Asceticon

The Asceticon ("ascetic discourses") by Abba Isaiah of Scetis is a diverse anthology of essays by an Egyptian Christian monk who left Scetis around 450 AD.

Contents
Originally composed in Greek, the Asceticon consists of 30 essays ("logos" in singular, "logoi" in plural) on subjects including: advice for novice monks; precepts for those who have renounced the world; sayings and stories by Abba Isaiah; various letters, sermons, and sayings. Logos 30 includes several sayings that were also included in the Apophthegmata Patrum (Sayings of the Desert Fathers), but in a different form, giving scholars some evidence on how those sayings evolved into their final form in the Apophthegmata Patrum. Abba Isaiah was also influential in bringing Christianity to Palestine.

The 29 discourses in John Chryssavgis's translation of the Asceticon are:


 * 1) Rules for the brothers who live with him
 * 2) On the natural state of the intellect
 * 3) On the condition of beginners and anchorites
 * 4) On the conscience of those who stay in their cells
 * 5) Faithful commandments for the edification of those who wish to live peacefully together
 * 6) On those who desire to lead a life of good silence
 * 7) On virtues
 * 8) Sayings
 * 9) Commands for those who have renounced (the world)
 * 10) Another discourse
 * 11) On the grain of mustard seed
 * 12) On wine
 * 13) On those who have struggled and reached perfection
 * 14) Acts of mourning
 * 15) On detachment
 * 16) On the joy that comes to the soul that desires to serve God
 * 17) On thoughts about renunciation and exile
 * 18) On forgiveness
 * 19) On passions
 * 20) On humility
 * 21) On repentance
 * 22) On the conduct of the new person
 * 23) On perfection
 * 24) On tranquillity
 * 25) To Abba Peter, his disciple
 * 26) Recorded by Isaiah's disciple, Abba Peter, who had heard it spoken by his master
 * 27) In which he says, "attend diligently"
 * 28) The branches of malice
 * 29) Lamentations

Sogdian fragments
The Asceticon was read and translated by the Nestorians of Central Asia. A Sogdian fragment of the 4th discourse, translated from Syriac, was found in MC C2, along with part of a commentary on the 15th discourse by Dadisho Qatraya.