Macarius the Great: APOPHTHEGMATA MACARII MAGNI.

QUIDAM e fratribus interrogavit Abbatem Macarium magnum, exquirens quænam esset, et in quo sita perfectio? Respondens senex dixit: Nisi acquisierit homo humilitatem magnam, quam non solum corde teneat, sed et corpore præferat; in nulla re se ipsum æstimans, sed potius modico sui sensu deprimens infra omnem creaturam; non judicando unquam omnino quemquam nisi se solum; sufferendo contumeliam, ejiciendo ex corde suo omnem malitiam: vim sibi faciendo ad hoc, ut sit longanimis, benignus, fratrum amator, sobrius, pudicus, continens. Scriptum est enim: "Vim sibi facientium est regnum coelorum." Recte utendo oculis, ad videndum ea tantum quæ juvant animan, invigilando custodiæ linguæ; avertendisque auribus ab omni auditione vana et noxia.

A certain one of the brethren asked Abba Macarius the Great, inquiring what perfection was, and where that perfection is situated. The old man, answering, said: Unless a man have acquired a great humility, which he not only holds in his heart but also bears upon his body; esteeming himself in nothing, but rather depressing a modest sense of himself beneath every creature; never judging any one at all except himself alone; enduring insult, casting out of his heart all malice; making violence upon himself in order to be long‑suffering, kind, a lover of the brethren, sober, chaste, continent. For it is written: "To those who make violence to themselves is the kingdom of heaven." Rightly using the eyes, to see only those things which help the soul, keeping watch over the custody of the tongue; and turning the ears away from every vain and harmful hearing.

Manus tenendo ne quidquam nisi justum operentur. Cor mundum coram Deo servando, corpusque impollutum. Habendo quotidie præ oculis mortis memoriam: abnegando intus in Spiritu iram et malitiam, exterius autem materiam et res sensibiles, cognatos quoque secundum carnem simulque voluptates; renuntiando item diabolo et cunctis operibus ejus; ad hæc indesinenter orando, et in omni tempore, loco, negotio, opere, astando Deo, præsentemquæ sentiendo ac venerando illum.

By holding the hand so that they do nothing except what is just. Keeping a pure heart before God, and an unpolluted body. Having daily before the eyes the remembrance of death: by denying inwardly, in the Spirit, anger and malice, and outwardly material things and sensible affairs, likewise kinsmen according to the flesh and with them pleasures; also renouncing the devil and all his works; besides these, praying unceasingly, and at every time, place, business, and work, standing before God, perceiving and venerating him as present.

Nisi quis, inquam, hæc omnia fecerit, perfectus esse non potest.

Unless anyone, I say, shall have done all these things, he cannot be perfect.

Frater aliquis interrogans senem dixit: Abba, quæ fit, ut, cum ego in mea cellula faciam cuncta quæ decent, tamen non inveniam consolationem a Deo? Ait illi senex: Hoc tibi contingit eo, quod vanis cum otioso confabulationibus indulges; et quia omnino vis potiri optato voluntatem tuam propriam. Reposuit seni: Quid igitur facere me jubes, pater?

A certain brother, asking the old man, said: Abba, what happens that, although I do in my cell all things which are fitting, yet I do not find consolation from God? The old man said to him: This befalls you because you indulge in vain and idle confabulations; and because you altogether desire to seize by eagerness your own will. The brother replied to the old man: What then do you bid me to do, father?

Respondit senex: Vade, ini familiaritatem cum viro timente Deum, et humilia te ipsum coram eo; et renuntia voluntati tuæ; et tunc invenies consolationem a Deo.

The old man answered: Go, put away familiarity with a man fearing God, and abase yourself before him; and renounce your own will; and then you will find consolation from God.

Dixit Senex: Qui ingreditur seplasiam, et in foro unguentario deambulat, etsi nihil emat aut contingat ex aromatibus, omnino tamen et interim fruitur odore, et ipse bene olet aliquandiu: sic qui conversatur cum patribus, trahit ex illis contagione salutari quod ipsum juvet: nam si quidem velit recte agere, monstratam ad hoc ab illis viam humiliationis videt; et horum exempla, verbaque instar illi muri sunt ad arcendas dæmonum incursiones.

The Elder said: He who enters a perfumer’s shop, and strolls in the perfume-market, even if he buy or touch nothing of the aromatics, yet wholly and meanwhile enjoys the odor, and himself smells sweet for some time: so he who keeps company with the Fathers draws from them a salutary contagion that helps him; for if indeed he wishes to act rightly, he sees the way of humiliation shown by them for this purpose; and their examples and words are to him as a wall to ward off the incursions of demons.

Dixit Senex: Si te infirmitas occupet corporis, ne turberis dans te tristitiæ inerti. Si enim velit te Dominus tuus morbo corporeo affligi, tu quis es, qui succensere aut ægre ferre audeas? Nonne ipse tui curam in omnibus gerit?

The Old Man said: If infirmity of the body seize you, do not be disturbed, giving yourself to inert sadness. If indeed your Lord wills that you be afflicted with a corporeal sickness, who are you to be angry or to dare to bear it ill? Does he not himself bear care for you in all things?

an sine ipso vel potes vivere? patienter ergo tolera: et ora ipsum, ut tibi quæ novit expedire præbeat. Hæc enim est voluntas ejus.

or can you even live without him? patienter ergo tolera:
and pray to him, that he may grant to you what he knows to be expedient. For this is his will
of him.

Sede cum longanimitate, comede charitatem.

Sit with longanimity, eat charity.

Dixit senex: Si acrem homo naturam ad legitime certandum exerat, exigit ab eo Deus, ne affectu nimio inhæreat materiæ corporeæ cuiquam, usque ad minutam acum; nam si quid tale addictius amaverit, impedietur mens ejus a sensibus et votis Deo dignis, per vehementiam desiderii possessis incubantis; et moerorem quem ex amatarum rerum jactura, crebro inevitabiliter accidente, concipiet.

The old man said: If a man has trained a keen nature to contend lawfully, God exacts of him that he not cling with excessive affection to any material corporeal thing, even to the smallest needle; for if he should have loved anything of that sort with excessive attachment, his mind will be impeded from perceptions and vows worthy of God, by the vehemence of desire pressing upon him; and he will conceive the sorrow which, from the loss of beloved things, by frequent inevitable occurrence, will befall him.

Dixit senex: Oratio, et sensus sobrii attentique, simulque vexatio corporis, cum abundantiori diligentia Deo perseveranter oblata, in perturbationes potestate hominem instruunt.

The old man said: Prayer, and the sense of sober attentiveness, together with the vexation of the body, when perseveringly offered to God with more abundant diligence, by their power equip a man to face perturbations.

Interrogatus est senex: Quid est, vivere hominem tanquam hospitem et peregrinum? Dic, inquit, tibi; Tace, et non habeo hic negotium. Hæc itera et fac in omni loco et operatione; tunc eris vere in statu advenæ et peregrini.

He was asked, the old man: What is it, for a man to live as a hospes and a stranger? "Say to yourself," he said; "Be silent, and I have no business here." Repeat these things and do them in every place and operation; then you will truly be in the state of an advena and a peregrine.

Dixit senex: Vita sancta sine doctrina, plura bona efficit, quam doctrina sine vita sancta. Nam sanctus indoctus vel tacens videntibus prodest: doctus sine sanctitate, etiam solum cogitans, obturbat. Si autem doctrina sana et vita sancta in unum concurrant, philosophiæ totius veram et plenam speciem absolvunt.

The old man said: A holy life without doctrina achieves more good than doctrina without a holy life. For a holy man unlearned or silent benefits those who behold him: a learned man without sanctity, even merely thinking, confuses and darkens. But if sound doctrina and a holy life run together into one, they bring to completion the true and full speciem of the whole philosophy.

Dixit senex: Ne ambias, aut libenter admittas caput fieri congregationis fratrum, ne forte imponas collo tuo alienorum onera peccatorum.

The old man said: Do not covet, nor willingly allow yourself to be made the head of a congregation of brethren, lest perchance you lay upon your neck the burdens of other men's sins.

Dixit idem senex: Vim sibi facere in orando, et ariditatem diu ferre patienter, gignit, orare cum gaudio et cum quiete. Vim sibi facere ad robur boni propositi pertinet: orare autem cum quiete munus est gratiæ.

The same old man said: Forcing oneself in prayer, and patiently enduring dryness for a long time, produces praying with joy and with quiet. Forcing oneself pertains to the strengthening of a good purpose: to pray, however, with quiet is a gift of grace.

DE ABBATE MACARIO AEGYPTIO.

ON ABBOT MACARIUS THE EGYPTIAN.

