The Ancient Church

St. Samuel of Waldebba, Great Naked Ascetic and Desert Father of Ethiopia By Bp. Joseph ( Ancient Church of the West ) To the modern reader, the idea of a Christian saint living without clothing may appear startling, if not wholly incomprehensible to our culture of Christian modesty. Our age has become accustomed to viewing nakedness almost exclusively through the categories of sexuality, artistic expression, personal autonomy, or shame, so that voluntary nudity as an expression of holiness seems paradoxical, even offensive. Yet, the Ancient Christian world approached the body from an entirely different theological perspective. Baptism was accomplished in the nude, pointing to the complete regeneration of the flesh and an offering of self to God that transformed the whole person. Among a small number of extraordinary ascetics in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Cappadocia, Ethiopia, and elsewhere, the voluntary abandonment of clothing was understood neither as a rejection of modesty or an invi...