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104-683: Saint Symeon the New Theologian ( Greek : Συμεὼν ὁ Νέος Θεολόγος ; 949–1022) was an Eastern Orthodox monk and poet who was one of the four saints canonized by the Eastern Orthodox Church and given the title of "Theologian" (along with Saint John the Apostle , Saint Gregory of Nazianzus , and Saint Hesychius the Priest of Jerusalem). " Theologian " was not applied to Symeon in the modern academic sense of theological study;

208-577: A basis for coinages: anthropology , photography , telephony , isomer , biomechanics , cinematography , etc. Together with Latin words , they form the foundation of international scientific and technical vocabulary ; for example, all words ending in -logy ('discourse'). There are many English words of Greek origin . Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European language family. The ancient language most closely related to it may be ancient Macedonian , which, by most accounts,

312-510: A celebration honoring his teacher, which included an icon of Symeon the Studite and a service to him. Stephen rebuked Symeon for honoring his teacher as a saint, because in his opinion the Studite was not worthy of any honor. The conflict between the two lasted for six years. Stephen was finally able to bring Symeon before the Synod on charges of honoring as a saint someone who Stephen believed

416-558: A fairly stable set of consonantal contrasts . The main phonological changes occurred during the Hellenistic and Roman period (see Koine Greek phonology for details): In all its stages, the morphology of Greek shows an extensive set of productive derivational affixes , a limited but productive system of compounding and a rich inflectional system. Although its morphological categories have been fairly stable over time, morphological changes are present throughout, particularly in

520-560: A faster, more convenient cursive writing style with the use of ink and quill . The Greek alphabet consists of 24 letters, each with an uppercase ( majuscule ) and lowercase ( minuscule ) form. The letter sigma has an additional lowercase form (ς) used in the final position of a word: In addition to the letters, the Greek alphabet features a number of diacritical signs : three different accent marks ( acute , grave , and circumflex ), originally denoting different shapes of pitch accent on

624-469: A few months. Following the elder Symeon's advice, he left for the nearby Monastery of Saint Mamas in Constantinople, which was described as run down, both physically and spiritually. During his time at Saint Mamas he continued to follow Symeon the Studite's guidance. Within three years after moving to Saint Mamas, Symeon was tonsured as a monk, ordained as a priest, and elected as the abbot of

728-540: A foreign language. It is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, " Homeric Greek is probably closer to Demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English ". Greek is spoken today by at least 13 million people, principally in Greece and Cyprus along with a sizable Greek-speaking minority in Albania near

832-464: A longing for praise, it being nothing but the fabrication of conceited men. It follows, therefore, that we can know with certainty when we are in the proper state to speak about God if during the hours when we do not speak we maintain a fervent remembrance of God in untroubled silence . Whoever loves himself cannot love God; but if, because of 'the overflowing richness' of God's love, a man does not love himself, then he truly loves God (Ephes. 2,7). Such

936-523: A man never seeks his own glory, but seeks the glory of God. The man who loves himself seeks his own glory, whereas he who loves God loves the glory of his Creator. It is characteristic of the soul which consciously senses the Love of God always to seek God's glory in every Commandment it performs and to be happy in its low estate. For glory befits God because of His majesty, while lowliness befits man because it unites us with God. If we realize this, rejoicing in

1040-399: A monk, so he spent the years until age twenty-seven serving in the household of a patrician , though according to some sources he served the emperor instead. Living a worldly life during the day, he reportedly spent his evenings in vigils and prayer, putting into practice the writings of two authors— Marcus Eremita and Diadochos of Photiki —that were given to him by his spiritual father. It

1144-463: A more solitary life at the monastery. Symeon endured severe opposition from church authorities, particularly from the chief theologian of the emperor's court, Archbishop Stephen, who at one time was the Metropolitan of Nicomedia . Stephen was a former politician and diplomat with a reputation for a thorough theoretical understanding of theology, but one which was removed from actual experience of

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1248-499: A priest was not a requirement—Symeon's own spiritual father was a simple unordained monk who had many spiritual children. Symeon also taught that such teachers were empowered by their holiness to preach and to absolve others of their sins, a view that brought him into disagreement with church leaders of his time. In Hymns of Divine Love Symeon wrote that: Listen only to the advice of your spiritual father, answer him with humility and, as to God, tell him your thoughts, even to

1352-639: A real Christian man of prayer , united to God, discovering the "life in Christ" and wanting to share its goodness with his readers. Sometimes, this work has been referred to as the Gnostic Chapters ; however, this can be misleading, as "Gnostic" in this case refers to theoria (the knowledge of God), relating to its Biblical usage, and not to the early Christian sects of Gnosticism , which are considered heretical by Orthodox Christians. Quote from Chapters 11 & 12: Spiritual discourse always keeps

