Stavroula Constantinou MALE CORPOREAL PERFORMANCES 'ν:Reading the Body in Byzantine Passions and Lives of Holy Women UPPSALA 2005 126 Chapter 3: The Makίng, Remakίng and Unmakίng ofroles now takes place; the abbot is the sinner and not Mary, whom the abbot now treats as a saint. As soon as he receives the forgiveness he is waiting for, the abbot calls for the innkeeper. When the innkeeper aπives a situation is created similar to the one that followed after the abbot became aware of Mary's/Maήnos' death. Without revealing Mary's/Maήnos' sex, the abbot informs the innkeeper about her death. Like the abbot earlier, the innkeeper treats Mary/Marinos as sinful and wishes that God forgive her/him. Here again, the effect of irony is repeated, in this case experienced both by the persons ofthe naπative (abbot and monks) and the audience ofthe Life. When the abbot tells the innkeeper that Marinos is a woman, he is greatly surpήsed. He then enters Mary's cell in order to see with his own eyes the truth concerning Mary's sex. After seeing, he is transformed too. The revelation of Euphrosyne's, Mary's, Pelagia's and Theodora's female sex is followed by public recognition. The abbots, the brethren and/or members of different monastic communities celebrate the heroines' religious tήumphs. The miracles performed οη their corpses increase everybody's admiration for their conduct which led them to holiness: And she was immediately healed at the tomb ofthe blessed Mary and everyone glorified God because of this sign, and because of [Mary's] patient endurance, for she vigorously endured [her trials] until death, refusing to make herselfknown. (tr. Constas 1996: 12) Καi παραχρijμα iά&η έν τφ μνήματι τijς όσίας Μαρίας καi πάντες έδόξαζον τον Θεόν έπi τψ yεyονότι σημείιρ καi τij ύπομον~j αύτijς, οτι μέχρι &ανάτου έκαρτέρησε, μή φανερώσασα έαυτήν. (VMar ch.21.171-174) As their Lives show, holy cross-dressers successfully perform both genders. This becomes more striking in the cases of the heroines who at some point ofthe naπative give up their lives as men and become once again women byjust remaking their appearance. The holy cross-dressers who can act as both exemplary monks and nuns manifest that being a nun is as much a performance as being a monk. The enactment ofboth roles is a matter ofchanging clothes and place ofactivity (male monastery is replaced by a nunnery). Ιη the Lives of the holy cross-dressers, religious performance meets social performance, since the role ofthe crossdresser is performed in a religious environment by imitation ofthe male gender that is a social role. CHAPTER4 Life in the Nunnery: The Exemplary Body of the Abbess and the Obedient Body of the Nun Introduction Female monastic tradition in Byzantium differed .from the coπesponding male tradition. The majoήty offemale monast1cs adopted the ce~obitic life (Morήs 1995: 52). Women were not encouraged to lead the 11fe of the hermit and therefore, unlike their male count~rparts, they never t d "cities in the deserts" or οη the mounta1ns..Ιη fact, male :~~a:tic tradition has its very roots in eremitic l~fe~ wh1ch w~s established by Antony. Thus while during the first Chnst1an centunes man~ holy men, following the example ofAntony, moved to the desert seek_ ing a life of contemplation, their female c?unterparts-.s~ch a~~~~~ple is Macήna-transformed their houses ιnto nunnenes ιnstea Ι ty 1966; Brown 1988). . . h The histoήcal reality according to wh1ch women d1d ηο~ favour t e life ofthe hermit is reflected in the Lives of female monast1cs: as h~roines who are solitaries are very few and most of them are fi~t10nal. ~s for the male monastics, many of them seem to prefer the sol1tary.to t .e cenobitic life. Nevertheless, they do not fail to s~end parts oftheιr relι~ . ι· s both ι·η monasteries and in the w1lderness, because a gιous ινe · "'t · Basil the hagiographer of Euthymios the Younger, formulates ιt, ι 2 ~~ not g~od to lead only the life of a hermit" (VEuthymlun ch.27.27- ' date: 910). . · ι h ' Thus a common motif of male monastic L1ves ~s the ce~tra eroe~ . f different styles of monasticism wh1ch comb1ne the sol1expenences ο :fl · t begins tary and the cenobitic life. Euthymios the Younger, or ιηs ance, ' There are only eight female monastics out of twenty-six whose a~counts ~elon.~ .to h b fthe fiemale Life These women are the following: Melanιa, Pelagιa, Taιsιa,t e su genre ο · ~ Mary of Egypt, Synkletike, Matrona, Theoktiste and Euphrosyne the ounger. 128 Chapter 4: Life ίn the Nunnery his monastic career οη Mount Olympos in Bithynia as a disciple of a famous hermit, Ioannikios, who initiates him in the ascetic and contemplative life (VEuthymlun ch.7). After some time he leaves Ioannikios and becomes a disciple ofanother famous hermit, John. At some point, after teaching Euthymios everything about a monk's life, John sends him to a monastery, considering him pious enough to enter a monastic community where he could serve other monks and compete with them in spiritual battles (VEuthymlun chs.8-9). After spending some time in the monastery, Euthymios returns to the solitary life (VEuthymlun ch.12). Much later he experiences the lavriot form ofmonasticism, a combination ofsolitary and loose cenobitic life. After that he founds a monastery and becomes the abbot (VEuthymlun ch.32). He stays in his monastery for fourteen years, teaching and looking after the members ofhis community but longing for solitary life he thereafter leaves the monastery and ascends a column. He soon comes down from the column as a result ofnot being able to find the hesychίa he seeks. He then goes to Mount Athos where he ends his earthly life as a hermit. . S~ch a multifarious monastic life as that of Euthymios the Younger ιs quιte uncommon for a female monastic (Talbot 1985). Among all the fei:nale monastics, only Melania, Matrona and Euphrosyne the Younger ~xper.ιence both the cenobitic and the solitary life; and not in the ways ιη whιch a monk such as Euthymios the Younger does. The lavriot monastic style and the ascent to a column, for example, are forms of ascetic life which are never adopted by the central heroines of female Lives. Ιη contrast to their male counterparts, female solitaries do not travel from one holy mountain to another. With the exception of Euphrosyne the Younger (when she is a cross-dresser), Mary ofEgypt and Theoktistewhose fictitious Life is modelled οη that ofMary ofEgypt-who wander alone in the wilderness, the other female solitaries enclose themselves in cells. Unlike holy men who, as the example of Euthymios the Younger shows, give up their role as abbots and abandon their monasteries holy women retain their role as abbesses until the end of their lives~ Despite the principle of"monastic stability", according to which a monk or a nun should remain in the monastery where he or she first took monastic vows (Talbot l996b: 194, η. 175), many holy men choose to Iead their cenobitic lives in different monasteries. Such an example is Michael Maleϊnos (VMίchMal BHG 