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HALSHt EFTHALIA M A K & 1 5WISDOM AS IT IS MANIF E S T E D IN THE THEOTOKOS AND THE WOMEN SAINTS OF THE BT7ANTINE ERA.THE AMERICAN UNIVER SITY, M.A., 1980

CQPR. 1980 WALSH, E F T HALI A HAKRISUniversity Microfilms

I nternstionsi 300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor. MI 48106

€> 1980

E F T H A L I A M A K R I S WALSH

All Rights Reserved

WISDOM AS IT IS MANIFESTED IN THE THEOTOKOSAND THE WOMEN SAINTS OF THE BYZANTINE ERA

byEfthalia Makris Walsh

submitted to the

Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of The American University in Partial Fulfillment of

The Requirements for the Degreeof

Master of Arts in

Religion Signatures of Committee:

Chairman:

Dean of the College

/ I . / ‘i Uate /

'Irh

Date1980

The American University Washington, D.C. 20016

THE AMEKÏGA1) tlBRAH?

WISDOM AS IT IS MANIFESTED IN THE THEOTOKOSAND THE WOMEN SAINTS OF THE BYZANTINE ERA

BY

Efthalia Makris Walsh

ABSTRACT

The concept of wisdom as found in the Gospel of John and in Old Testament and Apocryphal literature is an integral part of the Byzantine salvation schema. The Theotokos, and the women saints of the Byzantine era, especially, epitomize wisdom. The image of victorious battle is central to this theology. The gift of , deification, is possiblebecause of Christ's victory over death and the power of Hades. The struggle against death and evil, however, is ongoing and the saint as a wisdom figure— protector, illuminator, intercessor, patron, and guide, helps the Christian in his guest to attain eternal life.

The lives of the saints and the Theotokos, the hagiographical material, and the liturgical texts of the worship services are reviewed to show how these saints personify wisdom. The saints are presented in their theological context and a comparison is made with Western saints where it is pertinent.

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AC KNOWLEDG EMENTS

I am indebted to my advisor Charles S. J. White, to Theodore S. Rosche, and Charles Hardwick, and all of the Department of Philosophy and Religion, for their encouragement and their support, and especially for their patience. And, of course, to my long-suffering husband.

I l l

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT...................................................... ÜACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................... Ü iTABLE OP C O N T E N T S .......................................... ivCHAPTER

I. INTRODUCTION ........................................ 1II. SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF SAINTS.................. 28

III. NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM SAINTS: MARY ANDMARY M A G D A L E N E ...................................... 43

IV. THE MARTYRS AND THE ROYAL S A I N T S ................ 60V. THE ASCETICS AND THE D E A C O N E S S E S ................ 78

VI. CONCLUSIONS.......................................... 9 5

APPENDIX— TABLE 1 .......................................... 99BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................... 101

IV

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

I propose, in this thesis, to write about the concept of co<_ f wisdom, as it is manifested in, and by, theTheotokos^ and the women saints of the early Byzantine era. By wisdom, I mean a process of instruction or transmission of important, life-saving knowledge to others by one who has this knowledge. This understanding of wisdom goes beyond the usual static sense of the word, denoting a body of practical knowledge or learning. The concept of wisdom has a special place in Eastern Christianity which was greatly influenced by the Gospel of John. The role of a divine, active, illuminating, helping agent like wisdom as found in that Gospel and in the Old Testament and Apocryphal Literature is an integral part of the Byzantine salvation schema.

In the Byzantine milieu, Christ is frequently referred to as / A d < L / l o ^ o ^ , wisdom and word. He isalso described as son of God and pre-existent, uncreated wisdom. The Theotokos, as the head of the saints, and the saints, men and women, who manifest Christ, are also children

The complete title used for the Theotokos in the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is "Our all-holy, immaculate supremely blessed Queen ( ù ^ r f T o Ù y i ^ S ) , the Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary."

of God and personifications of wisdom. But in their case, they are created wisdom, derivative wisdom. The Theotokos, also called the , All-Holy, and the women saintsespecially epitomize wisdom, as I shall show in this thesis,

I also intend to demonstrate that the concept of wisdom is linked to the idea of victory, which is personified in feminine figures, and that wisdom itself is seen as afeminine attribute. The wisdom element is important tounderstanding the place of women in the church and in the society.

The image of victorious battle is central to the Byzantine understanding of salvation. The gift of ,deification, is possible because of Christ's victory overdeath and the power of Hades. Mankind has been freed from its fallen condition by this, and man is now able toparticipate in the divine nature as God had originally planned. The struggle against death and evil, however, is ongoing and the saint as a wisdom figure— protector, illuminator, intercessor, patron, and guide, helps the Christian to attain eternal life.

In the discussion that follows, I shall show how the Byzantines viewed saints and how the Johannine interpretation of Christ as a wisdom figure was used later by the Byzantines to explain the Theotokos and the other women saints. Many of the women saints I shall mention are said to have lived into the first three centuries of the Christian Era. Modern scholarship, however, identifies them as being legendary or

as dating from a later period, I will discuss them as they were represented by Byzantine writers who did much of the writing about these saints.

Saints As Active Agents of GodThe saints are viewed as active agents of God— as

channels through which the power of light delivers the world out of darkness and sustains the world.^ Illumination, another Johannine metaphor for Christ and His function and purpose, becomes one of the Byzantines' favorite ways of describing the saints and their work.

As illuminators, the saints are militant figures. St. John of Damascus, an important Eastern eighth century theologian, specifically refers to the saints as the army of the Lord. The most popular Byzantine men saints, George, Theodore, Demetrius, and Procopius, were, in fact, portrayed as military men. The Theotokos, as the Virgin Mary is most often called in the Byzantine tradition, is also depicted as a military leader,* while some of the young women saints

^Jaroslav Pelikan, The Light of the World (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1960), p. 99.

2J. p. Migne, ed., Patroloqiae Cursus Complétas Series Graeca, vols. 1-161, John of Damascus, Image, vol. 94:1293-96. Hereinafter J. P. Migne is cited as PG.

3Hippolyte Delehaye, Les legendes grecques des saints militaires (Bruxelles: Société des Bollandistes,1909; reprint éd., New York: Arno Press, 1975), p. 113,

*Mother Mary and Archimandrite Kallistos Ware, ed. and trans., The Lenten Triodion (London; Faber and Faber, 1978), p. 119.

challenge kings and authorities, thereby defeating the forces of evil. The Theotokos and the women saints appear to be particularly prominent in this militant wisdom role during the Byzantine era.

Wisdom As FeminineThe understanding o f , chockma in Hebrew, as

a feminine figure goes back to the Old Testament.Wisdom cries aloud in the street; in the markets she raises her voice; on the top of the walls she cries out .at the entrance of the city gates she speaks.Wisdom is also shown in Proverbs to be an agent of

creation, "having created at the beginning of the Lord's2 3work," "before the beginning of the earth," and having

"worked beside him, like a master workman in creation."* Herwork, however, continues after creation. She is a powerfulfigure of counsel, insight, and strength.

By me kings reign and rulers decree what is just, by me princes rule and nobles govern the earth.I love those who love me and those who seek me diligently find me.Riches and honor are with me enduring wealth and prosperity.. . . I walk in the ways of righteousness in the paths of justice,endowing those with wealth who love me and filling their treasuries.5

^The Holy Bible, Revised standard version (Camden, N.J.: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1959), Proverbs 1:20-21.

2Proverbs 8:12.^Proverbs 8:30.*Ibid.^Proverbs 8:15-21.

"Lady" Wisdom is also a protector, she watches overpeople, " [Herj understanding will guard you, delivering youfrcOT the way of evil." The Wisdom of Solomon has "Lady"Wisdom guiding men on the straight path. "She protected himfrom his enemies and kept him safe from those who lay in waitfor him; and decided his hard contest in his favor. . . ."^

Wisdom also illuminates. "Wisdom shines bright andnever fades."* She is preferred to "the light of day; forher radiance is unsleeping."^

For she is a reflection of the everlasting light.And a spotless mirror of the activity of God,And a likeness of his goodness.Though she is one, she can do all things.And while remaining in herself, she makes everything new.And passing into holy souls, generation after generationShe makes them friends of God, and prophets.6

"Lady" Wisdcan has special knowledge. She knows all.She knows antiquity, and can forecast the future.She understands the tricks of language and the solving of riddles.She knows the meaning of signs and portents, and can foretellthe outcome of seasons and periods.?

^Proverbs 2:11-12.2Edgar J. Goodspeed, trans., The Apocrypha (New York;

The Modern Library, Random House, 1959), p. 196.^Wisdom 10:12.*Wisdom 6:12. ^Wisdom 7:10-11. ^Wisdom 7:26-32.7Wisdom 8:8.

In all these accounts, and in others. Lady Wisdom isportrayed as a creative agent of God. Some of the gnosticseven write about wisdom as the feminine aspect of god.^

Raymond Brown has summarized the functions of OldTestament Wisdom among men. It is as to teach them of thethings that are above, to utter truth, to give instructionsas to what pleases God, and how to do His will, and to lead

2men to life and immortality.

Jesus as a Wisdom Figure In his analysis. Brown shows the parallel between the

Jesus of the Gospel of John and personified Lady Wisdom of the Old Testament, Both were with God from the beginning, even before there was earth. Wisdom is said to be a reflection of God, lighting up the path of men. In John, Jesus, who comes from God, is the light of the world and of men. Wisdom will return to Heaven, while Jesus will return to his Father. Wisdom and Jesus are both depicted as links between the human and the divine, and both are active agents

3in creation.

Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels (New York; Random House, 1979), p. 49.

2Raymond E. Brown, ed. and trans.. The Gospel According to John, 2 vols, of The Anchor Bible (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday and Co., 1970), p. CXXII.

Îbid., p. CXXIII.

The Theotokos as a Wisdom FigureAll of these wisdom functions are attributed to the

Theotokos by the Byzantines. She, too, has a divine teaching function and is an illuminator. Like Wisdom and Jesus, the Theotokos plays a part in creation. The Theotokos is not specifically identified as divine, as are Wisdom and Jesus. But, as God's mother, she participates in angelic nature,transcending human nature, according to ninth centuryTheodore of Studios.^ It is important to make the point, however, that in this theology, a distinction is made between the honor ascribed to the Theotokos and the worship due to God alone.

The Theotokos also fulfills the wisdom function of linking the divine and human. And she, too, returns to God, being bodily assumed into Heaven.

The Byzantine writer Nicephoros identifies theTheotokos as "having been appointed as mediator and securepatron in relation to him (her Son) and on account of the

2confidence she has as his mother." And Theodore of Studios, elaborating on the Theotokos's role as mediator and patron, pinpoints her special interest as the welfare and purity of the church, "granting peace to the church, stengthening

Jaroslav Pelikan, The Spirit of Eastern Christendcan (600-1700), vol. 2 of The Christian Tradition (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1974), p. 140.

Îbid., p. 141.

8

orthodoxy, protecting the empire, driving away the barbarian tribes, maintaining the entire Christian people."^

The Theotokos is also presented as a guide. Onefourth century church built by Empress Pulcheria in Constantinople is dedicated to her as ,the All-Holy guide.^

A more developed analysis of the Theotokos using the worship services that honor her will be presented in the chapter on New Testament women.

The Women Saints As WisdomThe women saints that I shall discuss in chapter IV,

like the Theotokos and like the Lady Wisdom, are alsodepicted as illuminators, mediators, and guides. Like theTheotokos, these saints have a strong militant quality.Through their knowledge and wisdom, they maintain the faith.

/They are frequently referred to as TTA'V<ro<|>OC , all-knowing.

The idea of a feminine wisdom figure is made explicit by the Byzantines in a legendary*/^KL^.O(^L(K. , allegedly a second century martyr, who was celebrated on 11 August with her three daughters , and ,

3Faith, Hope, and Love. The naming of the daughters for three major Christian virtues suggests that the Byzantines

Îbid.2Donald Attwater, The Golden Book of Eastern Saints

(Milwaukee; The Bruce Publishing Co., 1938), p. 40.^PG 114:497-514.

considered the virtues to be derivative from Churches were dedicated to and numerous icons depicther, seated on a throne, book in hand, with her three daughters around her.^ One icon shows her with the sun and moon, and an inscription stating "wisdom sleepeth not day and n i g h t . C h r i s t the King and Creator of All is frequently depicted holding a book, as is St. Katherine. The quotation appears to allude to the concept of Lady Wisdom as eternally vigilant, which I cited previously from Wisdom 7:10-11.

The Christians and the Gnostics from an earlier eraspecifically identified Mary Magdalene as a wisdom figure.

/She, too, was called TTcCViTovpo^ , and was considered an active disciple of Christ. One Byzantine text of a worship service honoring her begins with the wisdom text from Proverbs 8:17, to which I have referred, "I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me." I shall elaborate on Mary Magdalene in the chapter on New Testament women.

The Byzantines had several varieties of wisdom saints. Among these were the young active martyrs, the Royal saints, the Deaconess saints, and the ascetics.

The Martyr Wisdom SaintsThe martyr saints were generally depicted as young,

highly intelligent, well-educated, persuasive, and

^Helen Roeder, Saints and Their Attributes (Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1956), p. 249.

Îbid.

10

articulate evangelizers, on their own, and involved in a new society as disciples of Christ. They have broken with the old society and with their families, which are almost always depicted as powerful, high-status, local families. These women saints actively challenge the old pagan society, sometimes using Greek philosophy in argumentation, and they convert hundreds, if not thousands, of people. They are

rheroic, strong, and they, too, are •fTA‘V<roy>Ot . They pursue their goal— discipleship— at any cost, often at the cost of their lives. St. Katherine of Alexandria and others of their type will be discussed in Chapter IV.

Empresses As Wisdom Saints Some of the Empresses also fit this wisdom model.

Although a number of these women were reputed to be morally unvirtuous people— not the type of person one normally thinks of as a saint— they fulfilled many of the wisdom requirements that the Byzantines associated with Sainthood. And they were recognized as saints. Essentially, they too were part of Christ's army, defeating the forces of evil by serving actively as patrons, mediators, protectors, illuminators, and guides. Among these Royal saints were Helen, Constantine's mother, who was identified and ranked as, "Equal to the Apostles," Pulcheria, who was instrumental in the establishment of the cult of the Theotokos and was hailed by the Council of Chalcedon as "Guardian of the Faith,

11

peacemaker, religious right believer, a second St. Helene,"^ and Empress Irene, who was considered responsible for the return of the icons and hence the saints, to the Church, following the iconoclastic controversies. Eudokia, the wife of Theodosius II, was, along with the others, considered a great benefactress of the Church, responsible for the building of many churches, monasteries, and hospitals. These women, also, were all involved in the doctrinal controversies of their day as supporters of monasticism and the saints who were closely identified with monasticism.

