On the second Sunday of Great Lent, the Church honors a great saint: Gregory Palamas. He may not be as widely known as other saints, but his teaching is among the most important in Orthodox Christianity. Saint Gregory lived in the 14th century. He was a monk on Mount Athos, a man of prayer and of deep experience of God.
At that time, some taught that a human being cannot truly participate in God; that one can only know Him intellectually or philosophically, while God remains inaccessible to any real experience.
Gregory, however, said something remarkable: Yes, the essence of God is unknown and inaccessible. But through His grace, through His uncreated energies, through His light, a human being can participate in Him. It is the same light that the disciples saw on Mount Tabor during the Transfiguration of Christ. This light is not a symbol. It is reality: the uncreated light, the presence of God that enlightens and sanctifies the human person.
And how can one experience it? Through prayer. Through humility. Through a pure heart. That is why the Church honors him during Lent.
