My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
The Holy Orthodox Church Commemorates the Great Holy Father of the
Church, SAINT GREGORY PALAMAS, ARCHBISHOP OF THESSALONIKI
on the 2nd Sunday of Holy and Great Lent.
IT IS NO COINCIDENCE that the Holy Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of Saint Gregory Palamas (1296-1359 A.D.), Archbishop of Thessaloniki, Greece, on the Second Sunday of Holy and Great Lent, immediately following the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy and preceding the Sunday of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross; for by so doing, She underlines the fact that, in his holy life and teaching, Saint Gregory stands as an unsurpassable witness to the Orthodox Christian faith and as supremely skilled guide to the mystery of the Cross, the vision of Christi in glory.
However, despite his present exalted liturgical status, and despite the fact that Saint Gregory was formally recognized as a Saint as early as April of 1368 A.D. – only nine years after his death – from the end of the 16th century onwards a "veil of darkness" began to descend over his teaching and that of the other Hesychasts, and it was not until the advent of the "Kollyvades" in the second half of the 18th century, that appreciation for the importance of his teaching was revived, and the liturgical commemoration of Saint Gregory was, to a significant degree, restored and brought back into sharper focus.
This revival, however, like the "philcalic" movement of the Kollyvades as a whole, was destined to be short-lived, inasmuch as it was limited both demographically and chronologically. As the hagiographic tradition of the Turkish periods shows, this was a time in which greater emphasis was given to "lay Saints," particularly to martyrs, wonderworkers and holy women. Moreover, the majesty of the Hesychasts’ ascetico-theological vision was recognized chiefly by monastics, that is to say, by those who, possessed of the resolute desire for the perfection in Christ, would best relate to and appreciate the profound significance of their tradition. Thus, the HESYCHAST REVIVAL OF THE KOLLYVADES was predominantly (though not exclusively) a MONASTIC ONE. Coupled with the fact that the Monastic Life on the Holy Mountain (as also elsewhere) was about to experience a severe decline, the revival of Hesychasm was destined to be limited in chronological terms as well. Hence, by the middle of the 19th century, Saint Gregory and the Hesychasts were once again all but forgotten — even on Athos itself.
Notwithstanding certain notable exceptions along the way, it was not until the pioneering work of such eminent scholars as Krivocheine, Chrestou, and Meyendorff, that Saint Gregory was again rediscovered and came to be better appreciated in both East and West.
Saint Gregory Palamas gave to the Church what is surely the most complete synthesis and perfect formulation of hte Apostolic Tradition of all generations. His theology, in a charismatic and "existential" way, recapitulates, in its entirety, the spiritual experience of hte Saints of the Old and New Testaments, who, with noble spirit, appropriated and ministered to Chkrist’s great "mystery of godliness." His word possesses a creative power, is always new, and informs the heart with grace. It stands as a radiant sign of God for every generation. Most assuredly, it imparts the veritable solution to the implasses of our generation, and leads its "labouring and heavy laden" children to true knowledge of God, to the festival of love of the Trinitarian God.
This good shepherd, image of the Good and Great Shepherd, offers to the faithful strong and ready meat, the treasure of the knowledge of the Person of Christ, able to strengthen them in His Way, to preserve them from the assaults of evil spirits, to make them unshakeable in the confession of the author of their salvation.
Saint Gregory Palamas, a learned monk of Mt. Athos of exalted spiritual life; later he became Archbishop of Thessaloniki. He fought THE HERESY of the Latinizer Barlaam of Calabria, who rose against THE CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE OF THE HESYCHAST MONKS (THOSE LIVING IN SILENCE) AND TAUGHT THAT THE LIGHT OF MT. TABOR AND THE GRACE OF GOD IN GENERAL IS SOMETHING CREATED/ Saint Gregory Palamas, in his many treatises on this subject, DISTINGUISHES BETWEEN the ESSENCE and the ENERGIES of God, BOTH BEING EQUALLY UNCREATED; THROUGH THE UNCREATED ENERGIES MAN CAN HAVE TRUE COMMUNION WITH GOD, which would NOT be the case if Barlaam’s opinions were correct.
The Feast-Day of Saint Gregory Palamas is November 14th, however, he is commemorated on this Sunday as the CONDEMNATION OF HIS ENEMIES AND HERETICS AND THE VINDICATION OF HIS TEACHINGS BY THE CHURCH in the 14th century was acclaimed as a SECOND TRIUMPH OF ORTHODOXY.
Saint Gregory was born in Constantinople in 1296 A.D. of aristocratic parents who has emigrated from Asia Minor in the face of the Ottoman Turkish invasion and enslavement of the Orthodox, and were attached to the court of the pious Emperor Andonicus II Palaeologos (1282-1328 A.D.). Despite his official duties, Saint Gregory’s father led a life of fervent prayer. Sometimes as he sat in the Senate, he would be so deep in prayer as to be unaware of the Emperor addressing him. While Saint Gregory was still young, his father died after being clothed in the Monastic habit; and his mother for her part wanted to take the veil, but delayed doing so in order to take care of the education of her seven children. Gregory, the eldest, was instructed by the most highly reputed masters of secular learning and, after some years, was so proficient in philosophical reasoning that, on listening to him, his master could believe he was hearing Aristotle himself.
Notwithstanding, these intellectual successes, the young man’s real interest lay only with the things of God. He associated with monika or renown in the city and found a spiritual father in Theoleptos of Philadelphia, who instructed him in the way of holy sobriety and of prayer of the heart.
About the year 1316 A.D., Gregory decided to abandon the vanities of the world. His mother and two sisters, two brothers and a great many of his servants entered upon the Monastic Life with him. He and his two brothers went on foot to the Holy Mountain of Athos, where they settled near the Monastery of Vatopedi under the direction of the Geronda (Elder) Nicodemos, who came from Mouth Afxentius (Auxentius). Gregory made rapid progress in the holy activity of prayer, for he had put into practice since childhood the fundamental virtues OF OBEDIENCE, HUMILITY, MEEKNESS, FASTING, VIGIL and the different kinds of renunciation that make the body subject to the spirit. Night and day he besought God ceaselessly with tears saying, "Lighten my darkness!" After some time, the Mother of God, in whom he had put his trust since his youth, sent Saint John the Theologian to him with the promise of her protection in this life and in the next. [Resources: St. Gregory Palamas, Homilies and Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America]
(To be continued)
___________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
AllThings!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 