This authoritative work gives Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022 AD), monk and later abbot of the monastery of St Mamas, the place he deserves as a spiritual renovator, the first and perhaps greatest Byzantine mystic. Drawing on Scripture and certain traditions of the Early Church, Symeon explores the theory and practice of contemplation, culminating in a direct perception of the Divine Light. Always more the spiritual master than the systematic theologian, Symeon stresses the reality of his encounter with Christ and the holy spirit - the reality of a healing, inner light.

This book, documented by many moving passages from Symeon's own writings, should attract all those seeking a spiritual awakening, a rebirth. In the Light of Christ should also be of interest to scholars, since all later Byzantine mysticism rests on the foundation laid down by Symeon the New Theologian.

Archbishop Basil Krivocheine (1900-1985) was a noted patristic scholar and theologian of the Russian Orthodox Church. His books and publications had made him one of the most eminent spokesmen for the traditions of Athonite monasticism and Orthodox theology in general.