“Preaching Chastity”: A “Spatial Reading” of Jerome’s Vita Malchi

v

SCRINIUMJournal of Patrology, Critical Hagiography

and Ecclesiastical History

Volume 9

Patrologia Pacifica TertiaSelected papers presented at the Seventh

Asia-Pacific Early Christian Studies Society Annual Conference

(Luce Center, Presbyterian College and Theological Seminary, Seoul, South Korea,

July 5–7, 2012) and Other Patristic Studies

Gorgias Press2013

Society of Byzantine and Slavic Studies St. Petersburg

Edited by Pauline Allen, Vladimir Baranov, and Basil Lourié

vi

ISSN 1817-7530 (Print)ISSN 1817-7565 (Online)

http://scrinium.ru

Scrinium. Т. 9: Patrologia Pacifica Tertia: Selected Papers presented at the Seventh Asia-Pacific Early Christian Studies Society Annual Conference (Luce Center, Pres-byterian College and Theological Seminary, Seoul, South Korea, July 5–7, 2012), and Other Patristic Studies. Edited by Pauline Allen, Vladimir Baranov, and Basil Lourié. Piscataway, N.J.: Gorgias Press, 2013. xii+458 p.

SCRINIUMJournal of Patrology, Critical Hagiography

and Ecclesiastical History

Editor in Chief

Basile Lourié

Advisory Board

Sebastian Brock, Oxford (President);Pauline Allen, Brisbane—Pretoria; Alessandro Bausi, Naples;

Gilbert Dagron, Paris; Gianfranco Fiaccadori, Mailand; Stephan Gerö, Tübingen; Robert Godding, Bruxelles (Société des Bollandistes);

Alexander Golitz in, Milwaukee; Getatchew Haile, Avon; Hubert Kaufh old, Munich (Oriens Christianus);

Robert Kraft, Philadelphia; Vladimir A. Livshits, St Petersburg; Igor P. Medvedev, St Petersburg; Bernard Meunier,

Lyon (Institut des Sources Chrétiennes); Bernard Outt ier, Paris; Madeleine Petit, Paris; John C. Reeves, Charlott e;

Gerrit J. Reinink, Groningen; Antonio Rigo, Venice; James Russel, Harvard; Samir Kh. Samir, Beirut;

Michael Stone, Jerusalem; James VanderKam, Notre Dame

Secretariat

Tatiana Senina, St. Petersburg; Elena Bormotova, Montreal

© Authors, 2013© P. Allen, V. Baranov, and B. Lourié, 2013

© Gorgias Press, 2013

vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Abbreviations ....................................................................................... ix

Patrologia Pacifi ca Tertia

Introductory Remarks ..................................................................................... 3

Pauline ALLEN

Aspects of Preaching and Ministry in East and West AD 400–600 ...... 6

Vladimir BARANOV

Eucharistic Exegesis as a Key to Diverging Spiritualities: From Egypt to Constantinople ............................................................... 26

Miyako DEMURA

Origen as Biblical Scholar and Preacher in Caesarea .......................... 70

Basil LOURIÉ

John Philoponus on the Bodily Resurrection ...................................... 79

Martin WENZEL

Lessons from the Afterlife: Eschatology in Gregory of Nyssa’s Oratio Catechetica ......................... 89

Hubertus R. DROBNER

Daily Life in the Preaching of Gregory of Nyssa and Augustine of Hippo ................................... 105

Geoffrey D. DUNN

The Clerical cursus honorum in the Late Antique Roman Church ... 120

Koos KRITZINGER “Preaching Chastity”: A “Spatial Reading” of Jerome’s Vita Malchi ....................................... 134

Junghoo KWON

“Pre-Nestorianism” in Spain: The Letter of Vitalis and Constantius and Pseudo-Athanasian De trinitate ....................................................... 150

viii Scrinium IX (2013). Patrologia Pacifica Tertia

Helen RHEE

“Every Good and Perfect Gift Comes from Above”: The Episcopal Control of Charity and Christian(-ized) Patronage ... 165

Other Patristic Studies

Sergey V. IVANOV

The Legend of the Twelve Fridays and Quattuor Tempora ................ 185

Irina KOLBUTOVA

Face to Face and One Face Reflected in Many Mirrors ..................... 207

Anna KLADOVA

The “Autobiography” оf Nikephoros Blemmydes. On the Issue of Relations between Monasticism and Scholarship in Byzantium ........................................................................................... 229

Dirk KRAUSMÜLLER

Hiding in Plain Sight: Heterodox Trinitarian Speculation in the Writings of Niketas Stethatos ..................................................... 255

Alexey V. MALINOV

The Method of Symbolic Interpretation of Grigory Skovoroda ...... 285

Anton PRITULA

The Wardā Hymnological Collection ................................................... 309

Nikolai N. SELEZNYOV

“Elias Geveri of Damascus” in Russian Studies of Church History: A Witness to the Two-Finger Sign of the Cross in a Medieval Treatise on Denominations of Syrian Christianity .... 366

