Teologie și educație la "Dunărea de Jos"

Dă-ne, Doamne, rugăciune!

2022-12-12T13:06:45+02:00

Rugăciunea ne face capabili de comunicarea pe verticala omului-icoană a lui Dumnezeu pe pământ! De obicei ezităm să observăm darul Duhului, care „Se roagă pentru noi cu suspine negrăite“ (Romani 8,26)
Dar și atunci când înțelegem într-un anume sens darul de rugăciune, tot omenește reacționăm, fără a căuta locul tainic de unde vine impulsul unei respirații cu „aerul“ de dincolo de atmosfera vecină cu starea noastră biologică.
Trebuie să existe un Cineva, care din tainicul spațiu al inimii să ne miște spre gând și, de acolo, spre voința liberă, „ușa“ prin care poate intra rugătorul.

Rugăciune, apostolat şi comuniune la altarul Sfântului Apostol Pavel

2022-12-12T14:17:33+02:00

With the blessing of Metropolitan Pantelimon de Veria, this year the 28th edition of the Pan-Orthodox Theological Congress, known as “Pavlia”, took place between June 26-28. The place chosen for the scientific event is marked by the memory of the Christian mission of Saint Paul the Apostle and the time spent in hesychia and persistent prayer by Saint Gregory Palamas. This year’s theme was: “Saint Paul and crisis management”. The distinguished participants set out to analyze how the Orthodox Church today can overcome various crises caused by suffering, diseases, wars and other trials. All these crises can be analyzed starting from the Pauline logic: “I can do all things through Christ, the One who strengthens me” (Philippians 4.13). The impressions produced by this event are the subject of this report.

Din „rânduiala cea de taină“ a preotului (I): Rugăciunile de la utrenie şi semnificaţiile lor teologice, liturgice şi duhovniceşti

2022-12-12T14:47:13+02:00

Few Christians know that, apart from what it is seen in the church (movements, gestures or small liturgical rituals), the priest also performs secret ordinances, required by his status as a sanctified person and by the liturgical services. Some of these “secret ordinances” are prayers that the priest says in the Holy Altar, in parallel with the service that takes place in the church, without them being heard by the faithful.
Of these, in the present study, I have chosen to make a theological, liturgical, and spiritual analysis of the text of the prayers which the priest reads “in secret”, while the six psalms from the beginning of Matins are read aloud at the pew.
Apart from a few brief references by the priest professors Petre Vintilescu, Ene Branişte and Dumitru Stăniloae, in Romanian theology there is, so far, no analytical study on this topic.

Rugăciunea în Biserica Ortodoxă. Între tradiţie şi înnoire

2022-12-12T15:08:03+02:00

„Tainica rugăciune“ liturgică a Sfântului Paisie Velicikovski închinată Bisericii

2022-12-12T15:13:34+02:00

The present material aims to highlight one of the most appreciated
figures of the Eastern Christian world – Saint Paisie Velicikovski, a monastic personality
who transformed his life into a genuine and authentic liturgy dedicated to God and
people. Appreciated as a priest and a scholar with pan-Orthodox echoes or even a
spiritual synthesis of Orthodoxy, the superior monk embraced by the Romanian spirit of
Dragomirna, Secu and Neamț monasteries helped with the shaping of the image of the
monk as a person who lives only to please God. Through an ever-renewing perseverance
in the Spirit of prayer, Saint Paisie enriched the Orthodox monastic space with true
liturgical and spiritual contributions enjoyed not only by the Romanian people, but
also by the Slavic land – native to the saint, as well as the “Orthodox motherhood
fortress” – the Holy Mount of Athos.

Starea de prezenţă în rugăciune - primenirea continuă a fiinţei

2022-12-12T15:29:23+02:00

Prayer remains the Mystical Language of one’s soul with God. An interpersonal mystery, that can be neither faked, nor imitated, nor recited – in fact those are clear signs of falling out of prayer.
Among the countless ways of praying, coming from each one’s unique way of meeting God, the State of Consciousness in prayer comes to regain within the contemporary man the authentic and the being, in relation to God and himself, realities which are more and more absent in the general mimicry of the postmodern societies.
Without the State of Consciousness, prayer can become “anything”, but this “anything” can never turn into prayer.