1295). Holy men of the late Byzantine lntroductίon 129 period ίη particular are characterised by their wanderlust (Nicol 1985). The cenobitic nuns venerated ίη Byzantine Lives, οη the other hand, remaining faithful to the principle of "monastic stability",.n~ver change one nunnery for another, not even if asked by male relιgι?us authorities to do so, as in the unique case ofTheodora ofThessalonιke. According to Theodora's Life, the archίmandrίte John, ~eing aware of her piety, wants to transfer her from the convent of Sa~nt Stephen.to another nunnery ίη order to appoint her its abbess. Refemng to the.p~ιnciple of "monastic stability", Theodora argues against such a decιsιon. She exclaims: "It is impossible for me, a sinful woman, to become a transgressor of my vows to God and to leave this convent where Ι made my vows" (tr. Talbot 1996b: 194; άδύνατον έμf, τfiv άμαρτωλον παραβάτιν των προς Θεον συν&ηκwν μου γενέσ&αι καi καταλιπεiν τούτο το μοναστήριον, εv&α μου τ<χς συν&ήκας πεποiημαι. VTheodThess ch.36.10-13). The fact that monks have various monastic experiences imposes οη their Lives certain structures which are absent from the Lives of nuns and female solitaries. The Life of a nun who spends all her religious Iife ίη a convent, for instance, has a different form from that of a monk who travels, enters many monasteries and changes monastic styles accor~ing to his spiritual needs. Since a nun and an abbess do not abandon theιr convents their Lives, unlike those ofmost cenobitic monks, are focused almost e~clusively οη their cenobitic experiences and the incidents that occur within the baπiers oftheir nunneries. Ofcourse there are parallels between the life ofa cenobitic monk or an abbot and that ofa cenobitic nun or an abbess. Both a monk and a nun have to obey their superiors. Απ abbot and an abbess have to teach the members of their communities in both words and actions. However, these similarities between the cenobitic monks and nuns, abbots and abbesses are not presented ίη the same way in male and female Lives. Α nun's obedience and an abbess' exemplary role, i.e. their cenobitic tasks, and their roles in the nunnery are more emphasised than those of a monk and an abbot, wh~ also undertake other activities which are not directly relevant to theιr lives ίη the cenobium. Ιη this chapter two roles of female sainthood will be examine.d: the abbess and the nun. These two roles of female holiness are investιgated together not only because they are enacted simultaneously in a convent but also because the realisation of the one role presupposes the 130 Chapter 4: Life ίn the Nunnery existence ofthe other. Απ abbess needs the presence ofat least two nuns in order to be able to carry out her tasks as a spiritual guide and director ofthe convent. The nun, οη the other hand, has to be under the supervision and the disciplinary control of a pious and exemplary abbess in order to leam how to exercise herselfagainst temptations and to acquire the virtues of obedience, apatheίa and humility. It is not only the nun who has to discipline herselfbut also the abbess who, being aware of her difficult mission as the spiritual guide of many women and ofher responsibility for their salvation, feels obliged to discipline her body and her behaviour. As the following analysis will demonstrate, the abbess' life in the convent is a continuous struggle to achieve a selfand a body which Ι call "exemplary". Through her extremely strict ascetic life and her edifying speeches, the abbess aims at providing her nuns with the means that will enable them to reach salvation. While the nuns look to their abbess' body and behaviour for the exercise oftheir own bodies and selves, the abbess in turn constantly observes her nuns to verify whether or not they behave according to the monastic canon. Ιη fact, the abbess has the divine ability to read her nuns' thoughts and to see all their actions. If a nun misbehaves or fails to fulfil her duties, she is punished. Thus, the nun learns to discipline herself not only by observing her abbess' exemplary conduct achieved through self-discipline but also by being aware of the fact that she is under her abbess' constant surveillance. This presentation of an abbess' and a nun's cenobitic behaviour and bodily performances is valid both for the Life in which the central heroine undertakes the role ofthe abbess and for the Life where the main heroine enacts the role of the nun. There are, however, certain differences in the depiction ofthese two roles between the Life of an abbess and that of a nun, as the following analysis will seek to show. These differences are created according to who is the central heroine. If she is an abbess, the emphasis is placed οη her own religious performance and if she is a nun, οη the piety she obtains through her abbess' in- structions. The roles ofthe abbess and the nun are undertaken by fourteen holy women. One of them, Irene of Chrysobalanton (VlrChrys BHG 952; date: after 980), enacts both roles in their development. Nine female saints are abbesses and four are nuns. The abbesses are: Macήna (VMacr BHG 1012; date: 380, 382/383), Melania (VMel BHG 1241; date: after lntroductίon 131 439 and before 485), Olympias (VOZ BHG 1374; date: fifth or sixth century), Eusebia/Xene (VEusebX BHG 633; date: fifth century), Matrona (VMatr BHG 1221; date: around 550), Eudokia (VEud BHG 604; date unknown), Domnika (VDom BHG 562; date unknown), Athanasia of Aegina (VAthAeg BHG 180; date: tenth century), Elisabeth the Wonderworker (VElίsThaum BHG 2121; date: between the ninth and the eleventh centuries).2 Two ofthe nuns, Febronia (PFeb BHG 659; date: seventh century) and Anastasia the Virgin (PAnastV BHG 76z; date unknown), undertake also the role of the martyr. The other nuns are Eupraxia (VEupr BHG 631; date: fifth century) and Theodora ofThessalonike (VTheodThess BHG 1737; date: 894). Ιη the present chapter, only the Lives oftwo abbesses and four nuns will be discussed. The abbesses are Melania and Irene ofChrysobalanton. Ι have chosen the Lives of these two abbesses because they illustrate in great detail the "exemplary body of the abbess", which is one of the subjects of this chapter. One Life of a nun has been excluded: the Life ofAnastasia the Virgin. This Life is not discussed here because the literary treatment ofAnastasia and her portrayal as a nun resemble those of Febronia, which are more detailed. The Life ofAnastasia the Virgin was modelled οη Febronia's Life which was popular in the Middle Ages and was used as a source for later texts (Halkin 1973: 158; Brock andAshbrook-Harvey 1987: 151). Melania's Life has come down to us in Greek and Latin versions and it was wήtten by Melania's disciple Gerontios, a monophysite monk who died around 485 (Clark 1984: 13-24; Gorce 1962: 54-62). According to Adhemar d'Ales (1906), the original Life was written in Greek about nine years after Melania's death. The versions ίη Greek and Latin that have survived constitute later reworkings of the Greek oήginal written by Gerontios. According to her Greek Life, Melania comes from an extremely ήch and noble Roman family. Seeking to ensure heirs to their vast fortune, Melania's parents marry her off at an early age to the son of a Roman prefect, thus ignoring her desire to remain a virgin and devote herself entirely to God. After the death of their two children, Melania and her husband decide to live in chastity and to sell their 2 As we are informed by their hagiographers, Eudokia, Domnika, Athanasia ofAegina and Elisabeth spend part oftheir monastic careers as nuns. However, they are not depicted enacting the role ofthe nun in its development. 