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{"content": "Sermo die lune in ebdomada Pasche\nThese words are contained in the twenty-fourth chapter of Luke, read in the holy gospel of this day. Ihu's nearness to mankind is the first principle of this joyous truth, and the second is that Ihu's walked with mankind.\n\nOf these two principles, the intent of this sermon will be to explain the first. We read in holy scripture of various individuals named Ihu, of whom I will primarily treat three in particular: the first was Ihu, the son of Naue; the second, Ihu, the son of Joses, figure of the fourth Ihu, called Ihu, the son of God. I will primarily speak of the first.Ihesus, referred to as a savior or helper. Each of these three referred-to Ihuws was, in their time, a savior or helper of the people. However, they were not the same Ihuws I am speaking of. Ihuws was and is (savior mundi), the savior of the world. I will show you how each of these three Ihuws helped and saved the people in their time.\n\nThe first Ihuws, the son of Naue, saved the people by might and power. The second Ihuws saved the people by obedience. The third Ihuws saved the people by wisdom.\n\nThe first Ihuws saved the people with power. The second Ihuws saved the people through the children of Israel after the death of Moses, the servant of God, as it appears in the first chapter of Joshua. He was conveniently named Ihuws because of the great might and power given to him by Ihuws.The people of God, as the story of Joshua plainly declares, followed God's promise in the first chapter of the same book. Moses said to Joshua, \"God speaks to you and commands you: 'Be strong and courageous. Arise, cross the Jordan with all this people, and bring them into the land which I will give to them, the land of promise. I will be with you just as I was with Moses. You shall command the people, and it is they who shall possess the land. The story of Joshua plainly declares this. Ecclesiastes in the forty-sixth chapter recounts how the people were guided and obeyed him. He brought them into the land to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were repaid for their waywardness and destruction of their enemies by God. He drove out the inhabitants and finally settled them in peaceful possession of the land.\n\nAs briefly stated, Saint Jerome in his epistle to Pason of Nauas, brings the figure of Ihu Christ. He passed through the waters of Jordan this noble prince.Ihus Naue, in his time, was a man of laudable memory, now called in all the world one of the nine worthies for various causes. For by his great might and power, he saved the people committed to him from enemies and peril. He destroyed the adversaries of Christ. And among all his praises: his memory is specifically laudable. For what commanded him to do, that he gladly fulfilled without grumble from the people under God to do the same. Our Lord commanded him in this way, as it appears in the first chapter of Joshua: \"Be thou strong and of good courage, O my servant Ihus; be not afraid nor be dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.\" Declyneth thou never from them, neither to the right hand nor to the left, that is, neither in prosperity nor in adversity. So understand thou, under the understanding of my laws be thy leader. Let not the book of my law depart from thy mouth: thou mayest truly live by it.Observe all things written and commanded here: This commandment of God he fulfilled, as it appears in the eleventh chapter of the same book. In this word (As the Lord commanded Moses: so Moses commanded Joshua), And he fully accomplished all of God's precepts. There escaped him not one word of God's precepts but to the extremity he fully carried them out. Look well and carefully, judges of this world. Learn the laws of God and see them observed and kept. Second Ihu\u0304s, named Ihu\u0304s, of laudable memory in the scripture of God, was Ihu\u0304s, the son of Josedech. The great priest of the law and one of the seventy Interpreters of the Bible. This great priest of the law, at the high commandment of God in the mouth of Cyrus, the first monarch of Persia, whom the Lord had with His grace inspired, as it appears in the first chapter of the first book of Ezra, released the captivity of the Jews. They, for their sins, had been in bondage.After the destruction of Jerusalem and the subversion of its god's temple by Nabuchodonosor and Nabuzardan, his captain, there was a high priest named Ihus, the son of Joshedech. He was also called Ihus, the helper and savior of the people of God, through obedience, around twenty-three years after the exile and blinding of their last king, Ihus Naos, and the bringing of him and all his nobles to Babylon, following this transigration, up until the nativity of Christ. The Jews, in their freedom or captivity, had never had more than only priests and dukes, bishops and princes. But then, the bishops became rulers of the people, and the line of kings after this transigration is described as ruling in turn, not in succession. The line of bishops continued to rule the people, enduring until the temporal reign of Christ. This reveals the Master of the story.Who so wished to see it. Now the first of these great priests or bishops, having rule over the people, was this Ihu\u0304s, the son of Josedech. A man of great zeal and devout obedience to God, so it was fittingly named Ihu\u0304s, helper or savior of the people, by his devout obedience. Leaving example to all priests, prelates in particular, to bear devout obedience to Almighty God and teach the same. For when it pleased our Lord to have his people released from their captivity, and his temple in Jeremiah's prophecy clearly appeared. Declared at large in the first book of Zechariah. That is, Ihu\u0304s, our savior, descended from him by his temporal lineage, as it appears in the first chapter of Matthew.\n\nThe other, that is Ihu\u0304s Josedech, prepared the people by due obedience truly to serve God in this material Temple, which they then rebuilt to God's honor. But more first temple was contained the ark of the Old Testament. Concerning the tables of the law, Manna, and other things.the rodde of Aaron. whiche flourisshid & fructifyed\nby myracle. The appostle this declareth to the He\u2223breos\nthe .ix. chapytre. Many also precyous Iewels\n& tresours were in that temple born awaye by Na\u2223bugodonosor.\nand Nabuzardan his capytayn / as it\napereth in the fourth boke of the kynges. the finall\n& finall but on\u0304 chapitours. whiche wer neuer fully\nrestored ayen in the reedifycaco\u0304n of ye same temple\nable it. that Cirus & Darius many grete thynges\nrestoryd to the seconde reedifycacyon as it is decla\u2223ryd\nthe fyrste boke of Esdre the fyrste & syxte cha\u2223pytours\n/ So y\u2022 this seconde temple was no thynge\nlyke vnto the fyrste ne in buyldynge ne in garnys\u2223shyng:\nWherfore holy cristen doctours as saynt Ie\u2223rom\n& Bede expowne this prophecye to the letter / \nThat gretter shall be the seconde glory of this se\u2223conde\nhous than of fyrste / \u00b6For as moche as Cri\u2223ste\ngod & man. Many wyses thys seconde temples\nwith his holy presence dyde dedicate & inourne / For\nin to this Temple by his holy vyrgyn & moder atIn this temple, he was offered to God. His holy mother found him among doctors. From this temple, he drove out bears and sellers. In this temple, he often prayed, preached, and performed many miracles. Great was the glory of this holy house, and far greater than ever was the glory of Solomon's temple. This great priest and bishop named Ihus Iosedech was also called Ihus, the helper or savior of the people, due to his holy and zealous obedience. For the people of God, who had been in captivity in Babylon, were long confused by interpretation, and after their custom, fell into idolatry, worshiping false idols and images: and so they had lost their due obedience to Almighty God, following the wicked laws of Gentiles. This great priest and bishop, adhering to his office and duty, with the help of Zoroastres, the true prince and servant of God, were granted permission by Cyrus and Darius to return home and rebuild the temple of God. What obedience.was in this holy bishop. You and I, with diligence, brought the people to the true and fast obedience of God. The first book of Ezra clearly declares / So he himself was fully obedient to Almighty God's will. And he taught all the people to the same. As it appears, both in the swift building of the temple and in their devotion. All their diligence did this holy work. What joy, what gladness was there made by this holy Hillel (Iht), it appears. / All the people say, Ezra gathered. Cried with great voices to God's praising, / for as much as the foundation of the temple was laid. Many also of the old fathers who had seen the temple of Solomon standing and this temple beginning, wept with a loud voice. / And many present lifted their voices in joy and gladness. Such a commotion was there in the people's crying to God's praising that no man might discern the voices of weepers from the voices of joyful people. So they all enjoyed in God.One virtuous prelate does much good in Christ's church, not only for his own virtue and zealous obedience to God's law, but also in leading other men towards Cyrus, whom some call Assuerus, others Artaxerxes. But in the time of Cambyses, it was God's work that this building did not progress, as daily experience shows. When Darius, king of Babylon, inspired by God in the second year of his reign, gave permission for the Jews to perform the temple of God, they found obedience, diligence, and zeal from this Jeshua, with the priests, Levites, and all the people, to perform this holy temple for God's worship and praise. What joy and looking was given to God in the dedication of the same temple, as described in the sixth chapter of the book.The first book of Esdras clearly appears. Some men here present will wish to hear, why and to what end I bring in this long story of Jesus Iosedech, the great priest of the old law. Indeed, this is my cause: for all holy scripture is written for our education after the apostles, between light and darkness.\n\nThen we have here named two men with this name. The first was Jesus Naue, helper and savior of the people by might and power. The second was Jesus Iosedech, savior of the servants of God by devotion and obedience, as has been declared. The third of laudable memory with the same name was Jesus, the son of Sirach, the son of Sirach's son, unto Jesus Iosedech, as he himself relates in his Prologue of the book named by him Ecclesiasticus.\n\nAnd it is very fitting that this father was named Jesus. An helper or savior of the people (wisdom being given to him by God in great abundance).by Him taught to the people, to the world's end. Due to his laudable wisdom, he left behind him in writing in the book of Wisdom called Ecclesiasticus. This book, he first composed and wrote in the Hebrew tongue, and afterwards translated it into Greek, as Isidore declares and shows in the sixth book of his Etymologies. For the declaration and explanation of this truth, it is expedient and right necessary to know and understand what help and salvation wisdom gives to man. Where you shall understand and mark in your mind, that man, of all creatures under heaven, directs and orders his acts and deeds by his understanding to his natural or supernatural end. Thus I say, to the intent that it is, or thus it should be. Now, since man's understanding is radically corrupted by sin and ignorance, the mother of error, a man errs not from his end, naturally or supernaturally intended: that his understanding be.Directed by some ready light / This light at philosophers is commonly named the light of wisdom\nAnd therefore naturally men desire knowledge and wisdom. As says Aristotle in the beginning of his Metaphysics, \"Every man by nature desires to know.\" For the more zeal had Plato for wisdom and knowledge. He followed science in all the world, as though science had fled from him. And once was he taken by pirates at sea. And sold to Dionysius the great tyrant. Yet, for as much as he was a philosopher, a lover of knowledge and wisdom, he was more precious to him than the tyrant who bought him. Since by reason of his knowledge, he could more temperately bear himself in all adversity than his master and lord having him in servitude. There are shown forth Saints Jerome of Titus Livius, Apollonius, and other wise men of the world, in great and profound wisdom and learning. Their fame for knowledge and wisdom drew men from the farthest party of the world to hear them, to learn wisdom from them.\"According to St. Jerome, this labor and busyness he calls the light of reason. And with faith, nothing is endowed. Regarding this wisdom to be attained by man, Aristotle, one of its great seekers, said in the sixth book of his Ethics that there are two kinds or parties to it. The first is called Prudence, which leads man not to deviate from his reasonable end in worldly occupations and business. The second is called Wisdom, which stands in speculation of high and presumptive causes. Therefore, wisdom is a wisdom that leads man not to deviate from his end naturally, but supernaturally intended. In this wisdom after him rests man's felicity or happiness. To the extent that he might attain to wisdom, at his opinion was (felix) blessed or happy, for he should not deviate from it.\"These truths were necessary for his happiness and perfect end. Philosophers strove much to attain their intent and purpose, yet they often faltered. This is evident not only in their errors concerning the last and perfect end, but also in their errors concerning means leading to the same end, as Aristotle declares in the first book of his Ethics. There, he shows that some set their final end in riches, some in concupiscence, some in the first chapter of the Romans, the apostle Paul says. These philosophers, says Saint Paul, erred. For when they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but became vain in their reasonings and called themselves wise, but they were fools in deed. A chief creature of this world, they were, by other smaller and lower creatures of the same. But how vain were these philosophers? How did they err? For truly, they did not give due thanks to God their maker and giver of their benefits. Saint Augustine says this in this letter.philosophers saw the end of all creatures: knew there was one god by the light of reason but uncivil to their maker gave to them this knowledge: ascribed to themselves proudly their knowledge and wisdom and for their pride, lost their true knowledge and became both blind and erring from truth. According to the prophet's first chapter. Recited by the apostle in the first chapter to the Corinthians. I will say God by His prophet. Destroy and bring to nothing the wisdom of the wise: and I will reprove and bring confusion on the prudence of the prudent men of this world. In which words God joins them not yet one of them. Leads or helps man to his perfect end. And furthermore, shows the apostle in the same place. What wisdom, and what prudence it is that readily leads man to his perfect end, that he may not err above the end nor yet in means to the same. It pleased God, says the apostle, through the preaching of His holy gospel and wisdom, contained in the last chapter of Mark.Preach ye this saying of Christ to his disciples, my gospel to all men and women. Say ye unto them, he who truly believes and is baptized shall be everlastingly saved. So it is written in the scripture of God: true wisdom containing perfect prudence and sage advice. Prudence to direct every man in this world, lest he err in worldly acts and business. Sapience, lest he err in his final end, and truths required. Fulgens in his sermon of Confessors, this shows at large. In holy scripture is contained both milk for the young child and substantial food for men. It is to say, easy learning for beginners, and profound wisdom for men of learning. There is doctrine convenient for every age, every state, every condition, and good fathers ever desired, that they may pass through this world in such states as the wisdom of the world might never lead astray. As of Solomon we read in the third.The third and fourth chapters of the book relate how King Solomon, commissioned by God to ask for whatever he wanted, requested wisdom above all else. God granted him wisdom beyond that of any other man, as recorded in the fourth chapter of the same book. God bestowed upon Solomon plentiful abundance of wisdom and prudence. With this wisdom came all other profitable goods. The wisdom of this prince was so great that people from far-off countries came to seek him and learn from him. Some came for judgments, some to order their realms or households, and some to order themselves to God's pleasure. Queen Sheba, the noble princess, hearing of Solomon's marvelous wisdom, came from a distant country to hear and learn from his wisdom, as recorded in the third book of Kings, chapter ten. This spiritually and godly wisdom of olden times was greatly desired.of great men. of mean men. of every estate, for by this wisdom they might order all their lives to God's pleasure. know their end. attain their end. not be ignorant nor err about their end. nor meanings to the same, this world is gone and in effect torn up and down, for where sometime men studied in avarice, and from the prophet to the priest, every man does gyle and sleight, Jeremiah. the sixth chapter, if they labored for wisdom and knowledge as did philosophers of whom I spoke above, of whom the apostle says in the first chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians, \"Iews ask signs and Greeks wisdom,\" something were it. you and something commendable were it. For after Aristotle's conjuring and wisdom is accounted among good's honorable, but this wisdom is gone. Also, men no longer called science and conjuring, but only wise men are accounted in this world, which can find subtle and crafty means to get.goodes. playne falsnesse in englysshe / \u00b6Whoos\nende is euerlastynge dethe. and god is glorifyed in\ntheyr confusyon whyche sauour alle of the worlde.\nwryten to the Philipenses the thyrde chapytre / \n\u00b6Now to my purpoos. I saye this man Ihu\u0304s fi\u2223lius\nSirach of laudable memory. was conuenyent\u00a6ly\ncallyd Ihu\u0304s. an helper or sauer of the people by\nhis grete wysdom. whyche wysdom / what worldly\nnay ghostly. He fyrst taughte. & thenne left in wry\u00a6tyng.\nwherby man may duely ordre his lyfe to hys\nende naturall & supernaturall. & neyther to be ig\u2223noraunt\nne erre abowte the same. or ony of the sa\u2223me.\nas in the processe of the boke namyd Ecclesias\u00a6tic{us}\nof his wrytynge and translacion as I sayd a\u2223aboue\nplaynly dooth appere. In whyche boke sa\u2223yth\nsaynt Ierom. this holy fader ledyth and per\u2223suadyth\nmen in this mortall lyfe to the zele and lo\u00a6ue\nof wysdom / as wysdom conteyneth all vertues / \nSoo that in the techynge and declarynge of wys\u2223dom.\nhe taughte all vertues / and how man sholdeevery man should live wisely to readily and surely reach his end. And there, you have been shown from the beginning the stories of three men of commendable memory, named Ihu\u0304s, for each of whom in his time was an helper or savior of the people. The first by power. The second by obedience. And the third by wisdom, as it has now been declared: yet none of the three had all these virtues nor any of them in full, but by participation in our Ihu\u0304s Christ. Of whose fullness and abundance we all have received various virtues and manifold gracious gifts. The first chapter of John. Ihu\u0304s Naue had power, but (in measure). Ihu\u0304s Iosedech had obedience, and Ihu\u0304s Sirach had wisdom (in measure), as God gave to him. But Ihu\u0304s Christ was (full of power), obedience to Ihu\u0304s Iosedech, and ghostly wisdom to Ihu\u0304s Sirach. For at his high word all things were made.Things were made: He commanded. And all creatures were created and brought forth from nothing. Psalm 44/Then of this Ihus our savior Christ I wish to speak with his mercy (Of the same Ihus has been near to mankind. The second is, that the same Ihus has walked with mankind/And of these two follows as a corollary. The third truth is that the same Ihus has finally brought mankind to everlasting rest in heaven. And in this has shown himself to be truly Ihus. y- Perfectionate savior of mankind. \u00b6He was near to mankind (by his almighty power), He walked with mankind (by perfect obedience), And finally brought mankind to rest and bliss (by his Infinite wisdom). Firstly, I say, our savior Ihus was near to mankind in three ways (creating, begetting): With all, I shall show you in this first party how mankind has ever been and continually turned away from God. OfWhichever will appear the goodness of God and the unkindness of man. I say first our Savior's nearness to man by his almighty power in the act of creation. To whose declaration I shall show you three conclusions. First, in which stands the act of creation. Second, it is Christ's cry of God. This act of creation only pertains to almighty power or power infinite. So, no limit or determination can in any way limit or determine power in this act of creation, that is, to bring forth anything from nothing. Therefore, gentle philosophers, considering only determination and limitation of powers, hold that nothing can be made from nothing, nor every thing: of every thing, but of determinate being. Yet they neither considered nor granted any almighty power or actually infinite power. For after their opinions, there is no thing actually infinite. But surely they were mistaken and erred in their thoughts. They were assembled in their minds, not knowing their own limitations.almighty maker who made all creatures from nothing. It is not that thing which I will dispute with them, but to us all, in clear reliance and holy faith: it is enough to confess that there is an act of creation, which is to bring forth a substance from nothing immediate. And that immediate act is the act of all mighty power, belonging only to God. The master of the sentence makes the first distinction in the second book, putting diversity between Creare and Facere. Creare signifies he who makes something from nothing. So, properly speaking, this act of creation is to make something from nothing. Facere signifies to make, it is not only to make something from nothing, but from some preceding matter. Therefore, both angels and men are called makers, but not creators. For the name of creation is only God's, who makes some things from nothing and some things from something. It is to say of a matter preceding, all in the holy faith.In the first part of this discussion concerning the act of creation: I say in the act of all-mighty power, which is to bring forth something from nothing, belongs only to God. The second conclusion in this part is to be declared: our eternal Ihu, the natural Son of God the Father everlasting, exercised this act or deed of creation. This truth was declared by Moses the great prophet of God, in the first chapter of Genesis (In the beginning God created heaven and earth). Almighty God says, \"Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, three persons and one God, at the beginning created heaven and earth of nothing.\" From these words it appears that the outer form of the Holy Trinity is indivisible. Therefore, this act of creation is rather said to be essential than personal, as when Moses says, \"God created and not you, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.\" And yet the Father did create.\"the Son. And so did the Holy Ghost. And yet not three creators. In John. And there you shall find it plainly expressed. First, by his secretary, Saint John, and afterward by him himself. Saint John, intending to declare the divine nature of Christ, begins in this way (In principio erat verbum. Et verbum verbum), is Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God. Of whom, following in the same chapter, says Saint John (Ex verbo caro facta est et habitavit in nobis), The Son of God, eternally God, is made flesh and dwelt among us. When Saint John had said, Deus erat verbum), The Son of God was eternally with the Father. It follows (hoc erat in principio apud Deum), On which words Bishop Hilary says, as though Saint John should say, This essential Word or Son of God, was never from the Father separate or divided. Then to show his almighty power equal with the Father, he adds forthwith Omnia creatura (sunt) All creatures, say he, were created by Him.\"Someone called him the Son of God in the first chapter to the Hebrews. The brightness and glory of the Father. By whom the Father created all creatures. Our Savior Christ himself declares the same. The Father works to this day, and I work to this day. He says, according to St. Augustine, as though Christ should say, \"By me all things were made. The Father of heaven created light: but he saying, 'Let there be light,' it was made. And I am his eternal word. Then by me he made light / My Father then wrought when he created the world, and to this day he works in governing the world / Then follows it by me he made when he made, and by me he guides when he guides.\"\n\nFirst, in this passage, we have the act of creation displayed. In omnipotence, in almighty power, to bring forth a substance from nothing.\n\nSecond, in this passage, it is shown that this act of almighty power is Jesus Christ's.With the Father and the Holy Ghost, one God. He showed and put into execution in the formation and first making of all creatures. Now followingly and thirdly in this party, I shall show you this process, which is specifically to be noted. How by this act of creation and almighty power: Our Savior Christ drew near to mankind. Understand that by this act of creation, He drew near to mankind in various ways. That is to say, both generally and specifically.\n\nGod's hand\nworked in the creature. Signifying that God is the doer. This is a general nearness of God to all creatures. For in all creatures, God said to the Son and the Holy Ghost, \"Let us make man to our image and likeness.\" And it follows that Almighty God created man to His image and likeness. A likeness of God. By reason of innocence, justice, and other moral virtues in which man was made and created by the all-mighty power of God. In his soul, from God's goodness, not of or for any other reason.\"Manny's decree or merits / Then appears here\nThat by this act of creation, God greatly drew near to man both generally and specifically. You and over this, God drew near to mankind in diverse ways through this said act of creation. As Saint John Chrysostom declares in a sermon beginning, \"The dignity of man's condition is soon known. Carefully considered, the subtlety and height of God his maker, and over this, God drew near to mankind through the order of holy scripture to the Incarnation of our savior Christ Jesus. Here I shall declare how he drew near to man through the act of his Incarnation: most plentifully will it be found. From the first creation of man, our most merciful Lord Jesus Christ our savior, as the time passed from the first creation of the world, drew nearer and nearer to mankind. Leaving certain remembrances and tokens that his merciful Lord God had been with man.\"\"man and with his manifold graces drew near\nto man. For because man should again draw near to him and yield kindness for kindness,\n\nAs to Abraham he gave Circumcision\n(a sign of the faith) A very and perfect token of true faith which man should bear towards his Lord, God. The seventeenth chapter of Genesis records how wonderfully and kindly God drew near to man through this mystery,\n\nFor this was a very sacred rite taking away original sin. As now does the sacrament of Baptism. Excepting that Circumcision did not open the gates of heaven,\n\nFor at that time the price had not been paid of our Savior Christ's most precious blood and death,\n\nThis declares and shows the master of the sentence. The first distinction of the fourth book.\n\nGod also gave after this by his holy prophet Moses a law written to make plainly apparent, as it does now, in the Pentateuch. In which law he drew near to man very greatly,\n\nFor in this he taught man what he should leave and what he should do.take what he should refuse, what he should follow, and what he should flee. How should one please God with sacrifices when he was unclean or had offended, as the books of Leviticus and Numbers show. And in this way, God drew near to mankind, revealing the world's end as the high light of prophecy and certain knowledge of things to come. In particular, the mystery of his Incarnation and its consequences.\n\nHere is now declared how our Savior Christ Ihuhas drawn near to mankind by his almighty power in the act of creation. As well of man as of all other creatures. And so, up to the time of his holy Incarnation. How he drew near to man more and more, leaving continually with man tokens that he had been with him. Visited him and did great kindnesses of God, showing to man.\n\nNow, on the other hand, God was never so favorable or so near to man from the beginning. But man has always been as unfriendly and distant from God. And I show this. God said, \"I drew near.\"Man is created in the image of God, leaving in mankind traces or effects of his handiwork. But he also left his image and likeness as I showed above, through which man could sufficiently order himself to God, yielding to him kindness for kindness. However, man was unkind and always turned away from God, losing his likeness through sin.\n\nIn the image [of man] passes the human being) in Psalm XXXIX,\nThe prophet Cassiodorus says (Man passes through this world)\nAnd it is true, since in this world we have no dwelling city,\nBut where does man pass: surely in the image of God,\nAnd where is the holy likeness of God to which man was created:\nWhere are the virtues: where is grace: where are other holy gifts\nWhich lead man to eternal life: surely the wretched man\nLost all this through his sin when he fell into the hands of thieves.A man: would a man. And left him half alive. A man was robbed from his gifts of grace: and sore wounded in his natural gifts. In some memory. And will remain sorrowfully and full of affections. As we see in daily experience. But Innocence, Justice, and virtue are gone by sin. Which causes such abundance of wickedness. As continually reigns in this world. But as man is remedied (in water and sanctified) in the water of baptism. And the holy ghost in the same received. Again, I said that God neared to man. Giving him for a token of the same. The law of kindness. To love thy neighbor as thyself. Cain would none of this token: but wronged from God. Slew his innocent brother Abel. And where he should have neared to God again: he fled from God's face. As it is open in the fourth chapter of Genesis. And then dwelt he in the land called Nod. By interpretation called instability or unrest. And full conveniently says Saint Jerome in his epistle to Damasus, of the letter VII.For he departs from God and says, \"My feelings have changed. That is, my affections and in all sinners depart from God: be very unstable and righteously changeable in your conditions and manners. But if this is true, it would seem that many are separate and departed from God in this mortal world. And it would seem that there are many sinners, for much instability is there in men's conditions and manners, and much change in their clothing. The one prince or the common wealth: there is never certainty nor stability. Take this as you please: but it is certain. Sin and departing from God is ever full of instability. Then wherever there is much instability, it is a sign. Men have fled from God and do not want nearness to Him, as He does to them. So they give unkindness for kindness. I said further that God, nearing man, gave him a law there to, do worship to God. For in Jerusalem was the temple of Solomon, in which almighty God dwelt.God was solemnly honored. Then follows in the same place the words of Jeroboam to the people: \"Behold Israel. These are your gods, who delivered you from the servitude of Egypt. And brought you out of servitude. And put you in liberty. In remembrance of this, he set up midway the same place, that the people might at their pleasure visit that or the idol / This was a mean to draw the obstinate people to be unkind to God their maker. And to be lenient towards the devil their destroyer: And to bring his purposes about. He did something more as follows in the letter.\n\npp--\n\nThe worst of the people. / God commanded. There should be no priest in his law. Nor minister his sacrifice: but he were of the tribe of Levi. The Levitical priest is called of God, as was Aaron / That and this were true in the old law, where only the blood of beasts was offered. That no man took on himself the office of priesthood but he were chosen and called by God / as was Aaron.Aaron and the Levites: In our new law, the daily sacrifices exceed all those of the old law. Therefore, the ministers in holiness should exceed the ministers of the old law. I said that Jeroboam, in taking priests (from the extremes of the people) contrary to God's commandment, brought the people to decline and turn away from God. This often happened to them despite God's numerous graces and benefits, as clearly stated in the new law.\n\nIf there are such people, let them bring the people into schism and heresy, both through their ignorance and their evil conditions. I trust that Jesus Christ, against the time of his holy incarnation, neared mankind greatly, living among them as a notable sign of the same. This was the light and spirit of prophecy: by which holy fathers knew the certainty of Christ's coming into our kindred.\n\nAmong many prophets, Isaiah in particular:\"There shall go forth from the root of Jesse a rod, and a precious flower shall rise from that root: the eleven chapter of Isaiah. But this was somewhat darkly spoken and in an allegory. He more plainly, by the light of prophecy in him inspired, expressed the same coming of Christ into our kindred, showing how he should be born of a virgin.\n\nBehold, says Isaiah. A virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and he shall be called a prophet of God (Micah never prophesied or spoke good to him). He told Ahab the truth. That and he contended in Ramoth Gilead. He should be slain and never return.\n\nIf ever Micah spoke to Ahab, 'Go to Ramoth Gilead, fight with them, for God shall give Ramoth into your hands.' According to their flattering, he went to the war. And according to Micah's saying, there he was slain with an arrow.\n\nFrom such false prophets, flatterers in English, our Lord save our prince, his land, and us all. Much misfortune have they caused in times past, and yet they do so.\"For such people will say that all is well when they know the contrary. Worthy little thanks is due to one who intends to deceive, as Ysaiah declares in the third chapter. The people who came to discern this are now declared to you. Our savior Jesus Christ has drawn near to mankind by his almighty power in the act of creation, as I have shown you. He has continually left tokens with mankind of his nearness, such as his image and similitude. After Circumcision, the law was written, and finally the light of prophecy. And all these ways he drew near to man, to the end that man should again draw near to him in love and kindness for kindness' sake. That is it. God in particular desires mankind for all his kindnesses. And for each of these reasons, what have I shown you? Now how has manward been to God for all his kindnesses? And for each of the same reasons, what have I shown you?Seconde, in this party of the engaging of God to man by his almighty power, I said was by his right high and mighty act of his holy and most bless\u00e9d Incarnation, when the Son of God became man and dwelt with us in our kind. The first chapter of John. To speak much of this matter of Christ's Incarnation is dangerous and frightful for sinners, as Saint John Baptist, the friend of the bridegroom, dared not presume, as is clear from his own words in the first chapter of John, in these words: \"After me comes He who is before me in excellence of everlasting dignity, whose sandal I am not worthy to loose.\" Upon which words, Saint Gregory (John Baptist, the humble and meek servant and true friend to Christ, considering his high and excellent dignity, says of him in this way): \"John Baptist was unworthy to loose the sandal of Him.\"Investigate the mystery of his Incarnation / I shall in this matter speak nothing by way of determination, but with all reverence and honor. I will show and declare to you three truths, according to my limited learning.\n\nFirst, in what chapter does this high act of Christ's Incarnation begin? In the first chapter of Luke, the holy angel Gabriel said to the blessed virgin: \"The power of God will overshadow you.\" And the virtue of God will shield you from all harm.This act of Christ's Incarnation stands in this: by the begetting of the whole Trinity, the second person of the same has taken our nature into himself. It is not necessary to dispute the matter. I say, this act was an act or deed of the almighty power of God. For, as above shown, in the creation of the world, all things were made at God's command. In this act, our Savior more Intimately or more inwardly, and more thankfully drew near to mankind than ever he did before his Incarnation. For, where it is above shown that in all his nearness to man before his Incarnation, he left continually tokens in man, that he had been with him: as his image, his similitude, and many other and diverse tokens: as Circumcision, the law written, the light of prophecy, and many other graces to draw man unto him - and yet man has continually been wayward towards God and declined from him. So it is that in this act of Incarnation, he left himself as a token with man.For taking human nature into the unity of his person, he vowed to join himself to man, and man to him. This was to be everlasting: that God is man, and man is God. For as John Damascene says, when God assumed man into the unity of his person, he never left or forsake.\n\nHow kind and thankful was this joining of God to man! Saint Austin (de verbis Domini), in his 39th sermon, treating of these words contained in the 10th chapter of Luke, concerning the good Samaritan who healed the wretched man who had fallen into the hands of robbers, says thus:\n\nWhat thing was there ever so far from other as God from man? Immortal from mortal. Righteous from sinner. Had need of a Redeemer as we did. In order to deliver us from our misery, therefore, he took on human nature.wretchedness. He would be near us in conditions:\nbut not to take all our conditions / He would\nnot therefore be a sinner as we are: but he would become\nmortal as we are / So that in taking our\npain of mortality: and not taking our sin: he\ndelivered us both from pain and from sin.\n\u00b6Then is here shown how our savior Jesus Christ drew near to mankind by\nhis almighty power in the most high act of his\nIncarnation / where it is shown that he is come\nby this said act so near man. That God is man\nAnd man is God. The most excellent & highest\ndeed of grace and kindness was this, after St. Austin.\never done in time / For by this gate had man\nhis first entrance to heaven. which so many\nthousand years was closed out / & yet was man ever\nobstinate & unkind to his savior. as at his temporal\nIncarnation and Nativity clearly appeared / For\nwhereas angels sang, kings honored, shepherds enjoyed,\nvirtuous men prayed to God for his mercy in\nhis coming into our kind. Herod was troubled.All Ieralim with him. In the second chapter of Matthew, it is said that Saint Gregory in his Homily (The King of Heaven born: the earthly prince. Was troubled) and no wonder, for temporal dignity is greatly confounded when the dignity of heaven appears. Herod feared Christ's coming, suspecting his reign and inquired or fled into Egypt.\n\nThere was the whole world full of idolatry, directly contrary to the due honor of God. He came home again. Archelaus laid watch to spy on him. And as he grew further in age, much contradiction he had, according to the prophecy of holy Simeon in the second chapter of Luke. \"This is a sign,\" he said, \"concerning Christ, which in his time shall have much contradiction. So that from this does an act of approaching or nearness to God to man arise. Unto the power of God, for his power has been greatly shown in this act. So has his wisdom, so has his goodness. All this not so plainly to the sight of man.\"\n\nThen to my purpose. I laid...Our Savior Christ has come near to mankind by the act of Myystracon. According to his own written words in the 20th chapter of Ma-truth: both bodily and spiritually. And he has done all that man should come near to him and be made one spirit with God. He has come near to man, I say, in three ways through Myystracon: that is, in ministering light, in ministering cure, and in ministering his holy sacraments. For whose declaration you must understand that at our Savior's coming into this world, mankind had many defects; three in particular that prevented him from coming to God: blind, not with his feet, but with his conditions. He was blessed and could not see. Sick, and could not go. So unwild and impotent in every way that he could not come near to God in any way. Now this defect our Savior remedied through his administration:\n\nFirst, where man was blind, what\n\n(Note: The text appears to be written in an old English dialect and may contain errors due to Optical Character Recognition (OCR) processing. The text has been cleaned up to the best of my ability while preserving the original meaning.)body: He was rather ghostly in ignorance. Minstrels trying to spread his holy word brought great comfort to the soul of man. Through preaching of his holy word, he took away mankind's ignorance and enlightened them with the assured light of faith, as St. John Chrysostom is the very light of man's soul.\n\nTo illustrate this: I let you know that man was created by God, who is God Himself, having necessary knowledge of God, of himself, and of other creatures around him. The Master can remember all his duties and not forget any of them. This has no difficulty or pain for him. I truly believe not many in this audience can do the same. And also, I am assured, no man.\n\nHowever, through this ignorance into which man fell due to sin, he fell into many other great inconveniences. For instance, into idolatry against the due honor of God. Into rebellion against his sovereignty and princes. Into misery and murder between man and man. Into a thousand inconveniences more than I can recount or show. Afterward,Saint John Chrysostom. The twenty-fifth of his works is Imperfect on Ignorance, which is called here a wicked genealogy. This Ignorance, particularly concerning things necessary for salvation, is sometimes called darkness in scripture, sometimes the shadow of death, and sometimes the image of death, and sometimes the pain of sin. I say, this Ignorance of things necessary to man in darkness and in the shadow of death, and he ministered light. For after the world was very much in darkness and blinded by sin, then I say that our Savior gave light. What was that? Sothly he declared his holy faith to the world, which, as I said above, is the very light of man's soul. And in sign that all the world should be released by the light of his faith, at his temporal birth, he appeared with great light, as Saint Luke declares in the second chapter, an angel of God was among them. And the great clarity of God shone brightly above them all.Saint Gregory explains that angels do not appear with such light as the holy angel did at Christ's birth. This privilege was reserved for Christ's nativity, when great light came to men in the darkness of ignorance and sin. So, as our Savior came with great light into this world, He enlightened men's souls with His faith, according to the words of David the prophet in Psalm 24: \"Near you is the Lord, and you shall not depart from it. For he is near you, by your right hand he will save you.\" Therefore, how can you excuse yourself? Let God offer you His light of faith contained in holy scripture: \"Blessed are those who have not departed from you, O Lord, and walk in your law.\"Chapter xi of Luke. He nearly came to the necessity of light. You spare your dark and ignorant soul. And will not come to God. What wonder then if you err from the truth and fall into the dark pit of everlasting damnation. This is the way of all great sinners: of great extortioners, great usurers, great oppressors of the people. Offer them light. Show them the peril of their great sins. They spare their souls. Shun the light. And delight in ignorance. Lay great judgment upon them. St. Augustine says, \"One thing is evil: not to know, and another not to will to know. The will of them is reproved by God.\" Of whom the prophet David says, \"They will not know how to do good.\" Secondly, I said, \"Our Savior came near to man, ministering to him to cure both spiritually and bodily. Show it to us in his coming into this world. All the world of men was sick. All spiritually. And many bodily. All were spiritually sick by sin, for all were sinners.\"The apostle to the Romans, in the third chapter, explains how sin entered the world. In the fifth chapter, the apostle declares to the Romans that, as one man's sin brought sin into the world and death with it, not all who have physical sickness have sinned, but some are afflicted through natural causes or divine will. In the ninth chapter of John, the disciples asked Christ about a blind man born blind. Christ replied that neither he nor his parents had sinned, causing the blindness. Rather, it was for God's glory. As Christ plainly showed in the ninth chapter of John, when the disciples asked about the blind man born blind, they asked whether it was this man or his friends who had sinned that he was born blind. Christ answered that neither he nor his parents had sinned, causing the blindness. Rather, it was for God's glory. Saint Augustine adds that both the man and his friends had sinned, yet God showed his almighty power.\"And be glorified in him, for we who come into this world were all sickly and bodily. Now he is like a great physician's house of Levi or Matthew. To whom came many publicans, great sinners, and tax collectors. I call many of them. They should follow his steps, not theirs. He drew near to them by grace. Wherefore he answered the accusers of the Scribes and Pharisees in this way: \"Sick men need a physician, not the healthy. Therefore I came not into this world to call the righteous, but rather sinners to penance. As though he should say, I do not despise sinners. Rather, only because of sinners' love I came into this world, not that they should remain sinners, but rather to be converted and live everlastingly.\" Then I say, our Savior Jesus Christ did not despise the company of sick men, whether spiritual or bodily, but of his infinite mercy.\"goodness had great power to cure them all. All who were near or clued into him left him not. For the virtue of him they went forth and healed all men. We never read that Christ ever cast away any sinner or sick man from him when they came to him seeking mercy and grace. Although some cast themselves away and would not come at his calling; they were all wayward and perverse. As the rich man of whom we read in Luke 16, after much communication between them, cried out and said, \"Go, sell all your possessions, give to the poor, come and follow me,\" and you shall have a treasure in heaven.\" It follows that this rich man departed heavily and sorrowfully from Christ. Christ looking at him and knowing that he had departed, said to his disciples, \"It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven,\" and \"you too, you who are like him,\" for he had made the man whole.Chapter 21 of John: He never healed a man in his body, but he first healed him in his soul. And for a perfect physician should first cure that thing in his patient which is of greatest pain and greatest price. Now there is incomparably greatest pain in sickness of the soul than of the body. For the sickness of the soul follows commonly everlasting death, which is everlasting damnation in hell. And the sickness of the body follows but temporal death: the departing of the body and the soul. Why Christ said not to his servants, \"Fear not him who has killed the body, but fear him who has the power to commit both soul and body to eternal pain of hell.\" You say, \"Fear not him who has power over both.\"\n\nTherefore, since there is so great pain in sickness and death of the soul above the sickness and death of the body, let us be diligent to preserve the health of our souls, and let us not neglect the care of our bodies, which are the temples of the Holy Ghost. Let us remember that the soul which is not saved can never be restored, but the body, when it is dead, can no longer hurt us. Let us fear Him who has the power to cast both soul and body into eternal pain. You say, \"Fear Him.\"Our savior Lord Cureth always the soul first. And followingly, the bodies of whom were less charge. Yet you must understand. All his physics was heavenly. Not earthly. All from above. Not from the nether. For after St. Austin He, who with his only word made all things from nothing: he with the same, his only word, repaired his creatures at his pleasures. He ministered all his cures, both spiritually and bodily, by his almighty power. Saying to one blind man, \"Respect the palsy contract. (Rise up. Take with thee the bed and walk.)\" To another, \"Be it unto thee after thy faith.\" And to Lazarus, \"Four days in the grave come forth and live.\" Christ never used plasters. potions. balms nor ointments, but it was once, when with his holy spotless, he anointed the eyes of him that was born blind. / After St. John Chrysostom, this truth was declared in the twenty-sixth chapter of Matthew. All power in heaven and earth is given unto our Ihu Christ.I. The sacrament instigates in mankind three truths. First, why Christ instituted the holy sacrament: in the state of innocence, visible signs and outward tokens could bring people to the knowledge of secret mystery and grace of God. In these visible signs, the knowledge of the sacred mysteries and their contents was signified and contained. You must understand that (sacramentum), a sacrament following the master in the same place, is a token or sign of a holy thing (as master Downe says). It is not failing or uncertain in its signification. For it brings about the effect and, under God, is the cause of that which is thereby signified. The thing surely follows, and it obediently signifies this, provided there is no defect in him who should receive the sacrament.\n\nIII. The holy sacraments were instituted for man's exercise, so that man should be continually occupied in them.The service of God and not give himself to vain idleness. For as Saint Augustine says, \"A man is not pure: time will not permit. I therefore will speak of three of them. I will show you kindly our Savior Christ's nearness to man in each of them, for this is my purpose. The first is the sacrament of baptism. The second is penance. The third is the holy sacrament of the altar.\n\nThe first is of necessity simple. John 3:5: \"Can anyone enter the kingdom of God without being born again and baptized in water and in the Holy Spirit?\" I call this sacrament of necessary simplicity the world's. Teach all people. The sacrament of penance takes away sin or the actual sin committed after baptism. In witness of this, Christ gave authority to the priesthood forever to grant forgiveness of sins. We are no sinners: we deceive ourselves. And not only in one sin do we offend God: but in many, as Saint James declares in his epistle.The first chapter: He offended God in many ways and in the sacrament of penance, necessary for man conditionally. That is, if a man offends, then the sacrament of penance is necessary for the relief of man's sins. For (the habit of penance) the habit of penance is not of such certainty as Master Duns states in the fourth. Therefore, since this sacrament is necessary for all sinners, Christ says in the fourteenth chapter of Luke, \"Without penance, all shall perish.\" Do not cast away this holy sacrament nor its grace. Do not despise it, but amend ourselves into a better life, taking penance for our offenses lest we suddenly present ourselves with death. Seek penance and cannot find it convenient. I declare this as bodily food and drink is necessarily required for the bodily sustenance of man in this earthly life: So is this holy sacrament required as ghostly sustenance.Manny's spiritual life, as declared by St. Augustine, on these words of Christ in the sixth chapter, hastily returns to his old sins: of likeliness, he never received this holy sacrament spiritually. I say of likeliness. I dare no further presume to judge.\n\nThe third truth in this matter I said to be this. Our Savior in these three sacraments, especially and in general, is near. And where you shall understand, our Savior Christ has promised to assist his holy sacraments with his grace. When he ascended to heaven, he said to his disciples and to all good Christian men until the world's end, in the last chapter of Matthew (Remember well what I say; I am with you for eternity unto the world's end), that whoever receives worthily any of his sacraments, receives in a special way into his soul, almighty God, and his special grace. Whereby he stands in a special way through his holy sacraments. Christ.For where man is far from God through sin, by baptism he is washed clean. He enters into his soul, dwells with him, and makes him one of his familiar household. By the sacrament of penance, where the sinner is fallen from God and His grace, bound in the prison of sin, and obliged to everlasting damnation: God, of His infinite goodness, draws near to him and gives him the water of contrition. He takes him into His household again, admits him into His favor, and disposes for him everlasting salvation in heaven. Himself saying through His prophet, \"In whatever hour the sinner truly repents, he shall be saved, and his sins shall be forgiven. By this holy sacrament, he draws near so unto man. He incorporates man into His mystical body, making him one of His precious members. For whom, by His great power, He fights and mightily defends against all His enemies.Ihuwas Naue was but a figure for him. He never saw people commit to him, but by the grace given to him by our Ihu Crist. According to the Romans in the 14th chapter of the apostle, Ihu Naue, by the power of God given to him, slew and destroyed the bodily enemies of his people. Our Ihu, by his own almighty power, destroys the ghostly enemies of his servants. For, according to the apostle in the 16th chapter, \"this land was all earthly, bringing forth brambles and thorns.\" But our Ihesus has saved all his people, not one of them perishing except the children of Perdition. And he has brought all his servants into the land of everlasting life. There he has distributed to every one of his servants glory in abundance. Where his servants shall never hunger nor thirst, nor be troubled or distressed, neither with heat nor with cold. Here is now declared and shown the first party and principal conclusion of this.Poor sermon: The same Jesus Christ, who aided and assisted the aforementioned Jesus Naue, has come near to mankind by his almighty power in three ways: creation, incarnation, and ministry. What shall I then say to all Christian men but this: Be not unkind to him. Be not froward. Be not wayward. For there was never a nation in this world so great, whose god drew near to them as our Lord God draws near to us. I exhort you all to draw near to God with the act of adoration. It is to say with perfect love and service only due to God. For he draws near to all those who humbly ask me. I say the same: the same Jesus, the Son of God, and of the virgin our lady, who drew near to mankind and assisted Jesus Naue by his almighty power. The same Jesus it was.I walked with Ihu\u0304 in Judea, and many have said\nby his holy obedience. To understand his short declaration,\nyou shall know that our Savior Christ walked among men in three ways through holy obedience. But this you must understand of Ihu\u0304, Christ Incarnate and living in our mortal nature, and all for our profit, as will appear.\nFirst, he was obedient to his friends, as we read in the second chapter of Luke. Ihu\u0304 descended from Jerm in Nazareth and was obedient to Mary and Joseph (the story is declared at length there), but to my intent, this appears of the same. Our Savior Christ showed great obedience to Joseph and his holy mother, not only to teach us and follow the steps of humility, but also to attain the high glory of God.\nOf this follows a notable corollary or moral lesson: he who ever intends to walk with Christ into the heights of heaven, he must first follow him in this world.by meek obedience to all his heads and rulers, spiritual and temporal. Though he be better and greater than they in merits and virtue, sayeth St. Augustine (An evil will and desire to sin can come only from man himself, and of his own crookedness), but power to sin may no man have: but only of God. As it appears in the first chapter of John, the devil's words to God, wilyingly seeking to enjoy this holy man (Put forth thy hand, sayeth the devil to God. Touch and strike all his works, he also commands his subjects to obey their heads and prelates. He did as he taught. Fulfilled was he, and as a pupil was he guided under power in his tender age. An example of meekness. He has gone before. Exhorting you to follow him, you refuse to be of the body of Christ: if you will not be under a head with him, but you say (I love power, for it is of God: but I fear my prelate, my head, for often he is)an evil man) Here thou me says Saint Augustine: if your ruler or prelate is good and virtuous, then he is your nourisher. If he is evil, then he is your temptor, gladly your nourisher. And in temptation be patient. Provide for the follower of Christ, who said to all his servants in the fourth chapter of Matthew (Follow me). I go before you by perfect obedience. Take my example and do the same.\n\nOf this appears that our Savior Christ walked with men by holy obedience to his friends and others having power and authority in this world. He said in testimony and witness of this to Pilate, bowing his power (Thou shouldst have said, Christ, have no power over me, but it was given thee from above, in the chapter of John).\n\nAnd in this, his obedience, he left us an example to follow the same.\n\nNow how the multitude to low our Savior in his great meekness and obedience, God knows. Full evil I fear. Christ said, honor thy father and mother. That thou mayest live long on earth.We say that (alms or good deeds we do) benefit not only ourselves, but also our party's father or mother, and it will stand in your stead, leaving them many times in necessity and distress. The fifteenth chapter of Matthew teaches them to know God, to fear God, and their friends. An example of this is Holy Thoby, who taught his son from his youth age to fear God and abstain from all sin. The first chapter of Thoby, according to the wise man's counsel in the seventh chapter of Ecclesiastes, God has given to the children, says the wise man. For surely it is, for lack of obedience and good education, that children often rise against their fathers and put them in great peril, and many times to death. The eighteenth chapter of Matthew. If I should here speak of our children of the city, I report it plainly, they commonly fare no better. Why do you think so? Plainly they lack education in their youth with due discipline, as the conclusion of the first book of the kings states.of the fool was (the false Hely broke his neck for his negligence. Both his sons were slain in a day by the Philistines. And the ark of God, the true figure of his holy church, was taken into the hands and power of sinners and idolaters) The fourth chapter of the first book of Kings. \u00b6A common proverb it is and a wise one (a child unwanted is better than untaught). Teach therefore your children to walk with Christ. By true obedience to God, to their friends, you and to their prince, and other heads. This they are bound under the pain of everlasting damnation, as shown above. For there is no power but of God. \u00b6The reason why commonly men are meek and humble in spirit is the eleventh chapter of Matthew. Meekness leads to obedience and obedience to patience. Then where meekness lacks, both obedience and patience lack: Then follows rebellion on. And where men are unable to rebel, they often destroy themselves for malice. as Saint Augustine declares in the twenty-fourth chapter of the first book of the Acts of the Apostles.City of God. Why, through his pride, was he so impetuous and disobedient. He would rather destroy himself than live under the dominion of Julius Caesar. This he did. And here ended his pride. For surely it is Christ's saying (That he who exalts himself shall be humbled. The same is true in the fourth chapter of Matthew). And over this, in observing and keeping of the law, what diligence and obedience our Savior Jesus did appear in the fifth chapter of Matthew. Where he said to all his followers, \"Do not think that I have come to dissolve or break the law or the prophets. I came not to break them: but rather to fulfill them.\" Whereupon Saint John replied, \"Why do you break the commandments of God for the sake of your tradition? For whatever things you command as traditions, those were not your fathers.\" Answered he, \"Why do you transgress the commandments of God for the sake of your tradition?\"As one should (You should not do so: But compare\nto gather the law of God. And the traditions of man: you should away be obedient to\nthe law of God For any tradition of man) I fear we are in the Jews' case: We take more diligence and are more obedient to man's traditions than to the law of God. Stumbling at a straw And leaping over a block. Our savior said (That we ought of duty observe and keep\nthe law / And not to leave the other unkept)\nLet therefore every man do his duty and follow\nChrist in the way of his commandments.\nThat he may truly sing & say with David the prophet (good lord I have run the way of thy commandments) He went before. He gave us an example. He called us with him in obedience to the law. To which he was not bound / but for his meekness. And our example. as it is open in the 14th chapter of John. Where of his great meekness he washed the feet of his disciples. saying unto them. \"I have given you an example. As I have done, so do.\"For there is no greater servant. True servants should walk with meek obedience in observing and keeping God's laws. I say this thirdly, of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Savior was obedient to passions and death. To passions, as to hunger, thirst, cold, weariness, to persecutions and adversities, to blasphemy and detraction, to thorns, scourges, nails, to being sold and finally to death. And to what death do you think: plainly the most shameful death in the world, to the death of the cross. The second chapter is about Philippians. It was all for our sake, sinners, whom He saved by His great power, as shown in the acts of creation, Incarnation, and ministry. Whose figure was Jesus' form. The same Jesus has walked among men in our kind, saving by perfect obedience to His friends and other estates, to the laws and commandments, to passions and the death of the cross.Whose figure was Ihus Iosedech: Of which two principal parties, the same Ihus, who was near to mankind, who walked with mankind, has finally, by his wisdom, brought mankind to everlasting rest in heaven. Whose figure was Ihus's son, Sirach (who, by his wisdom, greatly helped and saved the people of God, but was never like our Ihus Christ. For as Ihus's nature was but a figure of power and strength, Ihus Iosedech a figure of holy obedience. So was Ihus Sirach but a figure of the wisdom of Christ, which is the eternal and substantial wisdom of God, the Father (attending strongly from end to end, and delightfully disposing all things. The eighth chapter of Wisdom, the seventeenth chapter of Ecclesiastes. To the holy name of Ihus: all creatures of duty do bow and obey, both of heaven, earth, and hell. The second chapter to Philippians. By whose infinite wisdom all the world is saved. He himself saying in the twelfth chapter of John (When I came, I did not come of my own accord, but he sent me.)I am lifted up on the cross for mankind. I shall draw all the world to me. Saint Austin says, as thou art our savior, you should say (after my death and my resurrection), I shall ascend to my father in heaven, and draw my chosen servants unto me. Therefore, by steadfast faith and duty, the members must follow the head. Yet I say, he who is wise has disposed all his servants and members should be obedient, and suffer in this world pressure and passions as he himself did. In this world, he said to all his servants, you shall have pressure and persecution. Saint Paul in the third chapter of the second epistle to Timothy says, \"All those who in this world will live as meek servants of God, must needs suffer persecution.\"\n\nReverend Doctor Richard James\nPrinted at Westminster by Wynkyn de Worde.", "creation_year": 1495, "creation_year_earliest": 1495, "creation_year_latest": 1495, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase1"},
{"content": "Contreversies and disputes between persons were two or three,\nSought out the grounds by records. This was the custom of antiquity,\nJudges were set who had authority,\nThe cases, concerning matters that stood indifferently between parties,\nWere to give judgment,\nParties assembled of high and low degree were admitted to sentence,\nGrounded in their quarrels, the law made them free,\nWithout exception, to come in audience,\nBy the president, commanded first silence,\nFreedom given, the parties not to spare,\nBy the tale of right they were to declare,\nTo conclude this matter shortly,\nNothing yet gone as I rehearse shall,\nI found to propose a simplicity,\nFull craftily depicted upon a wall,\nTwo sitting in estate Royal,\nThe first lion, famous in all realms,\nAnd the temperial eagle perceiving the sun beams,\nThese were the dreadful judges two,\nIn their estate sitting, I took keep,\nWho heard the parties by and by complain,\nThe horse, the goose, and the simple sheep.The process was not profound or deep\nOf their debate, but consisted of a fable\nWhich of them was most profitable for man\nEach for his party proudly proceeded\nTo force himself by record of scripture\nBy philosophers, as clerks had seen and read\nThe prerogatives / given them by nature\nWhich of these three / to every creature\nIn republica / avails most a man\nFor his party, thus the horse began\nTo proceed briefly and not long to tarry\nFirstly, for the thought that I do not err\nWhat beast is found in all things so necessary\nAs is the horse, both near and far\nAnd so notable to man in peace and war\nHorses in chronicles, who so read a right\nHave saved often a many a worthy knight\nMarshall prowess in especial\nGod has given to warriors\nRecord of Alexander, whose horse Bucephalus\nMade him escape from many sharp hours\nThe golden char of old conquerors\nTowards the triumph for knightly deeds\nConceived it was with four white steedsRemember Hector, the Trojan champion,\nWhose horse was called Wyllomgalthe,\nOn whose back played the lion,\nFrequently he made the Greeks flee,\nThe steed of Perseus was called Pygase,\nWith swift wings, poets say the same,\nWas for its swiftness named the horse of fame,\nEques ab equo is said of very right,\nAnd champion is said of chivalry,\nIn duke a rider is called a knight,\nAragon tongue does also specify,\nCaualoro, who in that party,\nIs named of worship and took beginning,\nOf spoils of gold and chiefly of riding,\nThese emperors, these princes, and these kings,\nWhen they are armed in bright plate and mail,\nWithout horse, what were their musterings,\nTheir broad banners or their rich apparel\nTo show before their enemies in battle,\nWithout horse, spear, sword, nor shield,\nLittle avail for holding a field,\nThe hardy pickets on horseback,\nAre sent to find what ground is best to take,\nIn their order that there be no lack.By fortune, how they shall make the field,\nAn horse will weep for his master's sake,\nCharacter remembers the sword / ring / & glass,\nPresented were upon a brass steed,\nBetween two hills the prophet Zachary,\nSaw steeds four; the first of them was red,\nIn chariots four the field to magnify,\nAnd the second was black, it is no fear,\nThe third was white body and head,\nThe fourth diverse of colors, wonder strong,\nAnd to knighthood all these colors long,\nThe red horse was a token of hardiness,\nWhich appertains to every manly knight,\nThe coal black hide a sign of sobriety,\nPorrayle oppressed to help in their right,\nThe white milk steed that was glad of sight,\nTokeneth it knighthood truly should intend,\nHoly church maids and widows to defend,\nThe manyfold colors to speak in general,\nBe various virtues and conditions,\nAs the four virtues called cardinal,\nLonging to knighthood tenacity their renouns,\nIn re publica, called the champions.To sustain and show myself strong,\nBound by order to see no man wrong,\nWithout horse, Justices nor cournayll,\nMay not behold in war or peace,\nNor in palace no martial plays,\nIf horse fails, may come to none increases,\nNo man truly dares put himself in press,\nWithout horse, for short conclusion,\nTo attain the palm of triumphant reward,\nLower degrees there are of horse also,\nThey bring great profit to every commonty,\nThe plow or cart could not do,\nWithout horse, daily you may see,\nTilling were lost, nor were we horses perished,\nThe busiest merchant to his advantage,\nNe ships and horses could have no carriage,\nThe ship by likeness is called a horse of tree,\nFull notably, he who can understand,\nTo lead men and carry them over the sea,\nAs horse does when they come to land,\nThe poor man also leads in a band,\nHis little capull, his corn his meal to sell,\nAnd when it is ground, brings it from the mill,\nIn winter season to make beer cheer.The horse is necessary for carrying wine, fruit, and oil throughout the year. It is brought to vintners and apothecaries. They have various drugs and many a letuary. Sundry bales and shortly all the necessities of carriage have the travel of the carriage horse. He who desires to learn may not plainly from the fields get the meadows green, nor to the garner nor to the barn without a horse. It is seen and to purpose. I say as I mean. There is no beast as necessary as a horse is to man. August is a season merry and glad, when every tree is laden with new fruit. With a draught of horse, the shows are home-led. That month passed, the leaves begin to fade. Which made in summer a pleasant, lusty shade. What does a horse then speak in plain words? The second crop they carry home of rye. By draught of horse from rivers and wells, boughs are brought to brewers for good ale. Led stone and timber are the carriage of belles. We bring to churches in thought, this is no tale.We lead out cloth sacks and many a large male,\nAnd gladly some are sent to forn, with guardians,\nHow might horses be forborne?\nYou prudent judges, the eagle and the lion,\nWhat I have said wisely advises,\nWeigh this matter in your discretion,\nWhere goats or sheep plainly deceive,\nOf their nature may in any way,\nIustely judge ye, let it not be spared,\nTo an horse I have likened and compared,\nThat I have told is strong and no unwilling,\nNo one of reason against it may apply,\nGoats nor geese nor green gosling,\nBut if they enter the bounds of envy,\nLet her come forth and say for her party,\nGoats, yes, trust me well for I will not spare,\nLike as I feel my verity to declare,\nWhereas thou hast unto thy pasture,\nBut one place, to make in thy repair,\nIt is granted to me by nature,\nTo abide on water, land and air,\nNow among flowers and greens that are fair,\nNow bathe in rivers swim in many a pond,\nFor storm or shower as dry as on the land,\nTo mine intent, many things ye may see.As men expertly know, when wild geese fly up high,\nWith their wings displayed and unfolded,\nThey foretell snow and frost cold,\nCalends bring clearly to say,\nAgainst winter how men should prepare,\nThe grease of geese is good in medicine,\nWith various gums tempered for the gout,\nDiverse aches to alleviate and decline,\nIn extremity to draw the malice out,\nFeathers of geese when they fall or mount,\nTo gather them up, herds delight,\nTo sell to fletchers the gray with the white,\nMen pluck stalks out of my wings two by two,\nSome to portray, some to note or write,\nWhen Rhetoricians have done their best,\nFresh epistles and letters to endite,\nWithout writing avails not a mite,\nFor if pens and writing were away,\nOf remembrance then were lost the key,\nOf geese also the death is provided often,\nIn many a country and many a region,\nTo make pillows and soft fetherbeds.\nOf prudence men pluck the down,\nThus to make a plain comparison.As pleasows are to chambers, so is harsh straw less desirable for the stable. The fineyme of cheese and green ghostlyings are gathered among the sweet herbs. Again burning, scalding, and other things tempered with oil or butter both alleviate pain to some degree. But horse dung, as refuse, is cast away. It is good for furnaces tempered with clay. A dead horse is but a foul carcass. It is so corruptible. But a fat goose when it is newly slaughtered is served upon a dishes of gold. A mussel is served upon a hanging table, swimming a live in crystal waters. Tenderly roasted requires wine. Through all the land of Brutes Albion, for feathers arrows, as I recall, goose is the best comparison. Except for feathers of peacock and swan, be bow and arrows since the war began. Englishmen have remembered in story, of their enemies had many a victory. Horses in the field may muster with great pride when they hear the bloody sound of trumpets.But when an arrow has pierced his side,\nHe goes down and casts his master there,\nEntering the field he plays the lion,\nWhat follows after, his carriage stinks sore,\nSave skin and bone, they leave no more,\nMighty captains and knights in the field,\nMake their wards in their ordinance,\nFirst men-at-arms with poleaxe and shield,\nSet in order, to have the governance,\nWhom at Petrers took the king of France,\nThanks to the gods most be given right,\nWho in the field so proudly took their flight,\nSloth of my flight for hasty negligence,\nOf presumption, the gods were left behind,\nWhen the famous and worthy duke of Clarence,\nRode on Bayard with his eyes blind,\nFlight of my fathers was put out of my mind,\nAnd for he set that day of me no force,\nSo little or nothing what hindered him his horse,\nOld books remember well in sentence,\nOnce when Rome, by his foot, was taken,\nLapitole helped with great defense,\nNoise of a gander, the captain woke.Whiche remembered for his sake,\nIn their Temples wide and old,\nSet up a large gander forged all of fine gold,\nHis waker noise was their savior,\nBy which the captain ran upon the wall,\nThus by a gander, the town was recovered,\nCalled of the world the city most royal,\nCity of cities that day most principally ruled,\nWas ever horse in book that you can read\nPro re publica, he who did such a deed,\nIn the book named of chivalry's destiny,\nThe story tells as in sentence,\nThere were children of the royal line,\nBorn with chains, & when they were of age,\nThey turned to swans by enchantment,\nTook their flight the truth is clear,\nAnd as swans they swam in the river,\nThis story is full authentic and old,\nIn French compiled often read and seen,\nOf those chains was made a cup of gold,\nWhich is yet kept as some say,\nAnd by descent it belongs to the hertords,\nCeremoniously, whoever so lists to read the story.And similarly, I tell this tale for my part. There was a man born in Lombardy,\nTo a ghost born through the craft of sorcery. He abode there seven years, I assure you,\nHis writ filled with wonders, then he rose up a man. He served in the duke of Melan's retinue.\nAnd since he was a man of high degree, born of good blood and notable in substance,\nHis kin gave a feast for their liberty. This marvel I relate to bring to mind.\nPeacefully judge all things, and let the horse leave its boost and rise,\nTo make comparison with a gander or a goose. Within Rome, the gander was despised,\nSet in their Temples of great affection by the town's senators,\nAs chief protector and savior of the town. Let horse and sheep lay their boost down.\nBut if the ram with its brass bell\nCan tell a better story than the sheep,\nThe sheep was simple and reluctant to make a fray,\nLike a beast disposed to meekness. The sturdy ram spoke before the judges that day.With an exordium in Latin he did express,\nVeste purpurea ut rectores regum,\nInduti arietes ovium,\nOf this notable ryall high scripture,\nThe blessed doctor Augustine as I read,\nBe a man spiritually fair of figure,\nOf a meek sheep thus he proceeds,\nCalled Maria a maid in thought and deed,\nBrought forth a lamb of most virtue,\nThe lamb of grace whose name was Ihesu,\nAugustine called this lamb in estate,\nBy manyfold record of scripture,\nThe ryall lamb of color purpurate,\nWhich for mankind lusted passion's tenderness,\nBorn of a maid by grace against nature,\nWhen he, by means of her humility,\nTook the clothing of our humanity,\nBorn by descent to be both priest and king,\nKing by succession from David down by line,\nOf purplish red was his ryall clothing,\nThis agnus dei born of a pure virgin,\nWhich washed away all venomous serpentine,\nOn Calvary, when he for man was dead,\nWith his pure blood purpurate and redeem,\nThis paschal lamb without spot all white,\nBy his passion in Bosra stained red.Whiche came from Edom this lamb of delight,\nThat gave his body to man in form of bread,\nOn Good Thursday before he was dead,\nWas there ever found in scripture\nA horse or ghost so solemn a figure?\nThis lamb was anointed, lineally came\nBy descent conveyed, the pee of the tree,\nFrom the patriarch called Abraham,\nBy Isaac and Jacob so down to Jesse,\nWhich by virtue of his humility\nDesired to be called the blessed Ihesu,\nFor his meekness, the lamb of most virtue,\nAnd for to rehearse worldly commodities,\nIn re publica / make no comparison,\nThere is no beast which in all degrees,\nNeither Tyger, Elephant, nor Gorilla,\nAll things reckoned through every region,\nDoeth so great profit, horse, ghost, nor swan,\nAs doth the sheep unto the ease of man.\nLece be thy boost, thou horse, and thy lingering,\nLay down thy trappings forged of plate and mail,\nLast of thy father of gold so freshly shining,\nWhat may bridge or bores now avail?\nThis ghostly lamb hath done a great battle.By his meekness, he offered up for man\nClad in purple, Satan has vanquished hath The ghost may mock the horse prick and allure\nNeither of them in process may attain\nTo be set or put in remembrance\nAgainst the lamb, though they despise\nFor common profit he passes both twain\nWeigh and consider between poor and right\nTo him in value they are nothing alike\nOf Bruce's Albion, his mule is chief riches\nIn price, surmounting every other thing\nSave grain and come merchants all express\nWool is chief treasure in this land growing\nTo rich and poor, this beast finds clothing\nAll nations affirm it up to the full\nIn all the world, is no better wool\nOf the sheep also comes pellet and the fleece\nGathered in this land for great merchandise\nCarried over the sea where men may sell it\nThe wool skins cause men to rise\nInto great riches in many various ways\nThe sheep also turns to great profit\nTo help of man, here fur is black and white.There is made of sherpskin parchment and gloves to keep away the cold. From this, good parchment is made for writing books and covers in great quantity. The ram of Cholchos had a fleece of gold. The delectable fleece of Gedeon was of Maria, a figure notable. His flesh was his natural restoration. Some men have seen after great sickness roasted or boiled meat is nourishing and moves the body. Boil it with physicians' express. Full nourishment comes after great access. The sheep, without a doubt, loves rest and peace. Of its horn, no thing is cast away. Its horn serves for nocks to hasten its bone. To the land, it brings great profit through its turtle. Its tail served for plasters more than one. For harp strings, its ropes serve each one. Of whose head, boiled with wool and all, comes a gel and an ointment ryall. For the ache of bones and also for bruises, it remedies and eases pain. Causes men of stiff joints to recover. Deed senna restores again to live.\"Black sheep wallow with oilive,\nThese men of arms with charms proved good,\nAt a straight need can well restrain blood,\nTo the wolf contrary to nature,\nAs authors say, this humble beast\nLoves no debate for which creature,\nFor his party he would live in peace,\nWherefore I, judges, I hold it best,\nRecommend publicly you should prefer,\nAlways considering it is better than,\nIn this matter briefly to conclude,\nPeas to prefer as to my desire,\nBy many old providence similarity,\nMake no delay, give the sheep the price,\nOf one assent since that you are wise,\nLet all war and strife be set aside,\nAnd upon peas do with the sheep abide,\nNay said the horse, your request is wrong,\nAll things considered, I was loath to err,\nThe sheep is cause and has been long,\nOf new strife and mortal war.\"Who gave the sacks and surplices of the town to Gawain and Bruges for his freedom to show?\nHis boisterous bastion was the first to be beaten down.\nHimself escaped with his life, but what was it but your will that caused this strife?\nWhere riches are of wills and such good,\nMen draw thither those who are reckless,\nSoldiers who burn with bravery and wood,\nTo get baggage they put themselves in press,\nThus you cause war & say you love peace,\nAnd if there were no war nor battle,\nLittle or nothing the great horse would avail,\nNo one said the ghost nor my white father,\nWithout war should do no advantage,\nNor hooked arrows profit but a little,\nTo meet our enemies, meager they their visage,\nAnd from them to save us from damage,\nFlyght of fathers, spite of sheep everyone,\nShall defend us against our mortal foe.\nSo said the horse as in my inner sight,\nWithout war before as you told.\nWe may not save, nor keep our right,\nOur garisons nor castles old.But here this shepherd in his fold\nSets little store of sword nor sharp arrows\nWhen he in peace pasture on the green\nIf it so stood that no war were\nLost were the craft of armorers\nWhat should avail polar sword or spear\nOr these daggers wrought by the cu\nBows / crossbows / arrows of the fletchers\nAll these instruments for the war are wrought\nWere wars stopped they would serve for naught\nTheir occupation should have no increase\nKnightly deeds not flourish in their state\nIn every country if there were peasants\nNo men of arms should be fortunate\nI prove that peasants are the root of all debate\nFor in five ways like as is a wheel\nTurned all the world who considers well\nBegin first with peasants who cause riches\nAnd riches are the source of pride\nPride causes for lack of righteousness\nWar between realms looks on every side\nHearts contrary in peasants will not abide\nThus finally, who can consider and see\nWar is chief ground and cause of poverty.It is hard to know one state\nDouble vision looks out of every hood\nSurety is lost Trust is past the date\nThrift has taken his leave over the flood\nLaw can do nothing without good\nTheft has left to go out at large\nOf the commons, my small one has taken charge\nAnd thou desirest thyself to advance\nPoor or rich, whether that thou be\nBe lowly and gentle in thy governance\nGood rule doubtless may best prefer thee\nIf thou be gentle, hurt not thy degree\nAnd thou be poor, do all that thou can\nTo use good manners, for manners make man\nAt thy meal be glad in contentance\nIn merry and dry be thou measurable\nBeware of surfeit and misgovernance\nThey cause men often to be unreasonable\nSuffer nothing be said at thy table\nThat any man may hurt or displease\nFor good meat & drink asks for joy and ease\nIf thy goods to thee do not suffice\nConform ever to that thou hast\nGovern thyself in such a way\nIn thy expenses make no waste\nGreat excess causes theft in hasteBeware, keep this in your heart,\nMisrule makes many men to suffer,\nBeware of novelties that are new brought,\nThough they be pleasant, lock fast thy lip,\nAn hasty word may be too dearly bought,\nClose thy mouth lest thy tongue trip,\nTo thyself beware, lest thou make a slip,\nHurt not thyself, lest thou sore regret,\nFor thine own ease, help thy tongue in mew,\nThe world so wide, the air so changeable,\nThe simple man so little of stature,\nThe grave and ground of clinging so mutable,\nThe fire so hot and subtle of nature,\nThe water never in one what creature,\nThat which is made of these four thus shifting,\nMay endure stable and persevere in abiding,\nThe further I go, the more behind,\nThe more behind, the nearer my way ends,\nThe more I seek, the worse I can find,\nThe lighter the leaf, the heavier for to wind,\nThe truer I serve, the farther out of my mind,\nThough I go loose, I am tied with a line,\nIs it fortune or misfortune thus I find,\n\nAn hare in its form is shorn or lean.a Douue sytteth\na Herte is herbored\na Knyght is herbored\na Bucke is lodged\na Squyer is lodged\na Roo is bedded\na Yoman is bedded\nYf an herte stande he\nstalleth\nYf a bucke stande he\nherkenyth\nYf a roo stande he fereth\na Dere broken\na Ghoos reryd\na Swanne lyfte\na Capon sawsyd\na Henne spoyled\na Chekyn frusshed\na Malarde vnbrased\na Cony vnlaced\na Heron dysmembred\na Crane dysplayde\na Pecok dysfygured\na Curlewe vnioynted\na Byttore vntached\na Fesant eyled\na Patryche eyled\na Woodcok thyed\nAll smale byrdes thyed\na Pygge hedet & syded\na Lambe & hyde shuldred\na Herte yf he be chasid he\nwyll desyre to haue a\nryuer. As sonne as he\ntaketh the ryuer he su\u2223leth\n/ yt he take ouer the\nryuer he crosseth / yf he\nretorne he recrosseth / &\nyf he take with the stre\u00a6me\nhe fleteth / yf he ta\u2223ke\nagayn the streme he\nbeteth or els beketh / yf\nhe take the londe he\nfleeth.\n\u00b6Explicit.\nW \nprinter's or publisher's device", "creation_year": 1495, "creation_year_earliest": 1495, "creation_year_latest": 1495, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase1"},
{"content": "HOw many parts are there\n(eight) which are now nine / Pronowne / Verb / Adverb / Participle / Conjunction / preposition / Interjection\n\nHow many are declined. and how many are undeclined. Four are declined / and four are undeclined.\n\nWhich four are declined. Nowne. Pronoun. Verb and Participle.\nWhich four are undeclined. Adverb. Conjunction. Preposition and Interjection.\n\nHow many are declined with case. and how many without\nThree are declined with case / and one without case.\n\nWhich three are declined with case. Nowne. Verb and Participle. are declined with case. And Verb only without case.\n\nHow do you know a noun for all manner of things that a man may see or understand. Here or understand that which bears the name of a thing is a noun\n\nHow many kinds of nouns are there (two)\nA noun is substantive & a noun is adjective\n\nHow do you know a substantive noun. For it may stand by itself without the help of another word & is declined in Latin with one article or with two.at the most, in one case. (This is he. This is she. \u00b6How do you know an adjective? For he may not stand alone without the help of another word / and is declined in Latin with three articles / or with three different endings in one case. as not he, she, and this; Bonus bona bonum \u00b6How many things belong to one? Six. (Which six?) Quality / comparison / gender / number / figure / & case \u00b6What is a quality in one? A property by which one thing agrees only with one thing. As Ada _ or with many things as men. \u00b6How do you know a quality in one? A quality in one is a property by which one thing is likened to another / as fair, white, black \u00b6How many degrees of comparison are there? Three. which three? Positive, comparative, & superlative. \u00b6How do you know the positive degree? For he is father and founder of all other degrees of comparison / without making more or less / as fair, white, black. \u00b6How do you know the comparative degree? For hepasseth his positivity with this adverb more, and his English ends in r as more wise or wiser. How do you know the superlative degree? For he passeth his positivity with his adverb most, and his English ends in est, as most wise or wisiest. What novelties receive comparison, such novelties adjectives that may be made more or less. as fair, fairer, fairest. Of whom shall you form the positivity degree? He is not formed but all other degrees of comparison are formed of him. Of whom shall you form the comparative degree? Of his positivity. Of what case? Sometimes of the genitive, sometimes of the dative. When shall it be formed of the genitive case? Every time when his positivity degree is the first declaration, and the second. By putting this termination or to it, as doctors put thereto, and it will be (doctorior. Out of this rule take exceptions. The first exception is for these two nouns (Dexter and sinister), making (deterior and sinisterior), and nouns that end in us, as Amicus amicior (magnificus magnificencior).If the second rule applies and the text is in Old English or Latin, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English as follows:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is in Old English, and the text is not meaningless or completely unreadable, I will translate it into modern English:\n\nIf the second rule applies and the text is inFrom this rule, take Juvenis. Making Junior. Potius pocior Nequa\u0304. And words of the third declension are contained in the verse above. Quod fit ius &c\u0304.\n\nOf whom shall the superlative degree be formed?\nOf his positive degree. Of what case? Sometimes of the nominative case, & sometimes of the genitive case, & sometimes of the dative case.\n\nWhen shall he be formed of the nominative case? Everytime his positive ending in r ends, by putting to this termination (rimus as niger), and it will be (nigerrimus). Out of this rule, take Memor that makes (memorissimus), Dexter that makes dexterimus and dextitus. Sinister makes sinisterius & sinistitus. Also these nouns (nuperus vetus & maturus), & this word (Detero) that form the superlative degree in rim{us} (as nuperimus, veterimus, maturimus & deterimus).\n\nTherefore, the verse.Cum rectus tenet poteris rimus addere semper in rimus atque timus dexter ve sinister habetur Et memor excipit memorissimus hinc reperit.\n\nNuperus atque vetus maturus detero iungis Also, the superlative degree shall be formed from the nominative case in these. agilis, facilis, gracilis, humilis, and similis with their compounds, by doing away is and putting to limus), as agilis, do away is and put thereto limus), and it will be agillimus.\n\nDat tibi quinque limus que signat dictio fagus This agilis, gracilis, humilis, similis, and facilis, and their compositae are to be held. The superlative degree shall be formed from the genitive case when its position is the first declension, and the second by putting to this letter (s and simus) as albus. albi, albe, albi-put thereto (s and simus), and it will be albissimus.\n\nOut of this rule take away these words contained in this verse (Res bona &c.) and this word proximus, and other more that are contained.in these verses following, it sometimes belongs to the positive degree, and sometimes to the superior degree. And when it is of the positive degree, it locks the superior degree, as proximus proximior, un. Proximus extremus quibus intimus addet supremus, inf. Posterior follows authors as found. The superior degree shall be formed of the dative case, when its position is the third declension, by putting to this letter. s, and this termination, simus. As Nto hic hec hoc sapiens, Gto sapientis, Dto sapienti, put thereto, s and simus, & it will be, sapientissimus. Out of this rule are taken these three nouns, Iuuenis adolescens and Senex, & these two adversives that lack the superior degree, un. ante senex, Iuuenis adolescens, subter addis. Sola quidem solis comparatis, how many prepositions or adversives are set in the place of the positive degree, all these following verses, bis septem dicas adversiva praeposita ve.With what case shall the comparative degree be constructed,\nnot by the strength of his degree but by the virtue of his signification,\nit may be constructed with all cases, except the nominative and vocative.\nWith a genitive case, as \"magister is worthy of praise.\"\nWith a dative case, as \"I am similar to my father.\"\nWith an accusative case, as \"I am worthy of blame.\"\nWith an ablative case, as \"I am doctrier than he or them.\"noiatyf case with this conjunction. (quod).) coming between. as Ego sum doctior quod ille or with another oblique case. as Michi oppositur difficilius quam tibi \u00b6With what case will the superlative degree be constructed / wt a genitive case that betokeneth but two things / as (ego sum pauperrimus sociorum) then\u00ade the superlative degree may be changed into the comparative as in this reason / I am wiser of these two (ego sum pauperior isto\u00adrum) Also the superlative degree shall accord in gender with the genitive case that follows: \u00b6Omne superlativum genitivum sit sociatum \u00b6Atque suo generi conforme cupit retinere: \u00b6Vt patet verum sic deus est optima rerum \u00b6Also the superlative degree may be constructed with a genitive case singular of a noun collective. as Salo\u00admon was sapientissimus populi. \u00b6A nowe collective is it / it in the singular number signifies a multitude. And are these \u00b6Verses \u00b6Suus collectivus populus gens plebs quoque turbaTurma phalanx legio cuneus sociare memeto (Soldiers form a phalanx, remember this.)\nQuam vul t structura gradus offerri primus (Whichever structure offers the first degree.)\nIlla natura vult quisque secundus et Imus (Nature wants the second and the following.)\nQuod sapias verum duo parte manet in eadem (What you know remains in the same.)\nTu prope siste foru recte sermone feretur (Be close, for the right word will be carried.)\nSta propiusque thorum nulla ratione tenetur (Stand close to the throne without reason.)\n\nNouns of the comparative degree are the common gender. (ij.) Two examples: (senex & senior) they are only the masculine gender in voice / and common in signification.\nComparativis in or semper communis habetur (Comparatives are always common.)\nMas tantu senior cui feminino prohibetur (But the masculine \"senior\" prohibits the feminine.)\nAdiectiua senex seniorque simul recitetur (Both \"senex\" and \"senior\" should be read together.)\nHic tamen omnis sumit generis (Here all genders are taken.)\nI vel e postulat or sed dic tantu senior (I or he may demand or say \"more senior.\")\n\nHow many genders are there in a word (vii)? There are seven: the masculine, the feminine, the neuter, the common of two, the common of three, the epicene, and the dubious.\u00b6How knowest the masculyne gendre / for he is de\u2223clyned\nwith hic / as (Hic magister.) \u00b6How knowest\nthe feminyne gendre. For he is declyned with hec / as\nnoi\u0304atiuo hec musa. \u00b6How knowest the neutre gen\u2223dre.\nFor he is declyned with hoc / as (nto\u0304 hoc scamnu\u0304\n\u00b6How knowest the comyn gendre of .ij. for he is de\u00a6clyned\nwith. hic and hec. as (Nto\u0304 hic & hec sacerdos.\n\u00b6How knowest the comyn gendre of .iij. for he is de\u00a6clyned\nwith hic hec & hoc (as nto\u0304 hic & hec & hoc felix\n\u00b6How knowest ye dubyn gendre. For he is declyned\nwith hic and hec and a vel comynge bytwene / as hic\nvel hec dies / for a daye. \u00b6And thies nownes in thyse\nverses ben the dubyn gendre. \u00b6Versus\n\u00b6Margo dies{que} silex finis clunis quo{que} cortex\n\u00b6Hec veteres vere dubij generis posuere\n\u00b6Dama{que} panthera dicas epychena manere.\n\u00b6How knowest the epycene gendre. For vndre one\nvoyce and vndre one article he comprehendyth bothe\nmale and female / as hic passer) a sparow / hec aquila\nan egle. \u00b6What nownes ben of the epycene gendre.Nouns of small birds whose discrection of kind may not lightly be known. And these nouns following are of the epichene gender.\n\nVerses\n\nPasser mustela milvus dicas epioena\nTalpa que cum Dama-iungitur his aquila\n\nHow many names are there. Two, which two\nthe singular name. & you plural name. How knowest\nthe singular name. For he speaks but to one\nthing, as a man.\n\nHow knowest the plural name\nFor he speaks to many things, as men. How many\nfigures are there. Three. which are. Iij. Simple. Compound\n& decomposed. Simple as (magnus) Compound\nas (magnanimus. Decomposed as. magnanimitas:\n\nHow many cases are there. Six. which are the\nNominative case. you Genitive. you Dative. you Accusative. you\nVocative. & the Ablative.\n\nHow knowest thou the Nominative case. For he comes\nbefore the verb & answers to this question. who or what\n\nHow knowest thou the Genitive case. For of after a noun\nsubstantive, verb substantive, noun partytyf, noun distribyf,\ncooperative or.superlatively is the sign of the genitive case. Also, when two substances come together if one is possessor of the other, the possessor shall be put in the genitive case. For example, Frater Ioannis, the brother of Ioannes, and of a verb adjective participle gerund or supine, and of after a proper name is the sign of the ablative case. With a preposition, Post proprius nomen, post mobile, post quoque verbum, Postque gerundium post participansque supinum, If it comes with a genitive sense, join the sixth. When you join the remaining six, but genitive, How do you know the dative case? For it comes before a noun or a pronoun is the sign of the dative case. How do you know the accusative case? For it comes after the verb and answers this question: whom or what. Also, before a proper name of a town or a city, and in what a case comes before a part of a man's body, is the sign of the accusative case. How do you know the vocative case? For he calls or names or speaks to. How do you know the ablative case? By my signs in the instrumental case, before or after.after a comparative degree is the sign of the ablative case. And what this word with a to comes together it will serve to the accusative case. In its absence, it will serve to the ablative case. as in this verse:\nIn to volves four / sine to volves join six\nHow many declensions are there. Five / which / are:\nThe first / the second / the third / the fourth / the fifth\nHow do you know the first declension? For the genitive and dative singular, the nominative and vocative plural will end in e / the accusative in am / the vocative will be like the nominative / the ablative in a / the genitive plural in arm / the dative and ablative in is / and sometimes in abus / the accusative in as /\nUnderscored verses:\nA coming from us without a neuter transits in abus\nAs muluses asinuses with dominuses\nThese are the distinctions of animates sex\nJoin ambas from both duo and duabus\nAnimas famulas / no regula sed dedit usus\nThese are the first declensions and the neuter gender in the underscored verses.Pascha, polenta, Iota, zizania, ma\u0304mona, ma\u0304na are neutral. Declination first:\n\nHow do you find the second declension for the genitive case, singular and the nominative and vocative plural, which end in i, the dative and ablative in o, the accusative in vm? When the nominative case ends in r or m, the vocative shall be like him. When the nominative case ends in us, the vocative shall end in e, as in hic dominus (he, lord); Vto\u0304 (o, lord).\n\nVerses:\n\nUs you will change to e, and so on for all second declensions.\n\nFilius (son) is excepted because it is found in e or i.\n\nIf the nominative case ends in ius (ius, law), and it is a proper name of a man, the vocative shall end in i, as in Nominatiuo (Nominative, hic Laurentius); Vocatiuo (Vocative, o laurenti).\n\nCu\u0304 (qui), a proper noun, gives ius-tenet (holds the law) i quintus (fifth), iaciens (throwing) vs.\n\nThe genitive plural in orum (their), the dative and ablative in is, the accusative in os, if it is a proper noun.\n\nOf the neuter gender, to have three cases like in the singular number, and three in the plural number, as (Nominatiuo hoc scamnum. Accusatino hoc scamnum. Vto\u0304 o scamnum).Et pluraliter. Nominative this scamna. Accusative this scamna. Out take (Ambo & duo). Versus\nVerso with quarto, sic quinto, neither hold a.\nAmbo duo{que} mari neutro faciunt similari\nHow do you know the third declension? For the genitive case, singular ends in this / the dative in i / the accusative in him or in it / the vocative shall be like the nominative. The ablative in e or in i. The nominative and accusative, as well as the vocative, end in es / the genitive plural in vm or in ium. The dative and ablative plural in bus.\nHow do you know the fourth declension?\nFor the genitive singular, the nominative, accusative, and vocative plural end in us / the dative in vi.\nThe accusative in vm / the vocative shall be like the nominative\nThe ablative in v. The genitive plural in uu2\nThe dative and ablative plural in bus.\nAlso, these names contained in these verses have been used before in the dative and the ablative plural. Remove them in the following verses.\nVersus\nAnte bus us serve fig trees three acus arcus{que}.Artus with forests, ports, lakes, and caves,\nAnd oaks, we will associate these with them.\nHow do you form the fifth declension? For the genitive and dative cases, the singular ends in it / the accusative in him, / the vocative shall be like the nominative, / the ablative in it. / The nominative accusative and vocative plural end in es, / the genitive plural in their, / the dative and the ablative in bus. /\nThese names of the fifth declension lack the genitive, dative, and ablative plural. / Take them out in the following verses. /\nThey are lacking in the plural of the Genitive and Dative,\nAnd the sixth and fifth, except for things, species, days,\nProgenies or maneries, you should add faces,\nSo that Brito testifies that hope is associated with these.\nHow do you know a pronoun? For he is a part\nOf reason declined with case, set for a proper name,\nAnd signifies as much as a proper name of a man, / and sometimes receives certain person and certain name. /\nHow many pronouns are there?There are eight primaries and seven derivatives. Eight are primaries: I am he, this is he, and is. Seven are derivatives: mine, thine, his, ours, and your, our and your. Of these eight primaries, some are only relatives, and some are both relatives and demonstratives. I, you, and he demonstrate this: I am you and he here in the relative sense, and he or I refer to you. How does a pronoun demonstrate? For by it something is shown. How does a pronoun refer? For by it something is shown, as it was said before. How many pronouns have you named, and how many are lacking? Four have the vocative case, and all others lack it. Quattuor exceptis pronomina nulla vocabis (Four pronouns excepted, none others you call). Mine, thine, ours, and your are the only ones called thus.How many things belong to a pronoun: six. Which six?\nQuality / Gender / Number / Figure / Person / case\n\nHow many persons are there: three, who are the first, second, and third?\nHow do I know about the first person: he speaks of himself (as I or we).\nHow do I know about the second person: he speaks to another (as thou or ye).\nHow do I know about the third person: he speaks of another (as he or they), and every pronoun and participle is the third person, except for those with oblique cases and the vocative case.\n\nHow many declensions of pronouns are there: four, which are the first, second, third, and fourth?\nHow do I know about the first declension: the genitive case singular ends in I or is it, and the dative in I.\nHow many pronouns belong to the first declension: three, which are (ego tu sui).\nHow do I know about the second declension: the genitive case singular ends in ius or ius, and the dative in I or in c.\nHow many pronouns belong to the second declension: five, which is ille ipse.I. These are eight names with their compounds:\nUnus, Ululus, Totus Solus, Another, Alius, Quis, Unus, Cum natis.\n\nII. Totus and Ululus have the second person pronouns: ista.\nHow many of these eight names have the vocative case, and how many lack it? Three have the vocative case: Unus, Totus, Solus.\n\nIII. Place the vocative forms with Totus solus and Unus:\nBut in the remaining ones, the genitive case should not be used in the place of the other cases.\n\nIV. How do you know the third declension for the genitive case? The singular ends in I in e and in i, and the dative in o. in e and in o.\n\nV. How many pronouns contain he: five, which are meus, tuus, suus, noster, vester.\n\nVI. How do you know the fourth declension for the genitive case? The singular ends in atis, and the dative in ati.\n\nVII. How many pronouns belong to the declension? Two, which are Nostras and Vestras, and one is a neuter pronoun, as (cuias atis).\n\nVIII. Cuius is of what race or country?Cuius de genti cuius de re petitionis: How do you identify a verb. For it is a part of reason declined with mode and tense without case or article, and signifies to do, to suffer, or to be.\n\nHow many things belong to a verb (7)? Mode, conjugation, gender, number, figure, time, person.\n\nHow do you identify the indicative mode? For it expresses truth or falsehood through the means of asking or telling.\n\nHow do you identify the imperative mode? For it commands or bids.\n\nHow do you identify the optative mode? For it signifies willing or desiring. The words \"would god,\" \"would shold,\" \"were,\" and the following Latin words are the signs of the optative mode.\n\nDes optatius: utinam ne putaris osi.\n\nHow do you identify the subjunctive mode? For it joins a verb to itself or is joined to another. And these:The following words will serve for the conjugation mode:\n\nSi quius quiam tam, and yet before, as prior to or quousque.\nAnte quam an donec ut postquam, or whichever,\nCum nisi quin asi quo conjuncti are to you correctly.\nIndicat et quando dum, such as they are, the other plural indications,\nHow do you know the infinitive mode? For a verb is a sign of the infinitive mode, or else where there come two verbs together without a relative or a conjunction, you will be in the infinite mode,\nHow many conjugations are there? Four, which are the first, the second, the third, and the fourth.\nHow do you know the first conjugation? For he has an a before it in the infinite mode of the active voice, or in the imperative mode of the passive voice (as amare),\nHow do you know the second conjugation? For he has an e long before it in the infinite mode of the active voice, or in the imperative mode of the passive voice (as docere),\nHow do you know the third conjugation? For he has an e short before it in the infinite mode of the infinitive voice.actif voice / Or in the Imperative mode of the passive voice. How do you conjugate the fourth conjugation? For he has an I before it in the Infinitive mode of the active voice, or in the Imperative mode of the passive voice, as (legere). How many genders of verbs are there. Five. Which are active, passive, neuter, and deponent. How do you know an verb is active? For it ends in o and may take R upon o and make of it a passive. And from an active verb comes two participles. But from an active verb lacking supines comes but one participle. All these verbs are active that lack supines. Respuo-linquo timet. Disco. Posco. Metuo{que}. Sileo cuereno. Cauet addimus vrget & angor. Hec sunt attiva. Tamen illis nulla supina. How do you know a verb is passive? For it ends in r.may do away his root and become active again. How many participles come from a passive verb? Two. Which two? One of the preterites. Another of the past participle forms. How do you know a neuter verb? It ends in or and may not end in -en or make it a passive. How many participles come from a neutral verb? Two, like those of an active verb, but from such neutral verbs that lack supine comes only one part. And all neutral verbs that signify showing or fear lack supine. Exclude these in the following verses:\n\nVerses\nQue dant splendore vel que dant verba timore\nNulla supinatur. sed quattuor excipiantur.\nVnde chorusco facit atum, dat fulgeo fulsum\nEt vereor veritum. formido supinat in atum\n\nAll neutral verbs of the second conjugation make the preterites in -um. Exclude these in the following verses:\n\nVerses\nEn per vi neutra tacuere supina secunde.\nFormat itum doleo. noceo. placeo-valeo{que}\nPareo prebet itum / licet ac oleo taceo{que}Pertineo cohibet. his attineo sociato, cum datus est passum pateo latitum dat, dat careo carui caritum cassum supino, pando pati pateo passum fecere supino, et quidem verba neutra hic contenta sunt, ut audiens, ausus, ausurus, neutro passiva dant participantia trina. Audeo cum soleo, fio cum gaudeo, fido quinque puer numero neutro passiva tibi do. Omnia haec verba, quae in his versibus continentur, verba neutra passiva sunt. Exulo vapulo veneo fio nubo liceo, sensum passivum fubique voce gerunt aliena. De verbo deponente, quomodo scis? Quia habet literam passivam et significationem activae actiois. Sed quattuor verba deponentia sine praeterito sunt, quae sequuntur: quattuor liquor medeor vescor reminiscor, non circu\u0304loquium de se dant praeteritum. Quomodo scis verbum commune? Quia habet literam.of the passive and signification of the active and the passive both\nI have experienced more, I mourn, I am more eager to kiss, I have sinned, reader, you shall understand.\nIf you interpret correctly, I add a host.\nHow many participples come from a verb?\nFour: the giver, the one giving, the one to be given, the one giving.\nHow many tens are there in a verb? Five which? The present tense, the preter-imperfect tense, the preterfect tense, the preter-pluperfect tense, and the future tense.\nHow do you know the present tense? For he speaks of the time that is now, as I love.\nHow do you know the preter-imperfect tense? For he speaks of the time that is little past, without any of these signs, have or had, as I loved.\nHow do you know the preterfect tense? For he speaks of the time that is fully past, with this sign, have, as I have loved.\nHow do you know the preter-pluperfect tense? For he speaks of the time that is more than fully past, with this sign, had, as I had loved.\nHow do you know the future tense? For he speaks of the time that is to come.With this sign / shall / as I shall love:\nHow many persons are there. Three / which are iij.\nThe first as Lego) the second as legis) the third as legit)\nHow do you know an adverb. For it is a part of\nreason undecided / that stands next the verb\nto declare and fulfill the signification of the verb\nHow many things belong to an adverb. Three\nwhich are: comparison. & Figure\nHow many adverbs of place are there. Four / which\n(Vnde) from whence (vbi) where (Quo) whether\nQua) by what.\n\nVerses\n\nVnde / vbi / quo / vel qua / they seek the four following:\nQuo seeks for. qua per. in vbi. vnde seeks from\n\nHow many degrees of comparison are there. Three\nWhich are: the politic as (docte) the comparative as (doctus) the superlative as (doctissime)\n\nHow do you know a participle. For it is a part\nof reason declined with case / it takes part\nof a Nowne / part of Verb / part of both\n\nWhat does it take from nowne / Gender & case. What\nof verb / time & signification. What of both / name.Figure. How many things belong to a participle.\nSix. Which. Six genders and\nsignify name, form, and figure.\nHow many genders are there in a participle. Four. Which are the following: The masculine as (lectus), the feminine as lecta, the neuter as lectum, and the common as (hic hec hoc legens.\nHow many cases are there in a participle. Six.\nHow many tenses are there in a participle. Three. The presents, the pretertens, and the futertens.\nHow many kinds of participles are there. Four. Which are the following: The participle of the presents, a participle of the pretertens, a participle of the first future, and another of the latter future.\nHow does one identify a participle of the presents? By its English and Latin endings. How by its English. For its English ends in -ing or in and, as loving, loving. And its Latin ends in (ens) or in ans, as amans docens.\nHow does one identify a participle of the pretertens? By its English and Latin endings. How by its English. For itI. begins with \"I am\" in English, or \"amatus\" in Latin. How do you identify a participle of the first future tense in English and Latin? In English, it begins with \"to be\" or \"to love,\" and in Latin, it ends in \"rus\" as \"amaturus docturus.\" How do you identify a participle of the latter future tense in English and Latin? In English, it begins with \"to be\" or \"to be loved,\" and in Latin, it ends in \"dus\" as \"amatus docendus.\"\n\nVerses:\nPresent tense always indicates that the action is happening now.\n\"Tus,\" \"sus,\" and \"rus\" indicate the past, preteriti; and \"dus\" indicates the future.\n\nWhich are the active signifying particles (ens, ans, rus, and tus)? And tus, sus, and dus?\n\nVerses:\n\"Ens, ans, rus,\" and \"agunt\" indicate the passive participle. \"Tus, sus, dus\" indicate that the patient suffers.\n\nIf you recite the past participle of deponents correctly,\nThe meaning is always clear from the context.\n\"Nos simul a nobis auxiliatus eris\" (We will be helped by us).\n\nOf whom shall the participle of the pretertens be?Of the first person singular, form the preterimperfect participle by changing (bam) into n and s, and it will be amans. Outside of this rule, take (Iens) of Ibam, Quiens of quibam, with their compounds, making the genitive case in. Except ambientis of ambiens.\n\nUnderscored: versus\n\nEns entis donat; sed abhinc tu pauca retracces.\n\nSemper iens vel quiens cu\u0304 natis format in vntis.\n\nAmbio participle will correctly form in entis.\n\nOf whom shall the participle of the pretertens be formed? Of the latter supine, by putting to this letter s. as (lectu), put thereto s. and it will be lectus.\n\nOf whom shall the participle of the first future be formed? Of the latter supine, by putting to this termination rus. As (lectu), put thereto a rus, and it will be lecturus.\n\nOuttake (nasciturus of nascor). & ignosciturus of ignosco).\n\nUnderscored: versus\n\nNasco: & ignosco contra normam duo nosco.\n\nThis and not more per rus form futura.Of whom shall the passive voice of the future be formed? Of the genitive case, find the singular number of the passive voice of the present, by changing this into the dative, as amantis, change this into the dative, and it will be amandus.\n\nUndes versus\nThese forms of the genitive\nYou make the supine forms by adding the last syllables\n\nHow many ways may the voice of the passive be changed into a new one? Four ways\n\nThe first by composition. as Doctus Indoctus.\nThe second way by comparison. as doctus doctior, doctissimus.\nThe third way when it may be construed with another case than the verb that it comes from. as sum doctus in grammatice.\nThe fourth way when it signifies no tense. as amandus, id est dignus amari.\n\nDu\u0304 changes the government, becomes a participle to you in name\nDum perdit tempus, du\u0304 compares associates\nBe to you composed, while you are simple, be to you a verb.\n\nHow do you know a conjunction? For he is a part of reason undecided, that binds or joins words or sentences together in order.\n\nHow manyThings conjunct. Three which three\nPower. Figure & Order. Two nominative cases singular with a conjunction coming between them will have a verbal plural. If neither of them is a negative, two singular subjects with a conjunction coming between them will have an objective plural. If neither of them is a negative, two antecedents singular with a coordinating conjunction coming between them will have a relative plural. If neither of them is a negative, two nominative cases singular, two subjects singular, two antecedents singular with a coordinating conjunction coming between the verb, the adjective, and the relative following shall agree with him who is next to it. As Vir or mulier est albus, quem pulchritudo decorat.\n\nHow many manner of ways may this conjunction be put between unlike cases. Three manner of ways.\n\nThe first when it is put after a pronoun possessive. (Hec res est mea & fratris mei.) The second way when it is put after a word construed as a subordinating conjunction.diverse cases. A preposition, when it follows a proper noun of a town or city, is called: a preposition in apposition or composition. In apposition, it serves a case. In composition, it serves no case and is compounded with another word. These prepositions contained in this verse will serve for the accusative case: Da prepositions casus accusatiui) ut Ad apud &c. And these prepositions contained in this verse will serve for the ablative case: Da prepositions casus ablatiui (A ab abs &c). These prepositions contained in this verse will serve for both the dative and ablative cases: ut In sub super &c. What is the property of a preposition in composition to change, to make less, or to fulfill the signification of the word it is compounded with? Unchanged: sensum prepositum complent mutat minus ve).Clarus clarus ridet ridet et impius incurus subtristis ecce Adiuncte voces semper partemqque subintrant\n\nWhich prepositions stood ever in opposition and never in composition?\nWherefrom verses\nCu\u0304 tenus absque sine penes ac apud prepositiue.\nSemper stare petunt nonquod stant compositiue\nA preposition in composition often times serves\nto the same case that it does in opposition (Verses\nVerbo composito casum quandocque locabis\nQuem dat componens ut vis exire penates.\nHow many prepositions stood evermore in composition and never in opposition, serving no case?\nIndiuise sunt voces prepositiue\nAn di dis re se con plures nescio vere\nHow do you know a very preposition from an adversive, serving an accusative case, put in the stead of a preposition, may never be put without its case?\n\nAd per apud propter penes ob trans ergaque preter\nPrepositiui mere dic hec quartum retinereHow knowest thou an Interjection? For it is a part of reason undecided, that betokeneth the passion of a man's soul with an unperfect voice, with joy, sorrow, wonder, stride or indignation, as hate, hey, alas, wellaway, so howe. Euge once (is as much to say as well thou be) & Euge euge is as much to say in English as out out. Vnde versus. Euge semel carum bis dictu signat amarum. Heu dolet heusque vocat donat & regula sic stat. How many cases may an Interjection be joined to? To all cases. To a nominative case, as (prohibition. Pater meus est infirmus). To a genitive case, as O misere vitae. To a dative case, as Heu mihi. To an accusative case, as (Heu me). To a vocative case, as O fili care. To an ablative case, as (O casu duro). Unus. Accusatis iungas siue dativis. Sometimes an Interjection is put by itself, as (Infans). Sometimes with another, as Verbi gratia. Sometimes with pronouns, as Vestri gratia. Vnde versus. Interiectiue dic nomina plura locari.Et pronomen is this that seeks companionship.\nInfamous in this wretched way I bear witness to you, by the grace of the word. Your grace is so called. How many Concordes of Grammar are there? Five. Which five? The first between the nominative case and the verb. The second between the adjective and the substance. The third between the relative and the antecedent. The fourth between the neuter party and the genitive case that follows. The fifth between the superlative degree and the genitive case that follows. In how many shall the nominative case and the verb agree. In two. Which two. In name and person. In how many shall the adjective and the substance agree. In three. Which three. In case, gender, and name. In how many shall relative and antecedent agree. In three. Which three. In gender, name, and person. In how many shall the neuter party and the genitive case that follows agree. In one. In gender only. In how many shall the superlative degree and the genitive case that follows agree. In one. In gender only.[Rule of Verbe: The number of tenses formed from the preter-perfect tenses of the indicative mode are six, which are the preter-pluperfect tenses of the same mode, the preter-pluperfect tenses of the optative mode, the preter-perfect and preter-pluperfect tenses of the conjunctive mode, and the preter-pluperfect tenses of the infinitive mode.\n\nHow many change I into e, and how many holdeth I still? Three change I into e, and three holdeth I still.\n\nWhich three change I into e, the preter-perfect tenses of the indicative mode change I into e and put thereto a ram, and it will be amaueram.\n\nThe preter-perfect tenses of the conjunctive mode change I into e and put thereto a rim, and it will be amauerim.\n\nThe futures of the same mode change I into e and put thereto ro, and it will be amauero.\n\nWhich three hold I still. The preter-perfect tenses of the conjunctive mode hold I still and put to s and sem, and it will be amauissem.\n\nThe preter-pluperfect tenses of the infinitive mode change I into e and put thereto amaui.]holde I styll & put to s & se / & it woll be (amauisse\n\u00b6Prynted at westmynstre In Caxtons\nhous by wynkyn de worde", "creation_year": 1495, "creation_year_earliest": 1495, "creation_year_latest": 1495, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase1"},
{"content": "For thought constraint and grievous heaviness,\nFor pensiveness and high distress,\nTo bed I went now this other night,\nWhen Lucyna with her pale light\nWas joined last with Phoebus in Aquarius,\nAmid December, when of January\nThere are calends of the new year,\nAnd dark Dyana horned and nothing clear\nHad her beams under a misty cloud,\nI wished in my bed for cold, I began to shroud myself,\nAll desolate for the constraint of my woe,\nThe long night wallowing to and fro,\nUntil at last I began to keep watch,\nI did oppress a sudden, deadly sleep within me,\nIn which I thought I was\nRoused in spirit into a Temple of glass,\nI knew not how far in wilderness\nThat was founded, as by lightlines,\nNot upon a pillar, but on a craggy rock,\nLike ice I shivered, and as I approached,\nAgainst the sun that shone so clear,\nAs any crystal and ever near and near,\nAs I came near this grim, dreadful place,\nI was astonished; the light began to strike,\nSo persistently on every part where I had gone,\nThat I could not do as I would.About me consider and behold\nThe wonder of the sun's brightness until at last certain skies have chased the wind I went\nBefore the streams of Titan and I blended\nSo that I might behold within and without\nWherever I wanted to look around\nTo report the fashion and manner\nOf this place that was circular in shape, round by design\nAnd when I had long gone and sought\nI found a doorway and entered in as fast\nIn the temple, and my eyes cast\nOn every side, now low and now aloft\nAnd right away as I began to walk softly\nIf I the so\nI saw depicted on a wall\nFrom east to west many a fair image\nOf various lovers like those of age\nSet in order according to their truth\nWith lively colors wonderfully fresh in hue\nAnd as I thought, I saw some sitting and some standing\nAnd some kneeling with bills in their hands\nAnd some with complaints, woeful and pitiful\nWith doleful mien to put to Venus\nSo she sat weeping in the sea\nFor pity's sake.And first of all I saw there of Carthage\nDido the queen so beautifully of face,\nWho began to complain her adventure and cause\nHow she was deceived by Aeneas,\nDespite his entreaties and his sworn oaths,\nAnd said, alas, that ever she was born,\nWhen she saw that death she must be.\n\nNext I saw the complaint of Medea,\nHow she was falsified by Jason,\nAnd near by Venus saw I sit Aethon,\nAnd all the manner how the boar him slew,\nFor whom she wept and had enough pain.\n\nThere I saw also how Penelope,\nBecause her lord could not see her,\nWas of a color both pale and green,\nAnd next was the fair queen\nI mean Alcestis the noble true wife,\nAnd for Admetus how she lost her life,\nAnd for her truth, if I shall not lie,\nHow she was transformed into a daystar.\n\nThere was Griselda's Innocence,\nAnd all her meekness and patience,\nThere was also I should and many others,\nAnd all the torment and the cruel woo,\nThat she had for Tristan all her life,\nAnd how that Tisbe her heart did yield\nWith that sword of Sir Pyramus.And all the manner how That Theseus, the mythological hero, saw The Minotaur slain by the craft of Daedalus When he was in prison in Crete, And how Philes felt the heat of Love for Demophon, And for his falsehood and his trespasses, On the walls, men might see How she hung upon a willow tree, And many a story more than I can recount, were in the temple, And how Paris won The fair Helen, a lovely, fresh queen, And how Achilles was slain unwarily Within Troy town, All this law I, while walking up and down, Saw wretched Echo tell the whole tale, How Philomela was torn apart, And transformed into a nightingale, Prognosis became a swallow, And how the Sabines celebrated their festival of Liber, Yet in Rome town, I also saw The sorrow of Palamon, Who in prison felt and all the pain, And how, through looking at him, Unwarily, He was hurt in his heart by casting an eye On fair, fresh, and lovely Emelye, And all the strife between him and his brother.And he fought with that other in the grove until they reached an accord, as Chaucer tells us. Furthermore, as I beheld, I saw how Phoebus was wounded with a golden arrow through his side, due to Cupid's envy. And Diana was torn from a laurel tree when she fled, and Jupiter began to change his form, out of love for the fair Europe. He became a bull and, when he courted her, desired to transform his godly form. By transmutation, the shape took on that of Amphitron, for Alcmene was so beautiful. He was hurt for all his delight, unable to escape Love's dart. I also saw how Mars was taken by Vulcan and, with Venus, was bound with invisible chains. There was also all the Poetry of him, Mercury, and all the Philosophy. And I was wedded to the god of eloquence for my wisdom. The Muses humbly conveyed this lady into heaven.And with her song, she was magnified\nwith Jupiter there to be stellarized\nAnd furthermore, men could see\nHow with her ring, the lovely Canace\nOf every bird, the lyrics and song\nCould understand as she walked among them\nAnd how her brother often helped,\nIn his mischief, by the side of brass\nAnd in the temple were\nFull many a thousand lovers here and there\nIn various ways ready to complain\nTo the goddess, of her woe and pain\nHow some were hindered by envy\nAnd how the serpent of false jealousy\nHad caused many a lover to retreat\nAnd causelessly laid a lack\nAnd some feigned absence\nThose were exiled and put out of presence\nThrough wicked tongues and false suspicion\nWithout mercy or any remission\nAnd others also her service spent in vain\nAnd of her ladies were not loved again\nAnd also others, for poverty,\nDared not discover or open\nLest they were refused\nAnd some for lack were accusedAnd other secret lovers, and her ladies dared not ask for mercy, lest they incur her displeasure. Some also paid great heed to lovers who sought new experiences, through whose deceit hundreds were betrayed. And some were found who, for their ladies, had endured many a wound in various regions, while another held possession of all her lady and bore the fruit of his labor and of all his suit. Others complained of wealth, how with treasure they had to contend against all kind and right, where true lovers had no force or might. And some were as young maidens who played with piping and rage, coupled against all nature. With crooked old men who could not long endure to perform the lust of love's play, for it did not suit fresh may, nor to be coupled to old January. They were so diverse that they had to vary. Old age is grumbling and malicious, full of ire and suspicious.And you might intend to rejoice and lust, to mirth and play, and to all joy,\nAlas that it should ever fall,\nSo sweet sugar, you are coupled to gall,\nThese young folk cried often, and prayed Venus to show,\nUpon this miserable and shameful state, remedy,\nAnd right away I heard others cry,\nWith sobbing tears and pitiful sound,\nBefore the goddess, by lamentation,\nThose who were constrained in their youth,\nAnd in childhood, as is often the case,\nI entered where they were relying,\nOr they had years of discretion,\nThat all her life cannot but complain,\nIn wide copes, perfection to feign,\nFull coveringly to conceal their smart,\nAnd show the contrary of their heart,\nThus I saw many a fair maid,\nWho laid all their wit on their friends,\nAnd others next I saw in great rage,\nWho were married in their tender age,\nWithout freedom of free election,\nWhere love has seldom dominion,\nFor love at large and at liberty,\nWould freely choose and not with such treatment.That men find such variation\nTo love a season while beauty flourishes,\nAnd after, by disdain, so unfairly scorns\nThe one whom they once called their dear lady,\nWho was so pleasant and inviting to them,\nBut beauty with fairness is so overthrown,\nThat in her heart, truth remains none,\nAnd sometimes I saw in tears flow,\nAnd pitifully pray to God and Kindness,\nThat ever they would place such beauty\nUpon a woman to give occasion\nFor a man to love, to his confusion,\nAnd especially there, where he shall have no grace,\nFor with a glance, as he does pace,\nOftentimes he falls through casting an eye,\nA man is wounded, he must needs die,\nWho never, it is certain, will see her again,\nWhy will God do such great cruelty\nTo any man, or to his creature,\nTo make him endure so much sorrow,\nFor her, perchance, whom he shall in no way rejoice,\nBut lead his life till he is in his grave,\nFor he dares not of her mercy ask.And yet, perhaps he dared not and could not find where she should be. I saw there also, and had I mirth That some were hindered by covetousness and sloth, And some also for their haste, And others also for their recklessness But at the last, as I walked and beheld, Beside Pallas with her crystal shield, Before the statue of Venus set on high, There knelt a lady in my sight Before the goddess, who, as the sun Passes the stars and also the storms quell, And Lucifer to void the night's sorrow In clarity passes early the morrow, And so May, with sovereignty, Has the fairness and beauty Of every month, And as the rose in sweetness and odor Surmounts all, and the ruby in brightness And beauty among all stones, So this lady with her lovely eye And with the streams of her look so bright, Surpasses all through beauty in my sight That to tell her great semblances Would be impossible.Her woman hid her portal and her fairness,\nIt was a marvel / however that nature\nCould create in her works a creature\nSo angelic, so goodly one to see,\nSo feminine or passing in beauty,\nWhose sonniness she bears brighter than goldwire,\nLike Phoebus beams shining in his sphere,\nThe goodness also of her fresh face,\nSo replenished with beauty and grace,\nSo well endowed by nature and art,\nAs rose and lilies meant to be together,\nSo equally by good proportion,\nThat, as I thought by my inspection,\nI marveled how God or nature's work\nCould find such a treasure of beauty\nTo bestow upon her such passing excellence,\nFor in good faith through her high presence,\nThe temple was enlightened around,\nAnd to speak of her condition,\nShe was the best that could be alive,\nFor there was none who could contend\nTo speak of bounty or gentleness,\nOf womanhood or lowliness,\nOf courtesy or goodliness,\nOf speech or cheer or semblance,\nOf poor, benign or dallying.\nThe best taught and most pleasing in this.She was the well of honesty,\nAn example and mirror also was she,\nOf secrecy, truth, and faithfulness,\nAnd to all other ladies and masters,\nTo show virtue who so desires to learn,\nAnd this lady, right humble of mien,\nBefore Venus, goddess of all delight,\nEmbroidered all with stones and pearls,\nSo richly that it was a joy to see,\nWith various rolls on her garment,\nTo testify the truth of her intent,\nTo show fully that for her humility,\nAnd for her virtue and her steadfastness,\nShe was renowned of all womanly pleasures,\nTherefore her word, without variation,\nEmbroidered as men might see,\nThe better, the better, with pearls of pearl,\nThis is to say that she was so benign,\nFrom better to better her heart submits,\nAnd all her will to Venus the goddess,\nWhen her pleasure wills her harms to redress,\nFor as it seemed to me somewhat,\nShe had great desire to complain,\nFor in her hand she held a little bill,\nTo declare the sum of all her will,\nAnd to the goddess her quarrel to show.The effect of which was in words, O lady Venus, Goddess of Cupid,\nThat all this world has in governance,\nAnd hearts high that are prouded by pride,\nEncourager of Joy, Releaser of pain,\nAnd with thy streams canst thou discern\nThrough heavenly fire of love that is eternal,\nO blessed star persistent and full of light,\nOf beams gladsome, deity of darkness,\nChief comfort after the black night,\nTo void woeful hearts out of their heaviness,\nTake now good heed, lady and goddess,\nSo that my petition may reach your grace.\nRedress to find for what I complain,\nFor I am bound to things that I do not want,\nFreely to choose there lack I lack liberty,\nAnd so I lack that which my heart would want,\nThe body is knit, though my thought be free,\nSo that I must, out of necessity,\nMy heart's desire outward contrary,\nThough we be one in death, must vary,\nMy worship saves me, I fail election,\nAgainst all right, both of God and kind,\nThither bound under subjection,\nFrom whence both are out of my mind.My thought goes beyond my body is behind\nFor I am here and yond is my remembrance\nBetween two I hang in balance\nDeuoid of joy, of woe I have plenty\nWhat I desire, that may I not possess\nFor that I dislike is ready at hand\nAnd that I love, for to sue I fear\nTo my desire contrary is my reward\nAnd thus I stand divided in twain\nOf will and deed yoked in a chain\nFor though I burn with fervor and heat\nWithin my heart I must complain of cold\nAnd by excess, though I sweat and sweet\nMe to complain, God knows I am not bold\nTo no one, nor one unguarded word\nOf all my pain, alas, the hard sound\nThe hotter it burns, the colder is my wound\nFor he who has my heart faithfully\nAnd holds my love in all honesty\nWithout change, all be it secretly\nI have no space with him to be\nO lady Venus consider now and see\nUnto the effect and complaint of my bill\nSince life and death I put all in thy will\nAnd though I thought the goddesses inclined\nMekely her head and softly began to expressThat in a short time her torment should end\nAnd how for him for whom all her distress,\nContinued had and all her heaviness,\nShe should have joy and from her purgatory\nBe helped soon and live forth in glory,\nAnd said, daughter, for thy sad truth,\nThy faithful meaning and innocence,\nThat planted be without any sloth,\nIn your person divided from all offense,\nSo have attained to our audience,\nThat with our grace you shall be well relieved,\nI charge you of all that has grieved you,\nAnd for that you are ever of one intent,\nWithout change or mutability,\nAnd in your pains be so patient,\nTo take lowly your adversity,\nAnd that so long through the cruelty\nOf old Saturn, my unfortunate father,\nYour woe shall now no longer be continued,\nAnd thinketh this within a little while,\nIt shall assuage and overcome soon.\nFor men pass many a mile by laziness,\nAnd often after a dreary moon,\nThe weather clears and when the storm is done,\nThe sun shines in its clear brightness,\nAnd joy wakes when woe is put to flight.Remember how no one ever came to worship without some debate. People rejoice more in light that they were wrapped in darkness. No man's chance is always fortunate, nor does anyone praise the sweetness without having tasted bitterness first. Grysyld was also said to be full of joy, which turned into even greater joy. Penelope also grew dull for sorrow because her lord stayed so long at Troy, and the torment there could not be endured by anyone. Thus, joy is the fine and end of pain. And I trust this for a conclusion: The end of sorrow is joy void of fear. For holy saints through their passion have won heaven with their sovereign medicine, and they gladly followed after need. And so, my daughter, I beg you, you shall have full pleasure. For the manner and guise of a man is to hurt his servant and wound him, and when he has taught them his enterprise, he can make them rejoice and abound in joy. Since you have been bound in my last letter.Without grumbling or rebellion,\nyou must have consolation,\nThis is to say that you should never doubt\nThat you shall have full possession,\nOf him whom you now cherish so well,\nIn an honest manner without offense,\nBecause I know your intention,\nIs truly set in part and in all,\nTo love him best and most in particular,\nFor he whom you have chosen to serve\nShall be to you such as you desire,\nWithout change, fully,\nSo with my bond I have set him afire,\nAnd with my grace I shall him inspire,\nThat he in heart shall be right at your will,\nwhether you list to save him or to kill.\nFor unto you I shall his heart so low,\nwithout spot of any doubleness,\nThat he shall not escape from the bow,\nThough that himself by unsteadfastness,\nI mean of Cupid that shall him so distress,\nUnto your hand with the reward of gold,\nThat he shall not escape though he would,\nAnd since you list of pity and of grace,\nIn virtue only his youth to cherish,\nI shall by aspect of my benign face,\nMake him show every sin and vice.So that he shall have no manner of spice\nIn his heart to love new things\nHe shall to you be so plain and true\nAnd when this goodly fair, fresh of hue,\nHumble and benign of truth conceived,\nHow Venus began to rewe,\nOn her prayer plainly to do bote,\nTo change her bitter atones into love\nShe fell on her knees of high devotion\nAnd in this wise began her orison\nHighest of high queen and Emperor,\nGoddess of love / of good yet the best,\nThat through your beauty without vice,\nWhom once Jupiter through his high request,\nTo all the gods above celestial,\nMade in his palaces most imperial,\nTo you, my lady, upholder of my life,\nMekely I thank you as I may suffice,\nThat you list now with heart ententyve,\nSo graciously for me to deem,\nThat while I live with humble sacrifice,\nUpon your altars your feast year by year,\nI shall encense cast into the fire,\nFor of your grace I am full reconciled,\nFrom every trouble unto joy and ease,\nThat sorrows all be from me exiled.\"Sir, my lady, please grant me now relief from my old pains and sickness, turning me to joy without cause for tomorrow. Since you so gently wish to command me, I offer my service to him who loves me best, and from your bounty graciously grant that he may not change his mind. My heart finds rest in this, my lady, for now and ever. I humbly and fully resign to you my heart and will. I thank you with my full heart for your grace and visitation, which so humbly you have wished to convert. Fully to be subject to him without change or transmutation, I offer you my all and the sum total of my intent. I thank you ever for your grant and favor, both now and forever, that you have sent me to conquer him who will never repent. I will serve and humbly please him as the final treasure of my heart's ease. Then, Venus casts down into her lap white and green braises.\"Of hawthorn that went around her head,\nIt was a joy to see, and she was to keep them honestly and clean,\nWhich should not fade nor ever grow old,\nIf she kept her bidding as she had told,\nAnd as these bows are both fair and sweet,\nFollow the effect that they specify,\nThis is to say, both in cold and heat,\nBe you of one heart and of one mind,\nAs are these leaves which may not die,\nBy no force of storms that are keen,\nNo more in winter than in summer green,\nJust as the goddess, by way of example,\nFor joy or for adversity,\nWhether fortune favors or is unkind,\nFor poverty or riches or prosperity,\nThat you keep your heart in one degree,\nTo love him best for no reason that you feign,\nWhom I have bound so low under your chain,\nAnd with the word, the goddess shook her head,\nAnd was at peace and spoke as though nothing more,\nAnd with that, all fearful femininity departed,\nI thought this lady seemed very distressed,\nAnd said again, \"Lady, you who can restore\nHearts from their adversity,\nTo do your will the better, the more I please.\"I. In my sleep, as I lay within the temple, I dreamt I heard a great multitude, with wonderfully loud murmurs, crowding and showing such eagerness to enter and fill the temple. Each person was fully occupied with their own concerns, preventing me from briefly summarizing all the rituals and attire, and I lacked the knowledge to describe how some offered blood and milk, others flowers sweet as silk, and some sparrows and white doves, which delighted in offering these to the goddess with sighs and prayer, seeking release from their deepest desires. To conclude the press of people, I went my way to find relief from the crowd by myself. As I went within the press and paused for a moment, I saw a man walking alone. He appeared to be in deep sorrow and lamented his solitude, without the company of any other. If I could describe him accurately, I would have thought him to be in a state of mourning, rather than in heaven.Of shape or form, and stature most passing,\nNature's most magnificent creation,\nLike a man, with a face and gracious countenance,\nBeloved, happy and wondrous,\nYet outwardly, his countenance complained,\nLamenting a lack of desire within,\nAs he walked up and down, I heard him say,\n\"Alas, what thing is this that I now endure,\nThat once was free, roaming at my own will,\nNow I am held in subjection,\nTo become a vassal,\nTo God of love, whence I came here,\nIn my heart, I felt no love's pain,\nBut now, within her fiery chains,\nI am embraced so that I cannot strive,\nTo serve and love while I live,\nThe fair visage in the temple yonder,\nI saw then, and was filled with wonder,\nHow could God, to reckon all,\nCreate such a celestial thing,\nSo angelic on earth to appear,\nWith the streams of her clear eyes,\nI am wounded even to the heart.That from death I may not assert,\nAnd most I marvel that so suddenly\nI was so old to be at her mercy,\nWhether she list me to live or die,\nWithout more, I must her lust obey,\nAnd take meekly my sudden adventure,\nFor since my life, my death, and also my cure\nIs in her hand, it will not avail,\nTo grutch again, for of this battle\nThe palm is hers, and plainly the victory,\nIf I rebelled, honor none nor glory,\nI might not in any way achieve,\nSince I am yolden, how should I then prove,\nTo run away, I wote it will not be,\nThough I be loose, at large I may not flee,\nO god of love, how sharp is now thy arrow,\nHow mayst thou now so cruelly and so narrow,\nWithout cause hurt me and wound,\nBut takest no heed my sorrows to find,\nBut like a bird that flees at her desire,\nTill suddenly within the pantor (?)\nShe is caught, though late she was at large,\nA new tempest forecasteth now my barge,\nNow up now down, with wind it is so blow,\nSo am I possessed and almost overcome.\nFordryve in darkness of many sundry wave.Alas, when shall this tempest pass\nTo clear the skies of my adversary\nThe lodestar, which I may not see\nIt is so hid with black clouds\nAlas, when will this torment cease\nI cannot wait / for who is hurt anew\nAnd bleeds inward till he wakes up\nAnd has a wound unhealed and fresh and green\nAnd it is not known to the harm's keen\nMighty Cupid, who can so daunt hearts\nThat no man may boast but only through meekness\nFor struggle and sturdiness avail not\nSo may I say that with a look I am old\nAnd have no power to struggle, though I would\nThus I stand ever between life and death\nTo love and serve while I have breath\nIn such a place where I dare not complain\nLike him who is in torment and in pain\nAnd knows not to whom to confide\nFor there where I have set my cure\nI dare not well for fear and danger\nAnd to tell how the fire\nOf love's brand is kindled in my breast\nThus am I murdered and slain at least\nSo privately within my thought.O lady Venus, whom I have sought,\nTell me what is best for me to do,\nI am distraught with myself, so woe is me,\nI do not know which way to turn,\nSave by myself alone for the morrow,\nHanging in balance between hope and fear,\nWithout comfort, remedy, or advice,\nFor hope bids me pursue and try,\nAnd fear answers nay,\nNow with hope I am set aloft,\nBut fear and danger hard and nothing soft,\nHave overcome my trust and brought me down,\nNow at my large expense, now fettered in prison,\nNow in torment, now in sovereign glory,\nNow in paradise and now in purgatory,\nAs man despaired in a double war,\nBorn up with hope, and then at once danger,\nDraws me back and says it shall not be,\nFor where I once required mercy from my adversary,\nThen comes despair and begins to teach me\nA new lesson to hope for the contrary.\nThey are so diverse they will do me vary,\nAnd thus I stand dismayed in a trance,\nWhen hope would likely overcome me,\nI tremble for fear and dare not speak one word.And yet if it be that I am not outbroken\nTo tell the harms that grieve me so sore\nBut in myself increase them more and more\nAnd to be slain fully delights me\nFor when of my death she is nothing to write\nFor if she but knew the constraint clearly\nHow should she ever on my pains rue?\nThus oft-time with hope I am enticed\nTo tell her all how I am grieved\nAnd to be bold and ask for mercy\nBut dread awakens in me then\nAnd despair answers me again\nThat better were it for her to disdain\nTo die unknown by any wight\nAnd therewith all bids hope arise at once\nMe, to be bold and pray for grace\nAnd since all virtues are portrayed in her face\nIt is not fitting that pity be behind\nAnd right away within myself I find\nA new plea laid upon me with fear\nThat so masters me that I see no speed\nBecause he said that stonyeth all my blood\nI am so simple and she is so good\nThus hope and fear in me will not cease\nTo please and strive my harms to increaseBut at the hardest yet, or I am dead\nOf my distress, I can no longer read\nBut stand still as any stone\nTo fore the goddess I will hasten anon\nAnd comply without more sermon\nThough death be fine and full conclusion\nOf my request / yet I will try\nAnd right away I thought I say\nThis woeful man, as I have memory\nFull lowly enters into an oratory\nAnd knelt down in full humble way\nTo fore the goddess and began anon to devise\nHis pitiful quarrel with a dolorous cheer\nSaying right thus as you shall hear\nRedress of sorrow, O Cithera\nThat with the streams of thy pleasure heat\nGladdest the Mount of all Circe\nwhere thou hast chosen thy palaces and seat\nwhose bright beams are wetted and wet\nIn the River of Elycon the well\nHave now pity on that which I shall tell\nAnd no disdain you of your benignity\nMy mortal woe, O lady, my Goddess\nOf grace and bounty and mercyful pity\nBenignly help and to redress\nAnd though so I cannot well express\nThe grievous harms that I feel in my heartHave never yet had the less mercy of my pain\nThis is to say, O clear heavens' light,\nThat next the sun's circle have your spear,\nSince you have hurt me with your dreadful might,\nBy the influence of your beams clear,\nAnd that I, by your service now so dear,\nBrought me into this malady,\nBe gracious and shape the remedy,\nFor in you holy lies help for all this care,\nAnd know best my sorrow and all my pain,\nFor fear of death, how I dare not ask, alas,\nMercy once, nor complain,\nNow with your fiery heart so constrain,\nWithout more, or I shall die at last,\nThat she may know what is my request,\nHow I desire nothing in all this world,\nBut to serve fully to the end,\nThat goodly fresh, so womanly in cheer,\nWithout change while I have life and mind,\nAnd that you would send such grace,\nOf my service that she not disdain.\nSince I may not serve her, I may not rest.\nAnd since hope has given me hardiness,\nTo love her best and never repent,\nWhile I live with all my busyness.To dread and serve, though danger never consents, and here you know my intent: I have vowed in my mind fully to be her man, though I find no mercy, for in my heart is printed her shape, form, and all her semblances, her port, her cheer, her goodness more and more, her womanhood and the gentleness, her truth, her faith, and her kindness, with all virtues each set in her degree. There is no lack, saving only of pity. Her sad demenor of will not variable, of look benign and root of all pleasure, and an example to all that will be stable. Discrete, prudent, of wisdom sufficient, mirror of wit, ground of governance, a world of beauty compassed in her face, whose persistent look does through my heart race, and over this wonder, secret and true, a well of freedom and right bountiful, and ever increasing in virtue new and new. Of speech goodly, and wonder gracious, devoted of pride, to pour not disdainful, and if that I shortly shall not feign, save upon mercy I complain nothing.What wonder then, though I am afraid,\nI alone presume to ask for grace\nFrom her who is the queen of womanhood,\nFor well I know in such a high place\nIt will not be, therefore I yield\nAnd take lowly what I must endure\nUntil she of pity takes me to her care\nBut one avow I make plainly here:\nWhether she gives me life or death,\nI will not grumble, but humbly take it,\nAnd thank God and willingly obey,\nFor by my truth, my heart shall never deny\nLife or death, mercy or danger,\nMy will and thought to be at her desire,\nTo be as true as ever was Anthony to Cleopatra,\nWhile he lasted, or young Pyramus\nWho was faithful until they were parted by death,\nRight so shall I be until Antropos kills me,\nFor well or woe, her faithful man be found.\nTo love as well as did Achilles,\nTo his last, the fair Polixena,\nOr as the great famous Hercules,\nFor Deianira who felt the sharp shot,\nRight so shall I speak truly as I mean.While I live, she both fears and serves me, yet lacks mercy, though she stirs me up. Lady Venus, to whom nothing is unknown in the world, Hide nothing, nor can anything be concealed from you. For there is nothing high or low that can be counseled from your privacy. From whom my meaning is not now secret, But I know fully that my intent is true, And like my truth now on my pain rue. For more of grace than presumption, I ask mercy, and nothing of duty. Of lowly humbles, without offence, That you incline your benevolence towards me, Your audience unto my humility, To grant me that to you I call and name Some day release yet of all my pains, And since you have the reward and the reward Of all lovers plainly in your hand, Now of grace and pity take heed, Of my distresses, that am under your control. So lowly bound, as you well understand, In that place where I first took my wound, Of pity, suffer my health to be found, That like as she hurt me with a sight, Right so with health let me sustain her. And as the streams of her eyes bright.Although the text appears to be in Old English, it is actually a modern transcription of a poem in Middle English, likely from the 15th or 16th century. The text is a fragment of a love poem, possibly addressed to Venus, the Roman goddess of love. Here is the cleaned text:\n\nWhy long my heart with wounds sharp through and new,\nAnd yet be fresh and green; so she me hurts,\nOr else I may not long endure,\nFor lack of speech I cannot say more.\nI have matter but I cannot express,\nMy wit is dull to tell all my pain,\nA mouth have I, and yet for all my pain,\nFor want of words I may not now attain,\nTo tell half that grieves my heart.\nMercy delaying till she me releases,\nBut this is the effect of my sorrow,\nWith death or mercy to find release.\nFor heart, body, thought, life, and all,\nWith all my reason and all my mind,\nFive wits of one assent I bind,\nTo her service without any strife,\nAnd make her princess of my death or life.\nNow I pray for truth and also pity,\nO goodly planet, o lady Venus bright,\nThat you your son with his delight,\nLupus I mean, with his dreadful might,\nAnd with his brand that is so clear of light,\nHer heart so to fire and to mark,\nAs you me once burned with a spark.\nLikewise, and with the same fire, burn.She may be moved/stirred, as I now burn and melt,\nSo that her heart be inflamed with desire,\nThat she may know by feeling how I suffer,\nIf in pity she feels the same heat that embraces my heart,\nI hope in truth she will grant me grace,\nAnd there with all Venus, as I thought,\nTurn her eyes toward this man, benevolently,\nAs if she pities his disease, and says kindly,\nSince you humbly obey our desires without complaint,\nToward your help I will eagerly contribute,\nAnd also my son Lupide, who is so blind,\nHe will be fully helping to carry out\nYour whole desire, so that nothing remains behind,\nWe will reform this pitiful play,\nWhich makes you mourn most deeply in your heart,\nThrough her mercy, she will release all your pain,\nWhen she sees the time, through our efforts,\nBe not hasty, but endure all things well,\nFor in enduring, through lowly obedience,\nLies the full reward, of all that you now feel.And she shall be as true as any steel to you alone, by our might and grace,\nIf you willingly wait a little while. But understand that all her loving\nWill be based on honesty. No one shall deem amiss of her in any degree,\nFor neither mercy, reason, nor pity,\nShe shall not have or take any head,\nBeyond what is fitting for her womanhood.\nBe not astonished by any wilfulness,\nNor despised by this dissolution.\nLet reason bridle lust without grumbling or rebellion,\nFor joy shall follow all this passion.\nFor who can endure torment and suffer,\nAnd may not fail, but shall follow his cure.\nShe shall be the one to bestow love,\nSo shall I her, without offense,\nBy influence inspire in her breast,\nIn an honest way with full intention.\nThrough clear affection, her heart fully have mercy,\nBecause I know that you mean truth.\nGo now to her where he stands aside,\nWith humble cheer, and put yourself in her grace,\nAnd let all hope be your guide.And though fear may hinder your pace,\nBut look that you outrun hopeless despair,\nFrom your heart, before you have repair,\nAnd mercy first shall pave your way,\nAnd honest meaning precede your message,\nTo stir pity in her heart and secure your voyage,\nWith humble demeanor to her who is so wise,\nShall means be granted, and I myself,\nShall the fortune or your tale attend,\nGo forth at once, and be in good cheer,\nFor speechless things can speed you not,\nBe good of trust and be nothing unworthy,\nSince I myself shall aid in this need,\nAt least for her goodness' sake,\nShe shall incline her audience to you,\nAnd humbly may you fine your tale,\nFor well you know if I feign not,\nWithout speech, you may have no mercy,\nFor he who willingly endures his private pain,\nFully cured is his life to help and save,\nHe must humbly from his heart convey,\nDisclose his wound and show it to his healer,\nOr else die for lack of speech,\nFor he who is in misfortune recluses.To seek help I hold him a wretch,\nAnd she may not bring her heart in peace,\nBut if your complaint to her heart you stretch,\nWould you be cured and will no salvation fetch?\nIt will not be, for no one may attain\nTo come to bliss, if he lives in pain.\nTherefore go forth in humble wise,\nTo fore your lady and lowly kneel down,\nAnd in truth your words so devise,\nThat she on thee has compassion.\nFor she that is of such high renown,\nIn all virtues as queen and sovereign\nOf womanhood shall rue on your pain.\nAnd when the goddesses this lesson had told,\nAbout me so I began to behold,\nRight so I stood amazed in a trance,\nTo see the manner and courtesy\nAnd all the cheer of this woeful man,\nThat was of hue deadly pale and wan,\nWith fear suppressed in his own thought,\nMaking cheer as though he felt nothing,\nOf life or death or whatsoever betide,\nSo much fear he had on every side,\nTo put him forth to tell his pain\nTo his lady, or to complain,\nWhat woe he felt, torment or disease.what my heart felt deeply\nFor the reason of which I lament\nMy pen quakes as I write\nOf him I had such great compassion\nTo recall his suffering\nI cannot, though, with myself strive\nTo understand his pains\nNot to the Muses, for they delight in joy and not in sorrow\nAnd in matters that they find pleasure in also\nTherefore they will not now guide my style\nNor inspire me, alas, this hard while\nI can go no further than to Thesiphon\nAnd to her sister to call for help\nGoddesses of torment and pain\nNow let your tears flow into my ink\nWith woeful words my paper for to blot\nThis woeful matter to paint, not / but spot\nTo describe the manner of this dreadful man\nUpon his complaint when he first began\nTo tell his lady when he began to declare\nHis hidden sorrows and his bitter fear\nThat at his heart was constrained so sore\nPrincess of youth and flower of gentleness\nExample of virtue grounded in courtesyOf beauty, queen and masters,\nTo all women, how they should behave,\nAnd truthfully mirror present,\nThe right way of conduct and womanhood.\nWhat I shall say, take heed of mercy,\nFirstly, unto your high nobles,\nWith quaking heart from inward fear,\nOf grace and pity, not of righteousness,\nOf true regret to help in this need.\nThis is to say, O well of goodness,\nI care not though you do me die,\nIf first you wish to hear what I say,\nThe dreadful stroke, the great force and might\nOf god Cupid, that no man may defy,\nInwardly through my heart rightly,\nI perceive that I may not counsel,\nMy head wound nor may I appeal,\nTo any greater, this mighty god so fast,\nYou have bound me to serve unto the last,\nHeart and all without strife are old,\nFor life or death to your service alone,\nJust as the goddess mighty Venus would,\nBefore her meekly when I made my vow,\nShe compelled me without change at once,\nTo your service and never to feign,\nWhatever place you wish to do me ease or pain.\"I can only cry for mercy from you, my lady, and change nothing, whether you please or I die, in deep regret for my pains. By my truth, and you knowing the cause of my adversity, upon your mercy I rely. In secret and truly, I will serve you as best I can, and humbly in every degree, as man has ever been to his lady. From the time I began, and henceforth without delay, as long as I live, by God and by my truth. I would rather die suddenly than offend you in any way, and suffer pains privately than despise my service. I ask for nothing but for you to accept me as your servant. When I err, correct me kindly, and grant me the prayer for grace and womanly pity, from day to day, that I may please you, and with that, all that you have.\"In your service, how may I amend from henceforth and never offend? For to me it suffices that for your man you would receive me, fully to be as you desire and as far as my wits can conceive, and with that, all like as you prove. That I be true to you and be rewarded with grace, or else to be punished according to my deserts. And if it be that I may not attain to your mercy, yet grant me at least in your service for all my woe and pain, that I may die according to my wish. This is all and some the end of my request. Either with mercy, your servant to save, or merciless that I may be buried. And when this benevolent one of her intent is true, the complaint of this man is conveyed rightly as the fresh red rose new, of her color to grow, her blood astonished so from her heart it ran into her face of very femininity. Thoroughly abashed was she by honest fear, and humbly she began her eyes to cast toward him of her benevolence. So that no word by her lips pasted, for haste nor fear, mercy nor pity.For so much she was in honesty,\nUndeviated from her start,\nSo much reason was compassed in her heart,\nUntil at last she did reveal,\nWhen she felt his truth and meaning,\nAnd to him spoke full gently and said,\nOf your command and your meaning well,\nAnd your service so faithful every part,\nWhich unto me so humbly you offer,\nWith all my heart, I thank you for your offer,\nFor so much your intent is set,\nOnly in virtue I held in check,\nYou must of right need fare the best,\nOf your request, and the better speed,\nBut as for me, I may not further grant,\nTo you in my intent,\nThan as my lady Venus will assent,\nFor she well knows I am not at my large,\nTo do right nothing but by her ordinance,\nSo am I drowned under her dreadful charge,\nHer lust to obey without variance,\nBut for my part, so it please the goddess,\nI accept fully to your service,\nFor she my heart hath in subjection,\nWhich wholly is yours and never shall repent.In thought and deed in my election,\nWitness Venus, who knows my intent,\nTo fully reveal her domain and judgment,\nAs she pleases, dispose and ordain,\nAccording to what she thinks of us two,\nFor until the time that Venus pleases to provide,\nTo shape away for our hearts' ease,\nBoth you and I must humbly submit,\nTo agree and not of our sickness complain,\nTo grumble again until she pleases to appease,\nOur high desire, which constrains us,\nFrom day to day and our hearts suffer pain,\nFor in the absence of desire and all strife,\nWho can endure is found to be the remedy,\nAnd often delay is made,\nBefore men are healed of their malady,\nTherefore, as Venus pleases, let us agree,\nAnd take all for the best,\nUntil her pleasure, set both our hearts at rest,\nFor she is the one who binds and can constrain,\nHearts in one, this fortunate planet,\nAnd can release lovers from their pain,\nTo turn fully her bitter into sweet.\nNow blessed goddess, from your starry seat,\nCast your streams of fortune upon us,\nAs you know, we truly mean this.And therewith, as I cast my eyes to see\nThe manner of these two before the goddess, gently as they cling,\nI thought I saw with a golden chain\nVenus herself embrace and constrain\nBoth their hearts in one, to pursue\nWhile they live, and never to part asunder,\nSaying right thus with a benign countenance,\n\"Since it is so, you are under my power,\nMy will is this: that you accept this man as is right,\nBefore you here in my sight,\nWho has always been so lowly, serving you,\nIt is good skill that he deserves your thanks,\nYour honor and also your womanhood,\nTo cherish him, it seems fitting to you,\nSuch a one is bound by hope and fear,\nAmidst my chain, forged of steel,\nYou must show him mercy, it seems right to me,\nIn you some grace of his long service,\nAnd this in haste, as I shall decree,\nThis is to say that you heed,\nHow he to you is often faithful and true,\nOf all your servants, and nothing for his reward,\nOf you he asks for nothing, but you pity him.\"For he vowed to change for no new life or death, for joy or pain, yours to be, as you list or ordain. Therefore, you must receive him fully in my presence, because he has long been yours. Holy be yours, as you may conceive, from your mercy, if you pardon him. I will record cruelty in your person and great lack of pity. Let him find reward then again for long service, and may your pity weaken his pain. For time is now dangerous to pass. Out of your heart, let mercy come to space, and love for love would well repay, to give again, and this I plainly deem. And as for him, I will be his borrower of lowliness and busy attendance. He shall be both even and moreover, diligent to do his observance, and ever attentive, pleasing you. Therefore, my son, listen and take heed, be faithful in heart and constant as a wall.True humble and meek, and remain so without change in party or all.\nAnd for no torment that the fallen shall tempest the not, but ever in steadfastness.\nRot thy heart and void doubleness.\nAnd furthermore have in reverence\nThese women all for thy lady's sake,\nAnd suffer never that men harm them,\nFor love of one, but ever undertake\nTo defend them, whether they sleep or wake,\nAnd always ready to hold them party\nAgainst all those who envy them.\nBe courteous always and lowly of thy speech,\nTo rich and poor always fresh and well-seen,\nAnd ever busy ways for to seek\nAll true lovers to release of her pain.\nSince thou art one, and of no weight have disdain,\nFor love has power to daunt hearts,\nAnd never for cherishing, the tomorrow avoid,\nBe lusty also void of all trystesse,\nAnd take no thought but ever be joyful,\nAnd not to pensive for none heavens.\nAnd with thy gladness, let sadness always be found,\nWhoever comes approaching, let mirth most be held.\nAs manhood asks, and though thou feel smert.Let not many know of your heart\nAnd all virtues closely you use\nVices eschew for the love of one\nAnd for no tales your heart not renew\nWord is but wind that shall soon overcome\nWhatever you here be dumb as any stone\nAnd to answer to someone not the delight\nFor here she stands it all this shall the quench\nAnd whether you be absent or in presence\nNone other's beauty let in your heart mine\nSince I have given you of beauty's excellence\nAbove all other in virtue to shine\nAnd think how in fire me are wont to find\nThis purified gold to put it to the test\nSo to the proof / you are put in delay\nBut time shall come you shall for your suffering cease\nBe well prepared and take for your reward\nYour life's joy and all your satisfactions\nSo that good hope always your bird leads\nLet no despair hinder you with fear\nBut ever trust upon her mercy grounded\nSince none but she may your sorrow sound\nEach hour and time, week, day, and year\nBe faithful and vary not for little\nAwait a while and then of your desire.The time is near that shall delight thee,\nAnd let no sorrow in thy heart abide,\nFor though thou for thy reward\nShall rejoice in peace, the flower of womanhood,\nConsider how she is this world's sun and light,\nThe star of beauty, the flower also of fairness,\nBoth crop and root and also the ruby bright,\nHearts to gladden, troubled with darkness,\nAnd how I have made her. Thy hearts' impress,\nBe glad therefore to be under her bond,\nNow come near, daughter, and take him by the hand,\nUnto this end that after all these hours\nOf his torment he may be glad and light,\nWhen by your grace you take him to be yours,\nFor evermore alone here in my sight,\nAnd I will also, as is right,\nWithout more his longing for to cease,\nIn my presence alone that you kiss him,\nThat there may be of all your old pains\nA full release under joy assured,\nAnd that one lock be of both hearts' desire,\nSealed with my\nOnly in sign that you have recovered\nyour whole desire here in this holy place,\nwithin my temple now in the year of grace.Eternally bound by assurance,\nThe knot is tied that cannot be untied,\nAll the gods of this alliance:\nSaturn, Jove, and Mars, as it is found,\nAnd Cupid, who first wounded you,\nShall bear record and forever wreak,\nOn which of you, his truth is first broken,\nSo that by the aspects of their fiery looks,\nWithout mercy, shall fall the vengeance,\nTo be raced clean out of my books,\nOn which of you is found to be unfaithful,\nTherefore, atone set your pleasure,\nFully to be in agreement, until you have life and mind,\nIf the spirit of newfangledness\nIn any way assails your hearts,\nTo move or stir, to bring in doubleness,\nUpon your truth to give a battle,\nLet not your courage nor your strength fail,\nNor any assaults you be frightened or removed,\nFor unassailed, no man may prove his truth,\nFor white is whiter if set by black,\nAnd sweet is sweeter after bitterness,\nAnd falsehood is ever driven back,\nWhere truth is rooted without doubleness.Without proof, there may be no secrets of love or hate, and therefore, of you two, love will be more if it was bought with wooing. Every thing is had in debt, and more in price when it is dear bought. Love stands more in security when it is before pain, thought, and struggle. Conquered was first when it was sought, and every conquest has its excellence in its pursuit as it finds resistance. To you, love will be found more sweet and agreeable. I plainly assure you, without grumbling, that you were sufferable. So low, so meek, be patient to endure, and I shall do my cure now. For now and ever, your hearts I shall bind, so that nothing but death shall the knot unbind. In this matter, what should I linger? Come you atones and do as I have said. And first, my daughter, who are of good will in heart and thought, be glad and well paid to do him grace who has and shall obey your lusts. I, in truth, am bound and undertake for his sake.And so forth within her presence, as they stand before the goddess, this fair and well-pleasing one. Her humble servant took kindly by the hand As he before her meekly knelt And kissed him, fulfilling every detail From end to end in full thriftiness, As you before had Venus decreed. Thus is this man to rejoice and all pleasure, From heavens and from his old pains. Full reconciled, and has full satisfaction, Of her who ever meant well and would, In good faith, I tell you, The Inward delights have braced her heart, For all my life to tell, it were too little space, For he has won her, whom he loves best, And she, in turn, has taken him in pity, And thus their hearts are both set in rest, Without change or mutability. And Venus, in her benevolence, Has confirmed all. What longer should I tarry? These two in one, and never to vary. For the joy in the temple about this accord, By great solemnity was lauded and honored, Within and without. Give to Venus, and to the delight, Of god Cupid, so that Caliope.And all her sisters in her army\nSweet with their voices they Gods to magnify,\nAnd all at once with loud and sharp notes\nThey did her honor and her reverence.\nOrpheus among them with his harp\nBegan to touch with his diligence,\nAnd Amphion, who has such excellence\nIn music ever did his business,\nTo please and quench Venus the goddess,\nOnly for the affinity\nBetween these two, not lusty to sever.\nAnd every lover of low and high degree\nBegan Venus to pray, from the heart and ever,\nThat whole assembly the love may persevere\nWithout end in such a way as they choose,\nAnd more increase that it of hard was won.\nAnd the gods hearing this request,\nAs she who knew the pure intention\nOf both of them made a command,\nPerpetually by confirmation,\nWhile they live, of one affection,\nThey shall endure. There is no more to say.\nNeither shall have matter to complain.\nSo forevermore in our eternal sight\nThe gods have fully devised through their delight.And holy she concluded with her influence,\nThat by their might and just prudence,\nThe love of them by grace and also fortune,\nWithout change shall forever continue,\nOf which grant the temple environs,\nThrough their high comfort, those present,\nImmediately was gone with a melodious sound,\nIn the name of those who truth in love meant,\nA new ballad in full good intent,\nBefore the goddesses with loud and clear notes,\nSinging this right away as you shall hear,\nFair stars that with your persuasive light,\nAnd with the cherishing of your clear streams,\nCause in love hearts to be light,\nOnly by shining of your glad spear,\nNow lord and price, O Venus, dear lady,\nBe to your name, who have without sin,\nThis man fortuned to win his lady,\nWilliam planet, O Esperus, so bright,\nThat wofull hearts can appease and steady,\nAnd ever ready by your grace and might,\nTo help all those who by love so dear,\nAnd have the power to set hearts on fire,\nHonor to you of all that are here,\nWho have made this man his lady win.O my mighty goddess, day star after night,\nGladly you come, appearing to banish darkness,\nWith only the twinkling of your pleasant cheer,\nTo us we thank lovers present,\nWho have this man and never part,\nFortunate to have won his lady,\nAnd with the noise and heavenly melody,\nThroughout the temple, for this man's sake,\nI awoke from sleep immediately,\nAnd, astonished, knew as though I could not read,\nDue to sudden change, oppressed with fear,\nMy thoughts were cast into a trance,\nSo cleanly away was my remembrance,\nOf all my dream, whereof I had great thought and woe,\nI did not know what to do,\nFor heaven's sake, that I had lost her sight,\nOf her whom I had dreamed of all night long,\nAnd for whom I made great lamentation,\nSince in my life before, I had never seen\nAny so fair since I was born.\nFor love of whomsoever I can describe,\nI purpose here to make and write\nA little treatise and process.In price of women only for her sake,\nCome to command as it is skill and right,\nFor her goodness with all my might,\nPraying to her who is so bountiful,\nSo full of virtue and so gracious,\nOf womanhood and merciful pity,\nThis simple treatise to take in hand,\nUntil I have leisure to her high renown,\nTo expound my aforesaid vision,\nAnd tell in plain the significance,\nAs it comes to my remembrance,\nSo that hereafter my lady may look,\nNow go thy way, thou little rude book,\nTo her presence as I command,\nAnd first of all, recommend to her,\nAnd to her excellence, and pray,\nIt be no offense,\nIf any word in thee I missay,\nBeseeching her, she be not ill-paid,\nFor as her pleasure I will the rest correct,\nWhen that her liking turns again the direct way,\nI mean that kind and goodly of face,\nNow go thy way and put thee in her grace,\n\u00b6 Explicit the Temple of Glass.\nKing without wisdom.\nLord without progress.\nKnight without temperance.\nGods without alms.\nElder without religion.\nBeggar above the poor.Bishop without doctrine.\nWoman without chastity.\nJudge without justice.\nPeople without law.\nServant without fear.\nAdolescent without obedience.\nGo forth, king, rule by wisdom,\nBishop, minister doctrine,\nLord, give true counsel, audience,\nWoman, incline to chastity,\nLearning, let your deeds determine,\nBe righteous judge in saving your name,\nRich, do alms lest you lose blessings with shame,\nPeople, obey your king and the law,\nAge, be ruled by good religion,\nTrue servant be fearful and keep the under awe,\nAnd you, pour fire on presumption,\nInobedience to youth is utter destruction,\nRemember you how God has set you low,\nAnd do your part as you are ordained to.", "creation_year": 1495, "creation_year_earliest": 1495, "creation_year_latest": 1495, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase1"},
{"content": "The virtuous lives of ancient holy fathers, hermits\n\nHere follows the right, devout, loving, and commendable life of the old ancient holy fathers, hermits. Late translated from Latin into French, and diligently corrected in the city of Lyon in the year of our Lord 1486. Translated from Greek into Latin by the blessed and holy saint Jerome, a right devout and approved doctor of the church, and other solitary religious persons after him. And in the year of our Lord 1481, reduced into English following the copy, always under correction of doctors of the church.\n\nFor, among the infinite multitude of mortal people, few of them live virtuously. And the contrary, many in great numbers live voluptuously, and pass their time in that manner. Considering this, I have held and reputed. And yet, I repute and hold happy among others, those of our sovereign lord and God Jesus Christ, maker and conductor of our souls.I have obtained all things that can genuinely claim they have lived virtuously. I observe some individuals in our time who, through their melancholic and sweet eloquence, have administered healthful doctrine through their excellent Latin books. And others who have written and translated into our profit and understanding, of which in doing so I have not always spent my time unprofitably. Furthermore, by this consideration, I have undertaken to translate from Latin into the French language the truly devout and solitary life of the ancient or old holy fathers, hermits who dwelt not only in the great deserts of Egypt, Thebayde, and Mesopotamia, but also in other places. Regarding which, Saint Jerome, the much revered doctor of the holy church, and some other reverend fathers have written. I suppose this work ought not to be disagreeable to the reader.I believe that many who will see the great pains and marvelous straits of living, in which the said holy fathers have persevered all their lives together, will gladly devote a part of their time to read or hear it read. And furthermore, I do not doubt that many who shall see this book will more truly say that I have not elegantly or directly written in this translation. I humbly ask them to disregard the faults and mistakes they may find, but to consider that my little and unpolished work may still be profitable to some. Or, if they can do better, I pray that it please them to correct and amend it, as they see fit, whether in augmentation or diminution. In confidence, I first call upon the aid of the Holy Ghost, by whose help I shall begin the declaration of the chapters of this.[The book begins. Afterward, I will proceed with the translation of the prologue, and consequently of the entire book, for each party to it.\n\nPrologue of St. Jerome.\n\nOf the life and deeds of an holy abbot named Hor. To whom, by God's grace, was shown the gift of understanding of holy scripture. Begins in Latin: Primus igitur. Calm first.\n\nOf St. John the hermit, who begins in Latin: Primum etiam. Calm first.\n\nOf St. Ammon, abbot of three thousand monks, who begins in Latin: Vidimus autem. Calm we.\n\nOf St. Benon, abbot leading an angel's life, who begins in Latin: Vidimus et alium. Calm we.\n\nOf the city of Exeter, which dwelt never among heretics, who begins in Latin: Vidimus autem. Calm we.\n\nOf St. Theon, who was thirty years without speaking, and begins in Latin: Vidimus et alios. Calm we.\n\nOf St. Apollonius, confessor, and of his virtues, who begins in Latin: Vidimus et alium. Calm we.\n\nOf St. Ammon the hermit, who slew a dragon and converted the idols, and begins in Latin:\n\nIn Latin: Vidimus autem.]We heard of St. Copret, priest and hermit, beginning in Latin. He was quidam. (Chapter VI)\nWe heard of St. Cyric, Isidore and Paul, beginning \"Adhebat adhuc\" (Chapter X)\nWe heard of St. Helain, who began in Latin. He was vir et alius. (Chapter XI)\nWe heard of St. Hely, who began \"Vidimus et alium.\" (Chapter XII)\nWe heard of St. Pithuyon, who began \"Redeuere.\" (Chapter XIII)\nWe heard of St. Eulogyon, who began in Latin \"Vidimus et alium.\" (Chapter XIV)\nWe heard of St. Appolen, and he began in Latin \"Vidimus et alium presbiterum.\" (Chapter XV)\nWe heard of St. Paphunc, and he began in Latin \"Vidimus et alia monasteria.\" (Chapter XVI)\nWe heard of the monastery of St. Isidore, beginning in Latin \"Vidimus apud Thebaida.\" (Chapter XVII)\nWe heard of St. Serapion, abbot, who began in Latin \"Sed et in regione.\" (Chapter XVIII)\nWe heard of St. Apollonius Relygius and martyr, beginning in Latin \"Tradebant ergo.\" (Chapter XIX)\nWe heard of St. Dioscorus, abbot, beginning \"Vidimus et alia.\" (Chapter XX)\nWe heard of the monasteries of Nitrye, andBeginning in Latin. We came to Calmas XXI.\nOf another place called Cecilia, and beginning in Latin. After this, Calmas XXII.\nOf St. Ammonius, the abbot; we saw these things and so on in Calmas XXIII.\nOf St. Didymus; beginning in Latin. We saw them among them and so on in Calmas XXIV.\nOf St. Crenyon; beginning in Latin. We saw in Caplm XXV.\nOf St. Origen; beginning in Latin. He was also Caplm XXVI.\nOf St. Eungryon; beginning in Latin. We saw there and so on in Caplm XXVII.\nOf St. Macharye the Egyptian; beginning in Latin. They narrated in Caplm XXVIII.\nOf another St. Macharye of Alexandria, and beginning in Latin. Another holy man and so on in Caplm XXIX.\nOf St. Amon, the first religious man in Nitria; beginning in Latin. The saint began Caplm XXX.\nOf St. Pyamon; beginning in Latin. He was not among us Caplm XXXI.\nOf another holy father named John; beginning in Latin. He was among those places Caplm XXXII.\nOf the perils that are on the way.for the hermitages/ begins in Latin. Species naque Caplm. xlii\n\nPrologue of St. Jerome on the life of St. Paul the First Hermit / begins. In multiple books. Caplm. xxxiv\n\nLife of St. Paul the First Hermit / begins. Under the decree of Caplm. xxxv\n\nThe life of St. Anthony / and begins in Latin. Igit Anthonius et cetera. Caplm. xxxvi\n\nLife of St. Hilarion / and begins in Latin. Hilarion ortus. Caplm xxxvii\n\nLife of St. Malachy / and begins in Latin. Caromas et cetera. Caplm xxxviii\n\nLife of St. Paula or Pauline / and begins in Latin. Si cuncta corporis mei membra et cetera. Caplm. xli\n\nLife of St. Pelagius. And begins in Latin. Quid factus est et cetera. Caplm. xlii\n\nLife of St. Mary the Egyptian, who led a solitary life in the desert / and begins in Latin. Fuit quidam senex Caplm. xliii\n\nLife of St. Marinus / begins in Latin. FuitThe life of St. Eufrosyne begins in Latin, Book XLIV.\nThe life of St. Froutynyan begins in Latin, Quoma lepe desideratis, Book XLV.\nThe life of St. Symeon the hermit begins in Latin, Sanctus Symeon et cetera, Book XLVI.\nThe life of St. Eusra, Book XLVII.\nThe life of St. Machare Roman begins, who was founded near paradise, Book XLVIII.\nThe life of St. Pastumyen begins, who begins in Latin, Qui delider, XLIX.\nThe life of St. Qnuffryen the hermit begins, and,\nThe life of St. Abraham the hermit begins, Book LI.\nThe life of St. Pachomyen the abbot begins, and,\nHow and in what time religion was instituted, and begins in Latin, Erat per idem tempus, LIJ.\nHow the said Pachomyen desired to be Christianized, and begins in Latin, Per idem tempus, LIIJ.\nHow in his young age he destroyed the idols, and begins in Latin, Hic enim, LV.\nHow the said Pachomyen was taken to go to war, Andbeginneth in Latin. I. How Pachomius received the holy sacrament of baptism and began his life as a layman. (Caplm. lvi)\nII. How Saint Pachomius, desiring to be a hermit or religious man, went to the holy father Palemon dwelling in desert, and began in Latin: Audiuit autem. (Caplm. lvii)\nIII. How Palemon the hermit gave to Pachomius the habit of religion, and began in Latin: Tunc sanctus Palemon. (Caplm. lix)\nIV. Of his abstinence, and began in Latin: Per idem tempus. (Caplm. lx)\nV. Of a proud religious man who came to visit them, and began in Latin: Unus vero dieum et cetera. (Caplm. lxvi)\nVI. How Pachomius passed through the deserts, and began in Latin: Igitur Pachomius. (Caplm. lxii)\nVII. How a voice from heaven spoke to Pachomius, and began in Latin: Quod vero tempus et cetera. (Caplm. lxvii)\nVIII. Of the death of Saint Palemon, and began in Latin: Inter hec venerabilis et cetera. (Caplm. lxiv)\nIX. How the said Saint Pachomius and one of his brothers named John.[Conversed together, and began in Latin, \"Quo peracto.\" Cap. L.55\nOf the great repentance and displeasure that had the said Pacomian for Indignation, and began in Latin. Between these and, Cap. L.56.\nHow Saint Pacomian resisted the temptations of the devil, and began in Latin. Tunc infatigabilis et cetera, Cap. L.57.\nOf the illusions that the devil made to the said Pacomian, and began in Latin. Quadam vero die et cetera, Cap. L.58.\nHow Saint Pacomian was severely beaten by the devil, and began in Latin. Alia quoque et cetera, Cap. L.59.\nOf the security and power which Saint Pacomian obtained from God, and began in Latin. Tanta vero et cetera, Cap. L.60.\nHow Saint Pacomian prayed God that he never should sleep, to the end that he might more easily resist the temptations of the devil, and began in Latin. Cuiusque videtur et cetera, Cap. L.61.\nHow Changell spoke to Pacomian familiarly, and began. Quod vero tempus, Cap. L.62.\nThe rules]\n\nThis text appears to be a Latin transcription of a passage from a hagiography (a religious text about the life of a saint). I have removed unnecessary symbols and line breaks, and corrected some errors to make the text more readable. The text itself seems to be intact and does not require any further comment or explanation.[Of the Religious Hermits delivered by an angel to St. Pacomius / begins in Latin. Singulus tu Caplm. lxxiij\nOf the three men who came to St. Pacomius / begins in Latin. Orant autem Caplm. lxxiiij\nHow he received one into the state of religion / begins in Latin. Regulae igitur Caplm. lxxv.\nOf the humility of St. Pacomius / to the chapter. Omnes autem Caplm. lxxvi.\nOf the charity of St. Pacomius / to the chapter which begins. Quodam vero tempore et cetera Capitulum lxxvij\nOf the codemption of some scripts of Origen / the chapter begins. Periade tempus Caplm. lxxviii\nOf the monastery that St. Pacomius built for his sister / begins in Latin. Comperit igitur Caplm. lxxix\nOf the conversion of Theodore / to the chapter which begins. Hec talis Caplm. lxxx\nHow Theodore was received by St. Pacomius / begins in Latin. Quodam vero Caplm. lxxxi\nHow Theodore refused]\n\nNote: I assumed \"lxxxviij\" in the last line was a typo and should be \"lxxxviii\" based on the pattern of the other line numbers.To see his mother / and begins in Latin. Denique tam preclarum Caplm lxxxij\nOf many reprehensible religions / begins in Latin. Igit sicut Caplm lxxxiij\nHow the religions of other monasteries coming to visit the monastery of St. Pachomius were not received among the dwellers / and begins in Latin. Confessor Caplm lxxxiiij\nHow the garment of St. Pachomius healed people with the bloody flux / and begins in Latin. Mulier et cetera. Caplm lxxxiiij\nHow St. Pachomius, by his demeanor, was the cause of the good life of a religious / and begins in Latin. Aliqno vero et cetera. Caplm lxxxv.\nHow St. Pachomius delivered a woman greatly troubled by the devil / and begins in Latin. Adhuc aute et cetera. Caplm lxxxvi.\nHow he healed a child troubled by the devil / and begins in Latin. Tali igit et cetera. Caplm lxxxvii.\nOf the conversion of St. Silvan / and begins in Latin. Taliter igit et cetera. Caplm lxxxviii.\nHow the holy man commanded that a dead body should be\n\n(Note: The text appears to be a list of titles for various stories or chapters in Latin, likely from a religious text. No cleaning is necessary as the text is already in a readable format.)vnclothed of his vestments & begins in Latin. He, Pachomyen, saw angels bear a way the soul of a religious man into paradise, and begins in Latin. Moratus Caplm. lxxi.\n\nHow some were burned by fire divine because they hindered the building of a monastery, and begins in Latin. Sanctus ergo Caplm. lxxxxii.\n\nOf the Inquisitions of a philosopher, and begins in Latin. Caplm lxxxij.\n\nOf the abstinence of the religious, and begins in Latin. Provide Pachomius Caplm. lxxxxiv.\n\nHow St. Pachomyen's law and corrections were obeyed by the religious heretics, Caplm. lxxxxv.\n\nOf the revelation the saint Pachomyen had concerning the governing that his religious should hold after his death, as well as the prelates who were to come after him, and begins in Latin. Monachis vero &c. Caplm. lxxxxvi.\n\nAn exhortation to withstand the devil, and begins in Latin. Tu\u0113 pachomius &c. Caplm. lxxxxvii.\n\nHow St. Pachomyen knew the thoughts of others through his mercies.of men beginning. Pachomius. lxxxxviij\nHow the devil showed himself to Saint Pachomius. Alio xlix.\nHow the devil's might was shown to the holy man Pachomius, beginning in Latin. In hoc ecce &c. C.\nHow the holy man Pachomius healed a man bitten by a Scorpion. Interroga &c. C.i.\nHow likeness often profits the salvation of the soul. Tali quoque &c. C.ii.\nOf the penance of Zacheus, he was a religious man. Zachaeus quidam monachus C.iii.\nOf the death of Saint Pachomius. Certus C.iv.\nOf the life of Saint Christina, the religious woman. Quidam Caplm. C.v.\nOf Saint John, the almoner Patrikios and bishop of Alexandria, as it is recounted in the life of the Fathers by Saint Pachomius. C.vi.\nHow the said Saint John ordained for the poor city of Alexandria their sustenance and daily food, regularly calling them.They began in Latin. Promotus therefore Calm.CVii.\nHow he established equal weight and measure in the city, and began in Latin. Iustus vero Calm.CViii.\nHow he corrected those received earlier, and began in Latin. Relatus est aute Capm.CVix.\nHow he granted license and leave to those who wished to come, beginning in Latin. Discens vero et cetera Capm.CVx.\nHow the holy bishop received meekly the people who had fled to show them the wretchedness of the Percy party, and began Cuius sancti Calm.CXI.\nOf the appearance of a woman who appeared to St. John the Almoner, the Patriarch of Alexandria, and began in Latin. Cuique illis et cetera Capm.CXII.\nOf a pilgrim who would tempt St. John the Almoner, beginning in Latin. Adorione et cetera Capm.CXIII.\nOf a sailor and of the tin that was turned to silver, beginning in Latin. Nauclerus quidam et cetera Capm.CXIV.\nOf a Rich man who had fallen into great poverty, and began in Latin. Descendit in miseria sanctissimo et cetera Capm.CVXV.\nOf Niceta.Patrice, ruler of the common wealth in Alexandria, begins in Latin. Intensa Niceta et cetera. Calm. Cxvi.\nOf the scarceness and decay of corn and such goods. And of a man who required to be made a deacon & begins in Latin. Qui Abraham et cetera. Calm. C.xvii.\nOf two clerks who fell into sin & begins in Latin. Quibusda. Calm. C.xviii.\nOf the noise that the holy Patriarch John had against the ruler Nicea & begins in Latin. Deifri quidam. Calm. C.xix.\nOf Gregory, the new one of the holy Patriarch & begins in Latin. Isle memorabilis. Calm. C.xx.\nOf the Deacon of the said holy Patriarch named Damien & begins in Latin. Nunciatum est et cetera. Calm. C.xxi. & C.xxii.\nOf the tomb of St. John the Almoner, which he would not suffer to be fully made & begins in Latin. Diffinicium et cetera. Calm Cxxiij.\nOf the alms that St. John the Almoner sent to the Patriarch of Jerusalem for aid against the Paynims & begins in Latin. Duo et cetera. Calm.How a marquess gave Saint John the Almoner a rich coverlet to cover over his sorrowful bed, and begins, \"Arripuit sanctus Calimachus. C.xxiv.\"\n\nOf a changer named Peter, who made himself sold by his servant as a bondman to support the poor people, and begins, \"Dignuus Calimachus. C.xxv.\"\n\nOf Saint Cerapyon, and begins, \"Omnibus et cetera. C.xxvi.\"\n\nHow the holy Patriarch would not listen to the accusations made against the Religious, and begins, \"Semper quidem et cetera. C.xxvii.\"\n\nHow the holy Patriarch visited the sick laboring near death, and was brought prisoner in Persia, and begins, \"Moralitate et cetera. C.xxix.\"\n\nOf him who prayed for his son and for his ship that was on the sea because it should not perish, and begins, \"Quod in actis apollonarum. C.xxx.\"\n\nOf a covetous bishop, who loved money inordinately and more, and begins, \"Vrgetat et cetera.\"Caplm. C.xxxi.\nOf the ships of the church and how all the goods therein were lost, which chapter begins in Latin. Dominus qui diuicias et cetera Caplm. C.xxxii.\nOf a servant to whom he gave two poudes of gold, and begins in Latin. Ad extremas &c Caplm. C.xxxiii.\nOf a duke who refused to leave fifty poudes of gold, beginning in Latin. Districtis. Caplm. C.xxxiv.\nOf a woman who forbore wrongs of her son in law, and begins in Latin. Vergente Caplm. C.xxxv.\nOf Saints John and Sophronius, which begins in Latin. Ad voluptate igil &c. Caplm. C.xxxvi.\nA sermon made by the aforesaid holy Patriarch against the heretics, and begins in Latin. Si vero alicubi Caplm. C.xxxvii.\nOf the child Orpheus, whom you call Caplm. C.xxxviii.\nOf a cheat who borrowed goods from Caplm. C.xl.\nOf Caplm. C.xli.\nOf a beggar who, in asking an alms of the said Patriarch, spoke great words against him, and begins in Latin. Precipiens Caplm. C.That the holy Patriarch spoke to the poor people, beginning in Latin: \"Si vero et cetera.\" (Col. C.xlij)\nOf a prince who hated another prince, Malice. (Col. C.xliij)\nHow the holy Patriarch, through his humility, made the proud humble and began, \"Superbus autem\" (Col. C.xliij)\nA sermon the holy Patriarch made to the people. (Col. C.xlv)\nHow he corrected, with fair words and sweet language, those who went out of the church after the gospel was said, beginning in Latin, \"Mittam autem\" (Col. C.xlvi)\nHow he forbade the people from speaking in the church, beginning in Latin, \"Loqui autem\" (Col. C.xlvij)\nHow he established two orders of religious, and built them two churches, one in the name of our lady and the other of St. John, beginning in Latin, \"Volens autem\" (Col. C.xlviij)\nHow men ought to avoid the company of heretics, beginning in Latin, \"Et hoc beatus\" (Col. C.xlix)\nHow the holy Patriarch never judged or condemned anyone, beginning in Latin, \"Eu\u0113\"Two clerkes &c. (Caplm. C.li.)\nHow the holy Patriarch was called by God to depart from this world. Et quidem (Caplm. C.lij.)\nThe form of his Testament follows &c. (Caplm. C.liij.)\nOf the woman who gave her sin in writing to St. John the Patriarch &c. (Caplm. C.liii)\nHow the death of the aforesaid holy Patriarch John was shown to a certain man named Sauvus &c. (Caplm. C.lvi)\nOf another vision that a citizen of Alexandria had, touching the death of this holy Patriarch John the Almoner &c. (Caplm. C.lvi)\nHow oil flowed and ran from his sepulcher &c. (Caplm. C.lvii)\nLife of St. Eugene, whose feast is celebrated the day after the feast of the Nativity of our Savior Jesus Christ &c. (In septimo igitur)[Basilius ita et cetera (Concerning Saint Basil, in Latin). Capitulum lxiv.\n\nHow Eubole was baptized in the Jordan River and begins in Latin: Apprehendentes autem (But they, in Latin). Capitulum lx.\n\nHow Basil, being a bishop, began the Mass and saw God and his apostles beginning the Coenites and cetera (Concerning the Eucharist). Capitulum lxii.\n\nOf a Hebrew man who saw a child between the hands of Saint Basil when he divided the body of our Lord and begins in Latin: Divino quidem (By divine providence and cetera). Capitulum lxii.\n\nOf one who forsook God and gave a writing of it, sealed with his own hand, and begins in Latin: Illudius autem. Capitulum lxiii.\n\nOf a woman to whom her sins were forgiven by the prayer of Saint Basil and begins in Latin: Mulier quidam (A certain woman and cetera). Capitulum lxiv.\n\nOf Joseph the Hebrew, whose history is annexed to this chapter.\n\nOf the holy father Ephrem and begins in Latin: Fratres enarracione volo facere (Brothers, I wish to narrate and cetera). Capitulum lxv.][Saint Iheron began speaking to the second party or chapter. Here follow diverse exhortations which begin in Latin. Quide sanctorum seniores [etc]. Other exhortations follow for acquiring the virtue of patience and humility, beginning in Latin. Dicebat sancti seniores [etc].\n\nAfter this, a little book or treatise containing many instructions for people of religion and other contemplatives follows, on how they ought to behave with one another and profit in religion. It begins in Latin. Interrogauit [etc].\n\nAnother little treatise which teaches to find the peace of conscience begins in Latin. Dixit Abbas Antonius.\n\nAnother treatise teaches how men ought to strive for compunction and begins in Latin. Dicebant de abbate Arsenio.\n\nAnother treatise follows on continence and sobriety against gluttony and other vices. It begins in Latin. Fratres aliqui [etc].\n\nAnother treatise against fornication.\n\nAnother treatise][Frater Quidas &c: A treatise on why people of Relygyon should not possess anything, begins in Latin.\n\nAnother small treatise follows concerning the virtue of force and patience, begins in Latin. Sanctus Abbas Anthonius &c.\n\nAnother small treatise contains that nothing should be done for exaltation or vain glory.\n\nAnother small treatise teaches that no man ought to judge another.\n\nAnother treatise follows showing how one ought to have discernment.\n\nAnother small treatise teaches how a man ought to live soberly, begins in Latin. Frater quidam\n\nAnother treatise on how one ought to pray without intermission and without ceasing, begins in Latin. Diesce\n\nAnother small treatise contains how a man ought to do mercy, begins in Latin. Preceperunt aliquando\n\nAnother small treatise on obedience\n\nAnother small treatise encouraging the people into the right necessary virtue of humility]Of the virtue of patience by Abbas Antonius, in Latin.\n\nChapter 1: Of Patience. Another topic follows concerning Contemplation.\n\nThe second chapter of Contemplation. Another treatise where the signs and miracles which were done by the holy fathers are recited and rehearsed.\n\nThe book of the good conversation of various holy fathers.\n\nHere begin seven chapters; which the Abbot Moses sent to Abbot Permenius. And he who keeps them well shall be delivered from eternal pain.\n\nFirst, the prologue of the actor, beginning in Latin. Frequently,\n\nOf a solitary, religious man who dwelt in Cyrene in a little house, beginning \"Ante hoc triennio.\" Capitulum primum.\n\nOf the signs of Origen which are against the faith, beginning \"Prospere igitur Capitulum ii.\"\n\nOf the conversation of Jerome, called Hierosolymitanus, beginning in Latin. Agitur inde Capitulum iii.\n\nHow the abbots were bound to give their living to the brethren whom they received into their monasteries, beginning.[Haud longe Caplm IV.\nOf a religious brother who in his hermitage was fed with heavenly bread, beginning. Casu super illos dies. Caplm V.\nHow a lioness asked a brother for pardon, beginning in Latin. Another one also. Caplm VIII.\nHow five little lions, being blind, were enlightened by a holy man, beginning in Latin. Habitabant in Capitulum VI.\nHow a brother, by a rod, knew what herbs he should eat and which not, beginning in Latin. Another one also. Capitulum IX.\nOf a brother dwelling in the monastery of Sina who spoke to no person for fifty years, beginning. Sed longuere. Capitulum X.\nHere follow the great miracles of obedience and begins in Latin. Referam &c. Capitulum XI.\nOf the second miracle of obedience, beginning in Latin. Quidam frater &c. Capitulum XII.\nOf him you chased the devils out of the bodies of men, of whom he was afterwards overcome and finally purged, beginning Quidam autem. Capitulum XIV.]An hermit desiring to return to the world was punished beginning in Latin. Adolescents. Capitulum xiiij\n\nHere follows the manner of Capitulum xv.\n\nOf the regular manner to pray God among the same brethren and how they renounced the world beginning in Latin. Itaque. Capitulum xvi.\n\nOf the place in which the holy fathers saw an angel sing twelve psalms beginning in Latin. Iam cu\u0304 &c. Capitulum xvii.\n\nWhat discrection and nature ought to be kept in orisons and prayer beginning in Latin. Cu\u0304 igit. Capitulum xviii.\n\nOf their handi work and where prime, terce, sext, none, & the other hours were sung in the church beginning. Ita namque. Capitulum xix.\n\nHow in a monastery ought to be received a secular who will enter into religion beginning in Latin. Cum igitur. Capitulum xx.\n\nHow a monk to ende that he do not his own will ought not to do anything without the commandment of his spiritual father beginning in Latin. Post hec. Capitulum xxi.\n\nOf a monk the son of an earl.Of the brother who was commanded by his abbot to sell openly panners and hotters, beginning in Latin. Nouimus. Cap. XXII.\nOf Abbot Pinuphus, beginning Vidimus. Cap. XXIV.\nA right good admonition for an audience, beginning in Latin. Habent igitur Cap. XXIV.\nOf a monk who made the pilgrimages eat before the hour accustomed when men fast, beginning in Latin. Cudos desirie partibus Cap. XXV.\nOf a monk who never ate alone, beginning in Latin. Vidimus et alii in solitudine Cap. XXVI.\nOf a devout religious man named Machetes, beginning in Latin. Vidimus et alii senem Cap. XXVIII.\nOf Abbot Theodore, beginning Vidimus et alii abbatem Cap. XXVIII.\nOf a holy hermit in a marvelous desert, beginning in Latin. Itaque et cetera Cap. XXIX.\nOf two young children who carried figs to a sick religious man and died by the way, beginning in Latin. Quidam et cetera Cap. XXX.\nOf the monks of Egypt and of their diligence, beginning in Latin. Per totos.Caplm. XXXI.\nOf a brother who was a blasphemer against God, / who by papal decree was received into penance. Capitulum. XXXII.\nOf discernment, which is the mother of all virtues, / beginning in Latin. Quodam Caplm. XXXIII.\nOf Heron, an ancient father, Capitulum. XXXIV.\nOf two religious men who would not eat / unless God sent them their sustenance, / beginning. Quid discaplm. XXXV.\nOf a religious man who would sacrifice his son to the devil, / beginning in Latin. Quid discaplm. XXXVI.\nOf a religious man to whom the devil showed the army of Christian men and of the Saracens, / beginning. Fuit &c. Capitulum. XXXVII.\nHow to be confessed of one's sins chases away the devil more than other things, / beginning in Latin. Abas &c. Capitulum. XXXVIII.\nOf religious people slain by the Infidels, / beginning in Latin. In Palestine &c. Capitulum. XXXIX.\nOf Abbot Daniel, / beginning in Latin. Inter &c. Capitulum. XL.\nOf Abbot Serenus, / Some &c. Capitulum. XLI.\nHow the devils have not\n\n(Note: The text seems to be incomplete at the end.)Of Abbot Paul beginning in Latin. Hic igitur Abbas &c. (Chapter 43)\nOf Abbot Moses beginning. Capitulum secundum. (Chapter 44)\nOf a Religious who saw by night a multitude of devils. Quidam autem frater &c. (Chapter 45)\nOf two philosophers who went to St. Anthony. Quod verum tempus &c. (Chapter 46)\nThe book of admonitions. / And first against gluttony.\nHow for endurance causes one to come to the rest of heaven.\nOf perfect patience.\nHow one ought to serve the sick.\nOf the fear of God.\nOf the temptations of the enemy.\nHow a man may mortify the vices.\nOf perseverance.\nOf the pain and labor of the old holy fathers.\nOf exhortation of doctrine.\nHow curiosity ought to be avoided.\nHow one ought to teach noise.\nHow one ought to keep silence.\nHere is mentioned the medicines of the twelve devout hermits.\nOf the\n\n(Note: The text appears to be a list of chapter titles from an old Latin text. No significant cleaning is necessary as the text is already in a readable format.)praysing of charity/ beginning in Latin. Cum igitur et cetera. Capitulum primum.\nOf the binding together and connection of charity and humility/ beginning in Latin. Certissime. Capitulum ii.\nOf the virtue of continence. Capitulum iii.\nOf the continence of the sight. Capitulum iv.\nOf continence of speech. Capitulum v.\nHow. Capitulum vi.\nHow all things ought to be done by reason and measure. Capitulum vii.\nOf the wellbeing of companionship, which primarily comes to a man for his self-annihilation. Capitulum viii.\nOf the quality of companionship. Capitulum ix.\nOf the manner to pray to God our maker. Capitulum x.\nOf the battle of vices against the virtues. Capitulum xi.\nOf the affection for the study. Capitulum xii.\nHow one ought patiently to endure adversities and maladies. Capitulum xiii.\nHere follows the story of Theodosius, of whom is spoken in the chapter before. Capitulum xiv.\nOf the gift of peas/ beginning. Sancta rum &c. Capitulum xv.In Latin: \"Saluator et cetera. Capitulum xvi. Of the Epistle of St. Macharye to the monks, which begins in Latin: In primis &c. Capitulum xvii. Here ends the Table of this present volume called in Latin Vitae patrum, that is, the Life of the Old Ancient Fathers. Explicit.\n\nBlessed be God our sovereign creator and director, Infallible. Who willed that all mankind should be saved and come to the perfect knowledge of truth, Which also addressed our way to go to Egypt, Where we have seen great things and marvelous. Terrible and profitable to them that in time coming may come to the knowledge of them. And the which things are not to us alone for the sake of our health, but also they have given us occasion and matter for writing history worthy of the doctrine of pity. The doctrine by the faith of things passed and told in the same shall show a way right ample and large to them that will walk in it. And how well that we are not...\"\"Although some cannot tell and recount great things / And it is not fitting nor worthy for people of small capacity to recite such histories which consist of the exercise of high virtues. However, due to the fervent charity of the Friars dwelling on the holy mountain of Olivet, who have often requested us and urged us to write and explain the lives of holy hermits and religious living in the deserts of Egypt. These requesters, in place of command, have undertaken this work. In which we desire not so much the praise of the style, but rather the edification in coming times of those who shall read this history. By this, each of them, inflamed by the examples contained herein, may be moved and excited to abandon the errors of wicked orders, filths, and vain labors of this world, and to be stirred to rest of conscience and to works of piety.\"May we say that the noble cleric Saint Jerome spoke thus to the pious and devout people of Egypt, whom we have seen and truly seen the treasure of Jesus Christ hidden in human vessels. After finding it, we have not been envious to hide or cover it, but have willingly made it known and brought it to the utility and profit of many. Verily, we wish to manifest and reveal that from so much, many will be enriched, and from so much more they will have great reward and merit. \u00b6 At the beginning of this narrative, we humbly submit ourselves to our worthy savior Jesus Christ, through whose prompt grace these works of mercy have been done by the pious people of Egypt. Furthermore, in the aforementioned land of Egypt, we have seen many holy fathers living on earth, not a human life, but a heavenly life, as new prophets raised to show forth things to come. They were so full of virtues.In the time when all things were effective in witness and in performing miracles. And nothing without cause had they such prerogative from God. For he it is who in all contempts or despises the world and all his creatures. Therefore should he not have might and power celestial and divine? We have seen also some others who were so ignorant of malice that they knew not that any evil was done in the world, nor what sin was. But they were all utterly Innocent. In them was so great tranquility of courage and virtue, and so extreme affection for peace, that without cause it could be said to them, \"Peace be abundantly to the very lovers of the name of Jesus Christ.\" They dwelt in deserts, dispersed and separate from one another in diverse places, which he promises to all them that by justice with all their heart shall take pain to obtain the kingdom of heaven. They shall have no need nor necessity. And for this consideration, many.Among them who had only necessities, they returned to God, as to the very conduct of those who run to Him. And among them were some who went upon the water, like Saint Peter. Some of them with their hands slew time, the world having been maintained as it is now by the holy and devout reliance on which day and night pray for the universal health. But since the things that are truly good are often in small quantity and very difficult, nevertheless all of them were not the same. They were all together arrayed and bound by the bond of charity. And for jealousy and the desire to acquire virtues, they led and conducted diverse battles. Each man labored and took pains that one might be sweeter and softer, or more benign and pacific, than the other. If one was wiser than the other, of so much he rendered himself, more humble and a servant.The noble and blessed Doctor Saint Jerome recounts the story of Saint John of Egypt. He was a holy hermit and an exemplar of all virtues, dwelling in the regions of Thebades in a hermitage set on a high rock near the city of Lyttos. No man could reach this hermitage but with great pain and labor. The church of this hermitage was closed and shut. In it was the:\n\nSaint John of Egypt, an holy hermit and an exemplar of all virtues, dwelt in the regions of Thebades, in a hermitage set on a high rock near the city of Lyttos. No man could reach this hermitage but with great pain and labor. The church of this hermitage was closed and shut in.Here is my text so long time that no person entered the church till Saint Jerome visited him. Nevertheless, to those who came there for that purpose, he spoke to them through a window only, comforting them and giving them spiritual reception. He was never seen by a woman in the said hermitage. There were few men who saw him, and that not always, but at certain hours and days. He suffered a little house to be made without his monastery for lodging and resting those who came from far regions and countries to see him. Alone within his monastery, he occupied himself day and night without any intermission with all his thoughts and might to denote a bodily vision of the servants of God. But alone, have you the desire for contemplation in your heart of their virtues in good manners. The spirit only gives life. And the flesh profits in nothing. I am not hidden; I come to thee.as I am not a prophet like you suppose me to be. But for the faith of your husband and of you, I have prayed to almighty God to give you health for all your sicknesses and your malady. You shall be whole and comforted. And you and your husband and your household shall be blessed by God. And do not be unkind to the benefits that God has given you. But fear Him from now on. And demand from Him only the sustenance of your life. Without any other riches. Let it suffice that you have seen me sleeping. And in coming here afterwards, do not desire to see my body. Then, when this woman was awakened, she recounted all the causes to her husband. In exposing to him very signs of his visage and clothing and habiliments of the said holy father. With many other tokens. By which her Husband knew certainly the said vision to be true. Wherefore he sorely mourned and returned to the said holy father to render and give thanks for the things said.A provost or captain of men-at-arms left his wife near her time for childbirth. He came joyously to see the same holy father. In another time, the provost or captain came to see the same holy father. His wife was in great peril for her childbirth at the same time he was in the place where he dwelt. Then the holy father advised the provost and showed him how his wife had given birth to a fair son. He brought a bed for him. The holy father said to him, \"You are bound to give thanksgiving to God for your wife, who was in great danger. She has been delivered out of peril. But hurry home to find her whole and nursing her child, seven days old. Whom you shall name John. And you shall nurse him seven years in your house without any communication with the Paynims, to keep him from their vices. After seven years, you shall deliver him to them.\"A holy man instructed and taught the Christian faith and doctrine to people of the provinces near him as well as to strangers, providing good counsel if they required it for repentance of their vices and secret sins. He prophesied the coming famine due to the people's sins and other persecutions, exhorting sinners to penance and amendment of life. For the infirm and paralyzed, when brought to him, he blessed them with holy oil. When anointed with it, they recovered health and relief from all their maladies.\n\nA senator from Rome had a wife who was blind. She begged him to take her to the said holy Hermitage. To this he replied that he would never see any woman, then she begged him to go to him and pray for her recovery of sight through his prayers to God. The senator complied.This holy man spoke to the blind woman after making his request. He blessed a little oil and sent it to her. She anointed her eyes with it for three days, and regained her sight, giving thanks to God. This holy man performed many other worthy deeds. Saint Irenaeus has written one of them in this book, as he was present with six other brethren who came to visit him. Upon their arrival and salutations, he welcomed them with great gladness and humbly urged them to pray with him, as was customary among the holy fathers of Egypt when anyone came to visit. After they had prayed together, one of them suffered a great fever, believing he was about to die. He begged the same holy man to heal and protect him.whome he answered: My friend, you desire to put from you that thing which is necessary for the body. Just as the body is purified and washed by the tree. Which is a kind of salt for purification or by other washings. In the same way, the soul is also purified and healed by sicknesses and other corporal infirmities. Nevertheless, after he had informed and taught him many enchantments and doctrines, he blessed a little oil and gave it to him to drink. By the means of which, he cast out suddenly from his mouth the humor causing the fire, and returned all whole and cured of his fire. This miracle was done thus, and after many other instructions and spiritual refreshment.\n\nFor to write his abstinence, it would be a marvelous thing: for he neither ate before evening, and if he then ate, it was right little. Of corpulence he was lean by his abstinence, and he had but little here of his head and also of his beard, as one in langour.He being of the age of forty scores years, ate no meat that was boiled, neither by fire nor otherwise. When they had taken their refreshments, they returned to him. And being set before him, he demanded for what cause they had come thither. They answered that for the health of their souls, they had come from Jerusalem to him, and also to see him bodily.\n\nBecause of the marvelous things which had happened to him, which were more formally retained and reduced to memory than those which had been heard or spoken of, they recounted to him what they had seen.\n\nThen the holy man rejoiced with joy and answered in smiling, \"I marvel at you, my children, that you have undertaken such a great journey. For to me is nothing worthy of praise. Certainly I am a man little and poor, having no virtue that you ought to desire.\" And if it were according to your opinion, after your departure.myght take in us other hermits good examples Yet they shall not be such or so great as those of the holy prophets and apostles of God. Whych every day are recited in the church categorically. Nothing to give an example of good life to strangers of far-off countries But to the end that each person in his own place and residence Has and may have within him that which he ought to do and contemplate. Certainly I marvel much more at the intention and great affection of your labor. When for the purpose that they should not return without bringing some fruit for the health of their souls He enforced and taught them some instructions By which they might eschew the sins of this world \u00b6 First, he defended them. That they should not glory in themselves to have been in so far-off countries. For vainglory or Iactance, he gave them instruction in two ways \u00b6 The first, whenever anyone did any.abstinence or enlarged by alms his goods to the poor people / And of the said good deeds is often glorious / Wishing to be more just than the other / In contempt or disdain of them that are not like him /\n\nThe second manner that the holy father gave to them is this / When a man thinks for his labors and virtues to be worthy to have the Kingdom of heaven / And believes he has obtained the gifts of grace through his own merits and not by divine providence /\n\nNow he must believe that whoever seeks the glory of the world, he lessens his merit and reward / And therefore the holy man said, \"Let us flee vain glory, pride, and vainglory / Lest we fall from heaven into hell / As the devil, the enemy of human nature, did.