The Monk as Mourner: Gendered Eastern Christian Self-Identity in the Seventh Century
The Eastern Christian term for a monastic from the desert fathers onwards was a mourner'. The solitary grieved for his sin, and expressed his penitence in tears of lamentation. The remorse he felt was, paradoxically, joyful because it brought him closer to God. The mourner' within the Ch...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brepols
[2013]
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| In: |
The journal of medieval monastic studies
Year: 2013, Volume: 2, Pages: 19-37 |
| IxTheo Classification: | KAD Church history 500-900; early Middle Ages KBL Near East and North Africa KCA Monasticism; religious orders |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | The Eastern Christian term for a monastic from the desert fathers onwards was a mourner'. The solitary grieved for his sin, and expressed his penitence in tears of lamentation. The remorse he felt was, paradoxically, joyful because it brought him closer to God. The mourner' within the Christian community articulated the remorse of his fellows as well as himself. The term was applied to men specifically, and denotes a shift from the practice of secular mourning being the province of women. This article will explore male self-identity in two contemporaries from very different contexts, John Climacus, an abbot of Mount Sinai, whose Ladder of Divine Ascent' is the Lenten reading today in every Orthodox monastery, and Isaac of Nineveh, who exemplifies the Syrian outworking of the tradition. |
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| ISSN: | 2034-3523 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of medieval monastic studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1484/J.JMMS.1.103647 |