Saint Pierre d'Atroa
Ermite au monastère Saint-Zacharie, en Bithynie (✝ 837)
Il devint moine à 18 ans dans la célèbre plaine d'Atroa où se trouvaient plusieurs communautés monastiques. Il y mena une vie ascétique intense. Son monastère dut se disperser durant la persécution iconoclaste de l'empereur Léon V, puis celle de l'empereur Théophile (829). Malgré les coups et les flagellations qu'il connut de la part des soldats, il resta en paix, remettant sa vie entre les mains de Dieu.
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/348/Saint-Pierre-d-Atroa.html
Saint Peter of Atroa
- Pierre d’Atroa
- Theophylact
- 773 near Ephesus,
Asia Minor (modern Turkey) as Theophylact
Saint Peter of Atroa – Feast Day – January 1
Saint Peter of Atroa was born on 773 A.D in Turkey, Europe.
He worked in Atroa and died on 1 January 837 at Atroa of natural causes while
his brother monks were singing the night office. His feast day is celebrated on
January 1. He was canonized by Pre congregation.
Saint Peter of
Atroa Life History
Saint Peter of Atroa was born near Ephesus in Asia
Minor in 773.The eldest of three siblings and baptized Theophylact. He became a
monk at age 18 and It is said that the Holy Virgin led him to join the holy
Paul Hesychast who named him Peter.
He began a pilgrimage with his teacher Saint Paul to
Jerusalem but they did not make it there. A vision from God sent them to Mount
Olympus in Bithynia where Paul founded a monastery at the chapel of Saint
Zachary near Atroa and served as its first abbot. When Paul died in 805,
32-year-old Peter succeeded him as abbot.
The monastery flourished but in 815 Peter closed it
due to the persecutions of the iconoclastic Emperor Leo the Armenian. Peter
moved to Ephesus and then to Crete.
Saint Peter of Atroa Date of birth
He was born in AD 773 near Ephesus, Asia Minor (modern
Turkey) as Theophylact.
Place of Birth
He was born near Ephesus, Asia Minor (modern Turkey)
as Theophylact.
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Family Background
He was born the eldest of three children. His given
name was Theophylact. At eighteen, he determined to become a monk and joined
Paul the Hesychast at his hermitage in Phrygia, where he took the religious
name “Peter”.
Profession
At eighteen, he determined to become a monk and joined Paul the Hesychast at his hermitage in Phrygia, where he took the religious name “Peter”.
He began a pilgrimage with his teacher Saint Paul to
Jerusalem, but they did not make it there. A vision from God sent them to Mount
Olympus in Bithynia where Paul founded a monastery at the chapel of Saint
Zachary near Atroa, and served as its first abbot.
The two of them started a pilgrimage to Jerusalem,
but, reportedly because of a vision, they went instead to Bithynia. There Paul
established a monastery at the church of St. Zachary in the area of Atroa. The
monastery grew quickly, and Paul named Peter as his successor on the former’s
death in 805.
When Paul died in 805, 32-year-old Peter succeeded him
as abbot. The monastery flourished, but in 815 Peter closed it due to the
persecutions of the iconoclastic Emperor Leo the Armenian. Peter moved to
Ephesus and then to Crete.
Due to his support of the use of icons, Peter found
that he was a wanted man. He escaped imperial troops by miraculously becoming
invisible.
He briefly returned to his family home where his
brother Christopher and widowed mother received monastic habits from his hands.
He then settled for several years at Kalonaros near the Hellespont, but his own
fame as a healer forced him to move on.
His wonder-working caused an accusation of practicing
magic and invoking devils, but he was completely cleared by Saint Theodore
Studites.
Leo V the Armenian was in power at the time, and
supported the Iconoclasts in their efforts to destroy religious imagery.
Peter was forced to disband the monastery for the
safety of the monks during these persecutions, himself travelling first to
Ephesus and later Cyprus.
His reputation as a thaumaturge and spiritual director
had become widespread by this time, and he was rarely left to pursue the
secluded life he sought in peace.
He wandered throughout the area in his efforts to find
seclusion, ultimately finding some privacy in the area of Coracesium in
Cilicia.
Saint Peter of Atroa Date of Death
He died on 1 January 837 at Atroa of natural causes
while his brother monks were singing the night office.
Saint Peter of Atroa Place of Death
He died at Atroa of natural causes while his brother
monks were singing the night office.
Saint Peter of Atroa Feast Day
His feast day is celebrated on January 1 every year.
Beatification
Saint Peter of Atroa was beatified by Pre
congregation.
Canonization
Saint Peter of Atroa was canonized by Pre
congregation.
Saint’s Legacy
Peter tried to convince them otherwise,
unsuccessfully, and ultimately had to seek the help of Theodore the Studite in
persuading them. Theodore wrote a letter to all the monks of the area, telling
them that Peter was in fact above reproach in conduct, teachings, and beliefs,
and was as good a monk as could be found. This letter survives to this day.
Peter then returned to St. Zachary’s and helped to
reorganize two other monasteries he had established. During this time, he
himself resided at a hermitage in Atroa.
Iconoclastic attacks broke out again, more virulent
than before, and Peter again found himself having to disperse his monks,
successfully doing so just barely before the local bishop arrived to forcibly
remove them. Peter himself left to reside with a locally famous recluse named
James.
While living with him, Peter cured Paul of Prusias of
a fever. This was ascribed as a miracle at the time, but was apparently
accomplished by doing nothing more than giving Paul a good, nutritious meal.
Iconoclast persecution increased in the area, obliging
Peter and James to leave for the safety of the monastery of St. Porphyrious on
the Hellespont. Peter later left for the Bâlea Lake area, where he visited his
friend and fellow opponent of iconoclasm Joannicius before returning again to
St. Zachary’s. After delivering a final statement of farewell to the assembly,
he died in the choir while praying the evening office on 1 January 837.
Guilland Rodolphe 105. Laurent (V.). La Vie merveilleuse de Saint Pierre d'Atroa (837). Éditée, traduite et commentée par V. L. Bruxelles, 1956 (Subsidia Hagiographica N° 29) [compte-rendu] Revue des Études Grecques Année 1957 70-331-333 pp. 565-566
