“To the heights! To the heights!”, Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica (2nd Sunday of Great Lent)

Orthodox Church in America

See also:

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY THEN AND NOW: Saint Gregory Palamas as a Model for our Lives

This Sunday was originally dedicated to Saint Polycarp of Smyrna (February 23). After his glorification in 1368, a second commemoration of Saint Gregory Palamas (November 14) was appointed for the Second Sunday of Great Lent as a second “Triumph of Orthodoxy.”

Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica, was born in the year 1296 in Constantinople. Saint Gregory’s father became a prominent dignitiary at the court of Andronicus II Paleologos (1282-1328), but he soon died, and Andronicus himself took part in the raising and education of the fatherless boy. Endowed with fine abilities and great diligence, Gregory mastered all the subjects which then comprised the full course of medieval higher education. The emperor hoped that the youth would devote himself to government work. But Gregory, barely twenty years old, withdrew to Mount Athos in the year 1316 (other sources say 1318) and became a novice in the Vatopedi monastery under the guidance of the monastic Elder Saint Νikόdēmos of Vatopedi (July 11). There he was tonsured and began on the path of asceticism. A year later, the holy Evangelist John the Theologian appeared to him in a vision and promised him his spiritual protection. Gregory’s mother and sisters also became monastics.

After the demise of the Elder Νikόdēmos, Saint Gregory spent eight years of spiritual struggle under the guidance of the Elder Nikēphóros, and after the latter’s death, Gregory transferred to the Lavra of Saint Athanasius (July 5). Here he served in the trapeza, and then became a church singer. But after three years, he resettled in the small skete of Glossia, striving for a greater degree of spiritual perfection. The head of this monastery began to teach the young man the method of unceasing prayer and mental activity, which had been cultivated by monastics, beginning with the great desert ascetics of the fourth century: Evagrius Pontikos and Saint Macarius of Egypt (January 19).

Later on, in the eleventh century Saint Simeon the New Theologian (March 12) provided detailed instruction in mental activity for those praying in an outward manner, and the ascetics of Athos put it into practice. The experienced use of mental prayer (or prayer of the heart), requiring solitude and quiet, is called “Hesychasm” (from the Greek “hesychia” meaning calm, silence), and those practicing it were called “hesychasts.”

During his stay at Glossia the future hierarch Gregory became fully embued with the spirit of hesychasm and adopted it as an essential part of his life. In the year 1326, because of the threat of Turkish invasions, he and the brethren retreated to Thessalonica, where he was then ordained to the holy priesthood.

 

St. Gregory Palamas Family

Saint Gregory combined his priestly duties with the life of a hermit. Five days of the week he spent in silence and prayer, and only on Saturday and Sunday did he come out to his people. He celebrated divine services and preached sermons. For those present in church, his teaching often evoked both tenderness and tears. Sometimes he visited theological gatherings of the city’s educated youth, headed by the future patriarch, Isidore. After he returned from a visit to Constantinople, he found a place suitable for solitary life near Thessalonica the region of Bereia. Soon he gathered here a small community of solitary monks and guided it for five years.

In 1331 the saint withdrew to Mt. Athos and lived in solitude at the skete of Saint Savva, near the Lavra of Saint Athanasius. In 1333 he was appointed Igumen of the Esphigmenou monastery in the northern part of the Holy Mountain. In 1336 the saint returned to the skete of Saint Savva, where he devoted himself to theological works, continuing with this until the end of his life.

In the 1330s events took place in the life of the Eastern Church which put Saint Gregory among the most significant universal apologists of Orthodoxy, and brought him great renown as a teacher of hesychasm.

About the year 1330 the learned monk Barlaam had arrived in Constantinople from Calabria, in Italy. He was the author of treatises on logic and astronomy, a skilled and sharp-witted orator, and he received a university chair in the capital city and began to expound on the works of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite (October 3), whose “apophatic” (“negative”, in contrast to “kataphatic” or “positive”) theology was acclaimed in equal measure in both the Eastern and the Western Churches. Soon Barlaam journeyed to Mt. Athos, where he became acquainted with the spiritual life of the hesychasts. Saying that it was impossible to know the essence of God, he declared mental prayer a heretical error. Journeying from Mount Athos to Thessalonica, and from there to Constantinople, and later again to Thessalonica, Barlaam entered into disputes with the monks and attempted to demonstrate the created, material nature of the light of Tabor (i.e. at the Transfiguration). He ridiculed the teachings of the monks about the methods of prayer and about the uncreated light seen by the hesychasts.

