ON ST. BARADATUS, ANCHORITE IN SYRIA
AROUND THE YEAR CCCCLX.
Preliminary Commentary.
Baradatus, anchorite in Syria (S.)
G. H.
[1] Among the illustrious anchorites of the East, under the reigns of Theodosius the Younger, Marcian, and Leo the Thracian, flourished St. Baradatus or Varadatus, whose very long course of ascetic practice is indicated by various sources. St. Baradatus lived under Theodosius the Younger, For after he had been enclosed for a long time in a cell lower than his own stature, he afterward came forth, obeying the admonitions of Theodotus, Bishop of Antioch, as the Acts below from Theodoret relate. Theodoret, in Book 5 of the Ecclesiastical History, Chapter 37, writes that after the death of Alexander, Bishop of Antioch, and Theodotus, Patriarch of Antioch. Theodotus, "a pearl of continence," obtained the presidency of the Church -- a man distinguished for gentleness and admirably adorned by the careful ordering of his life. Nicephorus and Theophanes each in their Chronography report that he sat for four years, but his years do not seem to be correctly arranged by Theophanes, who asserts that he died some years before St. Atticus of Constantinople. But since Photius in his Bibliotheca, Section 52, relates that Sisinnius, the successor of St. Atticus, who was made Bishop on the day before the Kalends of March in the year CCCCXXVI, attended together with Theodotus of Antioch a synod assembled against the Massalian heretics, it is necessary that Theodotus lived after the death of St. Atticus. In the Menaea below, he is called Theodoretus instead of Theodotus -- an error which Maximus Cytheraeus also embraced. Concerning the time at which Alexander sat before Theodotus, we treated on the eighth of January in the Life of St. Atticus, Section 6, and on the tenth of February in the Life of the monk St. Zeno, page 390.
[2] After the death of Theodosius the Younger in the year CCCCL, Marcian succeeded him, and when Marcian likewise died in the year CCCCLVII, Leo was substituted, who so admired the holiness of Baradatus that the letter which he sent to the principal Bishops, Patriarchs, and to the Roman Pontiff St. Leo, he receives a letter from the Emperor Leo: he wished to be inscribed and communicated also to Baradatus. That letter survives in the third part of the Council of Chalcedon, number 21, in volume 9 of the Councils, page 165, inscribed to Anatolius, Bishop of Constantinople; and after it is recorded, fifty-nine Bishops are enumerated to whom the same was sent, as well as to these three monks: James of Nisibis, Simeon, and Varadatus. The same letter has been published in Greek by Evagrius, Book 2, Chapter 9, who adds this: "These indeed are the letters to Anatolius. He wrote ones entirely similar also to other Bishops and to illustrious men who during that period, as was shown above, led a life of poverty destitute of all things necessary for sustenance; among whom was Simeon, he is held in esteem together with St. Simeon Stylites, who was the very first to begin dwelling on a column and invented that kind of habitation, concerning which our earlier history made mention. To these are added Baradatus and James, both Syrians." In Greek it is Baradatos, and it can be written in Latin as either Baradatus or Varadatus. Concerning St. Simeon Stylites, we treated on the fifth of January; concerning James, Theodoret treats in the Philotheus, Chapter 21. The Greeks in the Menaea and the Menologion treat of him on the twenty-sixth of November, and Nicephorus, Book 15 of the Ecclesiastical History, Chapter 22, and James of Nisibis the Younger: relates this brief account about him and St. Baradatus: "Among monks, Baradatus and James of Nisibis were also especially famous." Our Rosweydus in his Notes on Theodoret, number 52, would prefer that this James be surnamed not Nisibenus but Hypaethrius, so as to be distinguished from the celebrated Bishop James of Nisibis who attended the first Ecumenical Council of Nicaea; but that James was a Bishop and was older than this monk by a full century or more, and is venerated on the fifteenth of July.
[3] After receiving the Emperor Leo's letter, St. Baradatus sent back a most courteous reply. It also survives in Part 3 of the Council of Chalcedon, number 61, in the said volume 9 of the Councils, from page 391, with this inscription: he writes back to the Emperor Leo. "To the Lord of land and sea and of the entire human race, the Victor of the world and most pious Augustus, the Emperor Leo, the poor Varadatus sends greeting in the Lord." And then he begins the letter thus: "Receiving the awe-inspiring letter of your Empire through Eutropius the Imperial Agent, the servant of your divinity, I rejoiced greatly
(for we have always received the grace of your tranquility), because your power is solicitous for the holy Churches of the Lord Jesus Christ and for all the poor established under your Empire." He exhorts the Emperor to show himself strong as a lion in defense of the Incarnation of Christ and of the Council of Chalcedon against adversaries, and finally concludes: "I have written these things with trembling to the Empire of your piety on the twenty-seventh day of the month of August, in the year 457. in the second year of the Empire, in the tenth Indiction. I salute your divinity and all who love your tranquility, and I beseech Almighty God to establish your Empire for long ages in this world, and in the future age before God." We reckon that year as CCCCLVII of the Christian era. How long Baradatus lived afterward is not established.
