰ μὴ κἀθήκοντὰ → Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οὐκ ἐδοκίμασαν τὸν θεὸν ἔχειν ἐν ἐπιγνώσει, παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς ὁ θεὸς εἰς ἀδόκιμον νοῦν, ποιεῖν τὰ μὴ καθήκοντα; περὲ δὲ ἑτέρων τινῶν : τῶν → περὶ δὲ ἑτέρων τινῶν τῶν; ᾿Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ γνόντες τὸν θεὸν οὐχ ὡς θεὸν ἐλόξδολν εἶ ηὐχδρίοτησδν, πὸρέλωκεν δύτογε ὁ θεὸς εἰς πάθη ἀτιμίδο → Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ γνόντες τὸν θεὸν οὐχ ὡς θεὸν ἐδόξασαν ἢ ηὐχαρίστησαν, παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς ὁ θεὸς εἰς πάθη ἀτιμίας; θεοῦ. ] . → θεοῦ..
Topics: Ethics, Church office
Cite (SBL): Palladius, Hist. Laus. 47 (Butler 1904 2:136–142; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/47). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/47
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Butler's Greek text (Texts and Studies 6.2, 1904; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Lowther Clarke's English (1918).
Chapter 48
48Butler 1904 2:142–143
᾿Εν τοῖς κατὰ “Ἱεριχὼ σπηλαίοις τῶν ᾿Αμορραίων, ἃ πάλαι λελαξεύκεισαν φεύγοντες Ἰησοῦν τὸν τοῦ Ναυῆ ἐκπορθοῦντα τὸ τηνικαῦτα τοὺς ἀλλοφύλους εἰς τὸ ὄρος τοῦ Δουκᾶ, Ἐλπίδιός τις Καππαδόκης ἐς ὕστερον πρεσβυτερίου ἠξιωμένος, τοῦ μοναστηρίου γενόμενος Τιμοθέου τοῦ Καππάδοκος χωρεπισκόπου, ἀνδρὸς ἱκανωτάτου, ἐλθὼν παρῴκησεν ἐν ἑνὶ τῶν σπηλαίων: ὃς τοσαύτην ἐγκράτειαν ἀσκήσεως ἐνεδείξατο ὡς καλύψαι σύμπαντας. ζήσας γὰρ εἰκοσιπέντε ἔτη τὰς κυριακὰς μετελάμβανε μόνον καὶ τὸ σάββατον, τὰς νύκτας ἑστὼς καὶ ψάλλων. ᾧ καθάπερ βασιλίσκῳ τῶν μελισσῶν ἐν μέσῳ συνῴκει τῷ πλήθει τῆς ἀδελφότητος, κἀγὼ δὲ συνῴκησα αὐτῷ, καὶ οὕτω τὸ ὄρος ἐπόλισε᾽ καὶ ἦν ἐκεῖ ἰδεῖν διαφόρους πολιτείας. τοῦτόν ποτε τὸν Ελπίδιον ψάλλοντα ἐν νυκτὶ καὶ συμψαλλόντων ἡμῶν σκορπίος ἔπληξεν: ὃς πατήσας αὐτὸν οὐδὲ μετέστη τῆς τοῦ σχήματος στάσεως ἀλογήσας τῆς κατὰ τὸν σκορπίον ὀδύνης. ἀδελφοῦ δέ τινος κατέχοντος μιᾶς τών ἡμερῶν κλήματος κόμμα, λαβὼν ἐν τῷ καθῆσθαι παρὰ τὴν ὄχθαν τοῦ ὄρους ἔχωσεν ὡς φυτεύων, καίπερ ἐν οὐ καιρῷ' ὃ εἰς τοσοῦτον ηὐξήθη καὶ γέγονεν ἄμπελος ὡς σκεπάζειν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν. ᾧ συνετελειώθη καὶ Αἰνέσιός τις ἀνὴρ ἀξιόλογος, καὶ Εὐστάθιος ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ. ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον δὲ ἤλασεν ἀπαθείας ταριχευθεὶς τὸ σῶμα ὡς ἥλιον διαφαίνειν αὐτοῦ τῶν ὀστέων. φέρεται δὲ διήγημα παρὰ τῶν σπουδαίων αὐτοῦ μαθητῶν ὅτι ἐπὶ δύσιν οὐδέποτε ἐστράφη τῷ ἐπικεῖσθαι τὸ ὄρος εἰς ὕψος τῇ τοῦ σπηλαίου θύρᾳ οὐδὲ τὸν ἥλιον μετὰ ἕκτην ὥραν ὑπὲρ κορυφῆς γενόμενον καὶ κατὰ δύσιν κλίνοντα εἶδέ ποτε, οὐδὲ τοὺς κατὰ δυσμὰς ἀνατέλλοντας ἀστέρας, ἐπὶ εἰκοσιπέντε ἔτη· ὃς ἀφ᾽ οὗ εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸ σπήλαιον οὐ κατῆλθε τῇ τοῦ ὄρους μέχρις οὗ ἐτάφη.
᾿En tois kata “Hierichō spēlaiois tōn ᾿Amorraiōn, ha palai lelaxeukeisan pheugontes Iēsoun ton tou Nauē ekporthounta to tēnikauta tous allophylous eis to oros tou Douka, Elpidios tis Kappadokēs es hysteron presbyteriou ēxiōmenos, tou monastēriou genomenos Timotheou tou Kappadokos chōrepiskopou, andros hikanōtatou, elthōn parǭkēsen en heni tōn spēlaiōn: hos tosautēn enkrateian askēseōs enedeixato hōs kalypsai sympantas. zēsas gar eikosipente etē tas kyriakas metelambane monon kai to sabbaton, tas nyktas hestōs kai psallōn. hǭ kathaper basiliskǭ tōn melissōn en mesǭ synǭkei tǭ plēthei tēs adelphotētos, kagō de synǭkēsa autǭ, kai houtō to oros epolise᾽ kai ēn ekei idein diaphorous politeias. touton pote ton Elpidion psallonta en nykti kai sympsallontōn hēmōn skorpios eplēxen: hos patēsas auton oude metestē tēs tou schēmatos staseōs alogēsas tēs kata ton skorpion odynēs. adelphou de tinos katechontos mias tōn hēmerōn klēmatos komma, labōn en tǭ kathēsthai para tēn ochthan tou orous echōsen hōs phyteuōn, kaiper en ou kairǭ' ho eis tosouton ēuxēthē kai gegonen ampelos hōs skepazein tēn ekklēsian. hǭ syneteleiōthē kai Ainesios tis anēr axiologos, kai Eustathios ho adelphos autou. epi tosouton de ēlasen apatheias taricheutheis to sōma hōs hēlion diaphainein autou tōn osteōn. pheretai de diēgēma para tōn spoudaiōn autou mathētōn hoti epi dysin oudepote estraphē tǭ epikeisthai to oros eis hypsos tę̄ tou spēlaiou thyrą oude ton hēlion meta hektēn hōran hyper koryphēs genomenon kai kata dysin klinonta eide pote, oude tous kata dysmas anatellontas asteras, epi eikosipente etē; hos aph᾽ hou eisēlthen eis to spēlaion ou katēlthe tę̄ tou orous mechris hou etaphē.
In the caves of the Amorites near Jericho, which they once hewed out when fleeing from Joshua the son of Nun as he was then destroying the foreign peoples, on the mountain of Douka, a certain Elpidius, a Cappadocian, later counted worthy of the presbyterate, who had belonged to the monastery of Timothy the Cappadocian chorepiscopus, a most capable man, came and settled in one of the caves. He showed such self-control in asceticism that he eclipsed everyone. For twenty-five years he ate only on Sundays and Saturdays, standing and singing psalms through the nights. Like a king bee in the midst of the swarm, a multitude of brothers lived round him; I too lived with him; and so he made the mountain a city, and one could see various ways of life there. Once a scorpion stung this Elpidius while he was singing psalms at night and we were singing with him; he trod on it and did not even change his standing posture, disregarding the pain of the scorpion. One day a brother was holding a cutting from a vine; Elpidius took it while sitting by the edge of the mountain and buried it as if planting it, though it was not the season; and it grew so large and became such a vine that it covered the church. With him Aenesius, a notable man, and Eustathius his brother were also perfected. He attained such freedom from passion, his body so dried up, that the sun shone through his bones. A story is told by his zealous disciples that he never turned to the west, because the mountain rose high above the door of the cave; nor did he ever see the sun after the sixth hour, when it passed the summit and declined toward the west, nor the stars rising in the west, for twenty-five years. From the time he entered the cave he did not come down from the mountain until he was buried.
Josh 10:16 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Elpidius the Cappadocian lives twenty-five years in a cave near Jericho, eating only at weekends, unmoved by a scorpion's sting, gathering a city of monks around him.
- The caves are associated by tradition with the Amorites fleeing Joshua (cf. Josh 10). Douka is the Mount of Temptation near Jericho. “Stars rising in the west” is as the text reads (perhaps for “setting”).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris; OCR slip; OCR slip and stray line number; line-break hyphen and stray line number; stray bracket; stray letter; stray mark): τοῦ Ναυῆ ; ἐκπορθοῦντα → τοῦ Ναυῆ ἐκπορθοῦντα; Ἔλπίδιός → Ἐλπίδιός; πρεσβυτερίουν τ5 ἠξιωμένος → πρεσβυτερίου ἠξιωμένος; καὶ ο ψάλλων → καὶ ψάλλων; Ἱτῷ πλήθειΐ → τῷ πλήθει; ἐν νυκτὶ με} καὶ → ἐν νυκτὶ καὶ; Ἑυστάθιος → Εὐστάθιος; μαθη- το τῶν → μαθητῶν; ἔτη" ] ὃς → ἔτη· ὃς; ἐτάφη. ᾿ → ἐτάφη..
Cite (SBL): Palladius, Hist. Laus. 48 (Butler 1904 2:142–143; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/48). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/48
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Butler's Greek text (Texts and Studies 6.2, 1904; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Lowther Clarke's English (1918).