Sinoadele palamite. Evaluare istorică, ecleziologică şi canonică

2022-12-12T15:45:47+02:00

Hesychasm was defended theologically by Gregory Palamas at about three separate “Hesychast Synods“ in Constantinople from 1341 to 1351.The Ninth Ecumenical Council actually consisted of a series of councils, held in Constantinople in 1341, 1347 and 1351, which exonerated St. Gregory Palamasʼs hesychastic theology and condemned the rationalistic philosophy of Barlaam of Calabria. Sometimes also referred to as the Fifth Council of Constantinople, the result of these councils is regarded as the Ninth Ecumenical Council by some Orthodox Christians but not others. Principal supporters of the view that this series of councils comprises the Ninth Ecumenical Council include Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos, Fr. John S. Romanides and Fr. George Metallinos.

The spread of Byzantine Hesychasm in the Romanian countries in the XIVth-XVth centuries

2022-12-16T09:36:01+02:00

The flowering of Hesychast spirituality in the Byzantine Empire in the 13^th and 14^th centuries influenced, over time, the development of the spiritual life of the Orthodox peoples in the Balkans and the north of the Danube. From the 14^th century onwards, hesychastic spirituality began to penetrate to the left of the Danube, first in Wallachia, and then spread to other Romanian provinces. The present study aims to highlight the main ways of penetrating hesychastic spirituality in Romanian countries, to follow its spread and development in these places and to highlight its role and importance in the evolution and development of church and cultural life of Romanians.

Sfântul Mucenic Cyrillus de la Axiopolis

2022-12-13T11:20:17+02:00

The name of the holy martyr Cyrillus of Axiopolis (near today’s Cernavodă, in Romania) is mentioned in both the Breviarium syriacum (on March 10 and May 12) and the Martyrologium hieronymianum (on March 8-9 and 11, April 26, May 9 and 10, July 9, and August 1). In the latter document, he is also mentioned as a bishop (on March 8 and 11, May 10 and July 9). The existence of the martyr is archaeologically confirmed by an inscription on a limestone slab uncovered at Axiopolis, in which the names of the martyrs Cyrillus, Kyndaeas, and Tasius are displayed. In his De aedificiis, Procopius of Caesarea also mentions a fortress (φρούριον) in Scythia bearing the name of Sanctus Cyrillus. This indicates the prestige the martyr enjoyed in the Roman province of Scythia in Late Antiquity. One of the issues related to this martyr concerns his episcopal rank. The historical sources attest to the existence of a single bishop (that of Tomis) in Scythia until the first half of the sixth century.
Considering the data of the available sources, the author puts forward the hypothesis that Cyrillus was a bishop of Tomis who was arrested and martyred at Axiopolis during Diocletianic persecution.

Monahismul în Britania anglo-saxonă, în secolul al VII-lea

2022-12-13T09:55:02+02:00

The development of monasticism in Britain on two fronts was an interesting feature. Pope Gregory the Great brought missionaries from Rome to the southern region, where they started their work in the kingdom of Kent. From there, the Roman tradition of Christianity flourished into the other kingdoms of England. The first to arrive in the north were the Iona-based Celtic missionaries. This meant that two distinct monastic traditions were being promoted throughout Britain by two different missionary groups.
It is almost impossible to pinpoint how or when structured monasticism spread to the smaller island because the Roman Empire never reached Ireland, which is the fundamental reason why the Celtic and Roman traditions diverge from one another.
The Celtic tradition in Britain and its monasticism continued after the Council of Whitby in 664, which adjourned in favor of the Roman tradition. Iona and Lindisfarne are two examples of Celtic monasteries in northern Britain that kept fast to their beliefs for a long time.

Manuscrise greceşti din patrimoniul Bibliotecii „V. A. Urechia“ din Galaţi

2022-12-13T10:11:12+02:00

In the present work, we aimed to present part of the Greek manuscripts in the heritage of the Library “V. A. Urechia” from Galați, which can be classified according to their content as follows: dictionaries, miscellany (manuals), cult books, bodies of law etc. It is interesting that circulating in the Romanian space, they are proof of the harmonious synthesis between the Orthodox spirituality specific to the East and the pragmatic idealism of Western Europe. The first conferred resistance in the face of the vicissitudes of history, and the other offered means of progress, of modernization. Among the manuscripts, we also note a dictionary made by the Paisian Society, formed under the guidance of Saint Paisie Velicikovski, the monk who renewed the monastic life, bringing back to the attention of contemporaries the work of the Holy Fathers, as well as the practice of prayer (in the Hesychast version – Prayer of the Heart). The dating of the manuscripts is the 17th-19th centuries, and their research, in the future, can help us better understand the cultural history of this period.

De la frumuseţea artei la arta frumuseţii. Pictura, sculptura şi muzica în reflecţiile patristice despre Om şi Viaţa duhovnicească (Partea a II-a)

2022-12-13T10:21:25+02:00

This study represents the second part of the project dedicated to researching the patristic, anthropological and spiritual meanings of painting, sculpture and music. His main theme is the highlighting and analysis of the dogmatic and spiritual meanings of the techniques of making statues in patristic contexts, from the Greek theological tradition, about man and the spiritual life. The selection of texts was based on the principle of their representativeness. The study sheds light on the appreciation of the sculpture by the Holy Fathers and its use as an example for understanding the human structure, education and the spiritual reason of man.

De la frumuseţea artei la arta frumuseţii. Pictura, sculptura şi muzica în reflecţiile patristice despre Om şi Viaţa duhovnicească (Partea a III-a)

2022-12-13T10:34:14+02:00

This study represents the third and the last part of the project dedicated to the research of the anthropological and spiritual meanings of the examples used by the Holy Greek Fathers in fields such as painting, sculpture and music. His main objective is the analysis of the meanings of musical terms used in patristic, dogmatic and spiritual texts, with symbolic value. The use of words that designate musical instruments mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, in the theological texts of some Holy Fathers from the century. II-V, and the continuation of their reception by some Byzantine theologians from the X-XIV, expresses a recognition of the importance of the example in the field of art, for facilitating the understanding of theological teachings about man and the spiritual life. In this study, attention is directed to the patristic hermeneutics of the musical vocabulary, used as a rhetorical strategy for the transmission of meanings that express the structural beauty of man and spiritual life.

Teopoetica untdelemnului şi tipologia ungerii baptismale în madrāšê-le Sfântului Efrem Sirul

2022-12-13T10:39:07+02:00

St. Ephrem was not a theologian who wrote poems, he was a theopoet. His entire work illustrate his conception that the most adequate `vase` that can receive theological thinking is poetry. His theological conception is embodied in madrāšê, not to seduce, or convince a potential audience but to reveal the mysteries of faith. In a melting pot of liturgic, Christ-oriented poetic sensibility St. Ephrem mixes Biblical typologies with symbolism of nature, only to distill the most profound lines about the embodied Word. The result is a dramatic, and complete mystagogy, defused in his teachings that are still little known. In this paper I will analyze the theopoetics of sacred oil and of baptismal anointment, as it appears in Hymns 4-7 (De virginitate) and in Hymn 3 (De Epiphania). The complexity of this analysis requires a simultaneous examination of all types of baptismal anointment, as they appear in the liturgical traditions of the first centuries of Christianity. The paper will then present, and attempt to define St. Ephrem’s theological method, as it results from the dynamics of his theopoetics in the analyzed texts. By comparing and contrasting St. Ephrem’s method to what is loosely defined as tradition, the paper will highlight his originality and will demonstrate the use of the theopoetic approach to St. Ephrem’s mystagogy.

Ars moriendi - Ars vivendi. Învăţătura pre-niceeană a bisericii cu privire la învierea morţilor

2022-12-13T10:51:41+02:00

Confronted with mystery of death, human behaviour reacted socially with mourning rituals, which do not attempt to remove death, but rather to achieve a realistic acceptance of it and to promote getting over the shock, looking both for the meaning both of death and of the life which goes on. Thus, there is community conscience of being part of the living and of the dead; the relationship with those who are no longer with us continues after death and there is a feeling of their presence and actions. Therefore, the dead are still alive. The Proskomedia and the Holy Liturgy, the Saturdays of Souls in Orthodox spirituality, as well as the Sunday of All Saints both with the Orthodox, and with the Catholics, transform fear of death into a celebration of the sacrament of death and of the hope for eternal life. The Christian proposition regarding the victory over the reign of death comes out of the Easter experience, when the God of life, and loving life, unites mankind to the point of vanquishing the reign of their mutual enemy, but exceeding it by Christ’s resurrection, who becomes an archetype for the entire humanity. The faith in resurrection bestows meaning upon this great Sacrament of life: namely that death is not destruction, disappearance, but meeting again.

