Church History 4.23–4.27
Greek text: PG 67 (OCR text layer from the Bavarian State Library, cleaned for this site).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 2 (1890).
Chapter 4
4.23PG 67:509–521
Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ μοναστηρίων μνήμην ἐποιησάμην, οὐδὲν κωλύει περὶ αὐτῶν βραχέα διεξελθεῖν. Τὰ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἀσκητήρια ἴσως μὲν ἐκ μακρῶν τῶν χρόνων ἔλαβε τὴν ἀρχήν. Ἐπλατύνθη μέντοι καὶ ἐπὶ μείζον προέκοψεν ἐξ ἀνδρὸς θεοφιλοῦς, ᾧ ὄνομα ἦν Αμμοῦν. Οὗτος νέος ὧν παρῃτεῖτο τὸν γάμον. Ὡς δέ τινες τῶν προσηκόντων παρήνουν μὴ καθυβρίζειν τὸν γάμον, ἀλλὰ γυναῖκα ἄγεσθαι, πείθεται μὲν, καὶ ἔρχεται ἐπὶ γάμον. Εὐθὺς δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς παστάδος παραλαβὼν τὴν παρθένον, καὶ ἀγαγών ἐπὶ τὴν κοιτῶνα μετὰ τῆς εἰωθυίας πομπῆς, τέλος ἀναχωρησάντων τῶν ἐπιτηδείων, αὐτὸς βιβλίον λαβὼν ἀποστολικὸν, την πρὸς Κορινθίους Παύλου ἐπιστολὴν ἀνεγίνωσκε, καὶ πρὸς τὴν γαμετὴν τὰ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου πρὸς τοὺς γεγαμηκότας παραγγέλματα διεξήρχετο. Πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἔξωθεν αὐτὸς προστιθεὶς ἐδίδασκεν, ὅσα ὁ γάμος ἔχει φορτικά, ὅπως τε ἐπώδυνος ἡ μεταξὺ ἀνδρὸς καὶ γυναικὸς συμβίωσις, καὶ οἷαι ὠδῖνες τὴν κυοφοροῦσαν ἐκδέχονται · καὶ τὰ ἐκ τῆς παιδοτροφίας προσετίθει μοχθηρά. Ἐπῆγε δὲ τὰ ἐκ τῆς ἀγνείας χρηστὰ, καὶ ὅπως ὁ καθαρός βίος ἐστὶν ἐλεύθερος, καὶ ἀμόλυντος, καὶ παντὸς ῥύπου ἐκτὸς · καὶ ὅτι ἡ παρθενία παρὰ Θεὸν εἶναι ποιεῖ. Ταῦτα καὶ πολλα το αῦτα πρὸς τὴν γαμετὴν παρθένον οὖσαν διελθών, πείθει αὐτὴν σὺν αὐτῷ, πρὸ τοῦ συνελθεῖν, ἀποτάξασθαι τῷ βίῳ τῷ κοσμικῷ. Καὶ ταύτος ἄμφω τὰς συνθήκας θέμενοι, ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος τῆς χρόνον καλύβῃ διάγοντες, ἀσκητήριον εἶχον κοινὸν, οὐκ ἔχοντες διάκρισιν θηλείας τε καὶ ἄῤῥενος· ἀλλὰ ὄντες ἓν, κατὰ τὸν ᾿Απόστολον, ἐν Χριστῷ. Οὐ πολλοῦ δὲ παραδραμόντος καιροῦ, ἡ νεόνυμφος καὶ ἀμόλυντος τοιάδε πρὸς τὸν Ἀμμοῦν ἔλεξεν· Οὐ πρέπον, ἔφη, ἀσκοῦντί σοι σωφροσύνην, ὁρᾶν ἐν τοσούτῳ οἱκήματι θήλειαν. Διὸ, εἰ δοκεῖ, ἕκαστος ἰδίᾳ τὴν ἄσκησιν ποιησώμεθα. Αὗται πάλιν αἱ συνθῆκαι ἤρεσκον ἀμφοτέροις · καὶ χωρισθέντες ἀπ᾿ ἀλλήλων, οὗτως τὸ λοιπὸν τοῦ βίου διήνυσαν, ἀπεχόμενοι οίνου τε καὶ ἐλαίου, μόνον τε ξηρὸν ἄρτον, καὶ αὐτὸν ποτὲ μὲν ὑπὲρ μίαν ἡμέραν, ποτὲ δὲ ὑπὲρ δύο, ἔστι δὲ καὶ ὑπὲρ πλείους ἐσθίοντες. Τούτου τοῦ Ἀμμοῦν τὴν ψυχὴν μετὰ θάνατον ἀναλαμβανομένην ὑπὸ ἀγγέλων καλουμένης Νιτρίας χωροῦσιν. Ἐκεῖ τε βραχύν ὁ κατ' αὐτὸν βιώσας ᾿Αντώνιος ἐθεάσατο, ὡς φησιν ἑαυτ ἐν τῷ βίῳ αὐτοῦ ὁ τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρείας ἐπίσκοπος ᾿Αθανάσιος. Ἐζήλωσαν οὖν τὸν βίον τοῦ ᾿Αμμοῦν πάνυ πολλοὶ, καὶ κατὰ μέρος ἐπληρώθη τὸ τῆς Ν.τρίας ὄρος, καὶ τὸ τῆς Σκίτεως, ἐκ τοῦ πλήθους τῶν μοναχῶν. Ὧν πάντων τὸν βίον συγγράφειν, ἰδίας ἔργον ἐστὶν ὑποθέσεως. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐγένοντο ἐν αὐτοῖς ἄνδρες θεοφιλεῖς, καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀσκήσει διαπρέψαντες, καὶ ἀποστολικὸν βίον βιώσαντες, χρειώδη τέ τινα καὶ ἄξια τοῦ ἀπομνημονεύεσθαι ἐποίησάν τε καὶ ἔλεξαν, χρήσιμον οἶμαι ἐκ πολλῶν ὀλίγα ἐγκαταμίξαι τῇ Ἱστορίᾳ, πρὸς ὠφέλειαν τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων. Λέγεται τοίνυν Αμμοῦν οὗτος γυμνὸν ἑαυτὸν μὴ ἑωρακέναι ποτὲ, λέγων ἀπρεπὲς εἶναι μοναχῷ, καὶ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σῶμα γυμνὸν θεωρεῖν. Καί ποτε διαβῆναι ποταμὸν βουλόμενος, ὤκνει ἀποδύσασθαι · ηὔξατό τε τῷ Θεῷ, γενέσθαι αὐτῷ τὴν διάβασιν μὴ ἐγκοπτομένῳ τὴν πρόθεσιν · καὶ ἄγγελος μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ πέραν τοῦ ποταμοῦ. Δίδυμος ἄλλος οὗτος μοναχὸς, ἐννενήκοντα ἔτη βιοὺς, οὐδενὶ ἀνθρώπῳ συνέμεινεν ἄχρι τῆς τελευτῆς. ᾿Αρσήνιος ἄλλος τοὺς τῶν νέων πταίσαντας οὐκ ἀφώριζεν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς προκόψαντας · λέγων ὅτι ὁ νέος ἀφορισθεὶς, καταφρονητής γίνεται, ὁ δὲ προκόψας τῆς ἐκ τοῦ ἀφορισμοῦ ὀδύνης ταχεῖαν λαμβάνει τὴν αἴσθησιν. Πίωρ περι πατῶν ἤσθιεν. Πυθομένου δὲ τινος διὰ τί οὕτως ἐσθίει· Οὐ βούλομαι, ἔφη, ὡς ἔργῳ τῷ βρώματο χρήσασθαι, ἀλλ' ὡς παρέργῳ. Πρὸς ἄλλον δὲ περὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐρωτήσαντα ἀπεκρίνατος Ἵνα μηδὲ ἐν τῷ ἐσθίειν, φησὶν, ἡδονῆς σωματικῆς αἰσθάνοιτο ἡ ψυχή. Ἰσίδωρος ἔλεγε τεσσαραχοστὸν ἔτος ἔχειν, ἀφ᾽ οὗ αἰσθόνεσθαι:ι μὲν τῆς κατὰ διάνοιαν ἁμαρτίας, μηδέ ποτε δὲ συγκατατίθεσθαι, μήτε ἐπιθυμίᾳ. μήτε θυμῷ. Παμδὼς δὲ ἀγράμματος ὧν, προσῆλθέ τινι ἐπὶ τῷ διδαχθῆναι ψαλμόν " ἀκούσας τὸν πρῶτον στίχον τοῦ ψαλμοῦ τοῦ λέγοντος" « Εἶπα, Φυλάξω τὰς ὁδηύς τοῦ μὴ ἁμαρτάνειν με ἐν γλώτσῃ » δευτέρου ἀκοῦσαι μὴ ἀνεχόμενοξ, ἀνεχώρησεν" ἀρχεῖσθαι φήσας τούτῳ τῷ ἑνὶ στίχῳ, ἐὰν δυνηθῶ ἔργῳ αὐτὸν ἐκμαθεῖν. ᾿Εγχαλέσαντος δὲ τοῦ παραδεδωχότος τὸν στίχον, διὰ τί ἐξαμηνιαίου παραδραμόντο: χρόνου μὴ ἑωράχει αὐτὸν, ἀπεκρίνατο" ὅτι Τοῦ ψαλμοῦ τὸν στίχον οὕπω τῷ ἔργῳ ἐξέμαθον. Μεταταῦτα δὲ πολλοὺς ἐπιδιοὺς χρόνους, πρός τινα τῶν γνωρίμων ἐρωτήσαντα εἰ τὸν στίχον ἐξέμαθεν Ἐν ὅλοις, ἔφη, ἐννεαχαίδεχα ἔτεσι μόλις αὐτὸν πράττειν ἐξέμαθον. αὐτὸς, δεδωκότος τινὸς ρυσίον εἰς διατροφὴν τῶν πτωχῶν, καὶ εἰπόντος, ᾿Αρίθμησον ὃ δέδωχα, ἔφη, ἀριθμοῦ οὐ χρήζειν, ἀλλ' ὑγιοῦς διαθέσεως. Οὗτος ὁ Παμθὼς, ᾿Αθανασίου τοῦ ἐπισκόπου παραχαλέσαντος, κατῆλθεν τῆς ἐρήμου εἰς τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν. Ἰδὼν δὲ ἐκεῖ γυναῖκα θεατοιχὴν, σύνδαχρυς ἐγένετο" τῶν δὲ παρόντων πυθομένων διὰ τί ἐδάκρυσε, Δύο μὲν, ἔφη, ἐχένησεν}" μὲν, ἡ ἐκείνη: ἀπώλεια " ἕτερον δὲ, ὅτι ἐγὼ οὐ τηλικαύτην ἔχω σπουδὴν πρὸς τὸ ἀρέσαι τῷ Θεῷ, ὅσον αὕτη ἵνα ἀρέτῃ ἀνθρώποις αἰσχροῖς. δέ τις ἔλεγεν, ὅτι ὁ μοναχὸς εἰ μὴ ἐργάζοιτο, ἐπίσης τῷ πλεονέχτῃ χρίνεται. Πητιροῦς πολλά τινα φυσιχὰ θεωρήματα ἠπίστατο " καὶ συνεχῶς ἄλλοτε ἄλλα πρὸς τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας ἔλεγεν καθ' ἕκαστον δὲ τῶν () θεωρημάτων τὔχετο. Ἐγένοντο δὲ ἐν τοῖς μοναχοῖς ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον, δύο ἄνδρες θεη)φιλεῖς ὁμώνυμοι ἐχυτοῖ; ἑκατέρῳ γὰρ αὐτῷ ὄνομα 1» Ὧν ὁ μὲν τῆς ἄνω Αἰγύπτου ἣν " ὁ δὲ, τῆς ᾿Αλεξανδρέων πόλεως. ᾿Αμφότεροι δὲ πολλῶν ἕνεκεν ἐγένοντο περιβθόητοι, δι᾽ ἄσκησιν, διὰ βίον, διὰ τὰ ἐν χερσὶν αὐτῶν γενόμενα θαύματα. Ὁ μὲν οὖν Αἰγύπτιος Μακάριος " τοσαύτας θεραπείας ποιησάμενος, γαὶ τοσούτους τῶν δαιμονώντων ἐξήλασε δαίμονα:, ὡς ἰδίας δεῖσθαι συγγραφῆς » ὧν χάριτι Θεοῦ διεπράξατο. Ἦν δὲ μετὰ τοῦ εὐλαθοῦς πρὸς τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας αὐστηρός. Ὃ δὲ ᾿Αλεξανδρεὺς : Μακάριος ? πάντα παραπλήσιος ὧν τῷ οἱ , ἃ πτίῳ, τούτῳ διήλλασσεν, ὅτι πρὸς τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας ἱλαρός τε καὶ τῷ χαριεντίζεοθαι τοὺς ψέους ἣγεν πρὺς ἄσκησιν. Τούτων Εὐάγριος γενόμενος μαθητὴς, τὴν δι᾽ ἔργων φιλοσοφίαν ἐκτήσατο, πρότερον λόγῳ μόνῳ φιλόσοφος Ὃς ἐν τῇ Κωνσταντίνου πόλει ὑπὸ Γρηγορίον τοῦ Ναζιανζηνοῦ εἰς τὴν τοῦ διακόνου προχειρισθεὶς τάξιν, εἶτα ἅμα αὐτῷ εἰς τὴν Αἴγυπτον κατελθὼν, τοῖς προλεχθεῖσιν ἔντυχὼν ἀνδράσι, τὸν ἐκείνων βίον ἐζήλωσε. Καὶ τοσχῦτα τεράστια ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτοῦ γέγονεν, ὅσα καὶ ἐν ταῖς τῶν αὐτοῦ καθηγητῶν. Τούτῳ καὶ βιδλία ἄγαν σπουδαῖα συγγέγραπται. Ὧν τὸ μὲν, Μοναχὸς, ἣ περὶ πραχτίχῆς ἐπιγέγραπται " τὸ δὲ, Γνωστιχὸς, πρὸς τὸν χαταξιωθέντα γνώσεως. Κεφάλαια δὲ αὐτοῦ πεντήκοντα. Τὸ δὲ, ᾿Αντιῤῥητιχὸς, ἀπὸ τῶν θείων Γραφῶν πρὸς τοὺς πειράζοντας δαίμονας, ἐν ὀκτὼ διῃρημένον μέρεσι, κατὰ τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν ὀκτὼ λογισμῶν. Καὶ ἐξαχόσια προγνωστιχὰ ἔτι μὴν στιχηρὰ δύο" πρὸς τοὺς ἐν τοῖς