Life of the Virgin (Maximus)

The Life of the Virgin is the earliest known biographical work on the Virgin Mary. Its only extant copy is in a Georgian translation attributed to the seventh-century saint, Maximus the Confessor, although the attribution remains less than certain.^[1][2]

Icon of Maximus the Confessor.

Maximus (or Pseudo-Maximus^[a]) states that he compiled the biography by merging information from multiple sources available to him.^[1][3]

Maximus presents Mary as a constant companion in Jesus' mission, and as a leader of the early Christian Church after the death of Jesus.^[3] He also states that Mary was the source of many of the accounts of the life of Jesus in the Gospels.^[3]

Maximus also portrays Mary as the counselor and guide to the many women disciples who followed Jesus during his life and as their source of spiritual guidance after the death of Jesus.^[3]

Authenticity

It is doubted that this work is by Maximus the Confessor.

"In a series of recent articles Stephen Shoemaker (esp. Shoemaker 2012), following Michel van Esbroeck, has argued in favour of Maximus' authorship of the Greek model for a Georgian 'Life of the Virgin'. This is improbable for various reasons both historical and theological. In short: first, the argument depends on the notion that Maximus spent some time in Constantinople in the period c.620-26, which lacks direct attestation; second, none of Maximus' characteristic preoccupations appear in the 'Life', and in turn none of the 'Life's central themes appear in the fleeting Marian reflections contained within his genuine corpus; third, there is no extant Greek manuscript which witnesses the text, in whole or in part; fourth, both admirers of Maximus (e.g. Sophronius, John of Damascus) and those who describe his works (e.g. Photius, Anastasius Bibliothecarius) show no knowledge of the 'Life'; and fifth, there is no witness to the existence of the entire 'Life' before the second half of the tenth century. For the arguments in more detail see Booth (forthcoming)."^[4][5]

A recent theory suggests that the Life of the Virgin was actually composed by the monk Euthymius the Athonite, who in turn made a paraphrased translation of an earlier Life written by John Geometres.^[6]

Editions

• Maximus the Confessor, , Stephen J. Shoemaker, trans. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012) (ISBN 0300175043)
• Vie de la Vierge by Michel von Esbroeck. This edition is based on the oldest surviving manuscript, Tbilissi A-40.

Notes

1. The conventional designation given to the anonymous author of a work misattributed to a Maximus.

References

1. Stephen J. Shoemaker, “Early Christian Apocryphal Literature.” In The Oxford handbook of early Christian studies by Susan Ashbrook Harvey, David G. Hunter 2008 ISBN 978-0-19-927156-6 page 527
2. Stephen J. Shoemaker, “Between Scripture and Tradition: The Marian Apocrypha of Early Christianity.” In The reception and interpretation of the Bible in late antiquity by Lorenzo DiTommaso, Lucian Turcescu 2008 ISBN 90-04-16715-3 page 507
3. Stephen J. Shoemaker, “The Virgin Mary in the Ministry of Jesus and the Early Church according to the Earliest Life of the Virgin.” Harvard Theological Review 98 (2005): 441-67; Maximus's Mary, by Sally Cuneen, Commonweal Magazine, December 04, 2009
4. Janowiak, M. & Booth, P. (2015). "A New Date-List of the Works of Maximus the Confessor". The Oxford Handbook of Maximus the Confessor. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 72-3. ISBN 978-0-19-967383-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
5. For Shoemaker's reply to Booth, see: "The (Pseudo?-)Maximus Life of the Virgin and the Byzantine Marian Tradition". The Journal of Theological Studies. 67 (1): 115–142. April 2016. doi:10.1093/jts/flw053.
6. Simelidis, Christos (2020). "Two Lives of the Virgin: John Geometres, Euthymios the Athonite, and Maximos the Confessor". Dumbarton Oaks Papers. 74: 125–160. ISSN 0070-7546.