[I] NARRAVIT de se ipso Abbas Macarius ad hunc modum: Quando eram juvenis, et in cella residebam in Aegypto, apprehenderunt me ac fecerunt clericum in vico; sed nolens acquiescere, fugi ad alium locum. Venit ad me sæcularis vir pius, qui accipiebat quod manibus operabar, et ministrabat mihi. Contigit autem per tentationem, ut quædam virgo vi prolapsa sit in stuprum.

[I] Abbot Macarius related of himself in this way: When I was a youth, and was dwelling in a cell in Egypt, they seized me and made me a cleric in the village; but unwilling to acquiesce, I fled to another place. A pious secular man came to me, who received the things I wrought with my hands and ministered to me. But it happened by temptation that a certain virgin, by violence, had fallen into fornication.

Ea cum uterum gereret, interrogabatur, quis esset auctor criminis? Respondit itaque Anachoretam esse. Unde egressi comprehenderunt me adduxeruntque ad vicum; atque appenderunt collo fuligine infectas ollas cum ansis vasorum, sicque circumduxerunt me in vico per compita, verberantes ac dicentes: Iste monachus vitiavit nostram virginem; capite eum, capite.

She when she was carrying a child, was asked who was the author of the crime? She therefore answered that it was an Anachoret. Whence they went out, seized me and led me to the village; and they hung about my neck pots stained with soot with the handles of the vessels, and thus they led me about in the village through the crossroads, beating me and saying: This monk has defiled our virgin; behead him, behead him.

Et percusserunt me pene ad mortem. Accedens vero aliquis senum, dixit: Quousque cæditis monachum istum peregrinum? Qui autem mihi ministrabat, sequebatur post me, pudore suffusus; multis quippe contumeliis eum affecerant, inquientes: Ecce Anachoreta, cui tu testimonium perhibebas, quid fecit?

And they struck me almost to death. But an old man coming forward said: How long will you beat down this stranger monk? Now he who had ministered to me followed after me, suffused with shame; for indeed they had afflicted him with many insults, saying: Behold the Anchorite, to whom you were bearing testimony, what has he done?

Ad hæc aiunt parentes puellæ: Non dimittemus eum, donec fidejussorem dederit, quod aliturus sit eam. Itaque significabam ministro illi meo, et spopondit pro me. Postea profectus ad cellam meam, dedi ei, quas habui, sportulas, dicens: Vende et affer cibum uxori meæ. Tum apud me: Macari, ecce tibi invenisti uxorem; oportet, ut paulo amplius labores, quo nutrias eam. Et operabar nocte dieque, mittebamque ei. Porro cum advenit tempus miseræ, ut pareret, ad multos dies in cruciatibus permansit, nec pariebat.

To this the girl's parents say: We will not let him go until he has given a fidejussor, that he will support her. Therefore I signified it to that minister of mine, and he pledged for me. Afterwards, setting out to my cell, I gave him the sportulas I had, saying: Sell them and bring food to my wife. Then to me: Macarius, behold you have found a wife; it is necessary that you toil a little more, that you may nourish her. And I labored night and day, and sent to her. Moreover when the time of the wretched woman came to bear, she remained for many days in tortures, and yet did not give birth.

Percontantur, quid hoc esset? Illa respondit: Ego scio, quoniam Anachoretam calumniata sum, prolatoque mendacio accusavi; neque enim in culpa est, sed ille juvenis. Tunc qui ministrabat mihi, lætus adveniens nuntiavit: Virgo illa non potuit parere, donec ita confiteretur: Extra culpam est Anachoreta; sed mentita sum adversus eum, et ecce totus vicus huc accedere vult cum honore, ut veniam a te supplex postulet.

They inquire what this was? She answered: I know, for I have calumniated the Anachoret, and accused him with a produced lie; for he is not in fault, but that young man is. Then he who ministered to me, coming joyfully, announced: That maiden could not bear until she thus confessed: The Anachoret is without guilt; but I lied against him, and behold the whole vicus desires to come hither with honour to ask pardon of you as a supplicant.

His ego auditis, ne mihi molestiam parerent homines, surrexi, atque huc in Scetim fugi. Inde principium causamque habet meus hic adventus.

After I heard these things, lest men bring me molestia, I rose and fled here to Scetim. From that point my arrival here has its principium and causam.

[II] Venit aliquando Macarius Aegyptius a Sceti ad montem Nitriæ in oblatione Abbatis Pambo, et dicunt ei senes: Sermonem profer fratribus, pater. Tum ille infit, ego nondum evasi in monachum, sed monachos vidi. Mihi namque aliquando sedenti in cella apud Scetim molestæ erant cogitationes proficiscere in solitudinem, et vide quid illic oculis tuis occurret.

[2] Once Macarius the Egyptian came from Scetis to the mountain of Nitria for the oblation of Abbot Pambo, and the elders said to him: "Deliver a sermon to the brothers, father." Then he replied, "I have not yet been transformed into a monk, but I have seen monks. For once, while sitting in a cell at Scetis, I was troubled by thoughts of setting out into the solitude, to see what there might meet your eyes."

Perstiti autem quinque annis, pugnans adversus cogitationem, ne forte inquiens a dæmonibus sit. Utque perseveravit cogitatio, abii in eremum. Illic inveni stagnum cum insula in medio ejus, et ad illud veniebant bestiæ eremi, ut biberent.

I remained, however, for five years, fighting against the cogitation, lest perhaps it be suggested by demons. And when the cogitation persisted, I went into the desert. There I found a pond with an island in its middle, and the beasts of the desert came to it to drink.

Quas inter conspexi duos homines nudos, et contremuit corpus meum: existimavi enim esse spiritus. Ipsi vero postquam me viderunt trementem, ita locuti sunt: Noli timere, etiam nos homines sumus. Dixi illis: Unde estis, et quomodo venistis in solitudinem hanc?

Among whom I caught sight of two naked men, and my body trembled: for I supposed them to be spirits. But they, when they saw me trembling, spoke thus: Do not fear, we too are men. I said to them: From where are you, and how did you come into this solitude?

Responderunt: E coenobio sumus atque ex mutuo consensu egressi venimus huc, ecce quadraginta abhinc anni præterierunt. Unus e nobis Aegyptius est, alter Libycus. Ipsi quoque interrogaverunt me, his verbis: Quomodo se habet mundus?

They answered: From a coenobium we are, and having departed by mutual consent we came hither; behold, forty years have passed since then. One of us is Egyptian, the other Libyan. They likewise asked me with these words: How fares the world?

Venit-ne aqua in tempore suo? Mundus obtinet-ne abundantiam solitam? Respondi: Etiam.

Does the water come in its proper season? Does the world retain its accustomed abundance? I answered: Yes.

Vicissim ego percontatus sum: Quanam ratione fieri potero monachus? Aiunt mihi : Nisi quis renuntiaverit omnibus mundi rebus, non potest fieri monachus. Excepi: Ego infirmus sum, nec possum sicuti vos.

In turn I questioned: By what manner will I be able to become a monk? They say to me : Unless one has renounced all the things of the world, he cannot become a monk. I answered: I am weak, nor can I as you do.

Exceperunt etiam illi: Si non potes, quemadmodum nos, sede in cella tua, et peccata tua defle. Quæsivi ab eis, quando hyems est, non algetis? Quando æstus est, non uritur corpus vestrum?

They likewise replied:
If you cannot, in the manner we do, sit in your cell and bewail your sins. I asked them, when it is winter, do you not grow cold? When the heat comes, is not your body burned?

Responsum dederunt, Deus erga nos hac usus est dispensatione, nec hyeme rigemus, nec æstate nos æstus lædit. Propterea dixi vobis me nondum in monachum evasisse, sed vidisse monachos. Ignoscite mihi, fratres.

They answered: God toward us has employed this dispensation,

neither in winter do we shiver, nor in summer does heat injure us. Therefore I said to you

that I have not yet become a monk, but have seen monks. Forgive me, brothers.

[III] Abbas Macarius cum in paneremo, seu omnimoda solitudine habitaret: solus autem illic anachoreticam vitam ducebat, infra vero alia erat eremus, in qua plures fratres degebant. Eo, inquam, loci aliquando per viam circumspiciens senex, vidit Satanam venientem in figura hominis, ut per locum, in quo erat, transiret: apparebat autem quasi tunicam gestans lineam perforatam, a cujus foraminibus pendebant parvi lecythi. Dicit ei magnus senex: Quo vadis?

[3] Abbot Macarius, when he dwelt in the paneremo, or in complete solitude:
and there alone he led an anchoritic life; below, however, there was another eremus,
in which many brothers lived. One day, looking about that place along the way,
the old man saw Satan coming in the figure of a man, so as to pass through the place in which he was:
and he appeared as if bearing a tunic with a perforated cord,
from whose holes small lekythi (oil‑flasks) were hanging. The great old man said to him: Quo vadis?

