We kindly inform you that, as long as the subject affiliation of our 300.000+ articles is in progress, you might get unsufficient or no results on your third level or second level search. In this case, please broaden your search criteria.
I have to admit that I have always been attracted to themes connected to the changing lives of Catholic priests in the 19th and 20th centuries, transformations to their identity, to their role in society and their pastoral preferences. I have also been interested in how the development of modernity impacted on the religious needs of people from village communities and the dynamically expanding towns, and the extent to which priests and the religious elites were able to respond to these changes. A great deal of scholarly attention has also been focused on issues linked to the mobilizing potential of the priest and the cultural struggle at the end of the 19th century. How were the youth educated in such an atmosphere and to what extent were priests and the faithful aware of being at the centre of a merciless struggle between ideas and even ideologies?
More...
The divine name or the name of the divinity represents a cardinal element of particular importance for a religious system. The invocation of the divine name legitimizes the relationship that the Divinity has with the one who recognizes it as the source and target of his spiritual becoming. Hesychasm, characterized by withdrawal and the practice of prayer of the heart, can be for contemporary man a testimony of the presence of divine grace in the life of the world. As for Eastern Christianity, hesychasm created a school of spiritual vision, by saying the name of the Named Son of God, in the Far East, a testimony of the relationship with the divine, by saying his name in chants, is Bakhti Mysticism. Our approach aims to identify the differences and similarities between the practice of uttering the name of Jesus Christ, as an essential element in Hesychasm, and the practice of invoking the name of divinities promoted within Bakhti Mysticism.
More...
Saint Paisius Velichkovsky, one of the most accomplished figures of the Romanian spiritual ife in the 18th century, was among the most prominent teachers of large monastic communities and of the Jesus Prayer. His spiritual teachings have left an indelible mark on the spiritual revival of monastic life in Romania at the time. Astute organiser of monasteries, founder of monastic settlements and rules, Saint Paisius worked relentlessly to enrich the soul with Virtues as he found the right balance between prayer, reading and everyday administrative work. A man of unbelievable insight, highly experienced in spiritual matters, and a very gifted teacher, his life in Christ, the fulfilment of commandments and monastic duties attracted hundreds of disciples who received his guidance on the royal path to salvation. Saint Paisius also painstakingly collected and translating the writings of the Holy Fathers, an endeavour started on Mount Athos but completed by the translation schools that he founded in the monasteries of Dragomirna, Secu and Neamț, in particular. On the basis of these translations Philokalia that was later published in Romania, of the one printed in1793 at Moscow, Dobrotoliube, but also helped revive the monastic life in Romania, Russia and Ukraine based on the communal living rules that Saint Paisius established and his disciples, settled in other places and monasteries across these countries pursued. In this study, the author aims to highlight the new elements brought by Saint Paisius in the chinovial life and how they contributed to the spiritual revival of monasticism.
More...
In this study I will show the mystical content of the notions of mind and heart, as well as the relationship between them, presenting some physiological-medical approaches that confirm the spiritual doctrine of the union of mind and heart. An exponent of this interdisciplinary approach, living in the twentieth century, was St. Luke of Crimea. This author presents the traditional philokalic spirituality of the relationship between mind and heart through a physiological-medical discourse. Thus, this author confirms in scientific terms the spirituality of uniting the mind with the heart. At the same time, I will complete this interdisciplinary approach with some contemporary scientific studies that show that there is a real communication between mind and heart.
More...
The purpose of this article is to present some aspects related to the concept of personal development as understood in the context of contemporary society, in a critical analysis from the perspective of Eastern theology. The importance and meaning of human development as a person aiming at deification has always been the focus of the theological anthropology and the writings of the Holy Fathers, developing a vision of man who can grow in his quality only by cultivating communion with his fellow men and with God, and in God with the whole creation. The issue of personal development has also been an object of reflection in various fields of research such as philosophy or psychology in one aspect or another. However, Eastern Christianity brings an important complement to all such attempts, showing today’s christian that the Church offers man the necessary condition for authentic personal growth which is fulfilled in the acquisition of deification through full communion with the eternal God, the Source of Life.
More...
