The Sayings of the Elders (Verba seniorum, Book VII)
On doing the will of one’s neighbour
De voluntate proximi facienda.
This book is not translated in the edition used; the Latin is given alone.
Frater quidam requisivit abbatem Pimenion, dicens: Quid est fides? Cui senex: In charitate et humilitate semper vivere et facere bonum proximo suo.
Abbas Theodorus cum de opere manuum animæque loqueretur, dicit ad eum frater: Explana nobis opus animæ, abba, et opera manuum. Cui senex: Omnia quæcunque pro mandato Dei facimus, in operibus animæ reputanda sunt; quæ vero pro nostra agimus utilitate vel commodo, hæc omnia opera manuum esse noscuntur.
Abbas Apollo, si quis de fratribus eum in suo requisisset opere et labore, mox pergebat cum omni lætitia, dicens: Ego cum rege meo Christo vado hodie operari pro anima mea. Hæc est enim merces, quæ animæ reputatur.
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. 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