Respondit: Proficiscor ad fratres, ut eis suggeram. Tum senex: Et quare tibi ampullæ hæ? Ille: Affero fratribus condimenta. Senex: Et hæc omnia?

He answered: I set out for the brothers, that I may suggest to them. Then the old man: And why have you these ampullae? He: I bring condiments to the brothers. Old man: And all these things?

Excepit, etiam, si unum alicui non placuerit, aliud porrigo; si neque hoc, do aliud, omnino autem ex illis saltem unum placiturum est ei. Atque his dictis abiit. At senex remansit, observans vias, donec reverteretur. Utque conspexit illum, ait: Salvus sis.

He also took up the practice: if one thing does not please someone, I proffer another; if neither this, I give another; and indeed from those at least one will surely please him. And with these words he departed. But the old man remained, observing the ways, until he should return. And when he perceived him, he said: Salvus sis.

Ille respondit: Quomodo contingere mihi poterit, ut salvus sim? Senex? Quare, Ille: Quia cuncti mihi fuerunt immites, nec ullus sustinuit me. Ad eum senex: Nullus ergo illic tibi amicus?

He answered: How can it come about for me that I be saved? Old man? Why? He: Because all were merciless to me, and no one supported me. To him the old man: None, then, is there a friend to you?

Ad senem Satanas: Ne unum ibi amicum habeo, qui vel ipse mihi obtemperat; cumque me conspicit, instar auræ vertitur. Tum senex: Quomodo vocatur frater ille? Satanas ad hoc, Theopemptus.

Satan to the old man: I do not have even one friend there who would even obey me; and whenever he sees me, he is turned as if by a breeze. Then the old man: What is that brother called? Satan to this, Theopemptus.

Quo dicto discessit. Itaque surgens abbas Macarius perrexit ad inferiorem eremum. Eaque re comperta fratres, sumentes ramos palmarum, ei obviam prodierunt.

With this said he departed. Therefore rising, Abbot Macarius proceeded to the lower hermitage. And this thing having been found out, the brothers, taking branches of palms, went forth to meet him.

Cæterum unusquisque eorum præparabat se, putans, quod apud ipsum diversaturus esset senex. At ille requisivit, quisnam esset in monte, qui Theopemptus appellaretur. Quo invento, intravit in cellam ejus.

But each one of them made ready himself, thinking that the old man would lodge with him there. But he inquired who it was on the mountain who was called Theopemptus. When he was found, he entered his cell.

Theopemptus autem suscepit eum lætus. Utque coepit solum secum habere, senex: Quomodo, inquit, se res tuæ habent, frater? Is dicit: Recte, per preces tuas.

Theopemptus, however, welcomed him gladly. And when the old man began
to have him alone with himself, "How," he said, "are your affairs, brother?"
He replies, "Well, by your prayers."

Et senex: Num impugnant te cogitationes? Ille: Interim mihi bene est. Pudebat enim eum edicere.

And the old man: Do cogitations assault you? He: Meanwhile I am well. For he was ashamed to declare it.

Ait illi senex: Ecce a quot annis vitam asceticam duco, et honore afficior ab omnibus; attamen me senem Spiritus fornicationis divexat. Theopemptus excepit: Crede, Abba, me etiam. Senex vero simulabat ab aliis etiam cogitationibus impugnari se, donec eum ad confessionem adduceret.

The old man said to him:
Behold, for how many years I have led an ascetic life, and I am honored by all;
yet the Spirit of Fornication torments me, though I am an old man. Theopemptus replied: Believe me,
Abba, me also. But the old man pretended that he was assailed by other thoughts as well, until he brought him to confession.

Postea dicit ei: Quomodo jejunas? Respondit: Ad horam nonam. Tum senex: Jejuna usque ad vesperam, exerce te, meditarc, ac recita memoriter ex Evangelio aliisque Scripturis; cumque te subierit cogitatio, nunquam deorsum spectes, sed sursum semper; statimque tibi Dominus præbebit auxilium.

Afterwards he says to him: How do you fast? He answered: Until the ninth hour. Then the elder: Fast until evening, exercise yourself, meditate, and recite from memory from the Gospel and other Scriptures; and whenever a thought assails you, never look downwards, but always upwards; and immediately the Lord will grant you help.

Et postquam fratrem informasset senex, reversus est ad solitudinem suam. Ubi observans iterum videt dæmonem illum, aitque ei: Quo iterum pergis? Fratres, inquit, instigatum.

And after the old man had informed his brother, he returned to his solitude. Where, observing, he again sees that daemon, and said to him: Where are you going again? “To the brothers,” he replied, “instigated.”

Atque abiit. Ut vero rursus transiit, sciscitatus illum senex, quomodo haberent fratres? Respondit: Male.

And he departed. But when he crossed back again, the old man asked him, How do the brothers fare? He answered: Badly.

Et senex: Cur? Dæmon: Cuncti feroces sunt; quodque pejus est, ille, quem habebam amicum, et obsequentem mihi, ipse etiam, unde nescio, reversus est, nec amplius a me persuadetur, sed cunctis ferocior evasit: unde juravi me amplius ea loca non calcaturum, nisi post tempus. Quo pronuntiato, discessit, senem relinquens.

And the old man: Why? Demon: All are fierce; and what is worse,
he whom I had as a friend, and obedient to me, he himself also, from where I know not,
has returned, nor will he be persuaded by me any longer, but has grown more fierce than all:
wherefore I swore that I would no longer tread those places, except after some time. When this was proclaimed,
he departed, leaving the old man.

Tunc sanctus intravit in cellam suam.

Then the saint entered into his cell.

[IV] Venit Abbas Macarius magnus ad Abbatem Antonium in montem; cumque pulsasset ostium, egressus est, petiitque: Tu quis es? Ille autem: Ego, inquit, sum Macarius. Et ostio clauso, intravit, relinquens eum. Sed postquam agnovit patientiam ejus, aperuit.

[IV] Abbot Macarius the Great came to Abbot Anthony on the mountain; and when he had knocked at the door, he went out and asked, “Who are you?” He, however, said, “I am Macarius.” And with the door closed he entered, leaving him. But after he recognized his patience, he opened.

Atque cum eo urbane agens, dixit: A multo tempore videre te desiderabam, audita tui fama. Et hospitaliter susceptum refecit, erat enim e multo labore fessus. Vespere autem facto, Abbas Antonius sibi madefecit ramos palmarum.

And conversing with him courteously, he said: For a long time I have desired to see you, having heard of your fame. And hospitably received, he refreshed him, for he was weary from much labor. But when evening had come, Abbot Antonius dipped for himself branches of palms.

Ait ei Abbas Macarius: Jube et ego mihi intinguam. Ille: Intingue, inquit. Confectoque magno fasciculo, intexit.

Abbot Macarius said to him: "Command, and I too will dip for myself." He said, "Dip," he replied. And when a great fascicle (bundle) had been made, he bound it together.

Igitur sedentes a vespera, collocuti de animarum salute, plectebant; plecta autem per fenestram descendebat in speluncam. Et mane ingrediens beatus Antonius, vidit plectæ Abbatis Macarii copiam, et infit: Multa virtus e manibus istis egreditur.

Therefore, sitting from vespers, conversing about the salvation of souls, they were plaiting; the plaits, however, fell through the window into the cave. And in the morning, entering, the blessed Antony saw the abundance of Abbot Macarius’s plaits, and said: Much virtue issues from these hands.

[V] Abbas Macarius prædixit fratribus de vastatione Sceteos: Quando spectaveritis cellam ædificatam juxta paludem, scitote, quod prope sit Sceteos desolatio: quando videritis arbores, ad fores est; cum autem pueros conspexeritis, tollite melotes vestras, atque discedite.

[V] Abbot Macarius foretold to the brothers concerning the devastation of Sceteos: When you behold a cell built beside the marsh, know that the desolation of Sceteos is near; when you see trees, it is at the doors; but when you behold boys, lift up your mantles, and depart.

[VI] Dixit iterum, volens fratres consolari: Venit huc cum matre sua puer, qui a dæmonio vexabatur, et dicebat matri: Surge anus, abeamus hinc. Illa vero: Non possum, inquit, pedibus incedere. Tum puer ad eam: Ego te portabo.

[VI] He spoke again, desiring to console the brothers: A boy came here with his mother, who was vexed by a demon, and he said to his mother: Surge, anus, abeamus hinc. But she: Non possum, inquit, pedibus incedere. Then the boy to her: Ego te portabo.

Et admiratus sum dæmonis nequitiam, quomodo eos hinc voluisset fugare.

