The Lausiac History of Palladius: Oriental Orthodox Library: Volume III Book

Palladius was a monk from Galatia, who spent many years in the Egyptian deserts compiling the history of Christian monasticism. He went to Egypt in A.D. 388, spending three years around Alexandria visiting the countless hermitages. He went inland to the Nitrian Desert where he stayed for another three years. As the settlement at Nitria continued to grow, some of the more serious ascetics found they needed more solitude and moved nine miles away into a desolate area of the desert later called Cellia. Palladius spent nine years with the Orthodox hermits there and recorded many stories about them. This volume is of inestimable value since it is an eye-witness account of the desert monastic life and spirituality of the 4th century.