Eastern Church and Early Monastic Leaders Flashcards
1
Q
Anthony the Great
A
- Egyptian hermit, one of the founders of monasticism
- 3rd-4th centuries
- Popular Life, written by Athanasius
- Influential in attracting disciples to the ascetical life in the desert
- Athanasius: “The desert became a city”
2
Q
John Cassian
A
- monastic founder, writer (bilingual, Latin and Greek)
- 4th-5th centuries
- Visited Egyptian monks and transmitted their ascetic ideals to the West, esp. Gaul
- Wrote the Conferences, an influential account of his conversations with hermits
3
Q
Pachomius
A
- Founder of cenobitic (communal) monasticism
- 4th century
- Upper (southern) Egypt
- Ruled and regulated large monasteries for several hundred men and women
- His ‘Rule’ influenced later rules in the East and West
4
Q
Benedict of Nursia
A
- Monastic founder, “Father of Western Monasticism”
- late 5th and 6th centuries
- Italy; Rome and environs
- After period as hermit, established a monastery at Monte Cassino
- Wrote the Rule of St. Benedict that would become the dominant rule in the West
5
Q
John Climacus
A
- 6th-7th-century monk and ascetic writer
- Mount Sinai
- “John of the Ladder”
- Wrote Ladder of Divine Ascent
- One of most widely read books in Byzantine Christianity
- Describes ascent to God by stages in terms of Jacob’s ladder
- ascetical emphasis
6
Q
Simeon the New Theologian
A
- 10th-11th-century Byzantine monk, mystic, and spiritual writer
- Constantinople
- influential mystical writer
- emphasized the vision of divine light
- sums up Byzantine spiritual teaching
- in turn influences later Hesychasm (inner mystical prayer associated with Mt. Athos)
7
Q
Mount Athos
A
- ‘The Holy Mountain’
- peninsula in Macedonia, north eastern Greece
- Since 9th-10th centuries, a major site for Byzantine monasticism
- Associated with the Jesus Prayer and hesychasm, a practice of inner mystical prayer
- “descending with the mind into the heart”