Nikolai N. SELEZNYOV

Jacobs and Jacobites: the Syrian Origins of the Name and its Egyptian Arabic Interpretations .............................................. 382

Tatiana A. SÉNINA (moniale Kassia)Remarques sur l’auteur et la date de Scriptor Incertus de Leone Armenio .................................................... 399

Youhanna Nessim YOUSSEF

Coptic and Copto-Arabic Liturgical Texts relating to Michael the New Martyr .................................................... 410

ixTable of Contents

Book Reviews

A New Study into Regional Booklore Tradition: the Hagiography of Veliky Ustyug and Solvychegodsk (A. PIGIN) .. 447

Short reviews (B. LOURIÉ) ............................................................................. 451

134

Koos Kritz inger University of Pretoria

[email protected]

“PREACHING CHASTITY”: A “SPATIAL READING”

OF JEROME’S VITA MALCHI

Introduction

The Vita Malchi was writt en at Bethlehem between 386 and 390 CE.1 Je-rome also wrote two other lives of desert fathers, namely the Vita Pauli, which was according to the De viris illustribus2 his fi rst work, and the Vita Hilarionis, which is by far the longest of the three and was writt en at the same time as the Vita Malchi. Although this work is known as the Vita Malchi, it is not really a biography.3

In this short work Jerome presents the story of Malchus, narrated by Malchus himself in the fi rst person, who left his hometown Nisibis to join a group of monks in the desert of Chalcis. After many years he decided to leave the monastery and return home to claim his inheri-tance, but is taken into captivity by Saracens. Being forced into mar-riage with a fellow captive, Malchus and the woman4 decided to live in chastity and pretend that they are living as a married couple. After many years Malchus planned an escape and the woman joined him. After they were saved by a lioness which killed their pursuers, they ar-

(1) S. Weingarten, The Saint’s Saints. Hagiography and Geography in Je-rome, Leiden, 2005, p. 166.

(2) De Vir. Ill. 135.(3) Cf. C. White (ed.), Early Christian Lives, London, 1998, p. 119: “The

work ...is less of a biography than an essay on the ideal of chastity. Neither can it really be termed hagiography...” Although S. Rebenich, Jerome, London, 2002, pp. 85–92, includes the Vita Malchi as an example of Jerome’s biographi-cal works, he defi nes the genre as follows: “The Life of Malchus is best de-scribed as a monastic novella concentrating on the monk’s amazing peregrina-tion.” J. N. D. Kelly, Jerome. His Life, Writings and Controversies, London, 1975, p. 171, describes the Vita Malchi as a “paean in praise of life-long chastity.”

(4) Cf. Weingarten, The Saint’s Saints, p. 172: “It is no accident that his woman companion is unnamed: she is Christian womankind in general, who must submit to her fate of marriage if necessary.”

135Koos Kritzinger

rived at a Roman camp and were sent to Sabinianus, the ruler of Meso-potamia. Malchus then again joined a group of monks and the woman was entrusted to a group of virgins. They fi nally sett led in Maronia where they spent their last years in chaste companionship.

In the fi nal chapter Jerome calls this work a historia castitatis (a story of chastity). According to Fuhrmann there are strong resemblances with the ancient novel, regarding the structure, narrative technique and portrayal of character.5 Weingarten says that “the story has been writt en up in the form of a new literary creation” in which he makes use of both biblical and classical models, while also using contempo-rary local material from Ammianus and the Babylonian Talmud.6

In this article the focus falls on Jerome’s use of “space” in this nar-rative to determine whether a spatial reading of the text could lead to a bett er understanding of the narrative.

1. Frame Narrative — Introduction

The introduction and the conclusion of the Vita Malchi provide a frame narrative for Malchus’ fi rst person account, and form a very impor-tant part of the work. Not only does Jerome indicate the reason(s) for telling this story, he also relates it to his own life story. By associating himself with Malchus, through among other things7 a reference to the place where Malchus lived, Jerome adds a new dimension to the story and gives it a more personal or autobiographical application.8 In the introduction he states that he met Malchus when he visited Syria as a

(5) M. Fuhrmann, “Die Mönchsgeschichten des Hieronymus: Form-experimente in erzählender Literatur,” in Christianisme et formes litt éraires de l’antiquité tardive en Occident, ed. by O. Reverdi (Entretiens Hardt, 23), Genève, 1977, p. 65: “Die Struktur der Vita Malchi ist — mit einem Paar im Mitt el-punkt, mit Räubern, Flucht und Rett ung in höchster Not — ein stark verkürz-ter Abklatsch der Liebesromane.”

(6) Weingarten, The Saint’s Saints, p. 165.(7) In the introduction (VM 1.3), Jerome describes himself as a ‘fugitive

and a prisoner’ (fugientem me et clausum).(8) Cf. Weingarten, The Saint’s Saints, p. 192: “In writing the vitae of the

saints Paul, Hilarion, and Malchus he was also creating the vita of Saint Je-rome. The Life of Malchus …has many autobiographical elements, both in subject matt er and in many of its details, describing as it does Malchus’ life, lived with his ‘wife’ in their cave, on their journey and fi nally sett led, together yet apart.”