And I marveled at the dæmon's nequity, how it had willed to drive them away from hence.

[VII] Referebat Abbas Sisoˆ´s: Quaudo eram in Sceti cum Macario, ascendimus septem nomina seu homines, ut cum eo meteremus: et ecce vidua quædam pone nos spicas colligebat, nec cessabat plorare. Vocavit ergo senex dominum prædii, dixitque ei: Quid habet anus hæc, quod semper plorat? Respondit: Quia vir ejus alicujus depositum dum servat, mortuus est subito, nec enuntiavit, ubi posuerit illud, vultque depositi dominus eam et liberos ejus sibi in servos vindicare.

[VII] The abbot Sisoēs used to relate: When I was in Scetis with Macarius, we ascended seven nomes or men, that we might mete with him: and behold a certain widow behind us was gathering ears (spicas) and would not cease to weep. Then the old man called the lord of the estate, and said to him: What has this old woman that she always weeps? He answered: Because her husband, while keeping some one’s deposit, suddenly died, and did not disclose where he had placed it, and the owner of the deposit wishes to vindicate her and her children to himself as his servile dependents.

Excepit senex Dic ei ut veniat ad nos, ubi ob æstum conquiescimus. Cumque venisset mulier, ait illi senex: Quare omnino ita fles? Respondit illa: Maritus meus accepto deposito emigravit e vita, nec significavit moriens, ubi posuerit.

The old man received her. "Tell her to come to us, where we rest because of the heat." And when the woman had come, the old man said to her: "Why do you weep so continually?" She answered him: "My husband, having taken a deposit, departed from life, and when dying did not disclose where he had put it."

Tunc senex ad eam: Veni, ostende mihi ubi sepelieris eum. Itaque ductis secum fratribus cum ea egressus est. Ut pervenerunt ad locum, dixit senex mulieri: Recede in domum tuam.

Then the old man to her: Come, show me
where you buried him. And so, having led his brothers with him, he went out with her. When they reached the place, the old man said to the woman: Withdraw into your house.

Et postquam precati fuissent, vocavit senex mortuum his verbis: Ille, ubi posuisti alienum depositum? Responsionem dedit homo: Absconditum est in domo mea, sub pede lecti. Senex ad ipsum: Iterum dormi usque ad resurrectionis diem.

And after they had prayed, the old man called the dead with these words: Where did you place the alien deposit? The man made answer: It is hidden in my house, under the foot of the bed. The old man to him: Sleep again until the day of the Resurrection.

Hoc videntes fratres, præ timore ceciderunt ad pedes ejus. Tum illis senex: Non propter me id evenit, nihil quippe sum: sed propter viduam et pupillos Deus rem fecit, hoc vero magnum est, quod Deus vult animam esse sine peccato, et quidquid petierit accipiet. Profectus ergo nuntiavit viduæ, ubi jaceret depositum.

Seeing this, the brothers, through fear, fell at his feet. Then the old man to them: It happened not for my sake, for I am nothing; but God did the thing for the widow and the orphans; and this indeed is great, that God wills the soul to be without sin, and whatever she shall ask she will receive. Therefore he set out and announced to the widow where the deposit lay.

Quæ accipiens dedit domino, ac in libertatem asseruit liberos, omnesque qui miraculum audiverunt, gloriam dederunt Deo.

She, taking what had been given, presented it to the lord and restored her children to liberty, and all who heard the miracle gave glory to God.

[VIII] Narravit Abbas Petrus de beato Macario, quod cum advenisset aliquando ad quemdam anachoretam, et invenisset eum ægrotantem, sciscitatus sit, quidnam cibi vellet sumere: nihil quippe erat in cella ejus. Qui postquam dixisset, pastillum, non piguit virum fortem Alexandriam proficisci, ut ægro daret: miraque res nemini manifesta facta est.

[8] Abbot Peter related concerning blessed Macarius that when he had once come to a certain anchorite, and had found him sick, he asked what food he wished to take; for there was indeed nothing in his cell. After the man had said “a little cake,” the strong man was not unwilling to set out for Alexandria to give it to the sick man; and the wondrous thing was revealed to no one.

[IX] Iterum memoravit; Ad Abbatem Macarium cum fratribus cunctis in simplicitate conversantem dixerunt nonnulli? Quare te talem præbes? Ille respondit: Duodecim annos servivi Domino meo, ut mihi hanc gratiam largiretur; et omnes mihi consilium datis, uti eam deponam?

[IX] He again related: To Abbot Macarius, when he was living with all the brothers in simplicity, some said, "Why do you present yourself thus?" He answered: "I served my Lord for 12 years, that this grace might be granted to me; and will everyone give me counsel to lay it aside?"

[X] Dicebant de Abbate Macario, quod si cum fratribus vacans versaretur, ita secum constituebat; si vinum affuerit propter fratres bibe; et pro uno vini poculo, per unum diem aquam non bibas. Igitur fratres, reficere cupientes, dabant ei. Senex autem cum gaudio admittebat, ut se ipsum torqueret. At discipulus ejus, cui res nota erat, dicebat fratribus: Per Dominum, ne præbeatis illi; alioqui in cella confecturus est se. Quo comperto fratres, non amplius ei porrigebant.

[X] They used to say of Abbot Macarius that when, free, he was staying with the brethren, thus he resolved with himself: if wine be present, drink for the sake of the brothers; and for one cup of wine, do not drink water for one day. Therefore the brothers, wishing to refresh him, gave it to him. The old man, however, received it with joy, so as to torment himself. But his disciple, to whom the matter was known, said to the brothers: By the Lord, do not hand it to him; otherwise he will consume himself in the cell. When this was discovered, the brethren no longer offered it to him.

[XI] Proficiscens aliquando Abbas Macarius a palude in cellam suam, portabat palmarum ramos; et ecce occurrit ei in via diabolus falcem gerens. Utque voluit eum ferire, non valuit. Itaque ait ei: Multa a te vis, Macari, quod adversus te nihil valeo.

[XI] Setting out once, Abbot Macarius from the marsh to his cell, was carrying palm-branches; and behold the devil met him on the road, bearing a sickle. And when he wished to strike him, he was not able. Therefore he said to him: Great is the power from you, Macarius, so that against you I am able nothing.

En enim, quidquid agis, ego quoque facio. Tu cibo abstines, et ego: vigilas; ego penitus non dormio. Unum solum est in quo vincis me. Interrogavit Abbas Macarius: Quodnam est illud?

For indeed, whatever you do, I do also. You abstain from food, and I; you keep vigil; I utterly do not sleep. There is but one thing in which you overcome me. Abbot Macarius asked: What is that?

Respondit: Humilitas tua. Ac propterea adversus te nihil possum.

He answered: Your humility. And therefore I can do nothing against you.

[XII] Interrogaverunt quidam e patribus Abbatem Macarium Aegyptium, dicentes: Qui fit, ut sive comedas, sive jejunes, corpus tuum pariter siccum sit? Responditque illis senex: Lignum quod versat sarmenta quæ comburuntur, omnino ab igne consumitur. Simili modo si mentem suam homo in timore Dei mundaverit, ipse Dei timor corpus ejus consumit.

[12] Some of the fathers asked Abbot Macarius the Egyptian, saying: How is it that, whether you eat or you fast, your body is equally dry? And the old man answered them: Wood that bears the twigs which are burned is wholly consumed by fire. In like manner, if a man has cleansed his mind in the fear of God, that very fear of God consumes his body.

[XIII] Profectus est aliquando Abbas Macarius a Sceti in Terenuthim; et ingressus est fanum, ut dormiret. Erant autem ibi vetera ethnicorum cadavera; e quibus unum acceptum posuit sub capite suo, velut embrimium. Dæmones ergo intuiti audaciam ejus, invidia ducti sunt: ac volentes eum terrere, velut foeminam de nomine vocabant, dicentes: Illa, veni nobiscum ad balneum: respondit autem alius dæmon sub ipso tanquam e mortuis, sic: Peregrinum habeo super me, nec possum venire.

[XIII] Once Abbot Macarius set out from Scetis to Terenuthim; and having entered a shrine, he lay down to sleep. There were there old corpses of pagans; from among these he took one and placed it beneath his head, as a pillow. The demons, therefore, seeing his audacity, were led by envy; and wishing to terrify him, they called him by name as though a woman, saying: "She, come with us to the bath" (Latin: "Illa, veni nobiscum ad balneum"). But another demon beneath him, as if from the dead, answered thus: "I have a stranger upon me, and I cannot come" (Latin: "Peregrinum habeo super me, nec possum venire.").

At senex territus non est, sed audacter verberabat corpus: Surge, inquiens, vade in tenebras si potes. Quo audito dæmones clamaverunt voce magna: Vicisti nos. Tum pudore suffusi aufugerunt.