Deaconesses As Wisdcan Figures And SaintsByzantine deaconesses were also wisdom figures.

Canonical sources, in fact, specifically characterized thedeaconess as a figure of the Holy Spirit. Justin Martyr andother early Church theologians had used an analysis whereinOld Testament figures or types predicted New Testamentfigures. This kind of analysis was widely used in the Churchand it included for contrast, antitypes, that is, opposites.For example, in one of their typologies, Christ is the

2antitype, the opposite of Adam, and Mary of Eve. The typology of the Church, as this kind of analysis was referred to, had been elaborated by St. Ignatius of Antioch and expanded in the third century Didascalia Apostolorum, and by

Âttwater, The Golden Book of Eastern Saints, p. 37.2Hans Von Campenhausen, The virgin Birth in the

Theology of the Ancient Church (Naperville, 111.; Alec R. Allenson, Inc., 1964), p. 35.

12

the fourth century Apostolic Constitutions, both canonical texts, to include the deaconess who was to be honored as the figure or the type of the Holy Spirit, The original typology characterized the "Bishop as the image of the Father and the deacon of Christ, while the presbyters figure the college of the apostles.

Basic to this analysis is a Platonic understanding ofthe world as a reflection of the perfect, eternal, idealworld and its eternal archetypes. The framework for thiskind of correspondence between the Old Testament and the New,and the understanding of the New Testament as the fulfillmentor the recapitulation of the Old, is rooted in the generalmetaphysical cosmic law which presumes that God's actions

2have meaning and purpose, according to Campenhausen.The deaconesses in this frame of reference

functionally reflect the Holy Spirit, and they help mediate, illuminate, guide, and conciliate. One of the most noted of the deaconess saints is Olympias, who headed a 250 women monastery in Constantinople during the fifth century,

3considered to be the golden age of deaconesses in the East. Olympias is noted, among other things, for her close

Roger Gryson, The Ministry of Women in the Early Church, trans. by Laporte and Hall (Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 1976), p. 41.

2Campenhausen, The Virgin Birth in the Theology of the Ancient Church, p. 36.

3Gryson, The Ministry of Women in the Early Church,p. 49.

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relationship with St. John Chrysostom, fifth century Bishop of Constantinople.

From a variety of brief references, it is possible to piece together a picture of what deaconesses did. They taught, served, or helped other women. And they were considered the top rank and authority among women. They ruled over monasteries although they were not necessarily monastics, and did not necessarily live in the monasteries. They cared for and visited sick women in their homes and in hospitals, converted pagans, looked after martyrs' relics, and helped unmarried pregnant women and others in need. One deaconess was asked by a bishop to do everything in her power on behalf of the true faith and peace in the Church, which suggests that she had great conciliatory and persuasive powers as well as influence. Wealthy deaconesses like Olympias also gave money, established monasteries, and helped the poor.^

While deaconesses received some kind of ordination,there is a long-lasting ecclesiastical-scholarly disputeabout exactly what that ordination meant, and whether it was

2equal to the ordination of male clerics. They did have a liturgical role, although it appears to have been limited to assisting in the baptism of women, to taking the sacrament of Holy Eucharist to the homes of sick women, and also to being

Îbid., p. 88f. Îbid., p. 117.

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present when male clergy might happen to have dealings with women.^

Deaconesses were commonplace in most of Byzantium bythe sixth century. The clergy attached to the great churchof Constantinople, for example, was limited by law in 535C.E. to 60 priests, 100 deacons, 40 deaconesses, 90 sub-

2deacons, 110 readers, and 25 singers.

Ascetic Wisdom SaintsThe fourth variety of Wisdom saints, the ascetics,

lived a life of withdrawal and disengagement from society./

These saints were also called 0 1 , and were viewed asmilitantly involved in the struggle against the forces of evil. Some of these saints are depicted as old monastics having withdrawn into the desert, mountains, or abandoned islands. These saints acquire insight and wisdom from suffering through social death. From this insight and wisdom, they gain a power of self-discovery which leads to knowledge of what is in the hearts of others. This ability, known as </tO|)^x.tk,ôv ' considered one of God's greatest gifts.^

They are illuminators, but they are secret saints known only to those who search them out or encounter them

Îbid., p. 61.Îbid., p. 71.3peter Brown

(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978), p. 88.

15

accidentally. They are also link figures in that the person with a pure soul Is the one who links the human world with the divine.^ In this capacity, they intercede and guide those who turn to them. Mother Mary of Egypt and St, Theoctiste of Lesbos fit this model of wisdom saints. I shall discuss St. Mary of Egypt more fully in Chapter V.

Background of the Wisdom Saints In order to better understand these women Wisdom

saints of Byzantium, it is necessary to provide a brief account of the features of the society that produced this type of saint. I shall discuss the theological and social background, the place of the ^ O i ^ O L > wise ones, in Byzantium, and then I shall make a brief comparison of these Eastern wisdom saints with Western women saints. One of the points of this analysis will be to show how, and why, women who were excluded from the priesthood nevertheless played an important role in the Eastern, and more specifically, Byzantine Church.

Theological BackgroundWomen were involved in important semi-apostolic

2roles in the New Testament and in the Early Church. TheGospel of John, which mirrored the actual situation in the

B e r n e r Jaeger, Two Rediscovered Works of Ancient Christian Literature; Gregory of Nyssa and Macarius (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1965), p. 25.

2Raymond E. Brown, "Women in the Fourth Gospel," Theological Studies 36 (December 1975):695.

16

late first century, and which subsequently shaped the theological world view of the Christian East, had women serving as the agents of belief and sowing the seed for others to harvest.^ Discipleship was of primary importance in this theological milieu, and not church order. Women were able to play a greater role as charismatic figures because the Holy Spirit was not totally circumscribed by the sacraments nor the ordained priesthood. There was, so to speak, an abundance of spirit in this theological community. The Life of Mother Mary of Egypt makes this point very well.

The Johannine and Eastern emphasis on discipleship, rather than Church order, is also reinforced by the theology of realized eschatology. In this framework, eternal life is not a reward in the future life, as it is in the eschatological theology of the West, but it is possible, now, for those who hear Jesus' word. The point is that there is not quite as much need for a mediating structure. As Raymond Brown puts it, "There need be no excessive longing for the blessing the Parousia would bring, for divine sonship and eternal life, the two greatest gifts are already in the possession of Christians through faith in Jesus and through Baptism and the Eucharist." The Church is necessary for both of these sacraments, but it matters more in the West, where

Îbid,2Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John,

p. CXVII.3Ibid., p. CXX,

17

there was an emphasis on separating out the Elect, than it does in the East, where the church is viewed as the beloved community of disciples.^

In the East, therefore, discipleship to Christ, often referred to as the way of wisdom, becomes the way ofwitnessing to Christ. While initially martyrdom is the way of the disciple, later it becomes elaborated as a process which entails a struggle to become Christ-like, and it is spoken of as j , deification.

The concept of the spirit, paraclete, or wisdom as the guide and helping agent in this quest, coming to the disciple and dwelling within him, and guiding him through the chain of virtues— simplicity, obedience, faith, hope, righteousness, service, humility, gentleness, joy, love, and prayer, is an integral part of the Eastern salvationtheology. It is especially "the way" for monastics, but alsofor ordinary Christians. In this schema, the grace of God cooperates with the moral effort of man and the spirit assists man according to the degree or measure of his faith. Man's freedom to decide and to act is basic to this theology. But because mankind is weak, although restored from Adam's fall through Christ's victories, help is still needed. Man does not inherit original sin through the sexual act and

Îbid., p. CIX.2Werner Jaeger, Two Rediscovered Works of Ancient

Christian Literature, p. 129.Îbid., p. 57.

18

conception, as is the case in Western theology which followed Tertullian's thinking. He can be restored to the divine image. The Holy Spirit, as such, however, is not the onlyguide. The Theotokos and the Saints all assist the disciple in this process. Even after their deaths, they intercede, guide, illuminate, and protect.

Theological Differences Between East and West Prend has said that among the major causes for the

different theological perspectives between the East and the West was the difference in the theology of righteous suffering, and of God as an avenger that grew out of the Jewish martyrdom typology. In the West, he says, the Palestinian Jewish traditions which had a pessimistic view of the moral capability of men and women and espoused suffering and sacrifice, were the basis for the martyr model of sainthood which continued to dominate North Africa, Rome, and the West.^

Along with this went the "Jewish concept of vengefultyranny, not from outsiders, but from within the race" andthe resulting concern that there was a "false congregation

2within Israel in opposition to the Community of the Elect." In the West, this translated into a perpetual concern with the purity and the rigor of the faith, a constant theological struggle to define the true church, and emphasis on

^W. H. C. Prend, Martyrs and Persecution in the Early Church (Oxford; Basil Blackwell, 1965), p. 60.

Îbid., p. 61.

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separating out the elect,^ Suffering and sacrifice became ways of showing one was of the elect.

The Doctrine of Original SinThe doctrine of original sin that developed in the

West following Tertullian and Augustine, reinforced thisconcern over identification of the Elect, and it also placedwomen in the position of being instruments of corruption.According to this line of thinking, the guilt of original sinis inherited by children through their parents, and

2specifically by the act of procreation.Although the sixth century Maximus the Confessor

\ < 'speaks, as do other Eastern writers, of TTpo^viKK\ —ancestral sin— he did not have in it the idea of transmission of sin through physical conception and birth. "Rather Maximus saw Adam not as the individual from whom all subsequent human beings sprang by lineal descent, but as the entire human race embodied in one concrete but universal

3person." The Eastern view was not inherited original sin through the fall of Adam, but death through the fall of Adam, which each man merited through his own sin.*

Îbid., p. 60.2Justo L. Gonzalez, A History of Christian Thought,

vol. 1 (Nashville and New York; Abingdon Press, 1970),p. 188.

3Jaroslav Pelikan, The Spirit of Eastern Christendom (600-1700), p. 182.

*Ibid.

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In the Augustinian framework, reproduction throughthe sexual act implies sin, and, consequently, women areconsidered an instrument of corruption.^ John of Damascushad a different perspective on the two sexes and the role andfunction of women. For him, the creation of woman was an actof God's mercy.

Knowing in his foreknowledge that man would fall into transgression and would submit to corruption, God created woman that she might be a help by his side, similar to him, a help who might after the transgression maintain, through generation, the perpetuation of the human race.2

Both the doctrine of original sin, as the result of female weakness, and the concept of the religious life as suffering and sacrifice were part of the theological pattern which distinguished the Western Church for many centuries. In that context, the theological status of women was more circumscribed. Wanen, hence, had no status within the church hierarchy. "Attempts, for example, to introduce the feminine diaconate in the West in the fourth and fifth centuries were

Onot successful." Women in the orders of widows and virgins were also restricted by the extreme emphasis on asceticism which was encouraged both by the emphasis on martyrdom and suffering and on the eschatological orientation of the West.

^John Meyendorff, Christ in Eastern Christian Thought (Crestwood, N.Y.: sFI Vladimir's Seminary Press,1975), p. 163.

2Prederich H. Chase, Jr., trans, St. John of Damascus' Writings, The Fathers of the Church, vol. 37 (New York: Fathers of the Church, Inc., 1958), p. 263.

^Gryson, The Ministry of Women in the Early Church,p. 110.

21

The vow of perpetual virginity became the central focus of religious life for wonen in the West until the Middle Ages, with the "ideal state of perfection essentially characterized by continence, prayer, and mortification."^

Another insight into the theological status of women in the East is given by Gregory of Nyssa, in a text. Contra Bunomius, "woman is the first witness of the resurrection . , . (so that) she may become for men their leader in the faith. . . ." This more positive theological view of women reflected the more active role that women played in the church and in society.

Legal and Political Status of Women Gryson has stated that there was an enormous

difference between East and West over the concept of women,3their image, and legal status. In Byzantium, women had

power both in the political and religious realm fromConstantine on. According to Diehl:

Under few governments have women had a better position, played a more important part, or had greater influence upon politics, and government, than under the Byzantine Empire , . , they lacked neither the outward and visible signs of authority nor the substance of it.4

Îbid., p. 103.2Henry Bettenson, ed. and trans.. The Later Christian

Fathers (London: Oxford University Press, 1970), p. 143.^Gryson, The Ministry of Women in the Early Church,

p. XV.^Charles Diehl, Byzantine Empresses (London: Alfred

A. Knopf, Inc., 1927; reprint ed., Elek Books, 1963), p. 6.

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St. John Chrsyostom's critical comments about thepower and influence that women had attained in his time givessome indication, that, in spite of the well-known Churchstrictures against women's public involvement as Churchleaders, this was hardly the case in Byzantium.

The divine law indeed has excluded women from the sanctuary, but they endeavor to thrust themselves into it; and since they can effect nothing of themselves, they do all through the agency of others; and they have become invested with so much power that they can appoint or eject priests at their own will. . . . But I have heard some say that they have obtained such a large privilege of free speech as even to rebuke the prelates of the Churches and censure them more severely than masters do their own domestics,1

The Wise Ones and Monasticism One of the reasons that women had power was because

the holy men and women were the clearly defined locus of the2holy in the Late Antique period. They were the ones who

were responsible for the perpetuation of the wisdom model of sainthood. It was they and not the bishops who were the

3arbiters of the Christian conscience. The Emperors and Empresses, other political leaders, even Bishops, had their own holy men and women advisors who were considered to have a special relationship with the supernatural,^


2Peter Brown, "A Dark-Age Crisis: Aspects of theIconoclastic Controversy," The English Historical Review 88 (January 1973): 5.

Îbid., p. 20.4Peter Brown, The Making of Late Antiquity, p. 21.

23/

These ^ o y oc, — wise ones— had a high status in Byzantium, as can be seen in The Menologion of Basil II, a ninth century text which lists the lives of the saints. In its introductory preface, which enumerates the contents of the Menologion, the wise ones are ranked first. One version of the Menologion preface considered characteristic reads " (T(Oy>w-V, TTôKVrWV

wise ones, the prophets, the martyrs, the apostles, all the righteous ones, the angels, archangels."^

The Empresses, especially, were said to have a special relationship with these holy men and women. The wise ones, who were monastics, initially, represented regional centers of the Empire, and their contest with Constantinople was over who should control the holy, as Peter Brown puts it. The great iconoclastic controversies of the eighth century, in which Empress Saint Irene paid a pivotal role, were part of this struggle. Local saints, supported by the monastics, were important figures in showing that divine power resided locally. Icons presented the saints doing their job.^

Comparison of Eastern with Western SaintsWhen it is possible and pertinent in this thesis, I

shall try to show how, within the Christian context, Greek

^H. Delehaye, ed., Synaxaires byzantines, menologes, typica (London: Variorum Reprints, 1977), p. 406.

2Peter Brown, The Making of Late Antiquity, p. 21. Îbid., p. 18.

