Saint Symeon the New Theologian (; – 12 March 1022) was an Eastern Orthodox monk and poet who was one of the three saints canonized by the Eastern Orthodox Church and given the title of "Theologian" (along with John the Apostle and Gregory of Nazianzus). "Theologian" was not applied to Symeon in the modern academic sense of theological study; the title was intended only to recognise someone who spoke from personal experience of the vision of God. One of his principal teachings was that humans could and should experience theoria (literally "contemplation," or direct experience of God).
Symeon was born into the Byzantine nobility and given a traditional education. At age fourteen, he met Symeon the Studite, a renowned monk of the Monastery of Stoudios in Constantinople, who convinced him to give his own life to prayer and asceticism under the elder Symeon's guidance. By the time he was thirty, Symeon the New Theologian became the abbot of the Monastery of Saint Mamas, a position he held for twenty-five years. He attracted many monks and clergy with his reputation for sanctity, though his teachings brought him into conflict with church authorities, who would eventually send him into exile. His most well known disciple was Nicetas Stethatos who wrote the Life of Symeon.
Symeon is recognized as the first Eastern Christian mystic to share his own mystical experiences freely. Some of his writings are included in the Philokalia, a collection of texts by early Christian mystics on contemplative prayer and hesychast teachings. Symeon wrote and spoke frequently about the importance of experiencing directly the grace of God, often talking about his own experiences of God as divine light. Another common subject in his writings was the need of putting oneself under the guidance of a spiritual father. The authority for many of his teachings derived from the traditions of the Desert Fathers, early Christian monks and ascetics. Symeon's writings include Hymns of Divine Love, Ethical Discourses, and The Catechetical Discourses.
Biography
Early life The details of Symeon's life come from his own writings and from the Life of Symeon, written by his disciple Nicetas. He was born at Basileion in Galatia to Basil and Theophano Galaton, members of the Byzantine nobility who supported the Macedonian dynasty. His given name at birth is unclear—it was traditional at that time, when becoming a monk, to take on a new name with the same initial as one's birth name. Symeon may have ignored that tradition in order to take the same name as his spiritual father, Symeon the Studite. In his writings, he sometimes described the experiences of "George," which might have been his birth name.Turner 1990, p. 17. Symeon received a basic Greek school education until the age of eleven, when an uncle recognized that he had potential for higher learning. The uncle helped Symeon to complete his secondary education at the court of the emperor Basil II and his brother Constantine VIII.deCatanzaro 1980, pp. 5–6. In the words of Nicetas, his uncle saw that Symeon was "distinguished by a beauty and elegance not common."
At age fourteen, he met Symeon the Studite (also called Symeon the Pious), a holy monk of the Monastery of Stoudios in Constantinople. That meeting convinced the younger Symeon to forgo higher education and take on Symeon the Studite as his spiritual father. At that time he began studying the life of prayer and asceticism under his guidance, with the desire to enter the monastery immediately. Symeon the Studite asked the young Symeon to wait before becoming a monk, so he spent the years until age twenty-seven serving in the household of a patrician, though according to some sources he served the emperor instead.deCatanzaro 1980, p. 6.
Living a worldly life during the day, he reportedly spent his evenings in vigils and prayer, putting into practice the writings of two authors—Marcus Eremita and Diadochos of Photiki—that were given to him by his spiritual father. It was during this time that Symeon had his first experience of God as divine light, as he described later in one of his Discourses (Disc. 22.2–4). He attributed the experience to the prayers of Symeon the Studite. In spite of the experience, the young Symeon confessed that he still fell into worldly ways of living.deCatanzaro 1980, p. 7. Direct personal experience of God was to become one of Symeon's central teachings in his writings, and to the monks who followed him.Whitacre 2007, p. 187.
Abbot of Saint Mamas monastery
At age twenty-seven, he entered the Monastery of Stoudios, giving his life over completely to discipleship to his teacher Symeon the Studite. The elder Symeon was not an ordained priest, but a simple monk who was considered holy by many people. The younger Symeon was extremely zealous in his practices and in following his teacher—to such an extent that the abbot of the monastery insisted that Symeon leave after only a few months.deCatanzaro 1980, pp. 7–8.
Following the elder Symeon's advice, he left for the nearby Monastery of Saint Mamas in Constantinople, which was described as run down, both physically and spiritually. During his time at Saint Mamas he continued to follow Symeon the Studite's guidance. Within three years after moving to Saint Mamas, Symeon was tonsured as a monk, ordained as a priest, and elected as the abbot of the monastery. He spent the next twenty-five years as abbot of Saint Mamas, attracting many monks and clergy with his reputation for learning and sanctity.deCatanzaro 1980, p. 8. Nicetas described the Saint Mamas monastery when Symeon arrived as a refuge for worldly monks, and metaphorically as a cemetery for a great number of dead.
