Athanasius the Athonite

Athanasius the Athonite (c.925–1003), abbot of Mount Athos. Born at Trebizond on the Black Sea of wealthy parents from Antioch, he was left an orphan and was adopted first by a tax collector and then by a general. He showed promise as a scholar and became a lecturer; he visited Athos with his guardian and met Michael Maleinos, abbot of Kymina, with his nephew, the future emperor Nicephorus Phocas. Athanasius returned with Michael and joined his monastery: after four years he became a hermit. Realizing that he might be made abbot, he fled to Mount Athos and built a hermitage, chapel, and monastery with money donated by Nicephorus. Part of it was used to pipe water from a spring eight miles away and later to build a harbour. The monastery was completed in 963.

He now wrote rules for every aspect of monastic life, making considerable use of those of Theodore the Studite. He insisted on unity (the quarrelsome were ‘tonsured with the scissors of Satan’), on study (with special coaching for the semiliterate), and on austerity of food (mainly uncooked vegetables with oil). Local opponents included hermits who resented his authority, efficiency, and new buildings which disturbed their accustomed way of life. It is even said that twice his murder was attempted. The emperor however forbade all opposition and recognized his authority over all who dwelt on Mount Athos.

In 1003 he preached to his monks for the last time, wearing a cloak given him by Abbot Michael, and went to inspect the latest building works in the church. He climbed the scaffolding in the sanctuary with several companions, but the cupola suddenly collapsed without warning. Five monks were killed instantly: Athanasius was released from the debris three hours later, but he was dead.

In former times the monks of Mount Athos have sometimes numbered several thousand: nowadays they are considerably reduced in numbers. The monasteries of Iviron (see George the Hagiorite), Esphigmenou, and Vatopedi, all founded in Athanasius' lifetime, still exist within this most important centre of Eastern Orthodox monasticism. Feast: 5 July.

Bibliography
Click here for a list of abbreviations used in this bibliography.

• Works in P. Meyer, Die Haupturkunden fur die Geschichte der Athoskloster (1894), pp. 102–30; Greek Life, ed. by L. Petit in Anal. Boll. xxv (1906), 5–89; J. Leroy, ‘Les deux vies de saint Athanase l'Athonite’, Anal. Boll., lxxxii (1964), 409–29; see also P. Lemerle in Le Millénaire du Mont Athos 963–1963, i (1963), 59–100; D. Attwater, Saints of the East (1963), pp. 101–8; Bibl. SS., ii. 547–9