Óengus the Culdee, Hermit

March 11 is the Feast of Saint Óengus of Tallaght or Óengus the Culdee

“Óengus mac Óengobann, better known as Saint Óengus of Tallaght or Óengus the Culdee, was an Irish bishop, reformer and writer, who flourished in the first quarter of the 9th century and is held to be the author of the Félire Óengusso (“The Martyrology of Óengus”) and possibly the Martyrology of Tallaght.

Little of Óengus’s life and career is reliably attested. The most important sources include internal evidence from the Félire, a later Middle Irish preface to that work, a biographic poem beginning Aíbind suide sund amne (“Delightful to sit here thus”) and the entry for his feast-day inserted into the Martyrology of Tallaght…

It is sufficiently clear that Óengus became a cleric, since he describes himself as such in the Félire using the more humble appellation of “pauper” (pauperán and deidblén in Old Irish). He was an important member of the community founded by St. Máel Ruain at Tallaght (now in South Dublin), in the borderlands of Leinster. Máel Ruain is described as his mentor (aite, also “fosterfather”). There are reasons for believing that Óengus was ordained to the office of bishop, a denomination which is first assigned to him in a list of saints inserted into the Martyrology of Tallaght. If so, his influence may well have extended to the reformed communities which were associated with Tallaght, many of which were founded in Óengus’s lifetime. In fact, two such monasteries in Co. Limerick and Co. Laois, both of them known as Dísert Óengusa (“Óengus’s Hermitage”), bear his memory in name..

According to the Martyrology of Tallaght, Óengus’s feast-day, and hence the date of his death, is 11 March. The poem beginning Aíbind suide sund amne claims that he died on a Friday in Dísert Bethech (“The Birchen Hermitage”). Together, these have produced a range of possible dates such as 819, 824 and 830, but pending the dates of the martyrologies, no conclusive answer can be offered. His metrical Life tells that he was buried in his birthplace Clonenagh..

Becoming a hermit, he lived for a time at Disert-beagh, where, on the banks of the Nore, he is said to have communed with the angels. From his love of prayer and solitude he was named the “Culdee”; in other words, the Ceile Dé, or “Servant of God.” Not satisfied with his hermitage, which was only a mile from Clonenagh, and, therefore, liable to be disturbed by students or wayfarers, Óengus removed to a more solitary abode eight miles distant. This sequestered place, two miles southeast of the present town of Maryborough, was called after him “the Desert of Óengus”, or “Dysert-Enos”. Here he erected a little oratory on a gentle eminence among the Dysert Hills, now represented by a ruined and deserted Protestant church.

His earliest biographer in the ninth century relates the wonderful austerities practised by St. Óengus in his “desert”, and though he sought to be far from the haunts of men, his fame attracted a stream of visitors. The result was that the good saint abandoned his oratory at Dysert-Enos, and, after some wanderings, came to the monastery of Tallaght, near Dublin, then governed by St. Maelruain. He entered as a lay brother, concealing his identity, but St. Maelruain soon discovered him and collaborated with him on the Martyrology of Tallaght.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aengus_the_Culdee

Aengus was born of the royal house of Ulster and was sent to the monastery of Clonenagh by his father Oengoba to study under the saintly abbot Maelaithgen. He made great advances in scholarship and sanctity but eventually felt he had to leave and become a hermit to escape the adulation of his peers. He chose a spot some seven miles away for his hermitage which is still called Dysert.

He lived a life of rigid discipline, genuflecting three hundred times a day and reciting the whole of the Psalter daily, part of it immersed in cold water, tied by the neck to a stake. At his dysert he found he got too many visitors and went to the famous monastery of Tallaght near Dublin, without revealing his identity, and was given the most menial of tasks. After seven years a boy sought refuge in the stable where Aengus was working because he was unable to learn his lessons. Aengus lulled him to sleep and when he awoke he had learnt his lesson perfectly.

When the abbot of St. Maelruain heard of this monk’s great teaching gifts he recognised in him the missing scholar from Clonenagh and the two became great friends. It was at Tallaght that Aengus began his great work on the calendar of the Irish saints known as the Felire Aengus Ceile De. As for himself he thought that he was the most contemptible of men and is said to have allowed his hair to grow long and his clothing to become unkempt so that he should be despised. Besides the Felire one of his prayers asking for forgiveness survives, pleading for mercy because of Christ’s work and His grace in the saints.
Like all the holy people of God, Aengus was industrious and had a supreme confidence in His power to heal and save. On one occasion when he was lopping trees in a wood he inadvertently cut off his left hand. The legend says that the sky filled with birds crying out at his injury, but St. Aengus calmly picked up the severed hand and replaced it. Instantly it adhered to his body and functioned normally.

When St. Maelruain died in 792, St. Aengus left Tallaght and returned to Clonenagh succeeding his old teacher Maelaithgen as abbot and being consecrated bishop. As he felt death approaching he retired again to his hermitage at Dysertbeagh, dying there about 824. There is but scant evidence of the religious foundations at Clonenagh or Dysert but he will always be remembered for his Feliere, the first martyrology of Ireland.
http://www.oodegr.com/english/biographies/arxaioi/Angus%20of%20Culdee.htm

“..during his servitude at Tallaght, and amidst such surroundings as these, the saint composed his famous metrical Festology of the Saints.

The poem is divided into three principal parts, with subdivisions, consisting altogether of 690 quatrains. The Invocation is written in what modem Gaelic scholars call English chain verse; that is, an arrangement of metre by which the first words of every succeeding quatrain are identical with the last words of the preceding one. The following literal translation gives the dry bones, as it were, of the Invocation, while leaving out all the colour and harmony of the verses which ask grace and sanctification from Christ on the poet’s work:

Sanctify, O Christ ! my words:
O Lord of the seven heavens !
Grant me the gift of wisdom,
O Sovereign of the bright sun !

O bright son who dost illuminate
The heavens with all their holiness !
O King who governest the angels !
O Lord of all the people !

Lord of the people,
King all-righteous and good !
May I receive the full benefit
Of praising Thy royal hosts.

Thy royal hosts I praise
Because Thou art my Sovereign ;
I have disposed my mind,
To be constantly beseeching Thee.

I beseech a favour from Thee,
That I be purified from my sins,
Through the peaceful bright-shining flock.
The royal host whom I celebrate.”
http://omniumsanctorumhiberniae.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/saint-oengus-martyrologist-march-11.html

Excerpt from the Martyrology of Oengus, presenting the entries for 1 and 2 January in the form of quatrains of four six-syllabic lines for each day. In this 16th-century copy (MS G10 at the National Library of Ireland) we find pairs of two six-syllabic lines combined into bold lines, amended by glosses and notes that were added by later authors.