χοινοδίοις 3| ἐν συνοδίαις μοναχούς " καὶ ἕν πρὸς τὴν παρθένον. τινα ὅπως ἐστὶ θαυμαστὰ, οἱ ἐντυγχάνοντες εἴσονται. Εὔχαιροον δὲ, ὡς ἡγοῦμαι, μικρὰ τῶν αὐτῷ μνημονευθέντων περὶ τῶν μοναχῶν τούτοις συνάψαι. Φησὶ γὰρ κατὰ λέξιν τάδε " ᾿Αναγκαῖον καὶ τὰς ὁδοὺς τῶν προοδευσάντων μοναχῶν ὀρθῶς διερωτᾷν, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὰς χατορθοῦσθα:. Πολλὰ γάρ ἐστιν ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν ῥηθέντα τε πραχθέντα Ἐν οἷς καὶ τοῦτό τις ἔφησεν, ὅτι τὴν ξηροτέραν καὶ μὴ ἀνώμαλον δίαιταν ἀγάπῃ συζευχθεῖσαν, θᾶττον διάγειν τὸν μοναχὸν εἰς τὸν τῆς ἀπαθεία: λιμένα. Ὁ δὲ αὐτὸς ταρασσόμενόν τινα νύκτωρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν τῶν φασμάτων ἀπήλλαξεν, ἀσθενοῦσι μετὰ νηστείας ὑπηρετῆσαι προστάξας. Οὐδενὶ γὰρ οὕτως, ἐρωτηθεὶς ἔφησεν, ὡς ἐλέῳ τὰ τοιαῦτα χατασθέννυται πάθη. Τῷ διχαίῳ ᾿Αντωνέῳ προσῆλθέν τις τῶν τότε σοφῶν, Πῶς διαχαρτερεῖς, εἶπεν, ὦ Πάτερ, τῆς ἐχ τῶν βιθλίων παραμυθίας ἐστερημένος ; Τὸ ἐμὸν βιβλίον, ὁ ᾿Αντώνιο:ξ, ὦ φιλόσοφε, 7) φύσις τῶν γεγονόπων ἐστὶ, καὶ πάρεστιν ὅτε βούλομαι τοὺς λύγους ἀναγινώσκειν τοὺς τοῦ θεοῦ. Ἠρώτησέ τὸ σχεῦος τῆς ἐχλογῆς, ὁ Δἰγύπτιος γέρων Μακάριος, τί δή ποτε μνησικακοῦντες μὲν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, τὴν μνημονευτικὴν δύναμιν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀφανίζομεν· δαίμοσι δὲ μνησικακοῦντες, ἀβλαβεῖς διαμένομεν. Κάμοῦ πρὸς τὴν ἀπόκρισιν ἀπορήσαντος, καὶ παρακαλοῦντος τὸν λόγον μαθεῖν· Διότι, φησὶν ἐκεῖνος, τὸ μὲν πρότερον πάθος παρὰ φύσιν, τὸ δὲ δεύτερον κατὰ φύσιν ἐστὶ τοῦ θυμοῦ. Παρέβαλλον κατ᾿ αὐτὴν τὴν σταθηρὰν μεσημβρίαν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πατρὶ Μακαρίῳ, καὶ λίαν ὑπὸ τῆς δίψης φλεγόμενος, ᾔτουν ὕδωρ πιεῖν. Ὁ δὲ φησιν, Αρκέσθητι τῇ σκιᾷ · πολλοὶ γὰρ ὁδοιποροῦντες νῦν ἢ καὶ πλέοντες καὶ ταύτης ἐστέρηνται. Εἶτα λόγους μου πρὸς αὐτὸν περὶ ἐγκρατείας γυμνάζοντος, Θάρσει, φησὶν, ὦ τέκνον· ἐν ὅλοις εἴκοσιν, οὔτε ἄρτου, οὔτε ὕδατος, οὔτε ὕπνου κόρον εἴληφα. Τὸν μὲν γὰρ ἄρτον μου ἤσθιον σταθμῷ · τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ ἔπινον μέτρῳ· τοῖς τοίχοις δὲ ἐμαυτὸν παρανακλίνων, μικρόν τι τοῦ ὕπνου μέρος ἀφήρπαζον. Ἐμηνύθη τινὶ τῶν μοναχῶν θάνατος τοῦ πατρός. Ὁ δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἀπαγγείλαντα, Παῦσαι, φησί, βλασφημῶν· ὁ γὰρ ἐμὸς πατὴρ ἀθάνατός ἐστιν. Ἐκέκτητό τις τῶν ἀδελφῶν Εὐαγγέλιον μόνον. Καὶ τοῦτο πωλήσας, ἔδωκεν εἰς τροφὴν τοῖς πεινῶσιν, ἄξιον μνήμης ἐπιφθεγξάμενος ῥῆμα · Αὐτὸν γὰρ, φησὶ, τὸν λόγον πεπώληκα τὸν λέγοντα· Πώλησόν σου τὰ ὑπάρχοντα, καὶ δὸς πτωχοῖς. Ἔστι δέ τις περὶ τὴν ᾿Αλεξάνδρειαν νῆσος, κατ᾿ αὐτὸ τὸ βόρειον, πέραν τῆς λίμνης κειμένη τῆς καλουμένης Μαρίας. Προσοικεῖ δὲ αὐτῇ μοναχὸς, τῆς Παρεμβολῆς τῶν Γνωστικῶν ὁ δοκιμώτατος, ὅστις ἀπεφήνατο πάντα τὰ πραττόμενα ὑπὸ τῶν μοναχῶν πράττεσθαι δι' αἰτίας πέντε· διὰ Θεὸν, διὰ φύσιν, διὰ ἔθος, δι᾽ ἀνάγκην, διὰ ἔργον χειρῶν. Ὁ δὲ αὐτὸς ἔλεγε πάλιν, μίαν μὲν εἶναι τῇ φύσει τὴν ἀρετήν· εἰδοποιεῖσθαι δὲ αὐτὴν ἐν ταῖς δυνάμεσι τῆς ψυχῆς. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τὸ φῶς τὸ ἡλιακὸν, ἀσχημάτιστον μὲν, φησὶν, ἐστί· ταῖς δὲ δι᾽ ὧν εἰσβάλλει θυρίσι σχηματίζεσθαι πέφυκεν. "Αλλος δέ τις τῶν μοναχῶν, Διὰ τοῦτο περιαιρῶ τὰς ἡδονὰς, εἶπεν, ἵνα τὰς τοῦ θυμοῦ περικόψω προφάσεις. Οἶδα γὰρ αὐτὸν ἀεὶ μαχόμενον ὑπὲρ τῶν ἡδονῶν, καὶ ἐκταράσσοντά μου τὸν νοῦν, καὶ τὴν γνῶσιν ἀποδιώκοντα. Ἔλεγε δὲ τις τῶν γερόντων, ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη παραθήκας βρωμάτων ἢ χρημάτων τηρεῖν οὐκ ἐπίσταται. Ὁ δὲ αὐτὸς, Οὐκ οἶδα, φησὶν, εἰς ταὐτὸ δὲς ὑπὸ δαιμόνων μένῳ αὐτοῦ Πρακτικῷ κατὰ λέξιν ἀπεμνημόνευσεν. Ἐν δὲ τῷ Γνωστικῷ αὐτοῦ τοιαῦτά φησι · Τέσσαρας ἀρετὰς, καὶ τὰς θεωρίας αὐτῶν, παρὰ τοῦ δικαίου Γρηγορίου μεμαθήκαμεν εἶναι· φρόνησιν καὶ ἀνδρείαν, σωφροσύνην καὶ δικαιοσύνην. Καὶ φρονήσεως μὲν ἔργον ἔλεγεν εἶναι, τὸ θεωρεῖν τὰς νοερὰς καὶ ἁγίας δυνάμεις, δίχα τῶν λόγων. Τούτους γὰρ ὑπὸ τῆς σοφίας δηλοῦσθαι παραδέδωκεν. ᾿Ανδρείας δὲ, τὸ ἐγκαρτερεῖν τοῖς ἀληθέσι καὶ πολεμούμενον, καὶ μὴ ἐμβατεύειν εἰς τὰ μὴ ὄντα. Τὸ δὲ παρὰ τοῦ πρώτου γεωργοῦ δέχεσθαι σπέρματα, καὶ ἀπωθεῖσθαι τὸν ἐπισπορέα, τῆς σωφροσύνης ἴδιον ἀπεκρίνατο εἶναι. Δικαιοσύνης δὲ πάλιν, τὸ κατ᾿ ἀξίαν ἑκάστου λόγον ἀποδιδόναι, τὰ μὲν σκοτεινῶς ἀπαγγέλλουσαν · τὰ δὲ ἀπατηθείς. Ταῦτα μὲν ὁ Εὐάγριος ἐν τῷ ἐπιγραφοδι' αἰνιγμάτων σημαίνουσαν· τινὰ δὲ καὶ φανεροῦσαν πρὸς ὠφέλειαν τῶν ἁπλουστέρων. Τῆς ἀληθείας στύλος ὁ Καππαδόκης Βασίλειος, Τὴν μὲν ἀπ᾿ ἀνθρώπων, φησὶν, ἐπισυμβαίνουσαν γνῶσιν προσεχής μελέτη καὶ γυμνασία κρείσσονα ποιεῖ · τὴν δὲ ἐκ Θεοῦ χάριτος ἐγγινομένην, δικαιοσύνη καὶ ἀοργησία καὶ ἔλεος. Καὶ τὴν μὲν προτέραν δυνατὸν καὶ τοὺς ἐμπαθεῖς ὑποδέξασθαι· τῆς δὲ δευτέρας οἱ ἀπαθεῖς μόνοι εἰσὶ δεκτικοὶ, οἱ καὶ παρὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς προσευχῆς τὸ οἰκεῖον φέγγος τοῦ νοῦ περιλάμπον αὐτοὺς θεωροῦσι. Τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ὁ ἅγιος φωστήρ ᾿Αθανάσιος · Τὴν τράπεζαν, φησὶ, Μωϋσῆς εἰς τὸ βόρειον μέρος στῆσαι προστάσσεται. Γινωσκέτωσαν οἱ Γνωστικοί, τίς ὁ πνέων ἐστὶ κατ᾿ αὐτῶν, καὶ πάντα πειρασμὸν γενναίως ὑπομενέτωσαν, καὶ μετὰ προθυμίας τοὺς προσιόντας τρεφέιωσαν. Ἔλεγε δὲ ὁ τῆς Θμουϊτῶν Ἐκκλησίας ἄγγελος Σαραπίων, ὅτι ὁ νοῦς μὲν πεπωκὼς πνευματικὴν γνῶσιν τελείως καθαίρεται· ἀγάπη δὲ τὰ φλεγμαίνοντα μόρια τοῦ θυμοῦ θεραπεύει· πονηρὰς δὲ ἐπιθυμίας ἐπιῤῥεούσας ἴστησιν ἐγκράτεια. Τοὺς περὶ Προνοίας καὶ κρίσεως κατὰ σαυτὸν ἀεὶ γύμναζε λόγους, φησὶν ὁ μέγας καὶ γνωστικὸς διδάσκαλος Δίδυμος, καὶ τούτων τὰς ὕλας διὰ μνήμης φέρειν πειράθητι. "Απαντες γὰρ σχεδὸν ἐν τούτοις προσπταίουσι. Καὶ τοὺς μὲν περὶ κρίσεως λόγους, ἐν τῇ διαφορᾷ τῶν σωμάτων καὶ κατὰ τὸν κόσμον εὑρήσεις· τοὺς δὲ περὶ Προνοίας, ἐν τοῖς τρόποις τοῖς ἀπὸ κακίας καὶ ἀγνωσίας ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἢ ἐπὶ τὴν γνῶσιν ἡμᾶς ἐπανάγουσι. Τοσαῦτα μὲν ἐκ τῶν Εὐαγρίου ἐνταῦθα παρεθέμεθα. Ἐγένετο δὲ καὶ ἄλλος ἀνὴρ θαυμάσιος ἐν τοῖς μοναχοῖς, ᾧ ὄνομα ᾿Αμμώνιος, ὅστις οὕτως ἦν ἀπερίεργος, ὥστε ἐν τῇ Ῥώμῃ ἅμα ᾿Αθανασίῳ γενόμενος, μηδὲν ἑλέσθαι ἱστορῆσαι τῶν ἔργων τῆς πόλεως · μόνον δὲ ἰδεῖν τὸ Πέτρου καὶ Παύλου μαρτύριον. Οὗτος ὁ ᾿Αμμώνιος εἰς ἐπισκοπὴν ἑλχόμενος, : διαφυγὼν, τὸ δεξιὸν αὐτοῦ ἐξέκοψεν, ὅπως ἂν τῷ ἀσχήμῳ τοῦ σώματος τὴν χειροτονίαν ἐχφύγῃ. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ χρόνῳ ὕστερον Εὐάγριος ὑπὸ θεοφίλον τοῦ ἐπισκόπου ᾿Αλεξανδρείας πρὸς ἐπισκοπὴν συλληφθεὶς ἀπέφυγεν, οὐδὲν ἀχρωτηριάσας τοῦ σώματος, περιτυχὼν τῷ ᾿Αμμωνίῳ χαριεντιζόμενος ἔλεγεν, ὡς κακῶς εἴη πράξας, ἐχχόψας τὴν ἀκοὴν, ἔνοχος εἶναι Θεοῦ τοῦτο ποιήσας. Ὁ δὲ ᾿Αμμώνιος πρὸς αὐτόν ᾿Αλλὰ σὺ, ἔφη, Εὐάγριε, οὐχ οἴει δώσειν δίκην, τὴν γλῶσσαν ἀποτεμὼν, διὰ φιλαυτίαν τῇ δοθείσῃ χάριτι μὴ χρησάμενος ; Ἐγένοντο μὲν οὖν κατὰ τὸν αὑτὸν χρόνον ἐν τοῖς μοναστηρίοις καὶ ἄλλοι πλεῖστοι ἄνδρες θαυμαστοὶ καὶ θεοφιλεῖς, ὧν ἐν τῇ προχειμένῃ συγγραφῇ μνημονεύειν μακρὸν ἂν εἴη ἄλλως τε καὶ ἐχθδαίνειν τοῦ προκειμένου ἀνάγκη, εἰ βουλοίμεθα καθέκαστον τῶν ἀνδρῶν τοὺς βίους, καὶ ὅσα ἐποίησαν θαύματα διὰ τὴν προσοῦσαν αὐτοῖς ἁγιότητα λέγειν, Ἐξ δέ τις βούλοιτο τὰ περὶ αὐτῶν μανθάνειν, ὧν τε ἐποίησαν, ὧν τε ἔπραξαν, καὶ ὧν πρὸς ὠφέλειαν τῶν ἀκουσάντων ἐφθέγξαντο, ὅπως τε ἀὐτοῖς τὰ θηρία ὑπήκουον, πεπόνηται Παλλαδίῳ τῷ μοναχῷ ἴδιον μονόβιβλον, ὃς Εὐαγρίου μὲν ἦν μαθητής " πάντα δὲ ἀκριβῶς περὶ αὐτῶν διεξῆλθεν. Ἐν ᾧ γυναικῶν ἐφάμιλλον τοῖς προειρημένοις ἀνδράσιν ἐπανελομένων βίον, μνήμην πεποίηται. Εὐάγριος ? μὲν οὖν Παλλάδιος μικρὸν ὕστερον μετὰ τὴν Οὐάλεντος τελευτὴν ἤνθησαν. Ἐπανέλθωμεν δὲ ὅθεν ἐξέθημεν.