136 Scrinium IX (2013). Patrologia Pacifica Tertia

young man9 and in the conclusion, he mentions that he, now as an old man, tells the story to the next generation. We know that he shared the same passion for chastity as Malchus did and that he also had a female companion with whom he had a very special relationship.10 It is there-fore important to look at the spaces mentioned in the introduction and the conclusion.

In the fi rst paragraph we immediately read about two contrasting spaces: the dangerous space of a naval batt le and the safe space of the calm sea in the harbour. Jerome regards this litt le work as a prepara-tion for a much bigger and perhaps controversial work; that is a histo-ry of the church. He further compares this work to a mock batt le in the harbour in preparation for a serious naval batt le, which then refers to the intended church history. These contradictory spaces set the scene for the rest of the work, where there is a movement between danger-ous and safe places. But we also see that the spaces themselves can be regarded as ambivalent. Still in the fi rst paragraph, the early church is described as a positive place, despite persecutions, while the church of his day is described as a negative place, despite, or perhaps because of her power and riches.

Paragraph two also starts with an indication of place, but this time it refers to the town, Maronia, where Malchus lived, and the location is described in detail: “a tiny village about thirty miles east of the city of Antioch in Syria.” It seems as if the detailed description of the village as well as the mentioning of bishop Evagrius and Jerome’s personal

(9) Cf. D. King, “Vir Quadrilinguis? Syriac in Jerome and Jerome in Syri-ac,” in Jerome of Stridon. His Life, Writings and Legacy, ed. by A. Cain, J. LÖssl, Farnham, 2009, p. 213: “Jerome strongly promotes as part of this world ‘on the edge,’ a fearsome place inextricably linked with the equally ferocious, almost mythological, Saracens. He identifi es himself thereby with that breed of (anti-)hero, the Syrian ascetic.”

(10) A. De VogÜé in P. Leclerc, E. Morales, Jérôme: Trois Vies de Moines (Paul, Malchus, Hilarion) (SC, 508), Paris, 2007, p. 78, compares the lives of Mal-chus and his companion to that of Jerome and Paula during their early years in Palestine: “Son union parfaitement chaste avec sa compagne ressemble au couple de Jérôme et Paula en ces premières années palestiniennes où fut écrite la Vita Malchi. Celle-ci apparaît comme une allégorie de la double fondation latine de Bethléem,” and also p. 79: “L’union chaste d’un moine et d’une femme non vierge, mariage spirituel qui les lie d’un véritable amour sans pro-faner leur consécration: telle est l’audacieuse invention de ce roman monas-tique, où Jérôme célèbre sous un voile transparent sa sainte et encore récente association avec Paula.”

137Koos Kritzinger

presence in Maronia serve to confi rm the credibility and veracity of the account that follows.11 In the conclusion Jerome again states that Mal-chus has personally told him this story and then he tells us more about his audience and the reason for telling the story: “To the chaste I have unfolded a story of chastity: I exhort those of you who are virgins to preserve your chastity. Tell this story to later generations so that they may know that amid swords, amid wild beasts and desert regions, chastity is never taken captive, and that a person who is dedicated to Christ can die but cannot be defeated.”12 Just as the introduction com-mences with a reference to a batt le, the conclusion also closes with the war metaphor and again dangerous places are mentioned: the swords, desert regions and wild animals. This will be discussed further below.

2. Malchus’ Home13

Malchus’ fi rst person version of all his experiences begins in the third paragraph and again it starts with a reference to a place — in this case Nisibis, his home town. Although a person’s home is normally regard-ed as a safe place, we notice that Malchus experienced pressures and even threats from his parents to force him into marriage. Therefore he decides to run away from home to join a group of monks in the Syrian desert. The main threat was that he might lose his chastity by being forced into marriage.

(11) Jerome fi rst mentions bishop Evagrius, through whom he got to know Malchus’ story. Evagrius was the owner of the estate where Malchus and his wife were living. Then Jerome gives a description of the old man, Mal-chus and his very old wife, from which it is clear that he has personally seen them. Next he relates what the neighbours are saying about the old couple and fi nally he talks to Malchus himself to establish the veracity of the story (rerum fi dem).

(12) VM 11: “…castis historiam castitatis expono. Virgines uirginitatem cus-todire exhortor. Vos narrate posteris, ut sciant inter gladios, et inter deserta et bes-tias pudicitiam numquam esse captivam et hominem Christo deditum posse mori, non posse superari.” The text of P. Leclerc, E. Morales, Jérôme: trois Vies de moines (Paul, Malchus, Hilarion) (SC, 508), Paris, 2007, is used. The translation of White, Early Christian Lives, is used.

(13) With the exception of the introduction and conclusion, which pro-vide the frame narrative, all the headings used here describe in chronological order the diff erent ‘places’ in Malchus’ story.


