St. John Moschus | |
|---|---|
| Born | 550 Damascus |
| Died | 619 Rome |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Feast | 11 March [O.S. 24 March (where the Julian calendar is used)][1] |
John Moschus (Greek:Ἰωάννης Μόσχος, c. 550 – 619; name from theAncient Greek:ὁ τοῦ Μόσχου,romanized: o tou Moschou,lit. 'son of Moschos'), surnamedEucrates, was aByzantine monk andascetical writer of Georgian origin. He is primarily known for his writing of theSpiritual Meadow. The Spiritual Meadow, alongside theBibliotheca ofPhotios, are the main sources from which his life is known.[2]
He was born about 550, probably atDamascus. He was given the epithet "ὁ ἐγκρατής" ("The Abstemious"). He lived successively with the monks at themonastery of St. Theodosius southeast ofJerusalem, among the hermits in theJordan Valley, and in theNew Lavra of StSabbas the Sanctifiednear Teqoa, east ofBethlehem.
About the year 578 he went to Egypt withSophronius (afterwardsPatriarch of Jerusalem) and came as far as theGreat Oasis of theLibyan Desert. After 583 he came toMount Sinai and spent about ten years in theLavra of the Aeliotes[dubious –discuss], he then visited the monasteries near Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. In the 580s he returned to Egypt to meet refugees at a time when the Byzantine influence on the region had started to wane and where several monasteries in theWadi El Natrun had been razed byMazices where 3,500 monks who had lived there had now been dispersed into the Levant.[3] In 604 he went toAntioch but returned to Egypt in 607. Later he went toCyprus and in 614-615 toRome, where he died in 619.
On his deathbed he requested Sophronius to bury him, if possible, on Mt. Sinai or else at theMonastery of St. Theodosius near Jerusalem. Mt. Sinai being then invaded by theSaracens, Sophronius buried him at St. Theodosius.
John Moschus' feast day in theEastern Orthodox Church is shared with that of Sophronius (11 March [O.S. 24 March]).[1]
He is the author of one of the earliest hagiological works, entitled in GreekLeimōn pneumatikos and known in Latin asPratum spirituale ("Spiritual Meadow"), occasionally abbreviated "Prat. Spirit.",[citation needed] also quoted as the Leimonarion, or as the "New Paradise", which he wrote during the 610s.[4] In it he narrates his personal experiences with many greatascetics whom he met during his extensive travels, mainly throughPalestine,Sinai andEgypt, but alsoKilikia andSyria, and repeats the edifying stories which these ascetics related to him.[5][4]
The work teems with miracles and ecstatic visions and it gives a clear insight into the practices of Eastern monasticism, contains important data on the religious cult and ceremonies of the time, and acquaints us with the numerous heresies that threatened to disrupt the Church in the East.
It was first edited byFronton du Duc inAuctarium biblioth. patrum, II (Paris, 1624), 1057–1159. A better edition was brought out byCotelier inEcclesiae Graecae Monumenta, II (Paris, 1681), which is reprinted inJ.-P. Migne,Patrologia Graeca. LXXXVII, III, 2851–3112. A Latin translation, byAmbrose Traversari, is printed in Migne,Patrologia Latina, LXXIV, 121–240, and an Italian version made from the Latin of Traversari (Venice, 1475; Vicenzo, 1479).
Conjointly with Sophronius, Moschus wrote a life ofJohn the Almoner, a fragment of which is preserved in the first chapter of the "Vita S. Joanni Eleemosynarii" byLeontios of Neapolis, under the name ofSimeon Metaphrastes (P.G., CXIV, 895-966).
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Johannes Moschus".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.