Epeidē de tōn en Aigyptǭ monastēriōn mnēmēn epoiēsamēn, ouden kōlyei peri autōn brachea diexelthein. Ta en Aigyptǭ askētēria isōs men ek makrōn tōn chronōn elabe tēn archēn. Eplatynthē mentoi kai epi meizon proekopsen ex andros theophilous, hǭ onoma ēn Ammoun. Houtos neos hōn parę̄teito ton gamon. Hōs de tines tōn prosēkontōn parēnoun mē kathybrizein ton gamon, alla gynaika agesthai, peithetai men, kai erchetai epi gamon. Euthys de apo tēs pastados paralabōn tēn parthenon, kai agagōn epi tēn koitōna meta tēs eiōthuias pompēs, telos anachōrēsantōn tōn epitēdeiōn, autos biblion labōn apostolikon, tēn pros Korinthious Paulou epistolēn aneginōske, kai pros tēn gametēn ta tou Apostolou pros tous gegamēkotas parangelmata diexērcheto. Polla de kai exōthen autos prostitheis edidasken, hosa ho gamos echei phortika, hopōs te epōdynos hē metaxy andros kai gynaikos symbiōsis, kai hoiai ōdines tēn kyophorousan ekdechontai ; kai ta ek tēs paidotrophias prosetithei mochthēra. Epēge de ta ek tēs agneias chrēsta, kai hopōs ho katharos bios estin eleutheros, kai amolyntos, kai pantos rhypou ektos ; kai hoti hē parthenia para Theon einai poiei. Tauta kai polla to auta pros tēn gametēn parthenon ousan dielthōn, peithei autēn syn autǭ, pro tou synelthein, apotaxasthai tǭ biǭ tǭ kosmikǭ. Kai tautos amphō tas synthēkas themenoi, epi to oros tēs chronon kalybę̄ diagontes, askētērion eichon koinon, ouk echontes diakrisin thēleias te kai arrhenos; alla ontes hen, kata ton ᾿Apostolon, en Christǭ. Ou pollou de paradramontos kairou, hē neonymphos kai amolyntos toiade pros ton Ammoun elexen; Ou prepon, ephē, askounti soi sōphrosynēn, horan en tosoutǭ hoikēmati thēleian. Dio, ei dokei, hekastos idią tēn askēsin poiēsōmetha. Hautai palin hai synthēkai ēreskon amphoterois ; kai chōristhentes ap᾿ allēlōn, houtōs to loipon tou biou diēnysan, apechomenoi oinou te kai elaiou, monon te xēron arton, kai auton pote men hyper mian hēmeran, pote de hyper dyo, esti de kai hyper pleious esthiontes. Toutou tou Ammoun tēn psychēn meta thanaton analambanomenēn hypo angelōn kaloumenēs Nitrias chōrousin. Ekei te brachyn ho kat' auton biōsas ᾿Antōnios etheasato, hōs phēsin heaut en tǭ biǭ autou ho tēs ᾿Alexandreias episkopos ᾿Athanasios. Ezēlōsan oun ton bion tou ᾿Ammoun pany polloi, kai kata meros eplērōthē to tēs N.trias oros, kai to tēs Skiteōs, ek tou plēthous tōn monachōn. Hōn pantōn ton bion syngraphein, idias ergon estin hypotheseōs. Epei de egenonto en autois andres theophileis, kai en tę̄ askēsei diaprepsantes, kai apostolikon bion biōsantes, chreiōdē te tina kai axia tou apomnēmoneuesthai epoiēsan te kai elexan, chrēsimon oimai ek pollōn oliga enkatamixai tę̄ Historią, pros ōpheleian tōn entynchanontōn. Legetai toinyn Ammoun houtos gymnon heauton mē heōrakenai pote, legōn aprepes einai monachǭ, kai to heautou sōma gymnon theōrein. Kai pote diabēnai potamon boulomenos, ōknei apodysasthai ; ēuxato te tǭ Theǭ, genesthai autǭ tēn diabasin mē enkoptomenǭ tēn prothesin ; kai angelos metethēken auton eis to peran tou potamou. Didymos allos houtos monachos, ennenēkonta etē bious, oudeni anthrōpǭ synemeinen achri tēs teleutēs. ᾿Arsēnios allos tous tōn neōn ptaisantas ouk aphōrizen, alla tous prokopsantas ; legōn hoti ho neos aphoristheis, kataphronētēs ginetai, ho de prokopsas tēs ek tou aphorismou odynēs tacheian lambanei tēn aisthēsin. Piōr peri patōn ēsthien. Pythomenou de tinos dia ti houtōs esthiei; Ou boulomai, ephē, hōs ergǭ tǭ brōmato chrēsasthai, all' hōs parergǭ. Pros allon de peri tou autou erōtēsanta apekrinatos Hina mēde en tǭ esthiein, phēsin, hēdonēs sōmatikēs aisthanoito hē psychē. Isidōros elege tessarachoston etos echein, aph᾽ hou aisthonesthai:i men tēs kata dianoian hamartias, mēde pote de synkatatithesthai, mēte epithymią. mēte thymǭ. Pamdōs de agrammatos hōn, prosēlthe tini epi tǭ didachthēnai psalmon " akousas ton prōton stichon tou psalmou tou legontos" « Eipa, Phylaxō tas hodēus tou mē hamartanein me en glōtsę̄ » deuterou akousai mē anechomenox, anechōrēsen" archeisthai phēsas toutǭ tǭ heni stichǭ, ean dynēthō ergǭ auton ekmathein. ᾿Enchalesantos de tou paradedōchotos ton stichon, dia ti examēniaiou paradramonto: chronou mē heōrachei auton, apekrinato" hoti Tou psalmou ton stichon houpō tǭ ergǭ exemathon. Metatauta de pollous epidious chronous, pros tina tōn gnōrimōn erōtēsanta ei ton stichon exemathen En holois, ephē, enneachaidecha etesi molis auton prattein exemathon. autos, dedōkotos tinos rysion eis diatrophēn tōn ptōchōn, kai eipontos, ᾿Arithmēson ho dedōcha, ephē, arithmou ou chrēzein, all' hygious diatheseōs. Houtos ho Pamthōs, ᾿Athanasiou tou episkopou parachalesantos, katēlthen tēs erēmou eis tēn ᾿Alexandreian. Idōn de ekei gynaika theatoichēn, syndachrys egeneto" tōn de parontōn pythomenōn dia ti edakryse, Dyo men, ephē, echenēsen}" men, hē ekeinē: apōleia " heteron de, hoti egō ou tēlikautēn echō spoudēn pros to aresai tǭ Theǭ, hoson hautē hina aretę̄ anthrōpois aischrois. de tis elegen, hoti ho monachos ei mē ergazoito, episēs tǭ pleonechtę̄ chrinetai. Pētirous polla tina physicha theōrēmata ēpistato " kai synechōs allote alla pros tous entynchanontas elegen kath' hekaston de tōn () theōrēmatōn tycheto. Egenonto de en tois monachois ekeinon ton chronon, dyo andres theē)phileis homōnymoi echytoi? hekaterǭ gar autǭ onoma 1» Hōn ho men tēs anō Aigyptou hēn " ho de, tēs ᾿Alexandreōn poleōs. ᾿Amphoteroi de pollōn heneken egenonto peribthoētoi, di᾽ askēsin, dia bion, dia ta en chersin autōn genomena thaumata. Ho men oun Aigyptios Makarios " tosautas therapeias poiēsamenos, gai tosoutous tōn daimonōntōn exēlase daimona:, hōs idias deisthai syngraphēs » hōn chariti Theou diepraxato. Ēn de meta tou eulathous pros tous entynchanontas austēros. Ho de ᾿Alexandreus : Makarios ? panta paraplēsios hōn tǭ hoi , ha ptiǭ, toutǭ diēllassen, hoti pros tous entynchanontas hilaros te kai tǭ charientizeothai tous pseous hēgen prys askēsin. Toutōn Euagrios genomenos mathētēs, tēn di᾽ ergōn philosophian ektēsato, proteron logǭ monǭ philosophos Hos en tę̄ Kōnstantinou polei hypo Grēgorion tou Nazianzēnou eis tēn tou diakonou procheiristheis taxin, eita hama autǭ eis tēn Aigypton katelthōn, tois prolechtheisin entychōn andrasi, ton ekeinōn bion ezēlōse. Kai toschyta terastia en tais chersin autou gegonen, hosa kai en tais tōn autou kathēgētōn. Toutǭ kai bidlia agan spoudaia syngegraptai. Hōn to men, Monachos, hē peri prachtichēs epigegraptai " to de, Gnōstichos, pros ton chataxiōthenta gnōseōs. Kephalaia de autou pentēkonta. To de, ᾿Antirrhētichos, apo tōn theiōn Graphōn pros tous peirazontas daimonas, en oktō dię̄rēmenon meresi, kata ton arithmon tōn oktō logismōn. Kai exachosia prognōsticha eti mēn stichēra dyo" pros tous en tois choinodiois 3| en synodiais monachous " kai hen pros tēn parthenon. tina hopōs esti thaumasta, hoi entynchanontes eisontai. Euchairoon de, hōs hēgoumai, mikra tōn autǭ mnēmoneuthentōn peri tōn monachōn toutois synapsai. Phēsi gar kata lexin tade " ᾿Anankaion kai tas hodous tōn proodeusantōn monachōn orthōs dierōtąn, kai pros autas chatorthoustha:. Polla gar estin hyp᾽ autōn rhēthenta te prachthenta En hois kai touto tis ephēsen, hoti tēn xēroteran kai mē anōmalon diaitan agapę̄ syzeuchtheisan, thatton diagein ton monachon eis ton tēs apatheia: limena. Ho de autos tarassomenon tina nyktōr tōn adelphōn tōn phasmatōn apēllaxen, asthenousi meta nēsteias hypēretēsai prostaxas. Oudeni gar houtōs, erōtētheis ephēsen, hōs eleǭ ta toiauta chatasthennytai pathē. Tǭ dichaiǭ ᾿Antōneǭ prosēlthen tis tōn tote sophōn, Pōs diachartereis, eipen, ō Pater, tēs ech tōn bithliōn paramythias esterēmenos ? To emon biblion, ho ᾿Antōnio:x, ō philosophe, 7) physis tōn gegonopōn esti, kai parestin hote boulomai tous lygous anaginōskein tous tou theou. Ērōtēse to scheuos tēs echlogēs, ho Digyptios gerōn Makarios, ti dē pote mnēsikakountes men tois anthrōpois, tēn mnēmoneutikēn dynamin tēs psychēs aphanizomen; daimosi de mnēsikakountes, ablabeis diamenomen. Kamou pros tēn apokrisin aporēsantos, kai parakalountos ton logon mathein; Dioti, phēsin ekeinos, to men proteron pathos para physin, to de deuteron kata physin esti tou thymou. Pareballon kat᾿ autēn tēn stathēran mesēmbrian tǭ hagiǭ Patri Makariǭ, kai lian hypo tēs dipsēs phlegomenos, ę̄toun hydōr piein. Ho de phēsin, Arkesthēti tę̄ skią ; polloi gar hodoiporountes nyn ē kai pleontes kai tautēs esterēntai. Eita logous mou pros auton peri enkrateias gymnazontos, Tharsei, phēsin, ō teknon; en holois eikosin, oute artou, oute hydatos, oute hypnou koron eilēpha. Ton men gar arton mou ēsthion stathmǭ ; to de hydōr epinon metrǭ; tois toichois de emauton paranaklinōn, mikron ti tou hypnou meros aphērpazon. Emēnythē tini tōn monachōn thanatos tou patros. Ho de pros ton apangeilanta, Pausai, phēsi, blasphēmōn; ho gar emos patēr athanatos estin. Ekektēto tis tōn adelphōn Euangelion monon. Kai touto pōlēsas, edōken eis trophēn tois peinōsin, axion mnēmēs epiphthenxamenos rhēma ; Auton gar, phēsi, ton logon pepōlēka ton legonta; Pōlēson sou ta hyparchonta, kai dos ptōchois. Esti de tis peri tēn ᾿Alexandreian nēsos, kat᾿ auto to boreion, peran tēs limnēs keimenē tēs kaloumenēs Marias. Prosoikei de autę̄ monachos, tēs Parembolēs tōn Gnōstikōn ho dokimōtatos, hostis apephēnato panta ta prattomena hypo tōn monachōn prattesthai di' aitias pente; dia Theon, dia physin, dia ethos, di᾽ anankēn, dia ergon cheirōn. Ho de autos elege palin, mian men einai tę̄ physei tēn aretēn; eidopoieisthai de autēn en tais dynamesi tēs psychēs. Kai gar kai to phōs to hēliakon, aschēmatiston men, phēsin, esti; tais de di᾽ hōn eisballei thyrisi schēmatizesthai pephyken. "Allos de tis tōn monachōn, Dia touto periairō tas hēdonas, eipen, hina tas tou thymou perikopsō prophaseis. Oida gar auton aei machomenon hyper tōn hēdonōn, kai ektarassonta mou ton noun, kai tēn gnōsin apodiōkonta. Elege de tis tōn gerontōn, hoti hē agapē parathēkas brōmatōn ē chrēmatōn tērein ouk epistatai. Ho de autos, Ouk oida, phēsin, eis tauto des hypo daimonōn menǭ autou Praktikǭ kata lexin apemnēmoneusen. En de tǭ Gnōstikǭ autou toiauta phēsi ; Tessaras aretas, kai tas theōrias autōn, para tou dikaiou Grēgoriou memathēkamen einai; phronēsin kai andreian, sōphrosynēn kai dikaiosynēn. Kai phronēseōs men ergon elegen einai, to theōrein tas noeras kai hagias dynameis, dicha tōn logōn. Toutous gar hypo tēs sophias dēlousthai paradedōken. ᾿Andreias de, to enkarterein tois alēthesi kai polemoumenon, kai mē embateuein eis ta mē onta. To de para tou prōtou geōrgou dechesthai spermata, kai apōtheisthai ton episporea, tēs sōphrosynēs idion apekrinato einai. Dikaiosynēs de palin, to kat᾿ axian hekastou logon apodidonai, ta men skoteinōs apangellousan ; ta de apatētheis. Tauta men ho Euagrios en tǭ epigraphodi' ainigmatōn sēmainousan; tina de kai phanerousan pros ōpheleian tōn haplousterōn. Tēs alētheias stylos ho Kappadokēs Basileios, Tēn men ap᾿ anthrōpōn, phēsin, episymbainousan gnōsin prosechēs meletē kai gymnasia kreissona poiei ; tēn de ek Theou charitos enginomenēn, dikaiosynē kai aorgēsia kai eleos. Kai tēn men proteran dynaton kai tous empatheis hypodexasthai; tēs de deuteras hoi apatheis monoi eisi dektikoi, hoi kai para ton kairon tēs proseuchēs to oikeion phengos tou nou perilampon autous theōrousi. Tōn Aigyptiōn ho hagios phōstēr ᾿Athanasios ; Tēn trapezan, phēsi, Mōÿsēs eis to boreion meros stēsai prostassetai. Ginōsketōsan hoi Gnōstikoi, tis ho pneōn esti kat᾿ autōn, kai panta peirasmon gennaiōs hypomenetōsan, kai meta prothymias tous prosiontas trepheiōsan. Elege de ho tēs Thmouïtōn Ekklēsias angelos Sarapiōn, hoti ho nous men pepōkōs pneumatikēn gnōsin teleiōs kathairetai; agapē de ta phlegmainonta moria tou thymou therapeuei; ponēras de epithymias epirrheousas istēsin enkrateia. Tous peri Pronoias kai kriseōs kata sauton aei gymnaze logous, phēsin ho megas kai gnōstikos didaskalos Didymos, kai toutōn tas hylas dia mnēmēs pherein peirathēti. "Apantes gar schedon en toutois prosptaiousi. Kai tous men peri kriseōs logous, en tę̄ diaphorą tōn sōmatōn kai kata ton kosmon heurēseis; tous de peri Pronoias, en tois tropois tois apo kakias kai agnōsias epi tēn aretēn ē epi tēn gnōsin hēmas epanagousi. Tosauta men ek tōn Euagriou entautha parethemetha. Egeneto de kai allos anēr thaumasios en tois monachois, hǭ onoma ᾿Ammōnios, hostis houtōs ēn aperiergos, hōste en tę̄ Rhōmę̄ hama ᾿Athanasiǭ genomenos, mēden helesthai historēsai tōn ergōn tēs poleōs ; monon de idein to Petrou kai Paulou martyrion. Houtos ho ᾿Ammōnios eis episkopēn helchomenos, : diaphygōn, to dexion autou exekopsen, hopōs an tǭ aschēmǭ tou sōmatos tēn cheirotonian echphygę̄. Epeidē de chronǭ hysteron Euagrios hypo theophilon tou episkopou ᾿Alexandreias pros episkopēn syllēphtheis apephygen, ouden achrōtēriasas tou sōmatos, peritychōn tǭ ᾿Ammōniǭ charientizomenos elegen, hōs kakōs eiē praxas, echchopsas tēn akoēn, enochos einai Theou touto poiēsas. Ho de ᾿Ammōnios pros auton ᾿Alla sy, ephē, Euagrie, ouch oiei dōsein dikēn, tēn glōssan apotemōn, dia philautian tę̄ dotheisę̄ chariti mē chrēsamenos ? Egenonto men oun kata ton hauton chronon en tois monastēriois kai alloi pleistoi andres thaumastoi kai theophileis, hōn en tę̄ procheimenę̄ syngraphę̄ mnēmoneuein makron an eiē allōs te kai echthdainein tou prokeimenou anankē, ei bouloimetha kathekaston tōn andrōn tous bious, kai hosa epoiēsan thaumata dia tēn prosousan autois hagiotēta legein, Ex de tis bouloito ta peri autōn manthanein, hōn te epoiēsan, hōn te epraxan, kai hōn pros ōpheleian tōn akousantōn ephthenxanto, hopōs te autois ta thēria hypēkouon, peponētai Palladiǭ tǭ monachǭ idion monobiblon, hos Euagriou men ēn mathētēs " panta de akribōs peri autōn diexēlthen. En hǭ gynaikōn ephamillon tois proeirēmenois andrasin epanelomenōn bion, mnēmēn pepoiētai. Euagrios ? men oun Palladios mikron hysteron meta tēn Oualentos teleutēn ēnthēsan. Epanelthōmen de hothen exethēmen.
