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The Church Fathers · c. 566–569
Lives of the Eastern Saints
John of Ephesus · c. 507–c. 588
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What it is
Fifty-eight portraits of Syrian ascetics the author knew, many of them women, and many living in hiding during the persecution of anti-Chalcedonians.
Why it lasted
A rare account of holiness written from inside a persecuted minority, and unusually attentive to women's communities.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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