Chariton the Confessor
Saint Chariton the Confessor | |
|---|---|
Roman Catholic Church | |
| Major shrine | Sille, Konya |
| Feast | September 28 |
| Patronage | Konya |
Chariton the Confessor (Greek: Χαρίτων; mid-3rd century,
Life
Sources
We know about his vita from the 6th-century "Life of Chariton", written by an anonymous monk, which holds elements supported by modern archaeological excavations.[2]
Early life
Chariton was a native of
Pharan near Jerusalem
After his release in 275, during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and other holy places, Chariton was abducted by bandits and brought to a cave in the Pharan Valley (upper Wadi Qelt). The traditional account states that his abductors died by drinking wine that was poisoned by a snake.[3][4] Chariton decided to remain a hermit in the cave after this miraculous death of his abductors.[4] There he built a church and established a monastery,[5] the first one of the lavra type.[6]
Douka near Jericho
Later he moved to the Mount of Temptation near Jericho, where he established the lavra of Douka on the ruins of the Hasmonean and Herodian Dok Fortress.[6]
Souka (Old Lavra at Tekoa)
After that he moved on to establish a third monastery in the Valley of Tekoa, named the Souka and later known as the Old Lavra,[6][4] today popularly known as the Chariton Monastery. The valley is a wadi later named in Arabic after him, Wadi Khureitun.
In all three locations his fame let Christians flock to learn from him, disturbing his solitude, which was the reason for him repeatedly moving on.[2] At Souka he eventually relocated to a cave on a cliff near the centre of the lavra, known as the "Hanging Cave of Chariton" and whose remains have been discovered by Israeli archaeologist Yizhar Hirschfeld.[2]
Legacy
The importance of Chariton lays mainly in the fact that he established by his own example the rules for monastic life in the Judaean desert, in the context of lavra-type monasteries.
According to tradition, he was the one to compile the "Office of the Monastic Tonsure".[4]
See also
- Desert Fathers and Desert Mothers, early Christian hermits, ascetics, and monks who lived mainly in the Scetes desert of Egypt beginning around the third century AD
- Euthymius the Great (377–473), founder of monasteries in Palestine and saint
- Hilarion (291–371), anchorite and saint considered by some to be the founder of Palestinian monasticism
- Pachomius the Great (c. 292–348), Egyptian saint generally recognized as the founder of Christian cenobitic monasticism
- Paul of Thebes (c. 226/7 – c. 341), known as "Paul, the First Hermit", who preceded both Anthony and Chariton
- Theodosius the Cenobiarch (c. 423–529), monk and saint, traditionally credited with organizing the cenobitic way of life in the Judaean desert
- Sabbas the Sanctified (439–532), monk and saint, founded several monasteries in Palestine
References
- ^ Sunday, September 28, 2003 Archived July 28, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, St. Katherine the Great-Martyr Orthodox Mission
- ^ ISBN 9781848250949. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
- ^ a b "Venerable Chariton the Confessor, Abbot of Palestine", Orthodox Church in America
- ^ a b c d e "Saint Chariton the Confessor". official website. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
- ^ Encyclopaedia Judaica, Thomson Gale (2007): Dok
- ^ ISBN 9789004224407.
- ^ Butler, Richard Urban. "Laura". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. Via newadvent.org. Accessed 2 Jul. 2019
Bibliography
- Leah Di Segni: The Life of Chariton, in: Ascetic Behavior in Greco-Roman Antiquity: A Sourcebook (Studies in Antiquity and Christianity), Vincent L. Wimbush, Minneapolis 1990, ISBN 0-8006-3105-6, p. 393–421.
- ISBN 978-1-86197-899-8
External links
- Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem: "Skete of Saint Chariton - Fara" Archived 2018-06-14 at the Wayback Machine, about the rebuilt monastic site in Pharan Valley, its history and rediscovery