Chariton the Confessor (Greek: Χαρίτων; mid-3rd century,

Iconium Konya () is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium (), although the Seljuks also called it D ...

Asia Minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

– c. 350, Judaean desert) was a Christian saint. His remembrance day is September 28.

Life

Sources

We know about his ''vita'' from the 6th-century "Life of Chariton", written by an anonymous monk, which holds elements supported by modern archaeological excavations.

Early life

Chariton was a native of

in the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

province of

Lycaonia Lycaonia (; el, Λυκαονία, ''Lykaonia''; tr, Likaonya) was a large region in the interior of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), north of the Taurus Mountains. It was bounded on the east by Cappadocia, on the north by Galatia, on the west by ...

. Under the reign of Emperor Aurelian (270-275) he was tortured and came close to become a martyr during a persecution against Christians."Venerable Chariton the Confessor, Abbot of Palestine", Orthodox Church in America
/ref> Released from prison after Aurelian's death, he regretted not having died as a martyr.

Pharan near Jerusalem

After his release in 275, during a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and other holy places, Chariton was abducted by bandits and brought to a cave in the Pharan Valley (upper Wadi Qelt). The traditional account states that his abductors died by drinking wine that was poisoned by a snake. Chariton decided to remain a hermit in the cave after this miraculous death of his abductors. There he built a church and established a monastery, the first one of the

lavra A lavra or laura ( el, Λαύρα; Cyrillic: Ла́вра) is a type of monastery consisting of a cluster of cells or caves for hermits, with a church and sometimes a refectory at the center. It is erected within the Orthodox and other Eastern Chr ...

type.

Douka near Jericho

Later he moved to the

Mount of Temptation Mount of Temptation, in Palestinian Arabic ( ar, جبل لقرنطل), is a mountain over the town of Jericho in the Judean Desert, in the West Bank. Ancient Christian tradition identifies it as the location of the temptation of Jesus describe ...

near

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...

, where he established the lavra of Douka on the ruins of the Hasmonean and Herodian Dok Fortress.

Souka (Old Lavra at Tekoa)

After that he moved on to establish a third monastery in the Valley of Tekoa, named the Souka and later known as the Old Lavra. The valley is a

wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...

later named in Arabic after him,

Wadi Khureitun Wadi Khureitun or Nahal Tekoa is a wadi in a deep ravine in the Judaean Desert in the West Bank, west of the Dead Sea, springing near Tekoa. Name The Hebrew name, Nahal Tekoa ("Tekoa Stream"), and the English name used in some Christian contexts, ...

. In all three locations his fame let Christians flock to learn from him, disturbing his solitude, which was the reason for him repeatedly moving on. At Souka he eventually relocated to a cave on a cliff near the centre of the lavra, known as the "Hanging Cave of Chariton" and whose remains have been discovered by Israeli archaeologist

Yizhar Hirschfeld Yizhar Hirschfeld (1950 – 16 November 2006) was an Israeli archaeologist studying Greco-Roman and Byzantine archaeology. He was an associate professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and director of excavations at a number of sites aroun ...

Legacy

The importance of Chariton lays mainly in the fact that he established by his own example the rules for monastic life in the Judaean desert, in the context of lavra-type monasteries.Butler, Richard Urban
"Laura"
The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. Via www.newadvent.org. Accessed 2 Jul. 2019 These rules became the main traits of monastic rule everywhere, based on

asceticism Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...

and solitude: he lived in silence, only ate certain types of food and only after sundown, performed manual work, spent the night in an alternation of sleep and

psalmody The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

, prayed at fixed hours, stayed in his cell, and controlled his thoughts. According to tradition, he was the one to compile the "Office of the Monastic

Tonsure Tonsure () is the practice of cutting or shaving some or all of the hair on the scalp as a sign of religious devotion or humility. The term originates from the Latin word ' (meaning "clipping" or "shearing") and referred to a specific practice in ...

References

Bibliography

* Leah Di Segni: ''The Life of Chariton'', in: ''Ascetic Behavior in Greco-Roman Antiquity: A Sourcebook'' (Studies in Antiquity and Christianity), Vincent L. Wimbush, Minneapolis 1990, , p. 393–421. * Shehadeh, Raja: ''Palestinian Walks'', pp. 136–7. Profile Books (2008),

External links

Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem
: "Skete of Saint Chariton - Fara"">Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem"> Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem
: "Skete of Saint Chariton - Fara" about the rebuilt monastic site in Pharan Valley, its history and rediscovery {{DEFAULTSORT:Chariton 4th-century Christian saints 3rd-century births 4th-century deaths