Saint Mar Evagrius
Saint Mar Evagrius¹
One of the leaders of monastic thought in the Church
St. Evagrius
This saint—like Saint Mar Ephrem—is considered one of the Fathers of the Desert hermits, and he is also considered one of the champions of the faith who defended it. Likewise, he can be counted among the saints of repentance.
He represents a life of repentance: the life of a person who lived with God, then stumbled and sinned, then returned to God once again. In this repentance, one of the holy mothers guided him.
His Upbringing:
He was born in the land of Pontus and became acquainted with three great saints who were bound by one bond: Saint Basil the Great, his brother Saint Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, and their friend Saint Gregory the Theologian. Saint Basil admired him and ordained him a reader (agnostes), and after the repose of Saint Basil, Saint Gregory the Theologian promoted him and ordained him a deacon. It is said that he accompanied him to the Council of Constantinople in the year 381 AD. He gained great fame there, and they admired him for his eloquence, his theological knowledge, and his responses to the heretics, so that everyone loved him, and Saint Nectarius, Archbishop of Constantinople, also loved him and kept him with him there.
The Devil Tempts Him with Sin:
In Constantinople, the devil envied him for the people’s love for him and for his theological brilliance. Among those who admired him was the wife of one of the nobles, and he fell in love with this woman. He prayed to God a great deal to deliver him from this love, and when God delivered him from it, the woman had fallen in love with him. He was not able to get rid of her because she had overwhelmed him with many of her gifts.
The Dream and the Vow:
However, he did not sin with her. He struggled greatly and prayed to God, and God, the Lover of mankind, desired to save him. One day he saw a wondrous dream:
An angel of the Lord appeared to him in the form of an armed soldier, took him, and cast him into prison. In the prison his soul was greatly distressed, especially because he saw the end of the prisoners who were with him, as they were being led to hanging or torture. He said to himself that perhaps the nobleman, the woman’s husband, had discovered the relationship and had cast him into prison, and how easy it would be for him to order his execution.
While awaiting his painful fate, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in the form of one of his friends and said to him, “What brought you here?” Evagrius answered, “Perhaps one of the envious people accused me falsely and they threw me into prison, and I fear that—by means of a bribe given to the judge—he might order my execution.” That friend replied, “Will you make a covenant with me before God that if you leave the prison you will leave this city? If you make this covenant with me, I will help you get out of this predicament.” Evagrius made a covenant with him, placing his hand on the Gospel, that if he left the prison he would leave the city. Indeed, he left the prison, for he had just awakened from sleep.
Although this covenant was made in a dream, he fulfilled it when he awoke, because he had said in the dream, “I will not remain in Constantinople except for one day to gather my belongings.” And indeed, he departed from the city.
Discipleship under Saint Melania:
Saint Mar Evagrius went to Jerusalem, where Saint Melania the Elder was. She had founded a monastery there, and he stayed with her, becoming her disciple. There the devil fought him, and he returned to emotional relationships. But God, the merciful and compassionate, did not leave him; He struck him with a severe fever from which he could not be healed, and the physicians were unable to treat him. He remained on the bed of sickness for six months.
One day Saint Melania came to him and said, “Listen, my son… I see that your illness is not like the illness of other people. Tell me the truth of your condition, and although I am very sinful, I will pray for you so that the Lord may heal you.” He confessed to her everything and told her his entire story. She said to him, “Will you covenant with me that if God heals you, you will go to Scetis and become a monk?” He promised her. She prayed for him, and God healed him.
He fulfilled his promise and went to Scetis and became a monk there. He lived during the final years of the life of Saint Macarius the Great, who reposed in 390 AD, and Saint Macarius of Alexandria, who reposed some years later. Saint Palladius saw him, admired him, and wrote his life.
His Monastic Life and Asceticism:
Evagrius went to Egypt and spent two years on Mount Nitria, then went to the inner desert in the region of the Cells (Kellia), where he lived for fourteen years—some say sixteen years. At the beginning of his life he was fought by the demon of fornication, so he went to Saint Macarius the Great and asked him how to be saved from this warfare. The saint advised him to practice severe asceticism.
Mar Evagrius lived an ascetic life. He never ate cooked food except at the end of his life when emaciation weakened him. He used only a small measure of oil every three months. He also deprived himself of water and drank only a little of it, justifying this thirst by saying that demons live in places where there is water, relying on the Scripture in Matthew 12:43: “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none.”
