Abhorring An Egyptian

Non abominaberis Aegyptium, eo quod fuisti incola in terra ejus. Quamvis enim mundo renuntiantes, id est, pristinam saeculi conversationem, vel concupiscentiam declinemus, tamen, dum praesentis saeculi necessitatibus subdimur, quasi Aegyptiam nationem nequaquam exstinguimus, licet ab ipsa quadam discretione separemur, non de superfluis cogitantes, sed, secundum Apostolum, victu quotidiano indumentoque contenti. Hoc enim singulariter mandabatur in lege: Non abominaberis Aegyptium. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum,In Deuteronomium Caput XI Source: Migne PL 83.363c

You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a sojourner in his land. 1 Although renouncing the world, that is, the former way of life in the world, or casting off desire for it, however while we are under the sway of certain necessities of the present age we do not utterly extinguish the Egyptian nation, from which with a certain prudence we should separate ourselves, thinking not of needless things, but according to the Apostle being content with our daily food and covering. 2 For this particularly is commanded in the law, 'You shall not abhor an Egyptian.' Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Deuteronomy, Chap 11 1 Deut 23.7 2 1 Tim 6.8

Leaving Egypt

Τελευτήσαντος δὲ τοῦ Ἡρῴδου ἰδοὺ ἄγγελος κυρίου φαίνεται κατ' ὄναρ τῷ Ἰωσὴφ ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ λέγων, ἐγερθεὶς παράλαβε τὸ παιδίον καὶ τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ καὶ πορεύου εἰς γῆν Ἰσραήλ, τεθνήκασιν γὰρ οἱ ζητοῦντες τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ παιδίου. Οὐκέτι φησὶ, φεῦγε, ἀλλὰ πορεύου, ἄνεσιν μετὰ τὸν πειρασμὸν αἰνιττόμενος· τὴν ψυχὴν δὲ τοῦ παιδίου εἰπὼν, τὴν δόξαν Ἀπολιναρίου ἀνατρέπει, σάρκα λέγοντος εἰληφένει τὸν Κύριον ἄνουν καὶ ἀψυχον. Ἐν μέντοι τῇ οἰκονομικῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καθόδῳ εἰς Αἴγυπτον, καὶ τῇ ἐκεῖθεν αὖθις εἰς Ἰουδαίαν ἀναστροφῇ ἀνακεφαλαιοῦται τὴν αἰχμαλωσίαν τοῦ λαοῦ ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ λυτροῦται αὐτὸν ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς ἐπὶ τὰ ἴδια πάλιν ἀνάγων. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Migne PG 72. 368

With the death of Herod, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, rise up and take the child and his mother and go forth into the land of Israel, for they are dead who sought the soul of the child. 1 The angel did not say 'flee' 2 as he once did but 'go forth', signifying a cessation of trial, and saying 'the soul of the child' he overthrows the opinion of Apollinaris, 3 who said that the Lord assumed the flesh but not the mind and soul. Thus in the dispensation of the going down of Christ into Egypt and again returning to Judea, God recalls the captivity of His people and His liberation of them from plots, leading them again back to their own things. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 2.19-20 2 Mt 2.13 3 Apollinaris of Laodicea

The Lords of a Bishop

Promotus ergo, et in throno residens in amica Christi magna civitate Alexandria, decreto divino veraciter, et non ex hominibus, neque per homines, hoc primum forte factum et praemium omnibus demontravit. Mittens enim mox dispensatores, et eum qui dicebatur super pacem, dicit coram omnibus ad eos in honorabili secreto: non justum est, fratres, nos ante alterius cujusquam curam habere quam Christi. Omni vero multitudine quae convenerat, audito verbo compuncta ac sustinente, dicit iterum beatus: Euntes ergo per totam civitatem, conscribite mihi usque ad unum omnes dominos meos. Illis autem non intelligentibus, qui hi essent, sed rogantibus dicere, et mirantibus quinam patriarchae domini existerent, respondit rursus angelicum illud os, et ait: Quod vos egenos et mendicos vocatis, illos ego dominos et auxiliatores praedico. Ipsi enim nobis vere et auxiliari, et coelorum regnum donare poterunt. Vita Sancti Joannis Eleemosynarii, Leontius Neapolis Cyprus Episcopus, Interprete Anastasius Bibliothecarius

John being elected and enthroned in the Christ-loving, great city of Alexandria, and that truly by divine decree and not from men nor through man, this was the first glorious deed and victory which he showed to all men: he soon summoned the treasurers and the official who is named the guardian of the peace, and said to them in the hearing of all in the Patriarch's council-chamber, 'It is not right, brethren, that we should consider anyone in preference to Christ'. The whole assembly which had gathered together was deeply moved at his words, and agreed, and then the blessed man continued, 'Go therefore through the whole city, please, and make a list of all my Lords down to the last'. But his hearers could not imagine who these could be, and besought him to tell them, as they were astonished that any could possibly be Lords of the Patriarch; and he opened his angelic mouth again and said: 'Those whom you call poor and beggars, these I proclaim my Lords and helpers. For they are truly able to help us and bestow upon us the kingdom of heaven.' The Life of St John the Almsgiver, Leontius Bishop of Neapolis in Cyprus, translated by Anastasius the Librarian

Monks Like Children

Sunt praeterea quaedam in ipso Aegyptiorum habitu non tantum ad curam corporis, quantum ad morum formula congruentia, quo simplicitatis et innocentiae observantia, etiam in ipsa vestitus qualitate teneatur. Cucullis namque perparvis usque ad cervicis humerorumque demissis confinia, quibus tantem capita contegant, indesinenter diebus utuntur ac noctibus, scilicet ut innocentiam et simplicitatem parvulorum jugiter custodire etiam imitatione ipsius velaminis commoveantur. Qui reversi ad infantiam Christi cunctis horis cum affectu ac virtute decantant: Domine, non est exaltatum cor meum, neque elati sunt oculi mei, neque ambulavi in magnis, neque in mirabilibus super me. Si non humiliter sentiebam, sed exaltavi animam meam: sicut ablactatus est super matre sua.   Sanctus Ioannes Cassianus, De Coenobiorum Institutis

