In 1784, two years after the publication of the Philokalia, Saint Makarios of Corinth returned to Mount Athos and encouraged Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite to undertake the preparation of an edition of the writings of Saint Symeon the New Theologian (949–1022). With the assistance of Dionysios Zagoraios, who translated the texts into modern Greek, Nikodemos gathered the scattered manuscripts and published them together in 1790. He also composed a Service of Praise and an Encomium in honor of Saint Symeon, intended to be read on his feast day, October 12. In this Encomium, Saint Nikodemos praises Saint Symeon’s holiness, theological wisdom, and spiritual greatness, presenting him as a model of the life in Christ. The following is an English translation of this Encomium, presented here for the first time.
Encomium to our Venerable and God-bearing Father Symeon the New Theologian
By St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite
1. Today a common joy has dawned upon the whole world; today a mysterious gladness has shone forth upon the inhabited earth; today a spiritual rejoicing has seized the entire Church of Christ. For what reason? And why? Because of the joyous feast and splendid celebration of Saint Symeon the New Theologian.
2. Likewise, the earth below rejoices, and the entire Orthodox Church still waging its struggle on earth celebrates with all the ranks of Patriarchs, Chief Hierarchs, Priests, monastics, Kings, senators, rulers, and all the peoples. For it possesses within itself, as treasures of great value, as precious jewels of stones, pearls, and gold, and as spiritual wealth, the divinely inspired, brilliantly luminous, and honey-flowing writings of Symeon, in which it delights and which it enjoys. Through this common joy of heaven and earth, the life-originating and All-Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the God of all, is glorified by those in heaven and those on earth. He bestowed grace upon His own Saint Symeon, glorified him, and magnified him, both while he was on earth, with so many supernatural and superhuman gifts, and after his departure to heaven, with so many ineffable glories of blessedness.
3. Therefore, let us also rejoice spiritually today, brethren. Let us clap our hands with hymns and spiritual songs, and let us praise the most august feast and joyous commemoration of our God-bearing Father Symeon. For he is not only righteous, and the commemoration of the righteous ought to be made with encomia, as Solomon said, “The memory of the righteous is accompanied by praises” (Proverbs 10:7), but he is also wise and a great theologian. The wise and theologians, likewise, ought to be praised, according to that same Solomon who says, “The mouth of the discerning man is praised by men” (Proverbs 12:8).4. Let us also rejoice together with the Church of the Firstborn above, triumphant in heaven, sharing in its joy over the inexpressible glory and the inconceivable and ineffable blessings of blessedness, “which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man,” according to Paul (1 Corinthians 2:9). These are the blessings enjoyed today by the most God-like and light-formed soul of the sacred Symeon, which rejoices and is glad together with all the immaterial spirits of the blessed around the throne of the three-sunned Divinity.
5. Let us also rejoice together with the Orthodox Church below, which is still waging its struggle on earth, sharing in its joy over the spiritual treasures of the Saint’s writings, which it has enjoyed. Rather, brethren, let us ourselves also delight in these spiritual treasures and enjoy them by studying the words of the divine Symeon day and night, so that we may become like that scribe whom the Lord mentions in the Gospel, saying, “Therefore every scribe who has been instructed in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old” (Matthew 13:52). By “new” He means the teachings of the New Testament, and by “old,” those of the Old Testament. These are found abundantly in the Saint’s writings and enrich those who read them.
Above all, let us gather beautiful flowers and fragrant roses from the meadows of the divine Scriptures and the writings of the sacred Fathers, that is, theological teachings and spiritual sayings. Having woven from them a very small crown, let us crown with it the theological summit of our sacred Father Symeon and dutifully praise his venerable magnificence, demonstrating that he passed through all the degrees and ranks of those who are being saved and attained the perfection possible for human beings.
6. All those who are being saved can be divided into six degrees and ranks.
The first degree is reached when someone keeps certain divine commandments out of fear of God and punishment, like a slave.
The second is reached when someone keeps the commandments of the Master for the reward of the Kingdom of Heaven, like a hired servant.
The third is reached when someone keeps certain commandments of the Lord solely out of love for God, like a friend.
The fourth degree, which is higher, is reached when someone attains the status of a son of God by grace, to whom the Kingdom of God is given as an inheritance, according to that apostolic saying, “And if a son, then an heir of God” (Galatians 4:7).
The fifth degree, which is higher still, is reached when someone is deemed worthy to become a brother of Christ. By virtue of this brotherhood, he also becomes a co-heir with Christ of the Kingdom of God, according to the Apostle’s words, “Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17).
The sixth degree, the highest of all, is reached when someone is deemed worthy to become a mother of Christ, according to the words of Christ Himself, who said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven is My brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:49–50).
Now, if we take a brief look at the life and writings of Saint Symeon, whose feast we celebrate today, we see that he passed through all these six degrees of those who are being saved and attained perfection.