See also http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01173a.htm
http://li211-107.members.linode.com/index.php?title=Aengus_the_Culdee,_Saint

For the The Martyrology of Oengus the Culdee (1905) on-line see, https://archive.org/details/martyrologyofoen29oenguoft and http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/G200001/

Desert-dwellers of the Roslavl Forests

March 10 is the Commemoration of the Desert-dwellers of the Roslavl Forests near Bryansk. One of whom was the Elder Melchizedek.

Serge N. Bolshakoff “Elder Melchizedek: Hermit of the Roslavl Forest” [ Saint Herman Press, 1988]

“The Life of the pious man in Elder Melchizedek was very unusual, even unique–it was an extremely long life, lasting for 125 years, from 1715 to 1840. At 95 years of age, Elder Melchizedek left his monastery for the life of a solitary in the great White Forest. At this age, he had the vigor of a man in his fifties, mentally alert and courageous.
Elder Melchizedek was part of the whole phenomenon of the desert dwellers of Roslavl, which led to the formation of the Optina Skete. Similar to many others who pursued monastic love for the wilderness, he was a contemporary of outstanding men of prayer to whom mystical realities were opened.”

The spiritual heritage of Optina takes its roots among the 18th century desert-dwellers of the Roslavl Forest, where the Patristic revolution begun by St. Paisius Velichkovsky (1722-1794) had spread.

Elders Moses and Anthony joined them in the early 19th century, then were invited to restore the Skete of the Forerunner of Optina Monastery. – see http://www.roseburgorthodoxchurch.org/2013/04/st-barsanuphius/ and http://www.holy-transfiguration.org/library_en/mod_optina.html

The Hermitage of Optina (Optina Pustyn) is situated at the edge of deep forests in the district of Kaluga on the right bank of the River Zhizdra, some way from the town of Kozelsk (about eighty miles from Moscow).

“The life of Father Melkhisedek, one of the outstanding spirit-bearing Fathers of Holy Russia, was very unusual, one might even say unique, in the annals of monastic life. In the first place, it was an extremely long life, lasting for 125 years, from 1715 to 1840. Another striking fact is that when Melkhisedek was already 95 years old, he left his monastery for the life of a solitary in the great Bielsk Forest, in the south-west of the Russian Empire. At this age, rarely attained by one person in a hundred thousand, and then only in an advanced state of senility, Melkhisedek was as vigorous as a man in his fifties, mentally alert and courageous.

After leaving his monastery, the nonagenarian spent thirty years as a hermit. During the last few years of his life, he had a disciple as companion, and was much visited. Melkhisedek was free from illness during the whole of his long life, his sight (he never wore spectacles), his hearing and his movements were unimpaired to the end. His death was easy, painless and dignified.

A study of his manner of life, with its perpetual prayer of the heart, its wise austerity and simplicity, together with its wonderful serenity, strikingly demonstrates that here was something more than a natural way of living.

St.Serafim of Sarov, as well as Bishop Theophan the Recluse, often said that wise and abstemious living leads to good health and a long and useful life.

Father Mitrophan, the disciple and companion of Melkhisedek, recorded his sayings and many incidents of his life, and he himself benefited greatly from Melkhisedek’s wisdom. Mitrophan was over 60 years old when he joined Melkhisedek in his hermitage. He was a well-to-do peasant, and was married. He reached nearly the same age as his master — no doubt because he strictly adhered to the master’s way of living. A long life is, of course, not necessarily a great or a holy life, but in the case of Melkhisedek and his disciple both greatness and sanctity are to be found.

Melkhisedek, in the world Maxim, was born in the province of Kharkov, in Russia, in 1715. His father was a wealthy merchant. Little is known of Melkhisedek’s childhood and youth, apart from his learning to read and write whilst still young, and that he helped his father in running his business. When Maxim was 25, his father proposed that he should marry and become a partner with him in the business and in due course succeed to the ownership. But this was not what Maxim wanted. He was friendly with certain monks, one of whom had suggested that the young man had a calling to the monastic life. The idea of being a monk appealed to the young man. But there were difficulties which appeared to be insurmountable…

White Bluff Monastery was a good but ordinary Russian monastery when Melkhisedek entered it, but it changed a good deal during his stay. This was due to the disciples of the celebrated Archimandrite Paissy Velichkovsky who himself visited it and stayed some time. Paissy was one of the greatest renewers of Russian monasticism as well as a transmitter of Athonite spirituality. He and his disciples much preferred the old ways; the scrupulous observance of ritual and external asceticism, consisting in fasting, vigils, prostrations etc. Father Melkhisedek, for his part, felt an ever-growing inclination to a solitary life. Consequently, when difficulties increased, he took the radical decision to leave White Bluff Monastery and to go and live as a hermit in the vast forest of Bielsk in the Province of Smolensk.

In 1810 Melkhisedek left White Bluff Monastery, where he had spent fifty years of his life, taking with him only a staff and a sack. At this time he was 95 years old. Scarcely one person in a million attains this age, and then only in an advanced stage of senile decay. It was not so with Melkhisedek. At the age of 95 he looked like a man in his late forties or early fifties. He was physically strong, full of trust in Providence, a master of interior prayer.

Many Russian saints began as solitaries, for example, St. Sergius of Radonezh, the founders of Valaam and Solovki monasteries. But they usually ended their lives as cenobites or even Abbots. With Melkhisedek it was different. He started as a cenobite and finished as a hermit. Solitude has always exercised a strong attraction over Russian monks. The elder Zosima Verkhovsky, well known for his writings, was for many years a solitary in the forests in different parts of Russia. He left several passages glorifying solitude. Here’s one of them:

“It is impossible to describe in words the sensation of intimate and spiritual sweetness which is inseparable from solitude, the joy and serenity which no scepter and no honor can secure. What peace neither to see or hear or participate in worldly life, which is delusion. Nothing distracts you from the service of God, nothing prevents you reading and meditating upon the Sacred Books… The virgin forest separates you from the world. All you can see is the sky above, you already live as in Heaven. It proves that man is created for beatitude. If, from the contemplation of the beauty above, the eye turns to the contemplation of nature, the heart is again inflamed with love for Him who created such beauty. The heart quickens before the marvels of His Wisdom and in thanks¬giving for His goodness.”

When Melkhisedek went into solitude, he wisely selected the vast, almost virgin forests which at that time covered large areas of the Provinces of Smolensk, Oryol and Kaluga. Because of the oppression of monks in the Russian Empire under Peter the Great and afterwards, and the numerous and complicated obstacles set before aspirants to the monastic life, quite a few monks were professed secretly or in violation of the civil regulations. For such monks, living in a monastery was a hazardous business which could very well end in defrocking, prison or compulsory military service. For such monks, suspect to the government, the forests offered a safe asylum.

