Venerable Dorotheus of Gaza

Dorotheus of Gaza (Ancient Greek: Δωρόθεος τῆς Γάζης Dorotheos tes Gazes; ca. 500 – 560 or 580), Dorotheus the Archimandrite or Abba Dorotheus, was a Christian monk and abbot. He lived as a monk at the monastery of Seridus near Gaza and wrote instructions on the ascetic life that influenced both Eastern and Western monasticism. Dorotheus was born at the beginning of the sixth century (possibly between 506–508) into a prosperous family in Antioch in Syria. His family was likely Christian and he was likely very close with his brother, who later became a benefactor of the monastic community Dorotheus was living in and possibly even a monk himself. Not much more is known from his childhood, though his Discourses and letters are scattered with many autobiographical details. His health was limited throughout his whole life and, as he got older, he suffered more serious illnesses. Dorotheus received from an early age onwards a classical education and he continued his studies at either Alexandria or, more likely, Gaza. Eric Wheeler suggests that he was taught by the sophist Procopius of Gaza, who Wheeler considers to be implicitly mentioned in the one of Dorotheus' Discourses. Next to rhetoric, he studied medicine and his later writings show him to be conversant in the medical theories of his day, as well as the use of medical terms and accurate descriptions of wound treatments. At an unknown time, he entered the monastery of Seridus near Gaza. Contacts between the intellectual environment of Gaza, especially of the rhetorical school of Gaza, and the monastic communities around the city are well known and it is likely that this is how Dorotheus got to know the abbot of the monastery, Seridus, and the anchorites Barsanuphius and John the Prophet. Dorotheus entered the monastery in hope of a life of quiet contemplation and prayer and aspired to be an anchorite himself.