The Lausiac History

Description

Palladius was a devoted disciple of St. John Chrysostom.

Brown n. 3 (ref:4.365):

The term [φιλοπάρθενος] is used of [the monk] Elias, who was, appropriately enough, castrated [οὐ κατὰ ἀλήθειαν ἁλλά κατὰ φαντασίαν, "not according to truth but according to appearance"] by angels so as to equip him for his profession: Palladius, Lausiac History 29.1 [ref:9.205] and 2 [ref:9.206].

Palladius appears to be one of the first to use the term φιλοπάρθενος; cf. this Greek-Italian bilingual ed.:

…σφόδρα [adv.: "very much, exceedingly"] γέγονε ["was"] φιλοπάρθενος [adj.: "loving virgins"] (ebbe molto a cuore le vergini)

Wortley translates it: "became quite devoted to spinsters"!

1 Cor. 7:16 ("For how knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? Or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?"): 61.3 (ref:9.376)

Born in Galatia in the 360s, Palladius enrolled as a monk on the Mount of Olives in his early twenties. As a monk, he traveled to Alexandria, the desert of Nitria, the Cells, Palestine, Rome, and the Thebaid. During his travels he encountered Rufinus of Aquileia, Melania the Elder, the hermit Dorotheos, Macarius of Alexandria, Evagrius of Pontus, Jerome of Bethlehem, and John Chrysostom. He wrote this elegant account of his visits to various monastic sites in Egypt toward the end of the fourth century AD for the imperial chamberlain Lausus. It is both the most sophisticated and the most informative of the few documents illustrating the earliest chapter in the history of Christian monasticism. Palladius's work is the only one of the major monastic writings not written for fellow monks to inspire them with models for their emulation but rather for a man very much of the world, with the explicit intention of exerting not only religious but also political influence.