Apophthegmata Patrum

The Apophthegmata Patrum[1] (Latin: Apophthegmata Patrum Aegyptiorum Greek: ἀποφθέγματα τῶν ἁγίων γερόντων, ἀποφθέγματα τῶν πατέρων, τὸ γεροντικόν)[2] is the name given to various collections of Sayings of the Desert Fathers, consisting of stories and sayings attributed to the Desert Fathers from approximately the 5th century CE.[3][4]

The collections consist of wisdom stories describing the spiritual practices and experiences of early Christian hermits living in the desert of Egypt. They are typically in the form of a conversation between a younger monk and his spiritual father, or as advice given to visitors. Beginning as an oral tradition in the Coptic language, they were only later written down as Greek text. The stories were extremely popular among early Christian monks, and appeared in various forms and collections.[5]

The original sayings were passed down from monk to monk, though in their current version most simply describe the stories in the form of "Abba X said...." The early Desert Fathers and Desert Mothers also received many visitors seeking counseling, typically by asking "Give me a word, abba" or "Speak a word, amma, how can I be saved?" Some of the sayings are responses to those seeking guidance.[6] A rough form of the sayings in Ethiopian shows a more lengthy transmission of the sayings, and the way in which they were passed down. The earliest date ascribed to the written form is the end of the 4th century. Two versions from the 5th century, the Ethiopian Collection (Collection Monastica) and the Ascetica of Abba Isaiah show how the oral tradition became the written collections.[5]

Many notable Desert Fathers and Mothers are mentioned in the collections, including Anthony the Great, Abba Arsenius, Abba Poemen, Abba Macarius of Egypt, and Abba Moses the Robber.[7] The sayings also include those by three different ammas, or Desert Mothers, most notably Syncletica of Alexandria.[6] Sayings of the Desert Fathers influenced many notable theologians, including Jerome and Augustine.[8]

Pelagius and John the Deacon wrote very early translations of the Sayings into Latin which became Parts V and VI of the Vitae Patrum and were edited by Rosweyde in 1615 CE.[9] Martin of Braga did a very early translation from Greek into Latin for some of the sayings, followed by a more extensive translation by Paschasius of Dumium, in approximately 555 CE. That work may contain only one-fifth of the original Greek text.[10] Sayings of the Desert Fathers has been translated by Benedicta Ward more recently, with an introduction.

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Examples

Notes

  1. ^ From the Greek: apo, from; phtheggomai, to cry out; pater, father.
  2. ^ Orthodox Encyclopedia, in Russian, Vol. 3, pp. 140-142.
  3. ^ Gould, Graham (2001). Papers presented at the Thirteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford 1999. Studia Patristica. Peeters Publishers. ISBN 9789042909229. 
  4. ^ W. Bousset. Apophthegmata. Tuebingen, 1923, p. 68.
  5. ^ a b Burton-Christie, Douglas (1993). The Word in the desert: scripture and the quest for holiness in early Christian monasticism. Oxford [Oxfordshire]: Oxford University Press. pp. 76–84. ISBN 0-19-508333-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=SIa0mNas_5MC. 
  6. ^ a b Chryssavgis, John; Ware, Kallistos; Ward, Benedicta (2008). In the Heart of the Desert: Revised Edition: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers (Treasures of the World's Religions). Bloomington, Ind.: World Wisdom. p. 4. ISBN 1-933316-56-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=goeFHFiL2h0C. 
  7. ^ "Chryssavgis, pp. 19-29.
  8. ^ Flood, Gavin D. (2004). The ascetic self: subjectivity, memory and tradition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-60401-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=r3s8zRmr-e8C&pg=PA148. 
  9. ^ Barlow, Claude (1969). Fathers of the Church: Iberian Fathers: Martin of Braga/Paschasius of Dumium/Leander of Seville. Washington, D.C: Catholic University of America Press. pp. 113–114. ISBN 0-8132-0062-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=HaChb7wjNDkC&pg=PA113. 
  10. ^ Barlow, p. 5-6.
  11. ^ "Sayings of the Desert Fathers - OrthodoxWiki". http://en.orthodoxwiki.org/Sayings_of_the_Desert_Fathers. Retrieved 2008-11-19. 
  12. ^ Merton, Thomas (2004-11-16). The Wisdom of the Desert: Sayings from the Desert Fathers of the Fourth Century (Gift edition ed.). Shambhala. p. 184. ISBN 1590300394. 
  13. ^ Ward, Benedicta (2003-07-29). The Desert Fathers: Sayings of the Early Christian Monks (Revised ed.). Penguin Classics. ISBN 0140447318. 

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