Patericon

thumb|The Kievan Cave Patericon (Russia, 1758). Patericon or paterikon (), a short form for πατερικόν βιβλίον ("father's book", usually Lives of the Fathers in English), and sometimes also known as gerontikon (), is a genre of Byzantine literature of religious character, which were collections of sayings of saints, martyrs and hierarchs, and tales about them. These texts also have their roots in early monasticism.

Among the earliest collections of this kind are the Αποφθέγματα των άγίων γερόντων (Apophthegmata of Saint Elders, also known as the Alphabetical Patericon, Apophthegmata Patrum, Sayings of the Fathers of the Desert (Sayings of the Desert Fathers) the Historia monachorum in Aegypto and Λαυσαϊχόν (Historia Lausiaca, [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11425a.htm) by Palladius - of the 4th century. Various paterica also known in translations into a number of languages (Latin, Slavonic, Coptic, Armenian, etc.)