Byzantine Hesychast Tradition and the Spiritual Legacy of St. Nicholas Cavasilas

– By Roman Atorin The righteous Nicholas Cabasilas Chamaetos, a saint of the 14th century, was an Orthodox theologian, lay ascetic, encyclopedic scholar, mystical philosopher (in the Orthodox sense of the term), and one of the holy fathers who clearly expressed in his works the Orthodox teaching grounded in the concept of hesychasm. St. Nicholas was acquainted with the renowned 14th-century systematizer of hesychast doctrine, St. Gregory Palamas, with whom he spent a year together on the Holy Mountain of Athos. Notably, Nicholas Cabasilas was among the three candidates for the patriarchal throne in 1353. To the pen of Nicholas Cabasilas belong various theological writings, hagiographies, philosophical, and political treatises. However, he is most renowned as an expositor of the Church’s teaching on the Sacraments. In his works dedicated to the Orthodox doctrine of the Church’s Sacraments, the theologian reflected the theological experience of the preceding fathers. These facts testify to St. Nicholas’s deep rootedness in the patristic theological tradition, his active pursuit of the Christian path, and his steadfastness in confessing the Orthodox faith. However, despite the acknowledged importance of St. Nicholas’s written legacy, it remains little known in Russia. Protopriest John Meyendorff, in his books Introduction to Patristic Theology and Byzantine Theology, pays attention to the person and theology of St. Nicholas, providing a patrological overview of his life and teachings. In the annotated bibliography of hesychasm compiled by well-known contemporary scholars A.G. Dunaev and S.S. Khoruzhy, there are forty-one studies in foreign languages on the teachings of Nicholas Cabasilas. This list includes both studies of his specific works on the Church’s Sacraments and general studies of his oeuvre. Unfortunately, these studies are practically inaccessible to Russian readers, both due to the language barrier (these works have not been translated into Russian) and their physical unavailability in Russia. Let us turn to the saint’s biography. Nicholas Cabasilas Chamaetos was born around 1320 in Thessalonica into an aristocratic family. As his synaxarion narrates, “he had parents noble and virtuous.” Members of his family exerted significant influence on the ecclesiastical and political life of Byzantium beginning in the 9th century. Precise details about the saint’s life are scarce. His mother was the sister of three hierarchs, the most notable of whom was St. Nilus Cabasilas, Metropolitan of Thessalonica (baptized as Nicholas, which has led some researchers to confuse him with his nephew, the righteous Nicholas). St. Nilus was a Palamite and the author of many polemical-theological works. He was responsible for the initial education of St. Nicholas, exerting a beneficial influence on the formation of his nephew’s soul. At an early age, St. Nicholas became acquainted with hesychasm, not only through his uncle. By the 1330s, Nicholas Cabasilas was closely associated with the hesychast movement. His spiritual director was a disciple of St. Gregory of Sinai and the future Patriarch of Constantinople, Isidore Buchiras, who was a friend of St. Gregory Palamas. In his youth, Nicholas traveled to Constantinople, where he studied theology, philosophy, rhetoric, jurisprudence, and astronomy, as evidenced by his correspondence with his father and friends. Apparently, theological debates about divine knowledge and the political events of the time held little interest for the young man, as he does not mention them in his letters. Having completed his education, St. Nicholas returned to his homeland, Thessalonica. At that time, the city was engulfed by the Zealot movement. Alongside other aristocrats, the Cabasilas family suffered from the Zealots, and it is possible that these troubles affected St. Nicholas’s family as well. As a result, sympathies grew among Thessalonica’s nobility for John Cantacuzenus, an opponent of the Zealots. The council of Thessalonica’s archons sent an embassy to Manuel, the younger son of Cantacuzenus, which included St. Nicholas Cabasilas, who was then just over twenty years old. This marked the beginning of his rapprochement with John Cantacuzenus, the future emperor. St. Nicholas actively engaged in the country’s political life, becoming a secretary and advisor to John Cantacuzenus, supporting him during the civil war while also engaging in diplomatic activities. In 1345, a new Zealot uprising occurred. Amid the horrific massacre of Thessalonica’s nobility, St. Nicholas narrowly escaped death, hiding with a few others in a well in the acropolis. During this time, St. Gregory Palamas also had a significant influence on the country’s political life. He sought to reconcile the warring factions. Despite his considerable political authority in the empire, personal sympathy for John Cantacuzenus, and confidence in the righteousness and benefit of his victory for the state, St. Gregory maintained a sober position of neutrality befitting a church figure. For example, he wrote to the Athonite monks regarding the events in the empire: “What ought we to do when discord hath arisen? Should we incite our kinsmen against one another, or explain to them that they are members one of another, and that they must not treat their own kin as foreigners?” This was a challenging time for Byzantium, both politically and ecclesiastically. After the death of Emperor Andronicus III, the already declining