\" /\n\nAnd after he said, \"My children, be diligent in avoiding / Sloth and idleness, without having any concupiscence or fleshly voluptuousness / To the end that nothing against God takes root in you.\"those roots may become little branches, and in the end, great trees: that is, vain and unprofitable thoughts, which when they are in your possession, shall give you heaviness and lethargy, allowing you to serve God devoutly. Your thought shall be wandering and vacant in worldly vanities. The desires are unprofitable and evil will, says the apostle, bring a man unto death if in our hearts there be any sin. And the devil, who is prince of them, comes to them as the prince of tribulation, whom he lodged by his herald. That is, sin. If then we will that God be lodged in our hearts, we shall renounce all concupiscence and flee all sin, to the end that when our adversary and enemy shall come to lodge, he shall find the lodges taken up, and we may say, \"The Lord is lodged within.\" The letters may not be here, and when by virtues we have lodged him, we shall always have joy, charity, and patience.A good tree bears no evil fruit, nor an evil tree good fruit, and the fruit reveals the tree. Some say they renounce the world but not their sins. In having a clean heart and a soul purified from all spots of sin, if they occasionally visit holy men to learn good words and histories, this is not for their improvement but to relate them to others. They are overly presumptuous, boasting that they know the ways of the holy and devout men. Desiring to be regarded as doctors and well-mannered, they imitate the hypocrites and papalars, feigning innocence like sheep within, yet resembling them inwardly.To foxes and raucous wolves, it behooves them to consider that he is more to be praised who shows virtues and dares not display them, than he who teaches them and will not use them. Thus, my children said the holy hermit. I counsel you not to utterly flee the orders of priesthood, nor to excessively desire them. But I counsel you to labor in getting virtues and to leave vices. He is not to be praised who labors to have the order of priesthood, but he whom God calls thereto.\n\nThe prophet of a Religious man is to offer to God pure prayer, without having in his heart any spot of sin. For otherwise, religion is nothing. After many teachings and good admonitions given to them for keeping them from vain glory, the holy man admonished them not only to flee and contemn delightful meals, but also commanded them to be careful in taking their receptions. For falling into desire or disordered appetite. But eat only as necessary.Subtly, the body is sustained only / For in denying bread and water, a man may sin / As to eat without hunger and thirst to fulfill his appetite. In obeying his disordered will / And this teaches us our savior to keep us from voluptuous desires, saying / Enter by the little gate / For the way is wide that leads to death / That is, to him who will obey his sensuality. The way is great and wide / But to him who will resist the fleshly affections. The gate is narrow / And this is necessary for business and solicitude / For he who gives himself to the world has countless occasions by companies and otherwise. For to be abandoned to sin And therefore David said, \"I have withdrawn myself from the world. I have dwelt in solitude and in a secret place: In abiding my God. He may save me. And cast me from my smallness.\" / After the holy man had admonished them that they should keep themselves from idleness.A monk, who lived near his hermitage and had only one cave for his dwelling, was a very sober man. He lived by the labor of his hands, waking day and night in orisons and prayers. This monk, renowned for all virtues, came to be proud of himself without considering that his goodness came from God, but rather supposing it to be virtuous and perfect in himself.\n\nThe enemy of nature, who never sleeps, saw his pride one day. The devil, disguised in alluring form, came across him in the wilderness. In the night, the same devil, speaking in a seductive voice, entered the cave of the said hermit and knelt down before him, saying, \"Monk, and at last, to leave the circumstances which are not necessary to recount here, you consented and purposed in your thoughts to commit the sin.\"And after giving his consent, he was to proceed to the deed. Then the devil cried a terrible cry and left the monk confused and in great despair. Immediately after, a multitude of devils came, crying around the house. O monk, who have ensnared yourself for heaven. You have fallen into hell.\n\nConsider that he who humbly submits himself shall be exalted, and he who exalts himself shall be humbled. The poor monk, seeing this illusion inflicted upon him by the devil, acted foolishly and inconstantly, not thinking of God, who is all good, and who pardons lightly him who turns back to Him through penance: urge yourself yet more. For he had left his hermitage and led a secular life, and was made a prisoner.\n\nImmediately after, and the night following, the devils came again and tormented him more than before. Nevertheless, he did not depart. Considering that it would avail him more there to suffer death than to obey the devils,\n\nThe third night came again.A greater multitude of devils than any time before, and of them he was vexed and beaten, so that there remained no more but only his spirit. Whych resisted them, and which seeing began to cry with a high voice: Thou hast overcome us. Thou hast vanquished us. And Incontinent, as they had been hunted. By the virtue of God they departed, and after they never returned to him. And after the good holy man profited so much that he was replenished with grace and virtue. In such a way that all the region reported him so holy as if he had descended from heaven. In saying: Lo, this is the mutation or change of the right hand of God.\n\nAnd thus by the examples afore said we may know how humility and conversation is cause of all good, and by the contrary exaltation and pride, of all evil, and finally of despair.\n\nAnd for to observe more lightly this rule, the said holy man told another example of a monk, who dwelt in a place more dark and obscure.In his youth and old age, he lived in Penance, in such a way that he was flourishing in all virtues and was so agreeable to God that, in this mortal world, the angels were commanded by God to attend to him. When his nature was distressed by hunger, he entered his cave, and by divine providence, the bread was ready set on the table. Of much greater sweetness than the bread material in the world, it was provided for him when he was to sustain nature. He then returned to prayer, to render and give thanks to our sovereign Lord God.\n\nTo this Heremit many revelations of things to come were shown. But after he fell into vain glory for his demerits, and became slow and negligent in his prayers, and prayed not to God so devoutly as he had been accustomed, and was displeased to continue his prayers.Ran into the slow and infamous one and into lecherous thoughts. Yet he made his prayers as was his custom. Entering his cave, he found bread as before, but it was not fair. It was musty and spotted. He admired and was heavy and sorry because this bread was not as good as it had been before. And on the third day, after being defiled by vain thoughts, he supposed in his mind that he had seen the image of a young woman. Then he seemed to have embraced and kissed her in vile attentions.\n\nBut Saint Jerome says that he saw another holy man, much honored, near Thebes named Hor. He was forty and ten years old, having a long beard and white hair. His face was joyous despite its severity. And to those brothers dwelling in his monasteries, he was a loving father and abbot.The forest had no need to go far to seek their necessities. He planted trees near the monasteries bearing fruit. In these places, before he dwelled there, no tree had been planted. And if he was much in need of their corporeal refreshments, he had much more affection for spiritual refreshment. It is said that charity began with him. He ate not of that which his brethren ate, but only roots and herbs for his food. And for his drink, only clear water. If he found himself occupied day and night in fasting and prayers, he:\n\nWhen he had reached maturity and ripeness of age, and had heard all this, he went into a retreat to recount many stories of holy hermits. First, of an holy man who lived without eating anything of this world for three years, receiving food every three days from an angel. Of this food, only he was partaker.sustained and fed him. Without taking anything else / After this, he recounted to them another history / In saying that he had seen such a holy hermit. To whom the cruel devils came in likeness of angels, bringing a chariot. A devil saw his constance and humility, and they all went away confused. St. Jerome says, notwithstanding, that the holy man, Hor, applied this history to another person rather than himself / Nevertheless, the brethren affirmed that Hor was himself / But by his great humility, he attributed his perfection to another / When any men came to dwell with him, he was so pitiful that he called his brethren and made a house for them. Some made mortar, others made tiles / And because his brethren saw his charity, they enjoyed themselves with him. He did not act like some in these days, who demand great quantities of money to receive some religious in their house. But he delivered to them at once.his dispensation and his brotherhood and habits / Once, one of his brothers, a strong mason, came to him. The reason being that this brother had rent his robe, so that the good abbot would see him naked. In order to have a new one, then the holy father, through inspiration, knew of his deceit and falsehood and reproved him before all his brothers. He never dared to lie before him again. And for a final conclusion, he was of such great virtues and merits that holy and devout religious men came from all sides for the excellence of his virtuous life. In which all men of Religion ought to take example.\n\nRecites Saint Jerome about another holy father dwelling in the said region of Thebes. This father was abbot and father of three thousand religious persons of meruvelous abstinence, called Thebanians. He commanded the religious to hear the large vestment which they covered their heads with. This was called a Scapular, and they were to have another vestment. This, in turn, was called a Frock.Those religious individuals kept a great silence during drinking and eating. To such an extent that it could not be known if anyone was always in the place where they took their refreshment. And notwithstanding that they were in great multitude, they were so secret in their works that one did not know the abstinence of the other. Nevertheless, they were more abstinent from the set meals before them than to have affection to eat or to drink, without making their belly their god.\n\nTherefore, we ought to consider that it is greater abstinence to see food and little to eat of it than to be without it.\n\nAfter this, Saint Jerome relates that he and his companions saw another abbot, an ancient man named Benon. Of whom his brethren testified that he had never sworn or lied. Also, a thing worthy of marvel, he:He had never been angry against any living person. He had never spoken an unkind word. His life was so peaceful and full of great humility that he lived like an angel. When he and his fellows requested him to provide edifying words for their souls, they had great difficulty getting any from him. He recited to them the virtues of clemency and sweetness. On one occasion, he was requested by the laborers of the courtyard near his monastery to pray to God to chase away a beast that was destroying all their labors. Immediately, he came to the place where the beast was and commanded it in the name of God to depart and never to harm the courtyard again. Saint Jerome adds that as he and his companions entered the city of Exiryng in the region of Thebayde, which is a city full of virtuous men.That no man could count, and there were so many religious within and without, none could number. And so many monasteries that they exceeded the houses. There were found twelve convents without other places of devotion. These which frequented in certain days in such a way that there was no gate, tower, nor small place in the city, but there was there an oratory of religious and monks singing night and day hymns and praying to Jesus Christ. In the town there was never heretic nor pagan.\n\nThe town was so full of oratories: that there was no difference in praying, as well in the streets as in the church. For all were as one church and one oratory. All the citizens were good Christian and Catholic men. The principal masters and governors of the said city had also founded oratories. To the end that when pilgrims or strange folk came there, the religious being in them should receive them and administer to them.\"Ferdinand says that Saint Jerome said that when they entered the city, they appeared to them like angels, doing great honor and right human service. He also says that they demanded from the bishop of the place the number of the religious and virgins in the city. The bishop answered that there were 10,000 men and 20,000 virgins, from whom it was impossible to recover the honor and service they would render to pilgrims passing by. Just as Saint Jerome writes, they tore their mantles and vestments to lead them by force into their houses to refresh them. In the city were people full of various virtues. Some in words, others in abstinences, others in signs and miracles. Alas, now there are few cities which strive to make monasteries. But each one encourages himself to destroy them. It is great profit in a city to pray to God for having\"In many churches, Saint Jerome says that he encountered a man named Theon near a city lying towards the desert. The reason why he was reputed as a prophet in the city was that when sick and afflicted people came to him from distant regions with various ailments, he merely laid his hand on their heads, and they immediately recovered their health. He was of such fair manner, had such a sweet visage, and was so full of all grace that he seemed to be an angel. Some evil thieves entered his hermitage, assuming they would find money there. But finding the holy man engrossed in prayer, they were arrested at the gate as if they had been bound with cords. The following morning, many people came to him as was their custom, and they intended to burn the thieves. The holy man was compelled to speak and only said to them, \"My friends, let these men go without doing them any harm. For if I should lose grace.\"A man was given to me by God to care for and heal the sick. They dared not oppose him, and God allowed the thieves to go unharmed because of their fear and the great horror and enormity of their lives. They then sought refuge in a monastery and lived in penance until their deaths. This same holy man was instructed and proficient not only in Egyptian and Greek but also in Latin. To comfort St. Jerome and his companions, he wrote to them in a tablet the graces and teachings: he had. His life was very austere. The food he ate was ordered and prepared without fire. When by night he went into the desert, many beasts accompanied him. He rewarded them by giving them water to drink. I could see the paths and ways of the wild beasts around his hermitage. In this history, we should note two things: first, a man ought to.A man ought not to take revenge against his enemy. One may well do so, and the other is when one sins through ingratitude or unkindness. A man should give and render thanks to those who have done service and good to us.\n\nSaint Jerome relates that he saw another holy man named Apollonius in Thebes. Near a city named Hermopolis, in which city, as we read after the prophet Isaiah, our Savior with his immaculate and holy mother and Joseph came to dwell, leaving the parties of Judah. In this city, Saint Jerome saw the temple in which there had been many idols. When our Lord entered there, all fell into ruin. The same holy man had his hermitage on a mountain. Above which were many monasteries established for the said city. And the said Apollonius was sovereign over five hundred religious men, full of virtues. By him were made every day, in the power of our Lord, many great marvelous works. From his youth, he was nourished in abstinence until the age of eighty. In this age, he:When Saint Jerome came to see him, his disciples were as perfect as he was, due to his good character and merits towards God. After being with them for forty years, he heard a voice from heaven saying, \"Apollonius, the wisdom of the sages of Egypt, reputed wise and sage among the Babylonians and all their idolatry, will be lost and brought to nothing. Go into the desert and live as a hermit. You will convert people to serve God, teach good manners, and abandon their detestable vices and idolatries. Then the holy man prayed to God that he would not be tempted with vanity when he had converted many people. The voice answered, \"Lay your hand upon your head. Cast yourself into the dust and do what you find there.\" And at once he took a little monster, monstrous-like.A black Ethiopian cast him in the dust and the monster cried, \"I am the devil of pride, prince.\" By this he knew he had lost all pride, just as he had placed it under his foot. The voice of heaven then said to him, \"Go with me now. For all that you will ask of God will be granted to you without fail.\" He went to the places where other hermits dwelt. These things happened during the time of Julian the Tyrant. He had a fosse or pit near an hermitage. In this place, he remained in constant prayer to God. At least a hundred times a day, he knelt on his knees, and as many times by night. He lived more by heavenly food than by bodily. His clothing was only of linen, like the frock of a monk. The hood and neck of his garment were of another kind, like a scapular. These vestments never appeared in the desert but were always whole. The Holy Mother was in that place as a spirit living in poverty, performing many miracles.For his holiness, he was held and reputed among the people of the countryside as an apostle or a holy prophet. All the religions and hermits of the adjacent regions came to him as to their father. They gave their souls to him for governance. He taught them to do well, to study, and to abstain as possible. But first, in engaging the doctrine of Jesus Christ, he observed those whom he would keep among them. They should not refuse, but live according to his example. Sometimes religious persons are evil because their pastor is of evil life. Right at the position, the good shepherd makes his sheep good and clean. In the time aforementioned of Julian the tyrant, the holy man Apollonye heard that one of his brethren was held prisoner. Then he and his brethren came to visit him and to comfort him. In his tribulation, he admonished him to be constant and that in the following day, he would rejoice in the adversity he was in. In his youth, he urged him to understand that in adversity, too.A century on, a captain, having a company of men under his charge, became enraged to know who had allowed the holy man and his fellows to enter his prison. He had the holy man and his fellow imprisoned and commissioned many men to keep them. But God left not his servants in danger. At midnight, an angel appeared, marvelously shining, to all the keepers. They were so abashed that they did not know where to come from. And immediately they knelt down before the holy men, saying that they should go when it pleased them. For certainly they would rather die for him than keep him against the will of God. In the same way, the century on the following morning came with his principal knights into the prison, in prayer, asking the holy men to depart. He granted them leave to go where they wished. By this we see that whatever infamy is done to the righteous, if he has faith and hope in God with charity, God will help them always. The holy men showed the grace.God had done this to them. All were gathered together again in their dwelling, thanking our Savior and Redeemer. The good holy mother continually admonished her children to resist the temptations of the flesh and said to them, \"If you resist the devil, who is the head of all sin, you shall resist all vices, for whoever resists the herd may easily resist and gainsay the tempters. With this, she exhorted them to vanquish each other in surmising every brother in virtues. For she said, \"Each one ought to desire to be more perfect than his neighbor. And also she said, \"The man is more perfect in virtues who is not subdued nor vanquished by worldly temptations: for to resist sins and foul wills is the beginning of the gifts of God. And after she said to them, \"If any of you do any miracle, do not glorify yourself for it. Do not regard yourself as more worthy than your fellows. Do not show to the people the grace that God has given to you, for otherwise you seduce, deceive yourself, and\"Lesith received his reward. If the holy man had excellent grace in doctrine, he had even greater operations. All that he demanded of God was granted and bestowed upon him, along with many rewards. Among these, one of his companions, with whom he had long lived, was shown to him in heaven, seated among the apostles and in like glory. Another time he prayed for himself to God that it would please Him to shorten his days and bring him into the realm of heaven. God showed him that he should remain for a little while longer in the world to be an example of virtues for many other hermits. This came to pass. For after that, many hermits came to him from various places and countries. They sought him out in doctrine and virtues, and because of him, they renounced the world and followed him. They established a monastery in the said mountain. There, these religious men lived a clean life.And yet they were virtuous and reputed as angels, dwelling in Egypt where they were surrounded by sin and malice. This is verified by the apostles' saying that they also dwelt among grace there. It is worth noting that the idols of Egypt, due to their great idolatry, worshiped the oxen because they labored in the fields where they lived, and they also worshiped the water of the river Nile because it irrigated and nourished the regions of Egypt. In the same way, they adored the earth as the most fertile of all others. They also worshiped dogs, apes, and various herbs. The reason they did so was because they said that the various occupations they had required some to till the land, others to nourish their dogs and apes, others to plant herbs, and so on, because they were occupied with these tasks and were not able to go with Pharaoh and were not drowned with him when he entered the reed sea.The holy man persecuted the children of Israel. This happened to them if it weren't for the interventions of the aforementioned operations. And since this was the cause of their preservation and health, they worshiped them as gods. After this, it is written about the doctrine of the holy man. Now remains to be seen of his works and operations.\n\nIt is noted among his other works that in a temple of a city near his hermitage, there was an idol. This idol was once born in procession by priests and other people to obtain power and dominion over rain. The sight of this moved the holy man with pity, and he prayed to God to take away this false creation and misbelief from them. His prayer was answered, and their idol became immovable in such a way that they could not move it forward or backward. They remained there all day without departing from it, suffering and enduring the burning of the sun. Then the priests said that the orisons and prayers of the holy Christian man had caused this.Dwelled there by the city named Apolony, the people could not move depart from thence, for if they were not detained, it might well be true because he passed by there. Nevertheless, they brought many oxen to move their goods. But they could not make him depart from the place. Finally, they sent to the holy man and promised him that if he would deliver them from the pain in which they were, they would renounce their gods and believe in Ihu Crist. Then the holy man came to them and made his prayer, which made them all delivered from their tribulation. And for this miracle, some of them abode with him in his hermitage, and others went in diverse places showing and publishing this miracle. Because of which they converted him to the Christian faith, and anon but right few dwelt in that region, but they were converted to the faith.\n\nAnother miracle worthy to be remembered did the said holy man, as follows:\n\nTwo towns once had war one against another. But when they saw the power of this holy man, they made peace and lived in unity.cause of the boundaries and limits of their lands. Why one was Christian and the other pagan. Due to this dispute, men of war were assembled from one side and the other. The reason the holy man intervened was moved by charity. He reconciled and appeased them, bringing one party, named chief of the said pagans and cause of the war, who said he would never accord to death. The holy man answered, \"Then it shall be so, in such a way as you demanded. None shall die but yourself. And you shall have a burial such as is fitting. For you shall be buried in the bellies of beasts and by the sides. And it came to pass in this way. For he was found dead alone on the earth, all fortified and devoured by beasts. And all the others were astonished at how the word of the holy man was so effective. And for this reason, they began to fear the god of the holy man, and all were converted to the Christian faith, leaving their idolatry.\n\nNow shall we speak of another miracle he performed at the...beginning when he entered a cave or cavern with certain brethren, on a holy day of Esther. He being at the table with his brethren, after the service was completed. In place of delightful food, he had a little dry bread and words of chickpeas made with a little salt only. And the man said, \"if we are the true servants of God and have true faith, we shall obtain by our prayers what we desire to eat in this holy solemnity.\" Then the brethren, in humility, answered that he alone, as the most worthy and virtuous one, should make the prayer, and he did so at their request, praying devoutly. His prayer was answered. And after that, they suddenly came to those of their hermitage men unknown, and as it seemed, of strange countenance, bearing all manner of food that they might desire. Some had apples of various sorts, raisins, figs in great abundance, honey before the time it could be made naturally, milk in great quantity. With hot bread and:\n\n(Note: The text appears to be cut off at the end, so it's unclear if there's more content to clean.)And when they had presented their offerings to the priest, it is worth noting that such things were not in Egypt, and those who brought them were also unknown and not part of the priesthood or the language of the court. Therefore, it may truly be considered a marvel, When the said religious men had eaten sufficiently, they rendered thanks to God and kept the remainder, which lasted for their reception from that day of Easter till the feast of Pentecost. It is no sin then to eat delicacies, when taken soberly, And by this one is not more moved to sin. It happened afterward that one of his brothers prayed to him to make a humble request to God. He was proud and without clemency. The holy man immediately made his prayer humbly for him. And he was so humble and meek that all his brothers marveled. In the meantime, there was great famine and hunger in the parts of Thebes. So great that they did not know what to eat. Some with.the wives came to the holy man, for they knew well that without food, the religious were fed and sustained by God's grace. When the holy man saw them, he had no doubt but had confidence in God, who had enough to nourish them. Now there he had three baskets with bread, which was sufficient for the daily sustenance of the religious men. He set these baskets and bread in the midst among them, and the needy ones lived by the said bread for a period of four months. All those who were there due to the constraint of the famine came. Another time he did a like miracle with oil and wheat, in multiplying them above the third part, the devil seeing this said to him, \"I suppose you are Helias or the apostle of God.\" The holy man answered, \"Why do you speak such words? Apostles and prophets were not they men like us? We are not you.\"god was with them. And now he is with us. He is and shall be almighty. If God is good. Wherefore are you evil? Let us remember the things before written / how they are worthy of great remembrance. The which are verified by the witness of the holy man / Then rests now to write of the miracles of the said holy man / which Saint Jerome saw /\n\nOn one occasion, in the presence of the said Saint Jerome, the holy man brought to the table baskets full of bread / But when he had distributed and set it upon the table / And every man had taken his reception, the said baskets were again filled.\n\nAnother time, the religious brethren walked to see the said holy man. Among whom was Saint Jerome / And three days before the said brethren came to the place where the holy man was. The holy man showed to his brethren religious that the brethren were coming from Jerusalem towards their house / And when they knew they were approaching, they came against them.singing. Some before and some after, and in like wise did the holy man who also washed their feet. And did to them many other services. Like as they were accustomed. And St. Jerome says that they never ate until they had received their maker. And after their receipt of the Eucharist, he wept, and the heathen men and sinners also knew for certain that they loved worldly things and rejoiced in getting lands and possessions. But we, who get and have hope to have the glory eternal, ought always to be joyous. For the glory and goodness that we intend to have will be without end. And they who intend worldly things have but little enduring. Therefore we ought to be more joyous than they who are worldly. Thus counsels the apostle, who says that we ought to rejoice continually in giving thanks to God with all our thought. He also gave counsel that if any brother who is reliable goes to see one who is absent, he ought not only to pray him to abide but also to encourage him and make him merry.But to constrain him, like Abraham in receiving the pilgrims, they were constrained by charity to sojourn in his house. He commanded also to his brethren to receive their maker, to the end that they should not withdraw them from the grace of God. For in doing so, they would continually remember the passion of Jesus Christ. In like wise he commanded them expressly to fast on Wednesdays. Because the same day Iudas machinated the death of Jesus Christ, and in like wise the Fridays. For that day he received death and passion. The holy man blamed much the heretics. Which had long been here and there, and he [Saint Jerome] writes that he and his companions came to a place where dwelt Saint Ammon, in walking through the desert towards the south. They saw in their way the trace of a great serpent, marvelously fifteen cubits in length. The brother who conducted them comforted them, exhorting them to have good hope, saying, \"You shall know.\"What is our faith? When you see the dragon slain by us, be not afraid. We have slain many beasts. We have credence in God, who has said that we shall have dominion over serpents and dragons, and over all our enemies, and whatever the brother said. Saint Jerome and his followers were afraid. In praying them that they should go no more by the way of the dragon, but should seek another way, one of them went forth without fear the same way. Another brother came who warned him and the brother following the dragon that they should go no farther. For he was so fearful that none dared to look at him. Eventually, they all entered the monastery of the brother who was there, who told them that near his house was a devout man, very famous, of whom many miracles had been done and shown. That same man was named Ammon, and because some thieves had caused him much pain in robbing from him his bread and his sustenance.co\u0304mau\u0304ded to it. dragons yt they sholde kepe the dore of his monasterye to the\u0304de yt the theues shold haue no po\u00a6wer tentre in / The theues cam\u0304 lyke as they were wont to doo / & whan they sa\u00a6we the dragons. they wold haue slayne theim / Then\u0304e ye holy man aperceyuyd yt the bestes were almost deed\u00b7 & blamed ye theues sayeng yt ther were of harde & euyll nature. for they dradd not god ne his seruau\u0304tes. by cause yt they had putt to deth ye bestes yt he had co\u0304mysed to ke\u00a6pe his hous After he dide do entre ye the\u00a6ues in to his hous. & set hem at ye table & in tyme while they ete. he amonested hem of the helth of her soules / in suche wyse yt he conuerted hem / And at laste thei were as perfite as ye holy man whi\u00a6che had preched to hem / \u00b6 A nother ty\u00a6me there was a dragon that destroyed alle the Regyons nyghe by abowte hy\u0304 \u00b6 And the Inhabytauntes neyghbou\u2223res to the holy man came to him / And broughte to hym the sonne of a Heerd man / The whyche was as deed oonly by the syghte of the sayde dragon / And prayedhym should pray to God earnestly, so that through his prayers and merits, the child might be raised to life. Then the holy man blessed him and gave him some of the holy oil. He returned and came back to life. After the holy man had gone, he went to the place where the dragon was said to be. When he had found him, he kneeled down on his knee and said nothing to him. At that time, the son of God came to slay the dragon and make him inconvenient. He cleft him in the middle and died suddenly. After he was dead, he stood up and infected the entire country. The inhabitants assembled and brought a great mass of pitch to lay on him, but they dared not approach the place where he lay dead, except the holy man.\n\nWe ought to note that when anyone does harm to us, we ought not to seek revenge, but rather labor to convert our enemy and adversary. Just as this holy man did with the thieves.\n\nSecondly, every man ought to labor to conserve andAn holy man named Coprete, of 80 years of age, resided in the same hermitage. He was very virtuous in his sayings and deeds, healing the sick and casting out devils from men's bodies. He performed many miracles, some in the presence of Saint Jerome, who, because of his great renown, came to see him and was most humanely received. After this, Jerome and his companions prayed that he would recover from his feats and deeds, as well as from the merits for which he performed such miracles and works. Then he recovered, not only for himself but for his predecessors. However, regarding himself, he was not as devoted to virtues as a disciple of Chauncy. He first spoke of a father named Mucins, who had the first hermits in the said hermitage and was supposed to have plundered and robbed the house of a virgin sacred to the goddess Venus.He could not easily enter. He mounted upon the courtyard and inspected the house's construction. He slept there. In his sleep, he heard a voice that said to him, \"Less evil man of your murders and pillages. Convert to lead a solitary life. And if you do so, I shall make you prince and lord over many knights.\" While he was still asleep in his dream, he was shown a great multitude of hermits. The voices commanded him to be their governor. After the vision disappeared, the maid appeared before him, whom he intended to rob. Then the maid said to him, \"Alas, go to some church.\" He demanded only to be in a monastery. The maid knew that this came from God and brought him to the church. She delivered him to the priest. To whom the man prayed that he might be christened, kneeling down before the priest. Requesting a place where he might do penance, he demanded the commandments. By these he might walk in them.The priests were dismayed by him because they knew him to be a thief and full of all sin. They marveled at this and delivered to him the first verses of the first psalm of the psalter: \"Beatus vir. Sed in lege Domini. Et erit tanquam lignum.\" They considered these verses sufficient to bring a man to everlasting life. After being with them for three days, he went into an hermitage. While he was in the desert, he ate nothing but roots. He kept the virtues that the priests had delivered and instructed him in both word and deed. After this, he returned to them. They were greatly dismayed at how suddenly he had become so virtuous in leading such a hard and strict life. They compelled him to dwell among them. Reluctantly, he obeyed and returned to the desert. He remained there for seven years.abstinence. And in keeping holy scripture, eat nothing but bread, and that on the son day. Which bread was ministered to him by divine grace. For when he rose from prayer, he found the bread ready without bringing of any person. His reception took it. He ate no more till the next Sunday following. After a long time he returned from the desert, and many were converted to penance by him. Among whom a young man came to him to be his disciple. Then he clothed him with the habit of hermits. Whose habit was of the sky-blue color. And after enforcing him with the rules of hermits, he had great busyness to bury the dead bodies if any had passed out of this world. What the child saw was his spiritual father thus burying the dead. In clothing them honestly, he said, \"I would will that my father should clothe me thus when I am dead.\"\n\nAnd the holy man said to him, \"So shall I do. And will give to you as much as it shall say is sufficient.\" After a little time the child died.buried with his father, and when he had wrapped him in fair vestments, he demanded to know if the child, who was there present, had sufficient response for him. The child answered before all those present, affirming that his promise had been kept. Then all those present were greatly amazed. After the child was buried, the holy father returned to his hermitage and remained there for a long time. Later, he came again to visit his brother. It was shown to him that one of them was dying, and since it was late, he hurried to see him before he died. For he was far from the place where the sick man lay, and he considered what the Lord says, that we should walk while we have light. For whoever walks in the light does not stumble, because he has the light of life. Therefore, the son delayed his name from God and carried his light until he came to the place where the sick man was. And as soon as he arrived, he stayed and abode.Then the brothers were ashamed and demanded at his coming. And he answered, \"Do you not remember that he who has some faith is like a grain of mustard seed? From one grain comes infinity grains.\" The brothers understood that it was by his merits that the son had been fixed in his siege and throne. And when he entered the place where the sick man was, for whom he had hastened to come, he found him dead. And the holy man Mucyn kissed him in anointing him. The holy father answered, \"My brother, would you rather he had amended his life? The holy father answered, \"What good would it have done? You would never have lessened your sins. But always hastened them. Nevertheless, I will promise and satisfy for your sins.\" And they all prayed. And anon, after the holy man had finished,prayed the brother's life to be prolonged for three years. Then the holy man raised him out of his bed. And the brother, being whole, went with him into the desert. For the next three years he brought him back to the place where he had taken him. The brothers were amazed that he had become so perfect in life. After that, the brothers were assembled, with him in the midst among them. The holy man began to preach about the penance and conversion of the said brother all night. In making the said sermon, the brother, as if still asleep, rendered and gave up his spirit to the holy saints in heaven. His body was buried, and after the service was done, the holy man returned to the desert. In going there, he often passed the river Nile, which is a river marvelously great and deep. Yet he never entered it deeper than to his knees. This is a thing much to marvel at. Another time the devil presented to him treasures infinite. Which he said they had been lying in wait for.Pharaoh and his men were hidden in a third place. The holy man Mucin answered them and said, \"Your money is in perpetual perdition. At times he entered into the house of the brethren, where all the doors were shut. And whatever he wanted, he made a great way. And as Saint Copret reported of the holy men previously mentioned, one of the followers of Saint Jerome slept and could not believe this, for in sleeping he saw a book full of golden letters. Which the holy father held. In which was written all that he said. He saw a man full of great light who said to him, \"Why do you not listen and take heed of what the holy father says? Why do you sleep?\" He immediately awoke and explained in Latin to his companions what he had seen. After this, a laborer appeared holding a vessel full of earth. He waited for the holy man to speak to him. Seeing Saint Jerome and his companions, the laborer prayed to him that he would tell them what the vessel full of earth signified. The holy man answered, \"It was not necessary then to know that.\"He wanted to tell it to them/though they had come from so far away, and he signified to them the thing, which he had not declared to them because they had come from Egypt. The land is fertile and full of goods. Before all this, it was infested with worms. Since we other fathers have come into this land of Egypt. The land has been fertile and full of goods. It was infested with worms before. So that it should be blessed, and after they mixed it with their seeds, we should say to them in blessing: \"Go forth. May it be to you as you wish in God.\"\n\nHe also did another marvelous thing through the testing of the name of God, as it follows:\n\nAs he descended into the city near his hermitage, he found in the said city a Manychien, a deceiver of the people. He disputed with him about the faith. But because Manychien was cautious and subtle in words, the hearers could not understand.should not be scared in the Christian faith / The holy man said: all ye make a fire in the middle of the place / where we shall put us two And I believe that he who has the worst faith and law / shall be burned. So it was done. And the inconvenient holy man took many by the hand to lead him with them / who answered that he should come after / And that it was reasonable since he had made the fire. He should go before / Then the holy man, in the name of God, divided the flame. In which he entered and abided there for half an hour without taking any harm / & seeing that those who were assisting began to say: O Lord God, how marvelous works and things do you in your saints / Then they constrained the said many chanting ones into the fire / but he always recoiled & drew back / Finally, they put him in. And inconveniently, he began to burn / Yet it notwithstanding, he was drawn out again / & after being driven out of the city shamefully. crying that the deceitful one.should be burned quickly / Another time he passed by a temple where the pagans sacrificed their god / And he said to them, \"Why sacrifice you to things infused? It is true that you are more worthy than your god dishonors. For you are or may be reasonable.\" And thus saying, God inspired them and came after him into the desert. And they lived in God.\n\nThere was a pagan who robbed the monks near their monastery. He took them away to boil in his house. But when he had boiled them for hours, there were also groans from them. Then he came and cried mercy to the brother. And so he was converted to the faith.\n\nSaint Cyril and Paul were very solitary and religious. As they three went on a journey to visit one of their brothers, they had gone three days' journey nearing the monastery where he was. They were compelled to pass a river on which there was no passage. Then they said, \"Let us pray together to God.\"\"yt he will give us grace to pass this flood. so that we may achieve our voyage, and there they prayed, and God sent them a boat. And they made as much way in an hour as they had done in three days, and when they were outside, Ysaye said, \"God has shown me the man whom we are going to see. He comes to meet us. For he knows our coming. Also Paul said, God has shown me that after three days he will pass out of this world into that other, in saying these words and in walking to go to the monastery, where they hoped to find their brother, they encountered and met him and greeted him, saying, \"Blessed be God that this day has revealed to me in spirit that which I see with my eyes.\" Then he showed to them all their thoughts and the merits they had before God. Saint Paul then said, \"God has revealed to us that within three days you shall die, and therefore declare to us by what virtue you are ready to go to him. Leave therefore that which you are holding onto.\"\"I did nothing of great merit, but I have always called upon the name of God in my tribulations, and the grace of God never left me, for I had never been in need. All that I would eat was brought to me. Also, by the providence of our Lord, I have had revelation of many things that have been done in the world. The light of my soul was never quenched. I have seen angels assisting God many times. Also, the reward of the merits of religious people and generally of all the heavenly court. I have seen the devil and his companions put in everlasting fire. And the righteous men entered into eternal glory. After he had comforted them for three days, he rendered and gave up his spirit to God. And with them, they saw the angels bearing his soul into heaven.\n\nOf St. Helain, which begins in Latin: \"Fuit et aliis vix, Caplm xi\"\n\nSaint Helain lived, and so did others. (Capitulum xi)During his youth, he was instructed in divine service, practicing chastity and continence. When the fire failed in the church as a child, he went to the next house and brought fire in his robe without it burning. His brothers were greatly pleased, desiring the perfection of his life. One time, being in the desert, he had a desire to eat. But as soon as he saw some on a stone, he considered it was by the devil's trick and ate nothing of it. Instead, he said to himself, \"O dear brother, flee from me, for it is written that we should walk in good hope and spirit, and put away from us fleshly desires.\" Afterward, he left that place and went deeper into the desert, where he performed many penances. There, he encountered an apple heap in the way, but he ate none. He knew the devil had placed them there and said to himself, \"It is written that a man not only lives by bread but also by the word of our savior.\" Afterward, he had...thou shalt be awakened. And think not that this is by the devil's craft. When he arose, he saw a clear fountain and herbs by it. Of which he ate, and after he drank from the fountain. Those herbs seemed to him of such great sweetness that he had never eaten better food or sweeter. In that place, he found a cave. In which he stayed for a certain time. And all that he demanded of God, he had. On one occasion, he went to visit his brethren and to help them in their need. He bore with him so much food that he could hardly go. And as it would be, he saw wild asses passing by the desert. To whom he made an exclamation, saying, \"I come to you, wild asses, in the name of Jesus Christ. I adjure one of you to come to me and receive my burden.\" The words said, one of the asses came to St. Helaine, offering himself with all meekness and debonairness. Who immediately laid his fawn upon his back and sat upon it. And that done, he bore him promptly to the thermygas of the desert.On one day, which was a Sunday, he visited a monastery and found the brothers there. During his visit, he discovered that they were not keeping the solemnity in their church or chapel as they should have on that day. He inquired about the negligence, and they replied that they had no priest there. Since he was accustomed to singing there, they dared not go beyond a river that was between them and the priest's cell for fear of a terrible serpent named Coquodrille, which kept him at bay. Then the holy man said to them, \"If you want, I will go fetch him.\" Impetuously, he went to the bank of the river. There, he called upon God, and immediately the serpent, which was accustomed to devour men, yielded to him and became subdued and tame. The holy man rode on its back across the river and then sat on the riverbank.The holy man left him and went to the priest to pray for him to join the brethren. The holy man was clad in old and tattered clothing. The man recognized him by his response that he was a holy man of God. He followed him to the river. The priest said there was no boat or vessel to transport them. The holy man replied, \"There is no doubt or fear. I will make ready a good message approaching him, and he will mount it.\" He beckoned the priest to come by him. He said the priest should not be afraid. But as the terrible beast began to flee and go back, the other brethren who had come saw this. The man fell ill that night. The devil and temptations came to him, along with insulting and threatening words. They forced them to hurt and kill him. The young man returned to his father Helain. He comforted him and brought him to his chamber and made preparations for it.He hedged in defending the devils, that they should not come night to his lodging, and they never did more violence to him. It is reported of him that he ate nothing but heavily, and such as God sent to him. On a time his brothers came to see him, but he had nothing to give them. Inconveniently came a young man who brought miraculously what was necessary for their reception. Furthermore, Saint Jerome says that Copratus, of whom is written before, brought the same Saint Jerome and his brethren and followers into a garden. After he had told them all these divine operations, in this garden he had palm trees, apple trees, and many other trees. He told Saint Copratus that he had done this as a sample for the laborers, his neighbors, who were accustomed to come fetch dust and powder and dry earth in the places where the holy fathers dwelt, and sow, and throw the same earth above them.\"Saint Helias, according to Saint Jerome, began his tale of Vidimus and all the seniors (Colossians 12). Saint Jerome says that there was a holy father named Helias, in a city named Anthinos, which was in Thebes. It may not well be written, and this holy father lived in such a solitary way. The way was so hard and sharp that those who came there could not pass it. The place where he lay was so terrible that no man could behold it without horror. And when it came to pass that his members began to tremble for those who went to him, none of them returned without having it which they demanded.\"helyd & guarisshed he\u0304 of all sekenesse & maladyes / & at last fi\u00a6nysshed in glory eternall his daye / \nIN suche wise as saynt Iherom & his felowes retorned fro the hayde they sawe a mou\u0304tayne / vnto the whyche noo man myght goo without grete diffyculte & payne / In ye sayd mou\u0304tayne were dyuerse heremy\u2223te. of whom saynt Pithyrion was fad{er} & abbot. the whiche had be dyscyple of\nsaynt Anthonye / And after had dwel\u2223lyd with saynt Amon. of whom is afe forsayd saynt Amon of whom he had be successiuely dyscy\u2223ple \u00b6 Saynt Iherosme was enseyned & taught of the sayd saynt Pythiryon how he myght resyste & eschewe ye te\u0304p\u00a6taco\u0304ns of the deuyll of hell / \u00b6 Who so\u00a6me euer woll haue domynaco\u0304n & puys\u00a6sau\u0304ce vpon the deuylles. hym behouyth fyrst that he resyste ayenst his synnes & passyons / And whan we shall haue ta\u00a6ke a waye one vyce or one synne fro our soule / ye deuyll that tempteth a man of the sayde synne. Incontynent shall de\u2223parte fro the body where it hath ben. His lyfe was moche strayte / For two tymes in aHe ate only, but drank only a little broth made with meat. Without taking any other refreshment. In what age he was, the Lord, who knew the great and singular devotion that he had in him and to his service, gave him strength and courage above nature to bear and sustain those strict and marvelous penances.\n\nAfter this, Saint Ir Hermit spoke, saying: that he saw another holy father named Eligyon. Among other graces that he had, he knew all the thoughts, good and evil, of all who came to the altar in his presence, to receive their maker or creator.\n\nIt happened once that some religious people wanted to receive their savior. But the holy man kept them from it, saying to one of them these words: \"O foolish man, art thou so foolish to come to receive thy God? And thou hadst this night the will to commit the sin of fornication.\" And he said to the other, \"Thou hast said in thy heart that it is no more.\"A damsel to the table of Jesus Christ in deliberate sin rather than in the state of grace. This is all one. Being good and evil, and after he said to another, \"You have said in yourself that the sacrament of water cannot justify the,\" and then they were sent away to do penance, deeming them unworthy to receive the sacrament of water. Upon this occasion, the priests should take example. When they prepare and make themselves ready to say mass, and also all other creatures going to receive the holy sacrament of water,\n\nSaint Apollonius was a forger of a brotherhood. He fashioned it for them.\n\nOn a night as he was forging, the devil came to him in the likeness of a fair woman. And brought him work to forge. Then the holy man took out of his furnace a ba-\n\nThe devil made such a terrible cry that all the brethren were awakened, and from thenceforth he had such a gift from God that he might take it in his bare hand without being burned.\"Brent the fire for all, both hot and heating reed. And when Saint Jerome and his companions came to him, he received them benevolently. He told them about the manners and life of some of his brethren. Firstly, of one named John. Who was much older and surpassed the others in holiness of life and good manners. He told them that the said John came into the desert. He spent three years under a tree in orison and prayer without lying on the ground. The said John slept not but lying, ate not but on Sundays. On which day the priest administered to him the holy sacrament of the water. Of which he lived solely. One day the devil, disguising himself as a priest, came to tempt him. He came to him at the hour customary for administering the sacrament. But the holy man, seeing that it was the devil, said to him, 'O cursed devil, why do you disturb the devout souls? How are you?'\"The devil answered that he had supposedly deceived him as he had another. After obeying him, he became foolish and out of his wits. With great pain and despite the efforts of many holy men, he could not be brought back to his place or restored to his former health. The devil then vanished from the presence of the holy man. It is reported that due to his prolonged prayer, his feeble body, which was continually at rest, became broken and rotten. After completing this penance for three years, an angel appeared to him and said, \"God has received your prayers and offerings. All your sores shall be healed and made whole.\" Then the angel touched him by the mouth and teeth, and instantly he was made whole and restored, replenished with knowledge and all graces in such a way that he never again experienced hunger.Thangell commanded him to go to other places and visit his brothers to comfort and teach them holy doctrine. Once, a man named Crokeback came to him, intending to recover his health and mount a mare for the journey. The mare was girded with one bridle which the holy man had made. Every day of the week, Crokeback was mounted on the mare. He was immediately healed when his feet touched the bridle.\n\nThe holy man was of great merit and virtue. Whenever he sent blessed bread to sick people of his brotherhood, they were healed of all diseases and ailments. He also had the grace to know the thoughts of his brothers and wrote to their fathers and abbots about how some ruled them in sins and uncleanness, while others profited in science and virtues. Some were impetuous and set nothing by their vows.The other were constant and charitable. He preached to us to turn our eyes from transitory things and fix them on good, fallible and eternal. Also the holy father said that it is necessary for a man to have courage, manly or virile, in leaving the manners and conditions of evil children, who by nature are vicious, variable, and unstable.\n\nSaint Jerome writes of a monastery where there was a holy hermit named Paphnutius, strongly renowned among the hermits of the deserts. He had dwelt in that desert or last deserts of Heracleos, a city renowned in Thebayde. Of whom Saint Jerome says, \"That on a time he prayed to God that He would show to whom of the saints of heaven he should be like or resemble.\" An answer came from God through an angel, \"He should be like a player upon a symphony, who by the streets sought his living in signing.\" Then he was much abashed by this answer and went forth in search of him inconclusively. When he had found him, he remained with him.He asked him for alms, both for his life and his works. He told her how he had always lived in poverty, committing many thefts and other sins. Paphnutius asked him more, intending to deceive her. He tested them among themselves and preserved her from corruption. After this, he said that on another occasion he found a woman married, walking alone in desolate places. She was almost dead from hunger because she had not eaten for three days. He asked her why she went alone in the woods. She answered that her husband was a prisoner and three of his children were in prison because of his evil governance. To avoid being taken, she had fled and given herself to the thieves. Yet he did not dishonor her. But he gave her three shillings. With this money, she bought her husband and the three children out of prison. The thieves said that he had done no other good than this. Then,the good fad{er} Paphunce answerd / yt he hymselfe neuer had done suche werkes of chary\u2223te\u00b7 Sayeng to hym more ouer that god had shewed to hym that he shold haue asmoche Ioye in heuen as he / And ther\u00a6fore he cou\u0304seyled hym yt he sholde leue his euyll lyfe / and conuerte hym to doo well. And Incontynent he caste awaye his t he was thre ye\u00a6re in thermytage wyth the sayd holy fa\u00a6der in fastynges & merueylous abstyne\u0304\u00a6ce / And at laste rendred & gaaf his spy\u00a6ryte wyth thangels in to heuen\u00b7 \u00b6And after the sayd saynt Paphunce put hy\u0304\u2223self to doo more penau\u0304ce & gretter tha\u0304 he dyde tofore / And yet ayen he dema\u2223unded of god / to what man in erthe he was semblable. ye voys of heuen answe\u00a6red to hym yt he was semblable vnto ye lord of a Brugh nye to his hermytage The whiche thyng herde / he went In\u2223continent for to knowe of the gouerna\u00a6unce of the sayd lorde / & came in to hys hous / Anone as the lorde had receyued him benygnely / The holy fader dema\u00a6unded of hym of his merytes. and ver\u2223tues / The whyche lordeThe man wished to do any good deed. The holy father allowed him to speak. He had a revelation that he was similar and like in virtues to the holy hermits dwelling in the desert. The Lord, knowing the revelation, began to pose the manner of his living, which was greatly to be marveled at. Firstly, he said that his wit saw the time of their journey was exceptionally fair and of young age. Despite the great labors he had previously recited about the lovable virtue of chastity, he had desired and persuaded her to it since then, after she had borne him three children. By the space of thirty years, they had continually lived pleasantly in marriage, one with the other. Yet, they had never touched fleshily one with the other. But at such a time as they were pricked and desired to comply with their fleshly delights, they had mightily withstood and resisted them during the said time.Secondly, he said that throughout his life he had not refused lodging to pilgrims. He himself went first to receive them kindly and minister to their necessities. In doing justice, he spared no children more than strangers. The goods of others he never retained. If any discord had arisen among his men, he never ceased until he had made them reconciled. Never did his servants do any evil to others. And moreover, he would never suffer the rich to offend, hurt, or harm the poor. But he had always sought to please others. And of all those who had previously pleaded to him, he had never condemned one but had compelled them to make amends to themselves.heed this/ Receive God's blessing from Syon and granted to you, so that you may eternally see the goods of Jerusalem throughout your life.\n\nAnd as Saint Paphnutius said, if you have fulfilled your eyes in virtuous works and good manners, there is one thing remaining. This is necessary: that you leave all your movable goods and heritages and renounce them, following your Lord and Instructor, Jesus Christ. And without delay, dispose of his goods, the said Lord, with the said holy Father. They came to a river where no person had passed without a boat. The holy Father compelled him to enter it. And despite the water being deep, they passed lightly without entering deeper than their knees.\n\nAfter they had gone such a long distance, they came to the desert. Saint Paphnutius gave him a little cell and a little house near his monastery. In exposing to him the Rules of the holy.The conversation and the exercise of perfection / And after that, he duly and sufficiently instructed the holy father Phal\u00e8se. The said holy father Phal\u00e8se went his way and constrained himself to lead a more straitter life than before, and also to do and make greater abstinences. The pain that he had endured and the penance that he had borne seemed insignificant to him. Seeing that those in the world did things of such great virtue, like the two aforementioned, / After that, the lord, of whom I have spoken before, had lived for a long time in the hermitage, increasing and multiplying his perfection. The said Phal\u00e8se, being there in his cell or little house, saw the soul of the said lord born into heaven by angels. Blessed is he whom you have chosen, for he shall dwell with / And by that, the holy father knew that the said lord was saved. Therefore, the said holy father constrained himself to do yet greater abstinences than before.Likewise, he prayed to God again that He would show him to whom he was similar among the men. To this request, a voice answered, \"You shall be similar to a merchant who will come here to visit thee. Therefore arise and go meet him.\"\n\nAnon, the holy father arose and went down to meet the said merchant, who had come from Alexandria. He brought from Tyre many merchandises which were worth three thousand sand dollars or thereabouts. And because he was a good man, he was brought to the said holy father ten sacks full of pepper and beans for making potage.\n\nWhen Paphnutius saw him, he said to him, \"What do you, man of God, lead in this world? Or what consolation have you with those who are celestial? Leave worldly and earthly people the goods of the world. And do something that you are a merchant and solicitor of the realm of heaven. And follow your Savior.\"The merchant, following the good advice of Saint Paphnutius, gave and dealt his goods to poor men and servants of God, living a solitary life. Shortly after, he passed from this corrupt world into the glory of heaven. In the same way, the holy father Paphnutius died. But the angel showed him his death, saying:\n\n\"Come, holy man, blessed by God. Behold the prophets who have come to receive this grace from me. I have not shown it to you before, so that you should not be proud.\"\n\nThe holy man lived one day after and recounted these words to some priests who had come to visit him. Afterward, he gave them many teachings. Among other things, he showed them:\n\n\"You should never despise others, no matter what estate or vocation they have. Even if they are vicious.\"\n\nAfter the said holy father Paphnutius had given to his...\"brothers received many teachings and other things. He rendered his soul to God. The holy angels bore it into heaven in the presence of the assistances. In singing songs and dictees celestial,\n\nIn Thebayde was a monastery and convent of St. Isodote. Pleasant and greatly renowned,\n\nThe religious therein had much great and large houses,\n\nThere were many ponds. gardens, and trees bearing fruit,\n\nWith this there were all things necessary for the bodily life. In such a way that they had no need to go out for their necessities to live,\n\nBefore the gate of the said Monastery was an old man, much prudent,\n\nWho said to all them that would enter,\n\nThat if they entered once, they should never come out,\n\nAnd that such was the law,\n\nNow there was one thing there most marvelous,\n\nFor an incontinent as one entered, the said law took no effect,\n\nBy cause of his own will without.\"The monk was content to stay there, in such a way that he was rejoicing in contemplating the perfection and holiness within the said monastery. And the old man who kept the gate had a little house where he received all who came there. He treated them kindly and well.\n\nFurthermore, St. Jerome says that when he arrived there, he could not enter. But he inquired of the porter about the manner of living in the said monastery. The porter said to him and his companions that within were two ancient and old men who had the power to go out and come in again. They were porters, providing for the poor brothers who were within, who were always silent, making their prayers, and dedicating all their life time to virtuous occupations to serve God.\n\nYet there were more marvels.\n\nNever was there any of the religious there who was sick within,\nBut when they were about to die, they showed their devotion.one. In the presence of their fellows, one rendered his spirit joyously to God. Saint Jerome saw in the region of the same country a poor people. But they sent ships fully charged and laden to Alexandria to give prisoners and the needy of the country. For in Egypt, we are not wealthy enough to give alms the said corn and grain.\n\nSaint Jerome also saw in the cities of Memphis and Babylon an innumerable multitude of hermits. All of them were full of virtues and graces pleasing to God.\n\nIn that country, it is said that the places are where Joseph made his granaries for the famine. And therefore, that place is called the place of Joseph's treasures. Others call it Pyramids, because they had such faith that such would be assembled there by Joseph in that manner.\n\nThe two holy old men, of whom is written before in the preceding chapter, recounted and told this to Saint Jerome and his companions. Among the said hermits and religious houses, there was oneApolony, who lived an honest life and was ordained as a deacon, was strongly persecuted in this state. During the persecution, Apolony advised his brothers to receive martyrdom. After he was taken and put in prison, the persecutors, who were Pagans, came to him and mocked him with many injuries. Among them was one named Philemon, who was very amiable and debonair to the people, and called himself a seducer and deceiver of the people. He boasted that he was worthy of being hated by all the world. When Saint Apolony heard this, he answered courteously and said:\n\nAlas, my friend. I pray to God our maker, that He have mercy and pity on you. May He not impute to me the injuries and shame you do to me now.\n\nPhilemon was heavy and sorrowful in his heart, and moved by such contrition and compunction, he declared himself involuntary.himself Christian / And with ardent desire inflamed by great charity came to the Judge. To whom before all the people he began to cry out: O wicked Judge, you unjustly torment the poor servants of God who are called Christians. For they do not say any evil / The Judge, hearing these words, had first supposed that he had spoken them in jest / But after your cause he saw you persist in the same / he said that suddenly you had become a fool / Philemon answered: Hear and take heed, Judge. I am no fool. But you are enraged and out of your wits, unjustly and without reason condemning the good and true Christian people / Know this, that now I hold and shall hold the Christian law. The which is necessary for all men living in this world. \u00b6 Then the Judge supposed he had replied to him with fair words. But because he saw you persist, he threatened you with infinite torments / \u00b6 The Judge also became wrathful against the holy father Apollonius / Knowing that it was by his entreaty.that the said Phylemon had renounced his law. He made him suffer many torments and called him deceitful and a begger. St. Apollo said to him, \"Judge, know thou thy maker. Certainly I desire that you and all the assistants should keep the error that I keep and hold. That is to say, that they were Christian. And the judge commanded that both of them should be put into a fire before all the people. And doing so, they two together began to pray to God, saying, \"O sovereign God, Ihesu Christ, our protector, suffer not the souls to be lost that confess openly. But show to us evidently our health. And they said these words. A cloud full of water descended. This quenched all the fire. The judge and the people were marvelously abashed and began to cry out, saying, \"O god of Christ, now we confess that you are almighty and only Immortal. After these tidings came to the great Provost ofAlexandria, enraged, summoned the judge and the two holy fathers - Apollonion and Phylemon. He ordered them to be brought in straightaway, bound like prisoners. But as they were being led, the holy men converted those coming to seize them. Presenting themselves as Christians to the provost of Alexandria, they refused to renounce their faith. The provost, seeing he could not force them, had them thrown into the sea for baptism. Immediately after their baptism in the water, they were brought back to the shore, whole and unharmed. They were then buried together in one tomb. God shows many diverse miracles through them every day, serving and requiring them.\n\nAfterwards, Saint Jerome speaks of Saint Dioscorus. He had in his monastery near Thebes around 500 religious men or women. To them he explicitly commanded never to receive their maker.If they had only sins in their consciences, not only actual sins or in thought, but also of those that sometimes happen through nocturnal pollutions, whether by fantasies or by operations of women or by humors natural, and he said that if such pollution came without any fantasy of a woman in the manner, it is no sin. But that he take part in it after the said dream, for pollution comes by the turbulence of the humor which is within the body of the man. For to avoid such pollution is necessary through fasting and living soberly. He gave to his disciples a simile such as this: When a man is sick, and the Philosopher protects him from any food, he keeps his commandment. Then the religious and all manner of people who wish to live virtuously ought to keep themselves from doing things that are contrary to the medicine of the soul, that is, they must keep themselves from sin, which makes the soul sick.The end makes it die. And to the contrary, if we keep it clean without deadly sin, we shall have eternal joy. After Saint Jerome and his followers came to Nitria. A place most fair and renowned in Egypt, about forty miles or thereabouts from Alexandria. Which is called the thirty thousand palms of Fayoum. There was a city named Nitria, taking its name from the said region. In which grows the nitre, like or similar to salt. There, they washed the clothes, and it is also called an essence of salt after Papyrus. It is made of water and of the earth in Egypt. In Palestine, it is made of great heat from the sun. In the country were about five hundred monasteries, one near another under one abbot. Some of them lived and dwelt together. Others lived solitarily each by himself. Notwithstanding, they had charity towards one another. And when Saint Jerome and his company approached them, all in a great company, like a multitude of bees came.Against them bringing in bread and pitchers full of water. And after they had brought them all in, singing, into the church. Washed their feet and wiped them with towels. And they were not only served with bodily necessities, but also instructed in humility and clemency. And Saint Jerome says that he had never been in a place where he had seen charity and mercy flow so abundantly. Their oratories were full of books in divine science, and they used nothing else in all their days.\n\nThere was another place towards that desert, distant from the aforementioned place by about ten miles or thereabouts. This was called Celicia for the multitude of cells and little houses that were there.\n\nThe custom of the religious who dwelt there was such that they spoke not one to another but on Saturdays and Sundays. And if one did not come on that day, they thought him sick. Therefore, one after another went to see him and brought him something.Among the same hermits and religious, Saint Jerome saw one named Amory. To whom God had given all plenitude of graces, and particularly he had marvelous charity, humility, and generally as much in patience, clemency, and benevolence. Also in science and prudence, he was most perfect among them all. The said Amory had two brothers, one named Eusebius and the other Eutychius, who were not only brothers carnally but also in life, in religion, and in virtues. These three brothers solicited in their time the other brothers, as a mother thinks of her children, in helping them not only in their corporeal life.But also to the spiritual. As an encouragement, they were led to virtues and good manners. The same Saint Amion dwelt in a monastery enclosed by walls, in which he himself had made a pit. It happened that a brother transported himself towards him to have a little house to dwell in there. He answered him that he had none. But he made him dwell in his monastery until he had found one. Soon after, he gave him a little one that he had found near the said monastery. And if by chance many came, he had gathered together his brethren and in little time had made a monastery.\n\nSaint Jerome recounts of another named Didymus. Who was among the Fathers named much virtuous and debonair, like his appearance showed well, and such grace had he of God that he rode upon scorpions and other venomous beasts which were there in great abundance. Due to the great heat of the sun, and he slew them with his feet as little worms of the earth.Without doing him any harm, he was accompanied by the word of the prophet: \"You shall journey upon ashes and baldness. And under your foot you shall put the lion and the dragon.\"\n\nAnother, named Crenyon, who was named insignificantly, around the age of 35 and 10 years old, was his disciple. He was a humble soul among other virtues.\n\nAnother was named Origen, Origen's disciple, marvelous in all operations. His word was effective: those he initiated put into practice all his doctrine.\n\nHe also saw another named Enagriion, a wise man, instructed by Saint Macarius. He was strongly possessed by all virtues. Above all, he instructed his brethren to live soberly, saying, \"If you wish to avoid the fantasies and illusions of the devil, you should\"Not as much water as they could, because the great reception of water causes various fantasies in men's bodies. Through this means, the devil enters more easily with sin. In effect, the said holy hermit Engryson and his brothers ate only a little bread and salt. They were more content with this than we are with meals. Delicious and curious.\n\nAfter St. Jerome Recounts, some of the Ancient Fathers related to him among their other brothers, two named Macharius. One was an Egyprian and disciple of St. Anthony, and the other from Alexandria. And noteworthy is that they were equal in virtues. Their shining edification of manners and good life was like that of two shining stars. How well Macharius Egyprian had, by singular grace, the virtuous manners of St. Anthony. He, being in his cell or little house, was once perpetrated and defiled by some homicides. Because of this,He was accused and pursued an innocent man named The which, seeing he might not otherwise escape, went for refuge to the said Machaire. Affirming by his oath not to be culpable of the case, those who pursued came upon him and would have taken him there and condemned him to death. The seeing the holy man prayed and required them not to proceed any further against him, who said he was Innocent. He coming thither made his prayer upon the burial place. In prayers, God devoutly he asked that it would please him to show and manifest the truth of this thing. He commanded the deed to be made known in the virtue of the passion of our blessed savior Ihu Crist. The accused man, to whom he was speaking, answered that he had not done it nor was guilty. Hearers of this answer were much amazed and knelt on their knees.For the holy father Machary, in praying humbly to him, he should demand of the man who had slain him. The holy man answered that he would not be delivered in the innocent. It matters not to me that the culpable are accused.\n\nAnother time, some parents or friends of a young damsel came to him. According to the law, they were bringing her to him. He demanded from them the reason for their coming to him. They answered that by the means of his prayers and merits, they hoped to obtain the said damsel to be restored in her first strength and semblance. Then he exhorted them to pray and also made his orison to God. The orison, which he had composed, he anointed the maiden with. She was like a mare in her inconchastity after appetite, in the semblance of a maid.\n\nAnother maiden, whose members were so rotted that worms could be seen crying in her flesh, was brought before this holy man. To her, he said, \"Daughter.\"constau\u0304t. The holy father saw that by him the faith of the brethren would perish. He said to the same Heretic, \"Why do you dispute thus against me? Let us go to the sepulchers of our predecessors, so that he to whom our Lord shall give grace for raising the dead may make it clear to all who are present that his law is the best. Then they went to the sepulchers.\n\nThen Saint Machaire said, \"Now call a dead man and raise him.\" The Heretic answered, \"It is first my duty to call upon my god.\" Then Saint Machaire fell flat on his knees in prayer, saying, \"O my sovereign Lord and God, I beseech and require you in this hour in the Resurrection of this dead man here buried to show openly which of us two has the most rightful faith. Not that I presume so much of myself, that my son or prayer be exalted, but for\"To enhance and make open the holy law, and also to confirm those present, and bring them out of the presence of this Heretic. These words were spoken. He called the deed man by the name he had in life. The man answered and rose. After that, the brothers unwound his covering. He showed him all living to those present. The Heretic, this sight, was much amazed, and fled away in fear of all the brothers. Therefore, no man should dispute the faith against the Heretics. But if he is inspired and taught by God, by the help of whom he may prove what he intends to maintain through miracles rather than reasons. St. Macarius of Alexandria, sovereign and more than all others, loved solitude. He inquired curiously of the most remote hermits. Until he was at the farthest place of all the desert, he found abundant fruitfulness and habitude of various fruits.There were two brothers to whom he prayed that they would bring their companions from among the other hermits because the place was fertile and abundant. The same brothers, fearing and not without cause that they would bring them to be deceived with temptations of the devil, replied that they could not be brought there but that they would be in danger of being beguiled and deceived in coming. Then the holy father returned to his brothers and showed them these things. Why such things he had seen. And because of this, they were moved to go with him to see that same desert. The elderly and infirm men counseled the young men not to go there, for the place, after their opinion, might more easily deceive them and move them to deceit. And further, the holy father said to them that the places are full of temptations.If the young brother heard these words and fair remonstrances, he at once decided not to go there. The place where the holy father Macharius dwelt was called Sycheon. There was no other way or path to this place, which was about two journeys away from the monasteries of Nytrye. They had only little water, yet it was nasty and bitter to drink.\n\nOnce, a cluster of grapes was presented to him. Incontinent by charity, he sent it to one of his brothers who was sick. The man gave it to another, and he to another. And so it was passed from hand to hand. The last one finally returned it to him from whom it had first been taken away. Saint Macharius, knowing their great love for each other, and to confirm our faith, Saint Jerome relates this story about the said Saint Macharius. He heard him say from the latter's mouth.The devil came to Machaire one night, saying, \"Machaire, arise and go where your brethren are assembled in prayer. The devil knew it was the right time to deal with you and your congregation, for among the holy brethren, some had none affection for their king and chased away those who appeared before them, one after another. All the brethren and the holy man had seen this. And Saint Jerome says, when a man's thoughts are well set in the love of God, it never takes on any gruesome fantasy or cause of sin.\n\nAnother more marvelous thing Saint Machaire relates about this, according to Saint Jerome. That is, whenever one of his brethren came to receive the holy sacrament of water, if they were not:\"It seemed to the holy father that the body of our Lord had returned to water. But when the good men came to receive their savior, the devils incontinently returned backward and far. On another occasion, the same Saint Macharius and his brother, of whom I have spoken before, put them in a boat to visit one of their brothers. With them were some noble officers, called tribunes, powerful and rich, having with them many children, great numbers of horses, and an innumerable quantity of silver with other goods.\n\nWhen one of them saw them in the boat dressed in poor clothes, he said, \"You are happy, those who despise the world.\" Those who follow God through virtues mock themselves. But you, the contrary, we have pity on you, because the world deceives you and mocks you.\n\nThen he who had arranged this replied,\" Truly, you speak well. For those who follow God through virtues mock themselves. But you, we have pity on you, because the world deceives you and mocks you.\"\"The first hermit in Nytre was named Amon. After his death, his soul was seen by St. Anthony being borne by angels into heaven. However, to write about his truly holy life, we shall begin with his nativity. He was of noble and rich friends. These friends, against his will, arranged for him to marry a noble woman from the lineage of Nytre. On the first night of their espousals, he made many fair exhortations to her, urging her to the noble virtue of chastity and continence under such or similar words. My love, because without fault you find corruption, and by the contrary, that which is not corrupt hopes for incorruption. Therefore, it is more suitable for us two to live together whole and undivided, without fleshly touching, than for one of us to be corrupted by the other. These words were heard by her.A woman named Dygyn\u00e9 consented lightly and lived in chastity and virginity with many virgins for a long time after the death of her friends. After the holy man went to the next desert to his dwelling, he assembled many hermits. The said virgin remained in her house, accompanied by many virgins. After he had been alone in the desert for a certain time, some men brought to him a child chained up. They begged him to pray for the child's health, as it had been bitten by a wooden hand. The holy man answered that he had not deserved so much before God for such prayers, but he told them that the child's health was in their hands. For whenever they rendered to a poor widow an ox that they had stolen from her, their child would be healthy and whole. They were greatly ashamed by these words, marveling at how the holy man could know the theft they had done so secretly. Then they went home and returned the ox to the widow.they had stolen / and by the prayer of the holy man, the child was made whole again and had his health.\n\nA another time came some others to him, whom he wanted to test the courage of.\n\nHe said to them that he had great necessity of a tonne full of water, to give drink to them who were thirsty, and begged and requested of them that they would bring it to him. They promised and agreed to fulfill this.\n\nAnd after they were departed from him, one said to his fellow, \"You promised the water as well as I. Why shouldn't you do it since I have only my camel.\" That other answered, \"You know well that I have only an ass. The which can't bear so much as your camel can. For one is stronger than the other. To whom that other answered, \"Do what you want. I won't sell my camel.\" Then the other said, \"I shall lay it on mine ass, which you dare not lay on yours.\" But I hope it will be all right.The merit of the holy man makes the impossible possible. Once the ass carried it, he brought it to the lodgings of Saint Amon. He bore it lightly, having carried nothing before. And then Saint Amon, upon receiving the said water, said to the good man who had come thither to guide his beast: \"You have done well to bring the tonne upon your ass. For your companion's camel is dead, and he who returned found it to be true. The said Amon was so filled with God's favor that he received singular graces, and among other things, when he wanted to pass and cross the river of Nile, because he was ashamed to undress himself suddenly, he found himself set across on the other side of the river. Therefore, we ought to believe faithfully that nothing is impossible for the just and good man.\n\nSaint Jerome continues in this work, that this is not a thing unworthy or unreasonable.ONLY SHOULD one avoid or neglect writing about the events and deeds of the holy fathers' dwelling in desert places, near Parth\u00e9nie, unless one sees Parth\u00e9nie. Near a castle named Dyolcho, among the holy fathers he saw a holy man named Pyamon. He had given up all humility and benevolence. And of revelation /\n\nOnce, when he sacrificed to God, he saw an angel near his altar holding a book in which were written the names of some relics assisting his altar / And some he did not write /\n\nAfter the sacrifice was completed, he asked those whose names were not written, but by their answer he found that they were all in mortal sin. Then he admonished them to continue penance. And he himself, as if he had been culpable like them, wept and wailed. He continued this way for a long time, and until the time that, calling them to the holy sacrament of confession, he knew by the angel that they had done penance pleasing to God /\n\nANOTHER TIME he was beaten by demons to prevent him from removing them.In a place then, on a Sunday, he had a custom to receive his maker, and was forced to be born again. Before which he lay flat on the ground, the angel caught his hand to lift him up, and thereafter he was whole.\n\nIn the aforementioned place was an holy man named John. Another than he, of whom was spoken before, fulfilled all grace. Among all others, he had one such. All those who went to him, troubled by various trials, were comforted by his word. He healed many persons of diverse diseases. And Saint Jerome says, after all these histories were written, that for doubt of great perils and dangers which were then in the way, he dared not go into the high region of Thebes by Serene. Whereof it is written here before. In that region, like as it is said, there were many holy fathers more perfect in virtues and graces than those mentioned before.\n\nSaint Jeromein going to the hermitages was danger seven times / And in the eighth, God delivered him / \u00b6 On a time he and his companions were five days and five ways were so steep or sharp that not only the barefoot men who went, but also those who wore good and strong shoes were cut and broken / \u00b6 The peril of which way St. Jerome could not have escaped / \u00b6 The third peril was in a valley. Whereas they were, in which the ground was so soft and marshy that they entered up to their armpits. They saw themselves sinking and let within threshold began to pray to God. In saying each by himself, \"My God, God save me / for the waters have surrounded and closed me unto death / I am drowned to the bottom of the slime of the earth. And have no strength to save my life /\" \u00b6 The fourth was when three days during they were in great inundations and overflowings of waters that flowed over the banks out of the river of Nile / \u00b6 The fifth perilin going by the sea side, where they were chased by thieves about 5 miles away, and notwithstanding that the thieves did them no harm, they made them run, almost deceiving them.\n\nThe sixth was passing over the flood of Nile. Where they were in great and marvelous danger to be slain.\n\nThe seventh was upon the riverbank of a lake or pond called Marethse. Because they were driven by impetuous and terrible winds in a marvelous island. In which they were in a transient state for the great cold it was there. This thing happened to them in the days of Epiphany.\n\nThe eighth was coming to the monasteries of Nytrye. In which place they found a great stagnant pool coming out of the water of Nile. In which place were a finite number of marvelous beasts. And principally serpents venomous. Named Cockdrills; the whych beasts, when the sun shone, came to the riverbank and lay there like they had been dead. And whenthey came to see them. Unconscious, they arose to devour them, and they didn't know what to do but call upon the name of God, which Invocacon made. The said beasts Incontinent fled within the pond as if chased by an angel of heaven. After they had escaped from those places, they went to the monasteries of Hermites and Religious for thanksgiving to God, who had delivered them from such great perils and dangers. Considering the said perils, it is clearly and openly known that Saint Jerome and the other saints have not come to the realm of heaven without suffering great and marvelous pains and tribulations. But desiring to come to the same, they have been content not only to forsake the vanities and delights of the world, but also to expose their bodies to bear terrible and strict penances. And some to suffer horrible torments unto death, enduring the retribution of the sovereign rewarder, Jesus Christ. To whomAnd here follow the lives and deeds of holy fathers from Egypt who dwelled in Syria and Thebais. Likewise, Saint Jerome found them anciently written in Greek, and after translated them into Latin. To whom he added many other deeds of the said holy fathers.\n\nFirst, briefly, the prologue of Saint Jerome in the life of Saint Paul the first hermit. The aforementioned prologue begins in Latin:\n\nIni multos... (Cap. xxxiv)\n\nMany ask who was the first hermit, some say Saint Elias, others say Saint John the Baptist. But Saint Macarius and Ammonas, disciples of Saint Anthony, say that a Theban named Paul was the first. Not only does this opinion please Saint Jerome, but nevertheless, it seems to be:vayn curyosyte for to wylle & desire to knowe who was ye fyrst. & also yt in that lyeth noo thynge yt is somoche helthfull. it is moche bet\u2223ter & more vaylable to dispose & applie holy fad{er}s. than to tarye of a thyng of soo lytyll valewe / \nIN the tyme of Decyen & Vale\u00a6ryen persecutours of the fayth of Cryste. & that Cornelius ae chirche was for that cause mer\u2223ueylously persecuted / & the name of our blessyd sauyour Ihesu Cryste horrybly dispysed & defouled / \u00b6 Thenne to this purpose saynt Iherom recountynge .ii. tyran\u0304yes emonge the other. co\u0304mysed & perpetred by the sayde Cyprian tellyth of a martyr. whom he enforced to endu\u00a6re many tormentes of fyre. whiche cou\u00a6de neuer hurte hym ne doo to hym ony gryef or harme. the whyche thynge the sayd Cypryan bare aygrely / \u00b6 And by grete cruelte he dyde hym to be enoyn\u2223ted with hony. and dyde doo bynde his hondes byhynde his backe. to thende yt the bees & flyes sholde sore and longe stynge & prycke hym / \u00b6 To a nother yonge man whom he cowde not ouerco\u00a6me byThe knight made a bed in a beautiful garden, filled with red roses and flowers of lilies, near running water. He made himself fast to it without any grief, unable to rise or turn on either side. After each man had departed, he made a common woman, excellent in bodily beauty, who embraced him and made foul and dishonest advances, abominable, stinking, and shameful to recall, all to move him to the sin of lechery. The good knight of Jesus Christ was unsure what to do, for these things he who had vanquished the devil with so many torments were not overcome by a woman. Since he could not push her away or had power over no member to do so, he extended as much of his tongue as he could and bit it with his teeth, spitting it in the face of the foul and ill woman.In that moment, she kissed him deeply, so that the playfulness of her should not provoke him to sin, but for the pain and anguish he felt, he might preserve and keep his virginity, and hold it against the violence of the wicked and evil-disposed woman. In the same moment, Saint Paul was in the low region of Thebes. Well-versed in Greek and Egyptian letters, he lived and dwelt with one of his sisters, then married. He saw the persecution of the true Christians and went to a town far from his country. From there, he went to a mountain full of rocks. At the foot of which was a great and marvelous pit, covered with a stone. He took away the stone and looked inside. There, he found a very beautiful fountain. In the said mountain, there were diverse habitations and dwellings, where he found many kinds of instruments, with which false money had been made secretly and forged in times past. Likewise, in histories.In the time that Anthony was with Cleopatra, St. Paul marveled greatly at the said place. It was given to him by God. And there he led a solitary life. In another part was St. Anthony, who had lived 780 years. And because he was tempted by vanity, thinking that in the hermitages there was none better than he, it was shown to him by night that there was one more perfect than he. And as soon as it was day, St. Anthony departed. He was weak and feeble in body at the age of 33 in appearance. On the other hand, St. Anthony, who had been tempted by vanity because he thought that in the hermitages there was none better than he, was shown by night that there was one more perfect than he. And as soon as it was day, St. Anthony left. He was weak and feeble in body at the age of 33. In another part lived St. Anthony, who had lived for 780 years. Because he was tempted by vanity, thinking that in the hermitages there was none better than he, it was shown to him by night that there was one more perfect than he. And as soon as it was day, St. Anthony departed. He was weak and feeble in body at the age of 33.\n\nAnd in another part was St. Anthony, who had lived for 780 years. Because he was tempted by vanity, thinking that in the hermitages there was none better than he, it was shown to him by night that there was one more perfect than he. And as soon as it was day, St. Anthony left. He was weak and feeble in body at the age of 33.\n\nOne day, not knowing which way to take and go, he encountered a monster half-horse and half-man, whom the poets call Centaurs. He was greatly afraid of him. And he blessed him.The sign of the Cross. Ask the Centaur where Saint Paul of Hobarnes lived and dwelt. The Centaur answered some words which Saint Anthony at first did not understand. He then showed him the way on the right hand. Incoherent as he had fled, he veered away from the sight of Saint Anthony. The beast said Anthony doubted strongly, for we find not whether it was a monster or a devil. But nevertheless he went forth, and immediately in a valley full of stones, he saw a little man with his nostrils turned outward. The hermitage was filled with fearful horns, and his feet were like those of a goat. Questioning him, he answered:\n\nI am said he, a mortal dweller in this hermitage with the others. Why have they been tempted here by many temptations? We pray that you pray for us, one God only. This one has descended into the earth for our health.\n\nThen Saint Anthony, hearing these words, wept, and all wept by turns.This is the text after cleaning:\n\nFor he rejoiced him of the glory of god, and of the contrary of the destruction of the devil. Also he was much admired how he understood the language and speech of the same beast. And after he began to strike with a staff upon the earth, saying, \"Accursed be Alexandria,\" which adored and worshipped their god therein, in which the devils inhabited and dwelt. Ha Regyon. What mayst thou say? The beast confessed the name of God, and thou worshippest the devils. In saying these words, the same beast vanished away, like as it had flowed in the air. After this, St. Anthony abode in his enterprise. Following the way of wild beasts, and not knowing what way he should take. Thus continued the second day, without knowing whether it were day or night. And finally he found a wolf going upward to a mountain. And when he saw him go up, he went after him to a ditch.or a ditch. The man beheld nothing, but nevertheless, because the place was dark or tenebrous, he perceived nothing.\n\nAlways like as he had perfect diligence, and feared nothing, he entered quietly into the ditch or hole, listening to see if there was anything.\n\nSo, abiding by fierce charity, putting all fear aside, he went so far and so long that he saw the door of a place. In which was St. Paul,\n\nAnd approaching or coming near to the same, he knocked with his foot against a stone. Which made a little noise,\n\nThe Saint Paul, hearing it, said incontinently, \"Shit my door,\"\n\nAnd when St. Anthony heard his door shit,\n\nHe remained there by the space of six hours,\n\nAnd finally he said to him these words, \"Paul, my brother, you know by revelation from God who I am, and from whence I come, and why I am come here,\n\nI know well that I am not worthy to see you, but nevertheless I pray you to open to me your door.\"For surely my friend, I shall never depart from you until I have seen it. You sustain well the beastly creature. Why then do you not open your door to me, I who am a reasonable beast? I have sought it and found it, and have knocked at your door. If you do not open it to me, I shall die in front of it. And thus, before the door of St. Paul, the blessed St. Anthony spoke:\n\nThen St. Paul answered him, \"No man threatens it in desiring as you do, and you threaten me with your waylaying and saying that you will die if I do not open your door to you. And thus, smiling, St. Paul opened the door to St. Anthony, and who it was that was opened, one saluted the other by their names. And yet they had never seen each other before. And after that they embraced and kissed each other for a long while.\n\nNow let us think what welcomings and thanks full of devotion were between them. Certainly it should be long.After Saint Paul began to say, \"Alas, my brother, you have taken great labor to see me. And I am nothing but a wretched creature, all rotten for age. You see a man who shall be come ashes or dust soon. But charity endures all tribulation. And suffers all manner of trouble. How great soever it be. Now say to me, my brother, how men are governed in the world. If any is deceived by the temptation of the enemy, the devil, and under what dominion is the world governed, and in saying such words together, came a Crow or a bird which let fall a loaf of bread before these two holy men. Then Saint Paul said, \"My right dear and beloved brother, leave the world. In your thinking what they should eat or drink, clothe themselves, or house them.\" Alas, we that are in the world cannot say 'Ave Maria' without having letting and impediments. As every man knows in himself.\" On the moon, it was sent by him beyond to the grave. It thou wilt put my body, which is but earthly.Within the belly of his mother, who is the earth, and with his brother, who are worms of the earth, then Saint Anthony began to wail and weep so bitterly that none can write. In prayer, he begged that he might keep him company in this mortal way of the world. Saint Paul answered, \"Thou oughtest not to seek that which is in thy possession, but the strange things. It is necessary for thee to leave thy care and follow Ihesu Christ. And to thy other brethren, that they govern themselves by the example of thy life. Therefore thou shalt go to thy house. And thou shalt bring the mantle which the bishop Athanasius gave to thee to cover my body when it shall be dead. These words said Saint Paul to Saint Anthony. Not for fear that his body would be without covering, for he had never in his life lacked it. But with leaves of palms, he said this to the end, that Saint Anthony might depart. And that his death should not be sorrowful to him.\"Greete charity is soon come among them that were fit for only one day, had they been together. St. Paul feared to anger St. Anthony. St. Anthony was marvelously abashed, for he knew that St. Athanasius had given him a mantle, and by that he knew that you had not been deceased. Thou art right welcome. For the joy we had for thy departure, thy coming again has brought us joy without melancholy. He answered them, \"Alas, I am a poor, unworthy sinner, Religious one. I have seen Helias and John in the desert. And truly, I have seen St. Paul in heaven. Incontinente, he took the mantle in his cell to return towards St. Paul. Then the brethren demanded of him why he was so heavy and so sorrowful. And he answered them, \"There was a time to speak. And a time to be still. Then he took a little meal and returned by the way that he came.\"\"Desiring frequently to see the holy hermit Paul. Doubtfully believing that he would render his soul to God in his absence, he went with great diligence, working not more than three hours at a time. Whenever he saw:\n\nWhy, Paul, do you leave me; alas, why do you go without saying \"God be with you\" or \"farewell\" to me? Alas, I have tarried too long. Now have I lost all comfort.\n\nAlas, if I had not seen or known you, I would not now have the harm and woe that I have.\n\nO man of God, make your request now in that high place where the angels have borne you up, that I may by faith follow you soon.\n\nAfterward, he wept and wailed deeply. He found himself light as a bird or a bird flying, not without cause. Upon arriving at the hermitage of St. Paul, he found him kneeling on his knees, unmoving. His head was lifted up high and his hands raised.I joined in such a way that St. Anthony had supposed, as if he had been alive. But because he drew no breath, he knew he was dead. He was about to bury him. In saying psalms and hymns, like the custom was to bury the fathers in Egypt. He supposed he would have put him in the earth. But he found neither keys nor shovel for making a pit or grave. His heaviness was increased. Considering that he could not easily make it, For it was four journeys to his monastery, and on the other side, he thought in himself. That thou, a proving man, who drinks and eats in vessels of gold and silver, and gaily makes fair and rich with precious stones, Consider that to the devout and holy man, who had not but only one robe of palm leaves, was heaven opened. And to the proud, hell is made ready. Consider in like manner your sepulcher composed of stones, of marble, or of silver & gypsum, Or covered with velvet, with which thou mayst be enclosed.Alas, the holy man had not much earth,\nHelas, worldly men behave or delay,\nAnd take not so much pain to gather and heap riches,\n\nAlas, how is a man so foolish for burying another in a cloak of gold or silk,\nFor Incontinent, and as soon as a man who has lived evil and sinfully is out of this world,\nHe is but in weeping and in wailing,\n\nThe sepulcher of gold nor the dress of parchment can reason him from the pains that he suffers,\n\nAlas, poor proud man. Would you die in your pride. That desire to be buried so costly we,\n\nFrom whence comes this folly,\nWhen you have been ambitious in your life, and have made yourself so many vain honors,\nYou desire yet that they should be made your care after your death,\n\nAnd often, perhaps, some have fair and rich sepulchers. Of whom the soul suffers hard pain.\n\nSaint Anthony, born in Egypt, was of right noble parents,\nAs was his nobility of lineage.He was raised so solitarily that he knew no man of the world, but only his friends. When he was a little great, in his infancy, he would not go play with little children. Instead, he went into the church. Hearing the service of God, and notwithstanding that the children of rich houses had a custom to be deliciously nursed with various foods, Anthony desired them never, but was content with such as gave it to him. After the death of his friends, he remained fatherless in the age of 19 or 20, and with his sister, whom he governed and taught in good deeds and works, he passed the time - six mothers. Having thought how the apostles left all their substance and goods to follow their sweet Lord and master Jesus Christ, on a time he being in the church heard one reading a gospel, which made mention of how our Lord said to a rich man, \"If thou wilt be perfect, sell all that thou hast and give to the poor.\"It is to the poor. Follow me, and you shall have treasure in heaven. And just as the holy scripture makes mention, he gave over all his possessions. He left three hundred measures or acres of land that belonged to him to his neighbors, so that he would want nothing of theirs or his sister's. All his other movable goods he sold, taking the money and giving it to poor people, except a little which he gave to his sister. This was returned to his inheritance. He lived by the labor of his hands, for he who does not labor is not worthy to eat.\n\nAlas, he had much wealth which he had given away for God's sake,\nFor the honor of whom, and in obedience to his worthy instructions, he was content to labor and beg.\n\nWhat shall you do, you accursed avaricious man, who would not give a thing for God's sake,\nBeneath and with great pain, would you nurse a poor person for one day?\n\nTake [this]example of St. Anthony, who left all to be a poor beggar, yet with great labor he kept only bread for his sustenance, and the remainder he gave to the poor. He governed himself so honestly that he was marvelously beloved by all his brethren. Of all whom he visited, he held some virtue to himself: of one, continuance and chastity; of another, gladness; of another, meekness and lowliness; of another, study and patience. And finally, he possessed the fair virtue of charity, which is the mistress of all virtues. In such a way, he profited from virtue to virtue, so that among all his brethren there was none like him. The devil of hell, envious of humanity, seeing the holy life that St. Anthony began to lead, was envious and entered to tempt him. First, he laid before his eyes that he should depart from his hermitage the nobility of his birth, his sister whom he had left alone, the tabard of his goods, and of his.He could obtain various foods that he might eat, and in general, he presented to him all things pleasing to nature. And after he showed him how it was hard to obtain virtue, considering the frailty of his body, and that he might yet live a long time, he should therefore remain long in the desert. But these things put in his mind to recall him from his good purposes. However, this was not withstanding, he always overcame the devil through devout prayers and firm constance.\n\nOften times he tempted him in the sin of the flesh. And that was because he was in his young age. But through long fasting and continuous abstinences, he withstood it manfully.\n\nSome time by night the devil appeared to him in the likeness of a fair woman. But incontinence to withstand it, he remembered how his flesh should rot in worms quickly.\n\nAnother time the devil moved and stirred him to live joyously in lusts of his flesh and of the world, and then immediately he would bring to him\n\n(Note: The text appears to be in Middle English, but it is still largely readable and does not require extensive translation or correction. Therefore, no major cleaning is necessary. A few minor corrections have been made for clarity.)Remember the pains and torments of hell and the joys of heaven, and in this manner, he endured all the temptations of the devil. Finally, when the devil saw that he could not overcome the good, holy man, he knelt down before him in the semblance or likeness of a little horrible child, black and howling. And in crying, he said to St. Anthony, \"I have deceived many heretics and holy men, but by you I am overcome and put under foot. Why are you superior to me?\" St. Anthony then asked him what he was to whom he surrendered. \"I am the great solicitor of lechery, the deceiver of young people, called the spirit of fornication. I have often tempted you, and you have always overcome me.\" When the good knight St. Anthony heard this answer, he began to give thanks to God for this victory and said, \"My God, be Thou my aid and my protector. I shall never fear nor dread my enemy.\" And the inconvenient devil, who was seen by St. Anthony as aSaint Anthony saw him fade away and he saw him no more, thus was the first victory given to Saint Anthony. But this was not without opposition. He was not fully assured, for he knew by holy scripture that the devil had various manners to tempt men. Therefore, he kept him more strongly and put his body in great endurance. If he had victory in anything against the devil, he should not be overcome by others. For this reason, he occupied his time in prayers and orisons more than any of his brethren hermits.\n\nThe most part he woke night and day. He ate but one time on the day and that was after the sun going down. Sometimes in three or four days he ate not but once. And that was bread and salt and a little water. His bed was of hay and his vestment of hair.\n\nAt times he lay all naked upon the ground. And though he had long time such abstinences, they were to him nothing new, but always a beginning of his penance.In increasing always his said abstinences, and to show vain glory, he took pains to forget them. In truth, he forgot all the good deeds that he had done. And he was determined to do more than he had done before. He always remembered in his heart the prophet Elijah, who said, \"My God sees to whom we ought to be clean and prepared to obey him with a ready will.\" Considering always how he ought to govern himself every day while he lived, having no regard for the past, at all hours he prepared to be in such a state as becomes a very Christian man and Catholic.\n\nSaint Anthony thence departed from his hermitage and went farther from the city. He sent word to one of his kin that in certain days he should send him to live for the sustenance of his life. This kinsman and friend did it with glad love of Jesus Christ. And yet moreover he said, \"If all the world were against me, I shall fear nothing. The devil shall not prevail.\"Seeing that he had suffered many torments, he marveled how he was so hardy to return. Then the devil called his cursed dogs and said, \"Do you not see how this foolish hermit aggravates and scorns us? By cause he has not been overcome neither by the spycraft of fornication nor by binding, Nor by the pain that we have inflicted on his body. Make yourselves ready. For he must be more vigorously opposed by us than before. He will soon regain his horns. And every beast tormented him in its way. As touching his body, he was much weakened. But as concerning his soul, he was constant and abiding in the love of God. He mocked them all and said to the devils, \"If you have strength, there is but one to assail me. And yet more he said to them, \"If you are powerful and God has given you power over me, I am ready that you devour me. And if He has not given you power, why do you enforce yourselves so? Do you not know well that the sign of the Cross is the shield of faith and a wall?\"Inexpugnable, it was impossible for me to defend against you. Hearing this, they grunted contemptuously with their teeth, having no power over me. Why then does our lord not aid his servants, seeing the victory of his godly knight Saint Anthony? He came to visit him. Descending as a light into his dwelling, after receiving such light, all his pains and sores were healed. And his house, which was all in ruins, was made inhabitable again. Saint Anthony then knew that God had come to comfort him, and he began to cry out: O my God, O good Jesus, where were you when I was thus scourged all this day, why did you not come at the beginning to heal my wounds and sores? The voice answered: Anthony, I was here, but I delayed your victory. And now, because you have fought strongly, I will always help you, and I will make your name renowned throughout the world. Having heard this voice, he arose.And he was more strong and constant in praying to God than before, at the age of 35. After his virtues began to grow, he went to an elderly father who lived near him, of whom I have spoken before, praying that they might live together. Nevertheless, because he should not appear unseemly due to his old age, and because he had not been accustomed to be conversant with anyone, Saint Anthony desired to live solitarily. He went alone to a mountain. In going there, the devil, who did not cease to tempt him, laid in his way a plate full of silver. Saint Anthony, thinking that the said plate had been placed there by the devil's craft, saw it. And then Saint Anthony said, \"Go, thou accursed devil, and thou and thy silver into eternal perdition.\"Plater Vanys shed away, as fume or smoke departed from the fire. And after that, he saw a great mass of gold. For fear of it, he fled to the mountain, like one who would have avoided a great fire. And after that, he had passed a great flood. He found a castle in desert, full of venomous beasts. In which he abode as a new host. And inconveniently, as he was lodged, all the beasts fled away. Then he stopped them with stones and laid as much bread there as would suffice for six months. Now it was so that the bread of Thebans endured long as the space of a year or thereabout. Never after would he not depart nor speak to man of the world but twice in a year. And he took his sustenance under cover without speaking to them who brought him the said sustenance. Many friars desired to see him. They woke all night at his door. The whych oftentimes heard voices saying to St. Anthony. Therefore, he put himself in our.habitation Go out of our houses / For you shall not suffer our temptations / And they had supposed that it had been men who had entered by ladders / Therefore they looked within the cave through the chink they cried for help to Saint Anthony. And then he came night to them. & with his word he comforted them, saying /\n\nBless you and be assured. Let the devils deceive themselves /\n\nSaint Anthony always lived increasing his virtue and prudence /\n\nOn a time came some people to him. Of whom some supposed had found him dead. But by himself he said, singing, To my will God enhances himself And all his enemies are destroyed / and all who hate him flee before his face. Like as smoke is consumed soon. So soon they fall / And like sinners are sinners before God / And moreover he said /\n\nAll people have assaulted me in the name of our Lord. And I have vanquished them /\n\nAnd thus in that wilderness he was by the space of twenty years /\n\nAnd because many desired to see him.see the hierarch for his manners and doctrine came some in to his house and broke it by force But when they saw him they were amazed how he was so whole of his limbs For he was not swollen by his long abstinence enclosed nor by his fasting nor by torments of the devils And his visage was not pale nor changed but he was as a young person. also clean of all his limbs as he never had any harm He never laughed And with all his might he kept himself from sin He never for any praising of the people was the more proud \u00b6 Many were delivered from devils and their power through his prayers. His words were always virtuous. He comforted the desolate. He taught always the simple and innocents. he appeased always those who were angry To all he showed that no person should love anything more than his creator or maker \u00b6 To good people he showed the glory eternal and the meekness of God And how God the father had no fear to send his son to take our nature to the end for to redeem.vs. From the pains of hell / \u00b6 Also he counseled every man not to leave temporal things / \u00b6 In a time in the countryside of Aecockadries and other beasts that were there / \u00b6 In that place he confirmed in virtue great numbers of his brethren. In such a way that many monasteries were rebuilt / \u00b6 On a day he being with his brethren / They requested him to give them some Rules to govern themselves in virtue / Which he gave to them many / \u00b6 First, that they should show comfort to each other / And that which they had obtained by science, they should show to each other / \u00b6 Also that they should never have will to leave their estate of Hermit. But to keep it in increasing of virtues / \u00b6 For man's life was but an Instant / as to the regard of the life eternal / \u00b6 After that he had proposed this / He made by a manner of tarrying a little silence / \u00b6 And after in marveling of the bounty and largesse of God. He began to say again these words / \u00b6 O my brethren consider ye that in this mortal life /life. Marchant's rewards are equal / The seller receives what is just for his merchandise, not in the same way the servant receives his deserving from his lord / But the glory of the everlasting life may for a small and little price be bought / It is not written that our days exceed not three score and ten years, or four score years / And if we live longer, it is but labor and sorrow and misery / For in that age, a man returns to the state of Innocency / But in that other world, we shall live perpetually / There we shall not inhabit the earth but heaven / And the body that we shall leave corruptible, we shall take again incorruptible / Therefore, my brethren, be nothing grieved or annoyed / For the short passions of this world are not worthy or fitting for the perpetuity of heaven / If you have left any little land or possessions, do not be displeased or sorry for it / For God shall yield to you for it a hundredfold more / Those that shall have\"left the grounds of this word for serving God. shall have an hundred fold more in that other world. Also, they ought to consider that which will set their heart overmuch in loving the riches of this world, in the end leading them into hell. We ought not to love anything but that which we may have with us after our death. Ought we not then to love that thing which shall take us to heaven? That is to say, Wisdom, Charity, Justice, Fasting, Prayer. Furthermore said St. Anthony, I pray my brothers, never be hesitant, but go always right forth the good ways that you have begun. For he that puts his honor to the plow and looks behind him is not worthy to have the Name of heaven. Leave the Greeks who have gone into strange lands and passed over the sea, to get the science and craft of vain things. We have nothing to do, to go here and there. For the realm and reign that we pretend to\"Have, like God witnesses in the gospel within us, not doubt that if our soul be not maculate or spotted, defiled with sin, that in her shall be the fountain of all virtues. Then it is necessary that it be good, for it is created or made by a Master, who is sovereign good, that is God, the Out Creator and Maker. Consider the words of our Savior Jesus Christ, saying, \"Do you the same, and have a pure heart towards the God of Israel.\" In like manner, St. John says, \"Do you the same, and let your ways be righteous, pure, and clean, governed by the faith of God.\" Now, in order to do so, it behooves us to keep ourselves from the spot of sin. We ought, therefore, superlatively, and yet also said St. Anthony to the Religious, \"My little children, keep you from vain words and from pride.\" Some there are who enterprises and advance themselves to do well, but they do not follow the deed which they entered into and proposed. Others there are thatclothe them and array them with vestments of Religious / and follow Religion / to the end to seem and appear good / But within their hearts they are wolves enraged / And are worse than devils / For under the shadow of good / they do infinite harms and evils /\n\nAfter the holy father Saint Anthony showed to them some fallacies or deceits / which the devils do in various manners and mocking ways / In seeming, the devil often shows himself to the holy men in the likeness of men / In blinding them and flattering them with faith and sweet words / And in praising their estate and constance /\n\nAnd often times promises that / which they may not give / That is the glory and joy of heaven /\n\nFor to avoid such illusions and mockings / When they are felt coming / Ought men to engage and bless them with the sign of the Cross / And Incontinent it shall turn into nothing /\n\nFor by the merit of the passion that our sovereign Lord and Redeemer Jesus underwent.Cryst suffered in the Cross / All such illusions or mockeries shall take away from men their minds / But against such illusions or scornings, be steadfast in faith / And so it shall be with steadfastness / For to know the difference between good and evil angels / It ought to be known / that when the good angel comes / His face and regard is sweet and amiable or lovely / And because he desires only peace / He makes no noise or clamor / And his voice is not heard / He gives joy and exultation to sinners / For our Lord is with him, who is the well and fountain of all good / Incontinently also as our soul sees him, if it were possible to him. He would break the limbs of the body / and would go with the good angel when he is present / The benevolence of the same angel is so great / that if he caused any fear at the beginning for his great light, he takes away from the man all fear and terror / Rightly did Gabriel do so.Zatharye being in the Temple and with the Shepherds, when he showed the Nativity of Jesus Christ. But of the evil Angels, the countenance and cheer is criminal and dreadful. His entrance horrible. Their motion and way is inconstant, as of fools or thieves. And Inconstant he shall be vanquished, and shall depart from us. After St. Anthony prayed, they should not be curious to do miracles. And Inconstant he shall be vanquished, and shall depart from us. After St. Anthony:\n\nAnthony warned them not to be curious to perform miracles, lest if they or one of them, by the power of our Lord, made any, they should not run into the damning vice of pride and vain glory. In like manner, he defended them: that they should not despise one another. But he exhorted them to pay themselves to live together in good life and honesty. Also, he said that to do and make miracles is not in our power, but in the Lord's.power of god / \u00b6 For he sayth in ye Gospell in spekynge to his dyscyples / \u00b6 Gloryfye ye not yf the deuylles ben subgett to you. but reioyece ye you that your names be\u0304 wrete in heuen. \u00b6 Here it is to be noted. that they that done mi\u00a6racles and prodygees by arte magyke / Wythoute to haue the gyfte of the gra\u00a6ce of god. whan\u0304e they shall crye to god \u00b6 Haue we not dryuen awaye the de\u2223uylles in thy name / And many other vertues haue ben done in callynge the / and makynge Inuocacyon to god the blessed and very Iudge / \u00b6 To theym that he knowyth that heryth not hys sygne / He shall ansuere to theym / Cer\u2223tayne I knowe you not / for ye ha\n\u00b6 A nother tyme they came and songe tofore hym / And spake togyder of ho\u2223ly scrypture / But that notwythstondy\u0304\u00a6ge saynt Anthonye stopped his eeres / \n\u00b6 A nother tyme they made his mona\u00a6stery to tremble and shake / But he in his thoughte abode vnmoeuable / And prayed to god constauntly / \u00b6 Ofte ty\u2223mes they came spryngynge and syflyn\u00a6ge tofore hym wyth an hyghe voyce.\n\u00b6 ButIncontenant as he returned to God, their noise and tempest turned into little noise, which Saint Anthony could scarcely hear.\n\nOnce came one who had a wonderfully large body and said he possessed the power of God. He demanded of Saint Anthony what he would have from him. And when he saw him so great, he made him Incontenant with prayer, and took the shield of faith. By which he became as little as half a foot.\n\nA nobody came to me in the form of a religious man, and brought to him and said, It is time that thou eat, thou hast overlong fasted, Take corporeal reception. To make sure that thou art not weak.\n\nImmediately after Saint Anthony held him. And saw that his face was pale, he put himself to prayer. And then the devil went his way, like vapor or smoke.\n\nAnother time he presented him with gold\nto discover him,\n\nBut he never would look at it,\n\nAnother time the devil came and knocked at the door of his monastery.When Saint Anthony went out, he saw him so great that it seemed his head reached heaven. Then Saint Anthony asked him what he was and what he sought. And he answered that he was called Satan. And that he had come there because the Religious disputed him and all Christian men cursed him.\n\nSaint Anthony replied that it was right and required that all Christian people despise and curse him. For often through his temptations he brought them into hatred of one another.\n\nUpon this, the devil answered that he did not do this. But they were angry with one another. And moreover, the devil said to him that the might and power of the devils was failed by the means of the passion of Jesus Christ. And that they had no more city nor other place to inhabit in. Because the name of God was claimed and named in all towns and cities, and also in deserts. Which were inhabited by Religious and hermits.\n\nThen Saint Anthony, having the grace ofGod answered him wisely / I do not doubt that you intended to trouble me / For you are the captain of lies and fallacies / But you are compelled to say this sentence. which is true /\n\nCertainly Jesus Christ prayed for you with all his strength and virtues since the time that you lost the beauty of an angel through the spot of your sin /\n\nInconveniently, Saint Anthony had overcome his prayer / The said devil vanished away\n\nSaint Anthony then said to his religious / Fear not the illusions of the devil /\n\nFor God, who has taken the devils from us / And anyone with us / As long as we are in grace / He will keep us from their diverse temptations /\n\nLet us set our charge to resist and withstand their titulacies and caullacies as much as we can / For when they know that our thoughts are vain, empty, and inconstant, they put themselves into the bodies of men /\n\nAnd as thieves, hounds, and wolves enraged, they rouse themselves.body and soul / Iob overcame the devil /\nAnd Judas was contrary /\nThe principal thing and most necessary to vanquish and overcome the devil is to take part in spiritual things / and to have continually his heart to God /\nThis virtue makes the devils flee, as smoke vanishes away /\nTherefore my brethren said, if any vision comes to us, it must hardly be demanded. Who is he that presents him to us before us / & when he comes /\nAnd if it be the angel of God /\nThe fear that we had shall turn into joy /\nBut if it be the devil /\nAnd if he is vanquished by a devout soul /\nInconsequent he shall depart /\nAfter that Saint Anthony had made his exhortations /\nEvery one of the brethren was marvelously enjoyed /\nAnd they that had before little faith were confirmed /\nAnd had persevered /\nIn the time that Maximian persecuted the Christian people /Saint Anthony left his monastery, telling his brethren, \"Let us go with our brother martyrs, so that we may be martyred with them or at least witness their martyrdom.\" By these words, it appears that Saint Anthony was willing to be a martyr.\n\nWhen anyone was brought before the judge, he comforted them by saying, \"You should not fear death, but be constant or steadfast in the faith.\"\n\nThe judge, seeing the constancy of Saint Anthony and his companions, was impressed.\n\nThen all the religious people departed, but Saint Anthony made no response to their threats. He showed his scapular to the judge to be better known as a religious man. And on the moon, he showed himself to the judge in a white vestment, which, by the will of God, was kept and preserved from the yelling crowd.\n\nLong after Saint Anthony was enclosed in his monastery, he did not wish to speak to anyone.\n\nA prince of [unknown name]Chivalry named Martinian had a daughter. She was most vexed by the devil. So Martinian went to St. Anthony to pray that he would intercede with God to heal and save his said daughter. Martinian arrived there and prayed him to open his door. But for what prayer he could make, he would never open it, but went up high. St. Anthony said to him, \"Man why do you ask aid or help from me, when I am mortal like you? If you believe in Jesus Christ whom I serve, pray to him. And after your faith, your daughter will be healed and saved.\" Martinian, giving faith and credence to the words of St. Anthony, called upon the name of God. Incontinently his daughter was healed and saved. Many people who slept before the door of his said monastery were healed of various maladies. St. Anthony saw that from all.People came to him for recovery of health. He went from there into the highest parties of Thebes, where he was not known. And because of the great miracles and wonders he did and worked by the virtue of our Lord, he should not enter into the sin of exaltation and vain glory, and lest men should reputed or judge him as a holy man. He took the habit of his brethren to go into the highest parties of Thebes. And he went until he came to a great river. On the bank or edge of which he heard a voice coming from heaven, which said:\n\n\"Anthony, whether goest thou?\"\n\nSaint Anthony, accustomed to hearing such voices, answered:\n\n\"I have come from my monastery, for the people left me not in peace.\"\n\nAnd the voice answered him:\n\n\"If thou goest thither as thou hast endeavored to go, thou shalt have more pain by the half than thou hast had.\"\n\nBut if thou wilt have peace, go into the desert.Desert, which is here within, Saint Anthony answered that he did not know where it was. Then the voice said to him that there were Saracens who had been accustomed to leading merchants into Egypt. After Saint Anthony saw them, he asked them to take him with them to the desert. They did so gladly. And after they had gone for three nights, they found a very high mountain. At the foot of which was a fair well and fountain. About the same was a little field in which were palm trees in small quantity. When Saint Anthony saw that place, he knew it well, for it had been shown to him by the voice on the riverbank. Then he took the bread of his companions, recommending them to God, and remained there alone. After his brothers knew the place where he was, they sent him his pitance. Since he saw that it was great pain for them to bring it to him.His sustenance was sent to one of his religious houses, instructing him to bring a shovel or a spade, with two iron forks. And the brother did so. And immediately after, he found cultivatable land in the mountains, which he sowed with wheat. And it multiplied so greatly that he gathered enough to sustain his life, making him more joyous and glad, seeing that he might live without giving to any person any pain or trouble. And because some people came there, he increased and expanded his labor in the small land to give reception to the comers to his hermitage. And when the corn was great, the beasts there ate it. He did so much that he took one. And to all the aforementioned beasts, he said, \"Why do you show me displeasure, since I do none to you? Go forth in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and come no more here.\"\n\nTo these words, the beasts replied:beeste and all the other obeyed departed all from their abodes. Thus lived St. Anthony long within the pits and fosses in the same mountain. And sometimes his brethren sent to him oils, or of the oil, or other fruit, to sustain his old age. He would not accept any.\n\nIn the mountain he had many battles. Not only against the flesh, but also against the devils who often brought him such tempests that it seemed that all the mountain was full of men at arms.\n\nWhoever carefully considers the wonderful life of St. Anthony, he is worthy of great praising. Seen his perseverance in abiding so long time in one place solitary without seeing any person, but on that one side wild and cruel beasts, and on that other side devils who came to bite and torment him.\n\nNevertheless, he was never in will to leave his hermitage. But abode always in his cell saying, \"Whoever shall have very faith and steadfast hope in God, shall never have.\"emplacement not allowing it to drown him,\n\nOn a night as he woke saying his prayers, around him came all the wild beasts of the desert. They compelled them to bite him, then Saint Anthony said to them, \"If you have permission to drown me, come to me and devour me. And if you have come hither, by the testimony of my adversary, go from me.\" I am the servant of God. Incontinently, as if they had been hunted, they fled away.\n\nAnother time as Saint Anthony made a tressure to make a little basket, for his custom was to give something to them that brought it to him from their goods, a beast with the face of a person and the remainder of an ass drew from its hands the said tressure, and Incontinently as he saw that, he blessed it with the sign of the Cross and said, \"I am the servant of God. If you have been sent to me in his name, I shall not flee from thee.\" And immediately it vanished away.\n\nOther more great things Saint Anthony did. As it shall appear hereafter,\n\nHisbrothers once prayed that he would come and see them. Since there was no water on the way between his hermitage and their location, he ordered food and water to be prepared on a camel to sustain himself and those with him.\n\nWhen they were in the middle of the journey, their water ran out. They were on the verge of death due to the intense heat. They let the camel go on its own and Saint Anthony moved behind his companions with pity. He prayed, and a fountain miraculously appeared, refreshing and easing them all. After seeing the camel drink, they found it strangely tethered to a large stone.\n\nThey completed their journey and Saint Anthony and his brothers arrived at the monastery where his brothers were.In enbracing and kissing him, he acted as if he were their own father. Immediately after he began to comfort their souls, in praying the ancients and the elderly, and exhorting the young to virtuous living, he also advised them to often read the lives of good ancient or elderly fathers, so that by their virtues they might be encouraged and stirred to live well. And among other things, he said to them that they should avoid doing any manner of evil.\n\nOne named Froncho, who was from Palestine, was tormented by a devil in such a way that with his teeth he gnashed and bit his tongue. And with that, he compelled him to put out his eyes.\n\nHe was brought to St. Anthony. In order to recover his health, St. Anthony told him that he should go to Egypt, and that there he would be healed and made whole.\n\nHe gave no faith to his answer, but remained, praying that he would heal him.\n\nThen he said that he could not be healed there.\n\nFroncho.A virgin of the region Tripolytane was suffering from a most horrible sickness. From her nose, eyes, and ears, incessantly came out humors and filth so stinking that it was a horrible thing to behold and see. As soon as these filths fell on the ground, they turned into worms.\n\nHer friends and parents, desiring her health and hoping to obtain it through the means of Saint Anthony, set out to lead her to him. They soon encountered some religious people who were going to see Saint Anthony.\n\nThey prayed them to let them come with them.\n\nThey went together for a long time until they came to a good man named Paphnutius. To whom Maximian had pulled out his eyes for the name of Jesus Christ.\n\nUpon their arrival, the religious people made the parents and the maiden stay there with the good holy man.They went to see Saint Anthony and recounted to him the case of the poor maid. In praying him that she might come and enter into his monastery, Saint Anthony would in no way allow this. But he said to the religious:\n\nGo ye forth thither. If the maid is not dead, you shall find her whole and recovered.\n\nAnd yet he said, none should come to me for recovery of health,\nFor giving health to the sick belongs to the Savior of the world,\nYet, as I prayed to God, the health of his daughter was revealed to me.\n\nThen they went where the maid was with her friends in the house of Saint Paphnutius, and there they found her recovered.\n\nTwo brothers walking to go see Saint Anthony. In their walking, one died of thirst. The other lay stretched on the earth and awaited death.\n\nSaint Anthony, knowing by divine revelation, called two of his brothers, who had come to him, and said to them:\n\nGo ye,\n\n(Note: The text appears to be in Old English, but it is written in a phonetic representation of the text, which makes it difficult to translate accurately. I would recommend consulting a specialist in Old English or medieval studies for a more accurate translation.)hastily on the way to Egypt, and take with you a bottle of water, for you will find a brother in need of thirst and another near expired. The journey was long at that time.\n\nIncontinent they went and found all things as St. Anthony had said. They buried the dead man and brought the other with them.\n\nIf anyone demanded or asked where St. Anthony revealed the revelation before the brother's death, it may be answered that the question is inappropriate. For the judgment proceeded from God, and not from St. Anthony. In so much that God willed that one should die, and that other should be restored to health by St. Anthony.\n\nAt one time, as St. Anthony was praying to God, he saw the soul of St. Ammon, a religious man born in Nitria, being borne into heaven by many angels, singing melodiously. Another, named Theodore, would have passed the river called Licus, but they could not pass the river.Without them taking off their clothes and being all naked, Saint Anthony prayed that Theodore would go back. So that he wouldn't see him unclothed. By the grace of God, he was set on the other side of the river. Theodore passed the river after him. And Theodore was much admired how quickly Saint Anthony was passed over. He took him by the feet and swore that he would never leave him until he had told him how he had passed without getting wet.\n\nSaint Anthony, seeing that Saint Theodore was constraining him, made him swear that he would never show it to anyone before his death.\n\nThen he said to him, \"By the grace of God, I was miraculously set over the river.\"\n\nAnother man named Archelaus, a knight, requested him to pray to God for one named Polycras, the virgin daughter of Publius. She had a passion in her stomach, and pains had come to her because of excessive [something].Saint Anthony prayed to God for her. She was inconceivable and was miraculously cleansed and healed of her hole. One time he was asked to join his brethren on a ship. Alone, he felt a foul, stinking stench. The religious men said that the infection came from the fish and began at the start of the day due to the great pain he felt. Saint Anthony, who had spent the night near him in prayer, was reprimanded sharply by the religious men for bringing him. But Saint Anthony answered sweetly and meekly that the young man, who was likely not to have done it, had not. However, the evil one, who was commanded to leave him, had struck him. Immediately after the sick person was healed and miraculously cleansed and came to embrace and kiss Saint Anthony.\n\nA miracle.\n\nOnce, Saint Anthony being in prayer, like he was always accustomed to do, before he took his leave.was roused by angels / and was born higher than their region / The devils following after strove because he was born higher than the said region / And the angels seeing this contradiction asked the devils why they insisted on letting him see that there was no sin in him / Then the devils began to recount the sins that St. Anthony had done in his youth / Incontinently the angels made them be still. In saying that they should speak of nothing but the sins of his youth if he had done anything since that time which he was truly penitent and professed and consecrated to God / The devils accused him of many false accusations and lies / And the angels seeing that the devils accused him only of falsehoods lifted St. Anthony up higher than the devils were / And immediately after they brought him back to the place where they had taken him / Then St. Anthony, considering the.Multitude of enemies we have in this world and so many in the air. They continually waited to harm us, beginning to wail and weep all night without eating or drinking. And Saint Paul the apostle says: We have not only battle against the flesh, but also against the devils dwelling in the regions of the air. Let us then take the arms of God, to the end that we may resist and withstand our enemy when he assails us. That is to say, that we live without sin, and so the devil shall not be able to accuse us before God.\n\nThe night following, Saint Anthony heard a voice which cried out: \"Anthony, Anthony, come out and see what I will show you.\" Incontinent he arose from his cell. Lifting up his eyes to heaven, he saw in the air a monster so horrible and great that its head seemed reaching up to the clouds. He also saw some having wings.those who would flee upward on high,\nbut the great monster struck them down with his hands. threw them to the earth. some he broke into pieces,\nand others, against his will, flew up into heaven.\nAnd immediately, as he had seen this, the voices said to him that he should consider well what this vision signified,\nimmediately he knew well that it was\nthe devil who had caused them to fall, those who had sinned in this world.\nthe other were good souls who remained in heaven. whom the devil could not harm.\nSaint Anthony saw the same vision. and many others were encouraged and strengthened, and his life was made better and better.\nAnd how was it that he showed these revelations to some righteous persons?\nHe did it not for vain glory, nor for any reason other than meekness. In exhorting the clerks, deacons, and priests to pray to God,\nhe desired to learn from them,\nand to that end, he often asked them for counsel.\nTo all bishops and priests.bowynge his he\u2223de by humylytee he demau\u0304ded theyr be nedyccyon / \u00b6 And lyke as it is comyn\u2223ly sayde / From a Ioyeouse herte proce\u2223deth a Ioyeouse vysage / He had a play\u00a6saunte vysage and aggreable to euery man / In suche wyse that amonge an hundred Relygyouse persones. by his honeste maners he sholde lyghtly haue be knowen / Though a man hadd ne\u2223uer seen hym / \u00b6 His face was alwaye in one astate. as well in prosperytee as in aduersytee / \u00b6 Aboue all other thyn\u2223ges he hated the conuersacyon of Ma\u2223nychyens / Heretykes scysmatikes / and Ar\n\u00b6 Also the companye of lyghte / that is to saye of Crysten men / ought not to be accompanyed wyth derkenesse. that is to wyte wyth Heretykes and Infy\u2223delis / \u00b6 A woman came on a tyme to hym / Requyrynge hym that he wolde praye to god for her doughter / whyche was traueylled wyth a deuyll / And In contynent that he had made to god his prayer / the deuyll lefte her doughter pe\u00a6asybly / \u00b6 A nother tyme came to hym two Phylosophers on hyghe on the mo\u00a6untayne / The whyche by subtylldisorders supposedly overcame him and discovered / \u00b6 When he saw them, he judged them to be penances. And he said to them, / I marvel at you that are so wise, coming from so far / to see a man who is weak. / To them he answered that he was not a fool, / but rather wise. / \u00b6 Saint Anthony answered them that he was a fool, / by which they had lost their labor and way. / And if it is true that I am as wise as you say, / and if you love wisdom, it is both utility and profit, / follow me and praise me, / and so you will do your duty. / \u00b6 Those men are to be praised who seek out the good and wise. / If I had gone to you, I would have followed your law. / Since you have come to me, come and follow my faith and be christened. / Then the Philosophers went their way. / \u00b6 Others came to him mocking him because he was no scholar or lettered, / to whom he asked, which of them was first, the wisdom or the scripture. / And if the scriptures were by the wisdom of God or the letter of the scripture.Saint Anthony replied, \"He who has understanding good and whole needs not to be hindered by scriptures. In this way, he delivered them all confused. Constantine the Emperor and his two sons, Constantine and Constancius, wrote to him once in a salutation. To please him, they requested that he write something for their comfort and consolation. Saint Anthony, seeing their letters, was neither ashamed nor changed anything for the salutation of such great lords. But, like Inmobyle and Canastus, he refused to behold the said letters. He called to him all his brethren and said to them, \"The kings of this world send us letters, which seems wonderful. And from this, we may be glad.\" For all men, notwithstanding, have diverse dignities and lordships been born and raised.You, the one with that other, and therefore we ought to honor the scriptures and letters primarily such as God has written to men, as have been the commandments of the law. And because there is no convenience among kings and religious leaders, I will not take the letters that the kings send to us. For I do not know the science and manner to sell them as letters. In the end, the brethren begged him that he would write again to the said kings, in admonishing them to flee vices and to practice virtues. And so he wrote to them in this manner:\n\nYou, kings, I counsel you that you keep the Christian law, but I pray, do you not think that your temporal power is great? For that is but a little thing to consider in regard to the power of God. Therefore, you ought not to be proud. Estimate yourselves as nothing more than others. For just as surely and as well will you be judged by God as the poorest of the world. With this I pray that you are.pyteous and debonair towards your subjects, having cure and busyness to do justice as well to the poor as the rich. Consider that there is a king above you eternally, not only upon you but upon all mankind. These letters, seen by the said princes named before, were greatly comforted. And the fame and repute of St. Anthony was published and known throughout the court.\n\nAfter the Papems and Gentiles were confounded in their arguments, and the kings comforted by his letters, he returned into the mountain, in which he had many visions, by which he knew and by revelation all that was done in Egypt, and sent to the bishop of Egypt, named Serapion, among whom he saw a most pitiable case, and worthy of sorrow.\n\nHe began with his brethren, lifting up his eyes to heaven, weeping and wailing. A little while after that he had seen the revelation, which was shown to him,\n\nHe set himself on his knees, praying.And so doing, he shed out great tears in marvelous abundance and plentitude. Therefore, brothers who were present trembled and quivered. They asked him what revelation he had had. Ha ha, my children said Saint Anthony, \"The faith of Christendom will be overthrown in a short time. Men, resembling beasts, will destroy the goods of the church. I have seen the altar of our Lord surrounded or closed with mules. With their feet, they have broken the altar. These things are the cause of my wailing.\" Two years later, the cursed sect of the Heretics, Arians, was publicly published and shown. The churches were plundered, and the sacred vessels were violently taken or despised with the Sacraments of the church. By the polluted or defiled hands of the Ethnicians and virgins and matrons, their virginity was violated, and they were not ashamed to lose it. The blood of Christian people.was within the churches / In such a way that the altars were all dead and sprinkled with blood /\n\nA little while after this heavy and desolate Revelation, Saint Anthony had another Revelation, right joyous, / Of which he comforted his repentant ones, saying, / My children, be not sorrowful / For after this persecution of the church of God, the Christian people shall be relieved / And the church shall be brought whole in his honor / And all they that shall keep the faith in this persecution shall be before God more shining than the brightness of the sun /\n\nFalse Satan's persecutors of the faith of God shall be chased a way / And Religion shall be increased and augmented /\n\nAnd therefore, my brothers and friends, take to you and have strong and great faith / to the end that you be in any way subdued /\n\nFor their doctrine is not of the apostle / But of the devil, seemingly or like to jesters or fools & beasts. /\n\nSo many Revelations.Saint Anthony was shown to Saint Anthony, and so many men were healed and clothed through his prayers that it is with great difficulty to be written. And therefore we ought to consider the great faith he had in God, when he suffered so many miracles to be performed. It is written if we have firm faith and say to a mountain that it should depart and move from its place, it will do so. Nothing is impossible to us, as far as we demand or ask for things lawful and beneficial. Never was any prayer of a duke or prince for him.\n\nSaint Anthony did not stay long outside of his monastery. He told his religious followers that, just as fish die on dry land, so the religious will die by deadly sin if they stay too long with the secular world.\n\nSaint Anthony wrote to Balicus Heretical Arian, the governor of Egypt under Nestor, that he should not trouble or disturb the Christian people.But to cease of his tyranny, Balancuis despised his letters and committed many outrages to the messenger. And with that, he commanded that he and his relatives should receive his displeasure. Immediately after being with the said Nestor in the principal town of Alexandria, called Cheroneas, Anthony instructed and taught certain knights. Some other knights came to him, whom he admonished to leave the honor of the world and go far to obtain blessedness and eternal honor, which never shall have an end.\n\nHe advised the judge that for love or hate they should neither judge nor be judged, but they should always have fear of God before their eyes. In considering the common proverb,\n\nSuch judgment as they judge, like judgment should they have.\n\nThen, he who judges rightfully according to justice, he shall have the reward of justice.\n\nAfter living for one hundred and fifty years, Saint Anthony showed his death to his followers. Why were they therefore so?He and sorry that they began to weep in kissing him and embracing by great charity. And after he began to inform them with many easements and doctrines. Among all other things, that they should not be annoyed or grieved to have begun the state of Religion, but always be constant and persevere in virtues. Secondly, he said to them that they should always have in their intention and remembrance the hour of death. For by that they should dispense with the world. Thirdly, when they should see the Arians persecute the Church, like as it has been shown by Revelation, that they should have steadfast faith. In following always the tradition and life of holy fathers. After he returned to a solitary place with one of his friends. And took leave of his Religious. In saluting them and giving his blessing.\n\nIt is to note that he did not die in Egypt. Whereas it was the custom to bury the dead bodies in clothes of noble martyrs and other persons. Without putting them in.theyers bodies in the midst of which customs Saint Anthony had often reproved the bishops of the council, to ensure that they should correct their subjects. In saying to them, \"Our lord had been buried untimely in a tomb closed, for which reason Saint Anthony feared that they would not do the same for him and would not die in the same country of Egypt. He saw the hour of his death approaching, he called two of his religious. And said to them, \"My children, God has lately summoned me to him. Wherefore I go the way that I must go, that is to death. It is long since I desired to see heavenly things. I commend myself to your prayers.\" After he had admonished them in this manner, he said, \"Know ye the state that you have taken. You have seen many temptations of the devil and they may overcome you. Desire ye always to be with Jesus Christ. Remember my admonitions and doctrines, and flee the cursed heretics, for they are enemies of Jesus.\"Christ / \u00b6 Be diligent in keeping God's commandments.\n\u00b6 And see to it that my body is not taken to Egypt to be kept vainly in honor. / \u00b6 For this reason I am to die with you. But you shall bury my body so privately in the earth / that none know my burial place but you alone. /\n\u00b6 After he had made his testament and bequeathal of his last will, / he left to Saint Athanasius, bishop, a vestment named Melote. This covered him from the shoulders to his thighs. / \u00b6 Upon which he had often lain with a mantle. The said bishop had given it to him new. /\n\u00b6 Serapion, another bishop, had the other vestment like the first. / And the brethren Regulus had the inheritance. /\n\u00b6 Having accomplished his testament, he said to them, \"Farewell, my friends. Anthony goes his way. He will no longer be with you in this world.\" /\n\u00b6 And these words said, all the brethren Regulus being present.And they presented themselves before him. Weeping bitterly for the occasion that they saw his death so near, he rendered his spirit to God. The angels who were there received it singing melodiously. And despite the fact that he had frequented or used the desert areas for over a hundred years, or that he had never been banned or washed, and that he had not eaten any delicate foods, yet his flesh and skin were as precious and fair, and cleaner than anyone might see. By his example, you see how God exalts those who serve him devoutly. Notwithstanding that he had dwelt in the desert, his fame and renown were so great in Italy, Spain, and France, that none was like him. In him, the word of our blessed Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ has been verified, who said that he who humbles himself shall be exalted, as he has been throughout the world, in diverse places and regions, where miracles have been done.Name him the one to whom praises and exaltations are offered, both on the bodies of mankind and the brute beasts and the unreasonable, in such a way that among all the other glorious saints, he is most devoutly adored and prayed to. Let us then pray him devoutly that it pleases him to pray to God for us, miserable sinners, so that his worthy pleasure may give us firm and constant will and affection. May we disdain this present world through his example, so that finally we may obtain the kingdom of heaven.\n\nSaint Hilary was born in the country of Palestine, in a town named Thabatha, about a mile from a city called Gaza.\n\nHe was like a rose flourishing among thorns, for his father was a pagan and served idols. But Hilary served God.\n\nHis father sent him to Alexandria to learn grammar. There he was sufficiently instructed in it after his young age, but he learned something more valuable.of the faythe of Cryste / \u00b6 For he byleuyd in Ihesu Cryste / \u00b6 He beynge a scoler fledde all vyces and synnes. despysyng generally alle the vanytees of the worl\u00a6de / And occupyed hymself oonly to ser\u2223ue god and holy chyrche / \u00b6 Whan\u0304e he herde the reno\u0304mee of saynt Anthonye / whyche was strongely spradde in alle Egypte / He wente to see hym / And he beinge there arryued / chaunged his ha\u2223byte / And was there .ij. monethes wyth hym in contemplaco\u0304n. and Ioyeng the grete humylytee of saynt Anthonye / \n\u00b6 And as he receyued humaynly ye bre\u00a6thern that wolde be Relygyous wyth hym / In lyke wyse as he was hymsel\u00a6fe harde and sharpe to correcte theim. & soo he was redy to admonest theym\n\u00b6He was sobre in metes / And he was neuer syke for what someuer abstynen\u00a6ce he dyde / \u00b6 Whanne the holy fader Hylaryon had seen his holy conuersacy\u00a6on / He retorned wyth some Relygyou\u2223ses in to the house of his fader / Whom he founde and his nyece also deed and departed oute of this worlde / \u00b6 And in contynent as towched of the holyThis text appears to be written in Old English, and there are several errors and irregularities that need to be addressed to make it readable. Here's the cleaned text:\n\nGhoste distributed his part of their goods to poor folk, and reserved none for himself. Considering the scripture that says, \"He that renounces not all that he possesses cannot be a disciple of Jesus Christ,\" and he was not yet fifty years old. Nevertheless, he went all naked seven miles far from the said city of Gaza to a place full of thieves. And when his friends told him of the danger, he answered, \"He who would shun the eternal death ought to despise the natural death.\" All men marveled at his life, considering his tender age, yet he endured some pain. His clothing was only a sack and a mantle of pellycon. St. Anthony had given this mantle to him. The devil, seeing the life of this child, tormented him strongly, to the end to overcome him and bring him under his rule. He beat him mercilessly.hym with fists on his breast saying to him,\nLittle Ass I shall well keep thee from going back,\nThou shalt not have only barley to eat,\nbut shalt die for hunger and thirst,\n\nIn summer I shall make thee have cold,\nAnd I shall put thee in such a state that thou shalt not remember but to eat and drink. without thinking on God,\n\nThe holy child ate not in three or four days. but a little herbs and figs,\nYet for to augment and increase his penance in fasting he labored the earth,\nAnd made fiscells grown with Reed and Ivy,\nConsidering that he that takes no pain to labor is not worthy to eat,\n\nOn a night he heard many diverse voices,\nLike the voices of a child,\nThe bleating of sheep,\nThe lowing of oxen,\nThe clamor of women,\nThe cry of lions and many other diverse voices,\n\nAnd all this did the devil,\nWho supposed to have brought him out of his wits by the fear of the hearing,\nAnd after by his eyes.\nHe again knelt down.marky saw it with the sign of the Cross, and after looking at one side and the other, intending to see the beasts and other things of which he had heard the voices, he saw them in a cart, which horses drew as if they had been mad. Then he began to cry out and call upon the name of Jesus. And immediately the earth opened. And all the company cried out and howled and sank down into the pit of hell. Then he began to say these words written in the curse of Pharao's Canticle. Which says thus:\n\nThe horse and the man who was upon him,\nGod has thrown them into the sea.\nThe demons went in the likeness of horses and chariots,\nBut we shall be borne in the name of our Lord.\nThe enemies of hell, envious of our Redemption, present to us so many of diverse and cursed temptations,\nthat with great pain it is possible to recite them.\n\nOften times when the blessed child Hilary slept,\nThe devil, in the likeness of a woman all naked, appeared to him.He showed him [something]. When he ate, he presented to him the reminder of various dishes. At times, while he was in prayer, he passed before him like a wolf howling; at other times like a fox; at other times like a battle of armed men. In this way, one caused himself to fall before him, demanding burial from him. At one time, as he lay flat on the ground, making his prayers to God, the devil appeared behind him. He struck him on the heels and back, saying, \"Arise, Hilaryon. Why are you sleeping?\" But he moved him nothing. He was so roused in his prayers.\n\nFrom the time he was sixteen years old, he withdrew himself into a little house made of ivy and bows, where he endured until he was twenty years old. Cold and heat. Rain. Snow. And other great necessities. And after that, he dwelt in another little houses, which were four feet broad and five feet high. But it was a little longer than the former.This little house seemed more like a sepulcher than a house. He clipped his hair once a year, before the solemnity of Esther. He lay upon a bed of violets and continued until his death. He was never covered but with one sack, which he never washed. He said that in a hairy state ought not to be sought after cleanliness. He never changed robe or coat until it was rotten. His felicity was to remember holy scripture and among his sons he sang devout psalms to God as if he were present.\n\nAfter he was twenty-one years old, until he was twenty-six, he lived soberly. In the three years following, he ate only a sixth of a peck of wheat boiled in a little cold water. In the other three years, he ate only bread and salt with a little water.\n\nAfter seventeen and twenty years, until five and thirty, he ate not but six ounces of barley bread and for his potage, a little cool wheat without oil. But when he saw his body, due to the strictness of life, become scabby and unhealthy,Ronyous/Altyll comforted himself by putting a little oil in his potage. He lived soberly, and all that he ate and drank weighed not more than five units. He amused himself in such abstinences. Alas, those who eat more than thirty units other than four score units of weight, five or six times a day, are not content. And he who ate not but once a day when the sun had gone down, and his food and drink weighed not more than five units, lived until the age of four score years. Let us then be sober, until the end, by the example of the holy father Hilary. Who, in his life, endured so much evil and pain for the honor of Jesus Christ.\n\nAt the age of eighteen, Theues came to him, intending either to console him because of his young age or to rob him. And they made great diligence to find his little house.They went around it for a whole day and night and could not find it. The next morning they found it and him in it. And they demanded of him this question: What should you do, little man, if the thieves came to you? He answered them: What can they demand or ask of me? Seeing that I am all naked and have no movable goods? They said to him: You might be slain. The child answered: I may truly be slain, but I am not afraid. For I am ready to die. The thieves were much amazed. They recounted to him how they had sought him. And after they mended their lines, he was not yet twenty-two years old when his fame and renown spread over all the countryside of Palestine because of the holiness of his life. In that time, there was a woman in the town of Lent. Lastly, he spoke to her in demand, asking her the cause of her sorrow. She recited and opened it to him. Saint Hilaryon said to her:\"should not interfere, but pray for her children at his hermitage. However, moved by her deep sorrow and her urgent pleas, he agreed to visit the city of Gaza to pray for her three deceased children. May their names be praised and magnified in the city of Paynes.\"He would never leave his cell or enter towns or cities. She was not content with his answer and fell prostrate, crying, \"Hylaryon, raise my children by your prayers. Saint Anthony has kept and governed them in Egypt for so long. To the end that they should be kept in Syria.\" All those present wept. She continued, \"I should never depart, but you should first promise to visit my children with me.\" He was compelled by her words to go there. Upon arriving, he saw the children, all cold and without sign of life, in the presence of a great multitude of people gathered because of him. He prayed devoutly to God. The children then cast out great abundance of water from their bodies and recognized their father and mother, thanking them humbly.good father Hylary / And he began to drink and eat / like they had never suffered great harm or had not lost life /\nThis miracle was so spread and renowned openly in all the country of Egypt and Syria / In such a way, many came to him from all directions / Of whom many went to Relygion to lead a solitary life /\n\nA woman named Fatydya was born in the city of Rhinocorne in the county of Egypt. who had been blind for ten years / came to him saying that she had spent all her hours with lepers to recover her sight /\n\nThe holy man said to her: \"If you had given it to God's sake, that which you have given to Fisicyens and Lepers, you would have recovered your sight sooner.\"\n\nNevertheless, she began to cry for mercy / And immediately, by his prayers, her sight was restored to her /\n\nThere was a man in his time named Messicas, born in Jerusalem. who was stronger than any other.In that country, a man of great strength carried a burden greater than that of an ass. The burden he bore was esteemed to be fifteen mules' measure of that country. It happened by God's permission that he was possessed by a devil. He became enraged and mad, so much so that he had to be chained by the strength of many men. Despite their efforts, they could not hold him due to his strength and greatness. The devil tormenting him caused him to rage so violently that he tore off their noses and other members.\n\nWhen he was brought to the church, he foamed at the mouth and tormented himself like a mad wood bore. His parents and kin, in order to recover his health, brought him to this holy man Hylaryon. And as they stood before this holy man, his brothers trembled in fear of his marvelous greatness and madness. The good holy father commanded them to unbind him.that no man should be afraid of him / So it was done / And miraculously, where before he could not behold, he became so soft that sweetly he kissed the feet of the said saint Hylary / And the seventh day after, he was all whole and healed /\n\nA certain one named Oryon, the most rich and chief in authority of the city of Achilles by the Red Sea, was also in like manner tormented by a legion of demons /\n\n\u00b6 Wherefore he was strongly bound with chains by all the members of his body /\n\n\u00b6 Thus, as St. Hylary went with his brother, the same Demonyak, with his two hands bound with iron, took him. And lifted him up high from the earth /\n\nWhereof the people, being present, began to cry, doubting that some inconvenience might come to him /\nBut the holy man began to laugh and strain the hands of the sick man, whom he held so subject that he might not grieve or annoy him /after moving the devils within his body, he made the sick man emit horrible and diverse voices, crying and howling, like strange beasts. And after the sick man began to cry, \"O good Jesus, unbound me, poor and miserable wretch that I am. I shall speak things that have never been heard.\"\n\nHe was immediately healed and grateful. A little time passed, and he and his wife went to the monastery of St. Hylary. They offered him great gifts and treasures for the health he had recovered through his merits.\n\nSt. Hylary the Good Father said to him, \"Do not be hasty, for Gaius and Simon Magus suffered this once.\"\n\nGaius sold the healing given to Naban by his master Heliseus.\n\nSimon wanted to give much money to St. Peter to have the power to give the grace of the Holy Ghost.\n\nThen all the penitents said to him, \"Fair father, accept that.\"I offer to the poor and give it to them, / And Hilary answered, / Thou shalt distribute and deal it better than I, / For thou goest through the cities and knowest them better than I do, / It should not be a thing becoming or befitting me, / who have renounced all temporal things, / to take the goods of another, / Orion fell down to the ground prostrate and began to weep for the displeasure that he had shown, / that Saint Hilary would not receive his offering, / But Saint Hilary comforted him, saying, \"My son and friend, be not angry that I have refused your money, / It is for your profit and mine, / For if I take it, I would offend God, / Thou shalt yet be tormented by the devils, who shall enter into thy body, / But thou shalt take it in patience, / And in so doing, their torment shall be to thy health. Therefore, be content with thyself and be good and just from henceforth.\" / A Masson named Zazanus was taken with hanging stones.A young man, enamored of his neighbor's daughter, a virgin, could not win her affection or deceive her in any way. Desiring to fulfill his inordinate desire, he went to a city named Memphis to inquire of a Magician living there how, through magic, he might deceive the said maiden. He spent a year under the instruction of Esculapius the Magician.\n\nFinally, this young man, following the Magician's instructions, went to the house of the maiden and placed certain copper images under her cellar or threshold, muttering certain words of the devil. Believing this would aid his cause, he then became wanton with the maiden. By great folly, she took off her guard and drew near. Straining her teeth, he called out the name of the devil.A young man brought her to the holy man, in his presence. The devil within her body began to cry and howl, declaring how by force and magic he had entered her. After he had spoken these words, he said to Saint Hilary, \"Why do you command Hilary to me that I should go away and depart? Do you not know well that I am held under the cell and entrance of the maiden's house, and I am magically bound with chains, and may not depart unless the young man who loves her, by his art, unbinds and lets me go?\"\n\nThe holy man said to him, \"Your power is not great. Since you are bound with such small chains, false enemy, tell me how you are so eager to enter the body of this virgin?\"\n\nThe devil answered, \"To keep her a virgin to the end, I am a conservator of virginity. And I am a traitor to chastity.\"\"Why haven't you entered the body of the young amorous foal yet? The devil answered, \"Because another devil, named the devil of love, is there.\" Saint Hilary commanded the devil to leave the body of the said maiden. This was healed and cured by an inconceivable and evident miracle. After this, Saint Hilary reproved the young man for giving signs of love to the maiden, for which he deserved to be possessed by the devil. Another named Candidalis. He was a judge under Emperor Constantine in the Province of Germany. According to the histories, he was between the countries of Saxony and Alamania. He was brought to Saint Hilary in the city of Gaza in Syria to be delivered from the possession of the devil. He was tormented every night in the same way as before, and he was healed and cured in an incredible way.\"In Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Germany, the country was well-known for his renown. When the man named Candydalus was hailed, he wanted to give ten pounds of gold to Saint Hilary. But he only took a loaf of barley, considering that whoever should be nourished by such food should consider gold and silver for dung and urine. The holy man listened not only to the reasonable beasts but also to brute beasts.\n\nA marvelous great Camel, which had killed many people, was taken by thirty men who brought him bound to Saint Hilary. His eyes were red as fire and seemed to scorch men greatly. But the holy man commanded the demon within the camel, \"Incontinent, be loosed and let go.\" And immediately those who were there fled far from the camel, except one who remained by him. Then the demon began to speak to the saint, \"O accursed saint, you make me nothing.\"For as great as you are, you were like a mighty beast in a little forest. For in so little while, the said beast was so enraged and wood became so mild and came,\n\nIn effect, Saint Jerome says that he would not write all the deeds of Saint Hilary,\nFor the time should not be short,\nAs he would say that they were Innumerable,\n\nWhen some of Syria,\nIn the name of the same Hilary in Palestine, made many churches,\nHis humility was marvelously great,\nAnd for showing and giving good example to the holy and devout Religious,\nHe often times visited them in their hermitages,\nThe whych, knowing his great virtues, followed him well oft in such great numbers. They were often times with him near, by a two thousand men,\n\nThus, as the holy man went visiting the deserts of Cades,\nHe came into Helus a city,\nWhere all the people were assembled to do sacrifice to the Temple.In that temple were many paints, delivered from the devil by the intercession and prayer of the holy man Hylarion. When they saw him passing before the said temple, they and their wives sprang out and said to him in Syriac, \"Bareth.\" This means \"give mercy\" to those who pray. Mekely heard him and prayed that they should not overwhelm him with prayers, but one god only eternal. Marvelous grace of God happened to them. By his coming and his prayers, they were so inspired that from that hour they became Christian and held him as their bishop.\n\nAnother time, as he was about to depart to visit his subjects, he sent letters to some religious in lodgings where he intended to lodge. Among the brethren there was one who was remarkably stingy and would give nothing. Therefore, the others...prayed to the holy man that he would lodge in his hermitage, to correct this cursed vice / He answered them, \"What should you do to him? He should submit to us, and we should merely travel with him.\" / Ten days after the Religious houses had knowledge, the holy man should pass by his vineyard. Sent keepers into the vineyard, / commanding them that if anyone would enter it, they should cast stones at them. The holy man, seeing and knowing what would follow, began to laugh at the folly of the said Religious, and went instead to the house of another, named Sabbas. This one, because it was Sunday, desired them all to eat of the grapes and raisins in his vineyard and take their refreshments / But Saint Hilarion forbade them, saying, \"Cursed be he who eats before he has had refreshment.\" / Let us serve God first. And after that, go into the vineyard.They entered the vineyard, and after they had eaten, there were enough fruits to gather about a hundred baskets or tons of wine. But three hundred liberal religious men gathered what they had, and the others, who were stingy, gathered not half as much. Yet what they had gathered turned into vinegar and was lost.\n\nSaint Hilary then reproved all the curious religious men.\n\nAnother religious man, living nearby within five miles of Saint Hilary, had a small garden which he caused a man to keep. This avaricious man came often to visit the brethren, and primarily one named Esicius, to have companionship and familiarity with the said Saint Hilary. He brought along on a day, among other things, green cools which he had gathered.In his garden, Esicius delivered them to the aforementioned Hylaryon, who was at the table. Upon seeing them, Hylaryon was disgusted and commanded they be taken away, declaring they were so foul that he could not detect the scent. After inquiring as to their origin, Esicius identified the brother as their source. Hylaryon questioned, \"Can you not smell them? How rotten they are in these coolers. If beasts had them before them, they would not eat them.\" Esicius then took them to the oxen, who also refused to eat them. Hylaryon, at the age of 111, was renowned for the multitude of brethren who came to him in the desert, as well as the infinite number of sick and wounded who were healed and cared for by him. He wept and addressed his brothers, \"Alas, my brothers, I have provided well for you.\"I have cleaned the text as follows: I lost my reward. I supposed I should have renounced and forsaken the world, and I have returned. Considering the multitude of you who are with me. For I ought to be alone in a pit or ditch to do penance and live solitarily, In this lamentation, he was, for the space of two years, which passed, he had a revelation of St. Anthony's death. Which he showed to the good woman of Aristene, of whom mention is made above, and it was true. Two days after the said revelation came messengers. Which witnessed the said death, Which happened at the hour that he had shown it to the said woman, His life was so holy that every man marveled, As well for the reason of his miracles as of his abstinences, science, and humility, Bishops, priests, clerks, religious, matrons, and other Christian people, as well nobles as others, in great multitude went to him, And they helped themselves well, when they had of the bread and of the wine.\n\nOn a time heHe was determined to leave his hermitage and travel a few miles from his brothers. He shared his reasons with some of them, desiring to pass through the fields. He brought an ass for transportation, but he could barely sit on it due to his debilitated state and the severe abstinences he had practiced.\n\nAs he began to pass through the deserts of Palestine, more than ten thousand people tried to keep him from leaving, urging him to stay. But they could not prevent or detain him. He spoke to the crowd, waving his staff to calm them down.\n\n\"I know well that my God is not a liar,\" he said. \"I cannot destroy your churches or shed the blood of my children. All those present bore witness to my words. I had some revelation, which I would not reveal, but they persisted in wanting me to stay.\n\nThen he told them, \"I will never eat until you let me go.\"Seven days after he took leave of his brethren, commanding them to return to their monasteries. He then went into Betheion. Five days later, he came to Pelusus, and visited all the brethren dwelling in Lychnidion. Three days following, he went to a place named Thobaston, to see Dracone, bishop and confessor, who had been sent there. Three other days after, he went to Babylon, to see Phylon, the bishop. These two bishops had been sent into exile by King Constantius. They gave favor and good will to the Arians heretics. He departed from them. Two days later, he came to the castle of Affrodytes, where he found Bisan deacon, who had been accustomed to carry water on camels and dromedaries into the desert to St. Anthony. Since there was no one in the place where he abided, he recounted and showed the aforementioned Hilarion the hour that St. Anthony would die.It was commanded to him how he should wake all the nighttime. Saint Hilary and the said Bysano were walking by each other's sides for three days. In the end, they came to a high mountain. There they found two religious men, Isaac and Plusyan. Isaac had written the life of Saint Anthony. The good holy man Hilary went from place to place to the end, to visit the places where Saint Anthony had lived and converted. He prayed to God and performed other virtuous works. In visiting these places, he found a garden. In which Saint Anthony had planted and set many trees and also made many ponds to water them when necessary. He also found the place where he slept, which was no larger than a person's body. Afterward, Saint Hilary returned with two of his brethren to the next hermitage, called Affrodytes, where Saint Anthony lived in solitude for a time. Now had it.not rayned in that londe in thre yeres / Lyke as the elementes sholde haue complayned the deth of saynt Anthonye / \u00b6 But at the Requeste of saynt Hylaryon they hadd thenne grete habundance of Rayne / \n\u00b6 After the whyche a multytude of ser\u00a6pentes and venymouse beestes rooe moyen\nof the sayde saynt Hylaryon / And for to eschew the same concluded to goo to the sayde monastery. for to putte hym to dethe / \u00b6 And soo Incontynent they wente thyder. \u00b6 And they fyndynge that soo hastely was departed from thens / And wythoute to be aduertysyd\u00b7 ne warned of theyr enterpryse and pur\u00a6pose / Imposed and put to him that he was a Magycyen / Sayenge emonge theim that yt they myghte cleerly kno\u2223we. that he sawe before thynges that co\u00a6men after / \u00b6 Now it oughte to be vnderstonde that whanne saynt Hyla\u2223ryon was departed from Palestyne / They of Gaza demau\u0304ded of Iulyan whyche thenne was emperoure lycence for to slee his discyple Esicius / \u00b6 And for more lyghter to take him / they had wreton to alle the londes there abowte \u00b6 HisThe church was then destroyed and torn down, and his followers were slain because he had learned of this through revelation and refused to witness the destruction, as previously stated. Saint Hilarion departed from Bruchyon and the deserters returned to Oasis, where he stayed for a year or so. But due to the spread of his reputation and fame, he went to places where he should not be known. He intended to cross the sea and dwell in remote areas.\n\nAt that time, Adrian, his disciple, arriving from Palestine, informed him that Julian the Emperor was killed and that in his place ruled a Christian Emperor. When the holy man heard his purpose, he blessed him. However, he himself and Zazanius, one of his disciples, boarded a ship to go to Cyprus.\n\nIn the middle of the sea, the son of the sailor was.The devil, who had entered his body due to Saint Hilarion's forcible conjuration, spoke to him, urging him to leave the child. Hilarion replied, \"Why do you not allow me to remain in the water? Give me space to go to the land. If I leave here, I will fall into the abyss.\" The holy man answered the devil, \"If God has given you the power to endure, endure. And if you have no might, I will cast you out.\" After the child was healed and recovered, Hilarion made the Maronners swear not to reveal his name. When he arrived on a high mountain in Cycle named Pachymum, he intended to give the Maronner a book of the Gospels he had written in his youth for him and his disciple Zazanius. The Maronner, seeing that he had nothing else, took it.Theologian would not have it known / He went far into the heart of the land, over twenty miles from the sea / And there, in a desert, he made a camp from the broken bows and wood fagots, and brushes / Charging and loading his disciple's neck to carry to the next town, to bring bread for their sustenance /\n\nAlas, let us consider the poverty of this holy man / And how much evil he suffered to reach heaven / We who have so much good / How shall we obtain it? I believe it will be with great pain /\n\nAnd yet, immediately after, through the marvelous works of his, the fame of the holy man spread throughout the land of Cecile / The first knowledge of him was through a man. This man had a devil within him / This man was brought to him.Church of St. Peter of Rome / And on a day among the others, the devil cried from the sick man's mouth. Within a short time, Hylary will enter Cecille. She intends to hide him, but I will go to him. I will manifest and show him throughout the land of Cecille, for such is God's pleasure /\n\nImmediately, the same man with his servants went to the sea. They came to a land in Pachium /\n\nAnd just as the devil brought him before the hermitage of St. Hylary. Incontinent was all healed /\n\nThis cure was the first miracle he made in Cecille /\n\nAnd after came to him innumerable sick people. Of whom he refused many great gifts they wanted to give him /\n\nConsidering him who said our Savior to his disciples, / I have given you grace without anything to give therefore. Give in the same way without taking anything /\n\nEsicius, disciple of St. Hylary, sought him in various places. He was there for three years.Deserts and mountains to seek him, / In a city named Matthone he found a Jew, / who said there was a Prophet in Cecille, / who performed infinite miracles, / so he was reputed and taken for a holy hermit. / Esicins asked him about his habit, / his tongue, and his age, / but he could not tell him anything, / for he had not seen him, / yet he said so by hearing it said, / Esicius came by chance to Pachium, / in a village where he demanded and inquired, / for the holy man, / whom everyone told him where he was, / because he was known to them all, / for the great miracles that he did, / whereof they marveled and never took anything from them but a piece of bread, / Esicius, by great diligence, found him, / and kneeled down before him, / weeping and kissing his feet, / St. Hilary received and relieved him, / And a little while after they went into a castle named Epidarium in Dalmatia, / where in a field there was.He dwelt a little time / \u00b6 But he was known in this place, as he had been in other places and countries. Where he had conversed and dwelt /\n\u00b6In the same place was a dragon marvelously great / The which not only destroyed goods, but also devoured and slew the herdsmen who kept livestock / \u00b6 Then the holy man caused a great heap or stack of wood to be brought / And caused it to be set on fire / \u00b6 And after he made his prayer to God. The which made the same dragon appear in the presence of all the people and burn himself within the said fire /\n\u00b6At that same time, and immediately after the death of Julian the Emperor, all the land trembled / \u00b6 And you see, from their places, spring out in such a way that it was supposed that the world would perish and be drowned by a second deluge or flood / \u00b6 And you ships were lifted up onto the mountains / \u00b6 And these Ephedrans, the Epidemians, came for refuge and succor to the holy man / And brought him to the river or coast.The sea, after he had made three signs of the Cross in the ground, suddenly descended and became low. And it came in to its usual custom. Here we ought to note the words that our Lord said to his apostles. Which are these? If you have true faith and command a mountain, it will go into the sea infallibly and without failing. Hilary did no less of a miracle. When the sea, which was in those parts, was so possessed that it covered all the land, the Inconvenient was withdrawn and became low. Of this miracle, all the people of the city were amazed. But because men began to honor him there, he departed by night into a city named Panam, which was in Cyprus, a noble city and much flourishing in poetry. Of its edifices and buildings, some had fallen down because the land trembled often. There were many people tormented by devils, which were within.The bodyes cried, but the holy man had not been there for twenty days before they did, in a high voice. Hylaryon, the servant of Jesus Christ, was in this land. To him we must all go. In the same way, in the city of Salomonicurium, Laphyte and many others cried out, saying that they must go to the holy man Hylaryon. But they did not know where he was.\n\nThirty days later, or about that time, many sick men came to the holy man Hylaryon. There were up to two hundred of them. They were healed and made well in eight days.\n\nHe lived there for two years, staying with Esicius, his disciple, whom he had sent to Palestine to visit the brethren of the monastery.\n\nAfter Esicius returned to him, they went back to Egypt. To a place named Botholya, they went, because no Christian man dwelt there, and the place was so inhospitable that no man could go there on foot. It was distant from the city two miles or more.About there were many trees and fair gardenses, but of fruit from them he never ate. There was also an old monastery, which was all in ruins or fallen down. By which was heard the sound of a man.\n\nThere he dwelt for five years, where few people went to see him because of the great harshness or difficulty of the place.\n\nOn a day, the holy man Hylarion coming into his garden saw a man paralyzed or taken with palsy before the gate.\n\nThen Escius asked him what he was and who had brought him there.\n\nHe answered that he was the Procurator of the town to whom the garden in which he was appointed belonged.\n\nThen he took him by the hand and said to him, \"In the name of God, my friend, arise and walk.\"\n\nA marvelous thing in saying these words. The limbs of the paralyzed man were restored in their strength and health. In such a way that he went upon his feet.thyme and miracle's fame spread and spread around, where the holy man Hylary wanted no longer to stay, not for any reason or changing of thought, but because he desired to live solitarily, without knowing any person. When he was forty years old, he felt himself much weakened, and because Esicius his disciple was then absent, he made a charter or letter with his own hand, by which he left to him all that he had: his robe, his frock, and his gospels. All these were no longer great. Many devout Religious of the city of Paun and with them a notable woman named Constance came to him at prayers, because he was in a dispositions to die. He spoke with them as he had requested, and nevertheless commanded that, as he should be inconinent, they should put him in.the earth near to his house, and before he died, he said to his soul, \"What dreadest thou, my soul? Go out of my body. Why art thou afraid? It has been thirty years since you served Jesus Christ. And now you dread to die. And thus speaking, he returned his spirit to God. They buried him within the garden.\n\nAnon, after his disciple Esicius, who was in Palestine, knew of his departure, he came into Cyprus. And when he was in the garden where he was buried, he feigned that he would dwell there. To prevent any suspicion or misdeed that he would transport and carry away the body of Saint Hilary, but he worked so secretly that ten months after, he stole him away and transported or carried him to Maximian's ancient and old church. In which the same Esicius, and also all the men and religious thereabout, were present.buried him in his frock and his pelican; Whych is said to be whole; St. Hilary is yet as he was in plain life, Giving out wonders and marvelously smelling sweet;\n\nThe good woman Constantia, who had been accustomed in courteous waking to pass the time in making her prayers there, as he had been alive;\n\nWhen she knew that he was transported and taken from thence, She felt the great love that she had for him: Rendered and gave herself utterly to God;\n\nAnd yet precisely by this occasion there is great question between them of Cyprus and of Palestine;\n\nFor the Cyprus people say that they have the spirit;\n\nAnd the people of Palestine say to have the body;\n\nNevertheless, in Cyprus, at this day, more miracles have been done to the praising of him than in Palestine;\n\nPerhaps for almost as much as he loved the place,\n\nOr because only God plays a part in that it is done so;\n\nThus ends this Procession of the right holy and blessed St. Hilary.A man named Malachy lived in the city of Carmas in Syria, about thirty miles distant from Antioch. Malachy, meaning Syrian in the Latin tongue, was an holy man born in Syria. With him was an old woman who appeared always ready to die. They were so continually in the church that they seemed like Zachary and Elizabeth in their devotion.\n\nThe people of the same city asked Saint Jerome if Malachy and the old woman were married or related. He replied that they were holy and devout persons towards God.\n\nSaint Jerome then went to visit the holy man Malachias. Malachy told him that he was born in a place named Nyzibam, and had only Herytour for his father and mother.The whyche for to contynue their lygnage. wold ha\u00a6ue constrayned hym to take the Sacra\u00a6ment of Maryage / And nothwythston\u00a6dynge that he was by his fader strong\u00a6ly menaced and threrenyd / And of hys moder affectuously requyred for to ma\u00a6rye hym / \u00b6 Neuerthelesse he loued beter to these the state of Relygyon. and to re\u00a6nounce and forsake the world / \u00b6 After he sayde to hym. that for doubte of the Romayns that made watche vpon the passages. and of other men of the say\u2223de countree / He durste not goo in to the Eeste / But wente hym in to the Weste \u00b6He sayde to hym also that he had be in an Hermytage. whyche was namyd Calcidt it was temptacyon of the deuyll / \u00b6 And alle\u2223ged and shewed to hym for the same many fayre hystoryes of some Relygy\u00a6ouses. whyche in lyke caas hadd be de\u2223ceyued\n/ \u00b6 For the denyll vnder the co\u2223loure of good thynge. temptyth alwaye the persone for to make him to accom\u2223plysshe and doo some euyll / \n\u00b6 He sayde ferdermore that his Ab\u2223bott hadde sayde to hym / That he re\u2223sembled and was lyke thehoundes. The one who had made his vomit returned and received it again. And for prayer that the abbot would do, he would not consent to stay. How is it that he knelt down on his knees before him, praying that he should not go but stay with him in prayer and show that he who puts his hand to the plow, that is, enters into religion? And he looked back? Is not worthy to have the kingdom of heaven?\n\nAlas said Malachy to St. Irons. I was well content and unhappy. When by his exhortations I would not stay with him, he said to me:\n\nHa, my son, I ought to be angry. For I see the devil marking you with the sign of damned men. And like a sheep that leaps.\n\nThere I ate nothing but soft cheese and milk. But always.I prayed to God and said such psalms as I had learned. With the Religiouses I had left,\nThe Lord of whom I had kept the sheep for reward, as I had kept them well,\nwould have compelled me to take in marriage this woman. She was a prisoner with me,\nAnd because I would not take her, but in excuse I said that I was a Christian and she was not,\nand also that her husband was yet living. He was a prisoner with another lord,\nHe drew out a sword and would have slain me, If I had not promised to espouse the same woman prisoner,\nThat night we were shut both in a great pit, In which I said to myself,\nAlas, what has it profited to have left father and mother, and also my country,\nto avoid marriage. If now I marry myself,\nI suppose this adversity has come to me because I have desired to return to my country,\nAh, my soul, what shall we do,\nAlas, I shall kill myself. It is better that I kill myself.be saved. Then I was to take a wife in marriage and be damned eternally, longingly / After I had said these words, I took a sword / And set the point against my stomach. To this saying woman, / O poor wretch, take me now as a martyr in marriage, / Otherwise thou shalt never have me as husband / Then the good woman prisoner knelt down before me / and began to cry / Hap my friend. I pray thee in the name of God, do not kill thyself / So that thy blood may not lose mine / If thou wilt kill thyself, kill me first / And so, as martyrs, we shall be married / I say to thee truly that when my husband shall be from henceforth with me, / He shall never touch me / For from this hour forth, I make a promise to keep chastity / Therefore then, why wilt thou kill thyself. If thou takest me in marriage, / If it were that thou wouldest have me otherwise, / I would rather kill myself than consent to be thy wife. / But I pray thee that thou takest me as thy wife.to thy wife, and I shall take thee as my husband in earnest. In loving my soul and hating my body, they shall scarcely believe that we are married. And we shall be married hastily when they see us love one another.\n\nThen I was much admired by her constance and wisdom. And I loved her better than if she had been my own wife. And we have lived together as husband and wife for a long time.\n\nNevertheless, I saw her never naked, nor she me, nor did one touch the other.\n\nThe said Malachi recited and told also to Saint Jerome. That once, among other things, as he went to pasture and feed the beasts, he saw a mill hill full of ants. And for a long time I paid attention to the manner of their living. Considering how some of them were able to sustain and continue their life greater in part and heavier by half than themselves. And he saw some following them that could not bear.And they were never idle. When one of them emerged from his hole to go eat, the other would not part from the one he had opened to relieve himself and overload his fellow.\n\nThe condition of the uncle is such, that when he bears any grain, as it should not grow within the hole in the earth, he takes away the said grain, for in the granary it would make him incontinent with grain.\n\nConsidering this affliction, the saying of Solomon applies: the one who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he sent the slothful to the monks or uncles.\n\nPondering these things, he said to himself, as St. Jerome relates, that he was the most slothful of all mankind. And by this means he imagined how he might escape from the servitude in which he was, to find some monastery in which he might serve God profitably and shorten his days.\n\nOn this purpose he returned home, but he could not hide from his wife this heaviness of his heart. After that, he had...declared and showed to her his cas (treasures) /\nAdmonished and counseled him to flee by night. / Then the said Malachyas said that he had in his flock two beers. Which he would first sleep on /\nAnd from their two hides he made two sacks to carry the flesh of the two beers /\nAnd when this was done, / He and his wife departed, signaling all in the house to sleep / Then they left and went their way without making great noise /\nAnd after they had gone ten miles or thereabouts, / They found a River. Which they crossed prudently /\nFor when they were within the River, they went within it, descending well low from their first way, to take another /\nSo that if anyone came to seek them, they would not find the imprints of their feet /\nAnd because they feared the depth of the said River, they passed the water upon their sacs, which were full of their beers' flesh /\nThe said flesh was so hurt, that they could not keep it long.After Malachy spoke to St. Jerome, we feared greatly when we saw the Lord and His servant on the brink of the pit, which we had accidentally discovered in our progress towards the end of his case. Malachy recalled that the Lord and His servant had come there upon the brink of the said pit. The Lord made His servant go down into the pit because he was troubled by the darkness, having come out of the brightness of the sun, and he could not recognize them. And when he had entered within a height of three cubits, he began to cry out, \"Come out, you wicked thieves. You shall soon be slain.\" But Incontinent was taken by a lioness instead. The Lord, seeing that His servant had been carried away for a long time and strongly enraged, came to the said pit. But as soon as he entered there, he was in turn strangled by a lion.wife saw the lord and his yoman slain. They were afraid that the beasts would kill them and dared not move from the spot. But they were armed with the wall of clean conscience. A marvelous thing, the brute beasts were more ready to defend them than they were themselves. On the morning before that, the said beasts departed from them and left Malachy and his wife there. But they dared not go out for the great fear they had. And when the evening came they went out of the pit mentioned above. And they found the two camels on which the lord and his yoman rode. And they both mounted them immediately. The tenth day after they came to Rome. There, having arrived there, they reported all their cases to a Tribune Romane. And after they were sent to Sabituus, duke of Mesopotamia, and there they sold their camels. And because Abbot Malchus was dead in the town of Caromas in Syria, he dwelt withRelying on this, he set his wife among the virgins,\nThink you now that you, chaste and virgins,\nObserving and keeping chastity and virginity,\nWill not long be in captivity,\nNor will wild beasts disturb or grieve you,\nAnd know for certain that, though we are all mortal,\nYou shall never see a chaste person and pure of heart overcome or put under the control of an enemy.\nThus ends this present treatise of St. Malachy.\n\nSt. Paul, surnamed the Simple, was one of St. Anthony's disciples. He made himself a hermit because his wife had given herself to another man. When he learned of this, he was greatly troubled.\n\nNevertheless, he told it to no one. Instead, he went into the deserts. After a long time, he returned and put himself in the monastery of St. Anthony. Upon arriving there, he asked and demanded:The way. By which he might be saved, Saint Anthony said to him that it was necessary for him to do and comply with all that was commanded to him. The which answered that he would do so. Then Saint Anthony, willing to test his constance, said to him: \"Abide here at this door until I have prayed God in my oratory.\" Saint Anthony was there one night and one day, whole but nevertheless Saint Paul did not depart or remove himself, but he beheld often through the window what he did within. And knew that continually he prayed without moving himself. On the morrow, Saint Anthony preached to him of many signs and teachings, showing him that at times he must labor and refresh his spirits, whereby he should afterwards be more prompt and ready for prayer to God. Also with all his thoughts and strength he should be armed to keep the commandments of God. And even in taking his refreshment. After this.He had instructed and taught him in all necessary things for his health. He gave him a little hermitage, three miles from him, to which St. Anthony frequently went to visit him. He always found him in fervent devotion. In observing and keeping the rules and commands that he had given him,\n\nOn a day, St. Anthony was visited by some brothers, who lived rigorously and righteously. Among them was St. Paul the Simple,\n\nAnd as it happened, they spoke of the holy scripture and the deeds of Jesus Christ and the prophets. St. Paul, because of his simplicity, asked if God had been before the prophets. St. Anthony, seeing his imbecility and simplicity, commanded him to hold his peace and depart humbly.\n\nSo he departed without answering anything. And when St. Anthony saw that he was so humble and obedient,\n\nHe was greatly admired,\n\nAnd afterwards he commanded him to be brought back.He should speak and explain why he hadn't, to whom he answered, because he had been commanded to do so. Then St. Anthony was much joyous and glad to undo his gown and sew it again, and he was most obedient and humble in many other things. By this manner he came to perfection. Therefore St. Anthony said, \"He who ever wants to be perfect should not be master, nor obey his own will, whether they are reasonable or not. Our Savior says elsewhere, 'All vices one ought to renounce his own will.' And with that he says in another place, 'I am not descended and come into this world for doing and fulfilling my will, but the will of him who sent me. That is my God, almighty. The will of the Son was never contrary to the will of the Father. Also, he who was the Doctor of obedience when he had done his will, he had not been.\"In spite of God's will, being obedient is more pleasing to Him than any sacrifices. God performed greater miracles for St. Paul than for St. Anthony. From all regions, sick people came to him to recover their health. Seeing this, St. Anthony, fearing he would be overwhelmed, sent them to St. Paul instead. Those who failed to recover through St. Anthony's prayers were immediately healed by St. Paul. Among them was a man who was so mad that he was far removed from himself due to his illness.All who came to him, Saint Paul began to pray to God, and commanded the devil tormenting him to depart from his body. But because the devil departed not, and continued to be inconvenient after he had commanded him, Saint Paul began to speak to God as little children do, saying:\n\nTruly my God, I shall not eat this day if thou wilt not heal this sick man.\n\nAnd at once he was healed. All the miracles that God had granted to him, he received because of his great obedience. Therefore, every person ought to enforce himself to be obedient to God in observing and keeping His commandments.\n\nThus ends the life of Saint Pol the simple Hermit.\n\nSaint Jerome says: If all my members were turned into tongues, and all they longed for worthy of praise, yet they would not suffice to praise the venerable Saint Paula sufficiently. She was noble of parents, but much more noble of holiness of life, rich in patrimony.But more rich for having renounced and forsaken the goods of this world, she complained to God all the days of her life, saying, \"Alas, poor sinners what shall I do? My life is prolonged, I dwell overlong in this corruptible world, in which there is nothing but sin and filth. And because she called herself a pilgrim in this world, she often desired death and to be with Christ. The most part of her time she was like one because of the great abstinences she made. Nevertheless, she armed herself with patience and said, \"I chastise my body and put it in servitude, to the end that by myself I be not reproved when I reprove others. And in this great patience, she saw heaven open to receive her and said, \"Who shall give to me wings that I may fly and rest myself in Paradise? She loved all the time of her life the sure state of poverty. For when she died, she was more poor than those whom she gave alms to. Her father was called.Topicus, of the lineage of Agamemnon, who held siege before Troy for ten years and eventually destroyed it, was his mother named Basyle, from the lineage of Scypsions Greeks. This Topicus, say I Jerome. He shall have a hundred times more in the end, that is, the realm of heaven. This is true in Saint Paul.\n\nFor the city of Rome, which she left with all riches and vanity of the same city,\n\nShe is most remarkably renowned among many precious stones, the most precious and of excellent virtue shining,\n\nLike the sun gives greater light than the moon, in the same way Saint Paula among all holy women most excellently shines,\n\nShe fled and eschewed the glory of this world,\n\nAnd therefore it is to be noted that after the death of her husband Topicus,\n\nShe distributed and dealt with one half of his goods to the poor people,\n\nOf whom some were nourished. and others.clothed and buried those who had died, and when a poor body was carried and supported by another, she was sorry, as if she had lost much. When she had lived a long time and led such a holy life, she could not endure and suffer the praises of the world. By this occasion, many lords came to visit her. Then she began to despise temporal honor, longing to go into desert to do penance.\n\nAt that time, the bishops of the East and the West came to Rome for the descent and strife of some churches. Among them, Saint Paula saw a notable and good man named Paulinus, bishop of Antioch, and another named Epiphanius, bishop of the city of Salamis in Cyprus. The city now called Constantia. And the venerable Epiphanius was lodged in her house. And because of the great virtues of these bishops, she was inflamed with love of God more than before, and she determined in herself to:She left her house in such a manner that neither for children nor for the nobility of her household nor for her possessions did she ever withdraw from her holy purposes.\n\nAnd after the winter had passed, the same bishops ordered them to return to their churches. Then she went with them to the hermitages of St. Anthony and St. Paul.\n\nAfter that she had sailed by the sea, she disembarked at a port named Fratre. And there came to her all her parents and friends. Her child, the little Toxocius, held up his hands to his mother St. Paula. Her daughter Ruffine, who was ready to be married, wept and begged her to tarry and stay until the wedding was done. But the good lady, with firm constance, held up her hands and eyes to heaven.She heaven/ In having greater pity in her soul. than for her children/ To whom she showed no more affection/ than if they had not been her children/ Nor they their mother/\n\nIt ought here to be noted that\nNature should be strongly moved to pity and compassion when she saw her children thus strongly weeping after her.\nBut nevertheless she was constant and steadfast. and returned not/\n\nAlas, there is no martyrdom more sharp/ than to depart from friends/\nAlas, is this not a work against nature/ To leave, forsake, and abandon thus her children/\nYou may well think that she had great faith/ and singular love for God/\nAnd it may be believed that she was so wise and prudent that she loved them with a fierce love well ordered/\nBefore she departed, she had given to them all her goods/\n\nThe ship thence made no stay/ for any prayer that her children made/She could not see them without some heaviness, so she turned her eyes from them and from the ridge where they were. In effect, the ship sailed so swiftly that after many days they appeared and came to a land in the vicinity of Punice. Since the wind was not great but calm among the stony sea and many perilous passages, one of which was named Cylla, another Carthdis, another Adriaticus, which are dangerous in the sea due to the rocks there. They descended and came to a land. In going to a land, she felt her limbs so weary and overtraveled that she should have died.\n\nThere she took a little refreshment to comfort herself. After that, she had been in Citharee, Rodes, and other many islands. She came to the island of Cyprus. In this place, she sojourned with the aforementioned Bishop Epiphanius for ten days.\n\nThen, when she had visited all the monasteries there, she took to the sea and came to the land of Syllice.After she came to Antioch. And there she stayed for a little while with the bishop Pauline. The good lady, who was born with ten emperors, had not declared before walking all these ways that she was a poor Asle. She visited not only the holy places in the aforementioned lands, but also in Syria and Phoenicia. Saint Jerome makes no mention of this. He has written only what has been found in holy histories. After she had passed Iliberis, Rome, and Cologne, she entered a little town named Sarepta between Tyre and Syria. Since she went about all that land, it would be a long thing to recount what she did on this journey. Eventually, she came to Jerusalem. The principal of the city, holding the office of proconsul, made preparations for her a little place upon her arrival. Jerusalem, which is called Iesus, Salem, and Ierusalem, was the destination.Before she retired to the hermitage, she visited the holy places and worshiped at the cross, where our Lord was crucified for the redemption of mankind. There, she shed many tears.\n\nShe also saw in that place where, according to the prophecy of Joel, the holy ghost descended upon six score persons.\n\nAfterward, she went to Bethelehem. On the right side of the way, she paused to see the sepulcher of Rachel in the place where Benjamin was born.\n\nUpon arriving at the place where our Lord was born in the stable, she began to contemplate. She remembered how the child was laid and wrapped in swaddling clothes by his blessed mother.\n\nLikewise, she imagined herself drawing out her breasts or teats to nurse him.\n\nShe also saw in her vision the three kings worshipping the little child and the star that guided and led them.\n\nFurthermore, she pondered these events.and allowed the Innocents there to be slain / And how blessed St. Paula said to herself, \"Wretched sinners that I am. God has shown to me more than appears to me / When now I may kiss the manger where my Lord God lay after he was born / Also to pray in the place where the virgin bore and was delivered of a child / Here my body shall rest perpetually. Like as David says in the Psalter in the hundred and one and thirty psalm /\nThen St. Paula said, \"Now I am in the courtyard where the Savior of the world has chosen to make Redemption for mankind / My soul and all my lineage shall serve him / And after she descended to the Tower of Ader. Nearby was this, / Jacob did pasture his sheep / And the shepherds also heard the angels sing at the Nativity of our Lord, saying, \"Gloria in excelsis Deo. Et cetera.\" That is, \"Glory be to God in the highest / And on earth peace to men of good will.\" /\nFrom thence she went toShe went to Gaza, taking the right hand road. She came to Bethsur and to Eschol. Afterward, she went to Saras, and from there she came to Hebron, which is called Kiriath-jearim. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Adam the Great are said to be buried there. Many claim that the fourth man was called Caleph.