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St. John Cassian the Roman
IV/V Centuries
Born c. 360, John Cassian was ordained a deacon in Constantinople and
became a monk in Bethlehem. He settled in Scetis and made frequent trips
to the Thebiad; his
Conferences record his conversations with these
monks. He may have left Egypt for Palestine c. 399 because of his
association with Origenist monks. About six years later, he travelled to
Rome, where he became friends with Leo, who was elected Pope Leo I in 440.
Cassian established two monasteries near Marseilles c. 415; Sts. Peter and
Victor was for men, and St. Savior was for women.
Cassian's Institutes
served as their rule, and his
On the Incarnation is a treatise against
Nestorianism. Cassian died c. 433/ 435.
Condemned at the Council of Orange (529) as a semi-Pelagian, Cassian was
held in great esteem by St. Benedict, who recommended that monks read both
the Institutes and the
Conferences, and by St. Leo the Great, who had
commissioned Cassian to write about the incarnation. St. Gregory the Great
took Cassian's eight principal vices and created the Seven Deadly Sins. In
the Middle Ages, Cassian's body was housed in a marble tomb, and Pope
Urban V put Cassian's head in a silver casket. Because Cassian disagreed
with the teachings of St. Augustine, the Roman church has dismissed him as
the founder of semi-Pelagianism, although he also disagreed with the
teachings of Pelagius. The Orthodox, however, have glorified Cassian as
St. John Cassian the Roman.
Karen Rae Keck
- WORKS:
-
Conferences:
Cassian visited Egypt and interviewed the famous hermits of the
desert.
Gibson translation, 1894. --- CCEL
-
On the Incarnation, against Nestorius:
Gibson translation, 1894. --- CCEL
-
Institutes:
A detailed first-hand account of Egyptian
monastic
life, which became a major source of information about Eastern practice
for monks in the West. Gibson translation, 1894. ---
CCEL
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