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7th c.
Sophronios
7th c. Mombritius Latin
9th c. Paulus Diaconus Latin
10th c. Synaxarium Constant. Greek
10th c. Flodoard Latin, poetic
late 10th c. Anglo-Saxon
early 11th c. Menologion Basil II Greek
12th c. Hildebert Latin, poetic
mid 13th c. Welsh
13th c. Speculum Historiale Latin
13th c. Legenda Aurea Latin
~1320 Märterbuch German, poetic
~1320-1342 Vite dei Santi Padri Italian
14th/15th c. Old Norse
14th c. ff. Old Church Slavonic
1369-1372 Catalogus Sanctorum Latin
~1400 Der Heiligen Leben German
The Greek legend, attributed to Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem (d. 639), is the earliest known version of the vita of Mary of Egypt. Latin prose translations (2) Mombritius and (3) Paulus Diaconus are directly based upon it.
Clavis Clavium: Vita Mariae Aegyptiacae (a Metaphrasta in menologium inserta)
Brussels 21909 @ Internet Archive
Brussels 31957, vol. 2, Open PDF
Turnhout 1979, vol. 3, Open PDF
The text is that of (1.f) PG 87.3. Differences in the other available editions are indicated via footnotes.
Title
Chapter 22 (κβ)
[ A.S. 1675, p. xvii.C; A.S. 1737, p. xvii.C; PG 87.3, col. 3712; A.S. 1866, p. xiv; Doukakis 1892, p. 15 ]
κβ᾿.
Ὅτε δὲ ἔφθασεν ἡ ἁγία τῆς ὑψώσεως
τοῦ σταυροῦ ἑορτὴ,
ἐγὼ μὲν
|
[ BSB Cod. graec. 24, fol. 76rα, l. 1;
BML Plut.7.33, fol. 92rα, l. 1 ]
καθὰ
καὶ τὸ πρὶν
περιῄειν
ψυχὰς νέων ἀγρεύουσα.
Ἔϐλεπον
δὲ
ὄρθρου βαθέος
|
[ PG 87.3, col. 3713 ]
πάντας εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν συντρέχοντας,
καὶ ἀπίημι
κἀγὼ
τρέχουσα σὺν τοῖς τρέχουσιν.
Ἦλθον οὖν σὺν αὐ-
| [ BSB Cod. graec. 524, fol. 58r, l. 1 ]
-τοῖς
εἰς τὰ τοῦ οἴκου
προαύλια·
καὶ ὅτε ἦλθεν
ἡ ὥρα τῆς θείας ὑψώσεως,
ὤθουν
καὶ ἀντωθούμην βιαζομένη
τὴν εἴσοδον, συνελθεῖν τῷ ὄχλῳ σπουδάζουσα.
Καὶ ἕως μὲν τῆς θύρας, διʼ ἧς λοιπὸν
εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν ναόν τις ἐγένετο,
ἐν ᾧ
τὸ ζωοποιὸν ξύλον ἐδείκνυτο, σὺν μόχθῳ πολλῷ καὶ θλίψει
προσήγγιζον ἡ ταλαίπωρος.
Ὅτε δὲ
τὴν φλιὰν
τῆς θύρας ἐπάτησα, οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι πάντες ἀκωλύτως εἰσῄεσαν,
ἐμὲ δὲ θεία
τις ἐκώλυσεν δύναμις,
μὴ συγχωροῦσα τὴν εἴσοδον
|
[ A.S. 1866, p. xv.A ]
εἰσελθεῖν.
Αὖθις γὰρ
ἀντωθούμην (καὶ ἀντε-
| [ BSB Cod. graec. 24, fol. 76rβ, l. 1 ]
-πεμπόμην),
καὶ μόνη πάλιν ὡρώμην ἑστῶσα
εἰς τὰ προαύλια.
Νομίσασα
γὰρ
ἐκ γυναικείας ἀδυναμίας τοῦτο συμϐαίνειν,
πάλιν ἐμαυτὴν ἑτέροις ἐγκαταμίξασα,
ἐϐιαζόμην ὡς
|
[ A.S. 1737, p. xvii.D ]
οἷόν
τε παραγκωνιζομένη, καὶ ἐμαυτὴν εἰσωθοῦσα.