Saint Gregory, at the request of the Athonite monks, replied with verbal admonitions at first. But seeing the futility of such efforts, he put his theological arguments in writing. Thus appeared the “Triads in Defense of the Holy Hesychasts” (1338). Towards the year 1340 the Athonite ascetics, with the assistance of the saint, compiled a general response to the attacks of Barlaam, the so-called “Hagiorite Tome.” At the Constantinople Council of 1341 in the church of Hagia Sophia Saint Gregory Palamas debated with Barlaam, focusing upon the nature of the light of Mount Tabor. On May 27, 1341 the Council accepted the position of Saint Gregory Palamas, that God, unapproachable in His Essence, reveals Himself through His energies, which are directed towards the world and are able to be perceived, like the light of Tabor, but which are neither material nor created. The teachings of Barlaam were condemned as heresy, and he himself was anathemized and fled to Calabria.

But the dispute between the Palamites and the Barlaamites was far from over. To these latter belonged Barlaam’s disciple, the Bulgarian monk Akyndinos, and also Patriarch John XIV Kalekos (1341-1347); the emperor Andronicus III Paleologos (1328-1341) was also inclined toward their opinion. Akyndinos, whose name means “one who inflicts no harm,” actually caused great harm by his heretical teaching. Akyndinos wrote a series of tracts in which he declared Saint Gregory and the Athonite monks guilty of causing church disorders. The saint, in turn, wrote a detailed refutation of Akyndinos’ errors. The patriarch supported Akyndinos and called Saint Gregory the cause of all disorders and disturbances in the Church (1344) and had him locked up in prison for four years. In 1347, when John the XIV was replaced on the patriarchal throne by Isidore (1347-1349), Saint Gregory Palamas was set free and was made Archbishop of Thessalonica.

In 1351 the Council of Blachernae solemnly upheld the Orthodoxy of his teachings. But the people of Thessalonica did not immediately accept Saint Gregory, and he was compelled to live in various places. On one of his travels to Constantinople the Byzantine ship fell into the hands of the Turks. Even in captivity, Saint Gregory preached to Christian prisoners and even to his Moslem captors. The Hagarenes were astonished by the wisdom of his words. Some of the Moslems were unable to endure this, so they beat him and would have killed him if they had not expected to obtain a large ransom for him. A year later, Saint Gregory was ransomed and returned to Thessalonica.

Saint Gregory performed many miracles in the three years before his death, healing those afflicted with illness. On the eve of his repose, Saint John Chrysostom appeared to him in a vision. With the words “To the heights! To the heights!” Saint Gregory Palamas fell asleep in the Lord on November 14, 1359. In 1368 he was canonized at a Constantinople Council under Patriarch Philotheus (1354-1355, 1364-1376), who compiled the Life and Services to the saint. 

Troparion — Tone 8

O luminary of Orthodoxy, support and teacher of the Church, / ideal of monks and invincible champion of theologians, / O wonderworker Gregory, boast of Thessalonika and herald of grace, / always intercede for all of us that our souls may be saved.

Kontakion — Tone 4

Now is the time for action! / Judgment is at the doors! / So let us rise and fast, / offering alms with tears of compunction and crying: / “Our sins are more numerous than the sands of the sea; / but forgive us, O Master of All, / so that we may receive the incorruptible crowns.”

Kontakion — Tone 8

(Podoben: “O Victorious Leader...”)
Holy and divine instrument of wisdom, / radiant and harmonious trumpet of theology, / we praise you in song, O divinely-speaking Gregory. / As a mind standing before the Primal Mind, guide our minds to Him, Father, / so that we may cry aloud to you: “Rejoice, herald of grace.”

 

The Divine Darkness

By St Gregory of Nyssa

Death to the World (about)  

What does it mean that Moses entered the darkness and then saw God in it? What is now recounted seems somehow to be contradictory to the first theophany, for then the Divine was beheld in light, but now He is seen in darkness. Let us not think that this is at variance with the sequence of things we have contemplated spiritually. Scripture teaches by this that religious knowledge comes at first to those who receive it as light. Therefore what is perceived to be contrary to religious is darkness, and the escape from darkness comes about when one participates in light, but as the mind progresses and, through an ever greater and more perfect diligence, comes to apprehend reality, as it approaches more nearly to contemplation, it sees more clearly what of the divine nature is uncontemplated.
For leaving behind everything that is observed, not only what sense comprehends, but also what the intelligence thinks is sees, it keeps on penetrating deeper until by the intelligence’s yearning for understanding it gains access to the invisible and the incomprehensible, and there it sees God. This is the true knowledge of what is sought; this is the seeing that consists in not seeing, because that which is sought transcends all knowledge, being separated on all sides by incomprehensibility, as by a kind of darkness. Wherefore John the Sublime [the Apostle], who penetrated into the luminous darkness, says, “No one has ever seen God” (St. John 1:18), thus asserting that knowledge of the divine essence is unattainable not only by men, but also by every intelligent creature. 

