Teresianum

The article seeks a fuller understanding of the Christology of St John of the Cross by bringing two texts into conversation: the chapter which declares Christ to be the Father’s all-sufficient revelation (2 Subida 22), and a text in Cántico which follows a similar pattern of argument in discussing the love which does not fear death (CB 11). Each text sheds light on the other, grounding the mysticism of Cántico in the Christ of the creed, and disclosing the all-sufficiency of Christ as the fullness of love. Once the thesis is stated, we are in place to defend the methodology, and to draw in further texts from Cántico in support of the conclusions.

This article is about the contribution the contemporary Carmelite nun and author Ruth Burrows makes to spiritual theology. This contribution is considered as twofold. Firstly, Burrows explores throughout her writings what it means for us to have been given Jesus “for us and for our salvation”. The insights she presents are derived from her own lived experience, and we explore them by analysing her understanding of mysticism. Secondly, precisely by offering an exploration of fundamental theological truths that is both shaped by and oriented to relationship with the living God, Burrows is a witness to the fundamental unity between theology and spirituality.

La question de la tradition traverse les débats doctrinaux du tournant des XVII^e et XVIII^e siècles autour du quiétisme. Si Bossuet et Fénelon reprennent naturellement la conception tridentine de la Tradition comme l’une des deux sources, avec l’Écriture, de la vérité dans l’Église, il paraît que Fénelon, plus que l’évêque de Meaux, a été capable de revenir à l’ancien aspect dynamique de la tradition pour le mettre au service de la démonstration de sa thèse sur l’existence de traditions secrètes. Lorsqu’il publie en 1708 sa Tradition des Pères et des auteurs ecclésiastiques sur la contemplation, le carme Honoré de Sainte-Marie (1651-1729) tire la leçon de plus d’une décennie de polémique et il tente de replacer la querelle de la mystique dans une perspective méthodologique et historicisante plus conforme aux exigences épistémologiques du début du XVIII^e siècle.

The question of tradition is present throughout the doctrinal debates over Quietism at the end of the 17^th century and at the beginning of the 18^th century. While Bossuet and Fenelon naturally take up the Tridentine conception of Tradition as one of the two sources, with Scripture, of truth in the Church, it seems that Fenelon, more than the Bishop of Meaux, was able to return to the old dynamic aspect of tradition, which served to demonstrate his thesis on the existence of secret traditions. In 1708, when the Carmelite Honoré de Sainte-Marie (1651-1729) published his Tradition des Pères et des auteurs ecclésiastiques sur la contemplation, he had learned the lessons of more than a decade of controversy and tried to put the quarrel over mysticism back into a methodological and historicizing perspective more in line with the epistemological requirements of the early 18^th century.

Nell’antica letteratura monastica la presenza di figure femminili è molto parca e selezionata. In sé, la presenza della donna va esorcizzata, a meno che non si tratti di peccatrici da convertire o di donne devote che chiedono preghiere, grazie o miracoli. Luogo comune è la figura della sorella dell’asceta, secondo il modello della Vita S. Antonii di sant’Atanasio di Alessandria. San Girolamo, per la Vita S. Pauli Primi, segue inizialmente questo canone classico, ma poi per la Vita S. Hilarionis e ancor più per la Vita S. Malchi supera il genere dominante e osa la novità, piuttosto autobiografica.

In historical monastic literature, there are few feminine figures, and the presence of women is sparse. Aside from the cases of women considered as sinners in need of conversion or pious women in search of grace and miracles, the female presence is largely seen as something to be exorcised. In keeping with Athanasius’ Vita S. Antonii, the most common female figure in monastic literature is that of the sister of the ascetic. Jerome in Vita S. Pauli Monachi Thebaei is faithful to this classic canon, but later in his Vita S. Hilarionis and also in Vita S. Malchi monachi captivi he surpasses the dominant genre and dares novelty, rather autobiographically.

Les péripéties du roi David, pendant et après son adultère avec Bethsabée, narrées dans le double livre de Samuel, nous permettent d’aborder le thème très actuel des adultères dans l’Église. Notre lecture propose une allégorie entre la personne coupable et le règne de Juda avec ses personnages principaux, en particulier Amnon, Absalom et Joab, qui peuvent être interprétés comme les facultés inférieures se rebellant contre la propre vocation incarnée par David. L’adultère introduit une fracture dans le projet existentiel de toute personne, qu’elle soit consacrée ou mariée, et le texte biblique nous permet d’en analyser les aspects principaux. Est aussi décrit le chemin difficile des victimes de l’adultère, ainsi que l’itinéraire douloureux de recomposition du sujet moral, que les souffrances de David fuyant Jérusalem symbolisent à merveille.

King David’s adventures, during and after his adultery with Bathsheba, narrated in Samuel’s double book, allow us to address the very current theme of adulterers in the Church. Our reading proposes an allegory between the guilty person and the reign of Judah with its main characters, in particular Amnon, Absalom and Joab, who can be interpreted as the lower faculties rebelling against one’s vocation, incarnated by David. Adultery introduces a fracture into the existential commitment of the person, whether consecrated or married, and the biblical text allows us to analyze its main aspects. I also describe the difficult path of the victims of adultery, as well as the painful itinerary of reconstruction for the moral subject, which the sufferings of David fleeing Jerusalem symbolize very well.

