On the philokalic prayer

This article offers a theological meditation on Philokalic prayer, written by Jacques Touraille, the translator of the *Philokalia* into French. Drawing on a deep knowledge of the Hesychast tradition and the Desert Fathers, the author develops a reflection on the prayer of the heart as a "breath of love," a double ascending and descending movement between the human and the divine. The central idea is that Philokalic ascesis, far from being a technique, engages a permanent spiritual struggle against the passions, the ultimate aim of which is the transformation of the creature into a "body of light." The theological contribution of the article lies in the articulation between *hesychia*, *nepsis*, and the Jesus Prayer, placed within a cosmic vision of salvation: the purified heart becomes the place where all of creation rediscovers its center and radiates toward the periphery of the world.