Within the complex process of appearance, development and crystallization of the service book called Arhieraticon in Romanian, the role and importance of the 1890 edition is a fundamental one. In a period characterized by a great variety and diversity of liturgical practices determined by the influences coming, on the one hand from the Greeks, in Wallachia, and on the other hand from the Slavs, in Moldova, this edition is the expression of the unity and uniformity of service. At the same time, the lack of liturgical uniformity until1890 was also due to the subjective and discretionary character of the manuscripts of the Romanian Arhieraticon - the main form of existence of this service book in Romanian until then. First of all, the present study exposes the historical, religious and liturgical context of the 1890 edition of the Arhieraticon, dominated by events such as the Union of Romanian Principalities in 1859, the consecration of the Holy and Great Myrrh in 1882, and the autocephaly of the Romanian Orthodox Church in 1885. The process of writing and publishing the Arhieraticon of 1890 can be analysed in detail, thanks to the access to the Minutes of the Holy Synod, the spring session of 1890. These documents describe in great detail the discussions occasioned by the turmoil related to the conciliation of the two spheres of influence - Greek and Russian. The presentation of three models of the service for the bishop's ordination shows that the process of liturgical uniformity was at the beginning of the road. Also, the presence of a Typikon for the service of the hierarch at the end of the Arhieraticon, which contains the details related to the attire, attitude, place, and liturgical movements when concelebrating, shows the concern of the Holy Synod for achieving liturgical uniformity. Located at the intersection of two Orthodox worlds - Greek and Russian, the 1890edition of the Arhieraticon represents the expression of temperance, balance and moderation in the rigor of typiconal details. Subsequent editions continued and completed the process of crystallization and standardization of the liturgical practices of the bishop. This process is a living and dynamic one, the last printed edition of the Romanian Arhieraticon - Bucharest,2012, added new services of ordination and blessing: of the cantor (psaltes), of the church painter, of the acolyte (altar boy) etc.
More...
The paper compares key life and spiritual experiences of St. Ignatius of Loyola with his literary works (the Spiritual Exercises, Constitutions and Spiritual Diary). It primarily focuses on events that influenced the “birth of a mystic” especially his stays in Loyola, Manresa and by the river of Cardoner. The paper also discusses a phenomenological description and interpretation of Ignatius’ spiritual metaphors and parables (God’s soldier – knight, life as a spiritual struggle, vocation as the call of the King, Christian life as a choice of Christ’s robe and its adornments). What is typical for Ignatius is that he radically shifted and spiritualized the semantics of this “secular” images. There is a spiritual theme that runs through Constitutions and which is based on a motif of spiritual love and not fear or discomfort. In Spiritual Diary Ignatius moves from spiritual metaphors and seeks new words to describe his mystical experience.
More...
The reason for the present study is a manuscript found by me in the Metropolis library of Stara Zagora – Diary of the priest Todor Penkov, a longtime eparchial adviser to the Metropolitan of Stara Zagora Pavel. The handwritten memories are titled “History of St. Panteleimon diocesan rest home in the village of Yagoda”. Father Todor is a contemporary of the Liberation, founder of the Union of the Priests (1903) and of the Union of Orthodox Brotherhood (1926), priest, teacher, journalist and Russian translator, as well as founder of the Bulgarian Red Cross in Stara Zagora. He became a widower very early and devoted himself to his service as an Orthodox priest to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The manuscript contains direct observations, described perhaps with self-esteem, by the priest participating in the realization of this socially significant for its time project, but without any pretensions or pride. On the yellowed over the time pages we find accurate and precise documentary narrative that keeps the memory of the Orthodox clergy with pure thoughts and deeds, who were willing to give their personal funds for the work of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. He kept records of each campaign among the priests of the diocese, without missing anything, describing truthfully and objectively. The manuscript reveals to us a clergyman, a zealous and worthy servant of God, who is bearer of remarkable Christian morality and moral principles. The realization of the church project does not encounter any difficulties and the “Diocese Brotherhood Home“ opens its doors after only one year. Its construction is funded entirely by the donations gathered in the diocese. The main donors are the parish priests. The construction of the Orthodox Church “St. Panteleimon“ is result of a new donation campaign, in which all priests from the diocese participated and each of them donated 1000 leva. The diocesan brotherhood home became an important cultural and educational center in which dozens of priests and