But the old man was not terrified, but boldly struck his body, saying, "Rise, go into the darkness if you can." When this was heard the demons cried out with a great voice: "You have conquered us." Then, suffused with shame, they fled away.

[XIV] Dicebant de Abbate Macario Aegyptio, quod ascendens e Sceti, ac sportulas portans, defatigatus sedit, oravitque ad hunc modum Deus: tu scis, nihil mihi virium superesse. Et illico juxta fluvium est delatus.

[14] They used to say concerning Abbot Macarius the Egyptian, that, climbing up from Scetis and bearing alms-baskets, weary he sat down, and prayed to God in these words: “You know, no strength remains to me.” And immediately he was carried to beside the river.

[XV] Quidam in Aegypto filium habebat paralyticum, et tulit eum ad cellam Abbatis Macarii; relinquens autem ad ostium plorantem, longe abscessit. Igitur senex deorsum aspiciens vidit puerum, et interrogavit eum: Quis te huc attulit? Respondit: Pater meus hic me projecit, et abiit.

[15] A certain man in Egypt had a paralytic son, and he brought him to the cell of Abbot Macarius; but leaving him at the door weeping, he went away a long way. Therefore the old man, looking down, saw the boy, and questioned him: Who brought you here? He answered: My father threw me here, and departed.

Dicit ei senex: Surgens assequere eum. Statimque sanitate recuperata surrexit et patrem consecutus est: atqu ita reversi sunt in domum suam.

The old man says to him: Rise and follow him. Immediately, his health restored, he rose and overtook his father; and so they returned to their home.

[XVI] Abbas Macarius magnus dicebat fratribus in Sceti, postquam Ecclesiam dimisisset: Fugite, fratres. Ait illi seniorum quidam; Quonam fugere poterimus ultra solitudinem hanc? Ipse vero digitum suum ad os ponebat, dicens: Fugite hoc.

[XVI] Abbot Macarius the Great said to the brothers in Scetis, after he had dismissed the church: Flee, brothers. One of the elders said to him: To what place can we flee beyond this desert? But he himself put his finger to his mouth, saying: Flee this.

Tum ingrediebatur in cellam suam, et clauso ostio sedebat.

Then he entered into his cell, and, the door being shut, sat there.

[XVII] Dixit idem Abbas Macarius: Si quempiam increpando, ad iram commoveris, affectui tuo satisfacis. Non enim, ut alios salves, perdes te ipsum.

[XVII] The same Abbot Macarius said: If, by chastising anyone, you stir him to anger, you are gratifying your own affection. For you will not save others thereby, but will lose yourself.

[XVIII] Idem Abbas Macarius, dum esset in Aegypto, invenit hominem habentem jumentum, et prædantem quæ ad usum suum possidebat: ipse vero tanquam peregrinus astans furi, una onerabat jumentum, magnaque cum quiete deduxit eum, dicens; "Nihil intulimus in mundum: haud dubium quod nec auferre quid possumus. Dominus dedit: sicut ipse voluit, ita et factum est. Benedictus Dominus in omnibus."

[18] The same Abbot Macarius, while he was in Egypt, found a man owning a beast of burden and plundering the things he possessed for his use: he himself, standing as a pilgrim beside the thief, together loaded the beast, and with great calmness led him away, saying; "We brought nothing into the world: it is no doubt that we can carry nothing away. The Lord gave: as he himself willed, so was it done. Blessed be the Lord in all things."

[XIX] Interrogaverunt quidam Abbatem Macarium dicentes: Quomodo debemus orare? Respondit ille senex: Non opus est loqui multum, sed extendendæ sunt manus, proferendumque: Domine, sicut vis et sicut nosti, miserere. Si autem ingruerit tentationis impugnatio, dici debet: Domine, adjuva.

[XIX] Some asked Abbot Macarius, saying: How ought we to pray? That old man answered: It is not necessary to speak much, but the hands must be outstretched, and the petition put forth: Lord, as you will and as you know, have mercy. But if an onslaught of temptation should press in, one ought to say: Lord, help.

Ipse scit, quæ expediant, et facit nobiscum misericordiam.

He himself knows which things are expedient, and shows mercy to us.

[XX] Dixit Abbas Macarius; Si apud te extiterit contemptus velut laus, paupertas tanquam divitiæ, indigentia sicut abundantia, non moreris. Fieri enim non potest, ut qui recte credit, et in pietate operatur, incidat in vitiorum sordes ac dæmonum errorem.

[XX] The Abbot Macarius said: If with you there shall have arisen contempt as a kind of praise,
poverty as if riches, indigence as if abundance, be not disturbed. For it cannot be that he who rightly believes and works in piety
should fall into the filth of vices and the error of demons.

[XXI] Referebant: Duo fratres in Sceti deliquerunt, quos segregavit seu excommunicavit Abbas Macarius Urbicus, et venerunt nonnulli, nuntiaruntque Abbati Macario magno Aegyptio. Qui affirmavit fratres non esse segregatos, sed Macarium; etenim diligebat eum. Auditu accepit Abbas Macarius, quod a sene excommunicatus fuisset, fugitque ad paludem.

[XXI] They reported: two brothers in Scetis had sinned, whom Abbot Macarius Urbicus had separated or excommunicated, and some came and announced this to Abbot Macarius the Great, the Egyptian. He declared that the brothers were not the ones separated, but Macarius himself; for he loved him. On hearing this Abbot Macarius learned that he had been excommunicated by the old man, and he fled to the marsh.

Egressus itaque est Abbas Macarius magnus, ac reperit eum a culicibus perforatum; dicitque ei: Tu segregasti fratres, et secessuri sunt in vicum. Ego vero segregavi te; tuque, veluti pulchra virgo in interius cubiculum fugisti huc. At ego, vocatis fratribus, ab ipsis didici nihil horum factum esse.

And so Abbot Macarius the Great went out, and found him pierced by gnats; and he said to him: You have separated the brothers, and they were about to withdraw into the village. But I separated you; and you, like a fair virgin, fled here into the inner chamber. Yet I, having summoned the brothers, learned from them that none of these things had been done.

Vide igitur tu, frater, ne a dæmonibus illusus fueris. Nam nihil vidisti. Sed veniam incurvatus pete pro delicto tuo.

See therefore
you, brother, lest you have been deceived by demons. For you saw nothing. But seek pardon, bowed down, for your fault.

Ille autem dixit: Si vis, da mihi poenitentiam. Videns ergo senex humilitatem illius, ait: Vade, jejuna tres hebdomadas, semel singulis hebdomadis comedens. Hæc scilicet erat illius perpetua operatio, hebdomadas jejunare.

He, however, said: If you wish, give me penance. Seeing therefore the old man his humility, he said: Go, fast three weeks,
eating once in each week. This indeed was his perpetual practice, to fast for weeks.

[XXII] Dixit Abbas Moyses Abbati Macario in Sceti: Volo cum quiete ac silentio vivere, nec sinunt me fratres. Ait illi Abbas Macarius: Video te indolis mollioris esse, nec posse fratrem a te avertere: sed si desideras quietam vitam, proficiscere ad eremum, intro in petra, et illic quiete deges. Atque hoc fecit, et conquievit.

[XXII] Abbot Moyses said to Abbot Macarius in Scetis: I wish to live with quiet and silence, and the brothers will not permit me. Abbot Macarius said to him: I see that you are of a softer disposition, and cannot turn a brother away from you; but if you desire a quiet life, set out for the erēmos (desert), enter into a rock, and there live in quiet. And he did this, and he rested.

[XXIII] Frater convenit Abbatem Macarium Aegyptium, et dixit ei: Abba, effare mihi verbum, quonam modo salvus ero. Ait senex: Vade ad sepulcrum, et maledictis mortuos impete. Abiens igitur frater, convitiis et lapidibus appetiit: reversusque annuntiavit seni.

[XXIII] A brother came to Abba Macarius the Egyptian, and said to him: Abba, speak a word to me, by what manner shall I be saved. The elder said: Go to a sepulchre, and assail the dead with maledictions. Therefore the brother going, attacked them with revilings and stones; and having returned he reported to the old man.

Quærit ab eo; Nihil tibi responderunt? frater: Nihil. Tum senex inquit: Iterum proficiscere cras, laudibus eos effer.

He asks him: Did they answer you? the brother: Nothing. Then the old man said: Set out again tomorrow, extol them with praises.

Pergens itaque frater, collaudavit eos, vocans: Apostoli, sancti, justi. Tum adiit senem dixitque: Laudavi. Ille ei: Nihil tibi responderunt?

So the brother went forth and praised them, calling out: Apostles, holy, righteous. Then he approached the old man and said, “I have praised them.” He said to him, “Did they answer you anything?”

