The second Sunday of Holy Lent is dedicated to the prayerful commemoration of the Holy and God-bearing Father Gregory Palamas (Γρηγόριος Παλαμάς), Archbishop of Thessaloniki and a great theologian and preacher of Orthodox mystical asceticism, a great advocate of the reality of deification through participation in God Himself, in His uncreated grace. The thought of Saint Gregory confirmed the authenticity of the saint's vision of God, which, among other things, was spoken about by Archpriest Nenad Kalem at today's Holy Liturgy in the Church of Saint Nicholas in the Old Town of Kotor.
The Holy Gospel according to Mark 2:1-12 was read at the Liturgy, about the miraculous healing of the paralytic in Capernaum.
“The first thing we see here is how strong the faith of these people who were carrying the sick man was, and when they saw that they could not get through the crowd to reach Christ, they climbed with him onto the roof of the house, uncovered it, and lowered him on a stretcher at the feet of Jesus. And He, seeing this struggle and sacrifice, and knowing the hearts of all, said: “Do not be afraid, child, your sins are forgiven you.” Here we conclude that faith is the basis of everything and a very important factor in the life of every person. Secondly, the Lord here shows us the connection between illness and sinfulness. Often illness is a consequence of sin and the sinfulness of man, and in order to be healed, we need to put away sin. Therefore, to repent, to confess,” said Fr. Nenad, adding that it is also necessary to enter the depths of fasting to reexamine ourselves, to reflect on the meaning of life, to take care of our souls, to pray that the Lord would strengthen us and grant us a clear mind, to correctly understand the words of the Lord.
An example of how to live and think, he emphasized, the Church gives us through St. Gregory Palamas, who in his teaching distinguished the Divine essence and energy, because God is essentially unknowable, but He reveals Himself to us in His energies in the person of the Incarnate Logos. According to his teaching, man is woven into the knowledge of God through the Holy Eucharist, and thus the Holy Liturgy enlightens us all and makes us worthy of the knowledge of God and communion with our Lord.
“Having perfected ourselves in the Jesus Prayer, i.e. in the technique of concentrated prayer of the heart, a method that was gradually accepted since the 4th century. This type of prayer required humility and silence, so they called it stillness or quietness. In Greek, hesychia, and this direction is Hesychasm”, said Fr. Nenad.
He reminded that the first half of the 14th century was marked by a dispute over the possibility of seeing the Tabor unreal light with the heretic and scholastic from the West, Barlaam of Calabria, who recognized only the essence of God and believed that God was unknowable.
Namely, in his teaching, Barlaam emphasized that God is beyond the reach of sensory experience for people, because according to him, all knowledge of God must be in an indirect way. As a fighter and victor of Orthodoxy over the teachings of Barlaam, Saint Gregory Palamas emerged, who in his profound theological formulation expounded the spiritual content of the mystical tradition of Mount Athos monasticism. This theological formulation of Palamas is contained in his famous work “Triad” in defense of the hesychast monks.
“At the Council of Constantinople in 1341, this Barlaam was condemned as a heretic, and the Church preserved the faith from another attack by the heretics. Having learned from all this, may God strengthen us, grant us the strength to persevere in fasting and prayer and to prepare ourselves as best we can for the glorious Resurrection, amen,” said Fr. Nenad.
After the Liturgy, Fr. Nemanja Krivokapić invited the faithful to regular lectures during Great Lent on Thursdays in the Treasury of the Serbian Orthodox Church, announcing that on March 20 at 7 p.m., Father Gojko Perović would be a guest.

(Holy Gospel according to Mark 2:1-12)
And he entered Capernaum again after a few days; and it was heard that he was in the house.
And immediately many gathered together, so that they could not even accommodate themselves at the door; and he spoke the word to them.
And they came to him with a paralytic, who was carried by four men.
And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof of the house where he was, and having dug it up, they lowered the stretcher on which the paralytic lay.
And Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic: Son, your sins are forgiven you! And there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus blaspheme? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said unto them, Why reason ye thus in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, he saith unto the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. And he arose immediately, and took up his bed, and went forth before them all; so that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We have never seen anything like this. (Mark 2:1-12)