Grija pentru cei adormiţi reflectată în tradiţia şi legislaţia canonică ale Bisericii Ortodoxe

2022-12-13T10:55:07+02:00

Inspired by the description of the burial of our Lord in the Gospels, Christians from the very beginning buried their dead with proper care and ceremonies. They believed that the body of every Christian was indeed “a temple of God“ and, as such, it also was holy (1 Co 3, 16-17). In expectation of the “resurrection of the dead“, Christians believe that their bodies will once again be united with their souls and live forever.The Christian belief in the resurrection of the body was then the main reason why, since ancient times, the „funerals were arranged, the obsequies celebrated and the tombs prepared with a reverent piety“ among the Christians (St. Augustine, The City of God I, 13). The burial of the Christian has a deep religious meaning that sums up certain gestures, ceremonies and religious customs, codified in the tradition and canonical legislation of the Orthodox Church that will be the subject of this study.

Creştinismul - punte de revenire la normalitate

2022-12-13T11:09:15+02:00

Christianity is a way of life, discovered by God, through His Son, Jesus Christ, embodied in history. It is the most wonderful way of life on earth, because it invites all human nature to divine ennoblement! It is an invitation and not an obligation! Once the invitation is accepted, the standard is deification, and the means of attaining the goal are revealed in the life and teachings of Christ. The Christian is, in this sense, a Christ, here and now, a man who identifies himself in living, thinking, manifesting with Christ, assuming and healing the whole evil of the world and responding permanently with love. The example of goodness is not to be compared to the wicked, but because the goal itself is the likeness of God! Unfortunately, history has credited the idea that to be a Christian means to follow certain precepts and rules and not to identify in living, feeling and manifesting with Christ! The Christian does not strive to ignite the light of the world, but to be himself a light; strives not to define and promote Christianity, but to live fully like Christ! That is why we can find a competition between Christian denominations and even between members of the same denomination. Unfortunately, it is not a competition in love, but one in primacy and greatness. When the human person is despised, the existence of Christianity ceases!
Therefore, after a physical isolation and distancing, present all over the world, Christianity is called to reconnect the human nature, to bring them closer and to comfort people, reminding them that they are called to a life of nobility, in that Love reigns, the only food that endures!

Aspecte mai puţin cunoscute despre originea Jocurilor Olimpice moderne

2022-12-13T11:14:01+02:00

In this paper we set out to talk about lesser-known issues regarding the efforts of Pierre de Coubertinʼs predecessors, who brought the ancient Olympic ideal back to the present, managed to organize the Olympic Games, considered by specialists to be pre-Modern. We return to the Evangelos Zappa, of which I have written before, with the Pre-Olympic Games (1859, 1870, 1875, 1888-1889), but we also speak of the poet Panagiotis Soustos, who supported him in his endeavors, then of Demetrios Vikelas and, not lastly, by the English physician William Penny Brookes, who succeeded in creating the National Olympian Association and organizing the Shropshire Olympic Games (1861).
Thus, the study aims at a careful analysis of the historical premises and conditions, which made possible the revival of an ancient ideal, at the level of the 19th century, as well as a moral reparation in favor of those who, unjustly, were forgotten for a long time. Pierre de Coubertin’s success in reviving the Modern Olympics in 1896.

Pr. Lucian Vasile Petroaia, LEX ORANDI. Studii de teologie liturgică

2022-12-13T11:16:52+02:00

Pr. Lucian Vasile Petroaia, LEX ORANDI. Studii de teologie liturgică, Editura Universității „Alexandru Ioan Cuza“ din Iași, Iași, 2021, 540 p., ISBN: 978-606-714-666-0