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The Lives of the Desert Fathers

Introduction by Sister Benedicta Ward SLG; Translated by Norman Russell
Eyewitness accounts of the lives and teachings of the fourth-century Desert Fathers from the Historia monachorum in Aegypto.
Publisher: Gorgias Press LLC
Availability: In stock
SKU (ISBN): 978-1-60724-145-4
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Publication Status: In Print
Publication Date: Apr 7,2009
Interior Color: Black
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Page Count: 191
Languages: English
ISBN: 978-1-60724-145-4
$131.00
Your price: $91.70
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In the year 394 seven monks from Palestine made a difficult journey through the Egyptian desert, drawn there by stories of remarkable men. What they found in the communities living far up the Nile Valley fully accorded with their expectations, and in the account written by one of their number we have a rare contemporary source of information about the lives of these Desert Fathers. The witness of the monks in the face of a corrupt and declining, though nominally Christian Empire, and the roots of monasticism in fourth century Egypt, are subjects of steadily growing interest in the Church in the twentieth century. In her long and illuminating introduction Sister Benedicta Ward SLG explores the background of these travellers' tales and their encounters with the great men of the Desert, and places the account in its literary context alongside the complementary text of the "Sayings" of the Fathers and the later, more sophisticated literature. She indicates throughout the social impact of the Fathers and the lasting truths discovered by these simple men in their way of holiness. This translation of the Historia Monachorum by Norman Russell is the first available in English, and will be of absorbing interest for the general reader as well as for students.

In the year 394 seven monks from Palestine made a difficult journey through the Egyptian desert, drawn there by stories of remarkable men. What they found in the communities living far up the Nile Valley fully accorded with their expectations, and in the account written by one of their number we have a rare contemporary source of information about the lives of these Desert Fathers. The witness of the monks in the face of a corrupt and declining, though nominally Christian Empire, and the roots of monasticism in fourth century Egypt, are subjects of steadily growing interest in the Church in the twentieth century. In her long and illuminating introduction Sister Benedicta Ward SLG explores the background of these travellers' tales and their encounters with the great men of the Desert, and places the account in its literary context alongside the complementary text of the "Sayings" of the Fathers and the later, more sophisticated literature. She indicates throughout the social impact of the Fathers and the lasting truths discovered by these simple men in their way of holiness. This translation of the Historia Monachorum by Norman Russell is the first available in English, and will be of absorbing interest for the general reader as well as for students.

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Contributor

Sister BenedictaWard SLG

NormanRussell

  • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (page 6)
  • CONTENTS (page 7)
  • ABBREVIATIONS (page 9)
  • INTRODUCTION (page 11)
  • CHAPTER I: THE HISTORIA MONACHORUM IN AEGYPTO TEXT AND SOURCES (page 13)
  • CHAPTER II: 'THOSE BY WHOM THE WORLD IS KEPT IN BEING': THE SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE TEXT (page 22)
  • CHAPTER III: THE MONASTIC PATTERN IN EGYPT (page 30)
  • CHAPTER IV: THE SINGLE EYE: THE IDEALS AND INSIGHTS OF MONASTIC EGYPT (page 39)
  • CHAPTER V: A SENSE OF WONDER: MIRACLES OF THE DESERT (page 49)
  • THE LIVES OF THE DESERT FATHERS (page 57)
  • PROLOGUE (page 59)
  • I: ON JOHN OF LYCOPOLIS (page 62)
  • II: ON ABBA OR (page 73)
  • III: ON AMMON (page 75)
  • IV: ON ABBA BES (page 76)
  • V: ON OXYRHYNCHUS (page 77)
  • VI: ON THEON (page 78)
  • VII: ON ELIAS (page 79)
  • VIII: ON APOLLO (page 80)
  • IX: ON AMOUN (page 90)
  • X: ON COPRES (page 92)
  • XI: ON ABBA SOUROUS (page 98)
  • XII: ON ABBA HELLE (page 100)
  • XIII: ON APELLES (page 103)
  • XIV: ON PAPHNUTIUS (page 105)
  • XV: ON PITYRION (page 109)
  • XVI: ON EULOGIUS (page 110)
  • XVII: ON ISIDORE (page 111)
  • XVIII: ON SARAPION (page 112)
  • XIX: ON APOLLONIUS THE MARTYR (page 113)
  • XX: ON DIOSCORUS (page 115)
  • XXI: ON MACARIUS (page 118)
  • XXII: ON AMOUN (page 121)
  • XXIII: ON MACARIUS OF ALEXANDRIA (page 123)
  • XXIV: ON PAUL (page 124)
  • XXV: ON PIAMMONAS (page 126)
  • XXVI: ON JOHN (page 127)
  • EPILOGUE (page 128)
  • NOTES ON THE TEXT (page 131)
  • THE ADDITIONS OF RUFINUS (page 149)
  • THE SYRIAC VERSION (page 167)
  • BIBLIOGRAPHY (page 172)
  • CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE (page 175)
  • INDEX OF PERSONS AND PLACES (page 177)
  • SUBJECT INDEX (page 184)