Abbatia
Sancti Petri
de Curte

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

On perfect patience

De perfecta patientia.

1

Quidam videns laboriose portantem in lecto mortuum, dicit ei: Mortuos portas? si vis melius facere, vivos porta, quia pacifici filii Dei vocabuntur.

— omitted in this translation —

2

Interrogantibus quibusdam fratribus abbatem Moysen sermonem, ille hortatus est discipulum suum Zachariam, ut eis aliquid diceret. Tunc ille pallium suum deposuit sub pedibus, et conculcavit illud, et dixit: Nisi quis sic fuerit conculcatus, monachus esse non potest.

— omitted in this translation —

3

Abbati Ammoni prophetavit beatus Antonius, dicens: Multum habes in timore Dei proficere. Et educens eum de cella, ostendit ei lapidem, et dicit ei: Vade et injuriare lapidem hunc, et indesinenter cæde illum. Quod cum fecisset, interrogavit eum sanctus Antonius, si ei aliquid lapis respondisset. At ille dixit: Non. Cui abbas Antonius ait: Ita et tu ad hanc mensuram perventurus es, ut nullam tibi fieri arbitreris injuriam.

St. Antony spoke to the abbot Ammon saying, “You have still a long way to advance in the fear of the Lord.” Then leading him forth of the cell he showed him a rock and said to him, “Go, hurt that rock. Beat it unmercifully.” This he did, and St. Antony asked him whether the rock made any answer. He said “No.” Then St. Antony said to him, “You must attain to the position of the rock and not know when anyone is trying to hurt you.”

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