Abstract

DUPONT, Anthony  and  RIBEIRO LIN, Davi C.. Cordial Unity of the Human Person and Community: The Symbol of the Heart in the Writings and Artistic Reception of Augustine of Hippo. Franciscanum [online]. 2021, vol.63, n.175, pp.12-12.  Epub May 01, 2021. ISSN 0120-1468.  https://doi.org/10.21500/01201468.4780.

This article will examine Augustine of Hippo’s (354-430) doctrine of the human heart, as, this article explores the conception of the human heart, by Augustine of Hippo (354-430), as Augustine, taking the place of a cardiologist, prescribes intensive therapeutic treatment. Three essential movements of the Augustinian color will be considered. First, Augustine proposes a search for the heart, the secret chamber, the inner vital center in need of being found again. Once the heart is located, we are driven to a second movement: the return to the heart. After diagnosing his own heart disease, an empty heart, Augustine proposes a therapy, the return to the heart in the encounter with a divine therapist, Christ; and a powerful remedy, the crushing of the heart. Third, he climbs with the heart: the heart rises to the top, sursum cor. A healthy heart is an ascending heart, with love as its pacemaker. To return to the heart means, therefore, to return to the nucleus of an authentic existence, through the call not to confine oneself, but to ascend in an opening of love to alterity, to God and to One' s fellows. As an epilogue, we will concisely explore two related contexts in which Augustine uses the image of the heart: community life and spirituality.

Keywords : Augustine of Hippo; heart; therapy; interiority; spirituality.

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