Since I have mentioned the monasteries in Egypt, nothing prevents me from going through a few things about them briefly. The ascetic houses in Egypt perhaps took their beginning long ago, but they were extended and made greater progress through a man dear to God whose name was Amoun. As a young man he declined marriage. But when some of his relatives urged him not to insult marriage but to take a wife, he was persuaded and went to his wedding. Immediately, taking the maiden from the bridal chamber and leading her to the bedroom with the customary procession, when at last their friends had withdrawn, he took a book of the Apostle, the letter of Paul to the Corinthians, and read it, and went through with his wife the Apostle's precepts to those who are married. Adding much from outside on his own account, he taught her how many burdens marriage has, how painful the common life of man and woman is, what pangs await a woman who is with child; and he added the hardships of bringing up children. Then he set out the goods of chastity: how the pure life is free and undefiled and outside all stain, and how virginity makes one dwell with God. Having gone through these and many like things with his wife, who was still a virgin, he persuaded her to renounce worldly life together with him before they came together. When they had both made this agreement, they went to the mountain of Nitria. There, living for a short time in a hut, they had a common ascetic dwelling, making no distinction of female and male, but being one in Christ, as the Apostle says. Not much time had passed when the new and undefiled bride said to Amoun: 'It is not fitting for you, who practise self-control, to see a woman in so small a dwelling. So, if you agree, let each of us practise the ascetic life on our own.' This agreement too pleased them both; and separating from each other, they spent the rest of their lives so, abstaining from wine and oil, eating only dry bread, and that sometimes after one day, sometimes after two, and sometimes after more. Antony, who lived in his time, saw the soul of this Amoun taken up by angels after his death, as Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, says in his Life of him. Very many emulated the life of Amoun, and little by little the mountain of Nitria and that of Scetis were filled with the multitude of monks. To write the life of them all would be the task of a separate work. But since there were among them men dear to God who excelled in the ascetic life and lived an apostolic life, and who did and said things that are useful and worth remembering, I think it useful to mix a few out of many into this History, for the benefit of readers.
It is said, then, that this Amoun never saw himself naked, saying that it was unfitting for a monk to look even on his own body naked. Once, wishing to cross a river, he shrank from undressing; he prayed to God that the crossing might be granted him without his breaking his resolve, and an angel carried him across to the other side of the river. Another monk, Didymus, lived ninety years and lived with no human being until his death. Another, Arsenius, did not excommunicate young monks who fell, but those who had advanced, saying that a young man who is excommunicated becomes a despiser, while one who has advanced quickly feels the pain of excommunication. Pior used to eat walking about. When someone asked why he ate like that, he said, 'I do not wish to treat food as a task, but as a by-work.' To another who asked the same thing he answered, 'So that even in eating the soul may not feel bodily pleasure.' Isidore said that it was his fortieth year since he had felt sin in thought, but never consented to it, either to desire or to anger. Pambo, being unlettered, went to someone to be taught a psalm. Hearing the first verse of the psalm, which says, 'I said, I will guard my ways, so that I may not sin with my tongue', he would not stay to hear the second but went away, saying, 'This one verse is enough for me, if I can learn it in practice.' When the one who had taught him the verse blamed him for not having seen him for six months, he answered, 'I have not yet learned the verse of the psalm in practice.' Many years later, when one of his acquaintances asked him whether he had learned the verse, he said, 'In nineteen whole years I have barely learned to do it.' The same Pambo, when someone gave him silver for the support of the poor and said, 'Count what I have given', said that it needed no counting, but a sound disposition. This Pambo, at the request of Athanasius the bishop, came down from the desert to Alexandria. Seeing an actress there, he burst into tears. When those present asked why he wept, he said, 'Two things moved me: one, her perdition; the other, that I have not so much zeal to please God as she has to please shameful men.' Another said that a monk who does not work is judged equal to a covetous man. Petirus knew many speculations about nature and constantly spoke of one or another to those who met him; and before each of the speculations he prayed.
There were among the monks at that time two men dear to God who bore the same name, for each of them was called Macarius. One of them was from Upper Egypt, the other from the city of the Alexandrians. Both became famous for many reasons: for their asceticism, for their life, for the miracles done by their hands. The Egyptian Macarius performed so many healings and drove demons out of so many of the possessed that what he did by the grace of God would need a separate book. With his piety he was austere toward those who met him. The Alexandrian Macarius, though like the Egyptian in all things, differed from him in this, that he was cheerful toward those who met him and by his pleasantness led the young to the ascetic life. Evagrius became their disciple and acquired the philosophy of deeds, having before been a philosopher in word only. He had been advanced to the order of deacon at Constantinople by Gregory of Nazianzus; then, going down to Egypt with him, he met the men just mentioned and emulated their life. And as many wonders were done by his hands as by those of his teachers. He also wrote very valuable books. One of them is entitled The Monk, or On the Practical Life; another, The Gnostic, addressed to one who has been counted worthy of knowledge, in fifty chapters; another, The Refuter, from the divine Scriptures against the tempting demons, divided into eight parts according to the number of the eight thoughts; also six hundred Gnostic problems; and moreover two works in verse, one to the monks who live in coenobia or communities, and one to the virgin. Readers will know how admirable these are. I think it timely to join to this a few things that he records about the monks. He says, word for word, as follows:
'It is necessary to inquire rightly into the ways of the monks who have gone before us, and to set ourselves straight by them. For many things were said and done well by them. Among them one said that a drier and not irregular diet, joined with love, quickly brings the monk into the harbour of freedom from passion. The same man freed one of the brothers who was troubled at night by apparitions, by ordering him to serve the sick while fasting. For when he was asked, he said that such passions are quenched by nothing so much as by mercy. One of the wise men of that time came to the righteous Antony and said, "How do you endure, Father, deprived of the comfort of books?" Antony said, "My book, philosopher, is the nature of created things, and it is at hand whenever I wish to read the words of God." The vessel of election, the old Egyptian Macarius, asked me why it is that when we bear malice against men we destroy the memory's power in the soul, but when we bear malice against demons we remain unharmed. When I was at a loss for an answer and begged to learn the reason, he said, "Because the first is a passion contrary to the nature of anger, the second according to its nature." I visited the holy Father Macarius at the very height of noon, and, being burned up with thirst, I asked for water to drink. He said, "Be content with the shade; for many who are travelling now or sailing are deprived even of this." Then, when I was exercising him with talk about self-control, he said, "Take courage, my child: in twenty whole years I have not taken my fill of bread, or of water, or of sleep. I ate my bread by weight and drank my water by measure, and leaning against the walls I snatched some small part of sleep." The death of his father was announced to one of the monks. He said to the one who brought the news, "Stop blaspheming; my father is immortal." One of the brothers owned only a Gospel book. He sold it too and gave the price for food to the hungry, uttering a saying worth remembering: "I have sold the very word that says, 'Sell your possessions and give to the poor.'" There is an island near Alexandria, right at its northern side, lying beyond the lake called Mareotis. A monk of the Parembole lives there, the most approved of the gnostics, who declared that everything monks do is done for five reasons: for God's sake, by nature, by habit, by necessity, and for the work of the hands. The same man said again that virtue is one by nature, but takes its form in the powers of the soul; for the light of the sun, he says, is without shape, but naturally takes the shape of the windows through which it enters. Another of the monks said, "I cut away pleasures in order to cut off the pretexts of anger; for I know that it always fights for pleasures, disturbs my mind, and drives knowledge away." One of the old men said that love does not know how to keep stores of food or money. The same man said, "I do not know that I have been deceived twice in the same thing by demons."'
These things Evagrius recorded word for word in his work entitled The Practical Life. In his Gnostic he says this: 'We have learned from the righteous Gregory that there are four virtues and their contemplations: prudence and courage, temperance and justice. He said that the work of prudence is to contemplate the intellectual and holy powers apart from their reasons, for he taught that these are revealed by wisdom; the work of courage, to persist in the truth even when attacked, and not to step into what is not; and he answered that it is proper to temperance to receive seeds from the first husbandman and to thrust away the one who sows on top of them; and again of justice, to give each one his due account, declaring some things obscurely, signifying some through riddles, and revealing some for the benefit of the simpler. The pillar of truth, Basil the Cappadocian, says: "The knowledge that comes from men, constant study and exercise make stronger; but the knowledge that comes from the grace of God, righteousness, freedom from anger and mercy. The first even those subject to passions can receive; of the second only the passionless are capable, who also at the time of prayer see the light proper to the mind shining around them." The holy luminary of the Egyptians, Athanasius, says: "Moses is commanded to set the table on the north side. Let the gnostics know who it is that blows against them, and let them nobly endure every temptation and feed with eagerness those who come to them." Serapion, the angel of the church of the Thmuites, said that the mind which has drunk spiritual knowledge is perfectly purified; that love heals the inflamed parts of anger; and that self-control stops the evil desires that flow in. "Always exercise yourself in the doctrines about providence and judgment," says the great and gnostic teacher Didymus, "and try to carry their materials in your memory, for nearly everyone stumbles in these. You will find the doctrines about judgment in the difference of bodies and in the world; and those about providence in the ways that lead us back from evil and ignorance to virtue or to knowledge."'