7. FIRST, we see that this divine Father attained the degree and rank of slaves and that he kept all the commandments out of fear of the Lord. He attained the rank of slaves for two reasons.
a) It is characteristic of a slave of the Lord not to become angry or quarrel with others, as Paul says, “A slave of the Lord must not quarrel” (2 Timothy 2:24). Saint Symeon observed this. For we read in his Life that when those thirty unruly monks, having torn their monastic habits like Annas and Caiaphas, rushed against him with savage cries, this true slave of Christ did not become angry with them or engage in a quarrel. Instead, he displayed such great meekness that he looked upon those inhuman and beast-like men with a cheerful and most gracious countenance, smiling at them.
What is even more astonishing is that, although those hard-hearted and patricidal men broke the locks, fled outside the monastery, and scattered here and there, the Saint, as a meek slave and imitator of Jesus, did not rest until, through words and deeds, he softened their hard hearts and, like a true shepherd, brought the lost sheep back to their spiritual fold.
b) Whoever is a true slave of Christ does not show partiality toward persons or seek the approval of people. Rather, he speaks the truth impartially, with the sole aim of pleasing the Master, God. For this is characteristic of God’s slaves, as Paul confirms when he says, “If I were still pleasing men, I would not be a slave of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).
8. The Saint’s sacred Life shows us that Saint Symeon was impartial in precisely this way. Although that envious Stephen of Nicomedia and an entire synod of Chief Hierarchs opposed him, preventing him from celebrating his God-bearing Father Symeon the Devout as a saint, the Saint did not show regard for human persons or speak to please them. Far from it! He vigorously defended his position without regard for persons, as though standing before God.
He demonstrated not only through words that it was proper and just to honor and celebrate that God-bearing and Spirit-bearing elder of his, but also confirmed this through deeds. He celebrated his feast, venerated his holy icon, and honored him as a saint in truth with hymns and encomia in song.
That Saint Symeon kept the divine commandments and became wise out of fear of the Lord is also evident. For the fear of the Lord has the natural characteristic of hating and turning away from injustice, pride, insults, and every other evil and transgression of the divine commandments, as Solomon confirms: “The fear of the Lord hates injustice, insult, pride, and the ways of the wicked” (Proverbs 8:13).
9. Who, then, can deny that the sacred Symeon also had the fear of God deeply rooted in his heart and, for this reason, hated every passion, every sin, and every transgression of the divine commandments? This fear persuaded him to turn away from the love of pleasure, the love of glory, and the love of wealth. This fear made him abhor the flesh, the world, and the ruler of the world. This fear drove from his soul every cowardly fear arising from the passions and emboldened him to go alone, sit through the entire night among the tombs of the dead, and strive to impress deeply upon his imagination the remembrance of death, the remembrance of judgment, and the remembrance of punishment, and to see every beautiful and handsome face as though it were dead and ugly.
This fear persuaded the divine Symeon to go and shut himself inside that small, tomb-like cell mentioned in his Life,[1] where he would remain quiet, separating his mind from the distractions and wandering thoughts of the world, and contemplating the future restoration of all things. For he had heard Saint Isaac say, “The fear of God is the beginning of virtue. It is said to be the offspring of faith, and it is sown in the heart when the mind withdraws from the distractions of the world, gathering its thoughts, which wander because of distraction, through meditation on the future restoration.”[2]
This fear urged him to keep all the commandments of the Lord and, through observance of the commandments, to cleanse his flesh of the passions. For he had heard Gregory the Theologian say, “Where there is fear, there is observance of the commandments; and where there is observance of the commandments, there is purification of the flesh, which removes the cloud that lies before the soul and prevents it from seeing the divine ray clearly.”[3]
10. To put it briefly, this fear strengthened him to endure every affliction, to remove from his soul the passion of insensibility, and to feel true life in his heart. For all these things are the result of divine fear, according to Saint Isaac, who says, “One must endure affliction for the sake of the fear of God,” and, “The fear of God is the beginning of a man’s true life.”[4]
Through all these things, the fear of God enabled this man of blessed memory to attain the blessedness of the one who fears the Lord, as David said: “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord; he will greatly delight in His commandments” (Psalm 111:1).
Since the fear of God also naturally becomes the beginning of divine wisdom and bestows instruction and wisdom upon the God-fearing person, as David confirms the former when he says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 110:10), and David’s son Solomon confirms the latter when he says, “The fear of the Lord is instruction and wisdom” (Proverbs 15:33), who can doubt that the fear of God brought these good things also to our Venerable Father Symeon?
Therefore, if you read the Life of Symeon,[5] and see how he was prudent and discerning from childhood and hated every disorder, how he progressed in his studies, and how, without having studied philosophy and theology, he nevertheless philosophized and theologized, know that the fear of God was the beginning, support, and foundation of all the divine wisdom of this great Father.
Notes
1. Niketas Stethatos, Life and Conduct of Our Father among the Saints, Symeon, Priest and Abbot of the Monastery of Saint Mamas of Xerokerkos, edited by P. Irénée Hausherr, S.J., in Orientalia Christiana XII, 45 (1928), p. 11. (Hereafter, references to the Saint’s Life will refer to the above edition.)
2. Our Venerable Father Isaac the Syrian, Discourse I, “On Renunciation and the Monastic Life.”
3. Gregory the Theologian, Oration on the Holy Lights, 8, Migne, Patrologia Graeca 36, 344A.
4. Discourse I, pp. 2–3.
5. Life, 2, 10–20.
CONTINUED