3. Transition: Home to Monastery

This transition is treated in one sentence: “As I could not go east be-cause of the proximity of Persia and the Roman military presence, I turned my steps westwards, taking with me some few provisions which might just keep me from destitution.”14 It seems as if he wanted to go eastwards, but was prevented from doing so and then decided to go in the opposite direction. It is not clear whether the specifi c ref-erences to east and west carry any symbolic meaning; it is perhaps another way of emphasising the historicity of the account. Nisibis was indeed very close to the border with Persia, where there was a Roman military guard.15

4. The Monastery

The next stop is a monastery in the desert of Chalcis and the location is again clearly indicated: “which lies between Immae and Beroea, a litt le to the south.”16 This desert was situated to the south of Antioch, hundreds of kilometers from Nisibis and in a diff erent province. This place is described in a positive way, but when Malchus told the abbot that he wanted to return home, the abbot warned him that the devil deceived many monks through his temptations. So even in this safe place, he was not safeguarded against the devil’s temptations. There is also a reference to paradise and Adam and Eve’s temptation in that (almost perfect) location.17 The monastery is further compared with a sheep-fold and Malchus is warned that he would expose himself to the jaws of the wolf when he leaves the monastery. It seems as if the mon-astery is regarded as the ideal place to be, but still it is not hundred per cent safe-guarded against the att acks of the old enemy. Apart from the wolf outside the sheep-fold, there is also the snake inside the garden

(14) White, Early Christian Lives, p. 122.(15) Cf. Leclerc, Morales, Jérôme: trois Vies de moines..., p. 189, n. 5.(16) Cf. Weingarten, The Saint’s Saints, p. 166.(17) In Adv. Jov. 1. 16 Jerome states that it should be mentioned that

Adam and Eve had been virgins in paradise before their fall and that their marriage took only place after their sin and outside paradise: “ac de Adam qui-dem et Eva illud dicendum, quod ante off ensam in paradiso virgines fuerint: post pec-catum autem, et extra paradisum protinus nuptiae.” In Ep. 130 he further asserts that Eve was cast out of paradise on account of food: “Eva per cibum eiecta est de paradiso.” We can thus see how chastity and fasting are promoted by his understanding of the paradise narrative.

139Koos Kritzinger

of Eden. But there is also another animal mentioned in this section: Malchus’ abbot severely criticised his longing to return home and ap-plied the words of Proverbs 26:11, of a dog18 returning to his vomit, to Malchus. Hereby his home is further portrayed in a bad light. When Malchus left the monastery, the abbot escorted him “from the monas-tery as if he were accompanying a funeral procession”19 convinced that Malchus would not survive outside and would give in to the tempta-tions of Satan and become his prey.

5. Transition: Monastery to Desert Stay under Saracen Master

Malchus did not heed the warnings of the abbot and on his way home he (together with a young married woman) is captured by semi-no-madic Saracens (here called Ishmaelites20) who took them deeper into the desert region where he had to tend his master’s fl ocks. The transi-tion between these two ‘stations’ (the monastery and the desert region) is described as a dangerous and fearful experience. They are carried off on camels and they had to cross a big river before they reached their new abode. Malchus was heading back home, but his plans were thwarted by the Ishmaelites, who were taking him (like Joseph) against his will to a new and hostile environment. Malchus regrets his decision to leave the monastery too late and regards his capture as de-served punishment for the fact that he disobeyed the abbot and that he yielded to the temptation (of the devil) to acquire his inheritance after his father’s death.

(18) In Comm. in Isaiam 9.30 Jerome explains this saying as follows: “…iux ta tropologiam: omnes qui dei religione contempta, revertuntur ad vomitum suum et perdito nomine fi liorum, impudentissimi canes appellantur, ineunt consili-um, non per dominum, et feriunt foedus, non per spiritum domini, adduntque peccata peccatis”. Cf. also Comm. in Isaiam 15.56 “…et canes impudentissimi nescierunt saturitatem” and 18.66 “…pulchreque canis et meretrix copulantur, quia utrumque animal pronum est ad libidinem.”

(19) White, Early Christian Lives, p. 123.(20) The reference to the Ishmaelites is most probably an allusion to Jo-

sef, who was taken away by Ishmaelites and who resisted the temptations of Potiphar’s wife. Cf. Weingarten, The Saint’s Saints, p. 175.


6. Desert Stay: First Cave Episode and Escape

The two captives spent a number of years in the desert and it is clear that this was a totally diff erent environment: the customs of the people living there were diff erent, the climate and also the clothing: “…I learned to walk around in diff erent clothes, in other words, na-ked. For the heat of that climate was so oppressive that it did not allow one to cover anything other than one’s private parts.”21

The desert can be described as a negative space for the following reasons: their captivity; the oppressing heat; the presence of the devil with his temptations; the anger of his owner who threatened to kill him when he at fi rst refused to marry his fellow slave; the loneliness or Malchus’ longing for the companionship of fellow monks. He even posed a threat to himself, when he decided to take his own life rather than marrying the woman whose husband was still alive.

At the same time there is a positive side: Malchus found comfort in his work to look after the sheep and thought of Jacob and Moses who both had been shepherds in the wilderness. He discovered in the des-ert the monk whom he had been about to lose in his own country. The desert is here thus positively compared to his hometown. Malchus also mentioned the fact that he used to pray without ceasing and to sing the psalms which he had learned in the monastery.