132 Chapter 4: Life ίn the Nunnery properties in order to distribute the money to the poor. For this reason Melania and her husband travel to the areas where they possess lands and slaves. After selling off their lands and slaves, they visit holy hermits, found nunneries and monasteήes and engage in ascetic practices. Melania's ascetic life, as mentioned above (p. 128), is a combination ofthe life in solitude and that in a cenobium. She dies from illness and in complete poverty. According to her anonymous Life,3 Irene ofChrysobalanton is a young woman who in the company of her sister leaves her homeland, Cappadocia, in order to go to Constantinople, with the intention ofparticipating in the bήde-show that the empress Theodora organises for her son Michael 111 (842-867). Οη the way, the two sisters visit Ioannikios, the famous hermit, who appears to know Irene's name and who tells her that the nuns ofthe Chrysobalanton convent need her protection. When Irene and her sister reach Constantinople, Michael's future wife has already been selected. Irene's sister maπies caesar Bardas, while Irene, recalling Ioannikios' words, enters the convent of Chrysobalanton where she is singled out for her piety and obedience. After the abbess' death, Irene becomes her successor. As an abbess, Irene hardens her ascetic practices. She acquires the gift of reading her nuns' thoughts, and she performs various miracles. Eupraxia's Life is also anonymous. Eupraxia is the daughter of Antigonos, a kinsman of emperor Theodosius Ι (379-395) and a pious woman, Eupraxia. After Antigonos' death the emperor takes the widow Eupraxia and her daughter under his protection. When the little girl reaches the age of five, Theodosius betroths her to the son of a rich senator. Some time later one of the senators, assisted by the empress, asks the widow Eupraxia to marry him. Eupraxia, who renounces sexual life while her husband is alive, rejects the proposal. When the emperor is informed that his wife has tried to arrange a marriage for the pious Eupraxia, he becomes angry and has an argument with the empress. As soon as Eupraxia hears that the emperor and the empress have had an argument because ofher, she takes her daughter and goes to Egypt. She settles down in the Thebaid. Ιη a nearby town there is a nunnery which Eupraxia and her daughter visit frequently. At some point the ' Οη the historical context of the Life of Irene of Chrysobalanton and οη issues referring to the text's date and authorship, see Rosenqvist 1986: xxiii-xliii. Jntroductίon 133 young Eupraxia decides to stay in the nunnery permanently by adopting the habit ofa nun. Eupraxia appears to be a pious and obedient nun, who is frequently tempted by the Devil. She manages to dήve the Devil away by confessing her temptations to the abbess and by performing hard and humbling tasks. Eupraxia's spirituality reaches such high levels that she begins performing miracles. Before Eupraxia's death the abbess has a vision in which the Virgin informs her that Eupraxia will be received in Paradise after ten days. This information causes great distress to the abbess who does not want to lose Eupraxia. Shortly after Eupraxia's death the abbess dies happily, knowing that she will be offered a place in Heaven through the intercession of her beloved Eupraxia. 4 The author ofthe Life ofTheodora ofThessalonike is a certain cleric called Gregory, who wrote not only Theodora's Life but also a text about the translation ofthe holy woman's relics two years after her death. He presents himself as the author of both texts towards the end of the Translation. As Gregory states, he felt obliged to write an account ofthe life and miracles ofTheodora, since ηο such account had been written, in order to praise the saint who healed his sister Martha when she was seriously ill (Translation, ch.20). Gregory's account was delivered to a general congregation οη the holy woman's feast day at the convent of Saint Stephen, where, as mentioned earlier, Theodora led her religious life (Kazhdan 1991; Patlagean 1984; Talbot 1996b: 159-162; Talbot 1996c). The content of Theodora's Life is the following. She is born in Aegina but soon becomes an orphan after the death of her pious mother Chrysanthe. Her father, Antony, adopts the monastic habit immediately afterwards and the little Theodora is placed under the protection of her godmother who brings her up. At the early age of seven she is engaged to a man of a noble family. Theodora gives birth to three children. Two of them die in infancy and the third, Theopiste, is given to a nunnery in Thessalonike. After her husband's death Theodora too adopts the monastic habit and enters the nunnery where her daughter leads her monastic life. During her life in the convent Theodora manages through her abbess' disciplinary methods to surpass herself as a mother and to become an ideal nun distinguished for her obedience, hard work and humility. 4 For the content ofthe Life ofFebronia, see Chapter 1 (pp. 26-27). 134 Chapter 4: Life ίn the Nunneιy The following analysis consists of two parts. Ιη the first part, "The Exemplary Body of the Abbess" the role of the abbess is investigated through the abbess' bodily performances, as manifested in the Lives of Melania and Irene of Chrysobalanton. Ιη the second part, "The Obedient Body of the Nun", the corresponding bodily performances of the holy women undertaking the role ofthe nun are examined. The Exemplary Body of the Abbess ΤΗΕ ABBESS' DEEDS Irene becomes greatly distressed when she is appointed abbess of the Chrysobalanton nunnery after the death of the previous abbess. D~spite the fact that the undertaking of the abbess' role is against her wιll, Irene feels obliged to accept and become the convent's superior because she realises that this is a divine decision from which she cannot escape. Immediately after her first common meal with the nuns of the convent in her new status as their abbess, Irene goes to the cell which ~s reser:ed for the supeήor ofthe convent and, after closing its door, she 1mmed1ately begins to pray in a flood of tears. Ιη her prayer, she asks God to help her in her new mission. As soon as her prayer comes to an end, Irene says to herself: Do you realise, humble Irene, what a burden Christ has laid οη your shoulders? You have been entrusted with souls, and for the sake of souls God even became man and shed