bohairic.lausiac_01 Chapter 1

The letter written to Lausus, the servant of Christ. In the peace of God: amen.

Oh, how blessed is your purpose!

Indeed, it is fitting that I begin the letter by proclaiming you blessed:

for the mouths of all are open to vain things

and building houses for themselves which they do not enjoy.

But you now desire to be taught the truly just words of your holy father. For no one is untaught, except for the one who is the God of all things, that is, the holy and consubstantial Trinity;

for it alone exists,

and nothing is more excellent than this one divinity, this one kingdom.

All other things, whether heavenly or earthly, must necessarily be taught, since they are created things and creatures of God.

The first order, that is, the angels, are taught by the holy and consubstantial Trinity;

those of the second order are taught by those of the first;

those of the third order receive instruction from the second;

and in this way all are instructed according to their rank until you reach the last.

For those who excel in knowledge and virtue teach those who are inferior in virtues and true knowledge.

All those who say, “We do not need to be taught,” or who do not submit in their hearts to those who teach, suffer from the disease of ignorance, which is the mother of pride. This pride was loved by those who, from the beginning, were prepared for destruction, those who were cast down from heaven, having been led astray by the pride of their own hearts, they did not subject themselves to those superior in virtue, but fled from their heavenly teachers.

Be attentive, with a vigilant mind, to what I write; for these are not mere words or syllables of knowledge, as even the wicked among men possess those.

Rather, this is true knowledge: to understand and preserve good thoughts and humility, to avoid anger and disturbance, to think no evil, and to fully rejoice in the liberty before God, which brings forth the Word in the heart, like a flashing fire.

For the Word of God is a consuming fire, as Paul says.

If the Word had not existed, the Good Master would not have said to His disciples: “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.”

He did not adorn His words in a philosophical manner for His holy apostles but instructed them in the service of God, sharp understanding, and every precept of truth, wishing to sadden no one except those who hated the Word and despised their teachers.

For the soul that practices asceticism in Christ and does not know how to be taught with understanding or to teach what it has firmly learned should be understood to be suffering from madness.

From God, indeed, comes the beginning of apostasy when a person fills their heart neither desiring nor acting according to the Word of God.

However, the mind of one who loves God hungers for the Word at all times until the very end of their spirit. Be strengthened, therefore, and act courageously, and may the Lord Jesus Christ grant you grace in true knowledge.

Farewell in the Lord: amen.

The life of holy men, written to Lausus, the servant of Jesus Christ.

Many over time have endeavored to write numerous explanations, not to gain glory for themselves, but so that through them the world might see external matters.

Some, indeed, by the heavenly inspiration that God granted them, taught and consolidated those things for the edification of humanity, which faithfully fulfills the commands and mandates of our Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father, with unchanging faith.

Others, however, driven by the corrupt intention of pleasing men, loved material gain and left their explanations in words, providing comfort to those who pursue pleasure and anger, who love power, who love riches, but not the poor, until they destroy those who boast of knowledge while their understanding is blind in necessity - which is all of the heretic schismatics.

All those who have stained the happy and catholic Church, which remains free from blemish throughout its entire life, by injecting evil words of philosophy into the hearts of men without understanding, so that their lives might be destroyed far from purity.

It has also pleased me, a poor and humble man, who reveres the command of your piety, your service to God, and the progress of your thoughts, to teach you these things.

From my youth until this time, spanning thirty-three years, I have confessed to leading the life of brothers, becoming a monk among them in ascetic practices.

And for these past twenty years, I have served in the episcopate.

Now, for these five years, I desire to teach you about pure and glorious works and all the virtues of the elders, which I have seen with my eyes and heard with my ears from faithful Fathers in the desert of Egypt, in Libya, and from those who were in Upper Egypt, in Syene, in the places inhabited by the Tabennesiotes, and in Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and the West, in Rome, in Campania, and in the inland regions.

With all the fervor of my heart, I have striven to direct my attention to writing this book for you, from the beginnings of the monastic works that arose in the desert, so that it might be a mirror in which you see your reflection and remember it day and night for the salvation of your soul.

For it is so full of glory and divine medicine that it will even cast out the domination of concupiscence from you, as well as the duplicity of the heart, the softness caused by the abundance of the riches of this world, all sloth, all affliction of the heart, all disturbance, faint-heartedness, and unrelenting anger.

In this way, you will become one who progresses in the thought of God and sincere piety, becoming a guide for yourself and for those who are with you, as well as for those who will come to you, and for pious kings.

From the teachings and words of these ascetics, that is, the holy elders, let those who love Christ hasten to unite themselves to God according to virtue and undivided love, expecting at all times the departure of their souls from their bodies, as it is written: “It is better for me to be dissolved from this flesh so that I may be with Christ.”

