take up the Nauseat history by Pelagius. You may recall from the Vitae Patrum that This is book 8 of that larger collection of monastic documents that we looked at. And so we'll look specifically at this particular one to see what it consists of. It was written about 420, so about the same time as John Cashion, and the same time as many of the apple segmenta were written. There's a very fine English translation in Ancient Christian Writers, volume 34. It's translated and annotated by Robert Mayer from Westminster. Newman Press, 1965. And in the introduction to this volume of Ancient Christian Writers, it says that Mayer maintains that the two most important source documents for the history of early monasticism in Egypt are the Life of Anthony by Athanasius and the Lausiac History by Palladius.

[01:12]

And so he gives sort of a comparison of these two ancient documents. The Life of Anthony, as you recall, was written about 357. and then the Lausiac History will be written about 60 years later on 420. They both have historical value. Both in the life of Anthony and in the Lausiac History we find somebody who is familiar with the ancient monastic life and speaks of it from his first-hand acquaintance of some sort or another. And both of these writings complement each other. For instance, in the life of Anthony, especially in the Address to Monk, we find a theoretical treatise on the ascetical life, whereas Palladius more or less keeps himself to practical accounts of stories of different people. So one is more theory, one is more just a story. Now we've seen, for instance, in the life of Anthony there is a basic biographical background and story in which this is inserted, the same way in the

[02:19]

history, the Lauseat history, there's going to be some monastic theory inserted into the biography. Now, Antony's biography is, of course, centered in Egypt, in the Nitrian Desert, the Desert of Ascetes and themselves, whereas the Lauseat history describes monastic life not only in Egypt, but also in Palestine, Syria and in Asia Minor, and even mentions a couple of stories about people in the West, in Rome. The purpose of both of the writings was to edify. If you recall, Athanasius' introduction to the life of Anthony, he says that this is to show the brothers in foreign parts how to live, so that they might admire Anthony and emulate him. And the same way with Palladius. Palladius writes these stories, and there's about 60 different little stories of men and women. He writes them, and he says specifically to Lausus, the royal chamberlain, at the court of the Emperor Theodosius II, in order to teach Lausus

[03:28]

the true lessons of edification or building. Now that's an interesting notation because what seems to be the case is that this is, after the Peace of Constantine, the Church is building, material buildings, which it never could do before. And so Palladius is writing and saying, well, not only do you build that way, but you have to build internally. Then let me tell you some stories about how to build or edify internally. Now also in the stories he mentions a number of people who came to sort of disgrace and especially holy virgins who fell from virtue because of vainglory and pride. So he points out a warning to Lausus that asceticism, severe asceticism, can also lead to vainglory and pride. So one has to be very careful about where the goal is or what the end is going to be. Palladius was probably born in 363 or 364, that's after the life of Anthony, 357, in Galatia.

[04:38]

You may recall from New Testament studies that Galatia is up in Asia Minor, in the center of Turkey today. He was the pupil of Evagrius of Pontus. Now, we're never going to take up specifically Evagrius of Pontus in this course, but he's mentioned over and over again. a very important man for spiritual theology. He's sort of the teacher of Cassian, and he greatly influences Palladius here. He, in turn, was greatly influenced by Origen. So you go back to the Alexandrian school in Egypt, in Africa. At the age of 23, Palladius embraced a monastic life on the Mount Olives. and it was a disciple of Innocent. So that would have been around 386 or something like that. Notice there's a monastery on the Mount of Olives that he becomes a monk in, in Palestine.

[05:41]

He stayed for a while near Jericho and then about 388, becoming acquainted with the Egyptian hermits, he decides to go to Egypt. And there he spends about three years in Alexandria, and then moves on into the solitudes south of the city. Notice this is a thing which Cassian is going to be doing too. And Cassian has much the same background that Palladius has. He's born possibly in the same general area, and then he goes to Palestine, to Bethlehem, to become a monk, and then moves on down into Egypt. So here we have Palladius already doing the same type of thing. After some years in Egypt, his health broke. After he spent nine years in the Nitrian Desert, his health broke and he went back to Alexandria. And the doctors advised him to seek a better climate, so he returned to Palestine. And then around 400, he was consecrated Bishop of Helianopolis, which is right across the Bosphorus from Constantinople.

[06:43]

probably consecrated by John Chrysostom. This would be the period of John Chrysostom's Episcopacy. And he was probably mixed up with the controversy concerning John Chrysostom. Around 412, he went back to Galatia, and there he wrote the Lausiac history about 420. He's probably dead by 431 because there's another bishop from Helianopolis on the roster at the Council of Ephesus in 431. So apparently Palladius is gone by that time. The Lausiac history is people with the numerous personages who also appear in a work called history of the monks in Egypt, which is another one of the collections in the Vitae Patrum, but it's the same people who are in both of these works. And this history of the monks in Egypt was composed around the year 400 and translated into Latin by Rufinus of Aquila.

[07:46]

Also, the same people appear in the Lausiac history as we have found coming up in the Apothegma of Patrum, or the Vitae Patrum, that we looked at before. Some of the well-known people that Palladius writes about are people like Athanasius, Procomius, Evagrius of Pontus. And some of the people that he mentions we don't know anything about except that he mentions them. Now, remember that Palladius is really imbued with the spirit of Evatrius. The importance of the Lauseanic history for early monasticism has long been recognized, and some scholars say that it is definitely a historical account of what's going on. However, there may be some hyperbole or exaggeration in polygamy, but it is a good reflection of what is taking place in the late 4th, early 5th century. There's always been a textual problem with this particular work, and we've seen this with other things like the apple segment, all the different editions and different translations.

