Barsanuphius

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the sect founded by a certain Barsanuphius, see Barsanuphians. For the Russian saint, see List of Russian saints (until 15th century).
Saint Barsanuphius
Oria
InfluencesSayings of the Desert Fathers
InfluencedSeridus of Gaza, Dorotheus of Gaza, Theodore the Studite

Barsanuphius (

Arabic: برسانوف, romanized: Barsanūf; Italian: Barsonofio, Barsanofrio, Barsanorio; died after 543), also known as Barsanuphius of Palestine, Barsanuphius of Gaza or Barsanuphius the Great (in Eastern Orthodoxy), was a Christian hermit
and writer of the sixth century.

Together with John the Prophet, they gave spiritual direction and advice to a variety of people in the region through letters, of which over 850 have been preserved and influenced especially Orthodox monasticism. Barsanuphius is venerated as a saint in both the Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Life

Hermit

Born in

ordained.[2]

In Thavata, Barsanuphius started to offer advice and spiritual direction to other ascetics who were living in the region, among other to the community of the nearby monastery which became increasingly responsible for the support of the various monks who gathered around the hermit.[3] The abbot of the monastery, Seridus of Gaza, became the only person who communicated directly with Barsanuphius and acted as mediator for those who wished to be counselled by the hermit. As Seridus did not know Coptic, he recorded the answers in Greek.[4] When at one point Barsanuphius became aware that some members of the monastery were doubting his existence, he revealed himself to them by coming out to wash their feet.[5]

Collaboration with John the Prophet

Between the years 525 and 527, another hermit called John came to live in the same monastic community as disciple of Barsanuphius who surrendered his cell to John, moving into another nearby cell.[6] Barsanuphius became known as the "Old Man" or the "Great Old Man" while John was called "The Other Old Man" or "the Prophet". John placed himself under the spiritual authority of Barsanuphius, though Barsanuphius never asserted this authority over John after he was established as an anchorite.[7] John became the teacher of Dorotheus of Gaza who assumed a similar position to John as Seridus did to Barsanuphius.[8] Together with John, Barsanuphius provided spiritual advice and counsel to a variety of people and wrote over 850 letters.[9] In that, they acted in a partnership and were thought to communicate without needing to speak or write with each other.[10]

Death

Between 543 and 544, Seridos and John died within two weeks of each other upon which Barsanuphius entered complete seclusion. A new abbot, Aelianos, was elected and Dorotheus of Gaza left the monastery. Barsanuphius died some time after that. [8]

Nevertheless, when in 593 the Syrian Christian Evagrius Scholasticus wrote about Barsanuphius, to whom he dedicated an entire chapter of his Historia Ecclesiastica about the hermit, he recorded that it was still believed that Barsanuphius was alive. Evagrius recounts that when the patriarch of Jerusalem (assumed to be Peter of Jerusalem, 524-552) ordered the door to his cell to be opened, fire flashed out of the cell causing everyone present to flee.[11]

Letters

Spiritual direction through letters

Barsanuphius and John were sought to provide advice and spiritual direction by a diverse group of people. These included other hermits, priests, bishops and monks (including Dorotheus of Gaza) as well as lay persons of various professions.[12] As such, they continued the tradition of spiritual direction that flourished in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine and Syria and in which a person attached themselves as to a spiritual father who had attained a sufficient level of spiritual discernment. This spiritual director was responsible for the soul of the disciple and supported him through prayer and practical advice whereas the disciple was expected to open his heart to his spiritual father and heed his advice.[10]

Barsanuphius and John corresponded with their disciples through letters transmitted by Seridus and Dorotheus, with around 850 letters surviving (of which Barsanuphius wrote around 400).[9] In these letters, they answered all kind of queries by their disciples, from small practicalities to deeply theological topics.[13] Though Barsanuphius and John acted as a unified partnership and rebuked those that tried to pose the same question to each Old Men expecting different answers, their distinct personalities and epistographical style are preserved in the letters.[7] Barsanuphius' letters reveal a strong, supportive and warm personality and his style is clear, prayerful and undeterred by issues.[14]

In their letters, the

Basil the Great and Origen.[15] Though Barsanuphius refrained from condemning Origenism, he disagreed firmly with the idea that it is possible to achieve spiritual knowledge (gnosis) as a reward for an ascetic life and thought it dangerous for monks to live as if that was possible.[16] In general, Barsanuphius and John were averse to give precise prescriptions about progress in spiritual life and did not order their disciples to perform specific number of penitential acts but rather encouraged them to practice the virtues opposing the vices or temptations that afflicted them.[17]

Composition and history of letters

The internal coherence and historical details of the letters, such as references to laws by

Justinian plague, confirm the sixth-century as date of the composition of the letters. As such, the letters provide invaluable insights for the understanding of theological, ecclesiastical, social and even political history of the region of Gaza.[18][19] Further, the joined authorship of the letter collection sets it apart from other late antique letter collections.[10]

