Saint Dionysius the Areopagite (circa 1st century A.D.) was a judge at the Areopagus Court in Athens. As related in the Acts of the Apostles, he was converted to Christianity by the preaching of Paul the Apostle during the Areopagus sermon. After his conversion, Dionysius became the first Bishop of Athens. He is venerated as a saint in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity. He is the patron saint of Athens and is venerated as the protector of the Judges and the Judiciary.
Quotes by Saint Dionysius the Areopagite…
It is no mistake then to speak of God and to honor him as known through all being… But the way of knowing God that is most worthy of Him is to know Him through unknowing, in a union that rises above all intellect. The intellect is first detached from all beings, then it goes out of itself and is united to rays more luminous than light itself. Thanks to these rays it shines in the unfathomable depths of Wisdom. It is no less true, however, as I have said, that this Wisdom can be known from every reality.
Exercise yourself unceasingly in mystical contemplation. Abandon feelings. Renounce intellectual activities. Reject all that belongs to the perceptible and the intelligible. Strip yourself totally of non-being and being and lift yourself as far as you are able to the point of being united in unknowing with Him who is beyond all being and all knowledge. For it is by passing beyond everything, yourself included, irresistibly and completely, that you will be exalted in pure ecstasy right up to the dark splendour of the divine Superessence, after having abandoned all, and stripped yourself of everything.