[08:59]

The same way with the Lauseat history, it was so popular that it was copied and reworked over and over again, because it was used for devotional and for entertainment purposes. So, for instance, Abbott Cuthbert Butler, who is a known scholar on the Lauseat history and produced a critical text of the Greek text, says, So popular was it that no respect whatever was felt for its text. It was rewritten, rearranged, enlarged, shortened, paraphrased, combined with tendered works without any scruple. Thus every known process of corruption, revision, interpolation, redaction, intermixture of texts has had free play among the manuscripts, both of the Greek texts and the versions." So it just had all of this reworking. And so we come up to the fact that very early in its tradition there were two Greek editions of it, a long and a short redaction. And this is more complicated because there were many Latin versions very early.

[10:02]

because it was translated into Latin very early. Now, we've also seen that there's a Syrian version in the book that you're reading, Joel, in the Paradise of the Fathers. You have the Lauseat history, but that's a Syrian version. And there are two independent versions of equal antiquity. One of them is by Anno Isho, the historian monk of Mesopotamia in the 7th century. That's what your translation is based on, by Anno Isho, that Wallace Budge did. And this was collected with the Syriac Apothegmata, which are the sayings of the Egyptian monks. So you have this other tradition. This is found in English by Wallace Budge, called The Paradise or the Garden of the Holy Fathers, being histories of the Anchorites, Recluses, Monks, Cenobites, and Ascetics, and fathers of the desert of Egypt, between 250 and 300, compiled by Athanasius, Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis, St.

[11:06]

Jerome, and others. Two volumes published in 1907. But there's another Syriac version which is as old as the version by Ano Isho. And then there are many Syriac collections of these apothegmata and extracts from Palladius. Besides that, we have Coptic editions, Ethiopic editions, and Arabic editions. And the person who has really done the most study in this field, as I mentioned, is Cuthbert Butler, who published in 1898, The Lousiac History of Palladius. And then in 1904, The Grief Text, edited with introduction and notes. I think you get a good idea of what's going on here. We could look at the story line, you might say, the Nauseat history. What Palladius is saying is happening is that he has gone to Egypt and he's traveling around, and as he travels around he says what happens. It's sort of like a diary in a way.

[12:07]

You may be familiar with the Diary of Egeria, which is this Spanish nun who went to Palestine. I don't know if Father Patrick has mentioned that to you in the study of the divine office, but you'll come across that. But this was another type of thing, type of writing at this particular time. So the Lauseat history is built on this travel line and sort of biography of Palladius. For instance, he begins his story in Alexandria, and he ends his story in Palestine. And the stories that he tells are told in some order according to his movement. But this is not always a rigid rule, because sometimes he breaks in. For instance, he says he's in an Eritrean desert, and all of a sudden he tells a story about a virgin in Jerusalem. So it's hard to see how these things fit in if there's any logical plan. It's difficult, then, to find an overall organizing structure to the work except Palladius's movement from Egypt to Palestine. And the general pattern of his stories is according to this movement.

[13:12]

He begins in Galatia. This we find in chapter 35. From Galatia, he doesn't say too much about going to Palestine to be a monk, but he arrives in Alexandria during the reign of Theodosius the Great, about 379 to 395, sometime in that period. He meets in Alexandria, in Egypt, the monk Isidore, who now lives in the city, but who spent his youth in the desert of Nytria. So here's a monk from the Nytrian desert who is now in the city of Alexandria, and I think he says he's the guest master of the cathedral church. You know exactly what that is, we don't know. Isidore hands Palladius on over to Dorotheus, a Theban ascetic. And Palladius was supposed to spend three years with this ascetic, Dorotheus, but it was too rough for him and he couldn't stay that long. So he moved on and spent three years in the monasteries near Alexandria. It's an interesting notation, monasteries near Alexandria.

[14:12]

So you have them not in the desert itself, but near the city. Then he went on to Mount Nitria. separated from Alexandria by Lake Meria, which is 70 miles long. So if you notice on your map you have Alexandria and then you have the Nitrian Desert. So he goes on down from Alexandria to the Nitrian Desert. And beyond the Mount Nitria stretches the Great Desert. Palladius spent a year on the mount and then he goes into the depths of the desert. Now while he was at Mount Nitria he met the famous men like Orr, Pambo, Benjamin, and the brothers Paseus and Isaias. From the Nitrian Desert he moves on to the Celia, which is about 70 stadia from Nitria, and there he spends nine years. And from there he visits Mount Fermi. Then he goes to the great desert of Aski. Notice he's taken in the Nitrian desert, the cells, and Aski.

