Learning to perceive :

This article examines the question of encountering persons with disabilities in the light of Orthodox theology. Adopting a meditative and speculative approach, Petre Maican draws on the ascetic thought of Saint Maximus the Confessor to interrogate the way in which the human gaze perceives the other. The central idea is that the inner transformation of the perceiving subject, as conceived by Maximus the Confessor, makes it possible to move beyond the immediate reactions prompted by bodily difference and to discern in each person the presence of God. The theological contribution of the article lies in the application of the Maximian doctrine of spiritual perception to a contemporary issue in Christian ethics and anthropology, thereby offering a doctrinal framework for rethinking the reception of difference within the ecclesial community.