Prologue
The feast of Saint Gregory Palamas, on the Second Sunday of the Fast, reminds us of the great value of Holy Hesychasm as the foundation of Orthodox theology, which differs clearly from Western scholastic theology — the latter having created many problems in the West through the Reformation, the Enlightenment, Romanticism, German idealism, Existentialism, and so on.
Holy Hesychasm is not a theology of the past, but rather the very Orthodox theology itself, which continues to inspire and produce saints even today. Specifically, all the saints who in recent years have been added by the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the Church’s calendar are Hesychasts, in the full sense of the term as analyzed by Saint Gregory Palamas.
And of course, it is impossible for us to participate in the worship of the Church, to honor Saint Gregory Palamas, to chant the sacred troparia inspired by Holy Hesychasm, and to honor the modern saints, while at the same time speaking of transcending the teaching of the Holy Fathers, and naturally, of transcending Holy Hesychasm itself.
Father John Romanides admitted, to his credit, that when he wrote his dissertation on “Original Sin,” he was unaware of certain aspects of the topic, including Holy Hesychasm. That is why in his later studies he supplemented this gap, as is evident in the preface of the second edition (Domos publications) of his study on “Original Sin.” In all the works of Father John Romanides, it is clear that his teaching was inspired by the teaching of Saint Gregory Palamas and the Hesychast Fathers of the Church; it was in the same atmosphere as the teaching of the Orthodox Church.
Holy Hesychasm is not a theology of the past, but rather the very Orthodox theology itself, which continues to inspire and produce saints even today. Specifically, all the saints who in recent years have been added by the Ecumenical Patriarchate to the Church’s calendar are Hesychasts, in the full sense of the term as analyzed by Saint Gregory Palamas.
And of course, it is impossible for us to participate in the worship of the Church, to honor Saint Gregory Palamas, to chant the sacred troparia inspired by Holy Hesychasm, and to honor the modern saints, while at the same time speaking of transcending the teaching of the Holy Fathers, and naturally, of transcending Holy Hesychasm itself.
Father John Romanides admitted, to his credit, that when he wrote his dissertation on “Original Sin,” he was unaware of certain aspects of the topic, including Holy Hesychasm. That is why in his later studies he supplemented this gap, as is evident in the preface of the second edition (Domos publications) of his study on “Original Sin.” In all the works of Father John Romanides, it is clear that his teaching was inspired by the teaching of Saint Gregory Palamas and the Hesychast Fathers of the Church; it was in the same atmosphere as the teaching of the Orthodox Church.








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