[15:17]

That's his center of activity. The same center of activity for the Athonian monasticism and for the sayings of the fathers. Now some confusion arises because after saying this, he states that he travels to Skit, which is 40 miles away. So after he moves to Skit, he says he goes to Skit, 40 miles away. So this is part of the complication of this travel and how to follow it along. Then he throws in the story of a fallen virgin in Jerusalem. Now see, where this falls into pattern, it's hard to see, but all of a sudden there's a story of a virgin in Jerusalem. He discusses the Tabanisi in the Tebead, that's the area of Pocomius, without saying whether he went there at the time or not. So he has a chapter on Tabanisi. Then we find him back in the Nitrian Desert, and he says that he set off from the Nitrian Desert for the Tebead, which took him 18 days by foot and by sail. So from the Nitrian Desert, he says he went to the Tebead,

[16:19]

And it took him 18 days along the Nile River by boat. And there he especially visits John of Lycopolis. And this John of Lycopolis is the one who told him he would be a bishop someday. Then he says he returned to his accustomed place, namely, I suppose, Niteria, and spent three more years there. And then, due to bad health, he went to Alexandria and was advised to go to Palestine. From Palestine he goes to Bithynia and there he is made bishop of Helianopolis. So up to that point his travels are pretty well ordered, except occasionally things are thrown in and are confused. But he seems to jump around, and then after he becomes bishop we find all sorts of jumping around. For instance, he begins telling stories of Syria, about Edessa and the deacon Ephraim and Julian. So he's up in Syria all of a sudden. Then he goes to Jerusalem, and he talks about Innocent of Mount Olives, whom he had been a monk with.

[17:22]

Then he jumped over to Galatia, then back to Palestine. And he even says that he made a journey from Jerusalem to Egypt later on. Now, whether or not he went back to Egypt, we're not so sure or not. Then there's a story of a virgin in Alexandria. He jumps to Caesarea and Cappadocia. Then he jumps over to Corinth. But he does not say whether he met these people or actually traveled there. He also recounts 10,000 virgins who lived in the city of Ancyra in Galatia. His last story is about a columniated lector in Caesarea of Palestine. He also tells stories of some monks and nuns in Rome and Italy, but this does not necessarily suggest that he's been there, because as he's been jumping all around, he also includes this. And I think this is an indication that when he talks about Pocomius in the Tebiad, in the Tavinesi.

[18:24]

We can also see it in this perspective. See, he probably wasn't in Rome, but he tells stories about it. He may not have been in Tavinesi, but he nevertheless tells a story about it. Because there's a problem with regard to what Palladius says about Pocomius and what Pocomian literature itself says about Pocomius. From the biographical indications, Palladius gives in a prologue, that he wrote the history about 420, means he would have been ordained a bishop at about the age of 36 in 400 A.D., and would have left Egypt for Palestine a little bit before that time. Then there's all sorts of notations about how many years he's been in the community of the brothers, etc., and from figuring this out, It can be seen that he probably went to Egypt about 387 and spent in all 13 years in Egypt. That's what we get from reading his biography.

[19:26]

He was probably between 17 and 20 years of age when he first went to Egypt. If we take a look at the forward to the life of the Holy Fathers in the Lauseack history, there's a number of important points that I would like to point out to you. Now, this forward of the Lauseack history is not found in the best manuscripts. It may not be original, but still it's a good expression of the goal of the work. He says, in this book is recorded the wonderful, virtuous, and aesthetic life of the Holy Fathers, monks, and anchorites of the desert. It is written for the emulation and imitation of those who wish to succeed in the heavenly way of life and to take the journey which leads to the kingdom of heaven." Notice that monastic life is called a journey to the kingdom of heaven, the idea of pilgrimage. And it's also called the heavenly life. This theme of angelic life, which comes up in later literature, has a foundation here.

[20:31]

He tells the stories of hermits for the most part, and so there's going to be little about Cenobites, but we'll see that there's some exception to this. But most of the people he talks about are hermits. He says, I traveled on foot and looked into every cave and cabin of the monks of the desert with all accuracy and pious motive. I wrote down some of the things I saw and also some accounts I heard from the Holy Fathers, and so he pretends to be an eyewitness to the stories that he's telling. He also maintains, as I've mentioned, that virtue can be destroyed by pride, and so the absolute necessity of humility. In the prologue he says, it is good to be dissolved and to be with Christ, which of course is from the Apostle Paul, but notice this is sort of the spirituality of monasticism, to be dissolved and to be with Christ.

[21:35]

And again, prepare your work without and diligently till your ground. For he who always thinks of death as something which cannot be avoided or delayed cannot go far astray. The same thing we see in the rule of Benedict. Keep death daily before your eyes. In death you will be dissolved to be with Christ. And so what monastic life culminates in is a desire to be with Christ. Let's take a look at the monastic lifestyle that we find in Palladius in the Lauseack history, and then briefly scripture in the monk. prayer, the public Eucharist, and the spiritual gifts of prophecy and healing, if we have time to do all of that. First of all, with regard to the monastic lifestyle. Now much of the information in Palladius is going to be more implicit than explicit. This is not a rule for monks.

[22:37]

And so you're not going to find something presented to tell you how monks are supposed to live, but rather a description of what he discovers. And so little is said about how monks spend their life or the relative proportions of their various activities. A few texts, however, do tell us something about the monastic lifestyle. For instance, there's one text that speaks specifically of what we would call the solitary life. Then there's one that talks about the monks of the Nitrian Desert, where we'll see that these monks form sort of a federation of hermits, or lived in a semi-hermetical way of life. And then there's a text on the Bakomian monks, which is cenobitic life. So I think it'd be good to look at these three different forms of life and see what Palladius says. First of all, with regard to the solitary life. In chapter 5, or I guess book 5, chapter 2, he talks about Alexandra, who is a virgin, and he says that Melania continued speaking.

