Saint John Cassian
Monk who carried the teaching of the Egyptian desert fathers to southern Gaul
- Rank
- Saint
- Kind
- Religious, Founder
- Feast
- 23 July
- Countries
- Romania, France
Life story
Cassian's origin is disputed: the Catholic Encyclopedia thinks he was probably born in Provence around 360 and treats Gennadius's description of him as a Scythian as an error, while other writers place his birth in Scythia Minor, in present-day Dobruja. He was well educated and fluent in Latin and Greek. With his friend Germanus he entered a hermitage near Bethlehem, then visited monastic communities in the Egyptian desert of Scete.
Around 399, during the Origenist controversy, the two men fled to Constantinople, where Cassian became a deacon under John Chrysostom. In 404, after Chrysostom's second expulsion, the clergy of Constantinople sent him to Rome to plead for the bishop before Pope Innocent I. Around 415 he was at Marseille and founded two communities, one for men over the tomb of St Victor and one for women, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.
Between about 420 and 429, at the request of Bishop Castor of Apt, he wrote the Institutes, on communal life and the eight vices, and the Conferences, drawn from conversations with Egyptian elders. Around 430, at the request of the Roman archdeacon Leo, he also wrote On the Incarnation of the Lord against Nestorius. Benedict of Nursia drew on his works and recommended reading the Conferences. Later writers labelled him Semi-Pelagian for stressing the human will, a charge scholars still dispute. The Council of Orange in 529 condemned Semi-Pelagianism, yet the church still commemorates him on 23 July. He was never formally canonised, but Gregory the Great regarded him as a saint, his feast is kept at Marseille, and the Greek calendar also names him.
Works and witness
- Lived with monks near Bethlehem and in the Egyptian desert of Scete
- Deacon at Constantinople under John Chrysostom; sent to Rome in 404
- Founded communities for men and women near Marseille around 415
- Wrote the Institutes and Conferences, about 420 to 429
- Wrote On the Incarnation of the Lord against Nestorius
Saints from the same country
References
- Catholic Encyclopedia (New Advent), 'John Cassian'
- John Cassian, Conferences and Institutes (New Advent, Church Fathers)
Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.