HANDOUT FOR FEB. 12: ASCETICISM
Terms:
Asceticism, from Gk. askesis: effort, discipline, struggle.
Monk, monastery, monasticism, from Gk. monachos: "single" or "solitary."
Hermit, from Gk. eremos: desert or wilderness.
Abbot, from Aramaic abba: father.
Stylite, from Gk. stylos: pillar saint.
People:
Thecla: early female saint who abandoned marriage and family to follow the Apostle Paul. Mentioned in the apocryphal Acts of Paul, late second century.
Origen, a leading theologian in Alexandria c.185-251. Castrated himself to protect against sexual temptation. Eventually martyred.
Antony, first monk in Egypt: c.260-c.350.
Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria 328-373. Wrote Life of Antony and introduced text to Latin West.
Simeon the Stylite: first "pillar saint" c.390-459. His story told by bishop Theodoret of Cyrrhus in Lives of the Syrian Monks.
Pelagia of Antioch: famous (probably legendary) prostitute turned saint. The story is set in Antioch, Syria c.400.