Frater: Nullo modo. Tunc senex infit: Nosti quantis eos contumeliis affeceris, nec quidquam reposuerunt tibi; et quantis eosdem laudibus ornaveris, nihilque ad te prolocuti sunt: ita etiam tu, si salutem consequi desideras, mortuus fias; nec injurias hominum, nec laudes eorum cogites, instar mortuorum, sic poteris salvus fieri.

Brother: By no means. Then the old man says: Do you know with what contumelies you have treated them, nor have they restored anything to you; and with what praises you have adorned those same, and they have spoken nothing to you: so likewise you, if you desire to attain salvation, become dead; neither ponder the injuries of men, nor their praises; like the dead, thus you shall be able to be saved.

[XXIV] Præteriens aliquando Abbas Macarius per Aegyptum una cum fratribus, audivit puerum ita matri suæ loquentem: Mater, quidam dives diligit me, et odi eum; pauper vero odit me, ac cum diligo. Quo audito sermone admiratus est Abbas Macarius. Dicunt ei fratres: Quid hoc verbi est, pater, quod affectus sis admiratione?

[XXIV] Passing through Egypt at one time with the brethren, Abbot Macarius heard a boy speaking thus to his mother: "Mother, a certain rich man loves me, and I hate him; but the poor man hates me, and yet I love him." On hearing this speech Abbot Macarius was amazed. The brethren said to him: "What is this word, father, that you are moved with admiration?"

Respondit illis senex: Revera Dominus noster dives est diligitque nos, nec volumus illi obtemperare; inimicus autem noster diabolus pauper est, odioque nos prosequitur, et diligimus ejus impuritatem.

He answered them, the old man: Truly our Lord is rich and loves us, and we are unwilling to obey him; but our enemy the devil is poor, and pursues us with hatred, and we love his impurity.

[XXV] Rogavit eumdem multis cum lacrymis Abbas Poemen, dicens: Eloquere mihi verbum, quomodo assecuturus sim salutem. Senex vero ei respondit: Quam quæris rem, nunc recessit a monachis.

[XXV] The same Abbot Poemen asked him, with many tears, saying: Speak to me a word, how I am to attain salvation. The elder, however, answered him: That thing which you seek has now withdrawn from the monks.

[XXVI] Aliquando Abbatem Antonium convenit Abbas Macarius, habitoque ad eum sermone, Scetin reversus est. Obviam ei processerunt patres. Et in colloquio ait illis senex: Abbati Antonio dixi, quod in loco nostro careamus oblatione.

[XXVI] Once Abbot Macarius came upon Abbot Antony, and after holding discourse with him he returned to Scetis. The fathers went forth to meet him. And in the colloquy the old man said to them: I told Abbot Antony that in our place we are lacking an oblation.

Coeperunt patres disserere aliis de rebus, nec requisierunt responsum discere a sene, nec senex eis prolocutus est. Hoc ergo pronuntiabat patrum quidam: Cum viderint patres, e fratrum memoria excidere, ut interrogent de re eis utili, necessitatem sibi imponunt principium orationis proferendi: quod si a fratribus non adigantur, non persequuntur sermonem; ut ne deprehendantur locuti neque interrogati, videaturque esse otiosa loquela.

The fathers began to discourse among themselves about other matters, nor did they seek to learn an answer from the old man, nor did the old man address them. Therefore a certain one of the fathers proclaimed this: When the fathers see that they are slipping from the memory of the brothers, so that they might ask about a matter useful to them, they lay upon themselves the necessity of producing the beginning of an oration: but if they are not urged to this by the brothers, they do not pursue the speech; so that they may not be found speaking without being questioned, and the talk may be seen to be idle.

[XXVII] Hunc in modum percontatus est Abbas EsaˆØs Abbatem Macarium: Profer mihi sententiam. Et dixit ei senex: Homines fuge. Rursus Abbas EsaˆØas: Quid est fugere homines.

[XXVII] In this way Abbot Esaïs questioned Abbot Macarius: "Give me your sentence." And the old man said to him: "Avoid men." Again Abbot Esaïs: "What is it to avoid men?"

Senex vero: Sedere in cella tua, et deflere tua peccata.

The old man, however: Sit in your cell, and bewail your
sins.

[XXVIII] Hoc referebat Abbas Paphnutius discipulus Abbas Macarii: Rogavi patrem meum, ut aliquid mihi diceret. Illius autem oratio fuit: Neminem læseris, neminem condemnaveris. Hæc observa et salvus fies.

[XXVIII] This was reported by Abbot Paphnutius, disciple of Abbot Macarius: I asked my father to tell me something. But his saying was: Hurt no one, condemn no one. Observe these things and you will be saved.

[XXIX] Dixit Abbas Macarius: Noli dormire in cella fratris, qui malam famam habet.

[29] Abbot Macarius said: Do not sleep in the cell of a brother who has a bad reputation.

[XXX] Accesserunt aliquando fratres ad Abbatem Macarium Sceti agentem, nec quidquam invenerunt in cella ejus, nisi aquam putridam. Dicunt ei: Abba, ascende in pagum, reficiemus te. Excepit senex: Nostis, fratres, illius talis hominis pistrinum in pago? Respondent: Etiam.

[XXX] Once the brothers came to Abba Macarius of Scetis at work, and they found nothing in his cell except putrid water. They say to him: Abba, ascend to the village, we will refresh/restore you. The old man replied: Do you know, brothers, that such a man's mill in the village? They answered: Yes.

Tum senex: Ego quoque novi. Scitis et prædium illius, ubi fluvius salit? Aiunt; Scimus.

Then the old man: I
also know him. Do you also know that estate of his, where the river leaps? They say: We know.

Ego quoque scio, inquit senex. Quando igitur placet, vestri opus non habeo, sed mihi apporto.

I also know, said the old man. When, then, it pleases, I have no need of your service, but I will carry it to myself.

[XXXI] Aiebant de Abbate Macario, quod si ad eum accederet frater, cum timore, tanquam ad sanctum et magnum senem, nihil ei loquebatur. Si vero fratrum quispiam tanquam nihili faciens ei diceret; Abba, quando eras camelarius, et nitrum furabaris, ac vendebas, nonne verberabant te custodes? Si ista quis esset prolocutus, huic cum gaudio, si quid interrogasset, responsum dabat.

[31] They used to say concerning Abba Macarius that if a brother approached him with fear, as to a holy and great old man, he would say nothing to him. But if any of the brothers, treating him as if he were nothing, would say to him: "Abba, when you were camelarius and were stealing nitrum and selling it, did not the guards beat you?" — if anyone had spoken such things, to that man he would, with joy, give an answer if he asked anything.

[XXXII] De Abbato Macario Magno asserebant, quod extiterit, sicut scriptum est, Deus terrestris. Quia quemadmodum Deus mundum tegit; ita Abbas Macarius delicta obtegebat; quæ vicerat, quasi non vidisset; quæ audierat, quasi non audivisset.

[XXXII] Concerning Abba Macarius the Great they asserted that he had been, as it is written, a terrestrial God. For just as God covers the world, so Abba Macarius covered sins; those which he had overcome, as if he had not seen; those which he had heard, as if he had not heard.

[XXXIII] Narratio Abbatis Vitimii extitit, quod ita retulerit Abbas Macarius: Sedente me aliquando in Sceti, descenderunt illuc duo juvenes peregrini; quorum unus barbam gerebat, alter vero primam emittebat lanuginem. Hi venerunt ad me rogantes, ubi esset cella Abbatis Macarii? Tum Ego: Quid eum vultis?

[XXXIII] A narration of Abbot Vitimius came forth, which Abbot Macarius had thus reported: While I was once sitting in Scetis, two young pilgrims came down there; of whom one bore a beard, the other indeed was sending forth the first down of hair. These came to me asking where the cell of Abbot Macarius was. Then I said: What do you want of him?

Aiunt: Audita ejus ac Sceteos fama, venimus, ut videamus eum. Dico: Ego sum. Factaque corporis inclinatione, inquiunt: Hoc in loco cupimus manere.

They said: Having heard his and the Scetans' fame, we have come to see him. I said: I am he. And, making a bow of the body, they said: In this place we wish to remain.

Ego vero videns eos delicatos et velut in divitiis educatos, aio: Non potestis residere hic. Tum major infit: Si non possimus remanere hic, ad alium pergemus locum. Ego intra mentem meam; Cur pello eos, et scandalum patientur?

But I, seeing them delicate and as if brought up in riches, say:
You cannot remain here. Then the elder replies: If we cannot remain here,
we will proceed to another place. I, within my mind, thought: Why do I drive them away, and let them endure scandal?