So much we have set down here from the works of Evagrius. There was also another wonderful man among the monks, named Ammonius, who was so free from curiosity that when he was in Rome with Athanasius he chose to see none of the works of the city, but only the martyr-shrine of Peter and Paul. This Ammonius, when he was being dragged to a bishopric, fled and cut off his right ear, so as to escape ordination by the disfigurement of his body. When later Evagrius was seized for a bishopric by Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, and escaped without maiming any part of his body, he met Ammonius and said jokingly that he had done wrong in cutting off his ear and was answerable to God for doing it. Ammonius said to him, 'But you, Evagrius, do you not think you will pay the penalty for cutting off your tongue, failing through self-love to use the grace given you?' At the same time there were in the monasteries very many other wonderful men dear to God, whom it would be long to mention in the present work; and besides, I should have to depart from my subject if I wished to tell the lives of each of these men and the miracles they worked because of the holiness that was in them. If anyone wishes to learn about them, what they did and accomplished, and what they said for the benefit of their hearers, and how the wild beasts obeyed them, Palladius the monk has laboured on a book of his own about them; he was a disciple of Evagrius and went through everything about them accurately. In it he also mentions women who took up a life to rival that of the men already mentioned. Evagrius and Palladius flourished a little after the death of Valens. Let us return to where we left off.
1 Cor 7:1–40 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 3:28 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 39:1 (38:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 19:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 9:15 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Tim 3:15 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 26:35 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 40:22 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Socrates digresses on the Egyptian monks: Amoun's chaste marriage, sayings of Pambo and others, the two Macarii, Evagrius's writings with excerpts from his Practical Life and Gnostic, and Ammonius who cut off his ear to avoid becoming a bishop.
- Amoun read 1 Corinthians 7 with his bride; Socrates reports approvingly their agreement to live in continence. 'One in Christ' alludes to Gal 3:28.
- Antony's vision of Amoun's soul is told in Athanasius, Life of Antony 60.
- The scan text of this chapter is badly disordered: words are lost (e.g. the name Macarius in 'each of them was called Macarius', 'right ear'), and phrases have been moved (the mountain of Nitria; the end of the excerpt from the Practical Life and the description of justice in the Gnostic). Everything is translated in the order the sense requires; nothing is supplied beyond the obvious missing words.
- The excerpts are from Evagrius Ponticus, Practical Life (Praktikos) 91–100 and Gnostic 44–48; these works are not on this site.
- Pambo's verse is Ps 39:1 (LXX 38:2).
- 'My father is immortal': the monk means God, his true Father.
- 'The vessel of election' (Acts 9:15) is a title of Paul applied to Macarius.
- 'Pillar of truth' echoes 1 Tim 3:15. Athanasius's saying refers to the table of the tabernacle (Exod 26:35; 40:22) and the north wind (cf. Song 4:16).
- 'Gnostic' here is Evagrius's term for a monk advanced in spiritual knowledge, not a member of the Gnostic sects.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (page number inside a hyphenated word; stray characters; stray footnote numeral): Αμμοῦν 1. → Αμμοῦν.; ἐπ- 237 ὠδυνος → ἐπώδυνος; τὴν ψυχὴν 1 μετὰ → τὴν ψυχὴν μετὰ; ἀκούσας 05 τὸν → ἀκούσας τὸν.
Extrabiblical texts: Athanasius, V. Ant. 60 (Life of Antony; allusion); Palladius, Hist. Laus. (The Lausiac History; allusion); Evagrius Ponticus, Pract. (Evagrius Ponticus, Praktikos; echo); Evagrius Ponticus, Gnost. (Evagrius Ponticus, Gnostikos; echo)
Topics: Marriage, Fasting, Prayer, Ethics, Church office
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 4.23 (PG 67:509–521; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/4-23). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/4-23
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
4.24PG 67:521–525
Τοῦ τοίνυν βασιλέως Οὐάλεντος νόμῳ κελεύσαντος διώκεσθαι τούς τ᾽ ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ τοὺς κατ᾽ Αἴγυπτον, πάντα ἐπορθεῖτο ἀνετρέπετο" τῶν μὲν αυἱ έλκομένων εἰς δικαστήρια, τῶν δὲ βαλλομένων εἰς δεσμωτήρια, ἄλλων τε ἄλλως στρεβλουμένων. Διάφοροι γὰρ τιμωρίαι κατὰ τῶν ἡσυχάζειν φιλούντων ἐγίνοντο. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ταῦτα ἐν τῇ ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ ἡ ἐδόκει Λουκίῳ ἐπέπρακτο, Εὐζώϊος δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν ᾿Αντιό χειαν αὖθις ὑπέστρεψεν· οἱ δὲ εὐθὺς ἐπὶ τὰ τῆς Αἰγύπτου μοναστήρια ἐχώρουν· ὁ δὲ στρατηγὸς σὺν πλήθει πολλῶν στρατιωτῶν, καὶ ὁ ᾿Αρειανὸς Λούκιος. Οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἀπελείπετο, ἀλλὰ στίφος ἁγίων ἀνδρῶν οὐδαμῶς οἰκτιζομένων, χείρονα τῶν στρατιωτῶν διεπράττετο. Ὡς δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον ἐγίνοντο, κατελάμβανον τοὺς ἄνδρας τὰ συνήθη πράττοντας· εὐχομένους, πάθη θεραπεύοντας, δαίμονας ἐξελαύνοντας. Οἱ δὲ, μικρὰ τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ θαυμάτων φροντίσαντες, οὐδὲ τὰς συνήθεις εὐχὰς ἐν τοῖς εὐκτηρίοις τόποις συνεχώρουν ἐπιτελεῖσθαι· ἀλλὰ αὐτοὺς καὶ τούτων ἐξέβαλλον. Καὶ οὐκ ἐπὶ τούτων μόνον ἔστησαν, ἀλλὰ προϊόντες, τοῖς ὄχλοις ἐκέχρηντο κατ᾿ αὐτῶν. Ταῦτα καὶ ὁ Ῥουφῖνος ἑωρακέναι παρ' ὧν καὶ πεπονθέναι φησίν. ᾿Ανενεοῦντό τε καὶ ἐπ᾿ αὐτῶν τὰ τοῦ Ἀποστόλου λεγόμενα· ἐνεπαίζοντο γὰρ, καὶ μαστίγων πεῖραν ἐλάμβανον, ἐγυμνοῦντο, ἐδεσμοῦντο, ἐλιθάζοντο, ἐν φόνῳ μαχαίρας ἀπέθνησκον, ἄνδρες περιεχόμενοι κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον ἐν μηλωταῖς, ἐν αἰγείοις δέρμασιν, ὑστερούμενοι, θλιβόμενοι, κακοχούμενοι, ὧν οὐκ ἦν ἄξιος ὁ κόσμος, ἐπ' ἐρημίαις πλανώμενοι, καὶ ὄρεσι, καὶ σπηλαίοις, καὶ ταῖς ὀπαῖς τῆς γῆς· καὶ ταῦτα μαρτυρηθέντες ὑπὸ τε τῆς πίστεως καὶ τῶν ἔργων καὶ τῶν ἰαμάτων, ὅσα ἐν ταῖς χερσὶν αὐτῶν ἡ τοῦ Χριστοῦ χάρις εἰργάζετο. ᾿Αλλ' ὡς ἔοικεν, ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ πρόνοια ταῦτα παθεῖν τοὺς ἄνδρας συνεχώρησεν, κρεῖττόν τι προβλεψαμένη, ἵνα δι᾽ ὧν αὐτοὶ κακῶς ἔπασχον, ἕτεροι τὴν ἐν Θεῷ σωτηρίαν εὕρωσιν. Καὶ τοῦτο ἡ ἀπόβασις ἔδειξεν. Ὡς οἱ θαυμάσιοι ἐκεῖνοι ἄνδρες κρείττονες τῆς ἐπιφερο μένης ἀνάγκης ἐγίνοντο, ἀποκνήσας ὁ Λούκιος γνώμην δίδωσι τῷ ἡγουμένῳ τοῦ στρατιωτικοῦ τάγματος, ὑποβάλλειν ἐξορίᾳ τοὺς Πατέρας τῶν μοναχῶν. Αὐτοὶ δὲ ἦσαν, ὁ Αἰγύπτιος Μακάριος, καὶ ὁ ᾿Αλεξανδρεὺς, ὁ τούτου ἐπώνυμος. Ἐξωρίζοντο οὖν οἱ ἄνδρες εἰς νῆσόν τινα, ἥτις οὐδένα τῶν Χριστιανῶν εἶχεν οἰκήτορα. Κατ' αὐτὴν τε τὴν νῆσον ἐτύγχανεν ὂν ἱερὸν, καὶ ἱερεὺς ἐν αὐτῷ, ὃν πάντες οἱ ἐκεῖ ἶσα θεῷ ἔσεβον. Γενομένων δὲ τῶν θεοφιλῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐν τῇ νήσῳ, πάντα μὲν τὰ ἐκεῖ δαιμόνια ἐν θορύβῳ καὶ φόβῳ ἐγίνοντο. Συνέβαινε δὲ κατ' αὐτὸ, καὶ τοιοῦτόν τι πρᾶγμα γενέσθαι. Ἡ τοῦ ἱερέως θυγάτηρ ἄφνω ὑπὸ δαίμονος κάτοχος γενομένη ἐξεμάνη, καὶ πάντα ἀνέτρεπεν. Ακατάσχετός τε ἦν, καὶ οὐδενὶ τρόπῳ ἡσυχάσαι ἠδύνατο· ἀλλ' ἐβόα μεγάλα, καὶ πρὸς θεοφιλεῖς ἐκείνους ἄνδρας, Τί, φησὶν, ἤλθετε καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἐξελάσαι ἡμᾶς; Πάλιν οὖν οἱ ἄνδρες ἐκεῖ τὸ ἴδιον ἔργον ὁ ἐκ Θεοῦ χάριτος εἰλήφασιν, ἐπεδείκνυντο. Ἐξελάσαντες γὰρ τὸν δαίμονα τῆς παρθένου, καὶ ὑγιῆ αὐτὴν τῷ πατρὶ παραδόντες, εἰς πίστιν τοῦ Χριστιανισμοῦ ἤγαγον τὸν τε ἱερέα, καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἐκεῖ ἐνοικοῦντας ἐν τῇ νήσῳ. Εὐθὺς οὖν τὰ μὲν ἀγάλματα ἐξέβαλον· τὸ δὲ σχῆμα τοῦ ναοῦ εἰς ἐκκλησίας τύπον μεταποιήσαντες, ἐβαπτίζοντό τε καὶ πάντα τὰ τοῦ Χριστιανισμοῦ χαίροντες ἐδιδάσκοντο. Οὕτω μὲν δὴ ἐλαυνόμενοι διὰ τὴν τοῦ ὁμοουσίου πίστιν οἱ θαυμάσιοι ἐκεῖνοι ἄνδρες, αὐτοί τε δοκιμώτεροι ἐγίνοντο, καὶ ἄλλους ἔσωζον, καὶ τὴν πίστιν βεβαιοτέραν εἰργάζοντο.
Tou toinyn basileōs Oualentos nomǭ keleusantos diōkesthai tous t᾽ en ᾿Alexandreią tous kat᾽ Aigypton, panta eportheito anetrepeto" tōn men aui elkomenōn eis dikastēria, tōn de ballomenōn eis desmōtēria, allōn te allōs strebloumenōn. Diaphoroi gar timōriai kata tōn hēsychazein philountōn eginonto. Epei de tauta en tę̄ ᾿Alexandreią hē edokei Loukiǭ epeprakto, Euzōïos de epi tēn ᾿Antio cheian authis hypestrepsen; hoi de euthys epi ta tēs Aigyptou monastēria echōroun; ho de stratēgos syn plēthei pollōn stratiōtōn, kai ho ᾿Areianos Loukios. Oude gar autos apeleipeto, alla stiphos hagiōn andrōn oudamōs oiktizomenōn, cheirona tōn stratiōtōn diepratteto. Hōs de epi ton topon eginonto, katelambanon tous andras ta synēthē prattontas; euchomenous, pathē therapeuontas, daimonas exelaunontas. Hoi de, mikra tōn tou Theou thaumatōn phrontisantes, oude tas synētheis euchas en tois euktēriois topois synechōroun epiteleisthai; alla autous kai toutōn exeballon. Kai ouk epi toutōn monon estēsan, alla proïontes, tois ochlois ekechrēnto kat᾿ autōn. Tauta kai ho Rhouphinos heōrakenai par' hōn kai peponthenai phēsin. ᾿Aneneounto te kai ep᾿ autōn ta tou Apostolou legomena; enepaizonto gar, kai mastigōn peiran elambanon, egymnounto, edesmounto, elithazonto, en phonǭ machairas apethnēskon, andres periechomenoi kata tēn erēmon en mēlōtais, en aigeiois dermasin, hysteroumenoi, thlibomenoi, kakochoumenoi, hōn ouk ēn axios ho kosmos, ep' erēmiais planōmenoi, kai oresi, kai spēlaiois, kai tais opais tēs gēs; kai tauta martyrēthentes hypo te tēs pisteōs kai tōn ergōn kai tōn iamatōn, hosa en tais chersin autōn hē tou Christou charis eirgazeto. ᾿All' hōs eoiken, hē tou Theou pronoia tauta pathein tous andras synechōrēsen, kreitton ti problepsamenē, hina di᾽ hōn autoi kakōs epaschon, heteroi tēn en Theǭ sōtērian heurōsin. Kai touto hē apobasis edeixen. Hōs hoi thaumasioi ekeinoi andres kreittones tēs epiphero menēs anankēs eginonto, apoknēsas ho Loukios gnōmēn didōsi tǭ hēgoumenǭ tou stratiōtikou tagmatos, hypoballein exorią tous Pateras tōn monachōn. Autoi de ēsan, ho Aigyptios Makarios, kai ho ᾿Alexandreus, ho toutou epōnymos. Exōrizonto oun hoi andres eis nēson tina, hētis oudena tōn Christianōn eichen oikētora. Kat' autēn te tēn nēson etynchanen on hieron, kai hiereus en autǭ, hon pantes hoi ekei isa theǭ esebon. Genomenōn de tōn theophilōn andrōn en tę̄ nēsǭ, panta men ta ekei daimonia en thorybǭ kai phobǭ eginonto. Synebaine de kat' auto, kai toiouton ti pragma genesthai. Hē tou hiereōs thygatēr aphnō hypo daimonos katochos genomenē exemanē, kai panta anetrepen. Akataschetos te ēn, kai oudeni tropǭ hēsychasai ēdynato; all' eboa megala, kai pros theophileis ekeinous andras, Ti, phēsin, ēlthete kai entautha exelasai hēmas? Palin oun hoi andres ekei to idion ergon ho ek Theou charitos eilēphasin, epedeiknynto. Exelasantes gar ton daimona tēs parthenou, kai hygiē autēn tǭ patri paradontes, eis pistin tou Christianismou ēgagon ton te hierea, kai pantas tous ekei enoikountas en tę̄ nēsǭ. Euthys oun ta men agalmata exebalon; to de schēma tou naou eis ekklēsias typon metapoiēsantes, ebaptizonto te kai panta ta tou Christianismou chairontes edidaskonto. Houtō men dē elaunomenoi dia tēn tou homoousiou pistin hoi thaumasioi ekeinoi andres, autoi te dokimōteroi eginonto, kai allous esōzon, kai tēn pistin bebaioteran eirgazonto.
