«Petit» et «grand» habit. Une dispute monastique à l’époque de Théodore Stoudite
«Petit» et «grand» habit. Une dispute monastique à l’époque de Théodore Stoudite

Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on the perceptions of the ritual of “small” habit in the Byzantine monastic milieu in course of the 8th and the 9th century. The author considers the critical opinion of Theodore the Stoudite, who disagreed with this practice, points out the presence of this ritual in the oldest Byzantine euchologion, the Barberini gr. 336 and highlights the fact that the “small” habit is sometimes perceived as an intermediary garment between the novice habit and the “great” habit. The paper demonstrates that Theodore’s criticism does not envisage a new hierarchy between monks, but concerns a practice spread in Constantinople by ascetics of Palestinian origin. For them, the “small” habit was simply the garment worn by novices before the monastic profession. The study of the interaction between the two main monastic trends clarifies the terminology and different understandings of ascetic life encountered in literary and liturgical sources of the period.

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