Tatiana A. Senina (nun Kassia) Saint Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation Saint Petersburg, Russia [email protected]

DID ST. JOHN, THE ABBOT OF THE TON KATHARON MONASTERY, JOIN THE ICONOCLASTS UNDER LEO V THE ARMENIAN?

We know about St. John, the abbot of the ton Katharon Monastery and a confessor of icon veneration in the second period of Iconoclasm from a note in the Synaxarion (BHG 2184n).1 John is also mentioned several times in the letters and catechetical orations of St. Theodore the Studite.2 According to the Synaxarion, arrested for icon veneration in 815, John spent the entire reign of Leo the Armenian in prison and exile. From the letters of Theodore the Studite to Bishop Ignatius of Miletus and Bishop Michael of Synada from 816–818, we can con‐ clude that at the time of the letters John firmly adhered to icon vener‐ ation.3 However, in one of the catechetical orations, dating back to the reign of Michael II, Theodore the Studite blames some unnamed ὁ Καθαρηνός for apostacizing from the confessorship, because he went back to his monastery: “Brothers and fathers, our desire and our prayer to God are about the peace of Christ’s Church. For what is more useful than peace for us to spend a quiet and silent life in our own monasteries? However, <...> we have not yet resisted unto blood, striving ———————— (1) Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae e codice Sirmondiano nunc Be‐ rolinensi adiectis Synaxariis selectis, ed. H. DELEHAYE, Bruxellis, 1902, col. 631/ 632.42–58 – 633/634.27–38. (2) All available information on John is collected in D. STIERNON, “Notice sur S. Jean higoumène du monastère de Kathara,” Revue des études byzantines, 28 (1970), pр. 111–127; see also Prosopographie der Mittelbyzantini‐ schen Zeit, Abt. I.: 641–867, hrsg. R.‐J. LILIE, C. LUDWIG, Th. PRATSCH, I. RO‐ CHOW, Berlin, 1998, № 3139. (3) Theodori Studitae Epistulae, rec. G. FATOUROS (CFHB, 31), Berlin, New York, 1992, vol. II, ep. 267 and 364.

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against sin; we have not been burned enough in the fire of afflic‐ tions; we have not showed a pure testimony of our faith. There‐ fore, (there is) a delay (in the triumph of Orthodoxy); and, on the other hand, as some of the fallen seem to have recovered, yet not out of genuine conviction, but falsely and having waited for the right moment; the time shows what they [really] are. Such is the one from Herakleia; such is the one from the ton Katharon again turning to the powerful (πάλιν προσρυέντες τοῖς κρατοῦσι) be‐ cause of desire to [return] to their monasteries, or better to say be‐ cause of attachment to transient and corruptible things4 <...>. And I cannot praise those who, on the one hand, have preserved the con‐ fession (of faith), and on the other hand have not abandoned care of their monasteries, and who seem to have faces on both sides, turned both to us and to the heterodox; they are with us according to their confession, and with the heterodox according to the pos‐ session of monasteries, having rejoiced in peace before (achieving) peace, and having reduced persecution for themselves before (the triumph) of Orthodoxy. Christ is still being persecuted, and they again received monasteries; the saints are still being anathema‐ tized, while they have become obedient to the heterodox.”5 Charles Van de Vorst and Daniel Stiernon noted that Theodore the Studite speaks here about John of the ton Katharon;6 however, they paid no attention that he was called “again turning to the powerful.” The abbot of Herakleia, mentioned together with him actually en‐ tered into communion with the Iconoclasts during the persecution under Leo the Armenian,7 but we do not find such information con‐ cerning the abbot of ton Katharon in the letters of Theodore the Studite or other sources apart from the above passage of the Cathehesis.

———————— (4) Emperors Michael and Theophilos, who became co‐Emperor to his father in the spring of 821 are implied. (5) Τοῦ ὁσίου πατρός ἡμῶν Θεοδώρου Στουδίτου, Μικρὰ Κατηχήσις, ἐκδ. Ν. ΣΚΡΕΤΤΑ, Θεσσαλονίκη, 1984, σ. 232–234, Κατ. 92. (6) Ch. VAN DE VORST, “La Petite Catéchèse de S. Théodore Studite,” AB, 33 (1914), p. 44; STIERNON, «Notice sur S. Jean», р. 125. (7) Theodore the Studite mentioned this in the letter to his brother Archbishop Joseph (Theodori Studitae epistulae, rec. FATOUROS, vol. II, ep. 222, р. 349.8) using the same form of name as in the Catechesis 92 — ὁ Ἡρακλειώτης. As we may see from the Catechesis, subsequently the abbot from Herakleia repented.

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The Synaxarion tells us that John was first imprisoned for a year and a half in the fortress of Pentadaktylon in Asia Minor. It was lo‐ cated not far from the place where Theodore the Studite was in exile, and in 817 together with Theodore and two other abbots John signed a letter to Pope Paschal urging him to condemn Byzantine Icono‐ clasts.8 Apparently, it was the result of this action, that the Emperor ordered to deliver the confessor to Constantinople and pass him for “brainwashing” by John the Grammarian. According to the Synax‐ arion, John the Grammarian starved John for some time and subjected to other trials, and then “returned him to the Emperor” who once again sent John into exile, where the abbot stayed until the reign of Michael II. The Synaxarion says nothing about any doctrinal discussions of John the Grammarian with confessor John. Could the abbot of the ton Katharon enter into communion with the Iconoclasts as a result of tortures to which he was subjected by the Grammarian? Or maybe he was confused and persuaded by the Grammarian’s speeches? What‐ ever it was, from the 92nd Oration of Theodore the Studite we may conclude that for some time John must have entered into communion with the Iconoclasts just like the abbot of Heracleia. Probably, it hap‐ pened for a short time, and then both abbots repented, as did Nicetas of Medikion. It is known that after his repentance, the Emperor again sent Nicetas into exile.9 The abbot of the ton Katharon must have fol‐ lowed the same path. Obviously, the entry on John in the Synaxarion is an excerpt from his lost Life. Judging by the Synaxarion, that Life was not written im‐ mediately after the death of the saint, since it seems to have contained some inaccuracies: the Synaxarion says nothing about the ties of John of the ton Katharon with the Studion monastery,10 and the patriarchal rank is erroneously attributed to John the Grammarian in the reign Leo the Armenian. It is unclear whether the Life mentioned a tempo‐ rary falling of John into communion with the Iconoclasts: this episode might have not been included in the Life altogether, or might have been omitted by the author of the Synaxarion.

———————— (8) Theodori Studitae epistulae, rec. FATOUROS, vol. II, ep. 271. (9) See Theostericti Vita Nicetae Medicii (BHG 1341), § 40–43. (10) See STIERNON, «Notice sur S. Jean», рр. 119–123.

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SUMMARY Judging by the 92th Oration from the Small Catechesis of St. Theodore the Studite, St. John of the ton Katharon after 817 for some time joined the Iconoclasts and then repented like St. Nicetas of Medikion and some other confessors of icon veneration.

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