Saint Symeon the New Theologian

From Paphlagonia to Constantinople

Saint Symeon the New Theologian was born in 949 at Galatea in Paphlagonia, into a prosperous Christian household. His parents were Basil and Theophano. Through his family he entered the world of Constantinople, where education, imperial service and the prospect of advancement opened before him. His eventual vocation took him away from that ambition and toward a life of repentance and prayer.

Symeon the Pious and the Call to Prayer

His spiritual father was Symeon the Pious, a monk of the Studios Monastery. The younger Symeon learned to seek counsel and to put spiritual reading into practice. The writings of Saint Mark the Ascetic and Saint Diadochos of Photiki helped shape his understanding of conscience, the commandments and prayer.

Before becoming a monk, he already devoted himself to fasting, spiritual reading and prolonged prayer. His Life recounts an experience of divine light in which his surroundings seemed to disappear and he perceived his elder within a greater radiance. The account presents this as a gift of grace received in prayer, inseparable from the repentance and obedience that followed.

Monastic Life at Studios and Saint Mamas

Symeon entered monastic life at Studios and subsequently moved to the Monastery of Saint Mamas in Constantinople. There he was tonsured and ordained to the priesthood. He became abbot and guided the community for approximately twenty-five years. His responsibilities included restoring its buildings and renewing its spiritual life.

His teaching asked the monks to take prayer, obedience and the struggle against the passions seriously. A group of monks resisted him and attacked him during a gathering. When the patriarch proposed severe punishment, Symeon interceded for their forgiveness. His response joined the discipline he taught to mercy toward those who opposed him.

Teaching and the Hymns of Divine Love

The Catechetical Discourses, Ethical Discourses, theological and practical chapters, and Hymns of Divine Love preserve his spiritual teaching. Throughout these works, repentance and the work of the Holy Spirit belong to the actual life of the believer. His theology invites the reader to seek communion with God through a life changed by grace.

The hymns give poetic expression to humility, divine love and illumination. Symeon’s remembrance as a theologian is therefore linked to his prayer and spiritual experience as well as to his written instruction.

Controversy and Withdrawal

His veneration of his departed elder brought conflict with Stephen of Nicomedia and other ecclesiastical authorities. The dispute involved the elder’s icon and a synodal investigation. Around the beginning of the eleventh century, Symeon left the abbacy and eventually withdrew across the Bosphorus.

The consulted Orthodox accounts differ in their presentation of withdrawal and banishment, and in the name of his final monastery. Despite the loss of his former position, he continued to write and guide disciples. His life was preserved by his disciple Saint Nicetas Stethatos.

Repose and Commemoration

The OCA Life dates his repose to 1021; the Greek Synaxarion gives 1022. Both remember a peaceful completion of his ascetic life. The OCA also records his reputation as a wonderworker.

His commemoration is associated with March 12 and October 12. The OCA explains the October celebration as a transfer of the feast because March 12 falls in Great Lent. This website links the documentary to October 12, the date followed by the channel’s commemorative series.