VITA PATRUM. THE LIFE OF THE FATHERS By ST. GREGORY OF TOURS.

A major work of Orthodox hagiography from the 6th century by a great Orthodox Saint of the West. Never before translated into Greek, Russian, or English, it is here presented and dedicated to the Blessed Memory of Archbishop John Maximovitch, himself the most recent of the great Orthodox Hierarchs of Gaul and new Apostle to the lands of the West.

Hieromonk Seraphim Rose

No writer in the Orthodox Christian West was more devoted to the Saints of Christ's Church nor more prolific in their praises than St. Gregory, Bishop of Tours (539-594). Although he is chiefly known today for his History of the Franks, he is more important to Orthodox Christians for his eight Books of Mira- cles. The seventh of these he dedicated to the ascetic strugglers of his native Gaul (France), many of whom he knew personally and some of whom were his close relatives. This book he called Vita Patrum or The Life of the Fathers, as if the many Saints described therein led one life before God. A hagiographical clas- sic, Vita Patrum ranks with the Lausiac History and the other great a basic source-book of Orthodox Christian spirituality. Patericons as

Vita Patrum was presented for the first time in the English language through the efforts of the late Fr. Seraphim Rose, who devoted his life to making such vital source-books available to the modern reader. Fr. Seraphim's introductory essays not only provide fascinating historical background, illuminating various aspects of Orthodox Christianity and monasticism in 5th and 6th-century Gaul, but they also indicate how we can apply the tried-and-tested spiritual knowledge of the ancient Gallic ascetics to our daily lives in the modern world.

This definitive English edition of Vita Patrum contains its first English translation (originally serialized in The Orthodox Word), the complete Life of St. Gregory by Abbot Odo, over 100 pages of introductory material by Fr. Sera- phim, six additional Lives of the Fathers by St. Gregory, and the Life of the American translator of Vita Patrum, as well as copious notes and over 100 illustrations.

Never before has a single volume so thoroughly revealed the rich spiritual heritage of the Orthodox West.

CONTENTS

PREFACE by Abbot Herman and Fr. Damascene

I. A PROLOGUE OF THE ORTHODOX SAINTS OF THE WEST

by Fr. Seraphim Rose

II. THE LIFE OF ST. GREGORY OF TOURS

by Abbot Odo

III. INTRODUCTION TO ORTHODOX GAUL

by Fr. Seraphim Rose

1. Orthodox Christianity in 6th-Century Gaul

2. Orthodox Monasticism in 5th and 6th-Century Gaul

3. Orthodox Monasticism Today in the Light of Orthodox Monastic Gaul

IV. VITA PATRUM

by St. Gregory of Tours

Prologue of St. Gregory

1. Sts. Romanus and Lupicinus

2. St. Illidius the Bishop

3. St. Abraham the Abbot

4. St. Quintianus the Bishop

5. St. Portianus the Abbot

6. St. Gallus the Bishop

7. St. Gregory the Bishop

8. St. Nicetius of Lyons

9 St. Patroclus the Abbot

10. St. Frairdus the Recluse

11. St. Caluppan the Recluse

12. St. Aemilianus the Hermit

13. St. Lupicinus of Lipidiaco

14. St. Martius the Abbot

15. St. Senoch the Abbot

16. St. Venantius the Abbot

17. St. Nicetus, Bishop of Trier

18. Sts. Ursus and Leobatius.

19. St. Monegunde.

20. St. Leobardus the Recluse

V. ADDITIONAL LIVES OF THE FATHERS

by St. Gregory of Tours

21. St. Saivius..

22. St. Bricius.

23. St. Hospicius.

24. St. Eparchius.

25. St. Aredius

26. St. Vulfolaic.

EPILOGUE: The Life of Fr. Seraphim, the American Translator of Vita Patrum, by Fr. Damascene

BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS