Saint Simeon the New Theologian as a spiritual mentor

Ὁ Ἅ γιος Συμε ὼ ν ὁ Νέος Θεολόγος ὡ ς πνευματικὸς ὁδηγός Τοῦ Μοναχοῦ Ἠ σαΐα Σιμωνοπετρίτη Speaking about our venerable and God-bearing father Simeon the New Theologian as a spiritual mentor, we will talk about nothing other than the inherent Tradition and the image destined by it, which in the literal sense of the word is characteristic of the Orthodox Church. However, Tradition has at least two semantic meanings. We understand Tradition as, of course, a kind of historical heritage, but also as, in essence, “meta-history,” as the inclusion of that external, which is located beyond the “line” of time and the usual area, thanks to which the Holy Spirit unites us together and makes us partakers of the spiritual experience of our saints who preceded us, leading to the perfect action of “the One Holy One, the One Lord, Jesus Christ.” Just as the sacred mystery of the Divine Eucharist is a direct meeting of the Timeless with time, the Indivisible and Indescribable with the indescribable in time, the divine and the human in the Theanthropic Body, so is the tradition of the Church, depending on how much we can live it as a baptized member in it, and how much it can be revealed by its grace-filled servants, it is also a means of transmitting the divine to man, the human to God. The work of a spiritual mentor cannot be presented as anything other than this. As a spiritual guide and, above all, as a person who played such an important role in the history of the Church, Saint Simeon would not have been such if he had not first of all served as a “spiritual leader” himself, a disciple of the entire historical tradition of the Church. His "Catechism", which represents, first of all, the words of his instructions, teachings as a mentor, is strewn with testimonies and proofs of an ever-existing tradition, of ecclesiastical consciousness, which from the Old Testament and the New Testament, with the help of the Apostles and subsequent Fathers, reaches the elder Simeon the Studite and is expounded in the words of this saint, the "Reverent One". Therefore, often, referring to the Holy Scriptures and the Fathers, he does not directly write down his own texts, but communicates them “from memory” (ἐκ μνήμης), that is, penetrating, becoming saturated with their spirit through comprehension and revelation. As a spiritual leader, Saint Simeon is the heir of the great spiritual leaders, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Ecumenical Teachers, initially being the bearer of the ascetic and mystical spirit of the Monks Anthony, Arseny, Pachomius, Euthymius and Savva, as he himself says. However, he especially feels close to his local tradition, the Constantinople, and above all the Studian. As a certain branch of this tradition, which he was thanks to the tradition of Elder Simeon the Reverent Studite, and as one who connects it even after his death with his spiritual son, Nikita Stifat, he himself is this hotly luminous tradition for his wonderful disciple Arseny, his successor as abbot in the monastery of St. Mamant. The immense spiritual wealth of Saint Simeon, his divine experience and knowledge, could not have appeared without the ever-existing personality of St. Simeon the Reverent. There is no doubt that the contribution to the formation and exposition of the system of cinenial residence, transmitted from one generation to another, is a rich heritage. However, how, our Saint asks, can the members of the kenobiya be inspired and corrected again by the living, inspired word of some God-bearing man, some shepherd, father, mentor? On the spiritual path of the New Theologian himself, the humble appearance of St. Elder Simeon the Studite had enormous power for him. Even at the very beginning, when the young man was in the world, as a teenager in the imperial palace, he came to know God step by step and in a variety of ways, with the help of which, as he himself says, remembering with slight irony, they could create a false opinion about his morality, through this reverend Elder, the Reverent. Visiting the well-known Studite monastery, our young layman accepts from the hands of the holy Elder the little book of St. Mark of the Ascetic, which, as it turns out, was a favorite reading for the most reverent Christians in Byzantium, together with the commandment to examine one’s conscience, listening to what is said to him from the mouth of God. Thus, having been on vigil for a long time until late at night, suddenly a dazzling light appears from the sky, which filled the entire place where he stood, performing prayer, like a “cloud of divine glory.” And in this Divine Light both his spiritual father and he himself prayed. Saint Simeon speaks and repeats, and it is quite likely not only because of humility that after the first taste of divine grace he fell into sad sensuality, if not worse, but then again, through the prayers and guidance of the holy elder, he little by little began to come to his senses. Having achieved awareness, primarily because of the ineffable mercy of God, which called to him, he washes himself from dirt, opens and again sanctifies his eyes, blinded by passions. The content of the two “Thanksgivings” (“Εὐχαριστιων”) tells us about the amazing Divine Providence that does not leave us, which acted through the prayers of his venerable Elder. This brief withdrawal from God during his youth was, in the end, very instructive and edifying for the Saint, as anyone who grasps the spiritual atmosphere of the early catechetical instructions in which he encourages his monastic listeners to repentance and instructs about lamentation, tears and humility comes to this conclusion. In the twenty-fourth catechetical instruction, for example, Saint Simeon says this: “... cannot learn (the work of repentance) on his own, but comes with great fear and trembling to a skilled and experienced