Bar-Cursus (Joannes Tellensis)
BAR-CURSUS (JOANNES TELLENSIS)
An exponent of the Monophysite Christology of Severus of Antioch; b. at Kallinikos, c. 483; d. Antioch, 538. He left the comfort of court life in order to enter monastic life. He became bishop of Tella in northern Mesopotamia in 519. In 533 he took part in the dogmatic discussions in Constantinople. He died a violent death in prison because of his convictions. He edited a collection of canons that is important for the history of liturgy and the Sacraments, especially for the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, e.g., the custom of giving Communion under one species.
Bibliography: t. j. lamy, Dissertatio de Syrorum fide et disciplina in re Eucharistia (Louvain 1859). f. nau, Les Canons et les résolutions canoniques de Rabboula, Jean de Tella, (Paris 1906). i. ortiz de urbina, Patrologia syriaca.
[l. r. kozlowski]