Ἀλλ᾿ ἐκοπίων
εἰς μάταια·
αὖθις γὰρ ἡνίκα
|
[ BML Plut.7.33, fol. 92rβ, l. 1 ]
τῆς φλιᾶς ὁ ποῦς
ἐπέϐη ὁ ἄθλιος,
τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους ὁ ναὸς εἶχεν
μηδε-
|
[ A.S. 1675, p. xvii.D ]
-νὸς ἐμποδίζοντος,
ἐμὲ δὲ μόνην
τὴν τάλαιναν οὐκ ἐδέχετο,
ἀλλ᾿ ὥσπερ
|
[ Doukakis 1892, p. 16 ]
στρατιωτικῆς πληθύος τεταγμένης εἰς τοῦτο, τῆς ἐμοὶ προσταχθείσης
ἀποκλεῖσαι
τὴν εἴσοδον,
οὕτω μέ τις ἀθρόα διεκώλυσεν
δύναμις,
καὶ πάλιν ἱστάμην
εἰς τὰ προαύλια.
Chapter 23 (κγ)
[ A.S. 1675, p. xvii.D; A.S. 1737, p. xvii.D; PG 87.3, col. 3713.B; A.S. 1866, p. xv; Doukakis 1892, p. 16 ]
κγ᾿.
Τοῦτο τρὶς καὶ τετράκις παθοῦσά τε καὶ ποιήσασα, ἀποκαμοῦσα λοιπὸν, καὶ μηκέτι
ὠθεῖν καὶ ἀντωθεῖσθαι ἰσχύουσα (ἐγεγόνει γάρ μου τὸ σῶ-
|
[ BSB Cod. graec. 24, fol. 76vα, l. 1 ]
-μα ἐκ τῆς βίας κατάκοπον),
καὶ ἐνδοῦσα λοιπὸν,
ἀνεχώρησα, καὶ ἔστην ἐν τῇ
γωνίᾳ τῆς αὐλῆς τοῦ ναοῦ·
Καὶ μόλις ποτὲ ἐν συναισθήσει τῆς αἰτίας, τῆς κωλυούσης
με ἰδεῖν τὸ ζωοποιὸν ξύλον, γεγένημαι. Ἥψατο γὰρ
τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τῆς καρδίας μου λόγος σωτήριος, ὑποδεικνύων μοι, ὅτι ὁ βόρϐορος τῶν ἔργων μου ἦν, ὁ τὴν εἴσοδον κλείων μοι.
Ἠρξάμην δὲ
κλαίειν, καὶ ὀδύρεσθαι,
καὶ τὸ στῆθός μου τύπτειν, καὶ
στεναγμοὺς ἐκ βάθους
τῆς καρδίας μου ἀνάγουσα·
κλαίουσα δὲ
ὁρῶ
ἐπάνω τοῦ τόπου
ἐν ᾧ
ἱστάμην [ἐπάνωθεν]
εἰκόνα τῆς παναγίας Θεοτόκου ἑστῶσαν, [...]
Manuscripts
A list of all known manuscripts of BHG 1042 is available at Pinakes.
Manuscript (1.b) BML Plut.7.33 is one of two sources used for the printed editions in the Bollandist Acta Sanctorum Aprilis (1.d) and (1.e), and in their republication in (1.f) PG 87.3, as well as in the subsequent third Bollandist edition (1.g).
To add some further folio references, I have (more or less arbitrarily) selected another two readily available manuscripts of BHG 1042. More will certainly follow.
Scan @ MDZ Münchener DigitalisierungsZentrum, fol. 66vβ ff.
Scan @ Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, fol. 85r ff.
Scan @ MDZ Münchener DigitalisierungsZentrum, fol. 51r ff.
Printed Editions
The Bollandist edition of the Greek legend, originally published in 1675, was republished twice by the Bollandist society, in 1737 and in 1866. For both republications, new printing plates were made. The 1865 edition in the Patrologia Graeca is a re-publication of the first two Bollandist versions.
Scan
@ Hathi Trust, p. xiii ff.
Copy from Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Scan
@ Hathi Trust, p. xiii ff.
Copy from Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Scan
@ Google Books, p. xiii ff.
Scan
Open PDF, p. xiii ff.
Transcription @ Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon, apparently copied from the Acta Sanctorum Database @ ProQuest
Scan @ Google Books, p. xiii ff.
Scan
@ Hathi Trust, col. 3697 ff.
Scan
@ Google Books, col. 3697 ff.
Scan: Open PDF, col. 3697 ff.
//
Copy from Württembergische Staatsbibliothek, Stuttgart,
bibliographical details
Scan @ Internet Archive, p. xi-xviii
Scan: Open PDF, p. 6 ff.
The text is that of (1.l) PG 87.3. Differences in the other editions are indicated via footnotes.
[...]
[ A.S. 1675, p. 80α; A.S. 1737, p. 80α; PG 87.3, col. 3711; A.S. 1866, p. 81α ]
22. Cum vero sancta exaltate crucis festivitas illuxit, ego quidem ut antea circuibam, venans adolescentum animas :
videbam autem summo mane
|
[ PG 87.3, col. 3714.A ]
concurrere omnes ad ecclesiam : abiique etiam ipsa, cum currentibus currens.
