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Biography

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Dositheus of Gaza was a Christian monk of the sixth century, known almost entirely from the short Life written by his spiritual father, Dorotheus of Gaza. That text places him in the monastery of Abba Seridus (Seridos) at Thavatha, near Gaza in Byzantine Palestine, during the years when the recluses Barsanuphius and John the Prophet guided the community. No contemporary source records a year of birth or death. He belongs to the first half of the sixth century and died as a young man after only about five years in the monastery, while Dorotheus was still serving there and before Dorotheus later established his own community.

According to Dorotheus, Dositheus came from a distinguished family and had been raised in military and courtly surroundings. He knew nothing of monasticism. While in Jerusalem he saw a depiction of the Last Judgment and the punishments of the damned. Deeply shaken, he asked what the image meant and was instructed in Christian teaching on judgment and in the monastic path of salvation. He then sought admission to the monastery of Abba Seridus. The abbot hesitated because of the youth’s delicate upbringing and lack of monastic formation. Dorotheus, with the blessing of Barsanuphius and John, received him as a disciple and took responsibility for his training.

Dositheus was assigned to serve the sick in the monastery infirmary under Dorotheus. The Life does not present him as a practitioner of extreme bodily austerity. Its central theme is the cutting off of self-will through obedience. He referred every desire—whether for food, a garment, or a small knife he had been given—to his elder and accepted the answer without argument or inner resistance. Dorotheus regulated his diet strictly and formed him in watchfulness and humility. After roughly five years he fell into a wasting illness and died while still young. Dorotheus records that he had never done his own will.

After his death some of the brethren doubted whether one who had not practiced severe fasting or prolonged vigils could be counted among the perfected. Barsanuphius testified that Dositheus had attained the measure of the saints through obedience and that his soul was with God. The Life of Dositheus became a classic of Eastern monastic literature on obedience and was widely read in Byzantine and later Orthodox monasteries. He is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church; his memory is observed on 19 February. No reliable source records a birthplace, a formal Western-style canonization, or any special patronage.

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