1456-626: A simple meditation, without hiding anything, do nothing without his advice. Greek language Greek ( Modern Greek : Ελληνικά , romanized :  Elliniká , [eliniˈka] ; Ancient Greek : Ἑλληνική , romanized :  Hellēnikḗ ) is an Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece , Cyprus , Italy (in Calabria and Salento ), southern Albania , and other regions of

1560-567: A small town in the province of Epirus Vetus , in the northwestern part of present-day Greece. In 451, he took part in the Council of Chalcedon as Bishop of Photiki. He was most likely part of a group of Epiran notables who were captured during a Vandal raid between 467 and 474. The group was later released in North Africa , somewhere around Carthage , from whence all vanished. His exact date and place of death are thus unknown, although it

1664-586: A true champion of the doctrine of Chalcedon. In fact, his best-known work, On Spiritual Knowledge and Discrimination (known as the "Hundred Chapters" or "Hundred Texts"), was written for his monks in reaction to strange doctrines coming from the heretical Messalian sect in Mesopotamia (also known as Euchites). Some authors have misunderstood the role of Macarius in Mesopotamia and concluded that Diadochos wrote this main work against him. This, however,

1768-804: Is also found in Bulgaria near the Greek-Bulgarian border. Greek is also spoken worldwide by the sizable Greek diaspora which has notable communities in the United States , Australia , Canada , South Africa , Chile , Brazil , Argentina , Russia , Ukraine , the United Kingdom , and throughout the European Union , especially in Germany . Historically, significant Greek-speaking communities and regions were found throughout

1872-479: Is an Indo-European language, but also includes a number of borrowings from the languages of the populations that inhabited Greece before the arrival of Proto-Greeks, some documented in Mycenaean texts ; they include a large number of Greek toponyms . The form and meaning of many words have changed. Loanwords (words of foreign origin) have entered the language, mainly from Latin, Venetian , and Turkish . During

1976-572: Is associated by Symeon with the Holy Trinity , with God, and sometimes with Christ. The Hymns are similar in theme to the Discourses , but are written with poetic meter and rhyme. He began writing them at the same time as the Discourses but only finished editing them during the last thirteen years of his life at the monastery of St. Macrina. There are 58 hymns totaling approximately 11,000 verses. The Hymns cover various themes, similar to

2080-512: Is assumed he died before 486. Diadochos' writing and ascetic practice were greatly influenced by Evagrius the Solitary (also known as Evagrius Ponticus) and Macarius of Egypt (the Great), incorporating their ideas of hesychia (Greek ἡσυχία, "stillness, rest, quiet"), sensible spiritual experience, and the fierceness of the fight against the demons . In all his work, Diadochos appears as

2184-466: Is matched only by the now-extinct Anatolian languages . The Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods: In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia : the coexistence of vernacular and archaizing written forms of the language. What came to be known as the Greek language question was a polarization between two competing varieties of Modern Greek: Dimotiki ,

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2288-458: Is not the case, as Macarius' role was merely to salvage from within the Messalian heresy those who were there by chance or just misled by the ambiguous discourses of the unorthodox doctrine. In the 100 Chapters , Diadochos shows himself as a bishop worried about the orthodoxy of his flock and as a clear actor in the spiritual fights of his time. Also, Chapters 13 and 91 of his work show readers

2392-519: Is protected and promoted officially as a regional and minority language in Armenia, Hungary , Romania, and Ukraine. It is recognized as a minority language and protected in Turkey by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne . The phonology , morphology , syntax , and vocabulary of the language show both conservative and innovative tendencies across the entire attestation of the language from the ancient to

2496-905: Is sometimes called aljamiado , as when Romance languages are written in the Arabic alphabet. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Greek: Transcription of the example text into Latin alphabet : Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English: Proto-Greek Mycenaean Ancient Koine Medieval Modern Diadochos of Photiki Scholars have acknowledged his great influence on later Byzantine saints such as Maximos

2600-763: Is still used internationally for the writing of Ancient Greek . In Greek, the question mark is written as the English semicolon, while the functions of the colon and semicolon are performed by a raised point (•), known as the ano teleia ( άνω τελεία ). In Greek the comma also functions as a silent letter in a handful of Greek words, principally distinguishing ό,τι ( ó,ti , 'whatever') from ότι ( óti , 'that'). Ancient Greek texts often used scriptio continua ('continuous writing'), which means that ancient authors and scribes would write word after word with no spaces or punctuation between words to differentiate or mark boundaries. Boustrophedon , or bi-directional text,

2704-581: Is the power of the Holy Spirit to transform, and the profound mystical union with God that is the result of a holy life. Symeon referred to this as the Baptism of the Holy Spirit , compared to the more ritualistic Baptism of water. Symeon believed that Christianity had descended into formulae and church ritual, which for many people replaced the earlier emphasis on actual and direct experience of God. The Discourses express Symeon's strong conviction that

2808-499: Is the traditional theme of the early hesychasts and mystical theologians of the Christian East, especially the practices of faith ( praxis ) and asceticism ( askesis ) that they frequently taught as the way to reach direct experience of God ( theoria ). Specific practices discussed by Symeon include: repentance , detachment , renunciation, mercy, sorrow for sins, faith , and contemplation . Symeon's other main emphasis

2912-577: The Philokalia , titled The Three Methods of Prayer is also attributed to Symeon—it describes a method of practicing the Jesus Prayer that includes direction on correct posture and breathing while reciting the prayer. It is extremely unlikely that he wrote that text—some scholars attribute it to Nikiphoros the Monk , while others believe it was written by disciples of Symeon. The Discourses are

3016-674: The Balkans , Caucasus , the Black Sea coast, Asia Minor , and the Eastern Mediterranean . It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system is the Greek alphabet , which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary . The alphabet arose from

3120-624: The Byzantine Empire and developed into Medieval Greek . In its modern form , Greek is the official language of Greece and Cyprus and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union . It is spoken by at least 13.5 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey , and the many other countries of the Greek diaspora . Greek roots have been widely used for centuries and continue to be widely used to coin new words in other languages; Greek and Latin are

3224-627: The Christian Bible was also originally written in Greek. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world , the Greek texts and Greek societies of antiquity constitute the objects of study of the discipline of Classics . During antiquity , Greek was by far the most widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world . It eventually became the official language of

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3328-583: The Discourses : repentance, death, the practice of virtue, charity, detachment, and more. Especially notable are the Hymns that recount Symeon's mystical experiences and his love for Christ, which have been described as "ecstatic writing and ...mystical content that becomes very personal, both to Symeon and to the reader." An excerpt from Hymn 25 includes the following description of Symeon's mystical union with God as light : —But, Oh, what intoxication of light, Oh, what movements of fire! Oh, what swirlings of

3432-495: The Eastern Mediterranean , in what are today Southern Italy , Turkey , Cyprus , Syria , Lebanon , Israel , Palestine , Egypt , and Libya ; in the area of the Black Sea , in what are today Turkey, Bulgaria , Romania , Ukraine , Russia , Georgia , Armenia , and Azerbaijan ; and, to a lesser extent, in the Western Mediterranean in and around colonies such as Massalia , Monoikos , and Mainake . It

3536-582: The Gospels . He was also faithful to the early Greek Fathers and the two main traditions of Byzantine spirituality: the Alexandrian School , which took a more intellectual approach, and the "school of the heart", represented by Mark the Hermit , Pseudo-Macarius , John Climacus , and other early ascetic monks. He combined these different traditions with his own inner experience in a synthesis that

3640-516: The Indo-Iranian languages (see Graeco-Aryan ), but little definitive evidence has been found. In addition, Albanian has also been considered somewhat related to Greek and Armenian, and it has been proposed that they all form a higher-order subgroup along with other extinct languages of the ancient Balkans; this higher-order subgroup is usually termed Palaeo-Balkan , and Greek has a central position in it. Linear B , attested as early as

3744-540: The Life of Symeon . Symeon is recognized as the first Eastern Christian mystic to freely share his own mystical experiences. Some of his writings are included in the Philokalia , a collection of texts by early Christian mystics on contemplative prayer and hesychast teachings. Symeon wrote and spoke frequently about the importance of experiencing directly the grace of God , often talking about his own experiences of God as divine light . Another common subject in his writings

3848-657: The Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin , Cyrillic , Coptic , Gothic , and many other writing systems. The Greek language holds a very important place in the history of the Western world. Beginning with the epics of Homer , ancient Greek literature includes many works of lasting importance in the European canon . Greek is also the language in which many of the foundational texts in science and philosophy were originally composed. The New Testament of

3952-492: The nominal and verbal systems. The major change in the nominal morphology since the classical stage was the disuse of the dative case (its functions being largely taken over by the genitive ). The verbal system has lost the infinitive , the synthetically -formed future, and perfect tenses and the optative mood . Many have been replaced by periphrastic ( analytical ) forms. Pronouns show distinctions in person (1st, 2nd, and 3rd), number (singular, dual , and plural in

4056-454: The Apostle , author of one of the four gospels, and Gregory of Nazianzus , writer of contemplative poetry. His opponents derisively called him the "new" theologian because of his creative approach—his supporters, and later the Church at large, embraced the name in the most positive sense. After Symeon's death, his writings were kept alive by small groups of followers, eventually becoming one of

