Monastic life, sacrament of love
Article summary proposed by the Contacts review with LLM assistance
This article by Archimandrite Kallistos Ware, Orthodox theologian and professor at Oxford, offers a theological study of monastic life conceived as a "sacrament of love," in deliberate echo of marriage, which is usually designated by this expression. Drawing on the Desert Fathers, Basil the Great, John Climacus, Isaac the Syrian, and Gregory Palamas, the author shows that monasticism is not a flight from the world but a form of love oriented toward God and neighbor, expressed through spiritual fatherhood, hospitality, and above all, prayer. The article establishes a structured parallel between marriage and monasticism, compared to the cataphatic and apophatic ways in theology: two complementary paths equally necessary to the Church. The principal contribution lies in the demonstration that the monk, through his prayer and his very existence, exercises an eschatological and transformative function at the heart of society.
This article has not been translated yet — it is available in its French version here.
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