[23:41]

When I asked, how do you persevere, never seeing anyone but battling against weariness, she, Alexandra, said, from early dawn to the ninth hour I pray from hour to hour while spinning flax. The rest of the time I go over in my mind the holy patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs. Then I eat my crusts and wait patiently the other hours for my end with good hope." That's a very fine little description of what the eremitical life is. And this is really the extreme type of monastic solitude. See, she says she's always by herself. How do you persevere? Never seeing anyone. And so the extreme type is to live completely alone. This is really radical eremitic life. Now, since the hermit lives alone, she or he can pretty well determine their own schedule. But from this one example we get an idea of the basic ingredients of the Aramidic life. Notice it's a life of loneliness and of consequent weariness.

[24:46]

See, how do you persevere never seeing anyone but battling against weariness? It is at root a life of patient waiting for the end. She says, I wait patiently the other hours for my end with good hope. This saying that in a way you could say that she's waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus in her death. I think that this is what this implies since it's done with hope. The hermit spends some time in work. She says, from early dawn to the ninth hour I pray from hour to hour while spinning flax. So she prays hourly, but while she does that, she's working from early morning until the ninth hour, which would be about three o'clock in the afternoon. So what we did here is sort of nine hours of work for this poor woman. Along with work, there is prayer, which seems to be articulated hourly. And the rest of the time, she says, she meditates. I go over in my mind the holy patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs.

[25:52]

Notice the content here. It's basically scriptural people. Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the prophets, and the apostles of the New Testament, and then, of course, the martyrs, who are the realization of this in their own time. So the content of one's meditation and reflection seems to be scripture, also with the martyrs. Why is this heavy dependence on scripture? Because the monastic life is nourished by scripture, and monastic life is a realization of the life of the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, a thing we find over and over again in all the literature, that we are living the life of the prophets and of the apostles. And this, I think, is said in this text, why she's meditating on this and allowing that to keep her going. And thus one waits for the Lord Jesus, impatient, while he works and meditates, waiting for the Lord to come. That's the basic meaning of the eremitic life for Alexandra. Now we come to the semi-eremitic life, or the loose federation of hermits, which we find on Mount Nitria.

[26:59]

And this is in Chapter 7 of the Lauseack History. which is a rather long treatment of it, not too long, but compared to some of the other stories it's rather long. Palladius recounts his journey and his sojourn to the mountainous area of Nitria, which lies south of Alexandria. He says that close to 5,000 monks live on this mountain. So we get an indication of how populated it is. He says, some live alone, others in pairs, and some in groups. Notice the plurality. Some of them are hermits, strictly hermits. Some of them live in some sort of federation. So we have a variety of lifestyles. And maybe the details that Palladius gives about Mount Nitria don't apply to all of them. He doesn't distinguish. There is on Mount Nitria a great church. The monks occupy the church on Saturdays and Sundays only.

[28:00]

Eight priests have charge of the church. While the senior priest lives, none of the others celebrates or gives a sermon, but simply sit quietly by him." So from this note from Palladius, we see that there is a large church, the monks come together, on Saturdays and Sundays for celebration of some sort, and that there's eight priests taking care of these people. But notice also in the hierarchy that when the senior priest still lives, the others don't celebrate or give the sermon. So it's the senior priest who takes care of this. And probably Saturdays and Sundays are mentioned because these are the days that they celebrate the sacred mysteries, as we see, for instance, from Bokomis. These are the days for Holy Eucharist on Saturday and Sunday. Apparently there are some recognized norms for monastic life and sanctions for transgressions, because at this great church there quotations, stand three date palms, each with a whip hanging on it.

[29:01]

Now one is for backsliding monks, and the other for any robber that attacks, and the third for any robbers that happen by. But notice you have a code here, a penal code, and some sort of sanction. And the backsliding monks, there's one whip for them. So apparently there's some regulation, some expectation on the part of the monks. And the transgressors receive the requisite number of lashes on the back. Now, no other details are given about this, but It's obvious that there's some code of law, written or unwritten, for which one would receive public punishment if they break the law. Now, this public punishment may have taken place on Saturday and Sunday, when the monks came together for their celebrations. Near the church is a guest house, and it says that the guests may be received and stay as long as two or three years, so a temporary monastic vocation, I suppose we would call it.

[30:03]

The guest may remain at leisure for a week, and after a week he goes to work in the garden, the bakery, or the kitchen. It also specifies that he may not talk to anyone before the sixth hour. And if he is a noble person, he is given a book to read. So one gets the impression from this notation that there's a rather developed monastic complex near the church, possibly a type of synovium, because you have other monks around, or other people around, either monks or guests, with whom you can't converse before the sixth hour. So there's somebody else around. Jesus, not the guest, isn't there by himself. Palladius has noted that on this mountain, Mount Nitya, there were seven bakeries serving the various types of monks. So there were 5,000 monks altogether, and there were 600 hermits who live in the great desert beyond the mountain. And these seven bakeries took care of all of these monks. So you can almost see, sort of, you can do an economic study of how things are going here in the trade among the monks.