Chapter 49
49Butler 1904 2:143–144
[Τούτου τοῦ ᾿Ελπιδίον μαθητὴς γέγονε Σισίννιος ὀνόματι, ἐξ οἰκετικῆς μὲν ὁρμώμενος τύχης ἐλεύθερος δὲ κατὰ τὴν πίστιν, τῷ γένει Καππαδόκης" δεῖ γὰρ καὶ τάδε σημαίνειν πρὸς δόξαν τοῦ ἐξευγενίζοντος ἡμᾶς Χριστοῦ, καὶ εἰς τὴν ἀληθινὴν ἀπάγοντος ἡμᾶς εὐγένειαν. οὗτος χρονίσας παρὰ τῷ ᾿Ελπιδίῳ ἕκτον ἢ ἕβδομον ἔτος ἐς ὕστερον μνήματι ἑαυτὸν καθεῖρξε καὶ ἐπὶ τρία ἔτη ἐν τῷ μνήματι ἐν προσευχαῖς διετέλει, μὴ νύκτωρ μὴ μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν μὴ καθίσας, μὴ ἀναπεσών, μὴ βαδίσας ἔξω. οὗτος κατηξιώθη χαρίσματος κατὰ δαιμόνων. νυνὶ δὲ ἐπανελθὼν ἐπὶ τὴν πατρίδα ἠξιώθη πρεσβυτερίου, συναγαγὼν ἀδελφότητα ἀνδρῶν τε καὶ γυναικῶν, διὰ τῆς σεμνῆς πολιτείας καὶ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ἄρρεν τῆς ἐπιθυμίας ἐλάσας καὶ τὸ τῶν γυναικῶν θῆλυ τῇ ἐγκρατείᾳ φιμώσας, ὡς πληροῦσθαι τὸ γεγραμμένον" Ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ οὐκ ἔνι ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ. ἔστι δὲ καὶ φιλόξενος καίπερ ὧν ἀκτήμων, εἰς ἔλεγχον τῶν ἀμεταδότων πλουσίων.
[Toutou tou ᾿Elpidion mathētēs gegone Sisinnios onomati, ex oiketikēs men hormōmenos tychēs eleutheros de kata tēn pistin, tǭ genei Kappadokēs" dei gar kai tade sēmainein pros doxan tou exeugenizontos hēmas Christou, kai eis tēn alēthinēn apagontos hēmas eugeneian. houtos chronisas para tǭ ᾿Elpidiǭ hekton ē hebdomon etos es hysteron mnēmati heauton katheirxe kai epi tria etē en tǭ mnēmati en proseuchais dietelei, mē nyktōr mē meth᾽ hēmeran mē kathisas, mē anapesōn, mē badisas exō. houtos katēxiōthē charismatos kata daimonōn. nyni de epanelthōn epi tēn patrida ēxiōthē presbyteriou, synagagōn adelphotēta andrōn te kai gynaikōn, dia tēs semnēs politeias kai to heautou arren tēs epithymias elasas kai to tōn gynaikōn thēly tę̄ enkrateią phimōsas, hōs plērousthai to gegrammenon" En Christǭ Iēsou ouk eni arsen kai thēly. esti de kai philoxenos kaiper hōn aktēmōn, eis elenchon tōn ametadotōn plousiōn.
[A disciple of this Elpidius was Sisinnius by name, born to a slave's lot but free by faith, a Cappadocian by race; for these things too should be mentioned, to the glory of Christ, who ennobles us and leads us to true nobility. After spending six or seven years with Elpidius, he later shut himself up in a tomb and for three years continued in prayers in the tomb, neither by night nor by day sitting down, lying down, or walking outside. He was granted a gift against demons. Now he has returned to his homeland and has been counted worthy of the presbyterate, having gathered a brotherhood of men and women. By his holy way of life he has driven out the maleness of his own desire and muzzled the femaleness of the women by self-control, so that what is written is fulfilled: “In Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female.” He is also hospitable, though owning nothing, to the reproof of the rich who do not share.
Gal 3:28 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Sisinnius, a former slave and disciple of Elpidius, spends three years praying in a tomb and later leads a community of men and women in Cappadocia.
- The quotation is Gal 3:28, restored from a garbled form. This chapter opens a passage (chapters 49–52) printed in square brackets in the edition, marking it as doubtful; the bracket closes at the end of chapter 52.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR garble of Scripture type restored (Gal 3:28); OCR ξ for ζ; stray letter; stray mark): ἐξευγενίξοντος → ἐξευγενίζοντος; εἰς τὴν ὁ ἀληθινὴν → εἰς τὴν ἀληθινὴν; καθίσας,- μὴ → καθίσας, μὴ; Ἔν Χριοτῷ Ἰησοῦ οΥ̓κ ἔνι ἄρεεν καὶ θῆλγ → Ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ οὐκ ἔνι ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ.
Topics: Prayer, Church office
Cite (SBL): Palladius, Hist. Laus. 49 (Butler 1904 2:143–144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/49). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/49
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Butler's Greek text (Texts and Studies 6.2, 1904; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Lowther Clarke's English (1918).
Chapter 50
50Butler 1904 2:144
Ἔγνων γέροντα Παλαιστῖνόν τινα Γαδδανᾶν ὀνόματι, ὃς τὸν ἄστεγον ἔζησε βίον εἰς τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἰορδάνην τόπους. τούτῳ ποτὲ Ἰουδαῖοι κατὰ ζῆλον ἐπιθέμενοι ἐν τοῖς περὶ τὴν Νεκρὰν θάλασσαν τόποις ξίφος γυμνώσαντες ἐπῆλθον. καὶ συνέβη πρᾶγμα τοιοῦτον" ἐν τῷ τὸ ξίφος ἐπᾶραι καὶ βουληθῆναι σπᾶσαι κατὰ τοῦ Γαδδανᾶ ἀπεξηράνθη ἡ χεὶρ τοῦ τὸ ξίφος γυμνώσαντος, πεσόντος τοῦ ξίφους ἀπὸ τῆς δεξιᾶς τοῦ ἔχοντος.
Egnōn geronta Palaistinon tina Gaddanan onomati, hos ton astegon ezēse bion eis tous peri ton Iordanēn topous. toutǭ pote Ioudaioi kata zēlon epithemenoi en tois peri tēn Nekran thalassan topois xiphos gymnōsantes epēlthon. kai synebē pragma toiouton" en tǭ to xiphos eparai kai boulēthēnai spasai kata tou Gaddana apexēranthē hē cheir tou to xiphos gymnōsantos, pesontos tou xiphous apo tēs dexias tou echontos.
I knew an old man of Palestine named Gaddanas, who lived the life without a roof in the region of the Jordan. Once some Jews, attacking him out of zeal in the region of the Dead Sea, came at him with a drawn sword. And this is what happened: as the one who had drawn the sword raised it, meaning to strike Gaddanas, his hand withered, and the sword fell from the right hand of the one who held it.
Notes and citation
Summary: The homeless Palestinian hermit Gaddanas is attacked by a man with a sword, whose hand withers.
- The attackers are described as Jews acting “out of zeal”; this is reported as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris; OCR slip; OCR ξ for ζ; stray marks): (ὦ Βγνων → Ἔγνων; Ταδδανᾶν → Γαδδανᾶν; κατὰ ξῆλον → κατὰ ζῆλον; ἔχοντος. ι- → ἔχοντος..
Cite (SBL): Palladius, Hist. Laus. 50 (Butler 1904 2:144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/50). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/50
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Butler's Greek text (Texts and Studies 6.2, 1904; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Lowther Clarke's English (1918).
Chapter 51
51Butler 1904 2:144–145
Ἠλίας πάλιν μονάζων ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς τόποις ἐν σπηλαίῳ κατῴκει σεμνοτάτου βίου καὶ ἐνθέσμου ὑπάρχων. οὗτος μιᾶς τῶν ἡμερῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτῷ ἐπεληλυθότων πλειόνων, ἦν γὰρ πάροδος ὁ τόπος, ἐλείφθη ἄρτων. καὶ ἐπληροφόρησεν ἡμᾶς ὅτιπερ Λιποθυμήσας ἐν τῷ πράγματι εἰσελθὼν ἐν τῷ κελλίῳ τρεῖς εὗρον ἄρτους νεαρούς" καὶ φαγόντων εἴκοσι ὄντων εἰς κόρον ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν εἷς περιέσσευσεν, ᾧ ἐχρησάμην ἐπὶ εἰκοσιπέντε ἡμέρας.
Ēlias palin monazōn en tois autois topois en spēlaiǭ katǭkei semnotatou biou kai enthesmou hyparchōn. houtos mias tōn hēmerōn adelphōn autǭ epelēlythotōn pleionōn, ēn gar parodos ho topos, eleiphthē artōn. kai eplērophorēsen hēmas hotiper Lipothymēsas en tǭ pragmati eiselthōn en tǭ kelliǭ treis heuron artous nearous" kai phagontōn eikosi ontōn eis koron ap᾽ autōn heis periesseusen, hǭ echrēsamēn epi eikosipente hēmeras.
Elias, again, a monk in the same region, lived in a cave, a man of most holy and lawful life. One day, when many brothers had come to him (for the place was on a route), he ran out of bread. And he assured us, “I was dismayed at the situation, but going into my cell I found three fresh loaves; and though twenty of us ate our fill of them, one was left over, which I used for twenty-five days.”
Matt 14:20 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The cave-dwelling monk Elias finds three fresh loaves that feed twenty visitors and last him twenty-five days.
- The story recalls the feeding miracles (e.g. Matt 14:20).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris; stray mark): ὄντων ΄ εἰς → ὄντων εἰς; ἡμέρας. ΠῚ -ὡὦ {, [ → ἡμέρας..
Cite (SBL): Palladius, Hist. Laus. 51 (Butler 1904 2:144–145; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/51). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/51
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Butler's Greek text (Texts and Studies 6.2, 1904; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Lowther Clarke's English (1918).
Chapter 52
52Butler 1904 2:145
Σαβᾶς τις ὀνόματι, κοσμικός, τῷ γένει Ἱεριχούντιος, γυναῖκα ἔχων, τοσοῦτον ἐγένετο φιλομόναχος ὡς κυκλεύειν ἀνὰ τὰς κέλλας καὶ τὴν ἔρημον ἐν ταῖς νυξί, καὶ καθ᾽ ἑκάστην μονὴν ἔξω τιθέναι φοινίκων μόδιον ἕνα καὶ λαχάνων τὸ αὔταρκες, διὰ τὸ μὴ ἐσθίειν ἄρτον τοὺς ἀσκητὰς τοὺς κατὰ τὸν ᾿Ιορδάνην. τούτῳ μιᾶς τῶν ἡμερῶν λέων ὑπήντησε, καὶ καταλαβὼν αὐτὸν ἀπὸ σημείου ἑνὸς ὦσε καὶ κατέστρεψε, καὶ τὸν ὄνον λαβὼν ἀνεχώρησεν]
Sabas tis onomati, kosmikos, tǭ genei Hierichountios, gynaika echōn, tosouton egeneto philomonachos hōs kykleuein ana tas kellas kai tēn erēmon en tais nyxi, kai kath᾽ hekastēn monēn exō tithenai phoinikōn modion hena kai lachanōn to autarkes, dia to mē esthiein arton tous askētas tous kata ton ᾿Iordanēn. toutǭ mias tōn hēmerōn leōn hypēntēse, kai katalabōn auton apo sēmeiou henos ōse kai katestrepse, kai ton onon labōn anechōrēsen]
A man named Sabas, a layman, from Jericho by birth, who had a wife, became such a lover of monks that he went round the cells and the desert at night and outside each dwelling put a bushel of dates and enough vegetables, because the ascetics by the Jordan do not eat bread. One day a lion met him, and catching up with him, it drove him off for a mile and turned back, and took the donkey and went away.]
