Vox Patrum, 2018, Vol. 70

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    Antiochia Syryjska jako ośrodek ascezy i monastycyzmu w drugiej połowie IV w.
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Szczur, Piotr
    The article presents a particular phase in the evolution of Christian asceticism, as exemplified by the monastic-ascetic milieu of Syrian Antioch. The writings of John Chrysostom, Theodoret of Cyprus and Libanius, which all refer to ascetic and monastic life in Antioch and its environs in the second half of the fourth century, are examined. These analyses allow us to identify three types among Antiochian ascetics. First group described included lay inhabitants of Antioch, both male and female, who endeavored to conduct a deeper spiritual life; this group included also persons practicing syneisaktism – a specific mode of ascetic life in which female virgins consecrated to God lived together with men (especially clergy) practicing ascesis. The second group consisted of rustic ascetics, to wit both lay and clergy inhabitants of villages around Antioch who conduced an ascetic lifestyle. The third group were those ascetics who observed monastic (or semi-monastic) life in the Antiochian mountains, especially on Mount Silpios. Monks were held in considerably high esteem, enjoying great respect among the inhabitants of Antioch. This resulted in their occasionally ignoring the rules of detachment from the world and of solitary life, as they entertained visitors or guests and – for serious reasons (e.g. during the trial of inhabitants of Antioch following the tax rebellion in 387) – visited the city. Our analysis thus depicts Antioch and its vicinity as a center of ascetic and monastic life. The clear-cut conclusion that emerges is that pre-monastic and monastic forms of ascetic life both existed in Antioch in the second half of the fourth century.
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    Aquileienses clerici quasi chorus beatorum habentur (Hieronim, Kronika, rok 374). Przykład życia religijnego duchownych pod koniec IV wieku
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Bastit-Kalinowska, Agnès
    The end of the fourth century sees the emergence, in the West, of several expe­riences of monastic life in the city for the bishop and a part of his presbyterium (Eusèbe of Vercelli, Martin of Tours, Paulin of Nola, Augustin of Hippo). A simi­lar attempt, around the priest Chromace of Aquileia (before his episcopate, and maybe even later), is documented by some testimonies of Jerome from Stridon and Rufin from Aquileia for the years 370s. These testimonies are the object of the present study.
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    Aпофатична тріадологія та катафатична синергія у богословській думці Bасилія Bеликого
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Zhukovskyy, Viktor
    Artykuł omawia problem rozróżnienia ontologicznego między Boską transcendencją oraz immanencją w myśli teologicznej Bazylego Wielkiego, Ojca Kościoła IV w. Autor przedstawia podstawowy aparat pojęciowy oraz terminologiczny stosowany przez Atanazego w jego antynomicznym podejściu do „pogodzenia” między apofatycznym i katafatycznym obrazem Boga. Analizuje on właściwości kluczowe tych dwóch wymiarów natury Boga. Szczególna uwaga została poświęcona analizie sunergicznego podejścia do odpowiedzi na pytanie: w jaki sposób Bóg, całkowicie oddalony w aspekcie ontologicznym od rzeczywistości stworzonej, może jednocześnie być aktywnie obecny w świecie i napełniać go? W tym kontekście autor analizuje pojęcia kluczowe, które wyrażają „wewnątrzboskie” oddalenie oraz aktywną bliskość Boga w odniesieniu do bytu stworzonego.
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    Car bułgarski Piotr (927-969) w bizantyńskiej historiografii X-XII wieku
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Leszka, Mirosław
    Byzantine historians tied Peter primarily with the establishment of the las­ting peace with the Empire in 927. In the sources that present the events from before the reign of the emperor Nikephor Phokas (963-969), when the relations between both states deteriorated, Peter is commonly portrayed as a peacemaker, a deeply religious man, accepting of the Byzantine way of understanding the role of the ruler in religious matters. However, Byzantine authors point out that Peter was able to successfully secure his position and ruthlessly deal with his enemies. The sources describing the events from the last years of his reign portray him as a prideful person, daring to stand up against the Byzantine basileÚj, and who gets rightfully and severely punished for his actions. It should be noted that most often the Byzantine authors did not describe their attitude towards Peter, and did not judge him directly. This results in the reader having to build the image of the Bulgarian ruler himself, based on how the sources describe the events concerning his reign.