The main threat of the desert or of his stay in the desert was the threat to his chastity. His master wanted to reward him for being a loyal and hardworking servant by giving him as wife the woman who was captured with him. This recalls the reason why he initially ran away from his home and joined the monastery, namely to avoid get-ting married.22

We need to look more closely at the specifi c places mentioned in the desert and to discuss them briefl y:

• The place where the master and his family lived was a place where Malchus had to bow his head to pay homage to the mis-tress and the children. It is also the place where Malchus experi-enced the anger of his master when he initially refused to marry

(21) White, Early Christian Lives, p. 123–124.(22) Cf. Weingarten, The Saint’s Saints, p. 189: “Jerome here is using the

Saracens, worshippers of Venus, the goddess of sex, and insistent on marriage on pain of death, as an extreme contrast to his chaste hero Malchus. As well as the polarities of civilised Roman versus barbarian, and Christian versus pagan, he includes an implicit contrast of sexuality versus chastity.”

141Koos Kritzinger

his fellow slave. This is a negative space, where Malchus is in a state of captivity — he is basically a slave.

• The fi eld where he had to look after the sheep,23 where he prayed and sang psalms and where he found the monk he was about to lose in his fatherland. This is a predominantly positive space, due to the similar situation of Jacob and Moses and the reminis-cence of the monastery. This space is contrasted with the nega-tive space of his fatherland where he would have lost the monk which he found again in this desert space. Although he was still in captivity, he started to enjoy it.24 Malchus made the best of his situation and while obeying the command of the apostle, served his master as faithfully as he served God.25 This space is further linked to the positive space of the monastery, because he prac-ticed here that which he had learnt in the monastery. It is also in the fi eld where he looked at the ants which reminded him of the brotherhood of the monastery, where the diff erent mem-bers helped each other in everything and worked diligently for a common goal. It was this spectacle which made him aware of the fact that he was tired of his captivity and missing the company of the other monks.26 It led to his decision to escape from captiv-ity and also then a change of place.

• The cave into which he led his ‘new wife’ is described as “a dere-lict cave, with sorrow as our bridesmaid.”27 It is a negative space,

(23) The reference to the sheep also calls to mind the sheep-fold, which the abbot compared the monastery with.

(24) VM 5.5: “Delectabat me captiuitas mea agebamque Dei iudicio gratias, quod monachum, quem in patria fueram perditurus, in eremo inueneram.”

(25) VM 6.2: “Dominus uidens gregem suum crescere, nihilque in me deprehen-dens fraudulentiae -sciebam enim apostolum praecepisse dominis si quasi deo fi deliter seruiendum — …” He refers here to Ephesians 6:5–8.

(26) VM 7.3: “unde recordatus Salomonis ad formicarum solertiam nos mitt en-tis et pigras mentes sub tali exemplo suscitantis, coepi taedere captiuitatis et monas-terii cellulas quaerere, ac formicarum illarum sollicitudinem desiderare, ubi laboratur in medium et, cum nihil cuiusquam proprium sit, omnium omnia sunt.” S. Hagen-dahl, Latin Fathers and the Classics, Göteborg, 1958, p. 118 has also pointed out similarities between Jerome’s description of the ants and an ant scene follow-ing the cave episode in Aeneid 4. See Weingarten, The Saint’s Saints, p. 173 for details.

(27) VM 6.3: “Duco in speluncam semirutam nouam coniugem, et pronuban-te nobis tristitia…” (my bold). In Aen. 4.65–70, Aeneas and Dido are driven


where he deeply felt his captivity and mourned the monastic state which he was about to lose. In this passage Jerome alludes to the cave episode in Virgil’s Aeneid 4.65–70 where Aeneas and Dido are driven into a cave by a storm and a wedding scene is described. Weingarten discusses this passage and other allu-sions to Virgil in detail and points out how Jerome “creates a series of antitheses opposed one by one to the elements of the Aeneid narrative.”28

• The cave in which he lived with his ‘new wife’ in chastity. After his female companion made it clear that she was not interested in marrying him either and that he should take her as a partner in chastity so that they could live together as brother and sister under the pretext of a marriage, this space became a positive space. The Malchus narrative is in stark contrast to the Aeneas narrative and it emphasises the chastity of Malchus and his part-ner in comparison to the immodest behaviour of Dido and Ae-neas.

After living there for a long time, Malchus decided to fl ee and his ‘wife’ agreed to join him. While they were planning their escape they were in a state between hope and fear.29 This description reminds us of the fear they experienced when they had been brought there,30 but this time they also had hope. Now again they had to cross the river and cover a huge distance to get away from their master. The crossing of this border was a great risk, but it was carefully planned: two large

into a cave by a storm and a ‘wedding scene' is described, where Iuno acts as bridesmaid:

“Speluncam Dido dux et Troianus eandemdeveniunt: prima et Tellus et pronuba Iunodant signum; fulsere ignes et conscius aetherconubiis, summoque ulularunt vertice nymphae.Ille dies primus leti primusque malorumcausa fuit…” (my bold)

Although the romantic gett ing together of Aeneas and Dido is here described as the cause of death and troubles, Malchus and his wife’s union and chastity are described as the reason for their preservation.

