Monday, June 27, 2011

Now do what is human, and flee

"It was said concerning Abba Daniel, that when the barbarians invaded Scetis and the Fathers fled away, the old man said, 'If God does not care for me, why still live?'  Then he passed through the midst of the barbarians without being seen.  He said to himself therefore, 'See how God has cared for me, since I am not dead.  Now I will do that which is human [(SC 474:  ᾿Οφείλω κἀγὼ ποιῆσαι τὸ ἀνθρώπινον / PG 65:  ποίησον οῦν καὶ σὺ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον)] and flee with the Fathers.'"

     Collection systématique X.21 (SC 474, p. 28) = Abba Daniel 1 (PG 65, col. 153).  The desert Christian:  sayings of the Desert Fathers:  the alphabetical collection, trans. Benedicta Ward (New York, NY:  Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1975), 51.  The heading comes from PG 65.

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