citizens of the diocese increased their education in courses. During the training, special attention is given to the work of priests for the foundation of the Orthodox fraternities in the parishes, as well as to the organization of public places for religious and economic events in rural parishes. Father Todor’s diary shows that the system of self-financing and mutual assistance of church initiatives, imposed for the first time by the Metropolitan of Stara Zagora Methodius, proves its great vitality and economic prosperity in the realization of the project for the creation of the Eparchial Brotherhood in the village of Yagoda. In just two decades the church premises became a place for education and training of priests, but also a home that created fraternal friendships and mutual help. This is a good and successful example that awaits its followers nowadays.The reason for the present study is a manuscript found by me in the Metropolis library of Stara Zagora – Diary of the priest Todor Penkov, a longtime eparchial adviser to the Metropolitan of Stara Zagora Pavel. The handwritten memories are titled “History of St. Panteleimon diocesan rest home in the village of Yagoda”. Father Todor is a contemporary of the Liberation, founder of the Union of the Priests (1903) and of the Union of Orthodox Brotherhood (1926), priest, teacher, journalist and Russian translator, as well as founder of the Bulgarian Red Cross in Stara Zagora. He became a widower very early and devoted himself to his service as an Orthodox priest to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The manuscript contains direct observations, described perhaps with self-esteem, by the priest participating in the realization of this socially significant for its time project, but without any pretensions or pride. On the yellowed over the time pages we find accurate and precise documentary narrative that keeps the memory of the Orthodox clergy with pure thoughts and deeds, who were willing to give their personal funds for the work of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. He kept records of each campaign among the priests of the diocese, without missing anything, describing truthfully and objectively. The manuscript reveals to us a clergyman, a zealous and worthy servant of God, who is bearer of remarkable Christian morality and moral principles. The realization of the church project does not encounter any difficulties and the “Diocese Brotherhood Home“ opens its doors after only one year. Its construction is funded entirely by the donations gathered in the diocese. The main donors are the parish priests. The construction of the Orthodox Church “St. Panteleimon“ is result of a new donation campaign, in which all priests from the diocese participated and each of them donated 1000 leva. The diocesan brotherhood home became an important cultural and educational center in which dozens of priests and citizens of the diocese increased their education in courses. During the training, special attention is given to the work of priests for the foundation of the Orthodox fraternities in the parishes, as well as to the organization of public places for religious and economic events in rural parishes. Father Todor’s diary shows that the system of self-financing and mutual assistance of church initiatives, imposed for the first time by the Metropolitan of Stara Zagora Methodius, proves its great vitality and economic prosperity in the realization of the project for the creation of the Eparchial Brotherhood in the village of Yagoda. In just two decades the church premises became a place for education and training of priests, but also a home that created fraternal friendships and mutual help. This is a good and successful example that awaits its followers nowadays.
More...
The present paper deals with the current state of scientific research concerning the religious transformation from the cult of the pagan heroes to the cult of the Christian saints in the Balkan lands south of the Danube. The geographic frame of this study covers the area, which was inhabited in the age of Antiquity by the Thracians. A comparative review has been made of the research works of some western authors like P. Saintyves, H. Delehaye, P. Brown, J. Fredouille and others, who represent various research trends and paradigms. It seems that the more Christian viewpoint the author shares, the more is he inclined to reject the idea of dependency between the cult of the saints and the cult of the heroes; and vice versa – the more emancipated is he from the authority of the church, the more tending is he to affirm the idea of religious continuity. At this background, there is a number of major Bulgarian researchers, as well as foreign researchers, dealing with the Balkan lands, who have been presented in the paper – like I. Gueorguieva, G. Kazarow, Chr. Walter, E. Theodorov, I. Dujčev and some other. They have treated certain aspects of the transition. The study of the traditional popular culture, containing ancient pagan vestiges, is of primary importance in analyzing the subject matter. There are many other authors, who have treated the religious transition, but, in genera, the researchers, presented in this study, seem to form the overall notion concerning the scientific discourse on the problem. Of course, there remain numerous issues, which may be subject of further fruitful research.
More...
