81 Mobility, immobility and sainthood virtuous life.270 So anonymity was not necessarily a goal anymore. Moreover, perhaps the author intended to convey that Gregory’s virtue already reached such a degree that he did not necessarily fear human flattery anymore (like in chapter 25), for he had sufficiently mastered the virtue of humbleness. The differences between chapter 25 and 39 also have consequences for the contextspecific understandings of hesychia. In chapter 39, anonymity is no longer considered a prerequisite for hesychia: the chapter is part of a series of passages that narrate interactions of the saint with people and demons in a monastic community in Thessaloniki. These interactions vary from miracles (Ch. 37, 47), inspiring others to live a virtuous life and admonitions (Ch. 38, 45 - 47), fighting off demons (Ch. 40-42), and prophecies about the faith of others (Ch. 43-45). Gregory, when staying in his cell in Thessaloniki, thus did not try to keep hidden from others, as he did in Rome. However, while the location of most of these interactions is not specified (except the fighting against demons, which also happens in his monastic cell), here – like in chapter 25 – the verb ἡσυχάζω is immediately followed by a location: τις κελλίον (a monastic cell). So similar to 25, the verb is still associated with Gregory’s connection to his external surroundings (specifically being in his monastic cell), but solitude is much less a priority than in Rome. This suggests that here ἡσυχάζω may also refer to a spiritual activity (in a monastic cell), such as contemplation. The last example discussed here is found in chapter 46. This instance of hesychia (not a verb cognate) explicitly indicates that hesychia can be an activity, in addition to an interior state of being and to specific exterior circumstances. Namely there hesychia is paired with the verb ἀσκέω, to practise/train: a monk is described to ‘practise hesychia’ (ἡσυχίαν ἀσκῶν) together with other brothers.271 The examples discussed above thus show that hesychia may refer to external circumstances, to the relation between the monk and his circumstances, and to a spiritual activity. The latter, however, referring to activities such as contemplation, is semantically close to a state of the mind; so the boundaries between these semantic differences are often small. 270 See the discussion of Gregory’s progressive development in his monastic life and his (portrayed) function in society as a holy man in the next chapter, section 3.3. 271 Life of Gregory of Decapolis 46. This passage also shows that solitude is not a prerequisite for attaining hesychia; fellow ascetics can also stay together with a common goal and practise hesychia. An alternative explanation (besides the explanation that hesychia can be an activity) is that the hagiographer might have chosen the verb ἀσκέω to pair with hesychia to indicate that the monk was spiritually not there yet in reaching hesychia. Namely, the passage continues that the monk pretended to be bothered by a demon and displayed ‘violence of disorder/ indiscipline’ (τὴν βίαν τῆς ἀταξίας); his fellow monks then bring him to the holy man. Gregory immediately recognises that the monk is faking it and reprimands him, saying he should wish that actual demons will never torment him. This passage thereby exalts the holy man, who has managed to fight with actual demons on multiple occasions in the narrative, in contrast to this other monk. Moreover, the passage might also illustrate that other monks wanted to imitate the holy man (and other spiritual authorities like him), perhaps to reach the same status after claiming to have won the necessarily struggle with demons. 2
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