Abbatia
Sancti Petri
de Curte

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

On exhortation by teaching

De exhortatione doctrinæ.

This book is not translated in the edition used; the Latin is given alone.

1

Interroganti cuidam abbatem Pimenionem de duritia cordis, respondit senex, dicens: Natura aquæ mollis est, et lapidis dura; si autem frequenter aqua stillat super lapidem, stillando perforat illum. Sic et verbum Dei dulce et molle est, nostrum autem cor durum. Homo ergo audiens frequenter aut meditans verbum Dei, dat locum timori Dei ingredi in eum.

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