Efficiet labor, ut ipsi sponte fugiant. Itaque dico eis: Venite, construite vobis cellam, si potestis. Illi: Ostende nobis locum, construemus.

The labor will effect that they themselves flee of their own will. Therefore I say to them: Come,
build for yourselves a cell, if you are able. They: Show us a place, we will build.

Dedit autem eis senex securim, peramque plenam panibus, et sal: ostenditque petram duram, monens: Lapides hic incidite, atque ex palude portate vobis ligna, tectoque imposito, residete. Putabam autem, inquit, illos propter laborem recessuros. Porro petierunt a me, quid eo loci operaturi essent.

But the old man gave them an axe, and a pouch full of loaves, and salt; and he showed a hard rock, admonishing: Cut stones here, and bring yourselves timber from the marsh, and with a roof set upon it, remain. "I thought," he said, "that they would withdraw on account of the labour." Moreover they asked me what they were to do in that place.

Respondi, plectam facerent: sumptisque e palude foliis palmarum, ostendi ipsis plectæ seu funis principium, utque consuere oporteret; dixique: Facite sportas, quas tradetis custodibus, ipsi vero afferent nobis panes. Deinde abscessi. At illi patienter quæcumque mandaveram executi sunt: nec venerunt ad me tribus annis.

I answered that they should make a plait: and having taken palm‑leaves from the marsh, I showed them the beginning of the plait or rope itself, and how it ought to be sewn; and I said: Make baskets, which you will hand over to the guards, and they themselves will bring us breads. Then I departed. But they patiently executed whatever I had commanded: nor did they come to me for three years.

Ego vero assidue cum animo meo colluctabar, reputans; Ecquæ est eorum operatio, quod non accesserint interrogaturi de cogitatione? Qui procul habitant, veniunt ad me: et isti cum propinqui sint, non accesserunt, nec ad alios profecti sunt: duntaxat pergunt ad Ecclesiam, taciti, ut accipiant oblationem. Igitur oravi Dominum, jejunans una hebdomade; ut manifestum mihi faceret, quidnam operarentur.

I, however, constantly wrestled with my spirit, reflecting: What is their operatio, that they have not come forward to interrogate concerning my cogitation? Those who dwell far off come to me: and these, although they are propinqui, did not approach, nor did they go to others: only they proceed to the Ecclesia, tacit, to receive the oblation. Therefore I prayed to the Dominus, fasting one week; that he would make manifest to me what, indeed, they were operating.

Post hebdomadam vero surgens, ad eos abii, ut intuerer, quomodo agerent. Et cum pulsassem aperuerunt, meque salutarunt cum silentio. Feci orationem, et sedi.

After a week, however, rising, I went to them to see how they were acting. And when I had knocked
they opened, and greeted me with silence. I made a prayer, and sat down.

Major innuit minori, ut egrederetur: ipseque sedit, ad conficiendam plectam, nec quidquam loquebatur. Ad horam vero nonam strepitum edidit. Venit junior, fecit parum polentæ, ac majore innuente apposuit mensam, cumque super eam tres paximates posuisset, stetit tacens.

The elder nodded to the younger that he should go out: and he himself sat down to finish the plectam, and spoke nothing. But at the ninth hour he made a noise. The younger came, made a little polenta, and, the elder nodding, set the table; and when he had placed three paximates upon it, he stood silent.

Ego vero dixi: Surgite, comedamus. Inde consurgentes cibum sumpsimus. Attulit baucale, ac bibimus.

I, however, said: Rise, let us eat. Then, rising, we took food. He brought a baukale (drinking-cup), and we drank.

Ut autem advenit vespera, petunt a me: Recedis-ne? Respondi: Non, sed hic dormio. Unde posuerunt mihi stoream et parte, et sibi ad alium angulum ex parte; tuleruntque zonas suas et succinctoria, simulque collocaverunt se in matta ante me. Cæterum postquam composuerunt se, oravi Deum, ut mihi operationem eorum revelaret. Tunc apertum est tectum, ortaque est lux, velut per diem; ipsi autem non cernebant lucem.

When evening, however, arrived, they asked me: "Are you withdrawing?" I answered: "No, but I shall sleep here." Whereupon they set up for me a storea (a reed curtain) on one side, and for themselves on the other toward another corner on that side; and they took off their zones and girdles, and together placed themselves on a mat before me. But after they had composed themselves, I prayed to God that He would reveal to me their operation. Then the roof was opened, and light arose, as by day; yet they did not perceive the light.

Cum vero existimarent dormire me, major fodicat minoris latus, Consurgunt, cingunt se, expandunt manus ad coelum. Porro ego cernebam eos; ipsi non videbant me. Ad hæc vidi dæmones instar muscarum venientes super minorem, quorum alii accedebant, ut sederent in ore ejus, alii in oculis. Simul conspexi Angelum Domini cum gladio ignis præ manibus, circumvallantem eum, dæmonesque ab eo propellentem.

When, however, they thought that I was asleep, the elder struck at the younger’s side; they rose, girded themselves, and stretched forth their hands to heaven. But I perceived them; they did not see me. Moreover I saw dæmones like flies coming upon the younger, some of whom approached to sit in his mouth, others in his eyes. At the same time I caught sight of the Angel of the Lord with a sword of fire in his hands, surrounding him and driving the dæmones away from him.

At majori non poterant appropinquare. Circa matutinum vero tempus, recubuerunt: ego assimilavi, me mox expergefactum; ipsique similiter. Hoc autem dumtaxat mihi elocutus est verbum major: Vis recitemus duodecim Psalmos?

But they could not come near the elder. About morning-time, however, they reclined: I assimilated myself, was soon roused; and they likewise. This, however, was the single word the elder spoke to me: Vis recitemus duodecim Psalmos? — "Do you wish that we recite twelve Psalms?"

Excipio: Etiam. Tum psallit minor quinque Psalmos, a sex versibus, et unum alleluia, atque ad unumquemque versum, exibat ignis lampas ex ore ejus, ascendebatque in coelum. Pari modo etiam major, quando aperiebat os in psallendo, tanquam funiculus ignis egrediebatur, et pertingebat usque in coelum.

I record:
Yes. Then the younger sang five Psalms, of six verses each, and one Alleluia, and at each verse a lamp of fire issued from his mouth, and ascended into heaven. In like manner also the elder, when he opened his mouth in psalmody, as if a cord of fire came forth, and reached up into heaven.

Etiam ego parumper ex pectore ac memoria recitavi. Post quod exiens, dixi: Orate pro me. Ipsi autem inclinaverunt se, tacentes. Comperi ergo, quod major perfectus esset, minorem adhuc impugnaret inimicus.

I also for a short time recited from my breast and memory. After which, when I went out, I said: Pray for me. They, however, bowed themselves, silent. I learned, therefore, that the elder had been perfected, and that the enemy was still assailing the younger.

Cæterum post paucos dies, mortis somnum obdormivit major frater, ac tertia dein die minor. Cumque e patribus nonnulli adirent Abbatem Macarium, ducebat eos in istorum cellam, cum his verbis: Venite, videte martyrium minorum peregrinorum.

Moreover, after a few
days the elder brother fell asleep in the sleep of death, and then on the third day the younger. And when some of the fathers went to visit Abbot Macarius, he led them into their
cell with these words: Come, see the martyrdom of the younger pilgrims.

[XXXIV] Miserunt aliquando ad Abbatem Macarium in Sceti consistentem senes montis, orantes eum, et aiunt: Ne universa multitudo ad te veniendo fatigetur, precamur, ut accedas ad nos, quo videamus, antequam emigres ad Dominum. Qui ad montem cum affuisset, congregata est omnis multitudo circa eum. Senes vero rogaverunt, ut ad fratres haberet sermonem.

[34] Once the old men of the mountain dwelling in Scetis sent to Abbot Macarius, beseeching him, and said: Lest the whole multitude be wearied by coming to you, we beg that you come to us, so that we may see you before you emigrate to the Lord. When he had come to the mountain, the whole multitude gathered around him. The elders, however, asked that he hold a discourse for the brothers.

Ille audita rogatione: Ploremus, inquit, et oculi nostri profundant lacrymas, antequam eo abeamus, ubi lacrymæ nostræ combusturæ sunt corpora nostra. Et ploraverunt cuncti, cecideruntque super faciem suam, necnon dixerunt: Pater, ora pro nobis.

He, at the hearing of the petition, said: Let us weep, and may our eyes pour forth tears, before we go to that place where our tears will have burned up our bodies. And all wept, and fell upon their faces, and moreover said: Father, pray for us.

[XXXV] Alia iterum vice dæmon insurrexit adversus Abbatem Macarium cum gladio, volens pedem ejus amputare: sed cum propter humilitatem ipsius non posset, dixit ei: Quæcumque habetis, habemus etiam nos: sola humilitate a nobis differtis et prævaletis.

