In the Orthodox world, the works of St. Symeon the New Theologian have never been completely forgotten, thanks mainly to Athonite monasticism, although official theology ignored them, and the church hierarchy treated them with restraint. They were first published in print – until then they were known only from manuscripts – at the end of the eighteenth century, but not in the original text, but in a modern Greek translation, or rather, a paraphrase by Dionysius of Zagorey. This translation is often quite inaccurate, and most importantly, incomplete, since Dionysius Zagoreysky feared that much in the writings of St. Simeon might confuse the pious simple reader, and therefore considered himself entitled to "censor" the Holy Father, both in terms of style and content [1]. From this far from perfect and even tendentious translation of Dionysius Zagoreysky, the famous ascetic and spiritual writer of the 19th century, Bishop Theophan (Govorov), made a Russian translation, making changes on his part, so that his text could be called a paraphrase of the paraphrase [2]. This translation by Bishop Theophan was published by the Russian Panteleimon Monastery on Mount Athos and became the main source of acquaintance of the pious Russian people with the works of St. Simeon [3]. Unfortunately, however, Bishop Theophan refused to translate into Russian the Hymns of St. Simeon, published in the original, albeit with large omissions, by Dionysius, since he found them too lofty and thereby dangerous for the average reader. This gap was largely filled in by Hieromonk Panteleimon (Uspensky), who published in 1917 a Russian translation (but not the Greek text) of almost all the hymns, based on the text of Dionysius, the Latin translation of Pontanus (1603) and on some manuscripts of the Holy Mountain of Athos. But subsequent events prevented this publication from becoming widely distributed [4]. This cautious and even restrained attitude towards the works of St. Simeon, manifested even in such a spiritual writer as Bishop Simeon. Theophanes, who refused to translate the Hymns, is even more characteristic of many hierarchs, and even more so of the professorial theological milieu in our time. Thus, quite recently, Professor P. Trembelas of the Faculty of Theology in Athens, a pillar of Greek conservative theology, stated in a pamphlet published by him that the visions of St. Simeon's light can be explained by a simple strain of nerves! (This statement by Prof. Trembelas caused an outburst of indignation on Mount Athos.) On the other hand, a Russian metropolitan once said to me: "I can't stand Symeon the New Theologian, he's not in my spirit. Several times I tried to read it, but I couldn't continue." And one Greek metropolitan went even further. "Who is this Symeon the New Theologian, of whom are you talking to me? He said to me. "Who is he, a Russian?" You, Russians, always invent faces that no one has ever heard of."

Only in the most recent years (1957-1973) was the original Greek text of the works of St. Simeon, restored on the basis of existing manuscripts, published for the first time in the West by the French publishing house Sources Chretiennes (Christian Sources) in nine volumes (the tenth volume, containing the Epistles of St. Simeon, had not yet been published, but we were able to use these Epistles for our work). The publication of Sources Chretiennes fully covers all the writings that really belong to St. Simeon, and thus for the first time provides an opportunity for a scientific and theological study of his works and even a correct and holistic understanding of his personality and spiritual teaching. Naturally, in the West, this edition, in which the Greek text is accompanied by a French translation and extensive commentaries, aroused interest in St. Simeon, who had previously been known in the West almost exclusively in narrow circles of Byzantine scholars, he began to become "fashionable", he began to be read, with varying success, in Catholic monasteries, but on the whole this spiritual food was not always within the reach of modern Western man. On the contrary, it is gratifying to note that on the Holy Mountain of Athos, among its Greek monks, these new editions of the Greek texts of St. Simeon are read with great eagerness, contributing to the spiritual revival that is now taking place on Athos. On the other hand, the publication of Sources Chretiennes has caused the appearance in recent years of extensive and scholarly works by the Germans, W. Volker and C. Deppe, which are little accessible in their scientific heaviness to a wide range of readers. To these can be added the book of the American Jesuit G. Malone, who sympathizes with the Pentecostals, "The Mysticism of Light and Fire", intended for the reader who is not an expert and has no scientific pretensions, but on the whole it is not bad. It is a pity that so little is written about St. Simeon on the Orthodox side. The purpose of this work is not to compete with the above-mentioned scholarly works, which are massive in volume, full of abundant notes, and inaccessible to the non-specialist reader. It would be a task beyond my strength, and at the same time useless, because no one would read such a work. What I would like is to give a lively, objective, well-documented in the words of St. Simeon himself, and, in particular, a truthful image of the great saint, accessible to a wide range of educated readers interested in the spiritual life of Orthodoxy and the mystical phenomenon in general, and not only to professional Byzantines, or, especially, only to confessional polemicists. My book was written with great love for St. Simeon, but at the same time, I hope, with love for the truth. I would not like to give a stylized image of St. Simeon, to schematize or simplify his personality, or to make him a forerunner of the modern pentocostal movement, or an extreme "enthusiast," or a kind of Protestant mystic rebelling against hierarchy, or even an "unconscious Messalian," as many of his modern researchers do. And I especially wanted to avoid rhetoric and Orthodox triumphalism. To some, my book may seem incoherent, but the complexity of St. Simeon's personality and the richness of his spirituality sometimes compel me to say things that may seem contradictory. What, however, remains above all contradictions is his vision of God in this life, his love for Christ in the light and in the Holy Spirit, although St. Simeon had to struggle all his life not to lose it. My goal is to let St. Simeon speak as often as possible, which is why the book is full of quotations. I translated these quotations directly from the Greek text, always trying first of all, if possible, to translate accurately and close to the original. For this reason, my text often, but not always, differs from the translation of Ep. And I am ready to admit that his translation is sometimes smoother and even more understandable, but I did not consider myself entitled to "improve" the style of the Holy Father, much less to "correct" his theology. To show the real St. Symeon the New Theologian – this was my task, and if I succeeded in this at least partially, then I will be happy and grateful for this to God and His saint.

