The Life of Saint Neilos of Rossano ed. and trans. by Raymond L. Capra, Ines A. Murzaku, and Douglas J. Milewski

Abstract

Reviewed by: The Life of Saint Neilos of Rossanoed. and trans. by Raymond L. Capra, Ines A. Murzaku, and Douglas J. Milewski Matthew Briel Raymond L. Capra, Ines A. Murzaku, and Douglas J. Milewski, eds. and trans. The Life of Saint Neilos of Rossano. Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library47. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 2018. xxii + 361 pp. A team of scholars from Seton Hall has produced an impressive and important volume in the Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library series. It is impressive in its scholarly akribeiaand erudition which is compressed into short notes. It is important for its witness to a period and a place where "Christendom and the church were understood as one, undivided, and indivisible, East and West" (xviii). Furthermore, the vitaof St. Neilos is important as an exception from the general rules of Byzantine hagiography, for it focuses on the actual events of his life rather than the topoiof miraculous ascetic accomplishments and healings. The outlines of St. Neilos' life (c. 910-1004) are known from this vita, written for the monastery at Grottaferata, as well as a host of other contemporary documents. As is common in Byzantine hagiography, Neilos the Younger is presented as the son of wealthy parents. In this case, it is probably true: Neilos was well-educated and education [End Page 122]required financial support. Like the prophet Samuel who as a child was dedicated to the Lord at Shiloh, Neilos was a much wishedfor son who was dedicated "to the church of the Mother of God" (7). In keeping with the unusual character of this vitawhich downplays miracles and stresses his deeds, Neilos is presented as a youth who was critical of superstition (9). After marrying young and having a daughter, an illness, the first of many in this vita, compelled Neilos to confront the reality of death and led him to seek the monastic state. We hear no more of his wife and daughter but presumably they were cared for by family. Neilos entered the monastery at Merkourion and within three years had advanced enough in the monastic life to live as a hermit. He soon attracted a disciple, Stephen, who would become so close to Neilos that when Stephen died Neilos would ask that a double tomb be prepared, just as more recently John Henry Newman asked to be buried with his close friend and disciple Ambrose St. John. It was, however, an unusual relationship. Stephen came from a humble background and is presented as a good but dimwitted man. In the following chapter, 27, we are told that Neilos would use abusive language and slap him for Stephen's own benefit, in order to help him grow in his monastic vocation. We are also told near the end of the vitathat "right up to his old age [Neilos] had not stopped slapping him" (283). This was done both for the good of Stephen and as an example to the other monks. Although the editors do not note this, one wonders if this might not be an example of hagiographical exoneration. While it certainly is possible that Neilos beat Stephen for the latter's instruction, it is also not impossible that these beatings, which began after three years of living together in isolation, also stemmed from the inevitable frustrations of such a living arrangement. In the following years many more disciples came to learn and share the monastic life with Neilos. In his early forties Neilos and his disciples left the cave hermitage and founded a cenobitic monastery on Neilos' family's property near Rossano. They remained there for twenty-five years. A good portion of the vitais concerned with this period and these chapters are particularly rich in theology and in reflections on the dynamics of the spiritual life. While attending very much to Neilos' ascetic feats, these feats are not, generally, presented as miraculous accomplishments but rather severe but mostly plausible penances done in a cheerful spirit. As in the Apophthegmata Patrum, we are told that the essential thing about the spiritual life is not the external actions but rather the subordination of the will (39). Asceticism does not bring this about...