\n\nShe went to the place where Lazarus was raised in the house of Mary Magdalene and Martha. Following the same way, she was on her way to Jericho. She remembered the purification of waters made by the baptism of our Savior Jesus Christ. Because all the waters were foul and stinking with humanity, it would be long to recount the mysteries of the valley.She went to the lake of Thiberias, where our Lord sailed over it into the desert. There, with five loaves and two fish, five thousand men were fed and sustained. Twelve baskets were filled with the fragments and leftovers. Afterward, she went up into the mountain of Tabor, where God transformed himself. From there, she saw the mountains of Hermon and Hermonium, and the country of Galilee, where the Exercitus of Caesar was defeated and put under subjugation by Baruth. She saw also the Torrent of the flood of Cyson, which destroyed all of Galilee, and the star called by the name of Jupiter, in which the son of the widow was raised. She came also to Egypt and Sochot, where Samson made a fountain gush out of a great tooth of a jawbone. And afterward, she came to the flood of Syor, which is to say, trouble, and to the sepulcher of Micha, the prophet, where there was a church at that time. She passed also by Choreos and Gethe. She tookAfter the sea, Paula and Mary came immediately into Bethlehem. They found lodging where she dwelt for three years.\n\nGloryous Paula, Mary and Joseph could find no lodging. And you found it well.\n\nGod does more honor in this world to his servants than he did for himself.\n\nSaint Paula made many celibate and monasteries to lodge pilgrims. This is written about her pilgrimage.\n\nThe fairest of which is her humility. Which was in her so perfectly that she held and reputed herself in virtue less than her chambermaids. And notwithstanding that she had by her many virgins. Always in clothing, language, and walking she was the least of all others.\n\nAfter her husband's death, until her last day, she ate never with man. Whatever knowledge or imagination that she had of his holiness or dignity approved.\n\nShe never complained but for necessity of sickness. She never had a soft bed.She endured suffering, lying on the ground, her hair or robe of skins beneath her. Considering the psalmist in Psalm eight, \"I will wash my bedsheets and couch with tears,\" she did so. Night and day she was in prayer. And when she was forced to rest from prayer due to the pain of her sight, caused by her continual weeping, she answered, \"It is fitting to chastise and defile the face I have so carefully made fair. Is it not reasonable that I chastise my body through penance, which has been so nourished in worldly delights and fleshly pleasures? Long laughters and joyful games must be changed into weeping and wailing. And for the silken clothes I have worn, I shall clothe myself all my life with hair. And in as much as I have played my husband and the world, I now desire to please God. To declare,Her chastity and virtues were unsurpassed. Therefore, it is never possible to write about anyone else.\n\nThere was never one more generous or wealthy. If she saw a poor body, she sustained and helped him. If she knew one who was rich, she admonished and urged him to do well. The poor never departed from her, but if he had her alms, he was to remember the words of our Savior: \"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.\" And likewise, alms quench sin as water quenches fire.\n\nDaniel the prophet admonished and warned Nebuchadnezzar, saying to him: \"By your sins, be purged through alms. Her money was not used to buy precious stones to make rings of gold to put on her fingers, as now the burghers' wives do. But she turned it into fair marches. That is to say, into virtues.\"The soul suffices not only to do alms, / Many there are that have done great alms / And seem outwardly without, full of the grace of God / But they are often overcome and vanquished by the temptation of the flesh / And within their souls they are rotten and mortified /\n\nIt suffices not only to give houses, gold, silver, or other revenues for the honor of God / But also it is necessary to give one's skin /\n\nThe good Job was not only persecuted in his goods and his children. but also in his body /\n\nRight so did the devout St. Paula / For with this that she gave her goods for the love of God / She gave and abandoned her body to penance by fasting and prayers. and to wear the hair, and other mortifications. but if it were a day of great feast. she would take any oil for her meat and refreshment /\n\nAs thunder and tempest are much inclined by nature to torment and cast down high places and mountains enhanced and raised on.Right, this is the envious inclination, more active and obstinate, which quenches and brings to naught the loos and good fame of virtuous persons and well-renowned ones. This happened to the holy and devout Paula. To the detriment and hurt of her fair virtues, but to the exaltation and sovereign perfection of them. She, bearing fruit in good works, was envied by an evil papal and hypocrite. This wicked one continually tempted and detracted her, trying to bring her to impiety. But she acted prudently and wisely, using her utility and profit. In gathering and helping virtue up against the said detractions, she humbled herself as much as she could, like one who would be the greatest sinner of all other men. And when she was advised to go her way, she answered:\n\nI know that the devil...gyuth always battles the creatures of God, in whatever place they may be, and therefore, if I were to depart, he should give me commissions or allowances and battles in other places, perhaps greater than these he gives me now. On the other hand, because I know well that there is no country so holy as this of Bethlehem, I have concluded not to depart from the place where I am. The enemy is overcome by patience and humility. Pride, the scripture says, does not say that he who is struck on one cheek should not return the other. The apostles also rejoiced when they should be martyred, for the honor of Jesus Christ. Our Savior made himself taking of our nature when he took on mankind. If Job had not been patient in his adversities, he would not have heard the voice of our Savior speaking to him. Think of Job that I have sent the persecution and trouble, but to the end that you should be reputed and rewarded.They that endure tribulation are reputed and thought well in the Gospel, and considering these things, she sought to fruitify her patience. When the envious Adad sometimes bothered her with injurious and wrongful words, she said with the Psalmist, \"When the sinner addresses him to do me wrong, I have restrained or hidden my word. As if I had been mute or dumb, as a deaf man I heard nothing, and as a dumb man opened not my mouth.\" The temptations come not to the persons but to prove them if they love God with all their heart and soul. She recalled and called to mind the word of Isaiah, which says, \"You who are now out from the papases, that is to say, in age, abide tribulation upon tribulation. Hope upon hope ought to be had against an evil and serpentine tongue full of venom. For patience is proven in tribulation, and by patience is strength gained, and by that virtue is hope obtained. And he that has.\"\"stedfast hope shall never be confounded. Whoever is in adversity, he ought to arm himself with strength, patience, and hope. But those who are impetuous have been known to say, \"I have endured enough,\" and take the best way they can in patience. Nevertheless, God helps me not. I have hope He will help me, but it is long ere it comes. Such murmurers have done great wrong and are not patient, but full of all impetuence. For God has said, \"In due time I have strengthened you, and in the day of health I have helped you.\" It behooves us then not at all to fear the venomous and wicked tongues. But we ought to rejoice if we are wrongfully blamed, continually seeking the help of God. Yet whatever adversity we have, we are not worthy to have the glory of heaven.\n\nWhen Saint Paul was much sick, she said that she was stronger then, for adversities and maladies had given her immortality. And yet she said, \"Likewise.\"\"The passions of Jesus Christ tormented me. In the same way, consolation and comfort from Jesus Christ come to me in abundance.\n\nThose who share in passion shall also share in consolation.\n\nIn despair, Saint Paul sang, \"Why art thou heavy in my soul? Why art thou displeased with me? Have hope in God. For I will yet confess him as my God and Savior of my soul.\"\n\nWhen she was in peril, she said with our Lord, \"Whoever wishes to keep his soul must lose it, and whoever wishes to lose his soul for the love of God, he shall save it.\"\n\nWhen it was said to her that she was too generous and that by this means all her patrimony was dispersed, she answered, \"What profit is it to win all the world if one loses his soul and damns it? What merchandise can a man take in recompense for his soul? If I were to say that the riches of this world are the cause of the damnation of the soul, I also say that I am born in.\"this world is naked, and I shall return naked. Nothing in this world should be desired, for all that is in the world is nothing but fleshly desire and the evil concupiscence of our eyes. In the end, all shall pass away, but the good virtues we acquire in this mortal world will remain with us and precede us before death. And in the same way, our evils and foul sins will accompany us.\n\nOnce, a pious religious man named Saint Paula came to the said godly lady [Saint Paula]. He said to her, \"Because of the great abundance of your wealth, it is necessary and urgent for you to take medicines for your brain.\"\n\nTo the words and propositions of this good religious man, the good lady answered, \"My brother in God, we are all similar and alike. That is, in a place where all the men in this world will be assembled, we are all called fools for the love of Jesus Christ. By cause we have set our love and devotion in him.\"And therefore I find comfort in the sayings and words of God our maker, who says to his apostles: For this reason the world hates you, for you are not of the world, and if we were of the world, the world would love you. The Jews said to our sweet Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ, \"He is a Samaritan, and he has a devil in him, and he cast out devils by the name of Belzebul, the prince of devils. Those who ought to require his mercy from him were the ones who were cast out.\" After these words, the godly and devout Saint Paula addressed her words to God our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ, saying to him in this manner: \"O my God, my Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ, you know the affection and desire that I have for you, and the great love that I bear, and how I am ready and prepared to obey and comply with your commandments in my little power. You know and are aware of all my thoughts.\"Of my heart, on the other side you see and know well all the injuries done to your servants. And yet they always remember. If we keep all your commandments and have our heart only on one other than on it, we are like and seemly to beasts. Which are brought to sacrifice. My lord God, I count nothing in. Such fruitless words and deceitful. For I have hope that you will always be my helper in all my affairs and deeds. And for that cause I fear nothing from any man. For every man who honors you shall always be comforted. And also there ought not to be any person of the world afraid of what authority or estate that he be of, but only you.\n\nThe said good lady Saint Paul also observed and kept good peace in all her tribulations until her death. In considering that they then enforce them to do displays of vengeance to their enemies, they did it again to themselves.And all their ferocity and madness return against themselves.\nThe said good and right devout lady Saint Paula had great virtues in her and great charity. She gave for the love of God all her goods and abandoned and forsook all temporal things for heavenly things. Her virgins were much noble, beautiful, soft, gracious, amiable, and debonair or meek, marvelously. The which she had assembled from diverse provinces.\nThe devout lady Saint Paula had divided them into three companies, and on every company she had appointed a mistress over them.\nAnd notwithstanding that they were separate and alone touching their eating and drinking, yet they were together for praying to God.\nThey had among them a sign to sing Alleluia,\nAnd inconsequently as it was sung,\nShe came first herself for moving the other virgins to come to prayer,\nAt the hour of Terce, at Sext, at None, and at Vespers.That is to write at hour of matins they sang the sawter, and they were all constrained to come to it. And every day they learned something of holy scripture. On Sundays, each company of the said virgins, with their mistress, came to the church to pray and serve God at all the hours aforementioned. And all the other days of the week they labored and worked to make robes and other vestments for poor people or for themselves. If anyone came late, or if among them there was any complaint or debate, by fairness she brought them again into love. She constrained the virgins to fast to chastise the flesh. And when they saw they had pain in the stomach, she answered to them that is:\n\nOn a time in the month of July, for the great heat of the sun, she had the fevers or agues. The physicians counseled her that she should eat more nourishing food than she had been accustomed, and also that she should drink wine. For the waterShe drank might cause her to have the dropsy / But neither for the shop Epiphanius, nor for anything else, would she eat anything other than what she had been accustomed to /\nAlas, if we pay attention to her life, we shall find that she made good connections and merchants /\nAnd she wept in this world to the end that she might laugh in the other /\nShe wore the hair / to the end that she might have fair vestments and precious ones in heaven /\nShe fasted devoutly to have spiritual refreshment. And she sought all the goods of this world to be rich in heaven /\nAnd despised worldly glory for eternal glory /\n\nOn a time she went to an hermit, who proposed many questions /\nThe first question was: What sign might a child do who was tormented by the devil? /\nThe second: In what age do men and women arise from death to life? /\nAdjusting to this demand or question, if she said in the age in which we die, then it would be...behold you to have nurses for the children who died in young age / & also before the time that they were sure of the papases / And if she said that they should arise in another age / Then it should not be Resurrection / But only transformation out of one body into another / After he demanded if women should arise as women. and men in the form of men. Or otherwise / Concluding if they arose in the form of men and women / That they should be married in paradise / And if all should arise in the form of men / That the Resurrection should not be of those bodies that were dead /\n\nAnd whenever such questions were proposed to her /\nShe recounted them to Saint Jerome /\nThe which, in speaking to the said Heretic, and putting him other questions, confounded him in this manner /\n\nFirst, Saint Jerome demanded of him if he believed in the Resurrection in general /\nThe Heretic answered Yes /\nFor it is an article of faith /\nSecondly he asked him.\"demanded if the body that died should rise again / He answered. Yes, it is also true / Thirdly he demanded. If the bodies should arise in the sex or kind in which they should be dead / That is, if a man should arise in the likeness of a man / And also a woman in the likeness of a woman / To this demand or question the heretic answered nothing / Therefore, St. Jerome said to him / Since you will not answer, I shall answer for you / If a man does not rise in the likeness of a man / And a woman in the likeness of a woman / Then it should not be the Resurrection of them that died / The Resurrection which you grant / And also it is true / We have proved this from our Lord Jesus Christ / Who, when he rose, showed his wounds which he had received on the cross / Also when St. Thomas touched him in his side / Said not our Lord to his disciples / Behold and see my wounds / To the end\"That certainly you believe that I am he who has been crucified. Then, after our Lord's Resurrection was seen and touched, and his disciples heard him speak, it is clearly apparent that he arose in the likeness of a man, not a woman. For by his members it appears that he had a body. Since the body is not without members, nor the members without a body, it must be concluded that men shall rise as men, and women as women. Regarding the conclusion that the heretic made, in saying that marriages ought to be made in heaven, St. Jerome answered that there should be none. Our Lord says that after the general Resurrection, there will never be marriage. And by this scripture says that there shall be none married. If it is argued that we shall be like good angels, the proposition ought to be understood that we shall be similar or like to them in conversation and behavior.Blessedness / As promised to us. Not by nature / Saint John Baptist, before he was beheaded, was called an angel, but for that he did not have the nature of angels / The similitude or gentleness of angels is only promised in holiness of life / But the nature will not be changed / If anyone argues that God ate after His Resurrection, then we shall eat after we have been raised / The argument is not convincing / For this reason it was done for the approval and verification of the holy Resurrection / He also, when He had raised the said Lazarus, who had been dead for four days, ate with him / Also the daughter of the Synagogue immediately after God had raised her, commanded that food should be given to her / To the end that those who saw these raisings and heard of them should not be able to say that they were fantastical bodies / But were true bodies which had been dead and raised again / Regarding the question of the child.Vexed of the devil. Why which had not sinned, and in what age we shall arise, Saynt Jerome says that the judgments of God are as a great swelling. His science is also unknown to us. Never man knew what God has in His intent and purposes.\n\nSecondly, with Saynt Jerome, it should be noted that a man, when he is ten or twenty, or thirty, or a hundred years old, is none other than who he is, but two or three, or four years old. And nevertheless, according to the traditions and sayings of the church, and the doctrine of St. Paul, we shall rise in the age of perfection. In which our Lord arose from thirty to thirty years, and in which age Adam was formed, after the Jewish witness.\n\nReturning then to St. Paula, and speaking of her intent, Saynt Jerome says that she kept and observed the commandment that says, \"And Israel shall dwell securely,\" that is to say,\n\nMan here and be still,\n\nFor the good lady Paula was well-pleased to hear this.And she was curious and eager to have books of holy scripture. She read them gladly. And to profit more in them, she convinced Saint Jerome to explain to her the Old Testament and the New. But whenever for any doubts he hesitated to explain certain propositions to her, saying to her that he could not explain them, she would not believe him. But through continuous interrogations and desires, she convinced him to explain them according to the most apparent or likely sentence. Her understanding was so great that she learned the Hebrew language from Saint Jerome. In such a way that she sang the psalms of the Psalter in the Hebrew language and sang no more in Latin. After we have recorded her holy life and conversation, that is, her glorious departure from this world.\n\nWhen the good lady Saint Paula felt that she had no more heat but a little in her stomach, she began to say these words:Follow in weeping and wailing bitterly. O my God, I have desired the beauty of thy heaven and glory, O Lord, that thy tabernacles and dwelling places are fair and shining. O Lord God, I have more desire to be in thy house, that is in the church, than to dwell with them of the world. Immediately after she ceased to speak, and Saint Iherom seeing that she answered not to any thing that he demanded or asked of her, he asked why she answered not. And if she had in her heart any heaviness or grief, the good lady answered in Greek, \"No,\" but she saw all joy and gladness. After she spoke no more, but signed herself with the sign of the Cross. There were diverse bishops, as well of Jerusalem as of other places, and with them were great numbers of priests and innumerable companies of virgins and religious. In their presence, she heard our Lord, who called her, saying, \"Come to me, my spouse, my beloved.\" For the winter and the rain have passed. To come.The flowers are on the earth. The time of Easter has come. I believe to see the goods of our Lord in the land of living people. And in saying this, she returned her blessed soul to God. But in doing so, the people present were not moved to weeping and wailing, like men of the world nowadays do for their parents and friends, whom they have soon forgotten. But the merchants set their hands on the bier. The others heard lamps and tapers, and sang devoutly, Impnes and Psalms, in the midst of the church. And in the sepulcher of our Lord, where our Savior Jesus Christ was buried. All the people of the cities of Palestine came to her funeral. And so many religious men and women were there, that it was marvelous to see and behold. And in effect, if any had defaulted who had not been at their last service, they were reputed and held as sacrileges. The widows and poor widows, to the example of.Dorcade showed them the vestments which the good lady Saint Paula had made. And generally all poor people cried after her, as was their custom:\nLet us then think, wretched sinners,\nAnd primarily those who amass and possess great riches and treasures,\nHow the good lady Paula abandoned and forsook all her treasures,\nFor God's sake, to give away,\nShe gave away all she could,\nShe retained and kept nothing for herself,\nThink merchants what merchandises she made,\nWhen she changed all her gold and her silver into incommutable things,\nShe renounced all for the purpose of being righteously poor,\n\nSaint Jerome addressed his words to the daughter of Saint Paula, who was very devout:\nRejoice in yourself, my daughter,\nFor I know that you have but little good in this world,\nBut you ought to enjoy it for the sake of your holy mother.Whyche, long suffering martyr, is crowned in heaven's glory. She spared the great riches for thee, for thou shalt have by succession thy God, who is more Riches than all the gold in the world. Thus in Bethlehem, where God was born and died gloriously, lived the glorious saint Paula. Her soul flew into heaven in eternal glory and bliss.\n\nThe eternal God, in one essence and three persons, grants this to us through the merits and prayers of the glorious saints, Saint Paula and Saint Jerome, her singular and most special friend in this world and the next. Amen.\n\nAmong you who wish to know, God our maker will not abandon a Christian man, however great a sinner he be. Hear and often read the life of Saint Pelagia, and you shall know if you will return to God our Maker through penance and have forgiveness for your sins. Then, in the end, mercy for your sins.sy\u0304\u2223nais ye oughte to reioyce yourselfe of that ye here / \u00b6 For it is alle ayde and comforte that comyth to you. And also cause of lamentacyon / \u00b6 An holy bysshop of Anthyoche for certayne cau\u00a6se callyd togyder for certayne causes al\u00a6the bysshoppis nyghe abowte him / whi\u00a6che came to him to the nombre of eyg\u2223hte \u00b6 Emonge whom was an holy bis\u00a6shopp callyd Nonnus / that was a Re\u2223ligyous man of the monastery of The benesyens / \u00b6 And bi cause that he was of right holy lyf. He was violently and by stronge honde rauisshed from his ab\u00a6baye and electe bysshopp / \u00b6 The whi\u2223che Bysshoppis assembled. were com\u2223maunded by the sayde saynt Nonnus and his seruytours / And they sholde as\u00a6semble in the chyrche of saynt Iulyan the marter / \u00b6 And to the regarde of o\u2223ther they were put in howses nighe the chyrche / \u00b6 They beynge there prayed the sayde holy Bisshopp Nonnus that he sholde saye to theym some thyng for the helthe and comforte of their soules \u00b6 The whiche thynge he graunted to theym benygnely / \u00b6 And desyrynge sore toProspered himself and them also. Began to induce them and teach them after the doctrine of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ. On a time among the other things as he preached to them of the holy Gospel, he saw pass before him on a little mule the most excellent juggleress or dancer's dress that was in the city of Antioch. So richly and worldly adorned and arrayed was she, that upon her was seen nothing but gold and silver and rich pearls. And with that she had a collar of gold about her neck, and also was accompanied by servants and chamberlains in like manner arrayed. In passing thus in the way, she filled the air with marvelous sweet odors and sauces. When the bishops saw her so pass, considering her beauty, they turned their eyes to the earth, to the end that they should not be ensnared or think any deadly sin by her. St. Nonnus beheld her right affectionately. And after demanding of the other bishops if they had any distraction, he said to:\n\nThen he said to:I have strongly delighted in her. Her beauty has marvelously deceived me, for God has ordained her to sit before His seat. Why is this marvelous when He shall judge us and us of our bishops? And yet he said to his fellow bishops, My right well beloved friends. Think how often she has conceived, washed, and made herself fair for her amorous or loving one. These days are, and tomorrow will not be. She appointed herself so honestly that there was not a pin wanting. As for playing before the world, alas, what shall we do? We who have God our Father, God king of heaven and earth, what shall we do? And who will give us the heavenly goods, which cannot be estimated or thought of? What shall we do? Truly, we ought to have sovereign cure and business to be always prepared and made fair with the cleanness of heart and pure conscience. And in like manner, we ought to wake up to find the means.Saint Nonnus spoke these words and took his deacon by the hand. They entered the house, which was prepared for them to lodge in. After he withdrew him into his chamber, he fell to the ground, weeping and striking his breast, and began to say:\n\nO my God, who knowest the hidden things, I cannot hide how, by the deceitful allurement and dishonest clothing of a sinful woman, the beauty of my soul has been defiled and polluted. In what manner, O my God, shall I pray to Thee, or how shall I justify myself before Thee? Thou knowest all my thoughts. Maledictions or curses shall come upon me. For I offer the sacrifice, and also make a fool of my soul before the world. And I have promised faith and loyalty, and have not kept it. O my Lord God, I am out of Thy grace. Alas, I have no more hope of my good works, but only in Thy mercy.By the which I hope and understand my salutation.\n\nThe good saint Nonnus abode for a long time in such sorrow. And on the following Sunday after he had said his hours with his deacon,\n\nhe recounted and showed to him a dream,\n\nbut he could not express it,\n\nThis dream was of a black dove bird of much filth,\n\nThe which, as it seemed to Saint Nonnus, in singing his mass it came to the corner of the altar. And after came flapping all about him,\n\nand gave such a great stench that he might not endure to smell it,\n\nAnd after he had sung the mass coming out of the church,\n\nthe same dove came again. flapping about as it did before. In giving to him so great a stench that he might not endure to smell it,\n\nThen he struck his hand upon the same dove so gently that he took it,\n\nand threw it in a vessel full of water,\n\nIn which she left all her ordures and filths,\n\nAnd flew away also white as a swan,\n\nAnd so vanished from his sight.And the holy man said in his sleep these things: The two went into the great church where the bishop was. They saluted him. When the Gospel of the great mass was said, the bishop commanded St. Nonnus to go and preach, to make a sermon to the people. He went up to the pulpit, introduced and informed the people there about the faith of God. He preached specifically about the coming great judgment and the glory of heaven. Through his fair introductions and exhortations, the people were moved to penance and contrition. In such a way that all began to wail and weep for the horror and great displeasure they had experienced because of their sins.\n\nNow it happened that this sinful woman Pelage, who had passed by before and was dressed as previously said, came to this sermon. Hearing the words of the righteous holy man, she was moved, despite the fact that she had never:\n\n(Note: The text appears to be in Middle English. No major OCR errors were detected, so no corrections were made.)She served God, but only the world. She had such great contrition and bitter displays of the enormity of her sins that she wept continually and seemed to mistrust God's mercy, having no other counsel but to continually weep. Nevertheless, she commanded two of her children who were with her at that time to stay in the church and take care to find the holy man. The children did so and followed the holy man to the church of St. Julian the Martyr. Afterward, they came and told it to their mother. And then she wrote to him a letter in substance:\n\nTo the reverend holy man, disciple of Ihu Crist,\n\nYou, holy man, have preached that your God is so meek and lowly that He has taken humanity primarily to save sinners and publicans. And He, whom the angels dare not behold, has willed to converse and dwell with us.With the sinners in this world, O my right dear Lord. I have often heard it said of you that your holiness is much greater, and that you lead a right perfect life. And how well that you have not seen him, your said God, with your bodily eyes. Yet you serve him, revere him, and worship him sovereignly. As the Christians publish and say, therefore I beseech you not to despise me, notwithstanding that I am a sinful woman. And may it please you to teach me and inform me in such a way that I may perfectly know my everlasting God, without whom I may have no pardon or remission of my sins.\n\nThe same letter, when seen by St. Monica, he wrote to her again in this manner:\n\nO woman, whatever you may be, you are known to God. He also knows your will. I pray that you do not tempt my humanity with foolish flattery. For I am a sinful man and an unworthy servant and servant of him.If this text is from a medieval document written in Middle English, here's a cleaned version:\n\nBut if you have the will to see me and know our good faith,\nIn this city there are other bishops and notable prelates\nWith whom I shall see you. For it is not seemly that you alone should speak to me.\n\nWhen the poor, sinful woman had seen this letter,\nShe went incontinently to the church of St. Julian.\nIn which were present all the bishops.\nShe went to St. Nonnus to have knowledge of her coming.\nWhich incontinently assembled and brought the said bishops together.\nAnd when that was done, they made her come to him.\nOne she fell down at the feet of the holy Bishop St. Nonnus, saying,\n\nI pray my lord that it pleases you to follow your doctrine.\nStretch upon me your mercy and make me a Christian woman.\nI am the seat of sin. And the swelling of wickedness which asks and requires to be baptized.\n\nSt. Nonnus made her stand up and said to her,\nMy friend, the holy Decrees.I. should not be baptized if she does not promise never to return to her sins.\n\u00b6 She heard this answer and fell down again at his feet, washing them with her tears and wiping them with her hair. She said to him, \u00b6 O Nonnus, I humbly pray to the god that my sins and wickedness be imputed to me. If you refuse to baptize me, \u00b6 And also I pray with this that you never have a share or portion with the saints in heaven, if you make me not Christian now, \u00b6 Furthermore, that you are compelled to forsake your law, and adore and worship idols, \u00b6 If you espouse and marry me not this day to him, by the right holy sacrament of baptism. \u00b6 Then all the bishops and others present said that they had never seen any sinful woman show greater penitence for her sins. \u00b6 They sent the deacon of St. Nonnus to the bishop of the city \u00b6 To recite and show this case to him. \u00b6 In order that heshould send one of the Abbesses who were subject to him, to enlighten and comfort this said poor, sinful woman. The Bishop, hearing these things, was much joyful and glad. He sent there St. Romaine, the Abbess who was chief in virtue and dignity. She found the said sinful woman weeping in great abundance and plentitude of tears at the feast of the holy man, St. Nonnus. Who was unable to make her arise, but nevertheless she said to her, \"Daughter, arise and confess and utter all your sins, to the end that you may be baptized.\" Then she answered, \"Madam, if I should well examine and search my conscience, I would find that I have never done any good but have given myself up to all malice and wickedness. And I know that my sins are greater in number than the depths of the sea. But I trust in God, and having confidence in Him, He shall efface and put away all my filth of sin.\" Then the holy man...Saint Nonnus asked, \"What is your name?\" She replied, \"I am named Pelague. The people of Antioch call me Margaret because of my pity, my niceness, and my desire for ornaments and adornments, which I recently acquired and made in the creation of the same, openly and wantonly, the work and labor of the devil of hell. After Saint Nonnus baptized her, he named her Pelague and entrusted her to the care of Saint Romain. He gave her his blessing. After Saint Nonnus said to Saint Jerome, \"My friend and brother, we ought to rejoice today and eat and drink with more sprightly gladness than we have been accustomed and used. In taking consolation and comfort from the hell of this sinful woman, and so we concluded to dine together. And thus they took their repast. They heard the devil cry at their gate, like the voice of a roaring lion.\"man says, \"Why is it that I suffer so much from this old man here? / He was satisfied with converting thirty thousand Saracens to the Christian faith, / and in the same way, he won over and worshipped me, along with all those who lived and dwelt in the noble and great city of Heliopolis. Since then, he has taken away my hope. I shall no longer endure his machinations. Cursed be the day he was born. / The devil spoke such words or similar to the man, / and again, addressing Saint Pelagia, he said, \"You cause me the pain that I suffer and endure. You resemble Judas, who sold his master, one of the number of his disciples. / You have in the same way sold me to this old man Nonus. / Then Saint Pelagia said to her, 'Bless you with the sign of the holy Cross,' which she did. / Incontinent and without delay.\"Two days after she slept with Saint Romane, the devil appeared to her and awakened her. He said to her, \"My friend Margarete, what have I done to thee? I have enriched thee with gold and silver, and have done to all that thou hast demanded of me.\"\n\nThe third day after her baptism, she sent for her son and said to him, \"Go into my chamber and write down all that I had, both gold, silver, and other goods. Bring all of it to me without leaving anything behind.\" The child did as she asked.\n\nAfter she went to see Saint Nonne and her spiritual mother, she said to him, \"My lord and friend. Behold the riches which Satan has enriched me with. Now I put them in your power and discretion. And I ask for nothing but the riches of Jesus Christ.\"\n\nSaint Nonne called the eldest of those who kept the church and delivered to him all that she had.hym all the same riches. In saying to him, I command you in the honor of the Trinity of heaven that you never enter this church until you have distributed all these goods. To poor widows and orphans as well as to the suffering. poor and needy, that the goods obtained by sin be made treasure of justice,\n\nWith this, the holy man cursed and excommunicated all those who should do\n\u00b6 The eighth day after her baptism, the said Pelage arose at midnight,\n\u00b6 And St. Nonna clothed her with the veil,\nAnd a gross and courser robe of a man,\nAnd after the sacred day, she never entered into the city of Antioch,\n\n\u00b6 When St. Romain knew it, she began to weep,\n\u00b6 Because she had lost her company,\n\u00b6 And St. Nonna comforted her, saying, \"That she had chosen the right holy way.\" According to the Gospel, this is found,\n\u00b6 In which our Lord preferred Mary Magdalene,\n\u00b6 Contemplative life before her,\n\u00b6 Faster Martha, who led an active life.The good Pelage, in this habit, went to Jerusalem. To the mount of Olivet, where our Redeemer prayed to God his Father before his sorrowful passion, and there she built a little house where she intended to dwell. A little time after the Bishop of Antioch called together all the bishops he had assembled and sent each of them to their bishoprics. Three or four years after the death of St. Nonna, there was a desire in the heart of a certain man to go to Jerusalem: to visit the holy sepulcher of our Lord and the other holy places where our Lord suffered for us so many torments and sorrows. He asked leave of his bishop, who granted it liberally, charging him to inquire in the said place about a certain religious woman named Pelage, who had departed before his time. And he never meant the good servant of God Pelage, who was clad in the habit of a man and lived secretly.The deken departed for Fort and named her after a man due to her changed clothing. This deken then went to Jerusalem, completed his pilgrimage, and found the pious woman in the mount of Olive. She had been enclosed and shut in her small house with no opening but a small window. At this window, the deken knocked, and she opened it. Despite never having been seen since her great beauty and pomp, she did not recognize him due to her extreme abstinences, which caused her bones to show through her skin and her eyes to be deep and hollow, making her appear more like a dead body than a living woman. She asked the deken when he had come from, to which he replied, \"from Antioch.\"was sent by Bishop Nonus to visit her / Then she said to the same deacon. My brother and friend ask him to pray to God for me / I hope that his prayers are beneficial to me / For he is a devout man and of a holy life / And she suddenly opened her window and began to say her terce / And the deacon, in the same way, near the wall said with her / and afterwards returned to Jerusalem much comforted by the sight of such a holy woman. / From thence he went to visit all the monasteries and holy places of the city and to see the religious people. With whom he was there, he heard marvelous things about the holy Pelagius / In discussing him, they spoke of the said Pelagius / For they supposed that she had been a religious woman / by her constant pretense of being a man / And named herself Pelagius / The same deacon, because of the great virtues he heard spoken of her, wished to visit her.In the country of Palestine, where is the city of Jerusalem, lived a very virtuous man named Zosimas. According to St. Jerome, he led a notable life in deeds and words. We find that:\n\nA man named Zosimas, in the country of Palestine where Jerusalem lies, lived a very virtuous life. St. Jerome relates that:\n\nOne day, Zosimas went to Pelagia's window, as he had done before. Since Pelagia did not respond, he called out her name but received no answer. Despite this, he left and returned after three days. Upon his return, he knocked so hard on the window that he opened it. Looking into the small house, he saw Pelagia, who was dead.\n\nThen, he went to Jerusalem and showed her body to the religious people of the city, who came in great numbers to take it away.\n\nMay we, through the intercessions and prayers of Saint Pelagia, attain everlasting bliss in heaven. Amen.\n\nThis concludes the life of Saint Pelagia, as related by St. Jerome.There was another, similarly named heretic at the time, whom we shall not mention, but only speak of the one we have first named. He walked through all of Palestine. Of himself, he found many ways to chastise the flesh. And indeed, he was of such great renown that men came to him from far-off countries to hear his doctrine. And every man marveled at his great abstinences.\n\nHis mother put him in a monastery in his infancy and youth. In which he lived for fifty years. During this time, for the most part, he was greatly persecuted with daydreams and thoughts. In resisting these, he had fought against the devil through great and harsh abstinences, such that it seemed to him that in all the Deserts there was no man who exceeded him in doctrine or penance, as one who had experienced it in his own person.\n\nAnd in such a way that the devil had\n\n(Note: The text ends abruptly and incomplete, making it impossible to clean it further without missing information.)A man fell into vain glory\nAnd thus, as he was in this same fantasy,\nAn ancient father came and said to him,\nMy friend, I know well that in all your operations and works,\nYou have overcome the devil. Save in this, that you believe,\nIn these parties, there are no more religious persons living more perfectly than yourself,\nOr who know the ways of health better than you do.\nBut since I know the contrary,\nIf you will come with me,\nI shall leave you in a monastery. Fast by the flood of Jordan,\nIn which, to free you from this folly,\nYou shall see more religious persons than you ever were.\nThen went forth the good man Zosimas, following the holy father.\n\nIt is to be noted that it was the angel of God,\nWho, in the likeness of a holy father, conducted him.\nThe inconvenience being at the said flood,\nVanished a way,\nNeither Zosimas being by the flood Jordan,\nHeard a voice resonating.coming near to the same place, he arrived at a monastery \u00b6 And after that, he knocked at the gate. The one who kept it showed it to the abbot, who did so because the man seemed to be a man of holy life. He was made to enter honestly. \u00b6 After that, he made his requests. The Abbot demanded of him the reason why he had come to visit them. Zozimas answered, for the sake of learning the health of his soul. \u00b6 For he had heard it said that great miracles and signs of virtues were made there within. \u00b6 The Abbot said to him, \"A man cannot teach another about himself. If he does not help himself in praying, God his conductor in all his works. And therefore I pray to God that He makes us such that we may observe and keep His commandments. \u00b6 But since it has pleased you to visit us, you shall abide with us if you have come for that reason. \u00b6 And I believe that God shall accompany us together in His grace. \u00b6 For He is the Pastor of all.\"Pastores, who had given his soul, that is, his life to redeem and save us, \u00b6 saw some Religious shining in virtues \u00b6 in this same monastery. \u00b6 And in hope, they shone chastely, waking day and night in orison and prayer, \u00b6 and never spoke a vain word, nor were occupied in anything worldly. But their lives and conduct were of holy words, \u00b6 and they sustained nature by eating only bread and water. \u00b6 This considering, Zozimas was greatly profited in following their holy life. \u00b6 After he had been there for a certain time, \u00b6 the holy time came which they must prepare for, to sanctify themselves and make themselves holy against the time of the Passion and Resurrection of our Lord. \u00b6 Now it was so that the gate of the said monastery was never open, \u00b6 so that no man should enter, which would let them pray to God in peace.know how they proceeded in their fasting: It is noted that on the first Sunday of Lent, they all came together to the church and received their maker with great and servant devotion. And after that, they had done and accomplished the yearly Oratory should not be without prayer. Each of them bore his necessities to live by. Some a little bread, others figs or dates, or peas or beans to make potage with.They carried little water. Some bore only their mantles with which they were clad. In the deserts they ate only herbs that grew there, each after his appetite and will.\n\nBecause they went not one with another, they passed the Jordan river separately and far from the city. And if by adventure one saw another coming against him, he took another way. Without speaking one to another,\n\nAnd in this way they led a life much solitary, and their fasting thus continued till Palm Sunday. At which day they all were returned to their monastery. And each brought the fruit of his abstinence.\n\nNeither did they ever ask one another how they had lived in the desert, to avoid vain glory.\n\nFor some of them led a life full hard and sharp. And if the other had known it, they would have prayed for him and told it each to other.By whyche the devil might have tempted them with vain glory, and by this it appears that they fled the praying of men, which might bring forth some new profit. But it is extremely dangerous and damaging to the soul.\n\nZosimas then passed the Jordan by the example of the others. And he bore a little bread with him to sustain his poor body. And if he was sober in eating, yet he was more in sleeping.\n\nAnd so passing through the desert, he always desired to find some holy man, by whom he might be better informed and instructed than before.\n\nAfter that he had walked for about twenty days, and as he lifted up his eyes, beholding on the right side, he saw the shadow of a human body.\n\nWherefore he was much abashed, wondering if it had been a fantastic thing, and he blessed it with the sign of the Cross.\n\nAnd his prayer finished, a person all naked came towards him from the south.was all black from the great heat of the sun. Having her army white as wool, which hung around her neck. Then he was greatly admired and replenished, and filled with great joy, he began to run towards the place where the person was. She, who was greatly abashed in his sight, was also running into the wood. Zozimas, marveling in himself, thought it was some holy person. And when she saw that he was approaching, she began to run deeper into the wood. Zozimas followed until he was close enough to call her. He spoke to her, saying, \"Why do you flee before a poor old man full of sin and unworthy servant of God?\"\n\nSupposing it was a man, Zozimas addressed her as, \"Saint Mary, or Egyptian woman. In the name of God, I adjure you to tarry and speak to me.\"\n\nAs soon as Zozimas had finished speaking these words, they came near each other.place where a little brook or water ran / \u00b6 But always the same person fled from him / \u00b6 And Zozimas passed over the water went after on the other side of the brook /\n\u00b6 And seeing that he could not approach or overtake her, began to weep. praying her that she would speak to him / \u00b6 Then she spoke and said / Father Zozimas, why do you chase me?\nLet me alone I pray, in the name of God. / \u00b6 For I may not turn my face towards thee / For I am a naked woman / \u00b6 Wherefore give to me thy mantle to cover my poor and shameful nature / And then I shall speak to thee /\n\u00b6 When Zozimas saw that, she called him by his name / He esteemed and believed that it was shown to her by revelation from God / Since she had never seen him before. / \u00b6 And immediately he took off his mantle and threw it to her / In turning his face away from her / \u00b6 And immediately as she had covered herself the best she could, she said to Zozimas / What did you mean to see but a sinful woman?Zosimas kneeled down then and asked her, \"Zosimas strongly beseeched her, / Truly my friend, thou art full of the grace of God, / For thou knowest my name and my office, / The spiritual grace is not given only for the dignity of priesthood, / But by the good works that the person does, / Therefore, it is fitting for the first to give the blessing, / The good woman consented and said, / Blessed be the Redeemer of our souls, / Zosimas answered, \"Amen. / \"Anon they arose and after St. Mary of Egypt said, \"I demand and ask thee, why hast thou taken such great pains to see a sinful woman? / \"Zosimas answered, \"This has not been only by my will, / But also by the suffrance of almighty God. / \"If it is so, she said, I pray thee, recount and tell me of the conversion of the human race and of the princes and pastors of the Church.\" / In two words, Zosimas answered, \"God Almighty has given peace to all His\"But I pray you pray for the confirmation of the peasants and for my sins. And she answered, saying, But thou that art a priest ought to pray for all the world, and for me, poor, sinful woman. For that is thy vocation. But to please thee, I shall make my prayer to God in such wise as thou hast commanded me. Howbeit I am an unworthy sinner. Then she lifted up her eyes and hands to heaven and was long in prayer.\n\nDuring which Zozimas saw a most marvelous thing. For by the grace of God, she was elevated and lifted up a cubit above thee, Zozimas. Zozimas seeing this vision began to sweat and tremble in fear. Not knowing what to say, he could only think she was a spirit, fantasizing.\n\nThe blessed woman, seeing that, comforted him, saying, Why dost thou tremble? Thinkest thou that I am a spirit, fantasizing? Why art thou scandalized in me? Barely believe that I am a poor, sinful woman.Baptized with the holy sacrament of Baptism, and am nothing fantastical but a spark of fire, ashes, and flesh. And when she had said this, she began to bless her forehead, eyes, lips, and breast with the sign of the Cross, saying after: I pray God that He will deliver us from the hands of the devil, who has great envy upon us.\n\nZosimas hearing her propositions knelt down at her feet and prayed, saying: In the name of God who was born of the holy virgin, for the honor of whom thou doest penance, tell me what thou art and from what place, and for what cause thou art come to dwell here. I require not to have vain glory from thy vision, but only to be taught and instructed by Thee, who am a poor sinner. I believe in God. By Him thou livest and conversest in this Desert. And for this purpose I have come hither: To the end that thou tell me thy virtues and abstinences. If it is pleasing to thee.playsyd doesn't want you to show me your faces and deeds. He never wanted me to see the lechery and poverty of my body.\n\nShe answered in this manner: Truly, my father, I am ashamed to say to thee the incontenence and sins that I have committed and done. Thou shalt flee from hens. But I pray thee, do not stop praying for me, that I may have mercy at the end of my days.\n\nZozimas wept much strongly. And she began to tell how she was born in Egypt, and how, at the age of twelve, she was transported and put into Alexandria. After that age, and during the time of seventeen years and more, she had continually resided at the open brothel of the same town with other common women there being. In abandoning and using:\n\nOn a time sheLiving in this folly saw a multitude of people from Lybie and Egypt, who said they would cross the sea. Then she asked one of them why they would go and why they were in such haste. He answered that Jerusalem was shortly to have the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, on which God had been crucified. Therefore, they were preparing to attend this solemnity. She demanded and inquired of them if they would take her with them. To whom was answered, \"Yes, if she had money to pay the mariners.\" She said she had nothing, but if she went into the ship, and for her fear, she offered her body. She requested Zozimas that it should please him that she told no more. For the air and he were affected by it. Zozimas answered, \"My friend, say hardly without hiding anything.\" Then she began to recount to Zozimas this.that which follows: When the young man had heard all these words, he began to laugh and went his way. Then she threw away her spindle and went towards the ship to sail out with the others. Then she saw ten young men there, and by many lewd and foul words she moved them to laugh at what she had said. Without repeating or showing more, she arrived in Jerusalem, was abandoned to all sin, and not only did she sin with the men of the ship but also with many other pilgrims. When the day of the feast of the Holy Cross came, she went before the young pilgrims to excite them to the sin of fornication. But nonetheless, she went with them into the church. For to worship and adore the Cross. And came to the porch, intending to enter. Yet, despite being born with great pain unto the churchyard, she could not enter. How unfortunate that all the others could.Lightly she attempted to enter. But by the power of God, she withstood her. She was rejected and cast back from the gate.\n\nAt first, she supposed that the reason she could not enter was because she was weak, as women are not as strong as men. Then she urged herself more forcefully to enter, but all her efforts were in vain.\n\nFor she was often rejected and cast back, in such a way that her body was shown and bruised.\n\nThen she remained long before the gate, beholding all the world that entered without any force or violence. And she began to think that the great multitude of sins which she had committed was the cause and hindrance for why she might not enter.\n\nAnd then she began to wail and weep bitterly, striking her breast with great contrition and displeasure of her life.\n\nAnd beholding on high, she saw an image of the Virgin Mary, who had borne the God of heaven and earth, saying:that for my horrible sins, why I have done and committed. I am not worthy to behold only thy image / For thou art a virgin before thy childing and after / And therefore it is no thing just or rightful. that a poor and lecherous detestable sinner prays to thee / NeVERTHELESS, because thou hast conceived and engendered him who will always call sinners to penance / I beseech thee that it may please thee to help convert me to him / In giving to me aid and comfort to enter into his church / To the end that I may worship and adore his right worthy Cross / in which he shed his precious blood to redeem me from the pains of hell /\n\nCommand blessed lady and virgin. That the gate be open to me / And I promise to thy dear son. who is my God. and to him also. that I shall never return to sin / But uncontainable that I have adored and worshipped this precious Cross. I shall forsake all the world.\n\nShe recited and told further to the said.Zozimas, after praying in the city, went to the gate. Trusting in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and his blessed mother, she entered lightly without any difficulty. And after coming to the place where the righteous Cross of our Savior was, she knelt on her knees.\n\nInconsequentially, she prayed to the blessed lady for her continual help. And so she left the city. In her journey, she found a man who gave her three pennies with which she bought three loaves of bread.\n\nShe asked the man selling the bread, \"Which is the way to go to Flom Iourdan?\" And when she knew the gate by which she should go, she wept and mourned all day, from the hour of Terce until the hour of Sext. And around the sun going down, she arrived at a church of St. John the Baptist by the side of the Flom.I entered the church to make my prayers. I accomplished this and then descended into the aforementioned flood and wished my face and body with the holy water of the Jordan. After administering the holy sacrament of the altar, I ate half a loaf. That same night, I lay all naked upon the earth.\n\nOn the morrow, I made my prayer to the glorious virgin Mary, praying her to direct me to a place that would be good for my health.\n\nEventually, I arrived at the place where Zozimas had found me.\n\n\"And you have been here for forty years?\" Zozimas further demanded and questioned of me.\n\n\"What have I eaten?\" I answered. \"Two loaves and half a bread.\"\n\nThese became as hard as stones as soon as I had passed over the Jordan.\n\nZozimas said to me, \"Have you lived thus long without pain or sickness?\"\n\nI replied, \"Father, I dare not tell you the perils I have faced.\"\"Have endured, said Zozimas. Leave nothing behind, but say all,\n Truly my father said to me, I have been seventeen years, continually desiring to eat and drink such food as I ate in the world,\n And because I could not have it, I was in such great sorrow that I could not endure it,\n In the same way, fleshly thoughts and devilish songs came to my mind,\n By which I was greatly tormented,\n But I was incontinent, wept and struck my breast. In saying this, I turned my eyes from the promise that I had made to God and to the blessed Virgin Mary,\n When I departed from the church of Jerusalem, primarily I came for comfort to the holy Virgin Mary,\n And in weeping and lamenting, I prayed her to have consolation and comfort,\n Touching the fleshly temptations that came so much before me that I cannot express or tell,\n For they made me so inflamed by my first sin that I could not bear it,\n But when I was in these passions, I fell down to the earth to weep.\"And I knew spiritually that the blessed virgin Mary, who had helped me, came to succor me. I never lifted up my eyes from the earth until I was out of these cursed thoughts, having my heart always to our lady. Treasury of grace. Comfortress of the desolate. And the very caretaker of them that are out of the way. Zozimas demanded her.\n\nLet us think here how many old reasons, both by rains and great cold, as well as by extreme heat of the sun, she endured. Let us also think how many carnal temptations she cast off. Which are somewhat difficult to overcome for those who have been accustomed to them more than any other temptation.\n\nAfter she said to Zozimas, \"Alas, my friend, I am nourished and clothed only with the word of my God. Which not only gives life but also quickens more than bodily food.\" Zozimas heard this.She spoke of holy Scripture and said to her, \"Moder, have you learned the books of Moses and the Psalter, and other holy Scripture? She then smiled and said to him, \"Father, believe me certainly. Since I passed the Jordan, I saw no man living but me, nor any other beast in the world. I never learned a book, nor heard the Psalter read or sung. But the word of God, which has such great power, has compelled my understanding. And this is sufficient for you, that I have told you. And from now on, pray for me, a poor, sinful, lecherous woman.\n\nWhen she had said these words, Zozimas knelt down on his knees and began to say, \"Blessed be the only God who does such marvelous things in so many persons. Blessed be you, my God, who have shown me the good things you do for them who fear you and keep your commandments. Truly, my God, you love none who seek to serve you.\"\"the earth / But prayed him that he would never reveal that she had spoken to living man / And afterward said to him / My father go now forth on your way in peace / And within a year hereafter I shall come again. And she showed me to the / If God gives us the grace / With this I pray you to do what I shall ordain / Because in your monastery, when you make your holy fasting, which is called Lent, your custom is to go each by himself to keep his fasting in the desert. When that time comes, you shall not go out of the church, but keep the monastery / Zozimas was more abashed than before, knowing the rule of the monastery, and began to cry out / O my God, glory be given to Thee / I know that Thou givest more grace without comparison to those who serve Thee truly than they demand or ask for / The holy Egyptian replied to his words and said / Father, listen / For when you wish to depart from the monastery, you shall not be able to.\"\n\n\"the holy Thursday\"You shall take the precious body of our Lord Jesus Christ and his precious blood in a holy vessel, and shall come to me on the other side of the Jordan, without passing over. And then, by the grace and mercy of my God and yours, I shall receive him benevolently, for I have not received him since I was admitted into the church of St. John in Jerusalem. I pray that you do not disdain my request, but do as I have said to you.\n\nWith this, you shall say to John, Abbot of your monastery, that there are things to be corrected in his church and abbey, which I will not tell you now. But nevertheless, you shall advise him to take heed of his religious duties.\n\nThe good woman, returning to her dwelling place, kissed the ground where she had marked it, in prayer to God. And she said nothing at all about what she had seen. For by cause he [Zozimas]...durst not say anything / He entered with his brethren when they were returned from the Deserts after their custom.\n\nAll the year signed Zozimas. Somewhat he desired that it had passed.\n\nWhen the time was come that the brethren should depart. to go into Desert to make their fasting as they had been accustomed,\n\nZozimas was taken with a fever. And therefore he remained in the monastery,\n\nThen he remembered that she had said to him. when he would have gone with the others. he might not,\n\nThe day of the Cene came / And after that all the brethren were returned from Deserts,\n\nZozimas in obedience to what the good lady Saint Mary of Egypt had said to him,\n\nHe took a chalice and the precious body and blood of our Savior Jesus Christ,\n\nAnd after he put figs and dates in a little pan. and in a little pot. potage with water,\n\nAnd so he went forth as he had been caused.\n\nWhy, God, why the haste? (he wept and prayed).\"Wielded to you the grace to see this holy woman / I beseech that it may please you to grant me again that I may see her / And in prayer and making his orisons, came to him another fantasy / And after he said / Alas, what shall I do when she shall come / how shall she come over the river? / Alas, I have no boat to row her over / Alas, that I am unhappy / And thus saying, the holy woman came and tarried on that other side of the river Jordan / Whanne Zozimas saw her, he was replenished with joy. and thanked God / Always thinking how she might come over without a boat / And he beholding her, what she did. He saw her make the sign of the Cross upon the water / And after she began to walk upon the water / In passing over as steadfastly as she had walked upon dry land. / She being yet upon the water said to Zozimas / What do you falsely say, father, who art priest and servant of God, keeping the holy things /\"other reason for the flood. Whereas was the holy man, whom she soldered rightly and humbly. Then he answered, \"I was so amazed by this miracle that I was in a manner asleep. Now I know that it is always true that God says to them who purify themselves through penance, that they are agreeable to Him. Alas, I now know how much less perfect I am than they who are in this place. And I held myself the most perfect in my former monastery.\n\nThe holy Mary Egypcyan then said to him that he should begin the Symbol (Quicunque vult saluus esse) et cetera. After they said the Dominical prayer, that is, the Our Father, which they achieved, she kissed the holy father Zozimas. And after receiving the holy sacrament of the altar, her maker, and\n\nFor my eyes have seen your health.\n\nAfter she said to Zozimas, \"Go now to your monastery. Live in peace with God. And when this year shall be passed, you shall come again to me.\"Little Brooke where I first spoke to thee, yet thou shalt see me again. If it pleases my god, Zozimas answered, I would that I might always be with thee. My mother, I pray thee, that thou mightest eat a little of the meat that I have brought to thee. Then she took three morsels from his little loaf and put it in her mouth, saying, \"It suffices to have the grace of the Holy Ghost to sustain the soul undefiled by sin. Then Zozimas prayed for me and remembered my infancy.\" Zozimas took her by the feet, praying that she would have the state of the poor sinners and him for recommended. These things thus done, the good woman made the sign of the Cross on Florian's forehead and went upon the water as she did before. Zozimas, dreadful and joyous, returned again to his monastery. But he was displeased because he had not asked her name. The year passed, and he came again to the aforementioned place. And holding on all sides, if he could.myghty see her. But he could not discern her appearance or knowledge. And lifting up his eyes to heaven, he prayed, saying, \"O my God, it pleases you to show to me the Angel. To whom the whole world is not worthy to be compared or likened / And these words thus offered and uttered, he saw above the said broken a clarity shining as the sun / Under which brightness lay the body of the holy Egyptian / Having her face toward the east and her hands joined on her breast / Then Zozimas arose and went to the said body / By which he wept a long while / washing her feet with his tears without touching any other part of her body / Thinking in himself that he was not worthy to touch her / But by the providence of God, he found a letter in which was written this that follows / Father Zozimas placed in sepulture the poor body of Mary the Egyptian. To the end that in doing so you render to the earth that which is his / And pound to pound.\"praying to God for my soul. Zosimas was much admired. In thinking how these letters had been written, nonetheless he rejoiced in knowing her name and praised and thanked God. He disposed himself to make and begin to dig a pit or a sepulcher to bury her in. But since he had neither picks nor shovels for this, he found a little hoe. With this he began to dig in the earth. The ground was so hard that he was a long time without making any progress. First, he was old and feeble. Secondly, the ground was hard. Thirdly, he was strongly annoyed and wept continually. And in like manner, resisting, he held the corpse of the good Mary of Egypt. He saw a marvelous great lion. Which liked the feast of the blessed corpse. Then he was somewhat afraid, for never before had he seen such a beast. Also, she had said to him that she had seen none in all the time that she had been in the desert. ThenZozimas blessed him with the sign of the cross. In beholding you said, \"Lion,\" who made to him a sign of salutation. That seeing, Zozimas commanded him to make the sepulcher for the good, holy woman. He did this according to the size of her body. And after, in weeping and lying, Zozimas covered the said body, which was all naked in the same way as he had found it in the presence of the said lion. Why, he departed immediately thereafter. And Zozimas returned to his monastery. He recounted and told his brethren the cause in such a way as it happened. Wherefore, they were much amazed. And after that time, they solemnly honored and worshiped the day of her departure from this world. The Abbot Johan corrected those who had transgressed and sinned, as Saint Mary Egypt had said to the said Zozimas. They lived in the said monastery until the age of one hundred years. After that time, he died in peace. And his soul went into glory.A secular man had one only daughter whom he delivered to a friend. After he put himself in religion and died with a good will, the abbot commanded him to stay for a long time. He often remembered his daughter, becoming melancholic as a result. The abbot noticed his changed demeanor and asked him the cause of his sadness. He answered weeping that he had left in the city an only son whom he deeply loved, and not knowing his fate caused his melancholy. The abbot told him to fetch him and bring him there to live with them. However, the religious man had no son but only a daughter, as stated before.And so, the one who was called Marrine, though her father had decided to bring her disguised as a man, was named as such. He refused to reveal her true identity to the abbot. He journeyed to the city, which was about thirty-two miles from his monastery, and brought his daughter, dressed as a man, whom he named Maryn. She remained in this guise until she reached the age of fourteen.\n\nAfter she had become very obedient to the abbot and all the monks, she was greatly loved by the abbot and all the religious women, who had believed her to be a man.\n\nThe monastery possessed two oxen and a small cart, which served the religious community by fetching necessities from the sea, which was three miles away.\n\nAt one point, the abbot summoned Maryn and inquired why she did not, like the other brothers, occasionally go to fetch provisions.A certain man named Maryn, who was very observant, went to a man named Paudoux's house when it was too late to return to the monastery. It is noted that on the way, there was a man named Paudoux. In whose house Maryn sometimes stayed all night with his other brothers. And it happened that Paudoux's daughter was found with a man of war's child. The father, seeing his daughter great with child, began angrily to reprove her and threatened to find out who had gotten her with child.\n\nBy her instigation, she answered that Maryn, the religious man, had done it. The father, accompanied by his friends, went to the abbot and reported the matter. The abbot was greatly astonished and sent immediately for Maryn. He demanded of him if he had committed this great sin. Maryn began to weep and said, \"Father Abbot, I have greatly sinned. Wherefore I pray you that you will impose upon me penance such as you shall think fit.\"Thabbot, in a great fury, drove her out of the monastery. For four years after, she lay beneath the gate on the bare ground, making penance for her sin. When the brothers went out for the convent's provisions, she asked them for bread in the name of God, enduring great indignation from her parents and others coming there, who called her \"paper.\"\n\nShe brought the child to him, saying it would please him to show mercy to her before the rigor of justice called Brother Maryn back. He was unwilling to do this, having harbored remarkable indignation against him because of the aforementioned transgression.\n\nFinally, being wearied by the continual prayers of his brothers, he called her back and said to her, \"Maryn, I have great conscience.\"And therefore, it is not fitting or seemly that he be buried in our monastery. But nevertheless, I am content that he be buried far from the monastery, in the customary manner, by you and the brethren. The brethren, who were permitted to do so, entered the little chamber where he lay dead. And in disposing of and taking off his clothes to prepare him, they discovered that she was a woman. They were greatly astonished and began to weep bitterly with great abundance of tears. And the incontenant one came and showed herself to the abbot. He was greatly troubled for this reason and allowed her to confess her sin publicly. She, who had falsely accused her of the cause for which she had done such great penances, was vexed and tormented by the devil and openly confessed her sin, revealing the name of the man who had fathered the child. All the Religious.perso\u2223nes of the monasteryes nyghe by aduer\u00a6tysed of this mysterye / In the honoure of the glorious vyrgyn came to the mo\u00a6nastery wyth theyr Crosses and tapres lyghte and brennynge / in syngyng ym\u00a6\n\u00b6 Thus endyth the lyfe of saynt Ma\u2223ryne / \nIN Alexandrye was a man na\u00a6med Pafunce moche honoura\u00a6ble. and kepynge the commau\u0304\u00a6dementes of god / He toke a wyfe why\u2223che was of moche honeste lyfe / As she that was extracte of noble parentes & vertuous / \u00b6 But she was barayn & ste\u00a6ryle. and moche sorowfull. by cause she\nhad noo chyldren ne lygnye / \u00b6 The go\u00a6od Pafu\u0304ce was moche soroufull bi cau\u00a6se he had noo chyldren / that myght suc\u00a6cede to his possessyons / His wyfe hadd grete solycytude to nourysshe the poore people. \u00b6 She seruyd god daye & nygh\u00a6te. Contynuelly she prayed hym. that it myghte playse hym to gyue her a chyl\u00a6de by generacyon. pryncypally by cau\u2223se that her husbonde was soo dysplay\u2223saunt that he mighte haue none \u00b6 And he hymself semblably prayed / and for\u2223cyd hy\u0304self to finde some deuowte man that woldePray God for him that he might obtain his desire through the means of his prayers. And to this end, he gave generously of his temporal goods to the poor.\n\nOn one occasion, he entered a monastery where he found a good father, loved by God according to the renown of the country for his contemplation. He frequently visited the said monastery, performing his alms before the altar there.\n\nWhen she was eighteen years old, her father took her to the monastery where he had been accustomed to pray. And there, he gave a great quantity of money to the abbot and said, \"Father abbot, behold the fruit of your prayer. Nevertheless, I am compelled to marry her. I request that you pray for her.\"\n\nThe abbot admonished her to live honestly, chastely, and peacefully. And, beginning in this monastery where she sojourned with her father for three days, she began to have contemplation in the good and holy conversation of the religious and thought within herself that it was well.happy were those men, the religious ones, who in this world were like angels. And in the end of their life should deserve the glory eternal,\n\nThe three days passed, Paunce requested of the abbot that he would give the blessing to his daughter. And they would return into the city,\n\nAnd thus saying, she knelt down on both her knees before him, in saying, \"My father, I beseech you, it may please you to pray for me. To the end that God will save my poor soul.\"\n\nThese words said, the Abbot laid his hand upon her,\n\nThe God that knows the creatures before they were born bless you and make you partake in His Kingdom,\n\nAfter that time, as often as Paunce's father found any religious person, he led him into his house. And prayed him to pray for her,\n\nThe Abbot had a custom to make feast and solemnity the day that he was instituted Abbot of his monastery,\n\nThat day coming, he sent to the house of Paunce, to pray him to come to that solemnity.The really pious man found that Pafunce was not at home. But it was told him by his servants that he had gone out. Eufrosme, who was called the Pious, asked him many things. First, she asked how many brothers were in his monastery. The Pious men said that there were three hundred and fifty-two. Afterwards, she asked if there was any difficulty in receiving anyone into the religion who would render obedience to the Pious men. To whom he answered that no. Saying that our Lord God had said that whoever would come to Him, He would not cast him out. Thirdly, she demanded if they sang the psalms together and how they fasted. He answered that each one fasted according to his ability, but they all sang together. And also she asked of all the rules of the said monastery, and he told them all to her. After she said to the Pious men that her will was to lead the state and life of the religion, but she dreaded much to offend her father, who would do her harm.The Relygos said to her, \"Your sister should not give her body to a mortal man, but to God who is Immortal. Give your beauty and secretly take the habit of a man and become a Religious woman in some monastery, wherever it may be.\n\nHearing this, the said daughter was greatly comforted and rejoiced. However, she had some heaviness within herself because she could not find a way to accomplish this thing. She dared not trust in any layman.\n\nThe Religious said to her, \"Your father will be there for three or four days in the abbey. Send for some devout Religious man who will gladly intercede for your cause.\n\nAnd thus, as they had planned together, her father came. He demanded of the Religious the reason for his coming there.\n\nThe Religious said to him, \"Your abbot prayed that it would please you to attend the solemnity of your feast.\"\n\nPaschance, much joyful at his coming, went in to see him.\"a ship with the Religious, and came to the monastery / Incontinent that they were departed, Saint Eufrosyne desiring to accomplish and fulfill her purposes and intentions, sent for a Religious man of the monastery of Abbot Theodocien. The which, beginning to come to her, she immediately recited to him her case and intention / And that which she had entered to do and accomplish / And then he, hearing these fair and devout words, said to her / My love and friend, God has taught us that he who does not revere father and mother, their children and themselves by their free will, is not worthy to be a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ / And therefore I say to you, if you can, you ought to renounce your parents and kindred, to learn and follow Jesus Christ / Remember not this, nor take thought for the heritage of your father. For our Lord God, who has delivered from peril all his saints, will keep and preserve you from all evil. Immediately.after he cut off her hair and that done, departed from then. yielding, praying to our Lord God, and considering what she had to do for entry into the Religion of women.\n\nThe Abbot received her gladly, and since she seemed a child of young age, she was delivered to be instructed and taught in the rules of the Religion to another Religious man named Agapyton. While she began there, because she was very fair and primarily in appearance, many of the Religious began to murmur, saying that it was a devil in the likeness of a Religious man. And that by her beauty, many of them were falling into sin.\n\nFinally, they told this to the Abbot, who, upon learning of it, commanded him to make his prayers alone in his little chamber, and that he should no longer come into the church. Which thing he did gladly and held herself so steadfastly that all the Religious marveled at the great constance she had in such young age.Her father Pafunce returned from the said monastery, and when he was come home, he found nothing his dear daughter. Surprised and taken with great and marvelous sorrow and heaviness, he began to ask all his servants and chamberers where she had become. He said these words:\n\nAlas, my sweet daughter,\nA cursed be the wolf that has carried away my sheep,\nAlas, in what place or in what land may she be hidden,\nO land, hide not from me my daughter.\n\nSaint Euphrosyne prayed in the same way to God, that her conversation should never be shown to man.\n\nAfterward, the Abbot came to her father Pafunce and said to him: My son, rejoice since we have no more news of her. We believe steadfastly that in whatever place it ever was, your daughter is in the honor of God, and has no disturbing nor hindering.\n\nHearing this, Pafunce was a little comforted, and after thanking the brother, he returned to his house.\n\nCertain days passed since the death of Pafunce.\"returned to the abbey and recommended him to the brethren, humbly requesting them to pray for him and his daughter. He specifically asked the abbot to pray for him. \"Alas, good father, my sorrow renews from day to day more and more. \"I can no longer bear it without death.\n\nThe abbot, seeing him so sorrowful, brought him into the chamber where St. Euphrosyne was. He did not know it was his daughter. \"Saint Euphrosyne, hearing her father was present, was greatly ashamed and wept with great tears, comforting him as she would have if he had not known. \"Her father, observing her face covered with her habit and greatly changed due to her fasting and abstinence, which she continually practiced, did not recognize her.\n\nAfter the lamentations and wailings, Saint Euphrosyne began to speak to her father about the excellence of eternal glory.\"how by abstinence, charity, chastity, and the virtue of humility might bring about the sovereign attitude or blessedness /\nAfter she had admonished him to dispense with and contemn all worldly things, she showed him that a man ought not to love his children more than God /\nBut because she saw her father in much tribulation, she wished to comfort him at last. And she said to him, \"Know, my friend, for truth, that thou art beloved of God /\nAnd if thy daughter were in danger, God would have shown in what estate she were /\nI believe that she has chosen the way of health /\nFor he who does not forgive all that he has, may have no part in heaven /\nLeave then thy malice, and be not a cause of thy peril and loss /\nHave patience and steadfast hope /\nI have often heard my master Agapyton speak of thee, and how thou hast prayed to the Religious for tidings of thy daughter. But I have often prayed for thee as well.To ensure that you are patient and have desired to see him for your comfort. And after saying this to him, I prayed, \"My lord and my friend, go your way.\" He did not resist this, but she wept and had compassion for him. For nature could not lie.\n\nPaphnutius, her father, was greatly comforted by her words. And after recommending him to the prayers of the Abbot and Nun, and returning home to his house, St. Euphrosyne lived for eighty and thirty years. And soon after, she fell ill and died from this sickness. Her father came to the abbey to visit her, not knowing that she had been the Abbess Smarydn all along. He entered the chamber where she lay sick and found her almost dead. Then he began to weep, saying, \"Alas.\"What shall I do? Where are the promises you made to me, Smaradyn? Where are the sweet consolations and pleasant words by which you promised me that I would see my daughter? Alas, I have not only lost my daughter but also the one who gave me so much comfort. Alas, who will comfort my poor old age, and where shall I go? Who will help me in my sorrow? Now I am forced to weep my double sorrow and harm, both yours and my daughter's. It is eighty-three years since I lost my daughter. Now I return to the same sorrow. Alas, where shall I now find consolation and comfort? I shall descend weeping into hell if God does not have pity on me. Smaradyn, seeing his sorrow moved him, and he comforted him, saying, \"Why do you torment yourself thus? Do you want to flee from yourself? Do not think that God is almighty to comfort the afflicted. End your sorrow.\"Think how Jacob wept for his son Joseph, and yet after our Lord God showed him to him, I pray for the honor of God that you leave me not for three days,\nThen his father Patroclus supposed that the noble Religious Smardyn without fault should show him something in some manner that he would have knowledge of his daughter,\nThe three days passed, and Patroclus came again to Smardyn, and said, \"My right sweet friend, the three days have now passed, I have tarried, as you said to me,\nThen Saint Euphrosyne, knowing that the day approached and drew near in which she would die, said to her father, \"My lord and my friend, I know that I shall not live long, And that God has helped me to fight against the devil until now, It remains only that I give the consolation of my daughter Euphrosyne,\nBy my leave, surely I am she, And therefore be constant and mighty in any way to anger the.\"the nun shall wash and declare it to no living man before I am put in the earth. But you alone before that I am put in the earth shall wash me. To ensure that no man knows that I am a woman, I have promised many lands and possessions to the church herewith. Therefore, you shall fulfill and complete my promise. It is a place of great devotion. Pray for me. I commend to God and my body and my soul. And in saying these words, she rendered and gave her spirit to God.\n\nWhen Panacea, the father of the good lady, had heard these words, he saw that she was then dead. He fell down to the earth as dead. After this, Agapytus ran. And he saw that Smardyn was dead. And Panacea, fallen down to the earth, cast water into the face of Panacea. In saying, \"What ails you, my lord and friend. Arise up,\"\n\nPanacea answered, \"Alas that I die not right here. This day I have seen unbearable things.\" After he rose up and fell upon the face of his daughter and comforted her.And when he had long dwelt and wept upon the body, he said with a high voice: Alas, my sweet daughter. Why hadst thou not shown yourself to me sooner, that I might have died gladly with thee. Unhappiness has come to me since thou hast hidden thyself from me so long. Alas, how hast thou vanquished and put under thy feet the adversities of this world, and now thou art in eternal glory.\n\nAgapyton, hearing this, went to the Abbot and showed him all the cases. When the Abbot came, he began to weep with Patience, saying: O Eufrosyne, spouse of Jesus Christ, the time has come for thee to remember thy brethren. Pray for us, that we may come to the gate of health.\n\nAll the brethren assembled there and seeing this miracle, glorified and worshipped God in saying: Honor and praise be to the God of heaven and earth, who not only makes marvelous things for men butAnd so, as all were assembled for the burial of the corpse, a brother with only one eye kissed her. Incontinently he saw clearly with that other eye. And her father distributed and dealt all his possessions and livelihood to the said church and monastery. He rendered and became himself religious in the same place and monastery. He lived there for ten years after, and after his death was finally buried by St. Euphrosyne, his only daughter. May it please God through their intercessions and prayers that we may all come to the end of our days.\n\nThe Father, Son, and Holy Ghost grant us this. Amen.\n\nThus ends the life of the glorious St. Euphrosyne.\n\nSt. Frontyan being in the country of Nytrye, with him were three score and ten brothers who led virtuous living. He called all the said brothers.\n\nAnd they being assembled and come together, he said to them, \"What do we here in this damning place?\"It is necessary for us to renounce and forsake all worldly joys, if we wish to obtain the heavenly life.\n\nLet us leave all and go into the desert without bringing anything of the world with us. They all consented to this.\n\nSome took seeds of coleswort and other herbs to sow in the desert.\n\nWhen they had arrived, the good father said to them, \"God has said in His gospel that no man should think about such things as he should eat or drink.\n\nThese are the conditions of those who live in the world. Let us first demand and ask for the kingdom of heaven. And let us do so in justice. By this means, all good things will come to us. After each one of them has ended his prayer in the best way he can. But the good father did not only pray for himself, but also for all the others.\n\nFor a long time after they had lived in the said desert, the enemy of nature, which is always envious, primarily envied them.They whych did penance / Tempted them and assaulted them in such a way that he made them all murmur and grumble against their Abbot / And said to one another, \"Why is it that our Abbot has brought us to this Desert? / Those who are in towns and castles shall have as much heaven as we. So, they did good works. / And we afflict ourselves here through fasting and abstinence, and we die for hunger / And thus the most part of them were moved to return to the world.\" /\n\nSaint Frontinian came to them and said, \"Why, all of you, come here with me to murmur and grumble against God? / Do you not know well by holy scripture that a just man shall never die of hunger / And if he has not food to eat, God will send it to him through his angel, as He has done to many whom we read about / Think that God always keeps His eye upon the devout souls / Think also how God nourishes the ravens within their eyes.\"\"next. Whenever the father or mother would not nurse them because they were white, / \u00b6 When they were first born, /\n\u00b6 My brothers, you always have the love of God in your hearts. And I assure and certify you truly, that you shall never lack food nor drink, / \u00b6 And if it should happen, which I believe will never come to pass, that you should have hunger or thirst, / And whenever it should be, / Then you might have cause to accuse God of the words that He spoke in the Gospel, / thus speaking to Him, /\n\u00b6 O God, we have kept Your commandments. And we have believed that You said, that is to say, that You would nourish Your servants with heavenly food, / We have had this hope. Nevertheless, You have left us. But I pray you all, mourn and grumble no more in this way, as our ancestors did in the desert, / \u00b6 Wait and tarry a while. And you shall know how God deals with those who fear Him.\"After these words of Saint Frontysan, all ceased their murmurings and grumbling. And having done so, they were much sorrowful and displeased.\n\nOn a night after they had been corrected, an angel appeared to a rich man. And said to him:\n\nThou man who livest in great delights and worldly pleasures, and having abundance of goods, and the poor servants of God are in the desert, afflicted with great hunger. I advise and counsel thee that thou arise and send them some meat to eat. Or else thou shalt run into the indignation of God.\n\nThe man sleeping was greatly amazed.\n\nEarly in the morning, he called together all his friends and reported to them all that the angel had shown to him. But he knew nothing of what place the holy fathers were. Therefore, he could not do what the angel had said to him.\n\nOn the morning, he was again threatened, menaced, and beaten by the devil.By cause he had not accomplished and fulfilled his commandment in like manner as he did before, he assembled all his friends to counsel him on how he might do that. Which the angel had commanded him to show to them, revealing to them the wounds he had received from the angel. And not one of them knew what to say, because they did not know the place where the religious were in the desert.\n\nAmong the others, there was one wise man who advised him to load and charge three score and ten camels with provisions and to let them go there as they wished, without being led or conducted by anyone. For if it was so that such a revelation came from a good angel, he should provide for them. And if it came from an evil angel, he should take it in patience. This counsel pleased all those who were present.\n\nAnd it was thus executed in loading three score and five camels with provisions for the religious, and five others with.vytalle for the saying of Camellis,\n\nAfter they were thus loaded, he made his prayer to God, saying, \"O my God, I require Thee, as Provider of all they that live, that it please Thee to address and govern all these Camellis to go to the place where Thy servants are, in such a way as it pleases Thee. And also to bring them home again, if it pleases Thee, without hindrance or delay in my house.\"\n\nThen he made them depart without any person going with them as their guide,\n\nAnd so they went along by a mountain for four days, and finally came to the gate of their monastery,\n\nAnd because they sang their service, they could not hear those saying Camellis, nor their great sounds or bells,\n\nAll together they returned and gave thanks to God in prayer and magnifying His name,\n\nAnd after discharging and unloading the said Camellis and washing their feet, they gave them something to eat.And they brought with them grass from the mountain. For refreshment, they remained there more extensively. On the morrow, the Abbot left all the supplies and lay again on the camels halfway in their loading, to avoid committing sins due to excessive abundance and plentitude of these goods. He sent them back to him who had sent them. In prayer to God, he asked for protection from all harm and evil for them, as well as for their master and lord.\n\nSeven days later, those from the rich man's house, who had sent the camels, heard the sounds and saw them coming together. They all went to meet them. They found them all together, whole and not less or in worse condition than when they departed for their long journey. The rich man, who had been heavy beforehand, was now relieved.Doubting the loss of his camels, he received them joyously. In loving and praying the name of God, and after that same time during the life of the said Saint Frontyan, continued to send him often of his goods, both for him and for his relatives. By which means the said had no suffering from hunger or necessity of anything.\n\nThis happened in the fifteenth year of the empire of Anthony, Emperor of Rome.\n\nSaint Jerome says on this matter: \"Whoever shall do alms to the servants of God and have towards them a pitiful heart in enlarging to them of his goods for their necessities, he shall be rewarded by God in this life or in everlasting life.\"\n\nThe Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.\n\nThus ends the life of Saint Frontyan, who was a devout and holy Religious Person.\n\nSaint Symeon was not he who was received in the Temple: our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. Forty days after he was born, he made the Psalm.This holy man, whom we shall now recount, was sanctified by God in his mother's womb. He was gently nourished by his parents and friends, and tended and drove his father's beasts until he was thirteen years old. Then it happened that as he tended those beasts, he entered a church, leaving his beasts in the fields. In that church, the Epistle of Saint Paul was being read. Inconsolable Saint Symeon was there.\n\nSaint Symeon asked the old man, \"What is it that I should fear, God?\" The old man answered him, \"My son, why do you mock me?\" The child replied, \"I ask you, who can comfort me? I am a man who fasts and humbles himself in keeping the commandments of God. I have forsaken father and mother.\"\n\nWhen the child heard these words, he knelt down before him and said, \"You are my father and my mother. And with this, I take you as my Director of all my works and endeavors. You have given me.\"This day my soul said to me, which was on the verge of perdition. Now I shall go in such a way as you have taught me. Or God shall conduct and lead me. His will be done. Yet the good father had instructed him to have patience in adversity. After this, the aforementioned Symeon went to a monastery. Before the gates of which monastery he tarried for five days without food and without drink. After the said five days, the holy Abbot Thymothee came out of the said monastery and found the child Symeon. He asked him whence he was and if he had done any harm because he was a fugitive.\n\nSaint Symeon answered, saying, \"Sir, I have not deceived nor troubled my friends. Nor have I harmed any other persons of the world. But I desire to be the servant of God, if it pleases him. To the end that I may save my soul, which is lost.\"\n\nTherefore, I pray, that you receive me into your monastery to serve all the brethren.Then the good Abbot took him by the hand. As he had known his great devotion, and led him into the monastery, saying to the religious:\n\n\"All ye my brethren, I deliver to you this child named Symeon. To teach and instruct him in the rules of our monastery. Therefore I command you that each of you be to him as his father, for I believe that he shall be numbered among perfect men.\n\nSymeon served the said Religious for the space of four months. In which four months he learned the Psalter. Living alone spiritually,\n\nFor the recompense that he had with the Religious, he gave it secretly to the poor people,\n\nAnd notwithstanding that the brethren took their recompense always at equal times, St. Symeon took nothing but on the seventh day.\n\nOn a day among the others, he took the cord of the pit. By which they drew the water, and bound it on his bare flesh around his waist and shoulders,\n\nAnd so he bound it quickly.About the cord entering into his flesh and joining the bone, and for this reason his flesh rotted and was full of worms. These worms fell from him in such a way that Good Symeon walked. Now it happened that the brothers knew that he ate not every day, and they found him giving his portion to the poor people. And so they accused him to the Abbot, saying that he broke the rules of the abbey, and also that he was infected. And they felt him much stinking. The Abbot made him come speak to him, reproving him for his errant life because he did not eat every day like himself, and there was no disciple above his master. And after he made him expelled, they then found that he was bound with a cord. And that it was the cause why he stank so much. The Abbot was greatly ashamed and begged him to leave the monastery. But first they took it from him with great pain and force, and did what they had to do to him.And he left the monastery secretly and went to a deserted place, not far from the monastery, where he found a pit that was not used, and in which there was no water, but there were evil spirits within.\n\nThe night following was shown to Abbot Thymothee that many armed people were coming to assault the house to take away the good servant of God, Symeon. And if they would not deliver him, they threatened to burn them and all their monastery.\n\nWhen Thymothee was awakened considering this revelation and that he had blamed the servant of God so severely, he was greatly afraid. And he recounted to his brethren the said revelation and how he was troubled by it.\n\nThe night following came before the house much people that cried out with a loud voice.\n\nThymothee delivered to us Symeon.\n\nHe is more beloved by God than you. Wherefore have you troubled him so harshly?\n\nAll the heavenly court is angry with them.cause the God shall do marvelous things, for which no man ever did / Incontinent Timothee rose and went to his brethren. Commanding them that with our delay, they should go and find Symeon, or else they would all die within their monastery /\nThe brethren went out of their church to seek where they might find the good Symeon, but they could not find him /\nThen they returned to the Abbot, saying that they had searched everywhere except in the pit of the desert /\nThe Abbot, who was much disturbed by these tidings, took Symeon with him and his brethren. He transported them to the said pit, where the good Symeon was descended /\nAnd before that,\nA year after, Saint Symeon dwelled in the said monastery / And after he departed secretly into a solitary place, which was not far from the said monastery /\nAnd there he built a little cloister of stones / And there he lived there for three years /\nIn that time, his fame began to grow.the places near his habitation in which he dwelt for the space of sixteen years / Then it happened that his reputation and renown spread over the entire country / And was so agreeable to the people that they built two churches for him, in which he dwelt yet for the space of four years / The years passed, and he died a Catholic of the faith / He being in the said place, the devil appeared to him in the form of a shining angel, riding in a chariot drawn and led by the strength of fiery horses, which lit up the entire place where Saint Symeon was / To whom the devil began to say these words: Symeon, take heed to it which God sends to you by me / I have come here for to carry it in this chariot / as was the good prophet Elijah / Your time has come / Come up with me here / To the end that you come into paradise / Where are the angels accompanying the Mother of God, the Apostles, and all the heavenly court / And do not differ / For I will.Return to heaven /\nSaint Symeon, full of humility and prudence, made his prayer to God, saying, \"Healer my Redeemer, I, a poor sinner, will you raise me up into heaven?\" And in saying these words, he lifted up his right foot and his hand, to mount and go up into the chariot.\n\nBut first, he made the sign of the Cross upon the said chariot.\n\nAnd instantly it vanished away. By this he knew that it was the devil, who wanted to deceive him. He was greatly afraid.\n\nAnd because his right foot was already ready to ascend in the said chariot, he made it bear penance.\n\nFor he was an old man sitting on a pillar, having only one foot on the earth. And there he sustained himself with only one foot.\n\nThere a posture grew in his leg. From which fell down a great multitude of vermin. Both on the pillar and on the ground.\n\nNow he had with him a young disciple named Anthony, who wrote his life afterwards.Whyche, in obeying the commandment of Saint Symeon, gathered and took to him the aforementioned vermin from the apostle's company. He put them in the sore and said to them, \"Take and eat what God has sent to you.\" Bazyle, king of the Saracens, hearing the fame of his holy life, came to see him. And finding him praying to God, he fell down a worm from his sore upon the same king. The king, moved by his great devotion to the holy man, took the same worm and laid it upon his eyes. Saint Symeon, reproving him, asked him why he had done so. He replied to him that it was no longer a worm, but a precious stone. And it was indeed so, by miracle, and by the great faith of the said king. The worm in his hand was converted into a precious stone named Margaret, and therewith the good king departed.replenisshyd in good faith / And took leave of the holy father Symeon /\nLong time after his mother's tidings of him. And came to his church to see him /\nBut because women never entered where he was, / The good holy man, who had heard and well understood his mother's voice, said to her: /\n\"Have a little patience, and in short time, by the pleasure of God, you and they shall each see other.\" /\nSeeing his mother begin to weep, saying to her: \"Alas, my son, this is the receiving and reward that you give to me. For to have brought you into the world in my belly, and to have given you the sweet milk from my breasts, and afterwards to have nursed you so sweetly, /\n\"I have certainly done poor nourishing. Instead, in place of receiving me, you weep and lament.\" /\n\"Who would not weep,\" his mother replied, \"to hear her son speak thus to his mother?\" /\nWhen the holy man heard the lamentations of his mother, /\nHe began to weep as strongly as she did, /\nAnd after he said to her sweetly without seeing her:My lady and my moder weep no more. I promise you that within short time we shall see each other. His moder was not content with his answer. She prayed to see him more than before, saying, \"My son, I pray you in the name of him who formed thee. Since I have been so long out of your presence, now may I see thee. Or may I more plainly hear your voice. Or else I am dead.\" Think how your father died for love of thee. Alas, my son, do not grieve me so that I die in this heaviness. These words said, she slept heavily and sore grieved for three days and three nights. She had continually prayed to see him. Then Saint Symeon began to pray to God for her. And inconsequently she rendered up her soul to God. That done, the deceased body was born before the holy man. He made his prayer to God for her, saying, \"My God, I pray you to take the soul of my good mother. She who has endured so much sorrow for me.\" And immediately the body of his mother began to move in the presence.of all the assistants / And after Saint Symeon made another prayer, saying / My God who sits on the throne above cherubim. And you see clearly all things / To those below and lowest places / And to Adam before he was born. Why have you promised your realm to them who love you? You spoke to Moses in the burning bush. And gave your blessing to Abraham. Which put the souls of good persons in eternal glory and those of evil life in perpetual fire. / And also you gave reception to Elijah by two crows. Now receive the soul of my mother with the holy fathers. Likewise, only you may do this. And none other / After this prayer was accomplished, he lived but sixteen years / In the time near to his monastery, towards the parties of the North, dwelt a dragon. Which was so venomous that there about grew no grass nor herb / That dragon, by chance or otherwise, had a stake put in its right eye by the said Symeon on the said dragon. The stake fell out of his eye.The religious persons, seeing this miracle, drew them together to their monastery and gave devout thanks to God. The beast, thus healed and made whole as reported, withdrew himself from them without displaying anything in any way. And after this, all the religious persons were withdrawn into their church. The same dragon fell down humbly before the door of the sacred church to give thanks to the holy man Simeon for the good he had done to him through his prayers.\n\nA woman, drinking from a stone pot, received a little serpent into her body while drinking. She was made to drink from the water of his monastery. And as soon as she had drunk it, the serpent sprang out of her body, measuring about three cubits or thereabouts. The woman was made whole and healed.\n\nAt the same hour, the said serpent split apart and was hung up in the same place for seven days.It was perpetual remembrance:\n\nIn that place there was no water, not only for men but also for beasts in that country. There was a beast named Parde, when the lion had to deal with her, he engendered on her another beast called a Leopard. For the cruelty of that beast, no person dared go through the fields that saw its dwellers. To have aid and comfort came Saint Symeon. He commanded them that they should sow and spring on the ground the water of their church in the places where the said beast haunted. And they did so, and they were immediately delivered from him. Afterward, they found the beast miraculously dead. Then they thanked God. In the name of whom Saint Symeon made such great and evident miracles. And whenever he did any miracle for any person, he commanded them that he should never show anything, but only they should thank God and nothing to him. Giving to them nothing.Understood that God had held them. And above all things He forbade them that they should not swear the name of God, but only for just causes. And for unjust causes they should swear by the name of Symeon the poor sinner. And Synt Iherom says that in the parties of the East and other strange regions, they of the said parties and regions swore only and commonly the name of Saint Symeon.\n\nA certain youth named Jonas, for the great and fearful evils that he had done, was so strongly compelled that he entered the church of Saint Symeon. And embracing a pillar by which he stood, he answered. I am Jonas. Who am I, that have done so much evil in the world? But I will repent and do penance.\n\nThen the holy man said to him, Thou art right welcome, my brother. For the penitent is the kingdom of heaven. But come not hither for temptation, nor also for false repentance.return to your sin / \u00b6 And thus spoke the officers of Antioch, who said to Saint Simeon / \u00b6 Deliver to us the thief Ionas. Or else all the city shall rise against us. For the beasts may take him with you / For as touching me, I dare not touch him. Because I fear God. who has sent him here / \u00b6 Then they returned and said to the lords of the Justice, where they had found him, and that Saint Simeon had said to them Why you dared not touch him / \u00b6 The thief Ionas, who was then converted, and continuing in lamentations and weeping, after he had been there for seven days, said to Saint Simeon / \u00b6 My lord and friend, if it pleases you, I am ready to go there / \u00b6 Simeon answered, Art thou now weary of doing penance? And wilt thou return a little time after one named Anthony. Of whom is spoken before. And whom Saint Simeon had found praying / And because he had been long in serving Saint Simeon.During the three days, that is to say, on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, he had not spoken but was there, unmoving. The revered Anthony was much ashamed and said to him, \"My lord and my father, it is time that you arise. For three days now the people have waited for your blessing.\" To whom Saint Symeon answered no word. Then Anthony said, \"Alas, what have I offended you that you speak nothing to me? And since he spoke not, he dared not awaken him. He feared him much. Nevertheless, he remained by him for half an hour. And after, he approached near to him and laid his cheek on him.\n\nAfter many lamentations, the good Anthony fell asleep. And as he slept, he was with the grace of God.\n\n\"You shall go secretly into Antioch, to the end that the people do not move. And you shall tell the tidings of my death.\" For now I have departed, just as it has pleased my Redeemer.\n\n\"You shall never cease to pray.\"god in this place here / And he shall reward thee in heaven /\n\nWhen Anthony was awakened, he marveled, saying, \"O my lord and master. Remember me in the glory where thou art now.\" / After he kissed his feet and laid his hands upon his eyes, he said, / \"My lord, I pray thee give to me thy blessing.\" / And he began to weep, saying, \"Alas, for having to leave thee. What piece of a relic shall I take of thy body?\" / And so saying, the body began to move. Therefore he was afraid and dared not touch it. / And because no one should know of this, he sent secretly one of his brethren to the Bishop of Antioch. This was accompanied by two other bishops and also by Ardahorius, Prince of the Antiochian chivalry. They transported them thither and laid the holy corpse before the altar of his church. /\n\nThe story says that the byres fled around the place where he was, making great cries and chanting in a manner of weeping and wailing. /people and beasts assembled in great numbers, numbering over seven thousand. They demonstrated profound sorrow for his death. / The mountains, fields, trees, and herbs in the nearby areas suffered for his death. / Above all, they were surrounded by a dark cloud, bearing witness to the bitterness they felt. / Anthony the Good remained for seven hours by the angel of God. Shining like lightning, his clothes were as white as snow. With him were seven ancient fathers, who had long been by the corpse. But what they did or said, none knows, as Saint Jerome says. / During the time the body was in the church, the Patriarch of Antioch intended to take a lock of his beard, knowing him to be a man of holy life. But his incontinence, with whom he would have touched it, had dried up. However, through the prayers of those present and the evident miracle, he was healed. / Then he swore,Neither man nor woman should approach it / These things were done in great solemnity. Torches and tapers being lit / The body was borne to Antioch / But when he was withdrawn five miles to a place called Mere, no man could make him depart from that place /\n\nThere was a man who had been forty years dead and dumb. And he began to cry out: \"Hail servant of God, thou art right welcome. Thy coming has given to me hearing and speech.\" / I promise thee, if I live long, that I shall always serve thee with body and soul /\n\nAfter he arose and took one of the beasts that drew the corpse of the holy man, he was healed / The cause of the death of this dead and dumb man was this: /\n\nHe had been enamored of a fair young woman, married to another. To whom he could not come. And after it happened that she died. When he came to know of this, he was filled with rage for her love /\n\nAnd after her death, he went to her.In the time that reigned Theodosius the Just emperor of the Romans, there was at Rome a senator named Antigonius, who had a daughter named Eufrasia. The said Antigonius was a man so prudent and of so many other virtues. After some time that God had shown him his fair daughter Eufrasia, thinking the salvation of his soul, he and his wife Eufrasia devised holy words and devotion. Among other things, he said to her:\n\nEufrasia, my sister and love, you know that this life is transitory and may not endure.four score years / You know also that worldly riches. and the vanity of this world are nothing but a little wind / But the riches of heaven are always durable & perpetual / Now my sister, you ought to know that all those who love disorderly the honors of this world are excluded from the goods of heaven / And often riches and worldly possessions are the cause of the confusion and utter destruction of those who have them / His wife hearing these words said to him / What plays this that we do / Command your good pleasure and I shall fulfill it / For your will is mine. That which you want, I want / Antigonius answered We have a daughter, God be thanked / And we ought to be content that one with the other without affection to live among the voluptuousness of this world / Then his wife lifted up her hands to heaven in saying / O my lord & love, blessed be our lord who has made you worthy to know your health / Truly my love, I haveMany times I prayed to God that He would humble me and turn my intent away from my fleshly concupiscences and worldly things. But I never dared to declare anything of this to anyone. For your will is such. Let us depart from our temporal goods to the end that they are not the cause of our descent into hell. Other wholesome reasons the lady gave to Antigonius her husband. The which, praising and thanking God with all his heart, distributed the greatest part of his goods to the poor people. And after living not but one year with his good life, holy and virtuous in perfect devotion, chastity, and continence, of his death was much sorrowful to the emperor. Who was of his kin and also to all the Romans, for the great virtues that were in him. And also for the pity they had for his wife Eufraxe, who had not been in favor and contemplation of the god and very love that you had for her father Antigonius.The emperor requested that she be instructed and taught in good manners and virtues. And to be her guardian and conductor. The lords, hearing this pitiful request, were moved to weeping and wailing. And a little after that, they had recovered their spirits. The emperor then advised and counseled the good lady that she should consent to the marriage of her fair daughter, and of one of the senators, the richest of all the others. To this she agreed. And the said daughter received an earnest of the marriage. But after, because the said daughter, at the time that the said marriage was being treated, was but five years old, and the senator was displeased to wait until she was of suitable age, he demanded that the mother become his wife instead. And to come to his entreaty, he sent notable ladies to the empress to persuade the mother to marry the senator.Empress and the said ladies are supposed to have made and accomplished it, but the good widow would never in that manner abandon her worldly way. For bringing her to eternal damnation, and among other words she said to the empress, \"A maiden, to what thing will you induce me? Alas, when I was with my husband, I kept chastity. And you labor to me that I should follow you, amorous women. I shall never do it.\n\nThe emperor, instigator of the enterprise of his wife, was ill content with her. Saying these words, \"Come hither, my wife. You are presumptuous to want to break the marriage which has so honestly begun. Do you not know that our cousin and kinswoman Eufraxe intends to lead a sober life? Have you now forgotten the love you had for her husband while he lived? Will you now do him injury?\n\nAlas, if you loved him while he lived, you ought, after his death, to love his wife. She is so good and just.\"\n\nThe empress, hearing these words, was so moved.She remained troubled for two hours without speaking, seeming to be dead. The good Eufraxe, learning of these events, was similarly angered. Doubtful that it would be laid at her door, that she would be the cause of the emperor's discord and his wife's, potentially endangering her life, she said to her daughter:\n\nLet us go to Egypt, my dear daughter. We have many lands and possessions there. For all that I have is yours.\n\nAnd so they went to the land of Egypt. They went to the parties of Thebayde, where they did many alms to the monasteries and religious institutions. Among all others, they came to a religious institution of women in a town where there were one hundred and twenty of them, seeking a blessing from God.\n\nThey never left the monastery, but they had a porter who granted audience to all who came there. Eufraxe, knowing the honest and devout conversation of the said religious women, visited them often.give them light to the church. to do the service of God /\nOn one day, among the others, Eufraxe spoke to the abbess and to the priors of the monastery. And said to them, / My good ladies, I will give to you twenty or thirty pounds of gold in revenue. For and to end, I pray you that it would please you to pray for Antigonius and his daughter. whom I present to you before your faces /\nThe Abbess answered, / My dear and right pleasant lady, your servants have no need of your rents and revenues. / For, to disdain worldly goods, they have put themselves into this monastery. and will be poor in this world for to be rich in that other. / But to end that you may be the more content, we pray you that it may please you to give to us some oil and candles for to accomplish the service of God. And that shall comfort us more than other goods /\nThus did Eufraxe. in praying them humbly that they would pray devoutly for her husband and her daughter /\nOn a day.It happened as the good mother brought her daughter with her into the abbey. The Abbess wanted to know the daughter's will. She asked her first if she loved their monastery. The daughter answered yes, and all the sisters did likewise. The Abbess then said to her, \"To pass the time, my love, since you love us, will you dwell with us to serve God?\" The child answered that if it weren't for fear of her mother, she would never depart from them. Yet again the Abbess said to her, \"My daughter, whom do you love best, your husband or us?\" She answered, \"I have never known him, nor he me. But I know you and love you.\" And they answered, \"We love best God our maker.\" The maid answered, \"Certainly I love you and God also.\" The good mother, hearing her daughter reply so wisely, saw that she was not yet seven years old, and fell into weeping of great abundance of tears.after saying to her daughter, \"Come now here, my daughter, it is time that we return home to our house. For it is nearly evening and late.\" The child answered that she would stay with the abbess. To whom the abbess said, \"She may not dwell here in our monastery unless she renounces herself to Jesus Christ.\" The maiden then asked, \"Where is Jesus Christ?\" The abbess showed her the image of the Crucifix. The maiden, unable to contain herself, went and kissed the image. And she said to the abbess, \"Certainly, madam, I give myself to my Savior, Jesus Christ.\" The abbess said to her, \"I have no place for you. I do not know where to put you.\" The child answered that she would stay with her. When the abbess saw that she was so resolute, she knew that she was inspired by the Holy Spirit. And she said to her mother, \"You should leave her here in this monastery.\" The mother, being strongly comforted in her spirit, took her daughter and led her before the image.of Isis Christ / Before she began her prayers, in saying:\n\nLoved and thanked be thou my God. For as much as it has pleased thee to inspire my daughter,\nGiving her such affection, that she has given herself to thee in her youth,\n\nAlas my God, take charge of her body and soul since she desires to serve thee,\n\nAfter she turned towards her daughter and said to her:\n\nMy dear daughter, God who has made the mountains unmovable, make him so merciful in his love, that the world has never had power to move her,\n\nAnd when she had said these words, she delivered her into the hands of the Abbess,\nWeeping and wailing so abundantly that all the Religious wept with her,\n\nThe day following, the Abbess clothed her with the vestment of the Religion,\nAnd prayed our Lord for her, saying:\n\nO King of kings, who hast begun such a great work in this child,\nI beseech thee, O meek one, that it may please thee, that this beginning may continue.\"achieve from good to better, that I may always praise and glorify thy right holy name,\nThe mother then asked the daughter, saying, \"My child, do you love this vestment which you now have?\",\nThe child answered, \"Truly, mother, I believe that the vestments and clothing of this Religion are to me the earnest penny for having God in marriage,\nThen the mother said, \"I pray that he whom you have now chosen as your espoused one may be worthy to be a chamberlain in his heavenly chamber,\nThese words said, the good mother took leave of the Religious and kissed her daughter. And returned home to her house,\nThroughout the land were the tidings. How the said good mother distributed her goods to poor people and to churches,\nAnd also the tidings came to the Emperor and to all the Senators. Who were much more joyous of her virtuous conversation,\nEvery day she ate but cole-worts or peas,\nA little while after the Abbess\"We in spirit. How Antigonius, husband of the same good widow, prayed God that she might depart from this world to be with him in heaven. And she showed it to the good Eufraxe. The latter was greatly comforted and put herself to prayer. And she had a like revelation.\n\nAnd then she took all her goods and put them in the hands of her daughter to dispose in such a way as she might get everlasting rent.\n\nAfter she said to her that our Savior Jesus Christ had called her to go to her husband in heaven,\n\nThe good daughter began to weep sorrowfully, saying, \"Alas, what shall I do? I shall now be an orphan, a stranger.\"\n\nHer mother comforted her and said, \"My daughter, thou art with thy Jesus Christ. Thou art no longer a stranger to him. Also, thou hast thy abbess. She shall be to thee a mother. By whom thou shalt be none orphan.\n\nIt behooves me to fear God and honor Him. And worship all the sisters. In serving them.\"And thou shalt accomplish and perform that which thou hast begun. I pray thee not to think on thy temporal noblesse. And esteem not that they shall do any service to thee. Be poor and humble in this world. And thou shalt be rich and a great lady in heaven. Thou shalt give all our possessions to the church for thy father and for us two. To the end that we may have mercy before God. The third day after she died, and was buried in the monastery where her daughter was. The Emperor had tidings of it. And called the Senator who had promised to take the young daughter Eufraxe. And said to him that she was religious. Then the Senator was much abashed thereof. And did so much that at his request and desire, the Emperor wrote to her that she should come to Rome to fulfill and marry us. The letters being by her read, she answered in this manner:\n\nLord Emperor,I have received your letters and it seems that in the past you were in love with my father and mother. If I were to ask for advice about the matter you wrote to me about, you would not advise me to do so, for it is not allowed. Since long ago I have given myself to my immortal God, Jesus Christ, and desire to be his spouse. I have given him my faith.\n\nShould I be here this day, I will not be here tomorrow. God forbid that I should do such iniquity and wickedness to God and to me.\n\nTherefore, I pray that you send no more for me. For you will release your travel and labor on my account, since I know it is impossible for me to leave my spouse, Jesus Christ.\n\nWith this, I pray that you remember my parents and kinsfolk in your giving for the health of their souls.For the honor of God, I know that my father, who has left all temporal goods to me, served him well and truly throughout his life. In consideration of this, you shall remember him. If it pleases you, I also pray that you will release all your bondmen and prisoners in freedom and plain liberty. Furthermore, you are to send for all my father's receivers. Quite and forgive them peaceably all that they owe in rents and revenues, so that I may serve God and my spouse without solicitude or bother.\n\nThe emperor read these letters many times and almost all night. And in the morning, he summoned all the Senators and the father who had advised her. In their presence, the letters were read aloud. Upon hearing this, they all began to weep for joy. And with common consent, they said, \"Lord Emperor, Eufraxe is your daughter.\"Of Antigonius and holy Eufraxes, his relative and descendant,\nIt is now clearly shown. For an holy root produces and brings forth gladly an holy branch.\n\nThey all prayed and glorified God in prayer for her,\nAnd after the Emperor distributed all the gods of the maiden according to what she had written.\n\nAfter the Emperor died and was buried with his parents and kin,\n\nSaint Eufraxes,\n\nThe custom of the same Abbey was that if any of the sisters were tempted by any temptation of the devil, she told it to the Abbess,\nWho prayed and made prayer to God, to the end that the devil should depart from her,\n\nOn one day it happened that the good Eufraxes was tempted by the devil,\nAnd to resist and withstand him, she put ashes on her couch,\n\nAnd she lay on them and slept,\n\nThe Abbess, seeing this, knew that she was troubled by some temptation,\nAnd prayed for her, saying to God,\n\n\"O my God, why have you allowed this to happen to her?\"hastily created and formed this maid after thy divine bounty and goodness / I pray that thou wilt confirm her in thy fear /\nAfter the Abbess called her and spoke to her, / Why hast thou not shown to me thy temptation given to thee by the devil? / Incontinently she fell down to her feet and cried, \"Have mercy, madam. I durst not notify and reveal it to you.\" /\nThe Abbess said to her, \"My daughter, thou hast begun to fight against the devil. Be strong and constant, in order that thou mayest be crowned with laurel.\" /\nA little while after she was again tempted, / And she showed her temptation to her sister named Julian, / who counseled her to reveal it to the Abbess, / in order that she might pray for her. /\nAfter she said to her, / We all are tempted by the devil, / But when we have good hope, we overcome the devil our temptor, / Eufraxe thanked her for her good counsel that she had given to her.The edyfycacyon went to the Abbesse and showed her her temptation.\n\nThe Abbesse comforted her, saying, \"My daughter, fear not this new thing but endure and put yourself in opposition to him. For it is the devil, who does this evil. And if you withstand him constantly and steadfastly, you shall overcome him always.\n\nKnow, my daughter, that you shall have many other temptations to resist and withstand. If you feel the weakness of spirit, it behooves you to do more abstinence than you have done before. And in doing so, you shall be greatly beloved of your spouse, Jesus Christ.\n\nAnother time, the Abbesse asked her how long it had been since she had eaten any food. She answered, \"Three days.\"\n\nThen the Abbesse said to her, \"You should yet remain another day or eat.\" She did this willingly, rendering herself ready and prompt in obedience.\n\nWhen she was twenty years old, her growth in years was like her.She was fair and courteous. By her manner, she clearly showed that she was descended from noble folk. However, despite her nobility, she was humble and obedient.\n\nIn a part of their monastery, there was a great multitude of stones. The abbess, to prove her humility, commanded her to carry them to an even place by the church, which was far from where the said stones lay.\n\nAmong the same stones were great and heavy ones. Two of the monks, with great pain, should have carried them. Yet, without murmuring or complaining, and disregarding that she had long fasted, she carried them all. Desiring to obey her abbess,\n\nAnother day she said to her, \"Daughter, these stones that you have carried near the church are not well there.\"\n\n\"Why?\" the daughter asked.\n\n\"Therefore, you must carry them back to the place where you took them,\" the abbess replied.\n\nThe daughter gladly and with good will did this.And Therabesse made her perform this penance for twenty days to test her patience. This patience was so great that all the sisters marveled at it. Some mocked her, while others admonished and urged her to persevere and increase in virtues. She continued this penance for thirty days. The Abbesse did not cease, and she humbly begged to be allowed to return and never again face those stones. She said, \"Leave this craft, my daughter, and take care and make bread from it. Bake it in the oven, so that you may serve your sisters.\" She did this with good courage.\n\nOne day, the devil found her sleeping. He put this temptation in her mind that the Senator of Rome, who had promised to take her, would come with a great multitude of armed men to take her out of her monastery. For this reason, she began to cry out loudly in her sleep, waking up all her sisters.They came to her and awakened her. Demanding and questioning arose the cause of the great cry she made. Eufraxe then recounted her uncontrollable dream. And then all her sisters put themselves to prayer, praying to God for her. Now let us consider what sisterhood was there, so much that they not only loved each other corporally but also spiritually. Yet again the devil tempted her and gave her an assault on her flesh. Uncontrollable, she showed it to the Abbess and to her sister Julian. Julian comforted her and prayed for her. And afterward she said to her sister, \"My love, it behooves you to resist and with steadfastness otherwise. Or else you will lose all the merit you have gained. Also, if we resist and steadfastly do not do so in our youth, how may we resist in our old age? Eufraxe answered the Abbess, \"Madam, if it pleases you to command me, I will fast for a whole week to the end that I may overcome the temptation with it.\"I. Julian said to her, \"My love, it thou mightest do that. Thou shalt be an abbess. That thou shouldst do according to thy power, and that it should please thee. In saying this, after that time Eufraxe ate but once in the week. And nevertheless she neither neglected to appoint the chambers nor to sing and do the divine service. Nor did she serve all the sisters like she had been accustomed. As was said before.\n\nWhen her sisters knew her great humility, and considering that she was of the lineage of the Emperor of Rome, they prayed and honored her more than before. And prayed God for her, that she might persevere and continue.\n\nAmong the other Religious there was one who was amorous. This one, whose evil temptations the enemy's pricking had more envy for the good manners of their kindred or like, not to take good example but to find occasion to slander them. Found Eufraxe in the kitchen.Secretly she said to her, \"Come here, my sister. I marvel at how you can fast as our Abbess does, and I suspect our Abbess has commanded us to fast in the same way. Eufraxe answered her humbly, \"My sister, doubt the devil. Why has he come to me?\nGermaine knelt down before her and begged her mercy, in prayer asking her to pray to God for her. The Abbess, who had been warned and knew that Germaine had confided in her, summoned her before all the sisters and said, \"O cursed servant full of envy. What pleases this maid Eufraxe? Why do you want to withdraw her from penance? I assure you that you shall no longer be with the sisters. You are not worthy to be in their company. But you shall live alone, as one who is excommunicated or accursed.\"\nEufraxe then knelt down before the Abbess, imploring pardon for Germaine. ButThe Abbesse would not pardon Germayne, and she endured the same punishment for thirty days. Thirty days after, Eufragze and her sister Julian returned to ask the Abbesse for forgiveness on Germayne's behalf. The Abbesse summoned Germayne and corrected her. The devil, seeing he could not make her die through sin, was often supposed to have tried to kill her physically. One time, as she looked towards the kitchen, the devil took hold of her arm in such a manner that she supposed it was a strike with a wooden implement. She struck her leg in response and hurt herself greatly, causing a copious flow of blood. The good Eufragze, marveling at the abundant and plentiful flow of blood, immediately knelt down and said, \"O my good god, I beseech your aid and strength for this your servant who suffers such harm to serve you.\" Afterwards, she fell to the ground. Her sister Julian suddenly alerted her.and having knowledge of this adventure, she began to cry so high that the abbess and all her sisters came to them and began to weep.\n\nThe abbess spoke to her and said, \"My daughter rejoice, and speak to your sisters.\"\n\nThen she took her by the hand and lifted her up.\n\nAfter that, she bound her leg with a piece of hay.\n\nClothed with only this, she was not treated as we are when we are hurt.\n\nFor to us are given ointments. soft and linen kerchiefs. And yet we are not content.\n\nThe abbess wanted to have led her to the church. But the good Eufraxe, seeing the wood lying there, said to her sisters, \"She will not go to the church until she has carried the wood to the kitchen, as she has been accustomed.\"\n\nHer sister Juliana,\n\nAnd in falling, entered a stick so deep into her eye that the sisters believed she had been lost.\n\nThen her good friend Juliana began to cry and said to her, \"Alas, my sister. I said to the well that you might not be harmed.\"wonned to do, but what commandment the abbess made. Eufraxe entered always to serve God continually and all her sisters / notwithstanding that the blood ran out of her wounds.\n\nA another time she went up into a soldier's house with her sister Julian / and in going up the devil threw her down from the highest grace to the lowest. Her sisters had supposed to have found her dead, but she arose and came to them all whole /\n\nA another time the devil supposed to have slain her. she being in the kitchen / for holding the pot full of worts. made her fall backward / and after threw boiling water upon her face /\n\nWhereof her sisters were much amazed / but she began to laugh. Saying that she felt nothing but cold water\n\nThe abbess seeing these things assembled and brought together all the ancient sisters to glorify the name of God / and then they knew at once that she was well beloved by her spouse Jesus.In the monastery, when children were ill or sick, they were brought there. By the prayers of the sisters, they were healed and cared for. Along with others, a woman came with her paralyzed, deaf and dumb child. The child, who was completely healed, began to speak and cry out for his mother.\n\nIn the monastery lived a woman who had been tormented for a long time by a devil. Her sickness was so terrible and marvelous that she continually screamed or cried so fearfully and desperately that none of the sisters dared to approach her to give her food. They delivered it to her from a distant vessel tied to a rope.\n\nAmong the others, the Abbess commanded Saint Eufraxe to take food to her.She died, and approaching the patient, the fiend within her body did not torment her. The patient did all that she commanded. Yet more, when the other religious houses came, if they did not bring Saint Eufraxe with them, she would neither drink nor eat. But often she cast the vessel at their heads.\n\nGermaine, who always envied her, said she would partake in her food as Saint Eufraxe did. When unhappy Germaine came near the patient, she took her and rent her vestments to the bare flesh and began to eat her members.\n\nThen the good sisters came and rebuked it to Saint Eufraxe. She immediately ran there, took her by the neck and hands, and took her away from her. After threatening her, she said to her, \"If you ever show insolence to the sisters, you will be beaten without mercy.\"The poor Demonyake held her still by the word of St. Eufraxe. The morning after the service was completed, St. Eufraxe came to visit the poor patient. He found that she had rented her clothes and eaten the parted flesh from her body below. Then St. Eufraxe, having compassion and pity, prayed to God her maker for an hour in weeping and wailing for her health. The morning after, the abbess sent for St. Eufraxe and said to him, \"Why have you not shown yourself to me and prayed to God, our Redeemer Lord Jesus Christ, for this poor patient?\" St. Eufraxe asked for mercy and said to her, \"Lady, I pray you to forgive me. I found her in such a pitiful state and condition that I could not longer tarry without praying for her.\" The abbess replied, \"My love, I will say one thing in secret. But keep this from the devil, lest he discover you through vanity in any way.\"\"Had God given us the power to chase the devils out of this patient's body, as revealed by God. Eufraxine, hearing these words, cast her gaze upon her and fell to the ground, saying, \"Alas, why have I, a poor sinner, been given power and might to heal and care for this poor patient, while my sisters have prayed for her for so long without obtaining or purchasing it? Be thou sufficient.\n\nAfterwards, accompanied by all her sisters, she came to the patient and said, \"O poor woman, God, who created and stands before the face of this patient, then the devil within her body began to cry horribly, \"Must I depart from this miserable body, in which I have been for so long?\" And after that, to St. Eufraxine, \"Why did you pay and allow me not to remain here as I have been accustomed, without persecuting me?\" Eufraxine\"Answered to him. I persist in not doing it. But it is my god and my maker, who commands thee to voyage.\n\nThe devil answered, O miserable and infamous one. I shall never depart hence. For thou hast no might to cast me out.\n\nEufraxe said, I know well that I am poor and a miserable sinner; but if thou depart not from her. I shall torment thee with the pastoral staff of my lady the abbess.\n\nFinally, she took the staff and struck three strokes upon the patient.\n\nBy the mouth of whom the devil always answered that he might not depart, and said thus, \"Where wilt thou that I go? Eufraxe said to him, \"Go into darkness and everlasting fire.\"\n\nAll the sisters were there, who durst not approach or come near her.\n\nAfter that she had long fought against the devil, she made her prayer to God, saying, \"O my God, I pray thee that I may not be confounded by the fiend, but that it may please thee to preserve me, in such a way that he may not overcome me.\"And in this present hour comes he that he departs and goes his way, leaving this poor patient / And the devil Incontinent,\nAfter the said miracle, Saint Eupraxia humbled and made herself more than before. And could not sleep, dreading the temptation of the fiend of hell / And ever she continued to fast all the week, without eating anything more than once in the week.\n\nCertainly, at some time after the Abbess saw in her sleep that Saint Eupraxia should depart from this world. Whereof she was much heavy and sorrowful / Her sisters seeing her great heaviness prayed her by great humility that it might please her to show to them and tell them the cause of her sorrow / But in no way she would tell them.\n\nAnd because they continued to exhort her to tell it to them / She was compelled to say it to them and declared to them in the following manner:\n\nMy dear daughters, we must leave the good lady Eupraxia now. Whereof I am much joyful on one hand.side. Because she shall be in eternal felicity, and on the other hand, I am heavy and sorrowful. For we shall be separated from her gracious sight physically, but of this revelation say nothing to her. Lest she should take any fear or dread. Then all the sisters made great lamentations. One of them came to Eufraxe where she made bread with Julyan. And she said to her, \"My sister the abbess and all the convent are making such great lamentations that it is pitiful.\" They were both greatly distressed. Julyan then said, \"Perhaps the abbess might have had tidings from the senator. Why, which would come to fetch her by force from their monastery.\" Eufraxe answered her, \"By the living God, from the love of whom if all the foundations of the earth should find and fail, I shall never depart. But my sister Julyan, I pray you, see if you can in any way discover the cause of their weeping.\"And wallings. To prevent my soul from being troubled, Julian went to speak to the Abbess. She, being before the gates or doors of the chapel, heard how the Abbess recounted her vision in this manner:\n\nI saw two men coming towards us, who sought Eufraxe. And they said to me, \"Abbess, recognize and counsel Eufraxe. She needs help.\"\n\nAfterwards, some others came and said to me, \"Take Eufraxe and lead her before your lord God.\"\n\nThen we took her and went to a gate so noble and so fair that I cannot describe it. And after that, the said gate was opened to us. We entered into a palace where we were married most merrily. And further we could not enter,\n\nBut Eufraxe was taken and presented before the lord imperial of the said palace. And when she was before him,\n\nShe knelt down humbly to the ground and kissed the foot of the said lord,\n\nAnd in the same place I saw ten thousand angels with innumerable.multitude of saints. The whych were away waiting / After came the mother of the Lord. The whych made ready a much fair crown in the chamber of marriage / In which chamber the said mother so fair, so playful and so amiable made her enter. And say to her in delivering to her the said crown / Eufraxe my love / Hold. Lo, here thy reward which thou shalt have. For thou hast vanquished all thine enemies / Now go thy way. And after ten days thou shalt come again into the glory and seclusion of heaven / And yet said more after the Abbess. Alas this day is the nineteenth day / Therefore I bequeath that / Iulian, who heard all this purpose, began marvelously to weep and wail. That she beheld all her body with tears / And thus weeping she came again to the own / Where Eufraxe was kneading the bread / Whanne Eufraxe saw her, she had / One of the sisters heard Eufraxe weep. And went inconsequently to the Abbess.The abbess blamed the sisters because she had forbidden anyone to tell her this, and commanded that Eufraxe be brought to her. The abbess asked, \"My daughter, why do you weep so?\" The woman replied, \"Lady, I weep because you know of my death. And yet you have never told me this. If I had known, I would have wept for the great sins I have committed and been defiled with.\" The abbess answered, \"Daughter, our Redeemer rewards well in heaven. But I pray that you will pray for me, so that through your merits and prayers, I may join the celestial glory.\" After the strong fire took the good lady Eufraxe, the sisters carried her into the oratory.There kept her till even / \u00b6 The nuns came / the Abbess commanded her religious to go and take their reception, all except Julian, who remained with the Abbess. / \u00b6 And they two shut the door to them and abode with Eufraxe. / \u00b6 Think you that here this history relates / what lamentations they made together / \u00b6 Julian said, / My lady, my sister, my friend and my dear fellow, I pray you remember me. And just as I have always held faithful company here on earth, may I accompany you in heaven. / And pray to God that I may die with the / \u00b6 Alas, I have so much loved the bodily and spiritually. And now you leave me / \u00b6 The morning came / the Abbess sent for all the religious sisters / To them that they should come and take leave of St. Eufraxe / \u00b6 Incontinently as they came, they said to her, / O our good sister, have in heaven's mind of your sisters. / And after came the other whom she had nursed and held by her prayers and intercessions so much.She was desolate and tormented, unable to speak. She kissed the hands of Saint Eufraxe. Why did they chase and expel the devil from her body? Because Saint Eufraxe did not respond to the words she spoke. The Abbess said to her, \"My daughter, my love. You do not speak to your sister. Why is she so sorrowful and desolate?\" Then she replied, \"Why do you weep, sister? Leave me alone. I am dying. Pray to God with all your heart, and He will save you. Also pray for me. At this hour, my soul suffers a great battle.\" Then the Abbess and all the sisters fell to their knees in prayer. The good Eufraxe, beginning in the age of thirty, rendered her benevolent spirit to God. Afterward, she was buried by the devout sisters in the tomb of her mother, in loving memory of the holy spouse they had had. The good Julian, who had been her mistress and later her companion in Saint Eufraxe, mourned for three days.long upon the tomb. weeping there great abundance of tears. without thinking to eat or drink /\n\nThe fourth day she came to the Abbess and said to her, \"Lady, pray for me. For our Lord Jesus Christ, by the intercession of his earthly things. But make them to exercise fasting, prayers, and other virtuous works. To the end that they may, by their merits, get the glory of heaven.\" /\n\nAfter she said to her sisters, \"You, my good sisters, have seen the holy conversion of the righteous Eufraxe. Do as she has done to those who die, so that you may accompany her in heaven and have with her the fruit of everlasting blessedness.\" And when she had thus spoken, she entered into her Oratory and shut the door. And after, defended that none should enter until the morning. /\n\nOn the morning they came to the said Oratory and found that she had returned her spirit to God. /\n\nAnd they buried and solemnly said mass for her by the said holy saint Eufraxe. /\n\nAnd after that.In the time when there were none left of them buried in the year of the sepulcher, the story of Saint Eufraxes follows. According to the report and testimony of three devout men: Theophile, Sergius, and Thymus. We shall see the life of Saint Machaire. The three devout men met together by a monastery in Mesopotamia in the country of Syria. And then came to Theophilus a thought. Which he said to his two companions, Sergius and Thymus, and not abandon them unto death. These words said, they departed from then. And after they had traveled for ten days, they arrived and came to the city of Jerusalem. And worshipped the places where our Lord Jesus Christ had been. His Cross, his sepulcher, and other sanctuaries. And after came to Bethlehem. In which place they also worshipped the manger where our Lord had lain. And were also in the place where the angels speaking to the shepherds sang.Gloria in excelsis deo, which stands two miles from Bethlehem, and after they went up into the mountain of Olivet, where our Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven when he was received in a cloud on the day of his glorious Ascension, /\nThey came again into Jerusalem. And there they adored and worshiped God. /\nAnd after they departed, as people giving over and refusing all delights of the world, without any regard or thought for the world, /\nThe fifth day they passed the River Tigris and entered into the land of Persia, /\nThey came into a great field named Assyria, in which St. Mercury the martyr slew Julian the Apostate, /\nAfter they re-entered into a city named Ctesiphon, in which the bodies of the three children, Ananyas, Azaryas, and Mysaell, are buried, /\nAnd there they sojourned many days, /\nFour months after they passed the land of Persia and entered into the land of India, /\nAnd arrived in an uninhabited howland, /\nAnd there they abode two.And on the third day, a man and a woman appeared before them, causing great fear. But as the said man and woman had supposed that the religious men were spies or observers, they departed and returned with nearly three thousand Ethiopians. They encircled the house where the religious men were on their knees praying to God. And they set fire at the four corners of the house.\n\nThis action terrified the religious men, and they sprang into the midst of them, calling upon the name of Jesus Christ, Savior of the World. The Ethiopians, after a long argument in their language, which the friars could not understand, were led away and brought into obscure and dark prison cells.\n\nOnce in prison, they were given neither food nor drink, and had no comfort from any living person.To weep and requited the mercy of God, when you curse Ethiopians saw that they were in continual prayer, they let them go: in changing and binding them violently and rigorously with great statues until they were out of their province. And they said that they were forty days without food. And for this, the Reciter calls God to witness, which for the honor of God we ought to pitifully believe. Finally, they departed from their regions and went toward the countereye of the East. There they found a field delightful, all full of trees bearing savory fruit and marvelous sweet, of which they thanked God. And they ate all their fill of the fruits of the said trees. And after, they passed through the land of Judah. When they saw the faces of the inhabitants of the said country, they were much amazed. In that country, men dwelled with women under the Roes; the Roes have not but one religion.men. They fled towards the mountains high and marvelously terrible, where the sun shines not. No trees or herbs grow among them, but there are many serpents. They lived among these beasts for twenty days without harm, except that they heard their fearful hisses.\n\nAfter they descended into a place most terrible and foul, full of rocks. Some were low, others high.\n\nWe journeyed for seven days in that region, where we remained because we could go no farther.\n\nAnd on the seventh day, an animal appeared. Which passed before them. They followed it in great fear and pain.\n\nFor they found sharper rocks than before. And nevertheless, they passed that terrible countenance.\n\nAnd after they found a place full of Olyphants. Which, by God's grace, did them no harm. But they lost their way. And there they began to weep.To aid us, the name of our Lord. And at our meal or drink, and without the sight of any light, they were in continuous prayer. A cultist or a doubter flew about them to move them to go further. They raised their hands to God around them and followed the cultist until they came to a place where this was written on a large stone: \"Whoever wishes to enter this land must take the way on the left hand. For on the right side there is nothing but rocks and valleys. The country is uninhabitable.\n\nIn the midst of them, they saw a man of great stature, about a hundred cubits tall. He was bound and chained with great iron chains.\n\nTwo chains he had on one of his sides, near God omnipotent. Have mercy. Have mercy on us.\n\nThen the said heretics fell to prayer and prayed God to take their souls, for they had seen his judgments, which were much to be feared and dreaded.\n\nFrom that place, they departed, and soon after found themselves.\"In another place filled with trees, like fig trees. Upon these trees, they saw four men with bird-like bodies, many beasts. They cried out, saying with high voices, \"Our Savior and Redeemer, who formed and created us, forgive us our sins. Give us mercy as you are merciful. For we have sinned upon all the face of the earth.\"\n\nThen the said Religious began to make their prayer to God that they might have revelation of that which they had seen. Because they could not know it,\n\nThey heard then a voice which said to them, \"Go on your way.\" For it does not belong to you to know the divine secrets.\n\nAnd so they went forth and found a place very pleasant and delightful,\n\nIn which were four men having faces fair and marvelously pleasant,\n\nAlso upon their heads each a crown surrounded and set with precious stones,\n\nAnd in their hands they held great palms all of gold. And also swords, all naked. But with this they had before them.a great fire, much enflamed:\nThe Reliquaries saw them and began to cry, saying, \"O Lords and servants of God. Have mercy on us, that these swords and this fire do us no harm.\"\nThey answered them, \"Fear not a thing, but go the way which has been shown to you by God. He who has set us in this place to keep the passage until the day that he shall come to judge the universal world.\"\nAfter they passed and went for forty days without any food, but they drank only water. And as they went, they heard melodious songs and harmonious as the infinite number of people. Symphonies sweeter than any other instruments sounded.\nAfter they felt a sweeter smell than fire and also any other aromatic spices in the whole world,\nAnd by the power of those aromas and sweet savors they slept. None of them woke up after they awoke.\nAnd before them, they saw a church decorated and ornate above.all humanity / For it seemed all to be made of crystal / In that church was an altar much adorned / By which and by a fountain there was a source and sprang a water white as milk / About this fountain were people who sang songs of Cherubim /\n\nNow to describe the form of the said church / The party without, on the side of the south, was of a color similar or like to a precious stone named Prasmos. The party towards the north was red as blood / And towards the east white as milk /\n\nThere were also many stars upon the same church, shining more than those that shine in this world / The sun shone and was hotter seven times than in our land / The mountains and the trees were without comparison higher than they of this region / And the fruits of the said trees were much fairer and also much sweeter /\n\nThe song of the birds that flew there resounded up to heaven / The earth of that place had two colors.that one was white and that other red. These religious men then all grew ashamed. They sold the inhabitants of that place and went their way. And they went for a hundred days without food. But they had enough water. And suddenly they saw coming towards them a multitude of men and women who were but a cubit high. Who made them afraid. But they set their lives in the hands of God. And went against them.\n\nInconsistent, by the virtue of God, they fled. Then the said religious men took their refuge from herbs which they found in that place. And returned kings to God. Who had delivered them from so many perils.\n\nAnd after, by the will of God, they found a fair way to walk on. By which they went many journeys. And in walking, they found a cave pleasant and clean within.\n\nInto which they entered. After that they were within, they marked themselves with the sign of the Cross. But they found no person there.\n\nAnd becauseThey found the place clean. They imagined that some man dwelt there and stayed until evening. To know if he who dwelt there would come, they remained there asleep within. After they were awake, they went out of the cave. Incontinent they saw a man having hair as white as snow. The which covered all his body.\n\nWhen the said man saw them, he fell down to the ground. And after he arose and said to them, \"If you are on God's side, mark you with the sign of the Cross. Or else go your way from me in the name of God.\" They said to him that he should fear nothing and that they were God's servants as he was.\n\nThis good man, long in his prayers, was notwithstanding not pale in countenance. His brows covered his eyes by the force of old age. The angles or nails of his feet and hands were marvelously long. His beard and hair were also long.his army covered all his body, and his skin was as hard as a limestone shell. The said holy man, weeping, asked the three religious pilgrims when they were there and why they had come. He inquired about the state of mankind. And if the Saracens and pagans persecuted the faith more. The pilgrims recounted all their adversities and how they hoped to find the place where heaven and earth joined together. The holy man then told them that from where they were, it was not far to the terrestrial paradise, but no man might go there. But if angels bore him, as a voice had once said to him when he himself wished to go there. He also told them that it was twenty miles to the place where Adam was created and formed, and to the said terrestrial paradise, where earth joins with heaven. The pilgrims, hearing these words, were greatly delighted.And entered into the cave with the said holy man / When the evening was come, he prayed them and said: That they should not remain within the said cave / Because there were, in a little space there, two lions. which came every night to lie together / And he feared them sore. lest they should do any harm or displeasure to them /\n\nImmediately after they saw the said two lions come. But the good holy man went and met with them / And defended and forbade you said lions to do them any harm / The defense made by him. they stayed there surely /\n\nOn the morrow they asked the holy man about his estate and conversation, and also about his name and from what place he was / To whom he answered: First, that he was named Machaire / And was born at Rome. son of a noble Roman flourishing in good repute and fame throughout the empire /\n\nAfter he recounted to them his life and conversation. And the reason why he was departed from Rome.recite and tell them that, when young, his father intended to marry him. The preparation and truthful plighting were indeed carried out, and a day was accepted for the wedding. On this day, after all the necessary arrangements for the wedding had been made, and the Roman lords had gathered to attend the ceremony, the holy man secretly departed from his father's house.\n\nFor seven days, he hid in the house of the aforementioned widow, unseen by any person in Rome. Every day, she visited his father's house and informed the holy man of the gossip regarding him.\n\nHis father, upon discovering he could not find him, became very angry, as did his mother and all their friends.\n\nThe eighth day after this, which was Sunday, he took leave of the said widow and went openly through the streets.And in going, he encountered an old man who asked if he was going and if he would keep him company. To this, the old man answered that he would do as it pleased him. So they went together out of Rome, seeking food from door to door. They traveled together for a long time. The three pilgrims named before had held this conversation. And after the good Machaire received this news when he came thirty miles near to the place where he was, he learned that the same old man who had accompanied him since he departed from Rome had vanished, and he did not know where he had gone.\n\nThen Saint Machaire was greatly troubled, for he did not know what to do. But he lay down on the earth and wept. And in this state of weeping, the same man who was in his company appeared to him again and said, \"Right dear brother, do not be angry. For I am the Angel Raphael sent from God.\"for and to help thee in thy necessities / And know that by your commandment of God I have brought them hither / Our Lord has always helped us in a prosperous way / By which thou hast passed all the dangers / These things said, the angel departed from him / Then replied and took again Saint Machabeus his strength. And went forth / And right soon after he found a wild ass / Which he adjured in the name of God that he should address and govern him the way, by which he might surely go / After the said conjuration, the ass went forth by a little path / And following him, Saint Machabeus went with him for two days / And on the third day he found a heart greater than any in the country / The said ass seeing the said heart was filled with great fear. And left the holy man. Who was then sore troubled. By cause he might not know nor see any way or path. / He then so abashed that he knew not what to do / He adjuredThe heart that had caused him to lessen his pride,\nThat he himself should guide him. And the said heart came to him,\nLike a good coming beast,\nAnd in a straight way he began to go before the good holy man,\nLooking behind him to see if he followed him always.\nAnd so they went for three days.\n\nThe fourth day they found a marvelous dragon: which lay along in the way,\nAnd when the heart saw the dragon, he fled away, and the good man remained alone,\nNot knowing what to do, but to call on the name of God,\nAnd fell down prostrate on the earth to make his prayer.\n\nAfter he blessed him with the sign of the Cross,\nAnd commanded in the name of God the said dragon that he should do him no harm, nor let him go,\nAnd then it happened by miracle, and against the common usage of nature,\nThat the dragon spoke, and said to him,\n\nCome on bravely. Come on well, happy and serving God, Machaire.\nThe angelRaphael showing me his face has commanded me to come to the place prepared for you by God's command. I have obeyed without food or drink for four days. In this night, I have seen you in a cloud shining brightly, and heard a voice that told me to hasten to lead you and conduct you. Since you were not far from me, come promptly and follow me. And fear nothing, for by God's aid and help, I will lead you to the place, which He has prepared for you to love and praise Him. These words were spoken by him who appeared to be a dragon. Suddenly, he transformed and changed himself into the likeness of a young man, as the same holy father said, and brought him to the holy place. There he recited all these things, and where the pilgrims had found him. He also said furthermore, that upon arriving in the same cave,A young man faded away / And then he humbly thanked God, glorifying Him for the graces bestowed upon him in preserving him from great dangers. Before he reached the said place, he had often been tempted by the devil, who frequently appeared to him, offering him temptation and allowing him to lapse in his contemplations. Among his other temptations, he had once taken a little bundle to swaddle a little child, which the holy man had forgotten to bless or pray over.\n\nAnother time, he had laid a pair of women's shoes before his cave / And the third time, the devil appeared to him in the guise of a woman, dressed in rich attire, and adorned with precious stones.\n\nWhen the said holy man saw that,...Imagining it was the devil speaking to her, demanded what she was and how she had come to his presence. Then the devil began to speak to him, saying, \"O holy man, Sir Anthony of God, I am the daughter of a noble Roman, who once were betrothed and truthfully married to a noble man of Rome. But when the day came for us to make the marriage, he went away secretly and was never seen since. And when I saw that he had departed from Rome and his parents, kin, and friends sought him in great distress, I was not joyous. But the same night I departed privately without taking leave of any living person. I have passed as well through mountains and valleys as through many other dangerous places without the guidance of any living person. And thus I have come here alone.\n\nSaint Machaire, thinking her his wife, took her gently by the hand and led her into his cave.\"But the devil continuously wept, which made the holy man more ready to believe it was his wife. They both wept and mourned in the same way. After their lamentations and weeping, the holy man took acorns and herbs, intending to make her eat. But in sleeping, the devil, through its cunning and slyness, made him dream that he was with his wife, so that when he awoke, he found himself discovered and punished.\n\nIt is to be noted that the two lions which he had found when he first arrived had left him after he committed this sin and departed from him. He knew this and, due to the great displeasure he felt for his sins, he prayed to God, asking Him to show him the penance he ought to do and to send back to him his two lions.\n\nAnd inconsequentially.After, by the will of God, who heard his request and petition, reduced and brought him back to the way, he had been in the pit for three years. It happened that by the great inundation and flowing of waters which descended there, the causeway was broken. A part fell upon his head. In such a way that by the means of the said rupture and breaking, where he had not seen any light in three years, he saw the sun clearly shine and give light. Then he took the herbs that he found beside him and ate of them. The lions returned and saw the causeway broken and disrupted. They defeated the pit and brought him out whole without any grief or bruise. Then he came out of the pit or ditch and rendered homage to the kings of that land, to whom he had lived so long without seeing the sun or moon, and also without any harm to his body, he was delivered from the same pit. He knelt down to the ground and was forty days and.For forty nights without moving himself. Like him who had been in Immanuel glorifying the name of God.\nThe forty days passed. He came again into his cave. And there he saw four angels who shone so marvelously that the entire cave was enlightened. In the midst of them was our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ in the form of a man. Holding in His hand a rod of gold, He made a sound so resonant, like the voices of ten men. The same noble company sang long. And when their song was completed and fulfilled, three voices answered (Amen). And our Savior Jesus Christ with His angels, who accompanied Him, vanished away and went into heaven. And after, in a voice within the said cave, was heard a noise rumbling like thunder, and also innumerable lightnings. He heard also many voices from heaven. Singing at the time of the same vision: He was in the age of forty years.had lived in the same cave for seven years. When he had finished recounting and telling all these things to the three religious pilgrims - that is, Theophilus, Sergius, and Thimon - he instructed and showed them how they might avoid the cursed temptation and deception of the devil of hell. He advised them to remember and keep in mind how the devil had deceived him subtly. And after he had admonished and urged them to stay with him, or if it did not please them to stay there, to return to their monastery. The three pilgrims, greatly ashamed, fell to the earth in glorifying the name of God, who alone performs so many marvelous things. And they also thanked him for having brought them to the knowledge of the holy man. Their journey ended, they prayed to the glorious Saint Machaire that he would pray for them to the Savior. The holy man Machaire.made humbly then his prayer to God for them. And after gave to them his blessing. And after commanded his two lions that they should conduct them till they were passed the dark places: where they remained for seven days and seven nights, without departing from the place, as it is written before /\n\nThe lions, after taking leave of the holy man by sign, brought them to the place where Alexander had made the writing, as it is declared before /\n\nAnd when they came to the said place, the lions little humbled them and took leave of them. And returned to the holy man /\n\nAnd after they went with the grace of God so long, they entered into the land of Persia, without having any hindrance. And came to the city of Ctesiphon. In which are the three children who were put in the furnaces of fire near Babylon /\n\nAnd after they passed the River Tigris,\n\nThe fifteenth day after theyThey reentered Jerusalem. And visited the holy places, as they had done before. And finally, they returned to their monastery. Upon their arrival, they recounted all that they had seen, primarily about St. Macaire. And then all the religious people glorified the name of God. To whom be given praise and glory eternal. Amen.\n\nIf anyone is inclined to consider this history apocryphal or to blame the rough and uncunning translator, who translates affectionately, let it be known that the name of Jerome first appears in his writing in the book of the lives of the holy fathers. From which this present translation has been made. In such a way that the title of this present history, as stated, may increase the greater faith in it.\n\nJesus Christ our Savior. Like Jerome has written, Jesus Christ has not manifested or shown his kingdom or glory only to great and excellent clerks of this world. But to simple and ignorant people.of all science and crafts / As you shall see in the life of Saint Pascal / Who was of the lineage and kindred of Memphis. He was a pauper / And in his youth extremely simple and uncunning in letters. / Not defiled with the vices of paupers, but lived by the earnings and wages of ivory cords / He never pronounced foul words outside of his mouth. / And yet, when he was in the world, he fled quickly and often from the conversation of women / Ever more he lived in charity and had peace with every person, without moving with his neighbor any discord or discordance. Applying himself to all virtuous works. Notwithstanding that he was not yet Christian / In the age of thirty, God took from him the corruption of sin\n/ On a time the angel came and said to him: Pascal, have you not known God of heaven? / And he answered: No. / And the angel further said to him that he should set his knees to the ground and his hands before his face.I face east. And that inconceivable, he should have without defect all that he would ask of God. So he did. And when that was done, he began to say, \"I shall love and praise all my life the name of God. Which is so benevolent to teach them ignorance. And by this infusion, His name, His law, and His glory are suddenly manifested by them. O my God, my maker, Thou hast sent from heaven Thy precious Son to redeem us from the pains and tribulations of hell by His sorrowful passion. In the name of the same Thy Son, who is God and man, I require Thee and humbly pray as I can or may, that to me, who am here in darkness, Thou wilt give light and clarity. My God, my redeemer, Thou knowest and wottest. That I could not say one word that was to Thy praise, if Thou hadst not taught me. Now I believe steadfastly that the blind see by illumination and light. The deaf hear. The crooked go straight.\"Poor and simple people have knowledge of great sciences and teachings. And also the poor and miserable sinners are called. Alas, my God, my maker, what was I? What might I have been so simple to be called by you, for to praise you, magnify you, and serve you? From thence forth, Pastumyen beseeched him in devout contemplations, always awaiting that the angel of God should come again to him. But that notwithstanding, he went back to his craft, which was before said to make cords of Ion. And finally, the angel appeared to him and said, \"Pastumyen, would you that I lead you to a priest? Who will baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost?\" To whom he answered that it was the greatest joy that could come to him, and that he desired nothing else. Immediately, the angel took him by the hand and led him to a place where there was an anointed priest.A man named Price, to whom the angel commanded that he should instruct and teach: and to live as a good Christian. The holy father saw the great brightness of the angel. Suddenly, he was abashed in such a way that he fell down in fear. But the angel relieved him and comforted him, saying:\n\nBe not afraid, for I am the servant of God as you are. And in saying these words, the angel changed his form into the likeness or semblance of a man clad with white and of a pleasant face. Afterward, he said to him:\n\nDoubt not this thing. I come to thee to show to thee from God that it is His pleasure that thou take to this good man Pastumien, and that thou enfourm him in the faith of holy church. To the end that he may deserve the glory eternal.\n\nAnd immediately the angel departed.\n\nThen Saint Price took Pastumien and enfourmed him in the faith. And after he baptized him.and this done, he made a prayer to our Lord, saying: \"O son of God, I yield to thee the humble thanks of him who, by thy holy ghost, has reconciled me to God, thy Father, and thou hast redeemed me from eternal death. For all those who do not believe in thy name suffer this death perpetually. Alas, I now know that all things less ought to obey the greater, and the simple to those who are wise.\n\nThe second commandment that you ought to keep is subjection,\nTo the end that in reverent fear you may serve God with a pure and clean heart.\n\nThe third is that you ought to live soberly and justly. In having compassion on your souls and on others.\n\nThe fourth that you ought to chastise your bodies by fasting and abstinence, according to your ability. For the spirit desiring to obtain virtue, it is a singular delight and pleasure to be and to inhabit in a lean body through penance.\"\n\nThe fifth is to be often in oratory and prayer.\"in it, first and primarily because of pride, for from this sin all evils originate. And every day, as one sees by experience, pride is the original root of all sins. By pride, the angels were cast down into hell, because Adam, desiring to know the good and evil, transgressed and broke the commandment of God by eating the forbidden fruit. Through this concupiscence, he deserved and bound himself and all his posterity to eternal death. From which we had never been free, if the blessed Son of God, by his great mercy and by his worthy death and passion, had not quit and redeemed us. The virtue opposite and contrary to pride is humility, root of all good, and the beginning and getting of which, after the holy man Pastorius commanded them, that they should have fraternal charity together in having perfect faith. Saying that the principal rule and greatest charge that Religious ought to have is to have one with another perfect love and charity.\"Without the which no monks in the cloister can govern themselves / When many brothers are together without love, each intends to his singular profit, and so their community is divided / So every realm and other government of multitudes and subjects, if it is divided, without a doubt it is desolation / Alas, now the most part of monks in this present time have entered to be abbots, priests, and officers. Desiring to be apart from their brothers / Like the bird that seeks, but to escape from the cage / And who should demand or know the reason why, I suppose that there should be default in having love with their brothers / For because they are overmuch replenished and fully filled with the damned vice of Pride, they cannot be compatible and feel compassionate with the others, but will be alone / A lord: God is changed, the time that the holy fathers fled into the desert seeking a solitary life, forsaking and leaving the world.To lead a contemplative life / And as it is said, when the religious are enclosed in a monastery, where they have been put to be away from the world, / They think of nothing other than obtaining and getting prayers and other benefits, / In order to return again to the world, / For which all devotion is lost. /\n\nPerhaps if the priests were allowed and only with monasteries, / And such religious had no occasion to depart without permission, / It would be better. And more easily for their health, / than to seek their lodgings from village to village. /\n\nIt has been seen in past times that the children of kings, to serve God, have renounced and utterly forsaken all their riches, / But now, when there are many in a noble house, they are made abbots. Before that they were religious. /\n\nNo longer for devotion, but to the end for them to enrich themselves with the goods and riches of the church, to live at their pleasure.\n\nGod.Know what shall be the end, and following then the doctrine and teaching that Pastorians gave to their Religious, they commanded them furthermore to love not only one another, but to love God primarily with all their heart. That was the first commandment. That God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai,\nBut with the same commandment must be joined the other. That we ought to have one with another,\nWhen all Religious love each other and God primarily and first, yet must they have the virtue of obedience,\nLove without obedience is nothing. For like as the grass lets the corn to fruitify and increase, In like wise he that is in obedient and fasts and prays brings forth no fruit for want of obedience,\nAfter he commanded them to exercise the nights in prayers,\nFor by night the devil makes more temptations to devout persons than he does in the day. Like as the Gospel says,\nWho will do evil hates light.And this is what the Gospel says: Awake, awake. For you do not know the hour when the thief of souls will come.\n\nHe also commanded them to write in a table of their consciences all of God's commandments. And often they should lay the cloth for the taking of reception spirtually, in savoring and eating the ten loves composed of the ten commandments of faith.\n\nThe twelve articles of the law and the works of mercy.\n\nFurthermore, he said: O my brothers, who desire to be obedient and charitable to love one another, believe you after the sentence of Baruch the prophet, who says: You are now the fellows of God.\n\nAnd in another place, the holy scripture says: Happy are the sons of God.\n\nNow those who are easy to please are obedient and charitable.\n\nHe then commanded them: If they desire in this corruptible world to enjoy the fruits of heaven, he must renounce and forsake his own will, in having perfection.Among them was only discord or debate, that Incontinence should be appeased. For God our Lord dwells and abides only in one place. And the contrary, where there is discord, the devil reigns. Furthermore, he advised them not to be angry or wrathful, not to their brethren nor to strangers. And for any worldly gain they might get, they should not. And whenever temptations came to them, which with great pain they might escape, he admonished them to turn to God. In life time their hands to heaven. And say, \"O my God, I pray thee that it please thee to help me. And to strengthen my feeble self. To the end that I may overcome and surmount my mortal enemy.\"\n\nHe said that immediately after our prayer to God, his angels come to our aid for comfort. And to prove this, he told them of a time when, being on a mountain, a great angel came before him.company of devils in delight of men human. And because he knew well that they were devils, he resolved to kneel down on the earth and pray to God that it would please Him to make the same devils depart.\n\nAnd Incontinently they vanished away like a fog or smoke before the wind.\n\nMany other temptations the devils made to him. But God delivered him always by the devout prayers he made.\n\nTherefore, in concluding, he said to his Religious: My children be ye firm and stable in the faith. In resisting the devils' temptations, and that ye are coming by fervent charity\nto the love of God, He shall always be a protector to you, and by His help you may obtain the kingdom of heaven.\n\nThus ends the story of the right holy man Pastumyen.\n\nSaint Phaphance having desire for all the Religious that were in the hermitages to assemble. For the completion of the health of his body.He walked more lightly. He bore with him a little water and bread. After he had walked for four days, his provisions failed him. He became confused and half dead. Because he had neither foot nor leg that could support him, nor could he eat or drink. But nevertheless, by God's help, he was made whole and healed. He had as much strength as if he had well eaten and drunk. Then he began to walk again. He continued for four days without food and drink. The four days passed. Because he felt weak, he was forced to lie down on the earth as if he were dead. Suddenly, he saw by him a man in marvelous glory. Fearful and terrible to behold, worthy of praise in beauty, long of corporality, and right clear in appearance. Paphnutius saw him with great fear. But immediately after, he comforted him. For as he approached, he touched his lips and his.And he rested and grew strong, and there an incontenant man appeared and walked with him for seventeen days. Until he came to a place where God would bring him. And he came to that place and saw a man resting, his face terrible all around, like a brutish beast. And from the rains down, he had a garment of leopard skins and of herbs.\n\nWhen Paphnutius saw this man so deformed, he was greatly ashamed. For he had never seen such ugliness in a man or woman, and did not know what to do. But he fled into a nearby mountain and hid himself under the branches of the trees. He was so afraid.\n\nAnd there he began to see marvelously. Knowing that due to his age and abstinence, he could go no further.\n\nThis man, seeing that Paphnutius had fled before him and was afraid, came near to him. And calling out and crying with a loud voice, he said to him: \"O man of God, come down.\"From the Moyntayne, I am not afraid, for I am as mortal as thou art. When Panthouse heard these words, he was glad and comforted, and took courage again. He came down from where he had been, and after selling the holy man, he fell down on his knees before him. The holy man immediately defended him, telling him not to kneel before him. Then Panthouse rose up. Despite being weary from his long fasting as well as his old age, he made him sit by him and asked to know his name, conversation, and way of living. He said, \"Know that I, servant of God, have long journeyed through these deserts and have endured great hunger and thirst. But now my journey is accomplished and fulfilled. And I feel a solace in my members, as if they were all filled and free of all pain. Therefore, I pray to my lord and friend for the honor and love of him. For the name\"of whom you have dwelt in these deserts, tell me when you are. And your name. Also tell me when you came into this place to inhabit here.\n\nThe holy man saw the great affection of your desire and also the trouble that you had taken to find him. In response to what you had asked, he demanded of you first that your name was Odo, prince of Thea; in whose monastery were one hundred Religious.\n\nAfter he declared to him how the Religious of the said monastery lived in great fear,\n\nIn the said monastery was such great reverence for Religious that none dared to speak without a just cause. Being in this said monastery, he heard recount the life of a holy father named Holy. And how he had lived in great abstinence in the desert, in great straitness of life. And how he had many privileges above the power of human kind.\n\nIn like manner, Saint John the Baptist led such a holy and marvelous life in the desert until he had baptized our Lord.Lord Ihesu Christ, in the flood,\nThe said Onuphrius requested of the brethren that they would say to him, if the ancient holy fathers of the desert had been stronger than they or weaker,\nThey answered that they had been stronger. For without human comfort and without food and drink, they lived in the desert,\nBut they said, that in speaking, as we had been the holy fathers of the said deserts, we have consolation one of another,\nFor when we have hunger, we find food ready,\nWhen we are sick, we think of contentment and do penance to get health,\nWe have fair houses and great edifices,\nAnd those in the desert have no consolation,\nThey have hunger, cold, and heat, and in all tribulations have no other help but of God,\nAnd therefore whoever ever wants to dwell there, him it behooves to be constant and steadfast to endure all such penances,\nYet more the devil gives to them without comparison more settings and temptations to die.They from their good will / it comes to them by the world,\nBut when they have complete faith, they always overcome the foe by spiritual arms,\nThe angels comfort them often / and deliver to them what is necessary,\nFor it is written / that those who put their hope in God / shall have the strength to endure all things / with faith as an eagle for flying to heaven,\nAnd yet more. Those who thirst shall drink from the fountain eternally,\nAnd the herbs that they shall eat / shall give them great sweetness like honey,\nWhen the Religious are tempted by any temptations / they ought to put themselves to prayer / lifting their hands to heaven,\nAnd the angels descend and come down to help them fight against the devil,\nThus also says the prophet Dauid. That in the end, the poor people shall not be forgotten / nor their patience perish,\nAnd God always encourages the poor.spyrite and delivers them from all tribulations. Finally, the same fathers said to that right holy man, Saint Onuphrius, that the angels continually serve the just and good. Whych are they and to fight against the devil, enduring all poverty. To the end that he might come to the eternal glory. And he thought in himself to accomplish and perform the counsel of the said prophet David.\n\nTechnique and saying that it is a good thing to join himself for the love of God, and to set his hope in Him.\n\nWhen Saint Onuphrius had considered all these things, he took a little bread and a few peas or beans to make porridge with all. For to live above four days.\n\nAfter he departed by night secretly out of his abbey, making his prayer to God. That it might please Him to ensign and show the place where he should do penance.\n\nAnd he being there arrived and to men saw in a mountain. The which he passed over to come into the desert.In the place before him a greete light appeared. The which, as he seemed, came straight to him. He was at that time in the said light, and in it he saw a man right pleasant, saying to him that he should fear nothing, for he was an angel commissioned and sent by God, and departing to govern and lead him in the desert.\n\nAnd after he had spoken to him, he commanded: \"See that thou have thy heart right and just, and be thou laborious in good works. For the angel said, 'I shall not leave thee unto death at the hour when I shall present thee to the majesty of God.'\"\n\nAfter they had walked about seven miles, they arrived and came to a fair cave. In which St. Onuphrius found another holy man. And seeing him, he fell flat on the earth, humbly asking his blessing and blessing him. The other holy man granted him this and kissed him in token of peace.\n\nAfter he had said to him, \"Thou shalt be my brother in this desert,\" and therefore \"Come and enter in,\" he said, \"in the name of...\"god. With this brother he stayed many days, inquiring about his virtues and his manner of living. They two together walked for four days, and on the fifth they arrived in a place called Calidonia. There, they were abundantly supplied with palms. When they were in that place, he said to him, \"Come here, my friend.\" After they had arrived, the holy man stayed with him for thirty days, instructing him in the rules and manners of holy living, and keeping the commandments of the church. After all these things, the said holy man prayed to God for St. Onuphrius, and afterwards took leave of him. St. Onuphrius kept him and remained in this same place, doing strict penance. The holy hermit, who had brought him there, came to visit him every year, to learn about his conversation.And once, among the others as he was accustomed to appear, Saint Onaffryen fell to the ground and gave up his ghost to God. Saint Onaffryen was greatly troubled and distressed by this. Eventually, after long weeping upon the corpse, he buried it in the same place in the most honest way possible given his limited power. Paphnutius, who was also passing by the desert, heard all that Saint Onaffryen had recounted and shown him. Paphnutius said to him, \"Holy father, I know that you have endured many labors and pains in this desert. My brother, the holy man, you may believe that I have had great power in this desert. I often felt that I was at the point of death. I felt no strength in me. At times during the day I have been scorched by the heat of the sun. In the night I have been wasted with vapors and humidities of the earth.\"Many times I have had great hunger and great thirst. And to put it briefly, I cannot declare the marvelous sorrows and afflictions that I have endured. But I have hope that God will reward the bottle of God, which never leaves his servants. He has sent me often by one of his angels bread and water, and dates, which grow near to my cave, and of some herbs I have had sufficient for my bodily relief.\n\nAfter this, he said to the holy man Paphnutius: My friend, if you want to accomplish the will and commandment of God. Note and mark that he himself has said that we should have no care or concern for eating, nor for drinking, nor for our clothing or vestments. For God our Father knows and provides for us all that is necessary. And therefore, if in serving him well, we demand from him the kingdom of heaven, without any fault, we shall have all those things that are necessary for us.\n\nAfter Paphnutius asked Saint Onuphrius if he received often.This maker and the manner in which he received him. To whom he answered that the Saturday and the Sunday, the gospel of God, brought to him the truly precious body and blood of our Lord. And know for certain, said St. Onuphrius, that all those who virtuously spend their lives in desert and wilderness are partners in such joy as I have.\n\nAll these things heard and considered by the holy man Paphnutius. He was so perfectly rejoiced that he remembered no more of all the sorrows and evils that he had endured and suffered in the deserts. So sweet and pleasant seemed to him the words of the said holy man, that he could well say with the psalmist:\n\nO my God, thy words are sweeter than honey, O\n\nAfter St. Onuphrius brought him to Celidon, three miles night to the mountain where he had found him. And when they were in the place where he dwelt, Onuphrius and he together put them in order and prayed. Onuphrius then said to Paphnutius:\n\nOservant of God, I see and know that you are in danger of death / If you do not take your reception and pass the night without sleeping. In speaking continually the words of God /\nOn the morning, Saint Paphnutius beheld the holy man Onuphrius, whose face was also pale and weakened, as if he were a dead man /\nThen he asked what you had / The holy man answered him and said /\nMy brother and friend Paphnutius, be not afraid / and know that by the will of God you have come to this place / To bury me. Lay my body in the earth /\nImmediately my soul shall depart from my body. And it shall be borne into the heavenly Kingdom /\nMy brother, I know your desire and your will /\nTherefore, when you shall return to Egypt, I pray that you remember me and my name /\nAnd to the end that you and all your brothers may desire to have remembrance of me, I shall grant you preeminence and special gifts.That I have obtained from my lord and god, Redeemer of all the world,\n\nFirst, every person who makes an immolation or sacrifice to him,\nAnd if anyone has no power to make the sacrifice,\nAnd in giving only for the love of God and of me as an offering to some poor man. Without God's permission make him worthy to have a part of his excellent glory.\n\nAnd yet if he may not do either that one thing or the other,\nIn giving a candle. Or in making a little oblation. As encensing with (Pater noster & Ave Maria) in the honor of the glorious Trinity of heaven, and remember my name,\nI shall surely do so much before the same right holy Trinity that he shall have a part in the reward.\n\nIn returning to purposes, the holy Paphnutius was greatly content with the words of St. Onuphrius,\nAnd since he regarded that place where they were to be as holy,\nHe prayed to the said Onuphrius that he would give him permission to dwell there after his death,\nWhich thing the good holy father would not grant.comma, commanded him that he should return to Egypt / And there persist in good works / For in the end, he would have felicity eternal /\n\nWhen Paphnutius had heard his answer, he knelt down before the holy father Onuphrius. And he said to him the following: / Alas, my dear father and friend, I know and believe that all that you will ask of God is for the love of whom you have been for sixty years in this desert. You shall obtain it lightly. / Then give to me now your blessing. So that I may also be as perfect as you /\n\nThe holy father answered: / My brother Paphnutius, do not be angry. Your request will be granted. / Be steadfast in the faith in serving God with all your heart and all your thoughts. And by this means, you shall have eternal life /\n\nI pray to our Lord that you may be kept always by his worthy angels in all your thoughts and wills. To the end that you may be made clean and purified before the face of Jesus Christ. /\n\nWhen the holy man had said thisAll these words. He knelt down to the ground and in weeping said, \"O my god, into your hands I commend my spirit. And these words were said suddenly, a great light appeared which enveloped his entire body. Then came many angels to a great multitude, who sang melodious songs. Whereof all the air resonated. And they bore the soul to the realm of heaven. Paphnutius, who heard the angels sing, began to weep and drown in tears, saying, \"Alas, I have good cause for lamentation. When with such great pain I have found the holy man Onuphrius. And have been so little with him.\" Afterward, he had long mourned and wept. He then took off his garment into two parts, and clothed himself with one, and with the other he wound the body of the holy man and put it in a sepulcher of stone which was there. Paphnutius, seeing that he was alone, wept more than he had before, and supposed himself to have entered into the cave.of the holy man. But when he was at the entrance, a great part of the rock fell down. By this he knew that God would not have him use the remainder of his life in that place. And so he came again into his monastery in Egypt. Whereas he recounted this story as before is written. And the holy man Saint Onuphrius died on the twelfth day of June. The day of Saint Barnabas the apostle.\n\nSaint Jerome wanting to write the life and manners of Saint Abraham, he excused himself, saying:\n\nWhen I consider the life of Abraham and his excellence of virtues, it is unfit and with great pain, I can weave words sufficient to praise his merits and conversation.\n\nFrom his young days, he led an angelic life. For he lived righteously. Wherever he should be outside the church, he might have contemplation in the things divine and heavenly.\n\nSo it happened that the time to celebrate the Sacrament approached.of marriage approached and drew near, but he would not abide by it and persisted in his refusal. His parents and kin were very angry with him because of their deep affection for him. He resolved to proceed alone in this matter.\n\nThen the marriage of them was solemnized, and he went into his chamber. And laid a bed with his spouse and wife.\n\nSuddenly, a fierce desire came upon him to depart and leave the city. And so he departed from there, being well two miles from the city. There he found a little house, where no man frequented or dwelt. He entered and stayed there for a certain time, praying and making devout prayers to God.\n\nWhen his parents and kin called upon the name of God, \"Which has delivered me from the filth and wickedness of the world, pray for me. That he will give me strength and might to bear the pangs of penance, which I have begun.\"\n\nAfter he prayed, he asked them to do the same.him none empathy or letting and that they should no longer come to visit him there. Then they took their leave and went their way. Incontinent the holy man stopped all the holes and openings of his little house, except for a little window which he did not stop. So that by the same he might receive his sustenance bodily. And from then on he dwelt there long, exercising himself with virtuous works. and living in cleanliness and chastity. In devotion, fasting, prayers, lamentations, and weeping in all humility.\n\nHis reputation began to grow and spread throughout the country. By which many devout persons came continually and without ceasing there as he was. Not only for consolation in their sorrows and adversities, but also to be instructed and taught in doctrine and the example of good life.\n\nNow God had given him such a grace that all the words he spoke were so marvelously agreeable to them that heard him. And lighted.theime. As the rays of the sun lit the world, twelve years after his conversion to God, his father and mother died. They left to him a remarkable quantity of gold and silver. He, being informed, sent it immediately to one of his family friends. He was to distribute it, for God's sake, to poor orphans and other simple miserable persons. To prevent the thought of it from impeding or distracting him in his devotions or contemplations. He was informed that it had been done. Which greatly comforted him, as one who, after great tribulation, found himself in rest and peaceful tranquility. He did not only desire to flee the world, but also the goods of fortune. And for all earthly goods he had, he owned only one robe or gown. Coarse and unworthy clothes full of great heres. With a little dish in which he ate and drank. And a little pallet where he lay.\n\nHis custom was to love the poor as much as the rich. And the.In all the estates of the world, Valiance, a noble man, loved everyone as much as the next. He corrected others not with rude words but in great benevolence and sweetness. All who heard him spoke of him more and more, desiring to see him continually. He never changed the rule he had begun, remaining so for fifty years without any report to the world.\n\nNear the city where he had been nourished was a town inhabited by pagans and Saracens. Many deacons and priests had been sent by some sovereign bishops to convert them to the Christian faith, but all returned without achieving any fruit.\n\nThe pagans were obstinate in their idolatry. The principal men of the said bishops, being with their clerks, knew of the holy man Abraham. They said it was necessary to send him to the said town.his pace and holy life you might obtain from him, if you asked for it. You knew well enough the Penemes dwelling in the next town. And how we cannot convert them. Therefore, it behooves you to go and admonish and guide them.\n\nThen the bishop said to him, \"I say to you be a servant of God. Why do you seek in this place where you are, only your health? But go where I will send you. You shall be the cause of the health of infinite persons by the grace that God will give you. Do not only think of your own health, but also that which belongs to your neighbors. Then you will have great charity. And by this means, you will gain greater merit before God. Inasmuch as you will bring many souls into heaven with you.\n\nThe holy man, hearing the bishop and desiring to be obedient, answered him, \"I am ready to go where it pleases him.\" Therefore, go.Bysshop Seege, with good will, laid his hand upon his head and constituted him a priest. Upon entering the town, he said, \"O my God, right pitiful I behold thee. Enlarge upon me thy grace. And now help me to glorify thy holy name.\n\nWhen he arrived there, he saw their foolish idolatry. Moved by pity, he began to wail and weep, making his prayer to God in this manner, \"O my God, who art only without sin. Now I praise thee that it pleases thee to have mercy on these miserable sinners.\n\nHelas, my God, these are thy creatures. Do not suffer them to be lost.\n\nHe said these things, holding back that he might not have them promptly. He sent to his family and friends, instructing them to sell all his patrimony, which was of great revenue.He should send him the money for it. Which he did. And with the money he received, he made a fair church. Honestly arrayed, and made it as fair as he could.\n\nDuring the time that the church was being built, from day to day he walked by the idols of the said town, making in his heart prayer to God and nothing to idolatries.\n\nAnd after that the said church was achieved and made, he made his prayer saying,\n\nO my God, who hast in Thy presence and providence destroyed all idolatry of the world. When at Thy nativity the idols of the temples fell down, thou seest the people of this town far from Thy very faith, setting their hearts and thoughts to serve thee homage.\n\nVouchsafe Thou now, my God, in such a way to ensure theirs, that they may leave their simulacra and idolatries. To the end that they may know the one only God of heaven and earth.\n\nIncorruptible is Thy prayer.achyeued and ended as he had hadde an hundred thousan\u2223de men wyth hym he entred in the tem\u00a6ple of the Paynems ydolatrers. and bra\u00a6ke and dyde to falle downe theyr aul\u2223ters and ydolles / \u00b6 And they seeng his\nmanere of doinge. as houndes enraged bete and hurte hym. in suche wyse that he was all full of woundes and of hur\u00a6tes. And soo came agayne in to his chir\u00a6che. \u00b6 And how well he was hurte and tormented / He thoughte noo thynge on his woundes. But all the nyghte wyth all his herte prayed to god deuoutly for the conuersyon of the poore Infydelis and ydolatrers / The morne comen. thi\u00a6wente in to his chyrche. Where they fo\u00a6unde hym in oryson and prayer. But they cowde not doo to hym ony harme ne dysplaysure / \u00b6 And beholdynge the ornamentes and decoracyon of the say\u00a6de chyrche. Sodaynly they tooke play\u2223sure to see and beholde theym.. In suche wyse that thoue & the other came chy\u2223der euery daye in maner of passe tyme / By cause the sayd chirche semyd to the\u00a6ym moche honeste and playsaunt / \n\u00b6 On a daye amonge theother he prayed to them. And admonished them to leave their idols. Why which might save them and damn them. In making to them many fair exhortations to endure them in the sight of the Lord, but in hearing that you were more enraged than before, and beat him some. They supposed that you had slain him. And after they bound him with irons, then he returned towards God. To whom in weeping and wailing he said: O my God, why hast thou forsaken thy poor servant. Alas my Savior. Now behold thou with pity thy poor disciple. And give to me strength to fight against these infidels. With this my God I pray, that it may please thee to give them a little of thy grace. To the end that they may know thee as their God. His prayer was answered. He returned to his church. And said his psalms and prayers according to custom. The Painems, in like manner, returned to his church. But when they saw that he was returned, without mercy.They beat him more than before and drew him out of the city. The holy mass was being held at the spa. It happened on a day that, by the grace of God, all the townspeople assembled for some of their affairs and business. After they had deliberated and concluded, they began to speak of the holy man Abraham. They marveled at how patiently he endured all their reproaches and injuries without murmuring. Furthermore, they said that it was necessary for him to endure for the honor of his god, whom he preached to be the only lord of heaven and earth. They also thought of how he, alone, had broken and destroyed all their idols without any help from their gods. And finally, they concluded that his faith was true and that they ought to believe all that he said, for he was the very servant of God. All together, numbering a thousand or more, came into his church.With one voice they began to say. Glory be to God of heaven, who has sent to us his servant for delivering us from our error. The holy man was filled with gladness all over, and addressing them with his words, he said to them:\n\nO my fathers, my brethren and my children, draw near to me, and give glory and honor to God our maker. By his grace, he has enlightened you in such a manner that you may easily know him. And in order that you may be clean from all the spots of idolatry, I pray you to believe in him. And love him with all your heart and all your thoughts. He who is very God and the only Lord of all the world, without end and beginning, incomprehensible, ineffable, almighty, giver of light, lover of men, terrible to sinners, and sweet to the just and righteous.\n\nBelieve also in the Son. He is the wisdom and wisdom of the Father, and of the Holy Spirit. He quickens all things, to the end that.you that are poor. Whych believe you are nothing but earth that may be purified and elevated to the realm of heaven.\n\u00b6 All answered that they believed as he had said / \u00b6 And Incontinent he baptized them all. in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.\n\u00b6 After that they were baptized, every day he taught and indoctrinated them in the good holy scriptures. Speaking of the joys of heaven and the pains of hell.\n\u00b6 After he exhorted them to obtain the virtues of Faith, Hope, Charity, and other.\n\u00b6 And to induce them to obtain them he lived with them like an angel. Making to them diverse preachings. which he continued the whole year.\n\u00b6 And after that he knew them confirmed in the faith,\n\u00b6 One time among the others, he being at the hour of midnight in contemplation, made to our Savior Jesus Christ such a prayer, saying, O thou Illuminator of all the world, who hast enlightened this little people, and hast lost them from the bonds of [unclear]the devil in coming to them to know, I humbly ask that thou keep them unto the end. Holding them in thy holy faith, so that they may do such things always. That may be pleasing to you, and to me as well, by your mercy, may it not be counted against me that I depart from them. For my lord God, you know that I do this to please you.\nHis prayer was completed and came to an end. He made the sign of the Cross three times upon the said town and departed thence.\nAnd he went to a place where no one dwelt.\n\nOn the morrow, the inhabitants and dwellers of the said town came to his church as was their custom, but they found him not. They were much sorrowful and angry. And went weeping and wailing, seeking him.\nAnd going to find him, they searched for him in many places, but they could not find him after he had departed.\nAfter the word of his departure came to the bishop. He was as much distressed by this.And yet, as shepherds were without a pastor and in danger from the wolf, he would not leave them without a conductor and guide. So he came himself into the said town to comfort them. And after the bishop had comforted them most sincerely that he could, he chose some of the most notable men among them, whom he constituted in holy orders. Making some of them priests and some deacons.\n\nAnd if they had any troubles or distresses in their congregation,\n\nThe holy man Abraham, when he knew how the bishop had given them succor for their health, rendered thanks to God. In loving and glorifying his name. He held him close in a little house. They praying and thanking God in great joy and courage.\n\nO man of great perfection. In what manner can any man praise thy charity and great constance. When for the health of thy neighbors, thou hast endured so many evils.\n\nAnd yet thou hast not left to.make your prayers and say your sons' accustomed words. Thou hast not wavered for all their menaces and torments. But hast persevered to the end.\n\nO charitable man, who hast put thy body in danger for their health.\nWell mayst thou be fellow to St. Stephen, the first martyr. who prayed to God for them.\n\nO holy man Abraham, thou shalt be well happy. For in all thy works thou hast been true. And hast done all according to my will.\n\nThe holy man knew that it was the devil. Answer with a loud voice.\n\nGo hence thou wicked and perverted administrator of malice. Comest thou now hither to tempt me with vain glory?\n\nI know myself to be a great sinner /\nAnd thou dost think that I esteem myself just.\n\nAway and go, cursed spirit, into the utter darkness. In to which thou art condemned.\n\nBy the grace of my blessed God, I shall fear nothing of thy false accusations and deceitful mockings.\n\nThe name of Jesus Christ whom I honor and revere.The devil shall be my defense and I will stand against him when you come to assault me. / And incontinently the devil departed. / The devil returned and brought with him a club to break down his little house. / And when he had made open one side, / The devil said, feigning that he had with him many evil knights. To whom he said, Come hither, my friends. Hurry, let us enter in and slay this papalist. / The holy man began to say: O my God, all people have surrounded me, but thy name be praised. By which I shall overcome them. And I will bring under my feet all my enemies. / And incontinently the devil vanished away. / A little while after the devil returned and put fire into a little mat on which he knelt making his prayers. / And when he saw the fire without fear he quenched it, saying, / I shall, by the might of God, walk upon ashes and venomous beasts. And I will tread under my feet the lion and the dragon and all the power of my enemy. / Formy god shall give to me always aid and strength to fight against the Satan sending, that he was condemned, the holy man cried with a high voice, saying, \"I shall vanquish thee. And make thee die and evil death. For I shall find so many cautions and discrepancies that thou shalt not be able to endure them.\n\nIt happened on a day like as the holy man should eat,\nThe devil transformed him into the form and shape of a little child,\nAnd entered into the little house,\nAnd supposed to have tormented the plate suddenly,\nThe holy man took him by the hand and held him fast till he had taken his reception,\nImmediately after the devil went his way,\nAnd a little while after returned and brought a candlestick. Under which was a candle lighted. And presented before the holy man,\nWho took his reception,\nAnd the devil singing said, \"Well happy are the workers of this world that walk without spot of sin,\nAnd sang so many verses of the psalm.that begyn\u00a6nyth (Beati immaculati i via qui am\u00a6bulant in lege dn\u0304i) But the holy man ansuered noo thynge\u00b7 tyll that he hadd taken his refeccyon / \n\u00b6 And whanne he hadde taken his re\u00a6feccyon. he armyd wyth constaunce spa\u00a6ke to the deuyll sayenge thyse wordes / \u00b6 Thou hounde Infamyd ryght my\u2223serable and lyar of alle lyars / syth that thou knoweste theym that ben happy & humble seruauntes of god. Wherfore ye ueste thou to theym heuynesse and let\u2223tynges that they may not doo theyr pe\u00a6naunces suche as they desyred / \u00b6 The deuyll ansuered that the cause wherfore he trowbled the seruauntes of god / was\nto thende that they sholde leue theyr go\u00a6de conuersacyons. and abandonne and gyue theym to synne / \u00b6 Then\u0304e the ho\u00a6ly man sayde to hym / Thynkeste thou spyrite Infamyd. that they that ben fer\u00a6me in the loue of Ihu\u0304 Cryst may be de\u00a6ceyued by thy suggestions. Thou decey\u00a6uest none. but theym that ben vnhappy And ben contente to doo thy wyll / And that worse is they done payne to synne mortally / \u00b6 Thou knowest whan theservants of God were assailed by the devil, who, upon one prayer they made to God, was compelled to flee, as the holy man had said. \"The devil fled away like a ray or beam of the sun.\" Yet, five days later, the devil returned and made a noise in the air as if he had a great multitude of people. One saying to another, \"Let us go and throw Abraham into a ditch and put him to death.\"\n\nThe good holy man, upon hearing these words, said, \"The enemies of God have gone around me like flies or bees and have been forced against me like fire in thorns. All be done in the name of God our Lord Jesus Christ. For by the divine power I shall vanquish the cursed devil.\"\n\nAfter the enemy had heard these words of the said good holy man, he began to cry out, saying, \"Alas, alas. I know no more by what manner or by what means to discover you. I know now that I am discovered. Nevertheless, I shall never depart from here.\"The unto the time thou rendest thyself to be my subject, then the holy man answered to him. \"Maledyccion come to the glory be given to God. And nothing unbe becoming to thee. Thou knowest that our Savior and Redeemer Jesus gives to all his true servants strength to fight against thee. And knowledge of thy deceivable temptations and mockings. For to keep them from thy mortal and damning sins.\n\nBy many assaults was the holy man Abraham assailed by the devil our enemy. But of whatever temptation that he was tempted with, he never feared nor doubted, but had steadfast faith. And of so much more as he was tempted, vexed, and troubled by the devil, of so much more he increased his charity towards God. Wherefore from day to day his grace increased. And by this lightly, with the help of God, he subdued and put under foot the devil.\n\nWhen the holy man perceived that the treasure of grace was about to be bestowed upon him and given, he took three precious stones.Of why the first was Faith. The second was Hope. And the third was Charity. To the end that by these three, the other virtues might be adorned and made fair. His charity was so great that it reached not only to good men, for whom he prayed affectionately, to the end that the devil should not harm or trouble them, but also he desired the conversion of the evil people. In praying in the same way for them, and weeping abundantly, he desired that God would deliver them from their evil life and turn them to the way of health. He never laughed, and never after his conversion showed his feet, hands, or face. Estimating every day that he should die. He had a face not like the flower that never withers. And in seeing him by his face, he should be judged to be a vessel full of all virtues. Always he was joyous without heaviness. And for that cause at the hour of his death he was judged never to have to do penance, so great was his.vision Fate and Rodge / And moreover, in fifty years he changed not his garment of hair / Which he took and wore since he began to do penance first / By these things it appeared evidently that he was strongly the friend of God /\n\nAnother miracle did the holy man Abraham in his old age / He had a German cousin / Who departed out of this world and left after him a daughter seven years old /\n\nThe friends of the said child supposed that she had neither father nor mother / They brought her to the holy man / Where she was enclosed near a window. Which was on the side of his little house. And by the same window he taught her the Psalter and other holy scriptures /\n\nAnd there, in doing and saying Impnes and psalms, they were long together / In such a way / that in all abstinences the young maiden showed her uncle Abraham / Who, seeing the good way and will in her, began / He devoutly and without ceasing prayed God for her.end that he would give to her such grace that she never returned to the world. And that her thoughts should have no affection for worldly things, for he had great doubt of this on account of the great abundance of goods her father had left to her. The wise and prudent Abraham, seeing her great prudence and perception, had them distributed to the poor people. In praying God that the devils by their subtle suggestions might have no power to change her from her good purposes, so she continued for a long time in the rule her uncle had given to her. And she had such constance that in twenty years he found her not variable, but obedient as a young lamb or sheep. During this time, the devil, who never sleeps, imagined many subtle means by which he might deceive them. And because he had committed and done this, she became so sorrowful and desolate that her lamentations and weeping cannot be fully expressed and written.And then she began to tear her hair and beat her breast and face, forcing herself to sleep through despair.