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(Eastern or Byzantine) saints can be distinguished from saints of the Roman (Western or Latin) Church. Many of the saints under study were also recognized as saints by the Western Church. There was, to sane extent, a shared tradition until the eleventh century, although in fact, during the Western Dark Ages, little was known of the Greek Church.

A comparison of the women saints commemorated in the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom with those commemorated in the Ambrosian mass shows that very few of the same names were listed. The Byzantines commemorated the Theotokos; the Martyrs, Theda, Barbara, Kyriaki, Euphemia, Paraskevi, Katherine; and the Venerable Mothers, Pelagia, Theodosia, Anastasia, Euphraxia, Theodoula, Euphrosyne, and Mary of Egypt.^ The Ambrosian commemoration included Agnes,Caecilia, Felicitate, Perpétua, Anastasia, Agatha, Euphemia,

2Lucia, Justina, Sabina, Theda, and Pelagia.In the Medieval period, some Byzantine saints were

recognized in the West, Saints Mary of Egypt, Katherine and Barbara, for example, became extremely popular in the West during the Middle Ages. In the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries. Eastern monks fleeing from Arab conquests took to

1The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.2V. L. Kennedy, The Saints of the Canon of the Mass

(Rome; Pontificio Institute Di Archéologie Christiano, 1938), p. 62.

25

the West many of their traditions and texts.^ In many cases, the emergence of the Byzantine women saints in the West occurs after the Fourth Crusade and the sacking of Constantinople, when relics, icons, legends, and traditions were taken back to the crusaders' native lands.^

It is probably in the Theotokos, the Mother of God, that the clearest distinctions between the Eastern and Western type of woman saint can be seen. In the West, during this period, Mary is primarily referred to as St, Mary or the Blessed Virgin. Her virginity, purity, and chastity were the dominant mariological motifs. In the same period, in the East, Mary, because of her role as the bearer of the one who redeemed the world, is Theotokos and is regarded as a world savior, protector, and wisdom figure, as I have mentioned. These do, however, become important mariological themes in the West many centuries later. I shall expand on thesedifferences in the chapter on New Testament women.

Mary Magdalene is another saint where differences are found. In the Eastern tradition, Mary is not celebrated as the repentant sinful woman as she is in the Western tradition, "where Luke's sinful woman is falsely identified

P. McNulty and B. Hamilton, "Orientale Lumen et Magistsa Latinitas: Greek Influences on Western Monasticism, 900-1100," Le millénaire du Mont Athos, 963-1963 (Venezia: Editions De Chevetogne, 1963), p. 212.

2Deno J. Geanakoplos, Interaction of the "Sibling" Byzantine and Western Cultures (330-1600) (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1976), p. 15.

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with Mary of B e t h a n y . A l t h o u g h the Mary Magdalenetradition of the gnostics as the primary wisdom figure is not fully developed in the orthodox East, nevertheless, Mary Magdalene is given a special status. For her role as first resurrection witness and disciple of Christ, Mary Magdalene is titled " (yjOS ," "Equal to the Apostles," and St. Gregory of Nyssa identifies her as leader of men in thefaith.^

I shall mention other differences in the course of this thesis. The point of making these contrasts is toilluminate these differences, not to denigrate one variety of saint or the other.

ConclusionsThe Byzantines singled out certain women saints for

special honor. Among these were T h e d a , Mary Magdalene,Helen, Irene, and Photini (the Samaritan woman in the Gospel of John), who were all referred to as "Equal to the

3Apostles." T h e d a is also called "protomartyr and Apostle,"Katherine and Barbara are called Great Martyrs. One

/liturgical text refers to Katherine as <Tt)»ûjTdknrh'V » themost wise. Katherine and Irene are also identified as

^New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967 ed,, s.v. "Mary Magdalene," by J. E. Fallon.

2Henry Bettenson, The Later Christian Fathers, p. 143. Gregroy of Nyssa, c. Euncanius 12:1.

3H, Delehaye, ed., Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca, 2nd ed., 3 vol. (Bruxelles: Société des Bollandistes, 1923),p. 28.

27

all-wise, and Mary, Mother of God, is almost always called the , All-Holy, or the tbL t holier thanall, Theotokos.

In addition to these titles used in liturgical texts, numerous shrines, churches, monasteries, and icons remain as witnesses to the importance of these saints. The Theotokos, undoubtedly, was the favorite. As early as the fourth century, the Empress Saint Pulcheria had built and dedicated three churches to her in Constantinople.^ In the fourth century, St. Irene's relics were brought to Constantinople,where she had two churches dedicated to her and was highly

2venerated. St. Mary Magdalene's relics were also brought to3Constantinople in the ninth century by Emperor Leo the Wise.

And in that same period, St. Katherine was honored by the monks at Mt. Sinai who dedicated their monastery church, built in the sixth century, to her. This church had previously been dedicated to the Theotokos.^ Mother Mary of Egypt was also widely known and was mentioned in the proceedings of the Second Council at Nicea.

Âttwater, The Golden Book of Eastern Saints, p. 40.2Bibliotheca Sanctorum, 1966 ed., s.v. "Irene."3H. Delehaye, ed., Propylaeum Ad Acta Sanctorum

Novembris Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae e codices" (Bruxelles; Société Des Bollandistes, 1902), col. 75. Hereinafter referred to as Synaxarium.

^Joan Mary Braun, "St. Catherine's Monastery Church, Mount Sinai, Literary Sources from the 4th Century through the 19th Centuries," (Ph.D. dissertation. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Microfilm, 1973) , p. 225.

CHAPTER II

SOURCES FOR THE STUDY OF SAINTS

In this chapter, I will discuss the source material used in this study of women wisdom saints, I will briefly review the development of the idea of martyrdom and sainthood, identify and discuss some of the liturgical and hagiographie material, and explain how sainthood is bestowed.

The period under discussion, 500 to 900 C.E., is of special importance for understanding the Byzantine (Eastern or Greek Orthodox) theological approach. The Synaxaria, which contain the lives of saints and their feast days, and the Menaia, which contain the worship services for the feast days, were synthesized and codified during that time, combining diverse strands of tradition and forms of worship. This synthesizing process occurred in all church centers, but Jerusalem, because it was the Holy Land, and then Constantinople, because it was the Eastern capital, were most influential in this process.

Close scrutiny of the lives of the saints, the liturgical texts, and other writings is important for an understanding of the Theotokos and the women saints because there was little specific dogmatic definition in the East of sainthood or of the Theotokos. In the typical style of the

28

29

East, issues that were not strictly Christological or Trinitarian were not doctrinally elaborated.

SainthoodThe development of the idea of sainthood in the

Christian Church has been written about elsewhere and at length. The terra r used in the Septuagint, meant"to make holy," and referred to all those things and peopleset aside or consecrated to God.^ In the New Testament

o ( fperiod and following it, the terms CtA.and refer to God, Jesus, those who followChrist, the commandments, gospels, church buildings, and

2other church artifacts.By the second century, the term begins to be applied

to a smaller category of people, although how narrow or wide that circle is, it is difficult to say. Retrospectively, it is applied to all who witness to Christ, including Old Testament figures.^ They are the martyrs, the witnesses. It is not always clear when and how early this terra is applied to blood martyrs— those who lose their lives for the faith. Theda, for example, who is referred to as "protomartyr,"

^G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1936).

. (Athens, 1966), vol. 1, p. 264.8 vols3Ibid., p. 269.

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died a natural death in her nineties after spending a lifetime witnessing to Christ,^

By the middle of the second century, the story of the martyrdom of Polycarp becomes the standard model for the martyr literature. Cults of martyrs had begun to form in this century, somewhat spontaneously. The saint is recognized as such by the people, and a cult is formed. The earliest celebrations were local functions held on the anniversary of the day of the martyr's death— taking place around the martyr's tomb. They consisted of a spoken panegyric, the story of the martyr's life, and a recounting of some of his or her, miracles.

In the past, there was much scholarly discussion about whether martyrdom was a Christian or Jewish concept. Developing the latter hypothesis, Frend claims that II Macabbees 6-8, and Daniel 11:33 are the models for the type and he lists some of the features that are carried over into Christian martyr typology. They are that: (1) nodeviations from the prescription of Torah were permissible, (2) martyrs are regarded as representatives of the people of Israel and persecution of the Jews will cease and reconciliation will follow the martyrs' sacrifice, (3) they are eschatological agents for what is to come and God will

^Synaxarium; 75.

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wreck vengeance on their tormentors, and finally, (4) the martyrs' sacrifice is willingly done.^ Almost all the acts of the Christian martyrs fit these specifications quite well.

The panegyrics for the martyrs had evolved out of sophistic forms. They were further developed by the Cappadocians and other church writers, and became highly stylized.^ In addition to glorifying, the panegyrics provided some basic biographical information about the saint being honored.

After Constantine inaugurated a vast program of church building throughout the Empire in an attempt to provide unity, the celebrations for saints were held in churches around the altar. Justinian, like Constantine, encouraged church building to combat heresy and paganism and built churches in over 150 cities. Along with this went more standardization of worship services and texts.

Worship ServicesJustinian, in an attempt to standardize worship

practice, had decreed in 528 that there be three canonical„ ^ / offices , — matins, pe<ro\/Uf<Tt K O V — midnight office,

^W. H. C. Prend, Martyrs and Persecution in the Early Church, p. 45.

2H. Delehaye, Les passions des martyrs et les genres littéraires (Bruxelles! Société des Bollandistes, 1976), p. 134.

^Geanakoplos, Interaction of the "Sibling" Byzantine and Western Cultures, p. 128.

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and %<rTn9pC"V0S — vespers.^ These were primarily monasticoffices; the cathedral and monastic rites were separate untilthe ninth century, when they were merged, with the monasticpredominating.

Celebrations commemorating the saints took place forseveral centuries, but they were not formalized until the6th Ecumenical Council in 633, when the theology is more orless spelled out.^ The saints were briefly commemoratedduring the Liturgy, but the major services for the saintswere as part of the office of the day.

On these special feast days honoring the saints,3Christians were forbidden to attend the circus or mimes,

which were extremely popular pastimes. This may account for the services' very dramatic form— almost a liturgical drama. Seasonal hymns, and canons were added to the scriptural reading and formed a cycle of services.^ The services were not staged, but were a sort of oratorio, with processions, chanting, and gesturing by the beautifully-robed priest in a

5two-way dialogue with two choirs, according to Carpenter. Anew poetic musical form called a kontakion.

^M. Carpenter, Kontakia of Romanos, Byzantine Melodist (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1970),p. XVI.

Îbid.Îbid., p. XXII.^Mother Mary and Archimandrite Kallistos Ware, The

Lenten Triodion, p. 42.^Carpenter, Kontakia of Romanos Byzantine Melodist,

p. XXI.

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whose origins were attributed to St. Ephraim of Syria, had developed between the fifth and seventh centuries. Romanos the Melodist became one of the major Byzantine writers of these kontakia, which were sort of homily-hymns or metrical sermons composed and sung during these all night vigils.^

Hagiographie and Liturgical TextsAnyone dealing with hagiographie and liturgical

texts is aware of the complexities and the uncertaintiesinvolved in knowing when, where, and by whom they werewritten and then compiled into collections. This has beenespecially true in the East where there was never onestandardized or authenticated version of the lives of thesaints or of thei^K oÔu^LdH, » the worship services. Wareclaims that even today there is no one fully critical editionof the Menaia, the twelve monthly service books used in

2Orthodox churches since the Byzantine period. Manuscripts were scattered across the monasteries. This dispersion of texts, which hampered research on hagiography, reflects the more diffuse organization and authority of the Eastern churches.

The Menaia contain the celebrations of the feasts and include a brief biography of the saints. The Festal Menaion contain the services for the twelve major feasts of the

Îbid,2Mother Mary and Archimandrite Kallistos Ware, ed.

and trans., The Festal Menaion (London: Faber and Faber,1969) , p. 12.

34

church, and The Lenten Triodion contains those for the Lenten feasts beginning twenty-one days before Lent and going through Easter. The Pentekostarion contains services for the fifty days following Easter.

The Hymnographers Some of the identified writers of the Triodion are

the great theologians of that era, John of Damascus, 680-749; Andrew of Crete, 666-740; Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, who died in 638; Kosmas of Mauima, 685-750; Stephen the Sabaite, the nephew of John of Damascus, 725-807; and others. According to Ware, "almost all the hymnographers . . . are linked with Syria or Palestine, and most of them are associated more especially with the Lavra of St. Sabas outside Jerusalem.

Only one woman is noted as being a hymnographer, the ninth century poetess and nun Kassia or Kassiani, who composed an extremely popular hymn, still sung today, during Holy Wednesday matins. This service commemorates theunnamed woman who was a sinner and who annointed Christ's feet. She is not designated as Mary Magdalene. Kassia wrote many other hymns.

^Mother Mary and Archimandrite Kallistos Ware, The Lenten Triodion, p. 41.

Îbid., pp. 42, 540.

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Ware's and Mother Mary's translations into English of The Festal Menaion in 1969 and The Lenten Triodion in 1978 have been extremely useful to me in the writing of this thesis. These translations are of the current service books in use and of certain other eighteenth and nineteenth century menaia. While much of the material in these volumes is later than the period which especially concerns me, some of them are specifically attributed to writers of that period. Another whole stratum of material is attributed to the ninth century and the rest of the material is from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries.^

The MenologiaThe menologia were collections of the lives of the

saints, listed according to the church calendar. One of themost widely known Byzantine menologia was that of Simeon

2Metaphrastes, which is a collection of 150 lives of saints taken from even earlier collections. The ninth century menologion of the Studite monastery in Constantinople is one of its sources. The material that Simeon Metaphrastes used dates back to earlier periods. The word "metaphrastes" refers to his having reworked this material. A metaphrase is a more literal translation than a paraphrase, but it also implies reworking. One of the problems in identifying

Îbid., pp. 41-42.2Previously cited on page 3.

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Metaphrastes's work was the common use of the name Metaphrastes by Byzantine writers. Because the priority in Byzantine theology was not in being original, but in passing on the true original thoughts of the Greek Fathers, much writing and art are attributed to previous well-known figures,^ Scholars claim that Simeon's work is recognizable by its high literary quality. And his contemporaries apparently regarded his writing highly, as his name Simeon the Logothete suggests.

Simeon's Menologion is included in Migne's Patrologia Graeca, volumes 114, 115, and 116, and is edited by Msgr. Maiou. Although Malou's collection has been criticized as having some errors, it still stands as the most readily available and canprehensive source.

I have gone through this Menologion, noted all the women saints that are listed, and made up Table 1, which is in the Appendix. A few of the lives of these saints are attributed to specific writers, for example. The Life of Mother Mary of Egypt is attributed to Sophronius, Bishop of Jerusalem. But others are not attributed.