And again: “Prepare your works for the departure of your soul from the body.”

For whoever places their own death before their eyes at all times will not admit many sins.

For they will not forget the commandments and precepts of God, nor will they disdain our humble prayer, which is neither clear enough nor adorned with the wisdom of this world.

For we are simple people and have not received the wisdom of this world (and so much the better for us).

It is not right to adorn the holy knowledge of incomprehensible divinity and infinite glory with the polluted philosophy of the wisdom of this world, which is full of baseness and all evil.

How could it be just to adorn Him who cannot be adorned—that is, God—with the wisdom of this world, when He Himself adorns all His creatures?

But let us persuade the hearts of people much more toward the knowledge of God, in subtle understanding, so that they may see the Spirit of the Lord, who resides in the words of truth.

For Scripture, unless it is understood, kills.

Ⲃut the Spirit gives life, if you see the words in the right way, as it is written: “Open your mouth to the Word of God, and learn.”

Again, Scripture says: “Do not be incredulous of the words of the elders, for they were taught by the Fathers who lived before them.”

I too, O man of God, lover of knowledge, walked according to the precepts of the elders, and encountered many elders on my path.

I did this not out of laziness but from the fervor of my heart.

I walked for thirty days, and then I walked again, traveling on foot until I had traversed the entire Roman region.

I loved the hardships of the body and the pains of the journey, not in vain, but to meet pious men and gain from their contemplation what I had not yet attained.

For if a certain man, far greater than I, whose resolve was unchanging, walked from Tarsus to Judea to meet Peter, James, and John, and gloried in his sufferings, inspiring zeal in all the lazy and slothful, saying, “I went to Jerusalem to see Peter,”—

for he did not merely content himself with hearing about the external virtues of the apostles but desired also to see their appearance, reputation, life, and instruction—

For this reason he strove until he saw Peter.

How much more must I, who am a debtor of ten thousand talents, find it necessary to narrate what I have seen regarding our holy Fathers?

I speak the truth, I do not lie—not as though I am bringing benefit to the Fathers, but for the sole benefit of my soul and anyone who hears of their sufferings and exercises.

For those who wrote books about our Fathers, from Adam to Abraham, and about those who followed up to the present day as found in the Scriptures, did not write to bring glory to those about whom they wrote but to provide benefit to those who would read, so that they might emulate their lives.

Therefore, knowing these things, O faithful and venerable servant of Christ, Lausus, strengthen yourself in the meditation of the holy books, and receive my verbosity, which is presented before you, so that you may preserve holy thoughts.

The movements of depravity, which are like the waves of the sea foaming and rising against us, should be cast far away from us through prayer and attentiveness.

Many are the lives of these holy and pious brothers, each of whom engaged in a different work: yet all shared one faith and one Spirit, working in all their endeavors.

For just as in a garden there are many trees, each bearing different fruits, but all watered by the same source, so these holy elders were adorned with different virtues: one with mercy, another with ascetic practices, another with bodily afflictions, another with self-denial, another with humility.

In sum, they excelled in every work of virtue, transforming their way of life and their faith into glory, urging themselves onward to the meditation on divine teachings and an exceptional love through mutual encouragement.

Some indeed strove toward these virtues but, lacking discernment, failed to attain them because they practiced these virtues to please men and to accuse their brothers, rushing toward good works out of emulation for works that were not good. In this way, they corrupted good works through pride, the mother of ignorance.

Therefore, hurry, my brother, to present yourself as a temple of God.

Do not, as you once did, build yourself another house from wealth, but rather let the desire for silver abandon you, and you abandon it.

Let the purse, which is consumed by moths, depart from you, and instead acquire for yourself treasures that thieves do not dig through.

Spend these on the poor and the needy, take up your cross, and follow the Lord.

For in this way, you will acquire all virtues and guard yourself from corruptible human vanity.

Do not bind your freedom with the imprudence of an arrogant oath, saying, “I will not drink, I will not eat,” as some men have done who followed such a way of acting.

For they fell into passions of hesitation and pleasures until they broke their oath.

Therefore, if you eat, eat according to your will; if you refrain from eating, refrain according to your ability without making an oath, and may you never sin.

For the intelligence that resides in us is divine, fighting against the harmful movements of the evil spirit battling against us—that is, our thoughts—driving out those that are harmful and bringing in those that benefit us.

For the law is not placed upon the righteous, for they are united with God, and the Lord Himself is their law.

It is better, therefore, to drink wine with good judgment than to drink water with pride.

Consider those righteous ones who drank wine with good judgment, and do not regard as images of demons those who drink water with improper thoughts.