The Republic of Turkey, as a direct heir of the Ottoman Empire, inherited the empire’s multi-cultural, multi-religious, and multi-ethnic diversity. As a result, entering into modernity, Turkey itself is composed of several peoples with different ethnic backgrounds, among which a Christian community. Christians, once an essential composite of the Ottoman administration, is now a very small percentage of the total population, with its vast majority now living in Istanbul itself. With the fall of Istanbul in 1453, the proportion of the non-Muslim population in the Ottoman Empire reached 60 per cent overnight. This made it impossible for the Ottomans to rule over many different peoples through a legal system based on sharia. The millet system “set in motion the development of an order that involved autonomy and decentralisation for non-Muslim groups but within religious hierarchy”.
More...
Donation of Constantine is the most famous and the most important forgery of the Middle Ages. The controversial text of the Donation was used by the papacy for over thousand of years to strengthen its position and power. According to the Vatican, before he died, Constantine made his will that the Roman Church was above all Eastern churches and authorized it with a document. It claims that Donation of Constantine to have been written in the VIIIth century. In January 754 Pope Stephen II went to Paris to seek assistance from King Pepin III to stop the attacks of Lombards. As a result of the agreement reached, in 756 Pepin gave a document providing a legal basis for the establishment of the Papal States, which extended the Pope's temporal sovereignty beyond the Duchy of Rome. This is the first time that the famous forgery came into existence in Rome. Constantine stated in this will that he was supposed to have resigned his crown and the empire into the hands of Pope Sylvester as compensation for having been cured of leprosy by the Pope. In other words, Constantine donated all his political power in the West to the popes. Thanks to the forged will, the papal authority gained a position above all states to be established on Western Roman territory. The Donation became a powerful weapon in the hand of medieval papacy and the basis of papal ideology.The Donation of Constantine was first questioned in the XIth century. Finally, Lorenzo Valla carried out a textual criticism and linguistic analysis of the document and prepared a report that proved indisputably that it was a forgery. This report was to be presented to the ecclesiastical council that held in Florence in 1440. However, Valla's scientific report was hidden from the council and published long after his death.The main purpose of the study is to investigate the Donation of Constantin as a historical document and make some discussion on it.
More...
Kosmogonijski narativi, koji govore o postanku svijeta, su sastavni dio svakodnevnice i važan dio svjetonazora svakog čovjeka. Neminovna su posljedica ljudske samosvijesti i pokušaj smirivanja egzistencijalne anksioznosti proizvedene njome. Nakon mitoloških, a prije naučnih kosmogonijskih narativa, nastali su religijski. Oni su još uvijek najrašireniji. Kao i svi narativi, pored objašnjenja nastanka svijeta, donose i niz ideologema o prirodi ljudskog postojanja kojima se tekstom implicira, a potom konstruira etički sistem. U tom smislu, religijski kosmogonijski narativi utječu na svakodnevnicu ljudi koji žive u dotičnom kontekstu, neovisno o njihovom (ne)vjerovanju. Religijske tradicije kršćanstva i islama nude različite narative o postanku svijeta. U judaističkom učenju najvažniju ulogu nosi tekst Knjige Postanka, a u kršćanskom je, pored ovog, važan i početak Evanđelja po Ivanu. Islamsko učenje se oslanja na kur’anski tekst i hadise. Prilikom institucionalnog konstituiranja abrahamskih religija, nakon kanoniziranja svetih tekstova, interpretacija je dobijala na značaju.
More...
Radikalnost povijesnog djelovanja Židova Isusa Krista pokazuje se, između ostalog, nekonvencionalnim ponašanjem prema ženama u tadašnjem patrijarhalnom društvu. Radikalnost ne dotiče samo njega, nego su primjer radikalnosti sve revolucionarne žene koje su napuštale svoje domove (što je bilo apsolutno neprimjereno ponašanje) kako bi bile u krugu Isusovih učenica. Vjeri u uskrsnuće, temelju i vrhuncu kršćanske vjere, svjedočile su žene. Njih je, pak, tadašnje židovstvo smatralo nepouzdanim u svjedočenju te zbog toga nisu mogle biti svjedokinje na sudu. Ipak su odabrane da svjedoče fundament kršćanske vjere. (Brown, 1996: 137) Iako su povijest i pisana riječ zanemarivale važnost žena koje su okruživale Isusa, on je zajedno s njima sudjelovao u revolucionarnom uvođenju žena u temelje vjere koja nadilazi spolne i rodne podjele. Isus je s pojedinim ženama iz evanđelja razgovarao i otvarao se o bitnim vjerskim iskustvima, kao s nijednim muškarcem. Primjer su Samarijanka, Kanaanka, Marija iz Betanije, Marta, te mnoge druge žene o kojima piše Rebeka Jadranka Anić u knjizi Žene u crkvi i društvu.