\nAnd thus in lamenting and bewailing, she bewailed mournfully her virginity so lost,\nAnd furthermore, she said, \"Alas, poor sinner, I have lost all the time in which I have done penance,\nAll my children, fasting, good works, and deeds are sins lost.\nO you tears and weeping,\nAlas, I am not worthy to behold you, heaven, for I am dead as touching the world,\nAnd as toward God, I dare not return to my window,\nBy which I sprang and came out.\nAlas, how I, that am full of iniquity and wickedness, shall I be bold enough to speak to my uncle?\nI suppose if I return to my little house, I will be inconvenient if I come and approach and come near the window.\nBy miracle, may fire come to me that shall burn me.\"\nAfter these pitiful lamentations, the poor sinner went out of her wits and far from her health.a other city / and changed her habitat / And after went to a house where as dwelt common women.\n\nNow it happened that her uncle knew her by a revelation which was such,\n\nIn his sleep he dreamed that he saw a dragon marvelously great and so fearsome that he dared not confront it. And after he had confronted it, he returned thence from where the church was. or that many Christian men should be turned from the holy faith.\n\nAnd so the good holy man was unsure what to do, save to pray to God that it might please Him to let him have knowledge what the said vision signified,\n\nTwo days after he had another dream like, and him seemed when the said dragon came near his house, he put his head under his feet. and was divided into two parts,\n\nAfter the vision the holy man saw within the belly of the said dragon the said down. which he had devoured. And him seemed that the down was alive,\n\nAnd then the holy man put his hand in the said belly and drew out the down a live down.Then he awakened and went to find his niece Mary in her oratory. He came striking at her window and called her two or three times. And because he had not heard her in her oratory and prayers for two days, he imagined and believed that the vision was of his niece. Therefore he fell down to the ground making marvelous lamentations and wailings, and said:\n\nAlas, what has now happened to me?\nMy daughter is now a prisoner in the devil's prison.\nO cursed wolf, ravisher. Thou hast ravished my sheep.\nO savior of all the world, give to me a gift.\nThat is, that my sheep may come again into her fold, before I die.\nTo the end that in perpetual torment I may finish and end not my old age.\n\nMy God, do not despise my prayer.\nHastily, good Lord, enlarge upon me thy grace.\nTo the end that she may be delivered from the galleys of the dragon.\n\nThe poor daughter had been living for two years in luxury and lechery, bound by the devil's bounds.During these two years, the holy man Abraham prayed continually to God, who moved him to reduce and bring her back to penance. In these two years, the holy man sent a family friend of his to search and find out where she might be. They went and found her and brought word back where she was. They had seen her in an open house with common women.\n\nThe holy man immediately died, opened his house, and went out secretly. To ensure he would not be recognized, he took the habit of a secular man and did so on a great scale. He concealed his face because he did not want to be known.\n\nNow let us consider the comparison and similarity of the first Abraham and the second, of whom this present history speaks.\n\nThe first went into battle against four kings and rescued and brought home his new wife, who had been a prisoner.\n\nThe second also went to battle against the devil, to redeem his niece.A man was a prisoner and kept in captivity in the house where his niece was. He came there because he did not see her among the young women who were there, asked the host if there was any young woman named Mary. The host, thinking the holy man had come to commit lechery, answered that there was such a one. The holy man was greatly joyful upon hearing this and asked her to come forth so he could eat and drink with her. The host brought her before her uncle, immodestly dressed and adorned as was common for unchaste common women. When the holy man saw her in this state, he was heavy-hearted and sorrowful, but he concealed his anger as best he could without revealing it.\"that she should have known him.\nThen the hosteler all abashed began to say, \"Lady Mary, what causes you to weep now? It is two years since you came here, and I have never seen you angry. \" To whom she answered, \"Alas, I would have been well happy if I had been dead three years ago. \"\nThe holy man, seeing her lamentations and weeping, began to say to her, \"Ha, ha, my daughter. You were right now so joyous, and now you weep for the sins that you have committed. I pray, leave this purpose, and make amends there. \"\nHow much is the great goodness of our Lord, which never will leave the sinners. But by his great mercy, He will call them again.\nThe poor Mary saw the holy man. She had in her imagination and thinking that it was another who resembled and was like him.\nNevertheless, she had never believed that it had been he. Considering that he was a man of right holy life, and would never have entered into that place so dishonestly.\nNow let us\"Considering from whence came this convention so suddenly to this poor sinner. Truly, we ought to believe that it proceeded from the benevolent mercy of God. Which, beholding the great wailing and devout orisons, which the holy man Abraham made lest he should lose his pains and labors. The holy man then required of the host. That he should make them good there. As he took from him a piece of gold. Which chamber she had shut the door. He made her come to him. And took her by the hand. Why didst thou not come to me? And let me have knowledge of it. Certainly, I would then have done a holy deed. A holy man saw that she answered not again. He said yet to her: \"Mary, my righteous daughter, who art of my blood, speak to me if it pleases thee. And take comfort and consolation. For I promise thee that I shall take thy sin upon me. And shall take upon me the penance to render an account. And discharge thee before God, the right merciful redeemer of all the world.\" There they were together until midnight.in the wing of the good holy man to Mary, his niece, the great mercy of God. And after that she had long heard him, she began to speak in weeping great tears and said to him, / A father and uncle, I am not worthy to be present before your eyes. Alas, how may I have remission? What prayer shall I make to God, who am so horrible defiled and maculated by so many sins? / Then the holy man, to comfort her, answered, / My daughter and my love. Your iniquities are upon me, and nothing upon you. I have prayed to God that it may please Him to take your punishment on me. And truly, I make no doubt but that He shall do so. Therefore come with me. And return we to our place where we have lived so long together virtuously. You shall see Effren, your friend, who is full of sorrow for your peril. Have no misgivings about the mercy of Jesus Christ. / How is it that your sins are greater in enormity than the great mountains and hills? Yet, his mercy is much greater. / Take heart.In considering that it is no new thing to fall into sin, but it is a right great danger to abide therein once one is in it. I firmly believe that the devil, who has the weak in falling, shall find the strong in relieving and rising.\n\nMy daughter, you see that I am ancient and old. Therefore, I pray that you have pity on my old age. And that you come out of this public place and return to your first lodging to do your penance there.\n\nGod wills not that sinners should die eternal death. but desires that they should live perpetually.\n\nThen she said to him. If you know well, my father, that I may do sufficient penance in such a way that I may deserve to have remission of my sins, I will willingly that we return where it pleases you.\n\nIn such devices and lamentations was Mary all the night at the feet of the said holy man, her uncle. To whom also she said, alas, my lord, what shall I give or reward you for your good.grace and mercy that in great desire and affection you purchase for me / On the morning when they should depart and go their way, she said to him, My uncle, I have spared and kept within a little gold and other vestments. Say to me what it pleases you that I shall do with them. To whom the holy man replied, I will have mercy on you. You have obtained them through sin and infamy, and they are not worthy to be given freely. They came to the place where she had been nursed. She was remanded to her little chamber, clad with her old coat / Think now what sorrow and complaints they made after that. I weep every day for the sin of my niece. Like him, the soul of my niece wept. / Who is also he / Ten years after he lived the devout man, aged fifty. / They rendered their souls to God, who gave them His glory and eternal felicity. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost / Amen /\n\nIn recalling Saint Pachomius and many other saints and holy fathers. / SaintIesus, source of all wisdom and light, very Son of God the Father, by whose power all things were created and made. Desiring to show our poor humanity the enormity of sin, which is so inclined towards us, has shown us His worthy pity and meekness in many ways and manners for our health. Consider then the grace He gave to Abraham, our ancient father. When in obedience to His commandment, he was willing to offer Isaac, his firstborn son. He was content with Abraham's obedience, which had merit in his sacrifice. And yet, he kept his son alive. All the prophets, who had so many revelations and knew that God could not lie, have shown us that there should come a medicine or healer who would heal all our sores and wounds. That is our Lord Jesus Christ. By His passion, He bought and redeemed us from the pains of hell. He is so humble that neverhe dispises our petitions, making them reasonable and healthful. And consider the grace we have when, by the sacrament of baptism, we are regenerated and purified of original sin since our first father Adam. And we have heard the apostles, who have instructed us in the holy faith, which we hold and keep. When our faith began to be published, the devil, our great enemy, supposed by his temptations to have brought to nothing all Christians. But as we read of many saints who, through prayers and other afflictions, were put under, some Pagans, Roman emperors after the passion of our Lord, enforced them to persecute Christians. Many of whom went to their death enduring great martyrdom for the honor of Jesus Christ. And from day to day, the churches were increased, edified, and made in the name of the martyrs. Some others forsook the world.vse\u2223den alle theyr lyfe in wyldernesse in de\u2223sertes / As of many is wryton here tofo\u00a6re / \u00b6 The some were cladde with heyr\u00a6of ghotes / \u00b6 Other dyde penaunce in fastynge an hoole weke wythoute etyn\u00a6ge: Endurynge alle theyr lyfe in colde and hete. and other necessitees Innume\u00a6rable / \u00b6 And in soo doinge haue optey\u00a6ned of our lorde synguler prerogatyues As it hathe ynough be declared in the lyues of holy faders here tofore wreton\nDVrynge the persecuco\u0304n whyche themperours of Rome made so crysten men dwellyd in the de\u2223serte saynt Anthony. where as he ladde a lyfe semblable in perfecco\u0304n vnto ye ly\u00a6fe of Helye. Helyser. & saynt Iohn\u0304 Bap\u00a6tyste / \u00b6 Of the maners & conuersacyon of saynt Anthonye / Saynt Anathase bysshopp of Alexandrie hath made ma\u00a6ny grete & fayre wytnesses. Whiche ben thynges moche prouffytable to alle peo\u00a6ple of deuoco\u0304n to see theym. and in the\u2223ym to haue contemplaco\u0304n\u00b7 \u00b6 Also ye sa\u00a6yd Athanase hath wreton of saynt Am\u00a6mon & of his merytes. as here tofore is wreton & recyted. And semblably ofIn that time were the holy fathers, the foundation and beginning of Religion, and in their lives, great fame flourished in various regions. In that time, there were a few religious people in Thebes. But after the persecution of the Diocletian and Maximian emperors and tyrants, many people of various sets followed the law of Jesus Christ. Some went into the desert, and others into Religion. Then the church began to flourish and multiply.\n\nIn the same time dwelt Pachomius in Thebes, who was a Pagan. Holding the law in which his father and mother had instructed him. But after, by the grace of God, he wished to be Christian. And although in his adolescence he was a Pagan, as before is said, nevertheless he was much virtuous. And also after his conversion, he profited meritoriously in the acquisition of virtues. In such a way that by the means of his righteous holy life, he was much renowned in various countries and regions, as will be more amply told later.declared it afterwards. This said Pachomyen, in his young age. Being yet a child, he was brought by his parents to a temple of idolatry by the river of Nile, to adore and sacrifice. \u00b6 A another time, he, being replenished with the grace of God, was given to drink of the wine that had been sacrificed to the idols. Incontinently he cast it up again, as if it had been poison. Notwithstanding that he was not yet Christian, \u00b6 In the same time, Constantine obtained the Empire of Rome and compelled all the young men of his country to equip and put them in arms to serve him in his war. Among whom he was rewarded with wages. \u00b6 The said Pachomyen, who then was in the age of twenty years, after that he was put upon the sea, \u00b6 The wind arose and made them arrive in a city in which dwelt Christian men. \u00b6 When they of the city saw them come, they received them liberally. And honestly they ministered to them all their necessities.Pachomyen seeng\n\u00b6 Pachomyen herynge this was mo\u2223che heuy in his herte for that he myght not haue none other knowlege of them \u00b6 Wherfore he made his prayer to god in sayenge / O god almyghty whyche haste made heuen & erthe graunte thou to me my prayer. That is. that it play\u00a6se the to giue me perfighte knowlege of thy name / And that I be delyuered of the oblygacyon in whyche I'am boun\u2223de. And I shall be thy seruaunt alle the tyme of my lyfe / \u00b6 And I promitte to the that I shall renounce the worlde for to beye ye onely / He then\u0304e retornynge fro\u00a6the warre wyth his felowes they pas\u2223syd by dyuerse countrees and Regyons in whiche some tyme Pachomyen was tempted wyth the synne of the flesshe / But neuertheles rme\u0304bryng of ye promi\u00a6se that he hadd made to god. he resisted ye temptaco\u0304n. And wolde neuer co\u0304mise the sayd synne Desyrynge for the loue of oure lorde to lyue chastely / \nIT happed that Constantyn ye Emperour of Rome after that he was Crysten. And that by ye faythe & credence that he hadde to god He haddeObtained victory against his adversaries. Decided to discharge his subjects from the great exactions and charges caused by war. And so he did. Pachomius then saw himself delivered from his service. Incoming came to a town called Smobostrum, being beyond the parties of Thebes. And there, in the church, he fulfilled the promise he made to God. Promptly he was baptized. But a marvelous thing happened after his baptism. For in the same night that he was christened, he saw in his dream how a dew, miraculously, turned into honey. After he heard a voice which said to him, \"O Pachomius, consider well this that has happened to you. For this is the sign of the grace that God has given to you.\"\n\nPachomius was after inflamed with the grace of the Holy Ghost. And he rendered himself with the religious men, to learn the state of the holy and pious life.After hearing that there was a holy man named Palemon, living in deserts, continually serving God, Pachomius went to him and knocked at his door.\n\nPalemon opened half his door and asked what Pachomius wanted.\n\nWhen Pachomius had finished speaking, Palemon, like disciples in the presence of their master, was somewhat ashamed to hear the words of the holy man. But trusting in the grace of God, he resolved to endure all.\n\nHe answered the holy man, \"Fair father, I have firm faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. In whom I believe firmly. That He will give me strength and might to do the penances you have shown me, and that, by the aid of your prayers, I shall persevere constantly throughout my life.\"\n\nSeeing the faith of Pachomius, Palemon received him and gave him the habit of Religion. They lived together, practicing great abstinences with devout prayers.And they passed their time in prayer. Sometimes they made robes of hair not only for the entertainment of their life but also to comfort the poor. When they were in prayer, and Palemon saw Pachomyen asleep once, he prevented him from sleeping because he did not want him to fall asleep and thus be unable to bear witness from one place to another. By means of this exercise, he kept himself awake, which is the nourishment of all vices and sins. After he had admonished him to be constant and persevering in his good purposes, and all things obediently received the charges and corrections of the holy man Palemon, Pachomyen's perfection and love and charity towards the divine master grew day by day.\n\nAt the same time, the solemnity of Esther took place, which is held in great devotion and spiritual joy by all good and true Christians.people. In the same day, many have a custom to rejoice themselves solely. The holy man Palemon commanded Pachomius that he should think of their reception for the supper. Now, as before said, their custom was to eat only bread and salt, and to drink water. But for the reverence of the solemnity of the day, Pachomius set on the fire of wild coles with other herbs.\n\nWhen Palemon had made his prayers, he came into his chamber to take his reception, which he found all ready. For it was then evening.\n\nHe perceived that Pachomius, for the solemnity of the said day, had made ready coles with oil. Seeing this, the holy man Palemon, in a display of piety, began to rub his face with his hands, saying such words as:\n\nO my God and my maker, thou hast had so much harm and pain on the cross. Should I eat oil? Certainly, I should not eat it.\n\nPachomius, seeing that he was angry, set it down, saying that he had made it as he had commanded.And yet he might well eat a little. Neverless Palemon would not eat, but was content with a little bread and salt. And after said grace to God as he was accustomed.\n\nIt happened one day a pious and superstitious man came to visit them. Now they had made a fire to warm themselves. For gladly contemplative persons are sooner cold than those engaged in other occupations and works temporal. If they are not kept and preserved by God.\n\nThe brother, seeing the fire began to say, \"If one of you has very faith, let him lie upon these hot coals and say his (Pater noster) all along. And I believe certainly that he shall not burn.\" Palemon, who knew his surreptitious ways, said to him, \"Brother, say no more such idle words & out of reason. For it should rather encourage you to be still.\" I see well that you are full of pride & of a more mischievous spirit. He came again to the said holy men. And again said to them in reproach.Brother Prudence asks, \"Where is your faith? The devil, knowing he was soon to fall into the sin he desired, transformed himself into a beautiful woman, adorned and dressed in worldly attire. He came and knocked at the door of the proud religious man. He opened it, and when the devil was within, he said, \"My good brother, I have come to tell you why I am here. I am bound to many creditors whom, for lack of good fortune, I am unable to pay and satisfy. If by chance they find me, I might incur great damage. That is why I have come here to hide myself. I pray you in good charity to allow me to stay a little while to avoid this inconvenience. And God, who has directed me to come here for refuge, will thank you.\" The religious man was very proud, so God did not grant him the grace to know that it was the devil.That spoke to him. And so received him in his damning-conation, for Incontinence the devil tempted him to the sin of lechery. Then he lightly suffered himself to be overcome and would have embraced the devil in likeness of a woman. And then the devil threw him down there and lay there long as he had been dead. But after certain days he came again to himself in his good mind and acknowledged his sin. And went and told it to the holy father Palemon, saying, \"A holy father I am, the cause of my perdition. Thou warnedst me well. But I, poor unhappy one, have despised thy words. Wherefore I pray thee that thou wilt pray to God for me, to the end that I may have remission of my sin.\" Palemon and Pachomyen, seeing his lamentation, could not hold themselves from weeping for pity and compassion they had for him. But the devil, seeing that his companion was not consonant to his words, which were feigned and full of hypocrisy, brought him Incontinence out of their presence. And so then the poor man.my sad fool ran through the deserts and came into a city named Panos, where he became enraged. He threw himself into a deep pool of hot water, and there he died suddenly.\n\nPachomyen continued barefoot through the desert and mountains, enduring patiently the prickly thorns. His feet were swollen from the injuries.\n\nOne time, as Saint Pachomyen entered a town named Thebayde far from his hermitage, he found it deserted. He put himself in prayer there and stayed for a long time. He heard a voice from heaven, which said to him, \"Abide in this place where you are, and establish all that the angel has brought to you.\" Afterward, he went to see the holy father Palemon and recounted to him all that had happened to him. He begged him to go with him to the place where the angel had spoken to him. Palemon, who was humble and unwilling to go,Trowble his disciple went into the town with him. There they built a little house, in which they prayed to God devoutly for a long time, as the angel had commanded Pachomius. Long after, Palemon said to Pachomius, \"Now I know that the grace of God has descended upon you, and that you are disposed to dwell in this place. Therefore, I pray that we make this covenant and agree together. That during all the time of our lives we be not separated in heart nor divided, but by fraternal visitation we give consolation to each other. They made and upheld this covenant, for they often visited each other.\n\nA little time after Palemon, weakened by nature due to the extreme austerities he practiced, fell into a great illness. Often he ate without drinking. At times he ate nothing at all.Some brothers came there to visit him and prayed him to take sufficient food to sustain his body. But the holy man, hearing their request to only take food for the comfort of his members, which were much weakened by his said abstinences, replied:\n\nBut their entreaties availed nothing. For his malady was more grievous to him the less he ate than he was accustomed. And therefore he would not eat unless his appetite called for it and suffered patiently his malady. Considering that many matters had been despised into pieces. Some had their heads struck off. Others were burned in fire. And they all persevered unto the end for the love of Jesus Christ.\n\nThe holy man said that he had received ample matter for patience from their examples and that he ought not to corrupt his little senses and fasting habits for a little malady. He further said that they had given him more pain by the food he had eaten in his sickness than they had caused him.abstinences that he made. And he returned to his first penance. And a month after, in pursuing fasting, he died and rendered his soul to God. But before his death, Saint Pachomius came to see him. Who beheld him as his father in kissing and embracing him, as he had said to him. Farewell. And after he buried his body in the earth, his soul was elevated gloriously with changes into the joy and glory of heaven. Grant us, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Amen.\n\nAfter Saint Palemon was buried by Saint Pachomius, the same Saint Pachomius returned to his monastery where God had instituted it for him. And after came to him his brother Germanus named John. Who had long sought him. The holy man was very joyful to see his brother, since he had seen none of his friends since he had become Christian. The good John lived with his brother. And if they were brothers carnally, yet they were much more brothers spiritually. They two had but one will and one self.They desired. Night and day they thought on the faith of our Lord, renouncing all worldly riches. They wanted their living only with making of cells, and if they had anything superfluous of their labor, it was distributed to the poor for the sake of God. All their clothing was of one vesture made of linen cloth. But the holy man Pachomius wore theirs. For keeping his body in servitude, and whenever sometimes he slept by night, he did not lie on the earth. But leaning, fearing that he should rest too much at his case, and thereby he might fall into some sin.\n\nSaint Pachomius, by the grace of God, increased the place where he and John, his brother, dwelt. So that they should find a place to dwell in, as the angel had shown, should come to dwell in this place.\n\nJohn, who was older, was angry with him because he had made such a great foundation. He said to him, \"My brother, leave this, what you have begun. It is a burden.\"\"Thing superfluous to make this place so large that we dwell in. The holy man Pachomyen hearing these words answered nothing, but endured in his courage. How well he was evil content with them. Estimating to be injured by your words before said, the night following Pachomyen descended into a low place he had begun to cultivate. He fell down there in prayer weeping and wailing, because for the occasion aforementioned he had been wrathful against his brother. In his lamentations he said, \"Alas, misfortune is happened to me. I yet walk in obedience to the flesh. Lord God, have mercy on me. To the end that I perish not, and also lest by the deception of the devil I be deceived. Alas, Lord, if I be withdrawn from your grace, and the devil finds any vice in me, he shall subdue me sore in his vile servitude. For it is written that he that is put under anyone is made his servant or bondman. And yet again it is written that he that shall have entirely kept and observed the law, and after in one only sin shall have fallen.\"\"opened he shall be towards God, regarded by all as culpable. And out of my health, notwithstanding my Lord God, I believe that your mercies are so great. They shall help me, however poor and miserable I may be, for your servants have been preserved by your sure protection from the power of the devil. And in their stead, enlightened with your glory and eternal felicity.\n\nThen I have hope that you will give me knowledge of your name,\nThat after my death I shall be numbered among those who will be saved.\n\nEllis, my Lord God, if you do not give me knowledge and skill as you have promised me,\nI shall not be able to teach or instruct the religious people whom you have committed and given the charge and governance to me.\n\nConsidering that I have not carefully overcome the voluptuousness and passions of the flesh,\nNor fully observed and fulfilled your right worthy law with undefiled thought, as I ought to do.\n\nTherefore I am not worthy to rule and govern under your rule.hondes of so many religious men shall come to me, and therefore, my lord, my Savior and my Protector, I beseech thee to pardon and forgive me. In granting to me absolution of all my sins, the holy man was continually weeping and lamenting all night long. His robe or vesture and his body were all stained and bedewed with tears and water. And yet he rendered himself obedient to his brother Germain until his death and ending of his life. In burying and making sepulture of him, weeping was upon his body. Making prayers and devout orisons for him, how well his soul was in heaven.\n\nSaint Pachomius, unexpectedly came an affliction to him by the grace of God, which he put aside. For he was always in the deed of God.\n\nNow whoever fears God, he employs him in good works often, remembering.On the pains of Hell. Like fire which is eternal,\nAnd on the worms which write the damned souls.\nWho never shall die,\nThe devil envious of all good,\nSupposed to have bent his greenes to have caught and taken him in some sin,\nBut nevertheless, because he was armed with the shield of steadfast faith.\nHe overcame always his adversary,\n\nOn a day as the holy Pacomien came from saying his devout orisons and prayers, a good way from his little cell. Like he had been accustomed. He came before them many devils in great number, one to another. Like they had been before a Judge. Make way for the servant of God, but the holy man, having in our Lord full hope, despised all their machinations. Like the barking of dogs, and when the devils saw the great constance of him, they enforced them to beat him down. Then began to say the holy man, \"O my God, who art Thou alone the refuge and defense of our good people. Whom Thou\"Comfort yourself in all your tribulations, for our enemies may take the earth away from us before we do. And he departed, and thus he held himself as an unconquerable stronghold before his enemies. Ofte times he much thanked God, as will be shown later. And after the devil showed himself to him in the likeness of a fair woman. Enforcing him by her alluring looks and subtle seductions to excite and move him to the dishonest and detestable sin of lechery. But the holy man, seeing before his cursed temptations, and to avoid them, closed his bodily eyes. Opening the sight of his understanding toward God. Which teaches us to obtain the virtue of strength and charity, saying to the righteous men: \"Fear not your friends. For I am with you to keep you.\"\n\nThe devil took him another time, and beat him so much that he was constrained by weakness to lie down from morning to evening without being able to speak. But notwithstanding, he made no mention of it.words of God. Nevertheless, his heart woke up and called upon him. As he who never leaves the good in temptations, / Then came there a religious man named Apollos to visit him, to whom the holy man confessed his deceits of the devil. & how he had been beaten / The holy father Apollos said to him in this manner, \"A holy father it is necessary that you take good courage to resist their battles, / for if the devil, who knows our feeble courage, in the hope by his deceitful temptations might overcome us. Lightly should he put us under which are your humble disciples. And should enforce him to bring us in despair, / Wherefore he desires to overcome us. But God shall give us the strength to resist him. To the end that we take example of him. / And know that if you fall, and that the devil conquers you, / you should be the cause of our ruin all / Saint Pachomius hearing these conclusions was much stronger than he was before, and took courage marvelously. in.After praying to God, the holy man named Apollonius, requested that he not depart from him. After this, Apollonius visited the said holy man, Pachomius. But Pachomius did not live long after. He was buried by the said Saint Pachomius with honors and devotion, as he had been so firm and constant in our Lord Jesus Christ. With his feet, he walked upon serpents and scorpions without being harmed. Whenever he had to cross the flood called Cocodryles, which devoured men, he was not hindered or disturbed. All things harmful to creatures showed him honor and worship. For which he rendered thanks to our Lord God, saying, \"Blessed be thou, my God, who hast not despised my humility and meekness. And who hast not allowed me to be deceived by the deceit and fraud of my enemy.\" Fearing that God had spoken to him, he added, \"And I, being afraid, thou hast addressed to me, \"Way of health / By which I shall more avoid utter darkness / And to know which arts are very light and glory yet enduring /\n\nSaint Pachomius saw that the demons persecuted him so sharply that he could never have rest. He prayed to God that He would give him this privilege. That he never might sleep. So that night and day he might, in waking, overcome the machinations and deceptions laid against him by his enemies. To which he desired to resist as the strong and valiant champion who says, / \u00b6 All the time of my life I shall persecute my enemies. And I shall never lessen it until the time that they are in my subjection. I shall give them much pain. So that they may abide in no place. And I shall make them fall under my feet. Since You give me strength to go to battle against them / & I shall never cease to pray. To Thee, O God, may the will of our Lord be accomplished.\n\nIt happened that the holy man was engaged in prayer. The angel came to speak to him.Sayde. It was commanded to Saint Pachomyen that his Religious should eat and drink according to their custom in the night, and take an habitable dwelling which should strain their rain, and with that they should have skins of goats. And this without wearisomeness or clothes. They should not eat, drink, nor sleep, but when they would receive the sacrament of the water. Pachomyen said to the angel that it was little if they said not more prayers. Nevertheless, the angel said to him that he would not command them any more. To the end that those who should be feeble and little devout might easily do it without excuse of their feebleness, but those who were mighty and strong were not.I hereby excuse them by this law in this manner. But they were said to have received visions, which he had seen three times, rendering grace to God. And after he had instructed his religious monks to live according to this, he gave them many other doctrines. Among all other things, he said to them: since they were religious, it was necessary for them to leave the world, their parents, and themselves, so that they might easily bear the cross and follow their good master and redeemer, Christ. By his divine words and examples, all the religious bore before them the fruits of holy penance. For although he was truly old, yet he did not abstain from doing so, and despite this, he performed many abstinences. And more than any of the others, he took upon himself the care and charge of serving them all in his power. At the hour when they ought to eat, he covered the tables and served them as was the custom in their religion. In the same way, he labored in the gardens, sowed seeds for them.cabochis and colewortes / & waited on them / \u00b6 And if anyone knocked at the door of the church, he was the first to be ready to open it / \u00b6 He served those who were sick and attended to their necessities / \u00b6 In doing these things, he gave an example of humility to all his disciples / and occasion to serve not only to their ancestors and elders, but also to those who came after them to the Religion / \u00b6 Also he admonished them to exercise themselves after their vocation & calling / And commanded them to make continually pray the holy gospels / to the end that thereby they might accustom themselves gladly in the commandments of God / And to love him above all things heartily. And to pain themselves for complying with them in getting virtues for finally to obtain the Joy & felicity eternal / \u00b6\nIt happened that three men / one named Postentesus, another Surys, and the third Oblys came to visit the holy hermit Pachomius. The whych by his words & examples of holy life moved them to do penance /And when they had contemplated his generosity, one of them said to the other: \"Certainly we now know that they err openly who say that children imitate and follow the manners of their fathers and mothers, and do not speak well. For often evil fathers and evil mothers beget good children: as it appears in this holy man Pachomius. who is so just that in his life he never broke any of God's commandments, and yet he is extracted and descended from the lineage of Pagans and idolaters, all contrary to God's law, and again against those who have foolish idolatrous imaginations. They say that they have good to do, whether good or evil. For if they ought to be saved, they shall be saved; and if they ought to be damned, they shall be damned. These are fools and enraged. For we find in holy scripture our blessed savior saying: 'Come to me, you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' In this saying, he did not exclude anyone.\"\n\nAlso, he does not desire the death of a sinner.And therefore every one ought to persist in his goodness to his life's end. These three men came again afterwards to the holy man, praying him that he would tell them the cause why he took upon himself the pain to serve all his religious orders. He answered them in this way:\n\nWhen men want to train a mare or some other beast to bear a great burden, they give her a little charge first, and afterwards they increase her burden. For who should give her all that she might bear? She likely would not endure it but would rebel.\n\nAll this must I do to my brethren, whom God has given me to keep in a good rule. First, I give them a little charge. And after, by example, I show them how they ought to do. When they have seen the burden that I have borne now, I have been long\n\nAfterwards, by the grace of God that benevolently calls each one to do penance, many devout persons came to the holy man to live solitarily with him.Among those who came were Paul and another named John. They lived there a holy life and were most virtuous and humble among the others. After this, he appointed some to have the governance and rule of the monastery, and among them, the most virtuous and humble one. The holy man said, desiring to be first and principal in the Order and to have great offices, if their hearts were not inflamed by this evil suggestion, they had long sought. And for this reason, the holy man would not consent nor allow one to have any lordship or precedence over the other. On a solemn feast day, he made a priest come from another monastery to perform the ceremony, in order to take this inordinate affection away from them and for one to precede the other.The officer and servant. who should administer the sacraments to them / And moreover he said, that it is better to live in charity and humility than in disorderly worship / And if some clerk or priest came to him for confession, he showed him honor according to his state / and like as it pertains to a man of the church /\n\nThe humility of the holy father Pachomyen was so great that all the servants of God he honored and loved / To the old and the sick, and to the little, he did all spiritual and bodily services / Counseling and comforting them for the salvation of their souls /\n\nAnd so he saw that the number of his religious increased / he made and constituted some of them his co-workers and helpers / And others he ordained as priests for helping him to save their souls / And teaching them the rules given by the angel /\n\nHe constrained them all to be very obedient: and to have the fear of God in their hearts / And when he who had the governance and charge of the monastery:The works of the monastery were failing in every way. The good, holy father Pacomian took charge and amended the fault. Not to seem meek through vanity, but by genuine affection and good love, Saint Pacomian was very pitiful and charitable. He saw that in the places surrounding his monastery there were many people who occupied them in no other way but to keep the beasts without coming to church or receiving their creatures. One named Pyctorien, bishop of the Centetes, came to him.\n\nAt the same time, Achanas, who was a proficient and virtuous bishop, was bishop of Alexandria. As he visited the churches and preached the Christian faith, he came to where Saint Pacomian was. Recognizing his coming, accompanied by all his religious, he came with great gladness against the said Achanas. Singing hymns and psalms, and was received by him and his religious right gladly.\n\nBut the good Saint Pacomian, with great humility, received him and his religious, and they all lived in harmony.The holy father Pachomius did not reveal himself to him, but remained among his monks. This was due to the strong indignation of the Cenotians, who were primarily Origenists. Origen, who was expelled from the church by the bishop of Alexandria, Eraclius, had given many false teachings contrary to holy scripture. Just as those who want to give poison to drink mix honey in it to make the bitter taste more bearable, so Origen gave and proposed fair and honest doctrines but corrupted them with false expositions. This led to the loss of many Christian people. Therefore, the holy man Pachomius not only forbade his monks to read any of Origen's books but also urged that if others did read them, they should not hear them by any means. Whatever sentence they might hear.One time among his books he found of the said Origen's volumes. Why I might have burned them all, had it not been for the fact that the name of God is written in the books of Origen. By this it appears that he held the holy Bible and faith of Christendom in high regard.\n\nWhen some Religious criticized his companion, he would not listen to him but fled from him as much as he could. Considering the word of the Psalmist, \"I shall persecute him that backbites his own Christian,\" he said. And to this purpose he cited many histories. Principally one of Machaire. Who, in blaming Moses, was punished incontenently by the hand of God.\n\nThe sister Germaine of the said holy man Pachomius desired to see him. Going to his monastery, she hoped that he would receive and treat her humanely. But he sent word to her through the porter that he would not.was whole and sound, but he would not see her with his bodily eyes, and moreover, if she would forsake the world and serve God, he would build a house for her where she should do penance. He doubted not if she would begin to live a holy life there, and many other women would yield themselves to serve God with her. And she heard these words from her brother. She was filled with such compassion and contrition in her heart that she promised to serve God all her life. Therefore, the holy man, seeing that she was completely ready, gave thanks and grace to the Lord. And afterwards, he commanded his brothers to build her a chapel far enough from his monastery. It happened soon after, by the grace of God, that from all provinces and countries came women who yielded themselves to Religion with the said sister of St. Pachomius. He admonished them to resist always against the fleshly temptations. And in like manner, (continued...)after the monks were instructed by God to excite them to virtues and good manners, praying God to preserve them in His grace, and giving them such and similar rules as His Reality kept, except they should not have great feelings, and if any nun had a sister or other kin, she should not go there but take with her one of the eldest nuns, and they ought not to speak together, but in the presence of the Abbess or some of the oldest nuns, and she should not bear or give anything out of their houses, for the monks, both men and women, ought not to have anything of their own from that time onward, and if by any necessity they had to make repairs, they chose the most perfect and most honest conversation to see that it was necessary to be done, but they did not eat or drink with the other, and when by God's will.Some nuns departed from life to death. They were brought to the riverside where a river separated the two monasteries. Then the monks came against them there. They took the corpse of the nun for burial within their church. The women of the Religion returned to their abbey.\n\nOf the conversation of Theodore:\nThroughout the country and around it, the conversation of St. Pachomius was so renowned for his use of the good of this world at his pleasure. He could not obtain heavenly glory. This thought in his heart he began to weep and sigh. Saying to our blessed Savior Jesus Christ:\n\nO almighty God, you know all things secret,\nYou know that I love not so much worldly things as yourself,\nI pray my God that it pleases you to kindle my poor, simple soul.\nSo that she who is stained with sin may not be damned,\nBut she who was bought with your bitter passion attends and is ready in all her works to worship and love you perpetually.During the time that he was in his youth and wept, it happened one day among other things that the brothers and religious of the monastery, where Theodore resided, disputed about the Old Testament of the Ark of Noah, the rod of Aaron, and the tables given to Moses on Mount Sinai, where the body of St. Catherine lies. Then one of the same religious said that many times he had heard Saint Pachomius speak well of it alone to the holy man Pachomius. And they recounted this and his marvelous deeds to Theodore. Hearing this from these religious, Theodore prayed in his heart to God, and said, \"My God, if it is true that my brothers speak of Saint Pachomius, give me grace that I may see him, to keep all your commandments and be saved afterward, as you have promised to them who love and fear you.\"\n\nCertain days later came to the same monastery a man named Pecusus, unnamed.For inquiring about the good behavior and devotion of the said Religious, and because Theodore was informed that he was going to the monastery of the holy man Pacomian, he earnestly prayed him to take him in his company. Pacius, seeing his affection, entreated him humbly and brought him to the said monastery of St. Pacomian.\n\nThen, as Theodore approached the monastery at night, he thanked God that He had allowed him to hear his prayer so readily. For he desired nothing so much as to see St. Pacomian.\n\nAs they approached the gate, they found him there. So Theodore wept sorely in the presence of the holy man Pacomian, filled with great joy at the sight of him. The holy man said to him, \"My son, you are simple to weep so much.\" For I am a sinner like yourself. How gracious of God to have taken me into His service. In saying this, he brought Theodore into his monastery.\n\nUpon seeing the great multitude of Religious who were there,His heart was inflamed with a love so perfect that he was as if in jealousy to live in that place. He was discreet and prudent in his words and works, plentiful in humanity in the composition of his heart and in open operations of virtues, as in fasting, watchings, and orisons, in which he spent his time continually. And with this, he comforted the sorrowful and the sinners by humbly correcting, advising and warning them.\n\nSaint Pachomius, when he saw the holy conversation of Theodore, loved him with all his heart.\n\nThe mother of this Theodore, having knowledge that he was with the said Saint Pachomius, came there immediately with her letters from many bishops. By these they wrote urgently that she should have her son delivered to her again.\n\nSo she came first to the monastery of the women, which was nearby the monastery of Saint Pachomius. And because the women never went to his monastery, she wrote to him to send her son back to her.And she sent him the letters that the bishops wrote to him, commanding him to do so. / The holy man saw the said letters. He sent for Theodore. To whom he showed the tenor of the same. He commanded him to go, both to please his mother and to obey the bishops' commandment. / Theodore answered Saint Pachomius, \"Father, I ask you, if now I leave the state of religion, which is so fruitful and without which one cannot be saved with great pain, shall I not be reproved at the day of judgment before God? / We have in the Gospel that whoever loves his father or mother more than God shall not be worthy to be made his servant. / Saint Pachomius answered, \"My son. If you seem to act against your conscience in speaking with your mother, I will be content for you to stay here. But if you are otherwise disposed, I will not keep you against your will.\" / The rule of the very monasteries is for abandoning all together.And therefore he who would say my father and my mother are my blood, must take heed to say St. Paul says: \"Whoever is overcome by the flesh is a servant to the flesh, and in effect, every person becomes a slave to him from whom he lets himself be brought under foot. His mother's reasoning, that she might not speak with her, intended to dwell with the virgins who had their place near the said monastery where her son was a religious. Hoping by God's grace that she should see him among the other religious, and also that in this doing she should purchase some merit for the salvation of her soul during the time that she was in the monastery with the said virgins. And by this it is clearly apparent that keeping some time in the worship of Jesus Christ and not for any prayer or vain glory, is often a great good to them against which men are rigorous. Howbeit.For a short time, it seems that those who have offended them are unwilling to return, even after being warned by the virtuous and holy Friars. Consequently, we shall see the negligence of some repentant Religious who followed their fleshly appetites, disregarding all good rule. These gave great malice to St. Pachomius. Because for no manner of monitions or warnings he made to them, they would not return. Whereby the holy man was wonderfully sorrowful and heavy. Complaining to God, he said:\n\nO my God, who hast lordship over all the world,\nThou commandest us to love our even Christian brethren.\nAnd therefore, O God, who knowest my will and the secret of my conscience,\nI pray thee, that thou wilt not despise my prayers.\nWhich I have often made for these wretched Religious,\nTo the end that thou mayest have pity and mercy on them,\nIn giving to them thy fear reverently,\nAnd grace to know thy divine power.\nFor to obey thee.and serve the having in the only without any other the steady hope of their salvation / Truly my soul is feeble and troubled so much. And all my delight and pleasures withstanding the continual denying of St. Pachomius / That suffered them never to go out of the monastery. for to please their wicked wills / They looked at the monastery. And ensnared the devil their lord and master /\n\nAnd after that the other religions were more desirous in the love of God than before / For thus as the corn which is wedded from the evil herbs grows and multiplies the better / In like wise when in a feeble ship of people pleasable are some vicious men / It is of necessity to throw them out from the others /\n\nAnd by this it is seen that to a man given to the worldly life, it often fails him not to be a Religious / For his profession shall do him no profit if he is negligent to keep the Rules of his Religion /\n\nIn like wise a prayer profits not that is made for them.A priest named Denys, who was Confessor, Proctor, and administrator of the church of the Centurions, was well-loved by the holy man Pacomian. Denys, knowing and perceiving that this holy man delayed and put off gathering within his monastery with his brothers, the Religious who came to him from other monasteries, but made their necessities be administered to them by themselves outside the gates of his monastery, sharply reproved him, saying, \"You do not act well.\"\n\nThe holy man received his correction benignly and answered, \"My brother and friend, God knows my will and my intention. And He also knows how I desire the salvation of all souls. None would I despise or provoke to anger.\"\n\nI know also that God has said in His gospel, \"Whatever you do to the least of My servants, you do it to Me.\"In like wise, he behaved towards them not displeasing or disparaging them, but only because I know some reasons in my church that they should not put difference between their right hand and left hand. And yet some others there are who do not have the habit of relying on it. Therefore, it seems good and necessary to me that those coming to us from other places be received honestly in another house by ours. And whatever they come to the church to serve God, they may come there with us. And after the divine service is done, they may return to their lodgings to do their secret Orations or other virtuous works after their devotion. The priest, hearing his answer, was content with him and went away again, all comforted and with good counsel.\n\nIn the city of the Centurions, a woman had suffered from a long-lasting sickness called the bloody flux. She came to the above-named good priest, andby cause he was familiar friends of Saint Pachomius, he humbly prayed that it would please him to send for the holy man Pachomius, who was in his chamber. saying that he had certain necessary things to tell him.\n\nSaint Pachomius came to the sending of the said priest. And when he was come within the church, he made his prayer, and after he saluted the good priest Denys, and as they spoke together. The poor woman, having a steadfast belief in God, as you say in the gospel, \"Have confidence and your faith shall save you,\" took from behind of the vestment that the holy father had on his head. And touched it with great fear. Wonderfully, she was immediately healed and saved. So she fell down upon her knees before Saint Pachomius and thanked God that he made such great miracles through his servants.\n\nA certain religious man, who was to be a priest, was brought to Saint Pachomius by one of his friends, who was a monk.The abbot of many Religiouses, and the reason or abbot who was vexed by the same Religiouses, because he would not confirm nor grant the clerical shaving which they desired from him, and which he had long deferred, as it seemed to him that they were not able nor sufficient for promotion thereunto. Finally, because he could no longer resist his importunity, he brought him to St. Pacomian, trusting that he would content him.\n\nSt. Pacomian, having understood the intent of the aforementioned Abbot, said to him: \"My brother, you have come to me to know the will of God. I advise you to give him what he asks for, and by chance, in doing so, his soul will be delivered from the thralldom of the devil. For a time, the wicked, so constituted in office or benefice, often turn themselves and take good manners. Therefore, the will of God is that we have pity on one another.\"\n\nThe Abbot's response was not well understood. The aforementioned Abbot confirmed and granted their request.The religious man, after being asked, was established as a clerk. He began to bow to all good conditions. Later, he returned to the holy man Pachomyen and kneeled down before him, saying, \"Man of God, I know that you are much pleasing to God, when He grants the power to discern and know the salvation of men. Your bounty has vanquished my malice. If you had not been pitiful and sweet, I would have left the habit of religion and returned to the world to finish my wretched days. Blessed be you by God, through whom you have given salvation to my soul. The holy father lifted him up from the earth and said to him, \"My brother, I pray that you continue always in works becoming and appropriate to your dignity. And he kissed him and commended him to God.\n\nWhile Saint Pachomyen was still in the same place, a man came to him and prayed him sweetly to have pity on him.The daughter, who was vexed and troubled by the devil, / \u00b6The holy man entered within his monastery and left this man at the gate. And after he sent him word through the porter that his Religious were not accustomed to admit women. / \u00b6And if he had any of her garments that he should send them to him, / And it should be hallowed and blessed, / And after putting the same upon her, / if he had in good faith, full belief and hope, / His daughter, by the grace of God, might be delivered from the devil and brought to good recovery of health. / \u00b6The father brought forth the garment of his said daughter. And when the holy man saw it, / He said to him that it was not hers. / \nThe father answered and said it was, / \nThen said the good holy father to him, / \u00b6Because I know that she keeps not her chastity, / Therefore I said that it was not her garment, / For she ought to live chastely. So she must promise to live in continence, / And after God shall help her. / \nThe father questioned his daughter and she answered.that the words of the holy man were true, but she promised otherwise. Then Saint Pachomyen took some oil and blessed it. He gave it to her father, and after she was anointed with the same oil, she was healed and lived afterward in great piety and continence. After this, another man whose son was sick and had the devil in his body, intended to take him to the monastery of Saint Pachomyen to recover his health. But he could not, for the devil prevented him. Therefore he asked me to help. He sent his son a little of holy bread and commanded that men should give it to him to eat before all other food. The spirit of infirmity within the body of the aforementioned child would not allow him to eat of it. Then, the father, eager to make his son eat of this holy bread, broke the crumbs in his hand. But it availed not, for he would not take it.in his mouth, the father advised him to let his son fast for a long time. And after he gave him some of the same bread, and then, due to great hunger, he ate of it. Soon after, he fell asleep and was healed. And all were delivered from the passion of the devil. So he came and yielded thanks and praises to the holy man Pachomyas, in glorifying the name of God who performs so many miracles through his servants.\n\nThe holy man, for no miracle he performed in the name of God, never glorified himself for it. And for what he is more to be praised, when he made some request to God, it was not granted to him. Men would never have known any sign of sorrow or displeasure from him, but by his great humility, he believed that God would not grant him that which he asked, lest it might be contrary to his salvation or to the salvation of those for whom he prayed.\n\nSaint Silvan.wyllyng to tor\u00a6ne hym out of the fylth of syn\u00a6ne for take clene pouertee / Ca\u00a6me and yelded hymselfe to saynt Pa\u2223chomyen / whiche frendly receyued him But this notwythstondynge he wolde not kepe the Rules of the Relygyouses \u00b6For it was ouer harde a thynge to hym for to forgete his euyll customes / of the tyme passed / By the whyche he peruerted many brethern / And bowed theym to his wycked wylle. \u00b6Some Religyouses were ryghte sory of that they sawe the other Relygyouses con\u2223sentynge to the detestable wyll of Syl\u00a6uayn / \u00b6Soo came they and shewed it to the holy fader Pachomien\u00b7 yt whiche\nprayed god for the sayd syluayn. to the ende he sholde haue contryco\u0304n for hys synne: and that he shold doo penaunce But for noo prayer he wolde not plye\u00a6ne consente therto / And for this cause they all wolde haue chaced him out of the monastery / The holy fader deffer\u2223red it & ladd hym wyth hym / And syn after corrected hym with swete wordes techyng hym alwayes in the crysten fa\u00a6yth / Wherof it happed syn that the poo\u00a6reSylvan, by singular grace amended his wicked life and was so deeply penitent that tears were never absent in all his works. Some saw his great contrition and showed him that he had angered himself bitterly and exhorted him to be moderate in his weeping. Taking him in attendance, but he answered that he could not. For his heart was so sore taken with deep penitence that he could not contain himself, and moreover, because he could not abstain from weeping not only at the altar but also elsewhere. The brethren said to him that he should weep in making his holy orders and not at the table, for it was no place where he would reveal what he loved so much. But the holy man deferred telling it to him. Nevertheless, when he saw that Theodore could strain him so sorely, he said to him:\n\n\"If I cry out that he should arise,\nI know that the virtue praised often increases and that he shall be more humble for it than before.\nAlso, to the end that others may learn...\"take a sample at him. I shall name him unto the devil. So I tell thee, though this may be the case, that thou and thy kind have battled strongly against him. So that by the grace of God, you have overcome and brought him under your feet. Nevertheless, Silvan, young as he is, your brother and you, would put him out of our monastery. He has fought against him in such a way that he has been given this gift of God. That the devil dares never show himself before his face. And by his great humility, he has overcome him in all things.\n\nYou others have confidence in your virtues. But he, the more he battles, the more meek and unprofitable he becomes. And if you ask why he wept so continually, I tell you that it is because he is perfectly meek. And so it is written that there is no virtue that confuses the devil more than the virtue of true and perfect humility.\n\nThe good Silvan was in the space of eight years in fighting his enemy.In the city of Panos, there was a bishop named Varus, who was deeply devoted and fervent in his love for Jesus Christ. He had heard speak of the conversation of Saint Pachomius. So, he wrote him many letters in which, among other things, he requested and prayed that he come towards him. This was to give him counsel and aid in building a church near his city, and to lodge there some Religious who were of good life and of good conversation. In response to this request, Saint Pachomius set out on his way to the aforementioned bishop. As he was coming near, he approached a monastery on the way, which he visited. There, he met with many Religious who were conveying the corpse of one of their brethren who had deceased. His friends bore it to the earth, clothed in rich raiments. These were afterwards buried with him.the\nmaner doynge. that the seculer had the\u00a6re acustomyd / Whan they sawe saynt Pachomyen come. they taryed Inconty\u00a6nent for to praye hym yt he wolde ma\u2223ke deuowte prayers & orysons to god. aswel for the deed. as for them. whiche he dide gladly / And his orison done he co\u0304maunded yt men sholde take awaye fro the Relygious yt was deacessed ye ra\u00a6yments of the whyche he was clothyd / It was done as he co\u0304mau\u0304ded / And In\u2223contynent in the presence of theym all he made the vestyments to be brenned And after he made the corps to be bor\u2223ne to the graue wythout ony syngynge of ony psalmodye / \u00b6The relygiouses & also the frendes of the deed seeng his co\u0304maundement to be contrary to theyr custome. were sore abasshed / And not\u2223wythstondyng his co\u0304mau\u0304dement they prayed hy\u0304 that he wold suffre the sayd relygiouses to saye the orysons & psal\u2223modies in suche caas acustomed / To ye whiche petico\u0304n the holi man wold not consent / Wherof the frendes seenge his wyll blamyd hym askynge hym wher\u00a6of ye foly came / Thet he sayth /Wold god that we had never come here, and that Pachomyen had never been revered, we would not have had such shame. They said to him again, \"Fair father, it will please you to consent that these men sing over this corpse as is customary?\" The holy man answered, \"Indeed, my brothers, you think not but to the things visible and I consider them visible. You would do to her what you should sooner be to her more cause of torment and labor than other help or rest. And your injury that you say I will do to him will be a cause of his salvation. Wherefore I will not procure nor give my assent that men make honor to the body which is already dead. But to his soul which is immortal. God, it is certain from all wisdom, says in his gospel, 'Whoever sins against the Holy Ghost, he will never have forgiveness in this world nor in the other.' By this we are given to understand that there are some sins for which men have obtained pardon after death through the prayers of others. Therefore, I pray you, do as I have.\"In the city of Panos and in the monasteries around, by the commandment of the bishop of the said city, Saint Pachomius dwelt for two years. Accompanied by two religious men, he taught the people, exhorting them to fear God and to fight against the devil through virtuous works. In this meantime, a religious man of one of his monasteries was taken ill with a grievous sickness and asked for his last blessing. Incontinently, they came to him with this news, and he took his way with them to visit this poor religious man. When he was three miles near the monastery, he heard in the air a most melodious song. He raised his eyes toward heaven and saw the soul of the said religious man being borne aloft by angels.The fellow with a marvelous light passed by / The brothers of the holy man who heard nothing. Seeing it had its face toward the east / And had fixed its sight there for a long time.\nThey asked him why he tarried so long in one place / Saying to him that he should come forth a pace as goodly as he might / to tend to the poor patient / Whereat he answered. we shall do nothing there / For I see his soul with angels bearing it into heaven.\nThe man named Pachomyen, accompanied by some of his brothers, went towards the said bishop of Panos. He received him honorably, making great sorrow for his coming / And after many devout words said between them. The bishop gave him certain ground and places to build monasteries according to his good discretion.He began to build one around which he caused to be made a great wall, so that men should not enter it lightly. So it happened that some wicked shrews, tempted by the wealth of hell, came to this place to break what had been begun. But the angel of God suddenly embraced them with divine fire and consumed them as if they were ashes. And after this, the brothers built there at their will. No man was since so hardy that dared to let them make their edifices.\n\nThe holy man, after they were achieved, ordered their religious observances there. To which he proposed and gave for abbot the holy man Samuel, who was right wise, meek, and recollective. But nevertheless, because the said monasteries were built in the fields, the holy father wanted to dwell there until he knew that those who had been ordered to dwell there were disposed to receive the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.\n\nHanging around this time was a philosopher in the said city of Panos, who would inquire and learn.the conversations of the religious ones. He saw some. To those which he said, \"Call me your father, Abbot.\" I knew it was a philosopher. He would not go. But he sent to them Cornyle and Theodore, his religious ones. To whom he commanded that they should answer prudently to his questions and answers. When they came to the philosopher, he began to say, \"You have great renown and are wise and prudent. And so, I will oppose you with that which you read every day.\" Then the philosopher asked him, \"Do you have enough science to answer the questions I shall ask you?\" And Theodore said to him, \"You should declare what seems good to you.\"\n\nThe philosopher asked him, \"Who was there that never was born but died?\" Who was there that was born and yet death could never overcome him?\" Who was it that was dead but never rooted?\"\n\nThe holy man Theodore answered, \"O philosopher, your questions are light to a soul.\"I. Adam was the answer to the first problem. II. Enoch, who is in paradise on earth, was the answer to the second. III. The third problem was the wife of Loth, who was turned into a mass of salt and remains so for the confusion of those who would not believe it. IV. Theodore then said, \"Think no more of such foolish sciences. The science of this world is folly before God. But worship and believe in God whom we believe in.\"\n\nWhen the philosopher had heard his answer, he was greatly amazed and ceased to question him further.\n\nAfter Father Pachomyen had stayed for a long time in the said monastery, he went to another that was governed by one of his disciples. The monks, glad of his coming, came out to meet him with great joy, and among them was a young child. Seeing the holy father, the child began to cry and said, \"Father Abbot, since you departed from us.\"The holy man said to him, \"Do not anger yourself. I will make some potage for the brothers. He went from there to the church. There he prayed. Afterward, he went to the cook and asked him how long it had been since he had made any potage for the brothers. The cook answered, \"It has been over two months.\" Then the holy man asked him why he had not asked for his brothers according to the rule he had given him. The cook replied humbly, \"I had done so, but what I had cooked and prepared was lost, as none had eaten it except only the small servants. And to prevent idleness, he had made about one pound of mats with some religious ones.\" The holy man commanded him that all the said mats should be brought before him. He ordered them to be piled up in a heap. He made a fire to be put among them. Then he said to the cook and the other brother, \"Likewise, you have disregarded the rule.\"I had given to you so have I rewarded your labors, so that you may know what labor you do when you hate and despise the commands given to you by your father abbot for the salvation of your souls. Write it, for those who abstain themselves from doing that which is in their power for consideration of godly things, deserve great reward from God, and by the contrary, he who denies himself to do that which is forbidden and defended not only for defense and terror, but also for some reason, waits for no reward. But those who have many meals before them and have a good appetite to eat of them and abstain themselves for the love of God, deserve great reward, and so do not those who refrain only because they have none.\n\nIn the meantime, he corrected some of his religious by words. The porter came to him and showed him how many religious he kept waiting to speak with him, so he commanded.They should be led in and brought before him after they had entered, and were received by him honestly and reverently. Their orisons were performed in the church, and they were brought from the charter to the chamber. They saw all the oratories of the brethren. And after praying to the holy man that they might speak with him secretly, he brought them into his own chamber. In this chamber, by long space and in the manner of a colloquy or spiritual refreshment, they disputed with him about the holy scriptures, and hanging the said colloquy or dispute, the holy man felt and smelled a wonderful stench, so intolerable that with great pain he could endure it. But because he seemed by their words that they were willing to speak of the holy scriptures, he suffered the stench and would not inquire whence it came. They continued in this dispute so much and so long that the night drew near, and by this the hermits were compelled to depart. Incontinently, after St. Patrick set himself to prayer,Our lord showed him whence this stench came, which he had felt. It was the heretics, obstinately remaining in their idolatry, that caused the foul smell. The holy man, having this knowledge, went immediately after them. He overtook them and asked them if they had not studied in the books of Origen. They answered no. And afterwards he said to them, \"I assure you that all those who read the things written by him and believe in them will have hell as their dwelling places. I assure you this is true. Therefore, if you wish to save your souls, cast all the volumes of Origen into the river.\"\n\nAfter he returned to his monastery and found his religious in reception, he closed himself in his oratory, serving God in devotion.\n\nSaint Pachomius, at one time, found his religious taking their refreshment. He closed himself in his oratory with God in devotion.Orson, in the midst of midnight, I beseech you to reveal to them what the state and rule of your religious community should be. It was to be revealed to them, and who was to hold your monastery after your death. It was shown to you by God that the said monastery should be enlarged, and there should be religious living devoutly and holy. And also others who should be kind to their saviors.\n\nAfter he saw, with his ghostly sight, a great number of religious in a valley very dark and deep, some of whom wanted to stay behind. And others ran away, and kept them so that they could not depart from the bottom of the said valley. Some forced them to climb up, but they immediately fell down again to the lowest part of the valley. Some others wept beneath, and some went up. The latter gave thanks to God for the mercy that they had been passed by.\n\nTherefore, the holy man thought that there should be some religious blind, those who should not know their state. The others should bear the habit of religion.but they should not do the works too long, especially those who should rule over them. They should not know great scandals and divisions in the church. Then St. Pachomius deeply sorry in great sorrow made his calling to God, saying: O my almighty God. If such things come to pass, why have you granted that so many torments should be endured and done? Alas, if the prelates are evil, what shall the religious do, for they will both fall into the pit. Alas, that I am most unhappy. I have well labored in vain. My God, alas, remember the labors you have given me to build so many monasteries in your honor and reverence of your holy faith. Since the time I received the habit of religion, I have made myself before thee. And saying these words, he heard a voice that said to him: Pachomius, do not praise yourself, for you have need of the grace of God, and not only that.this himself and all his creatures / An one he cast himself to the ground / and made to God this request / O mi God almighty, I beseech Thee that Thy mercifulness comes down now upon me to thee, that I live and do not turn away from me Thy merciful face / For Thy trouble and mercy have ever received me humbly\n/ I know, sir, that all things rise and fall. But if they are upheld with Thy aid and defense /\n\nAnd in saying this, an army of angels descended upon him. Among whom was a child crowned with thorns / And seeing this vision, the holy man Pachomius was lifted up by the said angels high from the ground into their midst / Ye said to him, Pachomius, because you have humbly asked the mercy of God, you shall have it even now / Behold the very Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who has been sent into this world. And crucified for the salvation of mankind, bearing in His head a crown of thorns /\n\nThen said the holy man, O my God. Have I not crucified Thee?\n\nAnd God sweetly answered him.\"Not yourself, but your parents. Yet comfort yourself. Your posterity shall endure until the end of the world. All those who live in devotion and abstinence will be delivered from the pains of hell, and all who follow you shall follow after. They shall shine in eternal light. And you say our Lord ascended again to heaven, surrounded by such great brightness that no tongue could tell. The Father then gathered his brethren and made a solemn service. After the ending of the same, they all came about him to hear his holy preaching. So he exhorted them to battle with all their strength and virtues against the devil, so courageously that they should not be overcome. Showing to them that those who had been slothful and negligent during their life should never have but weeping and wailing. After he said to them, 'My children, let us not lose our days in vain. But in avoiding the dangerous vices.'\"If you're asking me to clean the given text while adhering to the original content as much as possible, I will do my best to remove meaningless or unreadable content, correct OCR errors, and translate ancient English into modern English. Here's the cleaned text:\n\n\"if you know these words, I tell you plainly: if you overcome the devil, and to the contrary, the great torments you shall suffer in hell. If you are overcome by him, you should never cease, neither day nor night, but forge armor, spears, and shields. And ever be armed and prepared to go to the field of battle against him. Torment your days better and better. And make yourself ready when your souls depart from the body. Then we are but ashes. Alas, why are we proud? I would fain know since we are but earth and ashes. From whence may our pride come? Weep, my brethren, weep for our great sins. During the time that we have space and time to do so. Alas, let us consider the short time that we have here to abide. And keep ourselves busy in withstanding the temptations of the devil. In such a way, we have the joy which is without end. The\"\"You watch continually to deceive us, but we will watch likewise, to the end that you do not deceive us by treason. Let us all be not inclined or ready to do evil, but busy to live virtuously, without transgressing one minute, unless it be done to the service of God. To the end that after the short pains and wretchedness of this world, we may have the unspeakable joys. Let us put our eyes to tears and weeping in watching evermore in good works. For if we do otherwise, certainly we shall have pains without number. But if we will think well of it, we shall be the temple everlasting of God. And in us shall dwell the Holy Ghost. Whereby the devil shall not give us so many assaults, but that we shall be stronger than he. For we shall have good defence. He made a little orison then, praying God that he would\"conferme them in peace and keep them in his worthy grace. And this he did as St. Pachomius was going towards another monastery named Thebennense with Cornelle and many others. He stayed in the midst of the way as he wished to speak with some about a secret matter.\n\nAnd beginning as he was disturbed, he knew at his ghostly eye that the monks of his monastery had broken one of his commands that he had enjoined them to keep.\n\nThe command was that those who made the bread should not speak any vain thing in making the oblations.\n\nAnd in order to verify that he knew of it in thought, he sent Theodore, who was the administrator of the said monastery, to examine him about it.\n\nSo came there Theodore and knew that they had broken this command, thinking that the said offense was not great because the said command seemed to be of little importance.\n\nTheodore showed it to them.holy man Pachomyen said, \"Why do the orders that I have given them to keep not seem manly to them, since I, as a man, have enjoined them to keep them? Yet they do not consider the peril that may come to him who disregards one of the least commandments ordered for the worship of God. It is not found in holy scripture that a child of Israel, being before the city of Jerico, was kept during seven days the silence that was to them a bodily requirement and ordered for keeping. And after the seven days passed, they took another city, which was granted to them by God because they had not despised that which had been given to them by his servant in his honor. Immediately after Saint Pachomyen came there, as the religious were making preparations, he began to work with them. A young religious novice came there, who was set to serve him. The novice said to Father Pachomyen, \"You do not act as our father.\"Theodore heard the words of this new news from the holy man Pachomien. He prayed him sweetly and lovingly to show him how he should do it. After he had shown him the manner in which he should make the mats, he continued about it, working with the other. Forcing himself to do as he was taught by the child, he gave great example of meekness to all his brethren. The holy man, who bore the correction of this news, would not have endured it if he had been proud. Instead, he should have been sharply rebuked for it.\n\nThe holy man, on a certain day, put himself in a secret place. The devil came to him in disguised array and greeted him honorably. The holy man thought at once that it was some wicked spirit. For when the good spirit comes to a man, all evil spirits depart from him. And his seeing is free of all fear. And is full of marvelous joy. And so departed from this vision. This vision has happened to me. I have been troubled in my mind. He rose and immediately.The blessed man signed himself with the cross and, with the power of the sovereign God, he would confront the unwelcome interruption. To accomplish this task without delay, I shall recount the following. The holy man, Pachomius, went by night with Theodore to the said monastery. He had such a vision: A devil appeared to him in the likeness of a woman. The devil also troubled him greatly in his mind. But the holy father said to him that he should have hope in God and not be disheartened. Then they set themselves to prayer and begged our Lord that, by His godly power, He would take away this vision from them. Nevertheless, the devil appeared to them again in the same form, and before them was a great number of devils. Then the devil said to the holy men, Pachomius and Theodore, \"Why do you pray to God against me in vain? You cannot always.\"I am the mighty devil, having lordship over a great multitude of demons. Iduias was once deceived by me and cast out of the company of the apostles. I am she who sows in the earth the seed from which all persons who taste of it are in danger of dying. And this is not all. God has given me the power to tempt His servants without ceasing. I am commanded by the court of hell to put you in danger. No man has overcome me but yourself. Your doctrine nourishes both the young and the old, and especially a crowd of foolish religious people whom you have gathered together. They, by your example, are obstinate against me, as people unable to be overcome. For of all the wiles of the devil they have been tempted, and yet they could not be overcome. And all this evil comes to us through the son.of the one who has become a man. You come here only to tempt me, he said to him, the holy father Pachomyen. Then he said, \"You come to wage war against me and against Theodore, and against all who are like you. But I cannot touch you, because my strength is only to tempt you.\" The holy man asked him, \"Why do you not have power over their bodies?\" He answered, \"If I touch them, they will have more to do with God for the great victory they will win, and especially yourself, Pachomyen. It is worthy for you to see with your bodily eyes the joy of heaven.\" With this, the devil threatened the said religious men, saying that after the death of the holy man, the demons would do as they pleased with them. Then the holy man, unable to forget these words, said to him, \"Unhappy wretch, what can you tell me of the things that are to come? What of the religious men who will live after?\"vs shall be more perfect than we are / And you, the devil, answered / I know now that you have made a lie / That you, yourself, the prince of lying, have said, the holy man / You cannot know anything of that which is to come / For none knows it but God only. To whom all things past and to come are present / \u00b6Then the devil said to him steadfastly that it was true. But by the things past, he had some confidence in those who were to come / \u00b6Soon after, the holy man asked him / if it is true that you do not cease to tempt the good men and it is by your subtle crafts / it is because of the loss of the souls / Whose coming brings about. That you cannot bring them under your power / \u00b6And he answered / I have told you that by the Incarnation of the Son of God, all our strength has been brought under / \u00b6We do not cease to give troubles and temptations to the servants of God / \u00b6And when we know that they consent to some temptations, then we assail them more strongly than ever we did / bringing forth foul thoughts.Some time after we have brought them under our will and might, and if they do not obey us in any way by our enticements but continue steadfastly in their virtuous works, all temptations depart from their hearts and thoughts. But we cannot tempt all people so sharply as we should. For some there are who cannot endure all our temptations / And if it were so, God would let us continue many more who would fall away. Those whom He keeps and preserves are preserved by your prayers / Then Saint Pachomius began to cry out with a loud voice, saying, \"Cursed serpents, may you cease and never again give infinite letties to the servants of God. Until the might of God brings you down.\" / He may well call himself happy who can withstand your cursed enticements / After he had summoned in the name of God all this multitude of demons, they soon departed, just as smoke does / The next day in the morning he called to himself his brothers. And he recounted to them all that he had seen.Night of the devil's trials. And to them who were absent, he made it write by writing, warning them that they should ever withstand his temptations. The religious ones see the grace God had done to the holy father abbot and to them, they were confirmed in the faith. And afterward, they withstood more readily against the temptations of the devil. increasing ever in virtuous works /\n\nA brother being in his prayers was bitten by a scorpion in the foot. So that the venom was come up ready to the heart. And how well he suffered great sorrow and pain, he continued always his prayers /\n\nThen St. Pachomius seeing his great steadfastness, made a devout orison to our Lord for him. And his uncontainable health was restored to him /\n\nSt. Theodore in his young age bore often great sickness in his head. which was caused to him of sharp sorrows. So he prayed to St. Pachomius that it would please him to pray for his health /\n\nTo whom he answered, \"My child, thou oughtest to pray for thyself.\"To believe that we suffer the passions, they do not come to us but by the will of God. Therefore have patience in your sores, and God shall give you health as it pleases Him. / Remember Job, who was so perfect and patient in all his sufferings. He blessed the name of God. / It is a good thing to practice abstinence and to continue in prayer. / But always the sick ask for a great reward. When he is found patient and of steadfast courage. / And because we have spoken of it, I have thought to profit many one by showing\nthe marvelous patience and suffering of a man. He was some so commendable that it may exceed all manly praising. /\nOnce upon a time, there was a religious named Zacchaeus. After great continence, God sent him a great sickness and kept him in an house for several days. His custom was every night before he went to bed to read some histories of the holy scripture. And after being armed by the sign of the cross, he slept.Until midnight, to the hour he rose, he occupied himself in orisons from that hour until matins, and to this excess, in order to avoid idleness, he wrought mats with such great might and diligence that in weaving them, he burnt and broke all his hands, the blood coming out so sharply that he drew the cords. One of the brethren, seeing his hands thus broken, asked him why he was so eager in his work, seeing that he was so grieved by sickness. Speaking further to him, he said, \"Think, my brother, if you worked without forcing yourself so much, you would not be held sick. Why, then, do you work so continually as you do?\" Zacheus answered, \"My brother, it is possible that I could have refrained from it; but sick as I am, it amuses me at least to have my hands anointed with oil, so that I may help myself longer with them.\"requested he placed his hands to recover health. The father Pachomyen saw this and said, \"Come here, brother. Do you think that the oil you have put in your hands can help you regain health? Have more trust in this visible anointing than in God who is invisible? Do not doubt that He, who is so mindful of us, remembers us without our praying for our health. When He pleases, He will put an end to our sorrows and passions. Certainly, we ought to believe that the sicknesses we suffer will cause us everlasting rewards in the glory of paradise. Then Zachius answered, \"Alas, father, forgive me. Pray God for my wretchedness. May it be to me as if I had done it in using the said oil. That I continued in lamentation of my days.\"\n\nAfter a solemn Easter, the holy man Pachomyen felt himself sick and weak. Theodore served him diligently.He being in this great sickness, he had always a well-colored and merry face. Two days before his death, he gathered all his brothers. In their presence, he made such a proposition: \"Right dear brothers, I know that God will call me soon, and I beseech you heartily that you will always remember the rules and charges that I have given and done to you before this time, and that you will keep yourselves far from the sect of those who fear God imperfectly.\" I see the time of my life coming to an end, and my death is near. Therefore, choose in my presence a pastor who shall be father and teacher of the salvation of your souls. And as much as I can know, Petronyen seems wise to me for this purpose, and to keep you from evil doing. But whatever I say, you may choose after your good discretion him who shall seem good to you. They all together chose Petronyen sweetly and with their good will, which was constant.Stedfast in the faith, meek in conversation, wise in understanding, and perfect in conditions, Saint Pachomius knew that this Petronius was ill in the monastery of Thebes. He prayed devoutly to the Lord for his health and sent word to the religious absent, instructing them to come to the death of their father Abbot Pachomius. In blessing himself with the virtuous sign of the Cross, Pachomius deceased on the Translation day of Saint Nicholas, in the month of May. He yielded his soul into the hands of an angel of heaven, who had come to receive it. And at his death, various religious were present in great number. They continually sang psalms around his body throughout the night. He was buried in the monastery where his grave had been prepared. Soon after, the holy father Petronius was summoned by some, but he was still very weak and did not live long after Pachomius. He left his successor, another holy father named Orsiscius.Following the manner that is begun, I will write and recount the tale of Main. In his youth, he was a hermit during Lent, who fasted without drink, except for one day of the week. In winter, to bring his flesh down and low, he put himself in cold water up to his neck. And being once in the water, he heard a voice towards the west that said to him, \"O Christian, all that you do profits you nothing. For the God that you call upon will not help you to have what you ask.\" But if you\n\nUpon smelling of this, he knew that it was the devil that had tempted him to leave his brother and the habit of religion. So he gave thanks to God and returned again to his abbey.\n\nOne day, on the feast of St. Stephen, he slept in the church. At the time when men read these words,\n\n\"Et lapidavit Stephano,\"\n\nwhich makes mention of the stoning of St. Stephen,\n\nAnd after, suddenly he woke, saying and crying out with a loud voice, \"I am well, necessary.\"In this hour I should be sleeping. When men stoneedly say Saint Set has set himself / And I, unhappy, should now pray him / to the end that he should pray God for me / \u00b6Then he began to pray to Saint Stephen / And on the morrow, as he was in the Refectory with his brethren to take his refreshment, or ever he had taken any food, he heard a voice that said to him / \u00b6Christian, you delay after earthly meals and do not think upon the first martyr, Saint Stephen, who prays for you / \u00b6Then he lifted up his eyes toward heaven. And saw Saint Stephen praying for him / as the voice had shown to him / So he departed and went to a secret place where he made his prayer / Saying / O my Lord, Saint Stephen, the first martyr, what thanks shall I give you / But from his head he heard the moving of the straw beneath him / \u00b6Finally, he turned up all the straw and found nothing / After he took up one of the boards of the floor / beneath which he found a great sum of money. He bore it thence to his master / Who made it known.Incontenent all his brethren to be assembled and in their presence he denounced a curse on those who had hidden the said silver. And there was a man, afore a Carpenter, who, when he had heard the said sentence, confessed to having graded there the said treasure. The holy father dealt the said penances to the poor and to the Carpenter he enjoined certain penance for the salvation of his soul.\n\nFor the beginning to tell and show the life of Saint John the Almender. It is to be known that it was a man of holy conversation, named Zachary. Two martyrs, holy men, named Kirrus and John, came into the city of Alexandria. In which place this Zachary, being there with many devout and perfect men, taking together their reception, both bodily and spiritual, came by chance among them a poor man who asked an alms. The which said that of late he had been a prisoner to the Persians.They excused themselves to him and gave him nothing, saying they had no silver. Therefore, the poor man departed from them without any alms. One of that fellowship ran after him secretly and gave him a little silver cross. He said to the poor man that he had nothing else to give him. Zachary, seeing the secret and miraculous nature of this man, was greatly marveled and showed it to one named Menelaus, who had given his cross. Zachary said to him, \"Marvel not at this yourself for the alms this man has done. For he has learned to give much more for God's sake, John the Almoner, to whom he was Almoner for ten years, having taught him this doctrine. John the Almoner gave alms generously because he had many temporal goods from God, which he gave to the poor without keeping anything for himself. Sometimes when he had given so much that he had nothing left, it was for those of his household.had great hunger. He went to the person who had sent him to serve him for a certain period of time. Until this money was paid, he borrowed it. And as soon as he had borrowed it, he gave it to the poor for God's sake. He charged them not to tell anything. Zachary hearing that he had never sworn by the name of God nor of his saints, asked for ink and paper. After he was chosen as bishop, both by my will and by the singular grace of God, the first notable deed he did was this: he sent all his dispensators and caterers to make provisions and said to them, \"My brother, it is not right for you to have sorrow and care for any person before your disciples of Jesus Christ. Last of all, my lords who are in this town, his dispensators did not know whom he called his lords. They did not know what they should do. Then he explained his words, saying, \"\u00b6They yt ye call poore & nedy. I saye & holde theym to be my lordes. & for su\u00a6che we oughte to take theym / For they shall helpe vs to gete the reame of heue\u0304 \u00b6After that to hym were reported & shewed by wrytynge thise poore yt we\u2223re in nombre moo than .vii. M. v C. he co\u0304mau\u0304ded that they sholde haue dayly theyr ordynary fode for the sustencyon of theyr lyues / \nTHe nexte morowe after that he was chosen to be a bysshop / he sent thrugh all ye cyte of Alex\u2223andrie his Stywardes & other. hauyng the rule & polycye of the sayd cyte / To whom he co\u0304mau\u0304ded yt in one selfe me\u2223sure & weighte all manere of marchau\u0304\u00a6dyses sholde be solde wrytynge in thys manere thrugh all the regyon / \u00b6Iohn\u0304 humble & lytyl seruau\u0304te of the seruaun\u00a6tes of our lorde to all theim that ben ly\u00a6uinge vnd{er} our pouertee / & that by ye suf\u00a6frau\u0304ce of god are submytted to our ru\u00a6le & gouernau\u0304ce / Herke after the sayeng of saynt Poule in his pystle / \u00b6Obeye to your prelates. & yelde yourself subge\u00a6ttes to theym / For certaynly they wake asthat they must yield an account of your souls, for my little ones obey the words of God, and you shall have your petitions, not only from men but from God. And because I know this, I write to you in truth, I pray you, out of charity, do nothing contrary to the commandments I have given you. But be obedient. It is written in his holy scripture that God hates the great balance and the little. After this warning, if anyone goes against my bidding concerning weight and measure, he who deals in all his goods shall be dealt with by the poor.\n\nIt was shown to the said saint John that some men bought and then sold them again at a higher price than they had bought them. They assembled them all and, without great blame or rebuke, showed them that it was evil done. And since then, some left their taking of their price so.They were accustomed to exceed the common tax of their merchants. Saint John the Almoner, knowing that some of his subjects suffered many wrongs from their enemies and were afraid to come to him to complain, established a chair and a church. Anyone who came to complain was shown it to the said Saint John, who commanded the chapel only to invoke God. When we pray to Him devoutly, we receive what we ask for: In like manner, we ought to do to those who come to us, bringing in mind the word of God. Saying, \"With such measure you measure, it will be measured to you.\" And the prophet's saying shows us that we will be treated as we treat others. For these reasons, the holy bishop made it so that they came to him to be helped without any delay. And once, on a certain day, he was there until five of the clock.same place where he was wont to sit hearing the questions of his people. And because no one came there that day who would require anything of him, he departed and returned to his house weeping. So were his folk greatly marveled wherefrom came this mourful state. And none dared ask him the cause, but to a holy man named Sophronius it familiarly asked the cause. The holy man answered that no one had come to speak with him that day, thereby he had spent the day without doing any merciful deed.\n\nNow it is true, as it is said about that open place, that he should accord to all manner of people, in any way, had any discord or evil will towards one another. He often accorded and pacified at his own proper cost.\n\nSophronius then said to him, \"Certainly, my lord, you are well happy. For your subjects who have no cause to have any hate or rancor towards one another, it was the cause that none came to him that day.\" He gave them Constancius.Which was Emperor. And the son of Heracle had this custom and manner at Rome. In peacetime, when the holy bishop and Patriarch John the Almoner were in Alexandria, the Percy people were at war against the Syrians in the realm of Syria. The people of that realm and their subjects bore unwillingly their subjection. They came and yielded themselves in the subjection of the said Patriarch. He received them kindly and sweetly, not as in servitude and scorn, but as his brother. Those who were hurt and sick, he made to be healed, and afterwards suffered them to go where it seemed good to them. Some of his servants grumbled about the great alms that were done from his house. They reported and showed this to the holy Patriarch. Some Syrians, clothed in gold and other precious materials, had come to his house to fetch an alms.\n\nBut notwithstanding that he was sweet of face and of speech, he looked upon them angrily, saying, \"Do you not know well\"\"Ye God has commanded that men should give to all who ask of us. And because the goods that I give are not mine but God's, I will in giving them keep His commandment. If you think that alms are insignificant in giving them to the rich, you have little faith. I believe that if all the world were beggars and came to Alexandria, the Church's goods should not be neglected for this reason. And for this cause, he comforted his servants. But the poor grumbled and complained against the others. The said saint John recalled those who gladly give for God's sake. One night, as he slept, he saw in his dream a very fair and clear woman. Her countenance shone like the sun, and she was crowned with a crown of gold. Admiring her great beauty, he awoke. And it seemed to him that he saw her standing before him in reality. So he blessed her and spoke to her, asking what she was. To whom she answered, 'All.'\"She was the moder, the daughter of the king. And afterward she said to him, \"My friend, if you want to love me, I will present you before the sovereign emperor. For none has such great power as I have.\" Afterward, she departed from his sight.\n\nThen, the holy man John supposed that it was compassion or alms that appeared before him in the likeness of a man. Because she had on her head a fair crown of laurel,\n\nCertainly, the great compassion and benevolence that God has for the poor sinners,\nHe has made his right dear and sweet child, Jesus Christ, take our kind flesh,\nand suffer so many evils for us.\n\nThe holy man, after this vision, arose,\nwithout going to awaken anyone. And he went to the church.\n\nAnd entering therein, he found a poor, ill-clad man, and near death from the cold.\nSo he took off a part of his gown and gave it to him to clothe him with all. And after returning without entering the church again, he put on filthiness upon himself.A doubt arose in his mind whether the visions he had seen were from God or not, upon his return to his ward. He encountered a man clad in white vestments, who gave him a hundred pennies, saying he should distribute them where it pleased him. Doubtful of being deceived, he intended to return the money to the giver, but the man had vanished. Thus, he gained some understanding and knowledge that this vision was from God.\n\nIn the same city of Alexandria, there was a stranger who, having heard of St. John the Almoner's great fame, sought to understand its truth. To do this, he discarded his garments and donned ragged ones. He then approached him, as he believed, on his way to the place where the sick people were kept and cared for. For his custom was to visit the hospitals twice a week.vysite there the sick folk that were there. This valiant man stranger said to him, \"O my lord, give to me your alms, poor prisoner.\" Then the holy man commanded, \"You men should give to him six pence.\" After he had received the first alms, he changed his habit and went before him again, saying, \"Alas, sir, have pity on me, poor sick man.\" The holy man once again commanded the Almoner to give him six pence in gold. After that, he took them to the parish priest. He spoke softly to the holy man, saying that he had received his alms twice. Whereat the holy man answered nothing, feigning as if he had not heard him. Thirdly, he came again in another changable clothing, to have yet another alms. Then the Almoner drew the holy man by the gown to give him knowledge that it was he who had had twice his alms that day. But the holy man commanded, \"Give me twelve pence of silver, I commanded.\"A stranger mariner, who by tempest or other means had lost all his goods, humbly begged St. John the Almoner to spread his mercy upon him. Moved by compassion, as he had been towards others, he gave him five pounds of gold for merchandise and, after returning to the sea, lost all but his ship. So he came again to the said holy man and prayed as before. Then he said to him, \"Brother, you had some evil silver that you meddled with from the church. Therefore, you have lost all.\" Nevertheless, he gave him ten pounds of gold. So he went again to the sea, where he had such contrary wind that his ship was destroyed, leaving nothing but the men. Seeing the Mary Nina, he brought his fellow to the ship where the remnant of the said Nina was. And when they were entered into it,The holy Patrarch John the Almoner. On a Sunday, going to the church, came before him a poor man. Once rich, he had much good fortune, but thieves had left him with nothing, whereby he could maintain his poor life. So he was forced to beg his bread for God's sake and asked of the said Saint John the Almoner his alms.\n\nThe compassionate almoner, because he had once had noble father and mother, ordered that his almoner should give him the sum of fifteen pounds of gold.\n\nBut the said Almoner, complaining about the great alms that the said Saint John made, and being much displeased and aggrieved that he must give such a great sum of money to this poor man, went to the Steward. He was accustomed to give accounts of all the money spent and allowed each day for the necessities of the said saint.Iohan and each one made his accounts and yielded his reckoning of the money taken by his hands for the aforesaid deeds and necessities. They two together speaking and coming to this aforementioned matter. By the temptation of the cursed spirit Mammon, they were tempted with the burning and insatiable sin of covetousness. They purposed and concluded that of the said 15li of gold, 10li should be taken out and only 5li given to the aforesaid poor man. This deed was done. Now it is true that their lord Saint John the Almoner was very famished and renowned for his great alms-giving. Therefore, many notable lords and other persons, desiring to please him and somewhat to appease his savory appetite, and the deacon who had to comfort the poor servants of God, often gave and sent him great sums of money to give for God's sake, as well as for the souls of some deceased as for the prosperity of those who were alive.A wealthy and notable widow, who had a child and no more, approached the said holy man. The widow, for certain reasons, had purposed to perform a specific writing given by the said holy man, as she knew by God's will. She was called the said widow, and in the presence of his almoner and steward, who had likewise been shown by God to keep back ten pounds of the fifteen pounds he had ordered to be given to the poor man he had robbed, he charged the same widow to tell him the truth. Why did she promise him this? Now listen, my friend, by the faith that you owe to God. Had you not had a late will to make a greater alms-giving than five hundred pounds? She answered, \"Yes, and I myself had written the writing that I had delivered to him. I am certain that\"by the said writing, she had declared that she would give fitten hundred pounds for God's sake to poor people / But because she later wished to take back the said writing, she had seen as she looked in this widow's hand, that you were bound to give it to them again\nFor and if he had given to the poor man the fifteen pounds that I had ordered for him, and of which you have withheld ten, our Lord would have suffered. That this widow should have given to the poor people the same thousand pounds that she had withheld in her hand. / Then the said Almoner & Steward, knowing their misdeeds, came to argue and reprove the holy Patriarch St. John / Saying to him, \"Sir, you waste all your life. For you deal freely with the silver that is brought to you / Better it were that you should put it in the common treasure / \"\nThe holy man, without getting angry with himself, answered him, \"Had I\"\"It is not lawful for the goods given to the god in heaven to be transformed or appropriated to earthly things. But if it seems so to you, go and take the treasure of Jesus Christ that is there, and do with it as you will.\n\nThis Patrician who had the rule and governance of the common wealth in Alexandria, made all loaded, leaving him no more than the sum of a hundred pounds of gold.\n\nAnd as he was coming down from the said Patrician's chamber, he met with men from Africa. Who bore certain bottles full of gold. On some of which was written 'Hony right good,' and on the other 'Hony without smoke.'\n\nThe said Patrician or ruler, when he saw these inscriptions, sent word to the holy man that he should send him some honey.\n\nAnd he, so humble and meek, sent him the bottle. Upon which was written 'Honey right good,' with a letter in which was written the following.\"not leave it. It is without leasiness / And he is very good. The which gives both food and life / And no man corruptibly can constrain him / Therefore I come to God / And after he commanded those who bore the said tales / That they should make them opened before them / And that they should say that all the others that they had seen were full of silver / The thing done / When the said Patrice saw that he sent him but one bottle alone / he was sore afraid against him / And after he read his letter. / And whenever he saw that word. That man corruptibly cannot constrain God / He was full sorry and displeased with what he had done / / And Incontinence came again to the holy Patriarch / And took him again all that he had had of him / And with this he gave him of his own three hundred pence of gold / Requiring him by great entreaty that he would give him penance for his sins / Then the holy man was sore marveled at his conversion.Suddenly, Soren's repentance comforted him with merry words, and from that time, there were great friends together. The said Nicera Patrice of Alexandria made him his godfather. God, who had tested Abraham by offering up his son Isaac, also tested the good patriarch John as follows:\n\nIt is recorded above how the Assyrians, who had been severely oppressed by the Persians and had forsaken their wickedness, left their own land. Many of them came to Alexandria to be sheltered in their poverty by the holy patriarch John. While they were in Alexandria, they encountered a great famine and scarcity of corn. Due to the occasion of the flood of the Nile river that waters and irrigates the land, it had been so minimized and lessened that it could not give its usual nourishment at that time. The patriarch gave all his treasure to the poor people out of God's mercy, not knowing where to borrow more.The man, who was deeply sorry for not being able to continue his almsgiving as usual due to his own need, set himself to pray. In the same city, there was a man who knew of the holy man's great need and attempted to persuade him to become a deacon in his church. Since he did not dare to speak to him directly about it, he sent him a letter. In the letter, he begged him to become a deacon, stating that by serving God with him, he could find forgiveness for his sins. He also promised to give him 2 C.M. of raspings of wheat, as well as a C. and four score pounds of money.\n\nUpon reading the letters, the Patriarch summoned him and sent all his people out of his chamber before speaking to him. After they had left, the holy Patriarch said to him:\n\n\"Your offer is more necessary now, considering the time of death that we have.\"But nevertheless, it is defiled with the sin of Simony. In the old testament, men offered not the best animals to God, whether they were great or small. But if they were pure and clean. For of those that were bespotted, man did never offer. And therefore God had not accepted the sacrifice of Cain. And as touching my brother, or ever yourself or I were, God had us for an answer. That which is written in that test of the apostles: That is it thou shalt not have in the church neither part nor portion. And as he said these words came immediate tidings to the holy Patriarch. How two ships of the church were lodged within the haven. And came out of Cyprus with wheat. Then the holy man thanked our Lord, saying, \"My God, I take thee that thou wouldst not suffer that I should sell thy grace for any need that I have had. Certaily, my God, I believe steadfastly, that thou wilt never forsake in the greatest need them that shall obey thee, and with good heart shall fulfill thy commandments.\"Two young clerks, having questions together, struck each other wrongfully. And for this cause, by the holy Patriarch John, they were denounced cursed. One of them twain knew his sin, but the other abided in his obstinacy, disputing the said sentence of cursing. For he was well pleased to have occasion for fleeing the church and abiding in his wickedness. Nevertheless, he threatened the said Patriarch to display himself in his person. And men commonly said it was he who had taken the money of the church from under the bed of the said Patriarch Niceta and had it returned afterward, as it is said before. The malice of this cursed man was shown to the holy Patriarch, but this notwithstanding, he had pity on him and remembered the word of the apostle Paul, saying, \"Who is he that is weak and I am not?\" Now was the charity of the said Patriarch so great that when he saw one in sin, he wept upon him.And as he was always unwell, he made the accused man be summoned to him. And what would you offer to God, he asked, and go make peace with your enemy with him? Therefore, the holy patriarch willingly sent Incontenz for the accused man and had the messenger pray that he would come to speak with him under safe conduct. And when he had come, this holy patriarch knelt on his knees before him and begged for mercy. Whereupon it happened that the accused person had knowledge of his sin, and he himself requested mercy. Through his humility, the proud frow was never to have noise with one another; it is sometimes the life of angels to strive with one another; it is human life to have noise and hate it; it is a devil's life to have noise and love it. It is to be noted that the holy patriarch, for some reason, once questioned Patrice Niceta about certain tribute.The people of the land were to be put under new rule. The patriarch objected because it would harm the poor people excessively and cause great variation. They parted from each other in anger. One after another, around five o'clock, the holy patriarch, thinking it unwise to anger himself for such a reason, sent his archdeacon to the ruler Niceta with the words: \"The sun is almost setting.\"\n\nAfter Niceta had heard these words, he could no longer contain himself. Filled with the fire of the holy ghost, he came to the holy patriarch. The patriarch greeted him, saying: \"Alas, you are welcome, son of the church, and obey its commands.\" They then embraced each other in a token of great love.The patriarch, who was emboldening the holy Patriarch, began to speak. He said to him in this way: \"My lord, I pray you believe me. For I know you are sore troubled. I would willingly have spoken with you, and for no other reason. I could counsel and warn you in time to believe no more reports of false tales and flatterers. For if you will lend your ears to such, they will give you cause for many evils to begin. And they will counsel those who are not either lawful good nor profitable. For I have found myself deceived by them often. Therefore, to their reports, sayings, flatteries, and false accusations, men ought never to give credence or faith. Then the patriarch, considering the meekness and fair examples of the said patriarch, answered that he should never believe such men, nor give faith and believe in their flatteries and words. But he should despise them and set them all at naught. And by this means, he said, you will be able to preserve yourself from many evils.\"A man named Gregory, who was new to the said holy Patriarch and a Taunter from Alexandria, instigated a great debate between them regarding the aforementioned cause. In this debate, Gregory was publicly wronged with shameful words by the Taunter. Considering himself new to the holy Patriarchate and having been publicly insulted and defamed, Gregory wept sorely. The holy Patriarch, witnessing the secret displeasure and sorrow of his newcomer, inquired about the cause. Gregory, unable to speak due to his great anger and having heard and seen the debate, told him part of the truth. The holy Patriarch, desiring to first console his newcomer before inquiring further about the truth, said to him, \"My new one, I am greatly surprised and sorely disappointed how that fool has been so bold to open his mouth against you.\"Byle\u00a6ue thou me. I ensure the. yt I shall doo this daye a thynge wherby all Alexan\u00a6drye shall merueylle / \u00b6And after seen\u00a6ge his anger & heuinesse tempred & pea\u00a6sen kyssed his sayd neuew & sayd / My swete frende yf in folowynge this me\u2223kenesse of me. thou woll be my neuew / I praye the that yu woll be vtterly agre\u00a6able & content\u00b7 for to endure & suffre al\u00a6manere repreyffes & wronges of al per\u00a6sones / \u00b6Certaynly it is true yt the kno\u00a6wlege & kynred comyth more of vertu\u00a6es. than it doth of blood / And how wel ye be myn owne neuew / Neuertheles for more grete sybbe & kynred to haue wt me / I praye the yt thou be good & vertu\u00a6es in alle thy dedes prayenge to god yt he woll helpe & socoure the in all thyne aduersytees & that euer he make the to encrease in good werkes / \u00b6Now they bey\u0304ge present wende yt the said Tauer\u00a6ner sholde haue be scorged & bete ch\n\u00b6And thus he was made free for the grete wronge that he had done to hys \nIT was shewed to the sayd ho\u2223ly Patriarke\u00b7 that one of his de\u00a6akens namyd Damyen haddeA deacon hated and harbored evil intentions against another. On a certain day, this deacon, who had not been reconciled to his enemy, wished to receive his Creator and be administered the holy sacrament by the hand of the said holy patriarch. And he presented himself before him for this reason.\n\nThe patriarch, seeing his presumption, rebuked him before the clergy about the hate he bore to his brother Christian. He said to him that he should first reconcile himself to his adversary, or else he should not administer to him the precious body of our Lord.\n\nThen, the deacon, ashamed to be corrected before so many people, did not disobey him. He promised that he would never again have anger towards him whom he had hated so much. But he should take him from thenceforth in great love.\n\nAnd then, the said holy patriarch, seeing his contrition and repentance, administered meekly to him the said holy sacrament.\n\nFor this reason, his...In olden times, a pastor, when he knows among his flock and subjects a wicked, obstinate sinner whom he cannot bring to good life through secret and kind exhortations, should rebuke him sharply and openly. This is to ensure that he is compelled by force and harshness.\n\nIn ancient times, when an Emperor was crowned, those who made the tombs brought him four or five pieces of marble of various colors. They asked him which one he wanted his tomb to be made of. By this, they showed him that he must one day die and consider his soul. He was also commanded to rule his empire well. The holy Patriarch, who had this in mind, commanded that his tomb be begun in the place where other Patriarchs were buried. But he did not want it to be completed. So that those who saw it would have an occasion to remind him of this.should make it up. He knew not what hour he should die, and by this means sought to have continual remembrance of his death as long as he lived, thereby avoiding deadly sin light. The holy Patriarch John, seeing the destruction of the temples of Jerusalem which should be caused by the Persians for the sins of the people, sent to the Patriarch of Jerusalem a thousand pence, a thousand sacks full of grain, and a thousand hog's heads of honey and beeswax, and the book of life.\n\nIn Alexandria was a great merchant, who knowing that John the holy Patriarch slept on a sorrowful bed and was covered with a woolen cloak, sent him another cloak, worth thirty-three pieces of gold. For his honesty to have such an ill-appointed bed, he was willing to lay it upon his bed, having him in remembrance. The holy Patriarch granted the request of the said merchant, and covered him with it all night long. And as his chamberlains.\"Where is he who dares say that the Patriarch John is meek and humble, clothed in a cloak worth thirty-six pounds of gold? And how many are there now who chatter their teeth for cold, having no clothes to cover themselves? How many holy fathers in the wilderness go every night to bed without supper and without light? Should they not be well fed with the leaves of the cool words that men cast out of my kitchen? How many would have of the broth that my cook casts away, and of the wine of my cellar? How many pilgrims are there in this town who do not know where to lodge and change not their clothes, whether it be winter or summer? How many are there who eat neither oil nor other liquor for a month or two, and I, poor John, have an hope to have pleasure everlasting, and you eat and drink of the best breed, wine and fish, and lie in\"a bedde well apparayled / And a thyng that is more excedynge. thou ha\u00a6u art warmed. Certay\u0304ly who that lyueth in suche delyces. wyth grete payne he may gete ye lyf euerlastyng. Alas Iohn\u0304 remembre in thyself of the sharpe wor\u00a6de proferred & sayde to the euyll Ryche man. that was suche / \u00b6Thou wyckid ryche haste had many goodes in thy ly\u00a6fe. & the poore / many sorowes. the why\u00a6che thou dispysed in puttyng theim fro the as foule & vyle / Therfor now thou arte wyth good ryght tormented / & the poore comforted in euerlastynge Ioye / \u00b6Whan ye holy Patryarke Iohn\u0304 had consydred all thyse thynges / he conclu\u2223ded in hymself. that the nyghte folow\u2223ynge he sholde not beele hym wyth the sayd couerlet that the sayd marchaunt had sente hym / but he dyde consydre ye more better & couenable a thinge it we\u00a6re that an .C.lxxxiiii. pore men. ye whi\u2223che he callyd his lordes shold be heelyd wyth. than hym alone / \u00b6It is trouth that in Alexa\u0304drye folke made couerlets of Rede. wherof men had four for a pe\u00a6ny / and the couerlet thatwas given to him who had cost thirty-six pence in gold / The next day he sent it to be sold, and it happened that he who had received it from the said Patriarch bought it back for the same price and sent it again to the said Patriarch, who had it sold three times and the merchant three times sent it back. He begged him to heal himself and to remember him /\n\nThe holy man took it, supposing it to be a thing permissible and affordable to find a means. For men may do this, primarily when they are covetous people and without mercy. By this means, men often win their souls and also great reward.\n\nAnd to approve his intention, he took Saint Typhanie as a witness, who subtly took the money of Saint John, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and gave it to the poor people.\n\nThe holy Patriarch often recalled another similar incident, as contained in the previous chapter.It was reported to him that this occurred in Africa, as one of his servants, being his emissary in Cyprus, had told him. This servant was a faithful and true man until his death, and he had lived in the said land of Africa with a rich man who kept a caravan. And he said that once, among other things, at the poor people's dwelling place on the south side of the street, they told one another the houses where they most often received alms and prayed to them much. And in the same way, they named the houses where they had nothing and spoke much evil of them. One of them said that he often received alms from a caravan leader who lived next to him. This caravan leader was master of the said patriarch's servant. The other poor man answered that neither he nor anyone else in his household had ever given him alms. Another poor man then said to them, \"What will you give me if I can do something to get alms there?\"poor people being there at the same side. Knowing the covetousness and cold charity of the Chugger, made a wager with the said poor man. He saying that he couldn't get anything from him. And he to the contrary said, he should have something from him / So he came to the door of the said Chugger's place. And waited when he should come out / And as by chance, the said Chugger had gone out before from his said house and was coming homeward again / And after him were asses coming loaded with loaves of rye for his meal / Then the said poor man saw the said Chugger and the rye loaves that were brought to his place asked him three or four times for an alms for God's sake / The Chugger, annoyed to hear him so often call after him for an alms, looked around him / If he might find a stone to throw at him, but he found none. And then he took a loaf of bread. By great disgust, he threw it at his head / And this sight, the poor man took up the bread and went.aggain to his fellows. He showed it to them, saying it was given to him there. It happened two days after that the said Changer fell sick and thought he would have died. In his sickness he had a vision. It was such that he had to give an account of all his deeds, which he saw in a balance. So came before him two great companies. Of one was a great multitude of black and dreadful persons, and they were sore fearful to see. And the other was a merry company, all white and full of grace and pleasure to behold. They that were white said among themselves that in all his works he had never done any good deed, but only an alms he had given two days before, and yet it was against his will. But the black folk pointed and showed him evils without number that he had committed and done. As well by the sin of covetousness as of other.\n\nAnd then the said white folk, desiring to save him from damnation, commanded him to increase his alms and also to amend his life, or else the other company would take him away.A black person should forever torment him, after he was awakened he knew his vision to be true for he had seen there all that he ever did in his youth up to that hour. The said black person had brought the balance to weigh his misdeeds, but the other had nothing with them except only the alms he had given against his will. Then he said within himself, Alas my god, how merciful thou art, if thou grantest that only an alms, which I have given spitefully, is worth so much to me as to deliver me out of the power of the devils. How much good does an alms give, which is given with meekness and devotion? From that time forth, the said Chaucer was so great a giver of alms and so free that he spared not his own body. Once in the morning it happened as he went toward the church that he found a sailor, who by fortune had been cast away and was left as neglected as he had come out of his mother's belly. The sailor knelt.on both knees before the Changeler, and asked for his alms / The Changeler saw his poverty took from his gown. That was the best he had. And gave it to him / The poor man, who dared not be so good a gown, went incognito and sold it to an Upholsterer / When the Changeler going forth, knew his gown hanging at the Upholsterer's door, and ready to sell, he was sore wrath and angry / So he went into his chamber to weep and say, \"alas that I am unhappy. I was not worthy that the poor man should have been clothed with my vesture\" / Finally, he fell asleep / And while he slept, he saw over his head a fair and pleasant child. Who bore a cross and the gown that the said Changeler had given for good's sake / Whych said to him / \"My friend, why do you weep?\" The Changeler answered, \"Lord, I weep because when we give our goods to the poor people, they misuse them against us.\" Then he showed him his gown.sayenge/ My friend, do you not know this gown/ with which I am clothed/ I thank you for it certainly, for I was very cold at that time you gave it to me / \u00b6The changer, considering the words the child said to him, began to pray/ for the poor people in this way / \u00b6Since the poor folk represent the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, I purpose from this hour onward I shall do as the poor people of God do / \u00b6And then he sent his Notary to him hastily, whom he had bought, according to the custom that men were bought at that time / \u00b6And when he came to him, he delivered him ten pounds of gold. Say/enge that if he did not carry out his commandment, he should sell him to the strangers & Saracens / \u00b6The said Changeler commanded him that he should bring him to Jerusalem and that he should sell him to a Christian. And that he should give such money as he would receive for him to the poor folk / \u00b6The which thing the Notary would not do, but because the Changeler threatened him, he was afraid.He sold himself / \u00b6So he brought his mother to Jerusalem, / And as they were coming there, the Notary found a friend of his. He too was a Changer. To whom he prayed for help in buying him. / \u00b6Then the Changer bought him for as much as the Lord was sold / That is, the sum of thirty pieces of silver. / \u00b6When he had sold him and delivered him, he went again to Constantinople / And without uttering his sale, he gave for good's sake the money he had received for him, as he had promised him. / \u00b6Then Peter the Changer thus served the Changer, his master, in all things possible. / \u00b6He washed his clothes, scoured the dishes, and did all that a good servant ought to do. And within that day, he made great abstinences. / \u00b6The Changer, seeing his manner of living and also that he had been greatly increased in goods since the aforementioned Peter came to him, would no longer keep him as a servant. But despite his great humility and goodness, he made himself be beaten.And they, the other servants of the house, wronged him and said nothing against him. Therefore, they considered him a fool, and troubled him as often as they could. He had such a vision as the same one he had seen before in Africa. The child appeared to him with his gown, which he had given away for God's sake. The child showed him the thirty pieces. Therefore, he was to be sold. The child said to him, \"Peter, be patient. Endure a little longer. The reward of your labors is coming.\"\n\nAt that time, many changers came out of his country to Jerusalem the city. They came to worship the holy servant, like Peter the Apostle. Peter hid his face as much as he could. These changers, again, thinking continually of the said Peter, said to Zoe the Apostle, who had invited them to dine, \"Certainly, Zoe, a great thing has happened to you. For if we are not mistaken, you have in your service a great man from a wealthy house. They were not yet certain of his identity.knowledge: Because his face was so changed, not only from the pain he took in the kitchen, but also from the fasting and abstinences he endured. And after they had deliberated for a long time, one of them said, \"Certainly it is Master Peter the Cook.\" I will go and see him again.\n\nThe emperor of Constantinople is deeply troubled because he does not know where he has ended up.\n\nMaster Peter understood these words and let go of the dish he was carrying. He ran down to the gate.\n\nAt this gate was a man who was both dead and dumb from birth. This man kept the gate.\n\nWhen Master Peter arrived, he said to him, \"My friend, in the name of God, open the gate.\"\n\nThen this dumb and dead man, who had never heard or spoken before, understood Peter. And Peter spoke to him twice, saying,\n\n\"Well, master,\"\n\nThen he opened the gate. And Master Peter fled away.\n\nAfter this, the dumb man went to his master and reported the event.myracle in the presence of all who were at the table. They were greatly marveled and sore abashed. And moreover said to them, \"I pray you let me go after Peter. For surely he is a great servant of God.\" He bade me open the gate in the name of our Lord, and thus he ran away. Out of his mouth came a great flame. That touched my tears. Inconsequent was the hearing and the speech. They all then rose from the table and went after him, but they could not see him any more. The master, knowing the virtues of Peter and the place from which he had come, was wonderfully sorry that he had bought him to be his bondman. And yet more because he had set him to the office of his kitchen. Seeing that he was such a holy person, and primarily those who called him fool and from his wit, when they had knowledge of it, they were sore troubled and bore great penance. This history rehearsed often the holy Patriarch.for moving the hearts of the Christians to give gladly alms of their goods for God's sake to poor folk / The holy Patriarch John, clad in all virtues, recounted and showed many good stories, particularly those of the ones who devotedly did their alms / One day among other things, he recounted and showed the story of St. Scrapion, otherwise called Sydomen / He had given his mantle to a poor man / And after going further on his way, he found another poor man, all troubled by the cold / To this poor man he gave his gown / And remained naked / Carrying only a book of gospels / He was a man so devoid of worldly possessions that a man asked him who had thus dispossessed him / To him, showing the said book of gospels, he answered with his finger / The same has done it / As he would say that she had done it / Another thing, a more wonderful deed was done by the same holy man / A poor woman went and begged from him.The holy Patriarch, considering this, said to himself: \"Alas, I am wrapped in many sins. And yet, through alms, we may save ourselves. The holy Patriarch left no religious communities in need. They were of holy conversation, and he would not speak nor listen to those who spoke evil.\n\nOnce, a religious man who went from street to street, seeking his bread with a fair young maiden, came to the holy man with some evil people. They showed the holy man how the said religious man had shunned all other religious communities.\n\nThe holy Patriarch, intending to correct the sin of the said religious man, had the maid reprimanded. He then departed from his ship.\n\nSoon after, the religious man was severely beaten and imprisoned.\n\nThe following night, an apparition of a religious man appeared to the said Patriarch in his sleep, showing him his sins.\"Bake all rotten. And he said to him, the Patriarch, it is your will that it be so done. I promise you that at this time I have rid myself as a man. And I believe what I say. For life and death are near me. And this saying he went away. The next day following in the morning early, the holy Patriarch sent for the aforementioned Religious. To understand if he could know whether it was he of whom the aforementioned Vision was appeared and showed to him. And when he was brought before him, seeing his pale visage, he was all ashamed. Afterwards, because he would see his back, to know if it was rotten as that other which he saw in a vision, he prayed him that he would undress him and that he should not be ashamed. The poor Religious had all his lying chamber. And they called him and asked him why he kept that maid with him. He said to them that all people, and particularly Religious, ought to keep themselves from scandal and shame, and above all things from the company of women.\"The religious answered that it was not long ago that he was in the city of Gaza. He intended to leave then, as his abbot Cirus had given him leave. However, a Saracen maid, who had come to him around evening, had prayed him not to leave her because she would become Christian. Considering her good will and fearing that he might offend God if she did not continue in her holy pursuits, he took her with him. They asked for bread through the city. The holy patriarch, seeing the holy affection he had for the soul of the good maid, begged\n\nA great death occurred in Alexandria during the patriarch's days. In order to purchase greater reward and also to show humility to all others, he went and visited the sick.And like him, he helped to wind them when they were deceased. And often, he had a continual mind of death. We read of the holy Patriarch in the book of the acts of the apostles, that many devout Christians saw the great compassion he had towards the poor, and brought the money of their goods to him for distribution to the poor. Among other things, there was one who had only seven pouds of gold and a half. He brought some of it to the said holy man, saying it was all the gold that he had in his possession. And as he took him this gold, he said that he had only a son of fifteen years of age. Whose ship was in Africa, and because he was in great thought and malice about that, he came not back so soon as he was accused. He begged him to pray God that he would save his son and bring his ship back to port safely. The holy Patriarch was marveled by the goodness and kindness of this.A marchant, who had given all his gold to a holy man, considering his great sorrow, dared not come before him. But nevertheless, he sent him word that he should take his misfortune in patience. Because our Lord makes nothing without a cause. Although we may not know the same, or will not know it. He leaves never those who do any good. But rather when they suffer any adversities or tribulations. If they return to Him soon or late, they are comforted.\n\nSoon after the good marchant saw in his dream a man like the holy Patriarch. He said to him, \"My brother, why do you grieve and take so much heaviness upon yourself? Have you not prayed me that my son might be saved? Certainly your prayer is hard. For if he lived, you would gladly hear and encourage the prayers of the poor sinners.\"\n\nAfter he said this to the marchant,\n\nMy friend does not believe that this vision has come to you by my prayers. But only by the great faith that you have in our Lord.OFtimes, the holy Patriarch John went to visit the poor in a place called Cesariu. In this place, he had to make mats and bedding for them to lie on in winter. With him, on one occasion, among other visitations of the said poor people, was a bishop named Troyle. This bishop, with him, brought thirty-one gold pieces: to buy certain plates for his table. The holy Patriarch, knowing his intention, said to him, in speaking of the poor brethren of Jesus Christ, \"Troyle, I pray, love the brethren of Jesus Christ.\" After which words, thus said the Patriarch, and well marked by the said bishop: \"Troyle, I beseech you, give it to the poor.\" And after that, they returned to the city, and as they were on the way, the bishop Troyle, who was deeply ashamed that he had given against his will the thirty pieces of gold, became angry with himself so fiercely that a strong fever took him so violently that he fell ill.The holy patriarch, upon returning to his house and taking his seat at the table, summoned the bishop to join him for dinner and receive his reception. But the bishop replied that he could not go and that the fever was so strong upon him that he could not rise from his bed.\n\nThe holy patriarch, recognizing the bishop's illness, thought it was due to great melancholy that he had given away his gold against his will. And because he knew this bishop to be greatly distressed and tormented, he could not receive his reception.\n\nThe patriarch went to the sickbed where the bishop lay and said to him, \"Be of good cheer, there, and be comforted and rejoice at my coming.\"\n\nDid you imagine otherwise, what I told you, that you should give your gold to the poor people, but it was my will to take it all back together? Truly, my will was so. Here, hold this some of it which I am taking.\n\nAnd when the holy man saw all his gold in the patriarch's hands, he found himself as disposed to his coming as though he had given it willingly.The holy man brought back good medicine, which should have healed his good heel. But in doing so, he asked him for a letter of his hand. The bishop asked him how he had forsaken mercy in order to obtain money for God's sake. The bishop wrote a letter with the following tenor:\n\n\"O my God, give to my master John, Patriarch of the great city of Alexandria, the merit of the 351 gold coins that I had given to the poor. I have received them back. The said patriarch kept the sacred writing carefully and brought the bishop to dine with him. After a few days, he was stirred to help the poor gladly. Our Lord, giver of rewards, showed him in a dream what reward he had lost. In this dream, he saw a great palace, so costly and so fair that all mankind could discern it. Among the great riches of the same palace was the gate, all of fine gold. Upon which was written:\n\nThis.palaces are everlasting, and the rest of Troy is. And as he was reading, you said suddenly a notable person came. True it is that our lord, who took from Job all his goods to test destruction, was almighty. He, who shall not fail us at our need, not for my sake, but to help and succor the poor and needy. For he said to himself, \"Thou art just and good, I shall not leave thee.\" And moreover, God commands us to seek first his kingdom and his justice. Promising to us that all things easy and good that we shall ask him will be granted to us. You know how patient Job was; he gave more goods again than ever he had lost before, and the whych Job, after he was stabilized again in his goods and in his estate, was more mindful than he had been before. The holy Patrick, knowing that one of his servants had fallen into great poverty, gave him two pounds of gold. So secretly that no one knew.A servant spoke to him, / \"Alas, my lord, I shall never dare come before your face.\" / The holy patriarch answered him with words worthy of praise, saying, \"My friend, I have not yet shed my blood for you, as God did for us, and commanded us to do. / A man owed much money and could not pay it. The cause of this was that his military campaign was not prosperous for him, as it had been accustomed to be. Additionally, the Nile river had failed to flood the land that year, as it was wont to do every year. / This man went to a duke and begged him to lend him fifty pounds of gold on a pledge that was worth twice as much. / The duke refused his request at first, but later he promised him that he would have it. / This man was forced to pay there what he owed. He advised himself that he should go to his allies. That is, to the holy patriarch.So came the poor man to her and showed him his poverty. But before he had told all his tale, the holy Patriarch, who by nature was compassionate and could not bear to see people weep without joining them, took off his gown and gave it to him, and compelled the poor man to take it with him.\n\nThe night following, the duke who had refused to lend to the poor man saw in his dream many people making offerings and oblations upon an altar. For one penny that they offered, they received a hundred in return. And with them was the good holy Patriarch, hidden behind the duke's back.\n\nA man appeared to him, holding a sack by their side, and said to him in this manner: \"Take an offering that is within this sack and go offer it to the altar, and you shall have a hundred for it.\"\n\nThe duke was reluctant to do as he had been told, but the good holy man, who was there night by him, went forward and took it and offered it, and was given a hundred in return, just as the other had been.as much as he had offered, when the duke was awakened, he could not understand his dream, so he sent for him who had requested money and charities from him. The holy patriarch, who was rewarded by our blessed Savior and Redeemer Christ for this, went gladly and often to visit the church of the victorious martyrs, St. Cyr and St. John. One time as he was going there, he met a woman who was greatly troubled. She begged him to intervene for her in many troubles that she said were done to her by her son in law. One of the servants of the said patriarch, who trusted in his good will, said to him, \"Sir, leave this woman. When you restore [her], you will do right.\" The holy man answered her, \"You know well that we go to pray. And how should God hear us if we did not first hear this woman? And therefore the holy man did not leave that place until she had shown him all her troubles.The utterly had comforted her. Go will do the holy Patriarch ever be friendly to the heavenly things. He sent unto him the holy ghost. Disputed many times against the Severians and other heretics. In so much that they preserved from their infection many monasteries and churches. As did the good pastors that rescued the sheep from the ravishing wolves. For which thing the holy man had them in great honor and reverence. If the holy man knew or witnessed that one had struck another, He went with great humility to him. By the temptation of the devil, it is cruel and rude to thy children or servants. I pray thee cease thy wrath, so it have no place within thee. God has not given us children to drown them. But for to serve us. Or for to cherish and nourish them of the goods that he has lent us. I put a question unto thee. What dost thou complain in thy body. Foot. Hand. Or soul more than thy servant. Is he not like unto thee in all things? Thou ought to know that we are all formed and endowed by the same God.made at Thymage of Ihu\\_ Cryst: Your servants are men, as you are. Hearken after St. Paul, who says: \"You all that are justified. Have Ihu\\_ Cryst in your possession, whether Jew or Christian. Free or bond. We are but one in Ihu\\_ Cryst. Then, since we were once unequal in Ihu\\_ Cryst, and our Savior, by his great humility, has taken our nature, he teaches us that we should flee pride before our servants. There is but one God in heaven. He beholds only the meek and destroys the proud. God has made the heavens and continues to smite upon your servants. Angels fear man, and you despise him. God has been crucified for man, and yet you do nothing but torment and crucify your servants, who are men. I ask of thee: Wouldst thou will it well at every time that you do evil? It is God who should take vengeance of thee. I believe not.\" Every day in saying thy Pater Noster, you pray to God that he pardon your sins, as you pardon others. And yet you do the contrary. So ought each one to do.In Alexandria, there was an Almoner who had an only son nearing adulthood. The father, seeing the end approaching, called for his son and said to him, \"My child, since I am about to die, I will make you know all that I am worth. Write this down for truth's sake. I have only \u00a320 in gold. Choose therefore, whether you will be my heir or else let the blessed Mother of God be your father instead. The child preferred that the Treasurer and Mother of Orphans should be his father's heir rather than himself and allowed all to be given away for God's sake. The father died soon after. The child continued night and day to keep himself in the church of the blessed Mother of God, making to her devout prayers and supplications. The holy Patriarch became aware of this and, despite knowing nothing of the matter, made no comment. Within a short time, he was called a Notary. To whom he was appointed.commanded to take an old skin of parchment. Therein to write a Testament. For and in the name of one named The open one / And it should affirm by the Testament that the father of the said child and the said Patriarch were brothers German / Also charging further the said Notary to show the child the same. Showing to him the said Testament, for and to the intent he should give him courage and boldness to ask of the said Patriarch aid and succor / Which thing the said Notary did in continents. But nevertheless the child durst not go to him. / So he sent for him twice / And finally came towards him. Took and kissed him, saying, Thou art welcome, my new one. And made it known that he was of his kin / And when he was grown, he gave him a house and all things necessary / And married him honestly / Therefore it appears that God leaves never those who hope in him /\n\nTruth it is that the aforementioned holy Patriarch had this good and lawful custom. That men never went unbaptized.He unfortunately borrowed from him twenty-one pounds of gold. This holy man was unaware that he was dealing with such deceitful and false paper-makers. They gladly lent to him without speaking a word. So this Papalade departed from before him, mocking and saying that he had lent him no money. The justices prayed to the holy patriarch that he would allow him to be taken into prison. But the said holy man said to them, \"Friends, be merciful as God our Father who makes the sun shine upon the evil and the good, and rain upon the just and the unjust. And such a knave shall have your money. It would be better to give to the poor. Then he answered them, \"You will do two evils. The first is that you will be held impotent in our hands, and to others you will be an example of impotence. And the other evil is that in doing this, you will be distant from us, and whoever does this will take away our mantle. And whoever does it.\"An old abbot named Vitalion, aged 60, who lived with another holy abbot named Serydon, had heard of the good qualities and holy life of Patriarch John. He wanted to test John's constancy by trying to make him sin. Specifically, he wondered if John had ever condemned anyone and, if not, he could carry out his unlawful will.\n\nTherefore, he left his monastery and went to Alexandria. Once there, he led a disguised life among the people, but one pleasing to God.\n\nFirst, he recorded all the hours plainly and gave one of them to a woman, saying, \"My friend, I pray, give me this night. It means you should abstain from fornication.\"\n\nThe abbot kept her from evil deeds and stayed with her all night, praying to God for her until it was day. In the morning, he left.away. And prayed her that she should tell no body that he had been with her. Many days and nights he continued this going among them, until this was shown by an harlot. Nevertheless, she would not say that he was a lecher. But he accompanied them only for their health. The good abbot prayed God that his good purposes might not be hindered by the said discovery. Wherefore the devil immediately entered into the body of the said woman, to make the other afraid to say as she had said in a dream, \"You see now how God punishes you. Because you have lied upon the religious. You have said that he goes not with your fellows for lechery, but you have lied. These things notwithstanding, the holy abbot, when he had worked all day, at evening desired none other but to preach to the common women, and said to himself, \"Go we to another place. There is a woman who lingers after you.\" Many who saw his usual coming and going.He had women with these. They blamed him for it, but he answered them, \"Is not God just as angry with the other as He is with the religious? They are men, just like other men. Some told him that he should take a wife and change his habit. But he kept himself, refusing to yield to their opinion. He only answered them that they should go away and leave him alone. Ask yourselves, are you my judges? Look to yourselves, and let me do as I will. Finally, he was accused before the holy Patriarch. Who did not easily believe the reports, but kept in mind the other religious person who had been accused in a similar way before. And to stop the reporters, the holy Patriarch told a story about Constantine the emperor. To whom similar reports had been made by an accuser in writing against a religious person.\n\nWhen the emperor saw the accusation, he sent for the accuser and him who had accused, and he did nothing but ask, \"I should kill him with my own hand?\"During this time, the servant of God Vitall behaved as he had accustomed himself with common women. And with this, he prayed God devoutly and continuously. He requested that after his death, some person should reveal this to others. The reason for this was that the people should not remain near him, evil-entangled as they were. For through his prayers, many people who saw him pray to God by night came to his house. One day, he met a lewd haskarde at the house of a common woman. This one, who went there to commit the sin of lechery, gave him a buffet and said, \"Hypocrite, why don't you amend yourself of your hypocrisy?\"\n\nThe holy abbot answered him, \"I will give such a buffet to one such as you that all of Alexandria will come to your cry.\"\n\nA little while after this, he died.The holy abbot Vytall, who never during his life was the cause known why he drew to common women, had a cell or little house where he died alone, set in a place a little from the town. This was called the gate of the sun. After his death and ever it was known to one person, the devil appeared to him in the likeness of an Ethiopian, striking him. The unhappy bawdy knave fell down to the ground, foaming at the mouth like a mad man. Many men and women who heard the stroke were sore amazed, believing they had heard the thunderbolt fall. And truly, just as the abbot had prophesied it. The city was moved by it, and the citizens came to the crying of the unholy one. After a long time in this torment, his mind was restored to him again. And immediately he recognized him and gave him forgiveness.Many went with him in the presence of whom the devil yet again smote the said knave and cast him among those who had come with him inside the cell of the said Vitall. They found him on both his knees, as if he should pray to God, and it seemed to them that he had one hand in the ground, wherewith he wrote these words: \"O men of Alexandria, never judge any man nor woman until you know him first. And abide till that God himself makes the judgment.\" Then the poor losel confessed that he had beaten him. And thus the prophecy was fulfilled. All these things were recounted to the holy patriarch, who came to the place where the corpse of the holy abbot was, along with the clergy and a great number of citizens. Likewise, all the women came there, whom he had converted to goodness, and they bore tapers and lamps burning, saying: \"Alas, we have lost our helm and teaching.\" They told and showed how he had accompanied them not for reason of sin butfor exhorting and ruling them to do well, and leaving their lecherous life and malice. They were so severely rebuked that they had not abandoned his holy life but answered that they dared not. One of their fellows, who had spoken of him, had been tormented by the devil. Therefore, they dared never be so bold to speak of it.\n\nThe said corpse was afterwards brought to a decent burial. And he who was vexed by the devil remaining upon the grave was, by the grace of God, made whole and sound. Forsaking the world, he put himself under the abbot Seridoit, the little house that the abbot Vitall had in his life should be delivered to him.\n\nThe holy patriarch, after considering all things, thanked our Lord God that he had not sinned against the said abbot Vitall. For he believed not lightly those who accused him of lechery.\n\nMany seeking the said holy abbot Vitall recovered their health. And were healed of various sicknesses.\n\nA beggar came to the holy abbot Vitall to ask an alms.The patriarch received ten pieces of money from him, but this beggar, not satisfied, began to speak evil against him in his presence, which his servants could not endure. They wanted to correct him, but the patriarch would not allow it. Instead, he told his servants and officers, \"Leave the poor man alone.\" It has been twelve years since that day. Through my negligence and other reasons, I have committed many offenses against God, whom I have mildly provoked with my actions. For His love, I should endure any wrong done to me. After he commanded the men to open the purse and distribute the money for God's sake, taking as much as they pleased, the holy patriarch often knew of some of his subjects who were great alms-givers. He summoned them, questioning them about how they performed their almsgiving, naturally or by compulsion. Some by simplicity.I answered nothing, and the other gave its reasons and causes, one of which was a Charger. He said to him, \"Certainly, my lord, I have never done good. But nevertheless, what I have given to the poor, intending it to follow, in the past I have been cruel and without mercy. Therefore, I have had many hurts. So it came to me once in my mind that if I became an alms-giver, God would never abandon me. I gave every day five pence of silver. But the devil tempted me, and put in my mind that the five pence I gave were sufficient to maintain my men, and by his tempting I left giving for God's sake. After the war, returning to myself, I commanded my son to rob me every day of five pence, and to give it for God's sake. My son has always done this, and when he perceived the gods in my house to be increased, he increased my alms.\"know that the five pence you have given for God's sake have profited me much. So I will that you give ten pence for it. He answered me smilingly. My father, pray for my thefts. Certainly, if I had not been a thief, we might well have died for hunger, and if any thief were ever just. I have been so.\n\nThe holy patriarch, knowing of this thing, glorified God for the wisdom of this child.\n\nSometimes there was great hatred between two priests, of whom the holy patriarch many times tried to agree with the other. But to this he would never accede.\n\nOnce you said, patriarch, that you called to him the obstinate prince. And you brought him into your oratory with a servant of yours. And there, in their presence, he sang mass. In saying which, and after the consecration and elevation of the precious body of our Lord, they three said together before these words: \"And forgive us our trespasses.\" And before you began the clause, the said:The patriarch ceased his speech and commanded his servant to keep his tongue still. The prince ended alone in the same clause. The patriarch then said to him, \"Behold and see my brother how you speak fervently to God against yourself. In praying, he pardons you as you pardon others and yet you do nothing of it. The prince then made himself and promised to the said holy patriarch that he would do as he would have him do.\n\nIf the holy patriarch knew in the city that anyone was proud, he never rebuked him openly. But in a secret place or in his house, and for this reason he drew himself near to him and laid before him the meekness of Ihu Christ, showing him how he was God. Had taken our humanity, and sometimes said, \"I marvel that my God has been so meek. How can man exalt himself? Or what are the gods of fortune compared to him? Or who is fairer than he? Or who has lordship over some other?\" Alas, we do not hear this from Ihu Christ, your child, for I am meek.this you shall do the whole of your souls / We do not think upon the meekness of saints / how they held themselves to be earth. ashes and worms of the earth / & primarily how Isaiah said of himself / Why am I not meek? Have not I been made of the filth whereof you are made / All the pleasures of this world pass away. as the flower or herb it is turned into hay / What the patriarch said such words / they that felt themselves\n\nFor to stir his people to meekness openly gave the holy Patriarch this exhortation / My children let us consider and put in our hearts the great goodness of God / & his great mercy / And certainly we shall not desire to be put in great honors that are so dangerous / But plainly we shall desire to live in simple state and poverty /\n\nAlas what poverty could we have for to be also poor as he, our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. that king was both of heaven & of earth /\n\nLet us think upon his mercy fullness & great.goodnesse that has been shown to us, for had he not formed Adam, we never should have been. And always through his grace, mercy, and painful passion, he has bought us back benevolently. We also shall consider that at all times when we fall into deadly sin, the devil may kill us and bring us into hell. And indeed, he should do it. But the perfect love our lord has for us is such that, continually through his daughter, the church, he prays that we return to penance. To the end that we may have his grace. O most sweet one, who can both chasten and save us at his will. And all things can exist without us, and we cannot exist without him. Nevertheless, he prays that we will love him. How many thieves and evildoers are in the world that God punishes not but covers their sins? How many are in the sea that God preserves, so that they are not robbed by pirates or drowned.deprives the bottoms. But commands the sea that they may come to port safely / in abiding the amendment of their life / \u00b6How many receive the body of our Lord in deadly sin which he punishes not forthwith / How many brothers and thieves are kept from the wild beasts / \u00b6How many sinners are preserved alone after their sin the devil does not take from the pit of hell. How many burdens lie by harlots and adulterers. drunken lew. closes himself hour none shall accompany us / but only our good and bad deeds / \u00b6Alas, let us think how our good angel will be angry when, after our death, he finds no good deeds done by us whereby he might keep and defend us against the temptation of our enemy the devil of hell / Alas, then shall we pray God that he will yield us a little while to do penance. but to us will be answered / Pore creature that hast evil spread the time that thou hast lived, thou shalt never have any respite. & said of himself / Alas, poor John, how shalt thou pass the way for going in.paradys/ Before you see many enemies and horrible accusers before your righteous judgment,/ Alas, John, what fear and dread/ shall you then have. When Incontiu/ will be present before the Judgment of God,/ This holy man had ever in his remembrance the good Symeon, who had been so just. And when the hour of his death was come,/ and his soul ascended to paradise,/ he met with a great company of devils in various orders. First, he met the soul of the said Symeon, in the order of proud devils. And there she was questioned if she had not been proud. Afterward, he met with the devils' princes of slandering,/ and in like wise she was there asked if she had not reported evil of others. After this, he met with other devils' princes of fornication. They would accuse him of carnal deeds and carnal desires. And when the soul is stayed in heaven now,/ O wondrous a thing, most dreadful, O charity unable to be cold. The good Hilarion was 80 years old.This life had served God in doing great penance. And never had sinned mortally. But all his days were joyed to the goodness of God. As he had on earth the perfection of an angel / This notwithstanding and that he lived an heavenly life. in making wonderful miracles. yet he feared death. And especially the said holy Patriarch, who said so / What shall I answer, my soul, to the horrible accusers who are subtle / I fear me greatly. That we shall be taken at our answers. What the devils will give us many accusations. As of lewdness. of covetousness of misdeeds. of evil mind. and of all other sins / Then we shall well need to have good advocates that will speak for us / For the great fear that we shall then have, we must pray God that we may have good angels to lead us in all our deeds. When we only go from one city to another, we take our guides / to lead us there.Then we must pray well when we depart from the earth to heaven, that we are not diverted from our straight way, but led and guided by good conductors. This holy patriarch laid such medicaments before his eyes to humble and make himself. Whoever should truly consider this, he should have cause to become humble and meek.\n\nBecause some seculars or lay people had a custom of leaving the church after the gospel was done, the holy patriarch corrected them of this shameful behavior of his true doctrine.\n\nAnd when the holy patriarch heard any speak in the church, immodest he made them put out. And said to them, \"Since you have come into the church to pray to God, I commanded you that all your thoughts be turned to prayer. For it is written: 'The house of God is a house of prayer,' and you clatterers and idlers make it a den of thieves.\"\n\nDuring this time, the holy patriarch established two orders of religious.built two monasteries for them / One in the name of the most holy mother of god and the other of St. John / And he made for them little houses to keep themselves therein solitary / Because they should have no occasion to leave their religion / He also ordered certain men in the city to provide for their necessities / Sending them word that they should have business of the spiritual life / And he wanted the charge of the church service both by day and by night to be put upon him / so that what they should do in their cells or little houses should be for the health of their souls / To this life this holy man by the said entries engaged them /\n\nAbove all other things, this holy man urged Christians not to come nor accompany heretics. Saying that it was more worth a Christian to be alone / Than to be accompanied by a heretic.A married man should be punished if he leaves his wife and wedges another in a different land. A cripple should be punished who leaves the commonwealth to join the Heretics. And moreover, since we are married to a sure and chaste wife, who is the holy church, Christendom, if we leave it for the company of Heretics, we ought to be severely punished and stoned by the devils of hell, as much as if we had the fleshly company of another woman instead of our own wife. Among other great virtues this holy Patriarch had, one was such that he never judged anyone nor would listen to any evil spoken by another. This is to be noted, for he being in Alexandria, a young man carried off a fair, pious maiden and took her with him to Constantinople. At that time this came to his knowledge, and considering the shamefulness of the deed, and...The greatest charity he had for the health of man, he was so sorry for it, that it seemed he should have died. And a little while after this happened, he being with some clerks and disputing about holy scriptures, the said befalling came to his remembrance. In speaking of the which, because all those present judged this forsaken man a right great and abominable sinner, they would have cursed him. But the holy patriarch would not perform the same, saying that there should be no cause for this, because:\n\nFirst, they should not do as he said against God's commandment and break it, as it is written that we ought not to judge any man, and we shall not be judged.\n\nSecond, they did not know whether the said cleric had withdrawn the said reputed woman out of her monastery to do evil with her, or not, and was not yet known whether he had defiled her or not.\n\nTherefore, they ought not to cast upon him the said sentence of cursing.\n\nFor men.ought not to judge, but this that men see to be evil done / And to confirm his word, he received two religious men among whom was one / passing through the city of Thyre met a stranger with a trumpet / named Porphyry / The whych cried after the abbot / O father, save me like Jesus Christ saved the sinful woman / \u00b6The abbot, who feared not the speech of the world, said to her that she should come after him \u00b7 and she did so / \u00b6The same abbot led her by the hand before all the people out of the city of Thyre / This thing was another thing told / But this notwithstanding, the abbot turned never from his good purposes / \u00b6But in going by the way, the one with the other / Hoping this holy man to have her in some monastery of religious women / walked together so long that they came to a church / at the entrance of which they found a more beautiful child lying on the ground / \u00b6The which this Porphyry moved by pity and compassion, took and bore between her arms. and since then nourished him.The abbot of the monastery, who had made Porphyre a nun shortly after and renamed her Pelague, knew and saw that she had a child. He told her that the child was great, and, knowing by the will of God that he would soon die, he gave the child to Pelague. He commanded her to make herself ready, along with the child, to accompany him to the city of Thyr. Pelague did not disobey him, and they three went together to the city. When they arrived there, the abbot was lying incontinent and sick in his bed. News spread throughout the city that the abbot, who had taken away Porphyre from the monastery, was now ill. Therefore, the holy patriarch forbade the people from passing judgment on the young man who had brought the woman of religion out of her monastery.The holy Patriarch said, \"Men may see sinners commit the sin of formation, but they should not despise them nor report them. Men do not know what secret penance they have done to deserve grace. The same is true of all other sinners. Such ones are playfully clothed and well dressed. Whoever takes their clothing from their back should find Penance hidden under it.\n\nDuring the time that the aforementioned holy Patriarch dwelt in Alexandria, there were two clerks there who sought to live well. One had many children to feed, and besides this, he nourished his father and mother. And yet he was compelled to work continually due to the great charge he bore. Nevertheless, he served God daily and attended Mass, saying many prayers and orisons. But the other had set his mind entirely on his work. And not only the suffering days but also the easy ones he spent in toil.Assigned to do all manner of handwork. But he also worked on Sundays and on all other solemn days. In doing so, he violated the rule that no handwork should be used on such days, primarily due to his great desire for monetary gain. He neglected the service of God and never heard mass. However, whatever pain he endured, he could not live or maintain himself. He became envious of his fellow and asked him how it was possible that he was richer than he, seeing the great burden he carried and the fact that he did not work as much as he did. Desiring to lead his fellow toward God and to serve him, he said to him, \"I have found a treasure in the ground from which I have become rich. If you want to keep yourself pleasurable and go with me, you should give him a share of what you find.\" To this he agreed, promising to keep company with him and to go wherever he wanted, all under the shadow of this promise.A servant of God spent many days at mass and used so much time there that he could not leave, going every day to the church to serve God. Afterward, he grew so rich that he lived more honestly than before, without comparison. This shows that we should first seek the kingdom of heaven, and God will provide for our needs. The holy patriarch, when he learned that this devout man had converted his companion to serve God, considered him worthy to be a priest because of this.\n\nIt happened that, by God's permission, Alexandria was subdued by the Persians through military force. The holy scripture records this adversity, saying:\n\nIf Niceta urgently requested that he should go to the chief city of the cities to exhort the emperors to live virtuously,\n\nThe holy patriarch, who never refused anything, did not refuse.The text is already largely clean and readable, with only minor errors and archaic spelling. I will correct the spelling and remove unnecessary symbols and line breaks:\n\nThe lifeful and good to no manner of person presented for to go with the said Patricia. The ships were made ready. And they took the sea.\n\nIt happened by the will of God that the ship where were this Patricia and Patricius was in danger to be drowned.\n\nThe holy Patricia then took upon him to comfort the poor folk that were in the same vessel. And with them he called upon the grace of the almighty God.\n\nSo saw he in this stormy tempest a man upright before him, having the face of a wonderful brightness holding in his hand a scepter all of gold.\n\nThe which man said to him: Patricia, come on. For the king of kings asketh for thee.\n\nThen the holy Patricia thinking upon the said vision called Niceta unto him and with great signs and tears he showed it to him, saying: How the emperor of emperors reigning in heaven had called me, and that without fail I might not go to the emperor of the earth. To whom the said Niceta would bring me.The good Patrice, hearing the words of the holy Patriarch, was very sorry for his departure and glad for his health. So he sent him back again, as he wished, to the realm of Cyprus in the city of Amathus, where he had been born. After the holy Patriarch came to Cyprus in the city named Amathus, where he was born, he asked for pen, ink, and a parchment skin. In the continent, he had his testament written in the following manner:\n\nI, John, first bound and afterwards called and made free by the dignity of the priesthood: of the grace of God given to me. I yield to my God graces. It is fitting at the hour of my death that men find in my treasure only a piece of money.\n\nWhen I was promoted to the dignity of Archbishop, consecrated and received in the holy church of Alexandria, which dignity I have obtained by the leave and inspiration of the Pope, I found treasures.I then knew that the said treasures were meant to be returned to him, as they were his own. Since I now have only the piece of money mentioned remaining from the said treasures, which I have commanded to be given back to him in the hands of the poor people, his servants. This is a righteous and worthy thing to be remembered. O you rich, it is likely that you have amassed your money and treasures unjustly. Which you will not give for God's sake, but hide and keep as you might bear them away. Look now with me in this mirror. Considering how the holy Patriarch gathered a treasure that can never be possessed. Worldly riches are such. We ought to believe that he is worthy of glorification. For our Lord says in his gospel, \"Whoever honors or glorifies me, I will glorify him.\" It is so for the worship of our Lord and to exalt his praise. He founded many monasteries.He ordered a great multitude of Religious, who continually gave praise and prayer to God for which cause he was rewarded with the merit of all the prayers made by the said Religious, and to the end that it be not reputed that which is before written of him, we have a true knowledge that he was among the Just. For after he had yielded his holy soul into the hands of our Lord God, as had the souls of the Just who are in the honor of God, his sepulture was ordered by the clergy in a sepulcher. But a wonderful thing happened there. For at the opening of the said sepulcher, the two bishops who had rested their bones there for a long time dead and buried, withdrew themselves from their places, making honor to the said Patriarch, and giving to him his place between them in the midst of the grave. Therefore, it is openly shown to us that our Lord rewarded him.A man, largely desiring that his body be openly honored in this world and his soul above in heaven glorified and enhanced, was Patriarch John. While living, he performed another great miracle, which began in his life and ended after his death. A woman of the same city where he was born had committed such a horrible sin that she dared not confess it. It happened that the holy Patriarch came to the city, and she, having knowledge of his coming, came and cast herself at his feet, saying with great contrition, \"Reverend lord, I have committed a sin so loathsome that I dare not confess it, but this unworthiness I know well: if it pleases you, you shall grant me forgiveness for it.\" The holy Patriarch, seeing her great contrition, would not correct her rigorously, doubting that she would ever make amends to another and that by this she was endangering her soul. Instead, he said to her, \"My friend, if you\"The woman begged the holy man to forgive her and cleanse her soul from sin. She confessed her sins to him, and he promised to grant her request. But she hesitated, as her sins were dishonest and shameful, causing horror at the thought of revealing them to the holy man.\n\nHe urged her to write down her sins instead. She refused, still too ashamed. The holy man insisted, and if it seemed good, she should seal the letter in such a way that no one could see it.\n\nThe woman, consenting to the holy man's words, wrote down her sins with her own hand. After sealing the letter, she gave it to him. But he lived only five more days after that.\n\nBy chance, at his death, this man was out of the town. When she returned and learned of his passing, she imagined:She showed her sin through the city due to the holy man's scowl. In response, she had no answer. So she went to his tomb where he was buried. There she stayed for three days without food or drink, making lamentations without number and weeping. She always had hope that the holy Patriarch would reveal something about her sin. She often said to him, \"Alas, holy Patriarch, I had such great hope for your life, which I do not believe has ended. For God and his church, witness to us that the just live eternally. And therefore, I believe that you are not dead but rather more alive. as for the eternal life, than you were in this world. Alas, my friend, I ask for nothing other than this: let me know where my sin is buried.\" O my sovereign God, who said to the woman of Canaan, \"Saying such words, \"The holy patriarch was accompanied by two bishops. With them, he was entered. He spoke to the said woman, saying, \"O poor and needy woman, why do you not rest with those here with me? You have wept so much that we are all saddened by your tears. And with this, he took her again by the scroll and asked her if she knew it. The woman replied. He and the two holy bishops laid themselves down again within their tombs. The said woman opened her letter and found in it the words that follow.\n\nFor the love of John my servant, your sin is erased out.\n\nO what is he that could or might recall the power of our Lord, who is so merciful and loving, both to men and women, and who so freely grants and does the will of all those who fear him, and with a good heart seeks him, glorifying them that love him, and magnifying them by miracle.\n\nThe holy patriarch further said, was not only glorified by this.one place, but in all countries of the Eastern parties. And now Saint Jerome makes himself known to us in these Western parties. The day that this holy Patriarch died, a religious man named Savin, being in Alexandria, saw by the will of God the holy Patriarch John, who was accompanied by a great number of clerks. He was led by one of them before an emperor in his palaces. After he saw him come out of the gate, the vision signified the departure of his body from his soul. When he was outside the gate, a fair lady, a young maiden shinier than the sun, appeared to him. She had on her head a crown of olive tree. The lady took him by the hand and led him away. By this vision, the good religious man imagined that the holy Patriarch was passing out of this world at that hour to everlasting glory. He gave this to be known to various persons. It happened then that many merchants came from Cyprus into Alexandria. They were askedafter the hour of the Patryarkes forsayd dethe / And by theyr answere was cleerly knowe. that the sayd vysyon was true / And that at the same hour that as the Relygyouse man had shewed it. the sayd holy Pa\u2223tryarke was deed / Gyuyng stedfast fa\u00a6yth by this that sayd is to this vysion and namly for cause of the mayde that ladde hym by the honde / For they Iud\u00a6ged that is was Almese / that afore ty\u2223me in this worlde had shewed herselfe to this holy Patryarke forsayd in lyke\u00a6nesse of a mayde / And had promysyd hym as here afore is sayd / That yf he wolde loue her / she sholde present hym byfore the souerayne emperour. that is our blessed Sauyour & Redemer Ihesu Cryste / \nANd not on\u0304ly by cause of the vi\u00a6syon of ye forsayd religyo{us} / but also for a nother vysion yt hap\u00a6ped to a pore man feryng god. whyche dwelled in Alexandrye. the enhabytau\u0304\u00a6tes of the same cyte byleuyd. ye Almese & Mercy had presented the forsayd ho\u2223ly Patryarke vnto god / This good po\u2223re man. that same nyghte that the ho\u2223ly Patryarke Iohn\u0304\"The dead saw by spiritual vision all the poor people of the city of Alexandria, children fatherless and motherless, as well as women and other whatever person, bearing in their hands branches of olive tree. These went to the service and Dirige of the holy Patriarch. Therefore, it was clearly shown. All the dedes presented him before God, as it is said above. If we had any reason to show the glorification of the holy Patriarch other than this, none. But we ought only to be certain without any doubtful demurring, that he is of the number of saints. After this holy body was entered and buried, our Redeemer, willing to show the worthiness of him, commanded that oil should flow and run from his grave. Of whose sweetness and sweet-smelling savour, by singular grace, were the people present filled. And not only this miracle happened in the land of, but also all the sick people present received their health again.\"\"Chypre formerly dedicated to the worship of the said holy Patriarch, and in various other places, so that we may see how they have continued and lived holy lives in this world and set an example in their deeds. We shall humbly pray St. John the Almoner that it please him of his great generosity to spare for us after our mortal life the treasures that he has spared for himself through his great alms and other great works. May we be with him fed in the glory of heaven. Amen.\n\nOnce an Emperor of the Romans, named Commodus, sent to rule and govern the city of Alexandria and the land of Egypt under the lordship of Rome, dispatched a man named Philp to the same country. Philp, departing from Rome, took his wife Claudia with him, as well as his two sons Anitus and Sergius, and a daughter named Eugenia. They all arrived in the city of Alexandria. Philp, who was a great provost and governor there.\"Rule the city and the country according to the laws of Rome, and brought down the cursed sect of magicians. They had greatly infected and poisoned the land in large numbers and over a long time through their deceitful craft. / Next, he commanded that the Jews should no longer bear a name in that land. And after he ordered that Christians should dwell in the countryside but not within the cities, but rather far enough from them. There, Eugene was wonderfully learned. He was skilled not only in Greek letters and Latin but also in the science of philosophy. / Her wit was quick and sharp. She listened attentively and steadfastly to all that she read or was explained to her. / When she reached her fifteenth year of age, many lords, considering her great perfection, asked her father for her hand in marriage. Among them was one named Aquilinen, the son of Aquinus Consul of Rome. But her father, who had exposed her, refused.She showed the extract and nobles of Aquylyen to her, urging her to agree to marry him. She wisely answered that a maiden who wants to marry ought to have an agreeable husband, not just one of noble kin. For when a woman is wedded, she is compelled to follow her husband's manners and not those of her friends. Finally, to Aquilien and all the others, she gave an answer that she would not marry but had in mind to live chastely. And because Philip her father had chased all the Christian people out of the city, she desired to come with them. She begged me humbly that he would allow her to go by way of sport to the suburbs of Alexandria to see some of their lands and heritage lying near Thebes. This thing was granted to her against her father's will. And so it happened.as she went by a church of the pagans she had heard sing these verses: \"Omnes dii gentium demonia. Deus autem nostrum celsus fecit.\" That is, \"The gods of the pagans are but devils. But the god that we call Christ has made the heavens and the earth.\"\n\nWhen Eugenia heard this song, she began to weep, saying to two men named Prothus and Iacintus, who were committed to keep her and serve her, as was customary for daughters and women from good houses.\n\nMy friends, I know that we have been taught and informed together, both in the laws of men and in the vain science of the philosophers. We have read the works of Aristotle, Plato, the sect of the Epicureans, the teachings of Socrates, and of the Stoics, and generally all the doctrine of the poets and rhetoricians. But all these vain sciences are put out and set aside by that little verse that I have heard.You are a lady spoken through the power of my father, but I am your sister in knowledge. Be thou my brother, and I shall be your sister. Let us go to the Christian place, and as I shall command you, we shall do. I know the bishop of Leopolis, named Helain, in whose house men sin continually. The holy scriptures say that the said bishop has under him many holy religious men, and among them one is named Theodore. He, the leader of them, makes the blind see and casts devils out of the bodies of men. Various wretches in great sorrow are healed by his prayers, and the desolate are comforted. Therefore, I have a singular desire to go to him. And for this, I will do: cut off my hair and clothe myself with the clothing of a man. Therefore, I pray you as my brothers that this may be done.do you help me? The keepers, knowing her holy devotion and desiring that she become Christian, granted her all comfort and aid to fulfill her will. So she leapt out of the chariot in which she was carried, and they clothed her in men's clothing. By the suffrance of God, as they came into the church, they met the said bishop Helian.\n\nThe custom was in Egypt such that when the bishop went to visit the churches, a great multitude of singers came with him. Thus with the bishop Helian came more than ten thousand who sang before him, saying:\n\n\"The way of the Just is made smooth. And the way of the saints of God is made ready. Eugene this seeing said to his companions:\n\n'My friends, here is the substance of this song:\nLook how the God of the Christians is good to them. That will hold the faith of Christ take heed how they know that we will leave our idols to become Christian. And for this reason they have come against us in such a great multitude of devout people.' \"that they sing so sweet a song / Let us behold which way they shall go / and join ourselves with us. So shall we sing until we have knowledge with them / Then they began to question some of that company / And asked what was he it was in the midst of them riding on an ass / The one answered that it was their bishop Helayn, who in his youth was a Christian man / And of such great merit towards God that in his young age he performed diverse miracles / In bearing of fire in his gown. which was not harmed by it, and other also wonderful / Among the other religions, one named Eutropius reported to Eugene and to his companions / How within few days passed it a magician named Zaree had come there / And had shown that the said bishop was a false Christian man / And falsely he said he was sent by Jesus Christ to discern the people / The whych Magician was full of wiles and subtility / And turned many from the faith and belief in holy scripture / For the whych.The princes of Eliopolis came to Bishop Helain's shop and told him how the magician claimed to be sent by God rather than himself. They intended to either convince Bishop Helain to receive him as a colleague or to overpower him with magical arguments in their coming encounter. A day was chosen for this purpose, and in the city's center, Bishop Helain and the magician Zaree assembled, trusting in their respective powers. The magician hoped to sway and overpower the people from their faith in Jesus Christ. However, Bishop Helain, steadfast in his faith, addressed the crowd: \"Christian people, today you will learn which spirits are from God and which are not. The magician, who is quite cunning, attempts to put Bishop Helain under his control through the power of his arguments.\" Therefore, Bishop Helain wisely prepared himself.Considering the instructions of St. Paul to his disciple Timothy, he commanded him to dispute using parables. Such arguments serve only to convert, but to avoid inconvenience for the Christian people, it was necessary that they hear the Sophistical disputations of the said Zaree. This required a great fire to be kindled, and both were to enter together. He who would not be burned should call himself rightfully the servant of God, and his law the best. This request was agreeable to all present.\n\nA great fire was kindled at once, and the bishop requested that the magician enter the fire. The magician, named Helain, refused. He said to the bishop Helain that it was reasonable that he had first proposed that he should enter the fire first.the cross entered the midst of the fire, Abyndg within the same for half an hour. Then Heloute came out of the fire without any harm to his body, nor his clothes damaged in any way. The people, seeing this wonderful miracle, tried to compel the said magician to enter the fire after him. But he thought he could escape. However, this was not to be, and he was taken by force and put into the fire. There, he was burned and taken all around.\n\nThe holy man, seeing this, leapt into the fire again and withdrew the said magician, who was half dead. Because of this, he was much honored and taken in great reverence by all the people of the region.\n\nWhen Eugenia had understood well all that Eutropius had reported to her about the holy bishop, she, who was above mentioned as being clothed in men's clothing, fell down at the feet of the said Eutropius. Giving him to understand that she, Iacintus and Prothus, were three brothers, had purposely planned to do this.Luke and Deye joined only in the Christian religion. She prayed him that he would present them to Bishop Helian, for they would request of him their stated purposes, as it would please him to do something for them so that they should never be parted from each other. Then to them said Eutropius that they should tarry till he had been in the church, and when he should see his hour convenient, he should rehearse to the bishop all these things.\n\nWhen the holy bishop was coming almost to the church, the religious came against him singing such a song: \"O God, we have received in the midst of thy people thy mercifulness. And anon every body entered into the church and sang to the hours of the day until the sixth.\"\n\nAlso entered therein Eugene and her followers.\n\nThe bishop after this wished to take his rest a little, and in that sleep he had a vision. By which vision it was shown to him that he would go to the temple of a heathen woman. To them it was.should make sacrifice to her, and then in this vision he seemed to say to those who kept it that we are about her. I pray you let me speak with your goddess. And they granted him the same. Then he went to her and said, \"O poor woman, know that you are a creature of God. Come down and suffer no longer that men worship the false gods. When the goddess had understood his purpose, she came down to the byshop. To whom she said, \"My friend, I shall never leave you until you have restored me to my maker.\" This vision saw the holy byshop, and when he woke, Eutropius, to whom Eugene had spoken, came towards him. He said to the byshop, \"Sir, there are in your church three young children who, of one accord, have purposed to forsake the Pagan law and desire to be of the number of the Christians. They have followed this intent for a long time, and they desire to have space and time that they might speak with you.\"Our faith yielded grace to the Lord, who had shown this vision to him spiritually, or it had happened thus. So he sent for them, and as they stood before him, he took Eugene by the hand, wiping tears from his eyes, and drew him aside. After he asked them about their names, their nationality, and their friends, Eugene replied that they were brothers. Born in Rome, he was called Eugenius, and his brothers were named Prothus and Iacintus. The bishop, recognizing Eugenius as a virgin from the aforementioned vision, said to her, \"Very truly, with good right, you are called Eugenius. For you bear the courage of a man in undertaking a worthy work. The trouble concerning which has been revealed to me today by a vision from God, and which I have now come to know, has made your presence in my house most agreeable.\" Because you have...\"Purpose thy virginity to be reserved for him, in disputing all worldly delight. Write it that to keep chastity thou shalt suffer many trials, but that same God whom thou hast fully and holy given thyself shall not leave thee. After this, holy bishop Helayn turned his word to Prothus and Iacintus, and said to them: \"You that are servants and held in thrall, you have great nobility in your hearts. I may say to you that your lord said to his disciples: \"From henceforth I shall no longer call you servants, but I shall call you my friends. Moreover, this holy bishop Helayn said to them: \"My children do not understand it that you are well pleased and gracious in having consented to the Holy Ghost in obedience and inclination to his holy mother Eugene, until the time that by the holy bishop she was regenerated by the holy Sacrament of baptism. And in those days, when the ladies would go to sport, \"They were a custom-born people with young children among them, called Emiches or, more plainly, men held in service. Prothus and Iacintus served and kept their abode with Eugene, as she desired, and went with her, as shown above. They returned home with a letter carried by some young children who had accompanied them.\n\nThe mother of good Eugene saw the young children arrive and the letter was glad. Hoping that her daughter was coming in the same chariot or letter, she was overjoyed. But upon learning that her daughter had gone, she began to cry so wonderfully that the entire city was moved by it. Everybody wept and wailed for the loss of Lady Eugene. Her father and mother sighed, and likewise her brothers.after they sister, whose finding was diligently sought through the entire province, \u00b6The diviners or soothsayers were sent forth, And by sacrificial offerings and omens of the devil, the goddesses were earnestly implored to reveal where Eugene had gone, \u00b6All the soothsayers said that the goddesses had raised her above the heavens, \u00b6The father, believing this to be true, turned his heaviness into joy and made the people keep a feast of thanksgiving that the goddesses had granted him a daughter, And moreover, to honor and enhance her deceased name, he caused a figure or image to be made in her likeness. Wherein he gave a great and marvelous quantity of fine gold. The which image he adored and worshipped as he did his gods, \u00b6But nevertheless, her mother Claudia and her brothers Anitus and Sergius could not find any comfort in this folly, \u00b6She was ever the first in prayer. she comforted the sorrowful. she showed herself joyful with those who were joyful.They that were filled with wrath were made patient by her with one word. Her proud example wonderfully converted them, as a lion was turned by her into a sheep. She had this mercilious gift from God that all persons whom she visited in their sickness felt no pain at her coming. Prothus and Iacintus followed her continually and were obeying her. Three years after she was put in the said religion, the abbot of her monastery died. They then chose with one accord the virgin Eugene to be their abbess. She, considering that she was a woman and doubting to be set in authority above men, and fearing that the religious might see that she would despise and contemn their prayers who so eagerly desired her to take upon her the authority of the abbacy, said to them:\n\nO my brothers, I require in the name of God that the book of the gospels may be brought and shown before us all now. And immediately as she spoke these words,it was brought. She said again, \"Before any religious matter is done, they ought to desire and call upon the help of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us see in this election what He commands to be done, so that we may obey His deepest desires and the commands that will be given in this house. The holy Eugene then took the book of the Gospels and began to turn a leaf until he found a passage containing the following words. He recited, \"In those days, Jesus Christ said to His disciples, 'You know that princes and lords are greater in authority and power than those upon whom they have great lordship and might. But this is not the case among you. For if any one of you wishes to be first, he shall be last, and if any one among you wishes to be great, he shall be a servant.' After St. Eugene said to them, 'Therefore, my'\"A person, considering all these things and not willing to speak against you, has purposed to assume the authority you grant me and primarily to obey the commandment of God. I have arranged myself to be the least among you, who are more dear and agreeable to me. Among them, they were much abashed, but this woman presumed not to use the dignity as the greatest above all others. Instead, she made herself take charge of the least and poorest person under that convent. That is, to draw water, clear wood, and make her dwelling in that same place where the Potter dwelled. She should not show herself greater than he. With this, she had a continual thought and a holy care for the things necessary for the reception of the hours of the service of God, both night and day, so curious that she thought all time was lost that was passed without graces.In this holiness of life, she continued in such a way and for so long that our Lord granted her such great abundance of graces. She drove out devils from men's bodies, made the blind see, and performed many other great miracles. Among these was a lady from the land of Alexandria named Melance, and among others, she possessed great power. There was a great report that every man was made of the marvelous virtues of the holy virgin Eugenia, who was taken as a righteous man. Eugene, afflicted by a great fire that had tormented him for a year and more, came to her for help and healing. Eugenia anointed him with oil, and immediately this woman cast out of her body the corrupt humors that caused the fire within her. Healed and feeling better, she returned home again, not far away. There she took the large vessels and filled them with money. She sent these said presents to Saint Eugenia, but Eugenia rejected them. She sent them back to her immediately.Letting her wisdom prevail. She had too much of God's [gifts]. Therefore, she urged her to deal and distribute to the poor and needy the God's [gifts] and presents she had sent.\n\nThe said Melance, hearing these words, was greatly angered. She came toward St. Eugene, praying him to take and receive her [gifts] greatly. Promising to give her other, greater [gifts], but in effect, she wasted her time. For St. Eugene would not take them.\n\nMelance did not leave this matter. Instead, she came toward good Eugene, not knowing by any means that she was a woman. The beauty of her disguise deceived the said Melance. Thinking that she had been a man and that by him she was healed, she fell into the sin of fleshly desire. Thinking that St. Eugene had refused the said [gifts] out of covetousness, she offered other [gifts] to her in greater abundance than before. Promising:To give him yet more of them. As much as he would ask/\nAnd where she continued praying him that his pleasure be received the said presents/\nAnd saw they were refused. And to her sent again by the good Eugene/\nShe ran into a greater heat than she was before/\nAnd at this cause feigning to be sick so severely that she should not have moved herself out of her bed/\nMade Saint Eugene be prayed that she should come and visit her. And she did so/\nAnd being there before the bed of Melanctha that had made the people go out of her chamber who were there feigning to declare to her some secrets in confession. As well of her conscience as of her sickness. Said to Eugene such words/\nMy lord and my friend Eugene. Pardon me if it pleases you if I over familiarly declare my poverty to you/\nFor I am constrained to do so/\nCertainly my lord the great and excessive love which I have conceived towards your gracious youth.The right excellent beauty of the which dame Nature hath so greatly and largely endowed you, torments my poor heart so sharply that it were never possible for me to have joy or pleasure in this world but if it comes to me from you. So yield I myself and all my goods to you alone. Making and ordering your goodly person lord and master over my body. And of all my goods, Alas my lord, what pleasure do you take to torment your body so grievously with foolish and vain abstinences? I have infinite possessions and riches. I have great treasures of gold and silver. I am enlarged in authority of nobility of my kin. And this year I have lost my children that are deceased out of this world. Alas, I pray you succeed to my goods in stead of them, and be alone, master and lord. Not only of me but also of all my possessions and goods. The devout Eugene hearing these foul words and dishonest exhortations, answered her in this manner: O woman damned certainly, thy name bears true witness of.an horrible curse and treason / Truly you have made ready in a great place for the devil / Despicable disloyalty that you will to turn the servants of God / I will well that you know that we religious have well used to live otherwise / The damned spirits that are like you / take your goods. And not we that have no appetite for them nor will have them / For it is a pleasant thing to beg our bread with our Lord Ihu Crist / He is habitually rich that is with him / O Melancholy, it is such foolish concupiscences depart from the truly one that has assailed the shall not be a cause of your harm but of damnation / You that are made the house and dwelling of the venomous dragon. You shed and spread a wonderful venom / But by the calling of the name of God and by the help of his mercifulness, we have escaped. And yet we shall escape your infection of your abominable and horrible poisons /\n\nThen this cursed and wretched woman / Impatient of the reprieve youthe good Eugene had sayd to her / & at this cause al enswollen with bytter d\nafter gyuyng credence folysshly to the t some of theym shold be take for to be deuoured of wylde bestes The other to be bren\u0304ed & thother to be put vnto dyuers torme\u0304tes / And at this cause was thrugh all ye londe grete no ye of the execucion that sholde be done of the sayd Relygyouses / The whyche alle the dwellers of the londe Iudged them worthy to suffre deth / \u00b6For they thoughte that Melance whyche was co\u00a6me of a noble hous / and of hyghe kyn\u2223reed / wolde neuer haue putt vpon the\u2223ym wythout a Iuste cause suche a char\u00a6ge / \u00b6Fynably whan the daye was co\u00a6me that the sayd execuco\u0304n sholde be do\u00a6ne. alle the dwellers of the townes and cytees lyenge abowte / came to Alexan\u2223drye the cyte for to see the same / Wher\u00a6of some sayd theyr opynyon in one ma\u00a6nere. and the other sayde otherwyse / \u00b6But oure lorde god that neuer le\u2223uyth his seruauntes in their moost ne\u2223de / After that the hangman had made redy the torments & other thingesEugene and the other religious persons could not be put to death. Said Eugene was questioned by the said Proost to declare more openly her great virtues. The Proost named Philip, who was Eugene's father and did not know her, spoke before her in this way: \"Come here, false Christian man and the worst of the others. Has your god commanded you to be an oppressor and defiler of the noble ladies? You are shameless and overseen. What folly causes you to pray? I would have taken you, a noble lady as Dame Melance, so nobly.\" Eugene cast her sight to the ground and, fearing to be known as her father's daughter, answered meekly: \"My god whom I serve has commanded you men to keep his chastity and virginity, and to all those who do so, he promises everlasting life in his joy of heaven.\" And now we may declare Melance to be a liar and forger of falsehoods. But it is:\n\n(Note: The text appears to be in Old English, but it is not significantly different from Middle English, so no translation is necessary.)It is better that we suffer some evils than that she should be attained and convicted of her sin. Therefore, if Sir Prooust will promise that when she is proven false and full of lying, you shall do her no harm. At this hour we shall approve her sin. The Prooust hearing her meek words granted her request. Then Eugene, to testify the untruth of Melance, required that her woman servant in her chamber should come. The judge ordered all the servants of the said lady to be called and brought before him. They declared by their oaths that their lady Melance, with good and just cause, had complained of the Reverend Eugene and that he would have confined her as it is said above. The Prooust, hearing their depositions, said to Saint Eugene, \"What will you say now, false and wicked monk? You see how many witnesses testify to your cursed delight.\" Eugene, troubled by this false witnessing, thought within himself that if he should.Hyde her virginity / So many Religious, as were there prisoners with her, should all suffer death for her, and in the time to come, the evil and malicious should be bolder to reprove the servants of God. On the other hand, she had never intended to discover her conspiracy. But only to her husband, Christ, she wished to save the lives of her religious followers, and to prevent the cursed Melance and all such others from becoming outrageous in the future for wrongfully charging the Christian people. She thought to open and reveal what was so secret. Therefore, she removed her gown from top to bottom and showed that she was a woman. Namely, the Proost was her father, and Claudia her mother. She told him that Anitus and Sergius were her brothers. This news came immediately to the ears of her mother Claudia, who was in her place. Therefore, she, desiring to see her daughter, ran immediately to the bars where the Justice was, and there the Proost and her brothers knew her.her and she began to weep and make great lamentations. Those long to be rehearsed. Anon were brought gowns of cloth of gold to her. Which she clothed herself with, as by force. After she showed to her father how Prothus and Iacintus, his two emperors, and she had forsaken the world and all the goods therein. And had made themselves Christian. Then all together thanked God. Saying,\n\n\"O God, thy power is now glorified. That has overcome and banished the enemies of thy servants.\n\nEugene was led in great worship into the house of her father. And the fire of heaven came down upon the house of Melance. In which abode no body alive. But were all those who were Christian had taken away their franchises. Restored them entirely unto them again.\n\nAnd he himself, through the enticing of his daughter Eugene, made himself be baptized, his wife also and all his servants.\n\nAll the city was as if one only church. So much began there the name of the Christian to flourish.\n\nNow it is true, asoften it is reported to Severus and Anthony, both emperors of the Romans, under whose rule and governance all of Alexandria was governed. And how Philip the Proost became a Christian man. And destroyed idols and built churches in the name of the God of the Christians. And how he had ordained new laws. And set aside the emperors' laws. They wrote to him in this manner:\n\nPhilipe, we have been informed of the new things you have done in Alexandria. And we know well that our father Commodus ordered you to be there, not only as Proost but as a king. In such a way, you should never be recalled from there for this reason, and no successor should be given to you.\n\nTherefore, we request that certain things be repeatedly carried out for the benefit of the same order. We command you, in the name of the mighty gods, to make a like sacrifice to them, as we have customarily done. Or else, you will be punished.Reuyd from thy dignity. And with this, thy goods shall be applied as forfeited. / The Provost Philip, when he heard these tidings, feigned illness. Until he had caused all his goods to be dealt to the poor for God's sake, and to the churches. And he himself withdrew and comforted the Christians, so they should be more stable and constant, and not fearing death. / During the same time, notwithstanding that he was commanded to withdraw himself from the office of Provost, nevertheless, since no other had yet come who should occupy the said office, the people served and obeyed him as their Provost. And over this, the priests ordained him their bishop. / So was the good Philip a whole year well serving God in such a state. The year expired was ordained to the office of the Provost, one named Perennius. They thought to have slain him, but because he was much agreeable to God and to the people, they could not find the ways thereof. / Finally, he made to.Some subtle and evil druids, feigning to be Christian, were put secretly within the church where the good Philippa was. They slew him while he was performing the divine service. / These unhappy druids and murderers were taken and imprisoned in the hands of Prooste Perenius. / The which Prooste, feeling guilty himself, feigning that he would keep them securely to speak with them and inquire about the truth of the matter, had them put in prison under good keepers. / But nevertheless, in a few days, he let them go free by pardon and indulgence of the princes. / Eugene, who had begun a convent of virgins in the said city, buried the body of his father the martyr within the church. There she held her / Also her mother Claudia had begun a hospice. Which she had endowed with sufficient rents and fair possessions / for the relief of the poor pilgrims. She was present at the burial of the blessed martyr at some time her husband. / When his service was done, ClaudiaA moder and her children returned to Rome. One of the said children was made a Senator of Rome, another a Consul of Carthage, and others varied in Africa. Eugene had many cousins, both men and women, dwelling in Rome who came to see her, desiring to be Christian at her example. Among other saints, Basille, a virgin, unable to speak with Eugene about being Christian, was made to be prayed to by a messenger. Eugene sent two Christian knights, Prothus and Iacintus, towards the said Basille, to be taught in the faith of the holy church. Basille received them worshipfully as apostles of Jesus Christ. All day and all night she was with them, speaking of the holy scripture. And because they were Emici, no slander followed.\n\nIn the same time, one named Cornille was pope of Rome, who came to her secretly.Saint Basille was confirmed in the faith by the sacrament of baptism. She came nearly every night and visited Saint Eugene. And all the widows who had been baptized went to the convent of Saint Claude, the mother of Eugene, and the virgins resorted to Saint Eugene. The said Saint Cornelius, who was pope at that time, went every Saturday and visited them, exhorting them with devout impetues and consoling them all through the long night until the break of day. Valerian and Galien were the emperors at that time who began to have great indignation against the Christians, as Saint Cyprian had covered them with scandal from Carthage, and Saint Cornelius the Romans. Therefore, Paternus Proconsul was sent to Carthage to carry out this matter. Saint Basille should also be martyred, as she had previously understood by divine revelation that Eugene would receive a double crown of martyrdom. One for the merit she had gained in Alexandria, which she would suffer for to keep her faith. Then Saint Eugene granted God's grace, saying, \"O my God, only soon.\"Of the everlasting God, the Father, who has come into this wretched world within the womb of the right holy virgin, I see it pleases You to grant favor to all virgins, whom You have committed to be ruled by me. May they come to Your everlasting joy.\n\nAfter Eugene went with the virgins, he said to them such or similar words:\n\nMy sisters, the vineyard is now ripe,\nAnd the season is now come for the god grapes to be pressed out of the vines with feet.\nBut after that, the vine shall be strained and made pure and clean.\nIt shall be presented to be drunk in the royal court of the king.\nAnd therefore said God, \"I am the vine, and you, My disciples, are the branches. My sisters, the springs and shoots of virginity, be ever ready to make fair and worthy the law which you hold.\"\n\nVirginity is the first showing of divine virtues. A neighbor to God, like unto angels. Mother of life, free from the ways of holiness, surety, lady of joy, leader of virtue.Nourishing and crowning of faith, the source and giver of charity. Therefore, my sisters, we ought to desire nothing more than to live in virginity, and yet not all earthly things come with great joy. But after parting, they are the cause of great sorrow, and so they give a laugh and joy suddenly for the cause to last forever. And at the end, all those who set their affection and love on it shall fall into everlasting damnation.\n\nThen, my daughters, since you have remained with me until now, have constancy and perseverance until the last end. Weep in this world to the intent that you shall have everlasting joy.\n\nNow I beseech you, Holy Ghost, that he will keep you, and I believe he will preserve you in your virginity. Desire not my bodily presence, but if I have done any good works, follow me ghostly. After she had preached and exhorted them to remember the heavenly things for fleeing the earthly, she kissed all of them and said Saint Basille. And commanded them to God.Then Eugene and Saint Basille departed from them. That same day, one of the women serving with Saint Basille went towards Poppaea. She had truthfully told him that she and her uncle Helain had been chastised and that he should never marry her. Besides this, she told him that she had with her two Emiches, Prothus and Iacintus, whom Eugene had sent to her to bring her to the Christian faith. And how she served them as immortal gods, daily kissing their feet. Poppaea, being alarmed, went towards Helain, her uncle and governor of Saint Basille, and said to her, \"Know it, Helain, now I will make my wedding, so show me Basille, who has been given to me by the emperor and all the Roman princes.\" Helain answered, \"My friend, I have nurtured her during the time of her youth, when she was in my keeping. But nevertheless, she is out of my control and has her free choice. Speak with her. Go to her house.\" Then Poppaea was more determined.Pope was angrier than before. And went to tell Basille, his mistress, that he would speak with her. The good lady sent him word again that she would neither see him nor eat with him. Therefore, he might as well go home again.\n\nPope was filled with wrath more than before. And through the favor of all the Senators came before the emperor. And said to them, \"Holy and righteous succor at this hour, your subjects, Romans. And put from this noble city of Rome the new gods that Eugene has brought in. Coming out of the land of Egypt.