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Numbered among [[Image:Dionysius the Areopagite.jpg|right|frame|St. Dionysius the Seventy Lesser Areopagite]]The holy, glorious and right-victorious [[ApostlesHieromartyr]], '''Dionysius the Areopagite''' (also '''Dionysios''' or '''Denys''') was [[baptism|baptized]] by [[Saint]] [[Apostle_Paul|St. Paul]] in Athens. Prior to this, Dionysius grew up in a notable family in Athens, attended philisophical school at home and abroad, was married with several children and was a member of is numbered among the highest court in Greece, the Areopagus. After his conversion to the True Faith, St. Paul made him Seventy [[BishopApostles]] of Athens. Eventually he left his wife and children for Christ and went with St. Paul in missionary travel. He travelled to Jersusalem specifically to see the Most Holy His [[Theotokosfeast day]] and writes of his encounter in one of his books. He was also present at her is celebrated on [[DormitionOctober 3]].

Seeing ==Life==Prior to his baptism, Dionysius grew up in a notable family in Athens, attended philosophical school at home and abroad, was married and had several children, and was a member of the highest court in Greece, the Areopagus. After his [[conversion]] to the True Faith, St. Paul martyred in Rome, made him [[Bishop]] of Athens. Eventually he left his wife and children for [[Christ]] and went with St. Dionysius desired to be a Paul in [[martyrmissionary]] as welltravel. He went to Gaul, along with his presbyster Rusticus and the deacon Eleutherius, travelled to preach the gospel Jerusalem specifically to see the barbarians where Most Holy [[Theotokos]] and writes of his suffering was equalled only by encounter in one of his success in converting many pagans to Christianitybooks. He built a small church in Paris where the was also present at her [[Divine_Liturgy|Divine ServicesDormition]] were celebrated.

In the year 96Seeing St. Paul [[martyr]]ed in Rome, St. Dionysius was seized and tortured for Christdesired to be a martyr as well. He went to Gaul, along with his [[presbyter]] Rusticus and the [[deacon]] Eleutherius, and all three were beheaded under to preach the reign of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domitian Dometian[Gospel]]. St. Dionysius' head rolled a rather long way until it came to the feet of Catula, a Christianbarbarians. She honorably buried it along with There his suffering was equalled only by his bodysuccess in [[conversion|converting]] many pagans to Christianity.

In the year 96, St. Dionysius wrote many famous bookswas seized and tortured for Christ, including: ''The Divine Names of God''along with Rusticus and Eleutherius, ''Celestial and Ecclesiastical Hierarchies'' and ''Mystical Theology''all three were beheaded under the reign of the Emperor Domitian. His [[feast day]] is [[October 3]]rdSt. His Dionysius''Letter head rolled a rather long way until it came to Titus'' is quoted by [[John_of_Damascus|St. John the feet of Damscus]] in his work ''On the Divine Images''Catula, a defense of [[icons]] during the [[iconoclast|iconocalstic controversies]]Christian. She honorably buried it along with his body.

== Source Works==St{{expert}}Four theological works are attributed to Dionysius: ''The Divine Names'', ''The Mystical Theology'', ''The Celestial Hierarchy'', and ''The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy'', as well as eleven letters. While there were occasional questions raised regarding the true authorship of the Dionysian writings in the Middle Ages, it is Hugo Koch and Josef Stiglmayer's works (1895)<ref>"Proklus als Quelle des Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita in der Lehre von Bösen," by Hugo Koch, ''Philologus'' 54 (1895) 438-54; ''Pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita in seinen Beziehungen zum Neuplatonismu und Mysterienweses'' by Hugo Koch (Mainz: 1900); and "Der Neuplatoniker Proklos als Vorlage des sog. Dionysius Areopagita in der Lehre vom Übel," by Josef Stiglmayr, ''Historisches Jahrbuch'' 16 (1895) 253-73 and 721-48. See also Stiglmayr's "Das Aufkommen der Ps.-Dionysischen Schriften und ihr Eindrungen in die christliche Literatur bis zum Lateranconcil 649. Ein zweiter Beitrag zur Dionysius Frage," ''IV Jahresbericht des offentlichen Privatgymnasiums an der Stelle matutina zu Feldkirch'' (Feldkirch: 1895)</ref> that definitively laid to rest the idea of tracing the texts back to the apostolic age. The scholarly consensus now identifies the corpus as the work of a fifth-century Syrian student of the pagan Neoplatonist Proclus.<ref>For more, see, for instance, Andrew Louth, ''Denys the Areopagite'' (ISBN 082645772X), as well as [[Jaroslav Pelikan]], "The Odyssey of Dionysian Spirituality" in ''Pseudo-Dionysius: The Complete Works'' (ISBN 0809128381)</ref> Pseudo-Dionysius has been accused of "employing Neoplatonic language to elucidate Christian theological and mystical ideas."<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dionysius_the_Areopagite&oldid=221352184 Wikipedia: Dionysius the Areopagite]; cf. also [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pseudo-Dionysius_the_Areopagite&oldid=220002373 Wikipedia: Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite]</ref> But, while some recent Orthodox scholars have been critical of the influence of the Dionysian corpus, recent defenders include Igumen [[Nikolai VelimirovicAlexander Golitzin]], who sees it as a fully Christian liturgical theology (''Et introibo ad altare dei: The Mystagogy of Dionysius Areopagita'' [Thessalonika, 1994]), and [Prologue [Vladimir Lossky]], who sees the Dionysian interpretation of Ohridthe unknowability of God as fundamental to any Christian thought and as setting the stage for the work St. [[Gregory Palamas]](''The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church''). However controversial the texts, their theology was incorporated into the mainstream of Orthodox theology through its adoption by St. [[Maximus the Confessor]] and St. [[John of Damascus]].

[[Category:Apostolic_FathersGreek Saints]][[Category:Seventy Apostles]] [[ro:Dionisie Areopagitul]]