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Nicodemus the Hagiorite or Nicodemus
of the Holy Mountain (Greek: Ὅσιος Νικόδημος ὁ Ἁγιορείτης; 1749 – July 14,
1809) is a saint of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He was an ascetic monk,
mystic, theologian, and true philosopher. His life's work was a revival of
traditional Christian practices and patristic literature.
This Blessed Saint wrote ascetic
prayer literature and influenced the rediscovery of hesychasm, a method of
contemplative prayer from the Byzantine period.
He is very well known for his work
with Macarius of Corinth on the anthology of monastic spiritual writings known
as The Philokalia, as well as for his compilation of canons known as the
Pedalion or The Rudder which he co-wrote with a hieromonk named Agapios
Monachos.
With Macarios of Corinth, Nicodemus
was responsible for the compilation and publishing of The Evergetinos,
thoroughly reviewing a vast collection of materials from a number of other
collections of sayings of monastics and others, ranging from the well-known
works of St. John Cassian and Palladius, to the anonymously produced
Apophthegmata collections, but including materials also from hagiographies,
menologia, and other, unspecified and now-lost sources. Assembling, collecting,
and editing a number of manuscripts scattered among the libraries of Mount
Athos, the Holy Mountain. Nicodemus was canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarch
of Constantinople in 1955.
Nicodemus was born Nicholas
Kallivroutsis (Νικόλαος Καλλιβρούτσης) in 1749 on the Greek island of Naxos,
which was at the time part of the Ottoman Empire. According to his biographer,
he was possessed of "great acuteness of mind, accurate perception,
intellectual brightness, and vast memory", qualities which were readily
apparent to those who furthered him along in his learning.
He passed from the tutelage of his
parish priest to that of Archimandrite Chrysanthos, who was the brother of
Cosmas. From there he made his way to Smyrna (now Izmir, Turkey), where he
studied at the Evangelical School. Here he studied theology, as well as ancient
Greek, Latin, French, and Italian.
Persecution from the Turks, who ruled
most of the Greek world at the time, cut his schooling short, and he returned
to Naxos in 1770.
He studied at Smyrna but was forced
to abandon his studies during a time of Ottoman persecution. Instead he entered
the Dionysiou monastery on Mount Athos in 1775.
Nicholas made the acquaintance of
Macarius of Corinth a few years after returning home, beginning a lifelong
friendship. It was shortly thereafter that he decided to embrace the monastic
life, following the example of three monks he had encountered, Gregory, Niphon,
and Arsenios. These men had come from Mount Athos, which had been an important
center of monasticism for over seven hundred years, and persuaded Nicholas to
go there as well. He arrived there in 1775, at age 26.
Upon being tonsured a monk, Nicholas'
name was changed, as is the custom for those who had abandoned the world, to
Nicodemus. He was initiated into the practice of hesychia, a method of prayer
involving inner stillness, controlled breathing which cannot be man made but
actually given in coooperation with true prayer… repetition of the "Jesus
Prayer" (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner).
Nicodemus aligned himself with the monks known as Kollyvades, who sought a
revival of traditional Orthodox practices and patristic literature, and he
spent the remainder of his life at work translating and publishing those works.
He also composed many original books of his own.
He died on July 14, 1809 on Mount
Athos and was canonized by the Church of Greece on May 31, 1955. His feast day
is 14 July.
In cooperation with Macarius of
Corinth, Nicodemus compiled the Philokalia, which became an important work on
monastic spirituality. It contains some of the teachings of many of the ancient
Desert Fathers.
Nicodemus also published modern
editions of other theological writings, such as those of Symeon the New
Theologian and Gregory Palamas. In addition, he wrote original works, such as
the Pedalion (also known as The Rudder), a treatise on Eastern Orthodox canon
law, and the Exomologetarion, a guide for confessors.