His blood. [...] Now, in the day ofjudgment everyone shall give account for an idle word. Ifthis is so, can you be ignorant ofthe price for a soul that is lost, to be paid by him who has undertaken to care for her but fails to do all ίη his power to save her? You must by all means be utterly wakeful ίη your prayers and persevere in your fasting and bear the infirmities of the sisters, enduring all bravely and gently. Take heed to yourself lest one of your faults, although escaping yourself, become a cause ofdestruction for anyone ofthe sisters. (tr. Rosenqvist 1986: 31,33) 'Άρά γε, ταπεινfι Είρήνη, έπιγινώσκεις τό φορτίον οπερ σου Χριστός έπi τών ώμων έπέ&ετο; Ψυχι'χς ένεπιστεύ&ης, ύπf:ρ ών Θεός καi άν&ρωπος έγένετο καi τό αίμα έξέχεε- [...] Ούδ' έκεiνο πάλιν άγνοεiς, οτι, έι'χν ύπf:ρ άργοu λόγου λόγον εκαστος δώσει έν ήμέρ~ κρίσεως, ύπf;ρ ψυχης άπολλυμένης σία πείσεται ό τιΊν φροντίδα ταύτης άναδεδεγμένος, εi μη τι'χ παρ' έαυτου ποιήσει πρός τιΊν αύτης σωτηρίαν. Έπαγρυπνεiν σε δεi πάντως περισσοτέρως έν The Exemplaιy Body ofthe Abbess 135 εύχαiς, καρτερεiν έν νηστείαις, τι'χ άσ&ενήματα τών άδελφών σου βαστάζειν καi πάντα φέρειν γενναίως καi πράως. Πρόσεχε δf; σεαυηj, μήποτε τό σόν έλάττωμα τό σε λαν&άνον άφορμή τινι τών άδελφών άπωλείας γένηται. (VIrChrys, p.30.19-29, p.32.1) Being enclosed and isolated in her cell, where none ofthe nuns can hear her, Irene expresses what she did not dare to say earlier to the nuns when they saw her distress and thought it was caused by her fear that they might not be obedient to her. At that point, she said nothing in reply when they asked her not to be worήed about being the abbess: The sisters begged her not to be so worried and distressed about being their abbess. "Look'', they said, wholly ignorant ofthe sorrows she bore in her mind, "we are all ready for every kind of obedience towards you, and you will meet with ηο obstruction from us. Νο, with God's will our obedience will make all your ways easy." (tr. Rosenqvist 1986: 29, 31) αί άδελφαί, "ΜιΊ οϋτω λυπεiσ&αι" παρεκάλουν αύτήν, "καi άδημονεiν περi της ήμετέρας", λέγουσαι, "προστασίας πάσαι γι'χρ ήμεiς πρός πάσαν ύπακοήν, ίδού, σοi έτοίμως εχομεν"-άγνοουσαι πάντως aπερ έκείνη κατι'χ νουν έλογίζετο-, "καi ούδεν εσται πρόσκομμα παρ' ήμών, ι'><ιδια πάντα της ήμετέρας ύπακοi;ς Θεοuδιομαλιζούσηςσοι paπij." (VIrChrys, p.28.22-25, p.30.1-2) Irene's words quoted above explain what the hagiographer means with his comment that the nuns were "wholly ignorant of the sorrows she [Irene] bore in her mind". Ιη fact, Irene was not worried about the nuns, as they thought, but about herself and about her own responsibilities towards them. As Irene's self-confessional words reveal, she is not willing to undertake the role of the abbess because it is a difficult task from which great responsibilities emerge. Her previous role, that of the nun, was less complicated and less demanding. Her main tasks were to obey her abbess, perform ascetic practices and offer services to her fellow sisters. Then, even the issue of her own salvation was rather a responsibility of the former abbess than of herself. Now Irene, as the new abbess and effectively the spiritual leader ofthe convent, is responsible not only for her own salvation, since her spiritual mother has died, but also for the salvation ofeach ofher nuns, which is an even more important and difficult task. Irene believes that her nuns' salvation, upon which in turn her own salvation relies, depends greatly οη her own behaviour. It is crucial that she be especially careful so that she does not behave in a way that might prove spiritually harmful to the nuns. 136 Chapter 4: Life ίn the Nunnery Ιη order to be able to perfoπn successfully the role ofthe abbess Irene has to acquire another selfand a new identity which can be seen b~ both herselfand her nuns. Α first step towards the acquisition ofher new identity as an abbess constitutes Irene's physical rnovernent frorn a nun's cell t~ ~hat ofan abbess. This rnovernent should be viewed not only as a cenobιtι~ c~storn that Irene has to follow but also as an act which has a deeper sιgnιficance. It signifies Irene's abandonrnent of the nun's role and her undertaking of the abbess' role. Ιη other words, this rnovement in space syrnbolises Irene's rnovernent frorn one identity to another.5 Irene's new cell used to be inhabited by the previous abbess, who was highly respected by the nuns and by Irene in particular. As her successor Irene carries οη her shoulders the weight ofher pious Iife and ofher abil~ ities as the convent's supeήor. Α cornparison between the foπner abbess and Irene is unavoidable both οη Irene's part and οη that of the nuns. lrene ex~ects frorn herself and is expected by her nuns not only to irnitate the Ιιf~ of her spiritual rnother but to surpass her in piety. 'J_'he rnaιn c~a:acteήstics oflrene's new selfare high spiήtuality, exernplanty and rel1g10us authority. This new self ernerges frorn the relation which.Ire~e establishes between herself and her nuns, as the following analy~ιs wιll ~how, an.d frorn the stήcter ascetic life in which she engages. Irene s ascetιc practιces as an abbess are described by the hagiographer in the following words: Such were the words she spoke to herself, thereby arousing her soul and provoking it to a still harder training. The mode of Ιife and conduct she had chosen was wholly angelic: she performed fasts ofmany days' duration and standing exercises Iasting whole nights; she accomplished numberless genuflections; she slept οη the floor, using the bed less as a source of rest than of discomfort. (tr. Rosenqvist 1986: 33) Άλλa τα μεν προς έαυττΊν τοιαϋτα, οίς δτΊ καi &ήξασα ττΊν ψυχr'Jν έπi πολλψ πλείονα διήγειρε ττΊν aσκησιν, άγγελικτΊν διόλου βίωσιν έλομένη καi ~ο~ττείαν, νηστείας μεν άνύουσα πολυημέρους, στάσεις παννύχους, γονάτων υπερ άρι&μόν τελοϋσα κλίσεις, χαμευνίι;χ ξηρ{Χ καi μη μάλλον άνέσεως δσον κακοπα&είας άφορμfj κεχρημένη. (VlrChrys p.32.3-7) . ' Space is crucial in the construction of female religious identities. Each role of female saιnthood is inextricably connected with the place where it is enacted. See ίη particular Chapter 5. The Exemplary Body ofthe Abbess 137 The severe ascetic practices in which lrene engages directly after she becornes the convent's abbess indicate that she understands her transfoπnation frorn a nun into an abbess pήrnarily as a bodily transfoπnation. Of course, Irene also underwent a strict ascetic life as a nun but always under the control ofthe previous abbess. As soon as she becornes an abbess herself, lrene is free to engage in even stήcter and more frequent ascetic practices. The ascetic perfoπnances described above by the hagiographer are repeated by lrene continuously as they becorne rnore and rnore difficult and spectacular. Her body as it is, being trained by her constant fasting and standing exercises, can gradually endure rnore severe ones. This causes the adrniration and the astonishrnent ofthe convent's nuns and leads to the establishrnent oflrene's