Rob Faesen S.J.
pp. 15–42
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This article argues that the Christian mystical tradition may provide an important contribution to promoting the dignity of the human person. Based on the experiential awareness of the transcendental foundation of the « I » (namely the loving encounter with God), the anthropology of the contemplative-mystical tradition considers the foundation of the human person — the « being » of the human person — to be a relationship of transcendental love, rather than as the individuality of the « I ». This relationship is unique and consequently, mystical anthropology emphasizes the unicity of each person and resists the notion that the human person is a mere individuality ; a disposable entity in the whole.
Marie-Anne Vannier
pp. 43–69
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If Eckhart is today a best-seller, it is because his thought is always up to date and is connected with the questions that many of our contemporaries share. Is this not, as his disciple Jean Tauler stressed it, because “he spoke from eternity” (Sermo 15) ? We could even go further and say that he spoke from God’s heart, from the Trinity, which he experienced very early. This paper studies Eckhart’s Trinitarian theology and Christology in order to understand his anthropology with its central and well-known insight : God’s birth in the soul.
Raymond Brodeur
pp. 71–82
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This paper addresses where spirituality can today be released. Having alluded to the relevance of that question, this article next deals with the personal and individual space that makes it possible for a human being to experience spiritual awakening and growth—these realities which underlie the experience of faith of an individual and of a community in their relationship to the World, the Universe and the revealed God. Based on the life and work of Marie de l’Incarnation, the paper highlights a type of accompaniment which enabled the spiritual experience of this woman at the beginning of the xviith century. It then offers some reflections regarding an anthropology of spiritual awakening and its consequences for a pedagogy and an andragogy of today.
Jean-Claude Breton
pp. 83–101
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This paper argues that the understanding of Jesus highly depends on the spiritual life of those who seek him out. Even when one accepts the results of historical investigations, it often appears that the meaning given to Jesus’ image one holds comes more from one’s faith and one’s personal commitment than from the strength of scientific evidence. The real Jesus will always evade the historical quest, but he may manifest himself to those who choose see him with their faith.
Pierrette Daviau
pp. 103–120
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At the dawn of the xxist century, an era of the sacred is emerging and the expanding interest for spirituality outside the walls of institutional settings is quite remarkable. In this emergence, we note the importance of liberation and feminist theologies which have tinted the evolution of the spiritual vision and given birth to novelties, one of which are forms of feminist spiritualities.This article first and foremost intends to present women’s wish to learn more regarding the feminine images of God while developing their specific manner of naming Him. It will then offer various expressions or rituals of these spiritualities to finally bring out a few particular characteristics for positive avenues of spiritual renewal in community groups.
Étienne Pouliot
pp. 121–142
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This paper shows how a hermeneutical paradigm is more appropriate than a phenomenological one for describing spirituality. Spirituality can then be understood without substantiating nor psychologising its presumed components. Practice of spirituality (vs spiritual practices), gesture (speech act, act of discourse) and fundamental signifying practice become key expressions to describe spirituality.
Daniel Proulx
pp. 143–162
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This paper’s contention is that through the revaluation of a particular form of imagination, it is possible to find in modern and contemporary art a source and a refuge for spirituality. To do so, this paper studies the secularisation of art through the 20th century, a secularisation that appears to stand against religious art, but which, in this opposition, re-thinks and re-shapes its relationship to the religious and the spiritual, much more so than it erases it. The depth that the notion of imagination and imaginal creates is then presented, which allows the introduction of mundus imaginalis. Last of all, this paper compares abstract art and imaginal to show that the universe toward which these two forces draw our attention leads precisely to their common link: the imaginal world.
Alexandra Pleshoyano
pp. 163–186
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Abstract
Leonard Cohen gives rise to an international infatuation for both his music and his writings where he combines bits of Judaism, remnants of Zen and some Christian elements inherited from Catholic Montreal, city of his youth. The article first tackles the role of poetry in Cohen’s life and how writing became a necessity for him. Second, it brushes over the time when Cohen took some distances from the academic world to commit himself to pop music : he went from being a poet to becoming a pop star. In the third part, it is explained how Jewish mystical symbols as well as Zen meditation become means of survival for Cohen. The artist pretends to annihilate his will to give way to a greater will through him. The prayer-song If It Be Your Will reflects an experience of kenosis where Cohen tries to become the instrument of God (G-d).
Sonia Sarah Lipsyc
pp. 187–198
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This paper tries to understand the absence of the name YerouShalayim in the Pentateuch and studies the etymology of Jerusalem’s name using the oral traditions that can be found in Mirach Genesis Rabbah, which shows an example of Jewish hermeneutics. The paper stresses the importance of two figures, Melki-Tseddek and Abraham in understanding Jerusalem’s meaning and purpose — as a city that would be the perfect place for the divine revelation. The plural form of Jerusalem’s name is also pointed out, which suggests a close relationship between earthly and heavenly representations of that city. An abstract from the Talmudic treatise Ta’anit also introduces the reader to a characteristic Hebrew metaphysic that contends that God will remain exiled from Jerusalem as long as the Jewish people, understood as Priest to the Nations, have not returned to that sacred city.
Marc Dumas
pp. 199–211
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This essay argues that spirituality nowadays oscillates between an intensification of the human condition and an intensification of Faith. In the first part, it identifies junctures where spirituality is actually present although moving away from the tradition. It then sketches how spirituality could be understood as an intensification of the human, along with faith, but sometimes without it. This paper presents the complexity of spirituality and its numerous uses while arguing for the necessity of a theological reading of it.