[Other Palestinian monastics:]
St. Chariton—From Iconium in Asia Minor. He lived in a cave in the Wadi Pharan north of Jerusalem, from 322 on. Here disciples gathered and a monastery was founded. In 355 he moved on to the other side of Jordan to the mountain where Jesus fasted—another monastery was founded which is still there today (Greek monks). Finally he found an inaccessible cave in the desert of Juda—but a third monastery was founded near it—Deir Suka.
St. Euthymius (d. 473), from Armenia, began as a hermit at Wadi Pharan, near St. Chariton, started a cenobium, then founded famous Laura of St. Euthymius, near Bethany (428); it was transformed into a cenobium after his death.
St. Sabas (439–532), a Cappadocian, formed in cenobium of St. Euthymius, lived as a hermit in the Kedron valley near Jerusalem. Then he organized the great Laura of Mar Saba (478), which still exists today, clinging to the side of a cliff. St. John Damascene was a monk here—and here wrote all his books. It has three churches, in which liturgy used to be celebrated in three languages according to three rites: Armenian, Syrian, and Greek. Today about thirty monks—Greek Orthodox—live in cells which are partly caves. The monks of St. Sabas also maintained hospitals. He instituted the Typikon—basis of oriental monastic liturgy.
Cyril of Scythopolis—a disciple of St. Sabas, lived in great Laura and composed lives of saints.
John Moschus (6th–7th cent.) was a late compiler of monastic stories and legends—the Spiritual Meadow—popular—full of “wonders.”
St. Jerome
The most famous monk in Palestine was to be St. Jerome whom we will here treat quite briefly. Although a Desert Father, St. Jerome really falls outside the whole scope of these lectures, as a Father and Doctor of the Church and a translator and commentator on Scripture. His vocation was much vaster and more spectacular than that of a simple Desert Father—the same could of course be said for Sts. Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, etc.
He was born at Stridon, Dalmatia, about 347, the child of Christian parents, but was not baptized until later in life. Meanwhile, during his studies in Rome, he led a somewhat dissolute life. Baptized about 365 (age eighteen), he started living as a monk near Aquilaeia in Italy. Here his association with Rufinus began. He moved east (about 374), and lived as a monk in the desert of Chalcis, near Antioch, Syria. This was already a monastic center. He was ordained priest at Antioch about 378. The years 382–385 mark his visit to Rome under Pope Damasus. He now has a great reputation. He served Damasus as secretary. It was under Damasus that Jerome gave himself definitely to work on Scripture. He made himself unpopular in Italy by criticizing lax Christians and tepid clergy. From now on he was definitely to be a fighter, and in every battle of his time. Here he met Paula and Eustochium, whose direction he assumed, and they were led by him to monastic life in Palestine. He went with them to Palestine in 385 when, after the death of Pope Damasus, violent opposition to Jerome was let loose in Rome. Occasion was taken to calumniate St. Jerome and his relations with the noble matrons he had directed at Rome, teaching them to read Scripture in original Greek and Hebrew. St. Paula (d. 404) was mother of St. Eustochium and St. Blaesilla. She became a widow at thirty-four, came under [the] influence of St. Jerome, led a consecrated life, was Abbess of [a] convent founded by him at Bethlehem, where she also conducted a hospital—a remarkable instance of nuns living contemplative life—with notable elements of scholarship and works of mercy.
The monastic life as influenced by the presence and character of St. Jerome takes on a very active and aggressive character, although remaining contemplative. For this reason we have to be careful of taking Jerome as a typical Desert Father. On the whole he is not the best of models for contemplatives. He inspires rather those whose spiritual life is aggressive, ascetical, active, and controversial: but these are often people who stir up monastic orders and cause dissension—though when they are really saints they may accomplish much good.
