Abbatia
Sancti Petri
de Curte

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

On returning good for evil

De retribuendo bonum pro malo.

1

Quidam ex fratribus ab alio passus injuriam venit ad abbatem Sisoim; et contumeliæ genus exponens, addebat: Cupio me vindicare. Senex autem rogabat eum ut relinqueret Deo vindictam. At ille iterum: Non desistam, inquit, nisi fortiter me vindicavero. Cui abbas Sisois ait: Quia semel hoc in animo posuisti, saltem oremus. Et exsurgens senex his verbis cœpit orare: Deus, jam non es nobis necessarius, ut pro nobis sollicitus sis, quia nos ipsi, sicut iste frater dicit, et volumus et possumus vindicare. Quod cum ille frater audisset, ante pedes senis prostratus, veniam precabatur, promittens se cum illo cui irascebatur nunquam deinceps esse certaturum.

— omitted in this translation —

2

Quidam frater cum ab altero injuriaretur, venit et annuntiavit seni. Cui senex respondit: Satisfac cogitationi tuæ, quoniam frater non vult te injuriari, sed peccata tua submittunt illum. Nam in omni tentatione quæ tibi contigerit, per omnia ne arguas eum; nisi tantummodo dic: Quia propter peccata mea contingunt mihi hæc.

— omitted in this translation —

3

Dicebat frequenter abbas Pimenius: Malitia nunquam exsuperat malitiam: sed si quis malefecerit tibi, tu illi bonum redde, ut per bonitatem vincas malitiam.

— omitted in this translation —

4

Quidam frater erat, qui quanto plus eum aliquis injuriabatur aut incitabat, tanto magis ad eum recurrebat, dicens: Isti sunt qui nobis occasionem præbent ad perfectionem nostram; qui autem beatificant nos, decipiunt nos, et semitam pedum nostrorum subvertunt.

There was once a monk who observed this rule of life. The more anyone injured or insulted him, the more eagerly he sought that man’s company. This he did because, as he was wont to say, “Those whose company I seek are they who afford me the opportunity of perfection. They who speak well of us and bless us set our paths about with stumbling-blocks. It is they who deceive us.”

5

Alius erat senex, si quis detraxisset ei, ille festinabat, si vicinus ei erat, per seipsum bene remunerare illum; quod si longius manebat, transmittebat ei munera.

— 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