When the emperor Valens had ordered by law that those in Alexandria and throughout Egypt be persecuted, everything was ravaged and overturned: some were dragged into courts, others thrown into prisons, others tortured in various ways; for all kinds of punishments were inflicted on those who loved a quiet life. When these things had been done in Alexandria as Lucius wished, Euzoius returned again to Antioch; and the others went at once to the monasteries of Egypt, the general with a great number of soldiers, and the Arian Lucius too. For he did not stay behind; but against a band of holy men who were in no way pitied, he behaved worse than the soldiers. When they reached the place, they found the men doing what they usually did: praying, healing diseases, driving out demons. But they, caring little for the wonders of God, did not even allow the customary prayers to be offered in the houses of prayer, but drove them out of these too. Nor did they stop there, but went further and used the mobs against them. Rufinus says that he saw these things, and that he suffered at their hands as well. The words of the Apostle were renewed in them: they were mocked and tasted scourging, they were stripped, bound, stoned, they died by the slaughter of the sword, men going about in the desert in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and the holes of the earth; and that though they were attested by their faith, by their works, and by the healings that the grace of Christ worked through their hands. But, as it seems, the providence of God allowed the men to suffer this, foreseeing something better, so that through what they suffered others might find salvation in God; and the outcome showed it. When those wonderful men proved stronger than the compulsion brought against them, Lucius, losing heart, advised the commander of the troops to send the fathers of the monks into exile. These were the Egyptian Macarius and his namesake, the Alexandrian. So the men were exiled to an island that had no Christian inhabitant. On that island there happened to be a temple, and a priest in it, whom all who lived there revered as a god. When the men dear to God arrived on the island, all the demons there were thrown into tumult and fear. At that very time something of the following kind happened. The priest's daughter was suddenly seized by a demon; she raved, and overturned everything. She could not be held, and could in no way be calmed, but cried out loudly and said to those men dear to God, 'Why have you come here too, to drive us out?' So there again the men showed the work proper to them, which they had received by the grace of God: they drove the demon out of the girl and gave her back healthy to her father, and they brought the priest and all who lived on the island to the Christian faith. At once they threw out the images, changed the form of the temple into the shape of a church, were baptized, and joyfully learned all the things of Christianity. Thus those wonderful men, persecuted for the faith of the 'same essence', both became more proven themselves and saved others, and made the faith firmer.
Heb 11:36–40 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Lucius and the troops attack the Egyptian monks; the two Macarii are exiled to a pagan island, where they heal the priest's daughter and convert the islanders.
- The description of the monks’ sufferings is drawn from Heb 11:36–40.
- Socrates' source for this chapter is Rufinus, Church History 11.4.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray footnote numeral): οἰκτιζομένων 4, → οἰκτιζομένων,.
Extrabiblical texts: Rufinus of Aquileia, Hist. 11.4 (Rufinus of Aquileia, Rufinus, Church History; allusion)
Topics: Persecution, Baptism
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 4.24 (PG 67:521–525; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/4-24). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/4-24
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
4.25PG 67:525–527
Ὑπὸ δὲ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους καὶ ἕτερον ἄνδρα πιστὸν ἔδειξεν ὁ Θεὸς, δι' αὐτοῦ μαρτυρηθῆναι δικαιώσας τὴν πίστιν. Δίδυμος γὰρ ἀνὴρ θαυμαστὸς καὶ ἐλλόγιμος, κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν ἥνθησε χρόνον, πάσῃ διαπρέψας παιδεύσει. Οὗτος κομιδῇ νέος ῶν, καὶ τὰ πρῶτα τῶν γραμμάτων στοιχεῖα μαθὼν, τῷ τῆς ὀφθαλμίας περιέπεσε πάθει· καὶ κακῶς διατεθεὶς, τὸ ὁρατικὸν ἀπέβαλεν. Ὁ Θεὸς δὲ αὐτῷ ἀντὶ τῶν αἰσθητῶν ὀφθαλμῶν παρέσχε τοὺς νοητούς. "Α γὰρ δι᾽ ὀφθαλμῶν παιδευθῆναι οὐκ ἴσχυσε, ταῦτα δι᾿ ἀκοῆς ἐξεμάνθανε. Ἐκ παιδὸς γὰρ ὧν εὐφυὴς, καὶ ψυχῆς λαχὼν ἀγαθῆς, ἐνίκα τοὺς εὐφυεῖς καὶ ὀξύτατα βλέποντας. Γραμματικῆς τε γὰρ τοὺς κανόνας ῥᾳδίως κατώρθου, καὶ ῥητορικῆς πάλιν θᾶττον ἑλάμβανεν. Ἑλθὼν δὲ ἐπὶ τὰ φιλόσοφα, θαυμαστῶς πως καὶ τὴν διαλεκτικὴν ἐξέμαθε, καὶ ἀριθμητικήν τε καὶ μουσικὴν, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τῶν φιλοσόφων μαθήματα ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ κατέθετο, ὡς προθύμως αὐτὸν ἀπαντᾶν πρὸς τοὺς ταῦτα δι᾽ ὀφθαλμῶν κατορθώσαντας. Οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ θεῖα λόγια Παλαιᾶς καὶ Καινῆς Διαθήκης οὕτως ἀκριβῶς ἐγνώκει, ὥστε πολλὰ μὲν ἐκδοῦναι βιβλία· ὑπαγορεῦσαι δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ Τριάδος τρία βιβλία· ἑρμηνεῦσαι δὲ καὶ τὰ περὶ ἀρχῶν Ὠριγένους, ὑπομνήματά τε ἐκδοὺς εἰς αὐτὰ, δι' ὧν συνίστησιν ὡς εἴη ἄριστα γεγραμμένα, καὶ μάτην ἐρεσχελοῦσιν οἱ κατηγορεῖν τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ τὰ βιβλία διασύρειν σπουδάζοντες · μηδὲ γὰρ αὐτοὺς δύνασθαί φησιν ἐλεῖν τὴν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς σύνεσιν. Εἴ τις οὖν τὴν πολυμαθίαν καὶ τὸ διάπυρον τῆς ψυχῆς Διδύμου γνῶναι προήρηται, ἐντυχὼν τοῖς πεπονημένοις αὐτῷ βιβλίοις μαθήσεται. Τούτῳ λέγεται καὶ ᾿Αντώνιον ἤδη πρότερον κατὰ τὸν Οὐάλεντος χρόνον, ὅτε διὰ τοὺς ᾿Αρειανοὺς ἐν τῇ Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ ἐκ τῆς ἐρήμου κατῆλθεν, ἐντυχεῖν τῷ Διδύμῳ, καὶ μαθόντα τὴν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς σύνεσιν, εἰπεῖν πρὸς αὐτόν· Μηδὲν, ὦ Δίδυμε, ταραττέτω σε ἡ τῶν αἰσθητῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἀποβολή. Τοιοῦτοι γάρ σοι λείπουσιν ὀφθαλμοὶ, οἷς καὶ μυῖαι καὶ κώνωπες βλέψαι ἰσχύουσιν· χαῖρε δὲ ὅτι ἔχεις ὀφθαλμοὺς, οἷς καὶ ἄγγελοι βλέπουσι, δι' ὧν καὶ ὁ Θεὸς θεωρεῖται, καὶ τὸ αὐτοῦ φῶς καταλαμβάνεται. Ταῦτα μὲν ἤδη πρότερον παρὰ τοῦ θεοφιλοῦς ᾿Αντωνίου πρὸς Δίδυμον εἴρητο . Τότε δὲ μέγιστος συνήγορος τῆς οἰκείας πίστεως ἐφαίνετο Δίδυμος, πρὸς τοὺς ᾿Αρειανοὺς ἀπαντῶν, καὶ σοφίσματα ἀναλύων αὐτῶν, καὶ τοὺς κιβδήλους καὶ δολερούς αὐτῶν λόγους ἐξελέγχων.
Hypo de tous autous chronous kai heteron andra piston edeixen ho Theos, di' autou martyrēthēnai dikaiōsas tēn pistin. Didymos gar anēr thaumastos kai ellogimos, kata ton auton hēnthēse chronon, pasę̄ diaprepsas paideusei. Houtos komidę̄ neos ōn, kai ta prōta tōn grammatōn stoicheia mathōn, tǭ tēs ophthalmias periepese pathei; kai kakōs diatetheis, to horatikon apebalen. Ho Theos de autǭ anti tōn aisthētōn ophthalmōn paresche tous noētous. "A gar di᾽ ophthalmōn paideuthēnai ouk ischyse, tauta di᾿ akoēs exemanthane. Ek paidos gar hōn euphyēs, kai psychēs lachōn agathēs, enika tous euphyeis kai oxytata blepontas. Grammatikēs te gar tous kanonas rhądiōs katōrthou, kai rhētorikēs palin thatton helambanen. Helthōn de epi ta philosopha, thaumastōs pōs kai tēn dialektikēn exemathe, kai arithmētikēn te kai mousikēn, kai ta alla tōn philosophōn mathēmata en tę̄ psychę̄ katetheto, hōs prothymōs auton apantan pros tous tauta di᾽ ophthalmōn katorthōsantas. Ou mēn alla kai ta theia logia Palaias kai Kainēs Diathēkēs houtōs akribōs egnōkei, hōste polla men ekdounai biblia; hypagoreusai de kai ta peri Triados tria biblia; hermēneusai de kai ta peri archōn Ōrigenous, hypomnēmata te ekdous eis auta, di' hōn synistēsin hōs eiē arista gegrammena, kai matēn ereschelousin hoi katēgorein ton andra kai ta biblia diasyrein spoudazontes ; mēde gar autous dynasthai phēsin elein tēn tou andros synesin. Ei tis oun tēn polymathian kai to diapyron tēs psychēs Didymou gnōnai proērētai, entychōn tois peponēmenois autǭ bibliois mathēsetai. Toutǭ legetai kai ᾿Antōnion ēdē proteron kata ton Oualentos chronon, hote dia tous ᾿Areianous en tę̄ Alexandreią ek tēs erēmou katēlthen, entychein tǭ Didymǭ, kai mathonta tēn tou andros synesin, eipein pros auton; Mēden, ō Didyme, tarattetō se hē tōn aisthētōn ophthalmōn apobolē. Toioutoi gar soi leipousin ophthalmoi, hois kai muiai kai kōnōpes blepsai ischyousin; chaire de hoti echeis ophthalmous, hois kai angeloi blepousi, di' hōn kai ho Theos theōreitai, kai to autou phōs katalambanetai. Tauta men ēdē proteron para tou theophilous ᾿Antōniou pros Didymon eirēto . Tote de megistos synēgoros tēs oikeias pisteōs ephaineto Didymos, pros tous ᾿Areianous apantōn, kai sophismata analyōn autōn, kai tous kibdēlous kai dolerous autōn logous exelenchōn.
About the same time God displayed another faithful man, judging it right that the faith be attested through him. For Didymus, a wonderful and learned man, flourished at that time, distinguished in every branch of learning. When he was very young and had learned only the first elements of letters, he was struck by a disease of the eyes and, badly afflicted, lost his sight. But God gave him the eyes of the mind instead of the eyes of sense. What he could not be taught through his eyes, he learned through his hearing. Being gifted from childhood and endowed with a good soul, he surpassed the gifted and those with the sharpest sight. He mastered the rules of grammar easily and took in rhetoric still more quickly. Coming to philosophy, he learned dialectic too in a wonderful way, and arithmetic and music, and stored the other learning of the philosophers in his soul, so that he readily met those who had mastered these things with their eyes. Moreover, he knew the divine oracles of the Old and New Testament so exactly that he published many books; he also dictated the three books On the Trinity, and he interpreted Origen's On First Principles, publishing commentaries on it in which he maintains that it is excellently written, and that those who are eager to accuse the man and disparage his books quibble in vain; for he says that they cannot even grasp the man's understanding. Whoever wishes to know Didymus's wide learning and the ardour of his soul will learn it by reading the books he laboured on. It is said that Antony too, long before the time of Valens, when he came down from the desert to Alexandria because of the Arians, met Didymus, and, learning the man's understanding, said to him: 'Let not the loss of the eyes of sense trouble you at all, Didymus. You lack such eyes as flies and gnats can see with; but rejoice that you have eyes with which angels too see, by which God is beheld and his light is grasped.' These things had been said earlier by Antony, dear to God, to Didymus. But at this time Didymus appeared as the greatest advocate of his faith, meeting the Arians, unravelling their sophisms, and exposing their counterfeit and deceitful arguments.
Notes and citation
Summary: Didymus the Blind, learned despite blindness from childhood, defends the Nicene faith at Alexandria; Antony had told him to rejoice in the eyes that angels have.
- Didymus's commentary on Origen's First Principles is lost; the three books On the Trinity ascribed to him survive under his name, though the attribution is disputed.
- Antony's visit to Alexandria is usually dated to 338.
