27 November — Commemoration of St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica (1357)
“Rejoice, praise of the fathers, mouth of theologians, abode of silence, house of wisdom, summit of teachers, depth of the word. Rejoice, instrument of deeds, pinnacle of vision, and healer of human ailments. Rejoice, temple of the Spirit, and father, both deceased and living”.
(Triodion sticheron (St. Gregory)
Nearly 700 years ago, a philosopher from Calabria who had embraced monastic vows on Mount Athos encountered a hesychast ascetic from Athos in Constantinople. After a profound debate, ending in the victory of the hesychast ascetic, their paths diverged. The philosopher, swayed by the encounter, converted to Catholicism, became a cardinal, founded a renowned school, and ultimately became an ideological precursor to the Renaissance. This movement later influenced the Reformation in the Western Church, bringing about lasting changes. Meanwhile, the monastic ascetic upheld the truth of the Uncreated Light of Mount Tabor, setting a transformative course for the Orthodox Church.
This period, known as the Age of Transfiguration, profoundly shaped the course of history for the Orthodox Church. Visible fruits of this victory include the Russian icon of the Holy Trinity and the countless saints and intercessors who achieved personal transfiguration and salvation in God. For the Orthodox Church, the epoch of Transfiguration did not conclude, and today the path to communion with God is open to the Christian in the Church’s Sacraments, in prayer and the personal striving to fulfil Christ’s commandments.
Hagia Sophia, Holy Wisdom, in Constantinople, reconstruction
The treasures of the Orthodox believer’s heart are illuminated by the Light of Tabor, the essence of the Feast of the Transfiguration; the flame that surrounded the burning bush on Mount Sinai; the radiance of Moses’ face after forty days of communion with God; the Light that shone upon Saul on the road to Damascus, transforming him into the Apostle Paul; the luminous experiences described in the lives of Saint Symeon the New Theologian and Saint Sergius of Radonezh; Motovilov’s vision of the Divine Light while conversing with Saint Seraphim of Sarov; the Holy Fire that descends on the Holy Sepulchre each Holy Saturday; and other miraculous signs of God’s grace. These wonders often challenge the mind unenlightened by the Holy Spirit, which seeks to understand everything through reason alone and lacks reverence for mystery and the incomprehensible.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, two currents of thought captivated Europe: the Western European Renaissance, which placed man at the centre of the cosmos, and the Eastern European Orthodox Revival, or more accurately, Transfiguration.
Archpriest John Meyendorff remarked: “The entire history of Byzantine thought from the 9th century onwards is marked by a more or less open confrontation between proponents of secular humanism and monasticism. In the 14th century, this confrontation becomes all the more palpable as both currents of Byzantine thought gain renewed momentum: the spirit of the Renaissance and traditional monastic asceticism emerge as two poles attracting the finest intellectual energies and most dynamic personalities of the Christian East.”
Each of these intellectual currents offered its own answer to the question of knowing God. The Renaissance, which made human reason its ultimate measure, essentially closed off communion with God for humanity. It settled on the notion that God’s essence remains beyond human comprehension, suggesting that the pinnacle of knowledge accessible to humans — even knowledge of God — could only be attained through intellect. Thus, secular knowledge was deemed vital for salvation. The Eastern Christian, Orthodox worldview and, consequently, its culture, places the God-Man Jesus Christ at its centre, Who brought salvation to humanity through deification. If Someone surpasses my understanding, it does not mean He cannot reveal Himself to me. The Orthodox Church’s teaching about God rests upon the Revelation that God gave about Himself to humankind.
The ascetic who triumphed in the theological battle was called Gregory Palamas. The Lord raised up this extraordinary figure during a period when the Church needed to establish and defend the teachings of hesychasm both theoretically and through debate.
