Nicholas Cabasilas

Life events

1. Born

   Nicholas Kabasilas was born in Thessalonica, likely between 1319 and 1323. Little of his early life is known with certainty, including the precise date of his birth.

2. Educated

   Kabasilas was the nephew of Neilos Kabasilas, a theologian and clergyman, whose household and circle would have shaped his theological formation in Thessalonica.

3. Council

   During the Hesychast controversy, Kabasilas sided with the monks of Mount Athos and Gregory Palamas, aligning himself with the theological defense of contemplative prayer against its scholastic critics.

4. Other

   Kabasilas was on intimate terms with Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos and accompanied him upon the emperor's retirement to a monastery, a relationship that attests to his standing in the highest circles of Byzantine court life.

5. Ordained

   Contemporary records of the see of Thessalonica do not show Nicholas serving as archbishop; it is more likely that he served as a priest at the Mangana Monastery in Constantinople.

6. Wrote

   Kabasilas composed his chief work, the Peri tes en Christo zoes ("On the Life in Christ"), laying out the principle that union with Christ is effected through the three sacraments of baptism, chrismation, and the Eucharist.

7. Wrote

   He also produced a Commentary on the Divine Liturgy, homilies on various subjects, a speech against usurers printed by Jacques Paul Migne in the Patrologia Graeca, and an encomium on the ninth-century nun and saint Theodora of Thessaloniki.

8. Died — 1392

   Kabasilas died in 1392, though the exact date and circumstances of his death are not recorded.

Relationships

Documented claims

• Kabasilas was canonized by the Eastern Orthodox Church in 1983, nearly six centuries after his death, with his feast day established on June 20. (certain)
• The Catholic Church incorporates extracts from the Life in Christ as readings in the Liturgy of the Hours for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter in Year II of the provisional two-year cycle for the Office of Readings. (likely)
• In the Life in Christ, Kabasilas argued that union with Christ is effected by the three mysteries of baptism, chrismation, and the Eucharist -- a sacramental theology that stands as the core of his theological legacy. (likely)
• Earlier scholarship held that Kabasilas succeeded his uncle Neilos as archbishop of Thessalonica, but contemporary records of that see contain no evidence of him serving in that capacity. (likely)
• A large number of Kabasilas's works remain extant in manuscript, indicating that his writings circulated widely in Byzantine and post-Byzantine monastic and scholarly communities. (likely)