(28) Weingarten, The Saint’s Saints, pp. 171–174.(29) VM 8.1: “peto silentium; fi dem tribuit, et iugi susurro inter spem et metum

medii fl uctuamus.”(30) VM 4.3: “Ducimur, immo portamur sublimes in camelis; et per vastam

eremum semper ruinam timentes, haeremus potius quam sedemus.”

143Koos Kritzinger

goats were slaughtered; their skins made into bags to use as fl oaters to cross the river and the meat prepared for provisions for the journey. But it proved to be a very dangerous venture, in which their lives were threatened by hunger, thirst, possible att acks from Saracens, exces-sive heat, poisonous animals, a lioness and their pursuers. They found shelter in a cave and although it forms part of their escape, we need to discuss this part in greater detail.

7. Desert Stay: Second Cave Episode and Escape

The cave is again an ambivalent space:31 it is a very dangerous space, full of poisonous animals which seek shelter against the scorching sun. It is also the place in which Malchus and his ‘wife’ seek safety, but they were careful not to enter too deep into the cave, so that they would not run into their death, whilst trying to escape it.32 This ambivalence is also expressed in the following words of Malchus: “We reasoned to ourselves that if the Lord helps those in trouble, we would be safe here; if he rejects sinners, this would provide us with a tomb.”33 In the previ-ous cave episode their chastity was threatened, but here their lives are at stake. After they had witnessed how a lioness had killed their armed pursuers, (fi rst the servant and then their former master), they were re-lieved, but still not without fear or out of danger. The same cave which meant death to their pursuers and became their tomb meant life to Malchus and his ‘wife’. The lioness plays an important role in this part of the story: she basically saved them from their Saracen master who wanted to kill them and then allowed them to get away unharmed. Je-

(31) Here again there is a reference to darkness, when the cave is men-tioned: VM 9.1: “Statimque mens mali praesaga, putare dominum meditari mortem, solem cernere nigrescentem: dumque timemus, et uestigiis per arenas nos proditos intelligimus off ertur ad dexteram specus longe sub terram penetrans.” Cf. VM 6.3: “Iam uenerat tenebrosior solito et mihi nimium matura nox. Duco in speluncam semi-rutam novam coniugem…”

(32) G. E. Duckworth, “Classical Echoes in St. Jerome’s Life of Malchus,” The Classical Bulletin, 24 (1947/48), p. 29 says the following about this phrase: “…the epigrammatic neatness of the passage in 215 f. (ne, dum mortem fugimus, incurremus mortem) is reminiscent of Seneca’s tragic style.”

(33) VM 9.2: “…illudque nobiscum reputantes, si iuuat Dominus miseros, habemus salutem; si despicit peccatores, habemus sepulcrum.” Duckworth, “Clas-sical Echoes...,” p. 29 pointed out Jerome’s allusion to / dependence on the for-mulation of Seneca (Troades, 510–512): “Fata si miseros iuvant, / habes salutem; / fata si vitam negant, / habes sepulchrum.”


rome’s use of darkness and light is also striking in this part of the story. We have pointed out the references to darkness in both instances when the caves are mentioned, but in the second case there is an interesting remark with regard to the fact that Malchus and his ‘wife’ could see inside the cave, since their eyes got used to the darkness. The servant, however, who was looking for them entered the cave out of the sun-light and could not see a thing. Although this is a natural phenom-enon and also presented as such, it certainly has a symbolic meaning that they were able to see in the darkness, while their pursuers were blinded. At this point Malchus’ only hope is the consciousness of their chastity: “…we awaited the outcome, with only the consciousness of our chastity like a wall to protect us in the midst of these horren-dous dangers.”34 They did not leave the cave immediately out of fear that the same fate might await them and they only dared to go out at evening.

8. Transition: Desert to Monastery

They found the camels of their pursuers (with provisions) still there and used them for transport. The same animals which carried them off into the wilderness after they had been captured were now car-rying them to safety. It was a long trip and it took ten days before they reached a Roman camp. After they had told their story to the tri-bune there, they were sent to the ruler of Mesopotamia, where they received money for the camels. In paragraph six the camels provided them with milk. Here the camels provide new provisions for Malchus and his wife and they also receive money for them. At fi rst the camels, as animals used by their owners, were used against Malchus and his wife, but in the end, they were instrumental in their safe return to the monasteries.

9. Monastery: Two Separate Monastic Settlements

Malchus again joined a community of monks and entrusted his ‘wife’ to a nunnery. In contrast to the description of his fi rst stay in the mon-astery, this is treated very briefl y.

(34) VM 9.10: “…praestolabamur euentum rei, inter tanta pericula pudicitiae tantum conscientia pro muro septi.”

145Koos Kritzinger

10. Transition: Monasteries to Home (Implied)

Here we would have expected a remark about the fact that Malchus and his ‘wife’ had at some time left their separate monasteries to live together again, because Jerome said that they were living together when he met them.

