The life of St Philotheos Kokkinos of Constantinople
There he formed a lasting friendship with Gregory Palamas and gave himself to the Hesychast way of prayer that Palamas would come to defend.
He helped draft the Hagiorite Tome, the statement by which the monks of Athos set out their understanding of the uncreated light seen by the apostles at the Transfiguration, and he became one of Palamas's firmest supporters in the controversies that followed. He was raised to the patriarchal throne of Constantinople in 1354, stepped down after a year, and was recalled to it a decade later. As patriarch he secured the formal recognition of Gregory Palamas as a teacher of the Church and stood firmly against proposals to reunite with Rome on terms he judged a betrayal of Orthodox teaching. He reposed in exile in 1379, his final years clouded by the same disputes he had spent his life defending.