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    Dialog filozofii z historią: zagadkowy wstęp do Historii powszechnej Teofilakta Simokatty
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Kotłowska, Anna
    The paper seeks to propose an interpretation of Dialogue between History and Philosophy – prefatory to Simocattes’ History. In the author’s opinion, this brief text deprived of literary value, provides for Theophylactus’ peculiar attempt to justify his actions and behavior during the usurpation of Phokas (602-610). Vague mythological metaphors were meant to divert attention from certain bio­graphical facts and to redirect the discussion to the sphere of universal reflections on the rules of power, thereby releasing Theophylactus from potential liability. Therefore, the Dialogue should be understood as a text of an apologetic nature, written from authors’ personal perspective. Such interpretation differs from the few previous ones which, although scarce, have excessively highlighted rhetori­cal aspects of the text, suggesting even that it has been written at a request of the new government.
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    „Et ait: «Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram»” (Rdz 1, 26). Próba egzegezy bizantyńskiej na przykładzie Komentarza do Księgi Rodzaju Anastazego z Synaju
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Jóźwiak, Magdalena
    The Hexaëmeron, traditionally ascribed to Anastasius of Sinai may be one of the most important works of Christian mysticism from the Byzantine era. Three factors make it especially significant. First, it is one of the longest and most detailed surviving examples of Christian mystical exegesis as practiced in the Byzantine period. Second, this commentary is an extensive and unified exposition of the theology of an important Church writer. And finally, the Hexaëmeron is not only steeped in biblical literature, but also contains a large reservoir of quotes and paraphrases of the early Church Fathers on the first three chapters of Genesis. In this article, I analyzed book VI of the Commentary to the Book of Genesis (PG 89, 921-938) by Anastasius of Sinai, in which Anastasius comments, inter alia, the verse from Genesis 1, 26. The main goal of my analysis was to answer the question whether Anastasius – the Byzantine exegete – in her exegesis of the Holy Scriptures, using the earlier considerations of the Fathers of the Church, is at least to a small extent original or uncritical rewrites the previous interpretations, not including any of these interpretations?
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    Image and Metaphor of the Sea in the Homilies on the Gospel of Saint Matthew by John Chrysostom
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Szczur, Piotr
    In this article analyzes all statements of John Chrysostom from the Homilies on the Gospel of Saint Matthew containing terms: pšlagoj and q£lassa, used by our author as a designation of the sea. This analysis allowed for the extraction of few groups of sea metaphors. Chrysostom points on the sea as one of the elements of the Universe (together with heaven and earth). He describes the sea as a dangerous and uncontrollable wild element, but still subjected to Christ. The image of the sea, which – because of its enormity – is beyond other elements of the Universe, is used by Golden Tongued to describe immensity and commonness. And the reference to sea threats (winds, sea currents, storms, shallows) inclines him to describe human life as a sailing across the rough sea.
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    Jeden z herezjarchów? Przedstawienia ikonograficzne Mahometa w rękopisie Рнб, f.IV.151 w kontekście staroruskich narracji na jego temat
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Brzozowska, Zofia
    The РНБ, F.IV.151 manuscript is the third volume of a richly illustrated his­toriographical compilation (so-called Лицевой летописный свод – Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible), which was prepared in one copy for tsar Ivan IV the Terrible in 1568-1576 and represents the development of the Russian state on the broad background of universal history. The aforementioned manuscript, which contains a description of the history of the Roman Empire and then the Byzantine Empire between the seventies of the 1st century A.D and 919, includes also an extensive sequence devoted to Muhammad (Ѡ Бохмите еретицѣ), derived from the Old Church Slavonic translation of the chronicle by George the Monk (Hamartolus). It is accompanied by two miniatures showing the representation of the founder of Islam. He was shown in an almost identical manner as the creators of earlier heterodox trends, such as Arius or Nestorius. These images therefore become a part of the tendency to perceive Muhammad as a heresiarch, a false pro­phet, and the religion he created as one of the heresies within Christianity, which is also typical of the Old Russian literature.
