Religion / idea · movement
Hesychasm
Hesychasm is a tradition of contemplative prayer in Eastern Orthodox monasticism that seeks inner stillness (hesychia) and the vision of divine light through constant repetition of the Jesus Prayer. Defended by Gregory Palamas and upheld by Byzantine church councils in the 1340s and 1351, it spread from Mount Athos across the Orthodox world, shaping Bulgarian, Serbian and Russian monastic and literary culture.
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- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Hesychasm. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/hesychasm
- MLA
- “Hesychasm.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/hesychasm. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Hesychasm.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/hesychasm.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Hesychasm’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/hesychasm (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