MOSCHUS, JOHN

born c. 540550, probably Damascus, Syria died 619 or 634, Rome , or Constantinople, Byzantine Empire Byzantine monk and writer whose work Pratum spirituale (The Spiritual Meadow), describing monastic spiritual experiences throughout the Middle East, became a popular example of ascetic literature during the medieval period and was a model for similar works. Moschus began his monastic life at St. Theodosius Monastery near Jerusalem about 565. After observing monastic practices among hermits along the Jordan River, followed by sojourns in Egypt, the Sinai Desert, Cyprus, and Antioch, he settled at Rome and composed a personal narrative of his monastic encounters, augmenting it from other sources. The Spiritual Meadow, or The New Paradise (a translation of its Greek title), contains more than 300 tales of religious practices in simple language, replete with details of the life and beliefs of the times. Abounding in reports of miracles and spiritual ecstasies and lacking any critical standards, The Spiritual Meadow nevertheless provides singular data on the modes of worship and ceremonies in 6th- and 7th-century monasticism, devotion to the Virgin Mary, political circumstances (including accounts of Persian and Arabic invasions), and criticism of prevailing heresies.