Notes and citation
Summary: Sabas of Jericho, a married layman, secretly leaves food at the monks' cells by night; a lion chases him and takes his donkey.
- The square bracket closing the passage begun at chapter 49 stands at the end of this chapter. A longer form of the lion story from another recension is in Butler's apparatus (taken into the next section by the OCR) and is not translated.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR doubled letter; stray letter): ἹἹεριχούντιος → Ἱεριχούντιος; διὰ Ἁ τὸ → διὰ τὸ.
Cite (SBL): Palladius, Hist. Laus. 52 (Butler 1904 2:145; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/52). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/52
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Butler's Greek text (Texts and Studies 6.2, 1904; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Lowther Clarke's English (1918).
Chapter 53
53Butler 1904 2:145–146
᾿Αββράμιός τις γέγονε τῷ γένει Αἰγύπτιος, τραχύτατον καὶ ἀγριώτατον βίον ζήσας ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. ὃς πληγεὶς τὴν φρένα ὑπὸ ἀκαίρου οἰήσεως ἐλθὼν ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ διεμάχετο τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις λέγων ὅτι Πρεσβύτερος ἐχειροτονήθην παρὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ταύτῃ τῇ νυκτί, καὶ δέξασθέ με ἱερατεύοντα. ὃν οἱ πατέρες διαχωρίσαντες τῆς ἐρήμου, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν παχύτερον καὶ ἀδιαφορώτερον ἀγαγόντες βίον, ἀπεθεράπευσαν τῆς ὑπερηφανίας, εἰς γνῶσιν αὐτὸν ἀγαγόντες τῆς οἰκείας ἀσθενείας παιχθέντα ὑπὸ τοῦ δαίμονος.
᾿Abbramios tis gegone tǭ genei Aigyptios, trachytaton kai agriōtaton bion zēsas en tę̄ erēmǭ. hos plēgeis tēn phrena hypo akairou oiēseōs elthōn en tę̄ ekklēsią diemacheto tois presbyterois legōn hoti Presbyteros echeirotonēthēn para tou Christou tautę̄ tę̄ nykti, kai dexasthe me hierateuonta. hon hoi pateres diachōrisantes tēs erēmou, kai epi ton pachyteron kai adiaphorōteron agagontes bion, apetherapeusan tēs hyperēphanias, eis gnōsin auton agagontes tēs oikeias astheneias paichthenta hypo tou daimonos.
There was a certain Abraham, an Egyptian by race, who lived a very harsh and wild life in the desert. Struck in his mind by untimely conceit, he came into the church and contended with the presbyters, saying, “I was ordained presbyter by Christ this night; receive me as a priest.” The fathers removed him from the desert, led him to a more ordinary and indifferent life, and cured him of his pride, bringing him to the knowledge of his own weakness, since he had been mocked by the demon.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Egyptian hermit Abraham, deluded by conceit, claims Christ ordained him in the night; the fathers cure him by a gentler life.
- A long piece of Butler's apparatus (another recension's longer version of the lion story in chapter 52, and an English note on the order of chapters in one manuscript) is removed by a logged correction and not translated.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR doubled letter; apparatus (another recension of ch. 52 and English note) removed; line-break hyphen and stray line number; stray line number): τὴν τὸ φρένα → τὴν φρένα; ἸΠρεσβύτερος → Πρεσβύτερος; ὑπερη- τ5 φανίας → ὑπερηφανίας; ] 8--8ὃ. τούτῳ......«ἀνεχώρησεν] Β ρῖνοβ ῃ6 ραββᾶρο ὑμυβ: τούτῳ τῷ δεξιωτῇ (61. δεξιῷ) τῶν μοναχῶν καὶ εὐτραπέζῳ τῶν ἐγκρατῶν μιᾶς τῶν ἡμερῶν ἀποκομίσαντι τοῖς ἁγίοις τὰ τῆς ἀσκήσεως ἐπιτήδεια, ζήλῳ τοῦ πονηροῦ τούτῳ λέων ὑπήντησε, τοῦ ἐχθροῦ τῶν μοναχῶν τὸν ἀνήμερον θῆρα κατὰ τοῦ διακόνου αὐτῶν ἐξεγείραντος στερῆσαι σπουδάζοντος κἀκείνους τῆς ἀναπαύσεως καὶ τοῦτον τῆς προθέσεως. καὶ καταλαβὼν αὐτὸν ὁ θὴρ ἀπὸ σημείου ἑνὸς τῶν μοναχῶν, τῇ ἰδίᾳ δρακὶ ὦσεν αὐτὸν καὶ κατέστρεψεν. ἀλλ᾽ ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ Δανιὴλ διδάξας νηστεύειν τοὺς λέοντας, καὶ τοῦτον τῆς τοῦ φιλεντόλον θοίνης ἐκώλυσε σφοδρῶς πεινῶντα τὸν λέοντα. ἐξ ὧν τὸν ὄνον τοῦ γέροντος λαβὼν ἀνεχώρῆσεν. ὁ γὰρ τούτῳ τὴν ζωὴν χαρισάμενος, καὶ τοῦ θηρὸς τὴν πεῖναν παρεμυθήσατο. ΤῊΘ ψΟΙᾺΒ ἰη Βρϑορα ἔγγ08 τοργεβθηῦ 1 (888 Ὀ610 7) ἃΠα τηδῖκθ ρ ὕπο ἰθχί. 117 Τὴ Ρ δὖ {πῖ8 ροϊηῦ (1.6. ΔΓΕ ΧΙΨΠΠ) ΘΟτλθ5. ὙΧΠῚ; ὕμθη ΤΙΧ, 1 Χ, ΧΩΝῚ, ΠΧΙΧ, ΤΧΧ, ΤΥ --- ΣΙ. (ἸΤΤερὶ ΟΔ88) : ΒΙ] → .
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Palladius, Hist. Laus. 53 (Butler 1904 2:145–146; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/53). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/53
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Butler's Greek text (Texts and Studies 6.2, 1904; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Lowther Clarke's English (1918).
Chapter 54
54Butler 1904 2:146–148
Περὶ τῆς θαυμασίας καὶ ἁγίας Μελανίας ἀκροθυγῶς μὲν καὶ ἄνω διηγησάμην, οὐδὲν ἧττον καὶ τὰ λείψανα νῦν ἐξυφανῶ τῷ λόγῳ. αὕτη μὲν ὅσην ὕλην ἀνήλωσεν ἐν τῷ θείῳ ζήλῳ καθάπερ πυρὶ φλέξασα οὐκ ἐμὸν τὸ διηγήσασθαι ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν τὴν Περσίδα οἰκούντων. τῆς γὰρ εὐποιίας αὐτῆς οὐκ ἠστόχησεν οὐδείς, οὐκ ἀνατολὴ οὐ δύσις οὐκ ἄρκτος οὐ μεσημβρία. τριακοστὸν μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἕβδομον ἔτος ξενιτεύσασα ἰδίοις ἀναλώμασιν ἐπήρκεσε καὶ ἐκκλησίαις καὶ μοναστηρίοις καὶ ξένοις καὶ φυλακαῖς, χορηγούντων- αὐτῇ καὶ τῶν πρὸς γένος καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τῶν ἰδίων ἐπιτρόπων τὰ χρήματα. ἥτις ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἐγκαρτερήσασα τῇ ξενιτείᾳ οὐδὲ σπιθαμὴν ἐκτήσατο γῆς, οὐκ ἐξειλκύσθη ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ υἱοῦ ἐπιθυμίας, οὐκ ἐμέρισεν αὐτὴν τῆς πρὸς τὸν Χριστὸν ἀγάπης ὁ τοῦ μονογενοῦς υἱοῦ πόθος" ἀλλὰ ταῖς προσευχαῖς αὐτῆς ὁ νεώτερος εἰς ἄκρον τῷ παιδείας καὶ τρόπων ἤλασε καὶ γάμον τὸν ἐπίδοξον, καὶ ἔντος τῶν κοσμικῶν ἀξιωμάτων ἐγένετο' ὃς ἔσχε καὶ τέκνα δύο. μετὰ πολλοὺς οὖν χρόνους ἀκούσασα περὶ τῆς καταστάσεως τῆς ἐγγόνης, ὅτι ἔγημε καὶ προαιρεῖται ἀποτάξασθαι, φοβηθεῖσα μήποτε περιρραγῶσι κακοδιδασκαλίᾳ ἢ αἱρέσει ἢ κακοζωίᾳ, ἑξήκοντα ἐτῶν γραῦς ἐνέβαλεν ἑαυτὴν εἰς πλοῖον, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς Καισαρέων ἀποπλεύσασα δι᾽ εἴκοσι ἡμερῶν παραγίνεται εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην. κἀκεῖσε συντυχοῦσα τὸν μὲν μακαριώτατον ἄνδρα καὶ ἀξιόλογον Ἀπρονιανόν, Ἕλληνα ὄντα, κατήχησε καὶ χριστιανὸν ἐποίησε, πείσασα αὐτὸν καὶ ἐγκρατεύεσθαι μετὰ τῆς ἰδίας γυναικός, ἀνεψιᾶς ταύτης, καλουμένης ᾿Αβίτας. στερεώσασα δὲ καὶ τὴν ἰδίαν ἐγγόνην Μελανίαν σὺν τῷ ταύτης ἀνδρὶ Πινιανῷ, καὶ κατηχήσασα ᾿Αλβίναν τὴν ἑαυτῆς νύμφην, γυναῖκα δὲ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτῆς, καὶ παρασκευάσασα πάντας τούτους διαπωλῆσαι τὰ ὑπάρχοντα αὐτοῖς, τῆς Ρώμης ἐξήγαγε, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν σεμνὸν καὶ γαληνιῶντα λιμένα τοῦ βίου ἤγαγε. καὶ οὕτως πρὸς πάντας ἐθηριομάχησε τοὺς συγκλητικοὺς καὶ τὰς ἐλευθέρας κωλύοντας αὐτὴν ἐπὶ τῇ ἀποταξίᾳ τῶν λοιπῶν οἴκων. ἡ δὲ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς" Παιδία, γέγραπται πρὸ τετρακοσίων ἐτῶν ὅτι Ἐσχάτη ὥρα ἐστί. τί ἐμφιλοχωρεῖτε τῇ ματαιότητι τοῦ βίου, μήποτε φθάσωσιν αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου, καὶ μὴ ἀπολαύσητε ὑμῶν τοῦ πλούτου καὶ τῶν προγονικῶν πραγμάτων. καὶ τούτους πάντας ἐλευθερώσασα ἤγαγεν ἐπὶ τὸν μονήρη βίον. καὶ τὸν Πουπλικουλᾶ δὲ υἱὸν τὸν νεώτερον κατηχήσασα ἤγαγεν ἐπὶ τὴν Σικελίαν: καὶ πάντα αὐτῆς τὰ ὑπόλοιπα διαπωλήσασα καὶ τὰς τιμὰς λαβοῦσα ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα· καὶ διανείμασα τὰς ὕλας ἐντὸς τεσσαράκοντα ἡμερῶν ἐκοιμήθη ἐν γήρᾳ καλῷ καὶ βαθυτάτῃ πραότητι, καταλείψασα καὶ μοναστήριον ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις καὶ τὰ τούτου ἀναλώματα. Ὥς δὲ πάντες οὗτοι ἀπέστησαν τῆς Ρώμης 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 παρέδωκεν ἀπωλείᾳ" ὡς γενέσθαι τὴν Ῥώμην, τὴν ἐν χιλίοις ἔτεσι καὶ διακοσίοις φιλοκαληθεῖσαν, ἐρίπιον. τότε οἱ κατηχηθέντες καὶ οἱ ἐναντιωθέντες τῇ κατηχήσει ἐδόξασαν τὸν θεὸν τὸν τῇ μεταβολῇ τῶν πραγμάτων πείσαντα τοὺς ἀπίστους ὅτι τῶν ἄλλων πάντων αἰχμαλωτισθέντων οὗτοι μόνοι διεσώθησαν οἱ οἶκοι, ὁλοκαυτώματα γενόμενοι τῷ κυρίῳ σπουδῇ Μελανίας.