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    Kilka uwag o wpływie hezychazmu na przedstawienie chrztu Chrystusa na przykładzie sztuki z terenów Królestwa Serbii
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Piórecka, Agnieszka
    The influence of hesychasm on representation on Christ’s baptism isn’t so obvious as in the case of transfiguration, anastasis or koimesis. On the contrary to the mentioned above, it hasn’t had its own study. We can assume, that the rise of interest in hesychasm during the kingship of Milutin is connected to Milutin’s pro­gramme of translation important theological and philosophical texts into Serbian language. In all referred images, we can see a manifestation of the mystical light of God. In the case of transfigurations, koimesis and anastasis, this light is illustra­ted by mandorla (almond-shaped aureole) around Christ. In depictions of baptism, mandorla surround the dove of the Holy Spirit. In the Serbian art mandorla takes, repeatedly, very complicated shapes. Additionally, in the baptism and koimesis scenes, above Christ’s head, appear open doors of Heaven. This can emphasise presence of God.
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    Kolorystyka szczegółów geograficznych w Notitia dignitatum pars orientis według rękopisów Oxoniensis Canonicianus misc. 378 i monacensis latinus 10291
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Wiewiorowski, Jacek
    The text analyses the reality of the colours used in the topographical allu­sions of the insignia of late Roman officials, known from the Notitia dignitatum in partibus Orientis from the turn of the 5th century, preserved in Oxoniensis Cano­nicianus Misc. 378 and Monacensis Latinus 10291 - Not. Dig. Or. 28, 29, 31, 34, 36, 38, 39, 37. The author links the accuracy of colours used by the illustrators of the insignia with the intention of the Notitia dignitatum to give the emperor and other members of late Roman elite a relatively coherent picture of the geographi­cally remote regions of the Eastern Roman Empire. He subsequently relates it to the functioning of human brain as a pattern recognizer shared universally by hu­man beings, despite that colour perception among Humans is strongly affected by culture and calling for the inclusion of data collected by evolutionary psychology and other evolutionary research in historical studies.
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    Miejsce ekfrazy w bizantynistycznej historiografii artystycznej
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Smorąg Różycka, Małgorzata
    In Byzantium, writing ekphrases was one of the standard literary skills, de­veloped during school instruction. Yet, in Byzantine art history, the analysis of Byzantine ekphrases had long been beyond the scope of researchers who favoured rather the iconographic and formal comparative methods. It was not until the dis­covery of the role of rhetoric in the shaping of pictorial formulae and iconographic programmes of paintings, by H. Maguire, that the importance of ekphrases was fully recognised – especially as far as interpretation of the contents of art works and the understanding of mechanisms governing the development of iconographic and compositional programmes that ‘defied’ the canon were concerned. The examples of ‘reversed’ compositional schemes in the Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem scene in the Church of the Virgin at Daphni or the Holy Myrrhbearers at the Sepulchre in the Mileševa Monastery, discussed in the present paper, consi­dered within a broad context of architectural space and the liturgy, have demons­trated that the Byzantine artist was able to freely shape his pictorial formulae while looking for new ways of visualising dogmatic content, especially in the period after the Iconoclastic Controversy (726-843). An example of Michael Psellos’ ekphrasis of an image of the Crucifixion fur­ther proves that also Byzantine writers were faced with a similar problem of fin­ding adequate forms for expressing dogmatic content in keeping with the literary canon. In his description of the image, Psellos not only identified its particular elements (schemata) but also referred to the experience and knowledge of the recipient who was supposed to be able to discern in the picture also the reality that could not be represented using artistic means. Thus, the above affinity between the artistic and literary stances seems to re­lease the researchers of Byzantine art from strict adherence to stereotypical inter­pretations in keeping with the methodological canon.
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    Miejsce i rola wspólnoty monastycznej w Kościele według św. Augustyna
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Kamczyk, Wojciech
    The monastic movement among Christians appeared rather spontaneously and initially it did not have any community dimension. When it began to take orga­nized forms it encountered a wide variety of responses from other Christians, from some admiration to critique. The article attempts to answer the question of the meaning and the role of monastic communities towards the Church according to St. Augustine. It presents, how the Bishop of Hippo perceived the purpose of separating the communicty from society, and to what extent he was aware of the value of the involvement of monks in the life of the whole Church.
