Peter the Athonite
Peter the Athonite | |
|---|---|
Icon of Onuphrius, Macarius of Egypt, and Peter of Athos (Menologion of Basil II) | |
| Hermit | |
| Born | Around 9th century Byzantium |
| Died | 9th century Mount Athos |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast | June 12 (Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic) |
| Attributes | Monastic garb, cave |
| Patronage | Mount Athos |
Peter the Athonite (d. 9th century), sometimes called Peter of Mount Athos, is reputed to have been the first hermit to settle upon the Mount Athos.[1] He is venerated as a saint and commemorated by the Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Roman Catholic Churches on June 12.[2]
Biography
Peter the Athonite is primarily known through hagiographical traditions. According to these accounts, he was a soldier who was captured during a war with the Syrians and imprisoned in a fortress in the city of Samara, on the Euphrates River.[3] He was reportedly freed through miraculous intervention while in captivity, with Saint Nicholas and Saint Simeon the Righteous appearing to assist in his escape from a Muslim prison.[4] In gratitude, he travelled to Constantinople (New Rome) to fulfil a vow to become a monk, where he reportedly received the monastic habit directly from the Pope, who also instructed him in ascetic discipline.[5]
Following a vision of the Blessed Virgin and Theotokos, Peter journeyed to Mount Athos, where he lived as a hermit in a cave for nearly fifty years. [6] According to tradition, he was once discovered by a hunter, who described him as a naked man covered with hair and bearing a long beard. Peter reportedly instructed the hunter to pray for a year and not to speak of their meeting. When the hunter returned a year later with his demon-afflicted brother and other companions, they found that Peter had died. The afflicted man touched the saint's body and was said to be miraculously healed.[3]
After his repose, his relics were discovered by a hunter and taken to the Monastery of Clement, a formerly existing monastery that is now occupied by the Monastery of Iviron.[7]
Legacy
Some sources place his life in the 7th and 8th centuries, others situate him in the 9th century.[3]
A hagiography devoted to Saint Peter the Athonite was written at Hilandar by Genadius the Athonite.[8]
A vita (BHG 1505) of Peter the Athonite was also written by an Athonite monk named Nicholas sometime around the late 10th or early 11th century.[9] It was translated into Italian in 1999.[10]
See also
References
- ^ "Venerable Peter of Mount Athos". www.oca.org. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ Great Synaxaristes: (in Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Πέτρος ὁ ἐν τῷ Ἁγίῳ Ὄρει ἀσκήσας. 12 Ιουνίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
- ^ a b c "Venerable Peter of Mount Athos". www.oca.org. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
- ^ "Peter the Athonite", Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
- ^ "Св. Петр Афонский" (in Russian). Retrieved 15 April 2025.
- ^ "www.synaxaristis - ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ". www.synaxarion.gr. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
- ^ Speake, Graham (2014). Mount Athos: renewal in paradise. Limni, Evia, Greece: Denise Harvey. pp. 41–42. ISBN 978-960-7120-34-2. OCLC 903320491.
- ^ Spadijer, Irena. "Old Serbian Literature and Its Mediaeval Manuscript Heritage, in: The World of Serbian Manuscripts (12th-17th centuries), edd. D. Otašević, Z. Rakić, I. Špadijer, Belgrade 2016, 153-173".
- ^ Greenfield, Richard P. H.; Talbot, Alice-Mary Maffry (2016). Holy Men of Mount Athos. Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library. Vol. 40. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. p. ix. ISBN 978-0-674-08876-4.
- ^ Rigo, Antonio (1999). Alle origini deli Athos: La Vita di Pietro l'Athonita. Magnano.
Sources
- Dimitri E. Conomos; Graham Speake (1 January 2005). Mount Athos, the Sacred Bridge: The Spirituality of the Holy Mountain. Peter Lang. pp. 69–. ISBN 978-3-03910-064-4.
- Venerable Peter of Mt. Athos. OCA - Feasts and Saints.
- St. Peter of Mount Athos. Catholic Online.