4160-636: The Confessor , John Climacus , Symeon the New Theologian , and in general the Hesychast movement of the 14th century. He has also had great influence in the West via the work, "On the Contemplative Life" ( De vita contemplativa ) of Julianus Pomerius (†498). His feast day is commemorated on March 29. Diadochos was born c. 400 and died sometime before 486. He became bishop of Photiki ,

4264-486: The Greek alphabet since approximately the 9th century BC. It was created by modifying the Phoenician alphabet , with the innovation of adopting certain letters to represent the vowels. The variant of the alphabet in use today is essentially the late Ionic variant, introduced for writing classical Attic in 403 BC. In classical Greek, as in classical Latin, only upper-case letters existed. The lower-case Greek letters were developed much later by medieval scribes to permit

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4368-495: The Greek language was the Cypriot syllabary (also a descendant of Linear A via the intermediate Cypro-Minoan syllabary ), which is closely related to Linear B but uses somewhat different syllabic conventions to represent phoneme sequences. The Cypriot syllabary is attested in Cyprus from the 11th century BC until its gradual abandonment in the late Classical period, in favor of the standard Greek alphabet. Greek has been written in

4472-629: The Greek verb have likewise remained largely the same over the course of the language's history but with significant changes in the number of distinctions within each category and their morphological expression. Greek verbs have synthetic inflectional forms for: Many aspects of the syntax of Greek have remained constant: verbs agree with their subject only, the use of the surviving cases is largely intact (nominative for subjects and predicates, accusative for objects of most verbs and many prepositions, genitive for possessors), articles precede nouns, adpositions are largely prepositional, relative clauses follow

4576-685: The Greek-Albanian border. A significant percentage of Albania's population has knowledge of the Greek language due in part to the Albanian wave of immigration to Greece in the 1980s and '90s and the Greek community in the country. Prior to the Greco-Turkish War and the resulting population exchange in 1923 a very large population of Greek-speakers also existed in Turkey , though very few remain today. A small Greek-speaking community

4680-541: The Studite (also called Symeon the Pious), a holy monk of the Monastery of Stoudios in Constantinople. That meeting convinced the younger Symeon to forgo higher education and take on Symeon the Studite as his spiritual father. At that time he began studying the life of prayer and asceticism under his guidance, with the desire to immediately enter the monastery. Symeon the Studite asked the young Symeon to wait before becoming

4784-428: The Studite. In his writings, he sometimes described the experiences of "George," which might have been his birth name. Symeon received a basic Greek school education until the age of eleven, when an uncle recognized that he had potential for higher learning. The uncle helped Symeon to complete his secondary education at the court of the emperor Basil II and his brother Constantine VIII . At age fourteen, he met Symeon

4888-404: The acute during the late 20th century, and it has only been retained in typography . After the writing reform of 1982, most diacritics are no longer used. Since then, Greek has been written mostly in the simplified monotonic orthography (or monotonic system), which employs only the acute accent and the diaeresis. The traditional system, now called the polytonic orthography (or polytonic system),

4992-402: The ancient language; singular and plural alone in later stages), and gender (masculine, feminine, and neuter), and decline for case (from six cases in the earliest forms attested to four in the modern language). Nouns, articles, and adjectives show all the distinctions except for a person. Both attributive and predicative adjectives agree with the noun. The inflectional categories of

5096-592: The annual festival honoring the elder Symeon be held as a private observance within the monastery. Symeon the New Theologian refused to compromise, declaring that it was his duty to honor the church fathers and the saints, and in January 1009 was condemned to go into exile. Stephen also convinced the Patriarch to order all icons of Symeon the Studite removed from St. Mammas, with many of them destroyed or covered over with soot. Symeon, for his part, never backed down from

5200-473: The authority to preach and give absolution of sins, without the need for formal ordination—as practiced by his own teacher, Symeon the Studite. Church authorities also taught from a speculative and philosophical perspective, while Symeon taught from his own direct mystical experience. Symeon's teachings, especially those regarding the direct experience of God's grace, brought accusations of heresy from Stephen. Symeon responded to Stephen's charges by declaring that

5304-453: The beginning of life until the present moment ... and in gratitude we show to all of you the talent He has entrusted to us. How can we be silent before such an abundance of blessings, or out of ingratitude bury the talent that has been given to us (Mt. 25:18), like ungrateful and evil servants? ... By our oral teaching we encourage you too to strive that you may have part in His gifts and enjoy them,

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5408-597: The central teachings of the hesychast movement. Many copies of his works were made in the following centuries, particularly around the 14th century, and among the Eastern Orthodox monasteries on Mount Athos . His recognition has always been greater outside the official church, its calendar and liturgy. Historians credit this to his zealous personality, his criticism of the church hierarchy, his emphasis on direct experience of God, and some of his unorthodox teachings—including his belief that an unordained monk who had