On arriving in Palestine with Paula, Eustochium, and a bevy of other friends, St. Jerome went for a trip around all the holy places, accompanied by them. He continued on down into Egypt, but did not visit Nitria as he hoped. Heat in Alexandria in 386 (summer) drove them all back north. They settle in Bethlehem: two monasteries, one of women, one of men, both founded by St. Paula. St. Jerome finishes his life here, thirty-five years of very fruitful activity, surrounded by his monks. From 390 to 405 he is engaged in translation of the Bible (Vulgate)—learned Hebrew from rabbis who slipped in to monastery under cover of darkness (and collected a good fee for their lessons). He wrote commentaries on various books of the Bible at this same time, carried on controversies, wrote innumerable letters. Sulpicius Severus described Jerome thus: “He is constantly immersed in study, wholly plunged in his books he gives himself no rest either day or night; he is incessantly occupied in reading or writing” [in his Dialogues 1:9].
We shall see later, in discussing Cassian, Jerome’s place in the Origenist controversy. Jerome went against Origen, breaking with the Bishop (John) of Jerusalem, who nearly had him thrown out of Palestine, and breaking also with his best friend, Rufinus, who remained faithful to Origen. Jerome, in his Apology against Rufinus, accuses the latter of heresy, duplicity etc. Rufinus had followed Jerome to Palestine, a little after the grand tour. He arrived in Palestine with St. Melania the Elder, another ascetic woman of great prominence, [where] he founded a monastery on the Mount of Olives. Like Jerome, Rufinus was a scholar-monk. He translated much of Origen and is important for his (translation) work.
The controversy with Jerome was very unpleasant and was exceptionally hot due to various misunderstandings, Jerome’s quick temper and sharp tongue. Rufinus was much more moderate, discreet, and probably the more sensible of the two in this controversy. He made less of an exhibition of violence. The breach was repaired in 397. The controversy is important in monastic history. During the controversy, Rufinus had moved to Italy. Driven out by Visigothic invasion, he died in Sicily where he was with Melania the Younger, in 411.
Other Controversies in the Life of Jerome
Among his very numerous controversies, we enumerate those which have some importance for monastic history.
1) Against Helvidius who attacked the virginity of the Blessed Mother (said she had other children after Our Lord). This defence of Our Lady’s virginity was also important for consecrated (monastic) virginity.
2) Against Jovinian who attacked the life of chastity and continency and preached faith without works. Jerome’s defence is important for monastic ascetic doctrine.
3) Against Vigilantius, a priest from Spain who had been hospitably received in Jerome’s monastery and afterwards wrote a book condemning monastic life and veneration of the saints.
4) Jerome, in collaboration with St. Augustine, helped by Orosius (Augustine’s messenger) delved into the Pelagian controversy: looked up material on Pelagius for St. Augustine. He joined in the controversy also, and as a result the Pelagians pillaged his monastery. (We shall return to the question of Pelagianism in talking of Cassian).
St. Jerome was especially opposed to the doctrines of apatheia (possible freedom from all passion by ascetic works, without grace) and impeccability (the ascetic could by his own efforts, when free from passion, become sinless). There is a phrase in St. Jerome which has a semi-pelagian flavor: nostrum incipere, illius perficere. “Our part is to begin [the work of salvation], His is to perfect it.” This is certainly stronger than any of the semi-pelagian-seeming phrases in Cassian, yet in Jerome it is always successfully excused, and regarding Cassian, suspicion remains. This is because Cassian was opposed by the strong Augustinian party in the West; Jerome was not. We must be careful to remember that the stigma of heresy or doubtful orthodoxy clings tenaciously sometimes to men who have not taught otherwise than the saints of their time, but have somehow acquired a bad reputation due to “politics.”
Jerome’s Monastic Doctrine
St. Jerome was a great preacher and apostle of monastic renunciation. H
is doctrine contains nothing new: what is original in him is the fire and power of exhortation.
