John Cassian brought the teaching of the Egyptian monks to the West: the twelve books of the Institutes on the monk's life and the eight principal faults, the twenty-four Conferences with the Abbots of Egypt, and his seven books On the Incarnation against Nestorius. Modern English from the Post-Nicene Fathers translation.
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Contents
The Institutes, Book 5
1Turning to the Eight Principal Faults2A Prayer for Light on Hidden Faults3The First Combat: Gluttony4Antony on Gathering the Virtues5No Single Rule of Fasting6Drunk Without Wine7Weak in Body, Pure in Heart8Eating with Self-Control in View9The Measure of Fasting10Fasting Alone Is Not Enough11Every Vice Must Be Rooted Out12Lessons from the Games13Freedom from Gluttony Comes First14How to Overcome Gluttony15Keeping Purity of Heart in View16Victory over the Flesh Before Higher Battles17Where the Spiritual Contest Begins18The Apostle’s Many Contests19Christ’s Athlete Is Never Without a Battle20Keeping to the Hours for Food21The Fast of the Soul22Bodily Fasting for the Sake of Purity of Heart23What a Monk Should Eat24In Egypt the Fast Gave Way to Guests25The Elder Who Ate Six Times and Was Still Hungry26The Elder Who Never Ate Alone27Abbots Paesius and John28Abbot John’s Last Words29Abbot Machetes, Awake Only for Spiritual Talk30Machetes on Not Judging Others31Who Loves Idle Tales32The Letters Burned Unread33Abbot Theodore’s Answer Through Prayer34How a Monk Comes to Know the Scriptures35Theodore’s Visit in the Night36The Desert Near Diolcos37Abbot Archebius Gives Away His Cell38Archebius Pays His Mother’s Debt39How an Elder Found Work for Abbot Simeon40The Boys Who Died Carrying Figs41Macarius on Fasting and on Facing Death