Melkhisedek, arriving at the forest of Bielsk, near Smolensk, found in due course a suitable place for a hermitage. The selected spot belonged to a landowner who not only allowed Melkhisedek to settle there, but erected a “cell” for him, that is, a small wooden house, and supplied him with food. Melkhisedek was very happy in his solitude, spending his time in manual work, reading, fasting and prayer. Another solitary, hearing that Melkhisedek had come to live there, came to cheer him up, thinking he must be sad because of his exile from the White Bluff Monastery, but Melkhisedek answered him:

“I am only sorrowful because the monks expelled me as unworthy to belong to their society, because, after 50 years with them, I could not attain the purity of their life.”

When Melkhisedek became known in the neighbourhood, people began to come to him, asking prayers and advice….

On the day of his death, July 9th, 1840, Father Vasily (Basil), the parish priest of the village of Mokroye, came to the forest and Melkhisedek confessed to him and received Holy Communion. He then went to bed and died shortly afterwards, without any agony. He simply fell asleep. He was 125 years old.

Father Mitrophan buried Melkhisedek near his cell.

According to those who knew the elder Melkhisedek, he was rather short but very healthy and wiry. His face was thin and long and he had a short beard. Melkhisedek never wore spectacles. He had perfect hearing and sight. In his great old age he used to make small wooden crosses which he gave to visitors as a token of his blessing….
http://voiceofrussia.com/2004/11/19/101251/

Hermitary

Generous words from the author of one of the most important blogs on Hermits: http://www.hermitary.com/ He offers material on the whole eremitical tradition, whereas mine – https://citydesert.wordpress.com/ – is restricted (more or less) to Orthodox Christianity.

“Hello, Fr. Gregory.
Thank you for your kind words about Hermitary in a recent entry of Citydesert. Your site is one of my favorites, and I am always impressed by your prolific output, with its consistently excellent quality and always worthwhile content.
Best wishes,
Meng-hu”

Do look at Hermitary – http://www.hermitary.com/ – on a regular basis! It reminds us that the eremitical traditional is universal. It is deeply humbling and greatly awe-inspiring to be reminded that those of us who seek to follow the path of the Hermit follow in the footsteps (if, alas, we cannot claim to walk in the shoes) of a vast lineage of men and women from all religious and cultural tradition (and none), in every age and in every place and in every culture.

This tiny, insignificant me, sitting here and writing in Sydney (Australia), is part of a vast, forgotten, unremembered, hidden, concealed, denied, suppressed, repressed lineage of those whose names are not remembered, were never known, or have been denied…..great and holy women and men who will never be part of any history because they chose to write themselves out of any history!

Lord, in Thy mercy remember:
the women and men who lived in the deserts of the earth;
whose names were known unto Thee alone;
whose labours of faith were known only to Thee;
who were forgotten by the world because they did not serve the world;
who lived and died unto Thee alone;
and grant that we, who though unworthy, seek to emulate them,
may also serve Thee all the days of our lives
in silence, and solitude and invisibility,
known only to Thee,
caring only for Thee,
and committed only to Thy will.

Practical Advice on Lent and Fasting

Some good practical advice on Lent and Fasting from http://ad-orientem.blogspot.com.au/

It is important though to remember that Lent is not a legalistic test to see how well we can keep a fourth century dietary code. Rather it is a spiritual exercise intended to stretch and temper the body so it does not come to rule the spirit. To which end I’m going to add a few observations and addendums.
• Mind your own business. Your fast is your concern, your neighbor’s is not. If you feel the need to brag about how well you are keeping the fast, save it for confession.
• In line with the above, avoid gossip. It is one of the vices most frequently condemned in Scripture yet most prevalent in modern society.
• Be prepared for failure. I have NEVER come close to keeping the Lenten Fast perfectly. Very few outside of monastics do. That is not an excuse to ignore it, but it is an acknowledgment of our human weakness. When you fall, pick yourself up and get back on the horse.
• Shelve the triumphalism. I am seriously sick of the annual commentary about how WE still fast, unlike you know who. Every year those comments are as inevitable as a call of nature, and more or less as pleasant to contemplate.
• Baptism by total immersion is a no no with fasting. If you are new to the Faith, do not attempt the full rigors of the fast. You will fail, probably badly, get discouraged and ultimately surrender. Talk to your spiritual father and get a modified rule from him. For the non-Orthodox looking to try something perhaps a bit more stringent than what they are accustomed to, I suggest Ad Orientem’s Lenten Fasting for beginners… no meat throughout Lent and keep a strict fast (one meal only with no meat fish wine oil or dairy) on Wednesdays and Fridays. If you can handle that, you are doing pretty good. The other stuff can come later.
• Common sense is not on the fasting list. If you are at work and feel faint because you are so hungry… don’t be a twit, EAT SOMETHING! Likewise legitimate health issues trump the fasting rules. When in doubt consult your doctor and spiritual father.
• Don’t play the martyr. If you are making other people miserable because of your fasting either eat something or excuse yourself from the company of others. If someone unknowingly surprises you with a nice meal that’s not on the OK list, the correct response is not “sorry I’m fasting.” You smile, politely thank them and eat, even though that succulent juicy steak will undoubtedly make you miserable. The basic rule here is if your fasting makes someone else feel really bad then you have failed.

Carmelite Hermits

The hermits gathered around the Well of Elijah on Mount Carmel, painted by Pietro Lorenzetti (c. 1280 – 1348) between 1328-29 as part of an altarpiece for the Carmelite Church in Siena, Italy, now at the Pinacoteca in Siena.

“From the earliest days of the Carmelite Order, our Lady, as the Queen of Hermits, has communicated to certain souls a particular charism and grace to live a solitary and hidden life in the austere wildernesses of Carmel. In the solitude of the wilderness, these men arise as fire, men consumed with the love of God like their Father St. Elias. These hermits live, not as men of this world, but as souls set apart to begin to taste the fruits of heaven even in this life. As the Lord’s intimate friend who has been drawn into the wine cellar of his love, where he inebriates him in his charity, the life of the hermit is consumed in love for God and for the entire world. The hermit can repeat with the prophet Jeremias, “Thou hast captivated me, O Lord, and I have let myself be captivated.”
The majority of the choir monks will find their sanctification in the common way of life, since this is truly the safest path to authentic holiness. Nonetheless, since the Holy Spirit may call some of the fathers to the solitude of the wilderness, the Prior upholds the eremitical vocation as the crown jewel of the Monks of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel. Even if in our own time there are few who are able to persevere continuously as hermits, the eremitical life remains revered as a unique charism within this community that has the ability to perpetuate the life of the first fathers on Mount Carmel.

