At their beginnings, Jesuits had a huge impact on the Catholic Church in Poland. They introduced the Council of Trent reform and stopped the spread of Protestanism. Amongst them, there were many mystics, great theologians, missionaries, saints and priests. One of them was Father Kasper Druzbicki, theologian, ascetic writer, preacher and administrator. One of his many theological works is a treaty about the shortest way to Christian perfection, which is God’s will fulfillment. The book is not just designed for those in consecrated life, but also in secular life who strive toward holiness.
Artykuł jest dokończeniem pierwszej części, która została wydana w VoxP 17 (1997) 199-214. Ukazuje on naukę ascetyczną św. Hieronima na podstawie jego dzieł skierowanych wyraźnie do mnichów. Wykorzystane w nim zostały wszystkie pisma Hieronimowe, wśród których na pierwsze miejsce wysuwają się listy. Obszerne urywki Hieronimowych dzieł monastycznych chcą przybliżyć myśl samego Autora, pozwalając mu przemawiać bezpośrednio do czytelnika, nie zaciemniając w ten sposób głębokiego przesłania Ojca Kościoła poprzez nadmierny, niekiedy zbyteczny komentarz.
The need of being purified of sins, reconciled with Got and willingness of having the wrongs committed repaired, has always been present not only in Judaism and Christianity but also in all other religions. The Old Testament shows the Chosen Nation’s sinfulness, the mystery of its iniquity as well as the ability to do penance and be converted. Various peniten-tial practices are its expression. Among them a distinctive place is given to fasting, prayer and almsgiving. The Old Testament speaks about Got who is full of mercy and forgives those who repent and shows them His love. Jesus began his teaching with the call to repentance and penance. Christianity has accepted penitential legacy of the New Testament and that of the first Christians, creating numerous pious practices and devotions for the benefit of the spiritual revival. In the course of the ages the spirit of penance in the Church has developed and in various ways enlivened hearts of the faithful. This article deals with the spirit of penance in the Old and New Testament. It also analyses penitential liturgy and ascetic practices that were in support of spiritual revival. The final part points to the most popular contemporary penitential acts and devotions that prompt repentance among the faithful.
Separation, loss, confinement, and change have been imposed on entire populations during the Covid-19 pandemic in the form of lockdowns aimed at limiting the spread of the virus. They are also central to Evagrian asceticism, where they establish the conditions for the change at which the monastic life aims, namely to begin to reverse the effects of the fall by restoring the soul to health. This paper examines how they do so in order to gain an understanding of their ascetic function. Following the Introduction, it outlines Evagrius’ anthropology in order to lay the groundwork for its main theme, the healing of pathos through the practical life. Separation, loss, and confinement are each considered in turn by referencing Evagrius’ descriptions of their ascetic function and his own experience of them. Next, the change at which they aim is described, again drawing upon a range of Evagrian material. The final section of the paper considers how Evagrius can speak to the experience of lockdown by endowing separation, loss, confinement with meaning and purpose in relation to spiritual awakening and growth, highlighting our freedom to choose our attitude to them, and acting as both our guide and our companion.
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