Nicholas Cabasilas and his theological heritage

To the 30th anniversary of the glorification of the saint and the 700th anniversary of his birth Righteous Nicholas Kavasila is a representative of the Byzantine tradition of hesychasm, an outstanding Orthodox theologian and liturgist. His theology is a frank and deep dialogue between Orthodoxy and the emerging Renaissance worldview, a dialogue in which the utopia of humanism without Christ is contrasted with the church teaching about man created in the image and likeness of God and called to restore the darkened image, to deification, to life in Christ, gained through full participation in the liturgical and prayerful experience of the Church. Nicholas Cabasilas was born around 1320/22 in Thessalonica into an aristocratic family. Representatives of his family played a prominent role in the church and political life of Byzantium starting from the 11th century. His mother was the sister of three bishops, the most famous of whom is Nilus Cabasilas, teacher of the future lamp of the Church, Archbishop of Thessaloniki in 1361–1363, author of a number of polemical works against the Latins. In 1335–1340, Nicholas Cabasilas studied in Constantinople. In addition to grammar, rhetoric and philosophy, he studied natural sciences and showed a special interest in astronomy. Sources indicate that already in the 1330s, Nicholas Kavasila was in close connection with the hesychast movement. His spiritual leader in his youth was the disciple of St. Gregory of Sinaite and the future Patriarch of Constantinople, Isidore Bukhir, to whom St. Gregory gave the following characteristic advice: “Live not in the deserts or in the mountains... but in the world (to care for) those who live there monastically and cinemonically.” These words, in comparison with some texts of Kavasila, indicate the tradition of laic 1 hesychasm, inextricably linked with monastic hesychasm both at the ontological level - the unity of the ascetic ideal, and at the level of practical collaboration in implementing the goals and objectives of this spiritual movement. Beginning in 1341, Kavasila actively participated in political and religious life. For many years he was a friend and adviser to Emperor John Cantacuzenus, supported him during the civil war, and barely escaped death during the terrible massacre of the Thessalonian nobility by the Zealots in August 1345. In 1347, Cantacuzene instructed Cabasiles to accompany the newly elected Archbishop of Thessaloniki, Gregory Palamas, to his see. The Zealots prevented the new metropolitan from entering the city. According to sources, Kavasila and his friend Demetrius Kydonis knew from the emperor himself about his intention to retire to the monastery of St. Mamant (1349) and were going to follow him, but for an unknown reason this plan did not come true. Cantacuzene characterizes them as men who have received the highest wisdom, who are also wise in their deeds and who lead a reasonable celibate life, that is, they are a kind of “worldly ascetic,” an educated and wise husband who strives to combine Christian asceticism with high literary, scientific and philosophical creativity. Cabasilas adhered to a firm Orthodox position during and after the Council of Blachernae in 1351, which condemned the Anti-Palamites. He obviously remained a layman until the end of his life; at least none of the sources that have reached us speak of Kavasila taking monastic vows or holy orders. (Attributing to him the dignity of Archbishop of Thessalonica is based on a historical misunderstanding.) About the life of Kavasila after 1353, only some fragmentary evidence has reached us. In 1354, he delivered a panegyric at the accession of Matthew Cantacuzenus, son of Emperor John VI, to the imperial throne. In 1363 he arrived in Thessalonica for the funeral of his uncle Nilus and later his father. Evidence that Cabasilas still lived in the first half of the 90s are letters that can be precisely dated and sent to him by Manuel II Palaiologos, Demetrius Kydonis and Josephus Bryennios. The probable date of death of Kabasila is 1397 (1398). The glorification of Nicholas Kavasila as a saint took place in June 1983. The legacy left by Nicholas Kavasila is quite large. The number of his theological works exceeds a dozen and a half, and in total there are 35 original surviving works. The five most famous and significant works, according to the Greek theologian P. Nellas, form a trilogy. They are also the most extensive of those created by Cabasilas: “On Life in Christ”, “Interpretation of the Divine Liturgy” and three Homilies of the Theotokos. However, according to the fair remark of Church historian I.I. Sokolov, “the fame of Nicholas Cabasilas as a mystical theologian rests mainly on his essay “On Life in Christ.”” In seven chapters (“words”) of this outstanding work, Cabasilas examines in detail the foundations of Christian spiritual life and offers a deep study of its nature. Spiritual life, according to Cabasilas, is truly our life in Christ, that is, the very earthly life of Christ, the life of His “spiritual flesh” 2, which is the life of the All-Holy Spirit and manifests itself as love. Only such life is genuine, it exists and is given only in Christ, in the body of Christ, in the Church, “it manifests itself, extends and acts through certain mysterious successions, which in their essence are the deepest union: the “marriage” of God with creation, the unfused, but complete and universal “mixing” of creation with the Creator.” Communication between a person and Christ, “coming together” 3 with Him, is, therefore, for Nikolai Kavasila the essence of spiritual life, which he defines in the three words of the title of his work: “Life in Christ.” This main work of Cabasilas is supplemented by another, no less