The Church, in which there is a diversity of charisms, esteems the life led by these hermit-monks as a mysterious source of apostolic fecundity. Although the hermits spend their lives in hidden contemplation, we are reminded in the Catechism that these hermits “manifest to everyone the interior aspect of the mystery of the Church, that is, personal intimacy with Christ. Hidden from the eyes of men, the life of the hermit is a silent preaching of the Lord . . .” St. John of the Cross reminds us of the mystical effectiveness of the hermits when he writes, “An instant of pure love is more precious in the eyes of God . . . and more profitable to the Church, than all other good works together, though it may seem as if nothing were done.”
http://www.carmelitemonks.org/Hermits.php

Revival of eremitic life within the Church
Since the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, there has been a renewed interest in the ‘eremitic life’ of hermits and solitaries. The 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church comments on the eremitic life as follows: “From the very beginning of the Church there were men and women who set out to follow Christ with greater liberty, and to imitate him more closely, by practicing the evangelical counsels. They led lives dedicated to God, each in his own way. Many of them, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, became hermits or founded religious families. These the Church, by virtue of her authority, gladly accepted and approved.” (§§918-921)

Recent development of Carmelite hermits
It is arguably not possible for a Carmelite to be completely cut off from community life in one form or another. The Rule of Saint Albert stresses the value and challenge of community life, and as one of the Fathers of the Church, Saint Basil, asked “If I live alone, whose feet do I wash?”

However, whilst complete solitude is never possible for a Carmelite, there are certainly spiritual benefits to periods of prolonged solitude, and since the 1980s the hermit vocation has experienced something of a revival within the Carmelite Family.

For example, in the United States of America, a community of female Hermits of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was established in New Jersey. At Christoval in Texas, hermitages for men and for women were established, modelled on the Rule of Saint Albert. Other hermitages exist in other countries but there are no Carmelite communities of hermits in Britain.

Solitaries
Some form of community life is an essential aspect of the Carmelite charism, but some people within the Carmelite Family have a particular call to place greater emphasis on the solitary vocation which is also emphasised in Albert’s Rule.

Such people have always existed throughout the history of the Church, but the 1983 Code of Canon Law made particular provision for men and women who feel a calling to consecrate themselves to God through the eremitic or anchoritic life without necessarily being a member of a religious congregation or institute.

Canon 603 states: §1 Besides institutes of consecrated life the Church recognizes the eremitic or anchoritic life by which the Christian faithful devote their life to the praise of God and salvation of the world through a stricter separation from the world, the silence of solitude and assiduous prayer and penance. §2 A hermit is recognized in the law as one dedicated to God in a consecrated life if he or she publicly professes the three evangelical counsels [i.e. chastity, poverty and obedience], confirmed by a vow or other sacred bond, in the hands of the diocesan bishop and observes his or her own plan of life under his direction.

There are therefore a number of “consecrated hermits” or “solitaries” within the Carmelite Family who make promises to the local bishop and who live in the spirit of the Carmelite Rule of Saint Albert.

In Britain one such Solitary lives alongside the friar community at Aylesford Priory, and contributes to the Order’s pastoral outreach.
http://www.carmelite.org/index.php?nuc=content&id=165

Can a Christian be Solitary?

A number of websites, mostly published by evangelical Protestants, argue, sometimes vigorously, that a Christian cannot be solitary, cannot exist outside the community of Christians. Or that solitude is not “normative” (whatever that may mean) in Christianity.
See, for example the following, to which many more could be added:

…to separate oneself from community and tradition on one’s spiritual journey is like turning one’s back on a banquet right in front of you, and deciding to go out and forage for food by yourself. Community is the normative pattern of the spiritual life.
http://www.explorefaith.org/questions/community.html

There is no such thing as a solitary Christian. We have to abide in Christ, we have to abide within the community.
https://lincolncathedral.com/2012/05/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-solitary-christian/

There is, said Mr. Wesley, no such thing as a solitary Christian. Christian life is life in community, in the fellowship of the Spirit we call the church.
http://wesley.nnu.edu/other-theologians/westlake-taylor-purkiser/interpreting-christian-holiness-w-t-purkiser/interpreting-christian-holiness-chapter-v/

I just need to say, “You cannot be a solitary Christian.” One must not do it alone. Christianity is a community-based faith and that community cannot become ghettoized either.

The Christian Life, The Solitary Life

The New Testament Knows Nothing of Solitary Religion
“No Christian and, indeed, no historian could accept the epigram which defines religion as ‘what a man does with his solitude.’ It was one of the Wesleys, I think, who said that the New Testament knows nothing of solitary religion. We are forbidden to neglect the assembling of ourselves together. Christianity is already institutional in the earliest of its documents. The Church is the Bride of Christ. We are members of one another.”
C. S. Lewis, “Membership” (1945) in “The Weight of Glory”
http://creedalchristian.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/new-testament-knows-nothing-of-solitary.html

Such arguments are fundamentally flawed.

Solitude may not be “normative” – that is, the way of life expected of the majority of Christians. But then nor is celibacy and yet Jesus Christ was unmarried. The Christian community has never been intended to be a blur of indistinguishable clones. As Saint Paul declared: “For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.” [1 Corinthians 12:12] A foot is not “normative” for the body, nor is an eye or an ear. Each is distinctly different in form and function, and yet none can exist as “the body” in the absence of a union with the others.

Given the history of Christians living a solitary life, recognised and venerated by the Church from the first century onwards, solitude, while it may not be normative, can certainly not be said to be “abnormative”.

The Church, which is the Mystical Body of Christ, is not a variety of worldly organization. Membership of and participation in the Church do not require annual subscriptions, attendance at annual general meetings or the wearing of membership badges. A person could not claim to be a member of a football team, for example, but never to attend training or to play with the team. Membership of a choir presupposes singing with the choir. The violinist who refuses to attend rehearsals or to play with the orchestra is certainly a violinist, but certainly not a member of the orchestra.

But the Church is not just an “outward and visible” organization and the “Church Invisible” consists not only of those who have passed beyond the mortal life. A solitary Christian may be solitary in a worldly, physical and organizational sense, but is nevertheless one of the “fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God” [Ephesians 2:19]. Indeed, the solitary life (in a worldly sense) may increase awareness of the vast unworldly communion of the “great cloud of witnesses” [Hebrews 12:1].

Christians are defined not by visible membership of any organization, by words, or by outward actions. They are defined by the manifestation of Christianity in their lives. The rich businessman who is vigorously active in and financially supportive of his Church, but essentially to increase his standing in the community and to improve his business opportunities, any be seen as an active Christian, but it not. The single woman living in relative poverty and isolation who maintains a faithful life of prayer is, spiritually if not in terms of the world, an active Christian.

