Symeon the New Theologian

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Symeon the New Theologian

Symeon the New Theologian (Greek Συμεὼν ὁ Νέος Θεολόγος, also Symeon the Younger or Symeon the Theologian ; * late 949 in Galatia ; † March 12, 1022 in Asia Minor) was a Byzantine church teacher , mystic and poet. He is venerated as a saint.

Life

Symeon probably came from Galatea in Paphlagonia on the Black Sea . He came to Constantinople in 960 , where he was introduced to court service by his uncle Basilios. In 977 he entered the local studio monastery as a novice . With Simeon the Elder he learned the Jesus prayer , which shaped his whole spiritual life. Less than a year later he moved to the neighboring monastery of St. Mamas, where he was ordained a priest in 980 and his abbot from 980 to 998 . Simeon was hostile to his confreres because of his strict way of life and theological statements and had to resign after a revolt in 1005. He then lived as a hermit near the monastery.

According to Symeon, he saw the so-called Tabor light since around 970 . He traced this vision, which is basically possible to everyone, directly back to the grace of God. In this way he differed from later representatives of hesychasm , who used special techniques as an aid to promote concentration. He wrote down his visions in 58 hymns.

Work and meaning

Symeon the New Theologian is considered an important spiritual teacher of the Orthodox Church. So far he is only the third, after the evangelists Johannes and Gregor von Nazianz , who was nicknamed "the theologian". 34 catecheses and 225 aphorisms have been preserved from him . Well-known works are his catecheses and divini amores .

Liturgical remembrance

Symeon the New Theologian is considered a saint in both the Catholic Church and Orthodoxy . His feast day in the Roman Catholic liturgy as in Orthodoxy is March 12th . However, he is little known in the Catholic area and is therefore hardly venerated. In contrast, Symeon the New Theologian is a well-known saint in the Orthodox churches.

Fonts (selection)

  • Light from light. Hymns. German by Kilian Kirchhoff . 2nd Edition. Kösel, Munich 1951.
  • Hymns (= Supplementa Byzantina. Vol. 3). Prolegomena, critical text, indices obtained from Athanasios Kambylis . De Gruyter, Berlin et al. 1976, ISBN 3-11-004888-4 (also: Hamburg, Universität, habilitation thesis, 1969).
  • From the love songs to God (= print by Edition Tiessen. 55). Transfer from Martin Buber . Edition Tiessen, Neu-Isenburg 1988, ISBN 3-920947-84-3 .
  • Light visions. Hymns about the mystical vision of divine light (= literature - media - religion. Vol. 18). Translated from the Greek by Lothar Heiser . Lit, Berlin et al. 2006, ISBN 3-8258-9286-7 .

literature

Overview representations

Investigations

  • Hilarion Alfeyev : St Symeon the New Theologian and Orthodox Tradition. Oxford University Press, Oxford et al. 2000, ISBN 0-19-827009-7 .
  • Pablo Argárate: Fire on Earth. The Holy Spirit with Symeon the New Theologian (= Hereditas. Studies on ancient church history. Vol. 25). Borengässer, Bonn 2007, ISBN 978-3-923946-72-3 (also: Tübingen, University, dissertation, 2003/2004).
  • Johannes Koder : The hymns of Symeon, of Neos Theologos. Reflections on the literary classification and the author's intentions (= German Working Group for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies. Special issue. 2011). German Working Group for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-00-036602-4 .
  • HJM Turner: St. Symeon. The new theologian and spiritual fatherhood (= Byzantina Neerlandica. Fasc. 11). Brill, Leiden et al. 1990, ISBN 90-04-09166-1 (also: Manchester, University, dissertation, 1985).

Web links

Commons : Symeon the New Theologian  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Symeon the New Theologian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Symeon the Younger; Symeon the Theologian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION orthodox church doctor and poet
DATE OF BIRTH 949
PLACE OF BIRTH Galatia
DATE OF DEATH March 12, 1022
Place of death Asia Minor