The Life
who first systematically described the direct vision of the divine light as the central goal of the Christian life, was exiled by the patriarch for venerating his spiritual father, and is one of only three saints called "Theologian." Symeon was born in 949 in Galatia in Paphlagonia (Asia Minor). His parents Basil and Theophana were pious Byzantine provincial nobles. He finished his secondary education at age fourteen in the imperial court at Constantinople, where he met Saint Symeon the Pious of the Studion Monastery, who became his spiritual father. He worked in the world for thirteen years before entering the Studion at twenty-seven. Transferred to the Monastery of Saint Mamas in Constantinople, he was tonsured, ordained priest, and made abbot around 980 at age thirty. He served twenty-five years, attracting many monks with his teaching about the direct vision of the divine light. Conflict with Patriarch Sisinnius over his liturgical commemoration of his elder led to his exile in 1009 to Chrysopolis (the small Monastery of Saint Marina). He spent the last thirteen years there composing the Hymns of Divine Love, the Catechetical Discourses, and the Ethical Discourses. He reposed on March 12, 1022. The Church gave him the title "New Theologian" alongside Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Gregory of Nazianzus.
Saint Symeon was born in 949 in Galatia in Paphlagonia (Asia Minor) to deeply pious Byzantine provincial nobles named Basil and Theophana. He received basic primary education near home in his youth. At about eleven years old, his parents sent him to Constantinople for advanced secondary education, where his uncle was a senior official in the imperial court. The young Symeon completed his secondary education at fourteen in the imperial court under the brother emperors Basil II and Constantine VIII Porphyrogenitus. At that decisive age, he met Saint Symeon the Pious (also known as Saint Symeon the Studite or Eulabes), an elder of the famous Studion Monastery in Constantinople. The relationship between the gifted noble youth and the elder began at this providential moment. Saint Symeon the Pious became his spiritual father and led him into the life of asceticism and prayer.
During the years between his meeting with Saint Symeon the Pious at fourteen and his entry into the Studion at twenty-seven, the young Saint Symeon continued his secular career in the imperial capital while maintaining his spiritual relationship with his elder. Around the age of twenty (about seven years before he entered the monastery), while still a layman in the world, Saint Symeon experienced a blinding light during his deep prayer. The vision of the divine light was the first of the many deep mystical experiences that would mark his entire later life. A second light was present in the vision, and Saint Symeon seemed to see his elder Symeon the Pious within the divine light. The vision confirmed the providential calling to the monastic and theological life that he had received through his relationship with his elder.
At the age of twenty-seven (around 976), Saint Symeon entered the Studion Monastery, receiving the monastic tonsure under the guidance of his elder Saint Symeon the Pious. Zeal for God, unquestioning obedience, and deep love for his elder distinguished him as a young ascetic. However, the deep depth of their bond and Saint Symeon’s rapid spiritual progress aroused unease among the abbot and brethren of the Studion. His elder blessed him to transfer to the nearby Monastery of Saint Mamas in Constantinople. There he received another monastic tonsure, was ordained a priest, and embraced an even stricter ascetic life. He constantly sought solitude for deeper prayer and contemplation. Around 980, when he was about thirty, he became abbot of the Monastery of Saint Mamas. He served twenty-five years (980–1005), attracting many monks with his reputation for sanctity and his teaching about the direct experience of the divine light.
Saint Symeon’s particular theological achievement was the first systematic exposition in the entire history of Eastern Christian theology of the direct mystical experience of the divine light as the central goal of the authentic Christian ascetical life. He was the first to identify the vision of the divine light as the primary aim of ascetical striving. He was the first to speak of dispassion and deification (theosis) in such a personal manner. He taught against the prevailing theological view of his time that the direct experience of the divine grace had been the particular privilege of the apostolic generation and the great saints of the distant past, and was no longer available to the ordinary Christian community of the middle Byzantine period. He demonstrated through his own continuing mystical experiences and through his encouragement of his monks that the providence of God continues to grant the direct mystical experiences to the faithful Christians who pursue the authentic ascetical and liturgical life. He taught: "Do not say that God does not manifest Himself to man. Do not say that men cannot perceive the divine light, or that it is impossible in this age! Never is it found to be impossible, my friends. On the contrary, it is entirely possible when one desires it." His teaching prepared the entire later hesychast tradition.