When, therefore, Moses grew in knowledge, he declared that he had seen God in the darkness, that is, that he had then come to know that what is divine is beyond all knowledge and comprehension, for the text, “Moses approached the dark cloud where God was”(Exod. 20:21). What God? He who “made darkness His hiding place”(Ps. 18:11), as David says, who also was initiated into the mysteries in the same inner sanctuary.
When Moses arrived there, he was taught by word what he had formerly learned from darkness, so that, I think the doctrine on this matter might be made firmer for us for being testified to by the divine voice. The divine word at the beginning forbids that the Divine be likened to any of the things known by men, since every concept which comes from some comprehensible image by an approximate understanding and by guessing at the divine nature constitutes an idol of God and does not proclaim God. 
Religious virtue is divided into two parts, into that which pertains to the Divine and that which pertains to right conduct (for purity of life is religion). Moses learns at first the things which must be known about God (namely that none of those things known by human comprehension can be ascribed to Him). Then he is taught the other side of virtue, learning by what pursuits the virtuous life is perfected. 
After this he comes to the tabernacle not made with hands. Who will follow someone who makes he way through such places and elevates his mind to such heights, who as though he were passing from one peak to another, comes ever higher than he was through his ascent to the heights? First, he leaves behind the base of the mountain and is separated from all those too weak for the ascent. Then, as he rises higher in his ascent he hears the sounds of the trumpets. Thereupon, he slips into the inner sanctuary of divine knowledge. And he does not remain there, but he passes on to the tabernacle not made by hands. For truly this is the limit that someone reaches who is elevated through such ascents.

For it seems to me that in another sense the heavenly trumpet becomes a teacher to the one ascending as he makes his was to what is not made with hands. For the wonderful harmony of the heavens proclaims the wisdom which shines forth in the creation and sets forth the great glory of God through the things which are seen, in keeping with the statement, “The heavens declare the glory of God”(Psalm 19:1). It becomes the loud-sounding trumpet of clear and melodious teaching, as one of the Prophet says, “The heavens trumpeted form above”(Sirach 46:17).
When he who has been purified and is sharp of hearing in this heart hears this sound (I am speaking of the knowledge of the divine power which comes from the contemplation of reality), he is led by it to the place where his intelligence lets him slip in where God is. This is called darkness by Scripture, which signifies, as I said, the unknown and unseen. When he arrives there, he sees that tabernacle not made by hands, which he shows to those below by means of a material likeness.

See also

The Light of Christ and the Transfiguration - “I wish I could see something like that!”
Deification - The Uncreated Light  
Theosis (deification): The True Purpose of Human Life

Theosis, St. Silouan and Elder Sophrony

 

The Light of Christ and the Transfiguration - “I wish I could see something like that!”

 

 

Fr. Stephen Freeman

Glory 2 God for all things
 
My attention was drawn to the event of the Transfiguration during my college years. It was then that I first read a book on St. Seraphim of Sarov, who himself was transfigured in a famous incident in his conversation with Motivilov. There, on a snowy winter’s day, the saint shown with a brilliant light, and Motivilov felt effused with warmth and joy. It caught my attention in the most obvious way. I thought, “I wish I could see something like that!” 
That desire was encouraged as I began to read and discovered the Orthodox teaching on the light of the transfiguration as being the “Divine Energies,” nothing other than the uncreated light of God. The teaching holds that we can see and participate in the Divine Energies, but not the Divine Essence. I took note of that and continued my research.
In hindsight, I think I wanted to see two things. First, I wanted to “see” something that reassured me of the existence of God. “If I could see such a light,” I reasoned, “I would no longer doubt.” Second, I wanted the experience itself, to somehow be effused with that light. This, I think, is as honest as I can be about my thoughts at the time. I am probably not alone in such thinking.
The doctrine of the Divine Energies and the Uncreated Light of the Transfiguration, received a dogmatic definition in the Palamite Councils of the 14^th century. The Church affirmed the teaching of St. Gregory Palamas that the experience of seeing the light of Christ, sometimes vouchsafed in prayer, was, in fact, an experience of God in His Divine Energies.
Many years have passed since my early college reading and research. It has taken most of those years to understand in a helpful way the doctrine of the Divine Energies. To a great extent, my understanding was “blinded by the light.” By that, I mean that I was focused on the experience of Transfiguration and St. Gregory’s defense of the monks to such an extent that I let it encompass the entire scope of the patristic teaching on the energies.

