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Neither Philokalism without the Mysteries, nor the Mysteries without Philokalism

St. Makarios of Corinth:Te Author of the Philokalic Revival*

(1731 17 April 1805)

We owe a great debt o gratitude to Proessor Stylianos G. Papadopoulos or hisvery mature and ediying book, St. Makarios o Corinth: Te Author o thePhilokalic Revival(1st ed: Ekdoseis Akritas, March 2000, pp. 176).

A methodicaland reverent examination o thelie and activities o St. Makarios, Metropolitan oCorinth, reveals a great personality, since this holyman, the ofspring o a very powerul amily, who was

in possession o a vast learning and many natural andspiritual gits, became an ascetic, teacher in Corinth,resourceul Bishop, rebel against the Turks, studentand implementer o theoretical and practical neptictexts, compiler o thePhilokalia, author o the entirePhilokalic revival, editor, redactor, and publisher o philokalic and theological works, trainer o New Mar-tyrs, collector and author o accounts o the lives o theNew Martyrs, and

a great ascetic with experiences oDivine vision and the git o working miracles(p.157).

Te especiallyinestimable contribution o St. Makarios to the Orthodox Churchis that, by the Grace o God, he proved to be the author of the Philokalic revival, asthe compiler, author, and editor o the celebrated works, Te Philokalia(1782) andConcerning Frequent Communion (1783), the critical review o which he entrustedto St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite.

St. Makarios correctly perceived that ascetiscm, and consequently monasticism,can not prosper or bear ruitwithout a theological oundation and practical guidance.But neither can ecclesiastical lie acquire a genuinely Orthodox spirit and ethoswithoutmoral theology andorthopraxia(p. 51).

Tese perspectives are ully encompassed, in particular, by the two aoremen-tioned works o his, which oer solid spiritual ood to the Faithul, because atrue,authentic, and broad Philokalic spirit is engendered when a Philokalic spirit andrequent communion co-exist. Te one nourishes and promotes the other. Tis is a

matter o two poles that are absolutely indispensable or progress in the spiritual lie.St. Makarios o Corinth was preminently the one who correctly perceived not onlytheneed or the two poles, but also the act that when combined they unction togetherin tandem.And it was the good will o the Holy Spirit or him to become the author andpromoter, par excellence, o the Philokalic spirit, the neptic and ascetic revival, oPhilo-kalsim(pp. 155-156).

St. Makarios contributed to this rekindling o the spiritual lie at the close o the

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eighteenth century by the publication o other Patristic texts as well (the Evergetinosand the works oSt. Symeon the New Teologian, among others), but the Philokaliaand Concerning Frequent Communion constituted the frm oundation o the mightyedifce o the Hesychastic and Eucharistic Ethos of Orthodoxy.

Philokalism, that is, neptic spiritual struggle, is inefectual without regular

partaking o the Mysteries. But one must not approach the Mysteries without a priorspiritual struggle. Neither Philokalism without the Mysteries, nor the Mysteries with-out Philokalism. Te combination o the two constitutes a tradition o the OrthodoxChurch. Te absence o this combination leads to many kinds o deviations, in viewo whichSt. Makarios compiled thePhilokaliaand wroteConcerning Frequent Com-munion, thereby becoming the author o this entire movement or renewal, o which St.Nikodemos the Hagiorite, that holy and great theologian, was chosen by St. Makarioshimsel as a radiant messenger(p. 79).

In our days,when theologyabounds without any ethos, and an ethosis setorth without any theology, the value o such books as the one by Stylianos Papa-dopoulos is sel-evident, since it is exceptionally helpul to us in rediscovering ourPatristic identity, in our perusal othe sources....

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(*)Source: , No. 301 (March-April 2001), pp. 30-31.