07 — The Disciples
Euthymius the Great wrote no monastic rule; he shaped Palestinian monasticism through the men he formed. This section traces his spiritual children — above all Sabas the Sanctified, the Cappadocian youth he called “child-elder” and sent to the cenobium to be trained — and follows the line Euthymius → Sabas → the classical Judean monasticism of the sixth century, together with the fate of his own lavra after his death in 473, when it was rebuilt as a cenobium over his tomb in fulfillment of his own prophecy.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox (Desert Father; father of Palestinian monasticism)
Euthymius is too often read merely as “the master of Sabas.” His formation of Sabas is indeed his greatest single legacy, but the company of his disciples was wider and more various: Domitian his closest attendant, who died at his tomb seven days after him; Martyrius and Elias, two monks of his community who each became patriarch of Jerusalem; Gerasimus of the Jordan, reclaimed from Monophysitism to Chalcedon; Cosmas, Chrysippus, and Gabrielius, three Cappadocian brothers who rose to a bishopric, a literary reputation, and the rule of a Jerusalem monastery; Stephen; and the young Cyriacus, who lived to become Cyril of Scythopolis’s informant. Through these men the lavriot pattern, the discipline of stillness, and a firm Chalcedonian orthodoxy were carried into the institutions of the Palestinian church and, through Sabas above all, codified for the centuries to come.
The two files of this section take up, in turn, the disciples and the foundation. The first follows the spiritual children of Euthymius and the line of descent to Sabas and the classical desert; the second follows what became of Euthymius’s own lavra — its conversion into a cenobium, the burial and tomb, the monastery’s place in the network of Judean houses, and its decline after the Persian (614) and Arab (638) conquests. Throughout, the disciples and the wonders are reported as Cyril of Scythopolis attests them, per the methodology that governs this guide.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| sabas-and-the-next-generation.md | The spiritual children of Euthymius — above all Sabas, the “child-elder” sent to the cenobium and made the lawgiver of the desert; Domitian, Martyrius and Elias, Gerasimus, Cosmas, Chrysippus, Gabrielius, Stephen, and Cyriacus; the line Euthymius → Sabas → classical Judean monasticism |
| the-lavra-after-euthymius.md | The death of Euthymius (473) and the burial; the conversion of the lavra into a cenobium by Fidus three years later, with the translation of the relics, in fulfillment of his prophecy; the tomb; the monastery in the network of Judean houses; the site at Khan el-Ahmar; and the decline after 614 and 638 |
See Also
- St. Sabbas the Sanctified — Euthymius’s greatest heir, whose collection carries the Great Lavra, the typikon, and the classical Judean monasticism in full
- 02 — The Lavra of Euthymius — the founding of the lavra and the lower cenobium of Theoctistus where Sabas was first trained
- 03 — The Cenobium and the Lavra — the lavriot pattern and the cenobium, the distinction the conversion of the lavra turned upon
- 04 — Defender of Chalcedon — the Christological struggle in which Martyrius, Elias, and Gerasimus stood
- 05 — Sources — Cyril of Scythopolis and the chain of living memory through Cyriacus
- 08 — East and West — Euthymius, Sabas, and Theodosius as the founding trio of the Judean desert
- 09 — Veneration and Legacy — the feast on 20 January and the assessment of his place in monastic history
- St. John of Damascus — a later monk of Mar Saba, heir to the tradition Sabas built on Euthymius’s foundation
- Monasticism — the ascetic institution Euthymius and his disciples shaped
- Spiritual Direction — the formation of the disciple by a living father, the medium of Euthymius’s influence
- Master README — the full St. Euthymius the Great reference guide
References
- Cyril of Scythopolis. Life of Euthymius and Life of Sabas, in Cyril of Scythopolis: The Lives of the Monks of Palestine. Translated by R. M. Price. Cistercian Studies 114. Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1991.
- Binns, John. Ascetics and Ambassadors of Christ: The Monasteries of Palestine 314–631. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994.
- Chitty, Derwas J. The Desert a City: An Introduction to the Study of Egyptian and Palestinian Monasticism under the Christian Empire. Oxford: Blackwell, 1966.
- Hirschfeld, Yizhar. The Judean Desert Monasteries in the Byzantine Period. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992.