empire was engulfed in a civil war with widespread participation of the masses, from which John VI Cantacuzenus emerged victorious as regent for the young John V Palaiologos. In 1347, Cantacuzenus entered Constantinople and was officially recognized as the senior emperor and ruler of the empire. His daughter Helena became the wife of Emperor John V Palaiologos. The civil war ended with the victory of the feudal aristocracy. The country was devastated, and the treasury was depleted. Byzantium was reduced to a second-rate Balkan power. After Cantacuzenus’s victory, St. Nicholas returned to Constantinople and entered the emperor’s service. In the second half of 1347, he was already at Cantacuzenus’s court. Despite the favor shown to him by both emperors—John V Palaiologos and John VI Cantacuzenus—he deeply longed for his homeland, as expressed in his letters. It is necessary to note the influence that John Cantacuzenus had on the formation of St. Nicholas’s personality. As A.G. Dunaev observes, John VI Cantacuzenus was one of the main and most influential participants in the Palamite controversies and was also the author of several theological-polemical works and a Byzantine historian. As Protopriest John Meyendorff remarks, “on the foundations laid by Cantacuzenus’s circle, two or three generations of intellectuals arose…” Upon ascending the Constantinopolitan throne in 1347, John Cantacuzenus sought a suitable candidate for the new patriarch to replace the deposed John Kalekas. This position was filled by the aforementioned spiritual mentor of St. Nicholas’s youth, Isidore Buchiras. In turn, Isidore appointed St. Gregory Palamas as Archbishop of Thessalonica. John Cantacuzenus entrusted St. Nicholas Cabasilas with accompanying the newly elected Archbishop to his see. However, the Zealots occupying the city did not allow the entry of St. Gregory Palamas, and so he, along with St. Nicholas and others in their entourage, proceeded to Mount Athos. There, St. Nicholas spent a year with the great teacher of hesychasm, St. Gregory Palamas. In the mid-14th century, theological disputes in the empire intensified once again, primarily due to the doctrinal opposition of the philosopher Nicephorus Gregoras to St. Gregory Palamas. On May 28, 1351, Emperor John Cantacuzenus and the holy Patriarch Callistus I convened a council in one of the halls of the Blachernae Palace to address accusations of unorthodoxy against St. Gregory Palamas. During this council, St. Nicholas Cabasilas steadfastly upheld the Orthodox position. The council did not fulfill the hopes of the anti-Palamites. St. Gregory was vindicated, his theology was recognized as Orthodox, and the opponents of his teaching were, on the contrary, condemned. Characterizing the era in which St. Nicholas lived, one cannot overlook the fact that many in that time anticipated ecclesiastical union with Rome, though different approaches to this issue were proposed. Some desired union with Rome on any terms, while others insisted on it only under the condition of the Catholics’ conversion to Orthodoxy. The theological disputes dividing East and West were reflected in St. Nicholas’s works, particularly in his polemics with the Latins concerning the time of the transubstantiation of the Holy Gifts. After Cantacuzenus’s abdication in 1354, attacks on Orthodoxy by anti-Palamites resumed. Protopriest John Meyendorff describes these events as follows: “Nicephorus Gregoras once again gained access to the palace, and John V permitted him to propagate his theology. The emperor could not, in 1355, officially oppose the doctrine affirmed by the council of 1351.” Nevertheless, “immediately upon coming to power, he entered into negotiations for religious union with the West and did not wish the Byzantine Church to appear divided in the eyes of the Latins.” To prepare for resolving the issue of union, Paul of Smyrna, a legate of Pope Innocent VI, arrived in Constantinople. Seeking reliable information about the latest theological trends and disputes in Byzantium and how disagreements within the Orthodox Church might affect the forthcoming negotiations on union, he initiated a disputation between St. Gregory Palamas and Nicephorus Gregoras. John V organized this disputation in the imperial palace, which took place in the second half of 1355. One of Gregoras’s primary goals in the disputation was to secure the revocation of the tomos of the Constantinople Council of 1351, but these hopes were not realized. Subsequently, John V supported St. Gregory and upheld the decisions of the 1351 council. St. Nicholas Cabasilas’s response to this disputation was the composition of a pamphlet, “Discourse Against the Absurdities of Gregoras,” in which he defended Orthodox doctrine. St. Nicholas was still alive in the first half of the 1390s, as evidenced by precisely dated letters addressed to him by Manuel II Palaiologos, Demetrius Cydones, and Joseph Bryennios. St. Nicholas reposed from his earthly labors around 1397–1398. St. Nicholas left behind a significant written legacy. The following are his main works, based on the annotated bibliography of hesychasm edited by S.S. Khoruzhy (with the relevant section authored by A.G. Dunaev), the collection Christ, Church, Theotokos published by the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana, the research articles of M.A. Polyakovskaya, the preface by the translator of a chapter from Panayotis Nellas’s book Zoon Theoumenon (“Christian Anthropology According to St. Nicholas Cabasilas”), and Migne’s Patrology:

