The Life of Lazaros of Mt. Galesion: An Eleventh-Century Pillar Saint (review)

The Life of Lazaros of Mt. Galesion: An Eleventh-Century Pillar Saint. Introduction, translation, and notes by Richard P. H. Greenfield. [Byzantine Saints' Lives in Translation, III.] (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. 2000. Pp. xxi, 423. $50.00.)

Translations tend to be the poor cousins among academic publications: dismissed by those who understand the original, and easily criticized by those who have quite a superficial knowledge of a particular language. It would be a pity if the present work failed to receive the attention it deserves. Although it comes in a series of translations, it far surpasses the normal limits of a translation.

The monk Lazaros, the subject of this hagiographical work, is as eccentric a figure as one would wish to find: born (966/7) in the western part of Asia Minor when all that area formed part of the Byzantine Empire, even as a child in his early teens he chose to enter a monastery. But equally early he showed signs of a strong individuality that fitted with difficulty into communal life. He broke away from several monasteries, including the prestigious Mar Saba near Jerusalem (where he was ordained priest), and traveled widely in what is now Israel and Turkey before settling near Ephesos, first in a cave on Mt. Galesion, then on top of a pillar higher up the mountain (when over fifty years of age). This attracted the attention of a number of men, who settled round the base of the pillar, constructing a small monastery.

For the next thirty years Lazaros continued his stylite existence, exposed to the elements and with only a few square feet in which to move, even though he transferred on two occasions to other pillars, constructed higher up a valley, around each of which new monastic settlements assembled, all acknowledging Lazaros as their superior. Apart from new monks, prepared to live on a barren, unwatered hillside, he also attracted a stream of visitors seeking spiritual guidance. His biographer, one of his disciples, gives a detailed, if somewhat disorderly, account of the way he governed (fatherly both in his kindness and in the whippings he would order when he thought them good for his spiritual children), and also of the advice he gave, of the wonders he performed, and above all of the extraordinary physical prowess he displayed in supporting all sorts of pain, caused by thirst, cold, illness, and additional penances (such as chains). In striking contrast to his bizarre life-style, his opinions and advice seem to have been consistently sensible and humane, and he clearly inspired both a religious awe and an affectionate fidelity. The biographer claims to draw both on his own memories and on those of contemporaries, and the prima facie impression is one of objective recording.

There are problems, and Professor Greenfield is scrupulously thorough in presenting these and acknowledging when the solutions are not clear. The local bishop (of Ephesos) remained opposed to the whole venture; Lazaros seems to have received imperial financial assistance, but exactly how this came is uncertain; after his death, none of the usual process that follows the demise of a saint (popular devotion, the formation of a liturgy, etc.) seems to have taken place. Perhaps even more serious, the translator has had to work with a text based on a single fourteenth-century manuscript (unfortunately, a new edition of the text is still unpublished). Yet the foundations of Lazaros lived on, and were to have a glorious future for two and a half centuries, till sacked by the Turks in 1304. Thanks to Professor Greenfield, this exceptional text is at the disposal of anyone wishing to become reliably informed about a phenomenon which allows unexpected insights into the religiosity of the Greek-speaking mediaeval world.

 

Joseph A. Munitiz, S.J.
University of Birmingham, U.K.

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