Most readers are quite likely to have some basic information about St. Cyprian (d. 258), St. Ambrose (ca. 339-397) and St. Augustine (354-430). Fewer readers are likely to be equally informed about St. Anthony (251?-356), St. Paul the Hermit (d. ca.340), St. Hilarion (ca. 291-371) and St. Epiphanius (438/439-496/497). Perhaps hardly any reader is acquainted with the holy monk Malchus, presumably a contemporary of St. Jerome (ca. 342-420) and son of a tenant farmer near Nisbis.
Most of the saints' lives presented here, though the volume is entitled Early Christian Biographies, belong in reality to quite another category, hagiography. The primary requisite of this genre is to serve a religious purpose: edification. Herein hagiography differs considerably from a modern critical biography which demands historically verifiable events and accounts. Nevertheless the account of Malchus, as it is presented in this volume, is unique. St. Jerome writes: "Drawn by curiosity I approached the man and inquired with eager interest if there were any truth in what I had heard. He related the following story" (p. 288). If we may take St. Jerome at his word, the Life of Malchus could well be an autobiography. In any event, many generations have come to look upon these accounts as classics.

Early Christian Biographies: Lives of St. Cyprian, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Anthony, St. Paul (Fathers of the Church Patristic Series)

Reference

St. Jerome

Possidius

St. Athanasius

Pontius

Ennodius

St. Hilary

Paulinus

Encyclopedias & Subject Guides

The Catholic University of America Press

The life of Saint Augustine (The Augustinian series)

Augustinian Press

In the first part, as the biographer had not intended to repeat anything which Augustine had spoken in his Confessions, he takes few words to run through events prior to the conversion, hardly mentioning the traditional themes of native land, family, and education. There follows a brief account of the life led by Augustine as a layman in the community of friends which formed around him. We are told how he was ordained, of his activities, his establishment of a monastery, his preaching ministry, and his struggles against the heretics. The second part is devoted to four heresies: Donatism, Arianism, Pelagainism, and Manicheanism. The third part tells of the spirit in which Augustine awaited death.

The Life of Saint Augustine (The Augustinian Series)

History

Pellegrino, Michele

Rotelle, John E.

Ancient Civilizations

Augustinian Pr

Sancti Augustini Vita Scripta a Possidio Episcope

Biographies & Memoirs

Nabu Press

Few figures from antiquity are as well known to us as Augustine of Hippo. Thanks to his Confessions, we know a great deal about Augustine's life prior to his conversion to Christianity. Yet, without this little biography written by his intimate friend Possidius, bishop of Calama, we would know comparatively little about Augustine s life after his baptism. In straight-forward, unadorned prose, Possidius shows Augustine as a powerful intellect, voluminous writer, and compelling orator, willing and able to defend the Church against all comers be they pagans, Donatists, Arians or Manichaeans. But he also presents an Augustine who humbly endured the everyday trials and difficulties of life as a bishop in Roman Africa. He shows a man who ate sparingly, worked tirelessly, despised gossip, shunned the temptations of the flesh, and exercised prudence and frugality in the financial stewardship of his see. Possidius also supplies one of the only first-hand descriptions of the great tragedy of Augustine's life--the Vandalic conquest of Roman Africa. He poignantly describes Augustine's final illness as he lay locked inside Hippo Regius with the barbarian host literally at the city gates. More than simply the biography of a great saint, The Life of Saint Augustine provides a tantalizing glimpse into life in late Roman Africa--a prosperous society on the verge of destruction. This edition of Weiskotten's translation has been completely re-typeset for the modern reader. The text has been amended to include several corrections from an errata sheet that accompanied the original publication. This edition includes an expanded bibliography, updated citations, and a revised map. (Note: this edition does not include Weiskotten's revised Latin text.)

The Life of Saint Augustine: A Translation of the Sancti Augustini Vita by Possidius, Bishop of Calama (Christian Roman Empire Series, 6)

Historical

Evolution Pub & Manufacturing

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