5512-456: The central work of Symeon's life, and were written during his time as abbot at St. Mammas (980–998). They consist of thirty-four discourses , along with two pieces on thanksgiving, that were given as talks to his monks and others interested in the spiritual life—often at St. Mammas during Matins services—and then compiled and likely edited by Symeon himself. They were widely read in Constantinople even before Symeon's exile. Their style maintains

5616-401: The church authorities. In one of his hymns, he had Christ speaking the following rebuke to the bishops: They (the bishops) unworthily handle My Body and seek avidly to dominate the masses... They are seen to appear as brilliant and pure, but their souls are worse than mud and dirt, worse even than any kind of deadly poison, these evil and perverse men! ( Hymn 58 ) In 1009, Symeon

5720-414: The direct experience of God was empowered to absolve others of their sins. Symeon wrote in a similar style and taught the traditional views of several early Christian fathers and hesychasts, including St. Augustine , Gregory of Nyssa , Gregory of Nazianzus , and Mark the Hermit . Where Symeon differed from his predecessors was in his transparent and open sharing of his most interior experiences. Symeon

5824-421: The elder Symeon's guidance. By the time he was thirty, Symeon the New Theologian became the abbot of the Monastery of Saint Mamas , a position he held for twenty-five years. He attracted many monks and clergy with his reputation for sanctity, though his teachings brought him into conflict with church authorities, who would eventually send him into exile. His most well known disciple was Nicetas Stethatos who wrote

5928-453: The flame in me, miserable one that I am, coming from You and Your glory! The glory I know it and I say it is your Holy Spirit, who has the same nature with You, and the same honor, O word; He is of the same race, the same glory, of the same essence, He alone with your Father, and with you, O Christ, O God of the universe! I fall down in adoration before You. I thank You that You have made me worthy to know, however little it may be,

6032-441: The gifts of which we, though unworthy, have been partakers through His unutterable goodness. ( Discourse XXXIV ) Symeon repeatedly describes the experience of divine light in his writings, as both an inward and outward mystical experience. These experiences began in his youth, and continued all during his life. They came to him during inward prayer and contemplation, and were associated with a feeling of indescribable joy, as well as

6136-477: The guidance of a spiritual father was essential for those who were serious about living the spiritual life. That relationship was a historical tradition especially prominent among the Desert Fathers , who defined the qualifications for acting in the role of a spiritual father: personal experience; an interior life; purity of heart; the vision of God; insight; inspiration; discernment. Official ordination as

6240-439: The infinitive entirely (employing a raft of new periphrastic constructions instead) and uses participles more restrictively. The loss of the dative led to a rise of prepositional indirect objects (and the use of the genitive to directly mark these as well). Ancient Greek tended to be verb-final, but neutral word order in the modern language is VSO or SVO. Modern Greek inherits most of its vocabulary from Ancient Greek, which in turn

6344-420: The intellectual understanding that the light was a vision of God. In his writings, he spoke directly to God about the experience variously as "the pure Light of your face" and "You deigned to reveal Your face to me like a formless sun." He also described the light as the grace of God, and taught that its experience was associated with a mind that was completely still and had transcended itself. At times he described

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6448-484: The land and proceeds to start a monastery. By this time, Symeon had many disciples—some of them, including the patrician Geneseos, appealed to Sergius II, the Patriarch of Constantinople, to lift the order of exile. Out of fear that the dispute would reach the emperor, Sergius II lifted the exile order completely, and then offered to re-establish Symeon at the monastery of St. Mammas and consecrate him as archbishop of an important see in Constantinople. The only qualification

6552-467: The late 15th century BC, was the first script used to write Greek. It is basically a syllabary , which was finally deciphered by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick in the 1950s (its precursor, Linear A , has not been deciphered and most likely encodes a non-Greek language). The language of the Linear B texts, Mycenaean Greek , is the earliest known form of Greek. Another similar system used to write

6656-447: The life of a Christian must be much more than mere observance of rules, and must include personal experience of the presence of the living Christ. Symeon describes his own conversion and mystical experience of the divine light. In Hymns of Divine Love (also called Hymns of Divine Eros ) most of which were completed during his time in exile, Symeon describes his vision of God as uncreated divine light. That experience of divine luminosity

6760-525: The light of His glory goes before Him, and it is impossible for Him to appear without light. Those who have not seen His light have not seen Him, for He is the light, and those who have not received the light have not yet received grace. Those who have received grace have received the light of God and have received God, even as Christ Himself, who is the Light, has said, "I will live in them and move among them." (2 Cor. 6:16) Symeon taught that putting oneself under