religious authority, since she is the only one in the nunnery who can perfoπn such ascetic deeds. Irene's ascetic endurance, which surpasses that of her nuns, provides her with the spiritual superiority a good abbess should possess. Irene's fasts, which becorne gradually rnore and rnore strict, allow her to reach a stage in which she can survive by eating and drinking alrnost nothing for forty days. Eventually she obtains a body that is "rnere skin clinging to the bones" (VlrChrys p.76.5; tr. Rosenqvist 1986: 77). As for her standing exercises, at the beginning ofher career as an abbess they last for a whole night or a whole day (this is the point she rnanaged to reach when she perfoπned this exercise while a nun). Later the standing exercises are extended to two or three days and in the end she can rernain stretched with her hands directed to heaven for a whole week without having to lean οη a wall or any other support (VlrChrys p.74.21-25). Thus, Irene manages to surpass even SaintArsenios whose standing exercises she undertakes to irnitate. Saint Arsenios used to stand with his hands stretched to the east for ηο longer than one evening (VlrChrys p.16.20-23). Irene's greater endurance shows that her devotion to God is even stronger than that of a holy rnan like Arsenios and that, in consequence, she is ηο less holy than he was. At sorne point, due to Irene's severe standing exercises, her body loses its natural flexibility with the result that she cannot bend her own aπns and has to ask some nuns to do that for her (VlrChrys p.74.25-30). Through the depiction of Irene's ascetic life, her hagiographer airns at presenting his heroine as an exarnple of piety not only for her nuns but also for the Byzantine audience of the Life, which rnay also have 138 Chapter 4: Life ίn the Nunnery consisted of nuns, who in turn could identify with the fictional nuns. Το achieve this aim, the author of the Life gives a theatrical character to the scenes where Irene's ascetic practices are depicted. Due to their theatricality, these scenes acquire a liveliness which makes them vividly present before the audience's eyes. This illusory visibility of Irene's pious life and steadfastness in God, created by the theatrical dimension of the naπative, results in the better perception and understanding oflrene's religious life and effectively its better imitation. Απ example of a theatήcal episode concerning Irene's acetic life is the fol- lowing: Once, when she had begun her exercise about sunset, raising her holy hands to heaven, as was her wont, a horde of demons suddenly appeared before her-it was about midnight-and tried with inarticulate shouts and agitated cries to shake her so as to prevent her immobile standing. One of them, being more evil as well as more insolent than the others, seemed to approach her and sneer at her, shouting such words as mimes use to utter. "Irene is made ofwood", he said, "she is caπied by wooden legs'', and he spoke still other nonsense. Again he changed his tone and lamented, "How long will you oppress our race? How long will you lash us with your protracted prayers? How long will you burn us? How long shall we have to endure you? We have enough ofthe distress that you cause us." Then also the rest of them seemed to be afflicted and gave vent to loud lamentation, slapping their cheeks as ifa great calamity had befallen them. But they made ηο progress towards the goal which they strived for, whereas Irene, as if caught up to heaven, had her whole mind there with God, standing wholly unshaken and undaunted. Then the demon stretched out his hand and kindled a stick against the lamp-wick. He dropped it around the neck ofthe holy woman, and it burnt up as iffanned, violently inflaming her whole hood along with the scapular and the shift, and began even to lick her flesh. It went over her, scorching her shoulders, her breast, her spine, her kidneys, and her flanks. [...] One of the sisters, who was awake for the nocturnal prayers, smelled the smoke from her flesh and left her cell in fear, thinking, 'Ίη what part ofthe convent can the fire be?" Tracking the scent she followed the odour to the cell of the abbess and stopped there. Looking in and seeing that it was filled with smoke and steam she only just managed to fling the door open and entered. She found-a teπible sight!-Irene all in flames but standing immobile and unwavering and unconquered, paying ηο heed whatever to the fire. As the sister, striving only to quench the flame and remove her teacher from the fire, began to agitate and shake her, extinguishing the fire and putting out the flame, at last she lowered her hands from their The Exemplary Body ofthe Abbess 139 extended position and remarked, "Why did you do this my chil.d? Why. did you deprive me of those great good things through your unt1mely kωdness? We ought to savour not the things that be of men, but those that be of God. Behold, before my eyes there appeared an angel of God twining me a wreath offlowers that eye hath not seen not ear heard (1 Cor. 2.9), and he already kept his hand extended to put it οη my head. But beca~se ο~ your concern he left me and went away with his wreath. Why, my ch1ld, d1d you render me an act of consideration worse than ingratitude? Ι hate a gift that causes me a loss." When the disciple heard this she began, tears falling from her eyes, with her fingers to pull away the Saint's clothes which, still, glowing, stuck to her flesh. And a strange fragrance was ex~aled from them, incomparably more fragrant than any perfume and precωus scents, which filled the whole convent. (tr. Rosenqvist 1986: 45, 47, 49) Καi δή ποτε περi δυσμας ήλίου ταύτης άρξαμένης καi τας όσίας έπαράσης χείρας, ώς ε&ος, είς ούρανόν, περί που το μεσονύκτιον φάλαγξ δαιμονίων ά&ρόον έπιστάσα φωναίς άσήμοις τε καi τεταραγμένΙJ βoij τi]ν άκίνητον αύτής διασαλεϋσαι στάσιν έπειpώντο. Τούτων δΕ πονηρότερον εν οiα καi αύ&αδέστερον πλησίον αύτής γενόμενον έ\hrr1a'lλnv nnfl'lτι) ΤΕ κλονείν αύτήν καi συσσείειν, σβεννϋσα το πϋρ καt 140 Chapter 4: Life ίn the Nunnery καταστέλλουσα τi]ν φλόγα τας χείρας όψέ ποτε της έκτάσεως έκείνη κατενεγκουσα, '"'Ινα τί τούτο πεποίηκας, τέκνον μου;" άπεκρίνατο, "τί με τοσούτων άπεστέρησας τ(i εύνοίι;χ σου ταύτυ τ(i άκαίριρ τών άγα&ών; Ού δέον ήμάς φρονείν τα τών άν&ρώπων άλλα τα του Θεου· iδou γαρ πρΟ τών έμών όφ&αλμών aγγελος ώράτο ΘεοίJ πλέκων μοι στέφανον έξ άν&έων ών όφ&αλμος ούκ είδε κα\ οuς ούκ fjκουσε, καi fjδη τi]ν χείρα διατεινομένην είχε τ(i έμ(i τουτον έπι&είναι κεφαλ(i· σου δε της προμη&είας ενεκεν δ:πεισί με λιπών, εχων τον στέφανον με&' έαυτοίJ. Τί οuν μοι, τέκνον, άγνωμοσύνης χείρονα τi]ν εύγνωμοσύνην άπέδωκας; Μισώ δωρεαν προξενουσάν μοι ζημίαν." 