Nikephoros the Monk, also called Nikephoros the Hesychast or Nikephoros the Athonite, was a 13th-century monk and spiritual writer of the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

. According to Gregory Palamas, Nikephoros was originally a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

but travelled to the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

, where he converted to the Eastern Orthodox faith and became a monk at Mount Athos. Like Theoleptos of Philadelphia, Nikephoros was a strong opponent of the union of the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches which was agreed to at the Council of Lyons in 1274. Because of this, he was imprisoned and later wrote an account of his ordeal. The main theme of Nikephoros’ spiritual writings in the Philokalia is nepsis (Greek: νήψις) which is usually translated as ''watchfulness'' or ''vigilance''. For those inexperienced in prayer and spiritual self-control, the mind tends to wander and lapse into imagination. Nikephoros described a method of breathing while praying to concentrate the mind within the heart in order to practice watchfulness.Nikephoros the Monk, “Watchfulness and the Guarding of the Heart”, In: Palmer, Sherrand and Ware, p. 205

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* {{authority control 13th-century births 13th-century deaths 13th-century Byzantine monks 13th-century Eastern Orthodox Christians Hesychasts Converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from Catholicism Athonite Fathers Byzantine prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of the Byzantine Empire Byzantine theologians 13th-century Eastern Orthodox theologians Philokalia