Venerable Dorotheus of Gaza

St. Dorotheus (Avva Dorotheos) of Gaza was a renowned 6th-century ascetic and spiritual writer. Having received a good secular education, he renounced the world and entered the monastery of Abba Seridos near Gaza, where he served in various obediences, including receiving pilgrims and overseeing the infirmary. There he became the closest disciple and cell-attendant of two great Palestinian recluse-elders, Sts. Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet (already documented in this database), receiving from them numerous written instructions later compiled into their collected correspondence. After the elders' deaths, Dorotheus withdrew to practice silence between Gaza and Maiuma, where disciples soon gathered around him, giving rise to a new cenobitic community. Dorotheus is the author of the celebrated "Beneficial Instructions," one of the most widely read works of monastic literature.