Conon

CONCERNING ST. CONON, PRIEST AND ABBOT OF THE MONASTERY OF PENTHUCLAE IN PALESTINE.

CIRCA A.D. 555.

Conon, Priest of the monastery of Penthuclae in Palestine (St.)

By G. H.

[1] St. Conon lived in the sixth century of Christ near the Jordan, and, as far as we can gather from the surrounding monasteries, in the desert of the Holy City or some neighboring place. Concerning the various monasteries erected there, we treated on January 20 in the Life of St. Euthymius, among which was also situated the monastery of Penthucula, or Penthucla, which is mentioned by John Moschus in chapters 3, 13, 14, and 15 of the Spiritual Meadow, and is called in Greek "the cenobion or monastery of Penthoukla," and in the Menaea "Penthoukla." In that cenobium, therefore, St. Conon flourished when Peter, as is stated below, was Archbishop of Jerusalem, having been promoted to that dignity in the year of Christ 525 and dying in the year 546. After his death, St. Conon survived for some time. After the baptism of the girl who came from Persia, when the Archbishop was astonished at his virtue, he is said to have lived another twenty years, perhaps dying around the year 555. His deeds could better be learned by John Moschus and Sophronius from an eyewitness who, in his old age, was living in the monastery of St. Sabas. They narrate in chapter 3 what the author of the Menaea and Cythereius transcribed with few changes under February 19, beginning thus:

[2] "On the same day, our holy Father Conon. He was a Cilician by birth and bade farewell to human affairs from his very youth, entering the monastery called Pentucla, situated near the Jordan. He was afterward ordained Priest and attained the summit of the religious life. After his admirable virtue had become known by report to the Archbishop Peter, the latter imposed upon him the duty of washing in the sacred font all those who came on pilgrimage to the Jordan for the sake of baptism." Thus the Menaea. But Moschus makes him not a Cilician but an Alexandrian, and relates the following concerning him, accurately translated from the Greek:

[3] "When we had gone to the Laura of our holy Father Sabas to visit Abbot Athanasius, the old man narrated to us, saying: 'When I was in the monastery of Pentucla, there was a certain Priest assigned to the ministry of baptism named Conon, an Alexandrian by birth. They had charged him, as a man of great and venerable age, to confer baptism. He anointed and baptized those who came for this purpose. Whenever, therefore, he had to anoint a woman, he was scandalized, and for this reason wished to depart from the monastery. When he had this thought of departing, St. John the Baptist appeared to him, saying: "Endure and persevere, and I will free you from this warfare."'"

[4] "On a certain day, however, a girl came from Persia to be baptized, who was so beautiful and of such great loveliness that the Priest was unable to anoint her with the holy oil. When the girl had remained thus for two days, the Archbishop Peter, hearing of this, was astonished at the old man, and wished to delegate a Deaconess for this task — but he did not do so, lest he transgress the Canons. The Priest Conon, taking his sheepskin cloak, departed, saying: 'I will no longer remain in this place.' When he had gone out to the hills, behold, St. John the Baptist met him and said to him in a calm voice: 'Return to your monastery, and I will free you from this warfare.' Then Abbot Conon replied with a certain indignation: 'Believe me, I will not return. For you have often promised me this, and have done nothing.' When St. John had taken hold of him, he made him sit upon one of the hills, and removing his garments, he signed him three times with the sign of the Cross below the navel and said to him: 'Believe me, Priest Conon, I wished you to be rewarded for this struggle; but since you do not wish it, I have removed the warfare, and you will not have the reward of this labor.' The Priest Conon, having returned to the monastery where he was accustomed to baptize, on the following day anointed and baptized the girl who had come from Persia, and did not in the least perceive that she was by nature a girl."

[5] "He completed another twelve years in the ministry of baptizing and did not feel any bodily impulse, nor, upon looking at a woman, did he reflect that she was of such a nature. And so he was perfected in peace." Thus far Moschus. The last part is expressed thus in the Menaea: "The Saint lived another twenty years thereafter, and having attained the highest degree of tranquility of soul, and as if divested of all human sensation, he finally rested in peace." Of these years, he devoted twelve to the ministry of baptizing; for the remaining eight he appears to have been the Hegumen or Superior of the monastery, as is stated below from another passage of Moschus.

[6] Furthermore, where it is said above that the Priest was unable to anoint the girl with the holy oil because she was so beautiful, the Greek reads thus: "so that the Priest was unable to anoint her with the holy oil." In the Menaea there is added "naked" — "to anoint her naked" — which is also found in the Latin editions of Rosweyde and others. Concerning this nudity at baptism, the same Rosweyde discusses it in his Onomasticon to the Lives of the Fathers and maintains that those were reckoned naked from whom the outer garment, in which they were accustomed to appear in public, was removed. Thus David was clothed in a linen ephod and yet is said to have danced naked before the ark (2 Kings 6). In the same manner, he says, those to be baptized kept an undergarment or some linen girdle for the sake of modesty.

[7] The same Moschus, in chapter 15, narrates the following concerning the same Conon, as we believe — which the Menaea do not mention: "They used to say of Abbot Conon, the Hegumen of the monastery of Pentucla, that on a certain day, when he was going to Betamarim, he met some Jews. When they wished to kill him, they ran against the old man with drawn swords. But when they had drawn near and were brandishing their swords against him, their hands were suspended aloft and remained immovable. And when the old man offered prayer for them, they went away rejoicing and giving glory to God." Thus far the passage, in which for the word "Betamarim," the Greek reads: "to the holy region of Biton."