Fresco of St. Gregory on the mountain
In 1337, Saint Isidore Buchiras, who later became the Patriarch of Constantinople, sent to Gregory Palamas in the desert of Mount Athos the treatises of the Calabrian monk Barlaam from Thessalonica. These writings contained theological errors, particularly concerning the procession of the Holy Spirit “and from the Son.” In Constantinople and Thessalonica, Barlaam accused the hesychasts, branding them deluded and mocking them as “navel-gazers.” Foreseeing that a new heresy would shake the Church, St. Isidore invited Gregory Palamas to come to his aid. During Pentecost, Palamas read the manuscript, left Athos, and journeyed to Thessalonica. There, he continued to study Barlaam’s writings and began a polemical struggle, defending and philosophically defining the mystical experience of Orthodox monasticism.
Thessalonica, Cathedral
The remainder of St. Gregory Palamas’ life became intertwined with the relentless struggle against Barlaam’s supporters. The Barlaamite heresy threatened the very heart of faith — humanity’s communion with God, union with Him, deification. Acting as a mediator amid the political turmoil of Byzantium, Palamas brilliantly demonstrated how knowledge of God is possible without undermining Mystery, illustrating how real, personal communion with the Creator is attainable. St. Gregory Palamas stands at the very centre of Orthodox philosophy. Holiness is always possible: the presence of God here and now, not somewhere in the past or future or in philosophical abstractions — this is the saint’s principal theme.
In June 1341, at the Council of Constantinople, convened in the Church of Hagia Sophia, a public debate took place between Palamas and Barlaam. Its purpose was to determine whether the hesychast monks were heretics. Central to the discussion was the issue of the Light of Tabor as Divine energy.
St. Gregory’s theological works translated into Russian
Palamas confronted his critics head-on, dismantling every detail of their arguments and crafting a nuanced analysis of Divine energy — an eternal action of the Essence, breathing life into the world. Subsequently, the concept of this eternal, all-pervading Divine energy became enshrined in Orthodox doctrine. Gregory Palamas’s teaching, which clarifies the relationship between essence and energy, is distinctly expressed in his work “The Triads in Defence of the Holy Hesychasts.” In his reflections, Palamas starts from a principle well-established in Byzantine philosophical culture: every essence is known not in itself but indirectly, that is, through its activity. Thus, contemplation of God can only take place through human participation in the action of the Divine Essence, namely, in the Divine energy.
Holiness, Palamas asserted, is a form of participation in the uncreated, but not in the Divine Essence itself; rather, it is in the uncreated energy inseparable from it. According to Palamas, humans share a unity of nature with Jesus Christ, as Christ, being the God-Man, possesses the unity of both divine and human natures. Holiness and salvation become attainable for a person through the interplay of their free will and their God-centred consciousness with the descending Divine grace. Through a Christ-centred lens, Palamas redefined the concept of the body: by its nature, the human body cannot be the source of sin, for if it were, the flesh would have led even the God-Man down the path of sin. It is the soul and conscious human will that bear responsibility for transgressions. In the ascetic struggle of hesychia — through repentance, fasting, and the prayer of the intellect — the body and soul undergo a complete transformation, as evidenced by the incorruptibility of saint's relics. The Church’s sacraments, particularly baptism and regular communion in the Eucharist, serve as essential sources of Divine grace necessary for salvation.
The relics of Saint Gregory Palamas in the Cathedral of Thessalonica
Archimandrite Cyprian (Kern) summarises Palamas’s teachings: “… the mystical experience of the Tabor Light, the intensity of the inner discipline (of noetic prayer), linked to the same teaching on essence and energy … lend a unique direction to Orthodox asceticism; Palamas’s anthropology, faithful to the patristic tradition in asceticism, offers us a lofty view of humanity, a belief in its high creative purpose…” Deification is a transformation, an enlightenment of the person, achieved through spiritual efforts and asceticism; this transformation is available to both monastics and laypeople, transforming anthropology from a theoretical concept into a practical way of life.
In 1341, the Council of Constantinople, following the public debate, affirmed the orthodoxy of Palamas’s position and recognised the legitimacy of hesychastic practice as a path of monastic asceticism.
Barlaam, for his part, conceded defeat and acknowledged the correctness of the Council’s decree. However, his acceptance appeared insincere, as Barlaam soon slipped away from the Byzantine capital under cover of darkness and made his way back to his homeland, Italy. There, he embraced Catholicism and rose to become a bishop in the Kingdom of Naples. He went on to teach Greek to the first Italian humanists of the 14th century — Petrarch and Boccaccio.
