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Saints
are
not always
distant
figures
of
an
ancient
apostolic
past.
A holy
person
can
be your
next
door neighbor.
Even more,
God
is
calling
you
to holiness
as
one
set
apart
from
the world.
In fact,
it
is our
very fear
of being
called
to something
extraordinary
that
prevents
us
from hearing
the call
of
Christ.
And yet,
that
call
is
precisely
to do
the
ordinary
things
which
Christ
patterned
for
his
followers
the
disciples.
It is both
ordinary
and
extraordinary
to
be
a Christian!
In reviewing
the
histories
of saints,
one
finds
both the ordinary
and the
extraordinary
in all
people
to
varying
degrees.
For this
historical
reminiscence,
I will
refer you
to the
extraordinarily
ordinary
life
of Dorotheos
of
Gaza
(ca. AD
500 -
sometime
after
565; Feast
Day
is
September
16).
Most
people
in our
society
believe
that
to live
out
a monastic
calling
is something
extraordinary.
It requires
not
only
God's
call
and
holiness,
but
superhuman
ability.
On the
other hand,
to
be
a monk
is to
live
a very
ordinary
life.
The routine
practices
of
service, commitment
to
others,
and
prayer,
are
virtues
that
one
acquires
by
developing
ordinary
practices
and habits
that
form one's
character.
As
a monk
living
in the
desert
of
Gaza
during
the
sixth
century,
Dorotheos
found these
ordinary
practices
opened
up
his
experience
to
the
extraordinary
mystery
of God
and
led
to a
deeply
personal
spirituality
tied
into
the Gospel
message
of Jesus
Christ.
For Dorotheos,
the
goal
is to
become
one
of the
"friends
of God."
Gaza
was once
a place
of
relative
tranquility.
The
desert
of
Gaza
, which
stretches
from
northern
Egypt
through
southern
Palestine
, began
as a
home
for monks
seeking
out solitude
away from the
Egyptian
desert
during the
fourth
century.
It was
a haven
for
Arab,
Syriac,
and Greek
Christians
in the
area,
who
wanted
to model their lives after
the holy
monks
of
Egypt
. By
the
fifth century,
it was
home
to a number
of solitary
monks
and monasteries
of monks
living
in community.
Dorotheos
was
born around AD 500 in
Antioch
. He
came
from a
Christian
family and
he was well-educated
in philosophy
and rhetoric.
His spiritual
reflections
reveal a
man
who recognized
the frailties
of human
nature
and yet
the potential
for
perfection
based
on the Gospel
message.
For
instance,
he
frankly
tells
us
how
he went
from
struggling
to enjoying
reading
as a child:
"When
towards
the
end of
my
childhood
I was learning
to read,
at the
beginning
I used
to wear
myself
out by
worlkng
at it too hard
and
when
I went to take
up a
book I was
like
someone
going
up to
stroke
a wild
animal.
As
I persevered
in forcing
myself
to
go on,
however,
God came
to my
assistance
and I
became
so engrossed
in reading
that
I did not know what
I was
eating
or drinking,
or how
I slept,
I was
so enthused
about my reading."
Sometime
later,
Dorotheos
left
Antioch
for
Gaza
and went
to a school
of rhetoric.
Sometime
soon
after,
Dorotheos
became
a monk at
the
monastery
of Seridos
in
Gaza
, where
he
began
learning
from other
prominent
monks
there
including
two
other
Fathers
of the
Church,
Barsanuphios
and
John.
Dorotheos
accepted
several
positions
at
the monastery
that
revealed
his extraordinary
capacity
to
do
the
ordinary
around
the
monastery.
While Barsanuphios
and
John
were solitudes
focused
on contemplation,
Dorotheos
mixed
his spiritual
discernment
with communal
life and
action. First,
he served
as the
guest-master
for the monastery
and its
visitors.
Later,
Dorotheos
became
the medic
for
the community
and eventually
he
served
as
a spiritual
director
for younger
monks
in
Gaza
.
Around
AD
540,
Dorotheos
founded his
own monastery
in the
desert
of
Gaza
and
became
its
abbot.
Many
of his
writings
that
have passed
down
to our
times must
come
from
the spiritual
directions
that
he gave to the young
monks there.
For
instance, Dorotheos
wrote:
I
heard of one person that when he came to one of his
friends and found the room in disarray and even dirty, he
would say to himself: "Blessed is this person,
because having deferred his concerns for earthly cares,
he has concentrated his mind that much toward Heaven,
that he doesn't even have time to tidy up his room."
But when he came to another friend's place and found his
room tidy and neat, he would say to himself; "The
soul of this person is as clean as his room, and the
condition of the room speaks of his soul." And he
never judged another that he was negligent or proud, but
through his kind disposition, he saw goodness in everyone
and received benefits from everyone. May the good Lord
grant us the same kind disposition, so that we too may
receive benefits from everyone and so that we never
notice the failings of others.
For
Dorotheos,
the
goal
in our
lives should
be to
achieve
tranquility
through
humility, as
exemplified
in this story.
The
legacy
of Dorotheos
reveals
his
teachings
as an
ordinary
way
for Christians
today to
learn about the mysteries
of our
Lord God and
Savior
Jesus
Christ.
Although
Dorotheos
lived
in a monastery
in
Gaza
, his
works
are not
only
concerned
with
monastic
life.
For
instance,
he
taught
many
lay
people
who came
to
Gaza
-
ordinary Arab,
Syriac,
and
Greek
seekers
who found
his instructions
a simple way
of
living
life
in Christ.
It was
this simplistic
characteristic
of living a perfect
yet realistic
Christian
life that made Dorotheos so attractive
to his contemporaries
and to
Christians
today.
Moreover,
the
legacy
of Dorotheos
reached
beyond
the
monastery
and
its
visitors.
His
works
were
disseminated
throughout
the Christian
world.
His
spiritual
writings
have
remained
relevant
throughout
the history
of
the
Church.
Other
Christians
translated
his discourses
and sayings
for both monks
and lay people,
so that we
find his writings
in the
collections
of the monasteries
at Mount
Sinai, Mount
Athos
and
Russia
monasteries.
His
legacy
as
a spiritual
author
also
spread
to the
West,
where
his
works
are found at
the monastery
of Monte
Cassino.
The
Benedictines
translated
his works
for their communities,
and they
have
also
been
used
by many
Roman
Catholic orders
such
as the
Dominicans and the Jesuits.
Preaching
Jesus
Christ in the
context of daily life,
the sayings
and discourses
of Dorotheos
will always
remain
popular among ordinary
and extraordinary
Christians.
Dr.
David
Bertaina
Assistant
Professor
of History
University
of
Illinois
-
Springfield
The
writing Dorotheos of Gaza have been
translated
into English by Eric
Wheeler
in his book
Dorotheos
of Gaza:
Discourses
and Sayings.
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