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    Obraz Boga w apoftegmatach ojców pustyni
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Nocoń, Arkadiusz
    It is often said today that the current religious crisis is caused by a false image of God. The question therefore is how is He to be presented, so that with all the limitations of the human intellect and language in the face of the apophatic cha­racter of the Divine Majesty, God will be expressed in a way that will be the least “detrimental” to Him (and also to man)? It seems that the Egyptian Desert Fathers may be qualified teachers, even masters in this matter, not only, because the “sem­blance of God” was an issue that greatly engaged their community which had to deal with the heresy of anthropomorphism, but even more so, because as men of deep faith and prayer, often great mystics, they had an experience of God and so they continue to be for us unrivalled “experts” in this field. Analysing therefore their teaching on the image of God contained in the Apophthegmata of the Desert Fathers, we have arrived at the following conclusions. The Desert Fathers were fully aware how important the image of God is in the process of faith, knowing that a false image may lead not only to personal tragedies, but even to social unrest, and that it always leads to an atrophy of prayer and is an obstacle on the way to perfec­tion. In spite of this, even though the word “God” appears in the Apophthegmata very often, the search for some uniform image of God and even clauses of the type: “God is…” that are extremely rare, would be in vain. What could be the reasons for the “silence” of the Desert Fathers in this matter? In our view, first of all the fun­damental reason was their humility and the fact that they did not see themselves as teachers of others, and second, their suspicion as to their own visions that could in fact hide the ruses of Satan. However, the most important reason for the “omission” of the image of God in the Apopthegmata is, in our view, Eastern spirituality which treated every endeavour to define God and to demonstrate His image as an attempt to limit His divine nature. The ineffable and infinite God in the understanding of the Desert Fathers was also a God who is unique and unspeakable, to such an extent that each individual has to arrive alone, in his own heart, as far as this is possible, at His true image. Thus, in the Apophthegmata we do not find univocal statements declaring what is the true image of God, and the only thing that the Desert Fathers have conveyed to us is that approaching God is something of a process, at the be­ginning of which, yes certainly, some even infantile imagination of God may be admissible (hence a “leniency” towards anthropomorphism), but then it has to be subjected to a progressive purification, in the knowledge that “that which is perfect will come later”. This will come, not so much as a result of hearing about God or the acquisition of knowledge about Him, but through the practice of prayer, pe-nance and almsgiving.
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    Opieka nad chorymi jako droga do świętości według św. Doroteusza z Gazy
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Turzyński, Piotr
    The article presents a part of spirituality of Saint Dorotheus of Gaza, the Palestinian monk and abbot from VI century. He wrote instructions and letters for monks in which one of the topics is also care for the sick. Dorotheus himself be­fore became an Abba was educated in medicine and in monastery was responsible for infirmary. He underlines that after first step on the road of improvement which is purification man must fill his heart with good deeds. Care for the sick is one of them. Dorotheus is looking on disease in the light of Divine Providence. In this way the disease is a trial, but also body sickness could be medicine for the soul. If someone is looking after the sick he has an opportunity to learn humility and wisdom of life. Dorotheus invites monks to do this disinterestedly. By that means sickness becomes a way to holiness.
