Barsanuphius
Saint Barsanuphius | |
---|---|
Died | c. 545 Monastery of Seridus |
Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodox Church |
Major shrine | Oria |
Feast | April 11; February 6 (Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Church); at Oria February 20 and August 29 and August 30 |
Patronage | Oria |
Influenced | Seridus of Gaza, Dorotheus of Gaza, Theodore the Studite |
Barsanuphius (Greek: Βαρσανούφιος, romanized: Barsanouphios; Arabic: برسانوف, romanized: Barsanūf; Italian: Barsonofio, Barsanofrio, Barsanorio; died after 543), also known as Barsanuphius of Palestine, Barsanuphius of Gaza or Barsanuphius the Great (in Eastern Orthodoxy), was a Christian hermit and writer of the sixth century.
Life
Born in Egypt, he lived in absolute seclusion for fifty years, and then near the monastery of Seridus of Gaza of Gaza in Palestine. He wrote many letters, 800 of which have survived. Between the years 525 and 527, another hermit called John came to live in the same monastic community as disciple of Barsanuphius who surrendered his cell to him, moving into another nearby cell.[1] John became the teacher of Dorotheus of Gaza.[2]
At the old age he convinced the emperor to renew the concordant relationship with the Church of Jerusalem.
Death
At some point between 543 and 544, Seridos and John died and Barsanuphius entered complete seclusion. A new abbot, Aelianos, was elected and Dorotheus of Gaza left the monastery. Barsanuphius died at some point after that. [2]
Nevertheless, when in 593 the Syrian Christian Evagrius Scholasticus wrote about Barsanuphius, to whom he dedicated an entire chapter of his Historia Ecclesiastica about the hermit, he recorded that it was still believed that Barsanuphius was alive. Evagrius recounts that when the patriarch of Jerusalem (assumed to be Peter of Jerusalem, 524-552) ordered the door to his cell to be opened, fire flashed out of the cell causing everyone present to flee.[3]
Veneration
Saint in the Catholic and Orthodox churches
Barsanuphius is venerated as a saint both the Catholic and Orthodox church. In the Catholic church his feast day is April 11 and in the Orthodox church on February 6. He was one of the influences on Theodore the Studite in his reform of the Stoudios Monastery[4] and Theodore noted that Barsanuphius was depicted on the altar cloth of the Hagia Sophia next to Anthony the Great and Ephrem the Syrian.[5] Starting from the 10th century, the saint was also mentioned in many synaxaria in the Orthodox church[5] and the Russian monastery of St. Panteleimon on Mount Athos had an office for Barsanuphius and John.[6] There were also many churches and altars dedicated to Barsanuphius in the Salento, such as in Ceglie Messapica, and his name was popular in the region after due to the translation of his relics to Oria.[7][8]
Patron Saint of Oria
Barsanuphius' relics arrived in Oria with a Palestinian monk in 850 AD. Bishop Theodosius of Oria placed these in the 880s in a chapel close to the porta Hebraea.[9] This chapel (today under the church of San Francesco da Paola) housed the relics between 890 and 1170.[10] During a Moorish siege and taking of the city, the relics were lost but then later rediscovered and placed in the city's basilica. In the late twelfth century, a priest composed a Latin vita of the saint which contain certain hagiographical details, including the translation of the relics to Oria.[8]
At Oria he is considered to have saved the city from destruction through war.[6] A legend states that he repelled a Spanish invasion by appearing before the Spanish commander armed with a sword. During World War II, he is said to have spread his blue cape across the sky, thus causing a rainstorm, and preventing an air bombing by Allied Forces.[citation needed] As of 2023, the city still honours the saint with a procession on August 30 during which the keys of the city are handed over by the mayor to an effigy of Barsanuphius.[11][12]
References
- ^ Chryssavgis 2022, pp. 41–43.
- ^ a b Chryssavgis 2022, p. 55.
- ^ Chryssavgis 2022, p. 48.
- ^ Noble & Smith 2008, p. 60.
- ^ a b Paoli 2012, p. 406.
- ^ a b Hevelone-Harper 2005, p. 158.
- ^ Safran 2014, p. 162.
- ^ a b Chryssavgis 2022, p. 49.
- ^ Vera von Falkenhausen 2011, p. 283.
- ^ "Chiesa di San Francesco da Paola". Citta' Di Oria. Dott.ssa Loredana D'Elia. Archived from the original on 15 Aug 2016.
- ^ "Oria: la Diocesi celebra il patrono San Barsanofio". MemOria News (in Italian). 30 August 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- ^ Argese, Giuseppe (29 August 2017). "Oria: è tutto pronto per la Festa del Santo Patrono San Barsanofio". newⓈpam.it - Informiamo Brindisi e provincia (in Italian). Retrieved 20 January 2024.
Sources
- Chryssavgis, John (2 June 2022). The Letters of Barsanuphius and John: Desert Wisdom for Everyday Life. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-0-567-70486-3. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- Hevelone-Harper, Jennifer L. (12 July 2005). Disciples of the Desert: Monks, Laity, and Spiritual Authority in Sixth-Century Gaza. JHU Press. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-8018-8110-7. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- Noble, Thomas F. X.; Smith, Julia M.H., eds. (2008). The Cambridge History of Christianity - Early Medieval Christianities c. 600-c. 1100 (PDF). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81775-2. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- Paoli, Emore (2012). "Tradizioni agiografiche pugliesi tra Oriente e Occidente: il caso di san Barsanufio". BIZANTINI, LONGOBARDIE ARABI IN PUGLIANELL'ALTO MEDIOEVO Atti del XX Congresso Internazionale di Studiosull'alto Medioevo SavelletridiFasano (BR), 3-6 Novembre 2011: 405–431. Retrieved 21 January 2024.
- Safran, Linda (18 April 2014). The Medieval Salento: Art and Identity in Southern Italy. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 162, 295. ISBN 978-0-8122-4554-7. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
- Vera von Falkenhausen (14 October 2011). "The Jews in Byzantine Southern Italy". In Stroumsa, Guy G.; Irshai, Oded; Talgam, Rina; Bonfil, Robert (eds.). Jews in Byzantium: Dialectics of Minority and Majority Cultures. BRILL. pp. 283–284. ISBN 978-90-04-21644-0. Retrieved 20 January 2024.
External links
- (in Italian) San Barsanofio
- Media related to Barsanuphius of Palestine at Wikimedia Commons