I am not one to criticize or judge, for the one who eats, eats to the Lord and gives thanks to the Lord; and the one who does not eat, does not eat to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

But it is very important that a person's affliction be carried out rationally, lest they fall into the mockery of demons.

I do not criticize food, nor do I exalt it with praise, but rather the judgment that receives food with good counsel.

Those who receive good food I consider weak and ignorant.

Look at the blessed Joseph: he drank wine with good judgment in the land of Egypt, but his mind was not changed, nor was his discipline corrupted.

For his heart was steadfast, and his master's wife could not deceive him into defilement.

On the other hand, philosophers such as Pythagoras, Diogenes, Plato, and the Manichees who originated from them, and all the groups of false sages, drank water and committed such great sins of this kind that they forgot God and worshiped impure idols.

Those in the house of Peter and all the disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ also drank wine with Him, so much so that the Jews murmured against the Master, saying: “Why do your disciples not fast like John's disciples?”

But the Lord rebuked their foolishness, saying: “The sons of the bridegroom cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them,” meaning that He Himself, who dwelt in their minds and good counsel, was present with them.

Again, they rebuked His disciples, saying: “Why does your teacher eat and drink with publicans and sinners?”

They did not criticize in vain only because He truly ate and drank.

The Lord Jesus Christ answered them: “John the Baptist came to you neither eating nor drinking, and you said, ‘He has a demon' (for he did not eat meat nor drink wine, though no one can live in the body without eating food or drinking water);

The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold a man who eats and drinks, who is a friend of publicans and sinners.'”

Thus, Wisdom was fulfilled by its deeds.

What then do you think we should do? Let us follow neither those who heap praises on us nor those who criticize us, but let us follow John the Baptist, let us fast intelligently with him, even if they say, “He has a demon.”

And let us drink wine and eat fish with Christ in thanksgiving and with good counsel if our flesh is weak or in need, even if they say, “Behold, men who eat meat and drink wine.”

For not eating is nothing, but what matters is right faith, which is required of you, and the observance of the commandments, which is made evident through good works.

If, therefore, every good work we do for God is accompanied by faith—whether eating, drinking, or any other act—such works cannot be condemned because of right faith.

However, any work done apart from faith is sin.

But since there are those who eat with passion and indulgence, saying, “We eat with faith,” and who do not eat according to the measure of sufficiency but with insatiable greed, how shall we discern them?

Certainly, we will recognize them, for Christ, our Savior, says: “You will know them by their fruits.”

The fruits of those who strive in righteousness are, as the Apostle says: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control.

These are the fruits of the Spirit.

But whoever desires these fruits will not desire to eat meat or drink wine imprudently or carelessly, nor will they find satisfaction in a guilty conscience.

Paul reproves such a person, saying: “Whoever competes abstains from all things.”

If, therefore, our flesh is healthy, one will abstain from all things;

But if their body suffers from illness or pain, or if they are in sorrow, they will eat and drink so that food and drink may serve as remedies for the illness, pain, or sorrow within them, enabling them to endure the affliction of the body.

However, they will abstain from those things that harm the soul, such as anger, envy, vanity, hatred, jealousy, insult, and pride in the sight of God and His angels.

And while they endure this bodily affliction, they will give thanks to God at all times.

Now I will conclude my discourse with you on these matters: it is sufficient.

I also ask, for the sake of your love of knowledge, that you avoid associating with people from whom no benefit comes, nor follow the pattern of their lives or leadership.

For they decorate the exterior, like a skin that is clean only on the outside, but not the interior.

If they say, “Our faith is right,” and if you examine them with your understanding to see whether the fruits of true faith are present in them, then you may associate with them.

But if they are heretics, offering harm through their appearance and hypocrisy—even if their hair is white and their faces show the marks of old age—if they do not bear the fruits of God, avoid their company.

Even if you say, “They will not harm me,” because of the strength of your piety, do not let them weaken your fervor, nor make yourself proud before them, nor mock them.

For they will attack your conscience with their blasphemous words and destroy your soul with evil and blasphemous speech.

Therefore, now consider them with clear speech and mind.

Associate with holy men, seek them out, and receive grace for your soul from them so that, like reading books, you may see whether your heart is steadfast or not.

From the sight of holy men, their gracious countenance, and their aged, honorable hair, from their humble clothing and lack of pride, from their words full of piety, from their readings and grace, which reside in their understanding, you may draw great strength, even if you have been negligent.

For a person's clothing, the manner of their dress, their gait, and the way they laugh reveal what kind of person they are, as it is written in Scripture.

When I begin to tell you the lives of our Fathers, I will omit no place into which I have entered to instruct you—neither those who dwell in cities, nor in villages, nor in the desert, nor those who live only briefly among others.

For we do not seek the places or the people who dwell in them, but rather their character and their choice for God.