Our work is completed, but we are again faced with the same perplexed questions: who was St. Simeon, what exactly does his nickname "New Theologian" mean? How could such a personality appear in the Byzantine world? Where does it come from spiritually and what is its place in Orthodox spirituality and in Orthodoxy in general? For truly and irreproachably Orthodox, never condemned for any spiritual or dogmatic deviation, he was not, however, Orthodox "like everyone else." This is obvious to anyone who comes into spiritual contact with him. And why was this great saint and at the same time a remarkable writer, a genius, we would say, in spite of the unevenness of his literary work, long disputed, then almost forgotten or even disfigured,1198 why was his place in the church calendar reduced to a minimum, and why was his service composed only in the eighteenth century?1199 Even if we admit that there could have been an older service, The fact that it was lost in the course of centuries means quite a lot. Nevertheless, St. Simeon always had ardent admirers and disciples, and his manuscripts were constantly, albeit few, copied, especially in the fourteenth century, in particular on Mount Athos (although St. Simeon's popularity was often based on writings that did not actually belong to him, such as the Discourse on the Three Forms of Prayer). And even in our days, pious and traditionally Orthodox Christians with a mystical disposition, as well as educated people seeking spiritual renewal, are attracted by the beauty of the writings of St. Simeon. In short, St. Simeon always remains a living reality, and all scholarly dissertations, no matter how necessary they may be, will not be able to make of him a museum exhibit of interest only to specialists.1201 However, few people in our time, as in his time, are able to fully accept the spiritual teaching of St. Simeon about a conscious vision of God in this life, as necessary for salvation and accessible to all. The spiritual exactingness of St. Simeon, the postulate of absolute faithfulness to the Gospel commandments, in our days meet with the same reaction as that of his contemporaries: "This is impossible!"

The spiritual battle for and against St. Simeon continues, although no one seems to dispute his significance and sincerity. It should be borne in mind, however, that in the demand for the attainment of high mystical states, the vision of light above all, St. Simeon is less categorical than it seems at first glance. In general, St. Simeon has a lot of common sense, even moderation, as, for example, can be seen from his cautious and restrained attitude towards ecstatic phenomena. Moreover, it is precisely this feeling (that the goal of the Christian life – the vision of Christ in the light – has not yet been achieved) that can, in the eyes of St. Simeon, become salvific, for repentance and the tears that it engenders quickly lead to a state of "spiritual intoxication." Divine love is the pinnacle of all perfection and the fruit of the adoring Holy Spirit.

It is clear that we are most interested in St. Simeon's direct mystical experience, but it is inseparable from his entire theological attitude. That is why we wanted to give in this work a proper place to his theological thought, to show all the richness of contemplation of God and His actions. To show, moreover, the inner unity of his speculation, which is not hindered by the absence of any systematization, which exists even in spite of some apparent contradictions and a certain vagueness in formulations. But this unity, so to speak, is dialectical.

At the center of contemplation is the mystery of man's salvation, from the creation of the world to the Second Coming and the universal resurrection. Everything is one and inseparably linked in the salvific actions of the Holy Trinity, but the Incarnation still occupies the main place in the theological vision of St. Simeon, about which he speaks most often. It is the main source of man's deification, it is also the basis of the Eucharist, which received from St. Simeon that place in monastic life which the ancient ascetic writers did not have.

The man of the Holy Spirit, of Whom he wrote more abundantly than his predecessors, St. Simeon is nevertheless the most Christocentric of all the Greek Fathers. For St. Simeon, Christ is indeed everything. He found new and striking expressions of his tender and enthusiastic love for Him, and he was able to find unheard-of words in describing the experience of seeing divine light. The dramatic character of the possession and loss of the Divine in the heart of man is also described by St. Simeon with a power rarely found in other fathers. Within the theological framework of the Incarnation, one can best understand the somewhat puzzling and at the same time realistic passages of St. Simeon about the human body and its parts, as well as the somewhat bold "nuptial" images in the texts on impassibility and descriptions of divine eros, which confused some in his time and still confuse now. Is this the reason for the restraint shown towards St. Simeon by the church hierarchy, which is why he is given such a modest place in official theology? We don't think so. In any case, this is an insufficient explanation. Rather, his extraordinary personality, mystical and at the same time militant, his apostolic zeal to preach the vision of God to all Christians, all this was too much for calm people and they preferred to forget about St. Simeon. On the other hand, Fr. Simeon lived too late, and as a result it was difficult for him to acquire the authority of a church father. Thus, for example, St. Gregory Palamas, who treated him with sympathy and reverence, nevertheless does not quote him among other patristic authorities.1202 His theology, much more systematic than that of St. Simeon, could also contribute to the relegation of the latter to the background. But for us, St. Simeon will forever remain a man of deep personal mystical experience, who was able to express it in a stunning way. Its significance is incomparable and unsurpassed in Orthodox spirituality of all times. We also admire the remarkable freedom of his spirit, which, however, is able to become accustomed to the ascetic and dogmatic tradition of Orthodoxy.

A popular Greek proverb says: "A poor saint has no doxology." One could say that the truth of this proverb is confirmed by the example of St. Symeon the New Theologian in two ways: literally, since his place in church solemn services is very modest (not a single church has ever been dedicated to his name); spiritually, because he always remains that "brotherly beggar" of whom he speaks in his Catechetical Words and who gives us his "golden", his inspired writings.

About The Author