[31:12]

In connection with the guest house, he says that there are on the mountain doctors and pastry cooks. He also says that the monks use wine and that they sell it. Now, whether they make it or not, we don't know for sure. He doesn't specify that. In any event, there are obviously common enterprises which seem to call for some sort of common discipline and routine. You get the idea that this is a city with all the things going on in a city. The monks on the mountain work with their hands at making linen so that none of them is in want, thus their sharing of goods among the monks. About the ninth hour, one can stand and hear the divine samadhi issuing forth from each cell, and imagine one is high above in paradise," says Palladius. Notice the ninth hour. And the monks pray, but not all collected in one place. They're each in their little cells, and you can hear them all singing together. They come together on Saturdays and Sundays in church, and there seems that there is a fixed prayer hour for every day, namely the ninth hour, and that this is, the content of this is the Psalter, the divine psalmody.

[32:29]

The information given by Palladius is not too coherent in this chapter. What it does seem to reflect are a pluralism in monastic life, solitary life, semi-aramidical, and centipede, all taking place on Mount Nitria. The details seem to be mixed up in the account, and it's hard to make distinctions when Palladius doesn't. However, I think we can conclude with these following conclusions. The monastic life is organized and routinized and demands a central complex. A church, a guest house, a garden, a bakery, a kitchen, a library. The traditional things that we would think of in a monastery. These things are all mentioned there. So it must be organized and routinized with this kind of a complex. Secondly, there are specific times for prayer, namely Saturday and Sunday at the church together, which is probably the Eucharist, and certainly a sermon, because it's said that the priest, the elder priest, the oldest priest, should say the sermon, and also every day at the ninth hour, individually but collectively at the same time.

[33:39]

Thirdly, there is a code of laws and consequent punishments for transgressions. For instance, there's a rule of silence until the sixth hour, which is specifically mentioned, and then also everyone must work. So this is part of the rule. Fourthly, the monastic work is for sustenance and support, and you would have internal works, like the garden, the kitchen, the bakery, and winemaking, and external works, weaving, linen, and winemaking, and these things to be sold. And fifthly, hospitality is practiced. So notice what we can gather from this text. Now we move on to the section on Pocomius, which is in Chapter 32 and 33 of the Lauseack History. And that's rather lengthy, but rather interesting. It's about the cenobitic life at Tabanisi, our Pocomian common life. Now, he doesn't say specifically whether he visited. Pokomian monasteries or not.

[34:43]

We know he went down to the Tebiad, at least to Lycopolis at the beginning, the northern tip of it. Whether he went further down, we're not so sure. And as I mentioned, Palladius' information doesn't ... there seems to be some sort of contradiction between what he says and what we find sometimes in Pokomian literature itself. So we're not so sure that he was actually there. He says that the cenobitic life at Tavanesi originated with Pocomius and that the lifestyle depend on an angelic vision. An angel comes and manifests himself to Pocomius and says, call the young monks together and dwell with them. Rule them by the model which I am now giving you. And then the angel gives Pocomius a bronze tablet on which is engraved the rule. Notice how Old Testament-ish that is. The monastic population, following the angelic rule, is quite large. There are a number of monasteries with a total population of 7,000.

[35:44]

We had 5,000 in Eritrea, now Palladius mentions 7,000 here in Eritrea, in Tabbadesi. And there's also a monastery for women, following the same rule. The mother monastery of Pocomius, there were various monasteries joined together in federation, the mother monastery of Pocomius had 1,300 monks. Now this whole question about the size of monasteries, you can't appeal to ancient tradition for small monasteries, because Pocomius had, well, 1,300 monks in his monastery. And within the monastery, monks are divided into 24 groups, according to the letters of the Greek alphabet. And monks are further separated into cells, with three monks to a cell. Notice how the community is broken down structurally. You have this huge community of 7,000, then you have monasteries, like Plokomys with 1,300, then you have monks broken down into groups, twenty-four groups according to the alphabet, and these are further broken down into little cells of three people apiece.

[36:48]

We'll see this when we get to the rule of Poconius and such structure. The monastic complex is composed of a church, a refectory, a kitchen, cells for monks, various workshops, a farm, or at least a garden. Now there's no explicit mention made of a church, but the Eucharist is celebrated on Saturdays and Sundays. And besides that, the monks gather for common prayer at various times during the day. And all of these indications seem to say that there must be some place for them to do this, so some church or oratory large enough to hold all of these monks. Also, the monks eat together, and the mansion is made of a refectory and a kitchen. There are also separate cells within the enclosure, with three monks to each cell. The monastery has various workshops where monks are engaged in various crafts, as, for instance, a tailor shop and a carpenter shop. There must also be a garden or a farm to produce food for the monks.

[37:51]

An explicit mention is made of a swine farm where pigs are raised. The monks spend their time in prayer, study, work, and eating, and they gather three times a day and once during the night for prayer. Here we read that Poconius commanded that they pray twelve prayers each day and twelve at lamplighting time and that at all night devotions they say twelve prayers and three at the ninth hour. So he's mentioned twelve prayers at lamplighting at night devotions and at the ninth hour. When the group was about to eat, he commanded them to sing a psalm in addition to each prayer. So from this text it would seem that there is public prayer at the beginning of each day, at the ninth hour, in the evening at lamp lighting, and again during the night. I don't know if you've taken Pocomias and angelic rule with Father Patrick in the Divine Office, but he'll come to this and the problem here of what really is going on.