significant, “Interpretation of the Divine Liturgy.” In it, he explains in detail the symbolic meaning of the liturgical actions and prayers of the Divine Liturgy. The “Interpretation” is in a sense an addition and development of the fourth book of the previous work, since in it Cabasilas does not describe the following of the Liturgy, meaning, probably, that this explanation is contained in another work, while the chapters on Baptism and Confirmation contain a similar description. It is noteworthy that in the theology of Cabasilia there is no evidence of the doctrine of a certain number and set of sacraments, which had already become widespread in the 14th century. Thus, after the description of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist, a description of the consecration of the throne is given, parallel to the previous sections. All sacraments, according to Nikolai Kavasila, are separate components of the single “Sacrament of Christ”, saving for man and elevating him to God the Father. At the same time, the unity and power of the sacraments are revealed in the Eucharist, which is understood by him as the effective and transforming presence of Christ, giving effectiveness to other sacraments. “...One of the Sacraments – the Eucharist – grants other Sacraments to be perfect and helps them in their very fulfillment, since without it they cannot perform” (“Seven Words about Life in Christ.” Homily 4) 4. It helps them in the process of perfection, since without it they cannot lead to perfection, and it also helps after completion of those who have been perfected by the Sacraments. Cabasilas concludes the Fourth Word with a sublime description of the rapture of the righteous to the appearing Christ, when they become one with Him, as members with the Head. “This Head, as soon as he shines on the clouds, will gather His own members from everywhere. A god among gods, a beautiful leader of a beautiful face; and just as heavy bodies, as soon as the bonds holding them in the air are broken, fall to the ground and immediately find their place, so the bodies of the saints... when freedom appears, they will rush uncontrollably to Christ in order to take their own place... He Himself will draw them and delight them... He Himself will raise up those who make the final flow towards Him and for those who fly He Himself will be wings... From table to table, from the hidden to already manifested, from bread to body” (“Seven Words about Life in Christ.” Homily 4) 5. According to the teachings of Nicholas Cabasilas, God gives man in the sacraments everything necessary for salvation, and man, for his part, is called to preserve the treasure received in the sacraments, acting freely and responsibly. The study of the sacraments fills the mind and soul with the greatness and beauty of Christ and through this prevents the powers of the soul from being carried away by evil. In his interpretation of the Beatitudes, Cabasilas insists that the best path to the virtues that the Lord speaks of is persistent study of the life of Christ, not as an intellectual pursuit, but as active knowledge, communion and participation in the life of Christ, since only Christ is the ultimate goal of human life. “If life is the force that moves the living,” writes Cabasilas, “what moves truly living people, whom God is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living, if not love itself, which not only captivates and guides them, but also easily leads them out of themselves and thus can make more of all life in them, so that it turns out to be stronger than life? For she convinces us to despise not only fleeting life, but also permanent life. Therefore, what can be called life more just than love? Moreover, more important than all that has been said, life is that which does not allow the living to die, and this is love. For when everything else, according to the word of Paul, is abolished in the future life, love alone, which remains, will be sufficient for this life in Christ Jesus...” (“Seven Words about Life in Christ.” Homily 7) 6. The “Virgin Homilies,” although written in compliance with all the rules of Byzantine rhetoric, are more a cycle of three small treatises than words intended to be spoken. When comparing them with the earlier patristic tradition in the teaching about the Most Holy Theotokos, one cannot help but notice the following circumstance. If the holy fathers of previous centuries in the teaching about the Mother of God emphasized primarily its Christological aspect (and it is not surprising, since the very name Theotokos - Mother of God - was established in the context of Christological disputes, in contrast to those who denied the Mother of God, the hypostatic unity of the Son of God, who became the Son of Man, is defended here), then Nikolai Kavasila pays special attention to its anthropological side. And this becomes quite understandable, because the main lie of Renaissance humanism is a lie about man. Humanists proclaimed the autonomy of the human mind, its independence from God, whom they viewed as an impenetrable and inaccessible Entity. The entire humanism of the Renaissance in the 14th century argued that the life of man is man himself. Seeing many of his contemporaries, carried away by the ideas of the Renaissance and tragically hesitant in matters of faith, Cabasilas strives to show them what the true dignity of man and his true rebirth lies, and therefore turns to the face of the Most Blessed Virgin, whose entire life was dedicated to God and the Master and who, through complete surrender of Herself to the Creator, remained free from any participation in doing evil, was immaculate and sinless, acquired with the help of God's grace has an unrivaled height of holiness. She was so holy that God could and should have been born from