6864-496: The light speaking to him with kindness, and explaining who it was. In Discourse XXVIII Symeon wrote about the light and its power to transform: It shines on us without evening, without change, without alteration, without form. It speaks, works, lives, gives life, and changes into light those whom it illuminates. We bear witness that "God is light," and those to whom it has been granted to see Him have all beheld Him as light. Those who have seen Him have received Him as light, because

6968-576: The membership of Greece and Cyprus in the European Union, Greek is one of the organization's 24 official languages . Greek is recognized as a minority language in Albania, and used co-officially in some of its municipalities, in the districts of Gjirokastër and Sarandë . It is also an official minority language in the regions of Apulia and Calabria in Italy. In the framework of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages , Greek

7072-441: The modern period. The division into conventional periods is, as with all such periodizations, relatively arbitrary, especially because, in all periods, Ancient Greek has enjoyed high prestige, and the literate borrowed heavily from it. Across its history, the syllabic structure of Greek has varied little: Greek shows a mixed syllable structure, permitting complex syllabic onsets but very restricted codas. It has only oral vowels and

7176-519: The monasteries to their traditional role in the early church, urging the monks to take up a life of simplicity, asceticism, purity of heart, and constant prayer. The strict monastic discipline for which Symeon aimed upset several monks in the monastery. Symeon also took a more emotional approach to worship, suggesting that a monk shouldn't take the sacrament without tears. The introduction of vegetarian meals, along with other unique practices to instill discipline and humility, also caused some displeasure among

7280-500: The monastery. He spent the next twenty-five years as abbot of Saint Mamas, attracting many monks and clergy with his reputation for learning and sanctity. Not all of the monks were attracted by Symeon's zealous approach. Symeon attempted to reform the Byzantine monasteries, where monks had become subservient to the emperor and had acquired large holdings of property, libraries, and art. His writings and teachings were aimed at returning

7384-507: The monks return to the monastery, including seeking out some of the monks to apologize to them. During his time as abbot, Symeon wrote Hymns of Divine Love (completed during his exile), the Discourses, and many letters and polemical works which have been lost. He also wrote articles relating to his disputes with the church theologians—these survived as his theological and ethical treatises. In 1005 Symeon resigned as abbot of Saint Mamas, appointing one of his disciples in his stead, and taking up

7488-503: The monks to sing the funeral hymns. Symeon is recognized as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church , and was spoken about positively by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. The title of "Theologian" was not given to him in the modern academic sense of someone who is learned in theology, but to recognize someone who speaks from personal experience of the vision of God. Until Symeon's time, that title was reserved mainly for John

7592-506: The monks who followed him. At age twenty-seven, he entered the Monastery of Stoudios, giving his life over completely to discipleship to his teacher Symeon the Studite. The elder Symeon was not an ordained priest, but a simple monk who was considered holy by many people. The younger Symeon was extremely zealous in his practices and in following his teacher—to such an extent that the abbot of the monastery insisted that Symeon leave after only

7696-533: The monks. Fifteen years after becoming abbot, one morning after the Divine Liturgy a group of approximately thirty monks rose against Symeon, who drove them away. Breaking the locks on the monastery gate on their way out, the monks took their appeal to the Patriarch Sisinios , who sided with Symeon and sent the monks into exile. Symeon pleaded on their behalf, doing everything he could to have

7800-531: The norm for all Christians. He taught that the experience came after purification through prayer, repentance, and asceticism. He especially called on his monks to take on the traditional charismatic and prophetic role in the Church. In one of his Discourses he defended the frequent sharing of his own inner experiences, writing that it was not presumptuous, but was done to encourage others in their inner life: We have written them because we are mindful of God's gifts, which He has bestowed on our unworthy self from

7904-399: The noun they modify and relative pronouns are clause-initial. However, the morphological changes also have their counterparts in the syntax, and there are also significant differences between the syntax of the ancient and that of the modern form of the language . Ancient Greek made great use of participial constructions and of constructions involving the infinitive, and the modern variety lacks

8008-706: The older periods of Greek, loanwords into Greek acquired Greek inflections, thus leaving only a foreign root word. Modern borrowings (from the 20th century on), especially from French and English, are typically not inflected; other modern borrowings are derived from Albanian , South Slavic ( Macedonian / Bulgarian ) and Eastern Romance languages ( Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian ). Greek words have been widely borrowed into other languages, including English. Example words include: mathematics , physics , astronomy , democracy , philosophy , athletics , theatre, rhetoric , baptism , evangelist , etc. Moreover, Greek words and word elements continue to be productive as

8112-404: The personality of Symeon as expressed in his live talks: simplicity, sincerity, humility, speaking from the heart, and "full of fire and persuasion." There is no obvious sequence or order to the Discourses —the topics are apparently a collection of talks given during different liturgical seasons or at feast days of saints. There are two main themes running through the different discourses. One