11. Home: Maronia (Implied)

In paragraph 2.1–2 it is stated that Malchus and the woman were liv-ing together in Maronia and therefore we can assume that they had left the monasteries which are mentioned in paragraph 10.3. Leclerc, Morales point out the discrepancy with the account given in the tenth paragraph.35

12. Frame Narrative — Conclusion

From Malchus’ statement about their consciousness of their chas-tity and from Jerome’s conclusion in the fi nal paragraph “that amid swords, amid wild beasts and desert regions, chastity is never taken captive…” (a statement which directly links up with Malchus’ words), we get the basic message of this work, namely that chastity can serve as a protective wall enclosing the chaste. This spatial concept reminds us of the metaphor of the sheep-fold, which Malchus’ abbot used for the monastery. But it goes further. The protection is not limited to a specifi c place (e.g. the monastery); it protected the chaste Malchus and his ‘wife’ even there where they were in captivity in the desert; where they were being forced into marriage and to stay together in a cave; during their dangerous escape and in another cave where they were threatened by so many dangers. It seems as if Jerome is focussing on chastity as one of the important virtues, which is not limited to a spe-cifi c place or institution (e.g. a monastery or the church) but which

(35) Leclerc, Morales, Jérôme: trois Vies de moines..., n. 1, p. 188,: “Le ré-cit de Jérôme ne coïncide pas avec ce que dira plus loin Malchus (10,3): Me monachis reddo, hanc trado uirginibus.” Cf. also H. Kech, Hagiographie als christ-liche Unterhaltungsliteratur. Studien zum Phänomen des Erbaulichen anhand der Mönchsviten des hl. Hieronymus. Göppingen, 1977, S. 209, Anm. 124: “Vergleicht man die Stellung der beiden Abenteurer am Ende ihrer Flucht (Malchus in Männerkloster, die Gefährtin im Jungfrauenkonvent) mit ihrem im ersten Teil der Rahmenhandlung geschilderten Wohnverhältnis (Zusammenleben wie Zacharias und Elisabeth), ergibt sich ein weiteres Indiz für die Vernachlässi-gung der Rahmenerzählung.”


should be practised wherever you might be and even in the most dif-fi cult circumstances. The monastery prepared Malchus to survive also outside the sheep-fold and he was able to escape the jaws of the wolf, by preserving his chastity.

It has been mentioned that Jerome saw this work as a preparation for a bigger work, in which he wanted to write a church history and it is also clear that he wanted to criticise the church and point out “how, under the Christian emperors, it became more powerful and wealthy but less rich in virtues.”36 The story of Malchus can be seen as an ex-ample for the church; and the virtue of chastity was used here as ex-ample of how all the virtues should be practised in the church. This story of Malchus is a charge against the church which was strong and which expanded during the persecutions, but gave in to the tempta-tions of power and riches when it came under the power of the Chris-tian emperors. Malchus was not now willing to disregard the virtue for which he had already abandoned his parents, his country and his family property.37 The church however, which stood strong during the persecutions, could not now, in much easier circumstances, uphold the Christian virtues. The fi nal words of the work “that a person who is dedicated to Christ can die, but cannot be defeated”38 refer in my opin-ion to a broader audience: to Christians in general or to members of the church of Christ and not only to monks and nuns. The appeal is in the end to anyone who would call himself/herself “a person dedicated to Christ,” to live according to the Christian virtues in all spheres of life and in all circumstances. It is notable that Jerome used the story of a Syrian couple who lived together as holy people39 on the outskirts of the known world, to serve as an example and a rebuke for the rich and powerful church.40 This work is not merely a fi ve-fi nger exercise, it also

(36) VM 1.3: “…et postquam ad christianos principes uenerit, potentia quidem et diuitiis maior, sed uirtutibus minor facta sit.”

(37) VM 6.4: “Quid prodest parentes, patriam, rem familiarem contempsisse pro Domino, si hoc facio, quod ut ne facerem, illa contempsi?”

(38) VM 11.: “…hominem Christo deditum posse mori, non posse superari.”(39) Cf. King, Vir Quadrilinguis?, p. 213 for the specifi c meaning of sancti

as a translation of the Syriac word ‘qadishe’ which refers to “…‘children of the covenant,’ belonging to the second rank of Syrian ascetics, couples who live together in chastity.”

(40) Jerome employs the same strategy in Ep. 57.3, where he held up the virtuous conduct of certain ancient Romans as an example to fellow Chris-tians, who made themselves guilty of immoral behaviour, such as theft, brib-

147Koos Kritzinger

serves a polemical purpose — the Life of Malchus (and by implication the Life of Jerome) becomes an example and rebuke for the “Life of the Church”.

The Vita Malchi is not a sermon, but Jerome certainly used it to preach chastity, to encourage virgins to preserve their chastity, but more than that, to hold up the example of a Syrian couple’s virtuous behaviour to the church of his day, ‘which became more powerful and wealthy but less rich in virtues.”41 The virtue of chastity has the power to transform places from dangerous and threatening spaces to spaces of chaste companionship and safety. In the end all the diff erent places can be regarded as ambivalent spaces, where the temptation of the devil is a constant reality. Some places are certainly safer than other, for example the safe space of the monastery (described as a sheep-fold) and the safe space of the chaste companionship of a holy brother and sister who were as it were enclosed by a wall of chastity, almost like a fortifi ed city.

