Philokalia - Kollyvades-Hesychasm (Ησυχασμός)

A Book for all Christians

[...] What kind of a book is the Philokalia?
In the original edition of 1782, there is a final page in Italian: this is a licenza, a permission to publish, issued by the Roman Catholic censors at the University of Padua.
In this they state that the volume contains nothing contrary to the Holy Catholic Faith '(contro la Santa Fede Cattolica), and nothing contrary to good principles and practices' (contro principi, e buoni costumi). But, though bearing a Roman Catholic imprimatur, the Philokalia is in fact entirely an Orthodox book. Of the thirty-six different authors whose writings it contains - dating from the fourth to the fifteenth century - all are Greek, apart from one, who wrote in Latin, St john Cassian (d.circa 430) or 'Cassian the Roman' as he is styled in the Philokalia; and this exception is more apparent than real, for Cassian grew up in the Christian East and received his teaching from Evagrios of Pontus, the disciple of the Cappadocian Fathers.
Who are the editors of the Philokalia? The 1782 title page bears in large letters the name of the benefactor who financed the publication of the book:.. δια δαπάνης του Τιμιωτάτου, και Θεοσεβεστάτου Κυρίου Ιωάννου Μαυρογορδάτου (this is perhaps the John Mavrogordato who was Prince of Moldavia during (1743-47). But neither on the title page nor anywhere in the 1.206 pages of the original edition are the names of the editors mentioned. There is in fact no doubt about their identity: they are St Makarios of Corinth (1731-1805) and
St Nikodimos the Hagiorite (1749-1809), who were both associated with the group known collectivelly as the Kollyvades.[...]

 

From " The Inner Unity of the Philokalia

and its influence in the East and West "

by Fr. Kallistos Ware

Bishop of Diokleia

Alexander S.Onassis Public Benefit Foundation

 

The Kollyvades proposed a far -reaching and radical programme of ressourcement, a return to the authentic sources of Orthodox Christianity.This programme had three primary features. First the Kollyvades insisted, in the field of worship, upon a faithful observance of the Orthodox liturgical tradition. Among other things, they urged that memorial services should be celebrated on the correct day. Saturday (not Sunday); hence the sobriquet "Kollyvades". But this was far from being their main liturgical concern. Much more important was their firm and unwavering advocacy of frequent communion; this proved to be highly controversial, and brought upon them persecution and exile. Secondly, they sought to bring about in theology a Patristic renaissance;
and in this connection they undertook an ambitious programme of publications, in which the Philokalia played a central role. Thirdly, within the Patristic heritage, they emphasized above all else the Teachings of Hesychasm, as represented in particular by St Symeon the New Theologian in the eleventh century and by St Gregory Palamas in the fourteenth. It is precisely this Hesychast tradition that forms the living heart of the Philokalia ,and that gives to its varied contents a single unity....It is significant that St Nikodimos and St Makarios intented the Philokalia to be a book not just for monks but for the laity, not just for specialists but for all Christians. The book is intended, so its title page explicitly states, 'for the generel benefit of the Orthodox' ( εις κοινήν των Ορθοδόξων ωφέλειαν).[...]

From the talk
"The inner Unity of the Philokalia
and its Influence in East and West"

by Fr Kallistos Ware, Bishop of Diokleia

Alexander S.Onassis Public Benefit Foundation

πηγή:Υάκινθος