1,942
edits
Changes
breaking into sections (work in progress)
Our venerable and God-bearing Father '''Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain''', also '''Nikodemos the Hagiorite''' and '''Nicodemos the Athonite''', was a great theologian and teacher of the [[Orthodox Church]], reviver of [[hesychasm]], [[Canon Law|canonist]], [[Hagiography|hagiologist]], and writer of liturgical poetry. His life and works helped provide (among other things) an experiential Orthodox response to contemporary Western Enlightenment culture.
==Life==
St. Nicodemus was born Nicholas Kallivourtzis c. 1749 in [[Metropolis of Paronaxia|Naxos, Greece]]. According to his biographer, he was possessed of "great acuteness of mind, accurate perception, intellectual brightness, and vast memory", qualities which were readily apparent to those who furthered him along in his learning. He passed from the tutelage of his parish priest to that of Archimandrite Chrysanthos, who was the brother of St. Cosmas Aitolos. From there he made his way to Smyrna (now Izmir, Turkey), where he studied at the Evangelical School. Here he studied theology, as well as ancient Greek, Latin, French, and Italian. Persecution from the Turks, who ruled the Greek world at the time, cut his schooling short, and he returned to Naxos in 1770. He studied at Smyrna but was forced to abandon his studies during a time of Ottoman persecution.
In 1775 he became a [[monk]] of [[Dionysiou Monastery (Athos)|Dionysiou]] on [[Mount Athos]]. Upon being tonsured a monk, Nicholas' name was changed, as is the custom for those who had abandoned the world, to Nicodemos. He was initiated into the practice of hesychia, a method of prayer involving inner stillness, controlled breathing, and repetition of the "Jesus Prayer" (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner). Nicodemos aligned himself with the monks known as Kollyvades, who sought a revival of traditional Orthodox practices and patristic literature, and he would spend the remainder of his life at work translating and publishing those works. He would also compose many original books of his own. He labored for restoration of the practice of Saturday commemoration services, for patristic ecclesiology, and generally for a synthesis of akribeia (adherence to traditional principles and canons) and oikonomia in Orthodox practice.
St. Nicodemus reposed in the Lord in 1809 and was [[glorification|glorified]] by the Orthodox Church in 1955. He is a local saint of the [[Metropolis of Paronaxia]] and the [[Mount Athos|Holy Mountain]]. His [[feast day]] is celebrated on [[July 14]]. ==Writings==St. Nicodemus was a prolific translator and editor of texts. In 1777, [[Saint]] [[Macarius Notaras of Corinth|Makarius of Corinth]] visited him and gave him three texts to edit and revise: the ''[[Philokalia]]'', a defining work on [[monastic]] spirituality, ''On Frequent Holy Communion'' and the ''Evergetinos,'' a collection drawing on the lives of the desert fathers. He also wrote original works such as ''Lives of the Saints''. He also later compiled the writings of St. [[Symeon the New Theologian]] and the writings of St. [[Gregory Palamas]], although the latter collection was sadly and mistakenly destroyed amid political controversy over Greek revolts.
The Orthodox theological professor Fr. [[Stanley S. Harakas|Stanley Harakas]], in his preface to the 1989 English translation of the saint's "A Handbook of Spiritual Counsel" in the Classics of Western Spirituality series, wrote that "He embodied the best traditions of Orthodox Christianity, which may be characterized as holistic and integrative." And Dr. George Bebis, in a survey of St. Nicodemus' prolific writings in the same volume, describes him as "A man who grasped both the letter and the spirit of the canons of the Church....also a pastor par excellence."
Recent renewed attention in the West to the primary Orthodox context of the Saint's writings reflects the expanded availability of English translations of his major books in the past decade, as well as greater awareness of the cosmopolitan contexts of Christian sources in the early modern period--through, for example, scholarship on the sequences of translation and adaptation of Roman Catholic texts in the East, and better understanding of the influence of the Orthodox ascetic texts of the Macarian homilies on Pietism. In this light, the main context of St. Nicodemus' works can be appreciated as firmly in the tradition of Orthodox asceticism--exemplified by the sources and influence of "The Philokalia"--applicable in varying ways to monastics, clergy, and laity alike. The legacy of St. Nicodemus' voluminous scholarship can also be understood from a larger perspective as an Orthodox Christian alternative, from Mount Athos, to a variety of eighteenth-century cultural movements in Europe, including not only the Enlightenment, but also the aftermath of the Counter-Reformation, Pietism, and the beginning of Romanticism.
==Books==*''Concerning Frequent Communion of the Immaculate Mysteries of Christ'' (The Works of StNikodemos the Hagiorite, vol. 2). Nicodemus reposed in the Lord in 1809 and was [[glorification|glorified]] by the Orthodox Church in 1955Uncut Mountain Press, 2006. He is a local saint *''Confession of the [[Metropolis Faith'' (The Works of Paronaxia]] and St Nikodemos the [[Mount Athos|Holy Hagiorite, vol. 3). Uncut Mountain]]Press, 2004. His [[feast day]] is celebrated on [[July 14]]*''Exomologetarion: A Manual of Confession''.Uncut Mountain Press,
==Sources==
*"Nicodemus the Hagorite." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicodemus_the_Hagiorite
*[http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintn63.htm Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain] ([[Roman Catholic]])
==See also==