[38:55]

Notice the basic structure is that of twelve prayers, and in John Cashin, in the Institute, John Cashin insists that the ancient tradition is that one says twelve prayers when they come together, and this is the angelic rule of the Divine Office. Now, we're not so sure what this means, whether that there is a psalm followed by a prayer 12 times, 12 psalms, 12 prayers, or exactly what the structure is. Pladius isn't too clear on this point, but he does seem to emphasize the number 12 as the proper quantity of prayers when monks gather. You may recall, like Father Hugh, you remember the matins, the vigils, there were 12 psalms. disposition of the divine office for vigils. There are always twelve psalms, six for each nocturne. That's basically this pattern of twelve. On Saturday and Sundays the monks go to communion, and so the Mysteries, or the Eucharist, were probably celebrated on both of these days.

[40:00]

The nuns apparently have Mass only on Sundays, for on that day a priest and a deacon from a men's monastery, it says, goes to the convent. Otherwise, no monk may visit the convent. So at least on Sunday they had the Eucharist. The monks all learn the Holy Scriptures by heart. and therefore they have to spend time in studying Sacred Scripture. It also presupposes that one can read and spend this time studying and memorizing Sacred Scripture. Most of the day seems to be spent in working, and each one is given a task in accordance with his strength. If a monk fasts, he is given a lighter task than those who eat. And you see, this is something which is in the rule of the master. The faster don't have to work as hard as the people who are not gluttons, but who eat their regular share. And there are many craftsmen like tailors, metal workers, carpenters, fullers, and even camel drivers. When we get to the Rule of Pokhomya, it reminds me that I want to give to you a Rule of Pokhomya so that you can read it in preparation for what we'll be doing.

[41:11]

I should have brought it up today, but I forgot. There are also sailors, people on the river, which indicates that the Pokhomyan monks had moved up and down the river, transporting their cargo up to Alexandria. These are interesting little notations that you find in the rule. They produce more than they need, and one monk is recorded as going to Alexandria to sell produce. With the surplus that they provide, they provide for the monasteries of women and for prisons. So they take care of other people with their surplus. Now besides the crafts, there are domestic chores to be done. Some people have to work in the kitchen in the refectory, others produce the food, and we notice that there is specified some of the food we'll see later on, and there must have been a garden, and also we see a swine farm.

[42:11]

There's an interesting routine of eating. Apparently monks eat at various times. You get the impression that the refectory is sort of an all-day cafeteria. It says, now those appointed to serve for the day rise early and go to the kitchen or to the refectory. They are employed until mealtime in preparing and setting the tables. Now notice the food. Putting on each table loaves of bread, charlock, I think that's some sort of lettuce or herb, preserved olives, cheese made of cow's milk, and small vegetables, which is a rather substantial meal for the desert. There's nothing like you read in the sayings of the fathers when they eat a handful of bread every two days. This is quite a nice little meal, which you would expect in Egypt, maybe even today. Loaves of bread, charlotte, preserved olives. the sophistication of even preserving olives, they didn't just eat them raw, cheese made of cow's milk and small vegetables.

[43:15]

Some come in and eat at the 6 hour, others at the 7, others at the 8, others at the 9, others at the 11, still others at late evening, and some every other day, so that each group knows its own proper hour. Now one of the things that's been suggested is that people could go to the refectory when they wanted to. That's one definition. But it may be also, see, you've got people divided into 24 families. Well, each one has its time. It's sort of like the Navy or the Army mess hall. You know what time to go so that you don't have to stand out and wait too long. So since you have so many people, you've got different shifts of eating during the monastery. That's another explanation part. It would seem that one of the criteria for the division of monks into groups is their eating habits. So if you need to eat early, well, you go to group one. If you can't wait until later, you should go to another group. So the monks eat by shifts, each at its proper hour.

[44:17]

Thus it seems that the work in the kitchen in the refectory would have been a rather consuming task. You're just there all day keeping food out for all of these people. Now Palladius mentions that the rule of Pocomius was given by an angel engraved on a bronze tablet. It's a written rule, not merely oral tradition then. Now what is the purpose of such a rule? And we read that when Pocomius objected to the angel, that the prayers were too few, you know, there wasn't enough prayers for us to say, the angel said, I have arranged it this way so that even the little ones might keep the rule and not grieve. Now those who are perfect need no rule of life, for they have offered themselves entirely to the contemplation of God in their selves. I have made rules for such as have not the true knowledge, so that they may fulfill the duties of their station in life, like the house servants, and so enjoy a life of complete liberty. Notice what he's saying here. The purpose of a rule is not so that it's just a minimum, that's all that you do, but it's so that everybody can do at least that much, and then the perfect person can go beyond that.

[45:28]

So if you complain, we don't pray enough, there's not enough You're actually saying there's not enough divine office going on. Well, that shouldn't concern you because that doesn't mean that's all you can do. You can do all the more you want to do. It's done this little so that everybody can do at least this much, and that a person who should go beyond that, and they wouldn't even really need a rule. See, the rule is not for perfect people. They don't need the rule. The rule is to help people keep the minimum of observance, and also it's in service to the weak so that they may know what is expected of them. So, you see, a rule is not a maximum thing. Everybody has to do this, well, it's maximum that says everybody does at least this much, but you should be encouraged to do beyond that. And he says, it ensures freedom so that they may enjoy the life of complete liberty. Notice the purpose of the rule is liberating, bringing them to freedom. It is not confining. It permits a monk to be what he is and even go beyond that.