[4] The Greeks in the Menaea and in Maximus Cytheraeus celebrate St. Baradatus with annual observance on the twenty-second of February: he is venerated on 22 February. "On the same day," they say, "the commemoration of our holy Father Baradatus," about whom this distich is added:
En ge nekrosas, hos legei Paulos, mele, Zoes meteschen en polo Baradatos.
"Having mortified his members upon the earth, as Paul says, Baradatus became a partaker of life in heaven." Colossians 3:5
An elegant eulogy is added, but it is entirely drawn from the Philotheus of Theodoret, Life from Theodoret. who in Chapter 27 treats of him while he was still living, having himself departed this life before him.
LIFE
From the Philotheus of Theodoret, Chapter XXVII.
Baradatus, anchorite in Syria (S.)
from Theodoret.
[1] Both the common enemy of mankind has found many paths of vice, striving utterly to destroy the entire human nature, and the sons of piety and true religion have devised many and diverse ladders by which to ascend to heaven. Some, contending in organized communities (and these assemblies are innumerable), enjoy incorruptible crowns Among the various pursuits of monastic life, and attain the desired ascent. Others, embracing the monastic life and meditating on speaking with God alone, and sharing in no human consolation, are thus publicly proclaimed as victors. Some dwell in tents and others in huts, and celebrate God with praises. Others embrace life in caves and grottoes. But many, of whom we have mentioned some, have resolved to have neither cave, nor tent, nor grotto, nor hut, but committing their bodies to the naked air, they endure contrary conditions -- sometimes frozen stiff by extreme cold, sometimes scorched by the fire of the sun's rays. And indeed their manner of life is in turn diverse. For some stand continually, while others divide their day between sitting and standing; and some, enclosed within certain enclosures, flee the company of the many, while others, using no such covering, are exposed to all who wish to behold them. St. Baradatus embraces a new manner of living: It was necessary for me to pursue each of these at present, since I wished to write the life of the admirable Baradatus. For he devised new methods of exercising endurance.
[2] For having first enclosed himself for a long time in a small cottage, he enjoyed only divine contemplation. Then, having occupied an overhanging cliff, he constructed a small chest of wood, he encloses himself in a cell lower than his stature: not even of proper dimensions to accommodate his body, and in it he led his life, compelled to bend downward continually. For it did not have a height proportionate to its length. Nor was it put together with solid planks, but was open like lattice work, and was like windows that have wider openings for light. Therefore it was neither free from the force of rain nor sheltered from the blaze of the sun; but it admitted both no less than other things that are under the open sky; and in this alone did it surpass them -- that the labor of confinement was added.
[3] After he had spent a long time in this manner, he afterward came forth, yielding to the entreaties of the divine Theodotus, who had received the pontifical See of Antioch. he stands continually, covered with skins, He stands continually, stretching his hands toward heaven and praising the God of all things, covering his entire body with a tunic of skin; but around the nose and mouth alone he left a small opening for breath, so that he might breathe, receiving the common air, since human nature could not live otherwise. He endures all this labor, though he does not possess a very robust body, but one that is sickly and subject to many diseases. his body always infirm: But the fervent alacrity of his spirit, kindled by divine love, compels him who cannot labor to labor.
[4] Moreover, adorned also with wisdom and understanding, he both asks questions and responds most excellently, he reasons better than the Aristotelians. and sometimes reasons more powerfully and effectively than those who have read the Aristotelian labyrinths. But though he stands upon the very summit of virtue, he does not allow his spirit to be lifted up by arrogance at the same time, but commands it to creep below about the very side of the mountain. For he knows how great is the damage that a mind swollen and inflamed with insolence brings upon itself. This, in sum, is his philosophy.
[5] May he be granted, by advancing, to reach the goal of his course. For the glory of those who have won the victory is a common joy for all the pious. And may it be granted to me the author implores the prayers of the Saints. that, supported by their prayers, I may not be far from this mountain, but may gradually ascend and fill myself with the delight of their contemplation.