\" It has been a long time since the Christians have allowed the common wealth. For they have done other things. But only mock with the holy ceremonies of our law. They despise our gods, calling them idols. Ridiculous devils. They change the natural order. They break marriages. And with wickedness lead away the young daughters, saying that it is a dangerous thing that a bird should take its spouse by the wedding lock. What shall we do, noble emperors?by whom should the Romans be honored and the kings subdued, if the women we ought to have as our wives are taken from us? To whom shall the Romans look for the restoration of their strengths for the continuance of battles? When Pompey had finished speaking, all the senators began to weep over Saint Basil. And yet Galen the emperor judged it inconsequential that she should take Pompey as her lord and husband, or else by weapons make her life come to an end. In like manner, Eugene. But if she would sacrifice to the gods, and beside this he ordered great punishment to be inflicted throughout the city on those who concealed the Christian people. After a messenger was sent to Saint Basil, commanding her in Galen's name to come speak with him or take Pompey as her husband, the good virgin answered that.she would not / And her spouse should be Ihu\\_ Cryst, the son of the everlasting god, and none other /\nIn saying the which words, the messenger perceived him through and through her body. And slew her /\nAfter he took Prothus and Iacyntius. And brought them into the temple to worship the goddesses /\nAnd as they came there to the temple, it was smitten into many small pieces /\nNicecius, who was the Protose of Rome at the time, had them beheaded at the feast of St. Basil, notwithstanding that she was dead /\nAfter that he sent for St. Eugene and asked how by her art, magic she had converted so great people /\nThe good lady, bold and steadfast in the faith, answered humbly saying to all virginity, charity, and onlyness of body is kept there /\nNicecius, Protose of Rome, fearing that the emperor might hear her speak, had her brought into the temple of the goddess Diana. For to do sacrifice to the said goddess, or else toThe good lady Eugene knelt on both knees and, heaving her hands toward heaven, said, \"O my God, you know the secrets of my conscience. You have kept my virginity by your grace and given me your blessed son as my spouse. You have made the holy ghost reign in me. I pray that you will be present with me now to help me confess your holy name. May all those who worship this idol be confounded with their sacrifices, and at once the entire temple fell down and was all shattered, except for the altar before which Saint Eugene was kneeling.\n\nThese things were done in the year of Light, in the city of Lycht. Innocent she was named, and she was to be cast into the Tiber river with a millstone around her neck. It was done so. But as soon as she was cast in, the great millstone shattered into pieces. And thus, the Christians knew that it was the same God who had saved Saint Peter in the sea, that was with the good lady Eugene, to prevent her from being drowned.\"the said river of Tiber / After being taken out of the stream and put into a hot furnace, the incontenant it was cast into it. The heat became cold. And after they put her in a dark place, the emperor commanded that she should be left there for the space of ten days without food or drink and also without any light. But within the place where she was kept, a great light was seen, so bright that all was lighted up as if it were the light of the sun. / After this, God never failed to send his servants and they visited her. They brought her a loaf of bread, as white as snow, and said to her, / Eugene, my true spouse and friend, take the bread that I bring for you. I am your Savior that you have loved. And yet, I love you with all my heart. I will lead you into heaven on such a day as I come down to the earth / And incontenant departed. / So it happened that on the day of the Narte hangman was sent towards her. He slew her within the prison.\"The body was taken from the Crysten and buried in the way of the Latins. In the same place where she had buried many crystens, her mother Claudia came often to weep upon her grave. And among the other things, she, being upon the said grave about the hour of midnight, saw Saint Eugene her daughter appear to her. Clothed in a gown of purple, covered with fine gold, accompanied by a great number of virgins. And she said to her, \"Rejoice yourself, my mother. For God has set me among the glorious saints in His paradise. And my father with the Patriarchs. And on Sunday next coming, you shall be received with great joy in Paradise.\"\n\nCome to your children, that they always keep in their remembrance the passion of Ihu Criste. That they may be partners with us of the sovereign joys of heaven. And as she departed, she gave such a light in the said place that no man's eye could behold it. Whereby men may believe that she was accompanied by the truly glorious Trinity of Paradise. To you, who are infinite glory.Saint Basil, among others of his time, showed in earth a life commendable both by deeds and words. He ordered and disposed his life through ghostly wisdom. He gave his body and soul to Ihu Crist, subjecting himself to various dangerous and perilous situations for the faith of our Lord. He overcame and brought down many errors. In his seventh year of age, he was set among friends to school, where he spent five years. During this time, he almost knew all philosophy. After leaving Capadocia and his native country, he went to the city of Athens, which was then the mother of all sciences. There, he studied with a doctor named Eubulus, through whom he obtained the true knowledge of all sciences, as he studied diligently with many excellent men. Gregory the Great was pope of Rome for twelve years after this time, during which he was also in Lyon and Lyons. They were three.Disciples of the said Saint Basil made a promise to God that he would never eat bread nor drink wine until he had, through God's grace, learned the secrets of spiritual wisdom. During the time of fifteen years that he studied in Athens, he knew all Pythagorean philosophy, as taught by the Greeks, and became quite expert in the science of astrology, as well as being inspired by the Holy Spirit and desiring to know the holy scriptures. Therefore, he departed from Athens and went to Egypt. In this condition, entering the house of a devout bishop named Porphyry, the man led a very solitary life. He humbly requested that I come with him in the study of the holy scriptures and divine teachings. Porphyry granted his request, and there he studied for a whole year, taking great delight and pleasure in the said holy scriptures, and eating no other food but herbs and drinking only water. After asking the leave of the said Porphyry to go on pilgrimage,I'm as devoted to worshiping the holy places as I am to knowing the great miracles that were done there, so that I may come to a greater understanding of the faith. Porphyry, seeing my devout affection, gave me leave and recommended me to the grace of God. And when I had completed my pilgrimage, I returned to Athens where I had studied for a long time before. I lived among the Greek philosophers there. I spoke to them continually about the holy scriptures and exhorted the misbelievers to believe in Jesus Christ. I showed them the way of salvation and named Jesus gladly and hourly with my master Eubole. And because I desired to reward him for the good he had done to me in my childhood, I sought him out in all places where men disputed, and found him disputing with other philosophers in the groves of Athens. Saint Basil, hearing his master propose a false conclusion, rebuked him for it.Many were somewhat abashed and asked what he was, whether it was God or Basille. Knowing it was he, Leuge, the philosopher, summoned all the philosophers and told each one in turn. They spent three days together disputing various matters. Eubole, who was master to Basille, opposed him on the difficulty of philosophy. Basille answered the world was the same as that which was upon the world. The words of the world are sweet, but it will be bitter to him who lives in it viciously. But whoever wishes to be in the world cannot obey his sensuality and serve God. No one can serve two masters. And therefore, my master and commander, St. Basil, said, \"Let us quicken our spirits, for they are dead. And to purchase everlasting life, let us follow the teachings of the apostles of the sovereign God.\"Redemer of the world, if we are willing to obey him despite being all ready struck in age, we shall have as much reward by means of his grace as those who have been in his service from their youth. It is written in the gospel that the reward for the one who came at the hour of the sixth was as great as for the one who was at the hour of prime. The doctor Euobre, hearing the warnings of his disciple Basile, began to say, \"O Basile, true revealer and expounder of the faith of Christ, through me I believe in one almighty God. In times past, I showed you and now I give it all to you. Put it in your possession, intending to lead you with me in the remainder of my life. And if it pleases my God Ihu Crist, I shall receive the holy sacrament of baptism within a short time.\" Basile answered, \"Blessed be our God who has mercifully enlightened you in giving you the will and courage to forsake and leave the foul errors in which you were overthrown.\"Through the way and worldly science, and now you know his mercy. Since you will be with me, I shall teach you how we shall live in getting our wealth and in delivering ourselves from the lusts of this wretched world. First, we shall sell all that we have and give it to the poor for God's sake. Afterward, we shall go to the holy city of Jerusalem. They did this and clothed themselves in raiments like Christian people for receiving Christianity. In going thither, they tore many pains that they found in their way.\n\nThen when Saint Basyle and his doctor Eubole came to the holy places and worshiped them for the love of our Lord, after they presented themselves before him, Bishop Marimyen, and knelt before him, they begged him that he would baptize them in the Jordan.\n\nThe bishop received them most kindly and accompanied them with many notable persons to the aforementioned Jordan. He promised them that he would show them some miracles.After he rose up and took off all his clothes to enter within the flood, and then you said the bishop went and baptized him. At this baptism, a most marvelous thing happened there. For a great light, as if it were fire making wonderful shining, came from heaven upon them. And out of the fire flew a white dove. The dove, after it had troubled the water, flew again into heaven. Those present were much amazed, for they had never seen such quick or such great light before. So they began to praise and glorify the name of God, and particularly the bishop kept reminding them of the love St. Basil had for the Redeemer of the world. They were two who were baptized and anointed with the holy oil together. After this, they returned to Ihrlm and dwelt there for a year. After this, they took their way towards Antioch. And then St. Basil was made deacon. Many bishops were assembled in Antioch, who chose St. Basil to be bishop, and after that.He was ordained. He made his prayer to God, asking Him to give him the gift of understanding, by which he might make a service or office to Him, pleasing in making oblation of his precious blood. And in this doing, he might receive the grace of the Holy Ghost.\n\nThe good Basil, after this request, was secluded for six days and withdrawn from his thoughts. But nevertheless, he purposed to make the aforementioned service.\n\nAnd on a night after the said days had passed, he had a sight of God, accompanied by all his apostles. When he wrote the words that priests pronounce upon the altar, God said to him, \"Basil, may your mouth be fully filled with praising. By your own word, make sacrifice to Me of My blood.\"\n\nSaint Basil could not endure the sight and departed in great fear. He went to the water and began to say and write what follows:\n\n\"Be my mouth\"fulfilled with loaves. To signify your joy, with this he made many other orisons that are customarily said when the body of our Lord is to be consecrated by the priest. Which are not to be written to any lay people, nor to be had in common, but only among men of the church. And after the consecration and elevation of the host, whyches was of bread. He divided it into three parts. Of the which he used one in great fear and reverence. The other he kept for himself, and the third he kept for putting into a fine golden dish. The which he had made for hanging over the altar. In token of that same dish that appeared over him when he was baptized in the Jordan. Eubule and many others, and with this they saw a great multitude of men. All clothed in which vestments, which accompanied him in making the said sacrifice. The mass done, St. Basil went out of the church. And all those present worshipped him, and putting before him.They knelt to the ground and granted him greater honor than they had customarily given / And for this reason, he asked them what had moved them to come there and why they showed him such great honor / Then they told him of the wondrous sight they had seen of St. Basil, who bestowed grace upon God / A certain day after, he gathered all the people / In their presence, he placed one of the said parts of the host into the golden bowl and hung it reverently over the water / And this done, he gave a magnificent sermon / At which was the great abbot, who will be spoken of later /\n\nBy the will of God and during St. Basil's time, an Ebrew hand touched one of the said St. Basil's hands /\n\nThe child, as it seemed to the Ebrew, was separated and divided by Basil and the people after the mass administered to themselves.A Holy man who had been Chaplain to St. Basil, and his successor in the bishopric of Cappadocia, wrote to St. Jerome the life of St. Basil. He relates that a Senator of Rome named Proterius had a daughter whom he intended to offer and sacrifice to God, believing that she should be a religious woman. But the devil, envious over all goodness, inflamed with fire:\n\nreceiving the body of our lord, the said Hebrew man put himself among the other Christians. And St. Basil administered him a host, as to the others. Consequently, he was asked to be administered the holy chalice. It seemed to him that he was filled with blood, and he kept it with one hand. He carried it to his wife to show it to her and to confirm her in the vision he had seen. The next day, he returned to the holy church and had himself baptized with all his household.\n\nA Holy man, who had been Chaplain to St. Basil and his successor in the bishopric of Cappadocia, wrote to St. Jerome the life of St. Basil. He recounts that a Senator of Rome named Proterius had a daughter whom he intended to offer and dedicate to God, believing that she should be a religious woman. But the devil, envious of all goodness, was inflamed with jealousy:of concupiscence, one of his household servants / The one who had fallen in love with his own daughter / And because he knew for certain that he was not her likely suitor for marriage / He went to a magician / To whom he showed his case / Saying that if he could teach him any means by which he might have the said daughter: He would give him a great sum of gold /\n\nThe magician or necromancer answered that he could not do it /\nBut if he was willing, he should make him speak with the devil / Whom he was his procurer / By whose working he would soon have his will /\n\nThen the foolish lover answered the said magician / That he was ready to do all that he would command him / So that he might have all that he desired /\n\nThen the said magician made him forsake his Creator / And to forsake his part of the joys of paradise / And this done, he made him take a bottle containing the following words written only with his own hand /\n\nMy lord and my god, I, [name], do hereby renounce and forsake thee, Creator of heaven and earth, and all thy angels and saints, and all thy commandments and laws, and all thy prophets and apostles, and all thy saints in heaven and on earth, and all thy works and all thy creatures, and all thy holy church, and all thy sacraments, and all thy ordinances, and all thy worship and service, and all thy blessings and curses, and all thy mercies and judgments, and all thy rewards and punishments, and all thy promises and threats, and all thy comforts and terrors, and all thy consolations and temptations, and all thy pains and pleasures, and all thy joys and sorrows, and all thy life and death, and all thy time and eternity, and all thy goods and chattels, and all thy friends and enemies, and all thy body and soul, and all thy members and senses, and all thy thoughts and affections, and all thy virtues and vices, and all thy wisdom and folly, and all thy righteousness and sin, and all thy faith and infidelity, and all thy hope and despair, and all thy love and hatred, and all thy joy and sorrow, and all thy peace and war, and all thy pleasure and pain, and all thy gain and loss, and all thy honor and shame, and all thy fame and infamy, and all thy glory and dishonor, and all thy riches and poverty, and all thy power and weakness, and all thy health and sickness, and all thy youth and age, and all thy beauty and ugliness, and all thy strength and weakness, and all thy knowledge and ignorance, and all thy wisdom and folly, and all thy good and evil, and all thy truth and falsehood, and all thy light and darkness, and all thy joy and misery, and all thy life and death, and all thy soul and body, and all thy self and non-self, and all thy being and non-being, and all thy existence and non-existence, and all thy reality and unreality, and all thy substance and shadow, and all thy essence and accident, and all thy potentiality and actuality, and all thy possibility and impossibility, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentiality, and all thy actuality and potentialProcurator, I am compelled to withdraw from the Christian religion and bind myself to your will. For the sake of multiplying your subjects, I send this messenger with my letters. May your will be fulfilled, so that through him I may have joy and glory, and the power to command others and bring them into your obedience. This letter, the Magician delivered to the foolish lover, and said to him that at a certain hour of the night, he should go and place himself upon the graves of the pagans and heretics. And immediately certain messengers would come to him, who would bring him to the devil.\n\nThus did this unhappy wretch, and soon came to him a great multitude of wicked spirits from the prince of darkness and wickedness. They led him before them in great joy.prince / He was set up on a great chair / And around him were a great multitude of devils without number / In their presence, he presented his writing / And after that it was read, the said prince said to him / Now come here, my friend / Do you believe in me? He answered, yes. / Yet again he questioned him, saying / Do you forsake Jesus Christ? He answered, yes, as before / Then the prince of devils said to him / You Christian men are false shrews / For when you have need to be held by me, you pray to me / And after that, you have obtained your desire. You deny and forsake continence, which you have promised to me / And soon after return to your god, who is so much good and sweet / That he refuses not any sinner / But this notwithstanding, if you want / That I shall do your will to be performed and fulfilled to your benefit & ensure / You must first give to me a letter of your hand / By the which you shall deny and forsake the sacrament.of baptism. And secondly, you shall promise me that you will serve me in this world, and at the day of doom you shall hold me faithful. For to be with me perpetually in all the torments that I suffer. This unhappy man promised him all the same, and the incubus, masters of temptation, were sent towards the said maid. For to tempt and stir her to the love of the unhappy man aforementioned. The which suddenly took such love of him that she could no longer eat or drink. And after that she had endured this misery for a little space of time, she said to her father:\n\nO my father, have pity on me,\nFor certainly I am sore tormented by the love of one of your servants,\nMy father, I beseech you, show now what love you have for your child,\nFor if you incline and do not fall to my will, you shall see me dead within short time.\n\nThe father began to weep, saying:\n\nAlas, what has befallen my daughter. What is he that will take from me?me: What is he who has defiled the/ What is he who has put out the light of my eyes? I would have married you to the sovereign king, Jesus Christ. And to him I would have given love of your Creator. Truly, but if you take Jesus Christ as your spouse, you will put my old age into perpetual sorrow.\n\nThe daughter would not agree to her father's will, but answered, \"My father, if you grant me not my desire. I assure you that you will see me finish my days through bitter anguish within a short time.\"\n\nThe father, fearing her words, assumed the role of pleaser. He sent for her said lover to make the wedding between them. And after he had given them all his goods, he said to his daughter for his last words to her, \"Go, my unhappy daughter, you shall repent the one day you have left God to serve the devil.\"\n\nAfter they were married, they dwelt together for a certain period of time. During which, the frivolous lover, thus wedded, never went to them.Church, and he received not his Creature. Some took heed and told it to the said daughter, his wife, saying that her husband was not a Christian man. When the wretched woman had heard these tidings, she laid herself down at the ground, as comfortlessly as she could, and with her nails scratched her torn face and beat her white breasts, thinking to have killed herself for sorrow. After she had said such words, \"Ha, my god, never let that person be saved who disobeys his friends. Who will send word to my father of my confusion? Wretchedness is well befallen to me. In what unhappy state am I come? Why was I ever born? Alas, if I had been caught in heaven after my birth, & as she was thus in such sorrow, her husband came to know the causes of her wrath. And after he had calmed and comforted her somewhat, she desired him to go with her to the church to receive the sacrament together. Then the wretched man confessed his sin to his wife.and man's courage ran to St. Basil. He said to him, \"Alas, thou man of God, have pity on me. Poor and unhappy, I have given my body to be governed by the devil. Have pity on me, the disobedient one, who would not obey my father.\n\nAfter she had recounted and shown him all that had befallen her husband, St. Basil sent for him to inquire if this was true. He answered, \"Then, to bring him to penance, I would ask him to return and serve Jesus Christ. He answered he could not, for he had promised the devil that he would never do him service again and had given him his writing with his own hand.\"\n\nSt. Basil understood his answer well and showed him the great mercy of God, how He is always ready to receive our penance.\n\nThe good daughter knelt before the said St. Basil and said to him, \"O thou servant of God, have mercy on our sin.\" The holy man inquired of the said husband if he had any.hope to be saved. Whereat he answered that they were brought into a secret place within the church. And during three days he kept him there in continual prayers. And often times both day and night he came and visited him, asking him how it was with him. And he answered always that he had no more hope of life due to the crying and calling of the devils daily and nightly around him.\n\nWhy are you shown to him the writing you made upon your promise to the prince of hell? Why do you come to us and not we to you? What do you desire from us?\n\nThe holy man comforted him and moved and stirred him, saying to him that he should always have steadfast faith and good hope in God.\n\nHe gave him a little food and blessed him with the sign of the Cross.\n\nAnd after he made him enter into his place where he was before.\n\nWhen he had been there, I enjoin and command you both day and night.night be with me to pray God. That this sheep may come again to me may purchase his salvation / So they all began to pray together. With weeping and singing, they began with \"Kyrie eleison\" / After the good pastor took the poor man by the hand and brought him into the church / The devil to whom he had done homage, and all his company, came to assemble, intending to take the poor sinner out of the bishop's hands / And so he began to cry with a horrible voice, saying, \"O thou holy man of God, help me\" / Then Saint Basil turned his words to the devil and said, \"What do you, you damned one, ask of me, and what is the worst of all your wicked intents? It is enough for you that I and all of us sing Kyrie eleison\" / Saint Basil answered, \"May God do this to your harm and not to me\" / The devil yet again said to him, \"Basil, you do me great harm, for this sinner is come to me and not to me to him. He has forsaken his Creator in my presence, and therefore he has given to me his writing.\"With his hand written. For a witness to the same, I present this writing before the everlasting Judge.\n\nSaint Basille then said to the devil, \"Blessed be God. My people shall never cease to pray nor shall they bring down their hands. Which are lifted upward to heaven until you have given back the sacred writing to this poor sinner.\"\n\nAll this noble assembly made more devout prayers than before. They did not cease until the said holy man received the writing. He yielded grace to God and said to the sinful people who were there, \"My brother does not know you this letter. He answered, \"And that it was written with his own hand.\"\n\nThen Saint Basille broke it into pieces. He brought him to the church to make confession. After receiving his Creator, he sent him home again to his wife. She thanked the Lord devoutly for this grace.A woman, rich and noble, filled with the vanities of the world, misused her faculties. She was prodigal and lecherous, and in all her actions, she was unfit for God. Like a sow lying in a filthy pen, so was this woman enveloped in all the filth and uncleanness of flesh. And at times, by a singular grace that God gave her, she alone to herself made knowledge of the great multitude of her sins. In weeping, she said to God, \"Alas, my Redeemer, I who am a poor sinner. How shall I make satisfaction for the sins of my soul? I ought to be the temple of the Holy Ghost, and by my sins, I have defiled and harmed my soul. I am the most unhappy of all the world, and I believe that no woman since Christianity did so greatly sin and act abominably as I have.\" Alas, how shall I know that God will receive my penance? And when she had well considered her fall, God inspired her to think upon the great evils and sins that she had committed.She had sinned and done so before her old age. And she brought them in mind, writing them in a roll. When St. Basil came to the church to say mass, she intended to deliver the roll to him. In a crying voice she said:\n\n\"Holy man and servant of God, have pity on me, the most wretched of all sinners. St. Basil asked her the reason for her distress, and she answered:\n\n\"Alas, my lord, I have written in this roll all my misdeeds and wickednesses. I beg you not to look upon them but to pray for me towards God, that they may be forgiven to me. I know that he who has given me understanding and will to know them will enforce the prayer you will make for me in this matter. Therefore, I beg you for help in my great need.\"\n\nThe holy man took the roll from her and raised his hands.towarde heaven says / \"O my God, it reveals thy dignity. For to do this, this poor, sinful woman asks / thou mayst put and erase within a moment all the sins of the world / I beseech thee mercifully for her / All our sins are in a certain number before thy majesty / But thy mercy is without end / His prayer thus done / he set the Roll upon the water / And there the holy man abode, praying God a day and a night continually / The next morning he called unto him the said woman in the presence of some clerks. And said to her / Woman, thou knowest well that thy sin cannot be pardoned - but by the power of God, which she answered / \"Holy father, I believe that thou speakest. And therefore I humbly beseech thee to be my helper towards him.\" / Then the roll was opened. And at opening of it, it was found that all her sins were forgiven to her, except for one great sin. Which was not erased nor put out. / The poor woman was sore heavy. And disconsolate. And fell.Saint Basille began weeping and said to the woman, \"My friend stands before me. I have as great a need of pardon as you. I am a sinner. He who has pardoned your other sins may also pardon this one that is left behind. If you keep the commandments of God in the future, He will not only forgive this life, but also grant you eternal life in everlasting bliss. You shall go to the hermitage. Where a man named Effrem resides. Take your role there. By his prayers, you shall be delivered from this sin and receive a full absolution for the salvation of your soul.\"\n\nThe woman walked through the wilderness and found the holy man Effrem. She approached his door, knowing the reason for her visit. He answered.A woman comes to you, / Go thou to her, / I have need of God's mercy as you have, / The woman then gave him her roll, saying, / O holy father, Bishop Basil sends me to thee, / granting me hope. May the greatest of my sins be forgiven to me through thy prayers. / Effrem said to her, / Nay, my daughter, nay, / He who through his prayers has obtained remission of his other sins may yet do the same for the sin for which thou comest to me, / Turn lightly towards him, / so that thou may speak with him before his death. / The woman returned at once, / But what was she to do when she entered Ceasarea and met the corpse of Saint Basil that men were bringing to his grave? / Then she made great weeping, saying, / Alas, poor, unhappy one, what shall I do now? O holy man of God. Why did you send me to the holy father Effrem? Could I not have obtained forgiveness of my sin from you? / The poor, sinful womanA woman laid her role on the corpse of the holy man. One of the priests, who was present at the burial, wanted to see and read the same role. He opened it in the grave but found nothing written in it. Then he said to the woman, \"Woman, what do you want? Your role is without any scripture. You did not know the indulgence that God had granted to the man. All the people saw this miracle and began to thank God for giving power to the church to forgive and put out the sins of wretched sinners.\n\nJoseph the Hebrew was once a skilled physician in the art of medicine. By tasting the pulse of any person, he knew that the sick person would die within three or five days and at what hour they would leave this world. With his great experience in medicine, he was jealous of other physicians. But Saint Basil, who knew by revelation that in his time he would be a bishop, was not envious.\"regarded by the holy sacrament of baptism, he loved him much and often came to him, desiring him to forsake his error and turn to the faith of Christianity. And Joseph answered him on the same matter, that he would die in the faith where he was born in. St. Basil replied against his answer, saying, \"Joseph believes that I shall certainly tell you that without the sacrament of baptism, neither you nor I will come into paradise. Have not your elder fathers been baptized? Do you not know that for our redemption, Jesus Christ took our nature in the womb of the virgin Mary, and for that same redemption, he was crucified and brought to death, and soon after he rose from death to life, and now he sits at the right hand of his Father, and at the end he will come to judge and render to each one according to what he has deserved. Therefore, it is impossible without regeneration through water and the Holy Ghost, and also without the communion of the body and blood of Christ, to attain to the kingdom of God.\"\"The sacrament of the altar. He would be saved, but whatever exhortation the holy man made to Joseph, he paid no heed to his words. It happened so, God called upon him the good Saint Basille. Informed him of the hour of his death by revelation from God. Then he sent for Joseph the leper, the man mentioned before, to judge the hour of his death. After Joseph had tasted the vein of Saint Basille, he said to his servants, prepare his winding sheet for burying him, I cannot live long. Saint Basille, who understood this judgment, asked him how he knew it. To which he answered, I know it certainly by the feeling of his vein. The holy man said to him, My friend, you will have your will. The holy man then made his prayer to God to prolong his days, only to bring Joseph the Hebrew to the faith. God granted this request in the morning next, and he sent for the aforementioned leper.When he realized he was still alive, he came incontinent to his lodging. But when he saw it, he fell down at his feet and cried for mercy, saying there was no god so great as the God of the Christians. Then he forsook the law of the Jews and took the Christian faith. Desiring Saint Basille and all his men to be baptized, he said to him:\n\nThe holy man replied to him, \"You should baptize yourself first.\"\n\nThen the good leper Joseph took him by the hand and touched the hollow of his right arm. After he had felt it, he said to him, \"My lord, your nature is weakened and tired, so you should not go to church.\"\n\nThe holy man answered him, \"We have our God, who is the creator of nature, who sustains us. And how is it that you, this holy man, had no natural strength, yet you went to church? Your company and servants were incontinently baptized there, and after Saint Basille had baptized the said Joseph.Into his church of the glorious martyr Isidorus, in which the good holy man Leoncius, his predecessor, was buried, and Saint Basille died on the first day of January, the fifth year of the reign of the emperors Valentinus and Valerian.\n\nSaint Jerome mentions in the last chapter of the first part of the life of the Fathers of the Holy Hermit Ephrem, that it was unknown to Saint Basille. And Saint Jerome says that Ephrem had knowledge of this through the telling of certain fathers.\n\nAnd it is true that the said Ephrem was born in Syria. Being in his hermitage, a friend of his showed him the perfect state of Saint Basille. And he prayed God earnestly that it would please Him to give him some experience of Saint Basille's holiness through revelation. Our Lord, who heard his prayer, granted him such a revelation. That is, while he was half asleep and half awake, he saw a vision.A pillar of fire so long it reached to heaven and seemed the same. He heard a voice that said to him, \"Effrem, such is Basyle. Such is Basyle.\" Then he went into the church of Caesarea in Cappadocia. Where the said Saint Basyle was, on a day they made solemnities of Epiphany. And because he understood no Greek, he took an interpreter with him. To whom he said, when he saw Saint Basyle ordained in such great honor, \"We Hermits endure both cold and heat in the wilderness. And have no reward. And this Basyle here, who is in honor preferred, is a pillar of fire.\" And as he was in this malcontent, Saint Basyle sent one of his archdeacons to the holy father Effrem, to tell him that he should come. To speak with him.Archedeacon came to Saint Effrem and said to him, \"Your father, the archbishop of Caesarea, sends word that you should come and speak to him.\" Effrem answered, \"My friend, it is not to us that you should speak. We are strangers. The archdeacon reported this answer to Saint Basyle, who sent him again to Saint Effrem and charged him to deliver the message in this way: \"Sir Effrem, I command you to come to your archbishop.\" Effrem was greatly surprised and answered the archdeacon, \"Truly Basyle is a very pillar of fire. For the Holy Ghost speaks through his mouth. They had never seen each other before, but in spirit. Finally, the service ended, and Effrem came to Saint Basyle. Then they made deep salutations to one another. Saint Basyle greeted him in this manner: \"Father of holy hermits, you are welcome. You who have multiplied the disciples of Jesus Christ are welcome. Alas, good father, you have come.\"\"moche pain. In coming hither to see a poor sinner, may God yield the reward after your labor. / Effrem answered him and to the holy father all that it thy heart desires. After he received his maker from the hands of St. Basille, and they had been together for a long time. Effrem prayed St. Basille that he would grant him a request. St. Basille said to him, \"Command me. And say what you will, for I am greatly bound to you for the trouble you have taken to visit me. / Effrem said to him, \"I know that all that you shall ask of God will be granted to you gladly, for it is written that God fulfills the will of those who fear him and enhances their prayers. Therefore I beseech you to pray him that he will give me the grace to speak Greek. St. Basille consented to his request, saying it was honest.\" / Then they set themselves to prayer and were long enough. And this done, St. Basille rose up and asked St. Effrem why he had not spoken sooner.\"He referred to himself as worthy to be promoted to the order of priesthood. Since he was too great a sinner. St. Basil answered him, \"After my mind, would God your sins were mine.\" Yet again they knelt on their knees to the ground. And another, the tongue of the holy father Evagrius was informed to speak Greek language, and he readily began to speak it as if he had been born in the midst of Greece. They yielded graces and thanks to God for this, in looking and praying his glorious name. And after they had been together for three days, he who had come with him to be his interpreter of Greek language to his mother's estate, was made a deacon. And the holy father Evagrius was also ordained in the order of priesthood. And they commanded each other to God, giving thanks to him for what they had seen of each other.\n\nHere ends the first part of the life of the Fathers.After follows the second part /\nHere follows the second part of the life of the holy fathers of Egypt, containing in various books many laudable exhortations to induce all persons, particularly men of religion, to live solitarily and well, with some fair histories exciting to flee vices and embrace virtues. As more largely is declared in the table I set at the beginning of this present book where the chapters are declared, as well those that are contained in the preceding and first part as in this second, and in the third and fourth parts following. And first, the prologue begins in Latin: \"Vere mundus et hic habitatur...\"\n\nWhat is he that doubts / but that the world is kept and preserved by the merits of saints, and among others, by those whose lives are recorded in this present volume.Those who have fled have abandoned all worldly concerns and consider all that is in it as nothing. Their intention is to withdraw their affections from it and turn to God. Some religious persons questioned one of the holy fathers of Egypt about his great abstinence. He answered in this manner: \"My child, it is necessary that we hate all the rest of this present life and all bodily delights and pleasures, without requiring any honors to be done to us by men. Our Lord Jesus Christ will give us celestial honors, eternal life, and glorious happiness with his angels. This holy man said that food and drink are necessary for man, but we ought not to take them to the full as much as the body can take. Likewise, sleep is necessary for man, but we ought not to sleep as much as the body desires.The reason why we become slothful when we sleep as much as our appetite requires is because the body then becomes less ready to work. To the contrary, watching yields the mind and wit of man more subtle and clean. Therefore, the holy fathers said that watching in good works is beneficial, as it enlightens the mind. However, excessive and inordinate watching brings forth frustration and madness, harming both the head and the body. It is fitting for man not only to move his passions against others but also to be angry with himself and his sins, so that more easily he may put them away in amending his life.\n\nTherefore, when we see our neighbors or others doing anything against God's commandments, we ought to be angry with them for their sins and correct them in all diligence, to the point that after their correction and amendment, they may be saved and come to everlasting bliss.\n\nAnother [thing]A holy father, living in the midst of deserts in remarkable abstinence, impossible to endure, was questioned by some who marveled at his perseverance and how he could endure in such a dry and barren place, bearing great penances. He answered that the poverty he suffered in this world was not an hour of the pains of hell. Moreover, he said it was beneficial for us, for such a little time as we have to remain in this mortal life, to do penance and resist the desire of the flesh, so that we may obtain the reward that will never fail \u2013 eternal glory. God in various ways grants consolations and aid to those who do things for His worship. And to this end, it is found that at one time there was a holy father in Egypt, whose holy conduct was envied by the devils and who was often severely beaten by them. On one day among these trials.other they tortured him so sore that on the morrow, by the hour of prime, he found himself so unable by weaknesses of his body that he seemed to be coming to his last day, both due to the grief they had caused him and because he had fasted for a long time. But nevertheless, he disposed himself to fast until the hour of certainty.\n\nSoon after, at the same hour, to himself he said that he should carry himself to the hour of se.\n\nOn a certain occasion, certain brothers went out of their monastery to visit the holy hermits in the desert. And as God led them, they arrived at the little house of the good holy father, whom they were right suitably received. And because he saw that the said brothers were weary, he made them eat before the accustomed hour and presented them with such goods as he had.\n\nComing towards evening and after they had accomplished their prayers, both daily and nocturnal, the holy hermit departed from them. And being in his garden, he heard thatThe brothers complained to one another, \"What are these hermits doing here that are more successful than we are, who are fed in our monasteries?\" The hermit held out his peace, and in the morning they took leave of him. They went to the hermitage of another who was not far away. The hermit who had lodged them the night before and with whom they had taken their bodily repast begged them to greet his fellow hermit warmly and to tell him these words. \"Be careful not to be arrogant.\" They promised him they would. When they arrived, they gave him a greeting according to their promise. He understood well what his fellow hermit meant by the greeting: to make baskets and mends until evening, and he himself worked with them. When night came, the hermit made his prayers not only according to his custom but also added many suffrages. After this, he said to the brothers, \"... \"Brothers who have come to him. My brothers and friends, our custom is not to eat every day. But since you have come today, we shall have soup. Then he took them bread and salt and a little oil over a few coals. Their reception thus, the hermit set himself to orison and was there almost until the day. And then he said to them, \"Because you have traveled, my brothers, we could not say all the service that we are accustomed to say. Therefore, rest yourselves a little.\"\n\nIn the morning, when they were awake, they would go their ways, but the hermit would try to keep them there with him for two or three days. This notwithstanding, when they saw his asceticism, they departed at night without leave to take of their host. This inconvenience happened to them because they had grumbled against the first father hermit who had received and feasted them upon their coming.\n\nAnd by this hermit's history, it ought to be noted that it is not always necessary to make amends to all.persons, namely when they are uncivilized and unknowing of the services that men have done to them,\n\nFaith and perfect charity make us forget worldly concupiscences often. And to this end, it is here recorded,\n\nthat once a holy father went to visit one of his fellows, who received and welcomed him most lovingly and prepared food for him. But they wished to feed their souls before their bodies.\n\nSo they went together to pray to God, and read the Psalms and prophecies, taking such great pleasure in them that they were still in their orisons a day and a night.\n\nThen, knowing they had spent the day, they agreed to speak together about holy scriptures and were engaged in this until the hour of none.\n\nAfter they took leave of each other and went back to their cells or little houses,\n\nthe one who had set the pot at the fire with food was sorrowful and heavy-hearted when he came to his house, finding that his fellow had gone without taking his bodily refreshment.This recited is the account of Zenon the good abbot, as he journeyed to Palestine, finding himself weary and lying down beneath a tree near a field of gourds. He contemplated taking one for his refreshment, reasoning that in his travels he should not take great value. But before he could take it, he imagined that to do so without permission would be theft. He considered the torment inflicted upon thieves and debated whether he could endure such punishment. To test his resolve, he remained in the scorching heat of the sun for five days without moving from that spot. Despite the intense heat, which he could not bear, he remained.Less endure the said torments. He said to himself that he should be no thief, and that it was better to do his work and live soberly, than to grieve against himself the greatest divine and to be in danger of others and of justice. Considering this, that which is written, labor with your hands and do your duties, and certainly you shall have sufficient food and drink.\nHumility against pride and abstinence against lechery are necessary to us. To this purpose we read that once there was a disciple of one of the holy fathers, who was continually tempted by the sin of fornication. Nevertheless, by the grace of God, he resisted it, as much by fasting and prayers as also by truly afflicting his body. The holy father his master seeing that he took so much pain and trouble upon himself, said to him: \"If you will, my son, I shall pray to God that He will take from you this passion that you bear, to the end that you have less pain in resisting against it.\"The temptation of the devil. The disciple answered, \"My father, I know that this to do I have great pain, but also I hope to gather more fruit from it. For the more that I feel in me the rebellion of the flesh, I employ and enforce myself much more to fast and to pray more than I should do if I had not this temptation. Nevertheless, I beseech thee that thou wilt grant this request: provide always that it please thee to give me strength ever to persevere in good works. The holy father then said to him, \"Now I know that thou art of good will and that thou puttest thy will and thy affection so sincerely to please God. Therefore, my son, know that by the patience that thou shalt have in resisting, thou shalt acquire the salvation of thy soul. And this witnesses Saint Paul, who said against the devil, 'I have fought a good battle; I have kept the faith. From henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day\u2014and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.'\"Iustice, not only I, but also those who love God and wait on him.\n\nOnce upon a time, there was another brother who, in the same way, was severely tempted by the sin of fornication. One night he rose up and went towards a holy father, devoted and full of all virtues, to whom he confessed his case.\n\nThe holy father, knowing his trouble, began to admonish him on the virtue of patience, recalling to him the words of the psalmist in the 25th psalm. Thou that art in temptation Resist with all thy strengths, be thou steadfast and take good courage for to sustain the commandments of God.\n\nThe brother, comforted by these words, returned home again. But he was tempted even more than before and came again to the same holy father, who comforted him as before. And with this, he gave him hope, saying that if he persevered constantly, God would send him aid and succor.\n\nSo he returned home, but he was more tempted than before.the father said he would pray for him. The father gave him eternal hope and comforted him in faith, saying that without any fault, the tempter, that is, the devil, would be confounded if he resisted courageously. He added that where a battle is sharper and men suffer most from the adversary, the victory is more noble and worthy of praise. And for this purpose, Isaiah said that the hand of God is strong enough to save us, and his servants of Jesus Christ brought back the same woman, placing before his eyes the great beauty of her. It happened by divine permission that another brother came out of Egypt who showed him that the said woman was dead. He, having heard this from the brother, went to the place where she was buried and took away the earth that was upon her and spread his mantle over the dead body.Which was all rotten, and marvelously he began to rub and stroke the same his mantle again against the rottenness of the said woman's kerchief desirefully. And by this he resisted constantly.\n\nWhoever wants to keep his chastity, ought not to haunt places where women are, however pure they may be.\n\nTwo brothers, hermits once, departed together from their hermitage to go to the next city to sell all that they had labored with their hands in a year to store some necessary things.\n\nThey came to an inn, and after they had sold all, one of them went to seek their provisions and necessities for the year, and the other stayed in the house where they were lodged. In which house, at the entrances and temptations of the devil, he committed the abhorred sin of fornication.\n\nWhen the other came to him again, he told him that it was time to go home.\n\nHe who had done the said sin answered that he could not return, declaring to him.This man, and he was equally desperate for the same. Seeing that he was in danger of being damned if he had stayed with the world, he might have been handed over, not only for this sin mentioned, but also for all others, to reduce him to the way of penance. He swore and affirmed to him against truth that he had also committed such another sin, giving him to understand that it was better for them to return and do penance as the holy fathers would enjoy it, than for them to continue doing evil. After he had comforted him with the great mercy of God, telling him that the sinner never leaves the sinner so that he will return to him through penance. So they both went out of the city together. The one who had not sinned made penance like his companion did, to give him courage and good example, and also to have a very hope to obtain from our Lord his grace and mercy. Within a short time after this, God showed to youholy fathers, by Reuelacion divine, declare the truth of this befallen / and he, the one, gave his body to penance for the salvation of his fellow / how is it that he had not committed the sin. / Men may do no fairer alms than to give their body to save their brother and to pray to God for his soul. / An other brother there was, seemingly tempted by the sin of lechery / therefore he came to one holy father dwelling near him, and he begged him that he would pray to God for him / but the more the holy father prayed, the brother said to him more urgently to pray for him. / And for this cause the said holy father was night and day in orison for him / but it profited him not / whereof the said holy father was sore discomforted, knowing that his orison was not heard. / But our Lord, to comfort him, showed to him a vision of the cause why he was not heard / and that it was by occasion of the negligence of him for whom he prayed / who would not help himself.To resist courageously against the temptations of the devils, but rather took pleasure in seeing the illusions they presented to him, putting in his mind the remembrance of many dishonest women. And how well it was in these foolish illusions that his good angel seemed to be full heavy and sorry that he did not resist against the said temptations. Nevertheless, he made no effort for it. So he said to the said brother. My friend, but if you take courage of yourself, casting a back to the delightments that the devil presented to thee, I cannot help it by my prayers. And therefore you must put yourself in mourning and to fast, to sigh and to weep, & other abstinences to do. You know that the leech when he will give to the patient some remedies against his lady, if you seek keep not yourself from such meats that are contrary to his help, with great pain the leech shall harm you. Also, yourself you are in deadly sin when you put no pain to recover the grace of God that you have lost, but do the contrary.The commander commands you to act through the pleasure you take in the temptations of the flesh. Help yourself, and God will help you. For other reasons, spiritual fathers as healers should not come together because they are restoring the soul's health.\n\nThe brother, through these remonstrations, took great contrition in his heart, obtaining God's mercy, and the slothful and wicked passion of lechery departed from him.\n\nFor no manner of need that a man has, he ought not to suffer any young woman to serve in his house, whether she is his kinswoman or otherwise. An hermit being in his hermitage and doing penance was wretchedly deceived by one of his kinswomen. For the devil stirred the same kinswoman to see the said hermit in his hermitage where he received her benevolently, and at this cause she stayed with him for a space of time, which time he knew carnally. Not far from the same hermitage dwelt a holy father, very devout, who, several days before the aforementioned incident, had happened.when he put water in a vessel of his own to drink, as he would take the vessel to have drunk from it, the vessel turned upside down in his hand and spilled the water, and he could not drink from it. Then he thought he would show this to his fellow for knowing what it meant. So he took his way to come to his hermitage, but he was detained by the night and compelled to lie in a temple where Yules were.\n\nAs he slept within the said temple, he heard the devils that said one to the other how that night they had made a hermit fall into the sin of fornication with a woman who was of his sister.\n\nThe holy hermit, hearing these words, was greatly marveled.\n\nOn the following morning, he began to walk forth on his way until he came there as his fellow was. Entering his hermitage, he found him trysting and near death. After greeting him, he told him how his water had spilled.out of his vessel when he should drink, and that to have his counsel in this matter, he had come towards him. That other who had committed the sin of lechery answered. Alas, my brother, I have greater need of your counsel than you of mine, for the last night I fell into the foul dishonest and abominable sin of fornication, whereof I have wickedly offended my god and my maker. Then his fellow said to him that he knew it well and showed him the way, how being asleep within a temple of Idols, he had heard the devils saying one to the other which one it was. Then he who had sinned, without hope, wished to go to the world and forsake his hermitage. But the other comforted him as well as he could, praying him to remain still in his cell, and that it was better to show out the said woman to the people, the two of them together might do penance until God had pardoned him his sin, which thing he did, and since led a life much devoted.A holy hermit in a place named Celia was severely tempted by the devil to commit the sin of lechery. He considered that it was necessary for him to engage in some work to keep his body occupied. This brother was a potter, so he decided to create a woman from clay. After she was made, he told his thoughts, which tormented him with the sin of lechery, that he had a woman to keep. However, despite this, he was continually tempted as before. He imagined that he should labor more than he had done before and created children from clay, telling his thoughts when they urged him towards lechery that he had created them.Both wife and children. Moreover, to overcome his passions, he proposed to labor more than he had done before, saying that need he must travel, as much for their living as also for clothing them. Finally, he wore himself out and traveled, so that with pain he might remove himself. And thus, God seeing his great perseverance took away from him all these foul thoughts and replenished him with His grace, which he glorified and gave thanks and praises to the name of our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. Nothing is lighter to be brought than the temptation of the flesh's sin. And because in this sin great and inordinate love soon takes hold, it is necessary to put away the nourishing of this sin by fasting and making the body lean. A brother once asked another brother, an abbot named Poemen, what he might do to resist against the sin of fornication, of which he had suffered and endured so much.Greete Payne that he lost thereby his understanding and became as furious. The holy abbot answered him that the sovereign remedy had been found by the prophet David, who says, \"I have struck the lion, and I have often slain the bear.\" That is to say, he took away the woodiness and the enforced anger of his head. That was the bowing and inordinate will of this sin of fornication.\n\nOther exhortations write Saint Jerome for the noble virtue of humility, which is the foundation of all virtues, and also the right necessary virtue of patience. And first, he puts an example of a holy hermit who dwelt in the deserts of Syria, who was a bondman and thrall to some lords dwelling in the city of Alexandria. This hermit every year came down from his hermitage to bring them the pension he owed them, as servants did to their lords.But you, lords, showed great reverence and perfect love towards him, requesting that he pray to God on our behalf when he came. His custom was to give you your pension and to put water into a basin to wash your feet, as was fitting because of his lordship. The lords who did not want him to serve them in such a lowly manner said to him, \"O good father, do not wrong us so greatly by washing our feet. For surely you exalt us if you do so.\" Then the holy father answered them, \"The almighty and sovereign God Jesus Christ has ordained you to be my lords, and I to be your servant. For this reason, I ought to do this service to you as your bound man. I pray you earnestly that you will accept this little service and receive the pension that I owe you. The lords answered that they would never take a pension from him again. But he answered them again, \"If you take it.\"not the said pension that he should never return to his hermitage, but should serve them all his life. Then they, fearing he would be angry and go back to his hermitage, took the said pension and gave it freely to the poor people for God's sake.\n\nOnce upon a time they asked him why he brought this pension to them as a bound man, since they would not take it. And he answered that he did so to discharge himself from the obligation whereof he was bound to them, and also fearing lest he would lose the merit of his fasting watchings and orisons if he did not pay the pension that he owed them, supposing in his mind that if he did not pay it, the good deeds he did in his hermitage would return to the profit of his lords under whose lordship his oratory or little house was built and set.\n\nGood and kind fraternity is often the cause of devotion; but yet much more is the spiritual fraternity.\n\nTwo men were German brethren and spiritual brethren.brothers, for they were bound together in religion. The devil's envy of all bounty sought to have separated them one from the other and instigated discord between them. It happened once that the youngest of both lit a candle at the altar. And as he should put it in the candlestick, the devil, insidiously, made it fall to the ground and put it out, thinking to cause noise and disturbance among the said two brethren. The priest of the law who heard the same devil's narrations was wonderfully ashamed, and considering the great loss of souls that the devil drew to him by the chain of Idolatry, went to the holy fathers to be instructed in the doctrine of our blessed savior and redeemer Jesus Christ. Reciting to them this that the devils had planned that same night. And finally, after he was baptized, he took the habit of a hermit. And through the grace of God, by which he was filled, he became a man of right holy life.primarily he was so humble that all the fathers were marveled by his great humility. And he affirmed that the virtue of meekness is that which most overcomes the devils of hell. Also by meekness, God our blessed savior and redeemer has victoriously brought under foot all the power of the devil. Furthermore, he certified that another time he heard the devils say that when they tempt one with a motion of injury the one against the other, if the one suffers patiently the injuries done to him, praying him that the injurer have patience as the young hermit did to his brother, Incontinence the devils have no more power to trouble or tempt him to sin. Howbeit, virtue is worthy to be honored; always the virtuous person ought to flee the places where men do honor him, to the end that the devil does not tempt him with vain glory.\n\nThe Abbot Poemen, for this purpose, recalled to his brethren the story of Theodosius, Emperor of Constantinople.There was a hermit who had a little house outside the town of Constantinople near a place of pleasure where emperors went to pass the time through recreation. Theodosius, knowing of the said hermit and that he never left his said house with the intention of going out, came near the place and made his people wait while he went there alone. He approached and knocked at the hermit's door. The holy hermit rose at once and opened the gate. After the Emperor had entered, he looked around the chamber and found nothing but a little dry bread. He asked the said hermit to give him some food.\n\nThe holy man offered him inconsequential bread, salt, and water. Then the Emperor asked him about how the holy fathers of Egypt lived in the desert. To this he replied that they lived continuously in prayer and in the care of their souls.\n\nMoreover, the Emperor...The emperor asked him if he knew him. He answered no. Then the emperor told him that he was Theodosius, emperor of Constantinople. The hermit knelt down before him on the ground. But Theodosius lifted him up, saying, \"You Religious are truly happy in this world, for you live without solicitude and are always at peace. All your labor is to save your souls and acquire the kingdom of paradise. In truth, I tell the holy father that I, who am emperor, have never rested, but have been and am continually in labor and tribulation, whether it is in drinking or eating. Desire for solicitude comes and tells my members. After the emperor saluted him honestly and took leave of him, the man of God, considering how the emperor had come to him, was afraid that many other lords would come in the same way. Therefore, fearing the great honor they might do him, he decided to go there.The desert of Egypt, along with other holy fathers, prevented St. Poemen from being drawn or brought away from his humility due to the pleasure he might have taken in the sight of the lords who were to come and see him. We should take heed of the example of this holy father, who took such pains upon himself to maintain his humility, without which we cannot attain eternal glory.\n\nRegarding the aforementioned Abbot Poemen, the judge of the province where he was, having heard many things about his holiness, sent a message and asked him to receive him into his house, as he wished to see him. Poemen thought within himself that if the said judge came to him, many others might also come, revealing the secrets he had kept since his youth. And through his cunning and malice, the devil might tempt him with vain glory. Therefore, he:The abbot Poemen ordered that all the merits he had acquired should not be forfeited. When these matters were considered, the abbot Poemen sent word to the judge that he should not receive him. This answer made the judge angry and wrathful, supposing that the holy father would not receive him because he was too great a sinner. He always thought within himself how he might best speak with him. So he advised himself and had himself taken and brought to prison, intending that when the aforementioned Poemen should know of it, he would come to sue for his deliverance or else he would be content to receive him in his cell or little house.\n\nAnd this he sent word to the holy abbot Poemen, that he should not be angry for the imprisonment of his newcomer. For as soon as he would come and speak with him, he would be delivered out of prison. The sister of the said holy man, weeping, went to the desert to tell him these tidings, but he had already...\"mervellous constraint / for he neither opened the door nor spoke to his sister, therefore she, as a woman from her wit, began to curse Poemen because he had no compassion over her, saying, \"O right hard-hearted and evil man, moved through the tears of my sister Germain. I have but one only son whom you love, and he is in danger only because he will not obey the petition of the judge. The abbot Poemen sent such or similar words to the judge. Sir Judge. Poemen has begotten no children over me whom he ought to sorrow or make compassion. The judge, hearing these words, sent him a letter containing the following: Abbot Poemen, if you will not come to speak with me to end this matter, write to me in the form of a petition, & I shall grant you all that you shall desire of me. Then, at the exhortation of some, Poemen wrote to him in this manner: Your nobleness shall make good information of the life of my new-found [person], & if he has deserved death, make him\"A father in this present world is punished for his sins so that he may escape eternal pain. If he has not done the deed for which he should die, make him suffer according to your laws.\n\nAnother holy father from Egypt, named Agathon, was visited by some brothers out of curiosity to see his great patience and humility. They tested him by inflicting many great injuries upon him, claiming that all his holy fathers were enslaved through his pride, and that he set them all to naught in his boisterous and blasphemous behavior. With this, they asked him why he blasphemed his fellow brethren. To prevent people from supposing him to be the only lecherous one, Agathon continued to slander the others. The holy man Agathon answered these injuries and others humbly, unable to deny them.The accused sinner, who was he, knelt before them and said, \"My brothers, I beseech you to pray to God for me, a wretched sinner, that through your intercession my God will grant me pardon and, through your merits, indulgence and remission.\" The injured brothers inflicted more harm upon him than before, accusing him of heresy. But the holy father replied, \"My brothers, I know myself to be a great sinner. Your actions harm neither my soul nor my body, for it is nothing in me.\" After they had heard his answer, they cast themselves down on their knees before him, asking him to pardon those actions imputed to him, and prayed him for his great humility by which he had endured all patiently without retaliation. Then Agathon spoke, urging humility, which grows infinite.I have a willingness to suffer all accusations, except the one of heresy. Our savior Jesus Christ endured all the injuries and shame the Jews inflicted upon him to give us an example of humility. He also suffered temptation from the devil. But when the devil proposed to be worshipped by him, he could not endure it. For that injury, he always endured to his death the false accusations and insinuations the Jews testified against him, giving us an example that we ought to endure and bear patiently all injuries and reproofs. However, regarding the sin of heresy, for which you have accused me because the said sin separates men from God and joins them with the devil, I cannot endure it. For if we were separated from God, we would not know to whom we should pray for the remission of our sins. And on the other hand, if we are joined to him, he will be our protector and will give us his protection at the last.Royal me so that we may do our duty and Isaac desiring to be far from them, went to the place where they should not find him hiding himself in a large bush. The brothers, seeing they could not go any further, unloaded an ass they had, which bore their provisions for eating on the way. They let him go to pasture where he would. But a wonderful thing happened; for the ass went straight to pasture and rested itself at the bush where the holy father Isaac was. And in the morning, when they wanted to go on their way, they went to the said bush where they found their ass by the holy man whom they wanted to bind and bring away by force. But he would not let himself be bound; instead, he answered them in great humility. My brothers, I see well that it is the will of God that I should obey you.\n\nAlso in the said desert dwelt two brothers living together. They were greatly commended and praised by the other brothers because of their patience and humility. One of themIn a monastery lived a religious man who, after a long illness, could not recover his health because the brethren had no delicious food to restore his appetite and were not well versed in caring for the sick. A devout woman, considering these matters, begged the abbot to send the religious man to her house, stating that it would be easier for him to recover there than in the monastery. The abbot, desiring to help his religious man, granted the woman's request and sent him to her house, instructing the woman to take good care of him without neglecting him. The sick religious man was informed of this arrangement.\"therefore he made his prayer to God, saying: O my sovereign God, who alone sees and knows the great evils and vexations that I endure and the need in which I am, where it is so that I know the true reward of those who do some services to your power and needy servants for the love of thee. I humbly beseech you that it may please you, by your great and benevolent liberality, to reward this good woman in the everlasting life of all the good and services by her done to me for the love of thee. Giving unto her the hundredfold reward thereof, as thou hast promised in the holy scripture to them that shall serve thee truly. This prayer the same religious continued for a long time and until the hour of his death. But before he deceased in the presence of many religious and other people of devotion who had come to see him in his last necessity, he desired that the staff which he had borrowed in time of his sickness should be planted and set upon his grave.\"exorting the assistants and others who had spoken of him and of his good keeping, if they had had any evil opinion of him, that when the said staff should sprout and have flowers and bear fruit, they should then have steadfast belief that he had never sinned with her. And if it did not become green and bear fruit, that they should give credence to the words that men had said of him and of her as the truth. This was done. And it happened miraculously that the staff, after it was placed upon his grave in the earth as he had desired, suddenly became green with flowers and bore fruit, of which all the brethren together honored and glorified the might of God. And St. Jerome writes that he himself saw the tree that grew and sprang from the said staff. By this it clearly appears to us that our blessed Creator carefully keeps those who serve him with good affection and true confidence. And whatever slander or shame is done to them.A poor man, vexed and troubled by the devil, was brought to an holy abbot named Appolon by some people who prayed for him for three days. The said holy man, at their prayers and supplications, answered that he was not of great merit towards God that he should have given him any power or authority over the devil. But the man answered that they prayed more and more, wherefore he, seeing their great constance, came before the said sick man and conjured the devil, saying: \"In the name of God our Creator. O spirit infamed, I command thee to depart soon from the body of this creature.\" The devil then answered: \"I never abode in a place when I am commanded in the name of God to depart. Nevertheless, or that I shall go, I ask the said man what\"\"betoken these words in the gospel: what are the others? What are you sheep? A holy man answered in this manner. The others represent the unjust and wicked among whom I am the worst because of my great and outrageous sins. But God knows only the sheep. Then the devil, crying with a low voice, said, \"I am Apollon, I cannot endure your great humility any longer before you. And inconceivable he left the patient as half dead, whom he had tormented so sorely, and went away crying horribly. He was heard by all those present, who saw the miracle and rendered thanks to our Lord that such great miracles are done by the merits of his humble servants.\n\nAfter the rehearsal of the holy fathers, there was a religious man in the desert of Syria. Desiring to be instructed in good manners for the salvation of his soul, he went to see the holy fathers who dwelt in a place called Celia. After that, he\"had there been a little while, many of the brethren came and visited him to hear and learn from him some good for the soul. He had the gift of God that he could teach prudently other people.\n\nThe religious who had lodged him was much envious of the worship the other religious gave him and said to himself, It is long ago since I first came to dwell in this desert, and now the brethren come not to see me but only on holy days, and every day they come to visit and see him to whom I have given lodging, who now come but late.\n\nThen he sent word through his disciple that he should leave his said lodgings. For he intended to occupy it. The disciple came to the holy father and showed him his errand, saying, \"Father devout, my father has sent me to find out how you do, for he heard that you were like.\" A good servant, he was not like the servant of this present time, who is more ready to bear the bad news.The holy father answered the disciple that he should thankfully acknowledge his fair father and recommend him to his deep prayers. He also told the disciple to pray for him, as he felt his strength greatly weakened.\n\nThe disciple returned to his fair father and said to him, \"Father, he prays earnestly that you give him leave to avoid two days, which he will see pursued by another.\"\n\nAfter three days had passed, he sent his disciple back to tell the holy father that he intended to depart or else he would be hunted out with a staff.\n\nThe disciple returned to the holy father and said, \"Fair father, I have come here because my father is greatly troubled to know if you are better at ease than before. Three days have passed, so tell me how you feel now.\"\n\nThe holy man answered, \"My brother, I thank God highly that you have taken such concern for me.\"The disciple spoke to his abbot, \"Please pray for me; through your prayers, I have recovered my health. The disciple came to his abbot and said, \"My father and friend, pray that you have patience until Sunday, and inconveniently he will depart. Sunday had come, and the religious man, moved by anger, went out of his lodgings with a staff to chase the other from his house. The disciple, seeing his master's fury, prayed him to allow him to go first, lest any brothers were with the other religious men, and he would not be ashamed to make amends. The disciple, inconveniently departed, and came to the devout religious man and said, \"My father and friend. My father approaches, I advise you to leave before him, for he loves above all others.\" Then the good man issued out of the house, glad, and when he came to him, he knelt on his knees and said, \"O my dearly beloved\"brother, I thank you much for lending me your cell for God's sake. To whom humbly I beseech that he will reward you for it in the life that ever shall last. That other holy father threw the staff from him and took him in his arms to kiss him. After he signaled himself to go take his repast with them in the said cell. And when they arrived, the fair father abbot commanded his disciple if he had delivered to the other his messages that he had charged him to tell him, to make him void his lodgings. The disciple answered, \"Certainly, fair father, I tell you that when you commanded me to go to him, I dared not for the reverence and obedience that I owe to you as my father / to answer any words against him, but never told him that you had me tell him that.\" The Religious, hearing the disciple speak, and knowing his prudence, cast themselves down at his feet and said to him, \"I promise you from henceforth.\"thou shalt be my master, and I shall be thy disciple. For by thy temperance and the good fear that thou hast had of me, thou hast delivered my soul from sin. And by this we see that servants ought to love more the salvation of their masters' souls than to their own wicked wills against their salvation, to obey or please them.\n\nThe holy fathers testified about one named John, who was a disciple of Paul the abbot, that this John was very patient, humble, and obedient. And when his abbot commanded anything to be done, however difficult, he never said anything against it nor murmured against him.\n\nIt happened once in his monastery that men had great need to have a quantity of dung of oxen. So the abbot Paul sent his disciple John to fetch the said dung where he could find it. The disciple Incontenent yielded himself ready to go, but nevertheless he told him that he had heard many people say that there about was a lionsess that devoured the people who went there.Mette. Thabbot playing said to her, \"Go, go, care not for it. If she comes to you, you shall keep her and bring her with you.\" This said the good disciple John departed and sought so long until he had found the one he sought. But the lioness came there, which leapt upon him to devour him. The young disciple, desiring to do as his master had commanded him, forced himself to take her, but she scorned him out of his hands. \"O best tarry thy self,\" my father abbot has told me, \"that I should bind it to thee, that I should bring thee before her.\" Then, by divine suffrage, you said, \"Best tarry her self still till she was borne,\" and finally suffered herself to be led by the disciple to the presence of his abbot, who, seeing this miracle, glorified the name of God. And his disciple said to her, \"My father commands thee.\" Thabbot, fearing that the disciple might glorify himself for this work done by him, reproved him greatly, saying, \"Thou.\"A foolish overmuch man to have brought hither this fearful beast, therefore bind ye her to me, so she may go where she pleases herself.\n\nOne of the holy fathers sent one of his disciples to fetch water at a well which was far from his cell or cottage. This disciple forgot to take with him the cord to draw up his bucket in the well, and was sorry when he found himself without it at that well. For he did not know how to draw water or dared not go home without. Finding himself thus troubled, he began to pray to God on his knees and sore weeping made such a request and supplication. O my God, who hast made heaven, earth, and all the wonderful things that are in them, thou knowest that thy servant hath been sent here to bring thee water. I beseech thee that thou wilt suffer me to bear it to thee. Soon after, he turned his speech to the well, saying, O well, give succor to the servant of God my abbot, who hath sent me here.A brother named Brynge drew water from the well. After these words, the water of the well arose above its borders by the divine suffrage of God. When the disciple had filled his vessel, the water returned to its place. And this done, the disciple went and bore water to his abbot, thanking and glorifying the name of our Lord.\n\nEulalius was a good religious man, full of all humility and great simplicity. Whenever anything blameful was done in the monastery where he dwelt, those who had done it excused themselves, saying that Brother Eulalius was responsible.\n\nThen, when his elders came to reprove him for the faults falsely and without cause laid upon him, the good religious man knelt before them on both knees and begged their pardon as if he himself had committed the said faults.\n\nHowever, because the elders, whom he was often accused, saw that he did not correct them,He humbly submitted himself for their admonitions. Following the monastery's rules, they set him to fast for many days as penance. He endured it all patiently, obeying his elders and their wills. Believing, based on the accusations of the other young brothers against him, that he should persist in his malice and wickedness without correcting or amending himself, he went to their father abbot to ask what was to be done about Brother Eucalius, whom they described as incorrigible. They did not believe that he endured the said penance out of humility, but rather that he committed all the sins of which he was accused. They told the abbot, \"Father, we have suffered and endured as much as possible the great sins of Brother Eucalius. By his wickedness, sloth, and negligence, all the necessities and ornaments of our church have been wasted and torn.\" He pays no heed to our corrections and will do nothing.For your consideration: The abbot answered, \"Brothers, please be patient and remain here. Afterward, we will dispose of this matter as we deem most expedient and lawful. The abbot then entered his secret oratory and prayed to God to reveal what should be done regarding the religious matter, which had been revealed in divine revelation. He then gathered all the religious members and said, \"Believe me, brothers. I value the matter of Eulalius, with his humility and patience, more than all the works of those who murmur against him and disparage him. To demonstrate his merit before God, bring all your matters here, and you shall see what I will do.\" The father abbot then gathered all the matters and had them burned.In effect, nothing remained there unburned except only the mat of Good Eulalius. The brothers, seeing this miracle, humbly requested his pardon for what they had spoken and lay at his feet. Since then, they honored him as one of the greatest in their monastery. Eulalius, suspecting he might lose humility through vain glory or otherwise, departed on a night and went to hide himself in a cave to escape the worship and pride of the world.\n\nIt is profitable and necessary to know the laudable virtue of the father abbot Anastasius, considering the same. His remarkable magnanimity and kindness compel us to be such at his example. He had a book of fine parchment containing both the old and new testaments. This book was esteemed to be worth great price and value.In the eighteenth part, there was a sum of money circulating that at the time had great value. A Religious man came to see him, and seeing that he was not in his lodgings, saw the aforementioned book which, because it seemed fair to him, he took and carried away as a thief. Anastasius returned to look for his book to study in it, but he did not find it.\n\nSince he was told that the said Religious man had been in his lodgings, he thought that he had stolen it. Fearing that he might deny it if he questioned him about it, he dared not tell him anything about it.\n\nWithin a short time, the said Religious man brought the aforementioned book with him to sell in a city nearest to the monastery of the said Saint Anastasius.\n\nThe marketplace merchant to whom the Religious man wanted to sell the book refused to buy it, unwilling to pay the price without knowing how much it might be worth, so he lentThen the marchant went before the abbot Anastasius to show him the said book and ask if it was worth the sixteen shillings. The good abbot Anastasius answered that it was a good book. So the marchant went back to the brother and gave him the book in exchange for a certain price of silver, agreeing to tell him that the abbot had said it was a good book and worth the price.\n\nThe brother was afraid and asked the marchant if the abbot had said anything else. The marchant replied that he had not. The brother, feeling remorseful, asked for the book back from the marchant and returned it to Bishop Anastasius, asking him to forgive his sin.\n\nBishop Anastasius refused to take back the book but gave it to the brother, urging him to keep it.A brother once lived with Anastasius, who would not depart from him until Anastasius had reclaimed it as his own. The brother signed and wept profusely, seeking forgiveness for his sin. When the holy abbot saw his contrition, he allowed this brother to dwell with him for the remainder of his life.\n\nAnother hermit, named Pyot, lived with Saint Anthony for a time. When Pyot reached the age of 25, with Saint Anthony's consent, he went to a secluded and distant place to live in solitude. This place was situated between the land of Nitrye and the desert of Sychye. When he arrived at the said place, he was compelled to dig a well to obtain water from the earth.\n\nAs he was laboring and busy with it, he intended to drink from the water he would find there. It happened that the water was found to be extremely salty and bitter. Consequently, all those who came to see this holy hermit were forced to bring water with them.them because they could not drink from his well, supposedly. Nevertheless, the good Piet used the same water during the span of thirty years and had no other drink. And when the other brethren told him that he should leave that place to avoid the said water, he answered to them, \"My brothers, if we flee the bitternesses of this world, how do you think that we are worthy to have the joys of paradise?\" Piet lived a hard and sharp life. Whenever he went to any other place, he carried with him only a loaf of bread as black as ashes and five figs. In thirty years, he never left his hermitage, not for the death of his parents nor for any other necessity. At the end of thirty years, his own sister, a widow, sent two of her children to ask him to come speak with her before her death, to whom he answered that he would not go. Therefore, these two children went to Saint Anthony and asked him to command Piet to come.A hermit named Vysyte visited his sister and Saint Anthony did the same. They took another religious man, Brother Pyot, with them, obeying Saint Anthony's command to visit his sister. When they arrived at her house, Vysyte closed his eyes because he shouldn't see her and said to her, \"I am your brother. Behold me as much as you will. Inconvenience-free, I departed and returned to my hermitage.\" He did this to instruct prelates and abbots not to grant their religious followers permission to see their parents or neighbors when they went away due to the great inconveniences that could occur.\n\nAn Abbot named John lived in a mountain named Calamys. He had a sister who was a religious woman. She had urged him to leave the world and all its vanities. He had been twenty-four years in the monastery without ever leaving it, but his sister desperately wanted to see him.And to this intent she sent him letters, in which she humbly begged him to come and speak with her before the end of her life, to be comforted by him at her last end. Nevertheless, he would not go. Therefore, she wrote to him again, warning him that if he did not come to her, she would be compelled to go to him. The holy abbot was greatly troubled in his mind, but if he went against his sister's intent and purpose, he would be the cause of many other women, following her example, going to see their kin who were of the religion, to the great harm of their salvation. Therefore, he preferred to go to her, rather than give her occasion to come to him. So, he took two of his religious with him and went to the monastery where his sister was. After knocking at the gate, his sister came there, accompanied by two other women of the religion.In the twenty-fourth year, she did not know her brother, who did not know her well, yet he refused to be recognized. The brothers who came with him asked her for some water to drink, as they were weary and parched from the journey. After they had drunk, they returned to their monastery without saying any other words to her. Not knowing that it was he, she wrote to him again, urging him to come see her or risk the peril of her soul. The abbot, her brother, in response sent her words, explaining that he had been with her by the same token she had given them drink. Therefore, it should be sufficient for her, and she should not see him otherwise. He also requested that she recommend him to prayers toward God, to more easily obtain salvation for his soul through her intercession. Another religious act was performed differently. Some people brought word thatHis sister was sick, and he intended to visit her, as he had not been summoned by her when he arrived at the monastery where she was professed. Incontinently, she sent word to him that he should return again, and that she would not speak with him, but only if she saw him in heaven.\n\nThis act the good lady performed to show that men should not be permitted or allowed, no matter who they are, to frequent monasteries where women of the Religion reside.\n\nTo know the virtues of Abbot Theodorus, it is noted that he was a disciple of Saint Pachomius, of whom it is written here before where it is touched upon how there are many monasteries and infinite Religious communities under him in Thebais.\n\nIt happened that his sister, seeing him, transported herself to the monastery of which he was abbot. Some of his Religious, incontinently, showed him her arrival. Upon learning this, he was unwilling.for speaking with her, I sent my words, so that she might know I was in good health and that she should not worry about coming to see me. Moreover, I begged her to renounce the deceitful vanities of the world and take her vows to enter the state of religion. This was so that she might come to felicity and eternal beatitude, and after that she should think of herself that if she did not do so in keeping God's commandments, she could not be saved. And in having steadfast faith and hope in God, she should live eternally. When she had heard my answer, as she had been inspired by the Holy Ghost, she entered a monastery of religious women.\n\nThe mother of the said Theodorus, upon understanding these tidings, had some bishops write to Saint Pachomius, father abbot of the said Theodorus, her son, commanding him to come.Theodorus, upon receiving the request of the bishops, came to speak with his mother, as Saint Pachomius had agreed. However, Theodorus, having seen and read his father's letters, informed his mother that, out of fear of offending God, he could not speak with her. For doing so would provide occasion and means for many religious persons, both men and women, to act similarly. Therefore, he asked her to be content and not speak with him for the time being. She, remaining at the gate when she knew he would not come speak with her, vowed never to return to her house. Instead, she went to a monastery of virgins nearby, intending to see him again when he would leave the abbey for its necessary affairs, and also hoping to profit from the holy and devout life led by the virgins there.do her salvation in teaching example to the consequence of her son. Saint Pachomius, whom is written about here before, did marvelous things and was almost equal to Saint Anthony. He made a time his prayer to God that in a certain time he might have no lust for sleep, so that night and day he should watch to fight against the devils until he had accomplished that which David says in his psalm. He never says in speaking of the devils, I shall not cease until they are overcome. This holy Pachomius said that the devils have no power over us, so that we will resist their temptations, by means of the grace of God which we ought to call upon. He also said that many times he had heard the devils when they recruited their companions together, and how once one of them said these words: \"I give often wonderful lettings and great temptations to a hermit, but as soon as I have given him one assault, he casts himself down.\"To the earth and I pray, therefore I am compelled to flee away. Another said I hold one in my possession which fulfills foolishly all the wicked thoughts I set before him. I make him often chide and brawl and make noise with his neighbors. I yield him slothful to the service of God.\n\nAnd therefore, the holy man Pachomyus said to his brethren, \"I pray, my children, that you be always ready to call upon the grace of the holy ghost, and watch carefully in doing the same. With this, he warned them to have ever in their minds the name of Jesus. And after this, he had truly taught them thus, they went again to their houses, and never they spoke idle words one to another, but always of the holy scripture, and primarily of those things that moved them to prayer and love and fear of God.\n\nOur Lord gave a singular gift of grace to one of the old holy fathers, for he saw wonderful things which his brethren might not see. When yeBrothers disputed among the holy scriptures. He saw angels assisting them. Contrarily, when they discussed vain things, he saw devils in the likeness of hogs playing among them, taking pleasure in their words. His custom was at any time that he saw such visions to withdraw himself into his chamber, and there wept pitifully, considering the mysteries and wretchedness in which the devil puts us through his subtlety, deceptions, and malicious temptations. And after he went again to his brothers, he exhorted them to avoid vain words and foolish thoughts, showing them that by the same means we receive in us the grace of God and run into His Indignation, and of all the court of paradise. Moreover, he said that he was certain that as soon as and inconveniently that we propose or within our thoughts, the angel takes possession of our soul. After warning them that they should not speak much, saying it in the bond of:\n\nInconveniently the angel takes possession of our soul.words/men may not escape sin/and also the spirit is thereby more weak to withstand against the wicked temptations \u00b6In the palaces of Theodosius, there was a holy man named Arseny, who had two children: one was called Archadius, and the other Honorius. The good Arseny, after he had in his heart earnestly considered the vanities of this world, forsook all and went to the desert of Syria to spend the remainder of his life in solitude and to be separated from the world's worship. He, being yet in the world, was most richly clothed of all others serving that emperor. And when he was in the said desert, he was the man among the others who was most poorly and foully dressed. On a certain occasion, going to be in his cell with many of his brethren, he heard a voice that said to him, Arseny, come out of your chamber, and I shall show you the vain works of men.Which voice he heard, it seemed to him that it came out of its habitation, and inconveniently he saw a great Ethiopian who hewed wood and piled it in a heap. After he had piled much of it, he thought to lift it upon his back, but he could not, because there was too much of it. Yet again he hewed more of it and set it upon the other.\n\nThen after he saw another Ethiopian who took water out of a pouch and put it into a vessel which was so full of holes that it could not hold any water which was spilled and went out at the holes.\n\nAfter he was brought to another place where he saw a great building like a temple, before which were two men on two horses, and each of them bore a long perch on his shoulders. Together they would have entered the said temple, but they could not, as they were hindered by the letting down of the said perches that they bore over their heads when they would have passed through the gate. Neither of them would make himself to the other.Either of them would be the first to enter. The visions were explained to you in the following manner. First, those who bore perches toward you signified that you were in charge of religious houses, as abbots and another, who in their offices became proud and would not humble themselves one toward the other, in disregard of the word of God that says, \"My children learn from me, for I am humble and sweet in heart, and by this means you shall find the salvation of your souls.\" This proud people, by their pride, remain outside the church and do not come in, that is, they have no part in paradise. He who gathered wood into a heap signifies those who commit many sins, and when they believe they are to return to do penance, they are so burdened that they cannot apply themselves to doing any good, but are slothful and negligent, and thus they continually gather and join sin upon sin, and finally they are damned because they will not leave their evil.customs. That other [person] took water out of a pouch and put it in a vessel full of holes, signifying those who do some good but nevertheless do more harm than good, thereby losing their merit and consequently the felicity eternal.\n\nAnother abbot named Daniel testified about the said Abbot Arseny: that he applied himself gladly to make baskets from the leaves of certain trees; to this work he must have water to wet his leaves, and often it happened that the water with which he helped himself became stagnant, causing his habitation to be infected and marred. Yet he would not cast away the said water but when there was little of it, he put more to the same, which some of his brethren blamed, asking why he did not cast away the old water and take fresh water instead.\n\nTo whom he answered that in times past he was accustomed to have all manner of sweetness and fragrant smells in his chamber because it should be sweet-smelling, therefore instead of the said water.sauors fully sweet smelling of that which he had delighted long, he would have other [it] rotting and stinking to the point that he should not be reproved or chastised for having lived in this world too daintily, bringing again to this purpose the horrible stenches and torments of hell that they who are damned feel, and the history of the wicked rich man you lived here so daintily, which is now buried in the pit of hell.\n\nAnother brother demanded of him how he ought to make his orisons, saying that for no prayer that he made he could not have a very nor steadfast compunction, namely because he did not understand the scripture.\n\nThe holy abbot Arseny answered him, that they who did not understand the holy scripture ought continually to pray God as well as the great scholars did, and gave an example of the serpent that listens after the voice of the enchanter, for all that it may not understand him, always submits itself to the said enchanter.\n\nAlso they presented to him the holy words ofThe faith of the holy church is unchanging for those who understand it not. They constantly believe in God and chase away devils through the power and strength of such holy words they possess. Primarily, this is because devils cannot hear the holy words spoken by true prophets and saints.\n\nAt times, not far from this cell or habitation of St. Macarius, a murder was committed. A simple man was unjustly accused for it, and with authority from the justice men, they intended to take him. He fled to the monastery of St. Macarius. The officers pursuing him to find him and bring him to them threatened the monks and their abbot Macarius that if he was not handed over to them, they and their abbot would die for it.\n\nBecause Macarius did not know how to resist, he requested the sergeants to bring him there where the one who had been murdered was buried. They did so, and then he made his prayer.god and anyone he called out, the one who answered, \"Here I am.\" Saint Machary then urged him to tell if he had been killed by him or if anyone would take him out of his monastery. He replied, \"No.\" The same sergeants were greatly astonished and knelt before Saint Machary, asking him to reveal the deed's doer. The holy man answered that he would not do so, as it was sufficient that Innocent be delivered and it was not his place to accuse or condemn the malefactor, who might do penance and save his soul.\n\nIt is clear from this that churchmen should not accuse or know of sinful deeds, lest death follow not thereby.\n\nA brother gave a grape of rasins to the said Saint Machary, which he sent to one of his brethren who was sick. The sick brother sent it to another, and thus it was passed from cell to cell until it finally reached him who...last re\u00a6ceyued it sente it agayne vnto Saynte Macharye. The whiche when he kne\u2223we yt the sayd grape hadde be gyuen & sente from one brother to the other / & namely consyderyng yt the celles & ha\u2223bytaco\u0304ns were sore ferre from eche o\u2223ther / he thanked god by synguler affec\u00a6cyon / of the grete charytees whiche by this he knewe was amonge his Rely\u2223gyouses.\n\u00b6Of hym selfe it is wryten / that the deuyll for to deceyue hy\u0304 / transtygured hym lyke a monke / & came & knocked atte his dore sayeng. Macharye aryse & come with the other monkes that lon\u00a6ge syn are in oryson. \u00b6The holy man knowyng that it was the deuyll he an\u00a6swered to hym. O false lyer enuye of trouthe / what hast yu to do now to bryn\u00a6ge thy selfe with ye company of the de\u2223uoute relygyouses whiche enforce them selfe for to praye god wherat the deuyl answered to hym. O Macharye yu kno\u00a6west not thenne how yt they neuer doo praye without vs. Now come on thy waye / & yu salt see yf I saye trouthe or not. \u00b6Thenne saynt Macharye sette hym selfe to oryson / &prayed God that he would show him if it was true that the devil had told him. After he went to the church where the brethren said matins and found himself unable to contain himself within the church, he saw a multitude of devils as black as Ethiopians or men from India with their relics. To some they shut their eyes and to others they closed their mouths, so they should not sing, and before others they assumed the shapes of women. And whatever prayer the said brethren made, those same devils brought again diverse fantasies into their minds. Always some of them were very devout, and in such a way they resisted against the temptations and mockings above said, that the said devils tarried not near them but went away all confused.\n\nWhen Saint Machary saw this scorn or derision, he began to sigh and weep and made such an orison to our Lord.O my redeemer, I humbly beseech you to give help and succor to our souls, which are full of wicked deceits. After he had called together all his Religious and questioned them concerning their conscience, after he had seen the devils tempt them when they were in ordination. Some answered him and said that they had been determined to forsake their monastery. And some said that they had been inclined to commit the detestable sin of lechery. And others answered according to their desires and affections. It is to be noted that by the things above said, we may know that when our ordinands are not made with servant devotion towards God, this procedure of deceits that the devil gives us is what results, wherefore we ought to enforce ourselves to withstand, and by this means he shall depart from us all confusion. For when you thought by good chance that his reigns, that is, his will and his strength, were full of deceits.\"So he had no health. And it should not be doubted that we, the sinners, can make any prayers to God without infinite temptations, for when they come to us, we cannot cast them away, but we take them in and mortally delight in painful pleasures. Here follow certain salutary questions that the holy fathers made to each other, beginning in Latin. Quid frater? For the intention and meaning, and also to learn it for answering briefly to the questions in the manner of quolibet written under, these which are much profitable for the salvation of the souls of the devout Christian people, both religious and leading an active and contemplative life. Every person ought to see and note in his heart the said questions and answers made thereon as follows: These things were found to have been spoken by ancient holy fathers, who in their time were abbots, monks, and hermits, leading a very holy and good life. Among all other martyrdoms concerning them, \"\"youl souls salvation is wonderful necessary & profitable to all persons / you desire by good living to seek the way of salvation. Then, to enter into this matter, note and know that at that time there was a Religious man who asked his abbot named Syswin how he ought to live in his hermitage. He answered that he should eat bread and salt and drink water, for by this means he would not need to fetch anything. An other questioned the abbot Pomer how and when he ought to fast. The which answered that the Religious ought to fast ever and eat little, and he said that he who fasts without taking any food for three or four days in a row is deemed to desire vain glory in this world, and it is better to fast while taking one's repast every day moderately, rather than to take dinner not to the full of the belly, but so moderately that men shall always have hunger and thirst, as the old holy fathers had who led and continued such a life.\"Sylvan and a disciple of his named Zachary entered once into a monastery where they ate a little of the brethren's food of the same monastery. And as they wished to depart after dinner, this Zachary was a little thirsty. But the said abbot told him, \"My friend, it is a fasting day; thou mayst not drink.\"\n\nZachary answered, \"What father have we eaten, wherefore is there no dauger?\"\n\nThe abbot said, \"The food we have taken was necessary. Nature must be nourished, but nevertheless we must keep our fast.\"\n\nSome other religious went to Abbot Joseph at a place called Panephe, intending to ask him counsel as to how they ought to receive the brethren who were coming to see them, and whether they should be glad to have their trust in them. But before they had made this inquiry to him, the said abbot said to one of his disciples, \"Marvel not at what you will see me do today.\"\n\nThen he caused two seats to be made for those who had come to him.And he placed one hand on each side and had them sit there. He then went to his cell and put on an old vestment that he could scarcely wear. Thus attired, he came before them again. Afterward, he went back to his cell and put on another, more honest one and passed before them once more. Thirdly, he appeared before them in his daily habit, which astonished the brethren and religious men, for they saw the same. And then he sat down among them. He demanded of these religious men if he had changed because of the diversity of his habits, to which they answered no. The abbot Joseph said again, \"I am not changed in order to have taken diverse habits; therefore, you ought to receive the brethren who come to you with gladness and be merry with them. And after, when you are alone by yourself, then you may see and weep; and by this means, you shall not be changed but in habits.\"Consciences should not be turned otherwise. Then the brothers perceived that he knew their thoughts, so they kept still their questioning and asked him nothing, knowing that he had answered to it or ever that it was proposed.\n\nAnother brother said that when a person is accustomed and naturally desires to eat much, which he might well do, and he abstains from it, he gets more reward in this doing than he gets from the little that he eats, and is naturally content with little food.\n\nAnother brother said that we ought to eat agreeably to what God gives us without regard to any other meats, and also we ought to yield thanks for what we may have.\n\nAnd for confirmation of the same, he said that there was once a hermit who so earnestly desired\n\nAnother holy father was so sick that he could not eat any meat. So was he desired by his disciple that he would be content to make him a little papmixed with honey which the holy father granted to him. It is to note that the said holy father, for all provision, had but a little honey, of which sometimes he ate. And also he had some oil for his light to be made of, which honey and oil were in two little pots, more like to each other. So it happened that in making his said pap, his disciple, in taking the pot where the oil was, intended to take the other where the honey was, and from this oil strongly smelling, he poured it into the said pap. And yet, though by means of the said oil the pap was of a right evil taste, nevertheless he ate twice of it, and at the third time, he told him that he might eat no more of it. The disciple, desiring that he should eat more of it, said to him, \"Father, it is so good, look, I shall eat of it with you.\" Then he took of the same to eat of it, and thus doing, he knew that it was all stinking.\n\nThen he knelt before the holy father and cried to him for mercy.\"saying. Alas, father, I am cause of your death / alas, why did you not tell me of it? The abbot answered, \"my son, do not be angry / if God had willed that I should have eaten it, He would have granted that you, Naabuzar,\n\nSaint Macharye had a custom / that when he ate with his brethren / if men presented him with flesh in a congregation or assembly of Religious eating together, where the Abbot Theodore was, a Religious among the others, it was found that he ate no manner of meat.\n\nAnd because he had brought with him some oil\nis it not that he asks / when you see that he eats nothing?\n\nThen the Abbot Theodore, in rebuking him because he had shown openly his abstinence, said to him,\n\nIt would have been better, my brother, that you had eaten flesh in your cell or habitation / than that you should have spoken these words in the presence of so many Religious / giving to know by the same words that rather you should have abstained from eating salt / than to show your\"abstynence / whiche he ought to haue kept secrete. \u00b6A brother in lykewyse came ouer to the abbot Syluayn whiche dwelled in the montayn of Syna. He seeyng that his Relygyouses occupyed themself to temporall werkes sayd to hym. \u00b6Fa\u2223der abbot / why suffrest yu that the bre\u2223thern werke & applye themselfe to ope\u00a6racyons worldly. Thou knowest well that it is wryten that Marye Magda\u2223lene hath chosen the best parte for her\u2223selfe / that is to wyte contemplacyon. \u00b6The abbot heryng these wordes / co\u0304\u00a6maunded that men sholde take to the sayd brother a boke of contemplacyon & that he sholde be shett within a cha\u0304\u2223bre there contemplatyuely for to apply hym selfe to deuoute oryson. The whi\u00a6che thyng was thus done / & the sayde Relygyouse was left within the sayde chambre all allone tylle that eueryche of them had taken his refeccyon / wher\u00a6fore he as wery & noyouse to be there so longe seeyng that he was not called for to ete / he came to the abbot & asked hym yf he sholde not ete. \u00b6The same abbot for to repreue hym of hisThe foolish sister speaks to him. You are a man all spiritual, requiring no maternal sustenance. With this, the brother acknowledges his error, fully understanding that he should have reproved him as previously stated. The holy father then says to him again, \"O brother, you now know that Mary requires Marthas presence, and it is through Marthas service that Mary is praised. In other words, the contemplative life necessitates the active life.\"\n\nThere were once two religious brothers, each named John. One of them, who was an abbot and smaller in stature, was tempted by pride and vain glory. He told the other, who was greater in stature, that he would lead an angelic life and serve God continually without any other task. So he left his monastery and all that he had, and went to a hermitage where he stayed for a while. Upon his return, he knocked at his brother's door. His brother asked, \"Who is there that knocks so?\" He answered, \"It is I, your brother.\"other brother kept his door shut and said, \"My brother is now with the angels. It may not be that he should have been a man. You must labor or else you cannot live.\n\nThen this other brother knew his great sorrow, crying mercy to his brother and took him to his work again.\n\nAnother brother was, who was greatly subject to the sin of blasphemy. And this brother, right sorry for this vice, went to all the old fathers he knew why to declare to them his mind on the matter.\n\nBut Incontinent it was that he came to them, he was so ashamed that he dared not show his sin to them. So he often went towards Abbot Poemen and never came back without telling him anything about it.\n\nBut the said abbot, seeing him pensive and melancholic, constrained him so that he opened to him his heart, saying to him that he was truly sorry that he was thus inclined to the sin of blasphemy.\n\nThen you said, holy father, counseled him, that at all times he should beA person falls into painful, true temptation and great sickness by four things: the first, an inordinate taking of food and drink; the second, oversleeping; the third, idleness; and the fourth, overcuriosity in dressing oneself.\n\nAbbot Poemen added that just as a king or prince ought to be ever ready armed and garnished with weapons to keep and defend his body from oppression and violence, so the soul of every Christian man willing to serve God ought always to be ready and garnished with virtues to withstand against the devil.\n\nAnother said that, like Trypheus putting away poison, Orion casts out and shows away foul thoughts and vain imaginings.\n\nAbbot Macharye aloneLiving in his cell, he had under him many religious ones who lived in various habitations, one from another. On a time as he went out of his monastery, he met the devil, who was clothed in a garment made of linen cloth, all full of holes, and at every hole was hanging a little pot full of water. When St. Macharye saw him, he asked him where he was bound for. He answered that he was going to tempt his Religious Ones. After he asked him what the said pots were for, he replied that it was for giving and presenting temptations to the Religious Ones, and if one did not please one, he presented another, and if the second was not agreeable, he presented another, and this said devil went his way. St. Macharye stayed there until he came again, who soon appeared to him. Then the saint greeted him, saying, \"You are saved.\" The devil then answered to him, \"Why do you address me when all the others are contrary to me and will not fall to me.\"Then Saint Machary had no friends, you said, Saint Machary replied, speaking the truth; but only one called Theopantus yielded to my temptations. After Saint Machary departed, he went to the hermitage of the said Theopantus. And after he had asked him to resist the temptations I gave him, he asked him to fast until the deceitful things came, and when such things were presented to him, he should lift up his head towards heaven and without hardness he should have help. Another time, Saint Machary returned and met the devil again, to whom he asked how the brethren fared, and he answered that they did evil for him, for there was not one who would obey him anymore. He added that the one who was accustomed to turn there as he pleased was now changed and could no longer be turned from his good purpose. Another religious person, continually tempted with various temptations which he could not resist,A person came to another religious one and asked for advice on how to resist. He answered that he had never been shamed or disgraced when he had understood the answer, but was badly paid for it and went to another. The second one blamed him severely for not telling him only that he had never been disgraced by the temptations of the devil, so he sent him back to the first. After he had come to him again, he begged mercy, saying he had acted impudently and without reverence in leaving him without answer.\n\nThe first religious one then said to him that since he had not taken his fill of bread or water, he had not obeyed the devil. Therefore, it is noted that an abstinent man is not so subject to the power of hell as others.A brother questioned the Abbot Poemen about how he should rule those who were filled with lust and kept their tongues from speaking. The Abbot answered him that if he kept them from filling themselves with belly and their tongues from speaking, they should never be idle, and their hope should always be set upon God. Two brothers who often had vain thoughts came to Abbot Helias. When he saw them so fat, he was ashamed to speak to his disciple. He began to laugh, saying, \"Certain brother, I am ashamed that you are so fat. A pale and white complexion with humility wrapped around it is the honor of a monk.\"\n\nA virgin woman of the Roman nation, greatly fearing God, departed from the said city and came to Alexandria to see Abbot Arseny. While she was within the town of Alexandria, the archbishop Theophyle welcomed her with great honor. To him she prayed that he would grant her the favor to speak with the said Abbot. The archbishop Theophyle granted her request.Arsenye requested her husband's supplies for herself, which he was unwilling to grant. When she knew he would not come to her, as a woman of great steadfastness, trusting in God and intending to go to him at his cell and not far from it, she found him walking and involuntarily knelt before him. Arsenyen then said to her, \"Woman, if you have come here only to see my face, look and behold me fully. You ought not to pay heed to my body but at my leisure if it pleases you. The virtuous woman was ashamed and dared not look up too much. The abbot reprimanded her for coming from so far over the sea only to see a man mortal.\n\nShe answered him humbly, \"I have not come only to see, but because you will remember me in your prayers.\"\n\nThe abbot answered, \"My friend, I pray God that I may never remember.\"\n\nWhen she had understood the abbot's answer, she returned to the city to die.The archbishop admonished her, saying she should not anger herself because many great men have been deceived and beguiled by women. The abbot Moses said, if a king wishes to bring a town under his subjection without shedding anyone's blood, take their bread and the water or the provisions wherewith the inhabitants live by. In like manner, the passions and allurements of the flesh are brought under control.\n\nA young man who was rich purposed to leave the world. And as it was good for him to do this, he went into a monastery. Nevertheless, his kings and worldly thoughts often drew him back.\n\nOnce, among other times, being outside the said monastery, the devils came about him and stirred up a great blast of wind and dust to frighten him. But he was more steadfast than before, for in contemplation he thought he should have no occasion to think of temporal things, and he forsook not only all his wealth.Goodes took off his vestments and cast them away, leaving him naked, and went directly back to the monastery. But the Lord, who forgets not his true servants, inspired one of the old monks of the same monastery, saying to him, \"Thou slothful man, arise, and receive joyously my champion.\" This voice he heard, and the good monk rose up and went against the other, who was coming out of his clothes, and knowing the cause of his nakedness, wondered much and clothed him again with the habit of a monk. And when any came to the old monk to ask him counsel regarding their affairs, he counseled them as well as he could and also answered their questions. But when men asked him about the matter of forsaking the world, he sent them to the young monk and said to them, \"Come not to me for counsel on this matter, but go to that young monk.\" For I never didA man once was he, who for the world's sake, had given one part of his goods to the poor people and kept the other part for himself. He went to St. Anthony to become a monk. When St. Anthony knew him or had received him as a monk, he commanded him to go to the next city and to unclothe himself.\n\nAnother brother there was, who asked a holy father if he should keep two shields that he had spared to help himself if he were sick.\n\nThe holy father seeing that he would have been keen to keep the two shields, he answered him, \"You, [should not].\"\n\nAfter that, he went back to his house, afraid that the holy father had answered him so to fulfill his will. Therefore, he went to him again and questioned him as before.\n\nThen the holy father answered him that he was not wise for trusting in two shields.A monk there was who had nothing of the world but a book of gospels which he was to give to the poor for God's sake. I have sold that which counseled me day by day, he said to himself, to sell all that one has and give it to poor people because the same words were written in the said book of gospels that he had.\n\nA rich man once offered a pure gift of all his money to Abbot Agathon, begging him to take it. But he refused it. That other pursued him still, praying if he would not take his silver for himself at least, so that he might distribute it to the poor people.\n\nThen he answered that he would do two evils. The first was that he would receive the money, for he lived by the labor of his own.Saint Paul the hermit warned among the holy fathers of Egypt that a religious man, when he desires to have anything more than enough, is compelled to leave his monastery. In going out, he is easily deceived by the devil. Considering this, during one Lent, Saint Paul abstained from leaving his cell, although he had only a little provision of bread and a small vessel of water for making some porridge.\n\nTo avoid evil thoughts that he might have had in desiring unprofitable things, he set himself to make mats. When they were woven, he broke them into pieces and then remade them, preferring to do so rather than leave his cell.do so instead of going out of his lodgings to fetch more material to make other matters withal, dreading the temptations and deceptions of the devil that might have come to him in going out. The abbot Macharye, being in Egypt, found a thief who was carrying away his goods that he had in his chamber. And when he saw that he had been robbed, he, as a stranger, helped him to carry them away, saying such words or like. God has given them to us; he may take them back as he will; his will be done with them; and his name be praised and blessed in all things. Another brother often went to visit and see a holy father, a very old man, of whom he spoke. The abbot Agathon conducted himself in all his deeds with sovereign prudence, and likewise.in working and laboring with his hands, as well as in vestments and all other things, he kept the middle assessment. His vestments were such that they never appeared, neither to good nor to bad.\n\nYre or wrath, according to a holy father, begins with four things. The first by inordinate appetite to give and by burning covetousness to take. The second when one is obstinate in his opinion. The third when men desire to be honored. And the fourth when one thinks himself wiser than all others, by which he will hear a rule among them.\n\nYre also blinds the wisdom of man in four ways. First, when one owes ill will to his neighbor. Secondly, when he has an envy of the honors and goods that his neighbor has. Thirdly, when men take debate for a thing of nothing. The fourth way is when men, in the face, and if the visage makes any show of it, then the tongue must be restrained from speaking injury or blame, and if the tongue, by great passion of wrath, pronounces any.A rigorous man ought to be aware that after that he does not proceed to the way of the dead. Three degrees are among men who touch the passion named Ire. The first is when some man endures patiently all injuries and forgives lightly the person who speaks evil of him. This man follows the nature of Jesus Christ. The second is when a man will not injure anyone and also will not be injured. This man is of the kind of Adam. And the third when a man injures and hinders another body, and the same is of the nature of the devil.\n\nA Religious man was once injured by another. Therefore he went to Abbot Sonnyen to complain of the said injury done to him. And the abbot showed him that for the love of God he ought to forgive lightly the said injury, praying him to do so and putting vengeance in the hand of God. Nevertheless, he would not of this. Therefore the abbot, seeing his obstinate mind, desiredhym to pray God to take a way from him this wicked obstinacy. After this abbot made such an oration to our Lord, saying: O my God, have mercy on the indignation of this brother here. For it seems to him by his words that we have nothing to do with your help, since he says that of himself and by his might he can avenge. Then the brother, hearing his prayer, knelt down before the said abbot and cried him mercy. Another did likewise complain to the said abbot about a certain injury done to him. And he told him he should take it patiently and that a man is never injured but for his sins, and therefore we ought to answer to them that speak any harm against us. My friend, it is for my sins that you speak so many injuries towards me and for correcting me, wherefore I thank you.\n\nThe abbot Poemen said to his disciples: My brethren, I pray you, for your singular salvation, malice never overcomes your will, but when any body shall do harm to us,\n\n(Note: The text appears to be in Middle English. No major OCR errors were detected, and no meaningless or unreadable content was found to be present in the text.)To you only evil yield him good, in return, against those who cause our perfection by injuring us. The happier a religious man is when spoken to unfairly, the more glad he is for it, they say. Those who injure us bring about our perfection, always providing us with good patience. But those who speak fair words and sweetly to us, like flatterers, are the cause of our loss. It is written, he who shall bless you shall certainly deceive you.\n\nAnother holy father, at one time, when one of his neighbors had done him any injury, hastened to reward them with some good in return. And if the person who had injured him was dwelling far from him, he sent them some gifts.\n\nOne went to seek counsel from Abbot Sysonyn. If any thieves came into his house intending to kill him and he was on the stronger side, he was to write whether he should put himself against them to kill.them or no. The abbot answered that he should keep him well for that reason, but should let God do His will. For whatever happens to us, it is for the punishment of our sins. So we should give all to the godly disposing of Jesus Christ. To this end, it is found that certain thieves went towards a holy hermit and forced him to do them harm by violence. The hermit, to avoid their evil intent, began to cry out. Then the other hermits, his neighbors, ran to his aid and took the said thieves and sent them to the officers of the Justice, who kept them long in prison. The religious who were informed were very angry that they were not otherwise punished. So they went to Abbot Poemen and showed him the case. This abbot wrote to the hermit in rebuke, chiding him for not having the virtue of patience. The hermit, because of this, was long time in his cell or little house and did not go out of it. Finally, being sorry for this,A long time after the said thieves had been imprisoned, the employer openly released them from prison.\n\nA disciple of a philosopher, for certain offenses committed by him, made his master so angry that he told him he would never forgive him until he had endured and suffered the injuries of his fellows for three years. At the end of the three years, this disciple came to his master again and asked for forgiveness. His master told him that he should never forgive him until he had given certain gifts to those who had scorned him and done him evil for another three years. The disciple suffered yet for three years, and when the time had come to an end, he came again to his master, as he had done before, to learn philosophy in Athens.\n\nAt the gate of the city, there was an old philosopher who inflicted great injuries upon those who wished to enter.The disciple was prevented from entering the town to study philosophy by the inhabitants, who taunted and insulted him. Because he endured their provocation without responding, he was granted entry into the city of Athens without much difficulty. By this gate may be understood the gate of Paradise, through which men may not pass to seek heavenly glory without enduring many injuries. An hermit asked a holy father how he could attain heaven. He replied that more lightly he could not come there than by having patience in his troubles and injuries. If men do much to him, he should have more reward in suffering them than in doing any other penance. The Abbot Moses was asked by certain religious men that he would show them some good examples to save their souls. He commanded his disciple Zachary to tell them something. This disciple then put off his habit and traded.A man cannot be or should not be a monk unless he is similarly traded and afflicted with various adversities and troubles. The abbot Macharye said that a man brings himself under his own passions in overcoming himself. None should lose himself to save another, and any man should not agree with his neighbor to test his patience, for it often happens that a body, in the mood of another, falls into the sin of anger.\n\nCertain religious men, in the presence of Saint Anthony, praised another brother and his virtues. After his praises, Saint Anthony received injuries from him to test his patience. Saint Anthony said that he was like houses that have fair entrances and strong exteriors but are vulnerable at the back.\n\nThe brothers asked Abbot Isaac why the devils feared him so much, and he answered that since he became religious, they had.A religious person came to Abbot Achilles, who was spitting blood out of his mouth. The religious person, upon seeing this, asked him why this sickness came upon him. The abbot answered that the people had reported some words to him, which made him angry, but he would not reveal them. He prayed to the Lord that He would take away his wrath, and for this reason, he spat out blood during the prayer, which was the cause of his anger.\n\nDiverse brothers came to a holy hermit. As they approached his hermitage, they found shepherds singing dishonest songs. When they were within the cell of the said hermit, they asked him why he did not correct the said shepherds. He replied to them that he had often wanted to do so, but he considered that if he could not resist the temptations that would come to him through such songs, he would suffer greatly.Withstand greater temptations. To this end, he said that one should not restrain his tongue against his wrath. In like manner, with great harshness, he shall endure the movements and prickings of the flesh.\n\nThe Abbot John, being with all his monks, showed one after another their thoughts. One said, \"O John, my brother, speak sweetly, like common women, to gain the love of your believers.\" To whom the said Abbot answered, \"My word is true.\" The said brother, more moved by envy than before, said again to the said Abbot, \"Your body is full of venom.\" To which he answered, \"If you know that it is within my body as well as you know that it is without you, you should see much more devils than you speak of.\"\n\nIn Egypt was a Religious man, renowned for his great renown. During his renowned time, the Abbot Poemen came out of Syria to visit him.A brother dwelled in the said land of Egypt. Many one left the sight of the said Relygious to go towards the said Poemen, of whom the said Poemen became much envious. The abbot Poemen, knowing this brother to be discontented with the men, showed more respect to this Poemen than to him who had been so famous in the said land for a long time. He was very sorry and heavy-hearted that he was the cause of his anger. So, Poemen gathered all his Relygious together with him and went to visit and see the said brother, who would not open his door to them at first because he saw that Poemen was praying in his presence. He made him and his companions come in. Afterward, they kissed each other and were at the same hour very good friends together. The said Relygious said to Saint Poemen that he was of much more perception than he had heard tell.\n\nAn abbot named Mutues made a cell somewhere in a place called Ercleona where great envy was upon him from many one.The brother was constrained to depart from that place. So he went to another place and made another dwelling for himself there. But he was greatly envied by a Religious house, from which he was also constrained to leave, as he had from the other. Then he returned to the place from which he had first departed and shut himself within his cell. After this, the neighbors of the same place, who had gathered together, took the aforementioned brother, the enemy of Abbot Mutus, and brought him near his hermitage. They left him in a place near enough to it with the hides with which they were clothed, and then they went to speak with the said Abbot. When they arrived, he opened his window to speak with them and asked them where their melotes were, that is, their habits made of hides, which they used to be clothed with. At this they replied,\n\n(Note: The text appears to be in Middle English, and there are some errors in the transcription that need to be corrected. The text seems to be coherent and readable, so I will make the necessary corrections and keep the original content as much as possible.)\n\nThe brother was constrained to depart from that place. So he went to another place and made another dwelling for himself there. But he was greatly envied by a religious house, from which he was also constrained to leave, as he had been from the other. Then he returned to the place from which he had first departed and shut himself within his cell. After this, the neighbors of the same place, who had gathered together, took the aforementioned brother, the enemy of Abbot Mutus, and brought him near his hermitage. They left him in a place near enough to it with the hides with which they were clothed, and then they went to speak with the said Abbot. When they arrived, he opened his window to speak with them and asked them where their habits made of hides, that is, their melotes, were. At this they replied,They had left them not far from then with the brother who had been envious over them. He broke open his door with an axe and ran towards the said brother, who called and kissed him in sign of peace. After he brought them to his cell and ate with them, despite not being accustomed to eating or drinking at such an hour. And finally, he returned again with them.\n\nAbbot Agathon said that he had never slept while he had any question with some monk that he was not reconciled with him. In the same way, he suffered no Religious to sleep in their obstinacy who made noise or debated one against the other, until they were pacified.\n\nTwo brothers were in an hermitage who had never debated together. It happened that one said to the other, \"My brother, I pray you that we may have some question together as others do.\" That other replied, \"I don't know what noise you're making.\" The first brother said, \"My fellow, I will teach you how we shall quarrel and fall out together.\" I will set that down.They placed this type between them, and then I shall say that it is mine, and thou shalt say that it is thine, and by this means we shall have disputes together. They placed this type between them, and one of them said, \"This type is mine.\" The other answered, \"I hope it is mine.\" The first said, \"No, it should be mine.\" The other answered, \"If it is yours, then take it and bear it with you.\" And thus they could not have any strife together.\n\nSaint Mary, while in prayer, heard a voice that said, \"Saint Mary, you are not yet worthy of the holiness of two women who are in the next city.\"\n\nSaint Mary, after hearing this voice, went forthwith to the said city and, after a long search, found them. He was received gladly by them.\n\nAfter questioning them about their state and conversation, they were greatly abashed because they had said every night with their husbands.\n\nDespite this, the holy father questioned them further.They described to him that they had no siblings together, but only the husbands were German brethren, with whom they had lived for fifteen years, using their lives without speaking any foul word to one another and without ever having any debate or strife. During this time they had lived in peace together. They had long planned to enter religion and would have done so if their husbands had consented. Seeing that they would not be content with this, they lived with their husbands the best and most honest life they could, despising all temporal things and desiring only spiritual things.\n\nThe holy hermit began to say, \"Certainly God accepts not more the virgins nor the married women than the monks.\"A brother there was who could never get peace with other religious people. Determined to find rest, he decided to live as a hermit in a cave. One day, he filled a vessel with water and set it on the ground. To his surprise, the vessel turned upside down not once, but three times, and each time he filled it again. Frustrated, he broke it in pieces.\n\nRealizing that the devil, who had troubled him in religion, might also disturb him in solitude, he returned to the monastery, acknowledging that it was necessary to work.Saint Macarius, when young and living in a hermitage, was forced to serve in the city as a clerk against his will. It happened at the same time that the daughter of a secular person was pregnant. Her parents, upon seeing this, asked her who the father was. She answered that the hermit Macarius had done the deed. Her relatives then went to Macarius' hermitage to take and beat him, accusing him of defiling their daughter. An old holy father came there and reprimanded them sharply because they had beaten him so severely that he was nearly dead. The possessed ones among them answered him again.\n\nYou see the shame he has brought upon us, you are a witness to his truth, but it is now well known that he is a hypocrite.it that we shall neuer leue hym in peas / tyll that some bodye shall ha\u2223ue gyuen for hy\u0304 to our doughter law\u2223full prouysyon for her lyuyng. \u00b6The sayd Macharye had a seruau\u0304t att that tyme that bare to the towne his mae sayd tyrauntes / he co\u0304\u2223maunded that he sholde selle all for to nourysshe ye sayd doughter. And from that tyme forthon / the pu god sholde helpe hym. \u00b6The tyme came that the sayd doughter sholde be dely\u2223uered of her fruyte where she was lon\u2223ge in grete martyrdom with thrawes without comparyson. The matrones or myddewyfes yt were come to her for to receyue the childe / questyoned her & asked her wherof it came yt she myght not be delyuered of her childe. Thenne ye poore synner co\u0304fessed her sy\u0304ne & sayd that it was bycause ye falsly she had ac\u00a6cused ye poore hermyte / for she was wt childe by a neyghbour of hers a yong man. And when this thyng was come vnto ye t brough the fode aswell to ye sayd Macharye as to ye sayd doughter / he ranne apas towarde hy\u0304 & telled hy\u0304 these tydynges / wherof sayntMacharye prayed to our lord and departed for Sychye, where he lived long in doing penances. A brother asked the Abbot Poemen what he might do to escape anger and sadness. He answered that he should not disparage, judge, nor laugh at anyone and if he kept this, our lord would give him rest.\n\nThe Abbot Poemen said of Saint Isidore, abbot, that he was the only one who truly knew himself, for when he had any thoughts or illusions, he answered to himself. Alas, I am not such as Anthony was or you, Abbot, or the other fathers who have been lovers of God. By this means he lost his self-delusion, which presumed too highly, when the devils said to him.\n\nAbbot, you have good to do penance, for after that you have lived well in great sharpness, you shall descend into hell. He answered them. Yet no power if I descend there. I hope I shall not be.The devils brought him into the deepest part thereof. For you shall be under me. The devils often told Abbot Moses that they could never make him fall. For a brother questioned one of the abbot Sisoin, asking him what he should do if he had fallen into sin. The abbot answered him that he should impose penance on himself to rise again. And he said to him again, \"I have done so to myself once, but I have fallen again.\" The abbot answered him as he had answered before. And the brother told him often that he had fallen and risen again by penance. So the abbot answered him that he should not cease to rise himself again unless he was overcome, and when the brother asked him how many times he should rise again, the abbot answered that \"in the state in which you are caught by death, in that state you will be judged.\" Another was tempted by certain sins by the devils.In the sixth year of his hermitage, because he could endure no longer, the desperate man intended to leave his hermitage and return to the world. Then a voice came to him, saying, \"Man, for your six years of struggle, you shall have the crown of victory.\" By this it is apparent to us that we should continue, for the greater evils we have, the greater glory we shall receive. After this, he returned to his hermitage and was no longer troubled by such temptations.\n\nIn his hermitage, Abbot Anthony was long tempted by sloth and idleness. He said to God, \"My God, I desire to be saved, but the diverse thoughts that come upon me will not consent to it. Therefore, my Lord, teach me what I should do for my salvation.\" Shortly after this, he saw a man resembling himself, weaving a rope, and after finishing his work, he made devout prayers. Such a vision happened to Saint Anthony.\n\nNow men may believe that it was an angel that showed how a body may be saved.Saint Anthony, upon seeing this vision, the angel told him, \"Anthony, do as I do, and you shall be saved.\" After receiving this teaching, Anthony was comforted. In time after, he did as the angel had done.\n\nAnother asked the advice of an old father, what he should do since he could not practice any craft but only eat, drink, and sleep, and from hour to hour, and from one thought to another, he passed the time.\n\nThe old father advised him to keep himself in his chamber for the love of God and to do whatever was possible for him, according to his understanding, without troubling or letting his fancy be distracted by curious thoughts. And without fault, he should have joy, like Saint Anthony.\n\nAnother asked Abbot Achilles where he had been, to which Achilles replied that he should steadfastly keep himself at that place, for in keeping these three things, he would be saved.\n\nReligious persons requested the advice of Abbot Moses.A brother asked the Abbot Poemen if he should do better for his salvation in keeping himself alone in his hermitage or some other solitary place, rather than dwelling among company. The Abbot answered him that a man who wishes to correct himself can do so anywhere, but one who is puffed up with pride cannot endure any place, for it is written, \"He who thinks himself worthy of anything where he is nothing, disgraces himself.\" Similarly, one who boasts of a good deed commits a greater sin if he performs it.\n\nA brother from Egypt once came to Abbot Zenon in Syria, who accused himself of many faults.The saying is that the Egyptians hid their vices which they do not have, but the Syrians and Greeks accuse themselves of virtues that are not in them and conceal their own sins.\nAn old holy father said that he who is greatly praised and worshiped by the world loses the merit of his soul, and by such praises he falls into vain glory. And he who is scorned by the world will have great reward from God. Yet he said more, likening it to the impossible coexistence of the herb and the seed together, and the impossibility of having the glory of this world and the joy of heaven together. Furthermore, just as a treasure that is known diminishes and grows little, so does virtue when it is known by him who has it. Furthermore, just as the wax melts before the fire, so the soul in this world, taking pleasure in it, loses its purity. When the thought of pride or vain glory fights against us by tempting us to be good, we should seek to.Our consciences if we have kept all of God's commandments and loved our enemies. If we have not been glad when our adversaries have lost goods and whether we have rejoiced at their misfortunes. Then we shall see that we have done no good. And by the same token, we shall avoid this foolish presumption to believe ourselves good.\n\nA holy father, after he had come to see his fellow, said to him, \"Brother, I am ready to die in the world.\"\n\nHis fellow answered, \"My friend, trust in yourself until that time that your soul departs from your body. For if you are dead, the devil is not so. He has no power to deceive us without cunning and subtlety.\"\n\nAnother holy father had lived for fifty years without bread and ate nothing but roots and drank only a little water. He said to his brethren, \"My brothers, I thank God that He gives me grace that I can shun fornication, vain glory, and avarice.\"\n\nAbbot Abraham heard these words and came to him and asked,If a man by chance found a woman in his cell, he asked himself if he could keep from thinking she was there. He answered no, but he should never consent to have her company. Abraham then said, \"Fornication is not yet done in the thought, only it is desired by the will of God. It is possible that you might sin in it.\" Likewise, he questioned her about covetousness, asking him if seeing gold among some stones would keep him from thinking it was gold. He answered no, but he should not have the desire to take it. Thirdly, he asked her if two men, one of whom hated her and the other loved her, came to his house, whether he should receive them equally. He answered no, but he should restrain his will to do as good cheer to the one as to the other. Through these questions and answers, the holy father Abraham clearly showed him that our passions are never done, but only bound. Until the last article of death, we are all in potentiality to sin.An old hermit lived in a desert, very low, with him dwelt a secular man who had a child. In a certain time, this child fell sick. The father, seeing this, asked the holy man to go to his house to pray for his child's recovery. This holy hermit granted his request and went with him. When they approached the said house, the father of the child commanded that men should come against the holy man with lamps and torches. The hermit, seeing the great honor men did to him, stripped himself naked and began to wash his clothes in water. Then the father of the child said to those who came against him, \"Turn away, turn away. I see well that our holy man has lost his mind.\" After asking him the cause, he said in the presence of many people, \"Why have you done such a foolish thing?\"A witch and full of the devil. Then the hermit answered that he would hear no other thing. A great lord, judge of the province where dwelt Abbot Moses, wished to see him. When Moses knew it, he fled away, and by chance met the said lord on the road, who asked him where dwelt Abbot Moses. He answered him, \"Why do you seek to see a fool and a wicked heretic?\" The judge then went back to the church and told the clerks how he had met a hermit who had said to him that Abbot Moses was a heretic. Then the clerks asked him what kind of man he had seen. He said it was a great, black, and old man, clothed in foul habits. Then they knew that it was he whom the judge was greatly angry with and went away in anger.\n\nAbbot Syson lived in the small cell or little house of the said Abbot. And as he entered, he found him in prayer. So did he spread before his feet his said child, and he himself knelt.Before him on his knees, casting himself to the earth as those who asked for the holy fathers' blessing did, was grace that God had bestowed upon him. He granted him graces and then thanked the said abbot, who knew nothing of it, for the worship and glory, but he was deeply sorry to hear such things. Therefore, explicitly he defended to the said good man that he should never tell anything of it, at least until after his death.\n\nA secular man taken by the devil was once brought into a church where there were many monks. They made their prayers together for him, but nonetheless the devil would not leave him. They were intending to ask their abbot Besaryon to pray for him, but they were in a difficulty, saying that if they should go tell him this in his chamber, he would not come to the church. So they brought this man toward where they said abbot should come and set him down by the way.The abbot began again to gather them together to pray for the aforementioned man. As the abbot passed by each one, he called out and cried, \"O father abbot, awake this man.\" In Continent, the holy man, making the sign of the cross over him, commanded him to arise and go out of the way.\n\nAnother was in Egypt who had a child afflicted with palsy. As it pleased God, he took the child and carried him to the cell of St. Besarion, leaving him there weeping.\n\nAbbot Macarius once early did make leaves from a laurel tree to make mats with. As he came homeward again, he met the devil bearing a sharp scythe with which he intended to strike him, but he could not.\n\nAnd afterward, for great distress, he cried out loudly and said, \"O Macarius, you give me much torment; when I think to trouble and hurt, I cannot; and yet you always surpass me in all works; for you eat and drink which I never do. You speak sometimes, and I have heard.\"A man, taken by the devil, struck one of the holy fathers of Egypt in the face. Another holy father said that all the virtues a religious man might perform were insufficient. The Abbot Macharye, as he was climbing Mount Nitrye, told a disciple to go before him. In his way, the disciple met a priest of the pagan law, bearing a large log at his neck. The disciple called out to him, \"O thou devil, where dost thou run now?\" The angry priest beat the disciple so severely that he left him for dead. Shortly after, the priest encountered Saint Macharye, who greeted him, saying, \"O man who delivered the other and saved him, may you be well.\" The priest demanded of him, \"What good reason do you see in me that you have treated me so courteously?\"The holy man greeted me. He replied that he had seen me running and laboring in my way, not knowing where I was going. He said this to the priest because I was a pauper and did not know what I was doing regarding our faith. The priest said to him, \"Indeed, I am moved by compassion through your salutation, by which I have come to know that you are a godly man. But I have met a wretched monk who has wronged me greatly. And in response to his scornful words, I have given him grievous wounds. Inconveniently, he was turned and swore that he would not let him go until he became a monk.\n\nAfter the two of them went together to the place where the disciple was injured, they bore him into the church. All the monks were glad about the conversation between the priest and the holy man, for through him many were converted.\n\nSaint Machary, the abbot, said this for the purpose of reminding us that proud and scornful words often turn and bind good people to do evil. Also, humbly.Saint Anthony often said that no one can be good, no matter how much they desire it, if God is not with them. For no one is good but God alone. Whatever virtue we possess, we must accuse ourselves and consider ourselves evil people. In this way, we will make progress.\n\nOne time, Saint Anthony saw all the green and snares of the devil spread over the earth. Then he began to weep and wail, asking God. Alas, who can escape the subtle snares of the devil? He heard a voice that said to him, \"Humility alone can preserve people from the wickedness of the devil. The proud cannot come near it in any way.\"\n\nAnother time, as he was in his oratory, he heard a voice that said, \"Anthony, you have not yet known the virtues of the man who leads in Alexandria.\" And in the morning next after this voice, Saint Anthony took his staff and set out, not stopping his journey until he came to Alexandria.At Alexandra, in the city, when Saint Anthony had founded it, he questioned him about his virtues. The holy man replied to him, saying, \"I do no good at all, but every morning when I rise first, I tell myself that all the people in this city should be saved by their justice. And to the contrary, for the sins I commit, I deem myself worthy of everlasting damnation. In the same way, when I go to bed at night, I remember this thing as truth.\"\n\nSaint Anthony answered him, \"Certainly, my son, I have been in the deserts for a long time with great busyness and care, but I have never had such a considerate companion.\"\n\nA brother asked the abbot Pomponius what this proposition of the apostle meant, which is to wit, that to those who are clean without spot of sin, all things seem clean. The abbot answered him, \"He might come to it in manner that he could understand it, he should hold himself the lowest of all other creatures.\" The brother said there.Against/how can it be/shall I consider myself greater than a Manslayer. The abbot said/when we see a Manslayer, we ought to consider/that by accident he did none other sin/& we have committed infinite offenses/& have murdered ourselves through sin. And where the said brother asked him how this could be done, he answered him. The justification of man is only to repent and correct himself/& then is the man just/when of himself he accuses and condemns his sins. Many Religious were once with the Abbot Poemen/one began to praise another, saying/There is a good man/for he has horror of sins. The abbot then asked him/what horror of sins was to say. To which asking the religious not knowing what answer he should give/required the abbot to explain what it meant. So the abbot said/he it has horror of it is done to himself/& you bless and love your brother/he has horror of his sins.Brother asked the Abbot Poemen how he could keep from speaking ill of his own brother in Christ. The abbot replied that they were two images, and when he should despise his own, he should judge the other to be good and fair. To the contrary, in praising his own, he should despise that other as his brother in Christ. When one reproves himself like a lion is fierce towards wild asses, which it compels to devour, a religious man, proven and known to be steadfast, is fierce and courageous in withstanding against fleshly desires. Moreover, he said that, like a proud horse is suddenly taken by the bridle, so by fasting is a religious man restrained from the sin of covetousness, the body of a monk, dry and lean by fasting, may become chaste and be honored on earth and crowned in paradise. Item, he who cannot keep his tongue quickly against wrath, with great pain he shall come to master his passions or perish.Item, men should speak of nothing but that which is virtuous or conducive to virtue, as the common proverb goes, \"The vine bears no thorns,\" and it is better for a religious man to eat flesh and drink wine than to eat his own Christian brother through backbiting. And he told some in Syria that a great feast was made where men would have given wine to a holy father to drink, but when he refused it, they should give it away and his drinking of it should be his death. An other time, men brought some wine of the first making out of the cup or perhaps because many of this brotherhood drank from it. An old brother who saw his brothers drink of it fled at once to his cell. The inconvenient fellow fell upon him. The other brothers seeing this inconvenience and finding him half dead, said that by his sign and vain glory he had gone into his said cell. But their abbot said to them, \"Let him be.\"The abbot alone declares it is my son / you cannot make it again while I live, so that the world may know it is done for a cup of wine. The abbot John said we should take heed of our sins, lest we be overwhelmed by penance; but when we can atone for others and abandon our own bodies for them, we take on a great burden. And the accused, the aforementioned John the Reluctant, recalled by the abbot, related that in Syria there were many holy fathers together who spoke of a certain religious man, a great sinner. The abbot Peter, hearing this, said the reluctant religious man stood up and took a sack, which he filled with sand, and placed it on his back. He also took another small one and carried it before him. He was asked why he did so, and he answered that the multitude of sand behind him signified his sins, which he would not put in his memory nor weep for, and the small quantity of sand before him signified the sins of others.In a monastery, a neighbor whom he claimed he had before his eyes, more than his own, he was willing to forgive. But to the contrary, a body ought to place its own sins before itself and others behind. The other abbot, Isaac, would not allow him to enter unless he first told him what he should do about his condemned brother. He knew he had sinned and cast himself down. But the angel took him up and said that he should never judge anyone before being judged by God.\n\nIn a monastery of Regular Canons was a monk who committed a serious offense for which he was accused by his brethren. But despite this, he spoke against them with all his might and went to St. Anthony. His brethren followed him to bring him back to the monastery. And when they were all gathered before St. Anthony, they found there the Abbot Phosphorus, otherwise called Cephalus, who in their presence:I have seen a man on the shores of a stream, who was up to his knees in the mire, some coming to help him out had entered up to their necks. Then these words I heard from him. The accusers were all abashed and understood that these words were spoken to them, so in humility they returned with the said brother to their abbey. One of the holy fathers said, \"when we see any body committing sin, we ought not to put it upon him, but upon him who makes him do it, considering that the devil may also bring us to stumble. Moreover, he said that no one in the world willingly sins, but we are all deceived.\"\n\nAn hermit named Thymothee, discovering a brother of his religious order, told his abbot that he should punish the one putting it out. The said hermit fell into a grievous sin of which he made many confessions. And as he was often crying for mercy to the Lord, he heard a voice saying to him, \"Thymothee, this shame is yours.\"happened to you because you have disparaged your brother for falling into sin. Another brother related that he had seen a vision of four orders in heaven. The first order was of people weak in faith, yet they gave thanks to God. The second was of hosts who were ordained to receive the others as almoners. The third was of solitary people who had forsaken the world as hermits. And the fourth was of those who had withstood their own will and were subject to the submission of their spiritual fathers.\n\nReligious people who make four vows spoke of this, and he said that the last had a more noble state than the others. And furthermore, the same Religious person related that in seeing the aforementioned vision, he demanded of him that he showed it to him why the last were more worshipped than the others. He answered him that the hospitalers and almoners in deserts are not subject to their will, but the others give themselves.All gather together under God's subjection, whereby their merit is greater in honor. Obedience is the salvation of everyone and the moderator of all virtues. She opens the heavens. She delights the man unto heaven. She is familiar to angels and the meat and consolation of all the saints who, through obedience, have come to everlasting glory.\n\nAn holy father said that when a brother commands another to do some good work with fear of God and with holy meekness, such a commandment shall be done. But when men command anything without regard for God's ward but only for their own self, he who is so commanded does nothing of it. Therefore, it is to be noted that all the proceedings of God begin with humility. And to the contrary, it comes from the devil, beginning with pride or anger and the trouble of others only.\n\nThe Abbot Silvan had a disciple named Marc, who was very necessary and obedient to him. This Abbot had other disciples who were righteous.The old fathers, who were sorry about this vision, came and showed it to the abbot. Before they recounted anything of the case, they went with the said abbot to all the chambers of the eleven, but no one answered. Finally, they came to the door of the said disciples' chamber. The one who heard his master leave an O there, which he had been making but had only completed half of due to his great desire and haste to obey his master. Then the old fathers who were with him praised this disciple and loved him more than the abbot did. Two brothers, one of father and one of mother, were in a monastery. The obedient one did all that was commanded of him. The chaste one said to the obedient one, \"Go first, I pray.\" The inconvent one passed over the flood, and all the said beasts came to him as they should have devoured him, nevertheless, they made him worship, liking his clothes.about him. After he was commanded to come again, he did so. Then they went forth and found a corpse. The chaste man said, \"If we had some old thing, we should cover this deceased body.\" The obedient answered, \"Let us rather pray to God for him; for God may raise him.\" So they began to pray. And immediately, by the grace of God, he was raised from death to life. The chaste man boasted of this miracle and prayed, saying it was for his constancy that God had done this miracle. All these things were shown to their abbot, who, upon their return, blamed them. The chaste man reproved him sharply because he had tempted his brother. And in the end, he should not be proud or foolishly glory in this; he said to him, \"The corpse was raised from death to life because of your brother's obedience.\"\n\nA holy father's disciple from Syria sent him a camel in Egypt to fetch the baskets and jars that he had made.\n\nThe whichA disciple wanting to obey went readily there and brought one back with him. But on his way back, he encountered another hermit who said to him, \"My child, if I had known that you were going to fetch a camel, I would have asked you to bring me one.\" The disciple reported this to his master, who sent him back to the said holy man to lead him to the camel he had brought for him. And he also asked him to go with him to Egypt to help him bring his baskets.\n\nThe disciple returned to the said holy father and said to him, \"Fair father, my father sends this camel for your use, according to your necessity. He is not yet ready to go to Egypt.\"\n\nThen all his goods and baskets were loaded and taken to Egypt. When they arrived there, the disciple helped him to unload. And when he wanted to return, he said to the holy man, \"My father, I beg you, please pray to God for...\"Then the holy father asked him where he would go, and he answered that he would return homeward to fetch the baskets of his father abbot. The other holy father was then much wrath and angry, and besought the disciple that he and his father should have pity on him, for their great charity had caused him to lose his merit that said he. Another hermit had many baskets and mands ready to go to the market with all. It happened by chance that he heard his neighbor say, \"I don't know what I shall do; the market comes in hand, and I have no coverings ready for my baskets.\" He who had his baskets and their coverings ready all, he took some coverings from them and said to his said neighbor, \"hold here, my friend, some coverings, for I have more than I need.\" The father borrowed a penny from one of his brethren with which he bought some flax to occupy himself, when he had bought it, one of his brethren.brothers came to him to borrow some of his flax to make a sack, and he gave some to one as well as to the other, so that there was nothing left for himself. The one who had borrowed from him wanted him to repay the penny. Then he had neither penny nor flax left. It is noted here that a penny was then worth a stitch. On his way there, he found one penny, but he dared not pick it up. So he returned again to his little house without passing any farther. The creditor came again to take his penny. Then the holy man answered him that he would go fetch it. At the third time, he found his penny again and took it up and carried it to the said Abbot James, saying that he had found it by the way, but he begged the abbot not to lend it to him again.Through out the city, if anyone had lost one penny that he should come towards him and had found it, but no one came to claim it, saying it was his. Then you said that John said to James that he should take it to him, for as he was coming to him to borrow it, he had found it.\n\nThe Abbot Poemen said that we ought not to fulfill our wills, but those of our neighbors. And when men prayed him to eat more than his will allowed, he wept because he had constrained himself beyond his will to obey his neighbor. In many other ways, he subjugated his will to that of others.\n\nAn hermit near a monastery of Recluses performed many miracles. Among other things, the Recluses went towards him and made him eat against his will. And after they said to him that he was sorry and displeased because he had eaten against his will, he answered that the opposite was true.that is to say, he had trouble when he did his will.\nThe Abbot Paphonce, by custom, never drank wine. It happened one day as he traveled that he was met by thieves, of whom the prince knew him. And since he knew his custom to drink no wine, seeing that he was weary of the way, he took a flask full of wine and a goblet in his hand, and said to him, \"If you do not drink, I will kill you.\" Then the holy man, knowing that this thing came from God's will and would be the cause of the conversion of the said thief and his companions, took the wine and drank it. Then the said thief prayed him for pardon, to which he answered, \"I have trust in God, that because you have given me drink, you will have forgiveness of your sins and paradise at your ending.\" And the thief said to him, \"And from this hour, I, trusting in the mercy of God, promise you.\"A thief and his fellows once made a vow never to harm anyone. By this means, the thief and his companions turned to God and lived honestly after that.\n\nTwo hermits were once living together, and the older one asked the younger to live with him and share their residence. The younger one refused, explaining that he couldn't live with such a great sinner as the older one. The older hermit, who lived a very holy life, was displeased by this answer. Although the younger hermit was young, he couldn't believe that he led an unholy life based on the answer he gave. After much discussion, they agreed to live together for one week. When the seventh night had passed, the older hermit asked the younger one how he had spent his time. He replied that because he was not accustomed to living with such a great sinner as the older hermit, he had spent his time in prayer and reflection.A man compelled by necessity had to leave his cell. He was greatly tempted by sin. Then the old hermit asked him if he would do penance for it. The young man answered him. The old man, moved by fervent charity and knowing his firm steadfastness, said to him that he was willing to bear half of his penance. And since they needed to live together for that purpose, they did so until their deaths.\n\nAn ancient holy father said that whoever desires to be saved should carefully ensure that he does not do to another what he would not want done to himself. And if someone does harm, shame, or injury to him, he ought not to do the same to another.\n\nThis manner of living is sufficient for everyone to save their soul.\n\nTwo holy fathers, brothers Germanus, lived in the deserts. One was called Poemen, and the other Nub.A very solitary life and reverent they led. Their mother affectionately desired to see them because after they had departed from the world, she had not seen them. She went herself towards them to see and visit them. And though she made every effort to speak with them, she could not find a way to engage them. Finally, she found herself once before the entrance of their chapel. In great lamentations and tears, she thought she had made them speak with her, but they would not. Doubting that they might have sinned through her, they kept the door of their cell closed to her. And as they had opened the door a little, they would not speak to her. Instead, they began to weep at their door with great abundance of tears. And as they deliberated and consulted together about what they ought to do to appease her, she took herself to cry and weep more than before. Then the holy father Poemen appeared to her, and without opening the door, he spoke to her.dore asked her, \"Why are you all ready old, making such complaints that might be grievous to you? Hearing and understanding that it was one of her children speaking, she answered as she had to both of them. Alas, my children, I weep because I desire to see you. Alas, why do you refuse me your presence? What danger is there if I see you? Am I not your mother? Have I not nourished you with this pap? I have waited so long to see you that under this hope I have come to such an old age that I am disabled from all my limbs, and for great desire to see you, my entrances are all troubled and sore moved. Then the holy father Poemen asked her which of the two she would rather see, them in this world or finally in the glory of heaven. She answered that she should be content not to see them in this world, so that she might be sure that she would see them after their death in heaven.After Poemen's answer, he told her that if she could resist her affection and not see them in this world, she would see them soon in the other. Then she heard her son say, \"Sith, if you truly promise me that I shall see you in paradise, I will look no more for you here.\" And she went away content and happy.\n\nA young religious man named John, from the nation of Thebans, served an old father named Amon for twelve years. During this time, Amon was plagued by a continuous illness that made him wayward, refusing to give fair promises or good rewards to his servant John, whom he should have found pleasant to serve.\n\nHowever, John served him sweetly and kindly. It happened that when the holy father Amon reached the last hour of his life, his soul had to depart, and many holy fathers were present.present he took before them all the said John his servant by the hand and thrice he said to him, \"Iohan said it may be. Then he said to the holy fathers who were with him, \"My brothers, I commend to you this good, religious man. He is no man, but an angel. Truly, during my sickness, he never spoke a harsh word to me, and in great humility and patience he performed infinite services for me. Therefore, I commend him to you as much as I can.\n\nThe holy father Agathon, who once came to the city to sell some handiwork he had made to live on, found a man at the gate of the said city who was near death and abandoned by all men. Seeing this, holy father Agathon hired a little chamber where he brought him and cared for him, keeping him for the space of four months until he was recovered and whole. Afterward, this holy father returned to his hermitage.\n\nAnother holy father to move you to the virtue of patience\"A disciple of his, who was greatly afflicted and tormented by a grievous malady, said to him in this way: \"My son, you must endure patiently your sorrowful afflictions without becoming angry with them. It is a supreme virtue for a man to praise and thank God in his tribulations and adversities. If it is hard as iron, you shall leave your rust behind by fire, and if you are gold, you shall also be tested by fire. From great things you shall come to greater things. If God sends us some sicknesses, we ought not to grumble against it, and if we bear them not patiently, we shall have no reward for it towards him. So we must be used to being patient, praying humbly that he will send us all that pleases him, in order that by the merit we shall gain in enduring patiently the afflictions and torments of this world, we may have the glory that lasts forever.\n\nAnother holy father, who was often taken with sicknesses, was once for a whole year without, therefore he began to weep strongly, bearing his...He told us healthlessly and said to our lord such words. Sir, you have left me, and you would not visit nor see me this year. As he would have said, it is God, appearing to his friends, sending them poverty and sickness to reward them for it in heaven. Some holy fathers recalled one of them who died in Syria, that they, being about him, did to him as they were accustomed to do one of their order at their decease. And doing this, they began to weep sore for pity that they had to see him die. He heard their weeping and sorrow opened his eyes, and in beholding them, he laughed three times upon them. The brothers asked him why he laughed when they wept, and he answered them, \"I have laughed twice to mock you all; the first time I laughed was because you feared death; and the second time was because you know well and can only judge otherwise but you must once die and you do not know when; and thirdly, I have laughed.\"I, Reioysshygg, speak to you because I am leaving the labors of this world. I go to the place of rest, and these words I said, he closed his eyes and sweetly yielded his ghost to our savior Ihesu Crist.\n\nThabbot Pamon, at the hour of his death, said to the brethren who accompanied him: My brethren, since I came to this solitary place where I have built this little house for our use, in which I dwell, I am not reminded that I have eaten any other bread but that which I have obtained with the labor of my hands. Nor have I spoken or told any vain word up to this hour, for which I ought to repent in this manner. I go now to our blessed lord Ihesu Crist, for whom I ought to thank him greatly. I marvel greatly how he suffers to take the last of me, since I was first occupied in obtaining my living, and have not yet begun to serve him in any way.\n\nAbbot Agathon, going out of this world three days before his death, held his eyes continually open and by no means did he close them.The men begged him not. Seeing his brothers around him in great distress and weeping, they asked him. \"Our father, tell us if it pleases you, what you think now, and where you are at this hour.\" To whom he answered, \"I am called before the presence of God, who is in His seat to judge me.\" A said they to him again and comforted him. To whom he said again, \"I have always enforced myself to do His commandment. But nevertheless, I consider myself a sinner, therefore I cannot say if my works have been pleasing to Him. And how said the holy fathers not to believe in your works, which have always been virtuous and according to His law? Then he answered, \"I dare not trust in them in His presence, for there is too much difference between His judgment and the judgment of men.\"\n\nThe Abbot Sysonyn, being at the hour of death, suddenly appeared his face, which shone brightly, to many aged fathers who had come together to see him.selfe he said to them. My brothers, ensure that Father Anthony comes to us here. Anyone after he said again, My brothers, this is the company of the apostles. And saying the same, his countenance grew brighter. So he began to say once again that he saw the apostles who were there, and it seemed that he should speak to them. And whether these holy fathers or some of them required him to tell them to whom he spoke, he answered that he spoke with the angel who came to set his soul, and begged them to delay a little or they would take him away until he had done some little penance. Then he said again to the holy fathers, \"You have no need, fair father, to do any penance.\" The which answered to them, \"Indeed, my brothers. I cannot remember that I ever began to do any penitential penance. By this answer, they knew that he was perfectly fearful of God. And being in this imagination, they saw hisThen he said to them, \"Behold, I come to you wondrously and more bright than I was before. And saying these words, he gave up his spirit into the hands of God.\n\nThe holy father Arseny was in his time so virtuous and so inflamed with the love of Jesus Christ that the most part of the time he contemplated his worthy death and passion. He wept and bewept, so that by continuance of weeping the habitude of tears from his eyes all the herbs of the eyes fell off and never grew again. When he was to die, he ordered his disciples that they should not do any alms or charitable deed for him. Saying this, they were troubled because they saw the hour of his death drawing near. He said to them, \"My children, the hour of my death is not yet come. When it shall be near, I shall not be still, but always I pray you, that if you desire to sorrow for any part of my body, you shall give alms for it.\"Acomte before God in His judgment, where I shall accuse you if you do so. Then they asked him what they should do with his body, for they knew nothing about winding or deceasing the dead. So he answered them. You shall bind my feet together with a cord, and then you shall draw me unto the top of the mountain where men have the custom to bury it other. After he took himself to weep as he was wont to do all the time of his life. And where the holy fathers being about him saw him weep so sore, they asked him what moved him to do so and if he had any fear or fear. To whom he answered, truly he doubted much our Lord, as he always had done, namely since he was made Religious. The holy Abbot Poemen seeing him after his death said such words of him. O holy father Arsenyen, you are well happy that you have wept so much in this world, for certainly he that has not wept here shall be constrained to weep in the other world. It is impossible that a man may be forborne from weeping otherwise.we pepper here with his will to determine the eternal joy/or weep by being constrained in the tormentes of hell for the punishment of his sins. Of this holy father Arnisen, the holy father Abbot Daniel tells us how, although he was greatly learned and experienced in the knowledge of holy scripture, yet he would never argue about it nor write any kind of treatises, but only if he was compelled by great necessity to do so. And when he found himself in the company of such holy fathers, he stood always behind a pillar if there was one, so that he should not have occasion to look nor speak to anyone, and also because no one should see or speak to him. His appearance was like an angel's; he had white hair like Jacob's, and was dressed as he was, long and thin and very old, yet his herd came to his belly, and he was bending forward because of his great age, and he died when he was come to his eighty and fifteen.He had dwelt twenty years in the palaces of the noble Theodosius, who was father to Honorius and Archadius. After that, he dwelt in a place called Troy, toward the city of Nemeas, for three years, and in Alexandria for another two years. After he returned again to Troy, he yielded his ghost to God in that place, being filled with true faith and the grace of the Holy Spirit.\n\nSaint Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, sent word to Abbot Pamphilus that he should come see him. Pamphilus obeyed and went there with some of his monks. And on coming toward the said Athanasius, who saw some seculars in their way and did not put themselves in the way nor show them due reverence, he said to them, \"Arise up, my friends, and salute these holy monks, certainly they spoke often with God, and their word is holy.\" And in saying these words, he saw in the street a poor sinner.A woman curiously dressed began to weep when he saw her. The reason for her weeping was asked of him by those present. To the poor woman and the other, I take not so great thought or care to please God as she does to please sinners and dishonest men.\n\nIt is found written of an old holy father that when he had the intention to do penance for some sin of which he was convinced, and his sensuality said to him that he should defer it to another day, and that he should always come near to repent at a convenient time, he should not let it be doubted that we shall live until the next day. And after he had accomplished his purpose, God would do His pleasure with him then or the next day.\n\nAnother of the holy fathers showed that a bishop, because he had heard tell of two of his subjects who were outlaws, prayed to the Lord that He would give certain knowledge if they were as foul and bespotted as people said, and on a certain day after that.He had a vision: his subjects coming to the altar to receive the precious body of our Lord. He knew by divine inspiration whether their thoughts were good or bad. He specifically recognized sinners by their faces, which were as black as coal, and their eyes read like blood. The faces of the others were cleansed of their sins, which he also knew by their visages and attire. Indiscriminately, he administered the holy sacrament of the altar to all. After this, some of their faces seemed as bright as the sun, shedding a sovereign light. The faces of others seemed to have been sprayed with a dreadful flame. However, when he gave the said sacrament to the two adversaries mentioned above, he perceived that one had a face full of light and clarity, and was honorably clothed in fair and white vestments. The contrary, the other had a black and horrible face. After they had received this self-same holy sacrament of the altar, he:With a white face, he showed himself to have a strength of courage, appearing clean and purged from all wickedness. The other showed his face taken with rightful and doubtful fear. Seeing the holy bishop, he begged our Lord that He would teach him what this vision signified. To whom, by the will of God, an angel appeared, who said to him that all that he had seen was true. But as for the man with the vision of the black face, because he was obstinate in his sin, having a will purposing ever more to sin, for that cause had he seen his face black and horribly taken with dreadful fire. But the other, his companion, with a bright face, bringing to mind through bitter sorrow the sins he had done and forsaking them with great tears and sobbing, he had asked for the mercy of God, promising if it pleased Him to forgive and pardon his sins committed in the past, that he would never return to them.And because he had preserved this sinner, repentant from the torments due to those who led a foul and wicked life, the holy bishop marveled at him. The angel explained to him that not only had he marveled at him for preserving this sinner, but also for honoring him with such great honor. The angel marveled because he was a man who could not comprehend the boundless goodness and kindness of the Lord, who is infinitely good and kind to those who forsake their sins. Furthermore, when they do penance after a sincere confession, not only does He forgive their sins, but He also makes them worthy to be worshiped. In truth, the angel said, God so dearly loves sinners that He has sent His only Son and ordained Him to suffer death in this world to redeem them from the pains of hell. Since He would die for them, how could they be?his enemies: how much will he be willing to love them when they shall be punished by genuine penance his own children. And therefore it is said the angel: that no sin of man cannot overcome the goodness of God, namely when he who has committed any sin shall be willing to put himself in pain to put out and slay his wickednesses and sins. For our Lord, who is infinitely merciful, knows well the frailty and weakness of the human kind, the strength of the passions, and the might and malice of the devil. And there, as he knows the sinner to be overcome by sin, pardoning as to his children he tarries and abides every day after their amendment and willing correction. He has pity and compassion for them that repent, and they move him more than those sore ones before mentioned, and he heartily prays the name of God.\n\nThe Abbot Powle, surnamed the Simple, obtained this grace: that in looking upon them who entered into the [religious life], he purchased it.The father Chirche spoke, revealing if the people's thoughts were good or bad. One day, he saw many people come to the church with bright and clear faces, happy in their hearts, accompanied by their good angels who gladly led and carried them. Soon after, a wondrous black figure appeared, his entire body covered in a horrible cloud, accompanied by many devils. They dragged him here and there, leaving him uncertain. Far from him came his good angel, heavy and angry.\n\nSeeing this, Saint Pole, the father, began to weep bitterly and struck his breast, unwilling to enter the church but remaining there to witness the end of the man in such a pitiful state. The others who entered the church saw him weep and earnestly asked him if he had seen anything in them.Once only see anything/that for their correction he would tell it to them, or else that he would come into the church with them, which thing he would not do but ever continued in weeping & sorrows, considering the perilous state he had seen thus held back and kept by the damned fiends of hell. Immediately after the said holy abbot, seeing all the company that he had seen go within the church come out of it after the absolution given to them, set himself for to behold their faces, to know if they were such at their coming out of the church as they were when they went in. And primarily he cast his sight upon the wretched sinner whom he had seen go with such great hardness within the said church, and he saw that his face, fearful and black, was made fair and bright, and all his body white, and that the devils followed him from afar, and his good angel by him made a much gladder countenance towards him. Then St. Paul, filled with singular gladness, rose up.\"he began to cry with a high voice and said, \"O how great is the mercy and meekness of our lord. Coming to another place, he said yet with a lower voice, Come, devout Christians, and see the works of God, come and see how he wills that all people shall be saved and that they come to know the truth, come here and worship him with me, saying, 'Lord God, you alone are that which can enrage and put out our sins.' And when they were all gathered together with the good Powle, he showed to them all that he had seen before they entered the church, and also at their coming out of it.\n\n\"And after he asked for him who he had seen troubled, as it is said, to declare to him his thoughts and his deeds, and how great a grace and change from evil to good God had shown him.\n\n\"Then the same man, in the presence of all the assistants, began to tell openly how he had been a great sinner and had wholly given himself to many a great sin foul and\"abominable. And how entering in the church he had heard the words of our Lord / saying by the mouth of Isaiah the prophet:\n\n\"Be you yourself, and be clean / and put away malices and sins from your souls / for to be present purely and cleanly before my presence / learn to do good / and seek justice and righteousness.\n\n\"And if your sins are red and inflamed by the flame of concupiscence / in doing this you say / they shall become white as snow.\n\n\"And moreover said the said repentant sinner. I am a wretched fornicator who is touched with compassion through the said words of you, prophet, entering within the church I have said to God in my heart: 'Sir, I know that you are he that is come for to save sinners / wherefore humbly I pray thee now it will please thee to accomplish in me, unworthy sinner, that you have promised by the mouth of the holy prophet.' And from this time I promise you.\"I will clean the text as requested:\n\nall my heart that I shall no more return to my sin, and in witnessing to all wickedness and injustice I think to serve with conscience pure and clean. From this day and from this hour will you warrant to receive me as true penitent, worshiping your sovereign godhead and forsaking all my sins, which thing you ought not to refuse me since I have established and sworn to keep all your justifications. And under this promise, you penitent said he had come out of the said church, ordering himself never to sin again. Hearing this, good old men being there began to cry to God, saying, \"O Lord God, how great and praiseworthy are your works, you have done all things in wisdom.\" The abbot Jospeh going with some other good old fathers toward the abbot Poemen, one of his friends brought before his monastery a child of his, it being tormented and vexed by the incarnations and temptations of the devil.dysfigured, the friend sitting outside the monastery with his said child wept with great abundance of tears. One of the good old fathers, hearing his lamenting and sorrow of the father of the said child, went out of the monastery to ask why. He asked him what was the cause. He answered that he was a kinsman of Abbot Poemen and had come there to seek help for the health of the said child, who nevertheless he feared to bring into the church, doubting that Abbot Poemen, who feared to bring about miracles, would expel him. And after casting his words toward Abbot Joseph, he said to him, \"Holy father, have mercy on me and my child and let him be brought in with us.\"Then the holy father Poemen seeing him was about to pray to God for him. The Abbot Josphill bringing the same child to the cell of the said Poemen and using unwise counsel, did not present him at first to Abbot Poemen. For Poemen would not have been well disposed if he had seen that Josphill should have had such trust in him, as to have healed him by miracle, but he presented him to the lower brethren and said to them, \"Bless this child and pray to God for him.\" After he had requested the other brethren to do likewise, he came to the said Abbot Poemen and made the same request. But Poemen would not be dissuaded from this, and where all of them were present and requested him to pray with them as they did, he was content to do so. So he stood up and weeping, prayed with them in this manner: \"O my God, Thy will be for this child, Thy creature, to help him, and suffer no longer the one who sent him to have any dominion over him.\" The orison.finished and you said, \"children blessed by him with the sign of the cross, he was immediately given whole and son to his father.\nAt one time, one of the holy fathers was asked, if poverty was a perfect good, and he answered, \"it is a great affliction, but he who endures it willingly finds the repose of his own soul.\"\nA young religious person asked an old religious person a question, that is, if a brother owes him a little sum of money and whether he should ask for it or not. To this, the old person answered, \"you might well ask it with humility once.\"\nAnd the young person said to him, \"if he will not pay me then, what should I do?\"\n\"You must be master of yourself,\" the other answered, \"and rebuke yourself alone, so that you do not anger your brother, for you ought to keep peace with him.\"As quickly as you can, you have seen that you are religious. Another young brother requested one thing: he wanted to know how and by what means he might achieve perfection. To this you answered that he should approach it lightly, if he would consider his own wickedness, and saying further that the perfection of man is humility and the more a man abates himself lowly by humility, the more he is exalted by it. For like the cursed sin of pride, if it is aroused towards heaven, is confounded and overwhelmed in the depths of hell. All this humility, if it descends to the lowest degree, is then exalted to heaven.\n\nThe holy Abbot Macharye, walking one time through the desert, found on his way the head of a dead man which he turned over with his staff on all sides. Hearing it sigh and weep, he asked what caused it to complain.Where at the head spoke, it was the head of a priest of the enemy's law, who had been a prince of the synagogue of Idoles, in the same place revered and worshipped, and because I knew it was filled with the Holy Ghost. I am moved to request your grace, knowing that at any time it will please you to pray for them who are in pain, they shall feel some consolation. Then the said holy Abbot Macharye said to him, Now answer me, what is your comfort, what is your pain? Whereat the same head more strongly weeping than before began to say,\n\nHa, holy father, our pain is so great that we are thrown from the feet to the head into a fearful fire, which is higher than there is space between heaven and earth, and that increases our sorrow. It is not to us possible to see each other, but the faces of every one of us are joined to our backs. And when you pray for us, then we see one another openly, which is to us.The holy man, Macharye, began to weep and said, \"Cursed be the day on which a man presumes to disregard or break the commandments of God. I inquired again of the head if there were great pains in the place where they were tortured. He answered that there were many who suffered more than the penitents. I asked what they were, and the head replied, 'We who have had no knowledge of the sovereign God have shown some mercy, but those who have known Him and forsaken Him are tormented and traumatized with various torments.' The holy father heard these words from the good abbot and, after showing the head into the earth, he went on his way. Another brother asked an old holy father why men of Religion were often tempted and fought against by the devil of hell. He answered, 'It is because we turn away from ourselves.'\"our armor and defenses are patience, humility, kindness, and willing obedience.\n\nAnother brother requested that Abbot Sysonyns tell him if the devil persisted so strongly in tormenting the Religious as he had in the past. Sysonyns answered him that they pursued and persecuted them more than they had done before, because the devil knows the end of the world is near, where his tormentions will increase and multiply in various ways in which he desires to be accompanied by infinite legions of sinners to be burned and tormented with him in fire and sulfur, where he waits to burn perpetually. For this reason, he persecutes the people, and not only so the wicked people whom he knows are easily turned to obey his cursed and greatest wiles, but also more carefully and with greater diligence he persecutes the good people, whom he knows to be more stable and steadfast.Some brothers, knowing another brother with an older, wonderful prudent and wise father, asked him how he had obtained such great wisdom. He answered that he had never retained nor suffered any evil thoughts in his heart, fearing they might provoke the Lord God to be angry with him. St. Anthony said that a religious man, if it were possible, should give accounts to his elders not only of all his actions in his cell or monastery, but also of all the water he drank and every time he took it to drink, in order to make him content and certain of his living and government, so that he would not transgress or act contrary to them. The abbot Poemen said that the finder in nothing takes such great joy as when he comes across a sinner who will not utter or show his sins by confession. An old fat man should serve them some good lore.Instructions for saving his soul, he could not resist anything they told him. Now this old father, to whom it belonged, commanded him to take one of them and wash it clean with faith water and place it again in its place. Then the old father said to him that he should bring both vessels and he did so. And then he asked him which of the two was cleaner. The young man answered that it was the one in which he had put water with which he had washed it. The old man said again, \"My son, it is thus of our soul when it often hears the words of God. For how can it keep anything of those words it hears or of those it is required to be told for the saving of the soul? Nevertheless, it is cleaner thereby than if it heard nothing or asked for nothing. By this, doing so, it shuns evil thoughts and overcomes the temptations of the devil.\"other said to an old father that when a Religious person is occupied and engaged in good works, the devil coming to torment him cannot have power over him because he finds no place for himself. And by this cause he departs and leaves the same Religious person in peace. To the contrary, if he suffers and applies himself in evil works, the devil finds a place to keep him company. And it was also said to a young Religious person who asked an ancient holy father how long a monk ought to labor, that the answer was until he possesses Jesus Christ, because he who has him in possession needs not to labor any further. Always he suffers his chosen to travel and labor, to remind them of the labors of tribulation, and that they keep from sin lest they should lose such great labors. We find also written that our Lord.The sons of Israel were instructed to travel and remain in the desert for twenty years, so that those with the intention of returning to their tribulations would have no desire to do so. An other brother questioned an ancient father and asked him why religious people at that time, while laboring, did not receive grace as the old religious people did. To this, the old father replied that charity was so great then that each person drew his neighbor closer through virtuous works. But now, everyone applies themselves to evil, and each one leads his neighbor into hell. Therefore, none receive any grace. Another young religious person was asked by an old father to tell him if he knew that holy men were always aware of the coming grace of God. He answered that they did not always know. For an open example of this, he pointed to one of an old holy man's disciples.The father had not sinned for which the said holy father moved against him, sharply crying, \"Go thou that thou mayst die.\" Instantly, this disciple fell to the earth. And when the said holy father saw him dead, he was touched with a marvelous fear. So he set himself to pray to God in great humility, saying, \"O Jesus Christ, my lord and my God. I beseech Thee that it may please Thee to raise up this poor religious man. And I promise Thee that I shall never speak such words without great consideration.\" And immediately after his prayer, his disciple came to life again.\n\nThe Abbot Poemen said that the man who teaches others and does not do so himself is like the high well that fills those who are thirsty or washes away the filth from every one, but it cannot wash or purge the filth that is in itself. Moreover, he said that a man who desires to be virtuous should govern and teach himself.his soule to kepe and obserue those thynges whiche his tonge leueth vnto other. For it is a thyng moche to be blamed and worthy of grete Repre\u2223uyng to a man whom he presumeth to correcte other folke of some synne or e\u2223uyll dede / wherof he is hym selfe wor\u2223thy to be Rebuked for it. Wherfore it behoueth of necessyte vnto hym that well wyll teche or edyfye some other / that fyrst he correcte his owne self / en\u2223syewyng the doctryne of our souerayne mayster and techer Ihesu Cryste / the whiche lyuyng vertuously as men fyn\u00a6de it wryten in the trouthe and holy scryptures / shewed fyrst exemple of go\u2223od lyfe / and thenne after he began to\npreche. And for this cause his predyca\u2223cyons were soo agreable to those that after the holy faythe desyred to lyue / that they forsake all worldly thynges for to ensyewe hym and lyue after his holy exortacyons whiche were of a gre\u00a6te and wonderfull effycacye / pryncypal\u00a6ly bycause of the fayre and ryght ho\u2223nest lyue that he ledde.\n\u00b6An holy hermyte some tyme yede to\u00a6warde the holyThe hermit spoke to Father Poemen and discussed holy scriptures, particularly heavenly things. After hearing the hermit's words, Father Poemen turned his face toward another brother as if he would not listen to the hermit or give him any answer. The hermit, seeing this, left Father Poemen's cell in anger and told his disciple, \"I am sorry to have come here for nothing and without cause, for he for whom I came does not speak to me.\" The disciple went to Father Poemen and reported, \"Fair father, that revered hermit who has departed is here to see you. He has great renown.\"So great joy in his country, and thou wilt not speak with him. Then answered the holy father Poemen. He, of whom thou speakest, will dispute about the supernatural and heavenly things. I, who am an earthly man, can speak with great pain about earthly things. If he had spoken to me about the passions of religious people, perhaps I would have answered him on that topic. But if he will speak about heavenly things, I can give no answer, for I confess myself not sufficient for that. Then the disciple returning the hermit said to him: O man of God, our father Poemen will not speak to you about these high questions, but when men speak to him about the wretchedness and passions that must be suffered and endured in this world, and how patiently they must be borne, he speaks about it gladly. The hermit, then, taken with sadness by the words of the said holy father, came to him again saying: O holy man, advise me what I ought to do to withstand against my passions.Which reign over me and keep me so wonderfully subject. The holy father, hearing his words and beholding upon him joyously said to him: Now thou art welcome unto me. I shall at this hour open my mouth and shall fill it with thy virtuous goods. The good hermit, taking courage in his words, said to him: In truth, fair father Poemen, good and true is the way thou takest. And after they had long discussed many things profitable and necessary for the edification and health of their souls, the hermit yielded to him graces and thanks, returning to his own region again.\n\nMen find that another holy father said to his disciple: If any body speaks to thee of holy scriptures or of any other thing, be not therefore willing to chide or strive against him. And if he speaks well, be of his opinion, and if he speaks evil, thou shalt tell him in this manner: My friend, look well what thou sayest. And to this purpose said the apostle: Be not.In striving by words, you should keep yourself from doing so, and be meek and avoid the hatred of others. By contrast, if you endure suffering and insist on your word, a slander and great inconvenience will follow. When men judge you excessively, there often arises question and debate. Therefore, my son, you ought to be certain that whatever thing you take notice of, you will always have some unpleasant consequence for it, and will never be at peace. Therefore, above all things, set your affection and understanding to keep silence and be still. By this means, you will have ease in something. And also, you must think both early and late about what you have to do, and you shall not fear the assault or enticing of your enemies. As Jerome says, \"A man who is occupied in good work is only tempted by one devil, and a man who is idle has many around him.\"A thousand devils seek to beguile and deceive him, to bring him to damnation. Therefore, it is necessary for a man who will live virtuously to occupy his time holyly, either by reading or doing other things, and when he is not ready for reading, he ought to set himself to work and from work to return for reading again or weeding and pulling the evil herbs out of his garden. In this way, he will overcome his enemies and will withstand all deceits and temptations of the devil.\n\nThe Abbot Poemen teaching his monks said, \"All those who flee, wherever they may be, are occupied in making honey. In the same way, a good monk, wherever he goes if it is for doing some good work, he shall lightly fulfill the sweetness of good and virtuous works, when he applies himself for knowing the good deeds and graces of the Creator, as well the spiritual as those that are temporal.\"\n\nThe holy father Mutues and a monk of his own community.From a place called Rathan, a man went into the parties of Gebolon. The bishop of that land, seeing Abbot Mutues and knowing his great virtues, made him come again to him against his will or ordered him to the holy orders of priesthood. And after taking with him his reception corporal, the said bishop said to him:\n\nHoly father, I pray thee forgive me that I have compelled thee to take the orders of priesthood. Certainly I know well that thou hadst not an appetite nor any desire for such worship, but I desire to receive thy blessing. I have presumed in myself to constrain thee to the same orders.\n\nTo whom this holy father answered with great humility: his corage desired it not, but he was somewhat careful that he must be parted from his brother who was with him, who was not a priest, and he himself could not provide for his orisons.\n\nTherefore the bishop answered and said: if he knew his fellow worthy to be made a priest, he should ordain him.The holy orders of priesthood. The father answered, \"If he is worthy, I cannot tell certainly, but this I know well, that he is better and more sufficient than I am. In effect, the bishop consecrated him to be a priest. And in this state they dwelt together all their life, but nevertheless they presumed never to apply themselves to the altar to consecrate nor sing mass. The father said, \"I trust in my God, my maker, and call him to witness that I am not worthy to be a priest nor to consecrate him. This thing belongs to be done only by those who are just, pure, and clean without great or infirmity of sin. I know and perceive well that I am not such. If it pleases his divine will, he shall have me excused.\"\n\nThe Abbot Arsenyen dwelling in the palaces of the emperor, he being yet secular, prayed, \"Lord God, creator and redeemer of the world, please show me a way by which\"I may be saved. He heard a voice that said to him in this manner: Arseny, flee from the company of men, and you shall come to that which you most desire and request. So he forsook all worldly things and went to dwell in a solitary place, where daily he made to God a like prayer. And he heard again a voice that said to him: Arseny, be still, speak not, and in this doing you shall have the princes and beginnings come to the way of salvation.\n\nWithin a certain time, a bishop named Theophilus came to see him and to hear from him some edifying words for himself and for all those who were with him. The holy father said: If I tell or teach you anything that is profitable for you, will you keep it? They replied, \"Certainly.\"\n\nThen he spoke of himself: I implore you humbly that in whatever place you shall know or hear that Arseny is, you shall not come nor find yourselves there in any way.\n\nAfter this, the bishop wished to come there again.Soo sent him first towards him to know if he would open his door, and he sent him word in return, if he came alone he should give him a sign. But if he came accompanied by many people, he would not find him in his cell. For certainly he should depart and would no longer dwell there.\n\nThe which thing he heard and understood from the bishop, he changed his mind. If he had gone there, he would have had to make himself leave the place of his hermitage. Another time he found himself with some of his brothers in a place where the red leaves were greatly agitated by the wind, striking each other so violently that they made a great noise.\n\nSo he asked his brothers what was causing that noise that he heard in that place. They answered and said that it was the wind that was causing the leaves to strike one another so forcefully.\n\nThen he said to them, \"Now, my brothers, consider how harsh a thing it is to live in peace.\"In this world, if you were in a place where you should hear only a bird sing, you would not have your hearts or minds at rest. How could you have them peaceful among the noise and tempest of this red sea, where you see the great and wonderful noise they make because of the wind that makes them strike each other. And some said that the cell or dwelling of this aforementioned holy father Arsenyen stood thirty miles from the place where the red sea was. From this dwelling, he went but little out, but by some religious were admitted to him for his needs and necessities. Moreover, it is found written of him that when the place in Syria where the holy father Arsenyen dwelt was left, and he himself coming out of it, he began to weep, saying that the world had lost Rome and Syria. Some brothers going out of Alexandria into the parties of Thebes to buy there some flax because the holy father ArsenyenThey dwelt in those parts of Thebes, and when they had the opportunity to approach where he dwelt, they went to see and visit him. After his disciple had informed him of their arrival, he instructed him to ask them the reason for their coming. The disciple brought their words to him again. The holy father Arseny heard this answer and said, \"Certainly, they have not come here for me but only for their own affairs. I do not want them to see me. You shall receive them and serve them as well as you can. And when this is done and accomplished, you shall take your leave of them, saying to them that I cannot go to them because of my great weakness and feebleness. Another brother desiring to see the said holy father Arseny transported himself there.A man went to the cell and knocked at the door to enter. The holy father opened, thinking it was his disciple, but when he saw it was not, he fell to the ground in shame and humbly begged him to arise. The man refused, saying he would not rise until the other had left. Some time later, demons from hell tormented him in his cell. Among the brothers who brought him supplies came and heard the holy father crying out, \"Alas, my God, my Creator and Redeemer, leave me not. I have not yet finished...\"It is worthy to be presented before you, I humbly request as much as I can that after your great mercy and benevolence, it please you at the earliest to grant me the opportunity to begin living well. \u00b6The aforementioned holy father Arseny questioned and asked a simple brother from the land of Egypt, inquiring about how he felt in his thoughts and contemplations. The brother, seeing a brother who was more understanding than the others, responded as follows: \"Fair father, I humbly entreat you, who are so expert not only in the Greek language but also in Latin, how you questioned and interrogated this brother Rusticus about his thoughts and contemplations? I know well that I have studied and learned sufficiently, according to the world, both the Latin and the Greek languages. But yet I have not begun to learn or take up the ABCs of this Rusticus.\" \u00b6Some old holy fathers related that once certain persons sent and sent a person unwillingly to the hermits.\"You obtained a quantity of dates. Since there were few, they did not send any of them to Father Arsenyen, fearing it would be seen as an insignificant or mock gift. When he was informed of this, he refused to leave his cell to go to the dole with the other brethren, as was customary. Instead, he said to them, \"You have excused me, my brothers, from receiving the charity that God has sent to you. I am not worthy of having had a share of it.\" They all understood his humility and sent him a portion of the dates through one of them, a priest. He lived in the parts of Egypt because he suffered and bore the people's needs there grievously.\"towarde him come for to visit and see him; he proposed to give up and leave his cell or little house without taking anything from it with him. And thus he came to his disciples, one of whom was named Paranytas, another Alexander, and the third Zoyley. So said this holy father Arseny to Alexander. Arise, Alexander, and prepare yourself to row.\n\nTo Zoyley he said, come with me to the river and seek a boat for me to go to Alexandria and take also an oar with your brother to row over. Zoyley was angry about these words and held his peace. And thus they were parted from one another. Always he went alone to the parties of Alexandria where he lay sick with a grievous sickness. And his disciples, whom he had thus left, complained to one another and said,\n\nHas not one of us made our old father Arseny angry? This cause, for which we should be thus departed and separated from him, we could not know nor imagine.of his heaviness, nor had they ever disobeyed him in anything. After that, the holy father Arseny suffered from his illness. Once he recovered, he thought he should visit his brothers whom he had left behind. And after rowing to and fro, he came to a place called the Stone where the monks were. As he walked along, a maid from Egypt appeared to him, plucking at her small clothes. The holy father, ashamed, sharply rebuked her. She replied to him, \"If you are a monk, go to the mountain.\" The holy father, feeling ashamed and moved by her words, said to himself, \"If you are a monk, go to the mountain.\" In this state of confusion, his two disciples, Alexander and Zosimas, approached him. They cast themselves before his feet, and he did the same before them.put myself down on the earth & began to weep all together. The holy father said to them afterwards, have you not heard that I was sick? They answered him. And why did you say this? Alexander answered because your departure from us was not agreeable. For many were displeased with us because of the same reason, saying that if we had not disobeyed the commandment, you would never have departed from us. Then the holy father Arseny said to them, I have known that this should be said. But yet again, men will truly say that the dove which could not speak or look upon us,\n\nThe holy father Besarion and a disciple of his, while walking in the deserts, came upon an accident upon a deep pit in which they entered and found there a brother sitting and working on the making of a cord. The brother, who was both mute and blind, neither spoke nor looked upon them.