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    Panorama Konstantynopola w Liber chronicarum Hartmanna Schedla (1493). Miasto idealne – memoria chrześcijaństwa
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Mazurczak, Urszula
    The historical research of the illustrated Nuremberg Chronicle [Schedelsche Weltchronik (English: Schedel’s World Chronicle)] of Hartmann Schedel com­prises the complex historical knowledge about numerous woodcuts which pre­sent views of various cities important in the world’s history, e.g. Jerusalem, Constantinople, or the European ones such as: Rome, some Italian, German or Polish cities e.g. Wrocław and Cracow; some Hungarian and some Czech Republic cities. Researchers have made a serious study to recognize certain constructions in the woodcuts; they indicated the conservative and contractual architecture, the existing places and the unrealistic (non-existent) places. The results show that there is a common detail in all the views – the defensive wall round each of the described cities. However, in reality, it may not have existed in some cities during the lifetime of the authors of the woodcuts. As for some further details: behind the walls we can see feudal castles on the hills shown as strongholds. Within the defensive walls there are numerous buildings with many towers typical for the Middle Ages and true-to-life in certain ways of building the cities. Schematically drawn buildings surrounded by the ring of defensive walls indicate that the author used certain patterns based on the previously created panoramic views. This article is an attempt of making analogical comparisons of the cities in medieval painting. The Author of the article presents Roman mosaics and the miniature painting e.g. the ones created in the scriptorium in Reichenau. Since the beginning of 14th century Italian painters such as: Duccio di Buoninsegna, Giotto di Bondone, Simone Martini and Ambrogio Lorenzetti painted parts of the cities or the entire monumental panoramas in various compositions and with various meanings. One defining rule in this painting concerned the definitions of the cities given by Saint Isidore of Seville, based on the rules which he knew from the antique tradition. These are: urbs – the cities full of architecture and buildings but uninhabited or civita – the city, the living space of the human life, build-up space, engaged according to the law, kind of work and social hierarchy. The tra­dition of both ways of describing the city is rooted in Italy. This article indicates the particular meaning of Italian painting in distributing the image of the city – as the votive offering. The research conducted by Chiara Frugoni and others indica­ted the meaning of the city images in the painting of various forms of panegyrics created in high praise of cities, known as laude (Lat.). We can find the examples of them rooted in the Roman tradition of mosaics, e.g. in San Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna. They present both palatium and civitas. The medieval Italian painting, especially the panel painting, presents the city structure models which are uninha­bited and deprived of any signs of everyday life. The models of cities – urbs, are presented as votive offerings devoted to their patron saints, especially to Virgin Mary. The city shaped as oval or sinusoidal rings surrounded by the defensive walls resembled a container filled with buildings. Only few of them reflected the existing cities and could mainly be identified thanks to the inscriptions. The most characteristic examples were: the fresco of Taddeo di Bartolo in Palazzo Publico in Siena, which presented the Dominican Order friar Ambrogio Sansedoni holding the model of his city – Siena, with its most recognizable building - the Cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. The same painter, referred to as the master painter of the views of the cities as the votive offerings, painted the Saint Antilla with the model of Montepulciano in the painting from 1401 for the Cathedral devoted to the Assumption of Mary in Montepulciano. In the painting made by T. di Bartolo, the bishop of the city of Gimignano, Saint Gimignano, presents the city in the shape of a round lens surrounded by defence walls with numerous church towers and the feudal headquarters characteristic for the city. His dummer of the city is pyramidally-structured, the hills are mounted on the steep slopes reflecting the analogy to the topography of the city. We can also find the texts of songs, laude (Lat.) and panegyrics created in honour of the cities and their rulers, e.g. the texts in honour of Milan, Bonvesin for La Riva, known in Europe at that time. The city – Arcadia (utopia) in the modern style. Hartman Schedel, as a bibliophile and a scholar, knew the texts of medieval writers and Italian art but, as an ambitious humanist, he could not disregard the latest, contemporary trends of Renaissance which were coming from Nuremberg and from Italian ci­ties. The views of Arcadia – the utopian city, were rapidly developing, as they were of great importance for the rich recipient in the beginning of the modern era overwhelmed by the early capitalism. It was then when the two opposites were combined – the shepherd and the knight, the Greek Arcadia with the medie­val city. The reception of Virgil’s Arcadia in the medieval literature and art was being developed again in the elite circles at the end of 15th century. The cultural meaning of the historical loci, the Greek places of the ancient history and the memory of Christianity constituted the essence of historicism in the Renaissance at the courts of the Comnenos and of the Palaiologos dynasty, which inspired the Renaissance of the Latin culture circle. The pastoral idleness concept came from Venice where Virgil’s books were published in print in 1470, the books of Ovid: Fasti and Metamorphoses were published in 1497 and Sannazaro’s Arcadia was published in 1502, previously distributed in his handwriting since 1480. Literature topics presented the historical works as memoria, both ancient and Christian, composed into the images. The city maps drawn by Hartmann Schedel, the doctor and humanist from Nurnberg, refer to the medieval images of urbs, the woodcuts with the cities, known to the author from the Italian painting of the greatest masters of the Trecenta period. As a humanist he knew the literature of the Renaissance of Florence and Venice with the Arcadian themes of both the Greek and the Roman tradition. The view of Constantinople in the context of the contemporary political situation, is presented in a series of monuments of architecture, with columns and defensive walls, which reminded of the history of the city from its greatest time of Constantine the Great, Justinian I and the Comnenus dynasty. Schedel’s work of art is the sum of the knowledge written down or painted. It is also the result of the experiments of new technology. It is possible that Schedel was inspired by the hymns, laude, written by Psellos in honour of Constantinople in his elaborate ecphrases as the panegyrics for the rulers of the Greek dynasty – the Macedonians. Already in that time, the Greek ideal of beauty was reborn, both in literature and in fine arts. The illustrated History of the World presented in Schedel’s woodcuts is given to the recipients who are educated and to those who are anonymous, in the spirit of the new anthropology. It results from the nature of the woodcut reproduc­tion, that is from the way of copying the same images. The artist must have strived to gain the recipients for his works as the woodcuts were created both in Latin and in German. The collected views were supposed to transfer historical, biblical and mythological knowledge in the new way of communication.