Saint Gregory was one of the most erudite men of his era, hailing from a family of Constantinopolitan aristocrats. Orphaned at a young age after the loss of his father, a distinguished official, he was raised in the court of Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos. From his early years, he displayed a remarkable aptitude for learning. Talented, wealthy, and close to the imperial court, the young man seemed destined for a stellar career in the capital, yet he chose a different path. At the age of twenty, Gregory journeyed to Mount Athos, where he embraced monasticism and devoted eleven years to toil and austerity. He spent the majority of this time at the Great Lavra of Saint Athanasius.
The Great Lavra of Saint Athanasius, Mount Athos
When the Turkish invasion threatened, Gregory was compelled to leave the Holy Mountain and travel to Thessaloniki. There, he was ordained to the priesthood and pursued a life of solitude in a cave near Veria, where he established a monastic community. The saint spent five days each week in silence and fasting, emerging only on Saturdays and Sundays to join his brethren, celebrate the Divine Liturgy, deliver sermons, and share a meal. The cell where St. Gregory lived his ascetic life still stands today.
The cave of Saint Gregory Palamas at the Monastery of Saint John the Forerunner near Veria, Greece
Saint Gregory faced persecution, imprisonment, and even excommunication for his theological convictions. But ultimately, truth prevailed, and he became the Bishop of Thessaloniki. He reconciled adversaries, comforted the faint of heart, and possessed the gifts of foresight and healing. The saint reposed at the age of sixty-three on 27 November 1359. The Uncreated Light shone visibly above his body for over a day. Saint Gregory’s relics are enshrined in Thessaloniki in a church dedicated to him, built in 1914 as the metropolitan cathedral.
The development of the Russian Church and North-Eastern Rus’ is interwoven with the Palamites — the venerators of Saint Gregory Palamas. Ecumenical Patriarch Philotheos Kokkinos (1353–1376), who canonised Saint Gregory Palamas and penned his Life, played an active role in the affairs of the Russian Metropolis. He supported Saint Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow, in his efforts to unite Rus’ under Moscow’s leadership, and held Saint Sergius of Radonezh in high esteem, sending him monastic vestments and his blessing to establish a cenobitic monastery. It is plausible that both Saint Alexis and Saint Sergius, who were in spiritual communion with Patriarch Philotheos, were acquainted with the teachings of Saint Gregory Palamas.
The theology of hesychasm took root in the Russian Church during the formative years of North-Eastern Rus’, providing spiritual fortitude and fostering a sense of unity. This spiritual cohesion empowered the people to cast off the Tatar yoke and establish their own state.
Through the prayers of St. Gregory Palamas, O Lord, strengthen and have mercy on us, even today.
“O sacred and divine instrument of wisdom, radiant trumpet of theology, we sing your praises, Gregory, the God-inspired speaker. As one who stands before the First Mind, guide our minds, O Father, to Him, that we may cry out: Rejoice, herald of grace!”
(Kontakion, Tone 8)
Prepared by the team of obitel-minsk.ru
Images drawn from the internet
Sources:
1. St. Gregory Palamas. “Triads in Defence of the Holy Hesychasts.”
2. Protopresbyter John Meyendorff. St. Gregory Palamas: A Life Transformed by Faith. St. Petersburg, 1997. “Byzantinorossica.”
3. “If Palamas’ Opponents Had Won…” / Pravoslavie.Ru (pravoslavie.ru)
4. Bernatsky M. M. et al. “Gregory Palamas, St.” // Orthodox Encyclopaedia. Vol. 13. Moscow, 2006. P. 38.
5. Triodion for Lent. Part 1. Moscow, 2002. P. 185.
6. “Orthodox Apologist — The Church as a Communion of Deification (Ecclesiology of St. Gregory Palamas)” (apologet.spb.ru)
7. “The Origins of ‘Russian Hesychasm’” (monahovapolyana.ru)
