The philocalic way

This article by Jacques Touraille presents the Philokalic tradition on the occasion of the publication of the first two volumes of the complete French translation of the great Greek Philokalia of Nikodemos the Hagiorite, of which the author is the chief architect. Originating from a televised address, the text adopts a form that is both historical and meditative. It traces the origin of the term "philokalia," the history of this monastic literature from the Desert Fathers to its dissemination in Greece, the Slavic countries and Romania, and sets out the doctrinal foundations of the hesychast way: hesychia, nepsis, the prayer of the heart and contemplation of the uncreated light. The principal contribution lies in highlighting the contemporary relevance of this tradition for France, rigorously distinguishing it from parallel currents — psychoanalysis, Eastern techniques — while emphasizing its irreducible rootedness in evangelical revelation.