man, obeys him with all attention and is instructed and learned from him to do feats of virtue and what a penitent should do." 1. According to Saint Simeon, this constitutes the main spiritual law under its catholic application. Every Christian who seeks salvation needs to earnestly beg God with prayer, with all his soul and with warm tears, to cry out for him to show him “a dispassionate and holy leader,” a person “who performs good and powerful pastoral service.” And when he finds it, then he needs to obey him “as Christ himself, who sees and speaks.” And we, the thieves of the timeless region of Tradition, could talk about how one who so professes the greatness of this personal, personal sacrament of piety. Therefore, the incomparable divine gift of such a leader is nothing more than a certain image of the personal appearance of God “in the flesh”? For a monk, the breath of such a holy father becomes a creative “living breath”, and in this case it still means a subtle breath of the Spirit of the Lord, since he also abides everywhere and always, the appearance of God. In order to appreciate the divine gifts, Saint Simeon asserts, which are unique and inalienable, it is necessary to submit to a holy and wise leader, first purification with tears, first deification by martyrdom, first polishing by humility, because in this way one becomes capable of perceiving divine actions-energies, in order to act above oneself and in order to discover what is inside oneself. A high spiritual “state”, as they usually say monks, Elder Simon the Reverent are reflected not only in his sayings, simple advice, but also rich and deep, mixed with the experiences of “Trinity experiences” in the Holy Spirit, which gave him absolute authority as a mentor and teacher, but, which is very characteristic, also because of the experienced visions of God of the brilliant Uncreated Light, which young Simeon was awarded even at the first steps of his monastic life and which in some way was a gift from his Elder... In his "Chapters" (Κεφάλαιά), which are the result of life in the Catholic tradition and personal experience, St. Simeon also speaks of special perseverance, seeking advice and the need for a good spiritual guide. The variety of names he gives to the confessor is some indication of how he views the spiritual mentor. He is: an abbot, a father according to God and a spiritual father, a teacher, a godfather, a physician, a mediator, a shepherd, a ruler, a judge after God, a brother and lover of his friend, a good counselor, a friend and servant of Christ, a holy husband, a divine cultivator, a beholder, a hearer, a feeler, a beholder who in the spirit gave birth to the Word in the heart, he serves like a mother. The last words reveal “above all” the importance of the ministry of a spiritual leader. He is the "parent" (ὁ γεννήτωρ) who, as a necessary condition, must have and be himself "born again" (ἄνωθεν γεγεννημένος). Indeed, this personal “Birth of God” (Θεοτοκία) is the heart and soul of the sacrament of the relationship between mentor and flock, father and son. Already the Apostle Paul reveals especially the depth of this sacrament, and no other question has been highlighted so much, and is emphasized in the high-flying theology of the fourth Gospel of the beloved disciple of the Lord. All the prophets before Christ and after Him, with extraordinary honor and courtesy, teach that this is how the gifts of salvation are transmitted in the Church, the reality that constitutes its Tradition. This, of course, does not mean that holiness in the Church, the Divine Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and, above all, the Eucharist can be replaced by charismatic monastic life. However, even without this addition of mysticism, from where comes obedience in the knowledge of God, which fertilizes the seed of the grace of Baptism, even the divine Sacraments of the Church remain “inactive” (ἀνενέργητα). Only then does someone begin his true life, existence, when he becomes the son of one father, when he is connected with the father through obedience. The way by which a saint Simeon expounds this sacrament, especially in hymns and letters, with a bold, “realistic-symbolic” description of the groaning and torment that occurs during pregnancy after the conception of the seed of the Word, that is, when accepting the teachings of the father in the heart of his disciple. In the pure spiritual relationship of two souls, the mentor dresses in the image of Christ, and the disciple sees Christ in “his Father.” In the soul of the disciple, the Father, “Christ in the Spirit,” gives birth to tears of repentance and sorrow, but an idolizing sorrow. And it cannot be otherwise. Christ is the original Word and Creator. But “until Christ is portrayed in us” and the outpouring of love overcomes bodily and spiritual passions, the spiritual father must, as it were, “give birth”, must do all this - repent and shed daily tears, weep and diligently endure pain for the sake of his “child.” However, the student often does not feel the indescribable pains of the “womb” (κυοφορίας) of his father, and he also does not suspect how much his teacher suffers. Anyone who, when he turns away, is disgusted or does not properly reverence or renounces his father, such is St. Simeon the New Theologian considers him to be renouncing Christ, as dead and already falling into eternal torment, just like vice versa, the one who fully obeys the father is awarded resurrection and eternal life. Saint Simeon was not completely alien to the suffering and mental pain of his spiritual children. His heart, filled with fatherly love (γεμάτη στοργὴ) and his divinely inspired leadership (ἡ θεόπνευστη παιδαγωγία) met with opposition and not so little and rarely opposition with violence already in at the very beginning of his abbess. Only thanks to the extreme degree of patience and his great humility, that