\n\nConsidering this, the holy father Besarion said to his disciple, let us go on.for this old father will not speak with us. So they went their way and went towards Abbot Iohan. And soon after returning to the said pit, the said holy father Besaryon said, \"Let us go there and enter, for God has sent us here therefore. And when they begged them for a winding sheet, they found it was a woman. They were greatly surprised and said, \"Here is a thing marvelous to see how women fought against the devils and overcame them. And after they had buried her, they went away and prayed the name of God protector and defender of all things.\n\nSaint Mecharye told his disciples that towards him came two brothers, one old and the other very young, whom they knew nothing about, but only that they had knowledge ofThe saint's virtuous works and holy life were desired to see him fervently. And where the said saint Machary confessed that he was the man they sought, they fell before his feet imploring and begged him to allow them to dwell with him. But he, considering their gifts and habits, deeming them to be wanton and delicate due to their wealth, answered that they could not abide with him. Hearing this answer, they said to him that if they could not dwell with him forever, they had intended to seek out some other solitary place for residence. The holy father, hearing their words, thought within himself that if he departed or sent them back, he would give them no reason to disturb him again. Therefore, he said to them:\n\nCome, my children, and if you can, make and build your cells and habitations here.\n\nThey were greatly pleased with this answer and requested that he assign them the place where his pleasure was, so that they should make their dwellings there.Saint Macarius instructed them to dig in a tub of salt and use a hard stone to create their habitations and small houses, which they should cover with clay. Macarius was such that they should be wary to be busy with this work and that, for great weariness, they should leave it and depart. But those who had intended to remain asked him what occupation the other brethren had there. He answered that they made cords. And he gave them both palms and leaves and showed and taught them the manner of making and weaving cords, as well as for making baskets and mats. He warned them to give these mats to the servants to receive bread in them. After this, he commanded them and kept himself within his cells.habitation, and they did not approach him during the time of three years. But because many pilgrims from various regions came towards St. Macarius, he wondered how these two brothers kept them together so long that they did not approach him. Seeing that after that he had left them in that place, he had not gone to them, and had not seen them but in the church, perceiving with silence the holy sacrament of the altar, as the others did. Desiring then to know the truth of their conduct, he set himself to fast for a whole week, praying that the Lord's will be shown to him. After he went towards them, they cast themselves down at his feet and worshipped him in silence, fully heartedly. After they had set themselves all three to orison, as was customary, and after their prayers, St. Macarius dismissed them. Then the old one made a sign to the young one who had dismissed them, and without any speaking, they left.And the eldest made him another token, as before, which you had seen depart and went out again, preparing such victuals as they had for their reception. These were three small loves baked between ashes, which he brought to the table and sat down again, working with the other brother in silence. Saint Macarius called them to him, saying, \"Arise and eat.\" They did so. And this Saint Macarius drank water from a little vessel where they were accustomed to drink. The table was emptied, and as evening approached, they asked him if he would go his way. He answered that he would rest there. In a corner of their cell or habitation, they made ready a mat. And they, willing to take their night's rest in another corner, disposed themselves for sleep.The holy man Macharye prayed to God to reveal their works. Suddenly, the covering of their cell opened, and a bright light appeared, illuminating the entire place as if it were day. However, they did not perceive this light, but only after the holy father had fallen asleep. They rose, blessed themselves, and then set themselves to work, with their hands raised toward heaven. The holy father Macharye observed their conduct closely, so discreetly that they could not detect it. He then saw a multitude of demons in the form of flies attempting to settle on the eyes and face of the young brother, but they dared not come near the old one. Suddenly, the angel of God appeared, armed with a gleaming sword resembling a round shield. This angel terrified the demons so much that they were driven away. When morning came.And they laid themselves down again on the earth to rest. Then Saint Macharyawake up, and so did the two other brothers. The old one asked him if they should sing twelve psalms, as the holy father consented. The young brother sang five psalms with six verses and one Alleluia. At every verse, a brood of fire came out of his mouth and ascended to heaven. Likewise, from the old one's mouth, as he moved his lips to sing psalms, a little cord of fire was kindled and ascended to heaven. After the holy father had sung a little, he asked them urgently to pray to God for him, but they cast themselves before his feet without speaking a word. All these things this holy saint Macharyerecounted, who also said that he had known the oldest to be perfect in the fear of God, and the young one to still be tempted and fought against.The oldest brother had died and been taken into paradise a little time before this, and the other was to follow him thither three days later. The abbot Moses advised his brothers, admonishing them that a monk ought primarily and sovereignly to keep and observe four things. The first is that he must keep his tongue. The second, he must keep the commandments of God. The third, he must humble himself. And the fourth, he must steadfastly and perseveringly endure the sharpness of poverty. It is necessary for a monk that he should ever weep, having continual remembrance of his sins, and that at all hours he should have death before his eyes. Many holy fathers had gathered together, prophets of the last generation, among whom one named Isquieren spoke first. We still fulfill the commandments of God. The others hearing his words asked him, \"What shall those who come after us do?\"The men of each generation shall fulfill half of the commandments of God, and they will then require God everlasting. After they have asked this, the other men who come after them will do the same. He answered again. The men of the self generation shall not perform any works of the commandments of God, but shall forget them. Then all wickedness will overflow, and charity will be cold. Upon them will come grievous temptations. But those who are approved in the same and remain steadfast and constant shall be considered better men than we and our fathers have been, and they will also be more approved in all their works.\n\nA religious man desiring to dwell in the company of other religious men asked the holy father Agathon to teach him how he should behave himself among them. To this the holy father answered that he should keep above all things those things which he should show himself at his entry among them. He should always show himself as a humble man.in all humility until his last days.\nSome time, the Maziniens waged war against those of Sychye, and upon coming to that land, they slew many of the fathers who were there. Therefore, the abbot Poemen, Abbot Nub, and five others departed for this reason to a place called Therenutide, where they found an old and broken temple. There they dwelt for seven days until they knew where each of them should dwell in Egypt. The abbot Nub, who was the oldest of them all, said to them that it seemed good to him that they should dwell there. In the said temple, the abbot Nub saw the statue of an idol, and every morning the said abbot Nub rose and threw stones at it. And when the Sabbath came, which marked the end of that week, these holy fathers coming together again, Abbot Poemen demanded of Abbot Nub why he had beaten himself with the idol for a whole week, marveling at him.A discrete and faithful man, having been this man, asked her forgiveness after striking her. The holy father Nub replied that he had done this for his own edification and that of all present. Have you not observed, he said, that this Idol, when I have struck her, has neither grumbled nor spoken against it, and in no way has she angered herself? And again, when I have asked her forgiveness, she has neither exalted nor praised herself for it. The abbot Poemen confirmed this to be true.\n\nNow, my brothers, said Abbot Nub, I shall tell you, it seemed to me that we seven, if we dwelled together, would produce much fruit, more than if we were separated one from another. However, it is necessary that this Idol be placed before our eyes as an example. That is, if one of us is wronged in any way, he should not be angry, and if men ask him for forgiveness, he should not boast or praise himself for it. And if you will not do so, I say the same.Admonish that it is best that each of us goes and dwells by himself alone where he seems most good to him. The others hearing his words laid themselves down before him and promised that they would do so. By this means they dwelt together for many years in great humility and patience.\n\nThey took their rest for four hours only. By other four hours they sang psalms, and during other four hours they labored. After no time they gathered and prepared palms and leaves, and this done they gathered some herbs and made them ready for their food to live upon.\n\nMen find also that seven other hermits lived together for a long time in an hermitage near the marches of the Saracens. Their cells and habitations were not set one far from the other, but they were wonderfully joined and knit together by the bond of charity. One of them was called Peter, another Stephen, the third John, the fourth George, the fifth Theodore, the sixth Felix, and the seventh.Lawrence lived in a wild and uninhabitable place, where the hermits would gather at a common place to find one another. Each man brought with him whatever he had, such as nuts, leeks, figs, and other fruits and herbs suitable for their living. And bread, oil, and drink, if they had them at any time in excess of their customary portion, were considered unnecessary. They sustained their bodies solely with the fruits and herbs mentioned above. In this place, there was no water, and they drank nothing but the dew that fell abundantly from the heavens upon the herbs. The holy hermits, going through the woods in the morning, would collect and drink this dew.\n\nAs for their clothing, it was made of leaves and palm fronds woven together. When they died,They found themselves at the place where they were to assemble every Saturday, as previously stated. They all took their repast there, and gave thanks and grace to our Lord God. After this, until evening time, they conversed together about holy scriptures, speaking only of the desirable kingdom of paradise, the bliss that is to come, the unspeakable glory of the just, the horrible pains ordained for sinners, and the glorious saints who all rejoice in the blessed seats of heaven. Remembering these things in their minds, they gave great sighs from their hearts and wept with great plenteousness of tears. And throughout the night, they had devout songs to the Lord. The following Sunday, around the hour of none, theyThey set aside their deities and conversations, ending it all for that week. Next, each of them returned to his own cell or small house where they were occupied day and night in the service of God. But the Sarasins, in great numbers, came next and found them there, hunted them out, and were not content with this. They hanged them, inflicting great wrongs and shameful disgraces upon them. And finally, having been thus hanged, the Sarasins made a fire of green and bitter herbs under them. The smoke from the fire was so cruel that they lost the sight in their eyes. After this, they tortured and tormented them in this manner and many other cruel ways, leaving them half dead.\n\nThe Abbot Poemen was questioned by a Religious person asking him what the meaning of the words were that the Lord says in the Gospel which are such.\n\nNo greater love canA man has no greater foe than he who wrongs him and whom he cannot retaliate against in kind. The holy father Poemen answered the brother's question. If a man is wronged by his neighbor and he does not retaliate, but is moved by anger to do so, he fights against himself, restraining his anger in such a way that he does not harm the other. The abbot Moses said. If a man's works are not in accordance with his intentions, he labors in vain for himself. And when a man prays for pardon of his sins for himself, he ought to keep himself from falling into them again. Moreover, if a man resolves in himself never to sin again and abides by this will and purpose, he receives God readily with great joy. A brother asked an old father for advice.that he may withstand the temptations and wicked thoughts that shall come to him. The holy father answered to him that he should steadfastly withstand the said temptations and wicked thoughts. He ought to complain himself to the goodness of God, for in helping him it will aid him in preserving himself from the dangers of the devil. It is written, since my God is my helper. I shall despise my enemies.\nAnother old father said that, like flies fear to come near the pot when it is heated and setting, but if it is only lukewarm they settle themselves there and breed worms thereon. In the same way, the devils flee the Religious when he is enraptured and taken by the love of God, but if he is slow, that is, if he does not love God with all his heart and whole affection, they tempt and deceive him with their damning and subtle temptations.\nAbbot Silvan sitting with his brethren in a cave where he held himself.was suddenly rushed\nfrom his spirit / and in this rushing he was constrained to fall down to the earth. And after a long time reviving himself, he sore began to weep. His brothers questioned him and asked what ailed him, but ever he wept still without answering them any thing, wherefore the said brothers begged him so earnestly that he would speak, so that by the continuance of prayers he was constrained to do so. And said to them, that being thus rushed and his body a burden, his spirit was brought to the judgment of the almighty God, where he had seen many religious houses bearing their habit, to have been condemned and cast into diverse torments. And a great number of secular men to have been set and stabilized in the kingdom of paradise.\n\nAnd these words said, he took himself to weep again, thinking it from this hour forth he should not go out of his cell, which purpose he enforced himself a long while to keep and observe, for he went.A new monk leaving the monastery only did so if compelled by necessity and covered his face with a hood upon exiting, saying it was unnecessary for a religious person to see temporal light where there was nothing useful or profitable.\n\nAnother religious brother exhorted his brother, saying, \"You ought to think every day that death is near and that you are already enclosed in your grave. You ought not to have any concern or business with temporal things, but in yourself, you ought to believe in virtues or virtuous deeds. You are the least of all other men, and you ought not to backslide nor blame any man. Our Lord knows all things, and be peaceful in all your deeds, and our Lord shall give the rest.\"\n\nSome religious brothers asked St. Machary to teach them how to pray to God. To them, he answered humbly, \"My brothers, too much speech is not necessary for this. But you ought to do it with fervent devotion.\"You shall place your hands towards heaven and say, \"Lord God almighty, as thou wilt, and as it pleaseth to thy godhead, so be it. And if any temptation or distress assails you, you shall say, 'Lord God, right pitiful and meek, have mercy on us. For thou knowest that which is necessary for us; dispose it to thy pleasure after thy great mercy.'\n\nThe Abbot John said that the monk or religious ought to be like a man sitting under a great tree, looking upon horrible serpents and other diverse beasts cruel company, fiercely coming towards him to harm and hurt him. And where he cannot withstand them, he goes immediately upon the tree, and thus doing, he is preserved and saved from them. Likewise, the religious ought to retreat into his cell, and if he sees that he cannot withstand temptations, distresses, and wicked thoughts that the devil, his great adversary, brings before him, he ought to flee immediately and return to us.lord, to whom all things are possible, and he shall be saved. He said moreover that the religious ought to be like a man having fire at his left side and water at his right. The which, when the fire takes him with a flame, he takes at once the water that is near and puts it out with it. In like manner, it is necessary that the religious do the same at all times, that is, when any evil thoughts are kindled within him by the devil, he must then spring and cast water over them to put them out. By this water understand devout and continuous prayers that he ought to make to our Lord. The which shall quench and put out this wicked thoughts.\n\nThe Abbot Zenon being in the deserts of Syria, went out one night from his cell and took himself to walk through the wood for three days and three nights in such a way that he fell down to the earth half dead from great weariness. And then a child appeared to him.whiche had some bread in his hand & said to Zenon arise and eat. Immediately he rose upon his feet again, yet he would not eat but set himself to pray, fearing that this apparition might be some wicked fantasy. So the child said to him again, thou hast done well to pray now arise & eat, to which the holy father would not consent until he had prayed God a second time and a third. And where the child prayed, he prayed God so continually, he then made an end of his orisons and stood up to eat. And this done, the child said to him, thou hast been walking so long that you are almost ready far from your cell, but come and follow me. And the holy father did so, and suddenly he found himself before his little house where he had been parted from.\n\nThen the child said to the holy man, you should enter your cell to pray in God. And after these words, the good hermit entered his cell, and the child vanished away.\n\nAbbot Daniel said ofSaint Arsenius was so consumed by his orgasms every Saturday that he didn't pray until he saw the sun turned behind its back and remained there, lifting his hands to heaven until the morning came again and the rising sun struck his eye with its beams. Yet he spent the other night awake, but towards the morning, to satisfy the freedom of his kind, he was forced to sleep a little. He called upon sleep and said, \"Come, evil servant.\" And thus, setting his eyes, he took a little rest, and rose again.\n\nThe Abbot Lucius, being in a great pit and deep in contemplation, was once visited by certain hermits or Beggars who called themselves the Foolish. To whom the said holy father Lucius was asked by what hand works they occupied themselves. They replied, \"We do no manner of temporal work.\" But following this,The doctrine of St. Paul without intermission or ceasing, they answered him that they had prayed to God. Then he asked them again if they had eaten. And they replied, \"Yes.\" He asked them next if they had slept, and they answered similarly. The holy father Abbot asked them when they ate or slept, who prayed to God for them. To this question they did not know how to answer. Then he said to them, \"My brothers, forgive me. I see well by your answers that you do not do as you say, claiming that you pray to God in the same way. Have mercy on me, O Lord, after your great mercy and after the multitude of your great mercies, forgive my wickedness. I ask you, is this that I say, prayer or not? And they answered that it was a true prayer. And again, the holy father Lucius said to them, \"When I labor throughout the day and in laboring I pray to God, I earn with my labor twelve or fifteen small pennies sometimes more, and sometimes less. Of these I place at the door of my cell two pennies.\"A poor body who comes first and brings the remainder to me, I buy this from him that is necessary for my living. I trust that he who takes my said alms prays God for me when I eat or also when I sleep, or at least for so much time as I spend on eating or sleeping. And by all this, may the grace of God help him. I trust that I do what holy scripture exhorts, saying, \"Pray without ceasing.\"\n\nAn abbot named Machary once, during the making of his mands to sell at a market, grew so weary from the long journey that he was forced to sit down on the earth to rest, saying, \"My God, you know that I can go no further.\" Inconveniently, he found himself by a river which he had to cross, which was yet far from the place where he had sat down before when he made his complaint.\n\nAn abbot Ammon, departing from his cell to fetch water at a well, found in his way aThe serpent Basilisk, seeing it could not avoid being called a serpent, and you saying that a serpent would bring him to death if he were not kept from it by God's grace, placed himself before the said serpent and said to the Lord in this way: \"My God, I know that I must die or else this best one. And these words said, this basilisk, by the might of God, died suddenly, all torn in pieces.\n\nThe Abbot Besaryon and a disciple of his, walking together along the shores of the sea, the said disciple was greatly disturbed by thirst because of the great heat. Hearing this, the holy father commanded him to take water from the sea for his drink. And where he had drunk from it, he found it very sweet and good, so he filled a bottle that he carried with him.\n\nThe holy father Besaryon, seeing this, said to him: \"Why have you filled your bottle with the same water?\" The disciple, fearing the holy father, answered: \"Alas, father, I...\"requite the pardon I have been so sore pained to ask for, that I fear I may fall thereto again. To whom the said holy father said, \"My son, God pardon thee the same. Thou oughtest to know that God is every where; and he may give and grant thee the water good and sweet in whatever place that he will, so long as thou hast a true love and affection towards him and towards thy even Christian, with true faith and good hope in keeping his commandments.\nAn old father recounted to a young man who had a will to be a man of Religion, but was strongly hindered by his mother from it, that he would save his soul. Nevertheless, she could not do much against that, and finally she consented to it.\nAnd after he was received into Religion, he spent a part of his youth in great nearness which roused and bore his spirit out of his body to be presented before the judgment of God, there to receive the punishmentsome.his mistakes, but in this roughing, he saw his mother, who was in great sorrow and torment with those who were condemned. She, seeing her son was wonderfully abashed, said to him, \"My son, and what is this? Art thou here condemned to suffer everlasting torment? Alas, where are the fair words that thou saidst when thou wouldst, against my good will, enter into Religion, saying that in this manner thou wouldst do the salvation of thy soul? Hearing these words and seeing the grievous torment that his mother suffered, he found himself so overcome and so abashed that he knew not what he should answer.\n\nAnd after this, by him seen and heard, his ghost came into his body again, and, as by the will of God it was suffered, he returned from his sickness to good health again. So he thought in himself that this vision was to him by God and His mercy done, and for this cause he gave thanks for it, or that he should run into some other inconveniences. ButA Religious man in Egypt was more solitary and renowned for his great humility. He had a sister who lived alone among men. She was the cause of his damnation and loss of many. This Religious man was often required and pursued by various good men to go to where she lived in the city, so that through his entreaties he might be able to persuade her to abandon her wantonness. When he arrived at the place where she stayed, a man of her acquaintance went quickly towards her and said, \"Here is your brother who is coming towards you.\" She moved with great gladness, leaving her lovers whom she would have been pleased to keep, and went out of her lodgings to run towards her brother. There she forced herself to take him in her arms and kiss him.\"say to her. Alas, my sister and my right dear friend. I pray that you will have pity on your soul, considering the great paradox in which you live, where so many wretched men perish through the occasion of this, of which at the last you shall and must suffer infinite pains for it and intolerable torments. She, hearing her brother's words and shaking horribly, began to say to him: Alas, my brother, thinkest thou that after so many evils which I have done, I might yet come to obtain my soul's salvation? He answered: I assure you, my friend, if you will do your duty, you shall be saved lightly. Then she cast herself at her brother's feet and begged him urgently to lead her with him, so that she might do penance. And he answered to her: My sister, I will, but go first and convert your head, and then come after and follow me. To whom she said again: Go we, my brother, go we.\"And it is better for me to walk among men with bare head, than to return to the abominable sins where I have indulged in. As they set out to walk together, her brother exhorted and warned her to behave properly. Seeing that some people met them on the way, he said to her, \"My friend, because every man does not know that you are my sister, and to prevent any occasion for people passing by to think or say ill of us, it seems necessary that you set yourself a little out of the way until they have passed, and then I will call you back to me.\" She granted him this with a good will. And immediately after, when he thought that they should not meet any more people, he called her to him again, saying, \"My sister, let us go our way.\" After he had called her two or three times and she did not answer, he went where she was hiding behind a hedge and found her dead. He also found the trail of her footsteps.Had she tread on all, covered in blood, because she had taken off both her husbands and shown herself. And where her brother had shown this thing to some of his religious brethren, they had among them great doubt about her salvation. But our Lord showed to one of them that because in walking she had forsaken fleshly desires and worldly pleasures, and by marvelous contrition had set herself to weep and to complain about the grief city, which was there, an old blind man named Dydymus came toward him, who was well learned and wonderfully taught in holy write. In speaking and disputing with whom Saint Anthony marveled much at the great engine and understanding that this blind man had. And giving praise to the loftiness of his courage, asking him if he was not heavy and sorrowful that he had lost his bodily eyes.\n\nAnd where the same Dydymus, shamefast and displeased with it, did not answer anything to his asking,\n\nSaint Anthony questioned him a second time and also the third time.Before he answered him anymore than he had at the first time, he gave Saint Anthony to know that he bore in his heart sorrow for having lost the bodily light. Then Saint Anthony spoke in this manner. I marvel how a man prudent and sage can be sorry for the damage and loss of that thing which the flies and bees have, where they should be glad for that thing which the apostles and other saints have deserved to have. Indeed, it is a better thing and greater to see with spiritual eyes than with bodily eyes, and to possess such eyes, by which a sin as little as taking up a straw cannot be done, than the eyes that, by one look of concupiscence, can make a man fall into the grievances of death with eternal torment.\n\nA religious dwelling in the deserts of Nitry, who was more sparing than a covetous man, not heeding that our Lord was sold for thirty pieces of silver, left behind Him when He was arrested.The neighbors, who lived in the same deserts, two or three miles apart, consulted together regarding what they should do with a hundred shillings that one of them had spared by selling clothes. Some suggested giving it to the poor for God's sake, some recommended it be given to the church, and some thought it should be sent to the parents of the deceased neighbor. But Saint Macarius, Father Pambo, Saint Isidore, and other holy fathers, being present at the council and speaking in the name of the Holy Ghost, decided and concluded that it should be buried with their master who had bequeathed it, saying, \"Your money is with you, to your loss and destruction.\" To prevent this act from being perceived as cruel, it is noted that this decision caused such fear and great dread among all the monks and religious people of the land of Egypt that every one of them was terrified.A young sternly born Greek became a Monk in the desert of Egypt. Despite his severe abstinence, painful fasting, great labors, and long vigils, he could not suppress the motions of fleshly concupiscence within him. When this was discovered by the father abbot of his monastery, he commanded a great and harsh man to scold fiercely at the said Monk, to say many great wrongs to him, and yet, after great shame, not to grant him leave to excuse himself but to continue his blame and complaints towards him. This man, the Incontinent, fulfilled this request to the letter. To further aggravate the young Monk, it was all done even though he was not guilty of the shames that were alleged.by Hym called some persons to be present when he spoke such shameful acts. Those who had learned such behavior from the slanderer bore out his deed, bringing disgrace upon the poor Religious and Innocent. Considering the great outrage and shame of the wrongs laid against him contrary to truth, Hym wept bitterly and continued to do so for a long time. He was filled with great sorrow and despair, rejecting all aid and comfort as it seemed to him. But he returned to God, his Creator and Redeemer, lying flat and casting himself to the earth. He made heartfelt and bitter complaints about the great wrongs, injuries, and rebukes that had been put upon him unwarrantedly. This life of his, which ended and was accomplished, the young man was questioned and asked how he bore up under it.Self touching his lecherous temptations, and if he was further aroused by them. To this he answered and said to them, \"Alas, when it is not honest for me to have an appetite to live longer, and I ought to desire myself to die for the great shame that has been laid upon me, how should I remember any lecherous appetite within me, as he would have said, that detraction, which unjustly had been done to him, had taken away from him all other thoughts and considerations? And by this means the said young Relygyous was saved and kept from the said temptations through the advice of the said holy father, and came safely back to the right way when he knew that the said wrongs had been done to him to make him forget the temptations above mentioned.\n\nA Relygyous required Abbot Anthony to teach him how he might soon please our Lord. To this Relygyous the same Abbot answered, that wherever he went, he should alwaysHave God before your eyes, and in the things you should do, you should always have the witnessing and proving of the holy write. You should not be unsteady, but in all places where you have to dwell, you should persevereantly abide there and not depart suddenly from it. Furthermore, tell him that in keeping and observing these three things, he will purchase his salvation.\n\nThe Abbot Pambo asking of the Abbot Anthony how he ought to lead himself for to live virtuously. This Anthony said to him, do not trust in your holy life. Repent not of the thing that is past where no remedy cannot be had. Refrain your tongue from much and unprofitable language, and keep also that you fill not your belly.\n\nSaint Gregory said that our Lord asks three things to be primarily kept by every Christian man: the first, that he have a true faith and keep it with all his soul; the second, that he be true in his words; and the third, that he be content and chaste.Saynt Euagrius said that the monk who has fruits, herbs, and roots is a container of salvation, impossible to exhaust. He further said that a religious person, to whom the death of his father was announced, answered him, \"Leave off and blame my father no more, for you do not speak well. I know well that he is immortal.\" By these words, the said religious person gave understanding that he regarded himself as having no other father than God.\n\nAbbot Macharye asked Abbot Zacharye what works a monk should do to be held and taken as a true religious. And yet Zacharye would not answer this, because he thought that Macharye, who was his elder, knew it better than he did. Nevertheless, he would obey him and said, as to his advice, that a man ought to be taken as a true religious who does these works.Really, he who yields himself and is subjugated, enduring all the necessities and wretchedness of this world.\n\nThe Abbot Theodore, otherwise called the Farmer, told some men among his other virtues, the following three, which are declared hereafter. The first is that he would not keep anything. The second, that he was wonderfully abstinent. And the third, that he fled gladly the company of men and their conversation.\n\nThe Abbot John Nave, to exhort and learn all manner of people to live virtuously, said that a man ought to enforce himself to take and have in himself some of all virtues. And therefore he said that in rising a morning, he ought to dispose himself to take of every virtue: beginning with wisdom, to keep God's commandments; to be patient in his adversities; to fear and love God; to be strong in resisting the temptations of the devil; to be charitable; humble of heart and mind; to continue in prayer, sorrowing and weeping for his sins.obtain of them forgiveness, to have a clean conscience without envy or rancor, to be docile without retaliating for wrongs lovingly, peaceful without yielding evil for evil, but good for harm without vain glory, to hold oneself lesser of the least, to be sober of tongue without evil speaking, clean of eyes, to behave oneself humbly as subject to every one, forsaking all temporal goods and oneself, ever to fast, suffer, weep, and fight against the devil, to bear hunger and thirst, to have both cold and hot, to keep oneself naked and keep oneself close within oneself as within a tomb or sepulcher, like one who was already dead.\n\nThe abbot Joseph said that there are three orders or degrees of virtuous men pleasing to God. The first is when a man is taken with some grief or adversity, and during the same, some temptations come to him, to which he with fortitude and patience resists.The second degree is when all his deeds are clean before God, unentangled with busynesses or worldly doings temporal, that is to say, not bespotted with the filth of sin. The third degree is when a man, for the worship of God entering into Religion, gives his own proper will to his spiritual Father, forsaking all his own affections and to the desires of this world.\n\nThe Abbot Cesion told of an abbot named John, who was first and principal among the Religious of his time, and he was a virtuous man in his life. Speaking of the which he said that when he saw himself at the hour of his death, he steadfastly disposed himself to depart towards our Lord. Many Religious being about him and weeping, prayed him to leave them a gift of charity, some good word by which they might ascend to the perfection which is in Jesus Christ. To whom signing, he said by manner as follows:He would show them that he never did his own will, and also never taught or warned any body to do any good work, unless he had done it first himself.\nAnother brother asked an old father, inquiring what good he might do to ensure everlasting rest. The old father answered:\n\nGod only knows what is good to be done, but I have always heard it said long ago that one of our fathers once questioned the great Abbot Nestor, who was a singular friend to Abbot Anthony, and asked him what thing was necessary for him to do to be saved by it. To whom Nestor answered that all works were not alike; this holy scripture says, that is, Abraham was a hospitaller and God was with him. Helyas loved rest and contemplative life, and God was with him. David was humble and God was with him. Therefore, do as your own courage desires after God, and keep your heart from evil thoughts.\n\nThe Abbot Pastor said:A religious person should keep himself, consider himself, and have discernment. A religious person asked him how a brother of religion ought to behave, to which he replied, \"We have seen Daniel, in whom was found no accusation, but of the service he did and rendered to his god.\" Moreover, the same holy father Pambo added that poverty and tribulation are suitable for a solitary man. He who desires to lead such a life ought to have the conditions of Noah, of Job, and of Daniel. For Noah possessed nothing, Job endured patiently wonderful tribulations, and Daniel discerned prudently. If a man then has these conditions in him, he will easily dwell with God. Yet the same Pambo added that a religious person who hates the delights of the flesh and vain glory will be easily freed and delivered from the illusions and deceptions of the world. Some say that...the abbot Pambo, at the hour of his death, said to the holy men who accompanied him such or similar words. Since I have been in this solitary place and have bought and dwelt in this cell, I cannot remember that I have ever eaten bread but that I had obtained it with my labor. I have not uttered nor spoken any words of which I have repented. And thus I go to our Lord, as I should begin to do Him service.\n\nAbbot Sysoyns said, \"Do not care if it is scorned and despised, but cast your wills behind your back and make yourself free and secure from all worldly care, contempt, and putting them to naught. You shall have true rest.\"\n\nAbbot James, as he was about to depart from this world, said to his religious, \"Keep yourselves from the heretics and do not come near them, and have no knowledge of temporal juggles. Be ready and humbly counsel your neighbors.\"bodyes to serue them.\n\u00b6A brother questyoned an olde fader askyng hy\u0304 how the drede of god may come in a man. Wherat he answered. Yf a man is wyllefull poore & that he beware that he Iuged not an other / he shall thenne haue withoute fawte the drede of god.\n\u00b6An other sayd. Yf thou wylt lyue su\u00a6rely haue with the humylyte / lacke of vytaylles / & plente of teeres.\n\u00b6An other aeged fader sayd. Bewa\u2223re thou do not to an other that whiche thou woldest not be done vnto. And yf thou hast hate or euyll wyll ayenst ony bodye that hath sayd ylle of the / kepe the that thou speke none ylle by hym for it / nor of none other. \u00b6Also yf yu hatest some bodye / do not to hym ther\u00a6fore no thyng that is wrongfull nor to none other. \u00b6Morouer yf thou hate ony bodye that hath purchassed some harme vnto the deceyuyng the or doyn\u00a6ge some shame to the / or that taketh awaye thyn owne good fro the or that dooth to the some other thynge to the hurte of the / doo not therfore vnto no maner of persone suche a thynge. And who that shallA father once said that the life of a devout person consists of diligence, obedience, and avoiding judgment of others. It is written, \"You who love our Lord hate malice.\"\n\nThe life of a monk is as follows: not to associate with sinners, not to look with his eyes upon anything evil, not to be curious to do new things, not to raise his hands, but to help generously within his power, not to be proud of heart, not to think on evil things, and not to fill his belly too much. But do all things with good discretion. These are the conditions that a good monk should have.\n\nAnother holy father said, \"Pray God that He will give me a meek heart and weeping for weeping over my sins, which I must always have before these eyes without judging anyone else, but be subject to all others.\"haue none acqueyn\u2223tau\u0304ce with women / childern nor herety\u00a6kes. Trust not vpon thy selfe. Refray\u2223ne thy tonge & thy bely / & absteyne thy selfe from wyne. \u00b6And yf ony bodye speke to the of ony thynge chyde not with hy\u0304 / & yf he sayth well / saye as he sayth / but & yf he sayth euyll / aske hym yf he wote well what he sayth & force not thy selfe to chyde nor brault with hym of suche thynges that he hath sayd / and thenne shall thy thought be peasyble.\nTHe abbot Anthonye sayd / that lyke as the fysshes deye anone when they be taken out of the water whiche is theyr owne nourys\u2223shyng / and are putte in a drye place. In lykewyse the Relygyouses / when they be out of theyr celles and dwellyn\u00a6ge places or when they dwelle with se\u2223culer folke / they be lyghtly delyuered and withdrawen from the reste spyry\u2223tuell wiche they ought to haue and ke\u00a6pe. Thenne it is of necessyte that the Relygyouses renne agayn to theyr so\u2223lytarye places / as the fysshes to the see / to thende that because of theyr longe beynge there out /they put not forgetting the keeping that they ought to have of their souls. Moreover, he said that he who keeps himself enclosed with silence and rests therein is preserved from three battery and great inconveniences. First, from evil to hear. Secondly, from evil to speak. Thirdly, from the sight of anything that is noyful and has not but one battle to endure, that is to say, against his heart denying and going against his wicked thoughts. The Abbot Arsenye dwelling yet in the palaces of the Emperor and before it he was Religious, besought right humbly and heartily to God that he would set him on the way of salvation. The which prayer made, our Lord, considering the great and fervent devotion that he had to live solitarily, made it known to him by a voice that he should go away and flee the company of men. In doing this, he would be saved. The same Arsenye leaving the world and taking the way solitary and Religious, made again to God such a prayer as the first.The archbishop Theophilus, a man of holy and commendable life, once accompanied a judge of a city and went towards Abbot Arseny. He asked him certain questions to which he answered not. After keeping silent for a while, he demanded of the judge and the archbishop that if he revealed anything to them, they should keep it. The archbishop then said to them, \"In all places where you shall know that Arseny is, keep yourselves from coming there.\"\n\nAnother time, the archbishop desiring to see him, first inquired of the said holy father if he would open the door of his cell to him. He sent word in reply, \"If you will come, I shall open to you the door of my cell, but if I open it to you, I shall do the same to all others.\"then I shall not stay here longer, but I shall go my ways to some other place to live there solitarily.\nThe archbishop, hearing these words, answered through the messenger. Since my going towards Arsenye would trouble or inconvenience him, I am determined never to go there.\nAnother time, the said holy father Arsenye went to visit some religious living in a place where the reed grew very thick, which was often disturbed by Impetuosite of the wind. Seeing this, the said holy father asked the said religious, \"From where comes that sudden noise?\" They answered, \"It is the wind that beats against the reed.\" He said to them again, \"Certainly, if a man sits in peace and hears the voice of a bird, he will not have the peace in his heart that he had before. And how can you then have hope for tranquility and rest in hearing the noise of the reed, as he would have said, when a man who desires to save his soul cannot be too far removed and \"parted from the charges and business of the world, which are more lightly his, the more he delights in living solitarily. Men found his cell was departed and far from all habitation of people, about thirty-two miles or thereabouts, and he went out seldom, but had people who administered to his necessities. And some holy father once said that the land of Syria was destroyed, such that no one dwelt there. The world has lost Rome, and you Religious, Syria. The said abbot, making a while his abiding in a place called Canap, a holy mother, an old virgin born in Rome the city, which was much reverent of God and earnestly desiring to see the said holy father Arseny, came to Alexandria toward the archbishop Theophile, and begged him that he would be the means to the said holy father, that his pleasure might be granted that she should see him. And the said Theophile, seeing the great affection of the said Mother, went toward her.the father Arsenyen made this request to him, which he would not grant. Theophyle returned and reported this to the matron, who was not satisfied. I believe and have steadfast trust in God that I shall see him, for in our city of Rome there are many holy men who can console me; nevertheless, for his great fame, I have determined to undertake this journey to see him.\n\nShe labored so much on her journey that she reached the place where he dwelt. It happened, as the Lord willed, that she found him walking outside his cell. She then threw herself at his feet, but he took her up again at once out of great displeasure. \"Behold me in your face,\" he said. \"Here I am.\"\n\nHearing his harsh words, she was deeply ashamed.\"She didn't know what to answer and was not bold enough to look at him in the face. Arsenyen replied, \"My imagination is that since you wanted to see me, you have heard speak of my works. Why did you need to undertake such a great effort to see me? You didn't know me well, for it doesn't belong to your state that you should leave your place to go to a strange place. I believe that you have come here to tell the women of Rome about me, so that by my means the way may be found in the sea for them to come towards me. Then she said to him, \"I promise the holy father, if it pleases God, I will return to Rome again. I will not tell that I have been here, nor will I be the cause of anyone coming to it, but I pray that it may please him.\"\"for toe pray for me and this to have always remembrance of me. Whereas he answered I pray god that he will put it out of my thought. She hearing these things went away from him all wroth and sorrowful. And inconvenient that she was come again to Alexandria the city because of the great sorrow and heaviness that she had, a sickness took her with a sharp fever. Which thing was told to the holy archbishop Theophyle. So he came towards her to comfort her.\n\nAnd asking what ailed her, she answered him. Alas, my lord, would god that I had not come here. At my departing from that holy father I prayed him that he would keep me in mind. And he answered me that he prayed god that he would take away from him the remembrance of me. The which answer had angered and troubled me so sore that I am in danger for to die.\n\nThen said to her Theophyle, knowest not thou that thou art a woman, and that by woman the devil tempts the holy men? For this cause the holy...A man has given you this answer. But nevertheless, you should not think that he will not pray God mercifully for your soul. The good matron, hearing these words, ceased her wrath and, in great joy and gladness, returned again to the city of Rome.\n\nAbbot Euagrius said that he who will keep himself shall not fall into tribulation, and to keep his spirit at rest, he ought to have few affections towards many people.\n\nA brother came to Sichye to the abbot Moses. To him, appearing him, he required him to tell him some edifying word to carry it in his mind until he should have remembrance of him. So answered to him Moses that he should go and keep himself within his cell, and it would teach him all things that are good.\n\nThe said Moses said that the man who flees the company of men is like a ripe and sweet grape, but he who seeks their fellowship and accompanies them is like a sour and unripe grape.The abbot Nyle said that the man who loves to live solitarily yields himself so steadfast to deny and withstand against the arrows, that is, against the temptations of the devil, that they should not touch or enter him. But he who haunts and companions with men is often dangerously wounded. The abbot Pastor said that it is the beginning of all evils to apply one's thought to diverse things, and moreover he said that to flee from temporal things is a good and sure life. Certainly, when a man draws near a place where men fight bodily, he is like him who is near deep water. At such an hour as his adversary seems good, he may take him and make him fall into the bottom. But if he parties himself and goes far from bodily things, he is like him who is far from the well, and when the devil will cast him from above to beneath, to do this he will draw him violently near to the said well. God.The abbot Sysson had a disciple who said to him, \"Fair father, you are already old and have discretion and wit to speak against the temptations of the world. It seems to me that you might well have a site through the world, to whom the holy father answered, \"I will do so, if I could bring you to a place where no women were.\" The disciple hearing this answer said to him, \"I know of no place but women are there, but only in solitary places.\" Now lead me there then, said the holy father. An old matron, who was an abbess, said that many Religious being in the mountain, that is to say in solitary places, are perished there, because they had set their thoughts and affections to things of the world, and it is better for one to be among many and to lead a solitary life there willingly, than for one to be above and apply his thoughts to the multiplication of temporal things. An old holy father said:A monk ought ever to rest in such a manner that he despises it if he sees any bodily harm come to him by it. An aged holy father showed it to three learned men; one of whom chose and took upon himself this affection, that he would bring peace and reconcile all persons whom he knew harbored evil will toward one another or had any matter of plea or debate against each other. The second thought that he would alleviate fear and comfort the sick. And the third went and inhabited himself in a solitary place. The first, then, engaging himself in his enterprise, found so many nuisances and differences, debates and questions among the men, that it should not have been possible for him to bring peace. Therefore, he was filled with annoyance and grew weary and annoyed, because he could not satisfy his deliberation; the second also, who was also weary and annoyed, could not serve all the sick and the poor due to the great multitude he found.Among them, everywhere. So these two proposed to go see the third, who had gone to live solitarily in the desert. And when they were coming towards him, after they had made known to each other, the two greeted the third, praying him to declare to them what had happened and how he had prospered in his hermitage. To the west he had kept himself still, he took water in a vessel and said to them, \"Behold a little of this water, it is troubled.\" And they began to look at it, and why they looked so intently, the water began to clarify by itself. Then he said to them, \"When I see it clear and clean, look how suddenly this water is purified by itself.\" Then they beheld within it, they knew their own faces reflected in it, as if in a mirror. Then he told them that in the same way, he, accompanied by great pain, could recognize his own faults because of the great troubles in the world.when he withdraws himself into a solitary place, then may he easily know his sins. The Abbot Arsenius, as some told, spent and lived all the time of his life sitting and dwelling in his cell, laboring and working with his hands. He always had a handkerchief in his bosom to wipe the tears that continually ran out of his eyes, in sorrow for his sins and fear of God and the pains of hell which he had ever in his mind.\n\nA brother requested that Abbot Ammon tell him some good and healthful word. He answered, \"Go to your cell and think upon your fate, as the evildoers do who, for their misdeeds, are kept in prison. Then they ask the judge when he will come and, weeping and wailing over their sins, they wait for his severe punishment.\"\n\nIn like manner, the religious ought always to be suspicious, and you may be saved through this means.\n\nThe Abbot Evagrius said, \"When you are within your cell, gather your spirits.\"Within yourself and remember the day of death, and then you shall see the mortification of your body. Think also upon the mortal wars of this world and be sorrowful for it. Hate the vanities of this world, be temperate and curious, so that you may ever dwell in one manner of rest and not sick of the sickness of sin. Remember the state of those in hell and think in yourself how their souls are in that place, in what bitter torment, in what horrible wringing, in what dread, in what battle, and in what waiting of sorrow, and that without withdrawal of pains they are in infinite tears. Be also remembering the last resurrection and imagine the horrible ingemination of God with the wonderful confusion that sinners shall suffer in the presence of God the Father and of Ihesu Christ his Son, and before the angels, archangels, and apostles, and before all men of the world, with this consider the torments and the everlasting fire where they shall be condemned, you remember.Inmortal souls, the dreadfulness of hell, and above all, the grinding of teeth, the pains and torments there. Consider and bring to mind the wealth and felicities promised to the just, the trust they shall have in God the Father and His Son before angels, archangels, and powers, and before the company of all the heavenly court. In truth, the gifts of grace, the joys and rest where they shall be, the record and remembrance of these things, it is to know the evils at one side and the goods at the other. You must have weeping bitterly within yourself.\n\nThe Abbot Helye said in all seasons he feared three things coming: the first was the hour of death, the second when his soul should be presented before God for judgment, and the third what sentence should be cast upon him. And so the good archbishop Theophyle, when he was at the point of death, said of St. Arseny that he was well.The abbot James said that, just as a lantern lights up a dark and obscure place, so does the fear of God enlighten a man when he has it within him. Some brothers asked the abbot Machary how he could be so dry and of such poor body, to which he answered that, just as a man, when he takes a staff in his hand and uses it to rake and stir the embers, the same staff both lights the fire and consumes it finely, so whoever has the fear of God within him will consume the flesh of a man away to the bones. The holy fathers dwelling in the mountain of Nitrye sent word to Abbot Machary, who was in Syria, praying him to come and see them. If he did not come to them, they were determined to go to him, because they desired to see him before his death. When he came to the mountain where they dwelt, they gathered around him and asked him for spiritual consolation. Then he said to them.Them that they should weep and wail over their sins, so that they would not pray God for them. The Abbot Pastor passing through Egstep, came upon a woman on a grave, who beat herself and wept so sore that it seemed if all the joys of the world had come to her, she should not rejoice herself for it. Likewise, we ought to do the same as a religious person in this world. Another time he passed through the parties of Dyolche with Abbot Nub, and they found a woman weeping bitterly for the death of her husband, son, and brother. Then said Abbot Pastor to Abbot Nub, \"I believe steadfastly that no man, unless he suppress all concupiscence of the flesh and has as great contrition as this woman, is worthy to be a religious person.\" He said this because all her thought was set upon weeping. A brother asked Abbot Pastor some good counsel for his salvation, and he counseled him to do as Abraham did when he wept.The archbishop entered the land of Promysse, who had made a tomb, which signified weeping and sorrowing.\n\nThe archbishop, having completed his hermitage, came to see her in the city of Alexandria. Upon coming, he met a common woman. When he saw her, he began to weep. Athanasy asked him what moved him to do so. He answered two things moved him. The first because he saw that the woman flagellated herself, the second because he took less pain to please God than she did to please the world.\n\nAbbot Silvain, being with his monks, was spiritually moved, causing him to fall down face first to the earth. After being there for a long time, he rose up again, weeping sorely. His monks asked him why he wept, but he answered them nothing. He continued to weep, and they never ceased to pray him to tell them why, and in effect, he showed them that he had seen a vision of the Last Judgment.A man named Synclicius said they turn from sin to virtue experience great pain at the beginning to leave their evil life, but at the end they will have joy impossible to tell. Even as they kindle a fire, they have great anguish of heart with blowing and smoke in their eyes or ever the fire is kindled. We must endure many evils to kindle within us the fire of God's love.\n\nAbbot Ipericius said a monkey should watch the day and:\n\n(Note: The text appears to be in Middle English. No significant OCR errors were detected, so no corrections were made.)night in Orsey/ in wandering and in coping/ to the end that through this means he has the mercy of Jesus Christ.\nMany secular Religious came to the abbot Felix/ and at various times prayed him to give them some godly doctrine for their salvation/ but nevertheless he would not/ but only said to them/ now I have no tongue to speak.\nThe brothers, hearing this answer, were greatly dismayed because he would not teach them. Then he said to them/ sometimes Religious required to be taught by the old/ and they did it because it was commanded to them/ therefore our Lord gave to you the tongue and speech/ and because the disorders now do nothing of it that is commanded to them/ God has taken from the old the word of true doctrine/ for there is no one left who does this that the old fathers commanded. These words they all heard together began to weep and sigh, asking mercy/ and that the said abbot would pray for them.\nA holy father said when our Lord...lord shall come to yt daye of dome / yf it were pos\u00a6syble yt ye soules yt then shalbe brought to theyr bodyes / myght be departed a\u2223yen all yt worlde sholde then deye of ye drede & terrour ye euery one shall haue atte yu sayd daye / therfor we ought well to wepe in this world & do penau\u0304ce to thende yt at ye same ferfull daye we may yelde good acomptes vnto our lord.\n\u00b6A brod{er} axed a holy fad{er} wherof cam yt he was harde herted & yt he fered not god. The holy fader answered to hy\u0304 yt he sholde haue drede of god / yf he wol\u00a6de rebuke his soule saynge. My soule thynke vpon thy lyfe / for yu shalbe bro\u2223ughte byfore the myght of god for to be Iuged to be dampned perpetuelly or saued euerlastyngly.\n\u00b6An other holy fad{er} seeyng a man yt loughe sayd to hy\u0304. My frende I mer\u2223uayll me how yu darest laugh as yu doste seen yt afore god our maker yt daye that we shall deye we shall haue to answer straytly of all our werkes / & yf yu were well aduysed forgety\u0304g to laughe / thou\nsholdest consydere / that thus as sheshadow follows the body in whatever place it is, and we should have a bitter contrition of heart, and weep continually over our sins.\nA brother asked a holy father some wholesome words. And he told him, that when Egypt was punished by the hand of God, there was no house but every body wept that was in.\nAnother asked a like question, that is to say what thing he ought to do for to be saved. What the holy father answered unto him, that he should weep without ceasing, for our Lord will that our souls be tormented and scourged by contritions and waitings, and at the last we shall have that which we ask of him. And this witnesses the psalm that says in the Psalter, that the heart contrite and humbled shall never be disappointed by him. Of that other part he says in the Gospel, \"Blessed are they that weep in this world, for they shall be comforted everlastingly.\"\nAnother treatise follows concerning continence.\nMany brethren of Syria proposed themselves.\"should go visit Saint Anthony. And as they approached a haven to sail thither, they entered a ship with a holy father whom they did not know. They spoke of holy scriptures and the lives of fathers similarly of their works. The holy father listened and said nothing. When they had landed, Saint Anthony said to these brothers, \"My friends, you have come here with a holy man and a devout one.\" He also addressed the holy father, \"And you have also come here with good intentions.\" In this way, he praised both parts. The holy father, who had not spoken, replied to Saint Anthony, \"You are good, truly, but your house has no gate, and whoever enters it may rob you of your ass or horse. That is to say, all that came into their minds they uttered without any restraint in their words.\"\n\nAbbot Daniel told Abbot Arsenius that he never slept much before the morning.\"Arseny said that a monk, if he is a true champion to fight his enemy, should not sleep but for an hour of the day. The abbot Daniel confirms this about Arseny, that a little food which men gave him sustained him for a whole year. And yet at the end of the year when the brethren tasted it, they ate it with him. Arseny, to correct himself and bear penance for the offensive and sweet odors of which he had used in the palaces of the emperor before, once in a year only he changed the water of his vessel in which he wet his weaker and made pans, molds, and baskets, and endured the stench and infection of the said water instead of the said good odors he had smelled before. The abbot.Agathon kept a stone in his mouth for three years to accustom himself to keeping silence. One day, while walking, he found a cell with hollows, in which was one of his relatives, urging him to take it with him. The abbot, seeing this, asked him why he intended to take it away, as he had not brought it there. Agathon replied nothing. The abbot Achilles became angry once and bled at the mouth. A monk who saw this asked him why. Achilles answered that a brother's word had angered him, and to withstand his wrath, he had prayed to God to take away the memory of those wrongs, so they would not remain in his thoughts. Therefore, the Lord had turned them into blood, and as he spat them out, he was freed.The abbot Amos, being sick, sent many brothers to him with various metes. But because he should not eat of them, he shut his eyes when his disciple entered his chamber bearing the said metes.\n\nThe Abbot Benyamin told of many brothers who went to visit a holy father in Syria and brought him a little oil. To whom he said that already three years had passed since they had brought it to him in a vessel, which was still full and in the same state as they had brought it to him. They were much amazed by his continence and wondered how he had kept the said oil so long.\n\nSome brothers recalled the Abbot Dyoscorus, who used bread made of barley for his sustenance and every year imposed a strict rule upon himself, such that for an entire year he would not see any body.\n\nAnother year he would not speak to anyone or cast out one morsel of food, roasted or baked, or make such like abstinences.\n\nThe Abbot Euagrius said that whoever...Bishop Epyphanius of Cyprus, when he was about to die, sent for Abbot Hylaryon to speak with him, as he desired to see him before his death. After his arrival, they were together. The bishop ordered a bird to be presented before Saint Hylary, who replied that since he had taken the habit of a monk, he had not eaten any food, and therefore should not receive death. The bishop told him again that since he had taken the bishopric in his hand, if anyone harbored hate or enmity towards him, he would never allow it to come to a head during his tenure.\n\nBishop Zenon, as he passed through the country of Palestine, encountered four tumults ordained for them. He took off his clothes and remained naked in the heat of the sun for five days.A puny lion drove the thieves, and when he saw that he could not endure the heat, he said to himself, \"Since I cannot endure the pain that I should suffer if I were accused of this theft, it is better that I fast than that I should commit this deed.\"\n\nJohn the Less said, \"When a king or a prince intends to take a city by force and bring its adversaries under his subjection, he finds the means to divert their water supplies, so that they have no vital supplies. By this means, they are compelled to do as he wills. And so it is with religious men, when they deny themselves food, they are not so subject to the temptations of the flesh, which are enemies of the soul, but they make themselves subject to the soul reasonable. And if a man is turned to virtue by fasting, the devils themselves bring him under their control, rather than he being subject to them.\"\n\nHe said again, \"Going into such a place where I was going to cut rods, \" (End of Text)The abbot Leues found a herd of camels. They would have troubled him, but he avoided debating with them by casting his bowdell aside and fleeing.\n\nThe abbot Isaac said that he knew the religious, who helped in reaping corn, were the ones for whom he worked. If he dared to take one corn kernel to eat, the merciless one who guarded it answered that he gave not only one corn kernel but the entire field.\n\nA brother asked the abbot Isodore how it might be that the devils feared him so much. He answered that since the time he was first enclosed in religion, he had kept himself from anger and put out any spark of sin within him immediately. By this means, the devils had no power over him.\n\nFurthermore, he said that he was thirty years old and more, and had neverThe abbot Cassanius witnessed a monk with Abbot Esyon, whom you say Abbot John loved with a charitable love. He questioned him by charity, asking him, while he had lived among us for so long without haunting the world and without being grieved or troubled by us, what he had done during that time for the salvation of his soul. He answered that during the said 40 years, he had never eaten until the sun had gone under, nor had he been angry during that time.\n\nThe Abbot Moses told of a Regisperus named Serapyon, who held himself with Abbot Theon. After he had taken his reception in common, he took a fermented loaf and ate it secretly in the absence of his abbot, and became so accustomed to it that he could not keep himself from it.repast he ate ever the said love in a secret place. It happened by the will of God that some Religious came to visit his abbot, who exhorted them all to have in them the virtue of abstinence and sobriety, saying to them that the devils had nothing so agreeable as to make a sinner who shall not show or tell his sin by confession to his spiritual father. Through this means, the sheriff of him who keeps his sin within him profits in no way.\nThe said Serapion, hearing these words, imagined that God had made his sin known to his abbot. So he soon after threw himself at his abbot's feet, who said to him, \"O my son, thou art now free from servitude; wretch that the devils had in their possession, but by thy confession they are chased from thee, and thou art no more under their might.\"\nAnd as the abbot said these words to him, there leapt out of the said Serapion's bosom a round of fire that infected and burned the Religious who were present.The chamber was poisoned, so that the whole place stank of brimstone. The abbot, upon seeing this, marveled greatly and said with a merry countenance to the aforementioned Serapion: \"O my dear friend, you see now by this effect how God, through his great power, has shown mercy in forgiving your sin in his divine providence.\n\nAbbot Macarius, when he was with his brethren, sometimes drank wine with them to please them. However, he deeply regretted it afterward, for every time he had drunk it, he abstained from all manner of liquor, whether it was water or any other drink, for the number of days following.\n\nAbbot Macarius, who was called the great one in Syria, said to his followers after the service in the church: \"Flee, my brothers,\" and some of them asked him where they should flee and if they should leave their monastery. He put his finger before his mouth and said, \"My brothers, \"do shews you this, you ought to flee, and by this token they knew that he showed them to keep silence without speaking to one another, at least of a thing that was in vain.\nThe abbot Pastor said. If Nabuzardan prince of gluttony had not been, the temple of God would not have been burned. Also, if the man is not burned by abstinence from food and drink, the soul shall not withstand against the devil. Some related this from the said abbot Pastor, that when he was desired by his brothers to eat with them where he had no will to it, he constrained himself to the same, and there he went weeping not for eating but for showing himself obedient, and that he should not give them matter or occasion to be angry with him.\nSome also told the said abbot Pastor of a monk who drank no wine, and he said to them again, a Religious ought not to drink any drink.\nItem, he said, like men are constrained by smoke to leave and forsake their honey to take it and bear it away.The abbot Peter, also known as Payen, being taken ill, would never drink wine but only drank lukewarm water. One day, in the monastery where Abbot Anthony resided, after the masses were sung, they found a vessel full of wine. One elder took it and presented two cups of the said wine to Abbot Sisoy, who took it and at the third presentation, he said to him, \"Rest yourself; you do not know if the devil is in it or not.\" A brother asked Abbot Sisoy why, when he went to church, his brother in charity prevented him from eating with them, to which he answered that it was a very dangerous and perilous thing for the soul. Abraham, the disciple of Abbot Sisoy, asked him if he drank wine three times on a Sunday, whether it was too much.The abbot Silvan and Zachary, walking one day, came to a monastery. There they took their repast, and afterward took their way again. Zachary, by the way, was thirsty and wanted to drink water. His abbot said to him, \"My son, it is a fasting day. What will you do?\" The disciple answered, \"Father, we have eaten.\" The abbot said, \"My child, that was a reception of charity with our brethren, but nevertheless we must keep our fast.\"\n\nSaint Syncletyce said, \"He is not perfectly chaste who laughs and beholds disorderly things, notwithstanding that he does not actually or in deed commit the sin of the flesh.\"\n\nHe also said that fasting and orisons chase from man foul and wicked thoughts, just as ointments chase away the venom of beasts and the venom itself.\n\nHe also said that rich people ought not, because of their riches, to take care or heed to eat diverse meats dressed with diverse sauces. For they should be a cause to make them fall into many.\"The abbot Syson said, since we are pilgrims in this world, a monk ought to be as rebellious against temptations as a lion against asses. Item, fasting is a monk's bridle against sin; he who fasts not, but indulges his desires like a horse with a bridle, is easily taken with disordered love of women. Item, fasting makes the body of a religious man lean and dry, and lifts his soul high, bringing him nothingness of his vain thoughts and desires. Item, a man who chastises himself on earth will be worshipped by God and crowned in heaven. Item, he who cannot keep his tongue in times of wrath cannot master his passions of his body against the tempter. Item, the mouth ought never to speak foul or evil words, because the vine bears no thorns. Again he said that it is better for a monk to eat flesh and drink wine than to eat his brother by backbiting. Sometimes in\"A religious priest in Sychye once went to speak with the bishop of Alexandria. When he returned, his brothers asked him what was in the city that moved him to sin. He answered that, finding nothing there that should tempt him, he had refrained his gaze so much that he had not seen any man but the bishop. Afterward, the other brothers followed his example and kept their eyes averted.\n\nA religious man of their order once went to see a brother of their religion. Upon his coming, this brother made his disciple prepare a few herbs to welcome him. And having the time for their reception ready, they went together into the oratory. There they were until the hour of the sixth devotion, engaging in spiritual matters. Then came and said:A disciple told another that he should make his repast ready. The disciple replied that it was already ready since the day before. Two other brothers were waiting for their meal to be prepared. One suggested that they should pray to God before they ate, so one of them took up the Psalter and the other two books of prophecies. The next day, they had completely forgotten about their meal and went away from each other. A brother, having hunger pangs since he rose from his bed, found himself compelled to fast until the hour of terce. From terce until sext, he went away from himself like a smoke, knowing that by the same devil he had been tempted to eat. A father, who was sick and unable to eat, was compelled by his disciple to eat a little morsel that the disciple had prepared.A father did this to himself for three days, inflicting pain and sharpness upon his body. An other holy father, desiring to eat a cucumber to correct and punish his disordered appetite, kept one in his cell. Looking upon it and not eating it, he should bear penance upon himself for the lust and desire he had taken. An other religious sister, having a sister in religion, was shown to be sick. He went to her monastery with the intent to visit and see her. But she, constant in faith and right holy, and who since being taken into religion was not accustomed to see any men, would not give her brother any occasion to come under her shadow among the women of religion. She let him know that she would neither see nor speak with him, and that he should return to his own monastery again and pray to God for her, that with God's help she might see him.A monk walking by the way met an abbess and some religious women. He made great effort to look at them to know what they were and from which monastery. For this reason, he left his way and took theirs. To whomsoever the abbess spoke, she said that if he had been a perfect religious man, he should not have put himself in pain for looking at them so much, as she would have said that, in going on his way, he ought to open his eyes so soberly that he should not see nor perceive those who came against him or passed their ways by him.\n\nAn archbishop, who was named Theophilus, requested some holy fathers to come to the city of Alexandria. He trusted that by their prayers and merits, he would destroy some temples where many idolatries were done within the said city and in the countryside around it. These holy fathersAmong others served with the archbishop were some who ignored their food. The archbishop, desiring to improve them, offered a capon that was in his dish before one of the said holy fathers, saying that it was good and that he should eat of it. The holy father answered him, \"Certainly, I had thought up to this hour that I had eaten cabbage; but since I perceive that it is flesh, I shall no longer eat of it.\" After these words, the other religious left their eating of such flesh that was brought before them.\n\nAnother religious desired some to eat of his little loves, new bread that he had baked himself under the altar. And when they had each eaten one of these small loves, they left their eating. The brother who had summoned them, seeing their patience and that they should have eaten yet more of them, prayed them in the name of God to eat some more.They had filled themselves with the aforementioned loaves of bread, numbering ten each, which they did as true Religious, not for any necessity they had, but primarily to obey the request of the said Religious, in the name of our Lord God.\n\nAnother holy father was once sick with a grievous sickness, so severe that he bled profusely from his entrails. A Religious brought him some alms, from which he made him a call, which he presented, saying:\n\nFair father, I pray thee that thou wilt eat this, for I hope that it is good for thy restoration.\n\nAnd after he had looked upon him for a long time, he said to him:\n\nCertainly, my brother, I had desired that God should hold me for thirty years in this sickness, and for this reason I would not obey the request of the said Religious, nor eat.A father, hugging his cell far within the deserts and departed from all people, was visited by a brother who found him sick. He washed his face, bespotted and wasted due to his sickness. After preparing certain things for him to eat that he had brought with him, the good old father said to him: \"Indeed, my brother. I had forgotten that men derive any solace or pleasure from eating. And after presenting him with a cup of wine to drink, the aged father, beholding the cup, began to weep and said: \"I hope not to drink of any wine until death takes me.\n\nAnother old father had resolved within himself not to drink continuously for twenty days. And there, in great necessity due to the heat, he filled a glass.A brother, filled with water from a vessel he held before him in his cell, answered his brothers' questioning why he did so by explaining that he saw the same water in the said vessel, causing him a lust and desire to take it to quench his thirst, yet he should not cast it off. By this means, he could receive greater reward from our Lord.\n\nAnother brother, walking with his mother who had already reached an advanced age, found a street.\n\nAnother elderly holy father said that he knew a religious man who was accustomed to fast during the holy Passion week. And on the Saturday of the said week, when he came to the mass with the other religious men, he waited until the mass had begun before entering the church. After receiving the holy sacrament from the altar, he departed hastily from the church to avoid being forced by his brothers to eat with them, as he preferred to live solitarily.Within his cell, some brothers kept colles or beets soaking in water and salt instead of coming out to eat other foods. Many brothers in Syria were called together to gather reeds and palm leaves. Among them was one who, through great acts of abstinence, had grown weak and sick. He began to cough and spit, expelling some phlegm from his mouth. In the process, he spat upon one of his brothers. This brother was disturbed by the incident and told him to stop. But the sick brother, determined to resist his sudden will, took what he had spat out with his hands and ate it. He told himself, \"Tell your brother nothing that might cause him sadness, but rather eat what you find abhorrent and inhuman.\"\n\nAbbot Anthony said that he believed the body of every man contained his natural desire spread within himself. This natural desire could not work against his will.yt herte / but oonly it is sygnyfyed in ye bodye of man as a moeuyng Impassyble. There is yet an other moeuyng comyng of ye fode of ye bodye whiche is Refeccyon of metes & drynkes / by helpe of whiche yt hete of yt blood causeth this selfe blood to wer\u00a6ke. And to this purpose sayd the postle Beware yt ye make not yourselfe dron\u00a6ke of wyn yt moeueth a man to lechery And our lorde ayen co\u0304mau\u0304dyng to his postles sayd vnto them. Kepe you that your hertes be not greuyd / yt is to saye I made heuy by synne thrugh glotony & dronkenshyp. \u00b6Morouer the sayd abbot Anthonye sayd / that there is yet do other moeuyng to those that in con\u00a6uersaco\u0304n fyght ayenst vyces / the whiche moeuyng cometh & procedeth of ye wat\u00a6chynges & of ye enuye of ye deuyls. And thus it is to be noted yt we haue .iij. moe\u00a6uynges corporall. One whiche is natu\u00a6rell / yt seconde whiche cometh of replec\u00a6cion of metes / & ye thyrde of the subgec\u00a6cion of the deuyls of helle.\n\u00b6The abbot Geronces otherwyse cal\u00a6led Petrense sayd / yt many are te\u0304pted ofThe corporal delights, and yet they do not sin bodily in so much that they do not effectively fulfill such delights; always they sin in thought. Those who keep their virginity by constraint and corrupt it in their hearts so much that, if it were not for some fearful restraint, they would soon be ready to perform the disordered appetite of their hearts. And therefore the said holy father said to his Religious: My dear brothers. It is a good and profitable thing, as scripture says, for every one to keep his heart with vigilance, casting from himself by fervent charity all dissensions and temptations of the devil.\n\nAbbot Cassian said that he had heard Abbot Moses say that it was a good and profitable thing not to hide or keep close one's thoughts. Namely, it was necessary to open and see ancient holy fathers filled with wisdom and discernment, and not only those called old for their great age. ForA Religious man, who devoted all his care and attention to living holy, encountered severe temptation in the form of fornication. He went to an old father to confess his temptations. The old father, moved against him because he was not well-versed, responded harshly, calling him wretched and unworthy of being a Religious man. Hearing these words, the poor brother doubted himself and left his cell, intending to return to a worldly life.Folke. But it happened by the will of God that he was met with Abbot Apollon, who, seeing him so troubled and sorrowful, questioned him, saying, \"My son, I see well that you are troubled in your heart. Tell me, I pray, what is the cause of your great sorrow?\" The religious act first, due to the great confusion he had taken to heart, answered him nothing. But after being prayed upon again by the said holy abbot to declare his affliction to him, he showed it to him, saying, \"Alas, my lord, it is trouble that I have found myself sore tempted and troubled by the sin of fornication, of which I have discovered myself to such a holy father, hoping that he would give me secular people.\" Then, the good father Apollon, hearing his words, called him and, as a good spiritual father and healer, began to pray for him and to desire him earnestly, saying to him, \"My child, I pray, let me speak to you. Marvel not nor despair not within yourself. Certainly, it is truth that\"In the age and conversation where I currently find myself, I am much troubled and sore travailed with foolish thoughts. Do not therefore be of weaker courage on account of such temptations, which are not only overcome by the power of mankind but primarily by the mercy of God. And at this hour I pray for one thing. It is that, having trust in the mercy of God, you will return again to your own cell, which thing he did willingly. And since Abbot Apollonius, departing from him, went to the cell of the aforementioned old father to whom the aforementioned religious had shown his thoughts and temptations, and which had brought him into despair. And he being night by it, he prayed God humbly in great bondage of tears, saying: \"Lord God, who for the profit of your servants, sendest to them necessary temptations. I humbly beseech you that it may please you to turn the battle and temptation that this old brother suffers, to him.\"this present old age he learned by real experience that which he could not refute with such temptations. The ordeal finished by the said holy father Appollonius, he saw a sight of hell as black as an Ethiopian being near the cell of the said old father, shooting at him many arrows and darts. With these, he was soon pierced and, after drinking some wine, he fell down here and there and could not stand on his feet. And when he could no longer bear or endure this persecution, he was forced to leave his cell and go the same way that the said young religious man first went when he wanted to return to the world again.\n\nThe abbot Appollonius, knowing this, came up to him, and as he approached, he said, \"Are you my brother, goost? I see well that you are troubled. Tell me plainly the cause of your trouble.\" The old father, knowing that this holy abbot knew something about his ordeal, was overcome and taken with such shame that he could not speak or answer him anything.\n\nAdditionally,The god Apollo said to him: \"Return to your cell and know your own grief and weakness. Realize that you have been unknown to the devil, and he has appeared to you at this hour. For which thing you have not deserved nor discerned, according to your virtues, to have any battles or wrestlings against him. I also say moreover, that you alone are the one who has not been able to bear or sustain his tempting or enticing. This has happened to you because, in receiving the young Regulus within your cell and hearing his thoughts, which he believed should have been counseled by you, you instead gave him a good courage and warned him consolingly to resist the temptations of the devil. Instead, you have brought him to final despair, not having remembrance of the right commandment, by which it is commanded to us, that we should take from the hands of the enemies those who conduct and lead to death.\" Another one says:Be not negligent in rescuing those you know to be in danger of being slain. Also, you have not kept in mind the parable of our blessed savior Jesus Christ, who said, \"Men ought not to break altogether a bruised or crushed reed nor put out the wood that makes smoke.\" Certainly, the infirmity of humanity should never have the power to bear the spying and waiting of the devil nor to put out or withhold the fire of nature, if our Lord God, by whose healthy productivity all things are ordered through His godly strength, kept and conserved it therefore. Let us then pray together, that it may please Him to turn back the plague which He has cast against us. For it is He who makes the patient people to sorrow and restores them to their health, His hand smites, and after it heals, He makes the proud exalt them, He slays and quiets, He makes sinners descend into hell and brings them out again. In saying these things,The abbot Appollo ended his ordeal, and immediately the said old father was delivered of the temptation inflicted upon him. The abbot Apollonius of Alexandria questioned a religious man about this, who said he had no thoughts or temptations of fornication, and answered him thus: \"If you have not even thoughts or temptations, you may have no hope. For it must be supposed that you engage in the same work, that is, that he who fights against sins in thought does not sin bodily, and he who sins bodily has neither grief nor restlessness of thoughts.\" An old father questioned a young religious man, asking him if he was accustomed to speak with women. He answered that he should flee from them.The county and sin in execution of the deceased, and for this you ought to spread and make your offspring, that is, to tarry long in the making of them.\nThe abbot Mathois said that a religious coming towards him, among other things, had told him that he who backs up or speaks wrongfully behind someone's back, to their harm and hurt, commits the sin of fornication, which the old father answered him was much harder and stronger.\nThe brother hearing this answer required him to tell him how the sin of fornication should not be worse than the sin of detraction. So the old father answered him, saying, \"My son, it is a thing of truth that the sin of detraction is a wicked vice, but nevertheless, it often happens that the detractor repents and comes to him from whom he has spoken evil and asks forgiveness.\"The abbot Pastor said that all those who are ordered to keep a prince's person should be ever ready to defend him by arms from all oppressions. Likewise, the soul ought to be ever prepared to withstand temptations in the lechery of the devil.\n\nA young religious came once to the abbot Pastor and complained to him that he was sorely tempted and tormented by the sin of fornication. Asking counsel of him, he said to him that for this cause he had been before with Abbot Ibysso. The abbot Pastor answered him and said:\n\nThe works and deeds of Abbot Ibysso are continually high, that is to say, he continually contemplated heavenly things, whereby he knew not what such things were.But another thing about this Pastor, as he himself said, and also the Religious, for they were yet subject to fornication. Therefore, it is necessary that we restrain our beliefs and our tongues. For the Religious who perform this deed and dwell in a solitary place, may be assured and certain that he will not die the second death, that is, the everlasting death of hell.\n\nSome spoke of the Abbess named Syre, who was strongly tempted by the wicked and damning spirit of fornication, during the space of fourteen years. She steadfastly and perseveringly withstood, and in this she never prayed to God that this temptation or battle should depart from her, but she prayed only that it would please Him to give her strength and steadfastness to withstand them.\n\nMoreover, it was said of her that the said spirit of fornication tempting her continually, was at times more adversarial to her, bringing before her the vanities of this world.A woman, always fearing God before her eyes and having a steadfast purpose of constance and abstinence, came upon her bed to pray to God. In doing so, a bodily apparition of fornication appeared before her, saying, \"Thou hast overcome me, fair lady.\" She answered, \"I have not overcome thee, thou abominable spirit, but my God alone has overcome thee, and no other.\"\n\nA brother was severely tormented and tempted by the sin of fornication. It burned within him like a glowing stake both day and night. Yet he battled against it, not yielding or consenting to his thoughts. After a long struggle, this temptation departed from him, leaving him grief-stricken but, through his great perseverance, he found himself filled with the grace of God.\n\nAnother brother, deeply troubled and vexed by fornication, rose by night and went to an old father to whom he revealed his mind.The father comforted and counseled him so well that he went back to his cell satisfied. However, he was still tempted by the sin of fornication, and he went back to the old father not only once but several times. The father, ancient as he was, gave him no angry words that could provoke him to wrath or despair. Instead, he showed him love and patience. But I fear not, for I will overcome. And he said that when a man despises him in such a way, he departs from the person. Moreover, he said that there is nothing that hinders the tormented spirit of fornication more than when the one tormented reveals and shows his torments, or that rejoices him more than when they are kept hidden and not revealed to a good person. The brother then went his way and came back to the said holy father for the eleventh time.A man excusing himself for his foolish thoughts and evil mind. And subsequently, he prayed him in the name of holy charity that he would give him some good counsel and teaching. Then said the holy father to him, \"Believe me, my son. I assure you that if God permits my thoughts, which my heart is pricked and stirred to be transported to,\n\nAnother was pricked with fornication and took himself to fight and continued his abstinence, suffering and requiring their help and support. It was ordered that every man should pray for him. This thing was done in deep wailing and afflictions. After they had continued for him a week in prayers and orations, the pricking that pricked him within was utterly put out in him and brought to nothing.\n\nAn old hermit speaking of the thoughts of fornication said, \"You who are inclined to sleep. If you want to be saved, arise and work and give to your poor body nourishment and affection; seek and you shall find; wait and strike at the door, and it shall open to you.\"Thou hast sometimes seen and perceived in this world some men, as strong as wrestlers, who have fought with cruel beasts, such as bears and lions and other, boasting of themselves and speaking too much, have shown themselves strong, and by their hardiness and worthy courage, have been crowned like victorious men. And sometimes, as a man who is beaten and hurt by two other men, he comforts himself in his wounds and overcomes those who strike him. Now consider then what and how great a virtue of strength he has gained by the exercise of his body, as he would say, that it has been to such a victorious man a great praise, to have overcome two other men. And after he said, \"Be thou strong and constant, and God shall fight the devil for thee.\"\n\nOf this thought of fornication, an older father said, \"Be thou like him who passes by the cookshops or through a tavern and takes the savor and smell of every meat or drink that is sold there.\"There is so one enters whoever will to eat and drink of the same, and he who will not of it goes his ways therefrom, withstanding against the disordered appetite that he has had there through the smell or taste that he has felt there, which he puts back. In like manner, you ought to do, and in casting a cake from this saucer and stench of fornication, you ought to arise and pray, saying: O God almighty, help me. And this you shall also do against your other evil thoughts. You ought to know that we have not the strength nor the might to pluck or raise out of our hearts, but we may well wrestle and fight against them. An other old father said that we endure and suffer such manners of temptations by our great sloth and negligence. For if we did think and consider that God dwelt and inhabited within us when we are in the state of grace, we should not order any strange vessel within us, that is to say, that we should not give any occasion to the devil.Helath us to lodge him there by sin, putting our Lord away. Certainly our Lord dwelling within us and with us, he quickly beholds and keeps our life. And therefore we who bear him and contemplate him in our intentions and affections ought not to contemn or despise him, but in worshiping him, sanctify ourselves, as he is truly holy and worthy. Let us then be constituted, as the holy prophet David says in his Psalter. They that trust in God and are steadfast and constituted, as the mountain of Zion, which is among all others the highest and strongest, and which shall never be moved, shall not be overcome by the temptations of the devil, but shall come at last to Jerusalem the sovereign City, which is symbolized by vision of peace.\n\nA young religious person questioned an aged father, saying thus: \"If a religious person rends in some sin, he is scorched and tormented in spirit, as he that leaves to do his profit and falls into poverty, and seeing his state thus changed, he ceases not to.\"A laboring man and a traveler strive to return from poverty and be restored to their former state. One who comes from the world to live a solitary life is likened to one who forsakes and despises his enemy and begins to profit for himself. Then he asked him how he should conduct himself to avoid these inconveniences. The old father answered him that a monk, who is tempted by the devil, is like a house in danger of falling down, but if in his temptations, he leads himself soberly in resistance, he builds up the house that was in danger of falling and finds good and profitable matters for the rebuilding of the same, as good and strong prayers for setting and making foundations, and sand to make mortar withal and other things necessary for the aforementioned building. In this house thus strongly built, he profits. But he who does not delve in the earth.for setting the foundations, which are necessary for the readiness of the said building, but lies under the hope that it may be completed in the future. If by some way his house is completed, it is a hard and strong thing to do and in great adventure. And all this is of a Religious man, who, after he has fallen into temptation, if he turns himself towards God, then he may have a great appetite for building, that is to say, for thinking upon God's laws, reading psalms, laboring, and praying, and doing such things that are the foundations and buildings of holy Religion. But he who begins anew and it is new in conversation, he finds this manner of building strange until he has learned these things.\n\nA Religious man, who was tempted by the sin of fornication, went towards another holy father, well known, and prayed him to win for him these things for his learning and to show him that he had love and charity towards him, to pray to God.that he would give him some comfort to withstand the said temptation which thing the holy father did. And another time after came the said Religious again, making unto this old father such another request which he granted him and prayed our Lord for him, saying, \"My God, I pray thee that it may please thee to show unto me why this evil temptation comes to this brother, that he finds neither end nor rest in it. How is it I have prayed for him so long?\" And immediately after our Lord made him, on his request, such a revelation, that is to say, that he saw the said young Religious sitting idle without any work, and the spirit of fornication by him and playing with him. And on the other side of him was the angel of God sent to help him, who was angry and not content that he had not cast himself down to the earth to pray to God, but took delight and pleasure in his thoughts, bending all his affection to the same. The holy father knowing thatYou cause grew more of the said Religious than otherwise, because you did make your will lightly yield to it. And since you taught him how he should withstand such temptations from now on, the brother, taking courage by the prayers and doctrine of the said holy father, found himself easy with the said temptation.\n\nThe disciple of an old father was once tempted by fornication. The holy father, seeing his disciple struggle with great labor and pain, asked him, \"If you would that I should pray to God for you, that I should relieve you from this unrestfulness?\" The disciple answered, \"My father, I see well and consider that if I have great labor and pain for withstanding, I lose not my life nor my reward. I know well thus doing that by the weight of my labor I profit, therefore it is not necessary to pray to God to take away this temptation from me, but I\"A father once prayed, \"I pray that it please you, that God give me the strength and courage to fight bravely against [them]. The holy father answered, \"I know my son, you are well disposed to profit greatly and will excel in all virtues.\"\n\nPeople tell of an old father who came to the deserts of Syria. He had a young son who had not yet weaned from his breast. From his youth, he was raised in the monastery where he kept himself, unaware of women. When he grew into a man, the devils showed him various forms of women by night, which thing he told not his father. It happened once that he went with his father into Egypt. By the way, he saw some women, which he showed to his father, saying they were the same as those who came to him in Syria. His father answered him that they were not.monkes of the world and those in hermitages were different. And then the holy father wondered greatly / how the devil showed in Syria such images of women / and immediately after they returned to their hermitages. Another religious man in Syria, well-known and strongly resisting temptations, was severely tempted by the allure of fornication / which brought often into his mind the remembrance of a fair woman whom he had known in the world / and who had given birth to a marvelous temptation in him. It happened, according to God's will, that a Religious man coming from Egypt entered the deserts of Syria / and went to see the said Religious man / to whom, among other things, he showed / how this woman was dead. And inconveniently, he learned this from him. He took a vestment of his own / and by night he departed secretly from his hermitage / and after walked so long until he came to the place where he had heard she was buried. And when he was comeA hermit began to delve in the earth over her grave and rubbed and rubbed his habit or vestment in the rotten blood and into the stench of the corpse of the said woman. And when he came again to his hermitage, he laid the stinking vestment before his face and, in correcting and rebukeing his thought, said to himself: O cursed thought, corrupt and rotten, here is the desire that you desired, take it and fill yourself with it. In this manner, in smelling of that savour and stench, he chastised himself, sleeping and bringing himself to nothing his disordered desire.\n\nA layman desiring to be a Religious one came once in the deserts of Syria and brought with him a child of his own that had been weaned from the breast. And when he was out of childhood and in the age of youth, the devils took them up to fight with him, and so cruel they were that he was constrained by their temptations to tell his father that he would be no more hermit but would go live with them.The world says that he could no longer endure the desires of the flesh. His father comforted him as best he could, but it brought him no solace. For his son said again that he could no longer stay, praying him to let him go to the world. Then his father said to him, \"My son, I pray you obey me once more. Take with you forty loaves of bread and livestock and roots to live forty days, and go your ways far into the desert, serving there by the space of the said forty days. The child obeying his father arose and went into the deepest of the deserts, keeping himself there by the space of twenty days, continually laboring about the making of mats to keep his body occupied and eating dry bread. And after the said twenty days had passed, he saw a wonderful work of the devil coming upon him. Suddenly, a woman appeared before him in the likeness of a woman who was black as an Ethiopian.abominable in sight and so infectious with stench that he could not endure or suffer her near him. She told him, \"I feign myself within the hearts of men, granting them a sweet show, but withholding your obedience and the labor that you hear, which God would not allow me to follow or turn towards, though I have been constrained to show my power.\"\nThen he knelt down and gave thanks to our Lord. And afterwards came to his father again and said to him, \"My father, I will no longer go to the world. For I have seen now the deceitful ways of the devil and his foul stench.\"\nHis father also had well seen his said vision, and he said to him, \"Had you remained in that desert for forty days as I had told you, you would have seen greater things.\"\nAnother old father kept himself in an hermitage far off. He had a kinswoman who had a great desire for a long time to see him.She searched for the place where he dwelt and, having set out towards his hermitage, came across some carriers leading many camels. She accompanied them for a long time on her journey and eventually joined them in the deserts. There she was tempted by the wicked spirit and made such diligence to find the hermitage of the said Recluse that she arrived soon and knocked at the door. She showed and declared who she was and requested that he would not refuse to open the door to her, since she was his kinswoman and also the good and holy affection and desire she had for him, her near kinsman. Then the Recluse, hearing her words and knowing that she was of his sibling and lineage, opened the door to her and let her in, where she stayed certain days with the said Recluse. It is true that further within the desert dwelt another recluse.other solitary Religious, in the time that this woman was with that other Religious, it happened two or three times, as he would have taken his repast, and particularly when he would drink of the water that he had put in a drinking vessel, that the said vessel turned in his hand upside down and spilled his water, which thing seeing this Religious, he said to himself, as he was inspired by God. Truly, I shall go and see my brethren in their hermitages; and I shall tell them this that so often happens to me with my water. He took his way on at once and traveled so much that on one day, for lack of other lodgings, he was compelled to enter and lodge himself in an old temple that was in his way, where the idols had been worshipped some time. And he being there in the night time, he heard many devils, some of whom said to the others that they had made a Religious night to fall into the sin of fornication. Hearing this.The religious man was troubled in his heart. As soon as the day came, he took his way with great diligence and came to the hermitage of the other religious man, whom the devils had tempted. He found him much sorrowful and heavy. So he showed him right away what had happened to him with his water, and how it had spilled by itself several times when he had intended to drink from it. Asking him what might be the cause of this.\n\nThen the other religious man said to him, \"Welcome, my brother, since it has pleased you to come here to show me your troubles. Truly, my brother, I have greater need of your good counsel and comfort than you have of mine. For not long ago, I have fallen into the sin of fornication.\"\n\nThen answered his companion, \"Indeed, I have known of this tonight.\"\n\n\"Certainly,\" he replied, \"I said in sleeping within the temple of God.\"A brother, who lies by the way therebetween thy lodgings and mine, I have heard the devils speak of him, and were wonderfully glad of the same sin in which they have overcome him. And anon the poor brother said to him, as in despair: \"Ah, my brother, I am no more worthy to be in the company of the holy hermits and monks of the hermitages; certainly, I will now go presently to live wretchedly with the people of the world. Then the good monk entreated him by good charity that he should not abide in folly, drawing his trust back from the great mercy of God, but should take a good courage and purpose himself for to live ever as a monk, living so literally in the deserts as he was used to do in times past, and that he should forsake and leave that cursed woman, for it was through the entering of the devil that she was come there. These words heard, the poor monk repented himself of his sin by true contrition and great penance.A holy father continued for a long time and, until he found himself better and at peace with his conscience. An old holy father said that there were three things: to withdraw from the busyness and solicitudes, to be transient, and to think in one's heart upon one's sins in a religious manner. Another religious person asked an old holy father, \"If it happens that a religious person falls into some sin, so that other religious people are thereby scandalized, what remedy should they seek on the same matter?\" The holy father answered the question by telling a story. A man of court, who held power over the land, was banished or troubled in such a way that he came to the monastery where the deacon dwelt. This courtier, entertaining himself in the said monastery, induced the deacon, at the said instigation, to commit the sin of fornication.A man committed adultery with this courtesan, causing great scandal and confusion among the religious community. Ashamed and contrite, he secretly went to an old father and confessed his sin, asking for counsel to help him atone. The old father led him to a hidden cell deep within the desert. Seeing the dark and obscure dwelling, the man prayed, \"Holy father, bury me here quickly and I will never tell anyone where I am.\" He entered the cell, which was dark and obscure, and underwent a hard and penitent period of time in a land of Egypt, where the Nile water was scarce due to a great drought. The people began to pray deeply, offering prayers, lamentations, and supplications to the Lord.A holy hermit, desiring compassion for them and intending to send them some water for the maintenance of their poor lives, was shown by God's will that the water of the flood should not recede nor grow less until the deacon, hidden in the cell of the said holy father in the deserts of Egypt, came to pray with them and request the water. This revelation the holy father openly declared to all the other fathers, who immediately went to find the deacon and brought him out of the cell. After setting himself to prayers and supplications with them, the water soon grew and increased in such abundance that the drought ceased, providing them with sufficient goods. Those who had previously been scorned and shamed by him were later praised by him for his great and harsh penance, for which they prayed and glorified the name of God.\n\nTwo religious brothers went to a city once.They approached the city to sell their hermitage, the work they had made to secure their living. Upon arriving, having departed from one another to expedite their tasks, one of them committed the sin of fornication. His brother returned soon after and informed him they should return to their cells. The penitent sinner replied he would not return, saying, \"I am not worthy to be there any more, because that sin which you departed from me.\" The brother, desiring to save his soul and keep him from damnation, responded, \"In truth, my brother, since I left, and therefore we shall not despair, but we shall return again to our cells to weep over our sins and do penance. And through God's mercy, He will forgive us our transgressions.\"They showed it to the ancient fathers that it had happened to them, and they gave them such penances as they seemed fit. In this deed, it is worth considering the great charity of the brother who had not sinned but to give his brother courage to repent himself. He was content to accuse himself of a sin that he had not committed and to do as great penance as that he had done it. Wherefore, God, seeing his labor and good affection, within a few days after he declared to one of the old fathers that, in favor and contemplation of the great charity of him who had not sinned but desiring his brother's health, had done as great penance as he, he had quit and forgiven him his offense. Whereby it may be truly said of him who acts in this manner that without doubt he puts his soul in pledge for his brother's soul.\n\nAnother brother came to an old father, saying that by a brother of his he had been induced to such great variability and unsteadfastness.ledying him in various places where he was severely scorned and troubled in his heart. The good father hearing his words said to him, \"Bear patiently your brother's evil, and God, who sees your good heart and that you do intend to call him back sweetly to a good life, will address him to you in a suitable time.\" When a body has been enticed into some evil thought, it is not a light thing to be called back by sharp and bitter words, for one devil does not drive out another, but sweet and meek men may easily and quickly rebuke a great sinner. For our Lord has this manner of drawing men to Himself through sweetness. And afterwards showed him that two brothers had been in Thebes, one of whom was so tempted by the sin of fornication that he intended to return again to dwell in the world, but the other, hearing his foolish intention, began to weep sore and said to him, \"I shall not let you go.\"I. He asked me to leave, threatening your labor and virginity. The other replied he would no longer dwell in the hermitage, suggesting if he wanted company, I should come again, but if not, he would not return. II. Hearing this, his brother consulted an elderly father for advice on how to keep him. III. The father advised him to go with his brother, and that God, knowing his good will and the pain he would endure to withdraw him, would not allow him to fall into sin. IV. Thus, they went into the world, passing by a street. Considering the good brother's labor, following him out of charity and great necessity to keep him from straying, he took from him the temptation that had led him astray. V. Persistently, he urged his brother to return to their hermitage, believing he had already sinned with some woman. Alas, he said.what have I received there, as he would have said, that he had undertaken a way dangerous and damnable. So they returned to their cell and lived there solitarily, as they were accustomed to do before.\nAnother brother said to an old father, what shall I do to keep myself from the foul thoughts of lechery that torment me. The holy father answered, a woman when she will wean her child and keep him from the breast, she puts something bitter on her papases. And when the child will draw the pap for to draw it as he is accustomed, and feels the bitterness that is there upon it, he forsakes it at once.\nLikewise, when such foolish thoughts and temptations happen to come upon you, consider the filth and stench that arises from it, the grievous offense you would commit against God if you did the sin, and the horrible pain you would suffer eternally if you died suddenly in that state, which thing falls upon many one every day.other brother questioned another man of God about the same matter. He hadn't spoken those words simply and unwarily, but to have you declare them. You shall go again to him and pray him to pardon the evil thinking you had about his person, and moreover, to explain to you the virtue of his words. This brother then came again to the aforementioned father and repented himself, saying to him, \"Good father, please forgive me for straying from your fold without leave to be taken. And moreover, I beseech you to explain to me how it can be that you have never been tempted by the sin of fornication.\" Then the old father answered him. \"My brother, I will tell you. The first time I yielded myself to Religion, I had not eaten so much bread nor drunk so much water that I could say I had ever been filled by it. Also, in the same way, I never slept as long as my appetite desired, and so on.I have kept myself from foods that some other may use. In this manner traveling, I have brought my body so low that it was not suffered to feel the prickings of the flesh. Then the brother took leave of the holy father, and afterwards profited much in conversation and amendment of life by the example of the said aged father.\n\nAnother brother asked a question to another father, saying, \"Fair father, what ought I to do? I cannot change my thought from the sin of fornication, of which I am so sore tormented that I may not have an hour only for rest.\"\n\nThe old father answered him, \"My son, when the devils present the same lecherous thought to you and feel it somewhat pricked in your heart, you ought not to speak of it nor think upon it in your mind, for it delights the devils wily to put such thoughts in your hearts, and all this, although they be sore curious and busy for putting them into the hearts of the persons, always it is.\"It is not possible for them to remain in it, but if they choose to, you should know and not fear, but you may receive or forsake them as you will. And this can be applied to the fact that the Midianites made their daughters fair and clad them, and put them before the children of Israel. For they compelled none of them to commit carnally with the said women, but those who foolishly did so set their love upon them, did what they wanted with them, and then the Midianites, angered and moved against them for defiling their daughters, threatened the others but took vengeance upon the adulterers, bringing them all to death. And thus you are to deal with the lecherous temptations in casting them out, so that they do not cause your death.\n\nThen answered the brother. Good father, you counsel me well, but what shall you answer to me about this, that I am weak and so feeble that this passion overcomes me.\n\nYou must endure it.Set all thy affection aside, the holy father said, and when the devils shall enforce them to move thy heart to think evil or speak some ill answer them not in any way, but arise to pray to God and do penance, saying, \"O Son of God, have mercy on me. Good father, said the brother. I shall do well this at least, I am well in thought to do so, but I have not in my heart any manner of compunction. For I cannot understand the virtue of the words of the orison you tell me. Well said the holy father, if you understand nothing of it, think only on that. For I have heard the abbot Pastor, and also other old fathers, say this word, that is to wit, that the enchanter, knowing not perfectly what the words signify by which he makes his incantations, but always knowing that by such words spoken to the serpent that hears them, that self-same serpent is inconveniently enchanted. Likewise, how well we know the virtue of the words that we speak.put forth in our sons, the devils always find us when we fear them and by the virtue and dread of the same, they depart from us. Some ancient said that the thought of fornication is as feeble and as light to break as paper. If it happens to come upon us and we refuse her and cast her behind us, she is easily overcome. It is then necessary that we have discretion in our thoughts and cognizance, by which we must know that those who consent to them have no hope of being saved, but those who withstand them may and ought to wait for their reward the crown of victory in the Kingdom of heaven. Two brothers severely tempted and assailed by the sin of fornication, not having before their eyes the fear of God nor the memory of the health of their souls, as fools and out of their wits, forsook their hermitages and each of them lived with a common woman. Andafter they had lived unwisely, one of them showed to the other their unhappy and wicked living, and said to him such words. Let us consider and take heed what goods we lose, living so wickedly, leaving the life of angels to accompany us and defile ourselves in such filth. This filth will be the cause for us to go into prisons and torments that ever shall last. I pray my brother, let us go back to the hermitage and do penance for the sins that we have committed so presumptuously.\n\nThey carried out their plan and came to the deserts where they found the aged holy fathers. To them they humbly and in great contrition begged that they would receive them for penance as they did.\n\nAnd after they had made a whole confession of all their sins, the ancient fathers shut them within their cells, where they remained for a year as they were to be.admistered to them a little bread and a little water to sustain their life. For they were both like in face and age. And after they had completed their penance and were released and let out of their cells, the holy father, seeing one of them to be very pale and sad, and the other much boisterous and glad, wondered greatly. To either of them, and as much to the one as to the other, there living indifferently had been administered. Wherefore they moved a question to him who was so pale and sad, asking him what deeds he had had in his thoughts during the time of the penance that he had been in his cell. He answered:\n\n\"In truth I say,\" he replied. \"I have had the pains and torments that I deserve in remembrance, and in which I was afraid to come, for the great abominable and vile sins that I have committed.\"I took it. I have become extremely dry and thin due to the continuous sight I had of it. My bones ache and my flesh still pierces me as you see. And after they questioned the other, saying, \"And what thoughts did you have in your cell?\" The Religious answered, \"I continually rendered graces and thanks to my God for delivering me from the filths and uncleanness of this world, and from the pains and torments everlasting, in calling me back to this angelic life. And in remembering myself of the great mercies of my God, I became glad within myself, as I still do.\" The elderly wise father was in the deserts of Syria, who was filled with a great sickness. In order to relieve him of this, many brothers eagerly begged to serve and attend to all his necessities as they could.This father, considering the pain and trouble he took and bore for himself, thought in himself to go to Egypt, notwithstanding his said sickness and grief. He said to Abbot Moses that in order to release these brethren from their pains and tribulations that he had given them, he would go there.\n\nAbbot Moses said to him, \"My brother, if you believe me, you shall not go there. For if you go there, you shall not return without you shall fulfill the sin of fornication there.\"\n\nThe old father was angry with this answer and said again, \"Why do you speak so, my brother? You know well that my body is already dead. This is not well said of me, and you show in that saying that you set little by me and my salvation.\" Since I have determined to go there, I shall not delay but I shall go.\n\nSo he departed and went to Egypt, and there were many honorable persons dwelling in various places nearby.his residence, for the love they owed him and to his right honorable cause, they offered themselves to him and made great services. Among these, a good virgin came to serve him, administering to him necessary things due to his sickness. Within a short time after his recovery, he was so powerfully tempted by the devil of hell that he entrusted himself to the same virgin, in such a way that she consented to grant him her company carnally. She was questioned by those who dwelt in the surrounding places about the matter, and she replied that it was concerning the death of the old father, but they did not believe her. He himself said the same. The time for childbirth arrived, and she gave birth to a child, which the holy father prayed should be kept. After being weaned from her breast, the old father, seeing that a solemn feast was soon to be held,\n\n(Note: The text appears to be in Early Modern English, and there are no significant OCR errors. Therefore, no major cleaning is necessary.)A brother was once tempted by the sin of fornication, being enticed by various fair women for 40 days, continually fighting off and resisting their temptations and deceits. But they could not move him to do or fulfill the horrible and vile sin of lechery. Therefore, our Lord, seeing his good courage with which he had battled so well, granted him:\n\nA brother was once tempted by the sin of fornication, continually beset by various fair women for 40 days. Despite their temptations and deceits, he withstood them and could not be moved to commit or fulfill the sin of lechery. Therefore, our Lord, recognizing his strong resolve, granted him:A man in the lower parties of Egypt, who was very solitary and renowned among others for keeping himself alone in the church in a desert place. Hearing these words, and trusting that she could not do it, they submitted themselves to give her something, as they should agree together. She, feigning herself walking towards some pilgrimage and pretending to have lost her way, came to the cell of the said holy man and struck at his door so hard that he was compelled to open it. Seeing this woman, he was greatly troubled and abashed, and said to her, \"Woman, how have you come here?\" Weeping and feigning, she answered him, \"Perhaps I have lost my way and do not know where I should go because I met no one on the way. I have come here, praying you to keep and preserve me from danger and inconvenience.\"/ he wolde in way of good charyte receyue her for yt nyght / whiche thyng he dyde / & closed her within a lytyll closett or cotage whi\u00a6che was a lytyll from his celle. Soone after she began to crye & calle saynge. Alas fayre fader the bestes eten me he\u00a6re. I praye the open me thy dore. The good holy fad{er} heryng this crye he was more moued & troubled than he had be afore / & feryng the wrath of god sayd vnto hym selfe. Alas & wherof may co\u00a6me to me this trouble / neuerthelesse ha\u00a6uyng of her compassyon / he opened his dore & toke her within hym. And inco\u0304\u00a6tynent the wycked fende of helle began to prycke & to shotte ayenst hym the a\u2223rowes of concupyscence / & to peerse & stynge his herte with ye thought of this woman. And where he thought in hy\u0304\u00a6selfe that it was the deuyll that thus tempted & stenged hym / he began to saye. I see now well yt these tenebrouse & derke thoughtes come of the fende of helle. And by contrarye thoos that be clere and bryght come of the sone of god. And sayng this wordes he lyghtedA man held a candle, and when his desire was inflamed by it or else because the same desire took him with the stinking delight of lechery, he said in this way: I well know and swear that those who commit such sins descend and fall into the horrible torments of hell. Therefore, I will prove it by myself: if by the fire of this candle I can in any way suffer the pain of the fire of hell. And saying this, he put his finger into the flame of the candle. Because he did not feel it burn due to the great heat of lechery with which he was wonderfully inflamed, he continued all night, burning himself at the flame of the said candle, so that by morning, in this doing, he had burned and blistered all his fingers. Then the wretched and unhappy woman, seeing this, was struck with great fear and immovable as a stone. The next morning, those young persons came to me to whom she had promised that she would do so much that he should.synne approached him with her flesh, and they asked this holy man if a woman had come to him beforehand. He answered them and pointed to a woman sleeping over there. They went to wake her up, thinking she was asleep, but found her dead. They returned to the holy man, afraid, and reported that she was deceased. He, discovering himself to be a false accuser, showed them his burnt hands. Behold, my friends, what this daughter of the devil has done to me this night; she has destroyed and wasted away my fingers. Afterward, he said to them that he had found in holy scripture that the Lord had said that men should not return evil for evil. Therefore, he began to pray to God for her, and her life was restored at once. From that time on, she turned her evil life around and spent the remainder of her life chastely and holy.\n\nAnother brother was greatly tempted by the same sin.Once upon a time, Fornycaco\u0304n visited a town in Egypt where the inhabitants worshiped idols. Seeing the priest's daughter taken with him, Fornycaco\u0304n approached her father and requested her hand in marriage. The priest refused, stating he would not give her to him until he had consulted his gods. Fornycaco\u0304n then went to speak with the devil he worshipped and asked for guidance. The devil replied that if Fornycaco\u0304n was willing to forsake his god, renounce his Christianity, and abandon his religion, then he would grant him the priest's daughter as his wife.then the monk understood and heard his answer, and returned to the monk, and said to him, \"You shall give me your daughter if you will do these three things, of which the monk was well pleased with this answer. After that, he had promised her that he would do what he had said to him. The priest then thought that he saw a white dove come out of his mouth and fly to the heavens. And after this, the priest went back to the devil and told him how the monk had promised to do and fulfill these three things. Then the devil defended himself, saying that he should not give his daughter to that monk, for his god had not yet forsaken him but was still helping him. So the priest came back to him again and said, \"You are not yet disposed to give him your daughter because your god is still helping you.\" The religious hearing these words said to himself, \"If my god shows me such great kindness, all the more that I, unhappy and wretched, am...\"forsaken him/ and my religion/ yet, where I have committed one so great and horrible a sin/ has still wanted/ and why should I leave him? Then he, returning to himself, changed his evil purpose and came again to the hermitage toward an aged holy father/ to whom he told and repeated all these things/ which the holy father enjoined him to do: hold himself and fast for three weeks within a pit that was within the said hermitage/ and this hanging he should pray for him. And this the penitents did with good will. And since the old father departed from him/ and prayed our Lord for him, saying: \"O my God, I humbly pray thee/ that it may please thee to give me the soul of this poor and wretched sinner/ and to receive his penance/ which this poor sinner and suppliant our Lord heard.\" And when the first week of the three was at an end, he went towards the penitents doing penance/ and asked him/ how he felt.hymselfe / & yf he hadde seen ony thyng wherby he sholde haue a hope to be saued / wherat the sayd relygyouse answered ye / sayn\u2223ge morouer that in the hyghenesse of heuen he had seen a doune / beynge sore hyghe ouer ayenst his hede. \u00b6Thenne sayd to him the holy fader Take euer a besy kepe of thy selfe / & praye god be syly / and so wente from hym vnto the ende of the seconde weke that he came ayen towarde hym as he had done afo\u00a6re. And axed hym yf he had seen ony thyng / & he answered that he had seen the sayd doune comyng nygh his hede. So co\u0304mau\u0304ded hy\u0304 the holy fader that he sholde euer haue a good thought / & that he sholde contynue to praye god. Fynably the thyrde weke fynysshed he came ayen to hym & questyoned as afo\u00a6re yf he had seen ony thyng more / to whom he answered sayng. I haue seen the doune whiche is come & hath sette her selfe vpon my hede / and moeuyng my hande trowyng to haue taken her / she raysed her selfe incontynent and is entred in to my mouth. \u00b6The whiche thyng herde / the holy faderA religious person began to yield grace to our lord. And afterwards spoke to the penitent, saying, \"Thou mayst clearly know from this vision that God has received thy penance. Therefore, take heed of thyself, and see that thou fall not again into sin.\"\n\nThe penitent answered, \"Father, I thank thee for thy good counsel. By the same, thou hast been the cause of my receiving God's mercy. But if it pleases thee, thou wilt be content that from henceforth and unto my death I shall dwell with thee, which thing the holy father granted him.\"\n\nAn old religious person named Thebeyen told that he was the son of a priest sacrificing idols. And being a young child in the Temple with the other little children, he saw many times his father sacrifice to the idols. One time among others, he entered secretly within the Temple where he saw Satan sitting in authority with all his retinue, which of a great multitude of devils being about him, one of whom came to him.\"First, he presented himself and worshipped him with great reverence. To whom Satan asked whence he came. And he answered that he came from a province where, by subtle means, he had stirred up and raised great wars and battles to a wonderful shedding of human blood, which thing I have come to show you. Then Satan asked him how long he had been engaged in such a worthy work. He answered thirty days. Satan commanded that he should be well bound and scourged, saying, \"Hast thou wasted so much time on such a fair deed.\" Then came another who likewise worshipped Satan. He asked him whence he came. The devil answered him. I was late in the sea where I have stirred up great storms. By means of which I have destroyed many ships and caused great troubles, and much slaughter of men has ensued. So I am now come to show it to you.\"Sathan asked him as he did the other, \"How long have you been about the same?\" He answered that he had done it in twenty days. Sathan made them both scourged and beaten as the other was, saying that he had been there for too long. After this came the third, who paid him reverence as the others had done, and told him that he came from a city which he named, in which and at certain weddings that were made there he had moved wonderful noises and debates, where many men and women had killed each other, and especially the spouse had been killed there. He added that he had moved and done all this great mischief there in ten days only. Satan nevertheless made him to be beaten and welcomed as the others were before, because he had been there for too long. Finally came a fourth before him, who worshipped him as the others had done, and laid unto him how he came from the deserts where he had sojourned and waked the space of forty years to make a monk.A man once fell into sin and during that time could not bring himself to commit it on that night, but that night overcame him, as he had committed the sin of fornication. Hearing this, the wicked Satan rose from his seat and came and kissed him in his fearful and horrible visage. Then he took a crown from his head and placed it on the head of the wicked one, commanding him to sit down by him. He said to him, \"You are a valiant devil, you have fought well and have done a great thing.\" After hearing and seeing these things, the religious man, who was still a young child as he said, concluded and told himself that the order of monks was a great and worthy thing. He left and forsake from that hour both father and mother and all worldly possessions, and went to the deserts where he made himself a monk.\n\nAnother religious man there was who had been a secular and a married man.after his conversion to the state of Religion, he was severely tempted and tormented by the sin of concupiscence, desiring his wife to be with him continually. He confessed this to the fathers, who, seeing and knowing him to be skilled and capable of working, and who noticed that he often undertook greater labors than assigned to him, set him to do arduous and painful tasks. This was done in order to weaken and exhaust his body, so that he would not be easily moved against his will. It happened, by the mercy of God, that a holy father came to Sichy where the said Religious man was holding himself. And as he approached his cell and found it open, he went in and passed by. Marveling greatly that no one came out against him, he returned and stood still before the door of this habitation. Fearing that by chance the brother who dwelt there was sick, he thought to enter, and found the said brother seriously ill.The monk, being at ease, asked him what he sought or to whom he had sworn an answer. He recounted how he had come and descended from the state of a secular man to that of a Religionist. Because the devil tempted him with the memory of his wife, he had gone to the holy fathers to whom he had sworn and showed his case. They had either refused or denied and set him various and severe charges. Wherever he would have done and fulfilled these, he found himself so weak that he could not perform them, and this temptation never left him, causing him much annoyance and displeasure.\n\nThe holy father, hearing these words, was angry and sorry for this reason. He said to him, \"Indeed, my brother, the fathers and mighty men have well set the charges that trouble you, but nevertheless, if you will believe my little counsel, you will yet do otherwise. And as for me, I counsel you to leave all hand.\"You shall take a little food as the time requires, and after gathering your strengths together, you shall set yourself a little to do the work of God. That is to say, you shall set yourself to pray to God and shall set all your thoughts in Him. By such labor you shall overcome this temptation. Our body is like a garment or other clothing. If it is diligently treated and kept as it ought to be, it may better serve us. But if we are negligent and do not dispose it as it requires, it rots and wastes.\n\nThe brother, hearing this counsel, did as the holy father had told him, and within a few days, the said temptation left him.\n\nThere was another religious man, very solitary and strong in conversation, who dwelt in the mountains towards the parts of Anthioch. His holy words and virtuous works profited many greatly. So was the devil of hell for his holy life.and the conversation turned against him, as he is wont to be envious against holy and virtuous men. Waiting to deceive him, he brought to mind such an imagination, that is to say, that to him who was of such conversation was neither lawful nor good to let himself be served or to allow his necessities to be administered to him by other men, whom he ought to serve himself and administer to, as necessary for them. And if he could not or would not do them any service, at the least he ought to serve himself and not let them from their virtuous works to be done by them for their salvation. Therefore he disposed himself to go to the next city to sell there some pans and mugs that he had made. With the money he would obtain there, he would buy such things as were necessary for his living without giving any body travel or charge, so that he might not be hindered.The relentlessly envious devil, tranquil in the conscience of the said reverent one and content with the peaceful service of God, which had brought profit and salvation to many, was presented with this alluring temptation. Pretending to be of goodwill from all sides, it sought to lead him into sin, which seemed impossible or at least difficult or not easily done unless he joined and mingled with the worldly folk. Then, the reverent one, following his purpose which served him well and justly, departed from his dwelling place and came to the city to carry out what he had intended. Due to every person's great marvel at his holy life, which had made him famous among worldly folk, he stayed there longer than necessary, neglecting to heed the sly and wickedness of the devil.in searching and looking for a convenient and necessary hour to deceive him, a young fair daughter was presented to his sight, which inflamed him with the fire of concupiscence. And through the busyness and opportune time that the devil gave to both parties, they went together, so that they knew each other carnally. And after the damning sin was committed, knowing this Religious one to have been deceived, he departed and came to the desert. The devil always followed close behind until he came to a water source where he let himself fall down by the shorts. Thinking that the devil would be pleased with his ugliness or falling, he intended to displease himself, namely because he said that he had angered our Lord and his holy angels, and had done great scandal and shame to the holy fathers, and especially to many who had used the Cities and were still dwelling there, without being overcome by the temptations of the devil. Looking that he was not worthy to appear before them.He likened and compared himself to one of them, was full so troubled in his heart, and remembered not himself of the bounty and mercyfulness of God that gives verdant courage to those who devoutly turn themselves to him. He then blinded and not seeing the Remedy of his sin, he would have cast and drowned himself within the said flood to attain perfect rejoicing in the devil of hell. And of the sorrow and great tormenting of his heart, he was marvelously. Of his body, whereof he was in such wise desperate, that if the great mercy of God had not given him counsel and help afterward, he should have died without repentance to the great joy and perfect gladness of the wicked fiend of hell. Finally, he thinking in himself to return unto God, by great labor of penance and in tears and sobbing, he begged to have mercy on him. Returned again to his habitation and monastery, he closed his door, setting it as he had been dead.And there he set himself to weep, making right humble supplications and devout prayers to our Lord. Fasting and continuing in watchings, his body was greatly weakened and wonderfully feebled, but it was not yet in his heart that he had done sufficient penance. And when any brother came towards him to ask him for something profitable and prayed him to open his door, nevertheless he would not open it to them, saying it was not in his power to do so because he had strained himself from opening his door for a year, and to make that time fruitful for penance. But he prayed them to pray for him. And although they were scandalized by him and ill-content with what they had heard about him because they held him to be honorable and a virtuous religious man, he did not enforce himself to give them any excuses, but set all his intent and affection to abide and continue in fastings and devout orisons.He did a deed in a certain place during his penance. Hanging there the while and on the night of our Lord's resurrection, this holy father desiring to know if his sin was forgiven to him, took a new lantern and garnished it with a lamp, and after doing so, set it within a new cauldron and covered it with a lid. And this done, he set himself to praying: \"O my God, right merciful and pitiful, it wills and desires every one to be saved and to come to the knowledge of Thy steadfast truth; I at this hour come to Thee to help; as to the very Savior of Thy good and true servants. And yet, though I have sinned grievously, obeying and pleasing the devil of hell, so that obeying him I have fallen to death everlastingly. Always my God, because I know and am certain that by Thy great mercy Thou art always ready and willing to have pity on the wicked, and on those who are not merciful, when they turn themselves towards Thee. I beseech Thee, my God, that it may please Thee to have pity on my humility, as Thou hast mercy.\"You may do it / for you are not impossible. And suffer not your soul, which you have created and made in your own image, already brought to the gates of hell / to fall or enter therein, but as you are merciful and pitiful of your meek nature, depart from her your great mercy. And in that steadfast faith and belief you have in your endless might, by which the day of the general resurrection has come, you shall not only raise up the bodies / that you have already formed and which now lie dead, but also all those who are to be born and shall yet be created. It will please you to hear my humble request and prayer, having pity on my ghost long since dead / and on my soul so much unhappy, defiled and spotted with the filth of sin / and likewise on my abominable body, which I have so much disfigured and made foul, that I may no longer live / because I have not had in steadfast belief. Alas, sir, pardon me by penance my sin which is double / as much because of the number of times I have sinned.breaking of thy commandments, as of dispersion, and quickening my contrition, command Sir, that this lantern be kindled with thy fire, to the end that taking trust in thy mercy and Indulgence during the other part of the time thou shalt give me grace to live in this world. I may curiously and diligently keep as I ought thy commandments, and without departing from thy fear by all the days of my life I may serve thee devoutly. And on the said Resurrection night of our Lord, saying these words with great shedding of tears, he arose from his orison to see if the said lantern should be kindled. So he took from the side from the said cauldron, but he found it in such a state as when he did put it there. Wherefore yet again, lying flat on the earth, he prayed, saying: O my Lord and my God. I well know that thou hast ordained that I should fight against the devil unto death. I might be crowned, but I have not been steadfast nor constant in this, for the delights of the flesh.I have chosen to be tormented in hell. Sir, please pardon me. I confess to you my filth and wickedness, not only before the same, but also before your holy saints and blessed angels. I should confess before all men if I did not fear to scandalize or shame them in my person. Have mercy upon me, God, and quicken me to repentance, that I may learn the other. And in this manner praying the penitent and devout man was exalted by God and heard, and had very knowledge of it by that he rose and came to his lantern which he found burning brightly. Rejoicing in himself, he was comforted with a hope, and wondered greatly at the great grace God had done to him in pardoning him so benevolently his sin and fulfilling his petition. I yield to your graces, my lord and my God, of it pleases you in this present world to have mercy on me, poor sinner and indignant of your great mercy.A young man desiring to be religious, forsaking the world, gave away what he had to the poor, except for some small goods he reserved for himself for help. He then came to Saint Anthony, requesting his guidance.\n\nIn this manner, he persistently continued in his confession and yielded graces and thanks to our Lord. On the day that he took such great rejoicing, he forgot himself to take his repast and nourishment. And throughout his life, he kept the light of the said lantern lit, adding oil to it when necessary, taking care that it should not go out. From then on, the holy ghost inhabited him. By its help, he was reputed and held in great repute as a holy man, and before his death, he was shown the day that he would depart from this world to the kingdom of heaven.that he would receive him into the state of Relygion. St. Anthony knowing this, said to him, \"If you want me to receive you as a monk, you must go to the next city here and buy flesh. And when you have done this, make it fast to your bare flesh. Then come back to me again in that state, and I will do what you desire of me.\" The young man, desiring greatly to do what St. Anthony had commanded, went and bought flesh and fastened it to his bare flesh as he had ordered. And going again toward him, the dogs and the swine followed him, which, by growling and gluttony, rented and gnawed his skin in various places of his body. And thus he returned to St. Anthony, who seeing his skin thus turned and gnawed, said to him, \"In like manner are you turned and gnawed by the fiend of hell and by his temptations, those who forsake the world will hold back and possess their money or other worldly goods.\"The abbot Daniel recalled that a great Roman officer once came to him, bearing the testament of a certain Senator, who was a relative of the said Arsenyen. By this testament, the Senator had bequeathed to him many fine inheritances and a great livelihood. The holy father Arsenye wished to break and tear the testament into pieces. Seeing this, the said officer threw himself down before him, imploring him not to do so, as he would have lost his head had he not concealed and shown it again as required. The holy father Arsenye took it back from him, saying, \"Everyone knows well that I have been dead for a long time before him who made this testament, which is now but late deceased. How then could he have made me his heir by these words?\"The father Relygyous held himself for deed to the world, and ought never to possess anything worldly or temporal. The holy father Arsenye was once sick in Syria and had great need of a little money to alleviate his sickness. He was therefore compelled to ask it for God's sake, and receiving it, he said, \"Lord God, I yield to you the grace of it, it has pleased you to make me worthy, in your name, to help and further myself out of my necessity and indigence. I have asked and received an alms.\"\n\nRegarding Abbot Agathon, he and some of his monks were engaged for a long time in making a cell to live in. After they had completed it and dwelt there for a while, Abbot Agathon saw something unsuitable for him and advised his followers, \"You should depart from this place and go with me to enhance another,\" which they found angering and provoking.answered such words or in substance. If you had determined before to depart from us as you now show, why have you made us endure such great pain and labors in edifying this cell which we have done so long? Those who shall see our sudden departure will be scorned by us, and they will blame us for the vice of inconstancy, and will mock us, saying that we cannot abide in any place.\n\nThe said holy father Agatho, seeing the said religious men being wayward and fearful, said to them: \"My brothers, you do not know what you say. For if there are some who will speak evil of us, there will also be some others who will be edified by the same, and will speak well of us, and they will say: 'These are good and devout religious men, who for the love they have had for God, have departed and have abandoned all their goods.' And therefore, let him who will come with me come, for certainly I will depart.\" Then they...prostered themselves before his feet, doing obeisance to the earth, praying him that he would grant them that they might bear him company wherever he would go.\n\nThe Abbot Euagrius said that there was once a brother who had nothing except for a book of gospels. He sold it, and gave the money he received for it to the poor, saying a word worthy of memory. That is, he had sold the word that commanded that men should sell all that they have and give it to the poor.\n\nThe Abbot Theodore, otherwise called the Farmer, had three good books and was reluctant to let them be read. He was required by certain brethren to lend them his books. Therefore, he went towards Abbot Macharye and said to him such words or similar: \"My brother, I come towards you to seek counsel. It is true that I have in books where I read gladly, for in reading them it seems to me that I profit by it. Nevertheless, I am desired by certain brethren to lend them.\"Among them, Father John, who was persistently remembered among the holy fathers, possessed deep simplicity and innocence. Living and settling in Araby, which is near Egypt, he once borrowed a shield from a religious brother to buy sheep for himself. After purchasing some, a brother came to him, asking for a few of his sheep to make a vestment for himself.A man came to him and asked for some of it to make a cloak, and he gave it to him gladly. Another came to him immediately for some of it, and he gave it to him as well. Likewise, many others came to him, to whom he gave gladly. But later, the religious ones who had lived with him and sold him the sheep's fleece came to him and asked that he pay them back. He answered them that he would go on his way and pay them back within a short while. Since he had no money to pay them back, he went to Abbot James the dispensier to ask him to lend or give him a shelter, but on the way there he found that he would keep him from evil temptation. So he went back to his cell, where the said religious ones came to him again, complaining bitterly that he had not returned the shelter to them. Then the good John said to him, praying that he would be patient for a while, and he would have it back soon. So he took his way.And again towards the said Abbot James I went to borrow the said shield. In my way, I found the said shield still in the same place, so I prayed to God as before and returned to my cell without going any further. Yet another religious man came towards me, who was more pleased with me than before because I did not have my shield. The holy father John said to him, \"Wait a little for me; I will bring it to you.\" He departed on his way and came there where he had seen the shield, seeing it still in the same place, he prayed and took it up and went towards Abbot James, to whom he said, \"Fair father, on my way here I have found this shield. If it is your pleasure, in showing your charity, it will be publicly known to all men that it has been found.\" And the abbot did so.The abbot James came none challenging it for his own, therefore Father John the holy said to the Abbot James, \"Good father, if no one has lost it, I pray you take it to the religious to whom I owe it as a singular pleasure. Late I went towards it to pray that you should lend me one for him, and in my way I found the same which I have taken with me. Then the Abbot marveled greatly, how the said holy Father John, seeing that he was compelled to pay it back to his creditor, had borne it straightway when he found it. Yet he was wondered said, that if any man came to him to borrow anything, he never took it himself, but said to him, 'You should take what you will and bear it with you.' And likewise, if men brought it back to him that he had lent to them, he never received it, but said to him, 'You brought it back again, put it there if it seems good to you, where you took it before.\"when he borrowed it, and if they didn't bring it back, he complained not about that. Some old fathers relate that at a congregation or assembly of monks dwelling in diverse cells, a brother came who had on a little scapular, which was over fine and over little. To whom the said Abbot Isaac said, \"Here is the habituation of monks, and you at he knew well, that when you should give them anything, they should not keep it.\"\n\nAbbot Cassian related that a Senator of Rome named Symmachius, willing to forsake the world, took his riches and distributed them to poor people for God's sake, saving some things for his own use, not fully receiving the humility of the forsakers nor the rule of life in common of those who lived in the monasteries. To whom the holy father Basil, of blessed memory, said in this way: \"You have left to be a Senator in Rome, but nonetheless, you have not made yourself a true religious.\"A brother approached Abbot Psycamore and expressed his concern about selling the items he made with his own hands. The abbot replied that the holy father Sysoys and other elderly fathers used to sell the works they created, and this did not trouble them in any way. He further suggested that if the brother did not want to sell them, he could set the price for each item and deduct or abate any amount as he saw fit. In this way, he could find satisfaction in selling. The brother asked again if there was any means other than working and laboring by which he could sustain his necessities, to which the old father replied that even if he had enough to live without labor, he should still do so.A brother questioned the Abbot Serapion, asking that he tell him only a word from his mouth. Serapion answered, \"What have I to tell you? You have carried away things that belonged to widows and orphans and have laid them in a window.\" He said this because he had seen a window full of books.\n\nSaint Syncletyce was once asked if having nothing was a good thing, as some men said. She answered, \"It is a perfect good for those who can be content with enough to possess.\" Furthermore, she said, \"Those who can live in this state, enduring patience with the same, should always possess the peace and rest of their souls. For just as the strong garments, when filled and tormented by the fuller under his feet, are scoured and become white. Likewise, the soul that is strong and constant through voluntary suffering will be purified and grow.\"Power is confirmed in the performance of virtues.\nThe Abbot Ypericius said that willing poverty was the true treasure of a monk or religious. And to this end, he exhorted the brethren to the treasure in heaven, saying that it was the world's perpetual where the good ought to rest with an end.\nAmong the other holy fathers dwelling in Jerusalem, there was one named Philagrius, who labored so that only in laboring he should like no bread to sustain his body. One day, among other places where he would have sold the works he had made with his hands, a certain person let fall by chance a small sack in which were a thousand shekels. This old father Philagrius found and took up, but he did not depart from the place where he had found it, but held himself there, saying in himself that he who had lost them necessarily had to come there to find it again. And immediately after, he who had lost this small sack came there to seek after it.it. the whiche the sayd holy fader dyde calle vnto hym a syde and toke it ayen vnto hym with all that was in. And he that had lost it prayed the holy fad{er} yt he wolde take a parte of the moneye but he wolde not therof. Thenne that other began to crye & saye openly how this holy fader had founde his sack / & had delyuered it vnto hy\u0304 ayen without to take ony thyng of it. The holy man heryng these wordes fled pryuely away fro\u0304 among ye peple & yssued out of ye cyte\nto thende that he sholde not be knowen & honoured of that he had done.\n\u00b6An other olde fader was questyoned of a yonge brother for to wyte of hym what thyng he ought to do for to be sa\u00a6ued. The\u0304ne the holy fad{er} dyspoyled hy\u0304 selfe from his owne vestyment / & gyr\u2223ded well his raynes / and syn sayd stret\u2223chyng his armes & handes abrode / yt in this maner a mo\u0304ke ought to be naked from all seculer maters / & to crucyfye hym selfe ayenst the temptacyons and worldly thoughtes.\n\u00b6A brod{er} Relygyouse prayed an aged holy fad{er} yt he wole agreablyA certain brother refused to receive money that he would give him to help himself in need. He would not receive it because the works of his hands were sufficient for the sustenance of his life. The brother persisted in his request and asked him more insistently than before. If he would not receive the money as aid to his afflictions, at the very least he would receive it to be distributed to poor people. The holy father answered him that this would bring him opprobrium and double sin. The first reason being that in receiving the same money for himself, he would do so without necessity. The second reason being that in dealing it to poor people, he would more easily fall into the sin of vain glory.\n\nSome Greeks transported themselves into the city of Ostracus to deal there certain alms and to do the same, they called upon the general procurators of the church, so that they might learn and show to them those who were more needy. They arrested andled them to a poor lazar, to whom they gave an alms but he wouldn't take it, saying he had no need of it since he could get something for his life to be sustained with, in making mats of rods and palms which he wrought with his hands. For silver, he bought bread sufficiently for his living. After they left this lazar and led the said Greeks to the house of a poor widow who was a laundress and a washer of linen clothes, having many poor children. When they knocked at her door, one of her daughters came, who was so badly clothed and poorly arrayed that her flesh was seen bare and naked in various places. She told them that her mother was not at home. The Greeks, seeing the indigence and poverty of this widow and her children, and especially feeling pity for this poor maiden at the door, they gave her a gown and money which she wouldn't take, saying that her mother had told her to trust in God and that she should have it.They lived in that manner and, moreover, on that day she had found enough work for them, of which they could easily live and pass the day. And as they said these words, this widow, the mother of this maiden, returned home to whom they prayed to take this alms which her daughter had refused. But she would not. Instead, she said to them that they would take him away from her. Then, knowing her great faith, they were glorified and thanked our Lord.\n\nA venerable man appeared in the deserts of Syria, bringing with him great quantities of gold and silver. He approached the sovereign father abbot of those hermitages, asking him to deal this quantity of gold and silver to the brethren of those hermitages. The brethren replied that they had no need. And although he prayed him many times to do the same, he would not grant it.The father abbot placed a corpse by the church gate with a large sum of money for all to see. No one among them took any notice or approached the corpse. The father abbot then spoke to the almoner, \"My friend, God has graciously accepted your offering. Go and give it to the poor.\" The almoner, wonderfully edified by these words, departed.\n\nAnother offered money to an old, holy father, telling him to keep it for himself, as he truly needed it due to his old age and illness. The poor sick man answered, \"Alas, my friend, it is thirty years ago that God, in His benevolence, has nourished me. Now you wish to take it from me.\"A man once said to me, \"Go away from me. At that time, I have been as sick as I am now. I have had no power nor means. For my God has always fed me, therefore I pray that you will be content with me as I have taken your alms. Certainly, I will not have it.\n\nAncient holy fathers recounted the story of a good man who was a gardener and laborious. And all that he could get with his labor, he spent it all on alms. He would never reserve anything for his own benefit, but only as much as was necessary to buy his daily bread. The devil of hell, enemy of human nature, seeing the great and perfect charity of this poor gardener, and envious of his merits, tempted him subtly to leave or neglect these alms he made. Giving him to understand that he was beginning to grow old, and that he might well fall into some sicknesses or debilitating conditions of his body through which he could fall into great poverty.When he could no longer work or labor, he thought to save and set aside some money. In truth, he saved so much that he filled a bottle with it. After this, he fell ill due to an infected foot. To cure and remedy this ailment, he made medicines and hired surgeons to attend to his foot. In the process, he consumed and spent all the money he had saved. Despite their efforts, they could not heal him. Eventually, a skilled surgeon came to see him and advised that if his foot was not amputated, it would infect and poison his entire body. Deliberation was taken to carry out the surgery. Meanwhile, this poor man, reflecting on his misfortune and remembering his customary almsgiving, instructed that they be distributed as he had been accustomed.spare you money which was already unwisely spent / he began to weep and saw he had so often offended God and the poor / and began to say, \"O my God, I beseech unto Thy benignity that Thou wilt not take heed of my great ingratitude towards Thee, but please remember the little alms I have done for Thy sake in times past, when I labored in my garden, and for which I fed Thy poor servants. And saying the same, the angel of God descended before him, who said, \"Come here, good man, I pray thee tell me where you hid it, that money which you had so curiously spared and kept.\" The good man, hearing these words, answered, \"Alas, sir, I have sinned, pardon it me / and the angel of our Lord touched his foot which was immediately healed / and he stood up and went to labor in his garden as he was accustomed.\" He being in his garden, the surgeon came to the house of this good man, bringing with him his irons and instruments, to cut.A surgeon, hearing that the poor man was rising early in the morning and going to work in his garden, went towards him and found him laboring over the earth with a spade. Seeing the truth of this reported to him and the great help our Lord had given to him, the surgeon began to glorify and praise the divine power.\n\nA religious man, an old holy father, asked him if he would well keep and hold two shillings for himself as a help and support against sickness if it should come upon him. The old father, knowing the religious man's intention to reserve and keep these two shillings, said that he would do so. Then the religious man returned to his cell and, thinking upon the old father's answer, various thoughts tormented his heart, and he said to himself, \"Do you think, wretched one,\"The old father has told you certainly I cannot say whether he spoke in earnest or not, and in effect, to appease his temper, he departed again from his cell and went towards him, repenting himself and said, \"Good father, I pray you in the name of God that it may please you to tell me the truth concerning this, for it is to wit, whether I should keep my two shelters or no, for I find myself sore troubled. Old holy father answered to him. Certes, my brother, because I did see the will you had to keep them for the ward, I did tell you that you should keep them. But nevertheless, I will that you know that it is not well done to keep or withhold for oneself more than is needed for the body, and if you withhold these two shelters, doubt not but your hope will be set thereon. And if by adventure they are lost, since your hope was turned thereon, God shall no more have a cause to remember and think.\"\n\nSaint Anthony,An abbot in his hermitage was greatly disturbed and confused by various thoughts and temptations that came over him. He cried out to the Lord, \"Alas, my lord, I desire to be saved, but these thoughts and fantasies that assail me prevent me from obtaining my salvation. Alas, my lord, what should I do in this tribulation, or how can I save myself? After leaving his cell, he saw a man sitting and working. The man rose and ceased his labors, then sat down to pray and make an oration to God. Afterward, he returned to his work and took up the making of mats or maws and soon afterward went away again as he had done before. It is worth noting that this man was an angel who had assumed the form of a man and had been sent from the Lord to correct St. Anthony and give him good counsel and encouragement to resist temptations of the devil. So the abbot heard this.The angel's voice you heard spoke to him, \"Anthony, work and labor as I do, and you shall be saved.\" Hearing these words, Saint Anthony was greatly rejoiced in this vision, taking a true hope of his salvation. He began to do as he had seen the angel do, and in doing so, he found the salutation he sought.\n\nA religious man told the Abbot Agatho that he had been summoned to a place that was not agreeable to him, because he did not hope to be there without battle or in peace of his conscience. Nevertheless, he was determined to go there to obey the command given to him.\n\nAbbot Amoras said that he had dwelt for fourteen years in the deserts of Syria, praying to God night and day, primarily he should give him truth and strength to overcome the passions.\n\nAbbot Besaryon said that he had endured for forty days among the thorns without sleep.\n\nAnother solitary brother, who was in his works, was singularly remarkable.The same reason troubled him frequently, causing him to visit Abbot Theodore at the farm. He told the abbot of his distress. You must humble your spirit and submit yourself to the other brethren, he advised. This Religious went to the mountain and lived with them for a certain time. Upon his return to the abbot, he reported that he could not find peace among the men. The holy father responded, \"If you cannot find peace by yourself or with the brethren, why did you become a monk? Have you not taken this vow to endure tribulation? Tell me how long you have worn the habit of a religion.\" He answered that he had worn it for eight years. Then the holy father said, \"I will tell you. I have lived seventy years in religion, but I have never found a day of rest there.\"You will have it in eight years that you have been there.\nA brother moved you said, Abbot Theodore asking if it was certain to dwell in a place where another had suddenly fallen. He answered him, \"If heaven were in danger of falling and it should touch the earth, yet Theodore would not be afraid of it.\" The aforementioned question the said monks moved to him, desiring to know what he should answer them on this matter because they had heard it said that this Theodore had prayed to God to take away fear and doubt from his heart.\nSome said of Abbot Theodore of St. Lucy and of a Nun of Alexandria that for fifty years they made continuous residence in their cells without having once departed from the same, recalling to memory the great and marvelous constancy of their old fathers who had been thus constituted. And when any fantasies or thoughts came to them to go or transport themselves into some other place,\"When winter passes, we will go to such a place, and coming summer in hand, we will go to such a place. And thus from year to year and term to term, they prolonged their deliberations so long that they dwelled constantly and firmly in their said habitations for fifty years as mentioned above. The Abbot Pastor said of Abbot John the Little that he had prayed God to take away from him all his sensual passions, so that he would never commit a sin. Having this imagination, God had granted his prayer, he said to an old religious man he found peaceful in his heart and having no repining or battling within him. Then this old religious man advised him, \"I would advise you to pray to God that He will move your passions in you. For to have matter to fight against.\"\"With them resisting against it, the soul profits. The which prayer the said Abbot John made. And when he saw himself thus assaulted as before, he prayed no more to God that he should take from him his said passions, but prayed him only that he would give him the virtue of strength and constance, to sustain them and resist to the same.\n\nThe Abbot Macarius went himself towards the mountain to Abbot Saint Anthony, and knocking at his door, Saint Anthony came and made him opening, and asked who it was. What he answered, it was Macarius. Hearing this answer, Saint Anthony entered again within his cell and, in contempt, shut his door before his face and left Macarius without. And since, after Saint Anthony saw his patience, he opened his door again to him and made him good cheer, saying: \"Hail my brother, you are welcome. It is long ago that I had great desire to see you, for the good and laudable report.\"I have always had respect for your virtuous condition. After they had discussed together, St. Anthony administered to him of his goods, entreating him amicably and providing him with all the services of hospitality as possible. For St. Macharius, because of the long journey he had undertaken, was greatly weary and troubled. And then, coming towards St. Anthony, who was never idle, he laid his rods and palms in water to wet them, so that he might work with them around his baskets and mats. St. Macharius prayed him to give him more rods to wet, but St. Anthony, desiring that he should rest, answered him that he had none. And nevertheless, he made for him a larger ferrel or bondel, which he wet for him to use. And thus, in speaking of the health of their souls, they began to work together to weave the said rods and palms into mats, which they laid down by a.In a deep pit. Saint Anthony descended and went down into the pit. He saw and beheld the great multitude of mats which Saint Machary had made. He marveled strongly and afterward went and kissed the hands of Saint Machary, saying that great virtue came from his hands.\n\nOnce, the said Saint Machary went down from the deserts of Syria into a place called Therenutin. In this place, he was surprised by sleep and was compelled to sleep in a sepulcher where, in olden times, the bodies of the penitents had been buried. To rest himself, he laid his head on a dead body, as if it were a pillow or cushion. The demons then, seeing the great devotion he had for God, were greatly troubled, and one of them began to call a woman, saying, \"Come and bathe with us.\" In response to whom, another demon, who had entered the body upon which Saint Machary rested, and lay upon it with him, said, \"None shall come and bathe with us.\"The holy man Macharye replied to the devil that called him, \"I cannot go there. I have a pilgrimage upon me which prevents me from going there.\" Hearing these words, the devil was not afraid but trustingly, Macharye said to the corpse, \"Arise and go forth if you may.\" The demons, hearing this, began to cry out with loud voices, \"Ha Macharye, you have vanquished and overcome us.\" And these words caused them to flee away, all confused.\n\nAbbot Mathoys said, \"Whenever I intend to do anything lightly, I immediately think how grievous it is, and it flees from me and is finished.\" Some recall the story of Abbot Millet, who dwelt and made residence in the deserts, and made sacrifice to the sun, to the fire, and to the water, as to their gods, which they utterly refused and would not do. For this reason, after various torments, they beheaded the two disciples of St. Macharye, but they would not promptly put him to death because they feared.wolde put hym to more tourmen\u2223tes and soo they dyde. And among o\u2223ther they sette hym in the myddle of a place where they establysshed to shote at hym / as he had be a butte. And they shotte many arowes / some in his bac\u2223ke and other in his brest. In suffryng the sayd tourmente saynt Macharye sayd to the two childern. False and vn\u00a6trewe tyrauntes Inhumayne / for as moche as I see that of one accorde and consentement ye be determyned to she\u2223de thynnocent blood / and to putte to deth myserably the poore seruauntes of god. I wyll aduertyse you and no\u2223tefye / that to morn at this hour your moder shall be without childern / and shall be pryued fro the syght of you / and that ye shall more hurte and grye\u00a6ue your selfe / and shall with your aro\u2223wes shede your owne blood to gydre. The sayd childern dyspysyng the wor\u00a6des of the sayd saynt Macharye and mocked hym. On the morn they wen\u2223te on huntynge as they dyde to forn / And it happed that an herte was ta\u2223ken in theyr cordes / the whiche not\u2223withstondyng escaped. Thennethey rode after him with all diligence to take him, and in shooting their arrows at him, they slew each other, as St. Machinery had said to them.\n\nThe Abbot Pastor said that a religious man is clearly known to be a monk in his temptations, that is, when he resists them constantly and mightily. Yet the said Abbot, being in Syria at one time among his religious, said to his brethren, \"You know well that we have come here to labor. Now I see that there is no manner of labor here. Therefore, I determine that we go to some other place where we may find labor, so that in doing so, we may find rest, as one might say, that the greatest battle that a religious man may wage against himself is idleness. For in working, many evil thoughts and cogitations are avoided.\"\n\nSt. Syncletica said to her monks in speaking to them, \"If you converse in the monastery with the other, do not change your ways, unless he can provoke himself by injuries and reproaches, he makes himself.\"If one is to be mindful of him in prayers and vain glory. And where he procures a person who has all the care of his body, and cannot be deceived and seduced by delight and worldly pleasures, then he enforces him to fall by adversities and molestations which he makes come contrary to his will. And to those whom he wishes to test, he brings upon them some sicknesses and maladies, by which he makes the Religious fearful and troubles their charity towards God. But even if the body is tormented by insatiable hot fevers, inflamed with unquenchable thirst, he who endures and sustains such afflictions ought to have in his remembrance prickings of his flesh. Then he ought to enjoy himself, considering to whom he is made similar. For if he is tempted with fleshly concupiscence and if he withstands it constantly, he shall have merit, and deserve, like the merit of Saint Paul the Apostle. If we are chastised by.We ought to have remembrance of the scripture that says, \"We have passed through fire and water.\" And there remains nothing but that we be put in a place of rest. We ought also to hope, since we have endured the torments, that there will be consolations and comforts. In making and doing virtuous works, we ought to cry with the prophet David, saying, \"I am poor, needy, and sorrowful. And he that patiently suffers such tribulations, eventually shall be in a sovereign degree of perfection.\" Then, in these exercises, let us prove our works in fighting constantly against our enemy, whom we have continually before our eyes. And if the malady is grievous to us, therefore let us not be angry, but notwithstanding the sickness or hurt bodily, let us take heed to pray to God and thank him. Certainly, all things are necessary for us to destroy and bring to nothing the bodily diseases. Fasting and labors are ordained for us.Against the soul's thoughts and temptations. If our weaknesses break and bruise our vicious affections and superfluously, we ought to pray God that they abide and continue in us for our amendment and correction, and that He give us courage and affection to bear and suffer them patiently. Just as a great and sharp medicine heals a sickness, so by maladies of the body are vices cut off and withdrawn. It is a great virtue when, in grievous maladies, one has humble patience. And by doing so and giving thanks to God, the said patience is readily addressed and sent to God. If we lose our bodily eyes, we ought not to take it grievously, but we ought to endure it patiently. For the loss of them, we lose the instruction which may make us to enchant in pride. And in contrast, by the eye of our intent and understanding, we may more lightly behold and have contempt in the glory of our Lord, if we have lost our hearing.If we are deaf or unwilling to listen, we have lost the opportunity to hear or endure vain words. If our bodily organs have any passion or are weakened by illnesses, we ought to have our spiritual hands more ready for virtuous works. If illness weakens our body in doing so, it disposes him to withstand the temptations of the devil. And if he is virtuous, his virtue and health increase. Those who commit any crime or transgression in this world, for all that they forsake not suddenly their ship, but suffer a little against the tempest. And they resist their power against it until they find the time well disposed to perform surely and lightly their voyage. We, who are recalled and have fought with, by the wicked and damned spirit, address ourselves in our hearts the precious cross of our Savior Jesus Christ in place of the sail. And with no danger or peril, we shall overcome the perilous and miserable.A virgin named Sayre, reputed to be holy and praised, dwelt for sixty years by a river, during which time she never lifted her sight to be seen. The Abbot Yperycius advised that we should always sing and have in our mouth imprecations and spiritual songs, continually thinking of God and His marvelous works. Through such contemplations and thoughts, the great heaviness and burden of temptations that come upon us are alleviated. A man weary of long traveling was wearied, but in blowing and taking his breath was revived. The Abbot Yperycius said, \"It is necessary that we be armed against the temptations of the devil, for they come in many ways, and in resisting them when they assault us, we shall be proven constant and firm.\" An old father said, \"If a temptation comes upon a man\"A brother, being in his cell and tempted, could not constantly withstand it. Then other temptations would assail him on all sides, which the enemy would instigate to make him fearful and murmur against God. An example is recounted:\n\nA brother, in his cell and tempted, sent for a man among the others. This man knocked at his door and brought him a great quantity of bread coming from Egypt on a camel. Seeing the holy father, the man began to weep, saying, \"Ha, my God, I see well by the abundant goods you send to me that I am not worthy to bear the trials you send to your servants. And when his trials and adversities had passed, his brothers in their cells and in the church received him, bidding him to rest with them. But despite this, he moved little, saying that neither for adversity nor prosperity, one ought not to exalt oneself.hymself not yield falsely. For none knows when or how long adversity or prosperity shall endure. And one should not delay any good work once begun, but enforce himself to accomplish it, and be virtuous, and not think that it is labor or pain that employs him to obtain virtue.\n\nAnother religious brother demanded an ancient father saying, \"Fair father, what shall I do with my vain thoughts and thoughts that only allow me one hour of rest in my cell?\" To whom the ancient father answered, \"My son, I counsel you that you return to resist the temptations that will come upon you and take labor on yourself and exercise your body in some handwork. And with that, you pray God intently, fixing and laying on him your thoughts, in such a manner that none seduce you to issue out of your cell.\" He also recounted how there was a young secular child desiring earnestly to be religious. And as he required and prayedHis father humbly allowed it to please him to suffer and let him enter into religion. His father would not readily accede to his request. But finally, after many of his kin and friends who knew the child's disposition, he was so pressed and required that he consented. Then the child renounced all worldly things and put himself in a monastery in which he made himself religious. And there he began to do all that was required and one ought to do as a virtuous man in religion: to fast and do many other abstinences. In effect, he abstained from eating two whole days a week, and on the other days he ate only once. The abbot marveled greatly at his great virtues and prayed and thanked humbly the Lord. Always after a certain time, the said religious man desiring to live more solitarily than he did among the other religious, requested and prayed his abbot to give him license to go dwell in desert.A child thinks not that for you cannot bear or sustain the temptations of the devil nor the great labors that await a man living solitarily. Remembering also your young age, you shall not hear the frauds, malices, and deceptions of the devil of hell. And it is worse if you are deserted by him and assaulted or tempted by any evil temptations, for you will not find anyone nearby to give you comfort or consolation in the night. The religious young man, hearing these remonstrances, nevertheless requested more urgently that he be allowed to go. The abbot, seeing that he could not retain him, prayed to Lord Jesus Christ for him and gave him leave. After this, he asked the abbot to permit some of his monks to accompany him and show him the way and how to conduct himself. The abbot, in accordance with his request, assigned to him two monks.Monkes who went with him. And after certain journeys, they walked through the deserts. They grew weary and traveled by occasion of the great heat. We were constrained to lie on the ground. And for great watch, they slept a little. They thus sleeping came to them an Eagle which smote them with its wings. And that done, he fled a little before them and tarried on the ground. The two religious monks who conducted the young brother, being awakened by the touching of the said Eagle, said that he should arise and show him the same eagle. And they told him that it was an angel desiring that he should go and follow after it. The which anon arose and flew a quarter of a mile before the religious brother and after rested on the ground. And the young monk by his eye followed after so much that he came to him. The which, of flying and walking after, continued by the space of three hours. The Eagle flew away on the right hand of the Religious Brother.He followed him and turned towards him. But nevertheless he did not follow him for long enough to see him. After that, looking before him, he saw three palm trees and a well by them, where nearby was a little cave or hole. Then he said to himself that it was a place which the Lord had prepared for him to live in solitude. And after entering the cave, he concluded in himself to make residence. In which he continued for six years entirely, without seeing any person. And without eating any other food or drink, but dates and water of the said well. But the devil, envious of his devout and virtuous life, and desiring to turn him to damnation, came to him in the likeness of an aged father having a dreadful and stern visage. Seeing the young religious man, he was greatly abashed, and recommended himself to God and rose to come to him. The devil, to deceive him, said, \"Brother, I pray thee, let us\"fyrst make our prayers vnto god / and after prayer soo made by the sayd relygyous. The deuyll in arysyng as\u2223ked hym how long he had be in yt place\nsoyournyng. To whom the relygyous man answerde yt he had be there .vi. ye\u00a6re. I meruayll sayd the deuyll / how it may be yt thus longe tyme I haue not knowen yt yu were my neyghbour / but within four dayes hytherward yt to me is comen in myne ymagynacion / that ther was some holy man dwellyng ny\u00a6ghe by me. And so I concluded to ser\u2223che & to come to yt for to deuyse & talke with the for ye helth of my soule. And this I telle to the my brother / that we prouffyte nothyng holdyng vs in our celles & caues. For we lyue as bestes / & receyue not the body of our lord Ihesu cryst / wherfor I doubte & fere strongly but yt we be astrau\u0304ged from hy\u0304 yt so lon\u00a6ge absteyne vs fro the holy sacrament. But I shall tell the what I thynke my brod{er}. Ther is from hens about a two myle a monasterye / wherin ben many prestes whom we may go see euery we\u2223ke ones / or in .xv. dayes / &There we shall receive the worthy body of our Lord Ihu Crist and may return to our cells. This devious suggestion was agreeable to the religious young man, and on Sunday they came. The devil came again saying they should go to the said monastery and it was time to depart, so they went forth. In going, they found a religious man of the said monastery. After the young man had made his prayer in that place, he arose and looking about him, he found not whom he was with was vanished away. Thinking he had gone out of the monastery for some necessity, he stayed long and seeing he came not, he went making diligence to find him. And after inquiring of the monks about him, asking them if they had seen any old father come into the church, the religious men answered him that they had seen none but him only. Then the young religious man knew well that it was the devil and began to say within himself, \"Look by what means...\"Subtitle and malice the devil has made me leave my cell, but nevertheless I set not much by it. For I have come here to do and accomplish a good work, that is to say, to receive the precious body of my savior Jesus Christ, whom I shall receive if it pleases him, and after return to my cell. The mass said and done in the said monastery. And after that he had received the holy sacrament, the said young man wanted to return to his cell, but the abbot retained and would not allow him to go until he had taken his refreshment. And which refreshment taken and graces said to God, he took leave of the said abbot and his religious monks to go to his cell. And in returning, the devil came to him again in the form and likeness of a young secular man. And beginning to feign an intent to come to his damning intention, he said these words that the young Religious man might well hear. Is this he you have so long sought?The brother asked him, \"Are you the one who has been causing this, or is it someone else? As I speak these words, I find myself more intently focused on you than before. Why is this? The devil replied, \"Fair father, you do not know me. I am not ashamed nor amazed that you do not recognize me, for you cannot truly know me since you have only seen me for a short time. Yet I know you well, for I am your neighbor. And I named your father and mother, and your sister, and their servants, saying to them, 'Was your father not called by this name, and your mother by this name, and your sister in this way? And their servants, were they not called by these names?' Your mother and sister have been dead for three years, and your father departed from this world not long ago. He has appointed you his heir and made you his executor, to dispose of his goods for the health of his soul. He could not leave nor entrust them to anyone better than you.\"You, being a holy man who has given up and forsaken the world and all worldly goods to walk and follow the way of Jesus Christ, should be ready and diligent for distributing and giving alms to the poor and needy servants of God. And for this reason, he ordered that one should come to you to carry out this request, and many messengers have been in various places trying to find you, but they could not. Therefore, I have found you here. Moved by charity, compassion, and consideration of the great trust your father has in you, I have been moved to tell you this, and therefore do not tarry, but go to his house and sell all that he has for distributing to the poor people according to his holy deaconry. To the reverend young man.answered, yet it was not necessary for him to return to the world, and he would not go there. The devil replied again, saying to him that if, through his negligence, his father's goods were lost and dispersed without being given to the poor people as he had ordered, he should therefore render an accounting before God. Furthermore, he said to him these words: \"What harm is it if I exhort and admonish you to come as a god and true distributor of your father's goods to the poor people, so that his goods should not be wasted and consumed by vicious persons. Consider what reward you may gain for your soul in doing this. And when you have done that, you will be able to return again to your cell.\" Finally, this young religious man was so deceived and beguiled by the devil that he was content to go home to his father's house.And he went and fulfilled what the devil had told him. In truth, he left his hermitage, and with the devil he came into the city where he was born, in which he had come before to his father's house. The devil departed from him before that. After his father had been dead and he entered the house to do what he had intended, he found his father alive and in good health. This young religious man, who was not known to his father, was asked what he was. Then this young religious man, troubled because he had been evil seduced and deceived by the devil, could not answer his father one word. Seeing that his father asked him and not knowing how to tell him the truth, he excused himself and said that for great love he had for him, he had come to see him. Thus, this young religious man.A man lived in his father's house for a certain period during which, in conversation about worldly matters, he was corrupted and abused by the devil such that he fell into the sin of fornication. This fact became known to his father, who earnestly entreated him. But he paid no heed and did not show remorse. Obstinate in his sin, he feared neither God nor the shame of the world, and returned no more to his hermitage. Instead, he lived dissolutely, to the great peril and damnation of his soul. This history is recited by the said old father to caution and persuade a young religious man who had asked him how he should resist temptations and that he should never leave his cell for any kind of temptation, no matter what the devil did to him.\n\nSome certain secular men came to the desert to a venerable old father and asked him how he lived and conducted himself in his cell or hermitage, and if he was content with his state.in which he suffered so much pain. The old father answered them that he had no cause to be ill content, since in traveling and laboring he might gain the glory of heaven and escape eternal damnation. He furthermore said that all the labor and travel that he had suffered in his hermitage, and yet intended to suffer and endure, though it were to death, was not sufficient to compare to a journey of the sorrowful tormentes prepared for miserable sinners. The wretched ones, for their outrageous crimes and transgressions, shall be perpetually damned with the horrible fiends of hell.\n\nAnother old father said that the old fathers did not transport themselves from one place to another, but if by adventure and primarily for three causes. The first was when any was angry with his brother and had done all his duty to pacify him, and yet was not content with him. In this case, to avoid the danger of his soul, he ought to depart and leave the place.A religious man was known and praised for his works to those who sought him out when he avoided the sin of vain glory. And the third time was when he was badly ruled and had committed the sin of lechery.\n\nA young brother once asked the holy father Arsenye for counsel on how he should behave and said that he was in constant distraction because his conscience pricked him, saying \"why not fast, why not labor, and why do you go to seek out those who are the works of which are worthy of prayer and reward?\" The holy father, considering such imaginations to be deceits of the devil, said to him. \"My friend, eat and drink if you may not fast, but above all things, keep it from going out of your cell. In persisting and continuing your residence, you will come to the state of perfection.\"\n\nTherefore, your brother went forth, and when he had made continuous residence for a certain period of time.For three days in his cell, he found himself greatly annoyed and grieved. But nevertheless, desiring not to remain, he found a few palms which he tended. And the next day following, he made mats. As he was making them, he felt hunger and, to distract himself, he said to himself that he had a few more palms which he would dispose and order for work, and after that, he would eat. After completing it, he said that he should not eat yet, until he had a little red and prayed. And when he had a little red, he began to psalmody, and soon after, being tempted by his fantasies, he took food and began to eat. In this manner, with God's help, who saw his good purpose, he profited in such a way that he found himself well disposed to remain and stay in his cell, and to do what he ought to do according to the instructions of his order, trusting in himself that the temptations would be beneficial if resisted.They took in himself good courage, and lightly overcame them, and summoned them. An other aged father was demanded by a young religious brother. From whence it might proceed, that a Religious person, being abiding and resident in his cell, suffered and bore such great grief. To whom he answered, \"You have not yet seen nor well considered in your thought the general resurrection to come, nor have you embraced the torments you then shall be made ready to suffer perpetually. Certainly, if you had seen and considered them, it should nothing grieve nor annoy you to be in your cell, and suppose that it were so full of works that you should be there unto your neck, you should endure it, and be never annoyed.\n\nSome Religious persons, having compassion for the great travail and pain that in overmuch laboring an holy father suffered, prayed him a little for rest and to leave some [thing] to travel. To whom he answered, \"My children, I pray you to believe me of it.\"I shall now say to you. I assure you that the holy father Abraham, who throughout his life continued in great labors to obtain the supreme health of his soul, when he shall see God's great and excellent gifts in eternal glory, he will repent and be greatly ashamed of not having taken on himself greater labors and pains than he has yet endured.\n\nAnother brother asked an ancient holy father how he should behave with his cognitive faculties and thoughts, which made him so doubtful and unstable that he was in constant tribulation. To whom the aged father answered, \"My friend, hold and keep them within you, and set nothing by diverse thoughts that assail you. For you shall not perish if you keep them there. And if you issue and go out, they will assail you both without and within. And just as the female ass, which is bound, goes not after her young foal that goes at large where it will and runs around, always returning to you, in the same way, the temptations of the mind.\"foloweth alwaye ye relygyous & so lytary persone. And how well yt he be assaylled & be made to varye / yet hath he no cause to perysshe / for seen yt he de\u00a6parte not out of his celle / & that for the loue of god he enfore hym selfe to a\u2223byde & constantly reiecte theym behyn\u2223de hym.\n\u00b6Ther was an olde holy fader whi\u2223che had no water nygh to hym by .xij. englysshe myle. And on a tyme in go\u2223ynge to the fou\u0304tayne for to drawe and fetche water / he fou\u0304de hy\u0304self soo feble that whan he was there / vnneth & with grete payne he myght retourne home. And consyderyng in hymself the grete trauayll yt he had for to goo & come so ferre he sayd in hymselfe these wordes what nede is it for to go so ferre & with so grete payne for to fetche water / cer\u2223taynly I shall no more come so ferre / but I shall come & dyspose me to come hyther & dwelle here at myn ease. And after yt he had so sayd / he sawe a yonge man as hy\u0304 semed that folowed hym / & in folowyng nombred & acompted his steppes & paas. The olde fad{er} that seeyngasked he what he was to me, to whom I answered that he was an angel of God, who had sent him there to number his passerments and to give him his reward. The which answers were heard by the old father; he took courage within himself and, in hope of receiving greater reward for the pain he took in going to fetch water at the said well, he went to make his habitation farther than it was before. Some old fathers, by manner of instruction, said that if any temptations came upon you in the place where you dwelt, you ought not to leave it for that, for if you did, in whatever place it was that you went, you would find before you the one that which you supposed to flee and avoid. But you ought to be patient in resisting it until the temptations were gone, so that your departure was not the cause of scandal to others.\n\nAnother religious brother among his fellows was not peaceful but was often moved and provoked to wrath and ire.Where he concluded in himself on a time that he would go dwell in a solitary place alone, where then, when I shall be without company, there shall be no person to whom I ought to say anything. Then, after obtaining leave, he departed from his monastery, and he went and dwelt alone in a cave. And after staying a little while, he set on the ground a little pot which he had filled with water, and suddenly the pot fell down in such a way that the water was spilled. And the religious person seeing it filled his pot again and it fell down once more, and yet he filled it the third time, and the water was spilled again.\n\nThen he was greatly disturbed in fury and anger that he could not be content, but in his anger and passion took the pot and threw it against the ground and broke it into pieces. And after his passion had passed, he knew that the spirit of wrath and devilishness mocked him. Therefore, seeing himself in solitude and being alone as well asA company he was always behind in this your passion, therefore he concluded he should return and stay with his brethren. Knowing that everyone and above all, labor is necessary, and for patience, every man ought to labor with the help of God.\n\nAnother religious person asked an holy father to give him some remedy, as he could not do any good work appointed to him for a right good and virtuous religious man, but was detained and overwhelmed by such sloth and negligence. Above this, Infidels' thoughts foul and dishonest afflicted and tormented him, so that if he began any good work, he immediately left it, and was transported from thought to thought, in such a way that he had neither steadfastness nor constancy in him. The old father said to him, Brother, go and stay in your cell, and do what you can without disturbance. Certainly, that little good you enforce.A father of ancient times was asked by a young religious person how he could keep himself from scandal, when he saw any religious person return to the world. He answered that a religious person who will be constant and not vary, in seeing a religious person return to the world, should behold and consider a chase or course of hounds that run after a hare. Among these, one often follows alone, seeing the hare, and runs after it with all diligence. The other hounds that see the hound run, yet have not perceived the hare, sometimes run after the hound.Follow them further, and yet they do not give up but turn back and remain behind. Despite this, the hound which has seen the hare and does not leave its sight pursues it unwaveringly, taking no notice or showing any displeasure if they remain behind or return. For it pays no heed to anything else, but relentlessly follows its prey, fearing neither to stumble nor fall. Instead, it trusts in itself and continues on without fear, passing through hedges or bushes. However, it may be hurt by thorns it encounters in its path, but it does not stop until it has taken the hare.\n\nLikewise, the religious person or other one who seeks our Lord Jesus Christ, that is, he who desires to obtain His grace through good works, should incessantly apply his attention to be scourged and tortured by penance, and pass lightly over all the scourges that come to him, until he comes to the grace of our Lord.A person seeking celestial glory approaches Jesus at the race, following Him with good manners. Upon reaching the same joy, he takes his prayer, the fruit of his precious vision, which delights the entire celestial court.\n\nAnother elderly father said that just as a tree uprooted and transported from one ground to another bears no fruit, so a religious person who frequently moves from one place to another may not produce anything beneficial.\n\nThere was a religious person who found himself strongly tempted to leave the monastery. Unable to endure it, he asked an old father for advice. The old father advised him to return to his cell, to lie down with his body, and to pay attention to himself, casting his thoughts away and telling his body:sholde thyn\u2223ke all that he wolde sauf oonly that he go not out of his celle. And in so doyn\u00a6ge the sayd Relygyous vaynquysshed the sayd temptacyon.\n\u00b6An other aged fader sayd that the celle of a relygyous persone is lykened to ye fornays or chemyney of Babylon where the thre childern Sydrac. My\u2223saell / and Abdenago fonde the sone of god whiche kepte theym from brenny\u0304\u00a6ge. Or ellys to the busshe / pyler / or clou\u00a6de in whiche god spack to Moyses.\n\u00b6A relygyous persone was tempted contynuelly by the space of .ix. yere for to forsake ye company of his brethern. And to that ende euery daye he dyde of his pylche or skynne in the whiche af\u2223ter his rule he hadde be accustomed to lye & slepe in. And whan it was euyn he sayd to hym selfe. I shall departe & go hens to morn / & on the morn I shall abyde yet this daye for the loue of god And whan he had contynued thus in this varyacyon by the space of .ix. yere in doyng euery daye as sayd is / our lor\u00a6de toke awaye from hym that tempta\u00a6cyon.\n\u00b6An other Relygyous by force ofA troubled Teptacon found himself unable to maintain his religious devotion and lived disorderly, expressing regret for his past misdeeds and the time wasted. Alas, he lamented, when would I return to my former state? Determined to amend himself, he sought guidance from an elderly father. The father, recognizing his penitent's plight, shared the following example.\n\nOnce upon a time, there was a man who owned a beautiful piece of land, which through his great negligence had been allowed to fall into such ruin that it was overcharged and grown with weeds.The thinker/thorns and great bushes. Thinking about this case, a certain time after he concluded that he would again set value on the same piece of land. He said to his son that he should go see in what state it was, and make diligence to weed and take away the thorns and bushes, and refresh it. Then, feigning to want to obey his father, the son went to the said piece of land. And as he beheld the great multitude of thorns, bushes, and thistles that grew there, he found himself so slothful and weak of heart that he could not begin to work. Saying in himself, \"A lord God, how shall it be possible for me to stir and make clean this piece of land here? Certainly, I shall never be able to finish it, and I lay myself down on the ground by sloth and laziness, and began to sleep.\" And so continued for many days without doing any labor. The father, desiring to see what his son had done in the said land, went there one day and found that he had done nothing.A laborer asked him why he had not done anything, and he replied that when he had come and seen the great abundance of thistles and thorns, he could not endure such great labor. Hearing his answer, his father reproved him for his sloth and laziness and commanded him to begin laboring, not doing more than a certain one day at a time. And when he saw that labor began to amend the situation, he took great pleasure in it, and in a short time, it was refreshed and made clean. My brother also said the same to the old father. It seems to you a little and little to work, and in doing so, the heart will not fail, and God, by his holy grace, will restore you to your former state. Hearing this, the religious man took leave of the holy father in thankfulness and with good patience. He began residence in his cell and began laboring.A father, instructed by the holy father, worked diligently. In this manner, finding rest, he was inspired by the Lord to live a deeply religious and virtuous life.\n\nThere was an old father who, accustomed to being frequently weakened by illness, found himself in excellent health for an entire year. Considering himself in great health, he entered into a deep melancholy. Of this, he was strongly tormented and wept, saying that God had abandoned and forsaken him because He no longer visited him with illness.\n\nAnother holy father said that a brother of his had been severely tempted by evil and disgraceful temptations for sixty years. Unable to resist or withstand them, he succumbed to despair and, feeling himself damned, said, \"Now I see clearly that my soul is lost forever.\"And yet that it is so I am a fool and abuse myself to endure and keep me here. Therefore, what shall I will? Return to the world and set myself on the way to go. And immediately he heard a voice that said to him, \"Poor man, why do you go? Hearken to me, and believe that I shall say to you. I will that you know that the temptations that you have born and suffered for these nine years were fair crowns to crown you in eternal glory. And therefore I exhort you and admonish you to return to your cell and do penance, and I shall deliver you from your evil thoughts. By this example, one ought never to despair of God's mercy, and also one ought to have good hope of restoration when he is tempted by evil thoughts, so that he may enforce himself to withstand them with all diligence. For in so doing, he deserves to be exceptionally crowned in the Kingdom of Heaven.\n\nIn the parties of The Baye there was an aged holy man.A father who lived in a deep fosse or cave dwelt there with one of his disciples, who was well-approved in holy life and conversation. This holy father had a custom each day and also at evening to examine and teach his disciple, as well as to admonish him to do beneficial and profitable works for his soul. And after they had put themselves together to pray to God and make fervent prayers. And that done, the holy father gave his disciple leave to go and sleep a little and rest.\n\nOnce among the other occasions, it happened that some worldly people, well-informed about the holy life of the said father, came to see him to find consolation in their adversaries. After he had comforted them and they had departed from him, he called his disciple to speak with him for his health, as he was accustomed to do. And because it was late in speaking to him, he fell asleep. But that notwithstanding, his disciple did not depart before the old father awoke to discuss matters with him and to make their prayers together according to their custom.As the said holy father slept, his disciple remained awake for a long time, resisting the temptation to rest despite being tempted. He endured the temptation seven times in total and each time he withstood it, considering it to be the same temptation. It happened that the night passed and the holy father awoke to find his disciple sitting by him. The holy father asked him why he hadn't gone to sleep, to which the disciple replied that he had no willingness to do so because the holy father had not given him permission. The holy father then asked why he hadn't awakened him, and the disciple replied that he didn't want to trouble or cause grief. They began to recite their matins, and the holy father allowed his disciple to go. The holy father, still in his bed, was filled with joy.\n\nAnd in this joy, he saw a vision in which appeared a fair young man.\"He showed him a plain place in glory, among other seats, where there was one excellent one, in which no person sat. Upon the seat there were set seven rich and sumptuous crowns. The father seeing this asked him to whom they belonged. He answered that they belonged to his disciple and that the Lord, for the retribution of his holy life and good conduct, had given them to him and had signed his place in that fair sight where the crowns were. Hearing this, the father was marvelously abashed and called his disciple fearfully, asking him what he had done or thought that night. To whom the disciple knew not what to reply.\"\"although he had done nothing. Nevertheless, he advised himself to tell him this in such a manner. Father, I require your forgiveness / certainly I have done nothing except this night while you slept. I, being beside you / because it was late, I had been meant and compelled by my vain thoughts and cogitations, not only once but seven times, to have left you sleeping and gone to rest myself. But nevertheless, because I had no leave from you / as I have been accustomed, I had not wished to go / but in observing and keeping my obedience toward you and in subduing my affections / did compel myself to keep company with it until the time you were awakened. The holy father, hearing these words immediately / that at every time the disciple had resisted his temptations, he had obtained a crown of God / and therefore he had granted to him seven crowns of gold that he had seen in the said vision / but nevertheless he said nothing.\"He showed it to his disciple for his utility and profit, doubting that anyone had told him of it before. Lest he might fall into the sin of vain glory by keeping it to himself, having acquired it as mentioned earlier, he could not prevent his spiritually esteemed friends from learning of it for such small deeds, when they were constantly done in good pursuit. God, who is so liberal and great a rewarder, promises us first so greatly to crown us with many crowns in the glory divine. Then it is good and profitable for every Christian man to restrain his passions and to constrain himself to live virtuously for the honor of God. For as the holy scripture says, the kingdom of heaven will be taken by force, and those who strive and courageously assault it will seize it by violence.\n\nAnother old father, a hermit who dwelt alone, was once seriously ill. And because he had no person to serve him, he was unable to prevent his spiritually esteemed friends from learning of it for such small deeds.constrained to arise,\nto take such reception as he found in his hall, and so he did, certain days after his capability. Finally, he became so feeble that he could no longer help himself. He remained in this condition for thirty days. The Lord, seeing his great patience and none of his brothers having any remembrance of him, therefore sent his angel who ministered and served him for seven days in all things necessary. At last, some of the brothers of the holy father remembered him, whose cells and habitations were near him, and who had not seen him for a long time. Concluded to go and see him to find out if he had any need. And when they arrived at his cell and knocked at the door to enter, the angel departed from him immediately. And the holy father, lying in his bed, seeing them begin to cry, said to them, \"My brothers, I pray you go your way.\" Hearing his answer, they were curious to know how he had lifted up the door from it.hense (or he) entered and asked him why he cried so. To whom he replied that he had been sick for thirty days, without anyone visiting him. And after the thirty days passed, the Lord had sent his angel to serve him for seven days. This was then the seventh day. But as soon as he heard you at the door, he departed from him. And in saying these words, he rendered his soul to God; the brethren being present rejoiced in God's name, saying that He never fails those who set their hope in Him.\n\nAn aged father said, \"If you are taken and suffer pain from any bodily sickness, therefore do not give yourself up and consider that if God wills it, He does it for your virtue and profit. Therefore you ought not to take it grudgingly or displeasantly, for you do not know that He has often taken care and diligence to provide for your necessities after what you need for yourself.\"you are unwell and may not live without the remedies he sends to you, humbly requesting that it please him to give to those who are expedient and necessary. And also that you do his will without anything to the contrary, and hold the solitary and in peace in your cell, practicing charity as much as you can.\n\nAnother old father related that he was in the city of OxiRinque on a Saturday at evening. There came many poor people to ask alms of the devout creatures. They were sleeping in a common place where one among them, who had an unwieldy mat, of which on half of which he lay, and of the other half he covered himself for the cold which was extremely great there. The same poor creature, being constrained to arise to make his urine, was compelled in himself of the great cold, in saying to our Lord. My God, I thank you for the goods it pleases you to do for me. How many rich men are there now in contrast.In this world, those who for their transgressions or other causes now find themselves prisoners, with their legs fettered in stocks and in great iron fetters that grieve and annoy them, having no ease to act or make their plea when needed. And concerning me, you have done me such a great favor that I am free and unencumbered, stretching my feet to my ease and walking wherever it pleases me. And these words were spoken by the holy father, who had heard them. Inconveniently, he departed and came back, recounting to his brethren who were there miraculously well fed.