Contribuții la studiul tradiției filocalice românești: contextul traducerii și alcătuirii celei mai ample culegeri a Filocaliei (Filocalia de la Neamț, ms. 1455 BAR)
Contributions to the Study of the Romanian Philocalic Tradition: the Context of the Translation and Composition of the Most Extensive Collection of the Philokalia (The Philokalia of Neamț, ms. 1455 BAR)

Summary/Abstract: The present study investigates the production of the most extensive Romanian philocalic collection preserved to date: the unpublished manuscript no. 1455 in the Romanian Academy Library, dated to the early nineteenth century. It is evident that manuscript 1455 BAR represents the most extensive collection of ascetical literature translated within the Pasian order that has been identified to date. The present volume brings together 23 authors and 66 texts belonging both to the philocalic tradition and, more broadly, to ascetical literature. The structure of the manuscript under consideration is such that it commences with the writings of Antony the Great, Isaiah the Hermit, Evagrius Ponticus, John Cassian, Athanasius the Great, Mark the Ascetic, Diadochus of Photice, John of Carpathus, Theodore of Edessa, Maximus the Confessor, Nilus of Sinai, Hesychius the Priest, Thalassius the Libyan, John of Damascus, Theognostos the Abbot, Philotheus of Sinai, Elias the Ecdicus, and the corpus concludes with Theophanes the Monk.The analysis focuses on the historical framework and cultural conditions that enabled the rise of the Paisianism movement, with particular attention to the translation practices coordinated by Abbot Paisie Velichkovsky at the monasteries of Dragomirna, Secu, and Neamţ. The article proffers original insights into the Romanian philocalic tradition by means of an analysis of the organisation of translation work, the stages of the collective editorial process, and the criteria for dating manuscript 1455 BAR. The Philokalia of Neamţ is interpreted as a pivotal point of intersection between the Byzantine patristic heritage and Romanian culture, emphasising the role of local production in the circulation and preservation of ascetic literature within the Orthodox space. Moreover, the analysis of watermarks, conducted for the first time on this manuscript, situates it chronologically between 1811 and 1816, thereby elucidating the working method of the Paisian community, which established a distinct philocalic corpus in the Romanian tradition. The conclusions of the research offer a renewed perspective on the transition of pre-modern Romanian culture to modernity, emphasising the role of the Philokalia in consolidating Orthodox spiritual identity.

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