Edith Stein strove to revive the philosophical tradition which included discussion of the very fundamental questions of human being and nature. These questions bring new impulses to current debates and a rediscovery of forgotten paths and perspectives. In the present paper we seek to shed some light on Edith Stein’s contribution in this regard, and shall proceed by pointing out Stein’s bioethical reflections and by referring to perspectives that can enrich current debates. The approach is three-fold and begins with the question of nature (1.). It then turns to the question of the living (2.), and addresses, in conclusion, the inviolability and responsibility of the human person (3.).

Questa prolusione parte dalla liturgia considerata come luogo di sinergia tra lo Spirito Santo e la Chiesa in una prospettiva cosmica, cioè per la vita del mondo. Il mondo è la materia del sacramento e la missione della liturgia è ritrovare in questo mondo i germi della pienezza escatologica e restituirlo continuamente al Padre, in Cristo, celebrando il Mistero pasquale. Oggi più che mai abbiamo bisogno di riscoprire il potere della liturgia che abbraccia il mondo presente, la missione della Chiesa e il compimento escatologico. Nel corpo di Cristo si dispiega la dinamica della liturgia, dove il “simbolo”, cioè la partecipazione alla vita vera, si compie nel sacramento. In questo modo, la liturgia diventa la sorgente che ci genera a Cristo operando in noi la divinizzazione e l’umanizzazione, aprendoci alla vita di Dio e all’agape fraterna, epifania della vita in Cristo.

The present article is an inaugural lecture which considers the liturgy from a cosmic perspective as the point of synergy between the Holy Spirit and the Church. Our world provides the matter for the sacramental, and the liturgy’s mission is to gather the seeds of eschatological fullness present in this world and to bring them to the Father, in Christ, through the celebration of the Paschal Mystery. Today, more than ever, we must rediscover the Church’s mission, the liturgy’s capacity to embrace the present world and the meaning of eschatological completion. In the Body of Christ, the dynamics of the liturgy unfold when what is symbolized - the participation in true life - is realized in the sacrament. The liturgy thus becomes the source by which we are regenerated in Christ and from which divinization and humanization can take place, opening our lives to both divine and fraternal agape in an epiphany of life in Christ.

STUDI CARMELITANI

Éric de Rus, Anthropologie phénoménologique et théorie de l’éducation dans l’oeuvre d’Edith Stein, Patrimoines, Cerf, Paris 2019 (Christof Betschart)

Rinaldo Ottone, La chiave del castello. L’interesse teologico dell’empatia di Gesù, Nuovi saggi teologici 123, EDB, Bologna 2018 (Christof Betschart)

San Juan de la Cruz, Obras Completas, Séptima Edición Crítica, ed. José Vicente Rodríguez and Federico Ruiz Salvador, Fonte, Editorial de Espiritualidad, Burgos 2019 (Iain Matthew)

Pacho Eulogio, Cántico espiritual de San Juan de la Cruz, Grupo editorial Fonte-Monte Carmelo, Burgos 2018 (Emilio José Martínez González)

Bruno Moriconi, Il prigioniero di Toledo, Edizioni OCD, Roma 2018 (Emilio José Martínez González)

François-Marie Léthel (avec Élisabeth de Baudoüin), Les saints nous conduisent à Jésus, Éditions Salvator, Paris 2018 (Maria Chiara Lanfranchi)

TEOLOGIA

Philip John Paul Gonzales, Reimagining the Analogia Entis: The Future of Erich Przywara’s Christian Vision, Foreword by Cyril O’Regan. Interventions Series, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids (MI) 2019 (Lukasz Strzyz-Steinert)

Marc Cortez, ReSourcing Theological Anthropology. A Constructive Account of Humanity in the Light of Christ, Zondervan, Grand Rapids 2017 (Jean-Baptiste Lecuit)

Nicola Salato, La Chiesa del Regno. Saggio di ecclesiologia, Nuovi Saggi Teologici, EDB, Bologna 2018 (Robert Cheaib)

Paolo Martinelli (ed.), La vita consacrata in un tempo di riforma, Ed. Glossa, Milano 2018 (Luca Garbinetto)

Gerard Whelan, Una Chiesa che discerne. Papa Francesco, Lonergan e un metodo teologico per il futuro, EDB, Bologna 2019 (Maria Manuela Romano)

TEOLOGIA SPIRITUAL

Marie-Aimée Manchon, Alentour du verset. Petite phénoménologie des Mystères, Ad Solem, Villars-sous-Yens 2019 (Éric de Rus)

Éric de Rus, La parole ardente. Pour une poétique de la présence, Saint-Léger Éditions, Chouzé-sur-Loire 2018 (Jean-François Lavigne)

Nicolas Delafon, Soyez accomplis dans l’Esprit. Introduction au discernement des esprits, Collège des Bernardins - Édition Parole et Silence, Paris 2017 (Giovanni Chifari)

Benoît Standaert, Journal de l’humilité, Éditions Salvator, Paris 2017 (Giovanni Chifari)

Yves de Montcheuil, Leçons sur le Christ. Présenté par Bernard Sesboüé, Les Classiques de Lessius, Éditions jesuites, Paris 2016 (Giovanni Chifari)