PART I THE LIFE AND PERSONALITY OF ST. SYMEON THE NEW THEOLOGIAN

1. THE BROTHERLY BEGGAR [5]

St. Symeon the New Theologian was born in the year 949 in the town of Galati, in Paphlagonia (Asia Minor), of parents who belonged to the wealthy and influential provincial nobility in public affairs [6]. This was during the Macedonian dynasty, one of the best periods of Byzantine history. The life of St. Simeon coincides for the most part with the reign of the most famous representative of this dynasty, Emperor Basil II the Bulgar-Slayer (976-1025). At the age of about eleven, St Simeon was brought by his father to Constantinople to study in the schools of the capital, in order to later enter the imperial service. His uncle, Basil, then held an important position at court and intended to present his nephew to the emperor, but the young Simeon declined this honor. He also refused, after graduating from what we might call secondary schools, to continue his education in higher schools.

Later, St. Simeon describes himself in this period of his life in the following, somewhat ironic words: "A certain young man, named George [8], about twenty years old, lived in our times in Constantinople, handsome in appearance and having something ostentatious in his appearance, manners and gait, so that even some had bad opinions of him because of this" [9]. He seemed to be leading the distracted life of a young man in the capital, but he remained deeply dissatisfied. "I thank Thee, O Lord, Lord of heaven and earth," he writes later, recalling this time, "... that when I, ungrateful and contemptuous, like a horse that has broken free from its leash, plunged myself into the abyss, fleeing from Thy power, Thou didst not leave me lying down... but the mercy of Thy heart hast sent for me, and brought me out of thence, and honoured me more brightly. And Thou hast freed me by Thy ineffable destinies from kings and rulers who intended to use me to serve their desires as a vessel of no value" [10]. Under the influence, as it seems, of reading spiritual books, and the lives of saints in particular, young Simeon keenly felt the insignificance of his condition at that time and, in his desire to find the way to God, began to look for a holy man who could guide him and reconcile him with God [11]. Those around him did not understand him. "But when I heard," he writes, "all those who unanimously without exception told me that such a saint does not exist on earth at the present time, then I fell into even greater sorrow" [12]. However, he lived with faith and trust in God, so characteristic of him always: "I never, however, believed this... And he said: My Lord, have mercy! Has the devil become so much stronger than the Lord God that he has drawn everyone to himself and made everyone his supporters, so that no one has remained on God's side?" [13]

Such great faith could not remain unanswered: St Simeon finally met the holy man he was looking for. He was an elderly monk of the Studite monastery. His name was also Simeon [14]. With this acquaintance, a new period in the life of young Simeon begins. Outwardly, he continued to work in the world as before, but he often visited his spiritual father and zealously fulfilled his instructions. In the beginning, however, Simeon the Studite limited himself to giving his disciple "a small commandment only as a reminder" to keep it. And when he asked him for books for spiritual reading, he gave him a book "On the Spiritual Law" by Marcus the Monk, an ascetic writer of the fifth century [15]. Among the sayings of this book that struck the young Simeon, there was one that made a particularly deep impression on him: "Seeking healing, take care of your conscience. And do everything she says, and you will find benefit" [16]. "From that time on," says St. Simeon, speaking of himself in the third person, "he never fell asleep when his conscience rebuked him and said: 'Why didn't you do this too?' [17] "Stung by love and desire (of the Lord), he sought with hope the First Beauty,"[18] and with youthful zeal he put into practice the saying of Mark the Monk, increasing his nocturnal prayers more and more, as his conscience inspired him, "because during the day he stood at the head of the house of one of the patricians, and every day he came to the palace, taking care of the things necessary for life, so that because of this no one knew what was happening to him" [19], while his nights were devoted to fervent prayer. Tears flowed from his eyes, he multiplied the genuflections, as if the Lord Himself were present, and prayerfully invoked the Mother of God [20].