Extrabiblical texts: Origen, Princ. (Origen, On First Principles; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 4.25 (PG 67:525–527; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/4-25). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/4-25
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
4.26PG 67:527–535
Ἀλλὰ Δίδυμον μὲν τοῖς ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ ᾿Αρειανίζουσιν ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀντέταξε πρόνοια ἐν δὲ ταῖς ἄλλαις πόλεσιν, Βασίλειόν τε τὸν Καισαρέα, καὶ Γρηγόριον τὸν Ναζιανζηνόν· περὶ ὧν βραχέα εἰπεῖν εὔκαιρον ἡγοῦμαι. Ἤρκει μὲν γὰρ ἡ παρὰ πᾶσι τῶν ἀνδρῶν σωζομένη μνήμη, καὶ ἡ τῶν γεγραμμένων αὐτοῖς βιβλίων μάθησις, παραθέσθαι τὴν ἑκατέρου εὔκλειαν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ κατ' ἐκεῖνο καιροῦ τὰ πολλὰ ταῖς Ἐκκλησίαις αὐτοὶ συνεβάλλοντο, καὶ ὡς ἐμπύρευμα τῆς πίστεως ἐφυλάχθησαν, ἀπαιτεῖ ἡ ὑπόθεσις μάλιστα τούτων μνήμην ποιήσασθαι. Βασιλείου τοίνυν καὶ Γρηγορίου εἴ τις βούλοιτο σύγκρισιν ποιήσασθαι, διεξιέναι τε τὸν ἑκάστου βίον καὶ τρόπον, καὶ τὰς προσούσας αὐτοῖς ἀρετὰς, ἀμφιβάλλοι ἂν ἕτερον τοῦ ἑτέρου προκρίναι. "Αμφω γὰρ ἦσαν ἀλλήλοις ἐφἀμίλλοι, κατά τε τὴν ὀρθὴν πολιτείαν, καὶ κατὰ τὰς παιδεύσεις, τήν τε ἙἙλληνιχήν φημι, τὴν τῶν ἱερῶν Γραμμάτων. Νέοι γὰρ δὴ ὄντες οὗτοι, ἐν ταῖς ᾿Αθήναις γενόμενοι τῶν τότε ἀκμασάντων σοφιστῶν, Ἱμερίου Προαιρεσίον ἀχροαταὶ γενόμενοι, μεταταῦτα ἐν τῇ ᾿Αντιοχείᾳα τῆς Συρίας Λιβανίῳ συμφοιτήσαντες, ἄκρως τὴν ῥητορικὴν ἐξεπόνη.σαν. "ΑἈξιοί τε τοῦ σοφιστεύειν χριθέντες, ὑπὸ πολλῶν παρεχλήθησαν ἐπὶ τὸν διδασκαλικὸν βίον ἐλθεῖν. "Αλλων δὲ αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ διχανιχὴν παρακαλούντων, ἀμφοπέρων χατεφρόνησαν " καταλιπόντες τὸ σοφυιατεύειν, τὸν μονήρη βίον προέκριναν. ᾿Αψάμενοι οὖν φιλοσόφων λόγων παρὰ τῷ τηνικαῦτα ἐν τῇ ᾿᾽Αντιοχείᾳ συμπράττοντι τὰ φιλόσοφα, μετ᾽ οὐ πολὺ τὰ Ὠριγένους βιδλία συνάγοντες, ἐξ αὐτῶν τὴν ἑρμηνείαν τῶν ἱερῶν Γραμμάτων ἐπέγνωσαν. Μέγα γὰρ κλέος τὸ Ὠριγένους ὅλης τότε τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐφἥπλωτο. Ὧν ἀσχηθέντες, δυνατῶς ἀπήντων πρὸς τοὺς ᾿Αρειανίζοντας" καίτοι τῶν ᾿Αρειανῶν τὰ Ὦριγένους βιβλία εἰς μαρτυρίαν, ὡς ᾧοντο, τοῦ ἰδίου καλούντων δόγματος, αὐτοὶ ἐξήλεγχον, ἐδείχνυον μὴ νοήσαντας τὴν Ὠριγένους σύνεσιν. Παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς τε τότε οἱ ᾿Αρειανοὶ, καὶ ὁ τότε ᾿Ἀρειανίζων Εὐνόμιος, ἐλλόγιμοι νομίζοντες εἶναι, τοῖς περὶ Γρηγόριον καὶ Βασίλειον ἐντυγχάνοντες, ἀπαίδευτοι τελείως ἐδείκνυντο. Βασίλειος ἃ μὲν οὖν ὑπὸ Μελετίον τοῦ ᾿Αντιοχείας ἐπισκόπου εἰς τὴν τοῦ διακόνου τάξιν προχειρισθεὶς, μεταταῦτα δὲ καὶ ἐπίσκοπος τῆς ἑαυτοῦ πατρίδος, λέγω δὴ τῆς ἐν Καππαδοκίᾳ Καισαρείας προβληθεὶς, φροντίδα τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἐποιπαρ' ἀμφοτέρων γινόμενα εἰς ἀκοὰς ἥκει τοῦ βασιεἴτο. Δεδιὼς γὰρ μή πως ᾿Αρειανή καινοτομία καὶ τὰς κατὰ τὸν Πόντον ἐπινεμηθῇ ἐπαρχίας, δρομαῖος ἐπὶ τὰ ἐκεῖ μέρη διέβαινεν · ἐκεῖ τε ἀσκητήρια συστησάμενος, καὶ κατηχήσας τοὺς ἄνδρας ταῖς αὐτοῦ διδασκαλίαις, τοὺς σαλευομένους ἐστήριξε. Γρηγόριος - δὲ τῆς Ναζιανζοῦ πόλεως εὐτελοῦς ἐν Καππαδοκίᾳ, ἧς καὶ ὁ αὐτοῦ πατὴρ πρότερον Ἐκκλησίας προέστη, κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ τῷ Βασιλείῳ διεπράττετο. Περιιὼν γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς τὰς πόλεις, τοὺς ῥαθυμοῦντας περὶ τὴν πίστιν ἀνεῤῥώννυε. Μάλιστα δὲ τὰ πολλὰ τῇ Κωνσταντίνου πόλει ἐπιδημῶν, τοὺς ἐν αὐτῇ ὁμόφρονας ταῖς διδασκαλίαις ἐστήριξε· διὸ καὶ μικρὸν ὕστερον ψήφῳ πολλῶν ἐπισκόπων προέστη τοῦ ἐν Κωνσταντίνου πόλει λαοῦ. Ὡς οὖν τὰ λέως Οὐάλεντος, αὐτίκα Βασίλειον ἀπὸ τῆς Καισαρείας ἀγώγιμον ἐπὶ τὴν ᾿Αντιόχειαν γενέσθαι ἐκέλευσεν. Ἤγετο οὖν εὐθὺς, καὶ κατὰ γνώμην τοῦ βασιλέως εἰς τὸ τῶν ὑπάρχων εἰσήγετο δικαστήριον. Πεῦσίν τε προσαγαγόντος αὐτῷ τοῦ ὑπάρχου τοῦ χάριν μὴ τὴν πίστιν τοῦ βασιλέως ἀσπάζεσθαι, ὁ Βασίλειος παῤῥησίᾳ πολλῇ, τῇ μὲν τοῦ βασιλέως θρησκείᾳ ἐμέμφετο, τῇ δὲ τοῦ ὁμοουσίου πίστει συνἱστατο. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ὁ ὕπαρχος θάνατον αὐτῷ διηπείλησεν, Εἴθε, ἔφη ὁ Βασίλειος γένοιτό μοι διὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀπαλλαγῆναι τῶν δεσμῶν τοῦ σώματος. Τοῦ δὲ ὑπάρχου πάλιν ἐπισκέψασθαι εἰπόντος, λέγεται εἰπεῖν τὸν Βασίλειον, Ἐγὼ καὶ σήμερον καὶ αὔριον ὁ αὐτός εἶμι, ὄφελον σὺ ἑαυτὸν μὴ ἐνήλλαττες. Τότε μὲν οὖν κατ' ἐκείνην τὴν ἡμέραν φρουρούμενος διετέλει Βασίλειος. Οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ δὲ συνέβη νήπιον υἱὸν τοῦ Οὐάλεντος, ᾧ ὄνομα ἦν Γαλάτης, ἀῤῥωστῆσαι ἰσχυρῶς, ὥστε ἀπογνωσθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν ἰατρῶν. Ἡ δὲ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ, ἡ βασίλισσα Δομνίκα, λόγους πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα προσέφερε, φάσκουσα ἑαυτὴν μὲν ἐν τοῖς ὀνείροις κακῶς διατεθῆναι ὑπὸ φοβερῶν φασμάτων· τὸ δὲ παιδίον κακῶς ἔχειν διὰ τὴν εἰς τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ὕβριν. Ταῦτα εἰς νοῦν βαλλόμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς, μεταπέμπεται τὸν Βασίλειον· καὶ ἀπόπειραν ποιούμενος, φησὶ πρὸς αὐτόν· Εἰ ἀληθῆ τὰ σὰ δόγ ματα, εὔξαι ἵνα μου ὁ υἱὸς μὴ ἀποθάνῃ. Ὁ δὲ, Εἰ πιστεύσειας, ἔφη, ὦ βασιλεῦ, καθάπερ ἐγὼ, καὶ ἡ Ἐκκλησία ἑνωθῇ, ζήσεται τὸ παιδίον. Τοῦ δὲ μὴ συνθεμένου, Οὐκοῦν, ἔφη ὁ Βασίλειος, περὶ τοῦ παιδὸς τὸ θέλημα γενήσεται τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ταῦτα εἰπόντα τὸν Βα- : σίλειον ἀφεθῆναι ἐκέλευσε. Τὸ μέντοι παιδίον μετ' οὐ πολὺ ἐτελεύτησε. Τοσαῦτα περὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν τούτων ὡς ἐν ἐπιτομῇ εἰρήσθω. Βιβλία δὲ ἑκάτερος αὐτῶν πολλὰ καὶ θαυμαστὰ συνέγραψαν καὶ ἐξέδωκαν. ἀφ᾿ ὧν τινα ὁ Ῥουφῖνος εἰς τὴν Ῥωμαίων γλῶσσαν μεταβεβληκέναι φησίν. Ἐγένοντο δὲ ἀδελφοὶ Βασιλείου Πέτρος καὶ Γρηγόριος. ᾿Αλλὰ Πέτρος μὲν τὸν μονήρη βίον Βασιλείου ἐζήλωσε· Γρηγόριος δὲ τὸ διδασκαλικὸν τοῦ λόγου · ὃς καὶ τὴν πονηθεῖσαν Βασιλείῳ ἑξαήμερον, ἅτε δὴ καταλειφθεῖσαν, προσανεπλήρωσε μετά θάνατον τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ· καὶ ἐπιτάφιον εἰς Μελέτιον τὸν ᾿Αντιοχείας ἐπίσκοπον ἐν τῇ Κωνσταντίνου πόλει διεξῆλθε. Φέρονται δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἄλλοι λόγοι διάφοροι.
Alla Didymon men tois en ᾿Alexandreią ᾿Areianizousin hē tou Theou antetaxe pronoia en de tais allais polesin, Basileion te ton Kaisarea, kai Grēgorion ton Nazianzēnon; peri hōn brachea eipein eukairon hēgoumai. Ērkei men gar hē para pasi tōn andrōn sōzomenē mnēmē, kai hē tōn gegrammenōn autois bibliōn mathēsis, parathesthai tēn hekaterou eukleian. Epei de kat' ekeino kairou ta polla tais Ekklēsiais autoi syneballonto, kai hōs empyreuma tēs pisteōs ephylachthēsan, apaitei hē hypothesis malista toutōn mnēmēn poiēsasthai. Basileiou toinyn kai Grēgoriou ei tis bouloito synkrisin poiēsasthai, diexienai te ton hekastou bion kai tropon, kai tas prosousas autois aretas, amphiballoi an heteron tou heterou prokrinai. "Amphō gar ēsan allēlois ephamilloi, kata te tēn orthēn politeian, kai kata tas paideuseis, tēn te HeEllēnichēn phēmi, tēn tōn hierōn Grammatōn. Neoi gar dē ontes houtoi, en tais ᾿Athēnais genomenoi tōn tote akmasantōn sophistōn, Himeriou Proairesion achroatai genomenoi, metatauta en tę̄ ᾿Antiocheiąa tēs Syrias Libaniǭ symphoitēsantes, akrōs tēn rhētorikēn exeponē.san. "AAxioi te tou sophisteuein chrithentes, hypo pollōn parechlēthēsan epi ton didaskalikon bion elthein. "Allōn de autous epi dichanichēn parakalountōn, amphoperōn chatephronēsan " katalipontes to sophuiateuein, ton monērē bion proekrinan. ᾿Apsamenoi oun philosophōn logōn para tǭ tēnikauta en tę̄ ᾿᾽Antiocheią symprattonti ta philosopha, met᾽ ou poly ta Ōrigenous bidlia synagontes, ex autōn tēn hermēneian tōn hierōn Grammatōn epegnōsan. Mega gar kleos to Ōrigenous holēs tote tēs oikoumenēs ephēplōto. Hōn aschēthentes, dynatōs apēntōn pros tous ᾿Areianizontas" kaitoi tōn ᾿Areianōn ta Ōrigenous biblia eis martyrian, hōs hǭonto, tou idiou kalountōn dogmatos, autoi exēlenchon, edeichnyon mē noēsantas tēn Ōrigenous synesin. Para tois pollois te tote hoi ᾿Areianoi, kai ho tote ᾿Areianizōn Eunomios, ellogimoi nomizontes einai, tois peri Grēgorion kai Basileion entynchanontes, apaideutoi teleiōs edeiknynto. Basileios ha men oun hypo Meletion tou ᾿Antiocheias episkopou eis tēn tou diakonou taxin procheiristheis, metatauta de kai episkopos tēs heautou patridos, legō dē tēs en Kappadokią Kaisareias problētheis, phrontida tōn ekklēsiōn epoipar' amphoterōn ginomena eis akoas hēkei tou basieito. Dediōs gar mē pōs ᾿Areianē kainotomia kai tas kata ton Ponton epinemēthę̄ eparchias, dromaios epi ta ekei merē diebainen ; ekei te askētēria systēsamenos, kai katēchēsas tous andras tais autou didaskaliais, tous saleuomenous estērixe. Grēgorios - de tēs Nazianzou poleōs eutelous en Kappadokią, hēs kai ho autou patēr proteron Ekklēsias proestē, kata ta auta tǭ Basileiǭ diepratteto. Periiōn gar kai autos tas poleis, tous rhathymountas peri tēn pistin anerrhōnnye. Malista de ta polla tę̄ Kōnstantinou polei epidēmōn, tous en autę̄ homophronas tais didaskaliais estērixe; dio kai mikron hysteron psēphǭ pollōn episkopōn proestē tou en Kōnstantinou polei laou. Hōs oun ta leōs Oualentos, autika Basileion apo tēs Kaisareias agōgimon epi tēn ᾿Antiocheian genesthai ekeleusen. Ēgeto oun euthys, kai kata gnōmēn tou basileōs eis to tōn hyparchōn eisēgeto dikastērion. Peusin te prosagagontos autǭ tou hyparchou tou charin mē tēn pistin tou basileōs aspazesthai, ho Basileios parrhēsią pollę̄, tę̄ men tou basileōs thrēskeią emempheto, tę̄ de tou homoousiou pistei synistato. Epei de ho hyparchos thanaton autǭ diēpeilēsen, Eithe, ephē ho Basileios genoito moi dia tēn alētheian apallagēnai tōn desmōn tou sōmatos. Tou de hyparchou palin episkepsasthai eipontos, legetai eipein ton Basileion, Egō kai sēmeron kai aurion ho autos eimi, ophelon sy heauton mē enēllattes. Tote men oun kat' ekeinēn tēn hēmeran phrouroumenos dietelei Basileios. Ouk eis makran de de synebē nēpion huion tou Oualentos, hǭ onoma ēn Galatēs, arrhōstēsai ischyrōs, hōste apognōsthēnai hypo tōn iatrōn. Hē de mētēr autou, hē basilissa Domnika, logous pros ton basilea prosephere, phaskousa heautēn men en tois oneirois kakōs diatethēnai hypo phoberōn phasmatōn; to de paidion kakōs echein dia tēn eis ton episkopon hybrin. Tauta eis noun ballomenos ho basileus, metapempetai ton Basileion; kai apopeiran poioumenos, phēsi pros auton; Ei alēthē ta sa dog mata, euxai hina mou ho huios mē apothanę̄. Ho de, Ei pisteuseias, ephē, ō basileu, kathaper egō, kai hē Ekklēsia henōthę̄, zēsetai to paidion. Tou de mē synthemenou, Oukoun, ephē ho Basileios, peri tou paidos to thelēma genēsetai tou Theou. Tauta eiponta ton Ba- : sileion aphethēnai ekeleuse. To mentoi paidion met' ou poly eteleutēse. Tosauta peri tōn andrōn toutōn hōs en epitomę̄ eirēsthō. Biblia de hekateros autōn polla kai thaumasta synegrapsan kai exedōkan. aph᾿ hōn tina ho Rhouphinos eis tēn Rhōmaiōn glōssan metabeblēkenai phēsin. Egenonto de adelphoi Basileiou Petros kai Grēgorios. ᾿Alla Petros men ton monērē bion Basileiou ezēlōse; Grēgorios de to didaskalikon tou logou ; hos kai tēn ponētheisan Basileiǭ hexaēmeron, hate dē kataleiphtheisan, prosaneplērōse meta thanaton tou adelphou; kai epitaphion eis Meletion ton ᾿Antiocheias episkopon en tę̄ Kōnstantinou polei diexēlthe. Pherontai de autou kai alloi logoi diaphoroi.