He slept only one-third of the night, and if drowsiness overcame him during the day, he would walk. He prayed one hundred prayers every day. He ate from the work of his own hands; his manual labor was copying manuscripts, and he did not take wages for his work except the bread of his daily sustenance.
The demons fought him greatly: the demon of fornication and the demon of blasphemy. On one occasion, three demons appeared to him in the form of three senior clergy, disputing with him in the faith: one a follower of Arius, the second a follower of Eunomius, and the third a follower of Apollinarius. Mar Evagrius defeated these three demons and silenced them with proofs and arguments.
At times the demons would appear to him and strike him violently. Mar Evagrius knew the wars of the demons, and it was said of him that after fifteen years he was worthy of complete purity. On one occasion he saw a vision while reading at midnight: he was lifted up to the clouds and saw the whole inhabited world, and he was told by a divine voice, “If you desire to be lifted up in this way, be merciful and be humble.” Indeed, Mar Evagrius was characterized by these qualities, and at times he knew hidden things.
The Gift of Knowledge:
God granted him the gift of knowledge, understanding, and discernment of thoughts, knowledge of the wars of the demons and how to respond to them. He became famous as a teacher of virtue even during the life of Saint Macarius the Great. Monks used to come to him and present their thoughts to him, especially on Saturdays and Sundays when they came out of their solitude. They owed him obedience as a deep spiritual guide. Everyone admired the sweetness of his teachings and loved him greatly.
Mar Evagrius used to say to the brethren, “Whoever among you has a deep thought, let him present it to me privately between me and him after the brethren depart, lest the weak perish by the understanding of the strong and be swallowed up by despondency.” Mar Evagrius was also a lover of strangers; they would come to him and benefit from his teaching and his asceticism.
His Writings and His Veneration:
Palladius said that Mar Evagrius composed three books in which he explained the cunning of the demons, their snares, and their wars, and he explained in particular the eight principal thoughts that war against ascetics. He described their forms, methods, causes, and the responses to them. In his books on combating thoughts, Mar Evagrius included many questions concerning how to respond to thoughts using verses of Scripture.
Palladius speaks of Mar Evagrius with great reverence. He calls him “the blessed Evagrius,” “clothed with the Spirit,” and “skilled in testing thoughts,” and he also calls him “my teacher Evagrius.” He said that Saint Adolphina was his disciple, and she was the one whom Saint Serapion the Great the Sindonite visited.
Mar Evagrius was also testified to by Jerome, who said of him: “We also saw Evagrius, a man of great ability and learning, and through experience of the matters he went through he acquired discernment of thoughts. He told us many things about ascetic struggles and strengthened our souls in the faith. He descended many times to Alexandria and stopped the mouths of pagan philosophers.” Jerome translated some of his articles into Latin and said that the writings and articles of Evagrius were no longer studied only by Latin readers but also by the Romans.
As a result of this remarkable fame, some envied him, among them Aaron, who sent to Mar Evagrius saying, “All who are led by your teachings are deceived,” as well as the arrogant Eucarpus, who announced that the Lord Christ had appointed him ruler over Scetis and asked the monks to follow him and not Evagrius.
It was said that Pope Theophilus, the 23rd Patriarch, wanted to ordain him bishop over the city of Tami, but Mar Evagrius declined. This great saint is considered one of the most famous Fathers in ascetical knowledge and in knowledge of spiritual warfare. He is also considered one of the champions of the faith and its defenders. Mar Isaac was among the greatest admirers of Mar Evagrius and quoted many of his sayings.
The Wars of Thoughts:
There exists for Saint Mar Evagrius a manuscript in the libraries of the monasteries about the wars of thoughts, in which he explains every intellectual warfare that comes upon the monk, the method of confronting the warfare, and how to respond to it. Among the prominent examples is the method of responding to every intellectual warfare with verses from Holy Scripture, reminding us of the saying of the Prophet David: “Unless Your law had been my meditation, I would then have perished in my affliction.” This also indicates the extent of this saint’s knowledge of Scripture and his memorization of its sacred texts.
“There is the image of a lighthouse, and arrows are directed toward it.
Many arrows are directed at this lighthouse, yet its inhabitants are not harmed by them…
Thus the pure heart is attacked by thoughts from every side, yet they cannot prevail against it.”
¹ An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – Al-Keraza Magazine – Fifth Year – Issue Five – 2–11–1974.
For better translation support, please contact the center.