[46:31]

I think it's a very beautiful theology of a monastic rule. It's a liberating experience, not a confining experience. Now, according to the rule, there's a three-year period of probation or trial for those who come to the monastery. And only after that is one received into the sanctuary. Monks eat in silence and they keep their eyes on their own plate or their own table. And so they're supposed to keep their cowls up so they don't watch what the other person next to them is eating. We've noted that the meals are quite substantial. Bread, Charlotte, preserved olives, cheese, and vegetables. Monks live three to a cell and they sleep reclining in some sort of reclining chair and not in a bed. You know exactly where this also comes up in the rule of Pocomius, that there's some sort of reclining chair that they sleep in and they're not supposed to sleep stretched out, you know, like we do. Now why?

[47:32]

I don't know. It doesn't say why. If this is just a custom of the country or what. And at night they wear their levitons, which is a tunic without sleeves. Part of their dress is also a girdle, which they loose when they go to communion. It says in this text of Thaledia, when they go to communion, they loosen their girdle. Now why, I don't know what the significance of that is. It has some sort of mystical significance. When you're girded, waiting for the Lord to come, as you remember from the Gospel injunction. Well, it may be sort of a mystical significance that while the Lord is here so that you no longer have to be girded to move, but now you're in his presence. I don't know, but I find this an interesting notation. The monk also has a goatskin coat, which he is to wear at meals, and they have a cowl or a hood to cover their heads. And on these hoods, there's a form of a cross imposed in purple. And usually also I think that there's the letter of the alphabet imposed upon the hood, so that you know who's who, what house they belong to.

[48:39]

And the hoods are worn on the head during the meals. Now, just concluding observations on this, The monastic life is an organized common life which demands building for the shelter of the monks, a church, refectory, kitchen, cells to live in, workshops and gardens. Secondly, the monastic rule ensures the minimum of monastic discipline. Its goal is to ensure liberty and freedom. And thirdly, the common activities are regulated by the rule. Public prayer and its quantity, rules for eating and sleeping, entrance into the community, and dress. And so when we look at the Rule of Proclamation, take a look and see what's in that rule, and some of it will not be understandable as you read it, but I hope that we can make it understandable as we go through it. We move on to the section Scripture and the Monk. The point that I want to make here is that the monks knew scripture very well and by heart, in the nauseatic history.

[49:47]

For instance, it says of Isidore that he had such a profound knowledge of the sacred scriptures and the divine teachings that his thoughts were diverted even at mealtime of the brothers. So here he was eating and he was thinking about sacred scripture. He became speechless when he was invited to describe the circumstances of his ecstasy. He would say, I went away in thought, snatched up, as it were, by some vision. So he's always ruminating on sacred scripture. And this brought him to an ecstatic experience. Now, this knowledge of scripture was not an academic requirement or acquirement, but rather an intuitive type of thing. more effective than intellectual. For instance, Didymus the blind never learned to read, nor did he attend school, and he had been blind since he was four years old. Thus, he's not dependent on any sort of academic education or systematic education. Rather, his knowledge of Scripture came from his own conscience.

[50:50]

It says about Didymus, he had an excellent natural teacher, his own conscience. He was so endowed with the gift of learning that the Scriptures were literally fulfilled in him. The Lord makes the blind wise. For he interpreted the Old and the New Testaments word by word. having such regard for doctrine, expounding his explanation so skillfully and firmly that he surpassed all the ancients in knowledge." Notice here this blind man, and he's famous in church history, he knew all of the Old and New Testament by heart, and he could explain it and interpret it, but without any sort of academic background, because he had it from his conscience. It says of Macarius of Alexandria that this young man knew the Old and New Testaments by heart, and we find that in Pacomian Gnosticism, a monk had to learn the scripture by heart, and had to learn to read so they could do that. With regard to the quantity of prayer,

[51:51]

You know, the Christian ideal is unceasing prayer, and yet we find a number of references to specific quantities and times of prayer. For instance, Macarius of Egypt, he's sort of like the number 24. It's the story of Macarius. This is another of his ascetic acts. Over a long period of time, he made a tunnel under the earth from his cell for about half a mile and a cave at the end. Whenever too many people crowded in on him, he would secretly leave his cell and go to the cave, and no one would find him. One of his earnest disciples told us this and added that on his way to the cave, he recited 24 prayers, and on his way back, 24 more prayers." It's not like he liked the idea of 24. You knew how far to put the cave away by reciting 24 prayers. I don't know, but the number 24. Whereas normally, you see, the number 12 is what is emphasized.

[52:53]

For instance, the story of Paul the Simple. Paul had gone to see Anthony. Anthony laid out the biscuits, which weighed six ounces, and moistened one for himself, for they were very dry, and three for him, Paul. Then he intoned a psalm, which he knew. And when he had sung it twelve times, he prayed twelve times in order to test Paul." So here he's asking Paul to eat with him, but before they eat, he recites this psalm twelve times. What song? Twelve times? Paul joined him willingly in prayer again, for he preferred, as I believe, to herd scorpions than to live with an unfaithful wife. This man had come to the desert because his wife had been unfaithful, and so he wanted to be a monk. He said, well, it's better to herd scorpions here in the desert than to live with an unfaithful wife. It sounds like something out of wisdom literature.