Not all of the monks were attracted by Symeon's zealous approach. Symeon attempted to reform the Byzantine monasteries, where monks had become subservient to the emperor and had acquired large holdings of property, libraries, and art. His writings and teachings were aimed at returning the monasteries to their traditional role in the early church, urging the monks to take up a life of simplicity, asceticism, purity of heart, and constant prayer. The strict monastic discipline for which Symeon aimed upset several monks in the monastery.deCatanzaro 1980, pp. 8–9. Symeon also took a more emotional approach to worship, suggesting that a monk shouldn't take the sacrament without tears. The introduction of vegetarian meals, along with other unique practices to instill discipline and humility, also caused some displeasure among the monks.
Fifteen years after becoming abbot, one morning after the Divine Liturgy a group of approximately thirty monks rose against Symeon, who drove them away. Breaking the locks on the monastery gate on their way out, the monks took their appeal to the Patriarch Sisinios, who sided with Symeon and sent the monks into exile. Symeon pleaded on their behalf, doing everything he could to have the monks return to the monastery, including seeking out some of the monks to apologize to them.Krivocheine 1986, pp. 40–41. Nicetas described the monks as jumping on Symeon like "enraged animals", and added that Symeon's grace "kept them at a distance and drove them away." As both disciple and biographer, Nicetas was likely guilty of some embellishment. During his time as abbot, Symeon wrote Hymns of Divine Love (completed during his exile), the Discourses, and many letters and polemical works which have been lost. He also wrote articles relating to his disputes with the church theologians—these survived as his theological and ethical treatises.deCatanzaro 1980, p. 19. In 1005 Symeon resigned as abbot of Saint Mamas, appointing one of his disciples in his stead, and taking up a more solitary life at the monastery.Krivocheine 1986, pp. 44.
Opposition from the church Symeon endured severe opposition from church authorities, particularly from the chief theologian of the emperor's court, Archbishop Stephen, who at one time was the Metropolitan of Nicomedia. Stephen was a former politician and diplomat with a reputation for a thorough theoretical understanding of theology, but one which was removed from actual experience of the spiritual life. Symeon, in contrast, held the view that one must have actual experience of the Holy Spirit in order to speak about God, at the same time recognizing the authority of scripture and of the earlier Church Fathers. Their differing views on the source of authority to speak on spiritual matters was the cause of several years of intense conflict, ending with Symeon's eventual exile.Krivocheine 1986, pp. 44–45. Nicetas described Stephen in glowing words that held more than a hint of sarcasm: "In speech and knowledge he was superior to the masses... He possessed an abundance of words, a ready tongue. Having resigned the bishop's seat for obscure reasons known only to God, he remained close to the Patriarch and enjoyed a great reputation with everyone for his learning."
Stephen found fault with Symeon especially for his charismatic approach, and his support of individual direct experience of God's grace. Symeon believed that direct experience gave monks the authority to preach and give absolution of sins, without the need for formal ordination—as practiced by his own teacher, Symeon the Studite. Church authorities also taught from a speculative and philosophical perspective, while Symeon taught from his own direct mystical experience.deCatanzaro 1980, pp. 9–10. Symeon's teachings, especially those regarding the direct experience of God's grace, brought accusations of heresy from Stephen. Symeon responded to Stephen's charges by declaring that the real heresy was to teach that it is impossible to have direct experience of God (Disc. 29.4).Whitacre 2007, p. 188.
Stephen also found fault with Symeon for revering his spiritual father, Symeon the Studite. At that time, formal recognition of saints was seldom practiced and not obligatory, so revered monks were informally recognized and honored by monasteries and by their disciples. Every year the younger Symeon arranged a celebration honoring his teacher, which included an icon of Symeon the Studite and a service to him. Stephen rebuked Symeon for honoring his teacher as a saint, because in his opinion the Studite was not worthy of any honor.Alfeyev 2000, pp. 39–41. The conflict between the two lasted for six years.Krivocheine 1986, p. 49.
Stephen was finally able to bring Symeon before the Synod on charges of honoring as a saint someone who Stephen believed was far from saintly. At first, Patriarch Sergius II of Constantinople supported Symeon, going so far as to send candles and perfume in support of the veneration of Symeon the Studite at St. Mammas. Stephen attacked the Studite as unholy and sinful, and was eventually able to convince others that Symeon's homage was improper by convincing them that the Studite held some unorthodox beliefs. As a compromise, Stephen suggested that the annual festival honoring the elder Symeon be held as a private observance within the monastery. Symeon the New Theologian refused to compromise, declaring that it was his duty to honor the Church Fathers and the saints, and in January 1009 was condemned to go into exile.Turner 1990, p. 33. According to Nicetas, Stephen was motivated by jealousy over Symeon's reputation for sanctity and wisdom. Stephen also convinced the Patriarch to order all icons of Symeon the Studite removed from St. Mammas, with many of them destroyed or covered over with soot.Krivocheine 1986, p. 52. Nicetas, who must have seen the event, but was also not impartial, described the scene thus: "murderous hands cut some of the icons of the holy man into pieces with an axe, hitting the image on the breast or on the head with unbridled fury."
Symeon, for his part, never backed down from the church authorities. In one of his hymns, he had Christ speaking the following rebuke to the bishops: They (the bishops) unworthily handle My Body