\n\nAnother brother asked an old father at one time what he should do if he were in any solitary place and some trial or temptation came upon him, which he feared, since he had no one to comfort him or trust, nor to whom he might declare his adversary. To whom the holy father answered, \"My brother, it behooves you always to believe steadfastly in God.\"If you trust in him and pray to him and humbly ask in good charity, he will comfort you by sending his angel with his grace. Furthermore, he once heard of a religious person living alone who suffered many temptations and had no religious companions to trust or confess to. Therefore, he often disposed himself to leave, but because he had often resisted it, on one night it appeared to him the grace of our Lord in the likeness of a virgin. She said to him, \"Do not leave your cell, but sit here with me. For whatever you have heard will not come to any evil, the religious brother, giving faith to her words, concluded to stay, and immediately his heart was consoled.\n\nSaint Anthony, being in the desert, was once warned that a religious person, who had always been reputed virtuous, had performed a miracle through elation or vain glory in this matter.A man seeing some aged fathers limping and in great pain commanded wild asses nearby to transport them towards them and bring them closer. The old fathers noted this miracle to St. Anthony, who said to them words to this effect. This monk resembles a ship laden with all goods, of which none can be certain if it will reach its destination. Some time after St. Anthony saw in spirit or in some other way this young religious man about to depart from this world's teachers, and he began to wail and weep and make marvelous lamentations. His disciples, not knowing the cause of his weeping and wailing, asked him why. He answered, \"A great pillar of the church has fallen.\" Go to the religious brother who made it.The disciples of Saint Anthony went forth and came across a young, religious man lying on a mat and weeping bitterly for the great sin he had committed. The man, seeing the disciples of Saint Anthony, said to them, \"Please tell the old father that he should pray to God for me. I hope that He will grant me a reprieve of ten days, and I believe that during this time I will do so much that he will be pleased with me.\" However, he departed and died five days later.\n\nSome religious persons once reported many great and praiseworthy acts of humility from one of their brethren. Saint Anthony, desiring to know if this was true, called for the same religious man and inflicted upon him many great injuries which he could not endure at the time. He said to him, \"You are like a house that appears outwardly ornate and richly adorned.\"Workes were behind all outward appearance and so ruinous that the monks had left nothing worth saving.\n\nMany aged fathers spoke of the holy fathers Arseny and Theodore. They hated vain glory and worldly things above all else. Arseny, whenever religious people came to him, did not hesitate to receive them. But Theodore acted contrary to this.\n\nA priest named Eulogius, who was a disciple of St. John, archbishop of Alexandria, lived an extraordinary life of abstinence. He fasted for two days a week without eating anything, and often fasted the rest of the week, eating only on one day and consuming only bread and salt. Because of this and his other virtues, he was greatly revered and allowed by the people. One time he went to Abbot Joseph in a place called Panas, believing that the said Joseph led a stricter life than he did. Abbot Joseph welcomed him with great joy and, out of love and kindness, prepared his reception as honestly as he could. Seeing Eulogius' disciples,Eulogius had other food than that which he had taken to eat. He said that Eulogius ate only bread and salt. However, Abbot Joseph, who did not want everyone to know of his great abstinences, ate the food he had prepared for Eulogius. For three days, Eulogius and his disciples dined with Abbot Joseph. They never perceived that Joseph or his disciples psalmodyed or prayed. But they prayed and said their psalms secretly. Therefore, Eulogius and his disciples departed unsatisfied.\n\nIt pleased God that the weather changed and became dark in such a way that they were compelled to return to Father Joseph. When they knocked at the monastery gate, they heard Joseph and his brothers singing and psalmodying. They listened to their psalmody for a long time. After a long listening, they finally knocked again at the gate. Who answered them again, the holy Abbot Joseph and his brethren.Father received it joyously. The disciples of Eulogius brought a little bottle in which they put water that the holy father Joseph was accustomed to drink. They gave the same to Eulogius to drink to appease him, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it because he felt it was salty. And to tell the truth, it was not sweet; for they were seawater and river water mixed together. This thing troubled him, and he required the holy man Joseph to instruct him in the manner of living, saying, \"How is it, holy father, that when I first came here you did not sing or psalmody, and now that we are departing, you have begun to do it? Furthermore, when I wished to drink your water, I found that it was salty. To this question, Abbot Joseph answered that among all his religious brethren, only those troubled by error should mix salt water with the fresh. Then Eulogius, not content with this,This answer/ and willing to know from that he asked, prayed him again to say from when it proceeded that the said water was salt. To whom the holy father answered, saying that this little burgh was in place of wine the charity had poured out to them, but that water was the ordinary drink that the religious brethren drank. By these words he taught Eulogius how he ought to have discretion in his thoughts, and drive away from him all mutability of heart, and that he should make himself come with the other brethren eating from thenceforth all meals set before him. He also taught him how he should pray secretly. And these things, considering, he said to Joseph, that certainly he knew his works and also of his disciples to be done in perfect charity.\n\nThe abbot Zenon, who had been a disciple of Abbot Silvanus, said that a religious man ought never to desire to dwell in a place greatly renowned, nor with a man having a great name, nor set or make any.A brother came to Abbot Theodore, desiring to build a cell or dwelling for himself. On one occasion, a brother named the steady and sober came to him and stayed with him for three days, praying that he would say something edifying to him. But he would not say anything to him. Seeing the said brother leave, disappointed and sorrowful, the disciple of the said Theodore demanded to know why he would not say anything good to him, so that he would not depart in a bad mood from him. To this, the holy father replied that he would not say anything to him because he was a great merchant and inquisitive, seeking to glorify himself in the words of another. Another brother asked the said Theodore inquisitively about certain things, to which he answered, \"I am ashamed of how you presume to ask me such things.\" You resemble those who...And yet he had not found the ship nor put his men in it, nor began to row or sail. He had come to the port or city where he had intended to come, but you should first do something before you can speak.\n\nThomas Cassien said that a brother who had learned to walk from place to place came at one time towards the holy father Serapion. The holy father, after some words, urged him to begin to pray or engage in psalmody with the said brother, but he would not comply. The brother, feigning humility, said he was a sinner and unworthy to wear the habit of a monk. And after the holy father had tried to wash his feet, the brother, excusing himself as before, would not allow him. Finally, he made him take his reception with him. And in doing so, he began to admonish him, saying, \"My son, if you wish to profit, it behooves you continually to reside in your cell and take care of yourself, and apply yourself to work.\"for it is not law\u00a6full ne expedyent to go so moche as it is to be resydent / ye whiche brod{er} heryng these wordes was so moche in despyte & moeued in yre ayenst ye sayd holy fad{er} yt sodaynly he apperceyued by his vysa\u00a6ge yt by ye cause he chau\u0304ged his colour. & began to saye to hy\u0304. Ha my sone yu saydest late that yu were a synner / in ac\u00a6cusyng thy selfe as vnworthy to lyue / & now by cause I warne yt in good cha\u00a6ryte to lyue well / yu art angry with me & oughtest yu to do so / certaynly I telle to ye yt yf yu wylt be very & humble rely\u00a6gyous / yu must lerne & bere corageously the charges & burthens yt by other shall be leyd on the / & not to saye & grudge in thy selfe to thynke ony rygorous or haynous wordes. For suche condyco\u0304ns ought not to be fonden ne to domyne in ony relygyo{us} man wyllyng to come to felycyte & beatytude eternall. The brod{er} co\u0304syderyng these wordes yt ye holy fad{er} sayd to hy\u0304 / he departed & dyde gre\u00a6te penau\u0304ce & amended his lyfe.\n\u00b6Thabbot Moyses beyng in the her\u00a6mytages ofThe desert of Sychye was advertised that the judge of the province came towards him to see and examine him. Desiring to avoid this, he departed from his hermitage and put himself on the way to the palus of Egypt. The said judge, accompanied by some of his servants, met him there and asked him where was the cell of Abbot Moses. He answered: \"Ask him yourself, he is a foolish and heretical man.\"\n\nThe judge arrived at the common church of the said hermitages and said to the clerks that he had found them there because of the great renown of Abbot Moses desiring to see him. In coming, he met an old father going into Egypt whom he asked where was the cell of Abbot Moses, and he answered in this manner: \"Ask him yourself, he is an heretic.\"\n\nThe clerks, hearing these words of the said judge, were much troubled and displeased but nevertheless they asked who was the old father that spoke so ill of him.A brother spoke of Abbot Moses. To whom the judge replied, he is long and black, clad in a rude vestment. Then they knew it was Abbot Moses who had spoken of himself, and he said to the judge, \"I spoke those words to you so that you would not know it was I.\" The judge therefore returned without speaking more to him or seeing him any other way.\n\nAnother brother asked Father Moyes, saying to him, \"If I go and reside in any place, how should I govern myself there, if you will surely dwell in any place, keep the cell well for obtaining a name or reputation from any particular thing, as to say that you will not converse in the company of brethren for a more solitary life, or that you eat nothing or other. By such things a man gains to himself a name and fame. And afterwards he must endure the people's opportunity, which is a grievous thing if he is a man desiring to live virtuously and solitarily.\"\n\nThe great abbotNesteron and one of his monks, walking in the deserts, saw before them a great dragon. Frightened, they fled. The monks said to the abbot that it was afraid. He answered that it was not, but it was expedient for them to flee, seeing the dragon. For in doing so, he avoided the temptation of vain glory, as it is said that if they had made some divine conjurations to the dragon, they would have passed by it without it doing them any harm. They might have run in the sin of vain glory, so to keep them from this, it seemed better and more advisable to flee from it rather than to conjure it. The abbot Pastor said that a religious man who will well edify others ought to keep and observe the things that he will be kept and observed by others. Furthermore, he marveled at many men who have no shame and are perfect in words, in which their deeds do not correspond.The Bishop Adelphus, who was bishop of Nyle, once went to a monastery to visit Father Sysoy. One morning, the Bishop Adelphus intended to leave, but Father Sysoy made him break his fast first. It was a fasting day, and as they prepared to eat, two brothers arrived, to whom Father Sysoy ordered potage because they had come from labor. Bishop Adelphus, seeing the meal ready, told Father Sysoy to delay a little until the brothers had left, so that it would not appear that he had broken his fast. However, the brothers, seeing and receiving the potage from the monks who served them, asked if there were any strangers in Father Sysoy's cell. And the said Bishop Adelphus.The abbot broke his fast with them in the morning. To whom he answered, the ones who heard it were much angry and began to say, \"God forgive you for the fault that you do in suffering our abbot to eat at this hour. Do you not know well that he has been many days without labor, as if one should say, that he ought not to break his fast, since he labored not. Bishop Adelphus, hearing these words, repented and was displeased with what he had said to Abbot Sysoy for making him break his fast, saying, \"Father abbot, forgive me for what I have said and thought, but in coming to give the potage, you have done a divine thing.\" Then Abbot Sysoy said to him, \"If God does not glorify a man, his glory will never be stable.\" Abbot Amenas said to Abbot Sysoy, \"You should apply yourself to reading the scriptures to learn to speak correctly and make fair your words, and be ready to answer all questioning that will be made to you.\" Abbot Sysoy replied, \"It is unnecessary to read.\"A man ought to pursue holiness in his words through cleanliness of conscience, as if a man who lives virtuously cannot speak evil or ill. The Abbot Symeon, being in desolation. A judge of a province came to see him. And on coming, he found the said Symeon, who, with the aid and help of his girdle, was cleansing a palm tree to make it clean. Not recognizing that it was he, the judge asked him, \"Where is the old father Symeon who dwells here solitarily?\" And he answered, \"There is no one here solitarily.\" Hearing this answer from the judge, he departed. Another time came another judge to see him, and his disciples were warned about this and came saying to him, \"Fair father, make yourself ready, for here comes a great man to see you and to have your blessing.\" To whom the holy father Symeon answered, \"Very well. I shall make myself ready,\" and he took an old sack with which he covered his head and shoulders, and holding it in his hands, he was ready to receive the judge.hand and bread set seven down and ate at the door of his cell as he had eaten no food for three days before. The judge and his people arrived there, seeing his countrymen standing nothing by him. They returned, saying as Monty Python's Flying Circus might query, \"Is this the hermit solitary of whom we have heard speak so many things?\"\n\nSaint Sincletyce spoke in a similar manner: \"Just as a treasure that is published and shown is often misused and spent, so every virtue after it is published is quickly put away and finished. And all in the same way, wax that is near the fire becomes molten. In the same way, the soul that is praised becomes vain and loses the rigor of virtue. He furthermore said that all in the same way, it is impossible for a thing to be both herb and seed at the same time. So it is impossible for those who have glory on Mondays and delight themselves in it to make any fruit for having the heavenly glory.\"\n\nIn a high feast hallowed among the really religious of the hermitages, in which they had a custom to take their refreshment,A religious man among you called one of the servants said that he ate only bread and salt. Hearing this, another called out loudly, \"Bring some salt to this brother here, for he eats nothing else.\" One of the old fathers, hearing this, rose up and came to the religious man. He thought it would have been more expedient for him to have eaten flesh in his cell than to have heard the words about him spoken before so many religious people. Who would say that he ought to be ashamed, to have had these words about him repeated after his own words that he ate nothing but bread and salt? If he had been virtuous, none would have perceived it.\n\nAt one time, to some strangers who had come for lodging, the father had made good potage. It happened at the same time that a very abstinent brother came, and he ate no bread. They were sitting at the table and began to eat. He brought chickpeas for himself and ate them.A father, an older one, called his brother secretly and said, \"Brother, when you come before any men in the future, keep the well hidden from him or let him not perceive your abstinence or courage. If you wish to practice strict abstinence, keep it in your cell and do not go out. The religious, hearing these words, and encouraged by them, determined to live similarly and to eat such food as should be brought into the company of other religious people.\n\nAnother holy father said that the worldly provision takes away and cuts off all fatness from him and yields him dry.\n\nAnother old father said, \"If you wish to live holily, it is necessary for you to flee from the world and to flee from men miring the said world and the men who are in it. Repute and esteem yourself a fool.\"\n\nA religious monk, under the charge and congregation of Abbot Helie, experienced at one time a temptation or cause for which heA monk was expelled from the congregation. He went up to Mount Anthony's holy abbey. After staying there for a certain time, he returned to the congregation from which he had departed, but his fellows saw him and expelled him again. Therefore, he returned once more to Father Anthony, pleading with him not to reject him. And for this reason, the holy father sent them a parable: \"A ship was in danger of being wrecked at sea, having left its charge behind. With great labor and pain, it was brought to land. You, my brothers, will drown and wreck the ship that has been delivered.\" They understood from these words that Father Anthony had sent him back to them, and they welcomed him immediately.\n\nA religious monk had committed a sin, for which he was compelled by a priest to leave the church. Abbot Besarion was in charge at that time.The abbot Isaac dwelt in the deserts of Thebayde. In a congregation of monks, he saw one who had committed a sin. For this, he judged the monk. Returning to his hermitage, intending to enter his cell, he found an angel blocking his way, refusing entry and saying it would not allow him to enter. The abbot asked why. The angel answered that God had sent him to ask if he would send the brother he had judged. The abbot knelt down in repentance for what he had said and begged the angel for forgiveness. The angel replied that he should arise and that God had pardoned him, but warned him from then on to beware and keep himself from judging anyone before God had done so. In the deserts.of Sychye found one of the Reliquaries, a dweller there, guilty for the offense or sin of whom all the old and ancient fathers had assembled. By deliberation, they sent for Abbot Moses, praying him to come to them. He would not comply, so the principal one among them sent to him again, urging him to come to them all, whom he had decided to remain with. Upon understanding this, he took an old sack full of sand and came to the said aged fathers in this state. They asked him what he carried. He answered them, \"These are my sins that follow me; I cannot bear them, and you make me come here to judge the sins of another.\" Hearing these words, they told him nothing of the sin of the reliquary's brother but voluntarily pardoned him.\n\nAbbot Joseph once asked Abbot Pastor in requisition howA man could make himself a monk. To this, Brother Pastor replied, \"If you wish to find rest in this world and the next, examine yourself in all your affairs.\n\nAnother brother once asked the said Abbot Pastor, \"If I see my brother commit a sin, should it be well done for me to conceal it?\" The holy man answered, \"As often as we conceal our brothers' sins, God conceals ours. And when we reveal them, God reveals ours.\"\n\nA religious monk in a community of monks committed an open offense. Nearby was a religious, solitary monk who had lived in his cell for a long time without leaving.\n\nThe Abbot of the same community transported himself towards the said solitary monk, intending to show him the sin of the other monk. He asked him what he should do. The monk replied, \"He should be expelled from their company.\"The poor sinner went and entered a cave where he wept long for his sin. It happened that his brothers and fellows going towards the said Abbot Pastor found the monk sorrowful and weeping in the cave. They entreated him to go to the said solitary religious man, but he would not. He said that he never intended to depart from the place where he was, and that he had decided to die there. The same brothers, finding the penitent monk so heavy and displeasing with his bitter weeping, reported this to Abbot Pastor. Considering his great contrition, Abbot Pastor asked them to tell him that he had sent for him, and he came immediately. Upon seeing him so contrite, Abbot Pastor rose and kissed him. And in rejoicing with him, he prayed that they should take him away.They gathered together and the abbot sent one of his brethren to the religious men, asking them to come to him because he had long desired to see them. Yet they both had not seen each other due to their sloth and laziness. He begged them that if they had any leisure, they would come to him so they might see one another.\n\nThe religious men, who were accustomed to living solitarily and never left their cells, imagined in themselves that if God had not inspired the holy Abbot Pastor to send for them, they would not have come. Therefore, involuntarily, they came to Abbot Pastor, who received them warmly. After they had discussed many healthful things, Abbot Pastor said to him these words or similar:\n\nTwo men were in a place, and each of them had a dead brother in his cell.In the cell of his fellow brother, one of them came, weeping for the death of the other. By his words, he conveyed to the said religious community that, in forgetting his own sins, he was overly harsh in punishing the sin of that other. The same religious man, reducing the words he had spoken to his mind, said: \"O virtuous man, Pastor, you are in heaven high up, and I am lowly there.\"\n\nAnother brother, who described himself as very fearful, asked the said Abbot Pastor how he could endure it. He answered that he should not despise or condemn any man and that he should not be adversary to any person. In this doing, God would give him peace and keep him in his cell without disturbance.\n\nIn the deserts of Syria, there was once formed a certain congregation of religious men, among whom was put forth and spoken of a brother who was guilty of some sins. Abbot Pyor, being in the said congregation, held his peace and said:nothing And when every man had said that he seemed good, he departed from them. And after he came again, he brought upon his back a great sack full of sand. And before him he bore a little of the same sand in a little bag or wallet. The other holy fathers and religious saw that, and demanded of him what he would do with that sand. And he answered them that the sand which was on his back in such great abundance signified his own sins which he had put behind him, not to remember them, and had forgotten them in such a manner that he could not sorrow or weep for them. And that which he bore before him in such little quantity signified the little sins of this religious brother that he said he had set before him, that is to say in his remembrance and mind. And he said that in leaving to correct his own sins, which he said to be great, he exercised himself in the correction of theirs, the said religious ones, who were so little, but I ought not to. But I ought to.Set mine own sins before me and think of their amendment and correction, and pray God that He would forgive them. The words I heard from the holy fathers, they all said that this way was salutary and healthful.\n\nAn old, ancient father said that a man who lived chastely ought not to judge a fornicator. For in committing the sin of fornication, he breaks the law. In like manner, he who judges does the same. Our Lord, who has said, \"Thou shalt not commit adultery,\" also says, \"Thou shalt not judge.\"\n\nA curate or other priest administering the sacrament of the altar came once to a solitary, religious man, praying him to minister the sacrament to him, which he did gladly various times. And immediately after came to the solitary monk another who accused the said priest, coming to the said solitary man to be confessed as he had been accustomed. And he could not do so much it, the said Religious solitary man would not.In a monastery, there were once two brothers living in great piety. One brother opened his door. The priest, seeing that one had departed, heard a voice that said, \"They have taken my judgment from me.\" After hearing this voice, the said solitary monk was visited in a vision. He saw a pitcher of gold in which there was good water. Along with this, he saw a leper or a lazar draw up water from the same source and put it in a vessel. Despite his desire to drink from it, the monk did not, because the one who drew it up was a leper. The voice spoke again to him, \"Why don't you drink this water? What prevents you from drawing it up? You draw it up only and put it in your vessel without any corruption or wastage of the said water.\" The solitary monk, returning to himself and considering the virtue of the same vision, called the priest again and showed him as he had done before.\n\nIn a monastery, two brothers lived in great piety.Once upon a time, each of them deserved to live a fair and holy life. It happened one Friday morning that one of them, leaving his monastery, saw a religious monk eating privately. He asked him, in amazement, why he was eating since it was not yet time for meals. On that morning, according to their custom, they sang mass in the church with their brother and the other religious men, whom their brother knew had lost the grace that God had given him before, causing him great sorrow. When he returned to his cell, he asked him what sin he had committed, suggesting that he may have spoken idle words. Reminding himself of what he had said the day before, \"Yesterday I reproved you,\" he asked him again if he had spoken any idle words.A religious man, whom I found eating in the morning, and I believe it was the sin that I had committed, which I had not confessed to him, knowing not what necessity he had. But I pray my brother that you will join me in praying to God during these forty days, that He will pardon and forgive my sin. They did this, and the said two weeks had passed. My brother saw the grace of God returning to his said brother, by which they were greatly comforted and thanked God.\n\nThe holy Abbot Anthony said that some travel and torment their bodies through great and sharp abstinences. And he said that in doing so, because they had no discernment, they deserved no merit before God. One day, some brothers came to him to tell him some fantasies that they had had, to know whether they were true or mockeries of the devil. At their departure from their hermitages, they had brought with them an ass which died on the way.Which thing foreseen by St. Anthony before they arrived to him, he went towards them and asked of them how their ass was doing. In response, they asked him how he could know that he was dead. And he said to them that the devils had shown this to them. Then they told him that for the fantasies which often came to them, some of which were true and some not, they had come to him to know how they ought to behave themselves in order to keep them from error, of which they held themselves content by the example of the ass, which he had shown them, indicating that such fantasies come from the devil.\n\nAn hunter once hunting wild beasts in a forest found St. Anthony entertaining his religious disciples. The hunter, who was evil-disposed towards him, found this amusing. In response, St. Anthony, wishing to show him that it is sometimes necessary for a prelate to condescend to his subjects, said that he should set his bolt in his bow and draw his bow.And he drew deeper with his bow, and so he did, yet he drew more strongly. But he answered, \"If you draw more than is reasonable, you may well break your bow in pieces.\" Then Saint Anthony said to him, \"In the same way, it is of them that labor in the service of God. For if the brethren labored more than is measured, they would soon grow weary and travel-worn, and so could not endure the pain. Therefore, it is necessary to restrain ourselves at times from rigor.\" The brother, hearing these things, was greatly moved by compassion, and was profited much by the words of Saint Anthony. And after he had departed, he went his way, and his religious observed the exercise of virtues went to their places.\n\nA certain brother asked Abbot Anthony to pray to God for him. To whom he answered, \"If you have no charge or business of your own in praying to God that He keep you from sin, He will have no pity on you, nor will I.\"\n\nAnother [brother]Saint Anthony spoke of some people he knew to be weak-hearted. God does not allow this people here to have any war or battles because He knows they cannot endure it.\n\nThabbot Euagrius said to Thabbot Arsenius that he marveled greatly how it could be that in such a great multitude of religious people as were there, and who had such great knowledge and instruction, and yet had no virtues. He added that the laborers and workmen in Egypt were endowed with infinite virtues, and said that many religious people were not virtuous because they applied themselves overly to worldly things, but the laborers and workmen of Egypt had acquired virtues through their own labor.\n\nFather Arsenius said that a religious stranger dwelling in a foreign province, if he wishes to be at rest and tranquility, ought not to encounter any worldly thing.\n\nThabbot Mark said to Father Arsenius that it was a good thing when a religious man takes some [thing]A certain person in his cell and had seen a religious man with only one cool plant in his garden. He had uprooted it so that he would not derive excessive pleasure or delight from it. To this holy father Arsenius answered that the holy father Mark spoke well. It is necessary for some people to behave themselves after their exercise. If the same person had uprooted and pulled up the said cool plant, and had not this virtue to endure it, he would have had nothing else to do but to plant it again.\n\nThabbot Peter, who was disputing with Thabbot Loth, said that he was once in the cell of the holy father Agathon. A religious person came to him, intending to live with the religious community, and asked him how he should behave among them. The said father answered that it was necessary for him, on the first day, to take such and such good manner.Living, that he should never change it, and that he should take no trust in his works. The holy father Macharye asked him what trust is. To whom he answered that it is like great heat, which when it burns makes every man flee from it and corrupts the fruits of the trees. Then the holy father Macharye said, trust is an evil thing. Father Agathon answered that it is no worse passion than confidence, which is the mother of all other passions, and it is a thing commendable and necessary for a religious person to apply himself to virtuous works and not take confidence in the same works, however, even if he lives alone in his cell.\n\nSome finding discrepancy in the conduct of Abbot Agathon. Some desiring to see him and to test, came and said to him in this manner. Thou art the abbot.Agathon, we have heard you called a great fornicator, full of pride and ambition. To this you answered, \"It is true, if it displeases me.\" They further accused you of being a heretic. You replied without troubling yourself in anger, \"I am not a heretic.\" Seeing your great patience, they asked why you had endured such injuries, the first ones being true ones that you had not resented. You answered that, regarding the first injuries, it was profitable to his soul to have endured them. However, concerning the last injury, by which they accused him of the heinous sin of heresy, considering that this sin is the principal one that departs from the truth, he made no reply.A man from the company of God. And yet he would not be separate from them, so he would not endure it. Hearing his right honest answer, they were much marveled at his great discrepancy and departed from him, much edified.\n\nThe abbot Agathon asked which labor was greater, to keep his body or to keep his soul. He answered that the body was likened to a tree. And he said that to keep his body was as much as to keep the leaves of the tree. But to keep the soul is as much as to keep the fruit. And therefore it is written that every tree bearing no good fruit shall be hewn down and put in the fire to burn. It behooves us for the conservation of our fruit to have busy solicitude for the keeping of our soul. And in doing so, to have patience in our good thoughts and contemplations. Also, we always need covering and ornament, which is labor corporeal.\n\nAbbot Agathon, wise and sagacious, advised that it was good to intend and understand nothing slothfully.In a chapter general where all the religious of Sicyon assembled for the determination of a certain cause. After the deliberation of the same came to them, Abbot Agathon spoke, who said to the said religious, \"You have not ordered well.\" Hearing these words, they asked, \"Who art thou that speakest thus?\" He answered, \"I am the son of a man.\" Certainly, it is written, \"O sons of men, if you speak truthfully, judge righteously.\" Abbot Agathon said that if a man were so virtuous that he could raise the dead bodies, it would not please God because of his anger.\n\nOnce, three old fathers came to Abbot Achilles. Among them was one who was obstinate in a bad opinion. The other two each in turn requested Abbot Achilles to make a net for fishing.They should remember his monastery of him. He answered them that he would not make another request like theirs. The two others, having some indignation about what he had refused to make the said net, he had nevertheless conceded to make it for the other who was open. He asked him what had moved him to make it sooner for him than for them. He answered, \"I have answered you twice that I would not make it, and it was not my pleasure. But to this man I have granted to make it because if I had not acceded to his request, I would have given him occasion to say through you or others that I had been warned of his evil opinion. And for that reason, I have wished to make the said net for him, and began to cut the cord to make the said net for him to appease his courage, and that he should not perish.\"A aged holy father, who had fasted for fifty years without bread and only a little water, reportedly confessed to having quenched and mortified in himself fornication, avarice, and vain glory. Abraham cautioned him, asking if he had truly spoken those words. The father replied, \"Yes,\" and to demonstrate his evil speech, Abraham demanded that he enter his cell. Upon entering, the father found a woman on his mat. Abraham asked him if he intended to keep the thought of what she was at bay. The father answered, \"No,\" but vowed to resist the thought of ever touching her. Abraham then chided him, \"You have not killed fornication. The passion still lives, but it is restrained.\" Despite this, the father continued, \"If, on your journey, you see stones and pieces of pots among which you perceive some to be fine.\"\"gold/ Now it seems to you that you might regard such [things] as no better than stones. He answered no/ but he could endure it to his thoughts in such a way that he would not take or gather them. And furthermore Abraham said to him, if it is reported to you of two brothers that one loves the other and speaks honestly of him, and that the other hates him and bears ill will, and speaks evil in detraction of him and of your honor. I ask you, if they both came to you, would you receive them equally and with like courage? He answered no/ but he would well restrain himself to do as much good to him who did him evil as to him who loved him. And then Abraham said, the passions live yet/ but they are somewhat restrained and withdrawn by the strict living of holy men.\n\nOne of the holy fathers reported that there was an old religious man living virtuously and laboring in his cell. This man cladhim with a mat. On one occasion he\"The holy man Ammon was approached with the request to be transported to him. Upon seeing him clad in a matte, the speaker expressed disapproval of his clothing. The religious man replied that he was greatly troubled by three thoughts or temptations, which he declared to be: the first, the urge to leave his place and go into an hermitage; the second, the excitement to go to a strange place where no one should know him; and the third, the admonition to enclose himself in his cell and not see any person for two days at a time and not eat. To this, Abbot Ammon responded that it was not expedient to do any of the three things, but he advised the man to remain resident in his cell as he had been accustomed and to eat a little each day, while keeping the word of the publican in his heart, contained in the gospel, in order to be saved.Thabbot Danyell said that when a man keeps his heart in verdure, he makes his soul dry. Furthermore, the same Abbot Danyell said that when the body is strongly nourished, it makes the soul become dry, and when by abstinence it becomes dry, it makes the soul well nourished. However, Abbot Danyell recalled that Abbot Arsenye had a monk who always stole and robbed what the old fathers had. Abbot Arsenye, desiring to keep him from doing such thefts, brought him into his cell and told him to take all that was necessary for him and to have leave to take all, foreseeing always that he should no more steal or rob anything. And indeed he gave him gold and silver, and all that he had in his power. But nevertheless, he could not give him enough to keep him from stealing. The old fathers seeing that he would not amend.Keep him not from it / put him not out of their company in saying, if any brother comes with bodily sickness he must think on it and suffer it. But if he is a thief and is warned to withstand him from robbing and he will not do it, it behooves to put him out. For he does the harm to his soul. And all those who dwell with him are troubled by his vice.\n\nAbbot Euagrius, at the beginning of his conversation, transported him to an old father and requested him to give him some good instruction and help him so that he might be saved. The old father answered him, if you are with any persons, keep them from speaking until you are required. Euagrius, touched by compassion by that word, repented that he had spoken too soon. And he said to the old father that he had read many books but had not found such instruction and concluded that he would profit well from it and departed from him. The said Abbot Euagrius said that there are three things:To write or read often, wake, and pray God for a steady and constant mind, rejecting wavering thoughts caused by meaningless cogitations and desires. He also said that abstinence from food, labor, and worldly business cools the burning of concupiscence. One should engage in pious works with long-term commitment, and have a compassionate heart. However, all these things must be done at the right time and with measure and temperance. If they are done impetuously and without measure, they bring little benefit and are more troublesome than enjoyable.\n\nOnce, Effren was passing by when an evil man approached him, followed by a poor, wretched common man. This man began to flatter him, trying to persuade him to consent to carnal knowledge or, at the very least, to provoke and incite him to anger. For no man despises himself.And seeing the woman approaching him, he said to her, \"My friend, come and follow me.\" And when they were in a public place where many people gathered, he called her and said that she should come to him. She saw the great multitude of people that were there and said to him, \"Fair father, we are not in a suitable place to do this, considering the great multitude of people that are here. For we should be confused.\" The holy father Effren replied, \"If you have shame that men should see this, how much more ought you to be ashamed to be seen by God, who reveals things in darkness.\" Hearing these words and confused by them, she returned without complying with her damning will.\n\nOn one occasion, some brothers came to Abbot Zenon and asked him, saying, \"Fair father, what does this signify?\"The words written in the book of Job are that the heaven is not clean nor the world, in God's presence. The holy father Zenon said that the brethren had left their sins and were curious and eager to inquire of heavenly things. It was a curious demand and little necessary, and it would have been more profitable for them to think on the edification of their consciences. Nevertheless, he said to them in this manner: Because God alone is clean and not defiled by any vice, for this reason it is said that the heaven and the world are not clean in His presence, that is, with regard to His purity and cleanness.\n\nThabbot Theodore the Terrible said, if you have amity or friendship with some, those who are hindered by inconvenience or sin of fornication, you ought to stretch out your hand to him to raise him up if it is possible. That is, to enforce your help.Self, do not merely rebuke him with sweet or rigorous admonitions to make him leave his sin, but if you see him obstinately clinging to any error in the faith and unwilling to return to a good way, you must be inconvenient and cut off and cast away your amity behind him. By coming too long with him, he may draw you not to the bottom of the abyss, that is, to everlasting damnation.\n\nThe above-mentioned Abbot Theodore came at one time to Abbot John, who was a holding of his nativity, that is, one who had never had any genitors. And in speaking to him, Abbot Theodore said to him: When I was in the deserts of Syria, the work of the soul was our proper work, the work of our hands was our proper passing. As one would say, the hermits or religious who then were in Syria took primary and most prolonged care of orphans and contemplatives. And when they sometimes labored with hand works, it was only for a little time to avoid idleness.But presently the works of the soul, that is, all virtuous and healthful works, have been left and put aside, and attend only to the nourishment of the body and satisfy its disordered concupiscence.\n\nOnce an aged father came to Abbot Theodore and, as was customary, said to him, \"Look, see one of our brethren who has returned to the world.\" To whom Theodore replied, \"There is no cause for marvel.\" But when he heard him say that religious men had so well withstood the temptations of the devil and had escaped without being devoured by him, then he ought to marvel. If he had said that it was a difficult thing above all others and worthy of great admiration that a man, in being virtuous, could do so much that the devil could not damningly harm him.\n\nYet Theodore said that many in this world have chosen temporal rest.certaine rest or consolation temporal / one must first have rest in his conscience.\n\nOnce, certain ancient fathers were taken to the hermitages of Sychye, among them went the abbot John Naue. It happened that at one time, one of the oldest, who was a priest, attempted to serve them by bringing a small vessel containing water for them to drink after their appetite. But each of them, regarding the ancientness of this holy father, who was held venerable, refused his service, accepting only that of John the little one. When it was his turn, John presented the vessel to him, and the other merry-making men received it inconsequently. Some said to him that they were greatly ashamed that he, who was least of all, had presumed to use the service of such a notable man. That is, he is aged and virtuous. To whom he answered in this manner. When I rise from the table,table for giving to my brothers water to drink. I rejoice when they have all drunk, to the end that I may receive some reward from God. Now I thank him for his water and accept his service, to the end that I may be the cause that he deserves some merit. And also to the end that he is not too angry if he had not some of us who would make his service acceptable. And when he had said this, they marveled at his discrepancy.\n\nThe Abbot Pastor asked Abbot Joseph at one time, inquiring of him, when some temptations assail a person, whether he ought to resist them at the beginning or yield to them in thought. To whom the holy father answered that he should let them enter and afterwards fight against them and resist them. Shortly after Abbot Pastor returned to Sicily where he resided, and a certain religious man came from Thebes into Sicily to speak with Abbot Joseph in front of some religious houses, and said that he had asked him how he should conduct himself.The religious person in his temptations / and if he ought promptly resist and withstand them, or else receive them and fight against them. And that the said Joseph had said that he should keep himself from receiving them, but contrary to this, he advised him to do the opposite.\n\nHearing these words of the said religious person, and knowing that the said Abbot Joseph had given him contradictory advice, Abbot Pastor departed from Syon, and went to Panas. And when he had arrived and entered, he said to him such words: \"My brother, I have come here for this reason. I have great desire to see you, and with this you know I have manifested to some of my thoughts and yours. I ask of you at one time, if to the temptations that come to me, I ought to resist and withstand them in casting them behind me, or if I in any way ought to receive them, and then afterward cast them from me.\"\"Thou saidst and answeredst that I should not readily cast them from me but receive them, and after fighting against them, cast them from me. Now I have since heard from one of our brethren of Syon coming from thee, that thou hast counseled him otherwise to do. Therefore I have come to know what thou sayest to me to appease my imagination. Then Brother Joseph said to him. My brother, thou knowest that I love thee. Certainly, answered Pastor. Certainly, said Joseph. My advice is such that if thou or I give in to temptations when they assail us, and after that we fight against them, then we have the greater merit. In doing so, we are more proven, and therefore I spoke and counseled thee as I would have counseled myself.\"I have removed meaningless characters and formatting, and corrected some OCR errors. Here is the cleaned text:\n\nI have only taken out unnecessary line breaks and added some modern spelling and punctuation for clarity. The original meaning has been preserved.\n\n\"I have not compelled anyone else, but every man does not have the constancy to withstand temptations when they are delivered to him in great numbers. Therefore, to him to whom I said the contrary, I said it for his greatest safety, and because I knew he did not have the strength.\n\nThe abbot Pastor once said that he transported himself to the lower parts of Eracleos to the said Abbot Joseph, who had in his monastery a very fair fig tree. And on a Friday morning, the said Joseph and Pastor were devising together. The said Pastor beheld the said fig tree, and Joseph said to him that he should eat of the figs that were there. But because it was a fasting day, he would not eat. Nevertheless, he prayed him in the name of God to tell him the reason why he had commanded him to eat, since it was a fasting day. And yet, he was ashamed that he had not done it, as the said Joseph had commanded him, doubting that he might have done evil.\"in as much as he had not obeyed his commandment, yet he had done it without cause. Thomas Joseph answered him that the old fathers at the beginning had not commanded the young religious to do anything, it being unlawful to do so, but to the contrary commanded them to do things that seemed unprofitable and not decent or convenient. And when they saw that they were ready to do all that was commanded to them, whether it was good or evil, they commanded them nothing but what was reasonable. And so they ought to do because they knew that in all things they were to be obedient.\n\nA brother asked the said Abbot Thomas in demanding him what he had to do, on which he said that he could not bear any temptations, labor, or give alms. Thomas answered him, if you cannot do any of these things at the least keep your conscience clean from all evil towards your neighbors, and in this way you shall be saved. For God asks for nothing but the soul without sin.Thabbot Isaac of Thebayde defended his brethren that they should not bring any children into their monastery, saying that in Suchye, by the occasion of children, four churches had been deserted. Thabbot Longyn once said to Thabbot Lucius that he had three thoughts that grieved him. The first was that he went into a strange forest. And the said Lucius answered him, \"If you restrain not your tongue, in whatever place you go, you will not be a stranger, but if you refuse it, you shall be there a pilgrim.\" After the said Longyn said to him, \"The second admonishes me to fast two days continuously without eating.\" The holy father answered him, \"Certainly, my brother, when by the force of fasting you become so crooked that your head bows to your feet, yet for all that, your fasting will not be agreeable to God if it is not done with a pure intention. Then it is necessary to make such fastings that are agreeable to God and to keep far from evil thoughts. Yet again Thabbot Longyn said, \"That other thought is\"That I keep me from haunting with men. And the said Luctus answered him, \"If thou canst not correct thy life in conversing with others. In like wise, thou canst not correct thyself living alone solitarily.\"\nThabbot Macharye said, \"If we put in our remembrance, that is, if we forget not, and pardon the offenses that men do to us, we take away and cut from our thought the virtue to have remembrance of our lord. But if we have remembrance of the evils that the devils excite in us, we shall be virtuous and inducible.\"\nThabbot Machory says that you devil knows not by what passion or sin he may principally overcome or subdue the soul. And therefore he shows in us evil thoughts, but he cannot take them away again. Some sow seeds for fornications and seemingly other passions. And in thee wherein he sees the soul most inclined, then most ardently he ministers to it. But if he knew certainly the temptation to which the soul should be most inclined.A monk should not be subject to so many temptations. Some recall the story of Abbot Nathan, who was a disciple of Abbot Silvan, residing in his cell in Mount Sina. He lived only with things necessary for his body. But after he was made bishop of the City of Pharan, he made more abstinence than before. His disciple said to him, \"My lord, when we were in the desert, we did not torment our bodies with strict and harsh afflictions like we do now. When we made our dwelling in solitude and rest, I would well govern my poor body to keep it from all sickness. But now we are in the world, conversing with worldly things, where we have more occasions to sin than before, which it is necessary to cut off and cast away. Therefore, it is necessary for us to live more soberly.\" And on the other hand, if I were on an adventure,seek. I should find here which would help me more than I would in my monastery, by which I shall not lose the purpose of religion.\n\nA brother living in an hermitage near Abbot Pastor said to him once that he was troubled and that he would leave his place and go to another. Abbot Pastor asked him what moved him to do so. He answered that he had heard of a brother living there who was not edifying him. Abbot Pastor told him they were not true, but he replied that they were. The brother who had reported them was very able and truthful. Abbot Pastor said yet again that the reports were not true, for if he had been such, he would never have reported such things. Our Lord hears the voices of the sinners crying to him for their sins, and would not believe it but descended and would see it with his own eyes. The religious answered him rightly, and Abbot Pastor began to look at the ground.A man took up a straw and asked him what it was. The reverent men replied that it was a straw. After looking up at the covering of his cell and showing him a beam, he asked what it was. He answered that it was a beam that supported the weight and charge of the cell. Then the abbot said to him, \"My brother, your heart is hard and heavy, and the sins of those you speak of are like and as light as the straw.\" Hearing this, his great discernment was greatly amazed and he said to him, \"Father, as much as I can, I bless and praise you. Your words are as precious stones.\"\n\nOn one occasion, priests of the religion came to a monastery near where the abbot Pastor and abbot Anub were. You said to Anub that he should ask the priests to take in as charity those whom God had given to them. Abbot Pastor, being without means or ability to provide for himself, or to offer anything to him,A religious of a monastery of Pastor went on a pilgrimage and arrived at a place where dwelt a solitary religious, much loved by all around. He often came to visit him. The same brother, in dying with him, received some of the virtues of the said Pastor. Therefore, the said religious greatly desired to see him. And after the said religious returned to his monastery in Egypt, a certain time passed. The said solitary man departed to go there and walked so long that he came to the place where the other religious had told him he should find it.Find him. And when you said the monks saw the solitary monk, he was much joyous and made good cheer to him. After the said solitary monk prayed for St. Charity that he would show to him his abbot Pastor, who he did and brought to him, saying to him: \"O venerable father, behold here is a solitary religious man, who in his province is much honored and praised by all men, you who desire to see him for the good reputation you have heard of him have come here only to see it. After that they were entertained, the abbot Pastor received him joyously, and after they had rested together, began the said solitary monk to speak of holy scripture and spiritual and heavenly things. But Abbot Pastor gave him no answer, and the solitary monk, seeing that he spoke not, became very angry and departed from him. And to the brother who had brought him thither he said in this manner: \"I have come in vain and for nothing this way to this holy father for to see him and to speak with him.\"That he did not speak to me. The religious man, hearing the complaint of the other, transported himself to the said Abbot Pastor and said to him, \"Father Abbot, this renowned religious man, who has such great fame in his convent, has come here to see it, and yet you will not speak to him. Abbot Pastor answered him, \"I am not a man for speaking to him / he speaks only of the byre and of heavenly things. And I, a man, can only speak of lowly and earthly things. If he had spoken of the passions of the soul, certainly I would have heard this answer. The other solitary man returned to him and said, \"The Abbot Pastor said to him, 'You are most welcome now / now I shall open my mouth to the one and if I can utter any good word, I shall speak it to him.' Finally, after many fruitful conversations between them, they said, 'The said solitary man'.\"The reverend brother found himself well educated and began to speak. Certainly, I have found here the right way of charity. And in giving graces and thanks to God, who had given him the grace to see such a holy man, he returned to his region.\n\nAnother brother once said to Abbot Pastor that he had committed a great sin, for which he would bear penance for three years. The holy father said to him, \"That is too little.\" The brother then said, \"Command you it I do it only one year.\" He answered, like before, \"That is too little.\" Those present at these words said it was sufficient for forty days. The holy father yet said, \"That is too little,\" and furthermore said, \"I believe that if a man repents with a contrite heart, and after his repentance he does no more thing for which he ought to repent, God will receive his penance, however short it may be.\"\n\nAbbot Amun required on one occasion that he should tell him what counsel was best to give for avoiding disobedience.Thabbot asked a man if the axe could glory in its cutting, but if it were put to work and not maintained, it would rot and be destroyed. Thabbot Esaye asked the same of Abbot Pastor, to whom he replied, \"As a cross full of vestments, if it is long kept without opening, the said vestments will rot and be destroyed. In the same way, foolish thoughts, which are engendered in our hearts, if we do not give them matter to obey, they cannot overcome us.\" Thabbot Joseph asked Abbot Pastor about the same thing, to whom he answered, \"Like a serpent enclosed in its coil or a scorpion in a vessel stopped by being kept for a long time, it will be suffocated and killed. In the same way, evil thoughts are.\"The subtlety of evil-minded ones from hell has grown and multiplied, a little and a little, in the patience of him who suffers them, enduring them with all his courage.\n\nThabbot John asked Thabbot Pastor how he behaved in fasting, and he answered him that he would fast, ought every day to withdraw a little of his food, so that he should not be full. Then Abbot Joseph said to him, \"Then when you were young, you did not fast for two days without eating every week.\" The holy father answered, \"Believe me if you will. I have fasted two days and three days, and a week in its entirety. But the old fathers have tried and tested these things. And they have found that it is a good thing to eat every day once and a little less. And they have shown us this regular way which is most convenient and light.\"\n\nThe said Abbot Pastor said that a religious person ought not to dwell in a place where he sees anyone having evil will against him, for he shall not come to good.A brother came to Abbot Pastor and said that he should labor and sow the field that he had. He should gather the grain and corn, and distribute it to the poor people. The holy father answered him that he did a good work and departed, busy with doing more alms than before. The abbot, hearing of this, asked Abbot Pastor if he feared that God would be angry with him for having left his proper vocation - that of praying to God. Abbot Pastor heard these words but said nothing. Two days later, he sent for the brother and spoke to him in the presence of Abbot Anund.\n\n\"My brother,\" Abbot Pastor said to him, \"what was it that you asked of me the other day when I was thinking of other things?\" The brother replied, \"Fair father, I said to you that I was laboring and sowing a field that I had, and that.\"I gathered the grain and corn. I distributed it to the poor people. Then I said to the Abbot Pastor, I suppose you spoke in the person of your brother, who is a layman, in saying that. Certainly, it is not the work of a monk. Hearing these words, he was much angered and said, I can do no other work. I cannot keep myself from sowing my field. These words spoken, the Abbot Anund heard and was much displeased by what he had said and said to Abbot Pastor, O my brother, I pray you to pardon me. Abbot Pastor answered him, At that time, when the religious spoke to me about this matter, I knew and considered well that this work was not becoming to a religious man, but I answered him after the good affection of his heart, which I had excited for the profit of St. charity. Now he is returned, heavy and always does the said work.\n\nThe said Pastor said, if a man has committed any sin and he denied saying,\nI have not done it and you,\n\n(Note: The text appears to be in Middle English. No major OCR errors were detected, so no corrections were made.)request him not. In doing so, you break his good courage, but if you say to him, \"My brother be not angry. And keep it from henceforth from doing evil,\" you ought to excite his courage to do penance. The holy father also said, \"Experience is a good thing, for by it men become more constant and steadfast.\" He furthermore said that when a man teaches and warns another not to do a thing, he himself will not do it. He is like a pit. You refresh all those who come to him, and with his water, he washes and makes clean all filth and foulness. But he purges himself and is full of filth and uncleanness. He also said that if three men are together, of whom one is at rest, another is sick and thanks God, and the third ministers to the other two with pure and clean will, these three are of one heart. He also said, \"Shrewdness puts out never other shrewdness.\" Therefore, if one does harm to you, you ought to retaliate.do well to thee (so that your good deed destroys his malice). Item he said that the religious person full of noise is not a monk. He who renders evil for evil is not a monk. And he that is your brother and angry is not a monk.\nA brother once came to you, Abbot Pastor, and said to him that many conflicting thoughts and concepts came into his mind, which almost drove him to despair. Then the abbot made him strip naked and set him in the open air, and afterwards said to him, \"You should open a broad your bosom and take the wind.\" To whom he answered, \"I might not be able to do it.\" Then said the holy father, \"If you cannot do that, no more can you defend yourself from your thoughts and concepts, but they will assail you. But it is in your power to withstand them.\"\nAnother brother came and asked him how he should dispose of an inheritance that had been left to him. He answered him. Go your way, and come again within three days, and I shall tell you what you should do. The three days passed, and he came again toThe holy father spoke as he had ordered. He said to him, \"What shall I say if I say to give it to the church, the ministers of the same will make good cheer with it. If I say to give it to your kin and friends, you will have no reward or recompense. But if I say to give it to the poor people, you shall dispose of it surely. Go your way and do as you will.\n\nA brother asked the abbot Pastor if he saw anything, that is, if he ought to speak. He answered him that it is written, \"He who speaks of anything before he has heard it is a fool and rushes into reproof and villainy.\" Therefore, if you are asked, speak; if not, hold your peace.\n\nThe holy father furthermore said that Abbot Amos said that there is a man who bears an ax in all the time of his life and cannot hew down the tree. And there is another who has the custom to hew, and with a few strokes he strikes down the tree, by which are hewn.The brother understood. Another brother asked the above-mentioned Abbot Pastor, saying that he suffered great harm to his soul while living with him and asked him whether he should continue dwelling and staying with him. The Abbot Pastor, knowing that his abbot had wronged him, marveled that the religious were asking him if he should remain longer with him. He answered the brother, \"If you wish, stay there.\" The brother heard this response and departed from the Abbot Pastor and returned and dwelled with the said abbot as he had done before. After he returned again to the said Abbot Pastor and told him that it grieved his soul, the Abbot Pastor answered nothing to him. Therefore, he returned again to his abbot. Finally, he came the third time and said to the holy father Abbot Pastor, \"I will no longer stay with you.\" Then the holy father Abbot Pastor answered him, \"My son, you have done your deed. Go your way and be no longer with him, saying furthermore that a man who sees his soul in danger ought not to remain with him.\"Ask what he ought to do to avoid it when he sees clearly that he can. Sometimes, people inquire of the elderly about doubtful and dark things, not knowing them well, to be better informed in their conversations. However, regarding open sins, they ought not to ask but ought to be inconvenient in destroying and casting them behind them.\n\nAbraham, a disciple of Abbot Agathon, asked Abbot Pastor in demanding him, what it proceeded from that the devils fought so strongly. To whom the holy father Pastor answered, \"Do you say that the devils fight with us when we accomplish our evil wills? For our evil wills are the devils that trouble and torment us, compelling us to accomplish them.\"\n\nA brother asked Abbot Pastor in demanding him, how a religious man ought to keep readiness in his cell or habitation. To whom he answered, \"To keep readiness in his cell, as that may be known and spoken openly, is none other thing but to labor with his hands.\"Every one on this day / to keep silence and take contemplation in heavenly works / but to profit in the same previously and secretly / is it every man have fear of God / shame before whomsoever he goes / and in such a way to keep and observe the hours of his service temporally / that in this day he be not negligent to your spiritually. And if it happens that one has not to do in some handy work. It behooves him for the showing of idleness to put himself in the service of God and to employ the time without any perturbation. And the conclusion of all these things is to seek the company of good and devout religious persons living and conversing holyly / and flee the company of them that are evil and shrews.\nTwo religious persons came at one time to Abbot Pambo. One of them asked him, saying, \"Fair father, I fast two days together in the week / and eat not but two little morsels baked under the ashes. Do you think that in doing thus I shall be saved / or if I am deceived and beguiled?\" And that otherbrother said to him. I get every day two pennies of which I retain one for my living, and distribute the other in alms. Ought I be saved, or am I deceived? And after these words they prayed him earnestly that he would give them an answer. Nevertheless, he would not do it. Four days after the said two brothers, having the will to depart and go from him, some of the clerks and disciples of the said Abbot Pambo prayed them not to be displeased that their abbot had not answered their questioning, and that God would reward them. Furthermore, they said that his custom was such that he spoke not lightly, if God had not inspired him what to say. Then, at their departing, they entered into the cell of the said Abbot Pambo and, taking leave of him, recommended themselves to his holy fatherhood, praying him that it might please him to pray for them. Then he asked them if they would depart, and they answered yes.Pambo fasted two days a week and ate two little loaves baked in the ashes; is he therefore a monk? No. And after this, he wrote, saying Pambo receives from his works two pens and distributes in alms; is he therefore a monk? Certainly not. And afterwards, he said to them that the works they did were good, but if they kept their conscience against their neighbors in doing so, they should be saved. And with these words, the religious man being well nourished, departed and returned in great joy.\n\nAnother brother Relygious asked the aforementioned Abbot Pambo how he might do it, that is, resist the evil spirits, who defended him from doing any good work to his neighbors. To whom the holy father answered that he should say no more, for in those words he made God a liar. But he said to him absolutely, \"I will not do mercy,\" and said that God would provide.\"pursue them again for our cause against the enemies of hell,\" said the father. \"I have given you power to march upon the serpent and scorpions, and to trample them under your feet. In the same way, I have given you power over the strength of the enemy. Then the holy father to the religious said, why do you not defile yourselves with the stinking and foul enemies?\nThabbot Paladius said it is necessary that the soul which will live and convert according to the will of Jesus Christ, to learn in the faith things which he does not know, and also to show and teach openly things which he has learned. And if the soul does not do every one of these two things there as she may, it may be said of such a soul that she is held back by an engaged malady. For the first principal and beginning to separate oneself from God is to have enmity and grief to show and teach the good that one can. And when we have an appetite that the soul should always love God.\nAnother religious asked Thabbot Sysoy why\"It was not able to depart from him. To whom the holy father answered that it was because the vessels of the same passions were within him, as one might say he received them unwillingly. Furthermore, he answered him that he should give to them their wages, for they were worthy to have them, and they shall go their way.\n\nSaint Synclete said that those who, by great labors, and in danger of the sea, gather and assemble temporal riches, then desire to get yet more and reputed little or nothing that they have. And the worse is that they set all their intent and affection to have and get things that they have not. But we ourselves, who ought to profit in religion, have no charge or business concerning things, that is, virtues, which we ought to acquire, and also we will not possess those which are necessary for us to acquire, in order to gain the love of our Lord. Yet good lady Synclete said that there are two kinds of heavenliness, one for the soul.The table that corrupts and is rightly grievable. Then the grievance that is corruptible is that which, due to our sins, we wait for and weep for them, and also in fearing it we do not depart from our good purpose, so that we may come to the perfection of all bounds, and this is the true sign of grievance. The other grievance that you corrupt the soul is that which the fiend sends to us without reason, which the father called annoyance or grief, and therefore it is necessary for us to cast it away with all diligence, in making to God continuous prayers, psalmody, and orisons, holy Syncletyce, that the fiend by his evil counsel excites sometimes those who are contemplative to make great and immoderate abstinences. And other times he puts into their imagination that which is but reasonable to be hard and difficult to bear, when we will discern the fasting divine and wholesome from the tyrannical and diabolical.ought to obserue & kepe ye thynges / that is to wyte / that in all tyme we haue one vn\u00a6mutable rule in fastyng / & that we de\u2223termyne not sodaynly to faste four or fyue dayes co\u0304tynuell / & after we to fyll ye bely with grete multytude of metes / for that reioyceth moche strongly our enemye & aduersary ye deuyll / for alway that whiche is done without mesure / gooth to corrupco\u0304n / lete vs not thenne sodaynly caste awaye our armour / to thende that we be not fou\u0304de naked in the bataylle / & by this nakednes taken lyghtly & put to deth. Now our armour ben our bodyes / & ye knyght is our sou\u00a6le / wherfore it behoueth vs to be dyly\u2223gent & kepe vs yt we be redy to socour that one & that other.\n\u00b6On a tyme two olde fad{er}s camen fro ye partyes of Peluse vnto ye abbesse Sar\u00a6re / & in comyng thyder they sayd that it was nede to meke theymself / yt is to say / to purpose to her some wordes whi\u00a6che sholde gyue to her cause of humyly\u00a6te. They the\u0304ne arryued to her in deuy\u00a6syng togyd{er} ye one of them tweyne sayd to herShe should take heed and be wary that she enhanced not her pride and lifted not herself up in her heart, and that she should not be proud in acknowledging it to those who were humble religious women. To them prudently she answered that, although she was a woman of the female sex, yet she had the courage of a man, as she would say, she was not so indiscreet for the sake of honoring herself. Moreover, the abbess said to them, if I required of God that every maid should have good reputation from me, either through me or by my good example, I would do so much that I would be found doing penance before their eyes, but I seek not this vain glory, but pray God that my courage and my works be reputed of little estimation before all men. Thabbot Ypericius said that he was truly wise, not by his words but by his works, and his teaching and signifying.\n\nOn a time came a noblewoman of Rome and came and made herself religious in a church of Sychye, which had before had a palace.This greatly renowned and had a servant who ministered to his needs. The priest, having the principal ministry of the same church and considering that this religious man had been delicately nourished in his time, was diligent in sending to him such good as God had sent to him or brought to the church. And since he had dwelt and resided in Syria for the space of twenty-five years, he became a man of contemplative disposition and well-rendered. Then it happened that one of the religious of Egypt, among other famous ones, hearing his reputation, came to see him, hoping to see him in hard and sharp life. Upon entering his cell, they humbly saluted him, and after their prayers, they sat together. The religious of Egypt, seeing him clad in softer and better vestments than the others, and himself having only a mat of Ionian wool under his head and his feet bare with small coverings, were amazed.he was astonished in himself / because the other religious people of the place had not been accustomed in such a way to live but had always done and born as yet and bore sharper and more rigorous abstinence. The religious Romans, having the grace of contemplation and prudence, knew that the religious people of Egypt had this from him / and told his servant that he should prepare some manner of food well dressed to feast the holy father who had come there. The servant, in obeying his master, set on the fire a few cool words that he had / when they were boiled and the hour was convenient for them to take their reception, they took sufficiently and drank wine. Then the said Roman was provided for to sustain his body, which was weakened by sickness. The even came they psalmodied twelve psalms / and after they slept / and at midnight in the same way they psalmodied / the religious people of Egypt rising early in the morning and taking his leave of the religious Romans, the said father said to him: My father to God I have commanded thee.\"And so the Roman, not well armed, departed from you, the Romans. He was a little way drawn away, willing to take away from the Egyptians the open syncretism he had received from them. And when he returned, he received them with great joy. After he asked them which province they were from and which city, they replied that they were from the province of Egypt, but had been in no city. He then asked them what craft they had been before they were relegious, and in what place they dwelt. They answered that they tended the fields and dwelt in the fields. He asked them more about where they lay, and they answered, \"Where should I find a bed there, who was I in the fields? As he said, he had none to lie on.\" He asked them how they slept, and they answered on the bare earth. Yet he asked what food they ate and what drink they drank. They answered as before, \"What food and drink should a man find in the fields?\" They then said to the Roman, \"We eat dry bread and if we eat anything else.\"\"I shall tell you a thing. I drank water, then the Roman said this was a great labor, and yet he asked if I had any pain where I might wash myself. I replied no. But when he wanted to wash me, it was in a river that he would. Afterward, the old Roman, having learned of the religious men of Egypt, related to him all the aforementioned things - the manner of his first living and of his labor - willing to prove himself with him. My brother, I will not fail to note to you how I, the miserable sinner whom you see, was born in the great renowned city of Rome, and in the same had had a great name in the palaces of the emperor. Upon hearing these words, the magician was deeply touched in his heart, considering that the life he led was much different from what he had led before, and with great care and diligence, he listened to the other things he said. He also told him that he had had great and magnificent riches in Rome.houses sumptuous and other possessions & revenues / gold, silver, and infinite movable goods / and in counting and habiting in the said goods was come and had held himself in it the little cell and in the solitary place where he was. Furthermore, he said to him / that he had had beds appointed and the hide or skin whereon he rested. But instead of his robes and vestments, he had malady in his legs / And furthermore instead of twelve psalms / and in the night in like wise as much / and for penance of his sins passed / he took but little rest / which he reputed to be unprofitable service to God / and when he had said all these things / he prayed humbly the religious Egyptians / that they should not enslave him. The Egyptians, hearing these things and considering his life and cell after the said holy father Romanus / began to say. Alas to me, my wretched one, where shall I come / when I behold my life and yours, you holy man. I find it much\"Although I greatly differ in leaving the troubles and great labors I bear and endure in the world, I have come to come solitarily in reliance, where I have found more rest than travel, and I now have what I had not before, a peaceful and easy life without any grief. But you remain yourself by your own will have forsaken infinite pleasures and worldly delights, and have come to live in this religious life, which shall seem to worldly people to be a great trouble, for as much as in place of the said pleasures and delights, you have chosen to live in humility and poverty. These words said, you said, the religious man more edified the Egyptian, and for his profit came often to visit him, knowing that he was a man of great prudence and could well discern doubtful things, as one full of the grace of the blessed holy ghost. An old father said it was not necessary to use so many words as men use now, but the works are.\"A young religious man asked some religious fathers if anyone was polluted, that is, if he thought or dreamed such foul or dishonest thoughts. To his questioning, some said yes and some said no. Some argued that if each man thought such things, they would be ignorant and foolish, and it would not be physically manifested. The brother who made this inquiry, not finding their answers satisfactory, went to another holy father for a definitive truth on this matter. The holy father answered that every person will give an account of himself before he is rewarded. By this answer, the brother was content.There was more doubt that he had been before, pray [to you] that he would explain it to you more largely. There were two Religious men; one was more virtuous than the other. They had departed from their monastery to attend to some of their affairs. It happened that the more virtuous man, in passing or otherwise, found a fair vessel of gold. This vessel was so rich and precious that for its great riches and preciousness, he was tempted to take it and bear it away. But nevertheless, the Religious man, for the great virtue that was in him, promptly and without great difficulty, refused the vessel. The other Religious man came after, who was not as virtuous as the first. He found the same vessel and was tempted to take it, like the other was. But he resisted not so constantly the temptation, but lingered more in the evil purpose by it, and he did not have the courage so.soone ne so constantly to resyste it as that other. Neuertheles he co\u0304strayned hy\u0304self in su\u00a6che wyse yt he toke it not / lykewyse may be sayd yt he was not pollute / & as tou\u00a6chyng to the retrybuco\u0304n & rewarde / it may be sayd yt in so moche yt he had had more payne to refrayne his dysordyna\u00a6te affecco\u0304n fro thacco\u0304plysshement of ye euyll purpose / of so moche he ought to haue ye more meryte. An olde fader sayd yt he whiche executeth his wyll af\u00a6ter his sensuall apetyte / is not in ye gra\u00a6ce of god / netheles yf he sy\u0304ne ygnorau\u0304\u00a6tly / he may retorne to our lorde by pe\u2223nau\u0304ce / but he ye wyll folowe his wyll / whiche is not after god / & wyll not en\u00a6quyre of good & Iuste persones / how he ought to conduyte hy\u0304 in thobseruaco\u0304n of his worthy & lowable co\u0304mau\u0304deme\u0304n but reputeth hy\u0304selfe so wyse / yt he wyll not ne dayneth not to vse ye cou\u0304seyll of other / vnneth and with grete payne co\u00a6meth he to the waye of helth. \u00b6An olde fad{er} was axed of a relygyous man what sygnefyeth ye wordes whiche ben redde in yeThe way that leads to life is short and narrow. An old father answered, saying, \"The way is short and narrow, it is to wake up a man, be firm and constant in resisting his carnal thoughts and desires, in such a way that for the love of God and in obeying his commandments, the blessed apostles said to our Savior Jesus Christ, 'Sir, we have forsaken all things and followed you.' An other old father, of the religious order, is more honorable than the order of seculars. A religious stranger, that is to say, dwelling in a strange place and born from it, ought to be a mirror to other religious strangers and the needy, for he ought to know their infirmities better than he who has never been out of his cell. Another old father said, if a workman dwells in a place where there are no other workmen, he may not share in their profit. For the virtue of a workman consists in it, and he is unable to do so.\"enforce him to work and not cease in the process, that is, if he makes it not better, at least he should not make it worse in the end than at the beginning. A slothful man, if he lives with a good worker, profits or, if he does not profit, at least he does nothing. Another said that a man who holds words and puts them into effect through good works is like a tree that grows green through the nourishment of fair leaves and bears no fruit. In the same way, a tree laden with fruit grows green when it is adorned with fair leaves. Likewise, a man who is fruitful through virtuous works makes himself green and delightful through his good words, which excite and admonish others to do well by his example. Another old father said that at one time a religious person who had committed a great sin was deeply displeased in his heart to do it again. Moved by compunction and desiring to do penance, he went to an old hermit.A father/and one without confession asked you if a penitent could recover the way to health after committing such a sin. The old father, not much discreet in hearing this, answered and said to you, \"Brother, you have lost your soul, which the penitents heard. He appeared dismayed since he was lost and had no more to do in religion and therefore returned to the world.\" Nevertheless, in going, he concluded to go and make amends to another holy father named Silvanus, who was a virtuous and generous man. Arriving there, he dared not confess his sin to him in any other way than by telling him that he had asked the other old father. Likewise, he asked the same old Abbot Silvanus, who in answering him began to quote holy scripture, saying, \"A man is not entirely cleansed of his sin because of his thoughts alone.\" The penitents, hearing his answer, took it to heart.He confessed his sin to the said Abbot Silvan, who, as a good physician, always had a remedy for him through penance, which was established for those who were converted and turned to our Lord through kindly conduct and charity. And the same Abbot enjoined him to undergo this penance, which he obediently accepted and did with great courage. Later, he led a good and holy life. It happened after some years had passed that the said Abbot Silvan, as the story goes, passed by the place where the old father lived, whose rigorous answers had put the said religious in despair. He told him that the same religious, through their conduct and penance, had so profited in virtuous works that they were among their brethren as a shining star. This fact should be noted, especially by those who have the power to correct the sins of others, lest they bring them into despair.\"fault of discernment / and amicably to induce them to healthy penance. An other said that we are not damned by them when we do and obey them / we lose our good virtues / and by them also when we resist them / we recover them and obtain a glorious crown. A another old father said that a religious person ought not to have any familiarity with secular people / nor knowledge with women he would teach them how to overcome him / it is to be said the very worst / that is, to the one to whom such evil temptations tempt him, he ought to overcome them and cast them away from him / and in doing so, all the others shall go away and depart lightly. An other holy father exhorting his brethren to resist their temptations said to them these words. I pray you, my brethren, just as you have refrained and restrained your evil operations. In like manner, refrain and restrain your evil wills and thoughts.\" \"Another holy father also said that he who\n\n(Note: The text appears to be in Middle English. No major OCR errors were detected, so no corrections were made.)A father who dwells in deserts or in hermitages should be discrete, teaching only when necessary and suffering not from lack of wit, causing damage. An old father was asked by a religious person how he might obtain God's grace through fasting, waking, or having a pitiful heart. The old father answered that one could find and obtain God's grace through doing those things he said, provided they were done with discretion. He added that many had given great affections to their bodies, which had produced no fruit because they had done so without discretion. However, if we fast affectively, we learn all the holy scripture and set all our thoughts and affections truly, as David did. And if in doing all things we do not have what God willed us to have, that is to say charity and humility, our fasting and other operations are stinking.abominable before God. There was another brother living in his cell whom the devils would beguile, and who appeared to him in likenesses of angels, warning him that he should be a searcher or inquirer for his other brothers. After this apparition, he transported himself towards an old father and said to him, \"Fair father, I have come hither to seek your counsel. For you angels have appeared to me in great light, exciting me to go in quest of my brethren to see them. The holy father answered him, \"My son, take no heed, for they are devils which will deceive you. But if they come again unto you, say to them, 'Damned enemies I have nothing to do with you for to hear you, nor have you any more to do with me. I shall well arise when I will to do my things, whether you will or not.' The same brother then, concluding to observe the instructions and commandments of the old father, returned to his cell. And the night following, the devils, like themselves, appeared to him again.accustomed came to solicite and exhort him to do as it had been said, but he answered them like one taught by the holy father. Then they said to him these words: this evil man deceives you. In a few days after the said brother transported him toward the said father, who had allowed him to do it, and who had admonished him to do so, had deceived him, and was but a liar. The brother then, rising early in the morning, came to the said old father and told him all this, which answered him that it was true that he had the money but would not lend it to him, because he knew well that if he had lent it to him, he would have misused it to the hurt of his soul, and for that reason he preferred to lie and break one of the commandments concerning money, by which both of them might be harmed.Happily have run in my sight and great tribulation. And after saying to him that he should no longer give heed to the devilish ones who would beguile him, the reverent brother, comforted by the words of the old father, returned to his cell and was better content than before.\n\nThree reverent brothers came to an old father in Syria. One of them said to him that he had studied the old and new testaments so much that he had retained it all in his mind. The holy father replied to him that he had acquitted himself well and had replenished heaven with words. The other said that with the little he had filled all the windiness he had been solitary in his cell, and that the grass had grown in the entrance. To whom he answered that he had put away from him the virtue of hospitality.\n\nSome fathers recite of an old virtuous man that whenever any man came to him to ask for any good instruction for his conscience, he said to him with good affection. Now since you have come to me,for having my counsel. I shall tell you to give to the good counsel what we have to do. You must imagine that I am here as God sitting in judgment. For to decide and judge your doubtful causes that you asked for. Now ask what you will, and I shall answer to thee. If you say have mercy on me, I shall answer in the person of God. If you will have pity on thee, have mercy and pity on your brethren, and in doing so I shall have mercy on you. And if you will it, I will forgive thee your neighbor. Will you then say that God cause the wicked one to be damned or saved. Certes, no. But it is in us to be saved if we will be saved.\n\nSome other said of an old father being in his cell. The which was much troubled in labor. And on a time in laboring in his cell, an holy man came to him. And as he entered, he heard him speak and cry as if there had been many men with him, saying: \"Ha! For one only word, I have lost all these things. That other being outside wondered.\"He had kept it in mind because he had recently retained fourteen volumes of books. As he issued out of his cell, he had heard a worldly word, which had caused him to forget all that which he had studied, and he complained in his heart about having to perform divine service. That word alone, which he had heard, came to mind for that reason, and for that cause he died, as is said.\nAnother said to an old, ancient father that sometimes when he was heavy with sleep, he could not arise at an hour convenient for doing his service, and when he saw the hour had passed, he was ashamed and displeased that he could not do his service. The old father answered him. If this inconvenience happened to him again before morning, he should arise when he woke up, shut his door and windows, that is, he should cast off all temporal occupations, and do his service.It is written that the day and night are ours, and in all time we ought to glorify our Lord God.\n\nAnother old father said that there are some men who eat much yet have great hunger. And also there are some who eat little and have none hunger, but are full. And always they have\n\nAnother old ancient father said, if it happened that between you and another were moved any rude words, and your adversary denied having said the said word, beware and keep the peace, enforcing it against him, saying that he had said it. For in doing so, you will move him more strongly in anger, and you shall say to the one that he had said it, where it would be better that the question be suspended in saying that he had never spoken it.\n\nA religious man asked and demanded of an old ancient father, saying, \"I have a sister who is truly poor. If I were to do any alms to her, is it not just as if I did it to any other poor person?\" The old ancient father said,A father answered to him / no / because the blood excited him to do more for her / than for any other person / and in doing so, he might err / in estimating the alms to be better employed on his sister / than on the other person / who should be yet more poor than his said sister.\n\nAnother old father said / a religious person ought never to listen to any people that cry / nor scolded each other.\n\nAnother said / beware that you listen not / nor receive agreeably all things that are said to you / nor give your consent to every word.\n\nAnother said / have a father been so cooled that he puts not into effect the same purpose / then as his system and presents them to you the devils which trouble you in such a way / that which seems to them good.\n\nAnother religious person said / at the beginning, religion was instituted / that whenever you religious people of any kind assembled, you were to speak of anything.helthfull thyng for theyr soules / they departed they\u0304 eche of theym a parte / & so departed prayed to god / yt he wolde to they the grace to de\u00a6termyne well to his honour & praysy\u0304g ye thyng for whiche they were asse\u0304bled / but now in these presente dayes / whan we gadre & assemble togyd{er}. we occupye vs in noyses & debates / & drawe eche other in to the depnesse of helle.\n\u00b6An other sayde that yf our soule be conduyted & ruled by sobrenes / lyghtly it shall mowe kepe our body fro synne And yf in suche wyse we may not con\u2223duyte vs atte lesse waye we ought to en\u00a6force vs with all our power & strenght to kepe vs from euyll vsyng our to\u0304gue to thende that we haue not so grete oc\u00a6casyon to synne. \u00b6An other sayd yt for to praye god & to knowleche his be nefaytes yt he doth to vs / & is necessary for to that ende be we in this worlde / & it suffyseth not to teche other to do wel by wordes oonly / but it behoueth vs to excyte they\u0304 examples of good maners. For it is a strau\u0304ge thyng to saye with ye mouth / yt a manThe religious will not be hindered from putting their plans into effect by works. Another said that it is necessary for a religious person to have some manner of work to occupy himself, if he intends to serve God, for the devil comes often to distract him from his good purpose. Nevertheless, when he finds himself busily and virtuously engaged in divine service or other good work, he is compelled to leave because he finds no reason to stay, but if he is driven away by temptations and fails to persist in good works, he falls into sin in such a way that he has power and dominion over him. Yet he should not therefore despair. For often the Holy Spirit comes to him to lead him back to the right way, which he should use to open the way through good works, so that the devil, through his malice, may not lead him back.\n\nOnce, the religious of Egypt came to the hermitages of Syria to see the old fathers who lived there.Being arrived and come after they had frequented among them, they knew that they were much weakened by prolonged fasting. And after their fasting, they took their refreshments, and for their great abstinences they were immoderate in eating. The superior of Egypt, knowing and willing to take away their scandal, decided in himself to preach, and in deed preached in the church of Sychye about this matter to his followers. He urged them to fast and increase their abstinences. The Egyptians who had come there would have departed, but the said abbot retained them and urged them to fast in the same way. They were content to do so for two long days, enduring great pain and weakness. But the Syrians, who had begun their fasting earlier, had fasted for a whole week, and on the Saturday, the followers of Egypt took their refreshments with those of Syria.If you said the religious practices of Egypt forced them to eat hastily and greedily, one of the old fathers of Syria took hold of one of them, saying he should eat soberly as religious men ought to. The other put his hands away and said he should let him be in peace, for he was dying of hunger. Then the old father replied to him, saying, \"If you in Egypt, in fasting but for two days only, have suffered this famine suddenly, why and for what reason have you feared the brethren of Syria, who take with good appetite their receipts, after they have fasted a whole week without eating anything, like they have been accustomed to do or daily?\" Hearing these words and considering their great abstinences, the others were sorry and displeased with what they had said and therefore penanced. And so well edified by the Syrians, they returned with great joy to their cells and their companions in Egypt. A secular person renouncing the world.A young man took a vow to a monk and went to Thermytages, enclosing himself in a cell and saying he would be solitary. Certain old neighbors warned him that he had been urged to lead a solitary life, came to him and put him out. Afterward, they compelled him to go about the cells of the brethren and do penance for the foolish words he had spoken, asking each one to pardon him, and confessing that he was not solitary but had only recently begun the life of a religious person. Some old men said, if you see a young man of presumptuous will who wishes to elevate himself, it is to say, he is enhancing himself in presumption and vain glory. You ought to take and retain him by the foot, that is, to correct him sharply in restraining his foolish associations, and to make him tumble down, that is, in humility, for he ought not to appear to do so. A brother told an old man that he desired a good brother after his will to succeed him.If the text is referring to \"the old father\" as God the Father and \"the said religious person\" as the speaker, then the cleaned text would be:\n\nIf you dwell with him. To whom the old father replied, you speak well, my lord. That one affirmed it was all his desire, not knowing that the old father was ill content with his folly. Then the old father, seeing that the said religious person esteemed him to take his words in good part, said to him these words or similar ones. If you find a religious person according to your will, would you dwell with him? Certainly, I would answer you, the young religious person. Then the old father answered him, it is not then to your end, that you should follow his will, but he should follow yours, and you should rest yourself in him, the brother understood from these words what the old father meant, and he fell down to the ground, offering himself to do penance for it, saying, \"Fair father, I pray that you forgive me my folly. I greatly glorified myself in it, which I supposed to have well said, where I did not understand myself well.\"\n\nTwo brothers, German.A young brother, the last in age, had first shown interest in this monastic life. A little while afterwards, they became religious. An old father asked to see them and was presented with the youngest brother, who offered to wash his feet. Then the old father held his hands and sent him away, allowing the eldest to perform the service. Although the first brother to enter the monastery had been accustomed to doing it, the brethren present said to him: \"Reverend father, this younger brother has been religious before the others. I do not object,\" said the old father. \"I will take away your first entry and give it to him who is older.\" An old father said, \"The prophets have written the books serving our doctrine. Our fathers who came after have added many things, and their successors have recommended them to remembrance.That is to say, they have well studied themselves and finally they have come of the generation that we have written in skins of parchment and have left them lying carelessly in their windows.\n\nAn old father said that the stock you rely on, the relics you use, is the sign of Innocence that other habits of which they cover their shoulders and bind their heads is the sign of the cross, and the girdle by which they gird themselves is the sign of strength. Therefore, he said, they ought to be conducted according to the signification of their habit, saying that in doing all things with good desire, they shall never fail.\n\nA brother moved by devotion asked Abbot Arsenius to say some doctrine or teaching. To whom the holy father answered, \"Whatever thing you do, enforce your will and thought always to be revealed according to the will of God, in such a way that your works are done outwardly, the gospel says, 'Ask and you shall receive, knock and it shall be opened to you.' \"Abbot Agathon said that a religious man ought not to suffer his conscience's remorse or grudge towards any brother. The abbot had been lying ill for three days, wondering who would die first, he and the brother who touched him and asked. Abbot, where are you? To whom he replied, I am in the presence of the great Judge to receive my reward after my merry law of God; why fear you? The brother answered Abbot, Alas, my child, I do not know if ever a day of my life I did please God; for I am of frail condition. Then the brothers said, have you not great trust and assurance in your works being done in charity? Bring a man all straight to heaven. To whom he answered, all that we do is until we come before the great Judge, and I presume not of my works, for the judgment is God's, and they of the men were about to ask him some things, he said to them, keep charity among you, and speak no more to me, and then.after he rendered and yielded up his soul to God, and in his death appeared a sign by which he showed in his spirit that he rejoiced as he had greeted his friends. This proceeded from that which he had well kept the commandments of God, without which none may come to the gate of health.\n\nIt is recorded of Abbot Amos that when he went to the church, he would never let his disciple come near him, and if by accident he approached him to ask anything. He said to him, \"You should draw yourself far from me, for in speaking of worldly and frivolous things, I may sometimes speak vainly and idly, and therefore it is better to be still and speak not, than to speak evil.\"\n\nWe have also the account of St. John Baptist, that in his youth he fled into the desert to avoid defiling himself with evil speaking. Abbot Amos asked Abbot Asee. Fair father, how do you see, Abbot Asee answered, as an angel. And afterwards, yet again,Abbot Ammos asked again, \"How do you see me now?\" Abbot Aesther answered, \"It seems to me that you are Satan, for incontinently you warned me to make my selling. It seemed to me that you struck me through the heart with a glove.\" By this is shown that the proud and evil persons cannot endure until someone corrects them of their vices.\n\nAbbot Alone said, \"If a man does not speak from his heart. I myself and God only exist in this world. A man shall not have peace in his conscience, and he understood this. In the world there are but two manners of living: one is to live according to the law of God, and the other according to the world.\n\nAbbot Moses said that a man, if he will, can deserve so much by good works in a day that he shall win heaven at the end.\n\nAbbot Bysaryon, in his dying, gave to his brethren one such a teaching or signification. My brethren said he, a religious person ought to be the very light of others, by good life and by good example. For it is written in the Gospel,You are the light of the world. \u00b6Thabbot Daniel and Thabbot Amois once walked together. Then Thabbot Amois said, \"Fair father, which of us shall we go to your cell, Thabbot Daniel replied, \"Who is he that may take God away from us? There is no person that may take Him from us. For when we were in our cells, He was with us. Now that we are out of our cells, He is with us in the same way.\" \u00b6Thabbot Eugarius said, \"It is a great thing to pray to God without any hindrance, but it is a greater thing to sing and engage in psalmody without any hindrance or hindrance. \u00b6This same Abbot also said, \"Remember always your last end and the great judgment of God, and you shall never offend God.\" \u00b6Thabbot Theodore said, \"If God punishes us for the necessities we do in singing and psalmody, we shall never be saved.\" \u00b6Thabbot Theonas said, \"Our thought is so much hindered and held back by worldly things that we are full of distractions. But we ought to withdraw ourselves by the grace of God.\" \u00b6Some brothers came.oftentimes an holy abbot named John, who was short because he led a strict life, and they said to him: Blessed be God. It has rained sufficiently this year. Therefore, the palms have been well aroused and watered, and they begin to bud and bring forth green and pleasant leaves. Then the holy abbot answered: \"Your children are indeed so, by the holy ghost, who descends into the hearts of men, arouses and waters them, and makes them bring forth leaves in the fear of God, and renews them by the plentitude of grace.\" Some brothers said that the same abbot had made a railing in his garden, but because of his careless disposition, he did not know that it had grown to a great height against the wall, and had then leaves well grown.\n\nOnce upon a time in Syria there was an old man of good life, but he was forgetful. The holy abbot gave him counsel concerning this, and returned, but soon afterward he was called back.in his cell he had forgotten what had been said to him and returned again to ask for counsel as before. But as soon as he was departed from the place, he forgot it, and for shame he dared not return for fear of letting the said abbot know. Yet nevertheless he returned and said to the said abbot, \"Father, you know well that I am very forgetful. Why, then, do I come often to you for counseling, lest I forget? To this the abbot replied, \"Light this candle first,\" and he did so. After he asked him the light of this candle, was anything lacking to have lit the other? The old man answered, \"No, father,\" and then the abbot said to him. In the same way, am I not lacking or angry why you come to me for counsel, and therefore without making any difficulty, come here always whenever you shall have need, and thus by their peaceful dispositions, your forgetfulness went his way. A brother weakened by sickness said to the said abbot.Iohan, who was severely ill, asked his brothers if he should go to labor with them. On one hand, obedience urged me to go, but on the other hand, the pain of my illness held me back. The holy man replied, \"Callaph, son of Jenophon, spoke to Ihu_s, son of Nan. I was forty years old when I was brought into this cloister. Now I am well eighty years old, and yet I am not weakened enough to enter battle and fight. And you, too, seem similarly capable, and go to labor with your brothers if you can. Or else, enter your cell, weep and atone for your sins by yourself. If they find you weeping, they will not force you out.\"\n\nThabbot Cassianus said that an old man once prayed to God, that when he heard vain words he might sleep, and when he heard the word of God, he might never sleep. To illustrate this, he recited the following: One time, as he preached to his disciples, this old man...Brothers, they slept so soundly that they didn't understand his words but showed that the devil was the cause. He began to speak of vain and idle things, and all his brothers awoke and were very attentive to hear him and to laugh. Then the holy father sadly said, \"When I spoke to you late about holy scripture, you slept and didn't understand anything. But when I speak of vain things, each one lays his ear to it and you are more eager to hear idle words than the words of God. Therefore, my brothers, I admonish and warn you that whoever ought to hear the word of God should keep awake, for you know that it is the devil that keeps you from hearing the healthful predictions.\n\nThabbot the Pastor, being young, went to an holy man to ask him three things. But when he came there, he forgot one of them. He returned to his cell, took his key to open his door, and in taking it, he remembered the thing that he had forgotten, and without opening the door, he turned back.The young man replied, \"When I opened my door, I remembered what I had forgotten. Therefore, without opening my door, I have come to you hastily.\" Then the holy man said, \"You shall be a very pastor once, and will be renowned throughout Egypt.\"\n\nAbbot Ammon came to Abbot Pastor and said, \"If my neighbor comes into my cell or if I go into his, should I return with him?\" The holy man replied, \"It should be well done. Youth requires great care and keeping. But what about the old men?\" Pastor answered, \"They now constitute a community, so they have less need of guarding. Take care of them, and then Abbot Ammon said, \"If I wish to speak to my neighbor, should I speak of scripture or else of your words of the old fathers?\" Abbot Pastor answered, \"If you cannot be still, it is better to speak of the words of the old fathers than of scripture.\"oftimes it is dangerous to speak of scripture to those who understand them evil. On a time one asked the Abbot Pastor how a man should keep himself from many filths bodily and spiritually, and he answered, if a man will live cleanly concerning the body and the soul, he ought to live soberly in deeds as well as in words. A glutton cannot live justly nor long, and after coming to say, gluttony made and caused me sword or dagger. It is said the Abbot Pastor made or did ever any good work, but if he remembered it continually an hour before, and then after he accomplished his work, willing by this to show that in all works he ought first to think on it before he does it. A man asked once of Abbot Payson how he might fear God, to whom he answered, \"Go and join yourself with a man fearing God, and at once you shall fear as he does.\" And to this accordeth the Psalmist. Thou shalt be holy with the holy men, and evil with the evil men. The same holy man said it, the fear of God is the beginning and the end.\"End of all goodness, you witness in the Psalmist that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. We also have an example of Abraham, to whom the Lord spoke after he had built an altar to sacrifice his son Isaac. I see now that you fear God. The abbot also said that one should not dwell with men who are full of noise and contentious, nor with those who love strife. He also said that an Abbot named Loth once said to Abbot Peter, \"When I am in my cell, I am in peace with my conscience, but when any comes to me and recalls worldly things, I am troubled.\" And when one asked him about worldly things, he answered, \"If anyone comes to you who is in your cell and asks you about worldly things, you open the gate of his thought and often hear things that profit him nothing.\" A religious man ought, when he sees any brother speak to him, to exhort him to weep and be sorrowful.\"A brother said to the abbot, \"I desire to keep my heart clean from sin. To this, the holy father answered, 'How can we keep our heart clean if our tongue has the gate open? For as it is said, a man who speaks too much cannot avoid blame, and you who do not cease from speaking.' \" A brother said to Abbot Sisyas, \"Fair father, I have great desire to keep my heart free from sin. To this, the holy father answered, 'We can keep our heart clean only if we control our tongue. For it is said that a man who speaks too much cannot avoid blame, and you who do not cease from speaking.' \"Speak evil/how do you intend to keep your conscience clean from sin?\nThabbot Silvan, dwelling in the mountain of Sina, had a disciple who wished to attend to some of his affairs expeditiously. The said disciple prayed the abbot that he would rouse or water his garden. The holy abbot, engrossed in contemplation, took water and moistened the said garden. And in doing so, another came and asked him why he had covered his face. He answered that he had done it to prevent himself from being distracted by the flowers of the trees that were there, lest in seeing them he be ensnared and unable to leave his contemplation.\nThabbot Serapion said, in like manner, that just as knights who are before their prince and captain in battle ought not to look here and there to flee, but rather to fight valiantly, in the same way religious and others who have given themselves to God ought not to behold worldly things, nor even the bodily form, for if they do so, they will be ensnared.Saint Syncletyce said, \"We desire all to be saved, but through our negligence we often lose our health, and we will do no pain to have and get it. Furthermore, Saint Syncletyce said, \"Let us live soberly. For the five senses of our body allow the thieves to enter and rob the virtues of our soul. And if the windows of a house are opened, the smoke enters lightly into it. In the same way, if our five senses are opened to the things of the world, our soul is immediately obscured by the smoke of sin. Yet Saint Syncletyce also said that we must be armed on all sides against the enemies, for they enter both within and without. And just as a ship is sometimes troubled outside by the waves and flood of water, and sometimes filled within by the flood outside, it is the same with us. We sin sometimes by outward works and sometimes by inward ones only. It is not enough for a man of arms to be armed only on the head, for he may soon be hurt by his enemy.\"Through his body. Thus it suffices not only to resist outward temptations but also inner temptations. In this respect, it is shown to us that there is no certainty in this world, in whatever state it be. And this is witnessed by the apostle saying, \"Take heed to yourself and keep yourself upright with virtue, lest you fall or be overthrown by sin.\" We are in this world as mariners who do not know where they are. Witness of the Psalm you say that our life is like the sea, in which are some parties full of stones, the other full of diverse manners of beasts. Some are much tempestuous. Others are peaceful. But among them that live, some sail by the stony parties as those that are obstinate. Others sail by the parties full of diverse beasts and monsters as those that are proud. Others sail by the parties peaceful and calm. And nevertheless,\n\nCleaned Text: Through his body. Thus it suffices not only to resist outward temptations but also inner temptations. In this respect, it is shown to us that there is no certainty in this world, in whatever state it be. And this is witnessed by the apostle: \"Take heed to yourself and keep yourself upright with virtue, lest you fall or be overthrown by sin.\" We are in this world as mariners who do not know where they are. Witness of the Psalm you say that our life is like the sea. In it are some parties full of stones, the other full of diverse manners of beasts. Some are much tempestuous. Others are peaceful. But among them that live, some sail by the stony parties as those that are obstinate. Others sail by the parties full of diverse beasts and monsters as those that are proud. Others sail by the parties peaceful and calm. And yet,Of times it happens that seculars, who say in the darkness of ignorance, come perilously close to losing their ship at the port of health. And the religious, who are with God in peace and tranquility, drown themselves in the sea of all evil and sins. We have here to note what and how we ought to think.\n\nAn abbot named Hypericius said:\nAll your thoughts should always be in God, desiring the heavenly bliss, and you will soon have it. Furthermore, the same holy man said that the life of a monk should be like that of an angel, without any trace or spot of mortal sin.\n\nAbbot Orsesius reminded us that if a man does not keep his heart from evil and abominable thoughts and puts aside all the good that has been said of him, and if the enemy of hell finds any opening in him, he surmises that, just as a lamp loses its light and goes out when it has used up all the oil poured into it, in the same way.Our heart benefits by the fire of charity, and without the same fire, it can do no fruitful work. If a mouse comes to eat the oil and feels the beat of the fire, it comes no near, but if the fire is quenched in such a way that it has no heat, she will cast the lamp down and break it. In the same way, our heart is like this: for when the fire of charity departs from us, the Holy Ghost departs, and then comes the enemy who assails us and destroys all our good intentions, destroying the virtue of our soul through actual sin. But if we live according to God to the best of our power, and it happens that we fall into any sin, God brings us back to remembrance of the pains of hell, and through the Holy Spirit brings us back to the right way of penance, which cannot be healthy without the spiritual help of God. \u00b6Two old fathers spoke together once. One said to the other, \"I am now dead in the world.\" As if he had so mortified his body through sharp and harsh abstinences thatA devout man should have no occasion to contemplate great sins. And another said, \"have no great trust in yourself, for all is uncertain during this life. Therefore, you ought to be constant and vigorous against the temptations of the devil of hell. He sees us always and waits for an opportunity to deceive us. A religious man ought always at evening to think about how he has lived the day, what good deeds he has done, how he has loved and thanked God, and what sins he has committed in weeping and lying in asking for pardon and mercy. If he does this, he may say that he is a very religious man. And in this manner lived an abbot named Arsenius.\n\nFor us to understand, an old man once said that there is nothing more precious than the time. He who has lost gold or silver or other worldly riches may often recover them, but he who loses time may never recover it, for past time comes not again.\n\nAn holy man said in a similar way, as the knight going to battle thinks:A singularly religious man thinks only of his prayer, and all similarly a religious man ought to do the same, for he should first and singularly think of his faith and conscience without being overly concerned about what others do. An holy man said that it is like the knights who are near the prince in an army, for they are better kept and cannot be assaulted except with great difficulty. In the same way, it is with us, for if we are near to our captain, the king of heaven, the devil our enemy will not dare to assault us, for it is written. Approach me with devout orisons, and I shall approach you with a gracious one. But some there are who do not approach, but withdraw villainously. And there are often taken by the adversaries, who throw them down and in the end make them die. A brother once said to a holy man that he had no battle in his heart. The holy man, hearing this, answered him that it was like a castle which has four open gates, and all who will enter may do so.Enter into it and assault it as they seem good. For all your five wits are works to the temptations of the devil. And if you had a yate in your castle well shut, you should know at once the battles that were outside, asking not but to take by assault your poor soul. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and truth is not in us. It is found by writing of a religious man that when he had offended, he did not abide to repent until the morning, but did penance the same day, saying, \"This same day I shall repent,\" and \"May the will of God be done in the morning.\"\n\nA holy man said, \"If we are not sober without, in conversation and words, it is not possible that we be just and righteous within.\"\n\nThe holy fathers, who had the eye of understanding enlightened by divine grace, knowing clearly the fallacies of our enemy, the devil, said that he had three principal passions among others upon men. The first is that he makes us forget our sins.Second is negligence and sloth; the third is covetousness. These things proceed from one another, for if a man forgets his sins, he is negligent; negligence arises from forgetfulness, and covetousness, which rejected, a man shall never fall into sin, but he shall be preserved by the help of God. The most necessary thing among other things is to keep silence and be still in following the doctrine of an old father you said. Take heed as much as you can to silence, and think on no vain things, but take heed to your thoughts with the fear of God if you do so; you shall escape and avoid the grimes of the devil, our enemy. An holy man said to another reckless man. The devil is your enemy; you are in a manner of a house, upon which he ceases not to cast temptations of all the orders and filth of sin that he can find, to fill your house and the ditches of the same, to end that he may enter lightly; but you ought little and little to reject and cast out those orders and filth.Filth so much that the house of thy conscience be clean. For if thou reckon not to purge it, he shall put there so much that thou shalt not come near. But if thou purge by very confession, thy house shall be clean, and God shall lodge there, and thus the devil shall not have there any access or place.\nAnother old father said that the horse that turns at the mill labors strongly when his eyes are hidden and is blindfolded, but when he sees, he will not turn. In like wise, those that are blinded by sin turn about and to all temptation they bring them, but those that are enlightened by the Holy Ghost easily put away the temptations of the fiend, our enemy.\nAnother brother working on a day in his cell, and making little and small matters, was in thought for to go visit a holy man. And anon after came into his mind the contrary, and said, \"I shall go see him within a certain time.\" After he thought saying, \"if he die during this time, I shall never see him; therefore, it is better that I go.\"Now, but for as much as my monks are now cut off, it is better that I achieve and make an end of my matters. And thus he was in contrary thoughts, one against the other. Nevertheless, he took his robe, which was named Melote, and departed lightly. And in walking, he passed by the cell of another brother, much wiser than he, who, seeing this brother go so hastily and fast, began to cry out, saying, \"O man taken with temptation, why are you going so hastily? Return and come to me.\" The which brother died, and then the holy father said to him, \"Return to your cell.\" Then the brother said to the holy father, \"Alas, fair father, I have had such terrible thoughts that I have been compelled to leave my cell.\" And this said he returned to his cell and, in entering, fell down to the ground doing penance, and asked of God mercy. Then was heard a marvelous cry of a legion of demons, saying, \"O monk, you have overcome us; we have been vanquished by your obedience; and your matter, whereon you spoke, lies flat.\"In the region of Sychye, an holy man, deeply troubled by sickness, was approaching death. When it came time, all his brothers gathered around him and clothed him in his habit. They wept pitifully, but the holy man, despite his suffering, opened his eyes and began to laugh. His brothers continued to weep until they saw him laugh a second time, and then a third time. They then ceased their lamenting and asked him. \"Fair father, you are so near death, which is so uncertain, how can you laugh and why do you laugh?\" He replied, \"I have laughed three times. The first time because I fear death too much, the second because none of you are ready if death comes for you, and the third because I am about to join the saints in eternal happiness.\"Thirdly, considering I am about to leave the labor of this world and go to the eternal rest in heaven, and in saying so, he rendered his soul to God. A brother came to one of the old fathers and said to him, \"Father, I am strongly persecuted by diverse temptations, and I can find no remedy to escape them.\" The holy father answered, \"My friend, you have despised the fear of God and cast it to the ground. The fear of God is strong against temptations, as iron is strong against them, and you have taken in its place, which is not of any resistance, the reed of vain thoughts. And if the reed of the same vain thoughts comes to you, put the fire of the fear of God before them, and at once they will be consumed and brought to nothing. As one should say, 'My brother and my friend, against all such temptations, nothing is needed before the eyes of your understanding but the fear of God.'\" AnA father in the holy writings stated that a person cannot love anything unless they first hate its contrary. Therefore, one who wishes to love virtue should hate vice and sin, which is contrary to virtue. As the Psalmist says, \"We should turn away from evil and do good, and do it with all our heart, for God observes our intentions more than our works that follow.\" Adam, our first father, sinned in Eden by breaking God's commandment. However, Job, while lying in the ash heap, kept God's commandments and pleased Him greatly with his patience. God requires only our affection and our heart, and He Himself says in the Gospel, \"Give Me your heart and your fear, and keep My commandments, and you shall live eternally with Me.\"\n\nIt is clear that human nature, or mankind, which of itself was capable and ready to receive eternal bliss in the state of innocence, has been made unable and not capable.Of himself to that bliss, by the sin of the first man Adam, and has been the cause. And to reconcile him to his maker, it was necessary to have some means which cannot be found but through holy and devout prayer. For this reason, Origen was first founded, of which is treated in this present book, in which is first determined the continuance of prayer by one such example. Some holy fathers said that Abbot Arsenius, from Saturday evening to Sunday morning, when the sun went down and the son rose, had his hands lifted up toward heaven, and his head lifted up, and his heart inflamed in the love of God, continuing in Origen and prayer, which is shown to us as the good affection of the old fathers. The brethren came to Abbot Agathon one time and asked him, \"Father, which is the greatest pain among others?\" And he answered, \"My brothers, I say to you that I find no such pain as to pray to God. For when a man disposes himself most to pray, the devil brings.\"The abbot Dulas, who was a disciple of Abbot Bisaryon, said: I have spent some time in my abbot's cell and found him lying prostrate in prayer continually for fourteen days. Afterward, he called me to him and said, \"Follow me.\" Inconveniently, we went to the bathhouse. When I was greatly exhausted from walking and had a great thirst, I said to him, \"Father, I am thirsty.\" The holy man went as far from me as a man should cast a stone and was in contemplation for a little while, then returned to me bringing water in his garment made of skins. I drank from this water, and after that we went to the city of Lycos to speak to the abbot.Iohannes / whom we sold to him, explaining to him the cause and reason why we had come to him. Then Abbot Bysarion began to tell and show the revelations he had had. It has been shown to me / that all the temples shall be destroyed / which thing happened in the same way. For all the temples of the idols were destroyed and brought to nothing.\nAbbot Euagrius said / that a man who has lost courage / should pray to God. For it is written / pray with fear of God / and labor continually in supplications and prayers / and you will not find yourself weak of heart / but strong against all temptations / we need to pray as much for sinners / as for the Just and true / and also that we may be preserved from the enemies Inquisitive, / who seek none other but to hinder us from our health / who is taken by an evil thought / he ought not to neglect the hour / but ought to fight for himself by holy prayer against the same thought.A monk who dwelled in Palety wrote to a bishop named Ephhanius: Reverend father, we have not despised the rule to pray which you have delivered to us, but in keeping it promptly we sing prime, terce, sext, and none, and evening prayer. The monk was reproved by the bishop for this, and the bishop wrote to him again in this manner: After your answer, I have received from the monk. I know well that in other hours of the day, you and your brethren do not pray, which is insufficient. For a truly religious person ought to pray God incessantly, and if not with his mouth, he ought to do it with his heart. For vocal prayer is not always required. Here is shown to us that we may pray God over all and in every place. An abbot named Isidore, seeing the brothers eating together, made great noise and said to them, \"Hold your peace and make silence, for I see one of you brothers eating with you, which perceives and delights in it.\"He uses his prayer as if he had said, \"Let him in making this noise, for he is roused in devotion. And likewise, he always eats and prays, and his orisons are embraced with charity. Goes up on high.\nThabbot Loth came to Thabbot Joseph and said to him, \"Father, by my power I hold a little rule and a little authority. I fast little and pray little, and I think not much on his commandment nor on my soul, without taking but little rest, but always with all my power I shun evil thoughts, and suffer them not to abide in me in any way, what ought I to do in the coming time. And the holy man, without saying any word, arose and stretched out his hands to heaven and devoutly prayed to God, and unceasingly showed his burning devotion. His ten fingers were enlightened and burning, like laps burning, and then he began to say, 'If you will be embraced by this fire of charity, you must do as I do.'\" In this part is shown the manner of praying without interruption.Certain brothers named Benedict came to Abbot Lucas, who dwelt in Hermitage, and when they had come, the holy abbot asked, \"My brothers, come here and tell me what work you do and make with your hands.\" And they answered, \"Certainly, father, we do not put ourselves to any handwork, but after saying the words of the apostle, we pray to God without intermission and without ceasing.\" Abbot Lucas said to them, \"How, my brothers, when you eat, you do not pray; likewise when you sleep, you do not pray, and therefore it is not true that you say you pray without ceasing. Then the brothers were all ashamed and did not know what to answer. Then he began to say to them, \"I shall show you how in working with my hands I pray always to God. For when I am in my cell, sitting to work, I pray to God without ceasing, for I make a mat or some other thing, and in doing so I say, 'God have mercy on me, after Thy great mercy, and blot out my wickedness, after the multitude of Thy tender mercies.'\"The brotherhood asked the Abbot Machary, \"How should we pray to God?\" The holy man replied, \"In making orations and prayers, it is not requisite to use great abundance of words. But we ought to lift up our hands to heaven and say, 'Lord God, like as it pleases You, and in the same way as you know what need I have, grant Your mercy upon me. If any evil thought comes before me while praying.'\"\"say the Lord God help me, and without a doubt, he knows what is necessary for me. He shall help me and have mercy on me. Therefore, we ought to believe that long prayer is not always required. For in a common proverb it is said, \"Short prayer reaches heaven.\" We also have in St. Matthew, where it is said, \"Pray in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, and so forth.\" Of Abbot Sisyus, some religious men said that if he had quickly lowered his hands when he had left them up in heaven making his prayers, he would have been carried away and in a trance. And so, whenever anyone was with him in prayer, he made them take down his hands, doubting that he would enter into a trance or be carried away or that he would remain absorbed for a long time. An old man said that continuous prayer corrects the thought of sin. Another said that, as it is not possible for a man to see his own face in foul and troubled water right away, prayer is likewise effective.\"A wise man once said that a man cannot know his own fate and deed if it is not gathered within himself, without considering the fate and deeds of others.\n\nOnce, an holy man came to Mount Synai. On his journey, he encountered a religious brother, weeping and saying, \"Alas, father, we are lost in our country. It does not rain, and there are no moistures in the earth.\" The holy man replied, \"You ought to pray God for rain.\" The brother answered, \"Alas, we have prayed Him so long, and yet it has not rained.\" The holy man then said to him, \"You have not prayed affectually or heartily enough. If you wish to know and understand this, come and pray with me.\" The holy man knelt down on his knees and lifted up his hands in great devotion and prayed to God. Immediately, it began to rain. Seeing this, the brother was filled with fear and fell at the feet of the abbot.Abbot Fleyng departed immediately for the prayer of the world and men. Many prayed to God, but they were not heard because they were not worthy. Some brothers said, \"We once found some old fathers who prayed to God with us. We engaged them in lengthy conversations about many things. Afterward, we intended to leave, and we asked them to pray to God. They answered, 'Have you not prayed? We replied, 'Yes, father.' But when we entered our prayer, it was then done, and since then we have always spoken together, and by that we have not prayed, for one cannot pray and speak with another at the same time.' The holy man answered, 'Pardon me, brothers. One of our old brothers is here, who in speaking with you has made a hundred and three prayers. Let us not speak of worldly and unhealthy things, but rather let us pray to God.'\"we prayed and after the holy fathers departed, we remain and request that there is no man so ignorant in the world but that he ought to come and know what is the mercy of God. We may not be saved after we have offended, but if God our Lord is merciful to us, similarly, we ought to be merciful to one another. Therefore, in this present treatise, mercy and compassion are mentioned. It proceeds like other treatises and by examples, of which the first is such. Some of the holy old fathers once went to Abbot Joseph in a place named Pause. They had decided to make a demand to him, that is, if their friends or religious come to visit them, they should eat and drink with them to make them welcome and receive them joyfully. To prevent this, they asked the holy man, who knowing their thoughts, said to his disciples, \"Take heed what I shall do.\" He took two stoles, one on the right side, and the other.on the left side, they both came in to him and he said to them, \"Sit down here next to me.\" After they were seated, the holy abbot Joseph entered his cell and clad himself in old, tattered clothes. He came and sat down between them without saying anything. After he rose and returned to his cell, he took back his former clothes and came and sat down between them. They were amazed by what he had done and asked him, \"Father, why have you done this?\" He answered them, \"Have you not seen all that I have done? They replied, \"Yes.\" He then asked them, \"Am I reproached because I have changed my clothes?\" They answered, \"No.\" Then the holy man said, \"Just as I am not reproached for changing my clothes, nor am I harmed by taking the better, so ought we to behave towards our brethren. And this is said in the gospel, 'Render or yield to God what is God's.'\"Cezar is to Caesar. In the same way, when we are with our brothers, we can make things right for them and receive them with great joy and gladness without excess. And when they are absent, and we are alone, we ought to sorrow and bewail our sins. Then, these brothers seeing it, the holy father knew their thoughts and what they would have asked of him, were ashamed and prayed to God.\n\nThabbot Cassian said when we came to Palestine in Egypt, an holy father received us into his lodgings. We, having come into his house, demanded and asked him. Father, why do you not keep the rule of fasting when you receive any of your brothers, like they do in Palestine? The holy mother answered. I have always fasted according to my power, and alone with myself. And how well fasting is profitable and necessary, yet always it is in our will, and with it God commanded us, \"be joyful,\" therefore, in receiving you and many other brothers whom I do not see often, I ought to do charitably what is appropriate.What you shall be departed from me. I shall move them as I did before, see that they who are attending a spouse at their wedding ought not to fast, but the wedding and the feast finished, they may well fast, in your presence for the exercise of charity I fast not, but in your absence I may. Furthermore, said the same Abbot Cassian. I and my brethren went to another holy old father, who made us eat and drink enough, and yet he enforced us to eat more. Then I answered for myself and for the others: Father, we have eaten sufficiently. It is sufficient that we do not eat so often. The holy man answered: I have this day laid the table six times for my friends who have come to see me. And I have eaten six times with them, and yet always I am still hungry. Wherefore I am abashed how you are so soon full, who have eaten only once. In this party, the holy doctors say that we ought not to follow this rule. For this whichwas virtue to them / is or shall be vice to many of us. A commandment general was given in the kingdom of Syria, that every man should fast an entire week, and that the feast of Easter should be sanctified in the same week. Now it happened during the same time that some brothers of Egypt came to Abbot Moses to ask for alms. He gave them a little potage and a pottage for sustenance, considering they were weary and travel-worn. In cooking and dressing the said pottage, the savory and fragrance of it spread around. Then the neighbors, not knowing the cause, were ready to speak evil rather than good. They went to the priests and clerks of the next church and said that Abbot Moses, reputed to be such a holy man, had broken and violated the general commandment, for he had not fasted that week, which seemed sufficient to them, because he had ordered and prepared various dishes. The priest on one side defended the good life of the said abbot, and on the other side, the people's foolish belief answered, we.A brother came to the abbot during the second week of Lent. In declaring his thoughts to him, the brother found some rest in him. The brother then said to him, \"I had thought to have differed this day and come later for a little thing.\" The abbot asked him why. The brother answered, \"I doubted because it was Lent, and the gate should not have been opened.\" The abbot replied, \"We have not been accustomed to shut the gate, through which men enter, but we desire more eagerly to close and shut the gate of the tongue.\"A brother said to the abbot, \"If I give anything to my neighbor, the devil tempts me with the sin of vain glory. That's why I fear to do alms.\" The holy man answered, \"We ought to help the necessities of our neighbors for the love of God.\" The same old father said to the brother, \"Listen to this parable. Two laborers lived in a city. One of them had sown and gathered little of it, and what he had gathered was not very clean. The other did not sow anything and gathered nothing. I ask you, if a famine or hunger came, which of these could escape the danger?\" The brother answered, \"He who had sown and gathered.\" Then the holy man said, \"We ought to sow good works, so that when the time of famine comes, it is to say that we may no longer deserve the things we would have done then.\"A brother came to speak to a good father, and in departing from him, because he had supposed he had let him say something to him. Father, forgive me, for I have let it happen in your rule and manner to live obediently. To whom the holy man answered. You have not let me in my rule. For according to the same, I ought in good charity and mercy to receive all comers.\n\nA man, much solitary and strait of living, dwelt near a monastery in which there was a great multitude of brethren. It happened sometimes that those who went to visit came to this holy man who was so much solitary. They constrained him to eat above the determined hour. Afterward, they asked him, saying, Father, are you not angry because you eat before your hour? And he answered, I am never angry, but whatever I do according to my own will. And for as much as I do this contrary and against my will, I am nothing angry or sorry therefore.\n\nThere was in Syria on the way of...desertes an olde man whiche had a custome to receyue all ye relygyo{us} {per}sones yt passed by yt way. On a tyme amo\u0304g ye other passed a moche so lytary man. yt whiche for what prayer yt ye olde fad{er} made / he wold not dry\u0304ke ne ete / sayeng yt in no wyse he wolde breke his fast / but ye holy ma\u0304 sore displesed by cause he wold not acorde to his prayer sayd to hy\u0304. I pray ye syth yu wold not ete ne dry\u0304ke wt me / at ye lest yt yu wyle holde me co\u0304pany to pray vnto god vnd{er} a tree whiche is here by / & of it bowe doun at my prayer tofore thyn / yu shalt do yt I shall requyre the / the whiche thyng yt ho\u00a6ly fad{er} accorded to hy\u0304. The\u0304ne began he to praye yt was so strayt in his fastyng but ye tree bowed nothyng doun warde\nThe\u0304ne after that other bega\u0304 to praye / & all sodaynly ye tree bowed it doun / ye seeyng yt other / he obte\u0304pred & obeyed to his wordes / & praysed god both togyd{er} of the caas yt was to they\u0304 happed.\n\u00b6Two relygyo{us} persones cam to an holy man / yt whiche had of custome not to eteA religious man of Thebes had received such grace from God that he could give to all the indigent and needy whatever was necessary for them. One time among other alms-giving in the street, he saw before him a woman dressed in tattered clothes, it was pitiful to see. The religious man, moved by compassion, took his pocket full of money intending to give to the woman, but by God's grace, his hand closed and could only give her a little part of it. It appeared then that she was not as needy as she appeared from the outside. And afterwards, another woman well-dressed came by, and when he saw her, he thought to himself, this person had no need, and took nothing from her.A man in his house gave a little alms to one woman, but in opening his hand, she took more than he had put in. In signifying this, the woman was more generous than her clothes suggested. He marveled greatly and asked about the state of these two women. He found that the woman who was well-clad was of noble birth and had fallen into poverty, and for that reason she was ashamed to be poorly clad. But the other was dressed in such a way as to move people to give alms to her. And in these days, over the whole world, there are many such cases, and it is not evil to give, for often the one to whom it is given is richer than the giver. There was a religious man who had a secular brother, very poor. And all that the religious man could provide, he gave to him. But the poorer he was, the more he gave to him. The religious men marveled at this.A good holy man was told by a man: \"Give him my brother White, and when he comes to you, tell him, 'Why brother, now labor and if you wish, send something to me for my dinner. When he brings anything to give, give it to pilgrims or some old poor person, and warn them to pray for my brother.' The religious man agreed to do as the holy man had said.\n\nThen, after his brother White came to ask for help as he was accustomed, he answered, \"I can give him nothing more, for I have become poor. Now it is necessary that you labor and bring me something to help me. His brother heard this answer, and the secular man departed troubled. The next day, he brought his brother some cool words from his garden, and his brother gave him his blessing. He distributed the blessing to the needy and prayed that they would pray for his brother.\"\n\nTwo days after he came.A man brought more coolies and three loaves of bread, which he took and gave to him for his blessing, as he had done before. On the third day, he came again and brought a great quantity of meat and fish. Seeing this, his brother marveled at it and called a great multitude of poor people and fed them. Afterward, he asked his brother if he had any need of bread or wine, to whom he answered no, saying, \"When you give to me of your goods, all that I took was inconsequential, consumed like the fire had burned it in my house. But since I gave it away from my goods, they are marvelously multiplied by the blessing of God.\" Hearing this answer from his brother, the religious men went and reported it poorly, saying, \"The goods of a religious man are like fire, and wherever they enter and come, they consume all.\" I assure you it is necessary and sufficient for your brother to live by his labor and to do alms to those who pray for him, and that his goods be multiplied.\n\nA man brought coolies and three loaves of bread, which he took and gave to him for his blessing. On the third day, he came again and brought a great quantity of meat and fish. Seeing this, his brother marveled and called a multitude of poor people and fed them. He asked if his brother had any need of bread or wine, to whom he replied, \"All that I took from your gifts was consumed, like the fire had burned it in my house. But since I gave it away, it has been marvelously multiplied by God's blessing.\" The religious men, hearing this, reported it incorrectly, saying, \"The possessions of a religious man are consumed like fire, and wherever they go, they consume all.\" It is essential and sufficient for your brother to live by his labor and do alms for those who pray for him, and his possessions will be multiplied.yt dyde moche al\u2223messe / but yt deuyll hauyng enuye ther of / for to lette the rewarde to hy\u0304 of his good dedes / brought in to his thought a multytude of scrupulo{us} & remorse of co\u0304scyence / & among all other camto hy\u0304 a wydowe askyng for the loue of god a lytyll whete / to who\u0304 he sayd yt she shol\u00a6de bry\u0304g a mesure / & take as moche as she sholde nede / netheles he mesure the whete hy\u0304selfe / but whan it was put in the sacke / he began to saye that there was more than .iiij. busshellis & made ye woman gretly ashamed. That seeyng an holy man yt was by / & began to axe of the man yt made yt almesse / haste yu lente or sholde this whete to this woma\u0304 to whom he answered yt he had gyue\u0304 it The\u0304ne go saye to her yt yu hast gyue\u0304 it to her all / wherfor makest yu dyffyculte of a lytyll / for ye deuyll wolde that this man sholde lete his rewarde.\n\u00b6An olde man moche mercyfull / & a nother man lyued to gydre a certayne tyme / duryng the whiche ther fyll a gre\u00a6te hunger & famyne. The poore people knowyng ye gretepyte & mercy of this man / camen from all costes to hy\u0304 for to haue his almesse. And to all theym that cam for socour / he gaaf brede / but that other brother seeyng that / sayd to hym. Fader gyue to me my parte of ye goodes / and after of thy parte doo as thou wylt. Thenne this pytefull man of his parte dyde almesse as he dyde to fore. And for that cause Infenyte mul\u00a6tytude of people cam to hym / wherfore our lord seeyng his good purpose / bles\u2223syd the brede of this holy man / & mul\u2223teplyed in suche wyse that he had ynou\u00a6ghe alwaye for theym that cam / and it mynysshed not. That other brod{er} that dyde none almesse / ete all his brede / & whan he sawe that he had nothynge / he sayd to ye holy fad{er} Alas yf it please you lete vs lyue togydre as we dyde to fore / to whom the holy fader sayd that he wolde well / & so they were to gydre as they had ben tofore / & anone the hu\u0304gre cessed / and was grete habundau\u0304ce of goodes / but notwithstondyng ye poo\u00a6re peple came\u0304 alway for to haue almes\nOne daye among theother came a poor man asking alms from those same brothers. The holy father said to the same brother that he should give bread to the poor man. The brother, seeing that he had no bread, answered that he had none to give. The holy man said to him, \"Go in and look and search, what you were entered in.\" He saw the chests all full of bread and, praising God for this miracle, gave to the poor what they asked for and had the holy man in great reverence after that.\n\nThe holy scripture recalls to us the obedience is better than sacrifice. Therefore, in this book, this virtue is determined by many examples, of which the first is this:\n\nThabbot Arsenius said one time to Thabbot Alexander, \"As soon as you have done your work, come to me, and we shall dine together.\" But if it happened by chance that any pilgrims came, abide and eat with them heartily. The hour of dinner came, the holy man Alexander, who had not yet accomplished his work to obey the word of Arsenius, remained till he had done so. And Arsenius, seeing that the hour had passed, said to him reproachfully.I believe Alexander had pilgrimages with her since he hasn't come, and so the holy man went to dinner. When Alexander had finished, which was around midnight, he went to Abbot Arseny, who said to him, \"I suppose, Alexander, that you have had pilgrimages today.\" Alexander answered, \"Father, I have had none, but I have done as much as I could to come as soon as I could, once I had completed my work as you commanded.\" Then Abbot Arseny was greatly surprised by this man's obedience and began to say, \"I command you to do it another time, you should not be so long in your work, but go pray to God and do your other bodily necessities. For there might be some danger to your body because of it.\" Abbot Abraham and Abbot Aram were together at one time, and a brother came to them and asked Abbot Aram what he could do to be saved. The holy man answered, \"Go into your cell and eat only bread and salt this year, and come back to me at the end of the year, and I will tell you.\"A brother went and performed this penance in its entirety in one year, and afterward returned to Aram. It happened that Abraham was with him at the same time. Then Abraham said to him, \"Return and fast for another year, and after you eat twice a day, you will hear this.\" He went his way. Afterward, Abraham in Aram said, \"You give light penance to the other brothers, but you charge this brother here strongly. Why do you do this? The holy man answered him. The other brothers are not very devoted to God, and when they come to me, they leave. But this brother is a great servant of God, and all that I shall give to him I will keep.\"\n\nBrother John, who was of little stature but great virtue, went at one time to Syria to see an old holy father who lived in a hermitage. Upon seeing him, Brother John took a dry stake and planted it. Then he said to the holy old father, \"You should water this dry stake every day.\"In this time, the fruit had ripened. Now, the water was so far from the well when the servant departed to fetch it that he could not return until the next day, and he always did this, as the Abbot John had commanded him. He went every day and fetched water, and continued to water the dry stake for three years, after which it began to grow green and bear fruit. Then, they could take fruit from that tree and bring it to their brothers in the church, saying, \"Take here, the fruit of obedience.\" We may note what virtue obedience has, for it is a thing against nature that a dry stick or tree should grow green and bear fruit.\n\nAbbot Paul had a disciple named John, who was very obedient, living in a deserted place full of wood. In this wood dwelt a cruel lion. The holy man, seeing the crosses of this beast near his cell, told his disciple, \"Go and bring me those crosses there.\" The disciple asked how he might take them, for the lion was there. The holy man replied to him, \"If you are obedient, you will be able to take them.\"A disciple came to the blind man there and brought him to me at evening. The disciple went into the forest to find the lion and bind it, as his master had commanded him. But the lion, with great fear, fled away. The disciple followed, calling out, \"Stay, lion, for my master has commanded me to bind you when you abide and tarry. There the disciple bound him and brought him to the holy man, who, seeing this thing, was greatly admired and said to the disciple, \"Fool, you bring this wild beast here, which your master then unbound and set free. By this example, it is manifestly apparent that obedience is a great and lovable virtue.\n\nThomas a Becket, in Sicily, had a disciple much obedient, who was called Mark and was a scribe. His master loved him better than the other eleven disciples, which made them angry and ill-contented, along with the old fathers.His neighbors, who came one day to see him in his cell, and after Syllvan and they with him knocked on the cells of his disciples, calling out that they should come out because he had business with them. But none of them followed him at once. Then he came and knocked at Mark's door, and, hearing that it was his abbot, he went out to him. His abbot sent him away to do something necessary, and looking around, he saw none of his other disciples. After he entered and went into Mark's cell, he found that in writing he had begun an unfinished letter, but he had not finished it for teaching. Then the old father said, \"Certainly we love him whom you love, for we see that God loves him. The mother of the said Mark came once to see him, and she asked his abbot for permission to speak to him, and that she had come to see him. The abbot granted her request. He went to her.Mark said to him that he should go out of his cell and speak to his mother, who had come to see him. Obeying his abbot, he went out in an old robe, all torn and patched, and was blackened by smoke and filth, so that she could not recognize him. In closing his eyes, he began to say to her, \"God keep you in health, my mother,\" she, not recognizing it was him, returned immediately to the abbot, asking him to send her \"her son\" so that she might see him. The abbot, complying with her request, went back to Mark and said, \"Have I not told you that you should go speak to your mother? The response came back, \"I have spoken to her, fair father, and comforted and salved her. Therefore, I pray you that you command me no more to go forth, for fear I disobey.\" The holy man, having heard this answer, went out and said to the mother, \"It is your son who comforted you once in saying, 'Go.'\"A brother kept her healthy and comforted her, making her return. Four brothers in robes of skins came to Sychye to Abbot Pambo. In their absence of each other, they declared to him their ways of living and asked which of them, in his advice, had lived most solitarily and meritoriously. The first had fasted for a long time. The second had never had anything of his own. The third had been very charitable. And the fourth had spent 24 years in obedience to a holy man. Then Abbot Pambo said that he who had observed the virtue of obedience had merited the most, and that each of the other three had lived according to their own will, but the fourth, for the honor of God, had always obeyed the will of another in spite of his own. Thus it appears that obedience is a greater virtue than abstinence, charity, and poverty, and such obedient ones are very confessors if they die in this manner. A secular man from Thebes, moved by the Holy Spirit.A man came to Abbot Syys to ask that he might become a monk and be received into his monastery. The holy man asked him if he had anything in the world. The secular man answered that he had a son. Then Abbot Syys tested him in obedience by commanding him to cast his son into the water or he would not be a religious man. The man went to carry out the command, but before he did, he received a message from the abbot through a brother that he should not do it. When the brother arrived and found the man on the bank of the river, he asked what he was doing there. The man replied that he was following the command of his abbot to cast his son into the water. The brother informed him that the abbot had changed his mind and the man ceased and was received into the monastery where he lived righteously. We have a similar example of Abraham, to whom God tested his obedience.\"commanded Isaac his son / this thing he would have done / if the angel had not restrained the stroke of his sword.\n\nSaint Syncletyce said that obedience is more to be praised than continuance. For to continue is somewhat arrogant, but very obedience is founded in all humility. The same Saint Syncletyce said, it behooves us to govern our soul with great discretion. And if we are with some others, we ought not to do after our desire, but after their will, provided they are well ruled. For as banished and exiled out of their countries, we have given over and left for the honor of God, & to this end we are separate and departed from the world. And this ought to be understood by the religious people who have renounced the world and their own will. For it behooves them to do after the will of their prelate. And therefore said the said Saint Syncletyce, Let us seek nothing more of the place from which we are departed, we have in the world vain glory.\"A person should have great difficulty in obtaining goods, but we have bread there as if she would say. It is necessary to endure many hardships in the name of God.\nThabbot Ypericius said that the essence of a monk is obedience. For a man who is obedient shall obtain from God all that he demands. Our savior and redeemer Jesus Christ, by the virtue of obedience, came unto the cross. For the church sings of him that he became obedient unto the death of the cross, to redeem us from the pains of hell. Therefore, it may be said that among all other virtues, a religious person ought primarily to have the virtue of obedience.\nThe holy fathers said that if a man has affection for another and submits himself in subjection, he ought to do all that he commands, so long as it is just and honest. For in doing so, he will not incur the wrath or displeasure of God.\nThe holy elders said that we should obey holy scriptures. ForA brother of Sychye wanting to go harvesting in the season when the corn and grain are gathered in, went to a holy man and said to him, \"Father, tell me what I ought to do.\" The holy father answered, \"If I tell you what you should do, will you do it?\" The brother replied, \"Yes, father. I will obey all your commands.\" Then the holy man said, \"If you will believe me, go and renounce this work of harvesting and come again to me, and I will tell you what you should do later.\" The brother, trusting his counsel, forsook the work of harvesting and returned to the holy father. The holy father then said to him, \"Go and fast for fifty days in your cell, and eat only bread and salt once a day. And when you have completed that, I will tell you what to do next.\" The brother departed humbly and in fear and did his penance. And after fifty days, he returned to the holy father.days passed. He came again to the holy father, who said to him all the manner in which he ought to live in his cell. In showing him his faults. And forthwith the said brother departed and went into his cell. He fell down to the earth where he continually wept his sins for three days and three nights. But the enemy found, desiring to make him fall into the sin of vain glory, reduced to his mind how he had surmounted his passions, to the end that he should glory in himself and say in himself that he was righteous and just. But to take away this temptation, he thought on his sins which he had committed and said, \"Alas, where are all the great and terrible sins that I have done? Thus he eschewed the first temptation.\n\nFurthermore, the enemy seeing that he could not have him by vain glory, began to tempt him with impacity, bringing to mind all the evils and sins that he had done, to the end that he should.should fall into despair. And in this temptation, the brother said, I believe that God is all merciful, therefore I have good and steadfast hope that he will pardon me. In this way, I overcame the second temptation.\nThen the demons, appearing enraged, said to him, \"We have been vanquished and overcome by you.\" Then the brother asked and demanded of them, \"What do you tempt me with, if not with vain glory, by humbling yourself all that you can in front of your eyes, your great and evil sins? And if you tempt me to put yourself in despair, you overcome us, and you enhance yourself by hope, which you have in the great mercy of God, and thus we are always vanquished.\"\nThe holy fathers said that God demanded nothing of man but obedience.\nAn holy man, being much solitary, had a fierce man who dwelled in a forest. And the fierce man gave to him that which was\n\n(Note: The text appears to be incomplete at the end.)On a time, this holy man had veterans delaying him. The holy man sighed to his disciple, \"Will you go to our farm to tell our farmer that he come to us?\"\n\nThe disciple answered, \"Father, I will do what pleases you, but the holy man hesitated and dared not send his disciple out.\n\nNevertheless, after he had waited a long time, he commanded again and asked his disciple if he would go there as he had said.\n\nThe disciple, who feared to go out and doubted being surprised by the devil, said to him, \"I will gladly do what pleases you. And yet, fearing to disobey him, I went there.\n\nThen the holy man said to him, \"My friend, be assured, for I believe that God will deliver you from your temptations. And they both prayed. The disciple went to the farm, where he found no one to speak to, for the farmer and his family were away.all his family were gone out to make good their livings with their friends, and there was none left at home but one of his daughters. This brother knocked at the gate, which was opened to him by the said daughter. And although he would not enter and go in, she, tempted by the devil, made him enter. She began to excite and move him as much as she could by words and touching to the most disgraceful sin of the flesh. Wherefore he began to cry out, saying, \"Lord God deliver me from this woman, by the means of the holy prayers of my holy father.\" And those words said, an angel appeared and took him away, and found him himself by a river, by which the way lay to go to his monastery. And thus he was entirely delivered by the prayers of the holy man, whose obedience preserved him from that inconvenience.\n\nTwo German brothers, that is, born of one father and one mother, lived in this way.Moder lived in Relygon, where one of them was very obedient and the other was very sober. The first one did promptly and readily all that was said to him, so the abbot had good opinion of him and loved him more than the other. Then the devil, who seeks only to sow discord, especially among virtuous people, tempted one of the brothers with the sin of envy against his brother, because the abbot loved one more than him. The brother said to himself, \"I shall prove and know right away if my brother is very obedient.\" He went to the abbot and asked him to allow his brother to accompany him in a certain task that he had to do, and the abbot agreed. Then they went to work. The very sober brother was eager to test his brother's obedience, and they being near a river full of venomous beasts, he said to his brother, \"You should go into that water.\" Incontinently, his brother entered it.venomous beasts did him no harm, but only scratched his feet. Seeing that he who was sober recognized that the beasts had done him no harm, he told him to come out. And so he did. Then, as they continued on their walk, they came upon the body of a dead man. The sober one said, if we had an old thing here, we would cover this body. To whom he who was obedient replied. It would be better that we prayed to God to raise him from death to life. Then they both fell down and began to pray. And immediately the dead body was raised to life. Then the sober one began to glorify himself, saying secretly to himself that this dead body was raised for his great abstinence and not for his brother's obedience. But God, who does not always allow evil to reign over good, and who also wills that the truth not be hidden. Therefore he showed this case to the abbot of their monastery. And how the sober one was tempted against his brother.A man, envious, urged his brother to be consumed by venom in the water. They came to the monastery. The abbot demanded and asked the envious man why he had tempted his brother. He said to him furthermore, \"I will well that you know that for your brother's obedience, the dead body is raised to life, and nothing for your abstinence.\"\n\nA secular man, having three sons, came and entered religion and left his children in the city where he dwelt. After being in the monastery for three years, Infenite displeasures for his children came to him. The abbot knew nothing that he had any children, for when he came into religion he had said nothing about it. But he knew well by outward signs that he was displeased about something. So he demanded and asked him, \"Why are you, brother, so heavy and sorrowful?\"\n\nThe brother answered, \"Alas, father, I had three sons.\"Children in the world when I arrived. I would have brought them here if it were your pleasure. Then the abbot told him that he was content and that he should go fetch them. The religious brother greatly enjoyed this answer; he went into the city to bring the three children, but when he arrived there, he found that two of them were dead long before, and only one son was still living. He brought this child with him to the monastery according to his abbot's command. And when he came, he asked after his abbot and was told that he was not there but had gone elsewhere. He went forth immediately towards him, bringing with him his child, whom the abbot welcomed gladly and embraced and kissed many times in sign of great love and fervent delight he had in him. After he asked and inquired of the child's father, if he loved this child well. And he answered, \"Yes, I do. And yet again he asked and inquired of him, 'Do you love your son well?' and he replied, \"Yes.\"answered to him as stated before / that you /\nThen the abbot said to him / take him and cast him into the oven while it is still hot. And he took his child and threw him into the middle of the fire. But by miracle, the heat of the fire was made soft and cool as dew. And the child was not harmed in any way.\nThen the brother was renowned throughout all Religyon / just as was the holy Patriarch Abraham / when he wanted to sacrifice his son Isaac to our Lord.\nIt was asked and demanded of a holy man / which of the two had more merit / he who lived with the Religious and was obedient to them / or he who lived in a hermitage there, living so solitarily without any company.\nThe holy man said that he who lived with the Religious and was obedient to them. For he does nothing of his own will, but all that he does is according to their will. But he who is in the hermitage, however solitary he may be, yet always uses his own.A holy man stated that in heaven, he was shown four orders and manners of people. The first order was of sick men, who kept their afflictions and sicknesses in patience and glorified God and His saints. The second order was of those who gladly received pilgrims for the worship of God and were called hosts. The third order was of those who dwelt in deserts and saw not the world, living in the said deserts in strict penance. The fourth order was of those who submitted themselves spiritually to their fathers and were obedient to them in all things. Among the four orders, those who had been obedient were adorned and arrayed with fair colors of precious stones and crowned with golden crowns, and they had more joy than the other three orders. However, the same holy man further stated that he had asked and demanded of him who had shown these orders to him how it might be that the said order of obedient ones was so adorned and joyful.Of obedience had the most glory, for it seemed the virtue of obedience to be a little virtue. To this it was answered that not without cause those who were obedient had the greatest glory. For those who received pilgrims did so out of their own will. And hermits who went into their hermitages and renounced the world did it of their free will. But those who were obedient had no proper will. For in honor of God they had submitted all their will to the will of their sovereigns, therefore they had greatest glory in heaven. And therefore it is openly known that the virtue of obedience is to be recommended among all other virtues. And therefore every person ought to enforce himself to his power to follow it.\n\nIt is found that for five reasons obedience ought more to be chosen than the other virtues.\nThe first, because it is the cause of the health of true Christian men and keeps the virtues.\nThe second, because it is the cause of peace and concord.\nThe third, because it is the cause of the increase of good works.\nThe fourth, because it is the cause of the preservation of the commonwealth.\nThe fifth, because it is the cause of the attainment of eternal life.that teaches the way to the kingdom of heaven. The threshold for it opens the gate of heaven. It also elevates men from earthly and worldly things to heavenly things. The fourth reason for it remains in heaven with the blessed angels, who are always obedient to God. The fifth reason is all the desire of the saints in heaven. For by true obedience, many come into the heavenly glory.\n\nAfter mention of the virtue of obedience in the preceding chapter, we now conveniently discuss the virtue of humility. In this virtue consists the perfection of every virtue. In this little treatise are contained some profitable dictums and proverbs of holy fathers. By considering which, every person of whatever estate or condition may learn lightly the very way of humility.\n\nFirst, here is contained one of the causes by which St. Anthony kept himself from overmuch inquiry of:\n\n\"Obedience is the golden key that opens the gate of heaven; humility is the golden key that opens the heart of God.\"The secret I understand of God, humbly acknowledging myself as unworthy to know even the least of divine secrets celestial. For he being in a profound meditation, as marveling himself of the divine jewels, made such a request to God. That is to say, that he would show to him, if it pleased him, why some live such pleasing lives of God, whose jewels are as a great and deep abyss. The secrets of God which he will hide, a man ought not to inquire.\n\nThe said holy father Anthony said to Abbot Pastor. It is a great work in a man, unjustified himself, to accuse himself before God for his sins. And with it, he was strong and constant to withstand all temptation, as steadfastly concluded never to defile the law of God, & unto the last end of his death.\n\nAlso, the holy father Anthony said, that he had seen all the greenness of the devil stretched and laid over the entire earth. And in seeing, began to weep.In great terror, he said, \"Who will be able to avoid being taken in one of these green snare? Ha ha, my God, who will it be / the one who will be garnished with one fight humility / the one who is this / without which no virtue is present.\"\n\nThen he heard a voice that said to him, \"Anthony, it will be you who will be adorned with one fight, humility, which is you / without which no virtue exists.\"\n\nThabbot Arsenye, being alone in his cell, the devils came sometimes to disturb his contemplations. On one occasion, among the others, they came at the hour when the brethren brought him his corporal refreshment. They lingered at the door and heard the said abbot crying out with a loud voice, \"My God, leave me not without your mercy.\" He had once asked an old father in Egypt what thoughts and meditations he should have to live holy. The old father answered him, \"Arsenye, I marvel how you, who are a clerk and know Greek and Latin letters, asked such a question of me, a rude man, and one who cannot distinguish between sin and\"The father Arsenye, considering his humility, said to him, \"I have known the laws and traditions Latin and Greek. But I never knew the ABC of such a rude man who is not a clerk. His speech was sorrowful, and when he was still and spoke not, it was to him gladness.\"\n\nWhen the abbot Pastor heard tidings of his death, he said of him, \"Thou art well happy, father Arsenye, for thou hast wept and bewailed thyself in this world. As one should say, he that bewails and repents not his sins in this world, mortal, in doing penance, shall be wept over incessantly in eternal torment.\"\n\nAn holy father named Daniel bears witness to the aforementioned holy father Arsenye's many fair rules of his holy conversation.\n\nFirstly, the aforementioned father Arsenye presumed never to speak any doubtful question touching on holy scripture.\n\nSecondly, he wrote not gladly any letters unkind to his religious brethren. And when he had been long out of his convent and come again to it,the church showed him not himself, but hid himself behind a pillar because he did not want to be seen and so that he could see none other. Despite his face being angelic and pleasant, like Jacob's.\nAncient fathers relate that some religious brothers presented themselves to Abbot Ammon to judge some question among them. But the good father Ammon feigned ignorance and refused to judge anyone. Seeing a woman, she said to another that her neighbor should pay heed and see this fair father who was a fool. As she said these words, you understood Ammon and said to her, \"My friend, how long do you think I have had pains and labors in the desert to obtain this foolishness and folly? And for the occasion of your injurious words, I should have lost it today. As he said, if I had not endured patiently what she had said, he would have fallen into anger and lost the merit of his penances.\"by new penance he had not returned to God. The holy fathers recalled that there was a bishop named Assus in the city of Exyrynque. He, who had been a monk before being elected bishop, led a harsh and strict life. And even when he was bishop, he wished to lead such a life as he had led in his hermitage. Then, as desolate and intending to be out of the grace of the holy ghost, he often prayed to God, saying, \"O my lord and my God, the dignity episcopal in which I am constituted makes me separate from your love. In so much that I may not do such penances as I was accustomed to do in the desert. To whom was she denied, and that the Lord comforted him more when he was in the desert and in solitude, because men could not then help him. But being a bishop, he could have aid and help from men, therefore God gave him not so great consolation or such strength in his penances and strict living. The abbot Daniel witnesses that in Babylon, the daughter of a provost was vexed.A devil which she had within her body. The said prior had great familiarity with a religious man, from whom he often asked to know how his daughter could be preserved from this diabolical vexation. The said monk answered that he knew no remedy but the prayers of the holy hermits living in the deserts. But because the said monk knew their humility, he advised the said prior to leave when any of them came to the market to sell their hotties or pans. He should buy the body of the said daughter when he perceived the great humility of the holy hermit, by his great pride he could no longer keep or hold her in his presence in the presence of the holy man. But with a loud voice, the mouth of the said daughter cried out, saying, \"O violent and wonderful observation of the commandments of God, by which I am compelled to depart from the body of the one whom I have long possessed.\" Immediately.The devil departed and vanished away. The said daughter was grievously wounded and made whole. The other reverent brothers, when they knew that this miracle had been done in glorifying all the name of our Lord God, said, \"By the humble observance of Jesus Christ's commandments and by very humility, the devil's pride was put down. For certainly all who are truly meek and humble, the devil of hell shall never have power to possess them. And therefore, the Abbot Euagrius said that the commandment of health is meekness to reprove oneself in correcting one's vices and wickednesses.\n\nThe Abbot Serapion, in praising the virtue of humility in the person of one of his disciples named Zachary, said, \"I have made many bodily abstinences and more without companionship than my son Zachary. Yet I could never come to his humility nor his observance of silence.\" By these words, he gave to understand and to know that he esteemed the virtue.Thabbot Moyses asked brother Zacharye how he might live to obtain the kingdom of heaven. Zacharye, filled with great humility, immediately went to the feet of Abbot Moyses and said, \"Alas, my father, you ask counsel of me as if I were more virtuous and wiser than you.\" Abbot Moyses answered, \"My brother, I know that the grace of the Holy Ghost dwells in you. Therefore, I am compelled to seek your counsel for my own benefit.\" Then, brother Zacharye took off his frock and lay at the feet of Abbot Moyses, saying, \"My father, if a man is not in this manner humbled, he is not worthy to be a monk.\" Abbot Pastor added that holy Abbot Moyses, being in the article of death, demanded of brother Zacharye what was most to a Religious man.necessary. And he answered that it was to be stylish and keep silence. To whom the said Moses answered, \"My son, it is true. The man who is stylish and speaks not is few people annoying, and when it came to the point that he should give up his ghost, Abbot Sidore, who was present looking up at the heaven, said, \"Rejoice yourself, my son Zachary, for the gates of the kingdom of heaven are opened to thee.\" Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, a man of great renown, passing by the mount of Nitria, recounted an holy father who did there his penance. To whom he made such a question, \"Fair father, I ask of you, what operation is most fruitful to obtain salvation in living such a life as you lead in the desert?\" The which answered to him, \"It is to blame yourself incessantly, and by humility to esteem yourself unworthy ever to have done any meritorious work.\" The said Theophilus answered, \"There is no more healthful way than that which you have said, for he who\"humble himself and makes himself / he shall be enriched by God. And he who enriches himself / shall be made humble. The abbot, in great silence and reverence, took the vessels to drink, but, according to custom, he did not say this to one another as they took them, lest one displease the other. Considering the aforementioned Abbot Theodore, the ancient fathers bore witness that after this he was made dean in Sychye, but he would not receive the order of priesthood. He fled to one place and then to another. But despite this, the brethren brought him back again and again, saying to him, \"Abbot Theodore, do not reject the dignity that you have begun to receive. Then he prayed them to give him time to pray to God, to show him pleasure if it were his will.\"And there came a pillar of fire touching the earth and heaven by its greatness. After he heard a voice saying, \"Theodore, if you are willing, go without hesitation and receive the office that your brethren will give you.\" By the pillar enkindled might be understood charity, that is, very love and diligence that one ought to have towards God and neighbor. By that which it touches the earth, is signified very humility. And by that which the said pillar touched heaven, we may note the heart burning upwards to God by contemplation when he had seen this vision, he protested never to receive the said dignity, which they would have made him take.\n\nAfter he returned to the church with the Religious, who had prayed him at least to accept the office and charge to administer the holy sacraments to them, and that it would please him to hold the chalice.whith thou refusest to do / considering myself unworthy of such dignity, in protesting, if they did not depart from me to make such requests, I would never again abide or dwell with them. When they had heard my answer, they spoke no more to me, for I would not depart from them against my will.\n\nThe abbot John the Little said in regard to humility, \"The gate through which we enter into ourselves is humility.\" And by many shameful and joyful sufferings that ancient fathers have endured, the kingdom of heaven is given to them.\n\nYet again he said that humility, which is the root of all goods and fear of God is the beginning of all good science, exceeding all other virtues. And therefore, the Abbot Johan Thebeyen said, \"Religious persons above all things ought to have humility. For it is the first commandment of our Savior Jesus Christ, who says to all Christian men, 'My children, learn from me, for I am meek.'\"The holy fathers of Sychye, gathered in a chapter or congregation, treated a question of Melchisedech the priest, mentioned in holy scripture. In the course of discussing this matter, they recalled an holy abbot named Copres, renowned among them. He had not been summoned by them, and they then sent for him. As he arrived, they asked him for his opinion on the proposed question. Copres, in response, struck his mouth and said, \"Copres, that which God commands you to do, you have left. And that which He forbids, you seek through argumentation.\" When the brethren heard these words, they all returned to their cells, for by this he gave them to understand that none should presume to inquire far beyond necessity.works of God / true science is to know oneself and to do what one ought to do / without interfering with the faith of others.\n\nIt is found in the writings of the holy Abbot Macarius, dwelling in the deserts of Syria. On one occasion, as he was returning from a visit to a Marian shrine and bearing palms on his neck, a devil appeared to him in the likeness of a man bearing a scythe to cut off otters, and wished to strike him with it; but he could not, because God our Maker would not allow it.\n\nThen the devil said to him, \"Macarius, I have great passions which I cannot overcome, for all that you do. I also fast every day, and you wake and I sleep never, but nevertheless you surmise something about me.\"\n\nThen Abbot Macarius asked him what it was. And he answered that it was his humility, which kept him from having any power, authority, or dominion over him.\n\nSome holy fathers relate about Abbot Moses, that after this he was made a priest.cladhimwiththetunickepriestswereaccustomedto,thenArchebishop saidtohim,beholdMoses,bytheorderofpriesthoodthouartmadewhite.Andhe saidthisbecausehewascladwithwhite.Thenobleabbotansweredhimhumbly,Mylord,thiswhitenessorcleannessisitoutsideorinside.TheArchebishop,totesthishumility,commandedhisservantsthatwhenheofferedhimselftothealtarfortosacrifice,theyshouldcasthimoutofthechurchwhentheydidso,sayingtohim,GooutofthetempleEthopyen,asiftosay,oldevilonefullofwickedness.Tothesewordsandinjuriesheanswerednotoneword,butspeakingtohimselfhe said,Theyhavewelldonefoolishness.Forthouthatartnotamanoughtestnottorepute thyselfworthytodomineovermenundertheshadows toexercisesuchanoffice.\n\nTheholyabbott Pastor.In a congregation of religious men, they spoke of a holy father named Nestorian. Since the said Nestorian was of great name and stature, the said pastor requested that his abbot send him. However, the abbot hesitated to do so, as he did not wish to send him alone. It happened at one time that the dispenser of his convent wished to visit the abbot pastor to alleviate some scruples of his conscience. Nestorian then asked the abbot for permission to go and visit the abbot pastor. The abbot granted him leave, and gave the dispenser explicit instructions to bring Nestorian back with him. The two of them set out to comply with the command given to them and came to the cell of the said pastor. The dispenser first declared the secrets of his conscience to him, from which he was greatly comforted and rejoiced by the good exhortations.And the pastor made these admonitions to him for his help. After these words, he turned his words to the said Nestorian and asked and demanded of him how he had gained such great prudence. For his custom was such in his monastery, that if any among them were in discord or hate, he intervened not, and let them do as they seemed good, if anyone spoke harmful words to him, he answered nothing in return. His humility was so great that he took all things in good part and regarded all his brethren as wiser and more discreet than himself.\n\nThe said Nestorian answered the said pastor in this manner. My father, forgive me if it pleases you. I am nothing virtuous as you say. But I will tell you when I entered into this state of Religion. I said to myself that I would be seemingly and like a beast, which is called an ass, the which when it is beaten says not a word. If anyone does wrong to him or reproves him, he holds his peace and says not a word.And this rule approved David in his psalm when he says, in speaking to our Lord God, \"My redeemer I have been as a beast towards the one who says, that is, patient in all adversity. For to obtain good and very humbly, the abbot Pastor said, like one who is or will be very humble and have perfect fear of God our blessed maker, ought always without ceasing to signify. That is, to lift up his heart on high to heavenly things, like the air that the nose breathes in and exhales out incessantly. And to this purpose he said to them who asked him, a man ought to hold himself in the place where he dwells or babysits, that in all places he will have peace, ought to regard them as strangers who enter not soon to gain audience with it which they have seen done or said. Likewise, none ought to desire to have audience in his words above others, for he who wills that one should hear him always without ceasing is often reported as a fool.Among other things, yet he said that he who wants strong armor for his soul against his adversary, the devil, he ought never to be proud, nor presume himself, or esteem himself of any valor. And with that, he ought to set and put all his affection and thought behind his back, that is, to be very obedient to all the operations and commands of his prelates and superiors.\nFurthermore, he said that none ought to believe firmly in their own opinion, but ought to use the counsel and teaching of those who are of holy conversation and good manners. And a brother asked Abbot Alonius and demanded from him what it was about contentment.\nThen he said that it was among beasts unreasonable, as those who are in desert and have renounced all worldly honor. And to this purpose, he called the virtue of humility. On earth, in which God our Savior will make and accomplish that sacrifice.\nAlso, according to his doctrine and teaching, he who exceeds not his.The abbot Joseph was once with Abbot Pastor, and in speaking to each other about one named Agathon, Pastor referred to him as \"father.\" This was a name of honor and antiquity. Joseph asked Pastor why he had been called father, since he was still quite young. Pastor replied that Agathon's tongue and prudence in language had earned him the name father, not his age. Therefore, Pastor never disagreed with an holy father by words, but enhanced and prayed over all their words.\n\nWhen Theophyle, bishop of Alexandria, came from the said place of Alexandria into the deserts of Syria, the religious gathered to speak to him were assembled, and prayed to Abbot Pambo that he would make a prediction at Theophyle's coming to comfort him in hope. Pambo answered, \"If he is not well prepared.\"with my silence, he shall be less by my words.\nA brother named Pystus and seven other brethren, hermits, visited Abbot Sysoy dwelling in the island called Clysmatos. They prayed to him that he would give them some advice by which they might improve and get their health. To whom he answered, \"My brothers, forgive me if it pleases you. I am but a simple man and an idiot, and without understanding. But I will recover to you what I have seen in two holy fathers. One was named Abbot Or, the other Abbot Atrem, whom I have visited for a long time to know their counsel. I prayed them in the same way as you have prayed me, that they would give me some doctrine for my health, to which you said Abbot answered, 'Brother, do as you see us do here. Other than this, I cannot say.'\"\n\nReproach. Here you will know my father Atrem, who does more than this\nby the means of God's grace.A certain man brought a fish to eat, which Abbot Atrem wanted to prepare for their dinner. As he put the knife in the fish to divide and cut it, Abbot Or began to cry out \"Atrem, Atrem.\" Inconveniently, Abbot Atrem left the knife in the fish without drawing it out to divide the fish. Abbot Or then ran to Abbot Atrem without saying that he should wait until he had appointed the fish.\n\nAbbot Sysoy asked Abbot Atrem how he had obtained such great obedience. He answered that it was due to the merits of Abbot Or, and then he knew his obedience. The fish was not roasted yet.appointed as it was appropriate. Nevertheless, the said Atrem would have done it gladly to those / who the said Sysoy should know his obedience, when they came to dine. The said Atrem delivered first a part of the said fish, but only half sodden; which the said holy father Or ate in praise of it as rightly appointed. After he presented of the said fish to him another part, which was not but half sodden, saying, \"Father, forgive me, for this piece has been badly sodden and appointed by me.\"\n\nThe holy father Or answered, \"My brother, I believe that you have done the best that you could do within your power, and therefore it is pleasing to me.\"\n\nWhen this was done, the said Atrem spoke to the said Sysoy, saying these words: \"My brother and friend, you see well that the obedience that is in me proceeds from this good abbot Or, who is so humble and obedient that I am compelled to see and follow his manners and conditions.\"\n\nAfter this, the said Sysoy departed happily.I am pleased and reassured, and I rejoiced within myself at what I had seen in the two holy fathers. Therefore, Sysoy said to one of the brethren who was with Pystus when he asked him, \"Brother, show us a sign and example of charity towards us, and give us some doctrine.\" My friend, who has an abundance of virtues, and who humbly excels all others, compares himself to the entire holy scripture.\n\nAnother brother asked and demanded of him what was of great pilgrimage. To whom he answered, \"That is to keep oneself still. And in whatever place that one is, to blame nothing, but all to praise, without any desire for any worldly thing that it were.\"\n\nAn hermit once visited Abbot Sysoy in a place named the mountain of St. Anthony. To whom the said brother said these words. \"Fair father, it is a long time since you have been here. I suppose and believe certainly that you have not yet obtained the noble virtues that had the holy father Anthony.\"answered to him, \"Alas, my brother and my friend, what do you say if I had even a spark of his charity that was in him, I would be all in a fire. Notwithstanding, I did not know or meet a man so perfect that could endure the penances which the good and holy Abbot Saint Anthony suffered. After he asked if in times past the devils tempted the religious people as they did then, the said Sysoy answered that the devil tempted more strongly in that time than he had done in the past. For since the end of the world approaches, he enforces it all the more to make the poor souls fall into the horrible pains of hell. Other brothers went towards the said Sysoy to receive his teaching, but he said nothing to them, but my brothers, forgive me as I would say. I am not worthy or sufficient to proffer holy words from my mouth. And since they saw in his cell many hosts, they asked of his disciple Abraham what he did.with them. The disciple answered that he had sent some that day to one house, and tomorrow to another. The holy father, hearing this, said to them, \"My brothers. Sysoy eats here and there not because he is a beggar here and there in various houses, but because he makes hottes and pans to serve them with what they have to do. Because of his humility, the brothers were comforted and joyfully returned to the place from where\n\nTo the said holy father, a brother spoke these words. I know, father, that my mind is directly set to God. To whom he answered, \"That is no great thing if your soul is addressed to God through contemplation. But it is a greater thing if you see yourself, in regarding the lowest of all creatures with true humility, and for that, you must make your body lean, and in doing so, you will get lightly humility, by which you will know yourself.\"\n\nAnd to this purpose, the devout Saint Syncletica said, like as it is impossible to make a ship without diverse points.In like manner, it is impossible to be saved without humility. In the same way, the holy abbot Ypericus said, \"The tree of life is in heaven above, which the humility of a monk causes to grow even further. Yet he also said that we ought to convert all proud enticements we might encounter into the sea, that is, into the tears of true contrition and penance.\n\nFor the sake of giving counsel to avoid and resist our evil temptations, Abbot Orsyus made such a comparison: like a cycle or a break put in ashes, if it is not well baked, it will never make good foundation in a wall, set in a watery place, or other. In the same way, a man living in this world will never be well established unless he takes on the burden and charge of obedience. And as soon as they have entered and the devil has given them assault, it would please him to show what perfection other than he had, it might be necessary for them. Then he heard by revelation that by his hermitage was an unspecified thing.herdemen / yt whiche sholde cou\u0304\u00a6seyll hy\u0304 whiche he had to do / that done\nthe angell went to the sayd herdeman & sayd to hym how the sayd hermyte sholde come to hy\u0304 for to haue cou\u0304seyll of his helth. And whan he sholde be co\u00a6me yt he sholde delyuer to hy\u0304 a fouet & his hogges to kepe. All this dyde the goodnes of god for to humble the sayd hermyte. It happed that the sayd her\u2223myte went to the sayd herdeman / lyke as it was shewed to hym / to whom the herdeman anone asked hym fyrste / yf he wolde do all that he sholde co\u0304mau\u0304\u2223de hym / & he answered / ye / the\u0304ne he de\u2223lyuered to hym a fouet & his hogges to kepe. The sayd hermyte folowyng his promysse / dyde all that the herdeman co\u0304mau\u0304ded hym / & kepte his hogges a longe tyme. Many sayd of hy\u0304 that he was become a fooll / or that he had the deuyll in his bodye. God consyderyng his humylyte called hym ayen in spery\u00a6te. And he retourned in to his hermy\u2223tage.\n\u00b6An other monke solytary & moche humble was smeten in the Iowe by a demonyake / that is to saye that heA man vexed by a devil. The same monster, keeping the courtesies of Jesus Christ, promised to strike again. Then the devil, who could not endure the place of humility because he is prince of pride, left the man and sprang out of his body.\n\nAn old father said that those who are humble and desire to observe their humility, when tempted with elations and ambitious pride, primarily those who believe themselves to be devout and fight in virtues, ought not to be inconsequential in thinking about their conscience and consider:\n\nhave they kept the commandments of God?\nhave they loved or hated their enemies?\nare they angry for their well-being and promotions?\nand do they rejoice in their tribulations?\n\nIn like manner, another holy father said that a man should never consider himself more sober, more continent, or wiser than another.other, but always presenting myself as a subject and simple servant of God, in need of His grace, and doing this with true humility, without arrogance or self-importance. By this means one can avoid wasting the fruit of one's labor, for one should shun arrogance or estimation of one's merits, and turn all to God. This rule is the principal one among people of the faith. \u00b6Another holy father said, \"The more a man's virtue is praised, the more he ought to humble himself.\" Many people have been saved who have not been honored in this world, while others who have been established in honor and worldly favor have not been. \u00b6A brother asked an holy father if it was necessary to be in continuous contemplation and penance. To whom he answered, \"Yes, and he gave him an example of Jesus, the son of Naue. Being in contemplation and prayer, he lay upon the earth, and not when he was out of it that God appeared to him.\"A man asked an holy father from whence came it that he was so often troubled by devils. He answered that it was because he had lost his spiritual armor: humility, patience, power, and endurance. The enemy takes him more quickly when he finds him unarmed than when he keeps him armed.\n\nAnother brother asked an holy father if a man came to him for comfort or consolation in his temptations, or asked counsel to resist his sins, whether he should refuse it to him. He should either go away to recover his vices and sins, or keep him from such operations.\n\nThe holy father first answered that he should not refuse to listen to his propositions. Secondly, he should not rebuke him by such means that if in the future he himself fell into such temptations.He was worthy of great reverence because he did not do as he had counseled. It would be good to be still and say nothing. Through silence, he would show a good example enough to correct himself of the sins he had committed.\n\nA holy man, in response to one who asked him what humility is, said, \"Humility is to forgive and pardon our enemies the wrongs and injuries they have done to us before they ask for forgiveness.\"\n\nAnother holy father said, \"I have never wished or desired to be more strict or less, but I have been all my life devoted to prayer and supplication. Until it pleased God to call me into His Kingdom in departing by death, the soul out of my body.\"\n\nAnother said, \"None should blame or reprove him who does wrong to us, but only say, 'For his sins, God sends him this tribulation.' And an holy father said, 'True humility is to do good to them who do evil to us.' When one of them...\"A pilgrim, asked how he might attain such virtue, replied that in keeping his tongue and leaving the world.\n\nAnother good example to show the form of humility. A pilgrim once found himself in a monastery where a great number of religious men were, who after the service was done and his orisons accomplished, followed the brethren of the said monastery and sat himself down at their table, as if he were one of them, a Religious man. The brethren were much abashed by the pilgrim's boldness. And because it was not their custom to receive Strangers, they hated or chased him out of their convent. The same pilgrim meekly went his way without angering himself or complaining. After the said brethren had remorse of conscience and were sorry and displeased that they had put him out of their company without giving him his reception, they called him back again. And when he had come back, they asked him what he thought.A man, having been driven out by them and then called back, replied that his only thought was that he had been considered honorable, like a hound. When threatened and menaced, he fled, but when called back, he returned. He urged them to understand, through his words, that all who desire true humility and the ability to suffer without complaint should act in the same way.\n\nSome brothers of Thebes brought a demon to a holy father, requesting that he deliver the man from the devil's possession through prayer. The father, complying with their request, addressed the devil, saying it should leave the man's body. The devil replied, \"I will go, but first tell me which men in scripture are considered evil spirits, and which are like lambs.\" The holy father, knowing that evil spirits are symbolized by the lecherous and the holy by lambs, answered accordingly.The devout persons were filled with humility. They answered him that the ghosts were such people as he was himself / but the lambs, to say the good, God only knows them. The devil, by his answer, was moved by humility / and the holy father, who regarded himself as a great sinner, was compelled to leave the body of the said demoniac, saying that he could no longer endure the presence of a man so full of great humility.\n\nThe holy fathers said that we are tempted with pride or vain glory, for which we ought to humble ourselves. For God, knowing our frailty, succors us incessantly by grace / but when we take pride, intending to resist it of ourselves / he suffers us to fall into diverse manners of wickedness and tribulations in spirit.\n\nThe devil appeared to an hermit in the form of an angel. And when the hermit saw him, he immediately closed his eyes so that in no way he would see him. Then the devil asked why he closed his eyes / saying that he was sent from heaven.A hermit spoke to me, consoling him. The hermit humbly replied with these words: Thou who claimest to be an angel, take heed whom thou speakest to. I believe that if thou art an angel of God, thou oughtest not to address me but to another. The devil, seeing his humility and wisdom, departed then. It is first necessary to test the spirits, that is, to determine if they are from God or not, before giving faith to their words. And the holy fathers have said that in all apparitions, yet when they are from God, every person ought to humble himself in saying so. Alas, my God, I, a poor sinner, am not worthy to be visited by thy angel in this corruptible world.\n\nAn old father, when the devil appeared to him making various assaults, which he endured patiently, suffering their temptations. One of the said devils, seeing himself overcome, appeared to him in the form of our savior, saying: Fair father, open thy eyes for I am...I am Ihesu Christ. To whom I answered humbly: \"I will not see Ihesu Christ in this world, for I am not worthy. I shall see Him in that other world.\" And with His answer, the devil vanished. Likewise, the devil answered another holy father to whom they demanded if he would see Ihesu Christ: \"Go where it is given you to be. Have I not my God who commands me: 'Thou man, sinner, if any come to thee and say, \"Here or there is Ihesu Christ,\" give them no consent nor answer to their words. They are all illusions and deceptions.'\" A brother hermit, to have relief from a doubt he had about the holy scripture, fasted for seventy weeks and ate only once a week. After the said time, seeing that God had made no revelation to him, he departed from his chamber and intended to go ask his brother for the solution to his question. God, knowing his humility and constancy, sent to him an angel.The angel told him, \"Brother, I note to you that the fasting you have made has not made it so agreeable to God. You pretend to know the difficulty, but by your merits, you intend to coerce God into showing it to others. However, since you have humbled yourself and are willing to ask of your fellow, I am sent by God to convey the same to you. He then revealed it to him, and after the angel departed from him, it is apparent that without humility we cannot obtain any grace from God, no matter what penance we do.\n\nAnother doctrine concerning people in a state of dignity. The same holy fathers witnessed that every man having dominion and preeminence over others, if he commands a thing to his subjects, it shall be obeyed, as long as it is done humbly and for God's honor. But if he commands them arrogantly, as if he deems himself worthy to be obeyed without considering that it is for God's honor.A father said that a lord should not be obeyed without humility and fear of God. This is known when any operations are to be done, whether they are done in charity and by good people or evil. Therefore, a father said, \"I would rather be overcome in meekness than conquer through pride.\" Another said that one should not despise one's servant with whom one is, for none knows whether he has the spirit of God, whether we have it who despise him.\n\nAn hermit asked an holy father if he should reprove any of his brethren if he saw them doing evil and deadly sins. The holy father answered him that if he was older in the company, he ought to rebuke him. By this means, he would have peace. Since he holds himself less than others, there is less envy, and he is more secure in his conscience. The brother replied, \"I cannot bear the distress of seeing my brother sin.\"Who should say nature constrains him to reprove him. The holy father answered him that he might well reprove and correct him brotherly without more. And if by adventure his spirit could not be appeased, he should return to God by devout orisons which should comfort him. Furthermore, he said that the very servant of God ought always to leave his will and to remit himself to God in observing continually silence, which is true humility. And to this purpose he asked an hermit from an holy father what was the fruit of a man mortal in which he ought to merit and make amends. To whom he answered that it was humility. For of so much is he the more enhanced in perception. And therefore an holy father said that when a man asked pardon and forgiveness of an other for the evil he has done to him, if he does it with humility, the devils which have tempted him to do the evil incontenently depart from him. An holy father, to teach men to shun vain glory, said:A parable: He who makes oil cannot cover the eyes of the horse turning the mill; he would not go but should tarry to do his work. Likewise, a penitent man should not contemplate his virtuous actions, lest he praise himself and become proud, thereby losing his labor and merit. In certain days, the holy fathers withdrew to remember all their foul thoughts, to conceal the virtuous works they had made. Therefore, every man who humbles himself shall never be damned if he obtains the mercy of our redeemer.\n\nAn holy father desired more to be taught than to teach, regarding himself as ignorant and simple. The same holy father said that no one ought to teach or preach unless he had age, manners, and knowledge. Otherwise, he should not.A brother asked an holy father what humility was. He answered that it was a gift of God, had in doing penance bodily, in regarding himself as a sinner, and in subjecting himself to all whom he conversed with. Then he asked and inquired of him what it was to be subject to men. He answered that it was to take heed to one's own sins and not to know the sins of one's neighbor, and to pray continually that God give mercy to sinners. Another asked an holy father to say one word to him how he might be saved. He answered that if he could endure all wrongs done to him, it was a virtue above all others, by which he might gain his health. And for this reason, an holy father advised his disciple that he should not frequent people constituted in dignity, for often in following them one desires to be a lord as they are.Being in a convent, he, who in all vices and sins he said he was, declared himself to be a sinner. And although he did not make as many mats or handle works as his brethren, they began to murmur against him, knowing the abbot and the virtues of the brother. He said to all the Religious: \"Children know that I love one only mat with the humility of your brother upon whom you murmur, rather than all yours made in pride which overcomes you. A brother asked an holy father how it was possible for a man to presume in himself to have so much merit towards God, to say that he had seen the face of an angel. The holy father answered him that he was happy because he saw his sins clearly. As if one were to say that it is not possible for a man to see the faces of angels.\n\nA religious brother, knowing that one of his brothers was angry with him and desiring to appease him, went to his cell and knocked at the door. But he would not open it.\n\nThen he who wished to...You have appeased him / went to an holy father / and told him the cause, charging your brother not to open his door. The which answered, \"Brother, keep yourself from blaming your brother. For that is not the way of humility. And because you have not proceeded by that way, God has not allowed your fellow to open his door. Nevertheless, you must consider if he has sinned against you in anger, that at other times you have also sinned. Therefore, justify your brother and accuse yourself, if you do so; and God will give courage to reconcile himself with you. And in order to comfort you further, the holy father related to him this example following. Two secular men of honest life, entering into religion and intending to do a work of great merit, held themselves quit of their genitors. This considering, the Archbishop cursed them. When they knew it, they were moved.Greet courage/murmured again against the said Archbishop/in saying that to abstain from sin more lightly, they had done it. And so, by that means, they could come to the kingdom of heaven. As men being out of reason, they went to complain to the Archbishop of Jerusalem. To him they recounted all their causes like what had happened/which in like wise cursed them. Therefore, more angry than before, they went in like wise to the Archbishop of Antioch, supposing to have obtained some succor. But as the other, he cast the sentence upon them. Finally, they concluded to go to Rome. And after they were arrived, they recounted to the pope all the sentences that had been cast upon them/and for that cause they came to him as sovereign and head of all holy church for to have their absolution. The pope heard their request, cursed them, and pronounced them excommunicated by his sentence, from all the prayers of the holy church, of which they were more melancholy than before.They murmured against him and all other prelates with whom they had been saying that they were acceptors of persons and not without cause they made congregations to conclude matters that might come before them. Thus they did not know what to do but go to a holy man, Bishop Epyphanius of Cyprus, who had the gift of prophecy. And as they approached the city where the said bishop was, he knew by revelation of their coming and the cause why they came. He sent them a message charging them not to be so bold to enter within his city. When they heard these tidings, they thought in themselves that their coming had been revealed to the said holy bishop, and that they had great wrong-doing in blaming the bishop who had first excommunicated and cursed them. Then they regarded themselves worthy of great punishment, saying that marvelously they had offended their maker.Humility made a reconciliation to the said Epyphanius, stating that they were disposed to do penance. He sent to seek them out and received them graciously into his house. After he had reassured them by the pope and restored them to the holy sacraments of the church, he wrote to the bishop of Alexandria on their behalf in this manner:\n\nFather receive these two children, for in truth they have done penance for the sin that they have committed against God and his law as much as against me.\n\nThe holy father, after he had recounted this history, said to the aforementioned Reygius brother: \"My son, this is what you must do if you wish to regain your health. For God wills that a man, after he has sinned, return to him through penance.\n\nWhen the said brother had heard all this that the holy father had told him, he returned and resolved to do the same and knocked at the door of his fellow, who immediately opened it to him and embraced each other with affectionate peace.concorde whiche they hadde to gydre.\n\u00b6Two monkes brethern germayne lyueden to gydre in charyte and vny\u2223on a longe tyme / the whiche the deuyll enemye of peas supposed to haue de\u2223parted theym to thende that they shol\u00a6de nomore dwelle to gydre. Soo it hap\u00a6ped on an euentyde / that the yonger lyghted a candell / and sette it vpon the candelstycke / and after he began to do his werke. The deuyll anone ouerthre\u00a6we the sayd candel. That seeyng that other / the whiche was older / & wenyn\u2223ge that it hadde be defaulte of his bro\u00a6ther / bete hym strongly in grete angre and meouyng of corage. The yonge brother cryed softly. Alas my broder I praye you forgyue it me / & I shall goo lyght it agayne. The deuyll sawe that the yonger brother was not angry / but pacyente and in grete humylyte hadde endured the correccyon of his brother / As wood & tourmented by the power of god wente and recounted this to the prynce of deuylles / how a yong monke by his humylyte hadde putte hym out of the hermytage. \u00b6The preest of the ydolesHerying that Forsoke Incontenance forsook his idolatry and yielded himself to be Religious. And after his conversion was so happy to keep humility, saying that humility chases the power of the devils, in like wise as they had witnessed speaking one to another. Furthermore said the same priest that before his conversion, he had heard the devils complaining to each other, saying that when a monk fell into deadly sin, some of them did penance for him. Wherefore all their power was nothing, in such a way that they might not grieve or annoy the said Religious persons.\n\nFor to learn and know how we might have the virtue of patience. Every person that will read this present treatise, note in his heart, and also retain the examples and dictates of holy fathers hereafter declared. Which are of more value and profit. For they teach devotion, and also to have strength and patience against adversity.\n\nOn a certain occasion was made a congregation.Among many religious houses, there was an holy father called Euagrius, who among the brethren proposed his opinion on the matter, of which the question was. The sovereign abbot of the said congregation said, \"Father Abbot, we know well that if you were in your country, you should be a bishop or chief of many religious houses. And now, as a pilgrim and stranger, you sit with us. The good, devout man Euagrius remained silent, moving not himself, but in spirit. Brothers, it is as you say.\n\nOnce, Abbot John the Little was sitting before the gate of his church, and many brethren sat with him. And of diverse thought and scrupulous considerations, they asked him, to whom, by the help of God, he gave such a good answer that they all were comforted. Seeing an old father moved by envy, he spoke these words: \"Father John, your spirit is full of venom.\" To whom he answered, \"My father, you speak the truth, but if you saw what was in my heart.