[53:56]

So after 12 prayers, they settled down to eat, it being quite late. Anthony got up then and prayed twelve prayers and sang twelve psalms. Then he took a little of his first rest, and at midnight he got up again to sing psalms till it was day. As he noticed the old man willingly following his way of life, he said to him, If you can do this from day to day, stay with me." Now, the point of the story is, Anthony's trying to get rid of this guy, and he's also testing him. And so he's doing all this praying to see whether he can keep up with him. But notice the recurrence of the number 12. You know, before they eat, and then at nighttime, before they go to bed. Now, when they get up in the night, he just prayed all the night. That's to say, it was a 12. We also notice that the ninth R was mentioned for time in Nitya for prayer. So we have the idea of the quantity and the time. Now with regard to the public Eucharist, there are a number of frequent references to the sacrament, the mysteries, and Holy Communion in the Lausiac history.

[55:02]

One gets the impression that the hermits and the monks were accustomed to attending the Eucharist. Holo Macarius told me this also, for he was a priest. Notice, Macarius is a priest. I noticed at the time of the distribution of the mysteries, I never gave the sacrament to Mark the ascetic, but rather an angel administered to him from the altar. I saw only the wrist of the minister's hand." Now, exactly what that story means, I'm not sure. But the point is that this Macarius of Alexandria, who's a priest, is giving the sacrament to the ascetic Mark. So definitely the Eucharist is being celebrated among these people. We saw that the Eucharist was celebrated on Saturday and Sunday, both in Litria and at Tavanesi. And also the nuns, they had the Eucharist on Sunday. For instance, with regard to the Pacomian nunnery, it says no one goes to the woman's monastery except the priest and deacon, and they go only on Sunday. And another story of Amatallus and Teor.

[56:06]

The others all go out every Sunday to church for communion, but she, Teor, stays behind in her cell dressed in rags, never sitting, ever sitting at her work. This is sort of the story of Cinderella in the Condent, this one nun, a sort of mistreated by the other nuns and considered not quite good enough or something. And she was the workhorse and she always stayed dressed in rags. But the point is that all the rest of them, the nuns, they all go out on Sunday to the Holy Communion. Now it's not sure whether one was obliged to receive communion every week, but there's a story about a woman who was possessed by a devil. And Macarius of Egypt cures her and then he says, He enjoined her never to neglect the Church or stay away from Communion. These things happen to you because you were not at the Mysteries for five weeks. You were possessed by the devil and you suffered this because you haven't been to the Mysteries for five weeks.

[57:09]

So apparently you should go more than every five weeks. You get the indication it's more frequent than that. Thus, abstinence from Communion for five weeks draws a punishment from God. However, as an excommunication for dissent in a community of nuns, the culprits may not receive communion for seven years. Now, this seems rather harsh, but not so if we look at it in the penitential discipline of the church at that time. It says, as for those who did not effect a reconciliation when they knew the charge was completely false and still were willing to believe their story, he separated them from the others and forbade them to receive communion for a period of seven years. The monks also had a great need for the Eucharist and it was a sin of delusion to refuse it. Then there's a story of Valens. The demon disguised himself as the Savior. And so he went out, and when he saw marshalled in line those who carried lamps, and the Antichrist, so Valens is seeing this vision of Christ, the Antichrist himself about a state or so away, he fell down and adored, so Valens is adoring this vision of the demon with these lamps.

[58:27]

in front of the demon. The next day he became so obsessed again that he went into church and told all the assembled brothers, I have no use for communion for I saw Christ this very day. And I don't need to go to communion because I've had a vision of Jesus Christ, and he's condemned for this. And in other words, what you're saying is, I suppose this would be a very good text to prove the need for sacraments, no matter what mystical experience you have. And of course, he had a bad one. But even if you have a good one, the point is, you really do need communion, because that is contact with Christ. Another person by the name of Heron became so blind in his folly that later he too was put into irons when he refused to partake of the Mysteries." And as a little side remark, dear is the truth, and so he was so blind that he refused to take part of the Mysteries, and he was put in irons, he was punished. He was extremely sparing in his way of life, as many say he used to partake of food only every three months, being satisfied with the communion of the Mysteries and a little wild lettuce if some should come his way.

[59:39]

So for a while he was just eating the Eucharist and a little wild lettuce and nothing else, and eventually he refused even to partake of the Mysteries. Ptolemy became estranged from the teaching and company of the holy man and their help, and the continual communion of the mysteries. He reached such a pitch of nonsense as to say these things are nothing." Some really strong language here about these people. Thus it seems to me that from these notations we can't say that the Eucharist was something arbitrary in the life of the hermit, or that they were unconcerned about it, or they could live without it. Now see, some people have maintained that. that these hermits away from society didn't have to worry about the Eucharist. I think that this document shows us that that's not the case. Yet there's need even for sacraments in the eremitic life. Very briefly on the gifts of prophecy and the gift of healing.

[60:45]

What we discover here is that because of ascetic way of life, these monks experienced the gifts of the Holy Spirit or the charisma, as we talk about, for instance, in Corinthians, chapter 12 to 14. One of them is the gift of prophecy. And what this prophecy seems to be, I don't want to go through all of the text here, but just a conclusion. The prophecy could be said to be the interpretation of the Word of God in sacred scripture. That's what prophecy is in one of the texts. It means being able to interpret sacred scripture. It also could mean the interpreting of the mind in the speech of man. So you say what somebody means when they talk. Could mean the foretelling of the future. Also the proclaiming of God's will through angelic vision. So it has all of these various dimensions. I think even more interesting is the gift of healing, which is mentioned in the Lauseack history. And what I find here in this gift of healing is that this is a gift which comes after a very intense ascetic way of life.

[61:56]

It's sort of a culmination of an ascetic way of life.

[61:59]

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