'Ως οuν ταυτα fjκουσεν ή μα&ήτρια, δάκρυα στάζουσα τών όφ&αλμών fjρξατο τα προσφύντα ταίς σαρξi της όσίας pακία ζέοντα ετι τοίς δακτύλοις έκεί&εν άνασπαν· καi ίδοu ξένη τις έκ τούτων άνεπέμπετο εύωδία μύρου παντος καi <'χρωμάτων πολυτίμων άσυγκρίτως εύωδεστέρα, fjτις δλην έπλήρωσε τi]ν μονήν. (VIΓChrys p.44.14-27, p.46.1-26, p.48.1-9) This episode can be divided into three scenes. The first scene is set in Irene's cell. There appears Irene's figure which has the characteristics ofa statue; the heroine is standing speechless and irnrnobile having her arrns stretched to heaven. Obviously what rnarks this setting is a lack ofboth rnovernent and sound. This situation changes drarnatically when a group of dernons appear unexpectedly in Irene's cell. The dernons' entrance to the scene is accornpanied by loud sounds which atternpt to destroy Irene's peaceful conternplation. While the acoustic chaos created by the dernons presents a striking contrast to Irene's silence, the rnovernents rnade by the dernons are opposed to her irnrnobility. The dernons' rnovernents and behaviour, which are described vividly and in detail, have a drarnatic character. The rnost evil dernon separates hirnself frorn the group and approaches Irene seeking to cornrnunicate with her. Ιη order to achieve that, he has to irnitate hurnan language. Thus he transforrns the inarticulate and incornprehensible sounds, that he has ernitted so far, into understandable phrases and sentences. The vocabulary he ernploys is, according to the hagiographer, boπowed frorn that ofthe rnirnes. The presentation of the dernon as an actor is in accordance with the way the Church Fathers viewed the perforrnance put οη by Satan to deceive hurnan beings and divert pious persons frorn righteous ways.6 'For John Chrysostom, for instance, see Leyerle 2001: 44-45. The Exemplary Body ofthe Abbess 141 The dernon calls Irene "wooden",7 an adjective which in fact descήbes the substance oflrene's new body and is in accordance_with h~r portrayal as a statue.8 As has been stated above, Ir~n~:s body ιs ~xercιsed to such a high degree that it loses its natural flex1b1l1ty. Later ιη the naπative Irene is called "night-eater", "wooden leg", "insat~able ~tander", "ironhearted" and "subduer ofstones" by the devil who ιnhabιts ~ rnan whorn she cures (VlrChrys p.70.19-22). These phrases are obvιously addressed to Irene in a hostile and ironic rnanner, since they are corning frorn her enerny, the devil. They, however, ex?ress t~e truth ab~ut Irene's new self, which the hagiographer does not faιl to depιct and praιse. The dernons try to ternpt Irene by rerninding her of the natur~l body she renounces and of the one she possesses while perforrnιng her standing exercises. The rnost evil dernon of the dernons' chorus, who goes near Irene, appears at the beginning to assurne a powerful position. Th~s very fact is also proved by the discourse he ernploys and the rnockιng tone ~f his voice. The dernon's presentation ofhirnselfas powerful, howe:er, .ιs just a pretence. Ιη fact, he sees hirnself and his fellow dernons beιng ιη a powerless position before Irene, as the sudden cha~ge ofh~s rnood and behaviour shows. Behaving as a talented actor, he ιrnrnedιately transforrns his rnocking tone into larnentation through which Irene's power over the dernons ernerges. Her power, according to the dernon, t~kes the forrn of violent acts such as whipping and burning._ Οη seeι~g and hearing the dernon's words, the other de?1on~ also begιn l~~entιng. , The dernons' theatήcal behaviour, whιch aιrns at unde~1n1ng_Irene s ascetic practices, has ηο effect οη her since she :e_rnaιns rno~ιonless and concentrated οη her cornrnunication with the d1v1ne. Not beιng able to convince Irene with words and theatrical behaviour to inte~pt her standing exercise, the dernons ernploy violence. The rnost evιl dernon ' Ιη the Life ofAndrew the Fool, Andrew is described by the prostitutes as_"wooden", as a piece of stone for, despite their attempts, they do not manage to make hιm feel any sexual desire (VAndr p.34.311-312). . . s The holy person's image as a statue is a common motif ίη m~n~stιc lιt~rature (Gorce 1962: 213-214, η. 2). Ιη the Life ofMelania, duήng one ofMelanιa s teachιngs addressed to her nuns referήng to the steadfastness ίη faith, she mentions the apophtheg~a of a holy father. According to this apophthegma, one can be saνed only ifone behaves _Ιιke a _statue, namely if one, like Irene here, does not react against the insults and the beatιngs dιrected to him or her by the enemies of Christianity (VMel ch.44). 142 Chapter 4: Life ίn the Nunnery sets fire to Irene's body and in this way he literally burns the heroine who "burns" the devil and his disciples with her steadfastness and ascetic life. His movernents, which are described very vividly and in detail, make the drarnatic character ofthe whole scene rnore prorninent: first he stretches his hand, then he kindles a stick against the lamp-wick. Irnrnediately afterwards he puts the burning stick to her neck, which takes fire at once. The fire goes down to her clothes and touches her flesh. It then starts burning her internal organs. At this point the first scene closes. Ιη the second scene, which is the shortest one, the protagonist's role is played by a nun ofthe convent whose name is not given by the hagiographer but whose actions, like those ofthe devils, are presented in detail. Following the example of her abbess, yet not in the same spectacular and uncornrnon way, the nun perforrns her nocturnal prayers. Unlike Irene, who does not interrupt her conternplation despite the incidents occuπing in her cell and the fact that her body is about to burn, the nun breaks off her prayers in order to find the origin of the smell of burnt flesh that reaches her nose. Following the smell in the darkness, the nun ends up in Irene's cell where the third scene takes place. Ιη this last scene, the nun becomes witness to a spectacle which is forbidden to her because it leads her to undertake actions that are against her superior's will. By entering Irene's cell and shaking her to extinguish the fire, the nun manages to do what the demons did not achieve earlier: to make Irene interrupt her standing exercise. Ofcourse, the nun's initiative provokes Irene's angry reaction and this brings about her transforrnation from a statue into a living person. Now she rnoves and talks to the nun, blaming her for destroying her divine vision. While she was burning, she saw an angel who was twining a wreath of flowers which he was about to place οη her head. The dernons' crying in the first scene is substituted by the nun's crying in the third scene, for causing her superior's anger and because she feels sorry for her behaviour. Ιη both cases, however, crying is strongly associated with power and powerlessness. The characters who cry are the ones who find themselves in a powerless position before Irene. Both the dernons and the nun attempt unsuccessfully to exercise a forrn of power over Irene, directed at her body. The demons appear to be able to burn Irene's body, whereas the nun is the one who saves it from being burnt. The Exemplary Body ofthe Abbess 143 ' " " bod constitutes the sign of her self-discipline Irene s wooden . Υ h ld be constantly rerninded so that and spiήtual life o~w~ιch the nuns. s ο~ her exarnple. However, Irene they can lead. theιr lιves acco:~~n;ffers to her nuns as the only rneans does not consιder the examd~le. 1· d and consequently led to salvation: through which they can be ιscιp ιηe . d ld rant me the gift of knowιng by She said to herself, ':1fthe ~or :o~onegin secret by my sisters, Ι should second sig~t~~~~:s~:~~~~ι~:::timulatethose who are successful to run try to set ang. igorously." (tr. Rosenqvist 1986: 39)the race of vιrtue even more ν )_. , , υη} "Ε'ί μοι διορατικώς εiδέναι κύριος εδωκε τα κρυφij παρ~ 'Έλεγε γι.