\" I never knew what.You shall speak / when you see only what appears without. And thus in response to the injury inflicted upon him, he answered patiently.\nOf the great patience of Abbot Isidore dwelling in Syria, witnesses testified to the holy fathers. When an old father had a disciple who was frail or injurious, and he wished to cast him out, Abbot Isidore prayed that he would give him to him, for all of them he would make virtuous through his patience.\nOf lesser patience was not Holy Father Macharius. When he found a thief in his cell, who charged or loaded upon his horse or other beast all his goods, he would help the thief to load his horse, as if he were his companion. And in doing so, he said such words as follow. When we came into this world, we had nothing. God gives all. And as he wills, so let it be done, and may he be praised in all things, whether they are contrary or profitable.\nIn like manner, Abbot Moses, along with many others, was in a congregation made in Syria. In this congregation, some brothers for:To prove his patience, he said to him these words: \"Come here, Ethiopian, as black as you are, who have dared to presume to come with us. To these words he made no answer. After they asked him, the ones who had injured him, if he was angry. To whom he replied that he had been troubled in his heart, but that, patiently enduring, he refrained from speaking.\nPaisius, the brother of the holy father Pastor, had familial ties with some brothers, of whom you say Pastor was displeased. And to correct him, he went to make a complaint to Abbot Ammonas, saying that he could no longer endure such things.\nAbbot Ammonas answered him, \"Give him matter for patience, Pastor. You still have good life and strength. Go, go into your cell, and consider that you are near the point of being laid in your grave or dying.\" And with this, the said Pastor concluded that all labor and adversityWhich comes to us is light to bear, so that we have silence and peace in our hearts without grumbling.\n\nThere was an hermit, a brother, who was hurt by another. And to avenge himself, he complained to Abbot Sysoy, saying that if he would not do right to him and reason, he himself would avenge it. The holy man Sysoy prayed to him affectingly that he should do nothing to him that had hurt him, nor do any displeasure to him, but leave vengeance to God. The brother, full of malice, persisted in his evil will, protesting always to avenge himself. Abbot Sysoy, seeing his obstinacy, prayed him first to make his orison and prayer to God, and after accomplishing his will, he was content with this request. And so they both prayed to our Lord together. Abbot Sysoy said, \"God is not much necessary to evil people, for He will avenge them of their wrongs done by them.\" The hermit, hearing this, changed his will and fell down before Abbot Sysoy in promising that he would.A brother would not displease him who had hurt him. Another brother, seeing his fellow bringing a dead man to the earth, prayed him to live with him, that is, to endure whatever living men might say or do to him, and in doing so, he would be reconciled to them. A brother, who frequently visited and honored all those who did him refusal and wrongs, and by this he restrained their anger. In like manner, it often happens that they, who correct by wrongs, acquire good manners through such wrongs. For it is written, \"They that bless and praise you beguile your souls.\"\n\nCertain thieves once entered the cell of a holy old father and said to him, \"Father, we will have all that is here within.\" To whom he answered, \"Take away all that seems good to you.\" And so they took away all that was in his cell, save a little sacrifice which lay in a corner. And when they had taken it, they went away.The holy father found them and ran after them, bearing the said sacrake and saying, \"My children, you have forsaken this sacrake. Take it with you to the dead, that you may have all. The thieves mercilessly dealt with them for his great patience, and returned all to him again. They were penitent afterwards, each to other. Truly, this holy father is the servant of God, full of the virtue of patience.\n\nThe holy father's witnesses saw that a hermit had with him a young disciple filled with every evil will.\n\nAt one time, among other things, the holy man reproved him for his sin, saying to him, \"My son, do not that.\" Despite this, the same disciple did not amend himself, and the hermit, seeing that he was persistent and obstinate, ceased to correct him. Instead, he concluded in himself to endure him and suffer him to do what seemed good to him. Afterward, he did even worse, for he shut and sealed the cell of the said hermit. In which cell there were only three loves, and he suffered him to fast for three days.Hermit said nothing and did nothing to him. This knowing an other hermit, his next neighbor, made potage for him and delivered it to him through a hole in the wall of his cell, and asked him why his disciple was so long or why he came, he answered without any anger that when it pleased him, he should come again.\n\nMany philosophers being together in a place passed by them a Religious man, honestly clothed according to his state. The philosophers desiring to test the patience of the religious man called him and said to him, \"Come and speak to us,\" and so he did.\n\nAfter this, another great monk and of low condition passed by. To him the philosophers said, \"Foolish and evil monk come and speak with us,\" inconveniently he went to them. And immediately as he was coming, one gave him a buffet on the cheek. After which buffet, received by him who was armed with patience, he presented to them the other cheek, after the counsel of Jesus Christ, when they knew his patience, they prayed.A monk sat among them, saying, \"Indeed, this is a very monk. They asked how much more penance we do in the desert than those in the world. For they said, 'If you fast, so do we. If you chastise your body, so do we. Then what do you more than we?' The monk answered, \"We live in hope and keep silence and our thoughts from evil.\" The Pharisee, hearing this last answer, praised them, saying it was a hard thing for those in the world to do.\n\nA holy father had a disciple of great patience. At one time, due to his anger, he expelled him from his house.\n\nThe good disciple was not proud, but yielded humbly and patiently remained at the door of his fair father. When the father opened the door, the disciple immediately fell down on his knees, asking for forgiveness.\n\nThe holy father was greatly amazed by his patience and said to him, \"My son\"From the text: \"from henceforth thou shalt be my father, for by thy humility and patience, thou hast overcome my proud Yankee. Enter and go in as my son; thou shalt be held and reputed as my father. And I, who am old, shall be thy young disciple, that is to say, I am younger than thou in virtues. For by thy great patience constantly suffered, thou hast put down my feeble age. And to this purpose, recall some holy fathers who nourished young religious men, now elderly, because of their evil governance. And principally we find an old hermit who made not in a day and night but one meal, which he sold immediately and drank the money he had received. It happened that a young brother lodged with him, who also made a meal every day, which in like manner the same old man sold with his, and employed the money they had received for wine, and after drank it without bringing any of it to his disciple, save only a little bread which he brought to him.\"This life lasted the old father for three years without any grumbling from the young man or any evil words. Considering that he was naked and ate only bread, hardly enough, he planned to leave and go to another hermitage. But on the other hand, he considered that he ought to endure it for the love of God. And since he was a hermit for no other reason but to do penance, he decided not to leave his hermitage.\n\nAnd immediately an angel appeared to him, saying, \"Brother, do not depart; for tomorrow we shall come to thee.\" This apparition brought great joy to the young disciple. And after he had prayed to his father for permission, the hour came that the said hermit was accustomed to go and sell his mats. He said to his disciple, \"My son, I will go to sell our mats. For they are for...\"thou hast seen that it is now late; the disciple answered, \"My father knows for truth that they shall come.\" And in saying those words, he remembered and yielded up his spirit. Then the old father began to cry, \"Alas, alas; a long time I have lived in this desert in great need of my health, and you, virtuous child, by the patience you have had of me in a little time, have taken assault the kingdom of heaven. And from then on, the old hermit became much sorrowful and lived more holy than he had been accustomed.\n\nA great patience and marvelous suffering woman named Thays lived, who was of such great beauty adorned that for her pleasant maintenance and swore to regard many young, fresh, and lecherous persons sold their rents and revenues to entertain and accompany the said Thays. And in this way, they came to shameful poverty and beggary. And that was worse, detestable, and more dangerous because many\n\n(Note: The text appears to be incomplete and may require additional context to fully understand.)The holy father Abbot Paphnute discovered her poor and miserable life and wished to withdraw the said Theas from her evil life. He dressed himself in secular attire and took money to go to the house of the said Theas, who were dwelling in a city in Egypt at the time. Saint Theodore found her in her house. After selling her, he presented and offered her a shroud as a reward for her sin which he had intended to commit with her. Theas, who received the shroud from all hands, ordered the good man to enter her chamber. There was a richly adorned bed and a precious covering on which she lay, bidding him come and do his lechery. But he, desiring something other than to commit the dishonest sin, by a manner of fear, asked her if there was a more secret place within there that she would lead him to.Then she replied that her chamber was secret enough, and no person should see them there. But she said that there is no place so secret in the world that anything can be hidden from God, who knows and sees all things. The holy father hearing this answer said to her, \"My friend, you know well that there is a God. You say so yourself. And I believe in the general resurrection, and after the same we shall have the kingdom of heaven if we do the works required to get there. Furthermore, I believe that there is hell, in which the miserable damned souls will be tormented for the perpetual vengeance of their sins.\" The holy father Paphnutius hearing these words said to her, \"Now, my friend, I ask you this: why are you so bold to live so recklessly, and to be the cause of the perdition and loss of so many miserable souls, who are lost and damned through your occasion?\"whom thou must relate to forego God. Hearing the holy father and his marvelous reproof, she was touched to the heart at the hour, and fell down on her knees before him, saying, \"Father, I hope that by great penance and the means of your holy prayers, I may obtain forgiveness for my great and foul stinking sins. And therefore I request that it please you to grant me the space of three hours. And during this time I shall accomplish all that you will command me, which request the holy Papnace granted to her. And she assigned to her a place to which she promised to come and yield herself to him. And immediately, she took all the goods she had acquired through her lechery and bore them into the midst of the city, and there she threw them into a great fire which she had kindled to burn. And in doing so, she said, \"Come hither, you dishonest lecherous people who have shamefully sinned with me, and see how I dispose of that which you have given to me.\"And she said those words, burning all that she had of value, which amounted to about forty pounds of gold according to the history. Then she went to the assigned place, where her father remained. From there, he led her into a monastery of virgins, where he enclosed her in a small, narrow cell. He closed the door, as he should never have opened it, and made a small window low by the ground, through which she could receive only a little bread and water. With this, she had no other sustenance, but was forced to look up at it. When she was shut in and enclosed, she humbly requested the holy father Paphnutius to instruct and teach her the manner in which she should pray to God. To this, he answered that she was not worthy to look upon him, let alone lift her face or hands towards heaven.Comsing many filths and corruptions. And yet said the holy father, \"Thy prayer shall be made in this manner: thou being laid on the earth towards the east shalt say many times, 'My God, which hast formed me, have pity on me.' This good woman did this penance for three years, during which three years passed. The holy father Paphnutius had mercy and pity on her, but yet nevertheless he would not let her out, without having counsel from Abbot Anthony. After the said Paphnutius had recounted the great penance that she had done, he made all his disciples be assembled and put to prayer, to know if her sin was forgiven and pardoned. Hoping that God would show or be shown something, they were in devout and fervent prayers. One of them named Paul, who was one of the principal disciples of Saint Anthony, was suddenly roused, and he thought that he saw in heaven a bed.A virtuous work. Contemplation is right excellent, as that which is inconsistent addresses itself to God. In this present treatise, by the grace of the holy ghost, we shall determine on contemplation, in proceeding, as we have done before. In the first party of this first chapter, the great excellence of contemplation is shown by one example, as follows.\n\nAn holy man came to Abbot Arsenius in Syria, finding him in his cell. And when he was come, he found the door shut. He began to look through the window, and saw the holy father, who was all aflame outside. After he knocked at the door. And anon the holy father sprang up, demanding him if he had been long there at his door, and if he had seen anything. The brother answered that no, and they spoke to each other, and after departed.\n\nThe expositor of this example will say that those who are contemplative are all burning with charity, which makes them burn spiritually.\n\nAbbot Arsenius.One of the holy fathers of Syria said, because he was simple-minded, that he had lived and justified himself well after his power. And the said poor man said in the sacrament of the altar that the very body of Jesus Christ was not contained but only the likeness and representation of Him. This error came to the knowledge of two other old men, who knew that he lived righteously. And the said father answered them in this manner: \"Father, we have heard it said of an unfaithful and unworthy Christian man that the true body of Jesus Christ is not contained in the sacrament of the altar but only his likeness and appearance. To whom the said father answered, \"Alas, father, do not say so. But believe what the holy church believes and as we believe. For in the sacrament of the altar is the very body and blood of our Savior Jesus Christ, and not only his likeness.Then the father answered, \"I do not believe that, but I have seen it with my own eyes. They replied to him, \"Now that you believe thus, father, it is necessary for you to pray to God. And we shall pray as well. This father went joyously into his cell and began to pray to God in this manner: 'Lord almighty, who knows that my opinion is not malicious, I pray that it may please you to show me the truth. And the two other elderly men prayed in the same way, saying, 'Lord, you know that this holy man lives justly and strictly. Therefore, we ask that you reveal to him what he does not know concerning the sacrament of the altar, so that he may not lose the reward of his labor, which is so great.' And the following week they came to the church together. In signing the mass, a little child appeared to them in the place of\"The host stood on the altar, which the priest held. And when the priest was about to divide the host, an angel appeared, holding a knife, and sacrificed the same child to God the Father, and received the blood in the chalice. And when the priest had broken the host into small pieces, afterwards the holy man came to receive the body of our Lord. And as the priest was about to give him the host, it seemed to him that it was a piece of flesh full of blood. Then he began to cry out. I firmly believe, as this hour testifies, that your very body is in this sacrament, and your very blood. And at once the host returned to its first appearance, and he received it devoutly. And after the holy father said to him, \"Fair father, our Lord, knowing that human nature has horror at eating human flesh, has not willed that his body should appear to men in such likenesses but that it should be hidden under the whiteness of bread and the redness of wine.\" They gave praise and thanks for these things.god brought this man out of his error. And so they went into their cells joyfully. \u00b6It is perilous for simple people to speak or dispute about such matters, which pertain only to wise men and letters. Therefore, when reason fails, faith alone suffices. It is then necessary to believe, as the church believes, without inquiring any further.\n\u00b6Thabbot Daniel said that a holy man, much righteous, who dwelt in Egypt fell into an error in saying that Melchisedech was the son of God. Hearing this, Cyrillus, archbishop of Alexandria, sent word to him. Father, I had conceived in my thoughts that Melchisedech was the son of God, but after I have believed otherwise. I pray then that you will pray for me and send word to me so that I may know the truth. Then the holy man prayed to God, and at the end of three days he sent word to the bishop that Melchisedech was a man mortal and not the son of God, saying that he had had a vision.A young child named Ephrem saw in his sleep a vine with such great habit and replenished with fruit that all the birds of heaven ate of it, intending to minish the fruit. But the more they ate, the more it came back. That is, in time to come he will teach all the earth in good and virtuous operations through preaching and holy doctrine.\n\nAnother good, holy man saw in his sleep a legion of angels descending from heaven, who brought a book written within and without. They said it could not be opened, but by the child Ephrem. He seemed to receive it from them.A book before mentioned was opened. In the morning, Effrem began to teach the whole world through prophecy. By this sign, the holy man knew it was by the power of the holy ghost.\n\nAn holy father named John saw three monks on the riverbank of the sea. To them was said, \"Take wings and fly to that party.\" And immediately the two flew without pain. But the third, who was underneath, could not fly but wet himself often.\n\nSo it is in this world. Some fly without pain and lightly. And there are rich men and mighty ones who fly among worldly people, having all their desires and pleasures in vain glory. Others fly in tribulations and pains, and they were wet often by the water of their tears.\n\nThabbot Machary of the region of Syria said, \"When you see the cell of a religious community in a place full of ghosts, know then that Syria is near its end. And if you see it near the trees, it is at its beginning. But if you see the children before the cell, flee then and take refuge elsewhere.\"The abbot Moses said to his brothers, \"If we keep God's commandments, I promise you that our enemies shall not assault us, but if we despise His commandments, know for certain that God will allow our enemies to destroy our habitations and dwellings. And this is in accordance with the common saying, 'If God is with us, who can harm us, as those who keep God's commandments are kept and preserved from evil.'\"\n\nAbbot Moses, being in his cell, said to his brothers, \"My friends, today our enemies, the Barbarians, will come here to put us to death. Then the brethren said to him, \"And you, holy father, will not flee?\" To whom he answered, \"No, I will not flee.\" He had long waited that day to fulfill the word of God. That is, \"All those who strike with the sword shall die by the sword.\" Then the brethren said to him, \"Since you will stay, we shall stay with you.\"wyll abide and die with them. To whom the holy man replied in this way. I have no cause nor occasion to go away, but each of you see how constant he is in enduring death. And thus as he spoke, the enemies came and slew them all, except only one, who was not constant nor steadfast in the faith. But for fear that he had hidden himself, he was hiding under a mat of ikes. And he, being there, saw the angel of God bringing seven crowns, of which he crowned the abbot first and after each of the six brethren. Thus were they merry martyrs.\n\nThe disciple of Silvanus said to his master, willing to go to Syria. Father, if it pleases you, abide three days so that I may convene the assembly. And so he carried the holy man to the third day, and on that day, his clerk died.\n\nThabbot John, who had been anointed by one named Marcyen, came at one time to Thabbot Pastor to ask for the softening of a man's heart. Seeing Pastor, he began to speak and said to him, The nature of water is to be lofty andThe nature of the stone is sweet and hard, of great resistance. Yet, drops of water that fall upon it eventually permeate it, not due to the violence of the water but by the continuous dropping of the same water on the stone. The same applies to the word of God. It is sweet and lofty, yet our hearts are hard and obstinate. If one hears it frequently in fervent devotion, it makes in our heart, which is hard as a stone, a hole for the fear of God. It is written by the Psalmist that, just as the heart desires to reach the source of clear water and clean when it is greatly weary, our soul likewise yearns and desires to come to God, who is the water of life by grace.\n\nA brother asked Abbot Pastor what the scripture signifies when it says that a man should not do evil for evil. To this, the holy man replied that it can be done in four ways: first, in thought; second, in beholding; third, in word.Fourthly, in opera consonant and in deed. Thus, if thou thinkest not evil to another, hold him not disparagingly, and if thou holdest him not by anger nor by disdain, thou shalt not speak evil of him. And if thou speakest not evil of him, thou shalt do no outward work or thing that grieves or annoys him. It is said at the beginning that one ought to resist and put a remedy on princes or beginnings. And this is consonant with the word of God, where He says, \"Love your enemies, and do good to those who hate you, and do good to those who spitefully use you\" (Matthew 5:44), and \"But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you\" (Luke 6:27).\n\nAn holy man named Basil said this in a monastery of women. There was a covetous woman who feigned herself a demoniac and, out of her mind, in such a way that all the others fled and would not eat nor fellowship with her. This woman would live thus because she would be in the kitchen and do all that was necessary for the other sisters, and all that concerned the household of the monastery. She did all this.For one to have more pain and labor, considering what our lord says in holy scripture: if any of you says, \"I am wise in this world,\" it is first necessary for him to correct himself and consider himself a fool. And in another place it is said that the wisdom of this world is folly before God. This virgin was bareheaded, serving all the other sisters in their affaires, and with great pain, she could scarcely see herself eat. She never sat at the table and drank from the washing of pots where the wine had been, and she never did wrong or displeased anyone for anything. She never grumbled or spoke to a person, and because she often did not speak, she was beaten and injured by the other sisters. But she endured and suffered all for the love and honor of God. God showed the life of this holy woman to a good, holy man whose name was Peter. This holy man heard a voice saying to him:Pyterius, who represented himself as a very holy man, said if you want to see a woman more just than you, go to the monastery of Tabensiens, where there are many holy religious women. The one whom you will see crowned on the head, know that she is better than you. In fighting every day against a great people, her heart does not depart from my love, but you who dwell alone sometimes do not have the virtue to resist temptations. The holy father heard this revelation, became incontinent, and came into that monastery, praying his brothers who had charge of the religious women to allow him to enter with them. Seeing the holy and good life of the father and also his advanced age, they made him enter without any suspicion. And in beholding the Religious women, he saw none with a crown on her head. Then he said to them, \"It seems to me that there is still one sister missing among you.\" They said to him, \"There is still one, but she is foolish and keeps herself outside.\"Kechyne furthermore stated that she had once been tormented by a phantom which grieved her greatly. Hearing this, the holy father prayed that he might see her. Immediately they went to fetch her, but she refused to come until it was said to her that the holy man Peterius was there, who greatly desired to see her. Inconsolable as she was, she named him, and went to him. Upon her arrival before the holy abbot Peterius, he fell flat at her feet, saying, \"My friend, I pray thee grant me thy blessing.\" She did the same, asking for his blessing in return. The other sisters were greatly astonished and exclaimed to him, \"Alas, holy father, do not ask for her blessing, for she is foolish and out of her wits.\" The holy father replied, \"You are all fools, and this virgin is wise. She is my none and yours. He named her so because they had named her similarly.A group of virgins in the region prayed to God, said the holy father, that on the day of Judgment I may also be worthy and capable of eternal felicity, just as she, who had heard this, did all the other sisters fall down at her feet and confess that they had sinned in various ways against her. Some had neglected to wash her dishes, others had struck her without cause, and some had mocked her by filing her nose with mustard. Generally, all the others confessed that they had inflicted terrible injuries upon her, for which they begged her forgiveness. And then the holy man departed. After this, the sisters showed great reverence towards the said holy virgin marvelously. But only a little time later, because she could not endure the loving and praising of the world, she went secretly out of the monastery and was never heard from again. A young brother named Zachary went to speak to his abbot, named Silvanus.He found him in a state of distraction, lifting his hands to heaven. Seeing that he had shut the door and departed, he returned at the hours of six and three. Finally, he arrived at ten o'clock at night and knocked on the door and entered in. He found him still there. Nevertheless, he asked him for mercy. Alas, father, what haste you had today when I came here to the place? The father answered that he was sick. Then the brother fell down at his feet and said to him, Father, if you do not tell me what you have had, I shall not let you go. Then the holy man said, I have been carried away to heaven and have seen the glory of God, and have been detained here until now. Some of the old fathers said that as they spoke of the holy scriptures and edifying words, they saw angels enjoying and praising God. But after that they began to speak of worldly things and unprofitable matters, they saw foul hogs and swine stinking come in among them.theym all foule. After whan they began to speke agayne of god / they sawe agayn the angelles semblably as they dyde to fore. That is to saye that god is with theym that speke of god / & the deuyll with theym that speken of dyshoneste thynges.\n\u00b6An holy man sayd ye one may synne in four maners. Fyrst in euyll thought Secondely in consentynge to the same thought. Thyrdely in spekynge euyll\nof an other. Fourthly in doyng by wer\u00a6ke outwarde that whiche he had in his euyll thought. And in al these thynges is not the wrath taken awaye / but as he sayth at the begynnyng. I shall not punysshe somtyme for the thre synnes / whiche ben thought / spekyng / & consen\u00a6tyng / but the fourth / that is to saye / whan with theym the werke shall be doon I shall punysshe theym.\n\u00b6An holy man of Sychye in makyn\u00a6ge his celle / he was on a tyme mery & Ioyous. And whan ye fou\u0304dement was made / he cessed not tyll the resydue was achyeued. It happed on a tyme that in repayryng he began to wepe. The bre\u00a6thern asked hym why he wept. And heanswered theym / yt he had a grete cau\u2223se of heuynes / for it had be shewed to hym / that yt place sholde be desolate & destroyed. And sayd also. I haue seen ye fyre ones in Sychye / the whiche hath be quenched / & I sawe it also the secon\u00a6de tyme / & it was also quenched / but ye thyrde tyme I haue seen a meruayllo{us} & so grete a fyre yt hath brente all Sy\u2223chye & myght not be quenched / & ther\u2223fore I haue cause to be sorowfulll. \u00b6An holy man sayd it is wryten in ye psalmyst. The Iuste shall flourysshe / as the palme of the foreste of Lybane. And by this it is shewed that the good werkes shall haue for theyr salayre swete fruyt / ryghtfull / & noble / for in ye palme is a parte swete & whyte / & lyke wyse is in the herte of ye rightfull man for he is swete by mercy & pyte / & why\u00a6te by Illumynaco\u0304n of fayth. And he is stronge to resyste ayenst the temptaco\u0304n of the fende of helle. \u00b6The good sunamyte receyued Helyzee the prophe\u00a6te in to hyr hous / not yt she had ony car\u00a6nell affecco\u0304n towarde hym / for shewas holy and just, but she received him as a guest. Morally, by this summons is signified the soul, and by the holy ghost. Thus, whenever our soul is withdrawn and separated from worldly things and secular dressing, it is often that the holy ghost comes immediately to lodge in the soul, and then the soul, which before was barren of good works, may bring forth good and holy works.\n\nAnother holy man said it in like manner. As we see a swine which is all foul and cannot lift its eyes toward heaven but always looked downward, so in like manner is the soul of a lecherous man. It which is detained by its right foul desire and covetousness may not think but of earthly things, nor lift up the eye of contemplation to know in what estate he is, but he has his taste so affected that he may not savor anything that is divine or godly.\n\nA man of much holy life said that he who made himself religious by good deeds, in taking the habit of profession, received as much grace.as dooth he who is baptized and how is it that at baptism you are given plenitude of grace, in like wise he says that in the profession of holy relying is given plenitude of grace. God gave once to a holy old man the power to see all that others did and made. And so he saw once a brother who was in meditation and thought on God, and the devil being without, who could not enter during the meditation, but anon as he ceased to think on God, the devil entered into his cell. It is to wit, if we think on God, the devil shall not enter into the soul's cell, but if we think on worldly things, immediately he shall enter and slay us by sins. An holy man prayed to God that he might see his adversaries. To whom was answered, \"you have no need to see your adversaries, but he prayed always to God that he would show them to him.\" And by divine revelation he saw a great legion of demons assembled on a mountain, like as bees which fly about men on all sides, but the angels of God were by that.chased away the fens and put them aside.\n\nAn old holy man had two neighbors. One was a stranger, and the other was of the realm. The stranger was slothful, and the other was more diligent. It happened that the stranger died, and immediately the holy man, his neighbor, saw by revelation the angels leading his soul into joy. And as he supposed that he had entered heaven, he was questioned. It is to wit, he heard a voice from on high which said, \"It is certain that this stranger has been a little negligent, but for as much as he is a stranger and has done penance, open the gate to him.\" Some time after came the article of death for the diligent one, who was of the court, and looked if he might see changes, like as he saw them come to the soul of the stranger; but he saw none appear. Then he was heavy and amazed and said, \"Alas for the stranger, that much sloth is in heaven, and this man, who is so diligent, may have none enter.\" Then...A diligent man was said to have regretted his temporal goods and friends at the hour of his death, but he had none at his death and this indicates that one should not present his children or wife to him in order to let his health not be disturbed.\n\nAnother holy man said that there was a hermit in the hermitage of the city of Niles, to whom a good secular man ministered to all his necessities. In this city there was a man very rich and very evil who died, and was born with great honor by the bishops and princes of the town, with a great number of torches carried to his sepulcher. This good secular man, who had seen this great spectacle, went soon after to the hermitage to deliver what was necessary. But when he came to the hermitage, he found that this holy man had eaten of wild beasts. Then he fell to the ground, flat on his face, and refused to rise until he knew from whence this thing proceeded.A rich man who was so perverse had had great honor in his death. And the holy hermit who served him day and night, being alone pitifully dead and because he had been in deep sorrow before, an angel came to him and said that the rich man had acquired these goods and worldly honors to reward him for some small good deeds he had done in his life, but notwithstanding, he was on the way to damnation for his sins that he had committed. But the solitary hermit, because he had been somewhat defiled in thought, had suffered this evil because he was clean before God, and finally had eternal rest, and was comforted and returned, praising God. An holy man said that he had seen a much aged woman, a virgin, and asked why she had chosen the state of virginity. To whom she answered piously, \"Alas, holy father, what was I when I was young? I had a father well provided for and soft. He was just and virtuous in disposition, but weak and often sick, and was so secretive in his ways.\"In the past, some of my neighbors noticed that he rarely worked on his land for a long time. And if by chance he found himself in good health, he brought the fruit of his labor into his house. But the greatest part of his time he spent in bed, barely speaking, and those who did not know him would have thought him mute.\n\nHowever, my mother was quite the opposite. She was beautiful outside but dishonest in character. She was filled with vices, such as speaking evil words, causing disturbances and discord among friends, drunken and lecherous, and wasted all our goods because she managed the household since my father was sick. And despite her vices, she was never sick herself until her death.\n\nAmong these things, it happened that my father, due to the violence of his great sicknesses, passed from life to death.And Incontenent began to move, to rain and thunder so much that his body could not be buried within three days due to the great abundance of rain. Neighbors marveled, saying it was doubtful this man was dead in sin, and that he had lived so evil that the air in sign of reproof might not allow him to be buried. Nevertheless, to prevent the body from infecting the house during the rain and tempest, we took him there. In my manner, she, who was evil-bodied, made our house an open brothel and spent all that we had. And finally, she came to her last day and died. In her death, it seemed to everyone that the air and other elements did her honor in her obsequies. For the air was clear and clean without wind, without thunder, and without any tempest. Then, in my young age, I began to refrain from the motions of lechery in my body through fasting and afflictions. And on an even day, I began to think whether it were better for me to:I followed the life of my father or my mother. And I considered that during his life, my father never had wealth, but in poverty he finished his days. Yet, with great pain, he was buried. And I doubted if his life had been good because he had so many evils. Therefore, I decided to live as my mother had done, and in myself I resolved to follow her. But while I was pondering this, I fell asleep. And immediately after, a man with a dreadful appearance appeared to me, who asked me what I thought and how well I would answer him. Always in the meantime, in asking him for forgiveness, I confessed to him my thoughts. And he said to me, \"Come with me, and I will show you your father and your mother, and after you shall see which life of theirs you will choose.\" Then he took me by the hand and brought me into a field sweet and pleasant, where there was great abundance of fruits. And immediately my father appeared, who embraced me and called me his daughter, and I embraced him.If this text is from the Middle English period, I will attempt to clean and translate it into modern English while preserving the original content as much as possible.\n\nhym again / praying him that I might dwell with him / the which said to me / my daughter, you may not now dwell here / but if you will, you shall come here shortly. And straightway he led me away and said, I shall show you your mother that burns in the pit of hell / and so he led me into a dark place where were all miseries / weeping and wailing. There was a fort which could not be named / and when I beheld her, she fell down. I beheld my mother burning in the form of a figure up to the neck / which grinned her teeth by force of great pain. And when she saw me, she began to cry / alas, my daughter, I suffer this pain for my sins / for I have despised the rule of sobriety. Alas, I supposed not that the works of fornication should be thus punished / nor for gluttony should I have run into this dungeon. Now you see that for my delights and pleasures and for the breaking of the commandments of God I endure these pains which are so great that no tongue can express / nor heart think.Daughter, I pray you have pity and mercy on me who burn in this fire without consolation. Behold pitifully my pain and lend me your hand to draw me out from this pain. Then I said, alas, my mother. I durst not, for the multitude of demons which are here assisting, then she began more strongly to cry, alas, my daughter, art you so cruel that you despise the tears of your wretched mother? Remember when I gave birth and bore you, and of the grievous pains I had for you. And immediately I began to weep so greatly and so lowly that they of the house came and saw me in my bed, marveling at how wondrously I had wept. To whom I recounted all the causes and visions. And therefore I have determined to follow the life of my father and not the life of my mother, to the end that finally I may come to the glory of heaven.\n\nA holy man said that the Religious people ought to have in honor and reverence especially three things. The first the communication of the holy sacrament of the altar. The second is the table where they receive it.The third is the basin where they wash their feet. A holy man gave an example of a holy man who ate with a great multitude of religious men. Doing so, he seemed to some of them to eat honey, others bread and other foul ordure. He marveled at this sight of one kind of food set before them all. Then came a voice saying to him, \"They who eat honey are those who come to the table of the holy sacrament, with fear and reverence to God, and pray God without ceasing. But those who eat bread are those who eat in enjoyment, giving thanks to God because they know the benefits they receive from him. And those who eat ordure and filth grumble against God and do not praise him. We ought not to do so. We ought always to praise and thank him, to the end that we may accomplish that which he commands.vs say: whatever you do, whether you eat or drink or do anything else, do it all in the name of God.\n\nHere follows another treatise where are recorded and rehearsed the signs and miracles which were done by the holy fathers.\n\nThe Abbot Bysaryon walking one time upon a river. And after that he had gone over dry feet, Abbot Dulas demanded of him if he felt his feet wet upon the water. And he answered that he was in the water up to his heels, but that which was under his feet was firm and steady and dry ground. The said Bysaryon going to visit one of his friends, the night came upon him, but he prayed to God that it should not come to pass that he had visited the holy man, and so it was.\n\nA man possessed by a demon came often into the church of Sicye to pray, so that the demon might leave him and go out of his body. And although many prayers had been made for him in the church, he could not be helped or healed. Then said the priests of the church, who had been unable to help him,\n\n(Note: The text appears to be in Middle English. No significant OCR errors were detected, and no meaningless or unreadable content was found. Therefore, no cleaning was necessary.)pray for him, but if Abbot Bysaryon prayed for him, he should not be whole or guarished, and then they made him sit in the place where the said Abbot was accustomed to sit, and put him to prayer. And on the morrow came Abbot Bysaryon to sit in his place, and seeing it occupied, said to the patient: Arise thou, and go out from hence; and the unclean spirit, which the man possessed, went his way, and the man was all whole, who before was demon-possessed.\nSome aged fathers told Abbot Elie that Abbot Agathon was an holy man. He answered them that he was so after his generation. Then they asked him if he was not holy as other aged and old men. To whom he answered: I have seen in Syria a man who could tarry the sun, as did Jesus the Son of Nave, by which an answer they knew that he was of greater virtue.\nAbbot Sysoy said that being with Abbot Macharye, he saw in a field where they did reap in harvest, and a woman gathering and gladding the straws of the harvest.The wife did not cease weeping. Someone asked Macharye why she wept. The master of the field told him that her husband had taken and received from a man a certain sum of money which he had hidden in an unknown place, for the surer keeping. After he was prevented and taken away by death without declaring to anyone the place where the said money was, the restless woman had delivered it to keep, and she was pursued relentlessly. Macharye moved with pity and called this woman to him. He made her bring herself upon her husband's sepulcher and then sent her back to her house. Then Macharye and his brothers began to pray for this widow. When the prayer was finished, Macharye called the said husband of the widow who was buried there and asked him where he had hidden the money which had been delivered to him to keep. The husband immediately began to speak and said, \"It is hidden in my chamber under the foot of my bed.\" The holy man then said to him.Machron. Go and remain until the judgment day of this thing, which thing your brethren were greatly astonished and afraid, and all flocked to the feet of the holy man who said to them: \"Alas, my brethren, if you live holily and righteously, all that you ask of God, God will grant it lightly. Thus they went forth to the house of the poor widow and showed her the place where this money was. And she humbly thanking her took it and rendered and delivered it to him who asked it. And all who heard and knew of this miracle praised and gave thanks to God.\n\nEmilius, an holy man, as he passed by the way, saw a monk who was held by certain men, who wished to make him believe that he was a murderer. They then demanded of the holy man why they held him in such a way, and they went on to say that he was a murderer. And the holy man asked where is he who has been murdered and slain. And immediately they showed him the dead body, and he approached the deed and said to them:assistants / pray for him / and they went and began to pray, lifting up his hands. Inconvenient the deed man arose and, after the holy man had demanded it of him, saying \"who has killed the one,\" he answered. I was entered into a temple / and I had given a priest my silver to keep / the which, for my hour, has killed me / and has thrown me into the house and habitation of this Reverend man here. Therefore I pray that you return the money / and that it may be delivered to my children / and immediately, at the commandment of the holy man, the soul departed from the body.\n\nA company of holy people and old men came to Abbot Pastor. And as they were with him, a man came who was a cousin of Abbot Pastor / the one who had a child / whose face had been turned backward by the devil / and when he came, he dared not speak to his cousin / but weeping, he held him outside. Therefore, one of you holy fathers asked him why he wept. The man said, \"My child has the appearance turned backward.\"For cause I have brought thee to Abbot Pastor, my cousin, to help thee, but I dare not enter in to him. For I well know he loves me little, but if it pleases you, lead my child to him, so that he may heal him. Then the holy man took the child. And by the prayers of the brethren and of Abbot Pastor, how well it was that this child was healed and made whole and returned to his father.\n\nAn holy man named Paulus dwelling in Egypt near Thebes took up this serpent and asps and divided them into pieces, and this thing, in no way hurting him, the brethren asked him. Father, can you thus break these serpents without being hurt?\n\nIulian the apostate sent once a devil into Persia to do a message, so that he might sooner have it done, but in going the devil came into an hermitage, in which he was constrained by the prayers and continual supplications of a holy man to tarry there, unmoved, for the space of ten days, and could go no farther.For the religious persons praying day and night without ceasing, which thing considered, the devil came again without doing anything, and said to Julian the apostate, \"I could not enter Perse for a monk named Publius, who by his prayers has kept me. Then Julian the apostate had purposed to do harm to this monk at his returning, but he died on the way, and immediately his prior went and sold all his goods and came and became a monk with Publius. He was a much holy man in the end.\n\nA secular man coming to Abbot Sysoe in the mountain of the holy father Anthony had a son who died on the way, and then the father, without troubling himself but in steadfast faith and hope, took him and carried him to this holy man, praying him that he would raise him from death to life and laid him down at the feet of the holy man. Sysoe, thinking the child was not dead, said to him, \"Arise up and go your way.\" And the father, inconveniently, arose and went away. That seeing the father entered [the cell].A holy man entered his cell and worshipped the holy man, who didn't want him to do so. The disciple of the said holy man commanded the secular man to say nothing of it until the holy man was dead.\n\nThe disciple of Abbot Sysoi, named Abraham, was once tempted by the devil. Seeing the holy man begin to lift up his hands to heaven and say, \"My god, I shall not cease to pray to you, that this temptation leaves my disciple,\" Abraham was delivered from this temptation by the prayer of the holy man.\n\nA holy man entered a cave where he found a lion that began to growl with its teeth and cry out. To the lion, the holy man said, \"Why are you angry? Is this place not large enough for you and me? And if it displeases you to be with me, then go your way.\" The lion, as peaceful as a lamb, went its way and departed.\n\nA holy man traveled from Syria into Termutye. And when the people of the country saw him much troubled, theyA holy man gave him a little wine to make him strong again and comfort him. They led him to a man tormented by an evil spirit. When the holy man arrived, the demon began to curse him, saying, \"Why have you brought this drunkard here?\" The holy man would not force the demon out by great humility but because he called him a drunkard, he replied, \"I believe in God my maker, that before I have drunk this, you shall spring and leave this man.\" While the holy man was about to drink the said little wine, the demon went away and departed from the man.\n\nOne of the holy fathers sent his disciple to fetch water in a pitcher which was far from his cell. But he forgot to bring a rope to draw up the water. When he arrived there, knowing he had left his rope at home, he began to pray and said, \"My abbot has commanded me that I\"should fill this vessel with water and when the water arose and mounted unto the brim of the pit, he filled his vessel without cord and immediately after the water descended in its natural place. Two holy men prayed to God that He would show them what joy they had won in their hermitage. To this was shown that there was a man named Eucharius married in Egypt, and his wife was named Mary. They had gained more glory in heaven than the two holy brethren. Then they went to the house of the said Eucharius. And when they arrived there, they found his wife at home, who said to them that her husband had gone into the field to keep sheep and that he would come home at evening. Then they decided to wait and tarry for him. The evening came, the sheepherder bringing his sheep home to his house. And seeing these two holy men, he made ready their supper and washed their feet. They did so.Eucharius told them that they would neither eat nor drink until he had told them about the life he and his wife led. Eucharius, in great humility and reverence, said to them, \"I am a herdsman and keep sheep. Here is my wife.\" The holy men inquired about their state, but he dared not tell the truth out of vain glory until they said to him, \"Our Lord has sent us here. That which comes to us from them, we divide into three parts. The first part we give to the poor and needy, the second for lodging pilgrims, and the third for our living and sustenance. Since we have been married, we have not defiled ourselves by lechery. My wife is a chaste virgin. We sleep each of us alone, well away from one another. And when the night comes, we clothe ourselves with.\"Sackes, but on the day we take again our clothes accustomed, and this thing was never shown nor came to the knowledge of any person until now. The holy men heard of it and were greatly ashamed that he was better than they, departing thence praying to God.\n\nThabbot Macharius of Egypt came from Sychye to the mountain of Nytrye, to the monastery of Abbot Pambo. And when the brethren saw him, they began to say to him, \"Father, say some edifying words to us.\" To whom he answered, \"I am not yet a very monk, but only I have seen monks. At your request, I shall say some little words. Once, being in my cell, my thoughts urged me, and said to me, 'Go into the desert and consider all that you shall see.' But I feared that these thoughts came by the devil's means. I resisted it for the space of five years, which I accomplished. I then went into the desert to an hermitage, and there I saw a pond to which came to drink diverse beasts, among whom I saw two men.A naked man and another, fearing an illusion of evil spirit, approached me. They said, \"Be not afraid, for we are men.\" I asked them when they had last left the hermitage, and they replied, \"We have been here for forty years, and by our mutual consent, we have never left before this hour.\" One was an Egyptian, and the other from Thebes. They asked me if the world's water had come in its time, as it had in Thebes. And if the world had sufficient abundance, to whom I inquired. I demanded of them how I might be truly religious, and they answered, \"If a man renounces the world and all its goods, he cannot be a truly religious man.\" I replied, \"But I am weak and frail and cannot do as you say.\" They then told me, \"If you cannot, go and atone for your sins in your cell.\" I further inquired of them why they were naked.In winter, they felt only cold, or in summer, only heat. And they answered me, \"God has granted us this privilege that in winter we feel no cold, nor in summer any heat.\" I then said to them, \"My friends, I pray you forgive me, for I truly tell you, I am not yet a very monk.\"\n\nThabbot Sysoy once was in the mountain of the holy father Anthony. Because his servant could not come, he stayed there for ten months without seeing any person. After the ten months, he walked in the desert and saw there a hunter. Thabbot asked him when he had come and how long he had been there. The hunter answered, \"Fair father, I have been here eleven months, and I have seen no person but you.\" Then he returned to his cell, knocking on his breast and saying, \"Alas, Sysoy, you thought to do great penance by remaining for ten months without issuing or going out of your cell, but you have not done as much as this secular one, who for hunting has been here eleven months.\"The same Sysoy, when he was in his cell, always kept his door shut. And when the day of his death approached, the holy fathers who were with him saw his face shining like the sun. He said, \"Behold here comes Abbot Anthony.\" And soon after, he said, \"Behold, the prophets who are coming in a great multitude.\" Then his face shone more brightly than before. He began to say, \"Behold, here is the legion of the apostles who have come to comfort me.\" Then, as his clarity in his cell increased and a sweet odor filled the room, the holy fathers marveled. The holy fathers said that Abbot Or never lied, swore, or cursed anyone. And he never:Two men walked through the deserts of Syria and heard a voice of a person in a pit or cave. They began to search and seek where they might enter to find him. When they had found it, they entered and found an old and ancient holy virgin. They asked her, \"Good woman, how did you come here, and who has attended to your necessities?\" She answered, \"My friends, it is 38 years since I have been in this cave and have served God and lived here. Since that time, I have never seen other men except you, who are here by the will of God. And I ask that you bury me here.\" She died incontinently. The two holy fathers gave her burial.It is recounted of an hermit who, after praying to God and burying his body, was clothed in a sack and walked for three days by the water. At the end of this, he came to a stone and mounted it. But beneath he saw green grass and a man who ate and fed him as a brutish beast. He then went down secretly and took him. But as soon as this man saw himself taken, he began to move and struggle in such a way that he escaped and fled from him. The brother, seeing this, began to cry and ran after him, saying, \"Wait for me and tarry, fair father, for I follow you for the honor of God.\" Then the brother took off his robe and threw it from him, and ran after this holy man. Seeing the holy father, he stayed steadfastly, saying these words: \"Since you have renounced the goods of the world here where we are, casting away your vestments, I shall stay.\" The brother came and asked counsel of the holy man, and he said to him, \"Shun men and be peaceful.\"A hermit dwelled among some brothers in a hermitage named Raython, where there were seventy palms trees, the place where Moses hid when he fled from Egypt with the people of Israel. One day among the others, this hermit recounted the following: I once passed by their dwelling places, desiring to find a good servant for God. I walked for four days and four nights, and on the fourth day I found a hole. Looking in, I saw a man within, whom I called out to come out so I could sell him, but he did not respond. I then entered the hole and took his scapular, and immediately he filled it with powder. Slightly doubtful, I went through the desert and came to a stream.other fosse in which dwelt an holy man, whom I came to know later, was there. Thinking there might be someone, I asked if there was anyone present. But there was no one. I then went out, saying to myself that someone must dwell there, hoping that he would soon come. And as the night approached, I saw wild oxen coming towards me, followed by the holy man who lived there. He was so naked that no part of his body was covered except for his private parts, which were covered with a hide. Approaching him, he fell down in prayer, thinking I was a spirit. But seeing my ignorance, I told him, \"Serveant of God, come boldly and fear not, for I am a man like you. Behold and touch me to be certain.\" He granted my request and beckoned me into his dwelling, demanding to know why I had come there. To him I replied,I have answered. I have come here to know if there is any servant of God present and I am not deceived in my desire, since I have found the place. I immediately demanded to know how long it had been since he had come to dwell there, what he ate, and how he lived, being all naked. To this he replied. I first encountered a group of people. I was strongly disturbed by their guise, for they all seemed hot and eager to pray for him to God. Afterward, he departed. I have recounted this to you in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ.\n\nAn old holy man, who had been made bishop of the city of Exeter, said this: It seemed to me once that I entered into a hermitage in the deepest part of it to see if I should find any of you, the servants of Jesus Christ. And to make my journey, I took four loaves and a little water and went for four days. I did not know what I should do, for I was weary and also had no more food, but in good trust and hope I began to walk another four days without meeting anyone.I drank or ate. Thus, those who fasted and endured the pain of walking caused me to faint as if I were dead. Then a man touched me on the lips with his finger, and at once I came to my first strength, supposing I had not walked or felt hunger or thirst. I arose and walked for four more days, as previously stated, but soon came the one who had first comforted me and touched me again with his finger, and I was healed. Yet, even after this, I continued to walk and passed through the space of eighteen days. During this time, I found a little house and a palm tree before the door. Within the said house dwelt a holy hermit, who was clad in white for age, making him frightening to look upon. When he saw me, he fell down and put himself to prayer, fearing I was some illusion. But after seeing that I was a man, he took me by the hand and demanded, \"How dare you come here, and how do they fare in the world?\"I have come here to see the persecutions, but the persecutions have ceased by the will of God. Then I asked him, and you now tell me how you have come here, and incontinently with great weeping and wailing he said. I was once a bishop, but to avoid the pains and martyrdoms that the infidels would do to me, I sacrificed to their gods, denying the true God, the God of gods. However, afterwards I thought in myself that my sin was great, and that I had greatly offended God, thus to do penance I have come here. It is now the forty-eighth year. I wish to know if God has forgiven me my sin, and I live by the fruit of this palm tree, having no consolation nor comfort since the said forty-eighth year, except in this year I have had comfort from God. And in this saying he fell down and made his prayers to God. His prayers were answered, and he came again to me. When I looked on his face, I was abashed, for it was all marred.enflamed as fire. And he said to me, \"Have you no fear? For God has sent him here to bury me, and in this saying he died. Then I took one half of my robe, wrapped the holy body in it, and put it there. And when he was buried, the palm tree became all dry, and his house fell down to the ground. Then, in weeping, I began to pray that God would give me this palm and fountain, to end my life there. But I knew it was not his will. And coming again, I found him who had touched my lips first, who comforted me, and so I returned to my brothers, and reported to them what I had seen, warning them that they should have good favor and trust in the mercy of God.\n\nA brother asked an holy father what thing in the prayer saves the soul, is it the words or the intention? Then another brother replied, I know a man who prayed, and in praying came into his thoughts.A sinner's soul, as it was about to leave, God showed His intention not to be deceived. He sent a wolf into his cell. The wolf took the brother's clothes in its mouth and dragged him to another monastery, where a renowned hermit lived. Approaching, the hermit was near death. The brother saw that lamps and tapers were prepared for the hermit's death, just as God had done so much good for the city's people through His intervention. The people said, \"If this holy man dies, we are all lost.\" When the hour of his death arrived, the brother saw a devil with a great staff, which struck the hermit and threw fire into his heart, drawing out his soul, saying, \"In the same way, this man has given me no rest, nor has he given it to himself. I will have no mercy on him.\" And with that, he took the soul away to hell. After the brother entered,the city found a sick man to whom no one did any service. And with him, they stayed a day to comfort him. When the hour came for him to die, he saw St. Michael and Gabriel, one on the right side and the other on the left. It was supposed to come out, but it would not. And Gabriel said to St. Michael, \"Take this soul; we are going thither.\" St. Michael answered, \"God has commanded us not to take it away violently, and so we shall suffer it to come out. Also, St. Michael cried, \"Lord God, what shall we do with this soul, for it will not come for our prayers.\" Then came a voice saying, \"I send to him David and all the prophets. Hearing the sweetness of their harps, the soul may come out.\" And David with his harp and the other prophets descended, making such sweet harmony that the soul immediately sprang out and was received into the hands of St. Michael. And with great joy, he bore it into heaven.A brother related that a holy man, after selling some small wares such as pans and hottes in a city near his hermitage, sat at the gate of a rich man who lay dying. Suddenly, he saw black horses and men preparing themselves on them, who were most horrible and black. Each of them held statues full of fire. And when they arrived at the gate, they dismounted and entered hastily, coming to the head of the sick rich man. Startled as he was, he began to cry out, \"My God, have mercy on me!\" Then they answered him, \"Remember the time of your God when you see nothing, and when the son of Justice has failed you, it is now no time. Why have you not cried mercy to God before this hour? There is no more hope for you. We have taken your soul and carried it to hell.\"\n\nThe holy fathers related that a holy man walking by the desert saw two angels, one on the right and the other on the left.on the left side, they found a cart. The good man stopped his nose at the stench, and angels did as well. Then the good man said to the angels, \"Feel this stench?\" They answered, \"No,\" but because you stop your nose, so do we, for we have aversion to souls that are stinking from sin.\n\nAbbot Moses said that a man should be like a dead man to his fellow and very much to his friend, so that he does not judge or condemn him in his actions. Also, the same said that a man should mortify himself, so that his soul springs out of his body, to the end that he offends none. He also said, \"If a man does not consider himself a sinner, he will not be exalted before God.\" Then a brother asked him, \"What is it to repent oneself?\" The holy man answered, \"It is to think on one's sins and nothing on the sins of one's neighbors. For he who thinks on his own, does not think on theirs of his neighbors.\" The same holy manA brother asked furthermore if one does not work in accord with prayer, it profits nothing. The brother then asked, what is the work that accords with prayer? The holy man replied, one does not do that which one prays against. For instance, if a man prays to God to remove from him his sin, and he daily sins, but the work should be consistent with his prayer, not that he sins in any way or according to his own will. A man has more mercy when he restrains his own will for God's honor primarily.\n\nA brother asked what helps a man in all his labors and pains. He answered that it was God. It is written in the Psalms, \"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change, and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, and though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.\" (Psalm 46:1-3)\n\nA brother asked what profits the fasting and wakefulness that men practice. The holy man answered that they make the soul humble and meek. It is written, \"Lord, keep my going out and my coming in from this time forth, and from this moment on, because he is good to Israel and his mercy is everlasting, and he will save Israel.\" (Psalm 23:3-4)A brother asked an old father what a man should do against the temptations of the devil. He answered that he should first weep to God for help. And if he prayed devoutly, God would comfort him. For it is written, \"If God helps me, I fear no man.\"\n\nA brother asked if a bondman had transgressed, what he should say to his lord if he would punish him. He answered that he should say, \"My lord, I have transgressed, but if it pleases you, I pray you to pardon me; and then my master will forgive me.\" Thus, we who are bound and in service to God, when we have sinned and return to Him in confessing our sins, He will pardon us. The end of our operations is not to judge any person. For when God slew all the firstborn in Egypt, there was not one house but there was one in it that died. Then a brother asked what that meant, and he answered:If we truly contemplated our own sins, we would think nothing of our neighbors' sins. It is foolish for a man to abandon his own body in his house to weep in his neighbor's, for the neighbor who thinks not of others' deeds and harms none, nor thinks ill of anyone, nor despises anyone because they sin, nor speaks ill of them but to himself. God knows the thoughts of every man, and I do not. Therefore, one must flee detractors. For it is said in the gospel, \"Judge not, that you be not judged.\" One should not hate any person, though they be an enemy. Nor despise a man because he consorts with his neighbor. For otherwise, you would have no rest nor peace in your conscience.\n\nAnother old father said, \"A man living, think that your God is born of the virgin.\"Mary for the love of the one he has been made man and always obeyed God,\nhe has been made a little child,\nhe was a reader and preacher when he took the book in the synagogue and said, \"The spirit of God is upon me,\nbecause he who anointed me has sent me to preach the gospel to the poor sinners.\nHe was subdeacon when he drove out of the temple those who sold and those who bought,\nhe was deacon when he washed the feet of his apostles,\nin commanding them to wash the feet of their brethren,\nhe was made priest when he abode in the midst of the temple teaching them,\nhe was made bishop in taking the bread and delivering it to his disciples,\nhe has been beaten for the love of the one,\nhe has been crucified,\nhe arose the third day and ascended into heaven,\nand all this he did for us.\nAnd nevertheless, let us not be unwilling or unwilling to endure and suffer for the love of him.\nLet us then be sober and wakeful,\npray devoutly and keep his commandments,\nto the end that.We may not have been sold into Egypt in a foreign land. The three children were not taken as prisoners to Babylon. And they had no knowledge - God was their help and they were saved because they feared, for he who gives all to God has no free will but does as God commands without pain of conscience. If you want to act according to your own will without God's help, you will have excessive pain in your conscience.\n\nA brother asked the abbot, \"What is it to say that one should not think about the following day?\" The holy man answered, \"This is to understand that a man in temptation should resist it on the same day, without thinking to resist it the next morning.\"\n\nA brother asked, \"From whence comes it that a man, however great a sinner he may be, is not ashamed to detract from the reputation and fame of another?\" The holy man answered with such a parable: \"There was a poor man.\"A man had a wife. This man saw another woman who was much fairer than his wife, without comparison. He desired her and did so much that he married her. But she was as poor as the other. It happened then that the two wives went with their husband to a market. And because they were both naked, they put themselves in a tub. But one, seeing that the people had departed, sprang out of the tub. She found old clothes and rags and covered herself in such a way that she could go among the people without any shame. Then the other woman, having noticed this, said to her husband, \"This foolish woman is completely naked and yet she is not ashamed to go among the people.\" Then answered the husband to her in great anger, \"She has covered herself and hidden her poverty and confusion, but as for you, you are all naked and yet you mock her as much as you can.\"\n\nThus spoke the holy father, \"Is each man a detractor, who is not\"Considering his own sins, this man never ceases to speak evil of another who is better than he.\n\nThe abbot John said to some of his brethren that there were three philosophers who were good friends. Of these three, one of them, dying, left his child to another. And when he grew up, he defiled the wife of his friend with her money, wherefore he was put out of the house. And although he did great penance, the philosopher would not allow him to reenter his house. But he said to him that he should go among those judged to death for three years to dig and gather metal in the river. And when he had done this and fulfilled that penance, he should return to the philosopher, and then he would receive him. He did this, and then the philosopher said to him, \"Go yet for three more years, and give your goods to those who will injure and speak evil to you, for the love of God.\" Then the philosopher said to him, \"Go.\"In coming to Athens, this young man found a philosopher at the city gate, appointed there to test those coming to study. The philosopher injured the young man mercilessly to see his patience. Then this philosopher demanded and asked him why he laughed at the injuries he inflicted. To this, the young man replied, \"I have given my goods for three years to be injured, and now I am injured without costing me anything. Therefore, it seems to me that I have reason to laugh.\" The philosopher then said, \"My child, go into the city, for you are patient enough to study philosophy.\" After the abbot John had recounted this, he said such words: \"My brothers, the city gate of Athens is the gate of heaven where we ought to enter, for many are the benefits therein.\"trybula\u2223cyons and Iniuryes as haue doon our predecessours.\n\u00b6Thabbot Iohan sayd / a synfull soule that wyll doo penaunce / is as a fayr whoman whiche hath ben comyn to euery man / to whom cam a grete\nlorde that sayd to hyr / yf thou wylte promyse to me chastyte / and that thou wyll nomore gyue the to synne. I shall take the to maryage. The whiche so promysed hym. And by that moyen she was maryed to hym. They that were Amerous and hadde loued her / seeyng that she was maryed to one soo myghty a man sayden / yf we knocke atte yate for to speke to her / and to ac\u2223complysshe our flesshely wyll and de\u2223syre / the lorde shall punysshe vs ryght gryeuously. But it is better for vs to go behynde the hous and to syffle and whystle / to thende that she therby vn\u2223derstonde and come to vs. And so wen\u00a6te anone to wystle wenynge to begyle her / but to thende that she wolde not here theym / she stopped hyr eres / and hydde her in the secretest places of the hous. \u00b6In lyke wyse this comyn wo\u00a6man is our soule. The louers that benThe vices. The prince and the lord who espouses our soul is almighty God. The house is the kingdom of heaven. The whistlers are the demons of hell. And since our soul which had come to all vices is now chaste through good operations, she always has recourse to her spouse who is God, the sovereign lord, and thus she is victorious over the enemies.\n\nThabbot Pastor said that the Gospel says, \"he who has a robe should sell it and with the money buy a sword.\" This is to be understood as, \"he who has the robe of rest of the flesh, let him sell it; that is, let him leave it; and with the sword of parfit resistance, let him fight against the foe.\"\n\nThabbot Pastor said that in Egypt there was a holy father to whom ministered a man and a virgin. It happened on a day that both came to attend to the necessities of this holy man. And since they were surprised by the night, both were compelled to lie down with him.The cell of the holy man, who lived between them, forbade one from touching the other. But during the night, the man serving the holy man corrupted the same virgin. In the morning, he went away without making any semblance. The holy man, knowing nothing, said nothing to them. But on another occasion, when they returned, he followed them, listening to their talking and words, which said the following to each other: \"Do you think this holy man does not know our sin? In a contrite heart, they returned to him, saying, \"Alas, fair father, you know how we have sinned against our maker. And if it pleases you, grant us forgiveness. Immediately, he gave them a rule and a manner of how they ought to live, so that their sin would be forgiven. Since then, they went and were constantly opposed to temptations.\n\nA philosopher asked and questioned Saint Anthony, saying, \"Father, how can you find consolation when you have nothing?\"A brother coming to St. Macharye at midday began to say, \"Alas, I die of thirst. Give me to drink.\" Then answered Macharye, \"Be satisfied with this shadow; for there are many pilgrims and sailors up on the sea who have great need, and yet they may not have it.\" The same brother demanded of him the virtue of continence. To whom the holy man Macharye said, \"For twenty years I have not drunk nor eaten my fill. During that time I have weighed my bread and measured my water, drinking and eating by measure. And I have never slept but against the walls, standing right up. A brother asked and demanded, \"Should I go with my brother or with my mother, ought I to eat with them?\" The holy man answered, \"Thou oughtest not to eat with any.\"A brother asked an holy man if thinking against the flesh is a sin or not. The holy man answered that the evil thought does not always come to fruition, but it still prevents the soul from being lifted up in contemplation. Therefore, a man who is chaste and continent ought to put and cast it away as soon as it comes, and by this means he shall not be hindered in his prayers and contemplations. The same said if a man has no thoughts or contemplations, he is likened to a brute beast. It is not possible, but that a man has temptations always. But all in the same way, the devil tempts us. Rightly should we do in resisting him, if we pray to God continually; the devil shall flee away. Think on God and thou shalt overcome him; fight well, and in the end thou shalt be crowned. Saint Sincletyce said that the devil is easily overcome by them that have nothing, for they fear not to lose anything.And they of this world sorrow and anger for the loss of their money or other worldly goods. The same said that those who amass the riches of the world with great pain and toil of their bodies would have even more if they could, but we renounce such things necessary for living for the honor of our savior Jesus Christ. An holy man said that he who is prompt to retain evil rather than good is like a fire hidden within the stake. For in the same way that the fire hidden there burns, the malice hidden in the mind sets fire to and destroys the soul through evil deeds that follow. An holy man said that he who warns another of his health ought sweetly to exhort him not to be unprofitable, and that his admonition be available. A brother asked an ancient old father why it is that my soul loves at times.Thordure and filth of sin. The holy man answered. The soul often longs for the passions of the body, but the spirit of God is he who restrains it. Therefore we ought to bewail our sins, to the end that they be pardoned. Have you not read that Mary Magdalene, after she had wept and wiped her tears at the Sepulcher of Jesus Christ, God called her to Him? All in like manner shall He do to the soul that purifies itself in weeping.\n\nA brother demanded and asked an holy father, when a man thinks not on his faults and reproves another, is it a sin? He answered that God speaks of it in the Gospels. Hypocrite take away the beam that is in thine eye, and after thou shalt be able to see the better the mote that is in the eye of thy neighbor.\n\nAnother brother demanded and asked of an old ancient father, how he might resist and withstand temptations. The holy man answered. Take example at Joseph, who, being in the age of your youth, was among the elders.Infidels and idolaters never would worship their idols, but he was strong and constant in his faith. And furthermore, have in mind the case of Job, who in all his tribulations and adversities prayed and gave offerings to God, and forgot not, for all that, that he was so much tormented.\n\nA knight who had done many evil deeds and much harm, and wished to convert himself to God, asked an holy man if God received sinners into His grace. And the holy man answered him, \"Yes, and showed to him by many reasons and authorities of holy scripture. Nevertheless, the said knight yet doubted. And therefore the holy man showed to him this example. If your mantle is rent or broken in any part, will you not mend it? The knight answered him, \"No, but I shall make it again and amend it, and it shall serve me as it did before.\" Then said the holy man, \"Just so, my friend, is it with God. For however much your soul may be broken by sin, our Lord does not cast it away.\"A holy man, who was extremely sober and solitary, was the last one to leave the church and feared that no one should take any food or drink from his cell. A judge from a certain region came into the province of Abbot Pastor. The inhabitants of that region requested the abbot to intercede for them, requiring him to grant pardon to a malefactor. The holy man asked them to grant him three days of respite, and they agreed. During this time, in order to appear obedient and compliant, he asked God to allow him to obtain the same. He came before the judge and prayed for the malefactor, but the judge refused, saying he did not want what the holy man asked for because he prayed for a thief. The holy man was pleased with this answer.\n\nAbbot Pastor returned to [his monastery] accordingly.This cell prays to God for what the judge had denied him.\n\nThe holy fathers said that when Moses entered the sea, he spoke with God. And when he came out, he spoke to the people. In the same way, every good religious man should act. While he is in his cell, he should speak to God through devout prayer. And when he goes out, he should speak with the people in teaching them.\n\nCertain brothers asked the holy father Abbot Pastor if they should always rebuke sinners. The holy father replied, \"If I go and pass by where they are, I will say nothing to them if I see no sin. And never judge anyone unless you touch them first \u2013 that is, unless you are certain of what you say. For often people think things are one way when they are actually another.\"\n\nA brother was once deceived in his opinion when he saw two stacks of wheat and supposed he had seen two sheaves.A man and a woman, unaware, judged each other for committing the sin of lechery. After observing them, he approached and struck it with his foot, saying, \"Cease, man, from committing this sin.\" He was ashamed when he discovered it was two loaves. We should note that one should not judge anything without full knowledge, as it poses great danger to the soul of the one who judges lightly and unknowingly, as he had touched it with his hand.\n\nAn hermit in his hermitage was strongly tempted by devilish apparitions that appeared to him visibly. He believed they were angels. His carnal and natural father had a custom of visiting him at times. It happened that, upon visiting him, he brought an axe to fell trees and wood and carry it to his house. But the devil, intending to deceive this brother, appeared to him in semblance and said, \"Behold the devil in disguise.\"Your text appears to be in Old English, and there are some errors in the transcription that need to be corrected. Here is the cleaned text:\n\n\"The likeness of your father comes to tempt you with an axe, but go meet him and slay him. Thus this deceiving one, the devil, went and met his father and slew him. It is possible that this brother lived wickedly, and therefore God suffered him to be deceived by the devil. Every Religious man and woman ought to take heed of this example, so that God suffers not them thus to be tempted.\n\nThus ends the second part of this present book.\n\nOftentimes, my brothers and friends, you have asked me since I came from beyond the sea, that for your instruction and edification I should recount to you the history of my pilgrimage. And how the faith of Jesus Christ reigns in the East, what principles, what hermits, and what religious dwell there, and if God shows me miracles there. Also, you have asked how I got there and what prosperity I had there by sea and by land. And because in satisfying your desires and\n\"It is three years since my laws and I departed from Narbonne, and on the fifth day after our departure we reached the gates of Africa. Our intention was to see Carthage and visit the places of saints. Principally, we went to the sepulcher of Saint Cyprian the martyr. The fifteenth day we departed from Carthage and set sail for Alexandria, but there arose a marvelous terrible tempest, and if the skilled and experienced sailors had not cast out their anchors, we would all have been drowned. After this we arrived at an uninhabited land. We sent to inquire what region it was and what people dwelt there. I myself went a little way from the shore and soon saw a little house which seemed to be covered like the fashion and manner of a strong ship.In that country, it was well fortified to make it more firm and strong against the winds. For in that region, it never rains, and when the wind blows, it is more dangerous on the sea than in other regions. There was neither corn nor trees in the land, for the ground resembled powder and dust, except between some mountains where the land was firm enough for a little grass to grow. Of this grass, sheep and other livestock were nourished. The majority of the people there lived by milk. And the wealthiest lived by barley bread, for nothing but barley grew there. They say in that country that thirty days after it is sown, it is ripe, and there is no people there except because it is free of all troubles, and it is the last country of Cyrene, joining the desert, which stands between Egypt and Africa. By which Cathon fled, and Caesar led his army. We came into this little house that we saw from afar and found it.An old man, clad in skins, received us kindly with his hands. We asked if there were any Christian men there. The man began to weep for joy when he learned we were Christians. Afterward, he asked us to pray and we did. He then took off his robe and made us sit on it. He brought us half a loaf of barley bread, and we were four and he was the fifth. Above this, he brought a few herbs that seemed significant but tasted like honey. We were well refreshed with this herb and stayed with him for seven days. After the seventh day, because many people came to the house, we knew he was a priest and went with him to the church. This church was between two mountains and was not much more sumptuous than the house of the holy man who had received us. In this church, a man would have been rightly called if:The little man could not stand upright; it was too low. Furthermore, in the country, we knew the people who neither sold nor bought anything and knew nothing of deceit or theft. They had neither gold nor silver, nor did they desire to have it. I offered money to this priest, but he refused it and would accept none. Then we gave him pieces of our robes, which he gladly took because he had none that were worth anything. We performed this act before the people and departed from the country.\n\nSeven days later, we arrived in Alexandria. There, the bishops and the religious communities were having great debates and strife because of Origen's works, which had written against the holy scripture. Those of his sect argued that although there were faults in his books, his good doctrines outweighed them. The others argued the opposite, that it was more detrimental for good Christian people to burn the same books because there were enough other teachings.Teach Christian people, seeing that these books might do more harm to the simple and ignorant than profit to the wise and clergy. I have read these books myself and found many good doctrines and teachings in them. However, I have also found many falsities, such as this: He claimed that, just as God was willing to redeem sinners through the cross, He ought to redeem devils in the same way. His reasoning was that God, being so merciful and pitiful, had suffered to redeem mankind, and therefore He had also suffered passion to redeem the angel who had fallen into sin. This opinion is directly contrary to the truth and should be avoided. This opinion, along with others, gave rise to a great sedition among the priests and other learned men. Since they could not quell this error themselves, they appointed a cruel and terrible provost.corrected the errors which he committed in great cruelty, causing the religious people to flee and having no place where they could endure or dwell. Then, leaving that country, I transported myself to Bethlehem, which is not far from Jerusalem, and arrived at the house of Jerome, a man who was prudent and wise, marvelously instructed not only in Greek and Latin letters but also in the Hebrew language, of which he had great renown, such that none dared to compare to him in scholarship. I stayed there for six months with him. He continually and sharply opposed those who were evil and obstinate. I knew that in his books there is nothing but what he had seen and corrected himself. Principally, he blamed avarice and pride. He also said that among the religious people, both men and women, family ties ought to be. Because he said the truth, many hated him and specifically the heretics, for he did not cease to engage and reprove them, and after the priests. He declared andThey repented their vices and sins, but the just and good men loved him for his holy life and conversation. Therefore, those who say he was a heretic are foolish and misguided, for his doctrine is good and holy. He slept little day or night, giving himself to the study of holy scripture. If I had not been religious, I would never have left him. Nevertheless, I left there my companions who followed me, and went myself to visit the brethren who dwelled in the last part of Egypt. For there are marvelous hermitages and devout people. It would be too long to recount all these things, but I shall recount the principal part in substance.\n\nIn an hermitage by the River Nile, there were many abbies, and the brethren of the same dwelt together and were subjects to one abbot. And for this reason, if any of them wished to go into solitude or wilderness to be more perfect, it was not allowed unless it was with the consent of the abbot.A brother or a solitary monk lived near this monastery to whom the abbot sent bread by two children, one fifteen years old and the other twelve. One time among them, as these two young children were going towards the said hermit, a marvelously cruel serpent came to devour them. But by their boldness and innocence, the serpent lay down at their feet. And immediately the eldest of them both took him up with his hand and put him in his robe, carrying him to the friars in the cloister without any acknowledgment or vain glory. Then all the religious people said that these two children were saints. But the holy abbot of the monastery, however,\n\n(Note: The text appears to be in Early Modern English, but it is mostly readable as is. Only minor corrections were made for clarity.)Doubtingly, these two children should grow proud punished them rightly with rods, saying you come from God. The solitary brother was greatly abashed, both for the scourging as for the serpent's temptation. Therefore, he prayed the abbot that he should send him no more anything. And he was, by that space of eight days, without any food, so much that he was all dry but his thought was always elevated to heaven. Where the body failed for hunger, the soul was roused to heaven. The abbot, by the spirit of the holy ghost, went to visit the said solitary brother to know what he lived on. Upon seeing his abbot come to him, he brought him into his cell. And as they entered in, the abbot felt a savory smell of bread all hot. And there they found a loaf which had been sent from heaven to the said brother, who was near death for hunger. And he said to the abbot that by his merits and virtues, this well-being and good had come to them.Thabbot spoke against it, claiming it was by him that was solitary. After praying and thanking God, they broke the loaf and ate it. The abbot then returned and showed it to his brethren, who desired to be hermits and lead a solitary life. In this monastery there had been two holy men who had not left for twenty years. They were never angry and never went outside their cloister. But since you have heard the life of one hermit, I will tell you the life of another.\n\nWe came upon the first party of the desert with a man who knew the places. We followed on foot at the foot of a mountain where we found an holy man who had a pit. This was not much found in that country. He also had an ox which drew water out of the pit, which was very deep. He also had a garden full of vegetables, which was against the nature of the desert. For the heat and ardor of the sun could not make anything grow or bear fruit there.But by the labor of this holy man, who aroused and watered the ground, it became fertile in such a way that coulis and other herbs flourished. And of these coulis lived this hermit and his ox. The hermit gave us plentifully from this coulis right joyously. Then, after supper, he brought us under a palm tree, where he lived otherwise. And there are no other herbs in its vicinity but such palms, from which the holy hermits and those who are solitary are nourished. When we came to the place of the said palm, we found a lion, which made us very afraid. But the said solitary man approached the lion without fear, and made it receive and go back a little way. After he gathered the fruit of this palm with his hands and gave it to the same lion, which took it from his hand very sweetly, as if it had been a tame beast's, and then ate it and went away. By this we may well know that the virtue and power of God dwelt in the said hermit, being solitary.\n\nAfter weA holy man lived in a small house where only one person could enter. With this man lived a woman, who was accustomed to come while he dined, and she never failed to arrive at the hour of supper. She always remained at the door until the holy man gave her some bread, which she took and ate.\n\nOne time, this holy man went out with another person and did not return until it was night. The woman came as she was accustomed at the hour of supper and found him not there. She entered the house and took the bread from his pantry and ate it. After thinking she had done wrong, she left.\n\nThe next day, the man returned and found his partner injured and one of his loved ones missing. He did not know who had taken it away, but because the wolf did not appear as he had been accustomed, he suspected that it might have been him. Despite this, he could not be certain.He was sorry for his absence. He prayed to God that He would send the wolf to comfort him, which was appropriate for him. And on the seventh day after the wolf returned at suppertime, but out of shame and fear he dared not approach. From a distance, he signaled for forgiveness of his trespasses. The holy hermit saw this and called him near, granting him pardon and giving him double penance in the form of bread. In this way, he took away his sorrow and came back as he had been accustomed. Here we can see the power of God, who makes the cruel beast gentle and tame, as a lamb. Therefore, people ought to fear our Lord Jesus Christ when they see that even the beasts\n\nMany holy men dwelled in deserts without any houses. And in order to avoid being seen by anyone, they never stayed in one place because they loved solitude above all things. One time, two monks of Nitria came to visit a hermit who lived in solitude. This hermit had been one of theirs.And finally, in the month of June, they found him in the desert named Memphis, where he had lived for eighteen years. He always avoided the company and conversation of men when he knew they were of the religion he had once belonged to. He stayed with them for three days, and on the fourth day, he led them into the same desert. A marvelously large lion appeared, and as she had chosen him among the others, she signaled to him to follow her. He did so until the lioness entered her den and brought him five little blind cubs. She placed them at the feet of this solitary man, who knew what she wanted. He prayed to God and then touched the cubs.the eyes of those little lions and the inconvenient ones they saw. And this is what the two religious monks, who had come there to see this holy man, did. They returned to their monastery praising and magnifying God and His saints.\n\nIn that desert, there was a new hermit because he didn't know which herbs were strong and which were poisonous. Often, he ate herbs that he believed were good but were actually venomous. For this reason, he went without eating for seven days. But God, seeing his affliction, sent him a staff that brought him a large bundle of herbs \u2013 the good and wholesome ones \u2013 and chased away the bad ones, making him lie them apart. And so it was done. He fled away, and thus this brother knew what he should eat and which he should leave.\n\nKnow ye, my friends, that it would be a hard thing for me to recount to you all the feats and deeds of the holy men dwelling in the desert with whom I have conversed for a year and more.I have visited with him for two months the monastery of Saint Anthony where I previously spoke of the ox in the sixth chapter of this third part. I have also visited two other monasteries of Saint Anthony, in which at this present time some of his disciples dwell. Similarly, I have been to the place where the first hermit, Saint Paul, dwelt. I have seen Mount Sinai. Its height approaches so near to heaven that it seems to touch it; it is so high that from the bottom, the highest part cannot be seen. Between the sides of this mountain, it was said that there lived a holy hermit whom I could not see, despite my diligent search. He had seen no person in fifty years and had no garment, but used a hair shirt instead of a robe. Whenever he could see any man, he fled into the desert because he did not want to be seen. It was said that for the space of five years in the time that I was there, this hermit had not spoken to anyone.A place / he had spoken only with a holy man / who had asked him why he fled from the presence of men. Then the solitary man said to him / that he who frequents men / cannot be accompanied or frequented by angels, & for this reason it is said that he was visited often by angels. Then I departed from the mountain of Sinai and came to the flood or river of Nile where there were diverse monasteries, as I have said before, in which the religious men are holy & just, & not less than those who are solitary. Among the other virtues they have, they are very obedient. And there is none received unless he has been proven a fore in such a manner / as he may endure all pains and labors / that shall be laid upon him.\n\nI will relate to you two great miracles of the virtue of obedience / of which one is this. A secular man came to a monastery once to become religious / and prayed the abbot that he would receive him. The abbot, to test him, proposed and showed him the pains and labors.tormentes of religion / as the disciplines were sharp & the difficult commandments of the same abbot / to those who every religious person ought to obey / giving him to understand that he might not keep nor comply with them / and for this reason he persuaded him to go to another religion that was not so rigorous / saying to him that it was better for him that he went / than to undertake such poisonous and heavy charges that he might not here nor endure. But the same secular man strongly affected to be received began to promise that he would obey all things that he would command / in such a way that if he commanded that he should enter into the oven hot, he would do it joyously without making any refusal / and so he was received. A little while after his abbot to prove him / commanded him that he should enter into the oven itself. And without any delay he entered into the midst of the flame. But by the virtue of his obedience / the oven which was hot / was made bearable for him.Like it is told, the three children of the brewer were named Ananias, Azarias, and Mysaell. The flame went out of the oven and the brother was entered into it, as if he had been in a place full of dew. The abbot was much ashamed by this example. By this example, we ought to know how the virtue of obedience is pleasing to our Lord God.\n\nAnother brother, who was in the same monastery, the abbot charged him to see his patience and to water a rod dry until it became green. This thing was against nature. The same brother took this charge in patience and every day on his shoulders went to the river of Nile, which was far and distant from the abbey, to bring water to water or arouse this rod. And not only during one year but until the third year, in such a way that finally it flourished. I myself have seen the little tree which is yet all green in the said monastery, bearing witness to how much obedience avails.A holy man possessed the power to exorcise devils from the bodies of sick men, performing infinite miracles. He healed not only when present but also when absent. If a sick man touched the hem of his robe, he was made whole, or if he sent a letter to a patient, he was healed in the same way. For these reasons, many from various countries came to him to receive health and healing in such great numbers that many often remained before his door. This holy man never drank wine or water and ate only seven figs a day. Over time, he began to exalt himself due to these miracles he performed. However, he could not withstand this vanity. The devils of hell, however, exalted and possessed his name, and he could not withstand the multitudes of people who came to him. He was sorry and angry that he healed and helped others, and he could not suppress his evil thoughts of vain glory, which tormented him.A young rich man in Egypt had a wife and a small child. He received much good doctrine from St. John the Merciful, urging him to renounce the world. Fixing this doctrine in his heart, he despised the world and his riches, entered an hermitage, and was soon perfect in all virtues - fasting in a short time.humbly, he was as perfect in virtues as the other monks. Seeing the devil, he put in his heart that it would be better for him to return to his country and visit his son and wife, rather than to dwell out of the world in that pain and solitude. And thus, by this temptation after he had been religious for four years, he left his cell and his good purpose, and went to seek counsel from the brethren of a nearby monastery. The brothers counseled him to stay. Nevertheless, this purpose could not be taken from him, and being obstinate in his purpose, he departed from the said hermitage and concluded to return again to the world. But as soon as he was out of the said monastery, the devil entered into his body. And uncontrollably, he began to behave as a madman, enraged and demonic, biting his members with his own teeth and throwing them on the ground. The brothers, seeing this, were alarmed and took him back into the monastery, where he was restrained and eventually returned to his former state of mind.brethern and knowyng brought hym ayen to theyr monastery / but they bou\u0304de hym bothe handes & feet / for otherwyse coude they not cheuysshe with hym. And he had this payne & this trauayll by the space of two yere hole / for as moche as he had wylled to renou\u0304ce his hermytage But after two yere passed by the good prayers and deuoute orysons of holy men he was all hole and guarysshed / and syth retourned in to his sayd her\u2223mytage / & corrected hy\u0304selfe / in gyuyng to other example of good lyfe.\nTHer be some vestymentis amo\u0304\u00a6ge the gypcyens the whiche ben more for to obserue the forme of the rule than for to kepe the bodye. Fyrste they were coules daye & nyght / to thende that by the same they shewe theyr humylyte and symplesse. \u00b6Fur\u2223thermore the Relygyouses of the same place / haue cutte shertys of lynnen clo\u00a6the vnto the bottokes and no ferther / to thende that therby they shewe that they haue cutte of and lefte all the ope\u00a6racyons of this worlde. After they ha\u2223ue a lytyll mantell that couereth oonly theyrNeck and their shoulders, which is called maftorte in our language, and also to theirs. The other apparition is the skin of a ghost called mellote, which habit signifies that all vices ought to be mortified in them, and they ought to be sovereignly virtuous. They never have shoes, but if it is a little in winter when it is cold, or when they are sick, or when it is over hot, as at none, in which hour the ground is so heated that it burns them if they touch it. And though their rule does not hold in this, yet nevertheless when they come to do the divine service, they take off their shoes, thinking on that which was said to Moses, \"Do off thy shoes, for the place where thou standest is holy earth and sacred to God.\"\n\nThroughout Egypt and throughout Thebayda, where there are monasteries of religious brethren, they have a manner and fashion to pray God as well in evening as in morning. And it behooves it that they have partly renounced the world. For a brotherIn the beginning, there were few Christian men, and those who were Christian lived justly and goodly, their rulers and manner of living being passed down from their successors. In Egypt, both in the service of the day and of the night, the religious sang twelve psalms, and after the twelve psalms, two lessons, one from the New Testament and one from the Old, which they observed indifferently. For this custom has not been ordained by men as the others, but was instituted and established by the angels, who appeared to the old fathers.\n\nIn the early days of the faith, there were few Christian men. Those who were Christian lived justly and goodly, and their rulers and way of life were passed down from their successors. In Egypt, both day and night, the religious sang twelve psalms, followed by two lessons, one from the New Testament and one from the Old. This custom, unlike others, was not instituted by men but by angels, who appeared to the ancient fathers.The apostles of our savior Christ / and separated themselves from the world / and went into the desert to places of solitude / to show to their successors the manner of their service / they came together at a time to ordain and dispose of their said service / so that none would be deceived. For in order to establish this institution, every man served God according to his devotion / and had no fixed usage determined. Then they came together to establish this institution. And some ordained that fifty psalms should be said. Others ordained twelve psalms / and some others said it was not enough / and thus they could not agree. They remained there for a long time / until a certain day at the hour of vespers. An angel in the form of a religious man appeared to them / who arose and began a psalm / and sang twelve psalms / and at the end of each psalm he said \"alleluia.\" And when he had finished, he departed abruptly from their presence. And by this, the said question was determined. For the holy men were in agreement.Faders knew it was an angel. Therefore, they ordered through all their Religions the number of twelve psalms to be kept perpetually in their service, both by day and by night. And they keep the manner and form of these orisons. When their psalm is accomplished and ended, they begin not hastily the next one but incline themselves down to the ground in praying to God. And after they arise in contemplation, but they say that when they are said on their couch, the devil tempts them to sleep. As it has been seen by experience, some for resting themselves more than for praying lie down on the ground and long abide there.\n\nThe brethren aforementioned, when they come to serve, are as peaceful that there shall be nothing but the voices of him who psalmodyeth to keep the better and lighter silence. And they sleep not, but attend diligently to their prayers and orisons. And they are short enough in their prayers, to the end that they are not let by spitting.These brothers recommend short prayers and coughing it out with teeth to drive away the devil, who displeases us primarily when we make prayers to God against him. For this reason, these brothers say that prayers should be short and brief in theirs. And moreover, ten verses of a psalm well recited or sung with good affection, rather than reciting numerous psalms without any devotion, is the truth.\n\nThese brothers are so diligent in their bodily work after their service is done that they do not leave thinking about God. How well they work with their hands. And at third, sixth, and ninth hours, they say but three psalms only, following Daniel the prophet, who prayed God devoutly three times in the chamber. Furthermore, these psalms they say not without cause at this hour. For the promises made to the ancient and old fathers have been sent in some of these hours. First, the holy.ghoost was sente on withson\u2223daye vpon the appostles at the hour of tyerce / and gaaf to theym to speke all maner of langages. At the hour of serte our sauyour and redemer Ihesus for the redempcyon of mankynde wol\u00a6de be nayled and crucefyed on the crosse\nIn the same hour was sente a vessell to saynt Pyeter / in whiche was contey\u00a6ned the puryfycaco\u0304n of all theym that lyue / and was sente by four begynnyn\u00a6ges of heue\u0304. And by this vessell we vn\u2223derstonde the gospell. At the houre of none god rendred his spyryte on ye cros\u00a6se / and in the same hour he descended to helle for to take out the soules that were therin / and enlumyned with his clerenes the derkenes of the sayd helle / and restored to his auncyent Royalme that is paradyse. In this same hour Cornelius knewe that his prayer was accepted to god. Thenne it appereth that the appostles haue not Instytuted without cause these hours here in the chirche / and that we ought well to en\u2223syewe & folowe theym to the ende that in the same houres we may prayse andA man wishing to enter one of the monasteries must first lie before the monastery gate for ten days to prove his perseverance, humility, and obedience. He must kneel before the feet of the brothers who pass by the gate. Each brother should refuse him and reject him, saying that he comes out of necessity, not for devotion. Injuries and reproaches should be inflicted upon him to test his patience. Once his patience is proven, he will be received, provided he brings nothing with him - neither gold nor silver. His robe, which he had, will not be allowed to remain with him but must be openly displayed before all his brothers.A religious person shall be deprived of his possessions and clothed with religious robes, to remind him that he has renounced the world and its temporal goods, and chosen the true poverty of Jesus Christ. His first clothes are kept until his profession, which are given to the poor and indigent. If he refuses, his first clothing is returned to him and taken away. Upon being received and clothed, he is not inconveniently placed among the other brethren. He is delivered to be taught to a holy father, who has charge of receiving pilgrims and the poor people to whom he will serve. For it is the beginning of humility to serve the poor people and pilgrims. After his humility is observed, he is allowed to go with the other brethren. In this way, he is taught to master his will and overcome it.Monks are frequently commanded to do things against their will. According to the holy fathers, if a monk does not mortify his affections, he cannot escape hell, anger, fornication, nor live in peace with his brethren, nor can he be perfectly humble. Therefore, every religious man ought to mortify his will.\n\nIn the aforementioned monasteries, the religious are very obedient. They do nothing without the commandment of their abbot. They do not go to the places naturally required without seeking permission. And whatever is commanded to them, they accomplish it as if God had commanded them, to such an extent that by their obedience they do things that seem impossible. When they are laid on their couch, if they hear themselves called, they arise and run lightly to do what they should, in such a way that, by accident, they would not complete a letter they had begun for fear of staying over.A brother, who was the son of a wealthy and powerful earl, left his father and mother to become a monk at Thabbot's monastery. Thabbot commanded him to sell ten pans of hot goods in the market, which were not necessary to sell. He stipulated that he should not sell them all to one man, but rather sell one to one person and another to another. This brother, the son of an earl, carried the hot goods through the market according to his instructions and brought the money to his abbot.\n\nWe have also seen another named Pinuphus, who was honored and praised in a great monastery in Egypt. Fearing he might become proud, he fled in fear.And left the habit of a monk, and took that of a secular, and went to the monastery of Tabensyens, which was stricter than other monasteries. Hoping never to be known for the great distance of the place, he came and was long at the gate attending and kneeling before the brethren, requesting that he might be received into their monastery. After he had been proved in his patience, he was received, but since they seemed he was not profitable, they gave him the charge to labor in the gardens. Under another brother younger than he, he worked diligently, and all that the others refused, he did willingly. In such a way, on the morn no man knew who had worked so diligently. So it happened in the third year, as his brethren searched for him in various places and woods, that he was found by one of them whom neither he nor they knew, withstanding the mutation and change of his appearance.The brother, who had toiled in works unworthy of him, labored in the earth and planted herbs and vegetables. After feeding the dogs, he spread it around the roots. The brother who sought him, doubting still whether it was he or not, approached him more closely and spoke to him. Then he recognized him by his face and his speech, and fell down at his feet. The brothers of that abbey demanded of the other why he had fallen down to the feet of the religious man, who was but newly come. Then the brother answered that it was his abbot. And each brother asked him for pardon of their offenses and great evils they had done to him. But this holy abbot began to weep and play the part of the devil's victim, regretting that he had endured such pain so long, lest he should not have such great reward in heaven. Then the brothers brought him back into his abbey and kept him from harm.Then he should not flee. But after he had stayed a little time there, moved by humility, he departed by night and went into a far region. He put himself into a ship, and with its help, he went into the region of Palestine, intending never to be found, for there was never any report of him there. As soon as he arrived, he went straight to a monastery, which is near the place where our Savior Jesus Christ was born of the blessed Virgin Mary, and stayed there for a while. But just as the city on a mountain could not be hidden, neither could this holy man be long hidden, for he was discovered by some monks who came on pilgrimage to the holy land and brought him back with great prayers and entreaties to his first monastery.\n\nOnce, when we were with this holy man due to the family relationship between us, came a brother who demanded to be received into the said monastery. This holy man gave him a terrible warning.The abbot said to him, \"My friend, I believe you have spent many days waiting at the gate to be received, and yet you have endured great pain to do so. First, you should know the life of religion into which you will enter. If you live well, you will gain heaven. Conversely, if you live evil, you will gain hell. You should also know that those who truly serve God in their vocation are promised heaven, but those who are negligent in serving Him are promised torments intense in time to come. After his vocation, every man ought to do and work. It is better to make no vow or promise than to make it and not keep it. Furthermore, he who neglects the work of God is cursed and unhappy. Therefore, the said holy abbot said to the same brother, 'You have long refused us, not but that we desire the health of every holy or Christian person, but doubting that'.\"We receive them solely. And by this means, we ought to be represented as fools / and you strongly punished and severely / if you had been received inconsiderately without giving notice of the burden and charge of religion, & should have been in danger that they should not have been good. And with that, as the apostle says, you are this day dead to the world and to his goods. But you may ask, how can he who is yet living be dead and crucified to the world? Now listen a little. I say first that the cross of which I speak is the fear of God. For just as a man crucified / cannot move his members at his will, all in like manner we ought to do nothing to our pleasure, but after what is commanded us. And all in like manner as he who is crucified or hanged thinks no more about worldly things nor his affections and pleasures, and has no covetousness to possess or have anything. And when he is near death.The point of death / he reports himself as such. All in like manner behooves us to be crucified by the fear of God, without thinking of the world, but we ought to set our thoughts continually there where we hope to go to, that is in heaven, if we deserve it. And therefore it behooves us not to look back or behind us, that is to say, when one has renounced the world and left it behind him, he may no longer think of it in any manner. For only he shall be saved who has persisted in good and virtuous operations until then. Furthermore, our enemy, the devil, withdraws always and desires nothing but to beguile and deceive us with his cunning and malice. And therefore it will little profit him who has well begun that perseveres not until then. And in this way said the holy abbot to the said brother. I exhort you now that you will serve God, that you have continually the fear before the eyes of your thought, and that you apparel your soul.Nothing is to the rest or to worldly delights but to resist the temptations of the devil and endure the suffering of the world patiently. For it behooves by many tribulations to enter into the kingdom of heaven, where the way is so narrow that few people walk therein, which is great pity. Thus, then, the beginning of our health is the fear of God. For by divine fear, good conversation, and keeping of virtues it is obtained. This fear, if it is perfectly in the heart of a man, engenders in him virtues and makes him despise all vain things and abhorrent to his health, and makes him despise and abhor the world. And by the remembrance of temporal goods, true humility is obtained. The first way this humility is shown by a religious brother: if he has mortified and annihilated his will. The second, if he reveals to his superior all his evil thoughts. The third, if he does nothing but at the will of his abbot. The fourth, if he keeps silence.all things in obedience. The fifth that he does no wrong to any person, and if anything is done to him, that he endures it patiently. The sixth that he does nothing against his rule. The seventh that he esteems himself unworthy to do what he is commanded, and does it willingly. The eighth that he humbles himself less in virtue than all others. The ninth if he is peaceful, and that he speaks no evil of his neighbor. The tenth whereby is known very humbly in a man, that is, if he is not habitual in disordered laughter. By all these manners above said, humility is known.\n\nFurthermore, according to the apostle, it is necessary for the one who is with the other brethren that you be as a deaf man when evil is spoken of them or of your neighbor, without hearing it, and as a mute in keeping from speaking evil of others. Also, it behooves you to do indifferently all that will be charged to you, and thus your patience will be greater and more meritorious than it should be.If thou shouldst be persecuted by others and if the temptations of the flesh were the only trials thou hadst to endure, then the beginning of our health is the fear of God. For the fear of God brings compunction of heart. And from compunction comes contempt for all worldly things. Contempt for worldly things leads to humility. Humility leads to mortification of the will and annulment of one's own will. The mortification of the will results in the avoidance of all vices. The vices are taken away, and in their place, virtues grow and bear fruit. The increase of virtues leads to purity and cleanness of heart and conscience. Purity of heart leads to the possession of true and perfect charity. And from pure charity comes the Kingdom of Heaven.\n\nAs we journeyed from Syria into Egypt, a holy man received us warmly and made ready for us to eat and drink before the hour determined for those who fasted. We then asked him why he had invited us to dine.To fore the hour accustomed, and he answered to us, \"My friends, you are not always with me, but fasting is always required here, and so I may always recover to fast, but not you, and therefore while you are here, I will that you eat with me. For I shall be able to resume my fasting afterwards.\n\nWe have seen another brother, who would never eat alone, but was always accompanied. And if by chance none came to visit him, he would not eat until they came, and if they did not come, he would wait until Sunday and go to church, and the first pilgrim he found, he led to his cell and ate with him.\n\nAfter this, we have known another holy man named Machetes. To whom God had given this grace, that if he had one day and one night to hear the service of God, he would never have slept. His father sent to him often about his affairs, so did his mother and his other kin, therefore, on one occasion, he took all his letters in his two hands and began to say, The lecture.I. Of many letters shall give me vain joy or sorrow, which shall serve me for nothing, concerning the merit and health of my soul. I know well that I shall be allowed to engage in contemplation, to take heed and think on those who have sent them to me. And therefore I shall conclude that these letters shall never be opened or read, and so he threw them into the fire, saying, \"Go with the thoughts of my country, and burn with these letters, so that you bring me not to that which I have once renounced.\"\n\nAfter this, we saw a holy father named Theodore, who was a great scholar and much prudent, both in manner of his living and in holy scripture, which he knew more by the grace of God than by study or experience. One time, in order to know the solution to a very hard and difficult question, he was in prayers and orisons for seven days.\n\nIN coming then fromIn Palestine, we found a castle in Egypt called Diulcus. There, we discovered an order of monks more holy and just than the other, known as Anachorites. These monks engaged in daily battle against the devil, and to intensify their efforts, they retreated to the deepest deserts. We encountered some of these monks between the flood of the Nile and the sea, in a secluded and isolated location. This place was inaccessible due to its sterility and barrenness, caused by both the salty and bitter sea and the unproductive land. Upon finding them, we were greatly astonished by the great hardships and labors they endured in this hermitage. Firstly, they suffered greatly from a lack of water to drink, forcing them to ration it among themselves, much like good wine. They had to fetch the well water at great distances.The river of Nyle, which is three miles far from the hermitage. And yet between the river and their dwellings are great mountains full of rocks, making the ways more painful. After we had seen these things, an holy hermit among them led us into his cell, saying if we would stay there, he would give us the said cell, for he was about to depart, and to make us believe him better, he said he would have left it even if we had not come. We took it, and he made another with great labor and difficulty. And after, by great charity, he gave it to other pilgrims with all the utensils that were therein. And after he made another in which he dwelt.\n\nAbbot John coming in Sychye brought with him a brother, who brought to him figs. These he afterwards sent by two young children to a more sick holy man who dwelt in a desert hermitage distant from the church of the said Abbot John, eighteen miles or thereabouts.The children, bearing these fishes, went towards the sick brother. As they went, they were surprised by a thick cloud that made them lose their way. Going night and day, they could not find the cell of the hermit but were forced to stay on the way due to their great weariness and travel fatigue, as much from the heavy load as from the great and terrible thirst they had suffered. And so they knelt on their knees in prayer to our Lord. After two or three days, Abbot John, seeing that these two young children had not returned, sent men to search for them through the desert. They followed the trace of their passing and feet, which were imprinted in the sand in such a way that they both were found dead, kneeling on their knees, and the fish still whole by them, which they would not eat but were more content with.suffering the death corporally /\nthan without the permission of their abbot to eat it, which they were commanded to bring to the said religious brother.\nThroughout all the region of Egypt / the religious have never been idle / but live diligently, laboring and toiling with their bodies, and give, for the love of God, that which they earn above their living, not only to pilgrims but also to the needy and indigent, and also to prisoners and sick of towns and cities, to their neighbors. They esteem it by such works they make a pleasant sacrifice and acceptable to God. For they say that a religious person, however well he does or makes something, is always tempted by some devil. But he who does nothing is vexed and tempted by an innumerable quantity of devils. But Paul, a very holy and approved religious man, dwelt in a desert so bare that nothing grew there except palms, which he lived on. For he was so far from men that when he had made any thing, he had no one to see him.A brother could not sell it [because of] the great distance of the place. To prevent idleness, he gathered every day the palms and weighed them frequently, so that he wouldn't eat more at one time than another. He made many small mats or baskets from the palm leaves and filled a fosse or ditch with them. At the end of the year, seeing that no one came to buy and have his work, he set fire to them. The next year, he made as many again to avoid idleness. He said that it is not possible for a religious person to live justly if he is idle.\n\nI have known another brother who was tempted in such a way in the sin of lechery that he could not resist it. He went to a holy man and said, \"Alas, father, what should I do? I am consumed by the fire of lechery.\" The holy father answered him, \"I believe, my child, that God has not sent you this temptation in vain.\"A strong and vehement blasphemy against him or his saints would result in the poor Religious person falling down at his feet and confessing, acknowledging that he had blasphemed the name of God, and that he could not achieve perfection of virtue in his soul.\n\nOn one occasion, some holy fathers came to Abbot Anthony, requesting his counsel and instruction for living a salvatory life. In response, he gave them a collection that lasted from evening till morning, and after that he posed a question that lasted until the following midnight. This was the question: Which virtue among all others preserves the religious person most effectively from the grip and lure of the devil, and brings one into eternal felicity? Each of them answered according to his capacity and understanding. Some said that the religious person was delivered from the devil through fasting, wakefulness, and other virtues. Others said that the devil would never be surmounted by anyone.brothers. Some said that only those in the depths of despair could surmount the devil of hell, implying that they had perfect love and cheerfulness towards God. Others argued that those who received pilgrims and served them could easily overcome the foe. These brothers were at odds over this matter, and the abbot said to them, \"My brothers, what you have said is necessary for those who follow God through true devotion. But this is insufficient to protect you from the allure of the devil. We have seen some of our brothers living justly in the thickest of despair, yet they fell due to a lack of discernment, which they did not possess in their operations. It is always necessary for a devout person because it shows the true way to paradise and keeps one from being either too much or too little continent in their works.\"And it is manifest that without discernment, no virtue can be had. And these words said, the said brethren were all of the opinion that discernment is she who can deliver the religious persons from the grip of the devil, and conduct and lead to the glory of heaven, as she who is mother and conservatrix of other virtues.\n\nTo show you how discernment is required and necessary, I shall relate to you an example of an ancient father named Heron. This said Heron, because he was not discreet in his actions, lost the reward and merit of them, and died miserably. It is true that this said Heron lived in such great discernment for the space of fifty years as any man ever did. But the devil, envious of his good life, tempted him in such a way that he slandered all the other brethren of his age. For himself, he undertook to fast continually and did not leave his hermitage, such that the holy day of Easter or Passover he came not to the church.Two brothers lived beyond their age, in which dwelt Saint Anthony, who would not eat unless God sent it to them. With the other brothers, who were displeased and wanted him brought to them so that for the solemnity of the day he should eat a little, he refused and persisted in this folly by the instigation of the devil. The devil, with God's permission, appeared to him in the likeness of an angel of light because he had made himself subject to him. The devil persuaded this brother that he should cast himself into a pit to prove his great virtue and constance. Trusting in his own virtue, the said old brother leaped and cast himself into the same pit. The other brothers, hearing him cry within the pit, drew him out as if he were dead. Three days after, obstinately persisting in his error, he refused to believe that this was a diabolical illusion. Two brothers lived beyond their age, in which dwelt Saint Anthony, who would not eat unless God sent it to them.They reached a reception. And when they had walked for a long time, they were near starving, and came to a people named the Mazytes, who were very cruel and murderers. Nevertheless, when they saw these brethren, they came to them gently and brought them bread, for they saw that they were famished. One of them took the bread willingly, and supposed that it was sent by God to him, for he said in himself that God had thus caused the said Mazytes, who were accustomed to kill people, to save his life and his companions. The other would not eat it, thinking that a man had given it to them and not God. Now, how foolishly they had begun, but that one acted wisely, for in the end he knew his fault and ate, by which he avoided death. But the others began evil and acted worse, and therefore he died corporally, and might have died eternally.saye of a relygyo{us} the whiche I shall not name / for as moche as he lyueth yet / the whiche was deceyued by the deuyll For oftyme he appered to hy\u0304 in forme of an angell of heuen. And euery nygh\u00a6te the fende enlumyned his celle as wel as he had had lyght. On a daye the\u0304ne amonge the other / the deuyll admones\u00a6ted hym that he sholde sacrefyce to god a childe that he had / the whiche dwel\u2223led in the monasterye with hym / doyn\u00a6ge hym to vnderstonde yt in so dooyng he sholde be equale to the patryarke Abraham. The whiche thyng he wol\u2223de haue doon / yf his childe by the wyll of god had not escaped out of his celle wherby it appyereth that he was not well dyscrete.\nTHer was an other Relygyous / the whiche in all his lyfe lyued in ouer grete rygour of absty\u2223nence / & neuer yssued out of his celle. And whan he cam to the ende of his lyfe / he was in suche wyse tempted of the fende / yt he whiche had surmou\u0304ted tofore all other relygyouses / becam the moost meschau\u0304t. For the deuyll for to peruerte hym shewe to himoftimes a great company of Christian men, both religious and secular, black, foul, and infectious, opposed him. He showed them a company of Infidels shining as the sun and said furthermore that if he was to be a partaker of their glory, he should be circumcised. This he led him into this folly to will be circumcised, by which every man knew that he was deceived, and thereby it appears dangerous when there is no discernment.\n\nThe Abbot Serapion, when he wanted to inform and teach his young monks, recalled to them his life when he was young, as they were, and said: when I was young as you now are, I dwelt with the Abbot named Thebon, and I had this custom with me, that every day when I had dined, I hid a little loaf of bread in my bosom and ate it, deceiving my master. And how well I did this every day continually when I had eaten it. I repented me and had much grief for the theft that I had done, that I had no pleasure when I had eaten it.I have eaten the bread, and for my conscience I told me I should not do so. I was compelled by custom to show it to the holy man with whom I lived. It happened that some brothers came to this holy man, and after they had dined, he gave them many good teachings and instructions. Among these, he said to them that there was nothing that rejoiced the devil more than when a religious man hid his evil thoughts from his spiritual father. Hearing these words, I found myself heavy and displeased, fearing that the holy man knew my thoughts. And I, inconsistent, began to lament secretly and then to sigh and weep so openly that each of them perceived it. I, inconsistent, took the love that was in my bosom and brought it to him, and I fell down at the feet of the holy man and of the others, confessing to them every day that I stole a love and asking for their pardon and mercy. And the holy man immediately said, \"Have you made an appeal in God, my child, for your confession will make it this day.\"Surmount your enemy, the one who is the devil of hell, upon whom you shall have power through your confession, which he has impeded by his temptation. Therefore, if you will, the devil shall no longer be master over you, since you confess your sin. And the holy man had almost achieved his words when a lap, enlightening, sprang out of my bosom, which filled the cell with stench in such a way that no person could endure. And then the holy man said, \"Look and see here how God approves my words, so that you know clearly the torment and stench which were in your heart, to be thrown and cast out by true and whole confession, and that the devil shall never dwell in your heart again. By this means, the stench of the devil of hell was taken away from me in such a way that he never tempted me again.\n\nIn the parts of Palestine near a village where the prophet Amos was born, there was a great hermitage, which touched [something].The flood of the Jordan reached the city of Sodome. The holy hermits who dwelled there, serving God, were slain by Saracens who arrived unexpectedly. The bodies of the said holy fathers were received by the Arabs in such a way that each of them fought with one another to have them, to the end that their bones should remain with them for relics in the places where they should be buried.\nAmong all others, Abbot Daniel stood out for his equality in all virtues, but primarily for his humility. Because of this and his softness, he was appointed abbot of the said place in the office of a deacon. This holy abbot enjoyed so much of his humility that he ordained to sacerdotal office all those he knew to be similar to him. Furthermore, desiring to have a successor, he instituted Daniel as priest. However, for whatever dignity it was that he had, he left nothing of his.A former humble priest, but always exercising the office of a dean, he regarded himself as unworthy to exercise the sacerdotal office. However, Paphuce, who was supposed to make him his successor, was deceived, for God took him beforehand and died before him.\n\nI have seen since Abbot Serinus, a man truly virtuous and singularly renowned for the great and excellent virtues that shone in him, not only in his conduct in the ward, but also in his appearance outwardly. Among the other virtues he had one in particular, which was the virtue of chastity. And because it is a thing above nature to be chaste, therefore I will show how he possessed this virtue. This same holy man devoted day and night to prayers and supplications, fasting and vigils. And to abide unfledged of the sin of the flesh, he prayed our Lord so affectingly and so devoutly that his prayers were heard. In one night, an angel appeared to him in sleeping, who took out of his body as a clot all that was swollen.After putting it back into his entrails like before, he said to him, \"O Serenus, see here all the lechery of your flesh which has been taken from you. And know that today you have won the purity and perpetual cleansing of your body, which you have demanded of God. This suffices regarding the life of this said holy man, for when we came to him we demanded various questions, primarily about the temptations of the devil. But he answered us joyously, as he was accustomed, saying that the devil of hell had no power over a person, but as God grants him license, as we have an example in Job whom the devil could not tempt but as God permitted him.\n\nWe know as much by experience as by other reports of old fathers that the devils of hell have less power against monks in these present days than they had in times past. For then there were few monks in hermitages. And the devils were so terrible to tempt, and the people were so little.Resistance few abode in hermitages and other solitary places. And also in the hermitages where there were ten or twelve religious, the devil was so continual that they dared never sleep together but while some slept, the others prayed to God. And after those who had prayed slept, they awakened those who prayed in the same way, and all for the sake of the ferocity and cruelty of the devil. Therefore, now devils are less let to tempt us for two causes. The first for the sign of the cross, that we are of less resistance than the holy fathers were, and therefore devils do not hesitate to tempt us, knowing well that they will easily win and have us lightly. So they dare not fight against us, as they do against the true champions of our savior Jesus Christ. We have also seen and read, and still see and read every day, that those who are holy and just have often been possessed and tempted by the devil of hell, not only for:theyr syn\u0304es / for they had none / but god suffred it to thende yt they sholde be pro\u2223ued as golde in the fornays / & yt at the daye of Iugement / they sholde go stray\u00a6te in the glorye of heuen / after yt / whi\u2223che is sayd / that the ryghtfull & Iust is proued in the fornays of very humyly\u00a6te. And in an other place it is sayd. I chastyse theym that I loue / and this is ynough shewed in our tyme of thabbot Paulus / & of thabbot Moyses / the whi\u00a6che how well yt they were rihgt Iuste & holy / alwaye were they persecuted.\nTHabbot named Paule had the thought so pure and so chaste / that he had neuer the wyll to see not oonly the vysage of a woman / but also the abylleme\u0304tes. For on a day as he wente to vysyte an holy fader he was recou\u0304tred of a woman / but al in\u2223contynent as he sawe her he retorned in to his celle more Impetuously than\nyf he had be chaced of a lyon or a no\u2223ther beste. And for as moche as he had the wy\u0304men in ouer grete abhomynacy\u00a6on nothyng by presumpco\u0304n / but by fer\u2223uent chastyte / yet godThe man suffered his body to be struck so severely that he could not help himself with any member, not only his feet but his tongue and eyes did not function in him, for he could not speak or hear, but was like a statue or image unmoving. And for this reason, he found no one who could help him endure his afflictions, therefore he was confined to a women's monastery for four years, where the holy religious women attended to his needs. And despite being thus debilitated in his limbs, he always possessed this virtue: whatever oil touched his body healed and cured the sick men who were present. And it is well-known that this affliction came upon him by the will of God, who wished to manifest the inestimable virtues of the said holy father.\n\nFollowing Abbot Moses the Second, how just and holy he was:A nuntersely, because he had reproved Abbot Machary for some things, he was possessed by the devil in such a way that he took the filth and ordure that came from men and put it in his mouth. This punishment was sent to him to prevent him from committing a more grievous sin. For incontinently as Abbot Machary fell on his knees and prayed humbly to God, the devil of hell leapt out of his body. Therefore, we ought not to despise those who are strongly tempted or demon-possessed. For we ought to believe two things. First, none is tempted by the devil without God's suffrage. Secondly, all that God sends to us is for our profit and health. For He knows well what is necessary and profitable for us.\n\nA religious brother walking through the desert was constrained because he was surprised by the night and unable to enter a fosse or cave where he began to say his service after his custom till after midnight. And after he would have rested and slept a while.A little one saw two companies of devils and their princes. One company was before the other, and the one who led the second was greater and more terrifying. After seating the first one on a chair and asking what they had done, he dismissed those who had not overcome the men they had tempted as cowards and fools. But those who had deceived some, he praised and set before the others, so that each of them should do the same. Among them came one who said that the same night, he had made a monk fall into fornication, whom he had tempted for five years before. Each of them enjoyed this and was greatly praised by the prince and the others. Then they went their way, and after the spring of the day began to come, this brother who doubted whether it had been true or not what he had dreamed, arrived. And then this holy man came in to see him.In a place named Pelusium, there lived certain religious people whom the devil had instigated to deceive, as related in the sin of fornication. Another devout religious group resided there, who knew of the brother who had heard this story. He asked them how the other religious people fared, and found that he had been deceived as reported. For he had left his monastery, but later, upon hearing these things, he returned to his monastery and, with great abundance of tears, made amends and died penitent.\n\nOnce, two philosophers, hearing the good repute of Saint Anthony, went to him. Since he did not respond to their pleasurable questions that they proposed to him, they returned, saying that he was a fool and ignorant. Envious that many came to Saint Anthony as God's servant, these philosophers sent two devils to tempt him through their magical arts. But the holy man, through prayer and the sign of the cross, repelled them.the crosse / kepte theym soo well yt they approched hy\u0304 not. Thenne they retor\u2223ned to the two phylosophres without doyng to hy\u0304 ony thyng. But neuerthe\u00a6les they sent two strenger deuylles whi\u00a6che dyde to hy\u0304 nomore dyspleasyr than the fyrst. Thyrdely they enraged and wood sente to hy\u0304 more cruell fendes by the halfe / but they dyde nothyng to hy\u0304 but cam agayn all confused. For they fou\u0304de saynt Anthonye constau\u0304t & sted\u00a6fast. And for so moche they knewe wel what vertues ye good crysten men haue For these deuylles whiche were so ter\u2223ryble myght not gryeue ne noye saynt Anthonye ne his hous. Thenne these two phylosophres moche meruayled ca\u00a6me to saynt Anthonye / & confessynge theyr synne dyde do baptyse they\u0304. After saynt Anthonye asked of theym what daye they had sente those deuylles to hy\u0304. And by theyr answere he knewe yt in thoo dayes he had be sore trauaylled in temptaco\u0304ns / neuertheles he had re\u2223systed them by the moyen of his pray\u2223ers / in whiche he was right besy & con\u00a6tynuell. For on a tyme thus as hepray, dear friend, at the even tide on the morn, seeing the sun arise and appear, he began to cry out and say: O sun, why dost thou torment me now, why dost thou show thyself to me now, to take away the clarity of this very light which I now see.\nHere ends the third part of this present book.\nO venerable lord and father Martin, priest and abbot. Paschase. Greet right holy and devout father. If it had been lawful to disobey your commandment, I would gladly have abstained from translating the lives of fathers from Greek into Latin. The reasons are twofold: first, the works and deeds of the old fathers are vast and unknown, which I cannot adequately describe or write. Second, I have neither the ability nor the understanding to undertake such a work or operation. Nevertheless, trusting in your benevolence and obeying your commandment without demanding any glory or exaltation, I.A monk once asked Abbot Sisyas how to live in his cell. To this, Abbot Sisyas replied, \"Eat your bread and salt, and do not arrange your food sumptuously for your body, but govern it soberly in your cell without going to diverse places to ask for it.\"An abbot responded to one who asked him how to live, stating that Prophet Daniel never asked for alms outside of his residence yet always lived justly. A holy man told another that he was very charitable and the lantern lights for many, but not always by burning himself above. A father asked another such a question: should a man be praised for always eating little, and which of those who abstain have the most merit or reward? The answer was given as no, for some people cannot eat but little according to their constitution. And, as the philosopher says in his ethics, none should praise or blame us for things we have by nature. Therefore, those who have this inclination by nature ought neither to be blamed nor praised. But those who abstain and eat less are the ones who should be praised.They have greater merit than their complexion requires, so long as their intention is rightful and well-ruled according to reason. Regarding the second party of the question, those who abstain for the honor of God, they are the ones with the most merit from God. Answer: Those who have the most nourishment and abstain equally have more merit than the others, as they withdraw for the honor of God primarily. Consequently, for the nourishment which is necessary for them, and since in such cases the complexion, not the quantity or scarcity of the food, should be considered. For eating in equal portions is sometimes an outrage to one and insufficient for another. And all men should understand these words regarding the intention of fasting, which is rightly ruled according to the appetite of reason.\n\nA brother came to the holy Abbot Paul once and said, \"Father, please grant me the favor of your charity to say to me...\"What thing should I gather in my youth that may help me in my age? To whom the holy father answered, \"You shall have God for your good if you want Him to be your God of your money, and not be poor as one says, 'You cannot love God with all your heart, and the worldly riches together.' For it is said in the Gospel, 'We cannot serve God and the prince of wealth.' Therefore, you must either have God and despise the riches of the world, or else choose worldly riches and despise God.\nThabbot Agathon often instructed his disciple, saying, \"If your neighbor has need of anything that you have, you ought not to deny him, but you ought to help him. If you want to keep the commandments of God, considering that you are subject to corporeal necessities as He is. For it is written, 'In such measure as you shall measure to others, it will be measured to you.'\nA holy father said that we find in holy scripture that Lazarus, who was at the gate of the rich man, had in him no other virtue except this.\n\nCleaned Text: What thing should I gather in my youth that may help me in my age? To whom the holy father answered, \"You shall have God for your good if you want Him to be your God of your money, and not be poor as one says, \"You cannot love God with all your heart, and the worldly riches together.\" For it is said in the Gospel, \"We cannot serve God and the prince of wealth.\" Therefore, you must either have God and despise the riches of the world, or else choose worldly riches and despise God. Thabbot Agathon often instructed his disciple, saying, \"If your neighbor has need of anything that you have, you ought not to deny him, but you ought to help him. If you want to keep the commandments of God, considering that you are subject to corporeal necessities as He is. For it is written, \"In such measure as you shall measure to others, it will be measured to you.\" A holy father said that we find in holy scripture that Lazarus, who was at the gate of the rich man, had in him no other virtue except this.But he endured his poverty quietly and never grumbled or murmured against the rich man, but prayed and thanked God for it. This holy man also said that it never behooves us to think of anything but the fear of God. If by chance we are forced to think of our bodies, we ought not to think of them except when it is time, as if we ought to be diligent and busy in the fear of God at all times, but to think of our bodies we ought to be busy only in time and place.\n\nAbbot Anthony prophesied about Abbot Ammonius by saying to him, \"You of the west, be much patient and perfect in the fear of God.\" After he led him out of his cell and showed him a stone, he said to him, \"Abbot Ammonius, go and do wrong to this stone and strike and beat it as much as you can.\" And so he did. After Saint Anthony asked him what the stone had answered, Abbot Ammonius said it had answered him nothing. Saint Anthony said, \"You are the one who was thus.\"Patients in time coming / for you shall have such and so great patience, that whatever shall be done to thee, thou shalt think and suppose that it is none injury.\n\nHow and when one ought to do the will of his neighbor. A monk demanded of Abbot Permenius what faith is. He answered / that to live always in charity / and to do well to his neighbor according to his power is true faith. For it is said that faith without works is dead. And thus those who live evil have no good nor firm faith. And of his diffinity it is said that faith is to believe that which he seeth not.\n\nAbbot Theodore speaking once of the works of the soul / and of the works of the hands / his brethren said to him. Father, say to us what difference is there between the works of the soul / and those of them of the hands. And he said to them / all that which we do for the love of God in keeping his commandments is called the works of the soul / but those which we do for singular profit are said to be the works of the hands.The abbot Apollos, when one questioned him about his labor, went forth joyously with each one and said, \"I walk with my king Jesus Christ and go to labor for my soul. And it is a good reward to do so. Thus, one may conclude that where one can edify his neighbor without offending God, he should fulfill his will always in time and place.\n\nHow one ought to forsake his will and specifically the Religious.\n\nA brother coming into Sychye to see Abbot Arsenius would not tarry for any prayer made to him, saying that he would not eat until he had spoken to him. So one of the brethren brought him to Abbot Arsenius, who was then in his cell. Immediately they began to pray to God, and after they sat down, but he who had brought the other saw that Arsenius said nothing. He then said, \"I also will go,\" and they both went. Then the stranger began to pray that the other should go see Abbot Moses.\"The said Moses received them right benevolently. After they had both gone, he said to the stranger who had brought them: \"Now here is your brother, the one you desired to see so much. Which of the two seems better to you?\" The religious answered that he who had received them so benevolently seemed better to them. Hearing this from a holy father, he prayed to God in this manner: \"Lord God, please it to You to show to me which of them has the most merit, either he who for Your love fled from the sight of men and their company or he who receives all pilgrims in Your name. Then two ships were shown to him. In one of them he saw the holy ghost peacefully and Abbot Arsenius with him. In the other, he saw a legion of angels and with them Abbot Moses, who put honey in his mouth. By this he knew well that both of them had been there.\"A monk named Eulogius from Alexandria came to Saint Anthony, seeking health among the crowd. He had renounced all his possessions, keeping only a pig and a little quantity of it, hoping to live in the future. However, he was troubled in his heart by various temptations and could not remain in any monastery. Leaving his hermitage, he encountered a man suffering from an elephantine malady, who had no health in any of his members except for his tongue. Moved by compassion, Eulogius prayed, \"Lord God, in Your name and for Your honor, I receive this man who is persecuted by this grievous malady. May I receive Your favor to accomplish this task.\" Afterward, he spoke to the sick man, \"My...\"brother if you will. I shall receive it into my house, and after my ability I shall serve him. The sick man answered and said, \"Alas, sir, if it pleases you, I would then say.\" Then said Eulogius. I go into my house to fetch an ass for bringing you there, and he did so and served him in all his necessities for the space of fifteen years, and afterwards, according to the devil's admonycon, the sick man wished to leave and began to grumble and murmur against Eulogius, saying, \"You are a cowardly man, who has left your house and think by this occasion you serve me to recover the health of your soul.\" This notwithstanding, Eulogius prayed him that he would leave off saying such injuries to him. My friend, if I have offended you in any way, tell it to me, and I shall amend it. The sick man replied, \"Go your way. I set not by your flattery. Set me in the common way out of this desert.\" Then said to him Eulogius, \"I pray you appease yourself.\" The sick man answered, \"I can no more endure your presence.\"\"Dysart and Mokes / and I can no longer live in this manner, for I will eat flesh. And when Eulogius was content, he went and fetched some for him. But as soon as anyone saw him, he began to cry out. Thou abusest me / thou canst not satisfy my will. For I will go see the world. Then Eulogius brought to him a multitude of monks who were fasting to appease him, but after seeing them he became more cruel than before and began to say, I may not see the world / and thou art forcing thyself to bring to me a multitude of people who do nothing but devour thy substance. In such tormenting, he said, I will go into the world / return there where thou tookest me. And he was so troubled in his mind that if he could, he would have hanged himself. Then Eulogius asked the religious council what he should do with this sick man, saying that he was in a marvelous perplexity because of his terrible words.\"woto not whether I ought to put hym forth / or to kepe hym with me To whom the brethern sayd. Thou shall put this seke man in a shyppe / & shalt lede hym to thabbot Anthonye in his monasterye / and thou shalt a\u2223byde there tyll he come out of the caue wherin he dwelleth. And whan thou shalt see hym / thou shalt recount thy payne to hym whiche thou endurest / in demaundynge of hym counseylle vpon this mater / and how that thou shalt therin procede / and doo all that whiche he shall saye to the / for he shall saye noo thynge but that it procedeth of god. The sayd Eulogius obeyed to the holy relygyouses. And by nyght he bare this seke man vnto the Ryua\u2223ge / and after leyde hym in a shyppe / and ledde hym to Saynt Anthonye. Now hadde Saynt Anthonye a custo\u2223me / whan his dyscyple cam to hym for to sygnefye the comyng of ony people / whether they were of Egypte / or of Iherusalem. And aboue this he had or deyned / whan hym semed yt they were deuoute people / he sholde answere that they were of Iherusalem. But and yfThey were simple and Egyptian. He should say they were from Egypt. Then Saint Anthony demanded his discipline, whom he had called some other names. Then Saint Anthony said to him, \"Answer for I speak to the one who has come from Alexandria.\" And then Eulogius said, \"What do you want me to say?\" Saint Anthony said, \"Why have you come here?\" Then Eulogius answered and said, \"He who has revealed my name to me will also reveal to you the cause of my coming. Saint Anthony said, \"I know well why you have come, but I will make you say it before all your brethren.\" Then Eulogius began to say, \"I found this sick man in the common way, despised by every man. I have taken him in promise to God to succor him in all his necessities according to my power, to the end that finally we both might be saved and have been together for fifteen years, as it has been shown to you. But for as much as certain time, he has grieved and disturbed me with great injuries. I come to you to seek that you\"\"You ask what I should do about him, I have considered putting him away from me both because of the injuries and because I cannot content myself. I answered Saint Anthony rather rudely, \"How dare you think to put him from me? I assure you that if you put him out, he will find someone else who thinks better of him than you.\" By this answer, Eulogius was so abashed that he did not know what to say. Seeing this, Saint Anthony began to speak to the sick man, \"Come here, unworthy man of heaven and earth, foul and infected, will you not cease to grumble and murmur against the servant of God, who for his honor has so kindly received you?\" After he went to his brothers and exhorted each of them in turn. Immediately upon his return to the sick man and Eulogius, he said to them, \"You have not departed from one another since you have long lived in peace. And God will reward you by his mercy and grace, which has\"A holy father named Cronius related that Saint Anthony prayed an entire year to God that He would show him the place of the good and the place of the evil. Then, an apparition appeared to him, so great that he touched the clouds, and beneath his feet was a flood like the sea. Furthermore, he saw souls flying like birds, and all those that flew above the hands of the giant were saved, but those that flew low were plunged in the water. After this vision, he heard a voice saying to him, \"Those souls that flew above the hands of the giant were the souls of the just and good people who had strayed into heaven, but the others were those going to damnation and perdition for their voluptuousness and fleshly desires.\"A monk asked Abbot Pyemon how the soul that does not fear God can resist temptations. The abbot replied, \"The soul sometimes fears God, but not always, and so it cannot withstand the enemy if it does not fear Him actually. The fear of God is the cause of the great perfection of the soul.\"\n\nA brother once asked an old man how the fear of God comes into the soul. The old man answered, \"If a man is humble and does not condemn anyone, and if he is generous in doing good according to his ability, he will fear God.\"\n\nAn ancient old man told a religious brother that he should have three things in him: the fear of God, perfect humility, and poverty of spirit.\n\nA monk came to an aged father and complained to him, \"I have an...\"A brother asked the holy man, \"How do demons have power over us?\" The holy man answered, \"If our will does not consent to do evil, it should be no sin. Likewise, if we do not submit our will to the devil, he should have no power over us. For by our wills.\"symylytude. the trees be cutte & hewen with an axe / whiche is helued with the selfe tree / & yf it were not helued / it myght not be hewen. All in lyke wyse is it of vs. For the tree sygnefyeth our soules / and the helues our wyll / and the axe the deuyll whiche maye not hewe without an helue / that is our wyll / by the whiche he beteth our tree / that is to saye our soule. Thenne yf we refuse to hym the helue / he maye not hewe doun with his axe the tree of our soule.\nOO brother demau\u0304ded of thab\u2223bot Moyses / how a man mygh\u00a6te mortefye hy\u0304selfe. To whom the holy man sayd. Yf a man repute not hy\u0304self to haue be thre yere in his se\u00a6pulture / he may not be veryly mortefy\u2223ed in this worlde whiche hath two thy\u0304\u00a6ges / that one is yt he hate the rest of his bodye / the seconde yt he loue no vayne glorye. \u00b6An holy man sayd yt a relygy\u00a6ous man that is occupyed in good ope\u00a6raco\u0304n may not be surmou\u0304ted of ye fen\u2223de. For whan the deuyll cometh & fyn\u00a6deth hym besy in good werkes / he de\u2223parteth Incontynent / but yf heA monk who only does evil work is persecuted by the devil and makes him do worse if he can. The habitant Anthony said that if a monk labors and then rests without continuing and then labors again, he is not truly persevering. Perseverance must be continued to the end. The scripture also says that he who shall persevere unto the end shall be saved.\n\nA holy man said that a man ought always to labor until he has won Jesus Christ by grace. For he who has gained him shall never regret the danger of the fiends of hell, always striving to keep himself in thinking of the pain and fearing to lose his reward. For this reason, God caused the children of Israel to be in captivity in the desert for the space of forty years, suffering great pain, so that in having remembrance of their pain they should not forget God through sin.\n\nA man once demanded of Habbot AnthonyA man named Permenyon asked how one could learn the word of God. The answer was that, just as water is soft and stone is hard, yet the soft water can wear down the hard stone through continuous contact, not force, so too is the word of God. It is sweet and soft, but our hearts are hard. However, if one hears it often and thinks about it affectionately, the fear of God will come to the soul, which was first hardened, and will make it receptive to an \"hole\" or concavity, which will be filled with grace.\n\nA holy man advised that a religious person should not inquire how one lives or how another lives, so that by the answers he hears, he is not distracted from holy prayer. Therefore, it is better for him to be still and say nothing.\n\nA brother asked his abbot whether he should say something to anyone who enters his cell and speaks idle or unprofitable words.A holy man said, \"If anyone speaks with you, whether of scripture or of any other matter, you ought never to argue with him. But if he speaks well, accord with him, and if he speaks evil, say to him 'You know and can do better than I.' In following the Apostle, who says 'Do not argue,' you will avoid hate and obtain humility. If you persist in your opinion in defending your words, you will more readily engender slander. Sometimes, excessive praise of another follows noise, from which you may be led astray.\"You ought solely to keep the peace, for the might of the trouble that would come to you is so great that you should never be at peace nor at rest. Therefore, it is more beneficial to remain in resistance to his evil thoughts and to raise yourself diligently in the fear of God, to pray both day and night, and if you do so, you shall not fear nor dread the temptation of the devil.\n\nSaint Anthony said to his disciple, \"If you desire to have silence, you owe it not for that reason to esteem yourself more virtuous, but in keeping it, you ought to consider yourself unworthy to speak.\"\n\nA brother asked Sysoy that he desired to save his soul, but he wanted to know the manner in which he might do it. Then Sysoy answered him, \"How can we save our souls when our tongue always speaks? For he who keeps silence and maintains it may not be saved.\"\n\nAnother brother asked if it was necessary always to be still. To whom it was answered that at least when he was asked, he should be still. For if you are not still when asked, you cannot save your soul.A man must be silent; he shall be in peace wherever he is, keeping silence being the only thing required. An holy father said that the pilgrimage made for God's honor is good, provided he keeps silence. Twelve holy fathers hermits, detached and solitary, were gathered together as brothers, touching upon the principal thoughts and spiritual concepts they had heard in their cells and habitations, to live virtuously and to resist the temptations of the devil. The eldest spoke first. I have forced myself with all my power to resist exterior operations or outward actions contrary to my health, having in remembrance the Psalmist saying, \"Let us break the bonds of our enemies and cast them behind us all their temptations.\" I have fortified in my thought, as a wall between my soul and the bodily operations, so that I see them not. For just as he who is within the wall does not see them.\"A hymn that is without [is not fit for a man to see or behold, so that he may not glory in himself, and he should flee them as one would venom from a serpent or a scorpion, and cast them lightly behind from his heart. The second says, since I have renounced and forsaken the world. I have said every day in myself, 'On this day you are born by grace, this day you begin to serve God, this day you begin to dwell here, be you always as a pilgrim without having any estimation of yourself, and you shall be soon delivered.' The third said, 'In the morning I may rise up to my God by prayer, and in starting myself upon the earth, I pray Him that He forgives me my sins. After I pray to angels and other rational creatures that they may supply and pray for me, and this I do in going to Jerusalem to see the Jews. The fourth said, It seems to me that I am with God and His disciples on the mount of Olives, and it seems to me that God says to me,'\"Be with my disciples always, enclosed in contemplation. And enter not with worldly things, they abuse your soul in taking example of Mary Magdalene, who set herself at Jesus' feet in hearing his words, which are such: Be holy and perfect, says your Father in heaven. Learn of him who is humble of heart and sweet. The fifth said, \"I see every day things growing and descending to call the holy souls and bring them into paradise. I do nothing but abide my end in saying. Lord God, my heart and conscience are ready and prepared when you will take it. The sixth said, \"It seems to me every day that after my prayers, God says to me, 'Labor in the love of me, and I shall make the rest.' Fight a little against the enemy yet, and after you see my health and my glory, if you love me and are my son, return to me, who am your Father. If you are my brother, have mercy on me, and endure the reproaches of the people.\"For the honor of me. I have endured evil infinitely for the love of you, if you are my sheep and my subject, follow my passion. The seven said, \"I think always on the faith of God, hope, and charity, and diligence. I have hope to enjoy myself, charity for fear I do not hate any man, and faith to fortify myself against my enemies.\" The seven said, \"I abide in great constance, the devil takes whatever part he goes. And I pray to God devoutly, that he does not grieve anyone, primarily to them that fear God.\" The ninth said, \"I consider divine contemplation of virtues angelic, and in the midst of them, the Son of God shining as the sun over and above all creatures. And in considering this sweet harmony of angels comes to my remembrance, which is written. Lord God, the heavens recount your glory, and the formation of your works marvelous. And in this contemplation, all seems to me like dust and powder to me. The tenth said, \"I see my angel who is always beside me and keeps me.\"I remember then the words of the Psalmist. I have always had God before my thoughts. For He is always at my right hand to prevent me from being moved by evil temptations. And since I fear my angel who continually urges me toward heaven, lest he reveal my works to God, the eleven said, \"I have given myself to all virtues, that is to say, to abstinence, chastity, humility, charity, and diligence. Of these, whatever part I find myself surrounded by, I am compelled to keep them, so that after my death they may testify that they have dwelt and rested in me.\" The twelfth said, \"Among you, fathers who have the heavenly conversation, you also have divine wisdom. And since I see you possessed of virtuous works, you have all renounced the world and its goods. Therefore, I may truly say without sin that you are earthly angels and heavenly men, touching your conversation which is in heaven, of which things I humbly repent.Unworthy for my sins which accompany me everywhere I go, on the right side and left side. And therefore I consider myself worthy to be condemned. Thou shalt be put hastily with them that for their deserving are in weeping and in perpetual wailing. And in this I considered some of them that strain their teeth for the great pain that they endure in all the parts of the body. And in sign of humility, I cast myself on the earth taking ashes, and praying God that it may please him to preserve me from these torments. Furthermore, I saw in that hell a sea boiling, in which are many people of diverse states who cry so strongly that it is impossible to express, and who are kept from the mercy of God because of the enormity of their sins. And for considering these pains, I weep by compassion for the fall of worldly people who live in such great danger. And in this doing, I remember that which is written in the Psalm: \"My tears have been to me.\"Also profoundly nourishing as bread of the day and night. For by their means I have spiritually nourished my soul. All in like manner as the body is nourished by material bread. The which contemplations aforementioned / of the which sayings and dictates of the said holy Ancient and old fathers / we ought with all our power to follow / to the end that in doing so we may come into the Kingdom of heaven. The which grants us he who reigns perpetually.\n\nAMEN\n\nHere ends the fourth part of the life of the holy fathers of Egypt and of Greece.\n\nHere follows the fifth part and some small treatises of the praising of virtues &c.\n\nFor as much as my right dear and beloved brother, who at some time thou hast affectuously requested me to make some little book or treatise of the praising of virtues. I desiring to fulfill thy request have compiled this present book to the praising of God and to the salvation of thy soul / knowing the great desire that thou hast to see the holy scriptures. And for that cause I amgladde to haue ac\u2223complysshed that whiche hath pleased the to requyre me / to thende that thou mayst alwaye prouffyte in the loue of god / and also that I be partener of thy good dedes. I wote well and kno\u2223we that he is well happy that may o\u2223nely saue his owen soule / but also I by\u00a6leue that he is yet more happy the whi\u00a6che in dooyng his helthe is cause of the helthe of other. And by cause I praye the that thou rede besyly this lytyll compylacyon / and that thou doo that whiche therin is conteyned / to the en\u2223de that by thy good ensample thou sa\u2223ue thy selfe and thy neyghbour / and for thy labour thou shalt receyue in he\u00a6uen double rewarde.\nIN praysyng the\u0304ne the vertues / I shall begynne at the pryncy\u2223pal / whiche is charyte / the whi\u00a6che I admoneste the to kepe aboue all thynges. For all in lyke wyse as the bre\u00a6de is moost necessarye amonge alle o\u2223ther metes. In lyke wyse charyte is moost necessarye amonge all other ver\u00a6tues. And also as the table is euyll ser\u2223ued in whiche is no brede. Alle in lyke wyse /Right, other virtues without charity bring no profit. For without charity, to mourn, to weep, to be naked and chaste, to do alms and endure martyrdom are of no profit or use. This virtue specifically our Lord and Redeemer recommended to us when He said, \"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.\" And yet He says, \"By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.\" For if you love one another by good charity and deeds, you are My saint, John the apostle praises it in saying, \"He who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.\" This virtue was also praised above all others by the great preacher, the chosen vessel of God, my Lord Saint Paul, when he said, \"If I give all that I have to the poor and if I burn my body in a fire in doing penance, and if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am but as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.\" All the things said before profit me.Nothing. And after he said, charity is kind and sweet to endure all torments and adversities, and ready to give of his goods to the needy. And no other virtue but charity makes the martyrs endure so many pains and torments as they have suffered and endured patiently and humbly.\n\nThou oughtest to believe and know certainly that charity is not perfectly in a man without humility and obedience. For if thou hast true charity, thou shalt be inconvenient, humble, and obedient. Humility is a great virtue, for it makes men mortal become heavenly. By humility, the devil is surmounted and overcome; by it, the greens of him are avoided. In like manner, Saint Anthony said to Abbot Pastor, who had seen over the whole world the greens and nets of the devil set up to take the souls of the poor, and it was said to him that humility alone might put away all those greens without falling therein. And he said it not only for himself but for us, who are sinners and much less.He, in perfection of manners and virtues, strives to avoid the allurements of the devil in this way. Furthermore, the life of a holy and devout hermit named Martin demonstrates what humility is. From his youth, he was very humble and human, and he loved God so much that when he came to the holy sacrament of the altar, an angel ministered to him the same holy sacrament. Consider and reflect on what virtue and gift is humility, by which a man, being mortal, is made agreeable to God.\n\nTo know to whom this virtue of continence belongs, it consists not only in eating and drinking, but in speaking, sleeping, clothing, and other many things. Therefore, be continent and sober, seek no more delightful or delightful foods, and take no hour to eat, and also take no heed of gluttons and drunkards who eat more than is necessary for them. And know for certain that each and every one of us should strive for continence and sobriety.A person who labors extensively in this life will have greater reward in heaven. To prevent this virtue from appearing burdensome, I will provide an example. A man named Dorotheus of Thebes lived in such a manner: he gathered and fetched stones at the seashore, and every year he built a house and gave it to those who had none. At night, to ensure they had food, he made hot meals and sold them panned dishes. He ate only a little bread and drank water. He never slept on a bed except when he could no longer stay awake, and the force of excessive watchfulness and busyness caused him to close his eyes even while eating, causing him to drop food from his mouth. One day, while passing by a merry way filled with sleepers, he lay down and slept there until morning. Upon awakening, he found himself in that state and began to clean himself.Say: If you make the angels sleep. I am not ashamed though you make me sleep. He said this in a dream or to engage the devil who would have tempted him. Once he was seriously ill and lived then as strictly as he had been accustomed. Then an old father asked him why he treated his body so harshly. To whom he answered, \"I treat it because it kills me. I have written this to the county, so that you know, it is free for those who have good will to observe it. Dorotheus made a cell every year and gave it for the love of God to the indigent and needy. He lay on no bed and ate only bread and herbs and drank water. I do not tell this example to you that you do in the same way, but to humble and make yourself meek and to see how our old fathers lived in continence and ask for no delicacies overly.The abbot Moyses, for the entirety of his life or near it, ate only bread. Yet he labored and worked diligently. For six years, he prayed every night devoutly without lying down or closing his eyes, unless compelled by great constraint. He visited the cells of the monks and carried water from a distance that was far from the cloister.\n\nThe virtue of continence consists not only in abstaining from food but also in abstaining from seeing and beholding worldly things and carnal desires. We read of Abbot Pyor, who left his father's house and went into an hermitage, intending never to see the face of a friend. But his sister, marvelously desiring to see him, prayed to the bishop of the diocese where he dwelt that he would write to the abbot and the brethren of his monastery, asking them to send Pyor to her so she might see him.whiche thyng doon the holy fad{er}s co\u0304mau\u0304ded Pyor yt he sholde go see his syster / & to thende yt he wolde be obeys\u2223sau\u0304t he departed & wente with an other man / whan he was come in to ye hous of his syster / she made to hy\u0304 grete che\u2223re / & sawe hy\u0304 all at her ease / & after he retourned in to his hermytage / & whan he was comen agayne bycause he had thurst he made an hole in ye erthe by his hermytage where he fou\u0304de water mo\u2223che bytter / of ye whiche he dra\u0304ke / & vsed it vnto thende of his dayes / how be it that it was moche bytter / & after ther myght noman dwelle in ye place there. \u00b6An other tyme thabbot Moyses and his mo\u0304kes made a pyt where they fou\u0304\u00a6de no water. So appyered to theym a\u2223bout ye hour of myddaye thabbot Pyor the whiche descended in to ye pytte smy\u00a6tyng thre tymes in therthe / & inconty\u2223nent ye water sprang vp / & after he va\u2223nysshed awaye. And therfor my broder\nthou hast seen & herde that the conty\u2223nence of the syght is necessarye. Thou haste also herde how this abbot Pyor was neuerDisobey your kin but be obedient to your superiors. He went to his sister and yet did not see her, for he closed his eyes to keep his first promise. Therefore, I implore you to follow this holy man and not be curious to visit your parents or friends, for in looking back, it is to the world which you have forsaken and renounced, you shall not be turned into a rock of salt, that is, a dead image or statue, as was the wife of Lot, who, because she looked behind her, was similarly turned. And to this end, remember the gospel saying, \"He that putteth his hand to the plough of penance and looketh back is not worthy of the kingdom of God.\"\n\nI also advise you to be sober in your words and speech, to the end that you may say with the Psalmist, \"I have kept my ways to the end that I sin not with my tongue. I have put my trust in Your ordinances.\"Set aside in my mouth doubtfully that I should speak evil. Have remembrance of the sister of Moses, who, for as much as she spoke evil of her brother, became lazy, and was seven days out of her house. Afterward, she was guzzled by the merits of her said brother, whom she had spoken evil of. We ought not to apply our tongue to speak evil of our neighbor. For we should not abuse it foolishly, since it was given to us principally to pray to God and His saints. And we ought to have remembrance that all detractors will be kept from the kingdom of heaven and the company of righteous men. And for as much as we should not be kept from thence, let us eschew detraction, and keep ourselves from backbiting our neighbors, whom we ought to love as ourselves, and from speaking unprofitable words. For the gospel says that we shall render an account at the day of judgment for all idle words that we have said. We say a word is idle whenIt is not profitable for him who says it, nor for him who hears it, to keep speaking words exciting to laughing disorderly behavior. Instead, enforce the people to say things that will excite them for your profit and their soul's health. Let away your words be reasonable and profitable. It is recorded of two wise men: one named Theo, the greatest cleric of the gypsies, who kept silent and spoke to no person for thirty years. The other was never angry, never swore, nor said any vain word that caused grief to any man. In the time of these two holy men, there was another named Helyas who dwelled in a hermitage for a hundred and ten years in continuous fasting, speaking little to any person. Therefore, take heed of what caution and what prudence you ought to have in your words, by the example of the holy men aforementioned. And to end, hear what Zacharya says on this matter.Asked of Thabbot Moyses, who said to him that there was nothing better than to say nothing and be still in time and place. And in the end, he was sued because he kept silence diligently. Then, to the end that thou may be saved, love and keep silence. I have read also of a devout man, who kept silence continually in his mouth, a stone. Then I pray thee affectuously that thou keep silence, for infinite goodnesse are lost for the sin of the tongue.\n\nMy friend, continuance in clothing is much necessary. There are many people who believe that the desire for ambitious ambition to have precious robes is no sin, but they deceive themselves. For if it were not a sin, God had never prayed St. John the Baptist for his clothing, which was coarse. For he said to the people who went to see him, \"What have you seen? Have you seen a man clad in precious robes?\" As he said, \"No,\" for those who use and are clad in precious robes are in palaces and houses.Saint John was not dressed in precious clothing but in skins of camels only. If one who is sanctified by God in the womb of his mother and is greatly loved by God and a prophet, more than a prophet, was clad in the skin of a camel, we miserable sinners ought to be content with coarse vestments without desiring more, each according to his station. Furthermore, Saint Peter in his epistle defends precious clothing, but not if it is to please the world. Then we ought not to seek such things, but rather we ought to seek virtuous clothing for our soul and not for our body. The clothing that is charitable, faithful, humble, bountiful, and benevolent, for with these virtues our soul ought to be adorned to live perpetually with God. And how well our body may be adorned with gold and silver or with other fine clothing.Precious vesture. It is never but dust and filth, and therefore we ought not to demand the eases of our body. For if we nourish it according to its appetite, we nourish our enemy within us, as a man has no greater enemy than his body, which draws his soul to sin if it may. Therefore, each person ought to hold it subject and to chastise it, as Saint Paul says, \"I chastise my body and make it a servant.\" Our body ought to be chastised by wakefulness and various other means, to the end that it does not draw our soul to sin, but this must be done in such a way that in chastising it, he does not leave off doing good works. For he who would make it lean and put his body to affliction in such a way that he may not continue in virtuous works, he should not be wise or discreet. And you ought to understand that the virtues of silence, nakedness, abstinence, and chastising of the body ought to be done with discretion, the which is a sovereign virtue.Without the which no operation is valid, and where it shall be, it shall be meritorious, by default of discernment the operation is not profitable. Therefore, we may say that discernment is the mother of the other virtues. And therefore I admonish you to take discernment in all your works, to the end that you fall not on one side or the other. Of this virtue of discernment you have in the life of the Fathers called in Latin Vitae Patrum, they make their bodies lean, but for this they do it not discreetly, they are far from the Kingdom of God.\nBut for as much as in all operation is required composition. It behooves first to know the difference of it. Then I believe that very mortification cannot be obtained by any person without composition. And therefore I pray you, in all your works, be it in keeping chastity or that you love to be evil clothed or that you will, we do not descend into the tormentes of hell, the which thing we ought gladly to do, considering that this world is but a passing shadow and a transitory thing.life is miserable and transitory, but the other shall never have an end. In the former, the righteous persons shall have perpetual joy with the angels. And the miserable sinners shall be tormented by the demons with the damned in hell perpetually without remission. For it is written that in hell there is no redemption for those who are damned by their demerits and deservings. Therefore, if we cannot weep as often as we would like, let us persist and continue in deep prayer. For it is in the power of our Lord to give us the ability to weep. And this is contained in the life of the fathers, an example of a religious man who complained to a holy man, saying, \"My soul desires to have tears and to weep, like the other old fathers have wept, but it cannot have it.\" To whom the holy man answered, \"You ought to persist in prayer, for you may not obtain that which you ask for so soon. You do not know well that the children of Israel were weeping in the wilderness.\"For forty years they wandered in the desert before they could reach the land of promise. The tears then are the land of promise, to which if you come, you shall no longer fear assaults and temptations of the enemy of hell. It is recorded by Abbot Arsenius, who always kept before his eyes a cloth to wipe away the tears that flowed continually. Therefore, we should dispose ourselves to weeping and wailing, if he and the other holy fathers, who were so just, mortified themselves in this manner. By much greater reason, we sinners ought to weep in thinking on the death and the terrible day of judgment of God. And for this reason, Ammon says to one of his brethren, we ought to be like the thief in prison, who asks for nothing other than to be led to hanging and demands where is the judge in weeping and wailing for his last day. Therefore, we should weep and wail our great sins in this manner.sovereign Judge our savior Christ. And if we do this, we shall be saved, and we shall have merry and firm country and repentance. And to do this is necessary and needful for us to think on the pains and torments of hell where the worm of the remorse of conscience shall never die, the fire shall not be quenched, the weeping shall never cease, nor the pain ever have an end.\nIt is not fitting, after weeping and wailing, to return to sin for which we have wept and wailed. For every man who, after his penance, returns to his sin, resembles a hound that returns to its vomit. There are many who weep for their sins often. And nevertheless, they cease not at all from sinning and offending their maker. The prophet Isaiah exhorts us, saying,\nwash yourselves and be clean in heart. And upon this, it is to be noted that he who weeps for his sin is not clean when he begins to sin again, but he is washed and abides clean, whom the weeping does not make unclean.Offenses and returns not to them. I have given you to know and understand what punctuality is, impossible to see his visage in thick and troubled water. In the same way, the soul, if not purged of evil thoughts and cogitations, cannot have contemplation towards God our maker. \u00b6Pambo, the holy religious man having under his charge fifty religious persons, did nothing but what was necessary for the spiritual life, took no heed but for prayers, every day he made three hundred prayers to God, and took three hundred stones, and at every prayer took out one stone only, and after finding no more stones, he knew well that he had said them all. Therefore, we ought greatly to make ourselves, who are far different from the life of holy fathers. And we are not prompt and ready to make prayers like they did. \u00b6Orasion, joining with contrition and compunction, is a great virtue. And therefore I will have you understand this.You are earnestly desiring to pray, / go up into the mountain / to signify to us when we should pray, / we ought to ascend the mountain of heaven, / through good and devout contemplation. / But all those who pray / do not all ascend. / He who asks for the death of his enemy / or covets temporal goods / in his prayer, among worldly people, / does not ascend. / And on the contrary, he who humbly prays for the health of his soul / and for his neighbor, / ascends to the same mountain. / Now consider reading his admonitions / to the end that you may come from mortification to consolation / and from consolation to the manner of prayer / and to require God, your maker.\n\nSince you are sufficiently instructed to know the excellence of virtues, / it remains now to know their contraries. / Therefore, you shall then surmount all vices in alignment with the virtues. / This opposition or alignment against them often occurs.For a man by the same is lifted up to devotion. And vices are retrained in doing the virtue contrary to every vice. For against lechery, it behooves to be chaste. Against wrath and anger, it behooves to have patience. Against fear, confidence. Against haughtiness, spiritual joy. Against fearfulness of courage, strength and constance. Against avarice, largesse. Against pride, humility. Against hate, charity. St. Paul speaking of this battle says, \"The flesh resists against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. These two are in such a way contrary that sometimes what would be well done is not done.\" Therefore, my right dear friend, be always diligent to read and to do the things before said. If you are tempted to sleep too much, enforce yourself to overcome the temptation by waking up. If you are tempted to take ease of your body, have remembrance of St. James, the cousin of our Savior, who never ate flesh, nor wore linen, nor.Anointed his head, for in his country the custom was to do so. If you are tempted by worldly delights, remember St. John the Baptist, who was sanctified in his mother's womb. Of whom God says in Scripture that among the children of Adam born of women, there was none greater. It is found in Scripture that he neither ate honey nor bread, but only wild honey and herbs. If you cannot forgive them for what they have done to you, remember our redeemer, who pardoned those who crucified Him and suffered various pains for us. For your love, He became man, mortal, though He was Immortal and Impassible. He took human flesh in the womb of the holy virgin Mary, so that He might die to redeem us. He was struck and scourged with buffets and suffered all insults in His precious visage. He was crowned with thorns. And at last, He was crucified on the cross, and when He was on the cross, He said, \"My Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.\"\"Crucify me / they do not know what they do. He who is crucified without cause prays for his enemies. And will you not forgive them who offend you? I believe if you thought well on this that is contained herebefore, that you should lightly forgive those who offend against you. And in doing so, you will more appease your anger or wrath. And in accomplishing the commandments of God to love each one as it is written. Love your enemies / and do good to those who persecute you. And pray for those who challenge and do you wrong. If you are tempted to go see diverse regions and countries, consider yourself as dead and crucified to the world, and then you shall overcome that temptation. For you shall think on nothing but your death, if you will take heed that the world to whom you are dead does not raise you again, or that it is not raised again, hear what the apostle says of the battle of vices against virtues, if you mortify says he the.\"You shall destroy the fleshly deeds by spiritual deeds / and therefore, if you want to live, it behooves you to mortify the vices with virtues: hate with charity, worldly pleasures with spiritual joy, discord with peace, malice with goodwill, cruelty with sweetness, gluttony with sobriety and abstinence, and lechery with chastity. And if you thus destroy and mortify the operations of the flesh, certainly you shall come to the Kingdom of heaven with God our maker and our redeemer and his angels.\n\nIt does not take long to occupy yourself with things previously said. I will that you read in scriptures what is necessary for you, for I believe that the commands of God cannot be fully known except in reading. And you shall learn in them what we do not know. Isidore says that by prayer we are spiritually purged. And by frequent reading, we are instructed and taught. One is good, and the other is good, but when it behooves to pray, it is evil to read.To study or to rede (it is commonly said) that to study is a rede and a prayer oft. For the lecture gives to us knowledge of God, and prayer takes away the darkness of the soul. By the lecture we have knowledge of God and of his commandments, by which we may know what glory and felicity those who are saved have in heaven. By this also we understand what mystery and what pain have those who are damned in hell. And by this we know the sentence that shall be pronounced at the day of judgment upon the good and upon the evil. For to the evil shall be said, \"Go ye into the fire of hell.\" And to the good, \"Come ye, well blessed, into the kingdom of my father, which is prepared for you since the beginning of the world.\" Furthermore, by study we learn how we ought to bear patiently the adversities of this world, & how we should contain ourselves in prosperity. And in the following chapter I shall determine how the adversaries of the holy father have suffered patiently.And yet you be the more prompt to endure them. And by the same token, you might have the kingdom of heaven, which is prepared for those who are good. If by adventure you happen to come to any malady or adversity, I pray you read the scripture. For you shall find there what God says. Those that I love, I chastise, and it is a sign that God loves a person when he chastises him and sends to him some adversity, which adversity you ought to suffer patiently. And to this purpose I shall recount an example. There was a man named Benjamin, who healed and comforted sick people by his touching only them, but Benjamin himself fell into a drooping eye and became so greatly swollen that he could not go out of his cell without breaking up the door. And never the less he had such patience that he comforted the other sick people, and in that he might, he prayed for my soul and did not reproach my body. For when I was whole, I did not reproach to serve God, and therefore take example.A monk named Steven, who cared for the sick men in his power and lived until the age of sixty, was afflicted with an incurable malady that required him to amputate his legs due to its progression. Despite this, he continued to make baskets as an admonition to others not to be angered by his affliction and to focus on the end. He said, \"All God does is just and profitable. I know well that these pains given to me are for my sins. I would rather endure a little pain here than suffer the pains of hell eternally. Therefore, when any adversity comes to us, let us dispose ourselves to bear and endure it patiently. And consider if the holy men have given thanks to God in their adversities; then should we sinners endure patiently the evils that come to us. For it is written that by various tribulations.\"Men ought to go to heaven. Then we should strongly love tribulations, as we are heirs of that sovereign glory. The sinner who shall not be punished here will be punished in hell. Furthermore, while we live, we ought to desire and endure sicknesses and tribulations for God's honor. Additionally, you ought to know that a man is persecuted in this world for many reasons. First, to approve his patience, as Job and Tobit were tested, who proved firm and constant to the end. Secondly, a man is persecuted so that he is not proud, which is particularly fitting for saints. For the apostle says of himself, \"To the degree that I do not exalt myself for the great revelations I have received. God has given me a thorn in the flesh, that is, the spirit of Satan, which tempts me continually. And after the thorn knew the profit it had by the same thorn, he said.\"Enjoyed me right gladly in my temptations and trials, to the end that I had the grace of God. Thirdly, a man is tormented in his body for his sins, when God will not yet damn the sinner for his sins but will punish him temporally. As in the case of the paralytic to whom he pardoned his sins before or gave him bodily health, it appears that this malady came for his wickedness. Fourthly, a man is persecuted to the point that the virtue and power of God or of his saints are shown to the people through it, as it is written in the Gospel that he was born blind. For God said that he and his parents had not sinned, but he was born for this purpose to show the glory of God. Fifthly, some man is tormented in this world to the point that he begins his hell, which after his death shall never end. And this is understood only of evil and cursed people, as Anathothus, Herod, and Pharaoh, of whom it is written.The Lord punished them with punishment, temporal and eternal. Since we do not know why God sends adversities, we ought to endure them, weeping and wailing for our sins, so that all may turn to our profit. We must believe certainly that no evil will go unpunished unless it is erased and put away by penance or God's mercy or purged in purgatory or in hell perpetually. Therefore, one should have hope, even if one has sinned. For whatever sin one has committed, the mercy of God is much greater. I shall now relate a fair story.\n\nTheodosius, the emperor, who, in a great rage, had put to death seven thousand men, wept and cried for mercy. Therefore, no man should despair, but with good affection, he should entreat.For your mercy's sake, I shall recount here the history of Theodosius, so that you may take example from it. Firstly, you may have hope for pardon and forgiveness of your sins, as Theodosius, who had slaughtered so many people, received remission of his sins in little time. Secondly, you shall acquire humility. For although he was an Emperor, he was continually admonished and converted by St. Ambrose, such that he regarded himself as the most miserable of all sinners. Thirdly, you may be excited to great effusion and abundance of tears, considering that he, upon entering the church, anointed and wet the pavement with his tears. And therefore know that there is no man who does not have imperfection in himself, be it in will or in deed. For if a man avoids lechery, he is in danger of falling into the sin of avarice, and if he avoids avarice, he may fall into the sin of wrath.In the city of Thessalonica, which was greatly and strongly populated, a great and marvelous sedition occurred because of which some of the judges were stoned to death and others dismembered. Theodosius the emperor was so moved by this that he commanded expressly that all the citizens, good and evil, should be put to death. And thus, there were cruelly slain more than 5,000 men without keeping any order or temperance. Of this great, horrible, and cruel occurrence, Saint Ambrose was informed, who then was bishop of Milan, and he declared and denounced the said event.Theodosius, accused and excommunicated. Despite this, he showed himself as an emperor, constantly punishing and correcting the wicked and obstinate sinners who committed grave offenses against our lord and his church. After enduring this sentence of excommunication for a certain time, in a solemn day in the city of Milan, he refused to go to church, disregarding the sentence, as other Christian men did. But Saint Ambrose came hastily before him and began to cry out, saying, \"O Theodosius, I am ashamed that the devil has so horribly blinded you, making you fall into this damnable obstinacy, that you cannot or will not know the enormity of your great sin that you have shed cruelly, the human blood of Christian men, children, and servants of God. How dare you presume to enter now into the Temple of our lord?\" If by chance your empire andYour lordship is hereby informed of your sin, which you are well aware surpasses the dominion and authority of the same lord and seigneur. You ought to know and understand that you are mortal, and will become dust and ashes, just like other men. Do not suppose that your purple and other precious vestments are worth more than your subjects, whether you are a prince or a lord; nevertheless, you are a servant. For God is the Lord of lords and the King of kings. How then dare you, with your eyes, taint or behold with anger the sacred and hallowed temple or approach and come near its pavement with your feet, which are so foul and polluted? How dare you lift up your hands to God from which the blood of the Innocents still drips? How also dare you receive the precious body and blood of Jesus Christ in your mouth, by which the sentence of the furious and wicked has been pronounced, through which so many innocent servants of God have been put to death? Consider then the grievous enormity of your case. I.Defend it (the Church) and enforce it to depart from thence, to the first evil you put not thereto the second. Furthermore, I exhort you to carry out promptly the sentence of excommunication against the one pronounced, which is the judgment of your soul. The emperor saw the constancy and laudable boldness of St. Ambrose, and touched by the holy ghost, he concluded to obey him. And so he returned to his palaces, where he remained for the space of eight months without going out or issuing forth, weeping there greatly and marvelously behaving himself with tears. Approaching the feast of the nativity of our savior Jesus Christ, one of his knights and steward of the household named Ruffin, who was more familiar with him, seeing his weeping and lamenting, which he had continued for so long, prayed him to declare to him the cause of the same. To whom he answered in this manner: \"Alas, my friend, you do not know\"the grievous evils and annoyances that I suffer. I weep for my great misery, which exceeds all others, considering that the gates and doors of the church are open to the poor servants of God, who go when they seem good, but they are shut and closed to me, and by right it is extremely grievous to me. And God knows what great sighs and lamentations made His heavy and desolate heart. For they were so sorrowful and so often renewed that they broke His words in such a way that He could not achieve what He wanted to say. Then the said knight, who was much displeased and grieved by the desolation of his lord and master, the Emperor, said to him that he would go to St. Ambrose and should make every effort towards him to the point of absolving him of the said sentence and permitting him to enter the church. The said Emperor believed it to be very difficult to obtain this from the said St. Ambrose, considering his rigorous affection.So sharply he was brought before her to correct your defaults committed in the absence of God. This notwithstanding, you said Rufus was transported to St. Ambrose. And the emperor, desiring to know your answer, went after him at great distance. But when St. Ambrose saw the said Rufus approaching, seeing what he would say and require of him, began to say to him such words or similar ones. I marvel at you, Rufus, how you have no shame to come here to beg like a hound in the face of God and of his saints. Rufus enduring patiently the words of St. Ambrose, and taking him courageously, notwithstanding the great rigor of them, knelt down before him, showing by all humility the hard and marvelous displeasure of the Emperor, who desired nothing other than to render and yield him obedient child of the Church, delivered and concluded in himself to receive and bear such penance as St. Ambrose should charge him. St.Ambrose considering that Theodosius had been away for a long time and still doubted his obstinacy and perseverance, told Rufinus that it was difficult for him to believe what Theodosius said. He also told Rufinus that Theodosius was not yet worthy to enter the church, but if he were to be advised of his conversion, he would be content to receive him. Rufinus, taking leave of St. Ambrose, returned to the emperor and reported that he was not yet appeased. Therefore, he advised the emperor to delay his journey a little longer. However, the emperor, seeing that he was near the church where St. Ambrose was, decided to go there himself to endure any injuries and insults Theodosius might inflict upon him in saying that he deserved them. Upon coming to the church yard, you shall know if:\n\n(Assuming the text ends here, as there is no clear indication of further content.)An emperor's open judgment shall be rightful and just, or unrightful, concerning the penalty he receives, humbly. And he composed the same law, which he wrote with his own hand. Of this law, if an emperor condemns to death one or many men, he shall be held to withdraw the execution for thirty days after the pronouncement of the sentence, to the end that he may know if the same sentence is justly or wickedly given. This law, thus made, Saint Ambrose gave to the said emperor his absolution. And he did it, suffering him to enter the church. In which he entered not proudly but humbly, he himself says, in speaking through the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah. And to this purpose, Saint Paul says in one of his Epistles to the Corinthians: \"My brethren, he who will glory, let him glory in God and in nothing in himself, for these words are well to be noted primarily by those who maintain it. A man may conduct and govern himself.\"Without help of God, whom we ought not to doubt. For if we cannot think of anything without Him, all the more we can do nothing without Him. Therefore, if you do any good work, do not presume that it proceeds from you, but from God, who has given you the grace to do and accomplish it.\n\nTo read the scriptures is in part to know the eternal felicity. In them, a man may see what he ought to do in conversation. Also, he may see his face in a mirror. Reading often purges the soul from sin, it engenders fear of God, and it keeps the soul from eternal damnation. And just as we are nourished with bodily food concerning the body, so concerning the soul we are nourished by the lecture and reading of scripture. To this purpose,\n\nThe gift of peace, which among all others is sovereign, left our Lord Jesus Christ to His apostles when He ascended into heaven on the day of His ascension to the right hand of God the Father.I give to you my peace. I have left you peace, and I shall find you again. He gave this to them, that is, peace, for he desires to find you again on the day of judgment. In every Christian man. And he himself shows us in another place of the gospel the goodness of peace, where he says, \"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. But he that hath no peace in his heart is the son of the devil.\" And this we ought to understand concerning true peace, which is only in the conscience of righteous men. For wicked persons have peace with their fellows but in their conscience they have it not. The first peace brings and leads to salvation; the second to condemnation. Peace is with the good and virtuous, and war is with the evil and vicious. Peace is the cause of the receiving of the Holy Ghost. Peace is the mother of love and delight; peace is a sign of holiness, of which the prophet says, \"Love and peace shall kiss each other.\" Love peace and seek it. Peace is the health of the soul.people are the greatest honor of the prince, the joy of the country, and the fear of enemies. It ought always to be kept, for who is with it is with God. The function of a priest is to admonish the people on what they ought to do. And the people ought to listen obediently. For the herdsman ought to defend his sheep from all unjust things. And the people ought to be obedient to him.\n\nIf a man knows well what he is and what is his maker, and he will repent of his sins in making devout penance, as fasting, abstinence, alms, or other good deeds, and hates all voluptuousness and bodily pleasure, God will give him contrition and perfect knowledge of his offenses. In so much that he shall see the trunk or beam in his own eye, and shall not see the speck in the eye of his neighbor. That is to say, he shall know his great sins, and not the small ones of his neighbor. Then may he well say with the Psalmist, \"Lord God, I know the enormity of my sin, why thou dost not pardon my transgressions.\"A consistently religious person is present before you. I shall also remember the judgment of have and hell, and if his heart is firm and constant in the fear of God, without fearing his adversary, the fear of hell, he is a very religious person. But just as a ship is drowned by a great onslaught of water, in the same way a religious person who possesses any temporal goods is drowned by sin, for he goes directly against the vow which he has willfully taken. On the contrary, a religious person who is not possessed of anything flees into the kingdom of heaven through contemplation. The eagle that flies high above all other birds comes sooner to the end of its course and receives its reward. Furthermore, it is expedient for good religious people to read prayer and be as brothers to each other, for in doing so difficulties are sooner determined and better disputed. For this reason, four things are necessary for a man of the church: knowledge of the law of God.The story contained in this which is about the life to come, the service of the church, and the craft of grammar, by which is known the significations of the terms in Latin, he who has not renounced the world does not know what is of thee. In a common proverb, this also well applies to a thrifty man, that he has as much as he has not. To trust in God, your riches do not fail. For he will not have them, but to an evil person, all seems to his appetite, however much you have temporal goods, let us live then as having nothing, and all possessing by sufficiency. For the life and vesture is the richesse of living men, if you have your goods and your power and dominion, sell them and give them for the love of God, or if not take them from your heart and thought. If one takes away your robe or your vesture, let him go, it has taken it away and robbed you. It is fitting to give and sell your goods to nourish and sustain the poor people, he who has given himself to God has given.All that he had redeemed us to follow our savior and redeemer, Jesus Christ, left generally all that they had. The good widow gave only two things to the altar, which were preferred before the great and excellent offerings of Cresus. For she had more merit, as much as she gave all that she had, lightly despising all things, which reputed himself ready to die. We ought to think on the things that follow: that is, on the passion of our savior Jesus Christ, to find comfort in it. At the hour of death, to make ourselves ready. On the day of judgment, to yield good accounts. In hell, to fear and shun it. And in heaven, that we desire it. The devil of hell brings vain security to the courage of man in three ways. First, he admonishes him that he confess not in any way his transgressions and sins, telling him that he is yet young and may live always and not die. Secondly, he admonishes and gives...He understands it if others have sinned and committed more evils than he, yet they have lived longer than he. Thirdly, he gives to him boldness and hardiness to sin and persevere in his evils, saying to him that whatever a man does sin, God, who is sovereignly pitiful and merciful, will forgive him all. Thus, he brings a man to damnation perpetual and to the torments of hell. God our Savior has given diverse remedies to the soul for it to be made clean and to purge it of sin. For some purge themselves through alms, others through orisons and prayers, others by receiving pilgrims, others by fasting and wakefulness, others by chastity, others by humility, others by obedience, some by patience, some have knowledge, others have wisdom, others have it given to them to speak to the sick, and all these things make the holy ghost, which distributes its graces as it seems good. And if you observe well in your psalms, you will find the incarnation.The passion, resurrection, and other mysteries of our savior and redeemer Jesus Christ, and the orisons and prayer more devout than you may think with ample confession of your sins, and also to call for the mercy of God, you will find in it. If you wish to say a psalm devoutly, say the one that begins. Beati inmaculati et cetera. And when you have studied all your life to understand the same psalm, I believe certainly that you should not understand it. For in it is not a verse but it contains either the law of God or some commandment of the same or words inciting to fervent devotion. And therefore it is not necessary to demand or inquire so many books. You have enough of the Psalter all your life. In which you will find, for one part, the Gospels and prophecies, and various other books. And generally, you will find that if you observe it well all.The operations worthy to be remembered of our savior and redeemer Jesus Christ, as it has been said before. The place and habitation of our savior and redeemer is an heart just and righteous. The foundation of the house is faith, the height is hope, the breadth and largeness is charity, the length is perseverance, the sides of the house and habitation are peace and concord, the yates are justice and truth, the beauty is good example. The windows are the sayings of saints, the pament is humility of heart, the chambers are the good prelates, the door is the place of peace, the covering is loyalty, the table of Jesus Christ in this chamber is good conversation, his service in the same is good remedy, his rest is good will, his chair is clarity of thought, his spouse is the soul holy and sacred, his chamberlains are the virtues. [Explicit]\n\nThus ends the most virtuous history of the devout and rightly renowned lives of holy fathers living in desert.all well disposed persons/ who have been translated from French into English by William Caxton of Westminster recently/ and finished it at the last day of his life. Printed in the said town of Westminster by my Wynkyn de Worde in the year of our Lord 1545 and the tenth year of our sovereign lord King Henry VII.\nvitas patrum.", "creation_year": 1495, "creation_year_earliest": 1495, "creation_year_latest": 1495, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase2"},
{"content": "You are a God my savior, and you have sustained me all day. Remember your mercies and your kindnesses, for they are everlasting. Do not forget my youthful sins and my negligences. Hear me, I will remember your kindness, O God. Sweet and righteous one, according to your kindness, you will give me from the depths of affliction. You will lead me in judgment: you will teach the meek your ways, and the poor man will be I. My heart's troubles are multiplied: deliver me from my necessities. Consider my humility and my labor, and forgive me all the sins that I have committed against you. God of Israel, from the midst of your afflictions. And my youthful sins and negligences, do not forget them. I believe. Psalm.", "creation_year": 1495, "creation_year_earliest": 1495, "creation_year_latest": 1495, "source_dataset": "EEBO", "source_dataset_detailed": "EEBO_Phase2"}
]