is, with the assistance in practice of God and a lot of love for God, he was able to withstand and endure the terrible pain and bitter disappointment that were caused in him by the behavior of many ungrateful and blind of his children. A very well known case is when during the morning teaching, after the performance of the morning doxology, thirty of his monks, irritated by the “impotence” of his lofty teaching, became enraged, tore their robes and threatened to attack him. Shackled by calm and irresistible love, St. Simeon, they turned back, opened the doors of the monastery and turned to the Great Church in order to declare their anger to the Patriarch. Patriarch Sisinius the next day called St. Simeon, in order to impose church sanctions on the troublemakers for their disorderly behavior. However, the offended father, dishonored and slandered, fell at the feet of the patriarch in tears, persistently asking not to punish his children and asking permission to return the monastery again. But, subsequently, since the rebel monks scattered to their own homes in Constantinople, he found them one by one and, with incomparable humility and condescension, returned them to the “flock of verbal sheep.” Rule of St. Simeon as abbot in relation to the monks was that “what you see with me, you also do.” If his condescension towards sinners knew no bounds, he did not lose sight, as far as possible, of his duty to force the monks in every possible way to achieve feat, he creates the conditions for their spiritual success. He very strictly instructed and prepared his chosen disciple, and subsequently his successor, Abbot Arseny, always with one goal: so that he would abolish, set aside his “own” will, and show him real, effective freedom and in order to concentrate him on the grace-filled tradition of spiritual fatherhood. Thus, the worthy abbot of St. was revealed. Simeon after his departure from the hegument and with the arrival of the time of Arseny's appointment. He dedicated to him one of the most beautiful catechetical conversations on a topic directly related to the spiritual leader. For other virtuous disciples, like for the immortal elder Anthony and for the former Italian bishop Hierotheus, the youngest monk Nikephoros, but also for the laity - for the landowner Christopher and the merchant Orestes, for the hesychastir Saint Marina in Chalcedon, he teaches them that God rewards in the most generous way their faith in Saint Simeon as their spiritual father. The extreme degree of demands of the spiritual leader had no other purpose than to lead the student into the desired salvation. Undoubtedly, this was preceded by the father’s tears for a child capable of containing. The whole requirement of spiritual ascent comes down to nothing other than mutual freedom, true and fundamentally with the complete imitation of Christ. Personal freedom, inner life, firm faith, undoubted obedience, real knowledge of God - all these are necessary aspects for a leader and a student. The last period of the life of St. Simeon is characterized by a complete and comprehensive and overflowing love for the whole world, for “God-loving Christians,” monks and laity alike, especially for those who suffer from the passions and are possessed by demons. Divine love and true theology at the same time constituted the unique and only property of his existence. It represents the height of interest - for it is even a certain element of his heritage, which was discovered in the church tradition, starting with the prophets and Apostles and right up to his spiritual father, St. Simeon the Reverent. While his renunciation of the world was most complete, he nourished his lay brothers in the world with an irresistible love. In his biography there are numerous cases concerning his care for his reverent children, the laity, sometimes to the poor and those in bewilderment, sometimes to the rich and officials, who often occupied prominent positions in the society of Constantinople. His retirement from the abbot management of the sacred monastery of Mamant, and then exile and exile to the opposite bank of the Bosphorus and the founding of the hesychastery of St. Marina became the occasion for another very noble gift and an undoubted gift to his spiritual children, a kind of perfect sacrifice of himself. However, these events were unexpected for his enemies, who were making persistent efforts to overthrow his entire spiritual work. They were not successful in this. But the long-term zealous ill will of a certain wise man according to this world, Syncellus Metropolitan Stephen of Nicomedia, who sought to plunge Saint Simeon into the powerless intricacies of scholastic theology, also did not achieve success. Therefore, the saint, celebrating the memory of his reverend father Simeon the Reverent in such an obvious way, never acted contrary to his church conscience and consciousness or did not transgress the boundaries of the tradition of the Church. And ultimately he was acquitted by the Patriarch and the Council. The Patriarch, although he had previously given advice to celebrate the memory of Symeon the Reverent, nevertheless recognized both the moral straightforwardness and the theological correctness of the actions of the New Theologian. He even sent candles and incense for the holiday! As has been proven and shown, Saint Simeon, even after his death, really is a spiritual leader who does not cease to be a mediator for his children. Simply put, he becomes available to all those who want him to be near the throne of grace for all ages and for all. This is nothing less than the catholicity of the Saints in the One Holy One, the One Lord, Jesus Christ, the only eternal Spiritual Guide. Λόγος ΙΔ ΄. Περί μετανοίας καί ἀρχῆς βίου μοναδικοῦ. Καί πῶς τις ὁδῷ καί τάξει προβαίνων εἰς ἀρετήν ἐν τ ῇ τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐργασί ᾳ εἰς τελειότητα ἔρχεται .