“Doing good” may involve collecting for charity, feeding the hungry, fighting injustice, comforting the sick and much else besides. Such acts are commanded by Christ. But so is prayer, and fasting, and penitence. Just as the different parts of the body perform different functions, so do different members of Christ’s Mystical Body. Each is called to his or her own ministry. Some are called to labour with visible outcomes; the fruits of the labours of some will be known only to God.

Some are called to solitude, whether temporary or partial or long-term as a manifestation of their Christian life. Solitude is neither good nor bad, worldly nor spiritual, selfless nor selfish: it can be any or all of those things. Those called to solitude will necessary be few in number, and their work will necessarily be largely invisible. But they are essential parts of the Mystical Body of Christ.

I Corinthians 12:

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

The Introvert and The Hermit

Many psychological studies claim that the eremtical way of life is indicative of psychopathology, and that introversion is only a slightly less odd pathology. This is particularly true in America, where the culture of “how to win friends and influence people”, of endless talking, and of obsessive personal confessions to complete strangers (look at television programs like “Dr Phil”) defines the quiet, the solitary and those who chose isolation as, by definition, “sick”. The strange consequences of a culture of obsessive talking have long been documented, probably beginning with Richard Rosen’s “Psychobabble: Fast Talk and Quick Cure in the Era of Feeling” (1977) – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychobabble

In recent years research demonstrating the value of silence and solitude (at least for periods of time) and the dangers of obsessive collectivism and peer identification has begun to be published. For those who have inevtiably faced (regular) suggestions that “something is wrong with you” for their attraction to what appears to be introversion, this may offer some reassurance.

There remains the underlying question of whether a Hermit is necessarily an introvert (always assuming that the categories of “introversion” and “extroversion” have any objective meaning – see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraversion_and_introversion

One recent publication is this area was “The Introvert’s Way: Living a Quiet Life in a Noisy World” by Sophia Dembling [Perigee Trade, 2012]

“Introverts certainly are having a moment — Susan Cain’s “Quiet” landed on the New York Times Bestseller List as soon as it came out in January 2012 — and it’s about time.

“The Introvert’s Way” by Psych Central’s own Sophia Dembling continues this trend. Unlike “Quiet”, it not only provides scientific and cultural background but also practical tips and a thorough-note of complete understanding of the introvert’s nature. An introvert myself, I have never read a book that I have so truly felt myself in. This is a tribute to Ms. Dembling’s writing as well as to relief that introversion is slowly becoming recognized as something other than a personality flaw.

“The Introvert’s Way” begins with a summary of our current state—America is a “nation of extroverts (p. 2).” The volume is turned up, everything is public, and we are told that the more outgoing and social you are, the better. Open cubicles are the most popular work environment, and kids who like to read alone concern their teachers. Ms. Dembling examines how these views came to be through a review of scientific literature and theories of introversion. Sigmund Freud considered it pathological (something to do with sexual repression, of course), and Carl Jung posited that it was negative psychic energy flow.
Recent theories have been more positive: the Big Five theory of personalities places introversion on a continuum that also includes agreeableness, conscientiousness, etc., and research into sensory processing has provided some support for physical and/or genetic underpinnings. The exception to this trend is that introversion was almost added to the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” (DSM) in 2010 as a diagnostic factor in Schizotypal Personality Disorder until an outcry removed it prior to publication.
Trying to define introversion is difficult. It is not the same as being shy, misanthropic, or narcissistic. The default, then, is to define it as the absence of extroverted behavior, although as Ms. Dembling explains, even if “…it is not yet fully defined […], it is becoming increasingly clear that introversion is more than just the absence of extroversion (p.7).” Research is ongoing, and one recent development is that brain scanning has found proof that “Highly Sensitive Persons” process information more deeply and sensitively than others.

Ms. Dembling notes that because of this ambiguity, it is extremely important to combat the misunderstandings surrounding introversion. Firstly, “we don’t watch because we long to join the fun. We watch because that is the fun (p.36).” Secondly, there is a difference between loneliness, being alone, and solitude. Scientific measures of loneliness have nothing to do with the number of friends you have or the amount of time you spend alone. If you do not long to be with other people when you are by yourself, you are merely alone, not lonely. And if you find this state tranquil, restful, and inviting, you have solitude (p. 58). Finally, people think that introverts are always shy and avoid social situations, but there is a difference between the state of extroversion and the trait of extroversion (p.61). An introvert can choose to exhibit many extroverted qualities and vice versa.
With this background fully established, “The Introvert’s Way” goes on to directly address the challenges that introverts face and includes advice and techniques for coping with them. There is even an entire chapter on the common mistakes introverts make and how to avoid them. General suggestions include watching body language to ensure you don’t exude a negative aura and managing your energy. After accepting that you are an introvert and that it’s ok, you need to figure out how much energy you are able to give and the best ways to allot it….

“The Introvert’s Way” continues by detailing the challenges and opportunities present with introverted children and in romantic relationships between differing personality types, stressing the importance of understanding, communication, and clear parameters from both parties. A series of affirmations are suggested for introverts to use to remind themselves that just because your needs are different doesn’t make them bad. The book ends with a final emphasis on finding middle ground and all personality types getting along: even though introverts may feel resentful about being dismissed in our current culture, “We reject the myth that extroversion is better than introversion, and so we must also reject any idea that introversion is better than extroversion (p. 145).

With its combination of great writing and meaty content, “The Introvert’s Way” is the best psychology book I’ve read in quite a while (that I’m its target audience I’m sure helps, but even allowing for that). Ms. Dembling’s short sentences are chock full of facts, and the fantastic chapter titles are icing on an already-entertaining cake (see “We Didn’t Know You Were an Introvert, We Thought You Were Just a Bitch” or “Hell is a Cocktail Party”).
Using humor to deflect what can be hurtful is welcome: “…introverts are not anti-people…I don’t eat tuna salad every day, but that doesn’t mean I’m anti-tuna salad (p. 49).”
Overall, the information is wonderful (and needed) for introverts who have been told their entire lives that something is wrong with them. It’s just great to know that we’re not alone and not weird (at least not for this reason alone!). The chapter on the main insults introverts receive and defenses against them (“I F#&$Iing Hate It When They Say That”) is an especially good combination of practical advice on how to calmly explain and deflect inaccurate characterizations, and a rallying cry that introverts will no longer accept dismissal or disdain.

To her credit, Ms. Dembling doesn’t hide fact that while there are a lot of theories explaining introversion/extroversion, there aren’t a lot of actual research findings. She also repeatedly emphasizes that one personality type is not better than the other; rather, that each should be equally understood and accepted. There is a good balance of specific personal anecdotes and generalizations, and when making sweeping generalizations, Ms. Dembling notes that this is the case.

