c. 1250 – 1322
A monk and metropolitan of Philadelphia, a teacher of the prayer of stillness whose writings on the inner life formed many, among them St Gregory Palamas.
Our Father among the Saints Theoleptos, Metropolitan of Philadelphia
Saint Theoleptos was a Byzantine monk and Metropolitan of Philadelphia in Asia Minor, remembered as a teacher of the prayer of stillness whose writings on the inner life shaped a generation of monastics, among them Saint Gregory Palamas.
Born in Nicaea around 1250, he married before leaving his wife in 1275 to embrace the monastic life, spending considerable time on Mount Athos, where he absorbed the contemplative practices that Palamas would later regard him as a forerunner of in the Hesychast tradition.
He served as metropolitan of Philadelphia (present-day Alaşehir in Turkey) for roughly four decades, from 1283 or 1284 until his death in 1322, defending the city in war and the faith in controversy alike. His feast is kept on June 25.
Theoleptos was born in Nicaea around 1250. He initially married, but in 1275 he left his wife to become a monk.
He spent considerable time on Mount Athos, where he absorbed the contemplative practices of Orthodox monasticism. This formation proved consequential: Gregory Palamas would later regard him as a forerunner of Hesychasm, the mystical doctrine emphasizing inner prayer and divine illumination.
During the reign of Michael VIII Palaiologos (r. 1259–82), Theoleptos emerged as a strong opponent of the union of the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches agreed at the Council of Lyons in 1274. His resistance resulted in his imprisonment by the emperor.
Following Michael VIII's death, his successor Andronikos II Palaiologos (r. 1282–1328) reversed this ecclesiastical policy. Theoleptos was released and appointed metropolitan bishop of Philadelphia in 1283 or 1284.
Philadelphia corresponds to present-day Alaşehir in Turkey. Theoleptos served as its metropolitan for four decades, until his death in 1322.
Most notably, he led the city's successful defence against a Turkish attack in 1310. In the same year he opposed the reconciliation of the official Church with the Arsenite faction, a stance that resulted in a schism with the Patriarchate of Constantinople that persisted until approximately 1319.
Theoleptos cultivated significant relationships with the Choumnos family. The statesman and scholar Nikephoros Choumnos composed a eulogy on his death.
He served as spiritual director to Nikephoros's daughter, Irene Choumnaina, who took the monastic name Eulogia. Widowed in 1307, she took the veil under his influence and devoted a large part of her fortune to establishing the Monastery of Christ Philanthropos in Constantinople, which she also entered and administered. His theological views are best known through his correspondence with her.
Some of his theological writings appear in the Philokalia, but most remain unpublished. Contemporary scholarship recognizes his work as a significant contribution to the understanding of Byzantine mysticism and theology in the period just before the Hesychast controversy.
After Theoleptos's death, Irene Choumnaina continued his legacy, commissioning copies of his letters and monastic orations. She remained without a spiritual director for roughly a decade until Gregory Akindynos took up that role.
Matthew of Ephesus, described as her friend and fellow student of Theoleptos, praised her achievements, indicating that they shared access to the same spiritual teacher and intellectual community.