Evagrius Ponticus

Description

Evagrius Ponticus (c. 346-399) was an Egyptian monastic, and one of the earliest spiritual writers on asceticism in the Christian eremitic tradition. He is also called Evagrius of Pontus or Evagrius the Solitary. Although condemned in proceedings associated with the Fifth Ecumenical Council his writings, many passed under pseudonyms, exercised a very strong influence over Orthodox spirituality. Evagrius was born in Pontus around the year 345 and studied under the Cappadocian Fathers. St. Basil the Great tonsured Evagrius a reader, and St. Gregory the Theologian elevated him to diaconate. As a deacon, Evagrius Ponticus would attend the Second Ecumenical Council (First Constantinople) in 381, which formulated the last portion of the Nicene Creed (the article dealing with the Holy Spirit). After visiting Jerusalem, where Evagrius became a monk, he went to the Egyptian desert in 383. There his life would touch those of other saints such as St. Macarius of Alexandria, his mentor; and St. John Cassian (“Cassian the Roman”), his disciple. Many believe he also knew St. Macarius the Great. He died in Kellia, Egypt, in 399.