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
Hermit
Born in Egypt, Barsanuphius entered at some point in the sixth century the hilly region of Thavata in Palestine and begun to live as a recluse in a cell near the village. The reasons for his move are uncertain, but it is possible that he did so due to the pro-Chalcedonian stance of the region compared to his native Egypt.[1] He was already an experienced ascetic before his arrival and experienced in the tradition of the desert fathers, but it remains uncertain whether he was ordained.[2]
In Thavata, Barsanuphius started to offer advice and spiritual direction to other ascetics who were living in the region, among other to the community of the nearby monastery which became increasingly responsible for the support of the various monks who gathered around the hermit.[3] The abbot of the monastery, Seridus of Gaza, became the only person who communicated directly with Barsanuphius and acted as mediator for those who wished to be counselled by the hermit. As Seridus did not know Coptic, he recorded the answers in Greek.[4] When at one point Barsanuphius became aware that some members of the monastery were doubting his existence, he revealed himself to them by coming out to wash their feet.[5]
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.[6] Barsanuphius became known as the "Old Man" or the "Great Old Man" while John was called "The Other Old Man" or "the Prophet". John became the teacher of Dorotheus of Gaza who assumed a similar position to John as Seridus did to Barsanuphius.[7] At the old age he convinced the emperor to renew the concordant relationship with the Church of Jerusalem.
Letters
Barsanuphius and John were sought to provide advice and spiritual direction by a diverse group of people. These included other hermits, priests, bishops and monks (including Dorotheus of Gaza) as well as lay persons of various professions.[8] They corresponded with them through letters transmitted by Seridus and Dorotheus and around 850 letters survive (of which Barsanuphius wrote around 400).[9] Barsanuphius' letters reveal a strong, supportive and warm personality and his style is clear, prayerful and undeterred by issues.[10] The bible is often adapted allegorically and spiritually in order to respond to the needs of each individual, and the Sayings of the Desert Fathers are evoked frequently as well. Barsanuphius and John were also familiar with the writings of Basil the Great and Origen.[11] Though Barsanuphius refrained from condemning Origenism, he disagreed firmly with the idea that it is possible to achieve spiritual knowledge (gnosis) as a reward for an ascetic life and thought it dangerous for monks to live as if that was possible.[12]
In general, Barsanuphius and John were averse to give precise prescriptions about progress in spiritual life and did not order their disciples to perform specific number of penitential acts but rather encouraged them to practice the virtues opposing the vices or temptations that afflicted them.[13]
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. [7]
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.[14]
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.[15] He is not mentioned in the Coptic Synaxarion.[16] He was one of the influences on Theodore the Studite in his reform of the Stoudios Monastery[17] and Theodore noted that Barsanuphius was depicted on the altar cloth of the Hagia Sophia next to Anthony the Great and Ephrem the Syrian.[18] Starting from the 10th century, the saint was also mentioned in many synaxaria in the Orthodox church[18] and the Russian monastery of St. Panteleimon on Mount Athos had an office for Barsanuphius and John.[19] 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.[20][21]
Painting by Samuele Tatulli depicting the arrival in Ostuni of the relics of Saint Barsanuphius. The three characters in the foreground are (from left to right) the saint, Bishop Theodosius and the personified diocese of Oria.
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.[22] This chapel (today under the church of San Francesco da Paola) housed the relics between 890 and 1170.[23] During a Moorishsiege 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.[21]
At Oria he is considered to have saved the city from destruction through war.[19] 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.[24][25]
Hombergen, O.C.S.O., Daniël (2004). "Barsanuphius and John of Gaza and the Origenist Controversy". In Bitton-Ashkelony, Brouria; Kofsky, Aryeh (eds.). Christian Gaza in Late Antiquity. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. pp. 173–181. ISBN90-04-13868-4.
Regnault, Lucien (1991). "Barsanuphius, Saint". The Coptic encyclopedia, volume 2. Claremont Graduate University. School of Religion. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