The providence of God set Didymus against the Arianizers in Alexandria, and in the other cities Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus, about whom I think it timely to say a little. The memory of the men preserved by all, and the study of the books they wrote, would indeed be enough to set forth the fame of each. But since at that time they contributed most to the churches and were preserved as a kindling-spark of the faith, the subject requires that we mention them in particular. If anyone wished to compare Basil and Gregory, and to go through the life and character of each and the virtues they possessed, he would hesitate to prefer one to the other; for both were rivals of each other in right conduct and in learning, I mean both the Greek learning and that of the sacred writings. As young men they went to Athens and became hearers of the most eminent sophists of the time, Himerius and Prohaeresius; afterwards they studied together with Libanius at Antioch in Syria, and mastered rhetoric to the highest degree. Judged worthy to teach as sophists, they were urged by many to take up the teacher's life; others urged them to the law; but they despised both, left the sophist's work, and preferred the solitary life. Having touched philosophical studies under the man who then taught philosophy at Antioch, not long afterward they gathered the books of Origen and from them learned the interpretation of the sacred writings; for the great fame of Origen had then spread over the whole world. Trained in these, they met the Arianizers with power; and when the Arians called on Origen's books as witness, so they thought, for their own doctrine, they refuted them and showed that they had not understood Origen's meaning. The Arians at that time, and Eunomius, then an Arianizer, who were thought by most to be learned, when they met Gregory and Basil were shown to be utterly uneducated. Basil was advanced to the order of deacon by Meletius, bishop of Antioch, and afterward was made bishop of his own native city, Caesarea in Cappadocia; and he took care of the churches. Fearing that the Arian innovation might spread also over the provinces of Pontus, he crossed in haste into those parts; there he founded ascetic houses, instructed the men by his teaching, and strengthened those who were wavering. Gregory, at Nazianzus, a small city in Cappadocia whose church his father had earlier governed, did the same as Basil. Going round the cities himself, he strengthened those who were slack about the faith. Above all, spending much time in Constantinople, he strengthened by his teaching those there who held the same faith; and for that reason a little later, by the vote of many bishops, he became head of the people of Constantinople. When what both were doing came to the ears of the emperor Valens, he at once ordered Basil to be brought from Caesarea to Antioch. He was brought at once and, by the emperor's decision, led into the court of the prefects. When the prefect questioned him why he did not embrace the emperor's faith, Basil with great boldness found fault with the emperor's religion and stood by the faith of the 'same essence'. When the prefect threatened him with death, Basil said, 'Would that it might be granted me, for the truth's sake, to be released from the bonds of the body!' When the prefect told him to think it over again, Basil is said to have answered, 'I am the same today and tomorrow; I wish you would not change yourself.' On that day Basil remained under guard. Not long after it happened that the infant son of Valens, whose name was Galates, fell seriously ill, so that the physicians despaired of him. His mother, the empress Dominica, spoke to the emperor, saying that she had been badly troubled in her dreams by frightening apparitions, and that the child was ill because of the insult to the bishop. The emperor, taking this to heart, sent for Basil and, putting him to the test, said to him, 'If your doctrines are true, pray that my son may not die.' He said, 'If you will believe as I do, emperor, and the church is united, the child will live.' When the emperor did not agree, Basil said, 'Then the will of God concerning the child will be done.' When Basil had said this, the emperor ordered him to be released. The child, however, died not long after. Let this much be said about these men, as in an epitome. Each of them wrote and published many admirable books, some of which, Rufinus says, he has translated into the language of the Romans. Basil's brothers were Peter and Gregory. Peter emulated Basil's solitary life, Gregory his teaching in the word; he also completed after his brother's death the Hexaemeron that Basil had laboured on, since it had been left unfinished, and he delivered at Constantinople a funeral oration for Meletius, bishop of Antioch. Various other discourses of his are also in circulation.
Matt 6:10 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Socrates praises Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus, describes their training and work against the Arians, and tells of Basil's defiance before the prefect and Valens and the death of Valens's son.
- In the scan text a line ('when what both were doing came to the ears of the emperor') has been moved into the sentence about Basil's care of the churches; it is translated where the sense requires.
- Gregory of Nyssa's On the Making of Man completed Basil's Hexaemeron; both works are on this site.
- Socrates says the two studied with Libanius at Antioch; this is not attested elsewhere.
- Basil's 'I am the same today and tomorrow' is reported here as a saying; the story is told differently by Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 43.
Extrabiblical texts: Basil, Hex. (Homilies on the Hexaemeron; allusion); Rufinus of Aquileia, Hist. (Rufinus of Aquileia, Rufinus, Church History; allusion)
Topics: Persecution, Church office
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 4.26 (PG 67:527–535; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/4-26). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/4-26
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.
4.27PG 67:535
Ἐπειδὴ δέ τινες ἐκ τῆς ὁμωνυμίας πλανῶνται, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐπιγραφομένων Γρηγορίου βιβλίων, δεῖ εἰδέναι ὅτι ἄλλος ἐστὶν ὁ Ποντικὸς Γρηγόριος, ὅστις ἐκ τῆς ἐν Πόντῳ Νεοκαισαρείας ὁρμώμενος, ἀρχαιότερος τούτων ἐστί · μαθητὴς γὰρ Ωριγένους ἐγένετο. Περὶ τούτου τοῦ Γρηγορίου, πολὺς ὁ λόγος ἔν τε ᾿Αθήναις καὶ Βηρυτῷ, καὶ ὅλῃ τῇ Ποντικῇ διοικήσει, ὡς δὲ εἰπεῖν, καὶ πάσῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ. Οὗτος γὰρ ὡς τῶν ᾿Αθήνῃσι παιδευτηρίων ἀναχωρήσας, ἐν τῇ Βηρυτῷ νόμους ἐμάνθανε. Πυθόμενός τε ἐν τῇ Καισαρείᾳ τὰ ἱερὰ Γράμματα ἑρμηνεύειν Ωριγένην, δρομαῖος ἐπὶ τὴν Καισάρειαν παραγίνεται ἀκροασάμενός τε τῆς μεγαλοφώνου θεωρίας τῶν ἱερῶν Γραμμάτων, πολλὰ χαίρειν εἰπὼν τοῖς Ῥωμαϊκοῖς νόμοις, ἀχώριστος ἦν τοῦ λοιποῦ· καὶ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ παιδευθεὶς τὴν ἀληθῆ φιλοσοφίαν, καὶ μεταταῦτα ἐπὶ τὴν πατρίδα, τῶν γονέων καλεσάντων, ἀνεχώρησε. Κἀκεῖ πρῶτον μὲν λαϊκὸς ὢν, πολλὰ σημεῖα ἐποίησε, νοσοῦντας θεραπεύων, καὶ δαίμονας δι' ἐπιστολῶν φυγαδεύων, καὶ τοὺς Ἑλληνίζοντας, τοῖς τε λόγοις, καὶ πλέον τοῖς γινομένοις ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ προσαγόμενος. Μέμνηται δὲ αὐτοῦ καὶ Πάμφιλος ὁ μάρτυρ ἐν τοῖς περὶ Ὠριγένους πονηθεῖσιν αὐτῷ βιβλίοις, ἐν οἷς καὶ συστατικὸς λόγος Γρηγορίου εἰς Ωριγένην παράκειται. Γεγόνασιν οὖν, ὡς ἐν κεφαλαίῳ εἰπεῖν, Γρηγόριοι · ὅ τε ἀρχαῖος οὗτος καὶ μαθητὴς Ωριγένους, καὶ ὁ Ναζιανζηνὸς, καὶ ὁ ἀδελφὸς Βασιλείου. Ἐγένετο δὲ καὶ ἄλλος Γρηγόριος ἐν ᾿Αλεξανδρείᾳ, ὃν οἱ ᾿Αρειανοὶ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τῆς φυγῆς Ἀθανασίου κατέστησαν. Περὶ μὲν δὴ τούτων τοσαῦτα λελέχθω.
Epeidē de tines ek tēs homōnymias planōntai, kai ek tōn epigraphomenōn Grēgoriou bibliōn, dei eidenai hoti allos estin ho Pontikos Grēgorios, hostis ek tēs en Pontǭ Neokaisareias hormōmenos, archaioteros toutōn esti ; mathētēs gar Ōrigenous egeneto. Peri toutou tou Grēgoriou, polys ho logos en te ᾿Athēnais kai Bērytǭ, kai holę̄ tę̄ Pontikę̄ dioikēsei, hōs de eipein, kai pasę̄ tę̄ oikoumenę̄. Houtos gar hōs tōn ᾿Athēnę̄si paideutēriōn anachōrēsas, en tę̄ Bērytǭ nomous emanthane. Pythomenos te en tę̄ Kaisareią ta hiera Grammata hermēneuein Ōrigenēn, dromaios epi tēn Kaisareian paraginetai akroasamenos te tēs megalophōnou theōrias tōn hierōn Grammatōn, polla chairein eipōn tois Rhōmaïkois nomois, achōristos ēn tou loipou; kai hyp' autou paideutheis tēn alēthē philosophian, kai metatauta epi tēn patrida, tōn goneōn kalesantōn, anechōrēse. Kakei prōton men laïkos ōn, polla sēmeia epoiēse, nosountas therapeuōn, kai daimonas di' epistolōn phygadeuōn, kai tous Hellēnizontas, tois te logois, kai pleon tois ginomenois hyp᾿ autou prosagomenos. Memnētai de autou kai Pamphilos ho martyr en tois peri Ōrigenous ponētheisin autǭ bibliois, en hois kai systatikos logos Grēgoriou eis Ōrigenēn parakeitai. Gegonasin oun, hōs en kephalaiǭ eipein, Grēgorioi ; ho te archaios houtos kai mathētēs Ōrigenous, kai ho Nazianzēnos, kai ho adelphos Basileiou. Egeneto de kai allos Grēgorios en ᾿Alexandreią, hon hoi ᾿Areianoi kata ton kairon tēs phygēs Athanasiou katestēsan. Peri men dē toutōn tosauta lelechthō.
Since some are misled by the sameness of names and by the books inscribed with the name of Gregory, it must be known that the Pontic Gregory is another, who came from Neocaesarea in Pontus and is older than these; for he was a disciple of Origen. About this Gregory there is much talk at Athens and Berytus and in the whole Pontic diocese, and, so to speak, in the whole world. Having left the schools of Athens, he was studying law at Berytus. Learning that Origen was interpreting the sacred writings at Caesarea, he hurried to Caesarea; and having heard Origen's grand contemplation of the sacred writings, he bade a long farewell to Roman law and from then on was inseparable from him. Taught by him the true philosophy, he afterwards returned to his native land when his parents called him. There, while still a layman, he worked many signs, healing the sick, putting demons to flight by letters, and winning over the pagans both by his words and still more by what he did. Pamphilus the martyr also mentions him in the books he laboured on about Origen, in which a commendatory discourse of Gregory on Origen is also included. There were, then, to put it briefly, three Gregories: this ancient one, the disciple of Origen; the Nazianzen; and the brother of Basil. There was also another Gregory at Alexandria, whom the Arians installed at the time of Athanasius's flight. So much about these.
Notes and citation
Summary: Socrates distinguishes Gregory Thaumaturgus, Origen's pupil, from the two Cappadocian Gregories and from the Arian Gregory of Alexandria.
- Pamphilus's Apology for Origen and Gregory Thaumaturgus's Panegyric on Origen are both on this site.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray footnote numeral): Γρηγόριος 5, → Γρηγόριος,.
Extrabiblical texts: Pamphilus, Apol. Orig. (Apology for Origen; allusion); Gregory Thaumaturgus, Pan. Orig. (Address of Thanksgiving to Origen; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Socrates, Hist. eccl. 4.27 (PG 67:535; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/4-27). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/socrates-historia/4-27
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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Valesius's Greek text as printed in Migne PG 67 (Bavarian State Library OCR and Tesseract re-OCR); every chapter compared afterwards with Zenos's English in NPNF² 2.