[35] At another time again a demon rose up against Abbot Macarius with a sword, wishing to amputate his foot; but, since he could not because of his humility, he said to him: Whatever things you have, we have also; you differ from us and prevail only in humility.

[XXXVI] Dixit Abbas Macarius: Si retinuerimus memoriam malorum, quæ nobis inferuntur ab hominibus, abolemus vim recordationis Dei: quod si recordati fuerimus malorum quæ per dæmones contingunt, erimus invulnerati.

[36] Abbot Macarius said: If we retain the memory of evils which are inflicted on us by men, we abolish the force of the remembrance of God: but if we recall the evils which occur through demons, we shall be invulnerable.

[XXXVII] Retulit Abbas Paphnutius, discipulus Abbatis Macarii, verba senis: Quando eram puer, cum aliis pueris pascebam buculas; et perrexerunt furatum ficus. Dumque currunt, una ex iis cecidit, quam tollens comedi. Quoties ergo ejus rei redit memoria, plorans sedeo.

[37] Abbot Paphnutius, a disciple of Abbot Macarius, related the old man’s words: When I was a boy, I used to tend heifers with other boys; and we went off to steal figs. And while they ran, one of them fell, which, lifting up, I ate. Therefore, whenever the memory of that thing returns, I sit weeping.

[XXXVIII] Narravit Abbas Macarius: Iter agens aliquando per eremum, inveni calvariam mortui ad solum jacentem; quam cum palmeo baculo movissem, locuta mihi est calvaria. Dico ei: Tu quis es. Respondit mihi caluaria: Ego eram pontifex idolorum, eorumque gentilium, qui hoc loco morabantur: tu vero es Macarius, qui Spiritum Dei fers: quacumque hora commotus fueris misericordia erga eos, qui in tormentis versantur, exiguum sentiunt solatium. Ait senex: Quodnam est solatium, et quodnam tormentum?

[38] The Abbot Macarius narrated: While once journeying through the desert, I found the skull of a dead man lying upon the ground; which, when I had moved with my palm staff, the skull spoke to me. I say to it: Who are you? The skull answered me: I was a pontiff of idols, and of those gentiles who dwelt in this place: but you are Macarius, who bears the Spirit of God: whenever at any hour you are moved with mercy toward those who are plunged in torments, they feel a small consolation. The old man said: What then is this consolation, and what is the torment?

Quantum, inquit, a terra distat coelum, tantum est ignis infra nos, a pedibus ad caput stantibus nobis in medio ignis: nec licet facie ad faciem videre quemquam; sed cujusque facies dorso alterius adhæret. Quando igitur oras pro nobis, unus ex parte spectat faciem alterius. Hoc est solatium.

How great, he said,
the distance from earth to heaven is, so great is the fire beneath us; standing
from our feet to our heads the fire is among us: nor is it permitted to see anyone face to face; but each one's
face clings to the back of another. Therefore when you pray for us, one on the one
side looks at the face of another. This is the consolation.

Et flens senex, dixit: Væ diei in qua natus est homo! Addidit: Est-ne aliud gravius supplicium? Retulit cranium: Major poena est subter nos.

And weeping the old man said: Woe to the day
on which man was born! He added: Is there any other more grievous punishment? Replied the cranium: A greater penalty is beneath us.

Tum senex: Et quinam illic degunt? Excepit: Nos, utpote qui ignoravimus Deum, modice misericordiam consequimur: qui vero cognoverunt Deum, et negaverunt eum, subtus nos sunt. Tunc senex calvariam sumens, humo mandavit.

Then the old man: And who dwell there? He answered: We, namely those who ignorantly did not know God, obtain mercy in modest measure:

but those who truly knew God, and denied him, are beneath us. Then the old man, taking the skull, consigned it to the earth.

[XXXIX] Dictum est de Abbate Macario Aegyptio, quod aliquando e Sceti ascendebat in montem Nitriæ: et ut prope locum extitit, dixit discipulo suo: Præcede paululum. Cumque ille præiret, obvium habuit quemdam Græcorum seu gentilium sacerdotem. Ad quem clamans frater, vocabat; Heu, heu, inquiens, quo curris, dæmon?

[39] It is said concerning Abbot Macarius the Egyptian that once he was ascending from Scetis to the mountain of Nitria: and when he came near the place, he said to his disciple: Præcede paululum. And while that one went before, he met a certain priest of the Greeks or of the gentiles. To whom the brother, crying out, called: Alas, alas, he said, whither do you run, demon?

Ille vero conversus, plagas ei inflixit, reliquitque semimortuum. Ac tollens, quod portabat lignum, cucurrit. Paululum progresso occurrit inter cursum Abbas Macarius, qui dixit ei: Salvus sis, salvus sis labore confecte.

He, however, having turned, dealt him blows and left him half-dead. And lifting up what he carried, a log, he ran off. Abbot Macarius, having advanced a little, met him in the course of his running, and said to him: May you be safe, may you be safe, exhausted by labor.

Ille admiratus venit ad eum, et ait: Quid boni vidisti in me, quod me salutaveris? Tum senex: Quoniam conspexi te labore fessum, ac nescis te in vanum defatigari. Sacerdos quoque: Ego salutatione tua compunctus sum, et cognovi ex parte Dei te esse.

He, admiring, came to him, and said: What good have you seen in me, that you have greeted me?
Then the old man: For I perceived you, wearied by labor, and you do not know that you are being wasted in vain.
The priest also: I was moved by your salutation, and I recognized, by a part of God, that you are of Him.

Alius vero malus monachus, obvius factus, contumelia me affecit: quare ego dedi ei plagas ad mortem. Agnovit autem senex, quod de discipulo suo loqueretur. Tunc, apprehensis ejus pedibus, sacerdos ita locutus est: Non dimittam te, nisi me feceris monachum.

Another, however, an evil monk,
having encountered me, he dealt me an insult: wherefore I gave him blows to death. The old man, however, perceived that he was speaking of his disciple. Then, having seized his feet, the priest spoke thus: I will not release you, unless you make me a monk.

Et venerunt sursum, ubi erat monachus, portaveruntque illum ad Ecclesiam montis. Porro cernentes sacerdotem cum eo, stupefacti sunt; et fecerunt illum monachum. Multique gentilium propter eum facti sunt Christiani.

And they went up to where the monk was, and they carried him to the Church of the mountain. Porro, seeing the priest with him, they were astonished; and they made him a monk. And many of the gentiles on his account were made Christians.

Asserebat ergo Abbas Macarius, quod sermo malus etiam bonos malos faciat, et sermo bonus etiam malos bonos.

Abbot Macarius therefore asserted that an evil word even makes good men bad, and a good word even makes bad men good.

[XL] De Abbate Macario memorabant, quod absente illo ingressus sit latro in cellam ejus. Cum autem rediisset, invenit latronem, qui camelum suppellectile sua onerabat. Ipse igitur intrans in cellam, de vasis accipiebat, et una cum eo onerabat camelum.

[40] They were speaking of Abbot Macarius, that in his absence a thief had entered his cell.
But when he returned, he found the thief who was loading his chattel onto a camel. He therefore, entering the cell, took from the vessels and, together with him, loaded the camel.

Ut ergo sarcinam immiserunt, coepit fur verberare camelum, ut surgeret; neque surgebat. Videns porro Abbas Macarius, quod non exurgeret, cellam ingressus invenit parvum sarculum, emissumque imposuit camelo, dicens: Frater, hoc quærebat camelus. Pede vero pulsans eum senex, ait: Surge.

When therefore they had loaded the pack, the thief began to beat the camel, that it might rise; and it would not rise. Moreover seeing that it did not get up, Abbot Macarius, having entered the cell, found a little hoe, and having sent it forth he placed it on the camel, saying: Brother, the camel sought this. But the old man, striking it with his foot, said: Rise.

Confestimque surrexit, et parumper itineris confecit propter ejus sermonem. Sed iterum resedit, nec exurrexit, donec deposuissent cunctam suppellectilem. Tunc enim abiit.

And immediately he rose, and for a little while completed the journey on account of his speech. But again he sat down, and did not rise up until they had set down all the furnishings. For then he went away.

[XLI] Abbas Aio interrogavit Abbatem Macarium, sic: Dicito mihi aliquid. Ait ei Abbas Macarius: Fuge homines; sede in cella tua, et defle peccata tua; nec dilexeris loquelam hominum; salusque tibi obtinget.

[41] Abbot Aio asked Abbot Macarius thus: Tell me something. Abbot Macarius said to him: Flee men; sit in your cell, and bewail your sins; nor love the talk of men; and salvation will come to you.