Witness to Holiness

Abba Daniel, priest, monastic superior and model of holiness in the austere world of desert monasticism, lived in the sixth century. Some dozen stories about him, and a few sayings attributed to him, have survived in Greek, Syriac, Arabic, Coptic, and Ethiopic. This dispersion attests to his broad influence in many areas of the ancient Church. Here for the first time are translations of all the material associated with Abba Daniel, a witness to holiness.

Tim Vivian, the editor, is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at California State University, Bakersfield. His previous books include Words to Live By: Journeys in Ancient and Modern Egyptian Monasticism (2005), The Lives of the Jura Fathers, and (in collaboration with Apostolos N. Athanassakis) a translation of The Life of Antony from both Coptic and Greek (2003).

The various translators have contributed their expertise in the ancient, and modern, languages in which these selections appear.