More...
U ovom će poglavlju biti prikazano poimanje dostojanstva žena, rodnih odnosa, položaja žena u braku i obitelji, javnom životu i ulozi žena u izgradnji mira u okviru kršćansko - katoličke tradicije i to pod vidom konstrukcije i rekonstrukcije spolnih stereotipova. To znači, u središtu pozornosti bit će filozofsko - teološke postavke koje su u kršćansko - katoličkoj tradiciji utjecale na određenje rodnih identiteta i rodnih uloga te njihova provjera na biblijskim tekstovima, posebice novozavjetnim. Na taj se način želi analizirati kako i koliko katolička tradicija može pridonijeti provođenju pete točke Konvencije o uklanjanju svih oblika diskriminacije žena (CEDAW), odnosno promjenama društvenih i kulturnih obrazaca u ponašanju muškaraca i žena s ciljem uklanjanja predrasuda i običaja utemeljenih na ideji o podređenosti ili nadređenosti jednoga ili drugoga spola ili na stereotipnim ulogama muškaraca i žena.
More...
Religious education at pre-school level is also determined by the parents' position on this issue. Being at an early age, children learn by imitation from everyone around them, especially their family, parents and brothers. It is important for the parent to be a role model for the child, to initiate the child into the knowledge of God and to continue at home what the kindergarten teacher does in this process of discovering God. The opinion of the parent is very important regarding the study of religious content at pre-school level, whether it should be studied, what content should be emphasized, whether or not the study of religious content is of pedagogical benefit. In the implementation of religious education in kindergarten it is important to have collaboration between teachers and parents. For the effective implementation of educational activities of a religious nature it is important that the educator also invites parents to participate in such activities, so that together they can work on the moral-religious development of children. How much do parents consider that children's study of religious content at pre-school level is very important is the question that led to a research that used a questionnaire as the main instrument. The research identified parents' opinions on the need to study religious education in kindergarten, the types of content that should be studied, and the benefits of studying such content for children.
More...
Kompleks mesjetar i objekteve kishtare afër Pejës. Në vendin ku e përshkruara gryka e Rugovës lidhët me rafshin e butë të metohisë. Seli e argjipeshkvinjëve dhe patrikëve serb nga shek., XIII gjegjësisht shekulli XIV. Kisha kryesore e manastirit është e kushtuar Apostujve të shenjtë. E ndërtuar mbi objektin e vjetër kishtar për të cilën supozohet se ka qenë i Shën Pjetri nën Zhdrellë (e njohur nga burimet historike). Në pjesët anësore të Shën Apostujve në shekullin e XIV, janë ndërtuar dy kisha në vend të kapelave të vjetra: kisha e Shën Dimitrit, në anën veriore, dhe ajo e Shën Hyjlindëses në anën jugore. Në të njejtën kohë me kishën kushtuar Hyjlindëses është ndërtuar veranda apo parahyrja, e përbashkët për të gjitha kishat, si dhe kapela e Shën Nikollës.
More...
Krishterimi tre shekujt e parё ishte mё tepёr njё lёvizje biblike sesa njё religjion strukturalisht i organizuar sipas standardeve antike apo moderne, andaj dhe nga historianёt njihet mё shumё si krishterimi i hershёm. Deri kёtё kohё kishte këto qendra tё mёdha krishterimi: Jerusalemi, Antiokia, Aleksandria, Efesi, Roma, Korinti, Selaniku etj. Nё Kuvendin e Nices mё 324 nёn kryesimin e perandorit romak me prejardhje ilire Konstantini i Madh, krishterimi mori njё rrjedhё tё re zhvillimi.
More...