The Sayings of the Elders (Verba seniorum, Book VII)
That a man who dies while only resolved on repentance is still received
Quod et in proposito pœnitentiæ si transeat homo, tamen suscipiatur.
Venit quidam frater ad abbatem Pimenium, dicens, quod grandem tribulationem passus esset. Dicit ei senex: Fuge de loco illo, quantum tribus diebus et tribus, noctibus ambulare potes; et fac annum integrum, jejunans usque ad noctem. Cui ille: Si mortuus fuero antequam unus annus transeat, quid de me fiet? Dixit abbas Pimenius: Confido in Deum quia si tu cum tali proposito a me fueris egressus, ut hoc facias, etiam si mox mortuus fueris, cum desiderio bono suscipietur pœnitentia tua apud Deum.
— omitted in this translation —
Quidam frater sedebat in cella sua in Ægypto: in magna humilitate præcipuus, et habebat sororem in civitate meretricem, quæ multis animabus perditio fuerat. Frequenter autem insultabant senes fratri illi, et vix potuerunt persuadere illi, ut veniret ad illam, quatenus per admonitionem ejus posset peccatum quod per eam fiebat evincere. Cum ergo venisset ad locum, quidam ex notis ejus videns eum, præcessit et nuntiavit illi, dicens: Ecce frater tuus venit ad te. Illa autem præ gaudio relictis amatoribus suis, quibus ministrabat, capite discooperto ad occurrendum fratri egressa est. Dum ergo tentaret eum amplecti, dixit ei: Soror mea charissima, parce animæ tuæ, quoniam propter te multi pereunt, et quemadmodum poteris sufferre amara illa et æterna tormenta? Illa autem contremiscens, dixit ad eum: Scis, frater, quia est mihi salus vel amodo? Cui ille: Si volueris, est salus. Illa autem jactans se ad pedes fratris, petebat ut eam secum duceret in desertum. Cui frater: Vade, cooperi caput tuum, et sequere me. Cui illa: Eamus. Oportet me enim deformari inter homines nudo capite deambulantem, quam in officinam peccati mei iterum ingredi. Dum vero pariter ambularent, monebat eam ad pœnitentiam. Videns autem quia quidam obviarent sibi, dixit ei: Quoniam non omnes sciunt quod soror mea es, parum de via secede, donec transeant. Et post, transgressis illis, vocavit eam, et dixit: Eamus, soror, viam nostram. Illa autem non respondente, perquirens invenit eam mortuam, et vestigia pedum ejus sanguine plena, erat enim discalceata. Cum autem senibus renuntiasset factum, contendebant inter se de salute ejus. Manifestavit autem Deus uni seni de ipsa, eo quod nulla cura fuit illi in itinere de corporali usu, sed vulnus proprium neglexit, et suspiravit in tam grandi perditione, ideo pro devotione cordis ejus suscepit Deus pœnitentiam ejus.
A certain brother dwelt in a cell in Egypt who was renowned for his humility. Now he had a sister who was a harlot in the city, and was working the destruction of the souls of many men. Many times the elders exhorted him, and at last hardly persuaded him to go to her if, perhaps, he might persuade her to leave her sinful life. When he came to the town one of the citizens ran before him to the harlot’s house and told her, “Behold, your brother comes to see you.” She then, because she loved him, left her lovers on whom she was attending, and without even covering her head, ran to meet him. He immediately stretched forth his arms to her, and said, “My sister, my dearest sister, have pity on your own soul. Do you not know that through you many are going to perdition? How can you bear this bitter life of yours? How will you bear the torments of eternity?” She trembled exceedingly, and replied to him, “My brother, are you sure that there is salvation for me even now?” He answered her, “If you wish for it there is salvation for you.” Then she fell at his feet, and besought him that he would take her with him into the desert. He said to her, “Go, then, cover your head and follow me.” But she replied, “No. But let us go straightway. It is better that men should see me walking through the streets with my head uncovered than that I should go again into the place where I sinned.” Then they went together, and by the way he taught her the meaning of repentance. At last, as they journeyed, they saw some men coming towards them on the road, and the brother said, “Since these men will not know that you are my sister, I beseech you go aside a little from the road until they pass.” After the men had passed, he called her, saying, “Sister, let us go on upon our way.” When she did not answer him, he went to look for her and found her dead, and lo! her footprints were full of blood, for she had started on their way barefooted. When the elders heard the story they talked among themselves of whether she was saved. God in the end revealed it to one of them, that inasmuch as she had cared nothing for her body or its pain upon her journey, inasmuch as she had counted her wounds as nothing for the great longing that she had to escape perdition, that therefore, for the sake of her heart’s devotion, God had received her repentance.
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