In conclusion, a schematic illustration of the diff erent places (and open spaces) is presented with some fi nal remarks.

Schematic illustration of the spaces mentioned

1. Introduction: Jerome’s frame narrative (Maronia in Syria)2. Home: Nisibis3. Transition: home to monastery 4. Monastery: desert of Chalcis 5. Transition: monastery to desert (camels)6. Desert: fi rst cave episode and escape7. Desert: second cave episode and escape8. Transition: desert to monastery (camels)9. Monastery: two separate monastic sett lements[10. Transition: monasteries to home (implied)11. Home: Maronia (implied – mentioned in introduction)]12. Conclusion: Jerome’s frame narrative (Bethlehem in Palestine)

ery and treachery. He criticises their actions as follows: “Quod leges publicae, quod hostes tuentur, quod inter bella et gladios sanctum est, hoc nobis inter monachos et sacerdotes Christi intutum fuit.” (This thing which the public laws, which the enemy protect, which is holy amid wars and swords, this thing was not safe among monks and priests of Christ.)

(41) White, Early Christian Lives, p. 121.


When we look at the above, we notice that the second half (numbers 7–12) represents a mirror image of the fi rst half (numbers 1–6). The focus falls on the central part (6–7) with its two cave episodes: in the fi rst cave episode their chastity is threatened and the threat is over-come by the decision to live together in chastity. In the second episode, the consciousness of their chastity saved Malchus and his companion from life-threatening dangers. It is signifi cant that the transition from the separate monasteries to their home in Maronia (11) and also the fact that they stayed together in Maronia (12) are not mentioned again in the narrative. I have inserted these two stages, because it is implied in the introduction. I am convinced that Jerome has constructed the narrative like this on purpose. It is important to try and determine the function of the missing or open spaces. Weingarten mentions the mix-ing of biographical and autobiographical material in the lives of Pau-lus, Malchus and Hilarion and maintains that he was also creating the life of Saint Jerome while writing the lives of the saints.42 I would like to make a suggestion to explain the mentioned omissions. Whereas Malchus and his ‘wife’ had stayed in their separate monasteries up to a certain time, when they decided to move to their home in Maronia, where they spent the remainder of their lives together like Zacharias and Elizabeth, Jerome and Paula were still staying in their separate monasteries in Bethlehem at the time when this work was composed. If, as Weingarten believes, Jerome was also creating the vita of St. Je-rome, while he was writing the vitae of the saints, could we suggest that he was intentionally leaving the narrative in a certain way ‘open-ended’?43 Did Jerome perhaps envisage a similar ‘living together in chastity’ for Paula and himself? Could this perhaps be a hint of his ‘re-tirement plan’ for the two of them?44 In the light of his remarks about agapetae in Ep. 22.14,45 it seems unlikely that Jerome was planning to

(42) See footnote 8.(43) It seems highly unlikely that the so-called discrepancy between in-

troduction and the conclusion can be ascribed to Jerome’s carelessness in the construction of the frame narrative as Kech (see footnote 35) maintains.

(44) Paula however passed away in 404 CE and at that stage she was still staying in the monastery in Bethlehem.

(45) Cf. Ep. 22.14: “I blush to speak of it, it is so shocking; yet though sad, it is true. How comes this plague of the agapetae to be in the church? Whence come these unwedded wives, these novel concubines, these harlots, so I will call them, though they cling to a single partner? One house holds them and one chamber. They often occupy the same bed, and yet they call us suspicious

149Koos Kritzinger

live in such a relationship with Paula.46 On the other hand the relation-ship of Malchus and his ‘wife’ is not at all described in such a negative tone. Perhaps the diff erence lies in the fact that Malchus and his ‘wife’ were so old.47

SUMMARY

In this article a spatial reading of Jerome’s Vita Malchi is off ered. There are many references to specifi c places and movement from, to and between diff erent spaces in this short work of Jerome. I believe that a spatial read-ing of this work can contribute to a fuller understanding of the text. In addition to the diff erent places, mention is made of a number of animals which are associated with these places and the role they play in the narra-tive is also briefl y discussed.

if we fancy anything amiss.” (Transl. by W. H. Fremantle, The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 6, Buff alo, NY, 1893.)

(46) S. Rebenich, Jerome, London, 2002, p. 188, n.16 describes this practise as follows: “In the early church, women lived associated with men in spiritual marriage. They were called subintroductae or agapetae. The practise is opposed by Jerome cf. e.g. ep. 22.14 and ep. 117.6ff .) and other Christian writers.”

(47) Cf. the description of the woman in VM 2.2: “Anus quoque in eius contubernio valde decrepita, et iam morti proxima visebatur…”

458

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Documents

“Preaching Chastity”: A “Spatial Reading” of Jerome’s Vita Malchi