During one of these night prayers, St. Simeon had his first mystical vision of the light that flooded him, filled him with joy, he ceased to feel both himself and everything around him [21]. But the first period of religious inspiration and mystical enlightenment, attributed by St. Simeon to the prayers of his spiritual father, did not last long. The young man returned to the secular and distracted life that he had led before. "And forgetting," he says, "all that has been said above, I have come to a complete obscuration, so that I have never even remembered anything small or great, even a simple thought, of what I have previously said. I fell into even greater troubles than had happened to me before, and I was in such a state as if I had never understood or heard the holy words of Christ. But also on that saint who then took pity on me and gave me a small commandment and sent me... I looked at the book as if it were one of the ordinary people. I just didn't think about everything I saw thanks to him!" [22] In another place, St. Simeon expresses himself with even greater force about these years of spiritual weakness: "I threw myself again, miserable, into the pit and deep mire of shameful thoughts and actions. And having descended there, I fell into the power of those who hid in darkness, so that not only myself, but the whole world that came together, could not bring me out of there and deliver me from their hands" [23].

Эти покаянные признания не должны быть понимаемы буквально: несмотря на все расслабление, испытанное им, пр. Симеон сумел сохранить свое целомудрие, как он это уточняет сам: «Когда кто–нибудь призывал меня на дела безумия и греха, истинно, этого обманчивого мира, внутри все мое сердце собиралось и как бы скрывалось, стыдясь само себя, невидимо удерживаемое всячески Твоею Божественною рукою. И я любил все другие житейские (вещи), которые приятны для зрения и услаждают гортань, и украшают тело, тлеющее это. Но нечистые действия и бесстыдные желания, Ты стер их из сердца моего, о Боже мой, и соделал к ним ненависть в моей душе, если даже произволением моим я был расположен к ним, и сотворил, чтобы я скорее имел бездеятельное желание и действия без желания, величайшее чудо во всяком случае» [24]. Кажется однако, что даже в этот период, продолжавшийся около шести–семи лет, пр. Симеон не порвал совершенно своих отношений со своим духовным отцом. «Не знаю, как это сказать, — пишет он, — неведомо как–то любовь и вера ко святому старцу осталась в моем несчастном сердце. И из–за нее, я думаю, человеколюбивый Бог после прошествия стольких лет помиловал меня по его молитвам. И опять посредством его избавил меня от великого заблуждения, выхватив из глубины зол. Потому что я, недостойный, не отступил окончательно от него, но исповедовал ему случавшееся со мною и часто заходил в его келию, когда мне приходилось бывать в городе, хотя, бессовестный, и не сохранял его заповедей» [25].

Пр. Симеон приписывает, однако, прямому вмешательству Божию свое второе и окончательное избавление от власти злых сил. Он с большим чувством описывает его в одном из лучших своих писаний: «Когда меня там держали и жалким образом таскали кругом, и удушали, и насмехались… Ты, милосердный и человеколюбивый Владыка, не презрел меня, не проявил злопамятства, не отвратился от моего неблагодарного умонастроения и не оставил меня быть надолго добровольно насилуемым разбойниками. Но если я и радовался, будучи бесчувственно соувлекаем ими, Ты, Владыка, не вынес видеть меня водимого и влекомого кругом. Но Ты умилостивился, но Ты пожалел и послал ко мне грешному и жалкому не ангела, не человека, но Сам Ты, движимый Твоею внутренней благостью, склонился к тому глубочайшему рву и протянул Твою пречистую руку ко мне, погруженному во глубину грязи и сидящему где–то внизу. И хотя я не видел Тебя (ибо как я мог видеть или как мог вообще смотреть, будучи покрытым грязью и утопая в ней?), Ты взялся за волосы моей головы и вытащил меня оттуда, увлекая насильно. Я чувствовал боль и ощущал движение вверх и то, что я восхожу, но не знал, кем я вообще влеком вверх и кем может быть тот, кто держит и возводит меня. Но, вытащив меня наверх и поставив на землю, Ты передал меня Своему рабу и ученику, всего оскверненного и с глазами, ушами и ртом, забитыми грязью, и даже тогда не видевшего Тебя, кто Ты, а только узнавшего, что Некий добрый и человеколюбивый, каким Ты являешься, вывел меня из того глубочайшего рва и грязи» [26]. Или, как пр. Симеон говорит в другом месте: «Да, Владыка, Ты вспомнил меня, когда я находился в миру, и, когда я не знал, Ты Сам избрал меня и отделил от мира, и поставил пред лицем Твоей славы» [27].