Quote from letter fourteen to Heliodorus:
Why are you a Christian with such a timorous heart? Look at the Apostle Peter quitting his nets; look at the Publican leaving his office for the receipt of custom to become a missionary on the spot. The Son of Man had not where to lay His head, and will you be making use of great doorways and spacious dwellings? If you look for your inheritance in this world, you cannot be the co-heir of Christ. . . . You have promised to be a thorough Christian. . . . But a thorough Christian has nothing but Christ, or if he has anything else he is not perfect. . . . What are you, my brother, doing in the world, you who are greater than the world? . . . Do you dread the poverty of the desert? But Christ says that the poor are blessed. Are you afraid of work? But no athlete wins a prize without toiling hard. Are you thinking of the food you will get here? But if your faith is strong you will not fear being hungry. Are you afraid of bruising your limbs on the bare ground after they have been emaciated by fasting? But the Lord lies down with you on the ground. Do you dread wearing your hair unkempt on your unwashed head? But Christ is your head. Do you shrink from the infinite spaces of the desert? But in your thoughts you will tread the heavens; and whenever you are borne thither in mind you will be no more in the desert. . . . The day will surely come when this corruptible and mortal flesh will put on incorruption and immortality. “Blessed is that servant whom, when his lord shall come, he shall find watching” (Lk. 12:43). On that day when the trumpet shall sound, the nations of the earth shall be smitten with fear, and then you will rejoice!
The monk leaves all to live united with Christ. He has an obligation to do this for, being a member of Christ, he is greater than the world and should not remain subject to what is beneath him. He must bravely face the hardships of desert life and deprivation, trusting in Christ, not in his own power. Finally he must base his whole monastic life on eschatological hope—the second coming and the new creation.
Jerome is the first to use monachus in Latin. He takes it to mean “solitary.” Quid facis in turba qui solus es? “What are you doing in a crowd, you who are a solitary?” Essentially the monk is a pilgrim to the promised Land, an exile, following Christ. His state does not normally allow of the priestly office (which would mean being in town). He belongs in paradise. “Your homeland is paradise. Retain your birthright. . . . ‘Return to your rest, my soul’ (Ps. 116:7).”
Profession is a second baptism, because [it is] a martydom. Monastic life is athletic training. Here strength and generosity are much needed. It is also a militia, under Christ the Imperator, “Emperor.” To abandon one’s monastic profession is to deny Christ, like departing from the army.
Monastic life is an angelic life of praise, in proportion as we sing to God with pure hearts and a record of good works. “Sing with all your members. Let the hand sing in almsgiving, the foot sing while going out on a good work.” The spiritual and intellectual life of the monk and nun is based on the Bible.
Silence is central. The monk helps the world by weeping in silence, not by preaching: “not by speaking and discoursing but by sitting down and keeping quiet.” Work is important, at least the copying of manuscripts. Be slow to write books: “Do not rush forward quickly to write, and be drawn away from such trivial nonsense. Spend much time learning what you may teach.”
Jerome urged men and women fearlessly to defy the world and their families in order to renounce worldly life and follow Christ with courage. This emphasis on courage and dauntless faith is what makes St. Jerome’s letters such necessary reading for monks and contemplatives (cf. his influence on St. Teresa).2 Read the classic diatribe in which he urges Heliodorus to trample on his father’s prostrate body if the latter lies down across the threshold to prevent him going forth to follow his vocation.
We should all be familiar with these exhortations and meditate on them often. Courage and determination are essential to a real monastic vocation. Without them, we fail to correspond to grace. Pray for determination and fidelity to God’s call.
__________
1 “The reference is evidently to chapter 49 of the Rule, which specifies that during Lent the monks are to submit their regimen of fasting to the approval of the abbot.” –Patrick O’Connell
2 See The Collected Works of St. Teresa of Avila, trans. Kieran Kavanaugh, OCD, and Otilio Rodriguez, OCD (Washington, DC: Institute of Carmelite Studies, 1976), 1:40.
LECTURE 9
The Community of St. Melania
St. Melania
This was the first Latin community of women to be founded in Palestine (373–374). St. Melania, a Roman noble of the gens Antonia,1 a relative of St. Paulinus, lost her husband and two children at the age of twenty-two and decided to leave the world. (One son remains in Rome.) She left for Egypt in 372, visited Nitria, then went to Palestine to get away from Arianism. She founded a convent on the Mount of Olives with a guest house for pilgrims. She died at Jerusalem in 410. A friend of Rufinus, she was attacked, with him, by St. Jerome. Her nuns participated in the liturgical celebrations at the Holy Places.