Some of these texts are early texts, but according to Delehaye's six-point system of classification, very few of them are from his top two categories, that is, either official written reports or accounts of reliable

^This is another illustration of Platonic thinking. The works are reflections of eternal archetypes.

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eyewitnesses.^ According to Delehaye, many of SimeonMetaphrastes's texts were either historical romances about areal person or imaginative romances which have absolutely nohistorical basis and where the hero is not a real person.These texts fall into his fourth and fifth categories. Thethird category includes acts whose principal source is awritten document belonging to one of the first twocategories. This lack of knowledge about the saints* livesis not an unusual state of affairs. Most of the earlymenologies and martyrologies were simply listings of nameswithout other identifying information. Very few authentic or

2authenticated lives of saints have survived.

The Bollandistes of Brussels H. Delehaye, a member of the Society of Bollandistes

of Brussels, was the monumental compiler and researcher in the field of Byzantine texts in this century. The Society had been involved with the collection of saints' lives since the seventeenth century. Delehaye edited the Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, a twelfth or thirteenth century synaxarium which contains most of the feast days of the saints of the Eastern Church with a brief biography of each. It, too, is a copy of earlier manuscript collections

H, Delehaye, The Legends of the Saints, trans. Donald Attwater (New York; Fordham University Press, 1962), p. 89.

Îbid., p. 91.^Previously cited.

38

which were in turn the consolidation and reworking of earlier materials. Delehaye also edited two other volumes of interest to students of Byzantine saints, the Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca^, which lists all the published texts of the Greek saints' lives, where they are located, and givesthe title and first line of the text. The Bibliographie des

2acolouthes greques, published in 1926 by Delehaye and reissued in 1957, does the same for the various services of the saints' feast days.

The lives in the Greek Menaia, currently in use by Orthodox churches, are identical, or similar, to the material in the Synaxarium. Other sources I have found useful in my research have been included in a volume entitled Synaxaires byzantines, menologes, typica, a collection of journal articles from the Analecta Bollandiana, the journal of the Société Des Bollandistes.

Numerous books written by Delehaye have also provided useful background information, and I have cited them when used.

Delehaye has said that around the ninth century, in order to fill out the church calendar, many saints were added

Francois Halkin, ed., Bibliotheca Hagiographica Graeca, 3 vols. (Bruxelles; Société des Bollandistes, 1957). A reissue of Delehaye's 1923 edition.

^Louis Petit, ed., Bibliographie des acolouthes greques (Bruxelles; Société des Bollandistes, 1926).

^H, Delehaye, Synaxaires byzantines, menologes, typica. Previously cited.

39

that had not been previously celebrated in the Greek church. Some of these saints were from the Church of Rome. The island of Cyprus provided a long list of Bishops and another famous list of seventy apostles attributed to St. Dorothy of Tyre, and also many martyrs listed in Eusebius, The Martyrs of Palestine, were added,^ Because there were fewer women saints, the job of sorting out the more noteworthy ones is easier. But the point has to be made that no one list or compilation, synaxarion, or menaion was comprehensive in the period about which I am writing.

The material that Delehaye edited is from the Constantinopolitan era of dominance, which was, as I have said, a time of consolidation and reworking of old materials. Undoubtedly, many saints from previous periods and other regions that had strong local cults have not been included. The material that the Studite monks and others reworked was essentially Syrio-Palestinian.

Recognition of Saints The discussion above suggests that the lives of the

saints were created by monastic writers and editors. There is some truth to this. The part played by the faithful people of the time, and by others that followed, however, cannot be overlooked. Because they believed in saints, people were, in a sense, as Delehaye put it, "the anonymous

^H. Delehaye, Legends of the Saints, p. 40.

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creators,"^ People recognized others as saints, and even when the Church and Empire consciously tried to consolidate their power by fighting against icons, and hence, the monks and saints, they were not successful in doing so until the regional centers of the Church had collapsed. Constantinople, to some extent, did succeed in establishing fewer and more powerful symbols to substitute for the saints. The cross, the church building, and the Liturgy took on more and more significance. And the saints' relics were exported to Constantinople, taking their power away from the local cities which the saints had protected and guarded for centuries.

In the East, the recognition of saxSUtzopUije churchwas traditionally referred to as being TOS’# that

2is, it occurred without any action of the church hierarchy. Canon 6 of the Council of Carthage and Number 63 of the Council of Trullo had specifically stipulated that, "The responsibility for recognizing the saints has rested firmly

3with the faithful— clergy and laity." Essentially, the people, and the local clergy recognize the saint as being such. This has been the guiding principle of the Greek Church for centuries.

Îbid., p. 41.^Konstantine, Metropolitan of Serron, " TjepuTw-v- 54ytu>'v'1f.k'T5-bp0oc/ofu)27 (1956) ;613. ‘ ^ A I

Îbid.

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A letter written to the Patriarch of Romania by Photios II, Ecumenical Patriarch, 1929-36, describes the process in a slightly more detailed way. It reads as follows:

In accordance with our tradition, the following general principles are followed in the recognition and placing among the choir of Saints of the Church of a person glorified by God. First, the verification of the elements of holiness must be made by a Synod composed of Archbishops, bishops, and other official clergy of the particular church [autocephalous Church of the Orthodox Family.] . . .1

The key words from an Eastern perspective are "recognition" and "person glorified by God." Saints are not made, beatified, nor canonized. God glorifies a person and that glorification is recognized by the faithful people and clergy. Then the recognition is verified by the Synod. In fact, there are many saints who have never been verified by a Synod. And there are secret saints, known only to God.

The process of verification of the elements of holiness has not involved a long juridical procedure as it has in the West, where since the eleventh century a detailed process was elaborated. In 1634, Pope Urban VIII further stipulated the procedures for beatification and canonizationin greater detail, and the Pope was given ultimate authority

2as the final judge. These different procedures reflect, as

^George J. Tsoumas, "On the Récognition of Saints," The Hellenic Chronicle, (Boston, 20 December 1979), p. 10.

2The candidate must be first proved to be heroic, that is, to possess the three big virtues of faith, hope, and charity, and the cardinal virtures of prudence, justice.

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I have earlier stated, the different church structures, operating styles, dogmatic and theological perspectives, as well as different cultural, political, and geographical situations in the East and the West,

In this chapter, I have provided a brief background for the discussion of the Theotokos and the women saints that is included in the following chapters. I have reviewed the development of the concepts of martyrdom and sainthood, and provided an explanation of the texts used in the worship services honoring the saints, and the sources of the Lives of the Saints. By necessity, this exposition has been sketchy, since modern scholarship has not, and may never be able to provide more concrete information. I have also briefly presented the process of recognition of the Saints. The Theotokos and the Saints that I shall discuss in the following chapters became widely revered. The decision reached at the Second Council at Nicea had prescribed that while the Theotokos and the Saints could be venerated, they could not be worshipped, for worship— XCHa H X I k X

— is reserved for God alone.

fortitude, and temperance. If he or she is judged heroic, then he or she is declared venerable. Two miracles are then required for beatification, which means that the person is blessed and venerated on a local level. Two more miracles are required before the person is ultimately declared a saint.

^John Meyendorff, Christ in Eastern Christian Thought, p. 183.

CHAPTER III

NEW TESTAMENT WISDOM SAINTS

In this chapter I shall show how the concept of wisdom is manifested in the two major women of the New Testament, Mary, the Theotokos, and Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene is of primary importance in understanding the Byzantine woman saint, in that she was the original model of the wise woman disciple of Christ. Jesus' mother, however, as depicted in the New Testament, plays a minor role and she does not appear to have had a cult following or to have been a topic of much theological speculation until the fourth century. Although she was liturgically identified as Theotokos, she was not officially given that title until the Third Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431 C.E.^ In sane respects, it is possible to say that the identification of Mary Magdalene as a wisdom figure is transferred to the Theotokos.

In the following pages, I shall review the various traditions with respect to Mary Magdalene, and then show how the services honoring the Theotokos show her to be a wisdom

The title A * ^ * - V ~ i ^ P ^ ^ y Q S (Ever-Virgin) was given Mary at the Fifth Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in 554 C.E. Mary has been also referred to as the — All-Holy, but this was never the subject of dogmatic definition.

43

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figure. I shall conclude by a brief discussion of how the Eastern and Western traditions regarded the Theotokos,

Mary MagdaleneThe recently discovered gnostic material at Nag

Hammadi gives considerably more information about how MaryMagdalene was regarded in the early periods of the Churchthan was previously known to us,^ Some of the gnostics

2revered Mary Magdalene as a symbol of wisdom, a woman who knew all, whom Jesus loved more than the others, and who was one of the three apostles given a "secret teaching by J e s u s . O n e text indicates that there was a rivalry between Peter and Mary Magdalene. Mary claimed that "Peter makes me hesitate; I am afraid of him because he hates the female r a c e . O t h e r gnostic documents, the Gospel of Thomas, for example, have Jesus claiming that "Mary must become male in order to become a 'living spirit, resembling you males. For every woman who will make herself male will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.'"®

^J. M. Robinson, The Nag Hammadi Library (New York; Harper and Row, 1977). Hereafter cited as NHL.

2Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels, p. 64.^Dialogue of the Savior 139:12-13 in NHL 473.^Gospel of Philip 63:32-64,5 in NHL 138.®Pistis Sophia 36:71, The Gnostic Gospels, p. 65. ®The Gospel of Thomas 32:10-11 in NHL 118.

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These views of Mary Magdalene, whether or not they were authentic Early Christian tradition, were excluded from the church. Mary Magdalene, however, was treated differently in the Eastern and Western Christian traditions.

The Eastern Mary MagdaleneIn the East, Mary Magdalene was honored as the first

witness to the resurrection,^ as the Gospel of John depicted her, and she was one of the few saints identified as "Equal to the Apostles." She was considered to be the woman cured of seven demons in the Gospel of Luke, who became Jesus' beloved friend. One Eastern liturgical text honoring MaryMagdalene begins with the line, "Those that love me, I love;

2those who follow me shall find grace and glory," and suggests an understanding that Mary Magdalene was one of those glorified by Christ.

St. Gregory of Nyssa, commenting on Christ's words toMary Magdalene, also stresses her role as first eyewitnessand disciple, and gives it major significance.

And through the agency of this woman he proclaims this good news, not only to those disciples but also to all those who up to this present time have become disciples of the word. . , . they (the words) are the good news of our reconciliation to God. For what happened in the human nature of Christ is a boon shared by all men who believe. . . . The fact that this boon was revealed by the agency of a woman is itself also consonant with the interpretation we have given. . . . By her [Ev ^ disobedience she led the rebellion from God and this is

^Synaxarium;833-5.2 /Louis Petit, Bibliographie des acolouthes greques,

p. 53.

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why woman is the first witness of the resurrection, so that she [Mary Magdalene] may retrieve, by faith in the resurrection, the catastrophe which resulted from her transgression . . . so, by conveying to the disciplesthe words of him who put to death the apostate serpent, she may become for men their leader in the faith through which the first pronouncement of death is rightly annulled.!

Gregory is using a reverse typology in this commentary onreconciliation. Eve led men away from God; Mary Magdalene,another woman, leads men back to God. Mary Magdalene is thegood new Eve. This new Eve motif comes more and more to beidentified with Mary, the Theotokos. According toCampenhausen, the view that the women who go to the grave are

2contrasted with Eve lasts into the fifth century.Mary Magdalene is listed in the Synaxarium

Constantinopolitanae as being celebrated on July 22. In the East, she is also honored as one of the three myrrh-bearing women on the first Sunday after Pentecost. But her more prominent place in the Church calendar is during the services of Holy Saturday, where she plays a major part in the Johannine recital of Jesus' burial and resurrection.

According to the Synaxarium account. Emperor Leo the Wise transported her body to Constantinople and placed it in the Chapel of Lazarus in the ninth century. Mary Magdalene had gone to Ephesus to live, to be with the Beloved Disciple and Mary, Jesus' Mother. When she died, she had been buried near a cave where seven young martyrs had hidden.

^Bettenson, The Later Christian Fathers, p. 143.^Campenhausen, The Virgin Birth in the Theology of

the Ancient Church, p. 45.

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The Western Mary MagdaleneThe Western tradition combined the three Marys of the

New Testament, Mary, the repentant harlot; Mary of Bethany;and Mary, sister of Lazarus and Martha, They are celebratedon one day, as one person who combines all the features ofthe three Marys,^ It is fair to say, however, that Westerndevelopment of Mary Magdalene emphasized the repentantsinner-harlot motif, although, as Raymond Brown points out,Mary Magdalene is the only woman besides the mother of Jesusto have the creed recited on her feast day, precisely becauseshe was considered an apostle. And the ninth century Life ofMary Magdalene by Rabanus Maurus used the word apostle in

2describing Mary.The treatment of Mary Magdalene by St. Anselm in his

eleventh century prayer-poem to Mary Madgalene indicates this merging of the three Marys into one, with the emphasis on the repentant harlot identification. But he makes no reference to her as the first resurrection witness. Possibly this is because the identification of Peter in that capacity is one of the arguments made by Western theologians for Peter's primacy. Anselm's Mary Magdalene is "preeminently the lover.

^New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967 ed., s.v. "Mary Magdalene," by J. E. Fallon.

2Raymond Brown, The Community of the Beloved Disciple (New York: Paulist Press, 1979), p. 189.

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the one forgiven and therefore loving much,"^ Quoting the Lucan text, Anselm says about Mary Magdalene: "Many sinsforgiven, because she loved much," and adds "I do not recall your sins as a reproach, but as a reassurance, so that I do not despair." in the same prayer, Anselm also identified Mary as Lazarus and Martha's sister, "How he excused you, when your sister complained."^ Anselm ascribes the motive for Jesus speaking to Mary following the resurrection. "For love's sake he cannot bear her grief for long or go on hiding himself."* He does not make a theological point that she was the first witness of the resurrected Christ. Anselm appears to be more concerned about the personal relationship.

In describing Mary Magdalene's anxiety in not beingable to find Jesus, Anselm introduces a sexual note. Here hemay simply be repeating an old interpretation since thegnostic literature also makes sexual innuendos about Jesusand Mary Magdalene.

. . . and see how she burns with anxiety desiring you, searching all round, questioning, and what she longs for is nowhere found. Nothing she sees can satisfy her since you, whom alone she would behold, she sees not.5

Sister Benedicts Ward, ed. and trans.. The Prayers and Meditations of St. Anselm (London: The Chaucer Press, 1973; reprint edT, Middlesex, Eng.: Penquin Books, 1973),p. 201.

Îbid., p. 204 3lbid., p. 205.*Ibid.Îbid., p. 204.

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The highly emotional, almost erotic note is a result of theinfluence of the Song of Solomon, which is about a woman insearch of the man for whom her soul longs. This workinfluenced Western ascetic, mystical theology enormously,ând began to be interpreted mariologically. From thisinfluence emerged the major development of Mary, mother ofJesus, and even St. Katherine, and other Saints andmonastics, as the bride of Christ.