Her. “He is not the best Mother of all that exists, but in general he chose the Best for Himself. She suited Him no more than anyone else in the human race, but she suited Him to the highest degree, and that is why she was deemed worthy to become His Mother” (“Homily on the Annunciation of the Theotokos,” VIII) 7. The purpose for which God created human nature, Kabasila points out, was so that when the time came for Him to be born according to humanity, He would take a Mother from her for Himself, and therefore it was absolutely necessary that “human nature should once reveal itself corresponding to the cause for which it was originally created, and brought a person who could worthily serve the purpose of the Creator” 8. This person, who occupies a central place in the entire House of Salvation, was the Most Holy Virgin, who revealed in Herself the beauty and nobility of human nature. Creation, ascending along the path of successive Old Testament elections, cannot, according to Cabasilas, fail to come to the Virgin, Who constitutes the “expedient end” of all creation and the humanity of Whose could unite with God so closely that the God-man was born from him. Another point that Cabasilas emphasizes in his homilies is the conscious, voluntary and effective participation of the Mother of God in the sacrament of the Incarnation. He decisively asserts that the Incarnation is not so much the work of the Triune God, but also the work of the will and faith of the Virgin, that without Her consent and the assistance of Her faith, the Economy would be as impracticable as without the participation of the Three Divine Persons. God wanted His Mother to carry Him in her womb as freely as He was incarnated voluntarily. Kavasila shows how the humility of the Mother of God and Her obedience to God united in the Person of the Most Holy Virgin the human will with the Divine will and how thereby the problem and tragedy of human freedom was forever resolved. Human freedom has shown itself to be consistent with the freedom of God. The righteous Nicholas Kavasila himself will forever remain in the history of the Orthodox Church as a shining example of how the non-divergence of life from words with sincere striving for Christ as the ultimate goal of personal existence at any time and in any rank can open a person to the path to holiness and the gates of heaven. Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church All-Holiness and Most Divine Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, in Christ God our beloved Brother and Co-Servant Mr. Demetrius, Your All-Holiness in the Lord with a kiss, we most sweetly greet you. The Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church, during the Council of 04/30/1982, having accepted for consideration the letter of the Most Venerable Panteleimon, Metropolitan of Thessalonica, dated 02/23/1982, as well as the conclusion of the Committee on Church Legal Issues at the Holy Synod dated 04/27/1982, decided the canonical implementation of the necessary procedure for the official canonization of the saint, our venerable and God-bearing father Nicholas Kavasila Khamaet, who passed away in the world, occupying an outstanding place in the ranks of the saints of the Holy Thessalonian Metropolis, thanks to his confessional and holy life, Orthodox care and enormous contribution to the Church and Education. Since, in accordance with the canonical rite and centuries-old church tradition, the official canonization of those who have died in the world or have accepted a martyr’s death belongs to the care and authority of the Holy Apostolic and Ecumenical See of the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople, therefore, by the decision and determination of the Synod, sending you the compiled Letter, we ask that, according to the laws of the Great Church of Christ, the Patriarchal and Synodal Case of canonization of the saint be issued, the above-mentioned venerable father of ours Nicholas Kavasila, and the celebration of his annual memory was determined on June 20. The proclamation of Nicholas Cabasilas as a saint represents a petition from the Christian fullness of the Holy Thessalonian Metropolis, in the opinion of which he lived as a saint; the prayers of believers are sent to him for intercession and intercession before the Almighty and All-Bountiful God. For this, we kiss Your All-Holiness with the kiss of love in Christ our God and Savior. Seraphim, Archbishop of Athens, Chairman Archimandrite Timofey (Trivizas), First Secretary June 20 commemoration of our Reverend Father Nicholas Kavasila Verse: You probably became an accomplice of the Saints, living a holy life, to Nicholas. I sing the most glorious praise to the Divine Nicholas with songs. This man lived in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. He was born in the city of Thessalonica. He had glorious and virtuous parents. Trained by them in excellent morals and all kinds of piety, brought up with respect, he aspired to great wisdom and knowledge of various kinds. A tireless preacher, he enriched God's speech with the influx of the Holy Spirit. Shining with his immaculate and godlike life, he became pleasing and close to the archons and kings. The venerable one, having walked the earthly path chastely and in every virtue, reposed into Heaven and became equal to the Angels, having been honored with eternal glory and life. Laic - worldly, belonging not to monasticism, but to church consciousness. – Note. auto “The spiritual flesh of Christ” means, according to Cabasilas, the mystical Body of the Church. – Note. auto Cabasilia's term "realization" must be understood as "whole life in Christ." – Note. auto Nikolai Kavasila. Christ. Church. Mother of God. M., Publishing House of the Church of the Holy Martyr Tatiana, 2007. P. 84.