Veni ergo cum illis ad basilicæ atria, et in ipsa exaltationis adorandæ hora,
impellebam, impellebarque violenter, contendens cum turba ingressum obtinere. Ita usque ad januam templi, in quo salutiferum lignum ostendebatur, appropinquabam misera, multo cum labore atque angustia :
mox autem atque limen portæ attigeram, alii quidem absque impedimento ingressi sunt, me vero divina quædam virtus prohibuit, ingressu arcens.
Rursum igitur impellor retro, meque in atrio solam invenio.
Existimans autem id accidisse ex muliebri imbecillitate,
rursum me permiscens aliis,
luctabar ut poteram, cubitisque connitens memetipsam impellebam.
Sed laborabam frustra : rursus enim statim atque limen templi calcavi infelix, alios quidem excepit ecclesia nemine prohibente, me vero calamitosissimam suscipere recusabat :
et tanquam si militaris turba ordinata ad hoc ibidem consisteret, ut ingressum præcluderet, sic me vis quædam subita repellebat, iterumque constituebat in atrio.
23. Hæc tertio ac quarto agens et patiens, ac denique fatigata, neque jam amplius valens trudere atque retrudi (defecerat enim virtus corporis præ violentia) tandem recedens discessi, et steti in angulo quodam atrii ; atque ibi vix demum in cognitionem veni causæ, prohibentis me intueri vivificum lignum. Perculit enim oculos cordis mei salutaris sermo, ostendens mihi quod actionum mearum turpitudo præcludebat ingressum. Cœpi igitur flere, et dolere, ac pectus tundere : suspiria autem ex intimo corde trahens ac lacrymans, video supra locum, in quo constiteram, positam imaginem sanctissimæ Deiparæ; [...]
The 17th Bollandist translation, originally published in 1675, was republished twice by the Bollandist society: in 1737 and, just one year after its inclusion in the Patrologia Graeca, in 1866. For both republications, new printing plates were made.
Scan @ Hathi Trust, p. 76α ff.
//
Copy from Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Scan @ Hathi Trust, p. 76α ff.
//
Copy from Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Scan
@ Google Books, p. 76α ff.
Scan:
Open PDF, A.S. 1675, p. 76α ff.
Scan @ Google Books, p. 76α ff.
Scan: Open PDF, PG 87.3, col. 3698 ff.
Scan @ Internet Archive, p. 77β ff.
The Life of Mary of Egypt, the Former Harlot, Who in Blessed Manner Became an Ascetic in the Desert of the <River> Jordan
[...] | [ Ibid., p. 82 ]22. “When the holy feast of the Exaltation of the Cross came, I was wandering around hunting after the souls of young men, as I did before. At early dawn I saw everybody hurrying to the church and off I went, running along with those who were running. So, I came with them to the courtyard of the church [ literally: of the house ] . When the time came for the divine Exaltation <of the Cross> I tried to join the crowd and force my way to the entrance, pushing <my way> forward but being pushed back. Eventually, with great trouble and grief—wretched woman <that I am>—I approached the door through which one entered the church where the life-giving cross was displayed. But as soon as I stepped on the threshold of the door, all the other people entered unhindered, while some kind of divine power held me back, not allowing me to pass through the entrance <of the church>. Once more I was pushed back and forth, finding myself again standing alone in the courtyard. I assumed that this was happening because of my womanly weakness. So I mingled with other people and pushed with all possible strength, shoving with my elbows and forcing myself inside. But I tried in vain, because again, from the moment my wretched foot stepped on the threshold, though the church received the others without any obstacle, it refused entrance to me alone, miserable woman <that I am;> and just as if a large company of soldiers were arrayed for this purpose, with orders to prevent my entering, so did some kind of overwhelming power hold me back and once more I was standing in the courtyard.
23. “After this happened three or four times, I became fatigued and no longer had the strength to push and be pushed back, for my body was exhausted as a result of my violent effort. So, I gave up and went back and stood at the corner of the courtyard of the church.
Only then did I realize the cause which prevented me from laying eyes on the life-giving cross, for a salvific word touched the eyes of my heart, showing me that it was the filth of my actions that was barring the entrance to me.
Then I began to cry, lamenting and beating my breast, raising sighs from the depths of my heart. As I was crying,
I saw the icon of the all-holy Mother of God standing above the place
|
[ Ibid., p. 83 ]
where I stood. [...]
Scan @ Internet Archive, p. 70 ff.
