Ethiopic Collectio Monastica

The Ethiopic Collectio Monastica is a book that includes some original sayings of the Desert Fathers, and which is textually independent of the more well known Apophthegmata Patrum (Sayings of the Desert Fathers). It was first published by Victor Arras in 1963, based on two separate manuscripts that were likely based on Greek or Coptic sources.

The collection consists of sixty-eight chapter of widely different lengths. Included in the book are collections of Desert Father sayings, most of which have no parallel in the Apophthegmata Patrum. The original work appears to have been written by a 5th-century monk who either lived with the Desert Fathers at Scetis, or knew the monks who lived there. He also appears to have known Abba Poemen, because of several unique stories and sayings attributed to him.

See also

• Apophthegmata Patrum
• Asceticon
• Vitae Patrum