“The Introvert’s Way” is an important addition to the new body of personality type literature that has been growing over the past couple of years. In addition to being a pleasure to read, it is a ‘must-read’ for anyone who is an introvert or is close to one, whether in family, a friendship, or a relationship. The bridge between the introverts and extroverts is being built, and Ms. Dembling has contributed a keystone.
http://psychcentral.com/lib/the-introverts-way-living-a-quiet-life-in-a-noisy-world/00013830

see also http://www.thepowerofintroverts.com/media-reviews/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sophia-dembling/nine-signs-that-you-might_b_2251932.html

Saint Balthere of Tyninghame

6 March is the Feast of Saint Balthere of Tyninghame (later Baldred)

“Saint Balthere of Tyninghame (later Baldred) was a was a Northumbrian hermit and abbot, resident in East Lothian during the 8th century. According to Hovendeus the date of Baldred’s death is given as 756. Symeon of Durham says “the twentieth year of King Eadberht of Northumbria ” and Turgot of Durham “the seventeenth year of the episcopate of Cynulf”, that is 756. As his feast is given as 6 March, by the modern calendar, this would be 6 March 757. Although the 8th century date is now generally accepted, due to a passage in the 16th century Breviary of Aberdeen, he has, in the past, often been associated with the 6th century Saint Kentigern (for which, see Baldred of Strathclyde). Baldred is commonly referred to as “the Apostle of the Lothians” and Simeon of Durham says that “the boundaries of his pastorate embraced the whole land which belongs to the monastery of Saint Balther, which is called Tyninghame – from Lammermuir to Inveresk, or, as it was called, Eskmouthe.” His cult was certainly centred on the four churches of Auldhame, Whitekirk, Tyninghame and Prestonkirk, between East Linton and North Berwick in East Lothian.

Baldred is believed to have founded a monastery at Tyninghame. However, at times, he preferred to retire from the spiritual government of the Lothian Britons and he selected the Bass Rock as the spot to build himself a small hermitage and associated chapel, although he also sometimes resided in ‘St Baldred’s Cave’ on Seacliff Beach.

Baldred is said to have lived in the diocese of Lindisfarne, and was therefore an Northumbrian, a not improbable association since, at that time, the Lothians were a part of the kingdom of Northumbria. However, most sources assert an Irish connection. He was probably born in Ireland before joining the Northumbrian mission. Hector Boece, says he exercised his office in a district which then formed a part of Pictland.
About halfway up the Bass Rock are the ruins of an old chapel or, strictly speaking, the parish church of The Bass, said to mark the spot where Saint Baldred occupied his humble cell. The approximate date of the erection (or re-erection) of the chapel may be found in a Papal Bull dated 6 May 1493, mentioning this building as being then novita erecta. A further reconsecration (indicating more building work) took place in 1542 when the chapel was dedicated it to Saint Baldred.

Following Baldred’s death on the site of this chapel, there was a dispute between the parishes of Auldhame, Tyninghame and Prestonkirk, as to which should have his body. The story goes that by the advice of a holy man, they spent the night in prayer. In the morning three bodies were found, in all respects alike, each in its winding sheet, prepared for burial. The story was probably invented to explain the claims of each church to house the shrine of Saint Baldred.

Lying in the grounds of Tyninghame House is the 12th century St Baldred’s Church. It traditionally stands on the site of his monastery which, according to the Melrose Chronicle, was eventually sacked by the Danes in 941. The Tyninghame body of Saint Baldred was removed to Durham Cathedral, by Alfred Westow, in the early 11th century. The church continued as the parish church until the village of Tyninghame was relocated to the west in 1761. Today, the ruins of church form little more than an architectural folly amongst the gardens of the house. At the parish church of Prestonkirk there existed, until 1770, when it was damaged by a builder, a statue of the saint much venerated by the local population. St Baldred’s Well stands nearby which was “famed for its…healing qualities”. Whitekirk parish church, celebrated in ancient times as a place of pilgrimage, also lays claim to this saint as the scene of his ministry, but A.E. Ritchie finds this doubtful.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldred_of_Tyninghame

“St Baldred lived during the 6th century in Northumberland, as a hermit, first at Tyningham and then on the Bass Rock. According to legend, it was thanks to his prayers that a dangerous reef was removed between the rock and the mainland. All that is left of it is St Baldred’s Rock.

The saint’s supposed relics were discovered with those of St Bilfrith in the 11th century and removed to Durham. A little spring on the banks of the River Tyne at Preston, on the northeast edge of East Linton in East Lothian, St. Baldred’s Well lies close to Preston Kirk, which was founded by the saint.

The well supplied the Red Friars who had a monastery close by in the 13th century and remained a source of water for the residents of Preston into the 20th century.”
http://nunraw.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/saint-baldred-patron-saint-of-east.html

“Two saintly men are held in special honor by the folk of East Lothian ad treasured as peculiarly their own. The two were very different in their lives and their beliefs: Baldred, an anchorite (hermit) who lived in the Dark Ages and Blackadder the Covenanter of the seventeenth century. Both were by family East Lothian men though their missionary journeys took them widely through the Boarders and beyond. The grey cliffs of the Bass were home to both for at least a good portion of life: the hermit Baldred because he choose to have it that way, the Covenanter Blackadder because he was prisoned there till he died.
It was long accepted that he had been a follower of St. Kentigern and had worked with and under that great missionary around the beginning of the seventh century. However, recent research compels students of the period to forsake the dates in the Aberdeen Breviary and accept the dating of Simeon of Durham that Baldred died (‘tod the way of the Holy Fathers’ as Simeon so much more graciously puts it) ‘in the 29th year of King Egbert of Northumbria’, which marks it as 756. Not much can be written about the life of an anchorite except that he fulfilled his chosen work in his chosen cell and passed on the missionary task to the next generation. Every generation, though, needs fresh conversions, for Dean Inge once wrote truly ‘each generation represents a fresh invasion of the barbarians’.
It is clear that even Baldred did not spend all his years in his cave for he left several place-names in East Lothian suggesting his presence. Baldred’s Chapel at Tantallon is now little more than a ruin. At Aldham Bay you may see the rock called Baldred’s Boat when the tide is out. Like other medieval saints, if no boat was handy he just sailed over on a rock. ‘Baldred’s Cradle’, further down the coast, is a terrifying fissure in the rocks through which the tides roar when the storms come. Prestonkirk and Tyningham parishes have many memorials of Baldred and the kirk at the former place may well be the site of his chapel. His huge stone image is said to have lain there till 1770 when a new kirk was built and a mason, perhaps inspired by shades of Blackadder, took a hammer and broke the image up.”