Это чудесное избавление из рва, видимо, соответствует решению пр. Симеона окончательно оставить мир и стать монахом. Как известно из Жития, он поступил в Студийский монастырь в качестве послушника примерно двадцати семи лет. Пр. Симеон вспоминает об этой перемене в своей жизни в следующих выражениях: «Ты, Боже мой … помиловал меня … от отца и братьев, сродников и друзей, от земли рождения, из моего отцовского дома, как из темного Египта, как из глубин ада… Ты отделил меня, Благостный, и, приняв меня, повел меня, держа Твоею страшною рукой, к тому, которого Ты благоволил сделать на земле моим отцом, и бросил к его ногам и объятиям. И он привел меня к Твоему Отцу, о мой Христос, и к Тебе через Духа, о Троица, Боже мой, плачущего, как блудный сын, и припадающего, о Слове» [28]. В Студийском монастыре пр. Симеон нашел своего старого духовного отца Симеона Благоговейного и немедленно стал его верным учеником, проявляя большое рвение в послушании и в аскетической жизни вообще. Однако, в этом общежительном монастыре, где придавали большое значение порядку, единообразию и единоличной власти игумна, такая особенная привязанность к духовному отцу скоро возбудила неудовольствие среди монахов. Игумен несколько раз вызывал к себе пр. Симеона и требовал от него больше сообразовываться с правилами общежития и отказаться от руководства его духовного отца. Пр. Симеон, однако, не захотел это исполнить и был изгнан из монастыря. Нетрудно понять, чем был вызван этот отказ: пр. Симеон был убежден, что Сам Бог дал ему духовного отца, которому он был обязан всем. Он снова поступил послушником в соседнюю небольшую обитель св. Маманта, именуемую Ксирокеркской, но продолжал, однако, находиться под духовным руководством Симеона Благоговейного, который остался в Студийском монастыре. В своей новой обители пр. Симеон был вскоре пострижен в монахи и рукоположен во иереи, а затем, после трехлетнего пребывания в обители, в возрасте, приблизительно, тридцати одного года, выбран монахами св. Маманта игумном с одобрения патриарха Николая Хрисоверга [29]. Это происходило около 980–го года. К этому времени он уже начинал становиться в Константинополе «знаменитостью», был известен святостью и мудростью, многие почитали и любили его, но другие критиковали и подвергали нападкам.

Таковы, кратко, внешние факты, как они видны из Жития, написанного Никитой Стифатом. Писания самого пр. Симеона открывают нам внутреннюю сторону этих событий. Мы узнаем из них, что в отличие от легкости первых шагов в духовной жизни, быстро приведших молодого Симеона к первому видению Божественного света, он был вынужден теперь с терпением проходить длинный, трудный и болезненный путь духовного исцеления. Так, только ценою больших аскетических усилий было дано ему увидеть луч Божественного света, но более тускло, чем в первый раз [30]. В другом месте пр.

И там, где он, как видящий, умело поднимал свои ноги и без затруднения проходил через все камни, ямы и западни, я натыкался на них на все и падал в них, и от этого претерпевал много страданий, трудов и скорбей. Он также во всякое время мылся и купался в каждом источнике, когда сам хотел, а я, не видя, проходил мимо большинства из них. Если бы он не удержал меня за руку и не поставил близ источника, и не направил бы мои руки ума, я никогда бы не смог найти источник воды, где он находится. Часто он мне указывал сам на источники и оставлял меня мыться, но я вместе с чистою водою захватывал своими ладонями глину и грязь, лежавшие близ источника, и загрязнял ими мое лицо. Часто также, ощупывая источник воды, чтобы найти его, я сбрасывал в него землю и замешивал грязь. И, не видя совсем, думал, что чисто моюсь, когда на деле пачкал свое лицо в грязи, как бы в воде» [31].