Saint Symeon the New Theologian
Abbot of Saint Mamas, 'the New Theologian'
- Feast day
- March 12
- Lived
- 949–1022
- Patronage
- Those seeking direct experience of God in prayer
Saint Symeon insisted, against the theological establishment of his day, that the conscious experience of the Holy Spirit is not the privilege of the ancients but the normal inheritance of every Christian.
Life
Born in Paphlagonia to a noble family and educated for the imperial service, Symeon came under the direction of the monk Symeon the Studite and, while still a layman, experienced a vision of divine light that reoriented his entire life. He became abbot of the monastery of Saint Mamas in Constantinople.
His insistence that a spiritual father must be a man of genuine experience, and his frank descriptions of his own visions, provoked opposition from the ecclesiastical bureaucracy; he was eventually exiled across the Bosphorus, where he founded a small community and continued writing.
Writings
The Hymns of Divine Love and the Catechetical Discourses are unlike anything else in Byzantine literature in their directness. His theology of light prepared the ground for the hesychast synthesis of Saint Gregory Palamas three centuries later, and he is one of only three saints the Church titles 'Theologian'.
When Saint Symeon the New Theologian is commemorated
The feast falls on March 12 on the Revised Julian (New) calendar used by most Greek, Antiochian and Romanian parishes. Parishes that keep the Julian (Old) calendar — much of the Russian, Serbian and Georgian Churches, and Mount Athos — celebrate it on the civil date March 25, thirteen days later. You can switch between both reckonings anywhere on this site.
See the full liturgical day for March 12, 2027
That page gives the fasting rule in force, the Epistle and Gospel appointed for the day, and every other saint commemorated alongside Saint Symeon the New Theologian. To keep the feast, look for a parish in the USA, Canada or Australia directory, and read the Akathist hymns appointed for private prayer.