Peri tēs thaumasias kai hagias Melanias akrothygōs men kai anō diēgēsamēn, ouden hētton kai ta leipsana nyn exyphanō tǭ logǭ. hautē men hosēn hylēn anēlōsen en tǭ theiǭ zēlǭ kathaper pyri phlexasa ouk emon to diēgēsasthai alla kai tōn tēn Persida oikountōn. tēs gar eupoiias autēs ouk ēstochēsen oudeis, ouk anatolē ou dysis ouk arktos ou mesēmbria. triakoston men gar kai hebdomon etos xeniteusasa idiois analōmasin epērkese kai ekklēsiais kai monastēriois kai xenois kai phylakais, chorēgountōn- autę̄ kai tōn pros genos kai autou tou huiou kai tōn idiōn epitropōn ta chrēmata. hētis epi tosouton enkarterēsasa tę̄ xeniteią oude spithamēn ektēsato gēs, ouk exeilkysthē hypo tēs tou huiou epithymias, ouk emerisen autēn tēs pros ton Christon agapēs ho tou monogenous huiou pothos" alla tais proseuchais autēs ho neōteros eis akron tǭ paideias kai tropōn ēlase kai gamon ton epidoxon, kai entos tōn kosmikōn axiōmatōn egeneto' hos esche kai tekna dyo. meta pollous oun chronous akousasa peri tēs katastaseōs tēs engonēs, hoti egēme kai proaireitai apotaxasthai, phobētheisa mēpote perirragōsi kakodidaskalią ē hairesei ē kakozōią, hexēkonta etōn graus enebalen heautēn eis ploion, kai apo tēs Kaisareōn apopleusasa di᾽ eikosi hēmerōn paraginetai eis tēn Rhōmēn. kakeise syntychousa ton men makariōtaton andra kai axiologon Apronianon, Hellēna onta, katēchēse kai christianon epoiēse, peisasa auton kai enkrateuesthai meta tēs idias gynaikos, anepsias tautēs, kaloumenēs ᾿Abitas. stereōsasa de kai tēn idian engonēn Melanian syn tǭ tautēs andri Pinianǭ, kai katēchēsasa ᾿Albinan tēn heautēs nymphēn, gynaika de tou huiou autēs, kai paraskeuasasa pantas toutous diapōlēsai ta hyparchonta autois, tēs Rōmēs exēgage, kai epi ton semnon kai galēniōnta limena tou biou ēgage. kai houtōs pros pantas ethēriomachēse tous synklētikous kai tas eleutheras kōlyontas autēn epi tę̄ apotaxią tōn loipōn oikōn. hē de elegen autois" Paidia, gegraptai pro tetrakosiōn etōn hoti Eschatē hōra esti. ti emphilochōreite tę̄ mataiotēti tou biou, mēpote phthasōsin hai hēmerai tou antichristou, kai mē apolausēte hymōn tou ploutou kai tōn progonikōn pragmatōn. kai toutous pantas eleutherōsasa ēgagen epi ton monērē bion. kai ton Pouplikoula de huion ton neōteron katēchēsasa ēgagen epi tēn Sikelian: kai panta autēs ta hypoloipa diapōlēsasa kai tas timas labousa ēlthen epi ta Hierosolyma; kai dianeimasa tas hylas entos tessarakonta hēmerōn ekoimēthē en gērą kalǭ kai bathytatę̄ praotēti, kataleipsasa kai monastērion en Hierosolymois kai ta toutou analōmata. Hōs de pantes houtoi apestēsan tēs Rōmēs thyella tis barbarikē, hē kai en prophēteiais palai keimenē, epestē tę̄ Rhōmę̄, kai ouk eiasen oude tous ep᾽ agoras andriantas chalkous, alla panta porthēsasa barbarikę̄ aponoią paredōken apōleią" hōs genesthai tēn Rhōmēn, tēn en chiliois etesi kai diakosiois philokalētheisan, eripion. tote hoi katēchēthentes kai hoi enantiōthentes tę̄ katēchēsei edoxasan ton theon ton tę̄ metabolę̄ tōn pragmatōn peisanta tous apistous hoti tōn allōn pantōn aichmalōtisthentōn houtoi monoi diesōthēsan hoi oikoi, holokautōmata genomenoi tǭ kyriǭ spoudę̄ Melanias.
About the wonderful and holy Melania I have spoken above only superficially; but nonetheless I will now weave the remainder into my account. How much wealth she spent in her divine zeal, burning it up as if by fire, it is not for me to tell, but rather for those who live in Persia; for no one failed to receive her benefaction, neither east nor west, north nor south. For thirty-seven years she lived abroad and from her own means supported churches, monasteries, strangers, and prisons, her relatives, her son himself, and her own stewards supplying her with the money. Persevering so long abroad, she did not acquire a span of land; she was not drawn away by longing for her son, nor did desire for her only son divide her from her love of Christ. But through her prayers the young man reached the height of education and character, made a distinguished marriage, and attained worldly honours; and he had two children.
Many years later, hearing of the situation of her granddaughter, that she had married and intended to renounce the world, and fearing that they might be shattered by false teaching, heresy, or evil living, the old woman, sixty years old, put herself on a ship, and sailing from Caesarea she reached Rome in twenty days. There she met the most blessed and distinguished Apronianus, who was a pagan, instructed him, and made him a Christian, persuading him also to live in continence with his own wife, her niece, named Avita. She strengthened her own granddaughter Melania with her husband Pinianus, instructed Albina, her daughter-in-law, her son's wife, and preparing all of them to sell their possessions, she led them out of Rome and brought them to the holy and calm harbour of life. And so she fought like one fighting wild beasts against all the senators and their wives, who tried to prevent her because of the renunciation of their other houses. But she said to them, “Children, it was written four hundred years ago, ‘It is the last hour.’ Why do you cling to the vanity of life? Lest the days of the Antichrist overtake you, and you do not enjoy your wealth and your ancestral property.” And setting them all free, she led them to the solitary life. She also instructed the younger son of Publicola and led him to Sicily; and selling all the rest of her property and receiving the price, she came to Jerusalem; and having distributed her goods, within forty days she fell asleep in a good old age and in the deepest gentleness, leaving a monastery in Jerusalem and the funds for it.
When all of them had left Rome, a barbarian storm, which had long been foretold in prophecies, fell on Rome, and did not spare even the bronze statues in the forum, but plundering everything with barbarian madness gave it over to destruction, so that Rome, adorned for twelve hundred years, became a ruin. Then those who had been instructed and those who had opposed the instruction glorified God, who by the change of affairs persuaded the unbelievers that, when all the others were taken captive, these houses alone were saved, having become whole burnt offerings to the Lord through the zeal of Melania.
1 John 2:18 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Melania the Elder, after decades of generosity in Palestine, returns to Rome at sixty to bring her family to the ascetic life, shortly before the sack of Rome.
- The quotation is 1 John 2:18 (“It is the last hour”), restored from a garbled form. The “barbarian storm” is the sack of Rome by Alaric in 410. “Those who live in Persia” is hyperbole for the farthest regions. A stray closing bracket after “two children” was removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris; OCR garble of Scripture type restored (1 John 2:18); OCR interleaving of two copies of a line; OCR slip; OCR slips; line-break hyphen and debris; stray bracket; stray line number; stray mark; stray marks; stray stop): θείῳ ξήχῳ → θείῳ ζήλῳ; τῆς γὰρ᾽ εὐποιίας → τῆς γὰρ εὐποιίας; οὐκ ᾿ ἠστόχησεν → οὐκ ἠστόχησεν; τέκνα δύο.] μετὰ → τέκνα δύο. μετὰ; κακοζωίᾳ, “0 ἑξήκοντα → κακοζωίᾳ, ἑξήκοντα; τὴν “Ῥώμην. ᾿ κἀκεῖσε → τὴν Ῥώμην. κἀκεῖσε; μακαρι“'τατον ἄνδρα καὶ «ἀξιόλογον ᾿Απρονιανόν, “λληνα → μακαριώτατον ἄνδρα καὶ ἀξιόλογον Ἀπρονιανόν, Ἕλληνα; καὶ οὕτως. πρὸς → καὶ οὕτως πρὸς; ἡ δὲ το ἔλεγεν → ἡ δὲ ἔλεγεν; ᾿ξοχάτη ὥρα ἐοτί → Ἐσχάτη ὥρα ἐστί; βίον. τ5 καὶ → βίον. καὶ; Ιεροσόλυμα" .Ὄ0ΦἜ0{ΨὌΕΙΣ ΓΣ καὶ → Ἱεροσόλυμα· καὶ; ἐν ἱἱεροσολύμοις → ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις; ἐπέστη τῇ “Ῥώ ὶ οὐκ εἴ. ὑδὲ τοὺς ἐπ᾽ ἀγορᾶς ἀνδριάντας χαλκοῦς : ὦμῃ, καὶ οὐκ εἴασεν οὐδὲ τοὺς ἐπ᾽ ὠγορᾶς ἀνδρ χ ἀλλὰ → ἐπέστη τῇ Ῥώμῃ, καὶ οὐκ εἴασεν οὐδὲ τοὺς ἐπ᾽ ἀγορᾶς ἀνδριάντας χαλκοῦς, ἀλλὰ; ἐναντιω- ᾿ς τοθέντες → ἐναντιωθέντες; πραγμίτων → πραγμάτων; αὐἰχμαλωτισθέντων → αἰχμαλωτισθέντων.
