The Sayings of the Elders (Verba seniorum, Book VII)
Against the spirit of sadness, which brings despair
Contra spiritum tristitiæ, qui desperationem facit.
Abbas Arsenius dixit: Non coctus laterculus, si missus in fundamentum fuerit prope fluvium, neque uno die sufferre poterit; si autem bene fuerit coctus, permanet tanquam lapis. Sic et homo non coctus neque inflammatus, secundum quod de Joseph dictum est, Eloquium Domini inflammavit eum, mox in principio carnalis cogitationis dissolvitur.
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Idem requisitus ab altero fratre dicente: Si peccavero, etiam in quocunque minuto peccato, et consumit me cogitatio mea, et arguit me, dicens: Quare peccasti? quid faciam? Respondit senex: Quacunque hora ceciderit homo in culpam, et dixerit ex corde: Domine Deus, peccavi, indulge mihi; mox cessabit cogitationis vel tristitiæ illa consumptio.
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Dicebat autem abbas Pimenius de abbate Isidoro, quia solus ille se cognovisset. Nam quoties illi dicebat cogitatio sua: Quia magnus es, tunc et ipse respondebat sibi: Nunquid talis qualis Antonius, aut certe abbas Piamon, vel reliqui Patres qui Deo placuerunt? Quoties ergo hæc cogitabat, requiescebat. Quando vero inimicus, conturbans eum, suggerebat ei desperationem et pœnam, dicens: Quoniam post hæc omnia iturus es ad tormenta, dixit ipse: Quia quamvis ego in tormenta mittar, tamen vos subtus me invenio.
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Abbati Moysi frequenter apparuerunt spiritus maligni, dicentes: Vicisti nos, et nihil tibi possumus facere; quoniam quoties per desperationem humiliare te volumus, exaltaris; quoties te exaltare, ita te humilias, ut nullus de nobis accedat ad te.
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Cum quidam ad abbatem Sisoium frequenter talem sermonem requireret, Quid faciam, Pater, quoniam cecidi? Ille respondit: Surge. Et surrexit. Et iterum se cecidisse professus est. Ait senex: Et iterum surge. Cum autem frater frequenter se cecidisse narraret, eodem senex utebatur sermone, exclamans: Non cesses surgendo, fili. Cui frater: Usquequo possum surgere, Pater, explana. Ait senex: Quousque aut in bono opere, aut in malo deprehensus, occumbas. In quo enim opere deprehensus fuerit homo, judicabitur.
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Item dixit: Qui laborat, et arbitratus se fuerit aliquid facere, recipit hic mercedem suam.
A certain father said, “He who labours and considers that by his labour he has accomplished or effected anything, has already, even here, received the reward of all that he has done.”
Latin text: Verba seniorum, Book VII of the Vitae Patrum, translated from the Greek by Paschasius of Dumium for Abbot Martin (Martin of Braga), in H. Rosweyde’s edition as reprinted in Migne’s Patrologia Latina, vol. 73 (1879 reprint), cols. 1025–1062, checked against the scans; without the editor’s notes and cross-references, and without the Greek text of chapter XLIV printed in the notes. · English translation by James O. Hannay († 1950), The Wisdom of the Desert, London, Methuen, 1904 — a selection: he translates fourteen sayings of this book; the others, the prologue and the chapter titles are given in Latin only. His captions are not reproduced. One sentence he added (VII.25.4) is not reproduced; his linking sentence in VII.42.4 is kept because the next sentence depends on it. Collated with the 1904 print. Public-domain text in France (art. L123-1 of the French Intellectual Property Code). Transcription and revision: Abbatia Sancti Petri de Curte. Report an error