Important material on St. Melania is found in the Historia Lausiaca, written in 419–420, for Palladius was a guest at Melania’s convent in 405. Palladius exhibits great praise for Melania and Rufinus: “among men one would not quickly find one who was more understanding, and gracious, and pleasant than he.” For twenty-seven years they gave hospitality to pilgrims without charge. They “healed the schism of the Paulinists [monks].” “Now as concerning the possessions of which she stripped herself, and the money which she distributed, being hot as fire with divine zeal, and blazing like flame with the love of Christ, I alone am not able to recount it, for it belongeth also unto those who dwell in the country of the Persians to declare it; for there was no man who was deprived of her alms and gifts, whether he came from the east, or the west, or the north, or the south.” She returns to Rome to rescue her granddaughter Melania the Younger from the world and incidentally converts many others.
She contended with all the women of Senatorial rank and with all the women of high degree, and strove with them as with savage wild beasts, for the men tried to restrain her from making the women do even as she had done: (forsaking) their worldly rank and position. And she spoke to them thus:
My children, four hundred years ago it was written that that time was the last time. Why do you hold fast thus strenuously to the vain love of the world? Take heed lest the day of Antichrist overtake you, and keep not fast hold upon your own riches and the possessions of your fathers.
And having set free all these she brought them to the life of the ascetic and recluse.
In Palestine she rebuked an ascetic for washing his hands and feet, and declared she had not washed any part of her body, even her face, since becoming an ascetic. Nor has she slept in a bed. However, she is fond of reading and reads Gregory (Nazianzen?), Pierius, Basil, “and of other writers, more than two hundred and fifty thousand sayings. And she did not read them in an ordinary fashion just as she came to them, and she did not hurry over them in an easy and pleasant manner, but with great labor and understanding she used to read each book seven or eight times. And because of this she was enabled, by being set free from lying doctrine, to fly by means of the gift of learning to great opinions, and she made herself a spiritual bird, and in this wise was taken up to Christ her Lord.”2 Note in all this a spirit of aversion and estrangement from the world.
St. Melania the Younger
Melania the Younger, granddaughter of the above, was born in Rome in 383. Married at fourteen, she adopted a penitent life after the death of two sons, eventually accomplishing the total liquidation of an immense fortune. She met with opposition from Roman society. In 406, she moves to Nola with St. Paulinus. Her husband goes with her. In 408, she goes to Sicily with Rufinus, and in 410, to her properties in Africa where she begins a friendship with Augustine. In 413, she travels to Jerusalem via Egy
pt and settles on the Mount of Olives, where she imitates Egyptian hermits. She founds a convent of virgins on the Mount of Olives, near the Basilica of the Ascension, and lives an intense life of prayer and penance. She died in 440.
Roman Monasticism in Palestine
1) It is dominated by the influence of Nitria and Scete, i.e., by hermits. [See above; see below.]
2) There is an attraction to the Holy Places—monks and nuns furnish choirs for churches at the Holy Places in Bethlehem, Jerusalem (N.B. Roman Liturgy).
3) There is a preponderance of nuns.
4) There is a strong influence of Jerome (positive or negative)—hence the importance of study and intellectual activity.
5) These communities exercised an influence by letters on the West, and attracted visitors from there. Jerome received financial support from St. Exuperius, bishop of Toulouse.
We can now consider a few characteristic texts.
From the Life of St. Melania the Younger by Gerontius—her ascetic life in North Africa:
a) Fasting was extremely strict, a little liquid nourishment in the evening; at other times, she ate only on Saturdays and Sundays (dry bread and water)—“Hebdomadary” [adjective meaning, “for seven days”]. But when she began fasting in the Easter season her mother reproached her for ignoring the holy tradition (note well: the Eustathians were condemned for this at Gangres). “It is not right for a Christian to fast on the day of our Lord’s Resurrection but one must take bodily nourishment along with the spiritual.” Easter was extended through Paschal Time and to all Sundays of the year.
b) Watching: After sleeping two hours, she would wake the virgins living with her (mostly her former slaves), saying, “Just as the Blessed Abel and all the saints offered to God their first fruits, so let us also employ the first fruits of the night in glorifying God. For we must watch and pray at every hour, because we do not know when the thief will come.” She gave the virgins strict rules of silence and directed them, having them manifest their thoughts to her.
A Course in Desert Spirituality Page 7