School of Antiochwriter
Who he was
- Abbot or archimandrite of a monastery near Ancyra (Ankara).
- He lived around the turn of the 4th to the 5th century and died shortly before or after 430.
- He was a disciple of St. John Chrysostom and a contemporary of Proclus,St. Mark the Recluse,and St. Isidore of Pelusium.
- Nilus’ own letters testify that he regarded St. John Chrysostom as his teacher (cf. Ep. 2, 265. 294; 3, 279).
- When the Emperor Arcadius in 407 begged him to pray for Constantinople which was seriously afflicted by earthquakes and fires, Nilus answered in a letter that he could not comply with his wish since these trials were caused by the crimes committed against the bishop of the capital St. John Chrysostom.
- It is said that he was the prefect of Constantinople at the time of Theodosius the Great (379-395).
- He resigned from his high office, and with his son, Theodulus, they became hermits.
- When the monks were attacked by barbarian robbers, Theodulus was captured but Nilus managed to escape. Finally Theodulus succeeded in returning to his father and the two were ordained priests by the bishop of Eleusa in Palestine, who sent them back to Mt. Sinai. It must be noted that this account of events at Mt. Sinai is of doubtful authenticity.
- His literary heritage confronts us with numerous problems and there is a need for critical study of his works.
What he wrote
1. Letters
- Some scholars believe that some letters, in whole or in part, are merely excerpts from treatises from Nilus or others. 2. Treatises
- Deal mainly with ascetic and moral subjects. De monastica exercitatione (to cenobites), De voluntaria paupertate ( On Voluntary poverty) to Deaconess Magna of Ancyra, In Albianum oratio: Albiano was born in Ancyra, lived in a monastic community and died in Nitria, De monachorum praestantia (On the Advantage to Monks of living far from the Cities in the Deserts), De magistris et discipulis(On the Teachers and Pupils), and De octo spiritibus malitiae, deals with the eight capital sins. They are capital for they give rise to other sins. 3. Lost works
- Commentary on Songs of Songs, Sermons, Adversus gentiles (Against Pagans), Ad Eucarpium monarchum. 4. Spurious works