Besides there is a part of the clothing of the Egyptian monks which concerns not only the care of the body but more so the regulation of behavior, that they might hold to the observance of simplicity and innocence by the very type of this clothing. For they constantly wear, day and night, very small hoods coming down to the end of the neck and shoulders, covering only the head, that by imitating the same dress of little children they may constantly be moved to guard the same simplicity and innocence. These men who have returned to infancy in Christ, sing at all hours with heart and strength: 'Lord, my heart is not exalted, nor are my eyes lifted up, nor have I walked in greatness, nor in wonders above me. If I did not feel myself humble, but raised up my soul, like a child weaned over his own mother.'1 Saint John Cassian, Institutes of the Coenobia 1 Ps 130. 1-2

Education And Virtue

Ἐιπέ τις τῷ μακαρίῳ Ἀρσενίῳ· Πῶς ἡμεὶς ἀπὸ τοσαύτης παιδεύσεως καὶ σοφίας οὐδὲν ἔχομεν, οὖτοι δὲ οἱ ἀγροῖκοι καὶ Αἰγύπτιοι τοσαύτας ἀρετὰς κέκτηνται; Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ ἀββᾶς Ἀρσένιος· Ἡμεὶς ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου παιδεύσεως οὐδὲν ἔχομεν· οὖτοι δὲ οἱ ἀγροὶκοι καὶ Αἰγύπτοι ἀπὸ τῶν ἰδίων πόνων ἐκτήσαντο τὰς ἀρετὰς. ᾽Αποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος Source: Migne PG 65.88d-89a

Someone said to the blessed Arsenius, 'How is it that we for all our education and knowledge have nothing, yet these peasants and Egyptians have acquired such virtue?' Father Arsenius said to him, 'We have nothing from our worldly education, but these peasants and Egyptians by their own travails have acquired virtue.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

The Fall of Ptolemy

Ἄλλος τις πάλιν Πτολεμαῖος ὀνόματι, δυσδιήγητον, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀνεκδιήγητον ἀρετῆς βιον ζήσας, τοκατκχὰς οἴκησεν ἐπέκεινα τῆς Σκήτεως τὴν καλουμένην Κλιμακα, Τοπος δέ ἐστιν οὔτω καλούμενος, εἴς ὄν οὐδεις ἠδυνήθη οἴκῆσαί ποτε τῶν μοναχῶν, τοῦ ἀπὸ δεκαοκτὼ σημείων εἰναι τὸ φρέαρ τοῦ ὑδατος. Βαστάσας οὖν ἐκεῖνος κεράμια Κιλικίσια πλείονα ἐκείσε ἀπήνεγκεν. Καὶ τῷ Δεκεμβρίῳ καὶ Ἰανουαρίῳ μηνὶ συναγαὼν τὴν δρόσον ἐκ τών πετρῶν, δροσίζει γὰρ ἐν ἐκείνοις τοῖς μέρεσι τότε πολλὰ, και τὰ κεράμια πληρώσας τῆς δρόσου διήρκεσεν ἑαυτῷ ἐπὶ δεκαπέντε ἔτη οἰκήσας ἐκεῖ, πλείονα χρόνον μηδενὶ συντυγχὰνων. Ὅς ἀποξενωθεις διδασκαλίας πνευματικῆς, καὶ συντυχίας ἀνδρῶν ὁσιων, και ὠφελείας ἁγίων Πατέρων, καὶ συνεχοῦς κοινωνίας τὡν μυστηρίων τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἐμάνη, ἐκτραπεὶς τῆς εὐθείας ὁδοῦ, ὡς τὸ παρά τισι τῶν ἐσεβῶν λεγόμενον, αὐτοματισμὸν και τοῦτον τὸν ἄθλιον ὁμολογειν. Πτολαῖος λεγεται φέρεσθαι μετέωπρος ἐξεστηκὼς τῶν κατὰ φυσιν φρενων μέχρι τῆς δευρο ἀλώμενος ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, ἐκδοτον ἑαυτον δεδωκὼς γαστριμαργίᾳ καὶ ὀινοφλυγιᾳ, μηδενὶ μηδὲν ὁμιλῶν, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον· Οἰς μὴ ὑπάρχει κυβέρνησις, οὖτοι πίπτουσιν ὥσπερ φύλλα.  Παλλαδιος, Ἡ Προς Λαυσον Ἱστορια

Again another monk named Ptolemy sought to live a life of virtue almost impossible to describe, dwelling beyond Scete in a place called Climax, this place being so called because no monk can live there since the well of the brethren is eighteen miles away. But he, carrying a number of pots, collected the dew with a sponge from the rocks during the months of December and January, for there is a plentiful fall of dew then in those parts, and made it suffice during the fifteen years he lived there. During this long time, however, he had no contact with anyone, and so he became a stranger to spiritual teaching and intercourse with holy men, and the benefit derived from the Holy Fathers, and the constant communion of the mysteries of Christ, on account of which he wandered from the straight way and spoke from his own mind that sacred things were nothing. It is said he, suspended aloft in his pride, is roaming about in Egypt up to the present day, and that he has given himself over to gluttony and drunkenness, speaking no edifying word to anyone, as it is written: 'They who have no guidance fall like leaves.' 1 Palladius of Galatia, Lausiac History  1 Prov 11.4 LXX