Saint Symeon’s teaching about the continuing accessibility of the divine light brought him into conflict with the ecclesiastical authorities of his time. The particular dispute centered on his liturgical commemoration of his elder Symeon the Pious as a saint. Saint Symeon had commissioned an icon of his elder, composed liturgical hymns in his honor, and established a liturgical commemoration for him on the date of his repose, all done before any formal ecclesiastical glorification. The syncellus Stephen of Nicomedia and the patriarchal authorities objected to the unauthorized veneration. The dispute continued for several years. In 1005 Saint Symeon resigned as abbot of Saint Mamas, appointing one of his disciples in his stead. In 1009 he was exiled to Chrysopolis on the eastern shore of the Bosphorus, opposite Constantinople, near the ruined Monastery of Saint Marina (Saint Macrina). He received his exile with apostolic acceptance.
Saint Symeon spent the last thirteen years of his life in exile at Chrysopolis. Many of his close disciples (both monks and secular people) gathered around him at the small monastery of Saint Marina. At Saint Marina he was free of the monks who had been averse to his discipline and free from direct conflict with the patriarchal authorities. He continued to honor Saint Symeon the Pious; most of the clergy from Constantinople, along with many monks and laymen, joined him during those liturgical celebrations. He continued his theological writing and made himself accessible to all who wanted to see him. During these years he composed the Hymns of Divine Love (58 poetic compositions describing his mystical experiences), the Catechetical Discourses (practical pastoral instructions for monks and laity), and the Ethical Discourses (theological treatises engaging the controversies of his time). Some of his writings have been preserved in the Philokalia.
The biblical foundation of Saint Symeon’s deep mystical theology is the apostolic teaching of Saint John the Theologian that the beloved disciples of the Lord beheld his glory directly with their physical eyes. Saint Symeon taught that this direct vision of the divine glory is not the antique privilege of the apostolic generation but the continuing providential possibility for any faithful Christian who pursues the authentic ascetical and liturgical life. The Lord himself manifested his divine glory at the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor (Matthew 17:1–8, Mark 9:2–8, Luke 9:28–36) and continues to manifest his divine glory to those who seek him. May we, in our own particular vocations, pursue the direct experience of the deep grace of God that the apostolic teaching makes available to every faithful Christian.
According to his biographer and disciple Saint Nicetas Stethatos, Saint Symeon foretold his own death many years previously. On his last day he called together all the monks of his small community to sing the funeral hymns. He reposed of dysentery on March 12, 1022, at the age of seventy-two. His feast day is celebrated on March 12 (the date of his repose) by some Orthodox jurisdictions, while others commemorate him on October 12, because March 12 falls within Great Lent and the liturgical commemoration of a major saint is not appropriate during the penitential season. He is one of only three saints in the entire history of the Orthodox Church granted the title "Theologian," alongside Saint John the Apostle and Saint Gregory of Nazianzus.
Symeon gives the Christian Church a particular gift: the early Eastern dramatization that the direct mystical experience of the divine grace through the vision of the divine light is a continuing providential possibility for any faithful Christian who pursues the authentic ascetical and liturgical life with depth. He met Saint Symeon the Pious at fourteen. He had his first vision of the divine light at twenty. He entered the Studion at twenty-seven and transferred to Saint Mamas. He served as abbot for twenty-five years (980–1005). He was exiled to Chrysopolis in 1009 over his veneration of his elder. He composed the Hymns of Divine Love, the Catechetical Discourses, and the Ethical Discourses during his exile years. He reposed on March 12, 1022. He is one of only three saints in the Orthodox Church granted the title "Theologian." We may not be mystical theologians. But we are all called to pursue the direct experience of the grace of God in our particular vocations, trusting that the providence of God continues to manifest the divine glory to those who seek him.