φ εν εα . , , , , θουν Ι'χν σφαλλομένας, τaς δε τών έμών άδελφώ~ γινό~ενα, τ~~ μεν ~π~::μον της άρετης εύτονώτερον." προκοπτούσας τρεχειν αν συνω ουν τον (VJrChrys p.38.18-22) . h ift of knowing the acts of her nuns, As soon as Irene ι~ gra~tehd t ~ gf them after the morning prayers. This she aπanges a meetιng wιt eac ο takes place in the following way: . . . . their names and havιng them Calling each of the sιsters ιnlto herd, n.amtι·mιn:tions about obscure and secret · b "d her she gent Υ ma e ιη · · sιt down esι e , . , . d thoughts and prιckιng. full h' t' at theιr souls emotιons an things. Skιl. Υ ιη ιηg d th m to confess their transgressions and their conscιence, she provoke e l . vement ofsuch faults. This d ises ofcomp ete ιmpro repent, and exacte prom . ent Νο longer did they mere. b .d themselves ιη amazem . made the sιsters esι e fl d d proclaimed that Irene was ly pay heed to her as before but con esse an superior to human beings. (tr. Rosenqvist 1986: 41) - , , ο έαυττΊν έκάστην καλοuσα καi ταύτην παρακαi τών άδελφων ονομασ:ι πρ, ς ' α"δηλα καi κρύφια· καi τών της ψυχης ' ' λ - ς πως υπt)νιττετο τα ' καθιζομενη ομα ω · , ,φ _ cιη'πτετο νύττουσα το συνειδος, - ' δ νοηματων ευ υως καυ , κινημάτων αυτης και ια ' , , ο αν έρεθίζουσα καi παντελοuς, , , - φαλματων και μεταν ι καi εις ομολογιαν των σ , ' , εσιν· δπερ έξίστασθαι έαυτών λαμβάνουσα τών τοιούτων διορθωσεως υποσχ - , , άλλ' ύπf:ρ , , , , προσειχον ως προτερον, έποίει τaς ά~ελφ~ς, κ~ι ?υκετι ~~υτ~ό ουν καi άνεκήρυττον. (VIrChrys aνθρωπον είναι την Ειρηνην και ωμο γ p.40.17-25) · knowledge about her nuns Through her divine gaze, Irene can acquιre She can know which ofwhich they themselves may n?t~lways ben~w~~~h knowledge allows of their acts and thou.ghts are ~;e~o~yw:~πe~ting their wrongdoings, her, οη one hand, to ιmprobve bl t do οη their own, and οη the other, sornething they would not e a e ο 144 Chapter 4: Life ίn the Nunnery to motivate them to perfοπη even better deeds by praising their good works. As already stated, the abbess' main task in the convent is the teaching of Christian ethics through which the religious lives of her nuns can be directed and formed. The abbess' teaching project, which is founded οη her body, takes two forms: a practical and a theoretical form, both of which take up a considerable space in the naπative, a fact that underscores their importance. The practical fοπη, which is related to the abbess' actions and general behaviour, has been examined in this section through the example oflrene. It is to the theoretical part ofthe abbess' teaching project that we now turn. ΤΗΕ ABBESS' WORDS The theoretical form of the abbess' teaching refers to her didactic discourses addressed both to her nuns and to the visitors of her convent. Ιη most cases, the hagiographers choose the naπative technique oftellίng in order to depict the abbesses' exemplary acts of bodily subjection through asceticism, whereas they employ the technique ofshowίng for the abbesses' edifying acts of speaking.9 Ιη telling, the omniscient narrator presents in his or her discourse the characters and their actions. Ιη showing, the author silences the naπator's voice in order to give voice to the characters whose own discourse is quoted. Ιη other words, as far as the technique of telling is concerned, the episodes of the naπative marked by the characters' behaviour and actions are presented from the naπator's point of view, while through the technique of showing, these episodes are depicted ffom the perspective ofthe characters. Thus, duήng most ofthe theoretical part ofthe abbess' teachings, it is her voice which speaks and not that ofthe naπator. Ιη this case, the employment of the technique of showing, in which the naπator "shows" to his or her audiences the way by which the abbess preaches both to her nuns and to the laity, provides the texts with a vividness that has effects οη the actual audiences ofthe Lives. Ιη her sermons, the holy abbess speaks either in the first person plural, namely as "we", or in the second person plural, that is ''you": ' The naπative terms telling and showίng were coined by Wayne Booth ίη his book The Rhetorίc ofFίctίon (1961). Gerard Genette (1980) equates tellίngand showίng with the Platonic terms dίegesίs and mίmesίs. The Exemplary Body ofthe Abbess 145 Sίsters, recall how the subjected stand before their mortal and worldly rulers with all fear and vigilance; so we, who stand before the fearsome ~nd heavenly King, should perform our liturgy with much fear and tremblιng. (tr. Clark 1984: 56; emphasis added) Κατανοήσατε, άδελφαί, πώς τοίς φθαρτοίς καl έπιγείοις άρχουσιν μετa παντός φόβου καl νήψεως παρίστανται οί ύποτεταγμέν,οι· ήμεί~ δε ~<Ρ ΦΟ~ρ~ καl έπουρανίφ βασιλεί παριστάμεναι, μετa πόσου φοβου και :ρομου οφειλομεv έκτελείν έαυτών τi]ν λειτουργίαν. (VMel ch.42; emphasιs added) The fact that the abbess' words are addressed to "us" and ''you" ~reates the illusion that they are not only directed to the texts' inte~al audιenc.es, the nuns and the Iaity, but also to the texts' external audιences w~ιch possibly also consisted ofnuns and laypeople. Acco~ding to the ha~ιo.graphers, the heroines' sermons always have a large ιmpact οη theιr lιsteners who are inspired by divine zeal and who then trans~orm the h?l,y women's words into practice. Ιη Melania's Life, after quotιng Melanιa s sermon οη chastity addressed to laypeople, the hagiographer sta~es: "Many who heard these things were zealous for p~rity an~ l~ap~d ιηtο the arena of virtue" (tr. Clark 1984: 47; Ταίiτα δε πολλοι ακουοντες έζήλωσαν την άγνείαν καi τοίς σκάμμασιν τfiς άρετfiς έπεπήδησαν. VMel ch.29). ,:.- . Melania's dίdaskalίa to her nuns has a similar influence. Re1eπ1ng to Melania's words οη the nuns' participation in nocturnal liturgy, the hagiographer points out: By thus saying these things, she affirmed the sisters' zeal thro~gh he: te~c?ing, so that when the blessed woman wished to spare them ιn theιr νιgιl, because ofthe great toil which they had had ..., they would not agree. (tr. Clark 1984: 60) Καl ταύτα λέγουσα οϋτως αύτών τi]ν προθυμίαν έπερρώννυεν τij ,κα_λij ?