Topics: Eschatology, Marriage
Cite (SBL): Palladius, Hist. Laus. 54 (Butler 1904 2:146–148; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/54). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/54
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Butler's Greek text (Texts and Studies 6.2, 1904; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Lowther Clarke's English (1918).
Chapter 55
55Butler 1904 2:148–149
Συνέβη ἅμα ὁδεύειν ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ Αἰλίας ἐπὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον, προπέμποντας τὴν μακαρίαν Σιλβανίαν τὴν παρθένον γυναικαδέλφην Ῥουφίνου τοῦ ἀπὸ ἐπάρχων: ἐν οἷς ἦν σὺν ἡμῖν καὶ ᾿Ιουβῖνος, τὸ τηνικαῦτα μὲν διάκονος νυνὶ δὲ ἐπίσκοπος τῆς ᾿Ασκάλωνος ἐκκλησίας, ἀνὴρ εὐλαβὴς καὶ φιλόλογος. σφοδροτάτου οὖν καύματος καταλαβόντος ἡμᾶς καὶ καταντησάντων ἡμῶν εἰς τὸ Πηλούσιον, ἔτυχε τὸν ᾿Ιουβῖνον νιπτῆρα λαβόντα νίψασθαι τὰς χεῖρας καὶ τοὺς πόδας πυγμῇ ὕδατι ψυχροτάτῳ, καὶ μετὰ τὸ νίψασθαι δερμοτύλῳ ἐπαναπαῆναι ῥιφέντι κατὰ τοῦ ἐδάφους. ἐπιστᾶσα ἐκείνη ὡς μήτηρ σοφὴ υἱοῦ γνησίου ἐπέσκωπτεν αὐτοῦ τῇ ἁπαλότητι λέγουσα: Πῶς θαρρεῖς ταύτην ἄγων τὴν ἡλικίαν ἔτι ζῶντος τοῦ αἵματός σου οὕτω φιλοκαλεῖν τὸ σαρκίον, μὴ αἰσθανόμενος τῶν ἐξ αὐτοῦ τικτομένων βλαβερών; 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. Αὕτη λογιωτάτη γενομένη ἢ καὶ φιλήσασα τὸν λόγον τὰς νύκτας εἰς ἡμέρας μετέβαλε πᾶν σύγγραμμα τῶν ἀρχαίων ὑπομνηματιστῶν διελθοῦσα" ἐν οἷς Ὠριγένους μυριάδας τριακοσίας, Γρηγορίου καὶ Στεφάνου καὶ Πιερίου καὶ Βασιλείου καὶ ἑτέρων τινῶν σπουδαιοτάτων μυριάδας εἰκοσιπέντε: οὐχ ἁπλῶς οὐδὲ ὡς ἔτυχε διελθοῦσα, ἀλλὰ πεπονημένως ἕκαστον βιβλίον ἕβδομον ἢ ὄγδοον διελθοῦσα. διὸ καὶ ἠδυνήθη ψευδωνύμον γνώσεως ἐλευθερωθεῖσα πτερωθῆναι τῇ χάριτι τῶν λόγων ἐλπίσι χρησταῖς ἑαυτὴν ὄρνιν ἐργασαμένη πνευματικὴν διαπεράσασα πρὸς τὸν Χριστόν.
Synebē hama hodeuein hēmas apo Ailias epi tēn Aigypton, propempontas tēn makarian Silbanian tēn parthenon gynaikadelphēn Rhouphinou tou apo eparchōn: en hois ēn syn hēmin kai ᾿Ioubinos, to tēnikauta men diakonos nyni de episkopos tēs ᾿Askalōnos ekklēsias, anēr eulabēs kai philologos. sphodrotatou oun kaumatos katalabontos hēmas kai katantēsantōn hēmōn eis to Pēlousion, etyche ton ᾿Ioubinon niptēra labonta nipsasthai tas cheiras kai tous podas pygmę̄ hydati psychrotatǭ, kai meta to nipsasthai dermotylǭ epanapaēnai rhiphenti kata tou edaphous. epistasa ekeinē hōs mētēr sophē huiou gnēsiou epeskōpten autou tę̄ hapalotēti legousa: Pōs tharreis tautēn agōn tēn hēlikian eti zōntos tou haimatos sou houtō philokalein to sarkion, mē aisthanomenos tōn ex autou tiktomenōn blaberōn? tharsei, tharsei hoti hexēkoston agō etos tēs hēlikias, ektos tōn akrōn tōn cheirōn ou pous mou hēpsato hydatos ouk opsis oude hen tōn melōn, kaiper diaphorois lēphtheisa arrōstiais, kai hypo tōn iatrōn anankazomenē ouk ēneschomēn apodounai tę̄ sarki to ethos, ouk epi klinēs anapaeisa ou lektikiǭ hōdeusa pou. Hautē logiōtatē genomenē ē kai philēsasa ton logon tas nyktas eis hēmeras metebale pan syngramma tōn archaiōn hypomnēmatistōn dielthousa" en hois Ōrigenous myriadas triakosias, Grēgoriou kai Stephanou kai Pieriou kai Basileiou kai heterōn tinōn spoudaiotatōn myriadas eikosipente: ouch haplōs oude hōs etyche dielthousa, alla peponēmenōs hekaston biblion hebdomon ē ogdoon dielthousa. dio kai ēdynēthē pseudōnymon gnōseōs eleutherōtheisa pterōthēnai tę̄ chariti tōn logōn elpisi chrēstais heautēn ornin ergasamenē pneumatikēn diaperasasa pros ton Christon.
It happened that we were travelling together from Aelia to Egypt, escorting the blessed virgin Silvania, the sister-in-law of Rufinus the ex-prefect; Jubinus too was with us, then a deacon and now bishop of the church of Ascalon, a devout and learned man. When very fierce heat came upon us and we arrived at Pelusium, Jubinus happened to take a basin and wash his hands and feet thoroughly in very cold water, and after washing to rest on a leather mat thrown on the ground. She came up to him, like a wise mother to a true son, and mocked his softness, saying, “How dare you, at your age, while your blood is still hot, pamper your flesh so, not perceiving the harm that comes from it? Take courage, take courage: I am in my sixtieth year, and apart from the tips of my fingers neither my feet nor my face nor any one of my members has touched water; though I have been seized by various illnesses and urged by the doctors, I have not consented to give the flesh its custom; I have not rested on a bed, nor travelled anywhere in a litter.”
She was very learned, or rather a lover of learning, and turned her nights into days going through every writing of the ancient commentators, among them three million lines of Origen and two hundred and fifty thousand of Gregory, Stephen, Pierius, Basil, and some other most excellent writers; not reading them once or as it happened, but laboriously going through each book seven or eight times. So she was able, set free from knowledge falsely so called, to take wing by the grace of the words, making herself by good hopes a spiritual bird, and to cross over to Christ.
1 Tim 6:20 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The aged virgin Silvania rebukes the deacon Jubinus for washing, describes her own austerity, and is praised for her vast reading of Origen and other commentators.
- Aelia is Jerusalem. “Knowledge falsely so called” echoes 1 Tim 6:20. “Lines” (literally “myriads”) renders the measure of text, as in chapter 11. The words “among them three million lines of Origen” stand in quotation marks in the OCR, probably Butler's marking; they are translated as they stand.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip and stray mark; OCR slip and stray marks; OCR slips and stray line number; OCR ξ for ζ; stray line number; stray marker): ΔΑἰλίας ἐπὶ τὴν εἰ 15 Δίγνπτον → Αἰλίας ἐπὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον; παρθένον : γυναικαδέλφην → παρθένον γυναικαδέλφην; ξῶντος → ζῶντος; οὐδὲ ὃν ; τῶν μελῶν → οὐδὲ ἓν τῶν μελῶν; ἐατρῶν → ἰατρῶν; που. το Αὕτη → που. Αὕτη; "ἐν οἷς ᾿Ωρυγένους μυριάδας τριακοσίας", → ἐν οἷς Ὠριγένους μυριάδας τριακοσίας,; ἁπλῶς τ5 οὐδὲ → ἁπλῶς οὐδὲ.
Cite (SBL): Palladius, Hist. Laus. 55 (Butler 1904 2:148–149; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/55). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/55
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Butler's Greek text (Texts and Studies 6.2, 1904; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Lowther Clarke's English (1918).
Chapter 56
56Butler 1904 2:149–150
Ταύτης κατ᾽ ὄπιν καὶ ἴχνος ἡ σεμνοτάτη Ὀλυμπιὰς καὶ ζηλωτικωτάτη βαίνουσα ἠκολούθησε τῇ γνώμῃ" θυγάτηρ μὲν γενομένη Σελεύκου τοῦ ἀπὸ κομήτων, ἐγγόνη δὲ ᾿Αβλαβίου τοῦ ἀπὸ ἐπάρχων, νύμφη δὲ πρὸς ὀλίγας ἡμέρας Νεβριδίον τοῦ ἀπὸ ἐπάρχων τῆς πόλεως, γυνὴ δὲ οὐδενός· λέγεται γὰρ κεκοιμῆσθαι παρθένος, ἀλλὰ σύμβιος τοῦ λόγου τῆς ἀληθείας. ἥτις πάντα διασκορπίσασα ἑαυτῆς τὰ ὑπάρχοντα διέδωκε πτωχοῖς οὐ μικροὺς ἀγῶνας ἀγωνισαμένη ὑπὲρ ἀληθείας, πολλάς τε κατηχήσασα γυναῖκας, 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 ἐκδημησάσης ἐν τοῖς κατὰ θεὸν ἀγῶσιν.
Tautēs kat᾽ opin kai ichnos hē semnotatē Olympias kai zēlōtikōtatē bainousa ēkolouthēse tę̄ gnōmę̄" thygatēr men genomenē Seleukou tou apo komētōn, engonē de ᾿Ablabiou tou apo eparchōn, nymphē de pros oligas hēmeras Nebridion tou apo eparchōn tēs poleōs, gynē de oudenos; legetai gar kekoimēsthai parthenos, alla symbios tou logou tēs alētheias. hētis panta diaskorpisasa heautēs ta hyparchonta diedōke ptōchois ou mikrous agōnas agōnisamenē hyper alētheias, pollas te katēchēsasa gynaikas, kai semnologēsasa presbyterous, kai timēsasa episkopous, kai homologias katēxiōthē tēs hyper alētheias: hēs ton bion en homologētais krinousin hoi Kōnstantinoupolin oikountes, houtōs teleutēsasēs kai pros kyrion ekdēmēsasēs en tois kata theon agōsin.