Another of his famous works is the
Enchiridion of Counsels (or "Handbook of Spiritual Counsel"), written
by Nicodemus at the suggestion of his cousin Hierotheos, who had recently been
made Bishop of Euripos.
This handbook on the religious life,
aimed at clergy and lay Christians alike, continues to be influential on Greek
spirituality to this day to those who follow.
The work has been described as a
theological-ethical tract that displays both deep psychological insight and a
keen scientific mind.
He was not ignorant of the Western
spiritual writers, and even published reworked versions of the Spiritual
Exercises (Πνευματικά γυμνάσματα) of Ignatius of Loyola and The Spiritual
Combat (βιβλίον καλούμενον· Αόρατος Πόλεμος) of Lorenzo Scupoli.
The term Philokalia (φιλοκαλία) (love
of the good), used for the texts, aims to enshrine the history of the Jesus
Prayer (the Prayer of the heart), and the spiritual practice of this, called
Hesychasm.
It is this love of beauty that
revives and gives faith to the hopeless.
The history of the prayer begins with
the earliest fathers including Anthony the Great, and the text ends with
Gregory Palamas.
The title conveys the contemplative
tradition, in that it teaches understanding of the inner or mystical Kingdom of
God within each person.
The spirit of God is an ember and one
must cultivate the ember into an open fire.
This perpetual fire burns in the
heart, in love for all things, which is to share in the energy of God, which is
love. (Leviticus 9:24).
It is within the Philokalia that one
learns how to properly navigate the passions and depravity of existence called
the World.
The object of contemplation is
"the love of beauty" or infinite beauty, which is God.
For if existence were truly evil it could
neither contain nor express beauty.
This expression conveys the truth
about the divine (ascetic) life and purpose which the heart learns through
practice of the Prayer of the Heart, called Hesychasm.
God in his energies is love. God is
also the source of all that is truly beautiful, resplendent with divine glory.
It is this beauty, held from within one’s heart for and to our Lord Jesus
Christ Son of God our Father.
It is wise to go as far as back as
you can to find a published copy that is closest to the original…unfortunately
as recently as 2016 and many teachings, canons were removed which was and is a
very grave error with our overall economia, economy within what is truly
happening, spiritually on this earth.
He lived prodigally with many sins of the flesh and finally got married. He had 2 boys and one day he went with his family to bathe in the sea.
On the beach,
as he was lying under the umbrella, his little boy says to him:
– Dad, what is
that cross on your chest? And the red letters on him, what do they say?
The father was
shocked by his son's revelation. He asked to go back to their house and there
he locked himself in his room and cried all night...
The next day he
confessed and his spiritual father told him:
- Christ, even
though you have repeatedly and consciously denied Him, still loves you
undiminished! As much as he loved you when you were a monk, he loves you even
more now!
These words hit
him in the philotimos. So he revealed the whole truth to his wife and they
agreed to divorce by mutual consent.
He went back to
the monastery, while his wife later became a nun, after she settled their
children first.
After 17 years,
the son of the monk who had seen the letters on his father's chest visits Mount
Athos and specifically the monastery where his father was a monk, without
knowing it.
He goes to the
abbot of the monastery and asks to confess. After the confession, he asks the
abbot:
– Father, I'm
looking to find my father. He became a monk and for so many years, I don't know
where he is. Can you help me?
The abbot
understood whose son this child was and tried diligently to hide his tears of
emotion and said to him:
- My child, sit
here today and I will be informed and I will tell you tomorrow.
The abbot went
to the monk - father of the son, to inform him and he says:
– My child,
your little son has come to the monastery and is looking for you. Would you
like to see him?
He, clearly
moved and at the same time troubled, told him:
- Elder I saw
my guardian angel and he revealed to me that in 3 days I am leaving for the
other world! Tell my child that he will see me in 3 days! And when I sleep,
then you will reveal to him, that I was his father!
Because I want
to set a rule for myself, for everything I've done in my life...