8216-462: The power of Your divinity. Symeon's theological and ethical treatises were original written works, as compared to many of his other writings that were taken from his talks. They cover his positions on various controversial issues of theology. Many of them were directed at Stephen, his main antagonist in the church, along with other church officials whom Symeon saw as taking an overly theoretical approach to Christianity. In these pieces Symeon defended

8320-541: The predominant sources of international scientific vocabulary . Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, or possibly earlier. The earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the world's oldest recorded living language . Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation

8424-413: The real heresy was to teach that it is impossible to have direct experience of God ( Disc . 29.4). Stephen also found fault with Symeon for revering his spiritual father, Symeon the Studite. At that time, formal recognition of saints was seldom practiced and not obligatory, so revered monks were informally recognized and honored by monasteries and by their disciples. Every year the younger Symeon arranged

8528-456: The soul free from self-esteem, for it gives every part of the soul a sense of light, so that it no longer needs the praise of men. In the same way, such discourse keeps the mind free from fantasy, infusing it completely with the Love of God . Discourse deriving from the wisdom of this world, on the other hand, always provokes self-esteem; because it is incapable of granting us the experience of spiritual perception, it inspires its practitioners with

8632-652: The spiritual life. Symeon, in contrast, held the view that one must have actual experience of the Holy Spirit in order to speak about God, at the same time recognizing the authority of scripture and of the earlier church fathers . Their differing views on the source of authority to speak on spiritual matters was the cause of several years of intense conflict, ending with Symeon's eventual exile. Stephen found fault with Symeon especially for his charismatic approach, and his support of individual direct experience of God's grace. Symeon believed that direct experience gave monks

8736-437: The stressed vowel; the so-called breathing marks ( rough and smooth breathing ), originally used to signal presence or absence of word-initial /h/; and the diaeresis , used to mark the full syllabic value of a vowel that would otherwise be read as part of a diphthong. These marks were introduced during the course of the Hellenistic period. Actual usage of the grave in handwriting saw a rapid decline in favor of uniform usage of

8840-579: The title was intended only to recognize someone who spoke from personal experience of the vision of God. One of his principal teachings was that humans could and should experience theoria (literally "contemplation," or direct experience of God). Symeon was born into the Byzantine nobility and given a traditional education. At age fourteen he met Symeon the Studite , a renowned monk of the Monastery of Stoudios in Constantinople , who convinced him to give his own life to prayer and asceticism under

8944-426: The traditions of the early Byzantine mystical theologians from the teachings of the church officials of his own time. Central to this defense was Symeon's view that the revelation of scripture could only be understood through the experience of divine grace given to the pure of heart during contemplation. The treatises cover a wide range of topics, including Symeon's defense against Stephen regarding his own views on

9048-628: The unity of the Holy Trinity. He also presents his doctrine on mysticism , the necessity of faith, the possibility of direct experience of God, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and more. The last four treatises were written during his exile, and discuss living a holy life while on earth, salvation through faith and good works, and the need for solitude if one wants to become a channel of divine grace to others. The church authorities regularly challenged Symeon, even though his teachings were rooted in

9152-447: The various stages of the Greek language are often emphasized. Although Greek has undergone morphological and phonological changes comparable to those seen in other languages, never since classical antiquity has its cultural, literary, and orthographic tradition been interrupted to the extent that one can speak of a new language emerging. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than

9256-529: The vernacular form of Modern Greek proper, and Katharevousa , meaning 'purified', a compromise between Dimotiki and Ancient Greek developed in the early 19th century that was used for literary and official purposes in the newly formed Greek state. In 1976, Dimotiki was declared the official language of Greece, after having incorporated features of Katharevousa and thus giving birth to Standard Modern Greek , used today for all official purposes and in education . The historical unity and continuing identity between

9360-574: Was a distinct dialect of Greek itself. Aside from the Macedonian question, current consensus regards Phrygian as the closest relative of Greek, since they share a number of phonological, morphological and lexical isoglosses , with some being exclusive between them. Scholars have proposed a Graeco-Phrygian subgroup out of which Greek and Phrygian originated. Among living languages, some Indo-Europeanists suggest that Greek may be most closely related to Armenian (see Graeco-Armenian ) or

9464-459: Was also the doctrine of the hermits and monks known as the Desert Fathers . In addition, Symeon placed great emphasis on putting oneself under the complete guidance of a spiritual father. A central theme throughout Symeon's teachings and writings is that all Christians should aspire to have actual direct experience of God in deep contemplation, or theoria . Regarding his own mystical experiences, he presented them not as unique to himself, but as