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    Pewniejsza nadzieja? Zachęty do życia monastycznego w epistolografii IV i V wieku
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Wysocki, Marcin
    The turn of the 4th and 5th centuries is a period of exuberant development of a monastic life in the West. This fact was also reflected in the correspondence of the authors of this period (Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome and Paulinus Nolensis of Nola), who are considered to be the fathers of the Western monasticism. Many people entered the path of life devoted to Christ voluntarily and without dilem­mas, but there were also those who were encouraged to make this decision and yet they felt some resistance. Of this we can also find testimonies in the letters of the authors mentioned above. Among their nearly 500 letters, we find only seven that relate to the theme of calling and encouragement to the monastic life. They are directed to only three people (two soldiers and wealthy married couple), which, however, are an example of serious dilemmas and problems with entering the path of monastic life. The authors show in their letters arguments for taking up monastic life and ways of its implementation. The letters show a better and more perfect life. In letters there is no call for leaving the world in a literal way, but only a peculiar “abandonment” of the world, and above all a profound eschatological dimension of such a decision. There is a deep hope that for abandoning what is earthly, a reward that transcends earthly goods awaits for a man who undertakes a monastic life. In the face of the vanity of the world, its worries and problems, certainly a better hope is shown in the encouragements of the letters.
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    Praca fizyczna w życiu monastycznym: argumentacja św. Augustyna w De opere monachorum
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Turek, Waldemar Jan
    This article deals with manual labour in the life of monks as taught by St. Augustine in his treatise De opere monachorum. It describes the social context of the theme with particular reference to the situation in monastic communities of Carthage. Many monks in St. Augustine’s time were against manual labour. The article presents the structure of the Saint’s argumentation. St. Augustine clearly was in favour of the manual work of monks -and indirectly also of that of all Christians. The article analyses his exegesis of two Biblical texts (Mt 6:25-34 and 2Thess 3:10) that explain the need and beauty of work for daily spiritual growth. This is shown primarily on the basis of the teaching and example of the Apostle St. Paul, who was employed in various ways. Then the position of St. Augustine is discussed, according to whom the working monk gains the means of his support, cooperates with the Creator and continues His creative achievement. Work that allows the monk to attain some profit in temporal life and maintains the neces­sary equilibrium between the needs of the body and soul is shown above all to be a means for the attaining of the reward of eternal life. The monk, however, may be dispensed of manual labour, in part or even totally, in view of pastoral ministry, which plays a primary role in his vocation and mission.
