Author: Prof. Arietta Papaconstantiniou (Oriental Institute, University of Oxford)
Keywords: Orthodox Christianity, monasticism, childhood, parents, canons
Abstract:
This article presents an edifying story, which has not been published yet and which can be found in the 11th-century manuscript Coislin 257 of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, which contains among other works a collection of stories from The Spiritual Meadow by John Moschos. To illustrate the monastic virtues of humility and obedience, the tale uses the motif of the separation between parents and their child, but it is told in an unusual way, since contrary to the most early monastic accounts, it is the child who finds strength to break with its parents. The text also reflects the practice of transferring the legal authority over a child from the parents to the monastic community, a practice which had become widespread enough to be officially regulated in the late sixth century.
(English translation by Prof. Camil Dădârlat)
Pages: 236-249