In her footsteps and track walked the most holy and zealous Olympias, who followed her purpose. She was the daughter of Seleucus the ex-count, the granddaughter of Ablabius the ex-prefect, and for a few days the bride of Nebridius, ex-prefect of the city, but the wife of no one; for she is said to have fallen asleep a virgin, but the partner of the word of truth. She scattered all her possessions and gave them to the poor, fought no small contests on behalf of the truth, instructed many women, spoke with dignity to presbyters, honoured bishops, and was counted worthy of confession on behalf of the truth. Those who live in Constantinople reckon her life among the confessors, since she died thus and departed to the Lord in contests for God's sake.
Notes and citation
Summary: Olympias of Constantinople, widowed as a bride and still a virgin, gives away her wealth, serves the church, and suffers as a confessor for the truth.
- Olympias, the deaconess and friend of John Chrysostom, suffered in the persecution of his supporters.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris; OCR slip; OCR ξ for ζ; stray bracket and marker; stray letter; stray marks; stray stop): Ὀλυμἄρ τ πιὰς → Ὀλυμπιὰς; ξηλωτικωτάτη → ζηλωτικωτάτη; μὲν. γενομένη → μὲν γενομένη; ὀλύγας → ὀλίγας; οὐδενός" ὁ λέγεται → οὐδενός· λέγεται; τοῦ ] λόγου : τῆς → τοῦ λόγου τῆς; γυναῖκας, Ϊ καὶ → γυναῖκας, καὶ; ἀγῶσιν. ᾿ς → ἀγῶσιν..
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Palladius, Hist. Laus. 56 (Butler 1904 2:149–150; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/56). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/56
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Butler's Greek text (Texts and Studies 6.2, 1904; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Lowther Clarke's English (1918).
Chapter 57
57Butler 1904 2:150–151
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 κατηχήσασα εἰς τὸν τῆς παρθενίας κλῆρον προέπεμψε πρὸς Χριστόν, δῶρον τῶν ἑαυτῆς λαγόνων, ἐς ὕστερον σωφροσύνῃ καὶ ἁγνείᾳ καὶ τοῖς τῶν χρημάτων σκορπισμοῖς ἐπακολουθήσασα τῇ ἑαυτῆς θυγατρί. ταύτην ἔγνων ἐγὼ διὰ πάσης νυκτὸς κοπιῶσαν καὶ ἀλήθουσαν ταῖς χερσὶν ἐπὶ καθαιρέσει τοῦ σώματος, διηγουμένην ὅτι Τῆς νηστείας μὴ ἐπαρκούσης σύμμαχον δίδωμι καὶ τὴν ἐπίμοχθον ἀγρυπνίαν, ἵνα καταλύσω τὸ φρύαγμα τοῦ Ἠσαῦ. ἥτις ἐναίμων μὲν καὶ ἐμψύχων εἰς ἄκρον ἀπέσχετο, ἰχθύος δὲ καὶ λαχάνων ποτὲ μετ᾽ ἐλαίου λαμβάνουσα ἐν ἑορτῇ, οὕτω διετέλεσεν ὀξυκράματι καὶ ξηρῷ ἄρτῳ ἀρκουμένη. Ταύτης κατὰ ζῆλον ὥδευσεν εὐσεβῶς τὸν τῆς παρθενίας ζυγὸν ἑλκύσασα ἡ σεμνοτάτη Γελασία, θυγάτηρ τριβούνου γενομένη" ἧς ἀρετὴ φέρεται αὕτη, ὅτι ἥλιος οὐδέποτε ἔδυ ἐπὶ λύπῃ αὐτῆς, οὐ κατὰ οἰκέτου, οὐ κατὰ θεραπαινίδος, οὐ κατά τινος ἑτέρου.
Hēs kat᾽ opin kai hōs en esoptrǭ hē makaria Kandida, hē Traïanou tou stratēlatou thygatēr, axiōs biōsasa kai eis akron semnotētos elasasa, ekklēsias te kai episkopous timēsasa, tēn men idian thygatera katēchēsasa eis ton tēs parthenias klēron proepempse pros Christon, dōron tōn heautēs lagonōn, es hysteron sōphrosynę̄ kai hagneią kai tois tōn chrēmatōn skorpismois epakolouthēsasa tę̄ heautēs thygatri. tautēn egnōn egō dia pasēs nyktos kopiōsan kai alēthousan tais chersin epi kathairesei tou sōmatos, diēgoumenēn hoti Tēs nēsteias mē eparkousēs symmachon didōmi kai tēn epimochthon agrypnian, hina katalysō to phryagma tou Ēsau. hētis enaimōn men kai empsychōn eis akron apescheto, ichthyos de kai lachanōn pote met᾽ elaiou lambanousa en heortę̄, houtō dietelesen oxykramati kai xērǭ artǭ arkoumenē. Tautēs kata zēlon hōdeusen eusebōs ton tēs parthenias zygon helkysasa hē semnotatē Gelasia, thygatēr tribounou genomenē" hēs aretē pheretai hautē, hoti hēlios oudepote edy epi lypę̄ autēs, ou kata oiketou, ou kata therapainidos, ou kata tinos heterou.
In her footsteps, and as in a mirror, the blessed Candida, the daughter of Trajan the general, lived worthily and attained the height of holiness, honouring churches and bishops. She instructed her own daughter and sent her on to Christ in the lot of virginity, a gift of her own womb; and later she followed her daughter in chastity, purity, and the scattering of her wealth. I knew her to toil all night, grinding with her own hands to subdue her body, saying, “Since fasting is not enough, I give it laborious vigil as an ally, to break down the insolence of Esau.” She abstained entirely from everything with blood and life, but taking fish and vegetables with oil on feast days, she continued so, content with vinegar-and-water and dry bread.
In emulation of her the most holy Gelasia, the daughter of a tribune, walked devoutly, drawing the yoke of virginity. This virtue of hers is reported, that the sun never set on her grief, whether against a slave, or a maidservant, or anyone else.
Eph 4:26 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Candida, daughter of a general, dedicates her daughter to virginity and subdues her body by night grinding; Gelasia never lets the sun set on her grievance.
- “The insolence of Esau” stands for the flesh. “The sun never set on her grief” echoes Eph 4:26. The OCR reads ΝΠοὲ before “with oil,” taken as ποτὲ (“on occasion”) and rendered with “on feast days.”
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris; OCR lost breathing; OCR slip; OCR slip and stray letter; OCR stray letter; OCR ξ for ζ; stray line number): ἭἪἩΣς κατ᾽ ὄπιν → Ἧς κατ᾽ ὄπιν; χρημάτῶν → χρημάτων; ταύτην .ο ἔγνων → ταύτην ἔγνων; φρύαγμα τοῦ Ησαῦ → φρύαγμα τοῦ Ἠσαῦ; λαχάνων ΝΠοὲ μετ᾽ → λαχάνων ποτὲ μετ᾽; κατὰ ξῆλον → κατὰ ζῆλον; ξυγὸν → ζυγὸν; ΤΓελασία → Γελασία; κατέ τινος ἑτέρου. Ϊ → κατά τινος ἑτέρου..
Topics: Fasting
Cite (SBL): Palladius, Hist. Laus. 57 (Butler 1904 2:150–151; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/57). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/57
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Butler's Greek text (Texts and Studies 6.2, 1904; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Lowther Clarke's English (1918).
Chapter 58
58Butler 1904 2:151–153
Ἔν ᾿Αντινόῳ τῆς Θηβαΐδος διατρίψας τέσσαρα ἔτη ἐν τοσούτῳ χρόνῳ καὶ γνῶσιν εἴληφα τῶν ἐκεῖ μοναστηρίων. καθέζονται μὲν γὰρ ἀμφὶ τὴν πόλιν ἄνδρες ὡς χίλιοι διακόσιοι, ταῖς χερσὶν ἀποζῶντες, εἰς ἄκρον ἀσκούμενοι. ἐν τούτοις εἰσὶ καὶ ἀναχωρηταὶ ἐν τοῖς σπηλαίοις τῶν πετρῶν ἑαυτοὺς ἐγκαθείρξαντες" ἐν οἷς ἐστι Σολομών τις, ἀνὴρ πραότατος καὶ σώφρων καὶ ὑπομονῆς ἔχων χάρισμα" ὃς ἔλεγεν ἔχειν πεντηκοστὸν ἔτος ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ, ἐπαρκέσας ἑαυτῷ ἐκ τοῦ ἔργου τῶν χειρῶν καὶ ἐκμαθὼν πᾶσαν ἁγίαν γραφήν. Δωρόθεος ἐν ἄλλῳ σπηλαίῳ οἰκῶν πρεσβύτερος, ὑπερβολῇ ἀγαθώτατος, καὶ αὐτὸς ζήσας τὸν ἀνεπίληπτον βίον, πρεσβυτερίου δὲ ἠξιωμένος καὶ λειτουργῶν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς τοῖς ἐν τοῖς σπηλαίοις. τούτῳ ποτὲ Μελανία ἡ νεωτέρα, τῆς μεγάλης Μελανίας ἐγγόνη, περὶ ἧς ἐς ὕστερον λέξω, ἀπέστειλε πεντακόσια νομίσματα, παρακαλέσασα αὐτὸν διακονῆσαι τοῖς ἐκεῖ ἀδελφοῖς. ὁ δὲ τρία λαβὼν μόνα, τὰ λοιπὰ παρέπεμψε Διοκλεῖ τῷ ἀναχωρητῇ, ἀνδρὶ γνωστικωτάτῳ, λέγων ὅτι Σοφώτερός μού ἐστιν ὁ ἀδελφὸς Διοκλῆς, καὶ δύναται αὐτὰ ἀβλαβῶς διοικῆσαι, ἐπιστάμενος τοὺς ὀφείλοντας ἐπικουρηθῆναι εὐλόγως" ἐγὼ γὰρ τούτοις ἀρκοῦμαι. Οὗτος ὁ Διοκλῆς ἀπὸ γραμματικῆς μὲν ἀχθεὶς τὰ πρῶτα, ἐς ὕστερον δὲ δοὺς ἑαυτὸν εἰς φιλοσοφίαν τῷ χρόνῳ τῆς χάριτος αὐτὸν ἑλκυσάσης, εἰς εἰκοστὸν ὄγδοον ἔτος ἄγων τὴν ἡλικίαν ἀπετάξατο μὲν τῶν ἐγκυκλίων μαθημάτων, συνετάξατο δὲ τῷ Χριστῷ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἔχων τριακοστὸν πέμπτον ἔτος ἐν τοῖς σπηλαίοις. ὃς ἔλεγεν ἡμῖν ὅτι Νοῦς ἀποστὰς θεοῦ ἐννοίας ἢ κτῆνος γίνεται ἢ δαίμων: καὶ τὴν μὲν ἐπιθυμίαν ἔλεγε κτηνώδη, τὸν δὲ θυμὸν δαιμονιώδη. ἐμοῦ δὲ ἀντιλέγοντος ὅτι Πῶς δυνατὸν ἀδιαλείπτως εἶναι νοῦν ἀνθρώπινον μετὰ θεοῦ ; ἔλεγεν ὁ αὐτὸς ὅτι Ἐν οἵῳ δ᾽ ἂν νοήματι ἢ πράγματι εἴη ἡ ψυχὴ εὐσεβεῖ καὶ θεϊκῷ, μετὰ θεοῦ ἐστιν. Τούτου πλησίον Καπίτων τις ἔμενεν ἀπὸ λῃστῶν" ὃς πεντήκοντα ἔτη πληρώσας ἐν τοῖς σπηλαίοις ἀπὸ τεσσάρων μιλίων τῆς πόλεως ᾿Αντινόου οὐ κατῆλθεν ἐκ τοῦ σπηλαίου οὐδὲ μέχρι τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ Νείλου, λέγων μηδέπω δύνασθαι συντυγχάνειν τοῖς ὄχλοις τῷ ἀκμὴν ἀντιπράττειν αὐτῷ τὸν ὑπεναντίον. Σὺν τούτοις ἑωράκαμεν καὶ ἕτερον ἀναχωρητὴν ὁμοίως καὶ αὐτὸν ἐν σπηλαίῳ" ὃς οἴστρῳ κενοδοξίας ἐμπαιζόμενος ὑπὸ ὀνείρων, ἀντέπαιξε τοὺς ἀπατωμένους, ἀνέμους ποιμαίνων. καὶ τὴν μὲν κατὰ σῶμα σωφροσύνην εἶχε καὶ διὰ τὸ γῆρας καὶ διὰ τὸν χρόνον, τάχα καὶ διὰ τὴν κενοδοξίαν" διέφθαρτο δὲ αὐτοῦ τὸ φρονοῦν τῇ ἀκολασίᾳ τῆς κενοδοξίας.
