The privacy of our spirit 
L a spiritual tradition of ' Christian East, codified in the Philokalia
, has always stressed the inseparability, sometimes affected in Western Christianity, between theology and spiritual life, knowledge of theological and ascetic life in prayer. The theologian is never operating exclusively intellectual, practical reason that goes through a process abstractive contemplation of beings to the Supreme Being, a God Sense and guarantor of intelligibility of all of its transparency in the light of the concept. Rationalism always open to the risk of objectification of knowledge understood as "
proportio " to their cognitive categories or become idealistic capture.
If the exercise of reason isolated "natural" leads to idolatry concept of a God, a divine impersonal nature, the full knowledge of all faculties of the UM in the gift of love shared with man in the Spirit of Christ, draws the Living God in a personal knowledge that is consumed in the union of knower and known deep in love and where the whole person and not a single body of knowledge becomes power, transparency in all his being and uncreated deifying light of the Spirit.
St. Gregory Palamas is right to say that theology is not far at all because:
"... is a task for those who have practiced and have spent their whole life in contemplation and, more importantly, they purified the soul and the body, or at least they are being purified. "(first theological discourse).
We note, therefore, as for theology will prove indispensable personal asceticism and personal experience in grace. In the same sense, he speaks elsewhere San Gregorio addressing who is a pastor and theologian in the church and affirming the need to:
"purified and then purifying others, to gain wisdom to make wise, to become light to illuminate, draw close to God to lead others to him, in order to sanctify sanctify "(second theological discourse).
In other words, for the Fathers of Eastern theology is really the first summit of the ascetic life and the life of prayer. And 'know the old saying:
"If you pray really theologian. And if you really pray theologian "(Evagrius Pontus).
The same view is encountered in St. Gregory the Theologian, formulated as follows:
"The remembrance of God should be more frequent than our own breath, indeed, if one may say, we must not do anything but that."
"This close relationship between theology and ascetic life in prayer must be understood in the broad sense of the impossibility of separating the authentic spiritual life of Orthodox theology in the Church always affirming the close link three theology and love for God Now love for God, in the words of the Lord involves the whole person, presupposes an exercise ( askesis ) complete with all his strength and ability of man: thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, it says in Matthew 22.37. In this way, prayer and love as key elements of Orthodox asceticism and Orthodox spiritual life, are also the basic conditions for an authentic theology "(Athanasius Jevtic).
Way philokalia goes well to the beauty of a drawing and separated from any aestheticism, from philosophical idealism each and every ideology. Beauty as a unit made of love because only love is able to create unity and at the same time maintain the diversity. But it is a love which has been designed Easter fire of asceticism and purified detachment from the smallest proper movement of intelligence and affectivity, freed in Christ total abandonment of oneself to the breath of the Spirit to the recreation fund us, as the foundation of our inner life more private.
"Fund of the soul" where no longer belong, but in a total act of disappropriation we get together with all creatures in God and receive God receive us in that. Deep heart where the intimacy of our minds - but what most here can say we? - Awakens to himself in communion with the Spirit of Christ, in God's own awakening to himself - and us in Him
( Massimo Bolognino , " Salvific Beauty. On the trail of the spirituality of the Christian philokalia ", foreword by Marco Vannini, Ephphatha, Cantalupo (To) 2010)
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Adapted from publisher's site:
The Philokalia literally" love of beauty " , is the breviary ascetic and mystic of the Eastern Church and contains a wealth of great spiritual value for all humanity. Guided by the writings of the Fathers in it and voices of theologians and mystics - Orthodox and more - we want to ask the salvific value of beauty as the face The divine beauty of God is a name forgotten, misunderstood, often marred by caricatures mundane. Through the spiritual itinerary proposed here will try to bring out the features that are light in the focal point of Christ and man, restored to its original dignity of "being called to become a god," the fulfillment.
Bolognino Massimo (Turin 1963) after classical studies has been devoted to the deepening of mysticism and spirituality, especially the Christian East. Wikimedia journals with texts on the relationship between aesthetics and theology, interfaith dialogue and figures of Orthodox theology as Pavel Florenskji. He edited the introduction to the book on Christian spirituality Eastern News Symbol dell'archimandrita Silvano Livi (Franco Angeli, 2001) and holds conferences on the themes of Eastern mysticism and Christian spirituality.