6 March ~ St. Baldred

“Evangelist and hermit. Sent by St Mungo (518 – 613) in the 6th C. to spread Christianity to the Lothians, Baldred founded a Monastery at Tyninghame. Choosing a life of seclusion, he lived in a cell on the Bass Rock (off North Berwick) and probably died there. His name is remembered in St. Baldred’s Boat (the point immediately south of the Bass Rock, opposite Tantallon Castle) and St. Baldred’s Cradle (which lies at the north west end of the John Muir Country Park, west of Dunbar).
http://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst633.html

St Baldred’s Church, Scotland. The ruins of St Baldred’s Church in the grounds of Tyninghame House, East Lothian, Scotland.

Bilfrid, Hermit and Silversmith

6 March is the Feast of Saint Bilfrid (Billfrith), Hermit and Silversmith

“Bilfird was a Benedictine hermit, the silversmith who bound the Lindisfarne Gospels. He was a hermit in Lindisfarne, England, off the coast of Northumbria, in northern England, where he aided Bishop Eaddfrid in preparing the binding of that masterpiece. He used gold, silver, and gems to bind the famous copy of the Gospels of St. Cuthbert. His relics were enshrined in Durham, England, in the eleventh century.”
https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1791

“Billfrid, before he became a hermit, was a distinguished goldsmith and was venerated as a saint during his life and after his death.

St.Ethelwold commissioned him to make a cover for the precious Gospels of the Abbey at Lindisfarne. The history of this manuscript is known from a note written at the end of the book when the monks who guarded it and the body of St. Cuthbert were at Chester-le-Street: “Eadfrith, Bishop of the church at Lindisfarne, he first wrote this book for God and St.Cuthbert and for all the saints in common that are in the island, and Ethilwald, Bishop of those of Lindisfarne Island, bound and covered it outwardly as well as he could. And Billfrith the anchorite he wrought as a smith the ornaments on the outside and adorned it with gold and with gems, and also with silver over-gilded, a treasure without deceit”.

The Gospels were at Lindisfarne for almost two hundred years, but they were very nearly lost when the island was abandoned in 875 because of the Danish raids. Symeon of Durham describes the anguish of the monks when the ship carrying the Gospels was hit by a storm and the book sank into the depths of the sea. The Gospels were miraculously recovered
through the intervention of St.Cuthbert and St. Billfrid, the former appearing in a vision to one of the monks telling them to search the shore at low tide. This they did and, after searching for more than three miles, they came across the book, its gold and jewels gleaming and the pages unharmed by its immersion in salt water.

At Chester-le-Street the monk Aldred translated the Latin into the Northumbrian dialect, writing the words beneath the Latin script and so making the first English version of the Gospels. It was treasured at Durham until the Dissolution, when the cover was melted down, but the book itself is now in the British Museum. St.Billfrid’s relics were discovered after a vision by a priest, Alfred Westow, and translated to Durham where he is commemorated with St.Baldred on March 6th also.”
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/celtic-daily/j7VR7ipqKso

“Bilfrith the Jeweller” by Catherine Stott : mixed media on deep boxed canvas: 60 X 75cm.
http://www.catherinestott.co.uk/pages/gallery/main/ll3_bilfrith.htm

“Billfrith (Old English: Billfrið; fl. early 8th century) is an obscure Northumbrian saint credited with providing the jewel and metalwork encrusting the former treasure binding of the Lindisfarne Gospels. His name is thought to mean “peace of the two-edge sword”.
Symeon of Durham’s Libellus de Exordio (ii.13), which calls him “St Billfrith the Anchorite”, says he was a goldsmith and that he gilded an important book written by Eadfrith, Bishop of Lindisfarne. This book is the gospel book known today as the Lindisfarne Gospels. Symeon probably derived this information from a colophon added to the Lindisfarne Gospels by a scribe named “Aldred” at some point between 950 and 970. The colophons describes how:
Eadfrith, bishop of Lindisfarne church, originally wrote this book for God and for St Cuthbert and—jointly—for all saints whose relics are in the island. And Æthelwald, bishop of the Lindisfarne islanders, impressed it on the outside and covered it … And Billfrið the anchorite forged the ornaments which are on it on the outside and adorned it with gold and gems and with gilded-on silver-pure metal …
The Gospels today are in a different binding, as Billfrith’s craftsmanship has not survived.
The name Billfrith occurs in the Durham Liber Vitae, and the latter is the only pre-Conquest source other than the Lindisfarne colophon containing Billfrith’s name. Although this confraternity book did not begin until the 9th century, the name’s position indicates that this Billfrith was from the 8th century. His name is in the same group as that of the Irish monk Echa, who died in 767.
The Libellus further relates that in the 11th century his venerated bones were among those taken from the monasteries and churches of Northumbria to Durham by Ælfred the Priest; Ælfred also took the bones of Balthere of Tyninghame, Acca and Alchmund of Hexham, King Oswine, and abbesses Æbbe and Æthelgitha. Billfrith’s name appears in a relic list of the church of Durham dating to the mid-12th century. The Oxford Dictionary of Saints says that the “feast of Bilfrith and Baldred” was celebrated on 6 March.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billfrith

“Baldred and Billfrith were Northumbrian hermits, who lived in the 8th century. Although in the church calendar they are remembered on the same day there is no reason to think that they knew each other.

Baldred was mainly known as the hermit of the Bass Rock, in the Firth of Forth and now mainly the home of myriads of gannets. He is said to have prayed successfully for the removal of a dangerous reef from between the Bass Rock and the mainland to its present less perilous position: it is still known as Baldred’s Rock.

Billfrith is closer to home. He was a hermit of Lindisfarne and a skilled worker in jewels and precious metals. When the pages of the Lindisfarne Gospels had been written and painted they were bound in leather by Bishop Aethelweald, who then asked Billfrith to make a pattern of jewels embedded in the outer cover of the book. It must have been rather sumptuous, because at the Reformation the cover with its jewels disappeared. Who got it, we wonder?

The relics of both hermits eventually had the same fate. In the 11th century they fell into the hands of Alfred Westow, sacrist of Durham Cathedral and an indefatigable collector of relics: he was the man who stole the bones of Bede from Jarrow and took them, with many other saints’ remains, to Durham.

