949–1022
Saint Symeon the New Theologian
Byzantine monk and mystical writer from Paphlagonia, abbot of the Monastery of St Mamas in Constantinople, known for his Hymns of Divine Love and his teaching on the vision of the divine light.
Biography
Symeon was born in 949 in Paphlagonia, into a wealthy family of the Byzantine nobility, and grew up in Constantinople under the protection of an uncle who served at the imperial court. There he met the monk Symeon the Studite of the Stoudios monastery, who became his spiritual father.
According to tradition, one night of prayer he saw a brilliant heavenly light and experienced an ecstasy in which he felt himself immaterial; this experience led him to monastic life. He became a monk at the Stoudios monastery and later, around 980, abbot of the Monastery of Saint Mamas in Constantinople, a position he held for about 25 years.
He taught the direct experience of divine grace as light and the need to submit to a spiritual father, teaching that brought him into conflict with the church authorities and led to his exile. His works include the Hymns of Divine Love, the Ethical Discourses and the Catechetical Discourses; he died in 1022.