Abbatia
Sancti Petri
de Curte

The Sayings of the Elders (Verba seniorum, Book VII)

How a man can put the vices to death in himself

Qualiter homo in se mortificare vitia potest.

1

Quidam frater requisivit abbatem Moysen, dicens: Quomodo potest se homo mortificare? Dixit ei senex: Nisi quis arbitratus fuerit se habere jam triennium in sepulcro, ad hunc sermonem pervenire non potest.

— omitted in this translation —

2

Abbas Pimenius dixit: Ille monachus potest tanquam mortuus huic sæculo esse, qui duas res horruerit, id est, carnis suæ requiem et vanam gloriam.

The abbot Pimenius said, “That monk may truly reckon himself dead to the world who has learnt to hate two things, ease for his body, and the vainglory which cometh of the praise of men.”

3

Senex quidam dixit: Tunc erit monachus liber ab omnibus, cum in opere tantum intentus est bono. Quando enim bona opera exercet, veniens diabolus locum non invenit, et discedit: si autem malum opus exercet, veniens frequenter, et impugnat eum, et in deteriora subvertit.

— omitted in this translation —

4

Beatus Antonius monebat discipulum suum, dicens: Horre ventrem tuum, et necessitates hujus sæculi, et concupiscentiam malam, et honorem tanquam absens de hoc sæculo; et requiem possidebis.

— omitted in this translation —

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