Anselm's personal style, stressing the humanity ofJesus, Mary, Mary Magdalene, and himself, also becomespopular in Western medieval theological writing. It is boththis personal style and a differing theological perspectivewhich distinguishes Western thinking frcan Eastern. Losskyclaims that the West seeks to know God by starting from mancreated in his image and Eastern thinking attempts to definethe true nature of man by starting from the idea of God in

2whose image man has been created. These factors, as much as dogmatic differences, distinguish the Western from the Eastern approach.

Mary, the Theotokos The tradition of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is one

that also developed in different ways in the East and the West after the fourth century. Until then, there was

^Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John,p. 1010.

2Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church (London: James Clark and Co., 1957), p. 115.

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relatively little theorizing about Mary. According to tradition, she was a virgin. But as Campenhausen puts it, the East acknowledged "the eternal virginity of the Mother of God, but it had never been an independent theme of theological reflection and argument."^ The virgin birth, he says, was regarded as a sign of Jesus* full divinity. He could perform whatever miracles necessary. In the West, however, Mary's virginity and her chastity, and then her sinlessness, become major points of dogmatic and theological discussion. According to Dvornik, the reason that Eastern theologians were not as interested in this whole virginity discussion was because of their lack of interest in the nature of original sin. In the West, however, the virgin birth comes to be "the means of guarding Christ himself from all defilement by original sin."* Ambrose had been the one to make the connection between the question of the virgin birth, says Campenhausen, and the problem of original sin.^ Augustine picked it up and it became the topic of much Western speculation which ultimately led to the doctrine that Mary was sinless and immaculately conceived.

^Campenhausen, The Virgin Birth in the Theology of the Ancient Church, p. 76.

Îbid., p. 70.^Francis Dvornik, "The Byzantine Church and the

Immaculate Conception," Photian and Byzantine Ecclesiastical Studies (London: Variorum Reprints, 1974), p. 91.

*Campenhausen, The virgin Birth in the Theology of the Ancient Church, p. 78.

Îbid., p. 80.

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The Byzantine TheotokosThe most prominent discursive and liturgical writing

of the Byzantine period, however, was dominated by the ideaof the Theotokos, the Mother of God. This was essentially aChristological approach. Mary's status is dependent on herrelationship to her son. This is the starting point of theEastern thinking on Mary. She is what she is because of herson. The services that honor her make this clear. BecauseJesus is truly man and truly God, Mary is truly woman andalmost truly God. One is tempted to say that Mary, asTheotokos, becomes the feminine aspect of divinity, butbesides being a heretical statement, it goes beyond what isever articulated about her. Nevertheless, hymns in her honoruse many divine metaphors in describing her.

Hail, O Theotokos, deliverance from the curse of Adam. Hail, holy Mother of God Hail Lamp;Hail Throne Hail, Ladder and Gate Hail, Divine Chariot Hail, swift Cloud,Hail Temple;Hail Vessel of God,Hail mountain.Hail Tabernacle and Table Hail, thou release of Eve.!

What emerges from a close reading of the servicesthat honor the Theotokos is that the Theotokos is viewed inthe cosmic sense, having almost God-like status. Andalthough Orthodox theologians claim there is a distinction

^Mother Mary and Archimandrite Ware, The FestalMenaion, p. 175.

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between the Theotokos and the concept of Heavenly widsom;^ nevertheless, the Theotokos, as depicted in the services, has all the wisdcm functions attributed to her.

The Theotokos's Wisdom FunctionsLike Old Testament Wisdom and Jesus, she too has a

divine teaching function and is an illuminator.She is a treasury of wisdom and a never failing fountain of grace. . .she let fall drops of knowledge upon us, . . she who has made the light of grace shine forth, has illumined all men and brought them t o g e t h e r .2

She also plays a part in creation. "She who is truly the Mother of Life and the source of Life," "She who bore the cause of life," "The origin of Life and holder of God," "For thou art the Mother of Christ, our God, and the Creator of all."3

While the Theotokos is not explicitly identified as being divine as are Wisdom and Jesus, she has God-like status. The Theotokos is "a mortal woman and at the same time, beyond and above nature, the Mother of God," "The spiritual powers receive her with the honors due to God . . .," she has been "dedicated in the temple of God to be prepared as a divine dwelling-place for His coming," and

Êrnest Benz, The Eastern Orthodox Church (Garden City: Anchor Books, 1963), p. 63.

2Mother Mary and Archimandrite Ware, The Festal Menaion, p. 175.

Îbid., pp. 500, 511, 510.

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"She is more honored than the creation, and more holy than the cherubim and all the angels. . . . She is the salvation of the world.

Like Old Testament Wisdom and Jesus, the Theotokosalso protects. The Kontakion of the feast of theAnnunciation, especially, presents her in this light.

To Thee our leader in battle and defender O, Theotokos, we thy city, delivered from calamity. Offer hymns of victory and Thanksgiving.Since thou art invincible in power.Set us free from every peril.That we may cry out to thee.Hail Bride, without Bridegroom.2

And still another hymn expands on this same protectress-mediator theme.

Watch over thy city, all Pure Mother of God.For by thee she reigns in faith.By thee she is made strong.By thee she is victorious, putting to flight temptation,despoiling the enemy and ruling her subjects.3

The Theotokos is also a link person. "The source ofLife is laid in the tomb, and the tomb itself becomes aladder to heaven."* In the writings of Gregory of Nyssa, thesoul of the pure man or woman is what links the divine andhuman world. The quality of the soul is important in the

Îbid., pp. 515-6, 509, 175, 504, 509.2Mother Mary and Archimandrite Ware, The Lenten

Triodion, p. 422.Îbid., p. 414.*Mother Mary and Archimandrite Ware, The Festal

Menaion, p. 506.

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Q e i A J f L S — deification process, which is the process ofperfection of the true Christian. In this neo-platonictheological framework, virginity is seen as a quality of thesoul, not as a condition of the body.^ This may account forthe lack of Eastern speculation on Mary's virginity.

The Theotokos's virginity is mentioned in theseservices, but it appears primarily as a discussion about theparadoxical nature of the Christ being both God and man.

O condescension past all speech 1 O strange and wondruous birth IHow does the Virgin carry thee as a child in her arms, for Thou art her creator and her Godl2

There are allusions also to the paradox of theTheotokos being both virgin and mother.

Virginity is alien to motherhood, and childbearing is a thing strange to virgins: Yet in thee, O Theotokos, both are to be found . . . .3

The worship texts, moreover, appear to play on this duality,directing the female participants at the services to identifywith the two feminine aspects of the Theotokos.Ye virgins, with piety hasten to the Virgin And ye mothers to the Mother;Together let us honour the Child born to Joachim and AnnaAs a blameless sanctuaryAs the Mother that bore ChristAs a holy tree bringing first fruit to G o d . 4

^Jaeger, Two Rediscovered Works of Ancient Christian Literature, p. 25.


Îbid., p. 509.*Ibid., p. 180.

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Still another important theme that emerges from theseservices honoring the Theotokos is that she was a willingparticipant in the divine plan of Salvation, Without Mary'sagreement, the whole plan of salvation would not have worked.This is important because in the Eastern theologicalperspective, sin is a result of a failure of the will, and isnot a result of man's nature.^

And so accepting his salutation with faith She conceived Thee, the pre-eternal God, "And she cried aloud. Let it be unto me according to thy word; and I shall bear Him that is without flesh, who shall borrow flesh from me, that through this mingling He may lead man up unto his ancient glory, for He alone has power so to do.2

Finally, like Wisdom and Jesus, the Theotokos also returns to God. She is assumed into Heaven. Present at the time of her dorraition are the apostles, "James, the first bishop and brother of the Lord was there, and so was Peter, the honored leader and chief of the theologians, and the whole sacred fellowship of the apostles." The point is made in the text that it is right that these eyewitnesses to Jesus' ascension should be present at His Mother's dormition, and her bodily translation into Heaven.

Mary's bodily ascension into Heaven was considered so radical when it appeared in the West in the fifth century, it

^Jaeger, Two Rediscovered Works of Ancient Christian Literature, p. 57.


Îbid., p. 511.

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was condemned as heresy by the Roman Pope.^ However, that was not the case for long. The Mary tradition, which is presented in the worship services, was derived from the Protevangelium of James, and it was picked up and became the basis for much later Western theologizing about Mary. In the East, this kind of glorification of the Theotokos, however, never became dogma, "but remained as an inner Tradition of the Church."^

Feasts of the Mother of God Until the fourth century, there was only one Feast

honoring the Theotokos. Following the Council of Ephesus, which declared that Mary was truly and verily Theotokos, four more feasts were added.

Of the twelve Great Feasts of the Eastern Churches which make up The Festal Menaion, five are referred to as

/— feasts of the Mother of God.* These five

services are: (1) the Birth of the Theotokos, on September 8; (2) the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple, on November 21; (3) The Meeting of our Lord, on February 2;

Rosemary Radford Ruether, New Woman/New Earth, Women in Christianity (New York: Seabury Press, 1975),p. 51.

2Campenhausen, The Virgin Birth in the Theology of the Ancient Church, p. 54.

^Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church (Middlesex, Eng.; Penguin Books, 1963), p. 265.

*Mother Mary and Archimandrite Ware, The Festal Menaion, p. 41. For a brief review of Orthodox services, see pp. 38-67.

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(4) The Annunciation, on March 25; and (5) the Dormition of the Theotokos, on August 15.

In the West, the four main feasts were introduced by the Syrian Pope Sergius (687-701), and retain traces of their Greek origins, according to Ward.^

Two other celebrations, the Salutations to the Theotokos, which features the well-known Akathist Hymn in praise of the Theotokos, and the Feast of St. Anne's conception are two other services important for understanding the significance of the Theotokos in the East.

The extensive use of Old Testament Wisdom literature in Eastern monastic writings and liturgical works is particularly evident in The Lenten Triodion and The Festal Menaion, which come out of the fifth and sixth centuries. The Psalter was recited in its entirety once a week, and twice a week during Lent. An examination of the Old Testament readings used during vespers for the feasts honoring the Theotokos shows that for three of them. The Birth, Annunciation, and Dormition services, the same three Old Testament readings were used. They includeGenesis 28:10-17, which is the Jacob story and includes the ladder, gate, and house of God motifs that are frequently

^Sister Benedicta Ward, The Prayers and Meditations of St. Anselm, p. 33.

2Akathist means a service without a reading from the Psalter. For an explanation of this service, see Mother Mary and Ware, The Lenten Triodion, p. 54.

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applied to the Theotokos; Ezekiel 43:27-44, which speaks of the gates of the sanctuary and the laws and ordinance for the Temple which are, again, metaphors applied to the Theotokos; and Proverbs 9:1-11, which begins "Wisdom has built her house . . and is one of the classic wisdom psalms beingapplied here to the Theotokos,

The Old Testament wisdom themes mentioned above are expanded on in the remaining parts of the worship services. The Theotokos is glorified and her role in salvation history is recounted and poetically elaborated.

ConclusionThe portrait of the Theotokos that emerges from the

worship services honoring her is that of a powerful woman involved in the cosmic drama of redemption as Mother of God and as a wisdom figure, as I have explained. She is a creative agent of God, a protectress, a guide, a link figure, and an illuminator. All the Christological themes are recapitulated in these services, but they refer to Mary instead of Christ. The Theotokos, as the primary female figure in Byzantine Christianity, has influenced spirituality in the Eastern Orthodox Church immeasurably.

All Byzantine churches, worship services, theology, and icons reflect her presence. She is a mother, but she is not the soft, beautiful yielding human mother, the mater lacta of Augustine, nor the sad grieving mother, the mater dolorosa who becomes increasingly popular in Western writings

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in the Middle Ages, Like the Byzantines' Christ, her humanity is not stressed, instead Mary is the Theotokos— illuminator and faithful guide.

Mary Magdalene was also regarded as an illuminator, intercessor, and guide— a leader of men in the faith. But she was not identified by the Byzantines as the repentant harlot as she was in the West. Nor was she thought to have received a special teaching from Jesus, as some of the gnostics wrote. Instead, Mary Magdalene was the original model of the women wisdcHti saints— one of the beloved disciples of Christ and "Equal to the Apostles."

CHAPTER IV

THE MARTYRS AND THE ROYAL SAINTS

Byzantine women saints, depicted as they have been by Byzantine hagiographers as well as iconographers, are a variation on a theme. They are TpAvTOiôc- — all-wise. As wisdom figures, they illuminate, guide, and protect. They are active, militant, and victorious, as well as young, beautiful, well-educated, and of high social-royal and financial status. Many have been violently opposed in their conversion to Christianity by their fathers; in a few cases, their fathers killed them. Ultimately, most of them became martyrs for their belief.

In this chapter, I will review the lives of some of these saints, mention possible models, and explore their significance for their time.

Similar Facts and situationsThe sameness of these saints and the repetition of

similar facts and situations must be seen, at least partly, as an attempt to make the same point or to reflect a ccanmon situation. The lives give evidence of the role and place of women in the Christianity of their day. They were apparently actively involved in the conversion of others to Christianity. The Lives of these women saints do, in fact,

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tell of the conversion of women. And, according to Kraemer, these accounts were used to support and legitimate theconversion of other women to Christianity,^ They were, in a sense, propaganda material.

In the hagiographie accounts of these women martyr saints, their trials and martyrdom are attributed to the Roman persecutions of the third and fourth centuries. The Emperors are identified as Decius, Diocletian, Maxementius, Valerian, and others of that period. Scholars, however, have not been able, for the most part, to verify the existence of many of these saints. And they have generally agreed that many of these saints never existed. They were simplylegendary figures. Delehaye, for example, says "they are pure fictions of the cult's imagination." There is noevidence that the lives of scrnie of these martyr saints circulated before the seventh or eighth centuries.

I would like to suggest that it is not unlikely that these accounts, whether true or legendary, in fact did originate in these later periods which were similar to the earlier periods of persecution. The resistance toChristianity did not cease when Constantine made the Empire Christian. The fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries were a

Ross Shepard Kraemer, "Ecstatics and Ascetics: Studies in the Functions of Religious Activities for Women in the Greco-Roman World" (A dissertation presented to Princeton University, micro-film xerography. University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1978), p. 136.

2Delehaye, The Legends of the Saints, p. 24.

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time when the Greek philosophical traditions were still dominant throughout the Empire, and still in serious competition with Christianity. And women were, as the Lives of the women saints attest, still important agents in the spreading of Christianity in the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries.

