translated
by John Wortley— 386 pp. cloth $49.95
If you were a monk in the deserts
of Egypt in the fifth century, your practice would begin and develop under the
guidance of an elder. While you would spend most of your time in solitary
prayer, the elder would provide regular insight, which might come in a short
saying or apophthegm. It would be
your task to meditate on this saying, learning to put it into practice, until
the time came to receive the next piece of spiritual insight. It is these
direct sayings, given to monks one by one, that are collected in The Book of the Elders. Over the years,
the Desert Fathers’ insights passed from one monastic generation to the next,
made their way from the original Coptic into Greek, and accumulated in written
collections that preserved the oral tradition. Wortley has translated the
“systematic collection,” a compendium of sayings drawn from the two earlier
collections, the “alphabetic” and “anonymous” apophthegms. His translation
aims to preserve not only the precision of the elders’ meaning but also the
simplicity of their tone, in the hope that today’s readers, too, can imagine
sitting at their feet.
from The Book of the Elders,
"An Exhortation of Holy Fathers on Advancing toward Perfection":
1. Somebody asked Antony, “By observing which [precept] shall I be well pleasing to God?” The elder answered, “Observe what I am telling you: Always have
God before your eyes wherever you go. Whatever you
are doing, have the testimony from Holy Scripture to
hand. Wherever you are living, do not be in a hurry to
move away. Observe these three [precepts] and you will
be saved.”
2. Abba Pambo asked Abba Antony, “What am I to do?” The elder said to him, “Have no confidence in your own righteousness; have no regrets about a past action; get your tongue and your belly under control.”
2. Abba Pambo asked Abba Antony, “What am I to do?” The elder said to him, “Have no confidence in your own righteousness; have no regrets about a past action; get your tongue and your belly under control.”