St. Gregory Palamas (14 Nov.)

St. Gregory Palamas was a monk in Mount Athos (Greece) and later Archbishop of Thessaloniki. He is best remembered for his defense of hesychasm (the mystical practice of inner silence and prayer aimed at union with God). Around 1318, he and his two brothers went to Mount Athos, where they learned firsthand the traditional hesychastic way of contemplative prayer. With the invasion of the Turks, he was forced to flee to Thessalonica, being ordained a priest there in 1326. He eventually returned to Athos in 1331. Six years later, he became involved in a controversy with Barlaam, a Greek monk from Calabria, Italy. Barlaam believed that philosophers had better knowledge of God than did the prophets, and he valued education and learning more than contemplative prayer. Barlaam expressed the unknowability of God in an extreme form, Barlaam believed the monks on Mount Athos were wasting their time in contemplative prayer when they should instead be studying to gain intellectual knowledge. When St. Gregory criticized Barlaam's rationalism, Barlaam replied with a vicious attack on the hesychastic life of the [Athonite] monks.

Contrary to Barlaam, Gregory asserted that the prophets in fact had greater knowledge of God, because they had actually seen or heard God himself. To answer the question of how humans could have knowledge of a transcendent God, Gregory distinguished between knowing God in his essence (ousía) and knowing God in his energies. Basically, it is possible to know God through His energies ("grace") which come down to us, but it remains impossible to know God in his essence, God in himself. Gregory also asserted that when the Apostles witnessed the Transfiguration of Christ on Mt. Tabor, that they were seeing the uncreated light of God. Thus, it is possible for others to see that same uncreated light of God with the help of repentance, discipline, and contemplative prayer. Synods held in Constantinople in 1341, 1347, and 1351 confirmed St. Gregory's teaching. In 1347, he was consecrated Archbishop of Thessalonica. In 1359, Gregory departed this life. His relics repose in the St. Gregory Palamas Cathedral in Thessaloniki, Greece.

St. Gregory Palamas is commemorated on 14 November (Byzantine and Roman Churches) and the second Sunday of Lent (Byzantine Church).

"We unite ourselves to God, in so far as this is possible, by participating in the godlike virtues and by entering into communion with Him through prayer and praise."