Upholders of the Faith I suspect that the era of Church persecution was long

over by the time many of the saints' lives were written or circulated by adherents of their cults. The pagans to which the saints' Lives refer may be the Monophysites— and other upholders of the old classical Greek and Roman intellectual traditions still living on in parts of the Byzantine Empire. The martyrs and the royal wcmen saints— wisdom figures— are defenders of the "true" Christian Biblical tradition. One sees this illustrated very nicely in the life of St. Euphemia.^ When the Empress Pulcheria, later St. Pulcheria, convoked the Council of Chalcedon in 451 C.E., it wasEuphemia's relics that witnessed to the truth that Christ was both Man and God. Both the monk Eutyche's monophysi te writings on the divine nature of God and the writings of the Church Fathers were put into Euphemia's casket. When it was opened, the writings of the Fathers were in her hands; and those of Eutyches were at her feet. Thus, through two women.

^PG 115:713-732.

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Pulcheria and Euphemia, was it determined which were the true teachings.

The royal women saints were important in upholding this faith. In convincing the Monophysites, and others, however, it was not simply a case of arguing the merits of Christianity using strictly biblical material. It was necessary to debate Greek Philosophers and those who keep the old pagan traditions in their own languages. Empress Athenai-Eudokia, later St. Eudokia, Pulcheria's sister-in- law, does this very well on her travels through the Empire to appease the Monophysites who are needed to defend the Empire against outside threats.^

Earlier ModelsMany of the martyr accounts followed earlier models,

and this too explains the similarity of the Lives. Primaryamong these early stories were the romances of Paul andTheda, which were the Early Christian versions ofHellenistic romance literature in which the adventures of a

2hero were recounted in great detail. T h e d a , who had been converted by the Apostle Paul, was "one of the most celebrated saints in the Greek church." Her cult was in Selucia, in Isauria, and her basilica was a popular place of

^Charles Diehl, Byzantine Empresses (London; Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1927), pp. 22-43,

2Kraemer, Ecstatics and Ascetics, p. 135.3Encyclopedia Brittanica, 11th ed., s.v, "Thecla."

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pilgrimmage. She is said to have converted a great manyheathen and to have been well read and "fond of oratory."She enjoyed intellectual exchanges with learned men.^

According to Kraemer, these apocryphal acts had fivemajor themes, travel, comment on the virtues of the heroine,emphasis on the heroine's persuasiveness, and teratological

2and erotic elements.

Erotic Element Some of the stories of Thecla and Paul include more

than a suggestion that Thecla was sexually attracted by Paul, just as some of the gnostic writings suggest Mary Magdalene was attracted by Jesus. And some, but not all, of the lives of the women saints follow a pattern of attraction by a male figure. The conversion of Katherine occurs, for example, when she sees the icon of Jesus. A hermit has told Katherine, in essence, that Jesus was the man for her. This, after numerous attempts by Katherine's father to marry her off to various eligible pagan men of Alexandria. But the love or erotic motif in the later tales is a minor element. The saints' fathers do attempt to marry them off, or kings and others are desirous of marrying or making mistresses of the women but the saints resist because of their commitment to Christ.

^Julia Seiber, Early Byzantine Urban Saints (BAR Supplementary Series 37, 1977), p. 34.

2Kraemer, Ecstatics and Ascetics, p. 133.

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Persuasive and virtuous Element What stands out the most in these wisdom saints is

that they are all very active disciples of Christ. They are all brilliant and wise, and highly persuasive, converting hundreds, if not thousands, to Christianity. So successful and persuasive are they, that the authorities are immediately aware of them and take action against them. But even if not because of the torture and punishment they receive, they still attract others to them. Many of these women saints are ultimately tortured to death in an attempt to get them to renounce Jesus and to worship pagan idols of their fathers and their ancestors.

Saint Katherine St. Katherine, for example, the daughter or niece of

the King of Alexandria or Cyprus, depending on the version of her life,^ is, at age eighteen, so brilliant, so "well- educated in both Greek pedagogy and Latin gymnasium," that she is able to argue against the fifty best philosophers of Alexandria, defeat them in argumentation, and convert them and many others. "She has read Homer and Virgil, the best poet, Askelios, Galien and Hypocrates the physicians, Aristotle and Plato, Philistinos and Eusebius the

PG 116:275-302. The Simeon Metaphraste's version does not mention Cyprus as the place of Katherine's birthplace. For the Cyprus version, see J. Hackett, A History of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus (New York: Bert Franklin, 1901, reprinted 1972), pp. 394-7.

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philosophers, lanni and lambri the wisemen, Dyonisus and Sybullis, and all the famous rhetoricians of the world." Not only that, but "she knows many words in 72 languages and dialects, and she amazed not only those who saw her, but those who heard of her wisdom and erudition.

Saint IreneIrene, also, far away in Magedo, near Persia, has

been well-educated and knows philosophy as well as many othersubjects, having been taught by a wise man. After herconversion and baptism by Timothy, a disciple of Paul's,which she has done against her nobleman father's will, sheconverts thousands and thousands to Christianity by herpersuasive powers. She is thrown into prison, tortured,released, and harassed by the rulers, but she continues todeath in her discipleship to Christ. Irene's father, who inan attempt to kill her had thrown her in front of a horse, is

2ultimately converted by Irene.

Saint BarbaraBarbara also has been well-educated, having, without

her father's knowledge, studied with a wise man, possibly Origen, who after his exile from Alexandria lived in the nearby countryside. She, too, is violently opposed by her

3father, who kills her by his own sword.

^Synaxarium; 254. My translation.O Synaxarium: 654.3Synaxarium; 277.

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The Seven Women of ThessalonikiA slightly different version of this wise woman saint

stereotype is the story of the seven women of Thessalonikiwho were arrested on 1 April 302 C.E. and tried forpossession of Christian books and documents.^ It is ofspecial interest because of the detail it offers about thewomen's lives together. It is interesting, also, becauseMusurillo claims it as one of the twenty-eight most reliablemartyr texts, using the kind of textual criteria establishedby Delehaye, although Musurillo does not place it in any ofDelehaye's categories.

As possible cause for the trial of these women whoare being charged with possession of sacred books, Musurillocites the first edict of Diocletian of February 303 C.E.,which demanded the surrender of Christian sacred books, andDiocletian's fourth edict in 304 C.E., which ordered

2sacrificing to pagan gods under pain of death.In this account. Agape and Chioni are immediately

burned for not sacrificing. Eutyche, a widow, is not tried due to her pregnancy, and Agathe, Irene, Cassia, and Phillipa are sent back to prison because of their youth. We can assume that Agape and Chioni are older and possibly married or widowed. Under Roman law, virgins and pregnant women

Herbert Musurillo, ed. and trans., The Acts of the Christian Martyrs (Oxford; The Clarenden Press, 1972), p. 287. And the Greek in PG 115: 497-513.

Îbid., p. XLII.

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could not be killed. Often, however, as the saints' lives indicate, virgins were sent as punishment to the brothels.

In this martyrdom account, we get more specificinformation about what the women were involved in beforetheir arrest. They were not simply custodians of a handfulof documents. They were deeply immersed in an intellectual-spiritual task. And the women must have had considerableinfluence in the community and their situation caused quite astir locally for the authorities to persist as they did. Theprefect begins the questioning;

It is clear, from what we have seen that you are determined in your folly, for you have deliberately kept even till now so many tablets, books, parchments, codices and pages of the writings of the former Christians of holy name, even now though you denied each time that you possess such writings, you did show a sign of recognition when they were mentioned.!

Irene makes it clear that they were not simply hiding thebooks for someone else when she responds to the prefect'squestion:

They [the book^ were in our house, and we did not dare to bring them out. In fact, it caused us much distress that we could not devote ourselves to them night and day as we had done from the beginning until the day last year when we hid them.2

Again, with those saints, we see the great hostility of the wisdom saints' fathers and families to their Christian commitment. In response to a question asking if anyone else knew about their books and work, Irene says;

Îbid., p. 287. Îbid., p. 291.

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As for our own relatives, we considered them worse than our enemies in fear that they would denounce us. Hence we told no one. !

One wonders if these women might have been engaged inwriting books. It was being done by women during thisperiod, although it was an activity frowned on by Churchauthorities. The Orthodox Didymus the Blind equated it with

2teaching in assemblies, which was also disapproved. A latefourth century Dialogue between a Montanist and an OrthodoxChristian who was Didymus*s source also made that point.

But we do not permit women to speak in the assemblies nor to have authority over men, to the point of writing books in their own name [my underlining] since such is, indeed, the implication for them of praying with uncovered head, . . ,3

What emerges again with these seven women of Thessaloniki is that they were illuminators, active disciples of Christ, and leaders of men to faith.

Saint MakrinaStill another version of the wise woman saint is that

of Makrina of Cappadocia, sister of Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and Peter; one of the illustrious Christian families of all time. Makrina is said to have founded the first monastery for women, across the river from the

p. 76,3

Îbid., p. 289.2Gryson, The Ministry of Women in the Early Church,

Ibid.

70

monastery that her brother, Basil, later initiated. In some respects, both Makrina and the seven women of Thessaloniki fit better in a monastic or deaconess model of the wisdom saint. But because of their active teaching qualities and the fact that they are known to many before their death as Christians, I am including them with the young martyr saints.

According to the moving biographical account of Makrina*s life by her brother Gregory, Makrina was a model of Christian virtue, living in poverty with her maids and astheir equal.^ Gregory, who wrote of women as leaders of men

2to faith, may have been given this insight by Makrina, who converted her brothers to Christianity. In Gregory's writings, he refers to her as "The Teacher." She was apparently very knowledgeable about Christianity, like her mother and grandmother, who were Christians of note, and followers of Gregory the Wonderworker. In his account of her life, Gregory indicates that Makrina was, from her earliest years, read to and taught frcm the Wisdom of Solomon and the Psalter, to the exclusion of other more popular romantic

Oliterature of that time. She was not trained in Greek philosophy and rhetoric like her brothers but Gregory claims

Virginia Woods Callahan, trans., "The Life of St. Macrina," St. Gregory of Nyssa, Ascetical Works, The Fathers of the Church, vol. 58 (Washington, DC: The CatholicUniversity Press, 1967) , p. 168.

2Bettenson, The Later Christian Fathers, p. 143.^V. W. Callahan, "The Life of St. Macrina," p. 165.

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that she was known for the high level of her philosophy.^ As she lies dying, she discourses on the reason for life and death, she speaks of the separation of the soul from the body, and she philosophizes about her life. Makrina fills very well the requirements of a wisdom figure.

Makrina does not have to resist her family in her religious enterprises, but she gives away a great deal of her family wealth, living in poverty and teaching and guiding those around her. She does reject marriage, consciously and explicitly, after her betrothed dies, and later when she has other offers of marriage.

Other Common Motifs Other information yielded by their lives is that

Barbara, Katherine, and Irene were only daughters and only children. We might assume from this that they were in line to receive their family wealth and property. Local pressure to keep that property in the traditional pagan community might have encouraged the fathers' and the community's great wrath against their daughters.

Another motif that may have significance is the length to which the fathers went to insure that their daughters were uncontaminated by experience with the world. Irene's father, for example, built a great tower in which he put her, with several other maidens to be taught by a wise

Îbid., p. 170. Îbid., p. 176.

72

old man, which is also a common situation in the Lives of women saints.^ Irene lived there, in splendid isolation, for many years.

Still another theme repeated in some of the saints'lives is the mention of the building of baths by the fathersfor the daughters' use. In Barbara's case, when her father is away, she changes his architectural plans for the bath house by adding a third window to symbolize the trinity, as she tells him. He is enraged by this. The story does not have the magnitude of significance to the modern reader thatit does to the writer. What is clear, however, is thatBarbara's father did not approve of her Christian affiliation.^ We know that bath houses were the scene of much healing, baptism, and then conversion to Christianity. This may be a clue that Barbara was a healing saint, although I have found no such tradition related to her or to these other women. Most of the saints perform healing miraclesafter their death, as their cults testify. However, theirfunctions during their lifetimes appear to be the wisdomfunctions as I have outlined them.

The Royal SaintsThere are many possible historical models for

Katherine, Irene, Barbara, and the others. The Byzantine Empresses and other royal women of the fourth and the eighth

^Synaxarium; 653. 2Synaxarium; 277.

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centuries were excellent paradigms for the type. And, in fact, as I have indicated, many of them were recognized as Saints by the Byzantines. pulcheria, Irene, Eudocia, and Helen, to mention the most prominent, were honored as active guides and protectors of the faith. The Life of Empress Athenai-Eudokia, wife of Theodosius II, written by the Byzantine Chroniclers,^ has many parallels with Katherine and with the others.

Athenai was allegedly the daughter of a pagan philosopher at the University of Athens. Athenai, who was beautiful and well-educated, was rejected by her father, who left his fortune totally to her two brothers. Why he did this is not mentioned, Athenai was sent to live with an aunt in Constantinople, where she came to the attention of Empress Pulcheria, Theodosius's sister. Athenai impressed everyone with her outstanding intellect and beauty. A marriage was arranged, she was baptized, and became the wife of the pious and religious Theodosius. She was involved in the establishment of the Academy in Constantinople after the closing of the Academy in Athens, The new Empress was sent on long journeys around the Empire in attempts to control the Monophysites. Some scholars claim that she herself was a Monophysite. During these journeys, she made an especially eloquent talk, quoting Homer and using her pagan

^Diehl, Byzantine Empresses, pp. 22-43.

74

philosophical education in Antioch, where she was received with great acclaim. A gold statue of her was made for the Curia, and a bronze stele was inscribed with the record of her visit.^

Subsequently, the Empress Athenai-Eudokia fell from favor, and was exiled to Jerusalem, where she became a nun and one of the great benefactresses of the Church. She built churches and monasteries and was known also for her great intellectual capabilities, writing books, plays, and other semi-theological works. This put Athenai-Eudokia on the scene at the time when the great monastic developments were occurring in Jerusalem.

Other Models for Katherine Some scholars have hypothesized that Katherine was

modeled on Hypatia, a fourth century pagan woman philosopher of Alexandria, and the head of the Plotinus academy, Hypatia had been killed by a group of Christians rioting in the streets. Out of a collective sense of Christian guilt, say these scholars, Hypatia was made out to have been a Christian and was made a Saint. Another scholarly conjecture is that Katherine was the woman mentioned by the church historian

Îbid., p. 31.2J. Edgar Burns, God as Woman, Woman as God (New

York: Paulist Press, 1973), p. 74.

75

Eusebius around 320 C.E.^ That account claims that theEmperor confiscated the property of a wealthy woman ofAlexandria who refused to be his mistress.

Whether Katherine was legendary or real, we will probably never know. And whether Hypatia, Eudokia, or the wealthy Alexandrian noblewoman were models for Katherine and the other women saints will also remain a mystery. And yet the type existed. There were such women around at the very time and the very place where the lives of St. Katherine and St. Barbara began to circulate. And there were deaconesses, virgins, widows, and other Christians, men and women, whowere devoted to and venerated these holy women who wereactively involved as illuminators, helpers, guides, and protectoresses in the church and in the greater world of politics.