Although we know little in detail about these two men they remind us of the great numbers of hermits in the history of the Church, and of their importance in keeping alive the ideals of austerity, devoted prayer and spiritual warfare. Their lives were seen as a kind of martyrdom: a victory over evil shared by all Christians.”
http://www.lindisfarne.org.uk/canon-tristram/kate15.htm

Marcus Eremita – Mark the Ascetic

5 March is the Feast of Mark the Ascetic

“Our venerable and God-bearing father Mark the Ascetic was born in Athens in the fifth century, and lived in the Egyptian desert as a monk. His feast day is commemorated on March 5.
St. Mark was an ascetic and miracle-worker, sometimes known as Mark the Faster. In his 40th year he was tonsured a monk by his teacher, St. John Chrysostom. Mark then spent 60 more years in the wilderness of Nitria (a desert in Lower Egypt) in fasting and prayer, and in writing many spiritual works concerning the salvation of souls. He knew all the Holy Scriptures by heart. He was very merciful and kind, and wept much for the misfortunes that had befallen all of God’s creation.
On one occasion, when weeping over a hyena’s blind whelp, he prayed to God and the whelp received its sight. In thanksgiving the mother hyena brought him a sheepskin. The saint forbade the hyena in the future to kill any more sheep belonging to poor people. He received Communion at the hands of angels. His homilies concerned such topics as the spiritual law, repentance, sobriety, and are ranked among the preeminent literature of the Church. These works were praised by the Patriarch Photius the Great himself.”
http://orthodoxwiki.org/Mark_the_Ascetic

“Marcus Eremita or Markus the Ascetic was a Christian theologian and ascetic writer of the fifth century.
Mark is rather an ascetic than a dogmatic writer. He is content to accept dogmas from the Church; his interest is in the spiritual life as it should be led by monks. He is practical rather than mystic, belongs to the Antiochene School and shows himself to be a disciple of John Chrysostom. Various theories about his period and works have been advanced. According to Johannes Kunze, Mark the Hermit was superior of a laura at Ancyra; he then as an old man left his monastery and became a hermit, probably in the desert east of Palestine, near St. Sabas. He was a contemporary of Nestorius and died probably before the Council of Chalcedon (451). Nicephorus Callistus (fourteenth century) says he was a disciple of John Chrysostom. Cardinal Bellarmine thought that this Mark was the monk who prophesied ten more years of life to the Emperor Leo VI in 900. He is refuted by Tillemont. Another view supported by the Byzantine Menaia identifies him with the Egyptian monk mentioned in Palladius, who lived in the fourth century. The discovery and identification of a work by him against Nestorius by P. Kerameus makes his period certain, as defended by Kunze.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcus_Eremita

From “To Those Who Think to be Justified by Deeds,” by St. Mark, in which he explains the relationship between faith and deeds and that deeds alone are not enough for salvation:

“Wishing to show that, although every commandment is obligatory, none the less it is by His blood that sonship is granted to men, the Lord says: “When you have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do” (Luke 17:10). Thus the kingdom of heaven is not a reward for deeds, but a gift of the Lord prepared for faithful servants.

— “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (I Corinthians 15:3), and He grants freedom to those who serve Him well. For He says: “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of the Lord” (Matthew 25:23).
— He is not yet a faithful servant who bases himself on bare knowledge alone; a faithful servant is he who professes his faith by obedience to Christ, Who gave the commandments.
— He who reveres the Lord does what is commanded, and if he commits some sin or disobeys Him, endures whatever he has to suffer for this as being his desert.
— If you love knowledge, love also work, for bare knowledge puffs a man up.
— Knowledge without corresponding practice is still insecure, even if it is true. All is made firm by practice.
— He who wants to do something and cannot is, in the eyes of God who sees our hearts, as though he has done it. This should be understood as being so in relation to good and evil alike.
— Some think they believe rightly, while not practicing the commandments; others, while practicing them, expect the kingdom as a just reward. Both sin against truth.
— We who have been granted the bath of eternal life do good works not for the sake of reward, but to preserve the purity which was given us.
— Every good deed we perform by our own natural powers, although it removes us further from the (evil deed) opposed to it, cannot make us holy without grace.
— The abstinent withdraws from gluttony, the uncovetous from covetousness, the silent from wordiness, the pure from attachment to sensory pleasures, the chaste from fornication, he who is content with what he has from love of money, the meek from agitation (anger), the humble from vanity, the obedient from objection, he who is honest with himself from hypocrisy; equally, he who prays withdraws from despair, the willing pauper from acquisitiveness, he who professes his faith from denying it, the martyr from idolatry – so you see that each virtue, performed even unto death, is nothing but withdrawal from sin; and withdrawal from sin is a natural action, not an action which could be rewarded by the kingdom.
— When the mind forgets the purpose of piety, then visible works of virtue become useless.
— He who does good and seeks a reward works not for God but for his own desire.
— Some say that we can do nothing good until we actively receive the grace of the Holy Spirit. This is not true.
— To him who has been baptized into Christ grace has been mysteriously given already. But it acts in proportion to his fulfillment of commandments. Although this grace never ceases to help us in secret, it lies in our power to do or not to do good according to our own will.

— In the first place, it fittingly arouses conscience, through which even evil-doers have been accepted by God when they repented.
— Again, it may be concealed in the advice of a brother. Sometimes it follows thought during reading and teaches its truth to the mind by means of a natural deduction (from that thought). Thus, if we do not bury this talent bestowed upon us on these and similar occasions, we shall in truth enter into the joy of the Lord.
— If you will keep in mind that, according to the Scriptures, the Lord’s “judgments are in all the earth” (Psalms 104:7), then every event will teach you knowledge of God.
— If, according to the scriptures, the cause of all that is involuntary lies in what is voluntary, no one is a man’s greater enemy than himself.
— If you wish to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth, always urge yourself to rise above sensory things and to cling with hope to God alone. Thus compelling yourself to turn inwards, you will meet principalities and powers, which wage war against you by suggestions in thoughts. If you overcome them by prayer and remain in good hope, you will receive Divine grace, which will free you from the wrath to come.”

from “Early Fathers From the Philokalia,” trans. by E. Kadloubovsky and G.E.H. Palmer, (London: Faber and Faber, Ltd., 1981), pp. 86 – 90 at http://www.innerlightproductions.com/2012/06/st-mark-ascetic-to-those-who-think-to.html

Mark’s works are traditionally the following:
(1) of the spiritual law,
(2) Concerning those who think to be justified through works (both ascetic treatises for monks);
(3) of penitence;
(4) of baptism;
(5) To Nicholas on refraining from anger and lust;
(6) Disputation against a scholar (against appearing to civil courts and on celibacy);
(7) Consultation of the mind with its own soul (reproaches that he makes Adam, Satan, and other men responsible for his sins instead of himself);
(8) on fasting and humility [now considered spurious]
(9) on Melchisedek (against people who think that Melchisedek was an apparition of the Word of God).
All the above works are named and described in the “Myrobiblion” and are published in Gallandi’s collection. To them must be added:
(10) Against the Nestorians (a treatise against that heresy arranged without order).