SAINT HESYCHIUS THE THEOLOGIAN, PRESBYTER OF JERUSALEM

Saint Photios said that the writings of St. Hesychius, more than any others, are suitable for those who do not entertain the abstract, but direct their energy to the practical works of the active spiritual life. His fifth-century works are found in the Philokalia, an eleven-hundred-year collection of Orthodox wisdom. He was a student of Saint Gregory the Theologian. Later he became a monk of the Church's most famous teachers. He was known for his ability to bring clarity to the Gospels. Saint Theodore the Studite called him one of the great teachers of the Church, together with Saint Basil the Great and Saint John Chrysostom.