The Spreading of Katherine's Cult2According to her Life, after Katherine was martyred

in 307 C.E. in Alexandria, her body was carried up the mountain at Sinai by angels. She remained there until her body was found by the monks several hundred years later. No specific dates are given in the text and this is considered a legendary event by scholars. The church and monastery where

J, M. Braun, "St. Catherine's Monastery Church, Mount Sinai Literary Sources f .om the 4th Century through the 19th Centuries" (Ph.D. dissertation. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Microfilms, 1973), p. 26.

^PG 116:275-302.

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Katherine was laid to rest were renamed for St. Katherine. The church had been previously dedicated to the Theotokos,

Delehaye cites the monks' devotion to Katherine in the tenth century text of Paul le Jeune as the first documented historical reference to a Katherine cult.^ Others

Ogive a ninth century date. The first authenticated Cyprus references to Katherine are dated in the twelfth century, although the Island of Cyprus has always honoured St. Katherine as its Patron saint, and considers her a native of Cyprus.^

St. Katherine in the West Katherine's fame spread far and wide. After the

Crusades, her cult flourished and she was second only to the Theotokos in the East and the West.* According to Burns, both the Theotokos and Katherine "were reputed to have surpassed all other men of their time in knowledge and intelligence."^ Katherine, in fact, became known in the West as the Patron Saint of philosophers and students. The Monastery of St. Katherine became an important pilgrimmage

H. Delehaye, "Paul le Jeune et Metaphraste," Melanges d'Hagiographie greque et latin (Bruxelles; Société des Bollandistes, 1966), pp. 92-93.

2J, M. Braun, St. Catherine's Monastery, p. 25. ^Hackett, A History of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus,

p. 394.*J. M. Braun, St. Catherine's Monastery, p. 24.^J. Edgar Burns, God as Wcanan, Woman as G o d , p. 70.

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site, and relics of Katherine's body were taken to abbeys and churches all over Europe. By the thirteenth century, her feast was placed on calendars of most large monasteries in the West and in 1335, it was added to the church calendar.^ Both Katherine and Barbara were among a group of saints known as the Fourteen Helpers (auxiliary saints), and were thesubjects of numerous paintings.

Katherine's legend, however, began to have some additions. A mystical marriage motif was one Western innovation. In 1430, an Augustinian monk wrote the History of St. Katherine, and claimed that Christ had given a ring to Katherine. While Jacobus a Vonaigine's Legenda Aurea, published in 1255, had no such mystical marriage between Christ and Katherine, the English version by Caxton in 1483 did.^ And the 1438 English edition of Katherine's biography

3traced her lineage to the Kings of Britain.It would appear that Katherine, possibly the product

of imagination, had almost universal appeal as themanifestation of Christian wisdom.

^J. M. Braun, St. Catherine's Monastery, pp. 30, 31,32.

2Ibid., p. 27. Îbid., p. 26.

CHAPTER V

THE ASCETIC MOTHER MARY OF EGYPT

In this chapter, I shall show how the concept ofwisdom is expressed in an ascetic woman saint. Mother Maryof Egypt is shown to be in her Life as the true model of holiness— the wisdom-loving woman of the desert and as a model of spiritual aging. Mary, unlike the other saintspreviously mentioned, is unknown to others in her lifetime. She is a secret wisdom saint. Only after her death, andthrough zosimos's recounting of her life, do others learn of her. Nevertheless, she becomes, ex-post facto as it were, an illuminator, a guide, a link figure, and a protector for others that follow her. Hence, she is a legitimate wisdom saint.

Lossky has pointed out that, in the Easterntradition, "The way of mystical union is almost always a secret between God and the soul concerned, which is never confided to others, unless it may be to a confessor or a few disciples." He adds that what is made known, however, is the "fruit of this union: wisdom, understanding of the divine mysteries . . . expressing itself in theological or moral teaching or in advice for the edification of one's

78

79

brethren."^ This description fits Mother Mary of Egypt very well.

Mother Mary of Egypt is one of the few exceptions tothe stereotype of the wisdom saints discussed so far. She isnot young, beautiful, educated, eloquent, aggressive,wealthy, with high or royal connections. Nor is she a bloodmartyr. Neither is she a virgin, at least in the more widely

2known Sophronius's version of her life. She does not specifically reject marriage, go against her family to become a Christian, nor does she have a male teacher or mentor. And she lives into old age. Her title, ,puts her into another category also. This title is used to designate monastics and ascetics. There are many other ascetic women saints, but she appears to have been the most

3widely known in Byzantium.

Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church,p. 20.

2Sisters Katherine and Theda, trans.. The Great Canon St. Andrew of Crete, The Hallowed Mother Mary of Egypt, The Library of Orthodoxy (Philgrave, New Port, Pagnel, Buckinghamshire: The Greek Orthodox Monastery of Assumption, 1974) . This is a translation into English of The Life of Mother Mary of Egypt by Sophronius of Jerusalem, PG 94:3697-726.

^Simeon Metaphrastes's Menologion (see table 1), includes the following saints as 'Oft*. :Pelagia of Antioch, Theodora of Alexandria, Epnronsyne of Alexandria, Eusebia of Syria, Anastasia of Rcxne, Theoctistis of Lesbos, Melanie of Rome, and Matrona of Thessaloniki. Delehaye claims in The Legends of the Saints, p. 153, that Ephrosyne and Theodora, along with Marina of Antioch and Appolinaria, who are not listed in Metaphrastes's Menologion, are nothing but literary repolicas of Pelagia. He also says that from the way that St. John Chysostom speaks of Pelagia, she did not have an official cult. Many of these saints are

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Mary of Egypt Although the Life of Mother Mary of Egypt became

enormously popular in the East, and later in the Middle Ages in the West, as a romantic tale of the repentant harlot, the story of Mary was first strictly a monastic document, written not to convert or to edify the masses, but to teach monastics true humility. This was the way the Life of Mary of Egypt was initially understood in the East.^ The tale was told not to exalt Mary for her own sake, but to contrast Mary's humility with the monk Zosimos's pride in his saintliness.

Zosimos, a priestly monk and the recounter of Mary's story, after a lifetime in the monastery begins to feel that he has attained perfection in everything and needs no teaching from anyone. He asks himself, "Can there possiblybe found among the wisdcm-loving men of the desert one

2surpassing me either in active life or in contemplation?" He

identified with the third century, but I have found little evidence that they were widely venerated in Byzantium, and especially in Constantinople. It is possible that they may have been among the saints added to fill in the church calendar in the ninth century. One contemporary scholar views the lives of women saints who are involved in sexual role inversion, as attempts to explore the character of sexuality, and says that they show women "ruling the lower in themselves and thus deserving to be like men." See Natalie Zemon Davis, Society and Culture in Early Modern France (Stanford; Stanford University Press, 1975), p. 132.

^Roger M. Walker, Estoria de Santa Maria Egiciaca (England; Exeter University Printing Unit, 1972), p. X.

^Sisters Katherine and T heda, The Hallowed Mother Mary of Egypt, p. 67.

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becomes tormented with the thought that he has attained perfection. Because for the monk the greatest enemies of progress toward grace are pride and lack of humility,^ Zosimos has every reason to be concerned and he seeks out another monastery. In the course of executing the new monastery's devotional rule, he encounters Mary in the desert. Mary, then, is the wisdom-loving woman, not man, that has surpassed him in every way.

The Various Versions of Mary's LifeMary has been wandering in the desert for many years,

and according to the three different versions of her life,she was either: (1) formerly a nun and a virgin in a

/monastery, (2) a — a singer, and consequently anecclesiastical functionary in the Church of the Resurrectionin Jerusalem, or (3) a former decadent woman from

2Alexandria.Story (1), attributed to John Moschus, and story (2),

attributed to Cyril of Scythopolis, both make a strong case for Mary's virtuous behavior. John Moschus's account is that Mary, when a young nun in a monastery, was "exceedingly pious and most spiritually progressed toward God." The devil,jealous of Mary, made a young man fall in love with her. "The

^W. Jaeger, Two Rediscovered Works of Ancient Christian Literature, p. 218.

2The Sophronius version cited above.

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marvelous virgin, seeing the devil's work, goes out into the desert." The young man is thus saved by her action and so is Mary.l

Cyril of Scythopolis's tale depicts Mary as a young, a chanter or singer, at the church of the

Resurrection in Jerusalem. He, too, recounts a story similarto that of John Moschus. Mary becomes afraid that she mightbe found responsible for the devil's ensnarement, throughher, of many men, and she leaves Jerusalem, going out into acave where she lives for many years. After her death, theAbba, hearing her tale from a wandering monk who hadencountered her, recognizes her status and cries out "Glory

2to God, who has so many hidden, secret saints."These two versions of Mary's story, as told by John

Moschus and Cyril Scythopolis, are obviously extolling the superior behavior of an extremely virtuous, virginal monastic or of a church functionary who may or may not have been a monastic. They were written during the high period of the orders of deaconesses, virgins and widows, and were meant, most likely, to edify those women who "subordinated sex and the resultant man-woman relationship to the transcendental end of man."3 It appears that many women wanted to become

^John Moschus, Spiritual Meadow, Leimonarion, in Migne, PG 57:3049. My translation.

2E. Schwartz, ed., Cyril of Scythopolis's Life of Cyriacus (Leipzig: J. C. Hinriches Verlag, 1939), p. 233. My translation.

3E. Leach, "Virgin Birth in Anthropological Literature," Theological Studies 36 (1975-76): 441.

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deaconesses or to join the orders of virgins or widows. in an attempt to limit the number of women joining church orders which meant they were supported by the church, Theodosian legislation gave personal responsibility to the bishops who enrolled women under sixty years of age. Because of the great demand, however, the age of candidates for deaconess and others was reduced from sixty to forty by Justinian.^

Justinian's code. Novella 123, Chapter 43, shows the great concern for protecting those women connected to and supported by the church. Deaconesses, especially, who had considerable freedom of movement, going into strange hemes, etc., and often living alone, were particularly vulnerable to exploitation. The penalty for men assaulting the chastity of a deaconess, whether she consented or not, was punishment by death and confiscation of their possessions,^ The penalty for a guilty deaconess was also death, but if a deaconess was innocent, she was sent off to a monastery for a certain number of years.* The Life of Mother Mary does not specify that she was one of these women, but Mary's departure from Jerusalem because men found her attractive, as both John Moschus and Cyril of Scythopolis attest, does suggest that this may have been the case.


Îbid.Îbid.*Ibid., p. 73.

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The Sophronius Version The brief tales of Mary by John Moschus and Cyril of

Scythopolis were set into a broader framework in a version of her life attributed to Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, 634-638 C.E,^ He introduces Zosimos into the story, creating the contrast between the monk Zosimos and the holy Mary, giving Mary a much more illustrious past. At the same time, the author appears to be arguing for the superiority of the anchorite type of monasticisra of Antony as compared with the later cenobitic, communal form of Pachomius and Basil,

Historically, there was a serious discussion about the merits of ascetic anchorite monasticism and doubts were expressed about it at the Council of Gangre in the fourth century.

In Zosimos's account, he, himself, criticizes hisfirst monastery for its strict ascetic rule which includedall kinds of ascetic trials "seeking to subject the flesh tothe soul . . he also refers negatively to visions.Humility and prayer are what he considers noteworthy about

2the new monastery that he goes to.Most scholars have pointed out the similarity of Mary

with Paul of Thebes, the first Christian hermit encountered

For a detailed discussion of the origins of Mary of Egypt's life, see Manuel Alvar, Maria Egipiaca, Classicos Hispanicos Series (Madrid: 1970), p. lOf.

9Sisters Katherine and T h e d a , The Hallowed Mother Mary of Egypt, p. 68.

85

in the desert by St, Anthony.^ What is new in Sophronius, however, is that the anchorite is a woman. Mary, the pious nun of John Moschus, has been recast as the "insatiable fire for public depravity" who enjoys sex, not for money but because she had "an insatiable and irresistable passion for

owallowing in the mud." In this, Sophronius's version, she is identified as coming from Alexandria, the classical city of prostitution since ancient times, and at the time of the writing of this tale, a center of heretical Monophysitism. Mary attempts to enter the church in Jerusalem with a crowd of her compatriots to see the Elevation of the Honorable Cross. Repeatedly she is held back by an invisible, powerful force. After a time, she understands what has forbidden her entrance.

The word of salvation touched the eye of my heart and showed me that the impurity of my actions obstructed my entrance. I began to weep and grieve, beating my breast and groaning frOTi the depths of my heart. I stood and wept and saw above me the icon of the Most Holy Mother ofGod.4

She makes an agreement with the Mother of God, enters the church, sees the cross, and goes out to the desert to fulfill her bargain.

^P. Delmas, "Remarques Sur La Vie De Sainte Marie L'Egyptienne," Echos D'Orient 4 (1900):38.

2Sisters Katherine and Thecla, The Hallowed Mother Mary of Egypt, p. 76.

3Konrad Kunze, Studien zur Legende der Heiligen Maria Aegyptiaca im Deutschen Sprachgebiet (Berlin: Erich Schmidt Vertag, 1969), p. 23.

*Sisters Katherine and Thecla, The Hallowed Mother Mary of Egypt, p. 76.

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The truly monastic elements of the story can be seen in this recital of events. In monastic theology, the parts of the Temple of Jerusalem correspond to degrees of knowledge. Mary is out in the courtyard which refers to being at a certain stage of the ascent or deification. Mary

J /is moving frcan a life of t the active life (outin the courtyard) to one of (in the sanctuary) tocontemplation of the Holy of Holies which is knowledge of God. (After this comes the knowledge of the mysteries of Creation and then true theologia, the Knowledge of God in the Logos. ) 1

Evagrius (d.399) had further developed this concepti t J ôf and t and the monastic doctrine of

prayer in which "prayer prepares the mind to put its own9powers into operation." He himself had fled because of

unrequited love and became one of the important monastic figures of his time, having "integrated ascetic practice with the metaphysical and anthropological system inspired by neo-

3Platonism." Evagrius's teacher, Macarius, had expanded the important monastic work of Gregory of Nyssa, Institute» Christiano into what is called The Great Letter of Macarius.*

^V. Lossky, The Vision of G o d , trans. A. Moorhouse (London; The Faith Press, 1966), p. 47.

2John Meyendorff, St. Gregory Palamas and Orthodox Spirituality (Crestwood; St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1974) , p. 22.

Îbid.*Jaeger, Two Rediscovered Works.

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These works and Evagrius's Praktiki^ were the great monastic guides of their time.

