Ascetics, Authority, and the Church in the Age of Jerome and Cassian: Second Edition

APPENDIX III: THE MONASTIC TEACHING OF EVAGRIUS OF PONTUS

APPENDIX III THE MONASTIC TEACHING OF EVAGRIUS OF PONTUS My purpose here is not to question the emphases of other commenta­ tors. Evagrius was a mystic, a master of spirituality. The portrait given by A. Guillaumont is accurate, and points to an important feature in Evagrius's life and teaching; and Marsili was undoubtedly justified in linking EVagrius, seen in this light, with Cassian. ! I only wish to reca1l 2 that Evagrius had very practical things to say about the ascetic life; that he reflected, in doing so, features of asceticism outlined above, in Part One; and that his ability to combine the mystical and the practical in this way may denote and explain a similar breadth of purpose in Cassian, his pupil. 3 Evagrius portrays an elite, the privileged recipients of esoteric wis­ dom. 4 But he does not take their excellence for granted: they must remember that virtuous laymen are better thap. negligent monks, and be careful not to give scandal to those who remain 'in the world'. s The ascetic group was subject to the rule of a master, the spiritual guide and constant companion of his disciples, a living witness to the value of experience. 6 He was also 'God's heir', imparting to his own 'children' the :>"oro<;, of God himself: a word that must be respected and obeyed. 7 Ascetics were dominated by the power of the word; 8 but they also 1 A. Guillaumont, Les 'Kephalaia Gnostica' d'Evagre Ie Pontique (Paris,1962); Marsili, Giovanni Cassiano. 2 With Bousset,Apophthegmata, 304; and R. Draguet,'L"'Histoire Lausiaque", une oeuvre ecrite dans I'esprit d'Evagre',RHE xlii (1947),39. 3The sources (to which I do no more than point) are as follows: (a) The Practicus (henceforward P), ed. A. Guillaumont (Paris, 1971): this provides a more just arrangement of the two collections in PG xl. 1221D-1236C; 1244B-1252C , together with certain parts of the Antirrheticus, ibid. 1272A-1276B; and it implements the principles first laid down by J. Muyldermans,'La teneur du Practicus d'Evagre Ie Pontique', Le Museon, xlii (1929), 74-89. (b) The De Oratione (henceforward DO), attributed to Nilus of Ancyra, PG Ixxix. 11651200 ; and read in the light of I. Hausherr,'Le traite de I'oraison d'Evagre Ie Pon­ tique', RAM xv (1934), 34-93; 113-70. (c) Evagriana Syriaca (henceforward ES), ed. and trans. J. Muyldermans (Louvain, 1952). (d) Nonnenspiegel und Monchsspiegel des Euagrios Pontikos (henceforward NS and MS respectively), ed. H. Gressmann, Texte und Untersuchungen, xxxix/4 (Berlin,1913), 143-65. _4P. Preface. sMS 34,78,113. 6MS 73 ; ES xi. 41. 'MS 1,88 . 8 DO 74;MS 126. 252 APPENDIX III valued a sense of tradition, and the continuity of monastic teaching. Experience gained in the past was as potent a force as the instruction of their present masters; and those now dead were regarded as patrons, whose prayers would protect the living monk. 9 It was a society based on avaxwpf/utr;, and in particular upon a flight from the body; 10 but this definition of withdrawal allowed scope for social development. Evagrius considered hermits superior, because they exposed themselves to the full force of demonic attack; but, pre­ cisely because of their isolation, precisely because they were no longer surrounded by material objects, the demons were compelled to attack them on an inner front, through their AOrtUfJ.Ot'.l1 This inner battle with tem�tation came to be regarded as the typical task of the monk in his cell. 2 Evagrius also did as much to bring together as to divide the active and the contemplative: 'They meet together, with the Lord in the midst of them'. 13 Together with a certain stripping away of the material world, there was an emphasis on poverty: 'Keep with you nothing but your cell, your cloak, your tunic, and the Gospels'. All other possessions must be given away at once, for the benefit of the poor-and one monk even sold his Gospels. 14 It is a dangerous temptation, says Evafsius, to imagine that one should not depend upon others for support. 5 Never­ theless, opportunity must be maintained for further generosity. The im­ pulse to surrender worldly goods creates the proper atmosphere for prayer; 16 but it is also an enduring fulfilment of initial conversion, which will have quite practical effects, such as the service of the sick. 17 There must have been, therefore, some form of monastic property, ra vrrapxovra TT}r; fJ.ovijr;, u�on which the generous monk could draw, in order to give to others. 8 In one passage, Evagrius says that ascetics should show generosity by giving food to those in need: in this way the poor, for a time at least, would have shared in the life of the monks, objects of monastic patronage. Evagrius's monk, therefore, was not cut off completely. In order to cultivate, again, the proper atmosphere for prayer, he must remain at peace with his brothers, and must visit them frequently, eating in their company. 19 Evagrius makes more than occasional reference to the dangers of anger (a threat to prayer), implying that the contemplative 9 P, Preface, 91, 100. lOp52. 11P 5, 48. 12 P 28;compare points made above, pp. 44-9. 13MS121;compare 132. 14p18, 97;ESi. ll;viii. 3. ISp9;ESi. 2. 16 DO 17; compare P 20. I7p91;MS53. 18MS75. 19 DO 21;MS15. APPENDIX III 253 life, as he understood it, was to some extent exposed to the distractions of society. 20 Nor was charity merely a matter of maintaining peace of mind: Evagrius understood the need for genuine sympathy. 21 He sugges­ ted that closeness to God could lead to greater closeness among brethren; that increasing perfection in prayer could draw a man back into the company of others: 'The monk is a man set apart, more than any other; and yet at one with all men , . 22 This relatively social group was subject, not only to the authority of masters, but also to a rule. Evagrius echoed Pachomius, suggesting that the perfect will have no need of vOJ10C;.23 Yet he hints at the potential division between inner and visible obedience (and so, in another sense, between the active and the contemplative life): the mere keeping of commandments is no guarantee of spiritual strength, unless balanced by an understanding that springs from contemplation. 24 He writes of the ascetic Kavwv, even while pleading for adaptability. 2S He betrays a striking fear of j.udgement: 'Woe to the lawless man [lUJOJlY] on the day of his death '. 6 Evagrius showed, too, a concern for the influence of the priesthood in ascetic society. He attempted to distinguish between priests, who purified monks through the celebration of the mysteries, and ascetic masters, who prepared them for battle with the demons. 27 But any monk with a reputation for sanctity, attracting disciples and admirers, could easily attribute his charismatic power to the supposed possession of priestly qualities. 28 Priests, properly regarded, interceded by their prayers for the rest of the community; but ascetics as a whole also en­ joyed, with Evagrius's consent, an intercessory role. 29 20P 25, 93. 21MS87. 22 DO 124. 23P 70; see above, p. 71. 24P 79. 25p 40. 26MS 22. "p 100. 28 p 13. For a possible link with Cassian, Inst. xi. 14, discussed above, p. 217 n. 85, see Marsili, Giovanni Cassiano, 92. lOp 100;DO 39, 122;see Hausherr, 'Le traite de l'oraison', 73 f., 152. ...