The sayings of the Desert Fathers: the alphabetical collection

302 Pages·1984·38.73 MB·English

by  Benedicta Ward

The fourth-century ascetic flight to the desert indelibly marked Christianity. The
faithful who did not embrace the austerity of the desert admired those who did
and sought them out for counsel and consolation. The 'words' the monks gave
were collected and passed around among those too far away or too feeble to make
the trek themselves - or lived generations later. Previously available only in
fragments, these Sayings of the Desert Fathers are now accessible in its entirety in
English for the first time.
'We have a great deal to learn from their integrity and their unrelenting courage,
from their vision ofGod-so holy, so great, possessed of such a love, that nothing
less than one's whole being could respond to it,' wrote Archbishop Anthony of
Sourzah in the preface. 'If we wish to understand the sayings of the Fathers, let us
approach them with veneration, silencing our judgements and our own thoughts in
order to meet them on their own ground and perhaps to partake ultimately - if we
prove to emulate their earnestness in the search, their ruthless determination, their
infinite compassion - in their own silent communion with God.'
Benedicta Ward graduated from Manchester University with a degree in history
and received a D. Phil, from Oxford University. Among her many books and
articles are Miracles and the Medieval Mind, the Prayers and Meditations of Saint Anselm,
and two companion volumes to the present work: The Wisdom of the Desert Fathers,
a translation of the shorter Anonymous Series of apophthegmata, and The Harlots of
the Desert, a translation of the lives ofpenitents and study of contrition in the early
Church. A member of the Anglican religious community of the Sisters of the Love
of God, she lectures and does research at Oxford.
CISTERCIAN PUBLICATIONS
Kalamazoo, Michigan
DESERT SPIRITUALITY
Cover Illusion: Christ protecting Saint Menas.
Courtesy of the Louvre, Paris.
Cover Design by Tammy M. Kretsch

Contents
Preface xiii
Foreword xvii
Prologue xxxv
ALPHA Anthony the Great 1
Arsenius 9
Agathon 20
Amtnonas 25
Achilles 28
Ammoes 30
Amoun ofNitria 31
Anoub 32
Abraham 33
Ares 34
Alonius 35
Appby 35
viii] Contents
Apollo 36
Andrew 37
Aio 37
Ammonathas 37
BETA Basil the Great 39
Bessarion 40
Benjamin 43
.Biare 44
GAMMA Gregory the Theologian 45
Gelasius 45
Gerontius 50
DELTA Daniel 51
Dioscorus 54
Doulas 55
EPSILON Epiphanius, Bishop of Cyprus 56
Ephrem 59
Eucharistus the Secular 60
Eulogius the Priest 60
Euprepius 61
Helladius 62
Evagrius 63
Eudemon 64
DZETA Zeno 65
Zacharias 67
ETA Isaiah 69
Elias 70
Heraclides 72
Contents [ix
THETA Theodore ofPherme 73
Theodore ofEnaton 79
Theodore of Scetis 79
Theodore ofEleutheropolis 79
Theonas 80
Theophilus the Archbishop 80
Theodora 82
IOTA John the Dwarf 85
John the Cénobite 96
Isidore the Priest 96
Isidore of Pelusia 98
Isaac, Priest of the Cells 99
Joseph ofPanephysis 101
James 104
Hierax 104
John the Eunuch 105
John of the CELLS 105
John of the Thebaid 106
Isidore the Priest 106
John the Persian 107
John the Theban 109
John, disciple of Abba Paul 109
Isaac the Theban 109
Joseph of Thebes no
Hilarion 111
Ischyrion 111
CAPPA Cassian 112
Cronius 115
Carion 116
Copres 118
Cyrus 118
χ] Contents
LAMBDA Lucius 120
Lot 121
Longinus 122
MU Macarius the Great 124
Moses 138
Matoes 143
Mark, disciple of Abba Silvanus 145
Milesius 147
Modus 148
Megethius 149
Mius 150
Mark the Egyptian 150
Macarius of Alexandria 151
NU Nilus 153
Nisterus 154
Nisterus the Cénobite 155
Nicon 156
Netras 156
Nicetas 157
XI Xoius 158
Xanthias 159
»MICRON Olympius 160
Orsisius 161
PI Poemen (called the Shepherd) 163
Pambo 195
Pistus 198
Pior 199