Page:Theparadiseoftheholyfathers.djvu/399



LESSED be God Who desireth the welfare of all the children of men, Who wisheth that they may live and come to the knowledge of the truth, Who hath led us also into Egypt, and hath shewed us the great and marvellous things which are worthy to be remembered at all times, and to be written down in a book, Who hath given us the Cause of our salvation and of every one who wisheth to be helped further, and Who hath given unto us a demonstration of the good life and the doctrine which is able to rouse up the soul to the excellent rule of the ascetic life. Now therefore, I am not worthy to begin this history, for inferior men are not capable of approaching the histories of great men, since they are unable to narrate them as they really are, and still less are they able to set them down in writing in a book, and they ought not to be so bold as to attempt to explain matters which are difficult in mean and halting words; and it must appear to be great presumption which will bring danger in its train, for incapable men to undertake such things, and to be so bold as to write in a book sublime histories. But inasmuch as I have been requested, earnestly and frequently, on several occasions, by the brotherhood of blessed men who had their habitation in the Mount of Olives, to write an account of the lives and deeds of the blessed men, and of the solitary dwellers who were in Egypt, according to what I myself have seen of their abundant love, and their patient endurance, and their vexatious toil for God’s sake, I have then put my trust in their prayers, and have been so bold as to narrate the following history, and to set it down in writing, so that I myself may gain a fair and abundant reward, and so that those who hearken unto the same may be benefited [thereby], and may emulate such beautiful deeds, and may depart from the world in a state of perfection, and may enjoy peace and rest through