ï~~
Two More Pages of Crosby-Schoyen Codex MS 193
45
once belonged to the monastery's library. The internal evidence of tractate 5
and the role that it plays within the codex, we believe, confirm a Pachomian
origin for the entire collection of Paschal texts. If that is correct, the date of
Crosby-Schoyen MS 193 cannot be earlier than the beginnings of the Pachomian federation of monasteries ca. AD 329. Given that all palaeographically
assigned dates fall in the second to fourth centuries (with ca. 400 as the latest),
it appears plausible that the codex was written some time between ca. 329 and
Pachomius' death in 346, even though a somewhat later date poses no historical problems. In light of Pachomius' larger-than-life stature in the koinonia
(at least, viewed retrospectively by his successors), it is not improbable that
it was he who composed tractate 5, whether as a freestanding text or as part
of the Paschal lectionary. But again, from a historical perspective there is no
good reason to exclude the possibility that one of his successors, Theodore or
Horsiesius, composed or commissioned our text.42
Just how this lectionary ended we do not know, but it is clear that tractate
5 could have been at most ca. ten pages long (although most likely no more
than eight). Since the introduction and a list of paradigms to be imitated are
extant, it seems safe to postulate that, at the very least, a brief entreaty for God's
mercy would have followed.
One can only hope that newly discovered fragments will once again lift
the veil of history - even if ever so slightly.
42 In a private communication (dated 4/20/2011) James Goehring writes: "I would
push the codex's date later in his [Pachomius'] life or in the period after his death when
the federation had grown in size and stature. It would certainly fit the period from the
mid-fourth to fifth centuries when the community at Pbow constructed three basilicas
in succession, each larger and more ornate than the last"
