Heseychasm and the Oriental Churches

[Little_Boy_Lost]

To what extent does Heseychia and it’s practices are to be found in the Oriental and Assyrian Churches?

I read that St. Gregory of Sinai and other monks around his time took Heseychia from the Desert of Sinai to Mount Athos and from there to other regions of the Empire. Is this correct in the way Heseychia was brought to the Greeks?

 

[Antonius_Lupus]

From what I understand, it’s largely non-existent. The classical hesychasm (pre-Palamas) was probably simply a unique expression of Greek Catholicism, especially in the context of the monastic communities. By Palamas’ time, again from what I understand, the Palamite view of hesychasm caused a great deal of dispute and problems in the Greek Churches alone, it caused Rome much concern (it arguably still does; Rome accepts without qualm the classical hesychasm, but Palamas is another story), and I have no doubt it would have been seen similarly by the Oriental churches.

For the record, I draw much of my understanding here from James Likoudis and his apologetics work.

 

[Alexander_Roman]

The practice of repeating a single prayer as occurs with the Jesus Prayer is universal among the Oriental Churches and its monastics. In the Coptic tradition, it was largely up to the monastic which short verse from the psalms he or she would use as their prayer, although the opening verses of Psalm 69 were highly favoured, as noted by Cassian and others (“O God come to my assistance, O Lord make haste to help me”).

Today one can see copies of the Philokalia in Oriental Churches with smaller pamphlets on the Jesus Prayer. There may not be the exclusive focus on the Jesus Prayer in the Oriental Churches, but there is nothing about Hesychasm that would be foreign to them.

Whatever Likoudis may have said about Palamas, the fact is he is recognized by Rome as a saint (this acknowledgement occurred in 1973) and he is in the calendar of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, the largest EC Church, and others. The controversies of the past, which were largely due to the fact that the Catholic West lacked the theological perspective by which to understand Palamism to begin with, have been put to rest. The Greek Orthodox Church certainly found in favour of Palamas and ordained that this doctor of the Church be commemorated on the Second Sunday of Lent/Great Fast, almost as a kind of second “Sunday of Orthodoxy.”

From his biography, some have said Palamas was also a stigmatist, “adorned with the Wounds of Christ.”

Alex

 

[dzheremi]

The practice of repeating a single prayer as occurs with the Jesus Prayer is universal among the Oriental Churches and its monastics.

For example, there is a part during each hour of the Agpeya when “Kyrie eleison” is chanted 41 times (one for each lash received by our Savior before the crucifixion, plus one each for the piercing of His side and the placing of the crown of thorns).

 

[Cecilianus]

From his biography, some have said Palamas was also a stigmatist, “adorned with the Wounds of Christ.”

Alex

That’s interesting - do you know off the top of your head someplace (in English!) where I can more about this?

 

[Little_Boy_Lost]

From his biography, some have said Palamas was also a stigmatist, “adorned with the Wounds of Christ.”

Alex

I’ve seen that one this forum in a few threads related to Palamas. I asked my pastor about it and he’s never heard such and thing.

 

[Alexander_Roman]

I’ve seen that one this forum in a few threads related to Palamas. I asked my pastor about it and he’s never heard such and thing.

My pastor hasn’t heard of that either. It doesn’t mean that either pastor know all.

A very “Orthodox in communion with Rome” EC priest I know was very much against the Rosary. He wouldn’t believe that the ROC and St Seraphim of Sarov practiced it even when I showed him the evidence in such sources as the book “Staretz Zechariah: An Early Soviet Saint” (chapter six). But after a time he came around . . .

Alex

 

[Alexander_Roman]

That’s interesting - do you know off the top of your head someplace (in English!) where I can more about this?

His bio refers to him being “adorned with the Wounds of Christ” and an EC priest once referred to this as evidence that he could have been a stigmatist. This is never referred to by any Orthodox writers and as far as I know no one has ventured to analyze the precise meaning of those words.

Alex

 

[Antonius_Lupus]

the fact is he is recognized by Rome as a saint (this acknowledgement occurred in 1973) and he is in the calendar of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, the largest EC Church, and others. The controversies of the past, which were largely due to the fact that the Catholic West lacked the theological perspective by which to understand Palamism to begin with, have been put to rest.

Well, I stand corrected. Thank you for taking the time to explain this.