En ᾿Antinoǭ tēs Thēbaïdos diatripsas tessara etē en tosoutǭ chronǭ kai gnōsin eilēpha tōn ekei monastēriōn. kathezontai men gar amphi tēn polin andres hōs chilioi diakosioi, tais chersin apozōntes, eis akron askoumenoi. en toutois eisi kai anachōrētai en tois spēlaiois tōn petrōn heautous enkatheirxantes" en hois esti Solomōn tis, anēr praotatos kai sōphrōn kai hypomonēs echōn charisma" hos elegen echein pentēkoston etos en tǭ spēlaiǭ, eparkesas heautǭ ek tou ergou tōn cheirōn kai ekmathōn pasan hagian graphēn. Dōrotheos en allǭ spēlaiǭ oikōn presbyteros, hyperbolę̄ agathōtatos, kai autos zēsas ton anepilēpton bion, presbyteriou de ēxiōmenos kai leitourgōn tois adelphois tois en tois spēlaiois. toutǭ pote Melania hē neōtera, tēs megalēs Melanias engonē, peri hēs es hysteron lexō, apesteile pentakosia nomismata, parakalesasa auton diakonēsai tois ekei adelphois. ho de tria labōn mona, ta loipa parepempse Dioklei tǭ anachōrētę̄, andri gnōstikōtatǭ, legōn hoti Sophōteros mou estin ho adelphos Dioklēs, kai dynatai auta ablabōs dioikēsai, epistamenos tous opheilontas epikourēthēnai eulogōs" egō gar toutois arkoumai. Houtos ho Dioklēs apo grammatikēs men achtheis ta prōta, es hysteron de dous heauton eis philosophian tǭ chronǭ tēs charitos auton helkysasēs, eis eikoston ogdoon etos agōn tēn hēlikian apetaxato men tōn enkykliōn mathēmatōn, synetaxato de tǭ Christǭ, kai autos echōn triakoston pempton etos en tois spēlaiois. hos elegen hēmin hoti Nous apostas theou ennoias ē ktēnos ginetai ē daimōn: kai tēn men epithymian elege ktēnōdē, ton de thymon daimoniōdē. emou de antilegontos hoti Pōs dynaton adialeiptōs einai noun anthrōpinon meta theou ? elegen ho autos hoti En hoiǭ d᾽ an noēmati ē pragmati eiē hē psychē eusebei kai theïkǭ, meta theou estin. Toutou plēsion Kapitōn tis emenen apo lę̄stōn" hos pentēkonta etē plērōsas en tois spēlaiois apo tessarōn miliōn tēs poleōs ᾿Antinoou ou katēlthen ek tou spēlaiou oude mechri tou potamou tou Neilou, legōn mēdepō dynasthai syntynchanein tois ochlois tǭ akmēn antiprattein autǭ ton hypenantion. Syn toutois heōrakamen kai heteron anachōrētēn homoiōs kai auton en spēlaiǭ" hos oistrǭ kenodoxias empaizomenos hypo oneirōn, antepaixe tous apatōmenous, anemous poimainōn. kai tēn men kata sōma sōphrosynēn eiche kai dia to gēras kai dia ton chronon, tacha kai dia tēn kenodoxian" diephtharto de autou to phronoun tę̄ akolasią tēs kenodoxias.
I spent four years in Antinoe in the Thebaid, and in that time I came to know the monasteries there. About twelve hundred men live round the city, living by their hands and practising asceticism to the utmost. Among them are also anchorites who have shut themselves up in the caves of the rocks. Among these is a certain Solomon, a very gentle and self-controlled man with the gift of endurance, who said he was in his fiftieth year in the cave, supporting himself by the work of his hands and having learned all the holy Scripture by heart. Dorotheus, a presbyter, lived in another cave, exceedingly good; he too lived a blameless life, was counted worthy of the presbyterate, and ministered the liturgy to the brothers in the caves. Melania the Younger, the granddaughter of the great Melania, of whom I will speak later, once sent him five hundred gold pieces, asking him to minister to the brothers there. He took only three and sent the rest on to Diocles the anchorite, a man of great knowledge, saying, “Brother Diocles is wiser than I, and can manage them without harm, knowing those who reasonably ought to be helped; for I am content with these.”
This Diocles was first trained in grammar, and later gave himself to philosophy, grace drawing him in time. In his twenty-eighth year he renounced the general education and enlisted with Christ; he too has spent thirty-five years in the caves. He told us, “A mind that departs from the thought of God becomes either a beast or a demon”; and he called desire bestial and anger demonic. When I objected, “How is it possible for a human mind to be with God unceasingly?” he said, “In whatever pious and godly thought or action the soul is, it is with God.”
Near him lived a certain Capito, a former robber, who had completed fifty years in the caves four miles from the city of Antinoe and did not come down from the cave even as far as the river Nile, saying that he was not yet able to meet crowds, because the adversary still worked against him.
With these we saw another anchorite, likewise in a cave, who, mocked by dreams under the sting of vainglory, in turn mocked those who were deceived, shepherding the winds. He had chastity of body because of his age and the length of time, and perhaps because of his vainglory; but his mind was corrupted by the licence of vainglory.
Notes and citation
Summary: Palladius describes the cave-dwelling anchorites of Antinoe: Solomon, the presbyter Dorotheus, the learned Diocles, the former robber Capito, and a monk deluded by vainglory.
- “Shepherding the winds” echoes Prov 9:12a in the LXX (not in the Hebrew). Melania the Younger is the subject of chapter 61. A stray closing bracket at the end is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris; OCR garble of Scripture type restored (Prov 9:12a LXX); OCR lost letter; OCR stray letter; line-break hyphen rejoined; stray bracket; stray line number; stray mark; stray marker): διακόσιοι, το ταῖς → διακόσιοι, ταῖς; τῶν ι5 χειρῶν → τῶν χειρῶν; πρεσβυ- Τερίου → πρεσβυτερίου; παρέπεμψε ἊΠρπππΠ Π π τττ ,, Διοκλεῖ → παρέπεμψε Διοκλεῖ; ἐς : ὕστερον → ἐς ὕστερον; χάριτος 3.» ς- ΄ 2 ᾽ ᾿Ὶ ΕΣ δ ΕΔ 4 ν ες Η αὐτὸν → χάριτος αὐτὸν; ὅτι ᾽ν οἵῳ → ὅτι Ἐν οἵῳ; ἑωράκαμεν͵ καὶ → ἑωράκαμεν καὶ; ἐμπαιξζόμενος → ἐμπαιζόμενος; ἀνέμογο ποιμλίνων → ἀνέμους ποιμαίνων; καὶ ᾿διὰ τὴν → καὶ διὰ τὴν; κενοδοξίας. ] → κενοδοξίας..
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Palladius, Hist. Laus. 58 (Butler 1904 2:151–153; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/58). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/58
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Butler's Greek text (Texts and Studies 6.2, 1904; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Lowther Clarke's English (1918).
Chapter 59
59Butler 1904 2:153–154
Ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ πόλει ᾿Αντινόῳ ἐστὶ μοναστήρια ὧν γυναικῶν δώδεκα, ἐν οἷς καὶ συντετύχηκα ᾿Αματαλίδι γραΐδι ὀγδοήκοντα ἔτη ἐχούσῃ ἐν τῇ ἀσκήσει, ὡς καὶ αὐτὴ καὶ αἱ γειτνιῶσαι διηγοῦντο. ταύτῃ συνῴκουν ἑξήκοντα νεάνιδες αἳ τοσοῦτον αὐτὴν ἠγάπων ὡς μηδὲ κλεῖδα ἐφεστάναι τῇ αὐλῇ τοῦ μοναστηρίου, ὡς ἐν ἄλλοις, ἀλλὰ κρατεῖσθαι αὐτὰς ὑπὸ τῆς ἀγάπης ταύτης. εἰς τοσοῦτον δὲ ἀπαθείας ἤλασεν ἡ γραῦς ὡς εἰσελθόντι μοι καὶ καθεσθέντι ἐλθεῖν καὶ συγκαθεσθῆναί μοί, καὶ τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῆς ἐπιθεῖναι τοῖς ὥμοις μου ὑπερβολῇ παρρησίας. Ἐν τούτῳ τῷ μοναστηρίῳ παρθένος μαθήτρια ταύτης, Ταὼρ ὀνόματι, ἔχουσα τριάκοντα ἔτη ἐν τῷ μοναστηρίῳ, ἱμάτιον καινὸν ἢ μαφόριον ἢ ὑπόδημα λαβεῖν οὐκ ἠθέλησεν οὐδέποτε, λέγουσα ὅτι Οὐ χρείαν ἔχω, ἵνα μὴ ἀναγκασθῶ καὶ προελθεῖν. αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλαι πᾶσαι κατὰ κυριακὴν προέρχονται ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ χάριν τῆς κοινωνίας" ἐκείνη δὲ μένει ῥακοδυτοῦσα ἐν τῇ μονῇ, ἀδιαλείπτως ἐν τῷ ἔργῳ καθεζομένη. οὕτω δὲ εὐφυεστάτην εἶχε τὴν ὄψιν ὡς ἐγγὺς γενέσθαι καὶ τὸν πάνυ στερρὸν ἀπατᾶσθαι τῷ ταύτης κάλλει, εἰ μὴ φρουρὸν εἶχεν ὑπερβάλλοντα. τὴν σωφροσύνην εἰς αἰδὼ καὶ φόβον συνωθοῦσα τῇ κοσμιότητι τὸν ἀκόλαστον ὀφθαλμόν.