ιδα~ σκαλία ώστε, εi καί ποτε τ'jβούλετο ή μακαρία φείσασθαι αυτων εν TIJ aγρυπ~;ςχ διa το είναι αύτaς aπό πολλού κόπου ..., αύταl ού συνεχώρουν. (VMel ch.48) Taking into account the edifying function of sa.ints' Lives in ~y~antine society, one cannot avoid seeing the effe~t whιch the abbess dιdaskalίa appears to have οη the text's internal lι~teners a~ a metaphor for t~e effect that the hagiographer aims at havιng οη hιs or her ow~ audιences by employing the technique of showing. Since the Lιves of saints used to be read out loud, the external listeners of the texts could 146 Chapter 4: Life ίn the Nunnery identify with the internal listeners ofthe abbesses' discourses. The success of the abbess' sermons can be attήbuted to two important factors: the accordance of her words with her life and the highly rhetorical character of her speeches. The abbess' words find their first application in her own deeds. Her act oftelling is at the same time a gesture ofshowing. She talks about fasting, vigils, prayers and virtues, while she herself is the living example ofall these. Her speaking body, which stands before the nuns, reveals through its appearance her ascetic life (it is skinny and tired) and her lack of vanity (her garments are of haircloth [Melania] or she possesses only the one garment she wears [Irene]). Thus the abbess' language does not constitute just an instrument of representation but it places the addressees under the obligation to respond to her words with actions. As stressed by Irene in one ofher teachings, words without actions are meaningless: Endure the words Ι speak in my humility: they are brought to you ίη love. For unless we lead this ascetic life, to which we have submitted ourselves voluntarily, in accordance with the laws laid down for it, we shall have ηο profit even from faith itself. Yes, faith without works ίs dead. (tr. Rosenqvist 1986:33) άνέχεσ&αι τών pημάτων της έμfiς ταπεινώσεως δι' άγάπην ύμίν προσφερομένων· κα! γι'χρ έι'χν τον βίον τούτον τον άσκητικόν, δν ύπήλ&ομεν έκουσίως, μη κατι'χ τους αύτ<ρ κειμένους μετέλ&ωμεν νόμους, οοοε ήμίν οφελος ούδ' αύτfjς τfjς πίστεως. Χωρ!ς γι'χρ Εργων ή πίστις νεκρά. (V!rChrys p.32.19-23) The abbess' edifying discourses are also influential and persuasive as linguistic products. The abbess appears to be rhetorically competent and can manipulate language in ways that give rise to powerful effects. The following extract from one oflrene's sermons addressed to her nuns is a good specimen of an abbess' rhetorical talents: We have heard of a Kingdom of Heaven, an eternal and endless life, and an enjoyment of undefiled and everlasting good things. We have come to believe ίη Jesus our God and Lord who brought these good news and gave these promises: in Him we do believe. [...] The Lord said, "Νο man can serve two masters, for eίther he wίll hate the one and love the other, or else he wίll hold to the one and despίse the other" (Mt. 6.24; Lk. 16.13). Being one, the soul cannot be divided into two, nor can the same soul simultaneously enjoy herselfand restrain herself, both live in poverty and be ήch, both seek the Lord's humility and win the futile glory of men. We, then, The Exemplary Body ofthe Abbess 147 have forsaken all and followed Him. Το follow Him will be of ηο avail to us ifwe do so merely corporeally, but only if our soul and our whole inner being follow Him too. Yes, we must dispel all desire and attachment to this Iife from our souls, lest we, outwardly appearing to have fled this world, be inwardly ίη the very middle ofthe world. [... ] Let it be our work and our hard struggle to acquire such virtues as will save us, namely, purity and holίness, wίthout whίch no man shall see the Lord (Heb. 12.14) but shall hear, "Away with the ungodly one lest he behold the majesty ofthe Lord!" (Is. 26.11 ). Humility,for whosoever exalteth hίmselfshall be abased, as the Lord said, and that humbleth hίmselfshall be exalted (Lk. 14.11). [...] puήty is above nature, above nature is also freedom from passion. But when He came who is above nature, being both God and man, He gave these things above nature to those who believe in Him. They are given, however, only to those who pray for them, and even to them not when ίη doubt ofthe heart; for α double mίnded man ίs unstable ίn all hίs ways. (lac. 1.8; tr. Rosenqvist 1986: 33, 35, 37) Ήκούσαμεν γι'χρ βασιλείαν ούρανών, ζωην άtδιον κα! άτελεύτητον, τρυφην άκηράτων αiωνίων άγα&ών· έπιστεύσαμεν τ<ρ εύαγγελισαμένφ κα!ύποσχομένφ'Ιησού τ<ρ Θε<ρ κα! κυρίφ ήμών, εiς δν κα! πεπιστεύκαμεν. [...] Είπε γι'χρ ό κύριος 'Όύδε!ς δύναται δυσ! κυρίοις δουλεύειν· η γι'χρ τον ενα μισήσει καί τον ετερον άγαπήσει η τού ένος άν&έξεται κα! του έτέρου καταφρονήσει." Μία γι'χρ οδσα ή ψυχη εiς δύο μερισ&fiναι ού δύναται· ού δύναται ή αύτη έν ταύτ<ρ καί τρυφaν κα! έγκρατεύεσ&αι, κα! πτωχείαν χρημάτων Εχειν καί πλουτείν έν χρήμασι, καί ταπείνωσιν του κυρίου μετιέναι καί την κενην τών άν&ρώπων &ερίζειν δόξαν. 'Ημείς οδν άφήκαμεν πάντα κα! ήκολου&ήσαμεν αύτ<ρ. Έι'χν μη κα! ή ψυχη ήμών καί πάντα τα έντος ήμών άκολου&ij, ούδΕ:ν ήμίν οφελος ή σωματικη μόνον άκολού&ησις άλλι'χ δέον ήμaς πάσαν άπο τfiς ψυχfiς διώξω βιωτικην έπι&υμίαν καί προσπά&ειαν, 148 Chapter 4: Life ίn the Nunnery ϊνα μη τα i::ξω φαινόμεναι τον κόσμον φυγοϋσαι τα ενδον μέσον ώμεν τοϋ κόσμου. [...] Το δε i::ργον ήμών καi ΤΟ άγώνισμα ΤΟ μέγα έκείνο aν είη, το τας άρετας έκείνας κτήσασ{7αι, αϊ σφζουσιν ήμίiς την άγνείαν τε καi τον άγιασμόν, ou χωρίς ούδεiς όψεται τον κύριον άλλ' άκούσει "Άρi7ήτω ό άσεβής, ϊνα μη Ϊδ1J την δόξαν κυρίου," την ταπεινοφροσύνην, δτι "Πάς ό ύψών έαυτον ταπεινωi7ήσεται," εϊπεν ό κύριος, "ό δε ταπεινών έαυτον ύψωi7ήσεται." [...] Ύπερ φύσιν γαρ ή άγνεία, ύπερ φύσιν καi το άόργητον. Άφ' ou δε ό ύπερ φύσιν παρεγένετο, Θεος ών καi aνi7ρωπος, καi τα ύπερ φύσιν ταϋτα τοίς πιστεύουσιν είς αύτον έδωρήσατο· δωρείται δε τοίς αίτοϋσι μόνοις, καi τούτοις μη έν δισταγμφ καρδίας "Άνηρ γαρ δίψυχος άκατάστατος έν πάσαις ταίς όδοίς αύτοϋ." (VlrChrys p.32.24-27, p.34.3-14 and 23-30, p.36.10-15)1° Iren~'s sennon is characteήsed by its prominent biblical style that becomes obvιous from the very first sentence opening with a verb in the first person plural: ήκο~σαμεν. The biblical tone of the sermon is not only to be recog~ιsed ιη the repetitive use of verbs in the first person plural but also ιη the biblical citations employed by Irene which are so successfully incorporated in her speech that they become inseparable parts of it. Irene mentions only one ofher sources, namely Chήst in the Gospels. She quotes some of the aphorisms he employed during his teachings. After each quotation of Chήst's words, Irene's own discourse imitates 10 Ι print the Greek text in such a way as to make its poetic elements more obvious. The Exemplary Body ofthe Abbess 149 the style of Chήst's speech. Such an example is the following: Νο man can serve two masters, for eίther he wίll hate the one and love the other, or else he wίll hold to the one and despίse the other. (Mt. 6.24; Lk. 16.13) Being one, the soul cannot be divided into two, nor can the same soul simultaneously enjoy herself and restrain herself, both live in poverty and be rich. (tr. Rosenqvist 1986: 35) 'Όύδεiς δύναται δυσi κυρίοις δουλεύειν· ft γαρ τον ενα μισήσει καi τον ετερον αγαπήσει ft τοϋ ένος aνθέξεται καi του έτέρου καταφρονήσει." Μία γαρ οuσα ή ψυχη είς δύο μερισi7fjναι ού δύναται· ού δύναται ή αύτη έν ταύτ