9568-568: Was also used as the official language of government and religion in the Christian Nubian kingdoms , for most of their history. Greek, in its modern form, is the official language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population. It is also the official language of Cyprus (nominally alongside Turkish ) and the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (alongside English ). Because of

9672-557: Was also used in Ancient Greek. Greek has occasionally been written in the Latin script , especially in areas under Venetian rule or by Greek Catholics . The term Frankolevantinika / Φραγκολεβαντίνικα applies when the Latin script is used to write Greek in the cultural ambit of Catholicism (because Frankos / Φράγκος is an older Greek term for West-European dating to when most of (Roman Catholic Christian) West Europe

9776-511: Was born at Basileion in Galatia to Basil and Theophano Galaton, members of the Byzantine nobility who supported the Macedonian dynasty . His given name at birth is unclear—it was traditional at that time, when becoming a monk, to take on a new name with the same initial as one's birth name. Symeon may have ignored that tradition in order to take the same name as his spiritual father, Symeon

9880-424: Was during this time that Symeon had his first experience of God as divine light, as he described later in one of his Discourses ( Disc. 22.2–4). He attributed the experience to the prayers of Symeon the Studite. In spite of the experience, the young Symeon confessed that he still fell into worldly ways of living. Direct personal experience of God was to become one of Symeon's central teachings in his writings, and to

9984-434: Was far from saintly. At first, Patriarch Sergius II of Constantinople supported Symeon, going so far as to send candles and perfume in support of the veneration of Symeon the Studite at St. Mammas. Stephen attacked the Studite as unholy and sinful, and was eventually able to convince others that Symeon's homage was improper by convincing them that the Studite held some unorthodox beliefs. As a compromise, Stephen suggested that

10088-657: Was free of monks who were averse to his discipline and zeal, and free from direct conflict with church authorities. He continued to honor Symeon the Studite—most of the clergy from Constantinople, along with many monks and laymen , joined him during those celebrations. He also wrote during that time and made himself accessible to all who wanted to see him. Symeon spent the last thirteen years of his life in exile, dying from dysentery on 12 March 1022. According to his biographer and disciple, Nicetas, Symeon foretold his own death many years previously, and on his last day called together all

10192-420: Was new in Byzantine mysticism. Symeon often taught that all followers of Christ could have the direct experience of God, or theoria , just as the early church fathers experienced and taught. In that context he frequently described his own experiences of God as divine light. He preached to his monks that the way to God's grace was through a life of simplicity, asceticism , sanctity , and contemplation , which

10296-528: Was sent into exile near Paloukiton, a small village near Chrysopolis on the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus . According to one account, he was left by church authorities alone and without food, in the middle of winter. There he found a deserted and ruined chapel that had been dedicated to Saint Macrina . It happened to be on land owned by one of Symeon's spiritual children , Christopher Phagouras, who donated

10400-485: Was that Symeon must show some restraint in his celebration of Symeon the Studite's festival day . Symeon refused to compromise—the Patriarch, out of respect for Symeon, gave him his blessing to "live together with your disciples and act according to your good pleasure." Symeon remained at the Saint Macrina monastery, where many close disciples, both monks and secular people, gathered around him. At Saint Macrina he

10504-443: Was the first Byzantine mystic to freely share those experiences, which were given in the context of his teaching that the direct experience of God was something to which all Christians could aspire. One catechesis of Symeon's, On Faith , along with a composite work titled One Hundred and Fifty-Three Practical and Theological Texts , are included in the Philokalia , a collection of texts by early Christian mystics. Another text in

10608-438: Was the need of putting oneself under the guidance of a spiritual father . The authority for many of his teachings derived from the traditions of the Desert Fathers , early Christian monks and ascetics. Symeon's writings include Hymns of Divine Love , Ethical Discourses , and The Catechetical Discourses . The details of Symeon's life come from his own writings and from the Life of Symeon , written by his disciple Nicetas . He

10712-580: Was under the control of the Frankish Empire ). Frankochiotika / Φραγκοχιώτικα (meaning 'Catholic Chiot') alludes to the significant presence of Catholic missionaries based on the island of Chios . Additionally, the term Greeklish is often used when the Greek language is written in a Latin script in online communications. The Latin script is nowadays used by the Greek-speaking communities of Southern Italy . The Yevanic dialect

10816-673: Was written by Romaniote and Constantinopolitan Karaite Jews using the Hebrew Alphabet . In a tradition, that in modern time, has come to be known as Greek Aljamiado , some Greek Muslims from Crete wrote their Cretan Greek in the Arabic alphabet . The same happened among Epirote Muslims in Ioannina . This also happened among Arabic-speaking Byzantine rite Christians in the Levant ( Lebanon , Palestine, and Syria ). This usage

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