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    Reguła mistrza o wyborze i nauczaniu opata
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Czyżewski, Bogdan
    The monasteries which were raised in the Church in first centuries demanded rules stating life of their members. The initatior and founder of these monasteries was saint Pashomius. It’s noteworthy to remind anonymous work which were made in nine century called The Regula Magistri. This extensive ancient opus containing collection of monastic rules written by author of unknown name, was created in about fifth century south of Rome. Nowadays, we assume that The Regula Magistri became a model for the rule of Saint Benedict. The Rule of the Master was written for the monastery where the leading role was up to Abbot. He was the one who was preaching, teaching and he, indeed, was a master for his dis­ciples. Several chapter of this monumetal work is dedicated to the rules and proce­dures of choosing the abbot. It also contains list of the most important tasks which belonged to his office – these are the subject of this study. What’s interesting is that, the new abbot was being elected by his predecessor when he sensed that he is going to die shortly or serious ill makes him incapable of continuing his tasks. Abbot was looking after his brothers and encouraged them to acquire virtues. This kind of challenge could seem useful, because it was the motivating factor to, fulfill God’s will with dignity and humble, and also to life by the abbey’s rules. On the other hand, it could also had been dramatic, because the ascetic way of life sometimes was understood only in human succes category. The candidate was introduced on his duty by local bishop in special liturgical rite. There were also rules dedicated to possibly removal of the abbot, who – when his predecessor still lived – seemed to be unhumble and improper man for this office. The Rule also contains special instruction for the situation, when abbot dies in sudden death and had not decided who would have been his successor. The author of the Master’s Rule also draws attention to the manner of teaching conducted by the Abbot. The most important was the testimony of life, fidelity to the binding rules, exercising in virtues and avoiding sins. The Rule of the Master teach the Abbot, that he should be humble, treat the brothers equally, be responsible for the others and for himself, and ask as all brother for the opiniong in issues relating to the monastery.
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    Roma capta! – Uwagi na temat relacji o zdobyciu Rzymu w 410 i 455 r. w dziełach wybranych autorów późnoantycznych
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Wilczyński, Marek
    In the presented article the author analyses depictions of sieges and captures of Rome in the years 408-410 and 455 passed on by selected authors of Latin and Greek sources from the late antique. The scope of the research included sources containing more extensive narratives, while sources containing only laconic annual information solely about the fact of capturing the city were rejected. In the depictions of the capture of Rome by Alaric in 410 the authors rather tend to seek supernatural reasons, and less often logical explanations of the origin of the events, contrary to the depictions of the year 455, where one can find almost exclusively rational justifications for the course of events, determined by political situation. While discussing the events of the year 410 the authors oftentimes create their own original digressions and allow for deviations from the historic reality. The relations about the year 455 are consistent and show only minor differences. Contrary to later opinions, the capture of Rome in 410 was not considered a gigantic tragedy outside Italy, although it was recognized as a breakthrough moment. For the eastern historians these events are remote, taking place in lands far from Constantinople and often their depiction is used to indicate the superiority of the Eastern Empire over the Western Empire. Sacco di Roma by Genseric in 455, which is referred more precisely and recognized as an element of significant history and politics of the East (Vandals corsair raids, Leo the Thracian’s expedition, recapturing Africa during the reign of Justinian I), is treated in an entirely different manner.
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    Ślady egzegezy Filona Aleksandryjskiego w "De monastica exercitatione" Nila z Ancyry
    (Wydawnictwo KUL, 2018) Nieścior, Leon
    We encounter in the Nil of Ancyra’s writing De monastica exercitatione at least a dozen instances of the allegorical interpretation of certain places in the Old Testament, where Nil of Ancyra’s exegesis seems to refer to the Philo of Alexandria’s interpretation. In a few places there are significant differences in interpretation, but Nil decisively continues or repeats exegetical ideas of Philo. In two cases, in a longer allegory about Joseph who seeks his brothers and about the ritual washing of the sacrificial calf (De monastica exercitatione 44-45 and 56), the dependence on Philo becomes verbal. The borrowings come most often from Legum allegoriarum libri, which seem to be especially close to Nil. However, the traces of Philo’s exegesis from other writings of the Alexandrian seem to show a wider knowledge of his works by the monk of Ancyra. There is a probability of indirect borrowing and indirect knowledge of Philo’s exegesis by Nil, by other authors, but we find no evidence of such medium. However, for example, Origen’s relationship with Philo in the exegesis of the concerned places is quite loose and does not give grounds for the seeking such medium. The Philo’s ascetic orientation to exegesis, his connection to Greek ethical philosophy, willingness to use the biblical allegory, these and other factors may have influenced Nil to seek inspiration by the Jewish philosopher. The predicted borrowings had also their consequences. The copying Philonian thought led to take over the ideas borrowed by others, including the elements of Platonism and Stoicism.