The Sayings of the Elders (Verba seniorum, Book VII)
On silence
De silentio.
Beatus Antonius discipulo suo solebat dicere: Si affectaveris silentium, ne arbitreris te exercere virtutem, sed indignum te proloqui confitere.
— omitted in this translation —
Cum quidam frater abbati Sisoi dixisset: Volo animam meam salvare, respondit: Qua ratione possumus animam nostram salvare, cum lingua nostra aperto ostio sæpe prosiliat.
A certain brother said to the abbot Sisois, “I desire to keep my heart safe from defilement.” The old man replied, “It is not possible to guard our hearts while our tongues, by idle talking, open the doors that lead to them.”
Quidam frater interrogavit senem, dicens: Usquequo servandum est silentium, Pater? Respondit senex: Usquequo interrogeris. In omni enim loco si taciturnus fueris, requiem possidebis.
— omitted in this translation —
Dixit quidam senex: Peregrinatio quæ propter Deum fit, bona est, si habuerit et silentium: nam fiducia non est peregrinatio.
— omitted in this translation —
Abbas Arsenius solebat dicere: Peregrinus monachus in aliena terra nullius causæ mediator accedat, et quietem poterit adipisci.
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Abbas Ampo dicebat: Sicut apis quocunque vadit, mel operatur; ita et monachus quocunque pergit, si propter opus Dei perrexerit, dulcedinem bonorum actuum potest afferre.
— 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