The Paradise of the Fathers is the classic compilation of the lives and teachings of the early monastic saints. It has been said that for a monastic to achieve perfection there are only two books needed: the Bible and the Paradise of the Fathers.
Dr. Ernest A. Wallis Budge, Curator of Assyrian and Egyptian Antiquities in the British Museum has for decades been recognized as one of the great translators of ancient manuscripts into the English language. These volumes are translated from a Syriac manuscript he discovered in 1888. He first published his translation in 1904 in a private printing. Later in 1907 he printed a revised and updated version in a public edition which has yet to be rivaled to date. This is a new English special edition.
VOLUME I: Contains the Life of St. Anthony by St. Athanasius the Great, the Paradise by Palladius, the Rule of St. Pachomius, and the History of the Monks by St. Jerome.
VOLUME II: Contains the Sayings of the Fathers and Questions and Answers about the monastic life.
St. Athanasius (296 - 373)
Saint Athanasius of Alexandria (/ˌæθəˈneɪʃəs/; Greek: Ἀθανάσιος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Athanásios Alexandrías; c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, Athanasius the Confessor or, primarily in the Coptic Orthodox Church, Athanasius the Apostolic, was the twentieth bishop of Alexandria (as Athanasius I). His episcopate lasted 45 years (c. 8 June 328 – 2 May 373), of which over 17 were spent in five exiles ordered by four different Roman emperors. Athanasius was a Christian theologian, a Church Father, the chief defender of Trinitarianism against Arianism, and a noted Egyptian leader of the fourth century..Within a few years after his death, Gregory of Nazianzus called him the "Pillar of the Church". His writings were well regarded by all Church fathers who followed, in both the West and the East, who noted their rich devotion to the Word-become-man, great pastoral concern, and profound interest in monasticism. Athanasius is counted as one of the four great Eastern Doctors of the Church in the Roman Catholic Church.[3] In the Eastern Orthodox Church, he is labeled as the "Father of Orthodoxy". Some Protestants label him as "Father of the Canon". Athanasius is venerated as a Christian saint, whose feast day is 2 May in Western Christianity, 15 May in the Coptic Orthodox Church, and 18 January in the other Eastern Orthodox Churches. He is venerated by the Oriental and Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutherans, and the Anglican Communion.
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