Journey to Pascha Series - Lesson #15: The SECOND Sunday of Great Lent: St. Gregory Palamas and the Vision of Divine Grace

The Third Sunday of Great Lent is dedicated to St. Gregory Palamas (1296–1359), a great theologian, monk, and archbishop who defended the Orthodox understanding of God’s grace and human deification (theosis). This commemoration follows the Sunday of Orthodoxy, reinforcing the victory of the true faith, but shifts the focus to a deeper theological and mystical understanding of how human beings encounter God and participate in His divine life.

This Sunday serves as a powerful reminder that Great Lent is not just a time of external fasting but a period of spiritual ascent, where through prayer, humility, and repentance, we seek to encounter God’s uncreated light, just as the Apostles did at the Transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor. The Church upholds St. Gregory’s teachings on the distinction between God's essence and energies, which affirm that through God's grace, we can truly experience and be united with Him.

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1. Why Is St. Gregory Palamas Commemorated on the Second Sunday of Lent?

A. Continuation of the Triumph of Orthodoxy

The First Sunday of Lent—the Sunday of Orthodoxy—celebrates the victory over Iconoclasm and affirms the Orthodox teaching that the divine can be revealed and encountered in the material world, particularly through icons. The Second Sunday deepens this theme by affirming that God’s grace is not abstract or distant, but can be experienced directly in the human heart.

B. Lent as a Path to Theosis

St. Gregory Palamas’ teachings emphasize theosis (deification)—the Orthodox doctrine that human beings are called to union with God. This fits perfectly into the Lenten journey, where fasting, prayer, and repentance purify the soul so that it may encounter God’s presence more fully.

C. The Hesychast Controversy and the Defense of Prayer

St. Gregory defended Hesychasm, the monastic practice of inner stillness and prayer, particularly the Jesus Prayer:
"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

The Hesychast monks of Mount Athos claimed that, through intense prayer and purification of the heart, they could experience the Uncreated Light, the same divine radiance that shone from Christ at the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor (Matthew 17:1-8).

This mystical theology was challenged by Barlaam of Calabria, a rationalist philosopher who rejected the idea that humans could truly experience God. St. Gregory refuted him, explaining that God’s essence (who He is) remains unknowable, but His energies (how He works in the world) are directly accessible.

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2. The Essence-Energies Distinction: Understanding How We Experience God

One of the most important theological contributions of St. Gregory Palamas is his defense of the distinction between God’s essence and His energies.

A. God’s Essence (Οὐσία – Ousia) and God’s Energies (Ενέργειαι – Energeiai)

• God’s Essence (Ousia) – The inner being of God, which is infinite, beyond comprehension, and unknowable. No created being can ever fully comprehend or partake in God’s essence, because He is beyond all creation.

• God’s Energies (Energeiai) – The ways in which God acts, reveals Himself, and communicates with the world. Through His energies, we can truly experience Him and participate in His divine life.

B. Biblical Basis of the Distinction

St. Gregory pointed to many biblical examples of people experiencing God without seeing His essence:

1. Moses on Mount Sinai – Moses asked to see God’s glory, but God replied:
   "You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live" (Exodus 33:20).
   Instead, Moses saw God’s "back", a way of describing His energies, not His essence.

2. The Transfiguration of Christ – The disciples saw Christ’s Uncreated Light on Mount Tabor. This divine light was not a created thing but a true manifestation of God Himself.

C. Theosis: Our Participation in God’s Life

St. Gregory taught that through prayer, fasting, and purification of the heart, we can experience God’s divine energies and be transformed by them. This process is known as theosis (deification), where we become partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).

As St. Gregory explains:
"The divine light is not something created, nor is it the essence of God, but rather it is the manifestation of God, the energy through which He is known and through which He acts."

Thus, our spiritual struggle—especially during Great Lent—is a movement toward this divine encounter.

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3. Liturgical Themes and Readings for the Third Sunday of Lent

A. Scripture Readings

• Epistle: Hebrews 1:10-2:3 – Speaks of Christ as the radiance of God’s glory, affirming that Christ is both transcendent and yet revealed to us.

• Gospel: Mark 2:1-12 – The healing of the paralytic, demonstrating God’s power to forgive sins and restore the soul.

B. Key Liturgical Hymns

• Kontakion of the Feast:
  "O light of Orthodoxy, teacher of the Church, its confirmation!
  Ideal of monks and invincible champion of theologians,
  O wonderworking Gregory, glory of Thessalonica and preacher of grace,
  always intercede before the Lord that our souls may be saved."

This hymn summarizes St. Gregory’s role as a defender of Orthodoxy and preacher of divine grace.

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4. How This Sunday Guides Our Lenten Journey

A. Strengthening Our Spiritual Struggle

By this point in Great Lent, many people grow weary in their fasting and ascetic effort. St. Gregory’s teachings remind us that our struggle is not in vain—we are being purified to experience God’s grace more fully.

B. Encouragement to Practice Hesychastic Prayer

St. Gregory’s emphasis on inner stillness, humility, and the Jesus Prayer encourages us to cultivate an interior life, seeking God’s presence not just in words but in experience.

C. Affirmation That We Are Called to Theosis

The Third Sunday of Lent teaches us that our goal is not merely to live morally, but to be transformed by divine grace. As St. Gregory says:
"Man is not called merely to be 'good,' but to be God-like, to share in the divine energies and shine with the uncreated light of Christ."

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5. Conclusion: Walking the Path of Divine Light

The Third Sunday of Lent serves as a spiritual turning point, reminding us that Great Lent is not just about external discipline, but about deep inner transformation. Through prayer, repentance, and humility, we seek to experience God’s divine energies, just as the Apostles beheld the light of Christ at the Transfiguration.

St. Gregory Palamas stands as a defender of this mystical reality, showing that union with God is not a distant hope, but a real and living experience for those who open their hearts to His grace. As we continue the Lenten journey, we are called to:

• Seek God through unceasing prayer.

• Purify our hearts through repentance.

• Persevere in our fasting and struggles.

• Trust that God’s grace will transform us.

By following this path, we draw closer to the Uncreated Light of Christ, preparing to enter the glory of His Resurrection at Pascha.

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6. Selected Hymnography of St. Gregory Palamas

Tone 2    (from the Lenten Triodion)

How shall we who dwell on earth praise the holy bishop?

He is the Church’s teacher, the herald of the Uncreated Light,

the initiate of the Trinity’s heavenly mysteries,

the adornment of the monastic life,

renowned alike in action and contemplation,

the pride of Thessalonica;

And now he dwells in heaven

with the great and glorious martyr Demetrius,//

whose relics flow with holy oil.

Tone 8  (from the Lenten Triodion)

 

Your tongue, watchful in teaching,

rings in the ears of our hearts,

and awakens the souls of the slothful.

Your words are inspired by God;

they are a ladder leading us from earth to heaven.

O Gregory, pride of Thessalonica,

do not cease to intercede before Christ our God//

to illumine with His Divine Light those who honor you!