The letters were complied by an unknown editor who suggests to have been a monk at the community while it was overseen by Barsanuphius and John and even seen Barsanuphius himself, leading some to believe him to be their disciple Dorotheus of Gaza.[20][21] Though the correspondence with one person, which in some cases spanned several years, is ordered chronologically, the whole collection is not. This compiler grouped the letters together according to the type of petitioner and introduced them with a brief description of the question the petitioner posed to the Old Men.[22][23]

The two earliest manuscripts containing the letters are two tenth-century Georgian translations of the Greek text from Saint Catherine's Monastery in Sinai, containing 79 letters. The letters were widely copied by Eastern monks throughout the Middle Ages. Several manuscripts were copied at Mount Athos between the eleventh and the fourteenth century, the earlier manuscripts containing only proportions of the letter collection. In the fourteenth century, two manuscripts were produced that included more than 800 letters, likely copied from different sources. The first printed edition of the letters was published in 1569 in Basel by Johann Grynaeus which included nine of John's letters together with the writings of Dorotheus. The first complete edition of the letters based on several Athonite manuscript was published in 1816 by Nikodemos, a monk from Athos. This edition was quickly translated into Russian which made them more popular among Orthodox audiences. The twentieth century anchorite Seraphim Rose did the first English translation of some selected letters based on the Russian text. The first complete English translation was done by John Chryssavgis and the letters have been also translated into various other European languages.[24]

Veneration

Saint in the Catholic and Orthodox churches

Barsanuphius is venerated as a saint both the Catholic and Orthodox church and his

Oria.[30][31]

diocese of Oria
.

Patron Saint of Oria

Barsanuphius' relics arrived in Oria with a Palestinian

relics were lost but then later rediscovered and placed in the city's basilica. In the late twelfth century, a priest composed a Latin vita of the saint which contain certain hagiographical details, including the translation of the relics to Oria.[31]

At Oria, Barsanuphius is considered to have saved the city from destruction through war.

rainstorm, and preventing an air bombing by Allied Forces.[citation needed] As of 2023, the city still honours the saint with a procession on August 30 during which the keys of the city are handed over by the mayor to an effigy of Barsanuphius.[34][35]

References

  1. ^ Torrance 2013, pp. 119–120.
  2. ^ Torrance 2013, pp. 120, 122.
  3. ^ Chryssavgis 2006, p. 5.
  4. ^ Chryssavgis 2006, p. 6.
  5. ^ Hevelone-Harper 2005, p. 19.
  6. ^ Chryssavgis 2022, pp. 41–43.
  7. ^ a b Hevelone-Harper 2019, p. 420.
  8. ^ a b Chryssavgis 2022, p. 55.
  9. ^ a b Chryssavgis 2006, p. 8.
  10. ^ a b c Hevelone-Harper 2019, p. 419.
  11. ^ Chryssavgis 2022, p. 48.
  12. ^ Chryssavgis 2006, pp. 9–10.
  13. ^ Torrance 2013, p. 121.
  14. ^ Chryssavgis 2006, p. 10.
  15. ^ Chryssavgis 2006, pp. 10–14.
  16. ^ Hombergen, O.C.S.O. 2004, p. 179-180.
  17. ^ Torrance 2013, p. 133.
  18. ^ Hevelone-Harper 2019, p. 422.
  19. ^ Torrance 2013, p. 118.
  20. ^ Chryssavgis 2006, p. 7.
  21. ^ Hevelone-Harper 2019, p. 421.
  22. ^ Chryssavgis 2006, p. 9.
  23. ^ Hevelone-Harper 2019, pp. 420–421.
  24. ^ Hevelone-Harper 2019, pp. 422–423.
  25. ^ Martirologio 2004, p. 233.
  26. ^ Regnault 1991.
  27. ^ Noble & Smith 2008, p. 60.
  28. ^ a b Paoli 2012, p. 406.
  29. ^ a b Hevelone-Harper 2005, p. 158.
  30. ^ Safran 2014, p. 162.
  31. ^ a b Chryssavgis 2022, p. 49.
  32. ^ von Falkenhausen, Vera 2011, p. 283.
  33. ^ "Chiesa di San Francesco da Paola". Citta' Di Oria. Dott.ssa Loredana D'Elia. Archived from the original on 15 Aug 2016.
  34. ^ "Oria: la Diocesi celebra il patrono San Barsanofio". MemOria News (in Italian). 30 August 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
  35. ^ Argese, Giuseppe (29 August 2017). "Oria: è tutto pronto per la Festa del Santo Patrono San Barsanofio". newⓈpam.it - Informiamo Brindisi e provincia (in Italian). Retrieved 20 January 2024.

Sources

External links

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