2nd Monastic Oration

Full Title: 
2nd Monastic Oration - Λόγος περὶ νήψεως καὶ προσευχῆς, τῆς ἱερᾶς δυάδος καὶ μητρὸς τῶν ἀρετῶν, άποτρεπόμενος τοὺς ἐξ ἀμαθείας γλώσσαν κινοῦντας κατὰ τῶν ἐπιμελουμένων αὐτῆς καὶ προτρεπόμενος παντὶ χριστιανῷ μεταμανθάνειν αὐτήν, ὡς δίκην πτερύγων, κουφίζουσαν τὸν αἱρόμενον ὑπ' αὐτῆς καὶ πρὸς τὸν ἔρωτα τῆς μακαρίας τριάδος ἀναβιβάζουσαν, vv. 493-7
Text - Hyperlink: 

Τούτων γὰρ καὶ ἄλλων ἀπείρων καὶ ἀπορρήτων ἀγαθῶν τῶν ἄνωθεν καταπεμπομένων ἐγὼ μεσίτης πέφυκα· Κινοῦμαι γὰρ ἐν τῷ τῆς γνώσεως λογισμῷ καὶ λαμβάνω τὰς τῆς φύσεως δυνάμεις εἰς ἐαυτὴν καὶ ἐπιρρίπτω ταύτας εἰς τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ προεδρεύειν αὐτῷ ἀναπείθω δι᾽ ἐλπίδος καὶ κάμπτω τὰ σπλάχνα τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ, καὶ ἡ τῆς ψυχῆς μετὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ καταλλαγὴ γίνεται.

Translation:
I am the mediatrix of these and other infinite and ineffable goods sent down from above, for I am active in the thought that bestows knowledge; I take the powers of nature to myself and I commit them to the power of God; I persuade them to attend to Him in hope and I bend the heart of goodness, and the soul is reconciled with God. (Translation: R.E. Sinkewicz)

Found in: 
R.E. Sinkewicz, Theoleptos of Philadelphia, The Monastic Discourses [Studies and Texts 111], Toronto 1992, 140.
Year: 
1321-1322
Century: 
14th
Summary - Description: 
The Monastic Discourses are homilies on various subjects, such as the liturgical year, the Holy Week, Easter Sunday and Pentecost, and are addressed to the Princess the powers of nature as deriving from the power of God. This statement canEirene Choumnaina (monastic name Eulogia) and the nuns of the monastery of Philadelphou, which she directed. In this excerpt Theoleptos sees the process of acquiring knowledge as a godly gift. He asks from the nuns to experience be closely linked to the “sanctification” of the creative world, a notion cultivated by the Hesychastic movement and saint Gregory Palamas (see lemma).
Type of Source: 
Homily
Keywords: 
Knowledge
Nature
Arsenite schism
Eirene Choumnaina
Bibliography: 

A. Constantinides-Hero, The Life and Letters of Theoleptos of Philadelphia [The Archbishop Iakovos Library of Ecclesiastical and Historical Sources 20], Brookline, Mass. 1994.

Ι. Gregoropoulos, Θεολήπτου Φιλαδελφείας τοῦ Ὁμολογητοῦ Βίος καὶ Ἔργα (1250-1322), Katerini 1996.

Η.V. Beyer, Die Katechese des Theoleptos von Philadelpheia auf die Verklärung Christi, JÖB 34 (1984) 171-198.

T. Moschonas, La correspondance de Théolepte de Philadelphie avec Irène Paléologue, Ανάλεκτα 7 (1958) 32-36.