The act of the
monk, is an act of complete repentance and his refusal, not to see his child,
is superior love!
The abbot went
to the child, convinced him to stay another 3 days in the monastery. At the
funeral that took place in 3 days, the son attended and confessed to the abbot:
- Old man, this
is the first time I've seen such a funeral! This monk is a holy relic! This is
a monk!
And when they
buried him, the abbot made the great revelation to the son:
– My child,
this monk... was your father!!!
Elder Ephraim
of the Skete of Saint Andrew
All
Christians who go to church upon entering the church take candles and after
lighting them place them in the designated places, candelabras, usually in
front of the icons of the Saints. Many do not know what this act symbolizes.
Some think they do it to financially support their parish church. Indeed, the
temple is financially strengthened by the offering of the faithful, but behind
the lighting of the candle there is a deeper symbolism.
Why,
then, do we light candles?
We
will cite the answers of two great saints and great theologians of our Church
who explain this symbolism, Saint Symeon of Thessaloniki and Saint Nicodemus of
Mount Athos (Agioritis). Each gives 6 reasons.
Saint
Simeon tells us that we light the candle and symbolizes:
a.
The purity of the soul, because the genuine candle is made from pure beeswax.
b.
The malleability of our soul. Just as we easily carve what we want on the wax
of the candle, so we carve the bad or the good in our soul.
c.
The fragrance of Divine Grace, because the candle comes from fragrant flowers.
d.
The purpose of the Christian's life which is likeness to God, i.e. deification.
Because the believer is burning with this desire, he remembers it by lighting
the candle and seeing its flame.
e.
The light of Christ. As the light of the candle illuminates and dispels the
darkness, so the light of Christ illuminates the lives of believers.
f.
The love and peace that every Christian should have, because the candle
comforts the man with his light in the darkness.
Saint
Nicodemus the Saint tells us the following symbols.
We
light candles:
a.
That God may be glorified, who is the true and only light that enlightens every
man.
b.
To dispel the darkness of the night and comfort us from the fear of the dark.
c.
To show that we have joy in our souls.
d.
In honor of the saints and martyrs of our faith, thus imitating the first
Christians who lit candles at the tombs of the Martyrs.
e.
For our good works to be symbolized, according to the word of the Lord:
"let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and
glorify your Father in heaven".
f.
For the forgiveness of sins of those who light a candle and those for whom they
light it. That is why in many temples of different regions there are separate candelabras
where candles are lit for the living and for the dead.
(St.
Nicodemus Agioreitou, Eortodromion, p. 433)
https://www.pemptousia.gr/2021/10/giati-anavoume-keria-stin-ekklisia/
1.
That they love one another. (John 13:34-35)
2.
That they complete one another. (Rom. 12:5)
3.
That they are committed to one another. (Rom. 12:10)
4.
That they honour one another. (Rom. 12:10)
5. That they rejoice with the joy of the other.
(Rom. 12:15, 1Cor. 12:26)
6.
That they partake in the sorrow of the other. (Rom. 12: 15)
7.
That they have the same mindset with one another. (Rom. 12:16)
8.
That they do not judge one another. (Rom. 14:13)
9.
That they accept one another. (Rom. 15:7)
10.
That they counsel one another. (Rom. 15: 14)
11.
That they embrace one another. (Rom. 16:16)
12.
That they care for one another. (1Cor. 12:25)
13.
That they serve one another. (Gal. 5:13)
14.
That they are useful to one another. (Eph. 4:32)
15.
That they forgive one another. (Eph. 4:32)
16.
That they are compassionate to one another. (Eph. 4:32)
17.
That they comfort one another. (1Thess. 5:11)
18.
That they edify one another. (1Thess. 5:11)
19.
That they are subordinate to one another. (Eph. 5:21)
20.
That they suffer for one another. (Eph. 4:2, Col. 3:13)
21.
That the bear the burdens of one another. (Gal. 6:2)