1. 1. Life in Christ (Seven Discourses on Life in Christ)

1. 1. Exposition of the Divine Liturgy

1. 1. Explanation of the Rites of the Divine Liturgy

1. 1. Explanation of the Sacred Vestments

1. 1. Discourse on the Glorious Nativity of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos

1. 1. Discourse on the Annunciation of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary

1. 1. Discourse on the Most Venerable and Glorious Dormition of Our Most Holy and Pure Lady Theotokos

1. 1. Interpretation of the Vision of the Prophet Ezekiel

1. 1. Seven Homilies

1. 1. Discourse on the Saving Passion

1. 1. Prayer to Our Lord Jesus Christ

1. 1. Eulogy of Our Holy Mother Myrrhbearer Theodora

1. 1. Discourse Against the Absurdities of Gregoras

1. 1. Letter-Encomium to John Cantacuzenus

1. 1. Encomium to Anna of Savoy

1. 1. To the Pious Augusta on Interest

1. 1. Encomium to Matthew Cantacuzenus

1. 1. To the Athenians on the Altar of Compassion in Them

1. 1. Discourse on the Misuse of Church Property by Authorities

1. 1. Discourse Against Usurers

1. 1. On Usury

1. 1. Discourse Against the Archons and others.

These works testify to the breadth of the saint’s interests. They encompass the single necessary pursuit of communion with God, to which his theological-liturgical writings are dedicated, as well as works expressing active love for neighbor, such as the Discourse Against Usurers, and political treatises opposing the horrors of war, such as the Discourse Against the Archons and To the Pious Augusta on Interest. Additionally, St. Nicholas authored a work reflecting his scientific interests in physics, geometry, and astronomy. From the description of St. Nicholas’s biography, we see that the rooting of his theological consciousness in the Orthodox tradition and the formation of his inner spiritual life occurred gradually. Hesychasm—the practice of active prayer and true communion with God—had a significant influence on his views and inner spiritual life, especially after he embraced the teachings of St. Gregory Palamas. The parallels between these two saints are particularly evident when comparing their homilies on feasts of the Theotokos or, for instance, St. Nicholas’s second discourse, “How Baptism Contributes to Her,” from the book Life in Christ, with St. Gregory’s homily on Baptism delivered on the eve of Theophany. The connection between St. Nicholas Cabasilas’s theology and that of St. Gregory Palamas and other fathers is noted by the Greek scholar of St. Nicholas’s life and work, Panayotis Nellas: “The connection of Cabasilas’s teaching with both the school of St. Gregory Palamas and the entire Orthodox patristic tradition as a whole is transparent. He vividly demonstrated that the creature is called to union with the uncreated God and that this is possible when it wholly, even unto death, renounces the autonomy that constitutes the core and driving force of sin. By supporting St. Gregory in the specific circumstances of the 14th century, Cabasilas clearly expressed the truth of Orthodoxy and helped condemn the heretical humanism of his time.” Regarding the external connections of St. Nicholas Cabasilas’s theology with the Church’s heritage, we note first the abundance of quotations from Holy Scripture in his works. St. Nicholas cites a wide variety of biblical books, though he shows a preference for the New Testament. Among Old Testament books, he most frequently quotes the Psalter. In addition to Holy Scripture, St. Nicholas includes patristic quotations with attribution to their authors—such as St. John Chrysostom and St. Dionysius the Areopagite—though these are relatively rare. More often, his works contain implicit citations. Protopriest John Meyendorff also notes the similarity of St. Nicholas’s anthropology to that of other mystical holy fathers: “Alongside the image of Christ as Head of the Church, according to the Apostle Paul, Cabasilas speaks of Christ as the ‘heart’ of the Body: ‘As the risen Christ knoweth no death, so too the members of Christ shall never taste death. For how can death touch the members in communion with the living heart?’ This passage and its parallels lead us to understand the highly personal manner in which Cabasilas describes the Christian Sacrament. Moreover, these fragments show how much he owes to the anthropology of Macarius, which prevailed in hesychast circles and which located the center of the human psychosomatic complex in the heart.” The spiritual life and, consequently, the theological works of St. Nicholas Cabasilas affirm a direct dependence between glorifying God and mystical union with Him through the Sacraments of the Church, the pinnacle of which is the Eucharist. St. Nicholas expresses this dependence as follows: “…the true life descendeth unto us through the death of the Saviour… The means by which we draw it into our souls is to partake in the Sacraments… To those who perform these, Christ cometh and dwelleth in them… though we neither strive nor labor in performing them, yet we glorify that feat… And those wounds, that chastisement, and that death we appropriate unto ourselves, and, as much as possible, draw them into ourselves, and we become of the flesh of Him who died and rose again.” From this quotation, it is evident that, according to St. Nicholas’s teaching, it is through the Sacraments that we become partakers of Christ’s death and resurrection, appropriating the Redemption that the Lord acquired for us. Only through participation in the Savior’s passion do the Sacraments possess their grace-filled sanctifying power. The economy of human salvation, or soteriology, St. Nicholas correlates with Trinitarian theology. He indicates that all Persons of the Holy Trinity participate in the work of our salvation, each in a distinct manner. The truth of God’s triune nature is revealed to us through the mystery of Redemption. This is also proclaimed in the Sacraments: “To those who receive the sacred recreation, which alone hath shown God as divided, it is meet at the divine font to call upon God, distinguishing the Hypostases (in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit). And in Baptism, what do we commemorate, if not the economy, and especially this? Verily, not by what we say, but by what we do. For when a man, being immersed thrice, ariseth from the water, who doth not see that this signifieth the three-day death of the Saviour and His resurrection, which is the fulfillment of the entire economy?” Speaking of St. Nicholas’s anthropology, we note that, prefacing his exposition of the doctrine of the Sacraments, he writes: “The life in Christ is conceived in this present life and hath its beginning here, but is perfected in the life to come, when we shall attain unto that day.” To convey this idea more clearly to the reader, the saint employs a comparison with bodily conception and birth: “…the inner new man, created according to God, is borne in the womb of this world, and, having been conceived here and fully formed, is born in that unfading world…” Nicholas Cabasilas insists on the necessity of partaking in the grace-filled life in God now, while still living on this earth, for otherwise, a person will not be able to become a participant in divine communion in the future life. To illustrate this truth more clearly, St. Nicholas again uses a comparison with life in the sensory world: “The future life, even if it receiveth those who lack the powers and senses needful for that life, will not avail them unto blessedness, but as dead and wretched shall they dwell in that blessed and immortal world. And the cause is this: though the light shineth and the sun provideth a pure ray, yet eyes are not formed then in any man, and though the fragrance of scent poureth forth abundantly and spreadeth everywhere, he who hath not the sense of smell receiveth it not.” St. Nicholas not only indicates what a person must acquire and what they must become but also directly points to the means of preparing and cultivating the senses necessary for life in God: “Through the Sacraments, it is possible in that day to commune with the Son of God as His friends and to learn from Him that which He heard from the Father; but to come unto Him, one must be His friend and have ears.” According to St. Nicholas’s teaching, through the Sacraments of Baptism, Chrismation, and the Eucharist, the Lord has given us all that He Himself possesses: “Men become gods and sons of God, and our nature is honored with divine honor, and the dust is raised to such glory that it becometh like unto, and even equal to, the divine nature—what can be compared to this?… God hath granted the greatest good, than which He had none greater to give, so that this is the greatest and best work of His goodness and the ultimate limit of kindness. And such is the work of the economy accomplished for mankind. For here, God hath not merely imparted some good to human nature, reserving greater for Himself, but the fullness of the Godhead, all of Himself, He hath poured into it as its natural wealth.” Here, one may note a parallel with the teaching of St. Maximus the Confessor, who holds that in the state of deification, we possess by grace, through divine energies, all that God possesses by His nature, except identity with His nature. Although the earthly “life cannot fully implant” the life in Christ “in the hearts of men,” St. Nicholas not only does not deny the participation of the saints in future blessedness already in this life but affirms it: “…not merely to dispose and prepare for life, but to live that life already