Could you also direct me to some sources or links to better understand what you have said in the quote above. I would very much like to look deeper into this.

 

[Alexander_Roman]

Not at all. Some handy information on the sanctity of Gregory Palamas within Catholicism is to be had on Catholic Online, Angels & Saints.

Fr. Cyril Korolevsky has written on the recognition of Palamas, although I would be hard-pressed to dig this information up right now.

Googling him can call up sufficient good information as well.

Our Patriarch, Joseph the Hieroconfessor, put him into our calendar. Fr. Serge Keleher in Dublin can be contacted for further information as it was he who first called my attention to all this.

Cheers!

Alex

 

[Alfonsus]

I thought Hesychasm includes more than repeating prayer?

From my understanding, in the Orthodox Church the Hesychasm concept is tightly linked with the essence-energy understanding, proper of Byzantine tradition.

While the Orientals too practice prayer without ceasing, but they traditionally do not have essence-energy understanding like Byzantines do.

 

[Alexander_Roman]

I don’t know if they do or don’t - but the divinizing impact of the repetition of such prayers would be the same.

This reminds me of the 17th Spanish galleon that had to stop at an uncharted Caribbean island to pick up some extra food supplies.

On the island they discovered their lived three brothers who had survived a pirate attack on their ship in which their parents and everyone else were killed.

There was a bishop on board the galleon who asked the brothers how they lived. They told them they shared all their chores, collected food together and in every other which way, lived as monks.

They told the bishops that throughout the day, they ceaselessly repeated: “You are Three, we are three - bless us!”

When the bishop asked them about other devotions, he found that they didn’t even know the “Our Father.” The bishop insisted that they must learn the Our Father and, as the brothers refused to leave their island, the bishop began rehearsing the prayer with them, repeating with them each phrase over and over again.

As the ship later sailed off, bidding the brothers farewell, the bishop thought that was that.

Toward nightfall on the galleon, however, a cry came from the watchman. The sailors ran to the side of the ship to see what he was frantically waving at. To their shock, they saw the three brothers they had left behind running over the water, arms locked, toward their ship.

As they came up beside it, they stopped running and stood, on top of the water, before the horrified and now physically weak sailors who couldn’t believe their eyes.

The bishop alone had the presence of mind to speak and ask, “What do you want of us, holy brothers?”

One of their number then replied, "Reverend Bishop, we have confused the words of the Our Father prayer you taught us! I say that “Give us this day our daily bread . . .” comes after “Thy kingdom come,” but my brother next to me says that it should come after the phrase “Thy will be done . . .” On the other hand, this brother says that we are both wrong and that it should come after “Hallowed be Thy Name!”

At this, the bishop said, “Holy Brothers! Go back to your island where you commune with God so incessantly by means of your simple prayer! You have no need to know anything further . . .”



Alex

 

[Alfonsus]

Interesting story, brother Alex!

From Wikipedia I found this entry:

Kallistos Ware distinguishes five distinct meanings of the term “hesychasm”:

1. “solitary life”, a sense, equivalent to “eremitical life”, in which the term is used since the 4th century;
2. “the practice of inner prayer, aiming at union with God on a level beyond images, concepts and language”, a sense in which the term is found in Evagrius Ponticus (345-399), Maximus the Confessor (c. 580-662), and Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022);
3. “the quest for such union through the Jesus Prayer”, the earliest reference to which is in Diadochos of Photiki (c. 450);
4. “a particular psychosomatic technique in combination with the Jesus Prayer”, use of which technique can be traced back at least to the 13th century;
5. “the theology of St. Gregory Palamas”, on which see Palamism.

I believe Christian outside Byzantine tradition have no problem whatsoever with definition 1-4, while for Palamism will free to agree/disagree simply because it is outside their respective tradition.

 

[hazcompat]

Jesus. His very name is prayer. At His name every head shall bow and knee shall bend. Try it. Sometimes I can lecture and pray simultaneously. Jesus.

peace

 

[Little_Boy_Lost]

Thanks Alfonsus!

 

[Cecilianus]

Jesus. His very name is prayer. At His name every head shall bow and knee shall bend. Try it. Sometimes I can lecture and pray simultaneously. Jesus.

peace

Imyaslavie.

I love how Roman Catholic theology and spiritual practice happen to converge with such a thoroughly complete expression of Palamism as imyaslavie.