En tautę̄ tę̄ polei ᾿Antinoǭ esti monastēria hōn gynaikōn dōdeka, en hois kai syntetychēka ᾿Amatalidi graïdi ogdoēkonta etē echousę̄ en tę̄ askēsei, hōs kai autē kai hai geitniōsai diēgounto. tautę̄ synǭkoun hexēkonta neanides hai tosouton autēn ēgapōn hōs mēde kleida ephestanai tę̄ aulę̄ tou monastēriou, hōs en allois, alla krateisthai autas hypo tēs agapēs tautēs. eis tosouton de apatheias ēlasen hē graus hōs eiselthonti moi kai kathesthenti elthein kai synkathesthēnai moi, kai tas cheiras autēs epitheinai tois hōmois mou hyperbolę̄ parrēsias. En toutǭ tǭ monastēriǭ parthenos mathētria tautēs, Taōr onomati, echousa triakonta etē en tǭ monastēriǭ, himation kainon ē maphorion ē hypodēma labein ouk ēthelēsen oudepote, legousa hoti Ou chreian echō, hina mē anankasthō kai proelthein. hai men gar allai pasai kata kyriakēn proerchontai en tę̄ ekklēsią charin tēs koinōnias" ekeinē de menei rhakodytousa en tę̄ monę̄, adialeiptōs en tǭ ergǭ kathezomenē. houtō de euphyestatēn eiche tēn opsin hōs engys genesthai kai ton pany sterron apatasthai tǭ tautēs kallei, ei mē phrouron eichen hyperballonta. tēn sōphrosynēn eis aidō kai phobon synōthousa tę̄ kosmiotēti ton akolaston ophthalmon.
In this city of Antinoe there are twelve monasteries of women. In one of them I met Amma Talis, an old woman who had spent eighty years in asceticism, as she herself and her neighbours told. Sixty young women lived with her, who loved her so much that no key was set on the courtyard of the monastery, as in others, but they were held fast by love of her. The old woman had reached such freedom from passion that, when I came in and sat down, she came and sat down beside me and put her hands on my shoulders in her great freedom of speech.
In this monastery there was a virgin, her disciple, named Taor, who had been thirty years in the monastery and would never take a new garment, veil, or shoes, saying, “I have no need of them; otherwise I would be compelled to go out.” For all the others go out on Sunday to the church for Communion; but she stays in the monastery in rags, sitting continually at her work. Her face was so beautiful that even a very steadfast man might have come near to being led astray by her beauty, had she not had her chastity as an exceptional guard, forcing the licentious eye by her modesty into shame and fear.
Notes and citation
Summary: At Antinoe, the aged Amma Talis rules a monastery of sixty virgins by love alone, and her disciple Taor refuses new clothes so as never to go out.
- The opening phrase in the OCR is garbled; it is rendered “twelve monasteries of women.” In the last sentence a stop in the OCR divides “an exceptional guard” from “her chastity”; they are construed together.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR debris (a line partly repeated); OCR slip and stray mark; stray line number; stray marks): Ἔν "ταύτῃ → Ἐν ταύτῃ; ὧν δώδ ἐν οἵ ὲ 7 Ἂ (δ ἵδ γυναικῶν δώδεκα, ἐν οἷς Ϊ καὶ → ὧν γυναικῶν δώδεκα, ἐν οἷς καὶ; νεάνιδες αἱ το τοσοῦτον → νεάνιδες αἳ τοσοῦτον; παρρησίας. κι: Ἔν → παρρησίας. Ἐν; ἐν τῇ :ο ἐκκλησίᾳ → ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ.
Topics: Eucharist
Cite (SBL): Palladius, Hist. Laus. 59 (Butler 1904 2:153–154; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/59). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/59
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Butler's Greek text (Texts and Studies 6.2, 1904; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Lowther Clarke's English (1918).
Chapter 60
60Butler 1904 2:154–155
Ἄλλη τις γειτνιῶσά μοι, ἧς τὴν ὄψιν οὐχ ἑώρακα, προῆλθε γὰρ οὐδέποτε, ὡς λέγουσιν, ἀφ᾽ οὗ καὶ ἀπετάξατο' πληρώσασα δὲ ἑξήκοντα ἔτη ἐν τῇ ἀσκήσει μετὰ τῆς μητρὸς τῆς ἰδίας, ἐς ὕστερον ἔμελλε μεταβαίνειν τὸν βίον. καὶ παραστὰς αὐτῇ ὁ μάρτυς ὁ ἐν τῷ τόπῳ, Κόλλουθος ὀνόματι, λέγει αὐτῇ" Σήμερον μέλλεις ὁδεύειν πρὸς τὸν δεσπότην καὶ ὁρᾶν πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους" ἐλθοῦσα οὖν ἀρίστησον μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ μαρτυρίῳ. ἀναστᾶσα οὖν ὄρθρου καὶ ἐνδυσαμένη καὶ λαβοῦσα ἐν τῇ σπυρίδι τῇ ἑαυτῆς ἄρτον καὶ ἐλαίας καὶ λεπτολάχανα, μετὰ τοσαῦτα ἔτη ἐξελθοῦσα καὶ ἀπελθοῦσα εἰς τὸ μαρτύριον ηὔξατο. καὶ καιρὸν ἐπιτηρήσασα τῆς πάσης ἡμέρας ἐν ᾧ οὐδεὶς ἦν ἔνδον, καθεσθεῖσα προσκαλεῖται τὸν μάρτυρα λέγουσα' Εὐλόγησόν μου τὰ βρώματα, ἅγιε Κόλλουθε, καὶ συνόδευσόν μοι ταῖς προσευχαῖς σου. φαγοῦσα οὖν καὶ πάλιν προσευξαμένη ἦλθε περὶ ἡλίου δυσμὰς ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ. καὶ δοῦσα τῇ μητρὶ τῇ ἑαυτῆς σύγγραμμα Κλήμεντος τοῦ Στρωματέως εἰς τὸν προφήτην ᾿Αμώς, εἶπε Δὸς αὐτὸ τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ τῷ ἐξωρισμένῳ, καὶ εἰπὲ αὐτῷ Εὗξαι περὶ ἐμοῦ" ὁδεύω γάρ. καὶ ἐτελεύτησεν ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ νυκτὶ μὴ πυρέξασα μὴ κεφαλαλγήσασα, ἀλλ᾽ ἑαυτὴν ἐνταφιάσασα.
Allē tis geitniōsa moi, hēs tēn opsin ouch heōraka, proēlthe gar oudepote, hōs legousin, aph᾽ hou kai apetaxato' plērōsasa de hexēkonta etē en tę̄ askēsei meta tēs mētros tēs idias, es hysteron emelle metabainein ton bion. kai parastas autę̄ ho martys ho en tǭ topǭ, Kollouthos onomati, legei autę̄" Sēmeron melleis hodeuein pros ton despotēn kai horan pantas tous hagious" elthousa oun aristēson meth᾽ hēmōn en tǭ martyriǭ. anastasa oun orthrou kai endysamenē kai labousa en tę̄ spyridi tę̄ heautēs arton kai elaias kai leptolachana, meta tosauta etē exelthousa kai apelthousa eis to martyrion ēuxato. kai kairon epitērēsasa tēs pasēs hēmeras en hǭ oudeis ēn endon, kathestheisa proskaleitai ton martyra legousa' Eulogēson mou ta brōmata, hagie Kollouthe, kai synodeuson moi tais proseuchais sou. phagousa oun kai palin proseuxamenē ēlthe peri hēliou dysmas en tǭ oikǭ. kai dousa tę̄ mētri tę̄ heautēs syngramma Klēmentos tou Strōmateōs eis ton prophētēn ᾿Amōs, eipe Dos auto tǭ episkopǭ tǭ exōrismenǭ, kai eipe autǭ Heuxai peri emou" hodeuō gar. kai eteleutēsen en autę̄ tę̄ nykti mē pyrexasa mē kephalalgēsasa, all᾽ heautēn entaphiasasa.
Another woman, a neighbour of mine, whose face I never saw (for, they say, she never went out from the time she renounced the world), having completed sixty years in asceticism with her own mother, was later about to depart this life. The martyr of the place, named Colluthus, stood by her and said to her, “Today you are to journey to the Master and to see all the saints. Come, then, and dine with us in the martyr's shrine.” So she got up at dawn, dressed, put in her basket bread, olives, and small herbs, and after so many years went out, went to the martyr's shrine, and prayed. Watching all day for a time when no one was inside, she sat down and called on the martyr, saying, “Bless my food, holy Colluthus, and accompany me with your prayers.” She ate, prayed again, and came home about sunset. And giving her mother a treatise of Clement the Stromatist on the prophet Amos, she said, “Give this to the exiled bishop, and tell him, ‘Pray for me, for I am going on my journey.’” And she died that very night, without fever or headache, having laid herself out for burial.
Notes and citation
Summary: A recluse of Antinoe, told by the martyr Colluthus that she will die that day, eats a last meal at his shrine, sends a book of Clement to an exiled bishop, and dies.
- Colluthus was a martyr of Antinoe. “Clement the Stromatist” is Clement of Alexandria; his work on Amos is otherwise unknown. The exiled bishop is not named. Butler's English note at the end was removed by a logged correction.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (English note on chapter order removed; OCR slip; OCR stray letters; stray mark): "Αλλη τις → Ἄλλη τις; ἑώρακα, ' προῆλθε → ἑώρακα, προῆλθε; προσευχαῖς σον. → προσευχαῖς σου.; “οσύγγραμμα → σύγγραμμα; ἐνταφιάσασα. ] ῃ Ρ ΠΧ], ΧΙ ἐπα Δύο ΠΟΙ ον 1Ἱ, ΠΥ; ΠΕΣ, ΠΧ οοτηθ Ὀβῦνθθῃ → ἐνταφιάσασα..
Cite (SBL): Palladius, Hist. Laus. 60 (Butler 1904 2:154–155; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/60). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/palladius-historia-lausiaca/60
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-palladius-historia-lausiaca-60) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Butler's Greek text (Texts and Studies 6.2, 1904; OCR by this project); every chapter compared afterwards with Lowther Clarke's English (1918).