There is a teaching on the energies that is far more prosaic even practical to be found in the early fathers . That teaching can be understood by simply looking at the meaning of the word, “energy” or “energeia.” In Greek “energeia” simply means “doings” or “actions.” The Divine Energies thus means the divine actions, everything that God does. What does God do? He creates; He sustains; He holds all things in his goodness; He moves all things and draws all things towards union with Him. What we must understand is that this holding in goodness, this moving, this drawing, this uniting, this sustaining, this creating, is in fact God Himself as the Divine Energies. And understanding this we must see that “in Him we live and move and have our being.”
But instead of understanding and contemplating this, for years I longed for an experience of Divine Light. As such, the idea was a distraction. The Transfiguration was something of a distraction for the disciples as well. St. Peter spoke of building three tabernacles on the mountain to mark or commemorate that wonderful moment. When Christ then spoke of His coming crucifixion, Peter rebuked Him! In doing so, he revealed that he still understood nothing of Christ’s work. Every action of Christ (including the Transfiguration) was a movement towards the Cross and the work (“energy”) of undoing death by death.
This remains a key in contemplating the Divine Energies (everywhere present and filling all things). The doings and actions of God are cruciform in nature. We proclaim that “in wisdom You have made them all,” while being told that Christ crucified is the “Wisdom and Power of God” (1Cor. 1:23-24). St. Maximus tells us that whoever understands the mystery of the Cross understands all things.
St. Paul was deeply baptized into this mystery. (He cried out, “That I might know Him: the communion of His suffering and the power of His resurrection!” – Phil. 3:10). The sound of creation, sustained by the cruciform Divine Energies, was described by St. Paul as “groaning like a woman in childbirth.” The suffering creation, made manifest to us in every moment, suffers with Christ and groans with Christ.

It is interesting to me that in considering Peter, James, and John’s experience of Jesus, Moses, and Elijah on Mount Tabor, it is the light that became of interest to me. And, in reflection, I see that I somehow treated the light as distinct from Christ Himself. Instead, we are told that Christ is the Light of the world and that this Light is life.
See how St. Dionysius speaks of the Divine Energies:

[God] in His providence is present to all things and becomes all things in all for the preservation of them all, while yet remaining in Himself nor ever going forth from His own proper Identity in that one ceaseless act wherein His life consists; and thus with undeviating power He gives Himself for the Deification of those that turn to Him. (The Divine Names, IX.5)

It is simply the case that the disciples on the mount of transfiguration saw as light what we all constantly see as Divine Providence. And just as they failed to recognize what they saw, so we also fail to understand and recognize what it is we ourselves see.
Christ stood speaking with Elijah and Moses, a saint who was assumed into heaven alive in a chariot of fire, and a saint who was bodily assumed into heaven after death (according to tradition). Parenthetically, this conversation utterly refutes those who would deny the communion of saints and our conversations with them. We follow the example of Christ. These saints understood the mystery of the Cross. We are told that their conversation with Christ was concerning His “exodus” (the Crucifixion). They spoke in union with the mystery of the light itself.
To celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration is, I think, to celebrate the mystery of the Cross at work in and through all things. The whole of creation is a shimmering garment that groans and gives voice to the Divine Energies that sustain us all – that “one ceaseless act wherein His life consists.”
The light of Christ illumines all.

See also

Feast & holy icon of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ (August 6) 
August 6th: The Light of Transfiguration & the flash of Hirosima!
Preparing for the Underground Church 
August 7: the day of the 10.000 African Orthodox Saints ! (image)

Deification - The Uncreated Light

Theosis (deification): The True Purpose of Human Life

Theosis, St. Silouan and Elder Sophrony 

LOVERS OF TRUTH: THE LIFE OF HIEROMONK SERAPHIM ROSE

OUR TALENT OF FREEDOM & SOME PITFALLS

Through The Eastern Gate - From Tibetan Buddhism to Orthodox Christianity

ORTHODOX OUTLET for DOGMATIC ENQUIRIES
St Herman Press