Niphon Kausokalybites

{{Infobox saint

| honorific_prefix = Saint

| name = Niphon Kausokalybites
Όσιος Νήφων Καυσοκαλυβίτης

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| birth_date = 1316

| birth_place = Lukovë, Himarë municipality, Albania

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| death_date = 1411

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| venerated_in = Eastern Orthodox Church

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| feast_day = 14 June

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| major_works = biography of Maximos Kausokalybites

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Niphon Kausokalybites ({{langx|el|Όσιος Νήφων Καυσοκαλυβίτης}}, 1316–1411) was a Greek Orthodox Christian saint and monk. He is celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox Church on June 14.Great Synaxaristes: {{in lang|el}} [http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/3799/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Ὅσιος Νήφων ὁ Καυσοκαλυβίτης]. 14 Ιουνίου. Μέγας Συναξαριστής.

Early life

A Greek, Niphon was born in the village of Lukovë, Himarë municipality,{{cite book |last1=Giakoumēs |first1=Geōrgios K. |title=Monuments of Orthodoxy in Albania |date=1996 |publisher=Doukas School |isbn=978-960-7203-09-0 |page=156 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pNVOAAAAYAAJ |language=en |quote=Saint Niphon of Lukovo near Cheimarra}} that time part of the Despotate of Epirus (modern south Albania). From an early age he went to the monastery of Geromerion (near Filiates) where he became a hesychast. Soon after he moved to the nearby monastery of Mesopotam, where he became a monk.{{cite book|last=Nicol|first=Donald M.|title=The despotate of Epiros, 1267-1479 : a contribution to the history of Greece in the Middle Ages|year=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-13089-9|pages=65|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XIj0FfKto9AC&q=geromeri&pg=PA65}}

Monastic life

Niphon went to the monastic state of Mount Athos sometime after 1335,{{cite book|editor-last=Laiou-Thomadakis|editor-first=Angeliki E.|title=Charanis studies : essays in honor of Peter Charanis|year=1979|publisher=Rutgers University Press|location=New Brunswick, N.J.|isbn=978-0-8135-0875-7|pages=98|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D2EbAAAAYAAJ&q=%22+Saint+Niphon+traveled+from+Epirus+to+Mount+%22}} where he dedicated himself to asceticism, under the guidance of the monastic Elders, Neilos Erichiotes, Theognostos and Maximos Kausokalybites.{{in lang|el}} Μωυσή Μοναχού Αγιορείτου. [http://www.oodegr.com/oode/istoria/ekklisia/isyx_par_athw_apo_Palama.htm#29 Η ησυχαστική παράδοση στο Άγιον Όρος από τον Άγιο Γρηγόριο Παλαμά έως σήμερα.] 23-4-2008. In 1345, Niphon was the protos of Mount Athos. At that time Athos came under the protection of the Serbian Tsar Stefan Dušan, who accused him for heresy and Bogomilism, but he was successfully defended by Gregory Palamas.{{cite book|last=Stoyanov|first=Selected sources translated and annotated by Janet Hamilton and Bernard Hamilton; Assistance with the translation of Old Slavonic texts by Juri|title=Christian dualist heresies in the Byzantine world, c.650-c.1450|year=1998|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=Manchester|isbn=978-0-7190-4765-7|pages=53|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uH-8AAAAIAAJ&q=niphon+athos&pg=PA53|edition=1. publ.}} In 1347-8 Niphon was tried and deposed from his position as protos after being accused by fellow monks of heresy.{{cite book|last=Korac|first=Dusan|title=Mount Athos under the rule of Stephen Dusan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d3VpAAAAMAAJ|series=Serbian Studies|date=1993-01-01|publisher=North American Society for Serbian Studies|page=81}} He was succeeded by the Serbian monk Antonios. His deposition is regarded as either part of the struggles between rival religious factions that predated the Serbian control of the Athonite community or attempts of Stefan Dušan to gain control of Athos by appointing a Serbian official as its head. This intervention resulted in serious contradictions between the Greek dignitaries and the Serbs of Hilandar monastery of Athos.{{cite web|last=Pavlikianov|first=Cyril|title=The Athonite Period in the Life of Saint Romylos of Vidin|url=http://www.byzsym.org/index.php/bz/article/viewFile/899/795|publisher=Byzantina Symmeikta|accessdate=29 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073637/http://www.byzsym.org/index.php/bz/article/viewFile/899/795|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}

During 1355-63 he was again accused of heresy when his servant Bardarius revealed before dying that he had joined the Euchite movement, but was defended by Patriarch Callistus. It is considered unclear from contemporary accounts whether Niphon was a Euchite or Hesychast at that time.{{cite book|last=Obolensky|first=Dimitri|title=The Bogomils: A Study in Balkan Neo-Manichaeism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=01lYi1pW7W4C&pg=PA256|accessdate=29 December 2011|date=2004-08-19|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-60763-6|page=256}} Niphon lived the rest of his life as a hesychast, until his death in 1411.

Works

Niphon was also the author of the first biography of Maximos Kausokalybites, his spiritual tutor.{{cite journal|journal= Kathegetria. Essays Presented to Joan Hussey for Her 80th Birthday|last=Kallistos of Diokleia|title=St Maximos of Kapsokalyvia and Fourteenth-Century Athonite Hesychasm |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dGIbAAAAYAAJ&q=%22St+Niphon+the+Hieromonk%2C+author+of+the+first+vita%2C+lived+with+Maximos+for+several+years%3B+the+closeness+of+their+relationship+is+indicated+by+the+fact+that+Maximos%2C+not+long+before+the+end+of+his+life%22|date=2004-08-19|publisher=Camberley|isbn=978-1-871328-00-4|page=410}}

Dedications

A church dedicated to Saint Niphon was erected in February 2013 at Gjirokastër, southern Albania.{{cite journal |last1=Blerta Baba |first1=Marina |title=Η μηνιαία εφημερίδα NGJALLJA (ΑΝΑΣΤΑΣΗ) και το αναστάσιμο μήνυμά της |journal=Ikee.lib.auth.gr |date=2017 |page=33 |url=https://ikee.lib.auth.gr/record/289117/files/Marina%20Blerta%20Baba.pdf |access-date=23 September 2022 |quote=Αργυρόκαστρο: Ο νέος ναός του Οσίου Νήφωνα από το Λουκόβο}}

Niphon Kausokalybites

Early life

Monastic life

Works

Dedications

See also

References

Further reading