A whole series of events in the Mary story have special monastic meanings. The weeping and grieving in front of the icon is an important sign; crying, tears, and seeing light are stages in the process of repentance. This happens to Mary again in the desert. The icon, as the cause of repentance and conversion, is also a classic monastic motif. Icons of Jesus and Mary begin to have important symbolic power in this period. Holy men had introduced and supported the use of icons in church. Icons and saints are intimately related. In both, one sees the divine plan in operation. "Heaven and earth have come to be joined in the figure of a

9human being," That the icon Mary sees is of the Theotokos is also significant, Mary refers to the Theotokos as her guarantor and adds that her Advocate (the Theotokos) helps

3her in everything and in fact, leads her by the hand, a function of Johannine Paraclete and of Wisdom,

When zosimos, wise in the ways of God, realizes that Mary has been enlightened by the grace of insight,* he is again making a monastic statement. Insight being one of the

Êvagrius Ponticus, The Praktikos, Chapters on Prayer (Spencer, Mass.: Cistercian Publication, 1970),

2Peter Brown, The Making of Late Antiquity, p, 88,QSisters Katherine and Thecla, The Hallowed Mother

Mary of Egypt, p, 76.*Ibid., p. 71.

88

goals of the philosophic life, of acquiring of Knowledge ofGod and a sign of spiritual perfection. When he throws hismonastic cloak at Mary (at her request to conceal her nakedbody), Zosimos once again gives a monastic message. By thesixth century, the monastic schema— the cloak worn bymonastics— had its own mystique. The cloak was considered bythe monks to have been given to John the Baptist by angels inthe wilderness. The act of bestowing the cloak signifiesconsecration from the past and frcxn below— that is, fromoutside the church hierarchy. This consecration was seen incontrast to the sacramental priestly ordination which wasconsecration from above. It is significant, also, because

2women were not consecrated from above. But, as this incident spells out, Mary, a woman, was worthy to receive this high monastic honor. zosimos, who is himself a priest, realizes her superior position " . . . all your life, you have dwelt with God and have nearly died to the world," And he makes a monastic critique of the institutional church, "Grace," he says, "is recognized not by office but spiritual gifts, , , zosimos implores Mary to reveal the truth tohim, a sinner. Addressing her as "Wisdom hidden away and

^Peter Brown, "A Dark Age Crisis," p. 21.Un l e s s one considers that the consecration of

Deaconesses is the same as priestly ordination.^Sisters Katherine and Thecla, The Hallowed Mother

Mary of Egypt, p. 72.

89

secret treasure,"^ he indicates again in monastic language that she has reached the highest state possible— the truly powerful person having wisdom is the humble, secret, unknown. God-fearing, and loving person.

In wondering how Mary had reached this state and how she had acquired knowledge of the Scriptures from Moses toJob, he asks Mary, "And have you read the psalms, My Lady,

2and the other Books?" Obviously a monastic would have been inundated with the Psalter and especially with the wisdom literature of the Old Testament and the Apocryphal books. (Evagrius's Praktiki gives Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song

3of Songs as corresponding to the three kinds of knowledge.) But Mary, the anchorite, denies this, and in doing so, the writer again criticizes cenobitic monasticism, Mary has not seen a creature in her forty-seven years in the desert. "I never learned from the Books. I never even heard anyonesinging or saying them. But the Word of God, living andactive, itself teaches knowledge to man."*

The story, however, concludes on a more sacramental note; Mary begs and implores Zosimos to bring her "the life- giving and Divine Mysteries at that hour when the Lord made His disciples communicate at the Holy Supper,"^ In doing

Îbid., p. 73.Îbid., p. 79.3Lossky, The vision of G o d , p. 47.*Sisters Katherine and Thecla, The Hallowed Mother

Mary of Egypt, p. 75, Îbid.

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this, Mary is identifying herself as a disciple of Christwithin the context of the church, Zosimos ultimately doesthis and Mary, after a series of miraculous events, receivesthe sacrament and dies. The final goal of those who havewisdom— theologia— is the knowledge of God the Logos— thesacrament. Sanctification, deification, occurs within thesacramental church.^

This tale apparently circulated in the East for manyyears. John of Damascus refers to Mary at the Second Council

2of Nicea, in 787 C.E., during the iconoclastic debates. Modern scholars, however, refer to Mary's life as simply a legend and suggest that there was no such person. The Life of Mother Mary survived, however, and Mary is the only woman celebrated on one of the Sundays of Lent. The other Sundays honor two important male monastic figures, St. Gregory Palamas and St. John Cliraacus of the Ladder, and the Cross and icons. Mary's commemoration takes place on the last Sunday before Palm Sunday and also on the previous Thursday. On that Thursday, the Great Canon of Andrew of Crete is read, along with Mother Mary's Canon and her Life.^ In Mother

Îbid., p. 75.2Konrad Kunze, Studien zur Legende der heiligen Maria

Aegyptiaca im deutschen Sprachgebiet (Berlin: Erich Schmidt Vertag, 1969), p. 21.

p. 378.^Mother Mary and Kallistos Ware, The Lenten Triodion,

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Mary's canon, she is presented as Holy Mother Mary with Andrew as Holy Father Andrew,^ the two great repentant sinners and intercessors. "Holy Mother Mary, pray to God for us" is repeatedly followed by the refrain, "Holy Father Andrew, pray for us." Whether or not this juxtaposition is some sort of commentary on the joining of the institutional church with the monastic enterprise, as the Life of Mary could be interpreted, I do not know. The use of both a representative male and female sinner is also interesting, suggesting an Adam and Eve typology.

The point made in the canon, that the Theotokos wasthe one who freed Mary, suggests a possible female-saved-by-female motif. Furthermore, it illustrates well both theTheotokos's and Mary's wisdom functions as illuminators,intercessors, and guides for women.

Holy Mother Mary, pray to God for us.The mother of the Light, the Theotokos, that never sets illumined thee and freed thee frcxn the darkness of the passions. O Mary who hast received the grace of the Spirit, give light to those who praise thee with faith.3

The following verse, which depicts Mother Mary as the key to the Theotokos, also plays on the idea of linking the human and the divine, another wisdom motif.

St. Andrew of Crete, c. 660-740, Archbishop of Crete, originated the canon form, and wrote many canons himself, including the above.

2Mother Mary and Kallistos Ware, The Lenten Triodion,p. 380.

3Ibid., pp. 408-9.

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O Holy Mary offer thy prayer of supplication to the compassionate Theotokos, and through thine intercessions open unto me the door that leads to God.3

Mother Mary was included in Simeon Metaphrastes's collection, and became a model for other more obscure, to us', women saints. St. Theoctiste of Lesbos is one local ninth century saint who is mentioned as a parallel in Byzantine writings. However, none reached the level of fame and popularity that Mary of Egypt did.

The same was true in the West. According to Baring- Gould's account of St. Mary of Egypt, "In 1059 Luke Abbott of Carbonne in Calabria carried away her entire body from Jerusalem and placed the body in the Abbey Church," But there are relics of Mary's body all over Spain, Rome, Italy, Portugal, and elsewhere.^

The narration of her life also spread quickly. There were numerous translations into Latin and more elaborated stories into the romance languages. According to Algar, the earliest translation from the Latin into English was a ninth century Gloucester version, and in the tenth century, an Alfric version. In the twelfth century, there are numerous

Îbid., p. 387.^Theophilos Joannou, # (1884;

reprint ed., Zentral-antiquariat, 1973) , p^. 1-1/ and also H. Delehaye, Melange d'hagiographie grecque et latin, (Bruxelles: Société des Bollandistes, 1968) , p. 304.

3s. Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, s.v. "St. Mary of Egypt."

93

French and Spanish versions, some in prose, and later ones in verse.^ The story become enormously popular in the late middle ages in Western Europe, but a change had occurred in the emphasis. The tale is cut from its monastic moorings, and Mary becomes the focal point, illustrating to the masses how even such a sinner can repent. One version plunges into a long account of Mary's origin and childhood, and another opens with a long preamble concerning the universal need for penance, and the availability of God's grace to even the most outrageous sinner. Another version singles her parents out for blame, and still another emphasizes her beauty and points out how outer beauty destroys inner beauty and how Mary, now

3outwardly decayed, has inner beauty.By not understanding the monastic elements of this

zôry of Mother Mary, one can miss its significance. That Abelard in the West, in the twelfth century, had this perspective, at least to some extent, is suggested by his comment that the story shows that women do better in the monastic enterprise than men.*

Mary, however, goes beyond being a monastic paradigm as her great popularity in both the East and the West

^Manuel Alvar, Maria Egipiaca, Classicos Hispanicos Series (Madrid; 1970), pp. 10-11.

2Roger M. Walker, Estoria de Santa Maria Egiqiaca (England: Exeter University printing unit, 1972), p. X.

Îbid., p. XXI.*Konrad Kunze, Studien zur Legende der Heiligen Maria

Aegyptiaca im Deutschen Sprachgebiet (Berlin, 1969), p. 24.

94

suggests. She gives some insight, both into the concept of , as spiritual aging, and into wisdom as a feminine

characteristic. She, like her advocate the Theotokos with whom she is closely linked in the story, are wisdom figures, illuminators, intercessors, and guides. They aremanifestations of God's divine plan— Heaven and Earth come together in them.

CHAPTER VI

CONCLUSION

In this thesis, I have attempted to provide some insight into the Byzantine concept of wisdom as it is manifested in the Theotokos and other major female saints. The women under discussion have been presented as they were perceived by writers from the fifth to the tenth centuries, and for the most part, they are those saints that are included in the tenth century Menologion of Simeon Metaphrastes,

This period is of primary importance in understanding all aspects of the Eastern Orthodox (Byzantine) Church, because, as I have pointed out, it was the time when church theology, dogmatic and liturgical, was developed. The Liturgy, the Menaia, the Triodion, the Pentecostarion, and the Typicon, as well as the saints and their icons, all products of monasticism, were instrumental in establishing the ethos of the church which still prevails today. The Johannine concept of discipleship to Christ and the special emphasis John puts on women as proclaimers of, and witnesses to, Christ are an integral part of this ethos, as the wcmen saints I have discussed indicate.

95

96

In my discussion, I have not included the women saints of later eras. They were primarily saints of local interest and have not made as great an impact on the worship life of the church. Primary among these women saints would be the fourteenth century St. Matrona of Chios. As a healing saint, and as the woman patron saint of the Island of Chios, she still continues to have a following.

Another major group that I have not dealt with is theneo-martyrs, the Christian saints of the Ottoman occupation

2of Greece, Most of these lives recount the attempts of Turks to seduce or marry beautiful young Christian women who resist their overtures and reject conversion to Islam while keeping true to their Orthodox Christian faith through prolonged torture and ultimately voluntary death.

In this thesis, I have tried to show how the Theotokos played a major part in Byzantine spirituality. This Eastern Mary, Mother of God, played an important salvific role as a creative agent of God, as did the Old Testament wisdom figure, and also as did Jesus, the Logos. The Theotokos, who is more than simply the mother of Jesus, has special status. Because Jesus Christ is truly man and truly God, His mother is truly woman, and comes close in her self-willed perfection to being truly God. The Thetokos, of

f e fÎbid., pp. 114, 133, 186, 258.

97

course, is never specifically identified as being God, which would be considered heretical, but she has God-like status, being above nature, and there is no salvation without her. In a sense, as wisdom, she is the feminine aspect of deity. In her wisdom capacity, the Theotokos is projected as protector, comforter, advocate, link figure between the divine and human world, and militant leader. The worship services that honor the Theotokos clearly reveal thisportrait of her. She is also the epitome of perfect humanity, having willed to bear God. This emphasis on her willingness fits well into the Eastern theological framework of — deification. It is not man's nature that iscorrupted, but his will. That is the cause of sin, Mary is human and wills to do God's will and to become a part of God's plan of salvation; that is what makes her God-like. As a guide, the Theotokos is turned to by those who desiredeification.

The Life of Mother Mary of Egypt clearly articulates this particular aspect of the Theotokos, as I have illustrated. Mother Mary of Egypt is another more extreme example of a woman who willingly decides to change her corrupt life. In doing this, she becomes the model of repentance and spiritual aging. Struggling against her passions, she returns to her pure human state, made in thedivine image. She was a secret wisdom saint, and I haveexplained this Important element in Byzantine spirituality.

98

The young active wisdom saints that I have discussed, the wise and intelligent proclaimers and disciples of Christ, continue today to be the major women saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and they have, it appears to me, a larger following than the men saints. Mary Magdalene is the patron saint of the Island of Mytilini, St. Katherine of the Island of Cyprus, and the Theotokos, in all Orthodox countries, is widely revered. In the United States, large numbers of Orthodox, especially women, attend the special services that honor her. It is noteworthy, I believe, that of some 450 Greek Orthodox Churches in the United States, approximately 100 are dedicated to the Theotokos, 30 to Saints Constantine and Helen, 9 to Holy Wisdom, 7 to St. Katherine, 6 to St. Barbara, and 1 each to Saints Paraskevi, Anna, and Marcella.^

The Theotokos and the women saints have been, to use St. Athanasius's term, good "paradigmata," manifesting Christ's victory over fifteen centuries. As saints, they manifest God's wisdom, guiding, illuminating, protecting, and interceding, leaders of men to faith in Christ.

1979 Yearbook, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America, ed. Rev. Methodios Tournas (N.Y.; Cosmos Greek-American Printing Co., 1979), pp. 88-112.

APPENDIX A

TABLE 1WOMEN SAINTS LISTED IN SIMEON METAPHRASTES'S MENOLOGION"

September101116172425

October58

29

The Holy Women Minodora, Mitrodora, and NymphodoraSaint Theodora of Alexandria Saint Euphemia of Chalcedon

*The Holy Woman Sophia and her Daughters Faith, Hope, and Love Saint T h e d a of Iconium Saint Euphrosyne of Alexandria

Saint Charitaine Saint Pelagia of Antioch Saint Anastasia of Rome

November91024

Saint Matrona of Thessaloniki Saint Theoctistis of Lesbos Saint Katherine of Alexandria

December4

21222431

Saint Barbara of Heliopolis Saint Juliana of Niccmedia Saint Anastasia of Rome Saint Eugenia of Alexandria Saint Melanie of Rome

January1

24♦Saint Euphrosyne of Alexandria ♦Saint Eusebeia of Syria

The table actually combines the Malou listing and one made by Delehaye, which is later and more accurate. H. Delehaye, "Synopsis Metaphrastica," Synaxaires byzantines, menologes, typica, pp. 269-292. Those saints not listed By Delehaye are marked by an asterisk. In a few instances, the dates given for a particular saint's feast have not agreed. In those cases I have used Delehaye's date.

99

100

TABLE 1— Continued

February5

March25

♦Saint Agathe

Theotokos— AkathistApril

116

Mother Mary of EgyptSaints Agape, Chioni, and Irene ofThessaloniki

August15 Theotokos

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