and to act therein is possible for the saints even in this present life. ‘Lay hold on eternal life’ (1 Tim. 6:12), saith Paul, and ‘I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me’ (Gal. 2:20). And the divine Ignatius: ‘There is living and speaking water in me’ (Epistle to the Romans, ch. 6), and many such like sayings fill the Scriptures.” All this is accomplished through the Sacraments, “through which we are born, formed, and preternaturally united with the Saviour.” St. Nicholas indicates that through the Sacraments, we “live in God, having transferred our life from this visible world to the invisible, changing not the place, but our deeds and life.” Through the Sacraments, God Himself is present in the world: “By means of these sacred Sacraments, as if through windows, the Sun of Righteousness penetrateth into this dark world and slayeth the life conformed to the world, restoring the life that transcendeth the world…” Without participation in the Sacraments, it is utterly impossible for people to be saved: “The life which the Lord brought consisteth in this, that those who come through these Sacraments are made partakers of His death and participants in His sufferings, and without this, none can escape death. For he who is not baptized with water and the Holy Spirit cannot enter into life, and likewise, those who eat not the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink not His Blood cannot have life in themselves.” The Sacraments are the gates leading to eternal life, gates that are “far more honorable and accessible than the gates of paradise. Those are not opened to anyone who hath not first passed through these gates, but these remain open even when those are closed. Those may lead out, but these only lead in and lead no one out.” The Sacraments unite us with God. According to St. Nicholas, “there is absolutely no good bestowed by God upon redeemed people that is received without a mediator between God and men, and to find a mediator, to receive and accept all blessings from him, nothing granteth but the Sacraments. For they make us akin to that blood and those gifts which He received for the sake of the flesh, and partakers of that which He willed to endure.” Speaking of our communion with God in the Sacraments, the saint indicates that this communion occurs within the Church. From the meaning and context of his expressions, we see that the Church is not something external to us. The Lord, being the Head of His Bride, the Church, has constituted it from us. St. Nicholas writes of the union of Christ with us and the union of Christ with the Church without emphasizing distinctions, as these expressions are identical: “Such power and grace hath the Supper for those who partake, if, approaching it pure from all evil, we thereafter bring nothing deceitful; for when we are such and so prepared, nothing hindereth Christ from uniting with us most sincerely. ‘This mystery is great’ (Eph. 5:32), saith the blessed Paul, praising this union. For this is that renowned marriage, wherein the all-holy Bridegroom leadeth His Bride, the Church, as a virgin. For here Christ nurtureth the choir of His beloved, and through this one Sacrament, we become flesh of His flesh and bones of His bones. By this, the Apostle, defining marriage, showeth that Christ is the Bridegroom and hath a Bride, as the forerunner John saith.” The Church is external only to those who do not yet belong to it or who have fallen away from it through grave sin, as we see from the following words of the saint: “For if it is necessary to desire, to believe, and to come to the gifts of Baptism, and this alone maketh one capable of receiving birth, and to turn away from this is to turn away from all that blessedness, then those who, after receiving, have renounced and lied in their former understanding and rejected Christ, but, recognizing wherein they sinned, return to the Church, it would seem they should again be brought to the font and have the Sacrament performed over them anew, as those who have lost all; yet, according to the sacred law, having anointed their bodies with divine chrism and adding nothing more, they are enrolled among the faithful—what shall we say of this?” Thus, the study of St. Nicholas Cabasilas’s legacy allows us to conclude that the content of his teaching is in harmony with Church Tradition and has it as its source. Here, by Tradition, we mean the personal transmission of the experience of the grace-filled life in God from the hesychast fathers to St. Nicholas Cabasilas. His teaching on the Sacraments is an organic part of a broader doctrine of salvation, which is closely linked with the glorification of God and the economy of our salvation accomplished by Him, with the doctrine of man, the Church, and the Holy Trinity. source