Saint Maximus the Confessor

Studia Theologica No. II (XX) / 2025 Patience: an exercise in spiritual maturity His Eminence Varsanufie

Patience is examined as a theological and spiritual virtue in contrast to the impatience and irascibility characteristic of contemporary society, which is marked by a fast pace and instant gratification. Taking as its starting point God’s long-suffering revealed in Holy Scripture, through the Holy Fathers such as Maximus the Confessor, Isaac the Syrian and Dumitru Stăniloae, and in the liturgical life of the Church, patience emerges as a means of participating in the divine life and a path to deification.

Studia Theologica No. I (XIX) / 2025 Wisdom, from the heights of the divine throne to the depths of knowledge His Eminence Varsanufie

God’s wisdom is examined in its scriptural, patristic and Christological dimensions, ranging from the Old Testament wisdom traditions and identification with the divine Logos to Saint Gregory Palamas’s polemic with Varlaam of Calabria. The article demonstrates that divine wisdom is not an abstract attribute, but an ontological and transformative reality, accessible to humankind through the Incarnation of the Son, through the uncreated energies, and through the ecclesial and sacramental life of the Church.

Studia Theologica No. I (XIX) / 2025 On God’s goodness and man’s part in it Rev. Prof. Dr. Constantin Coman

Taking as its starting point the Saviour’s reply to the rich young man — ‘No one is good except God alone’ (Matthew 19:17) — this article explores the scriptural and patristic foundations of divine goodness, drawing on the writings of Saints Gregory of Nyssa, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, Athanasius the Great, John of Damascus and Dumitru Stăniloae, to demonstrate that man participates in goodness by partaking of the divine source, not through his own powers.

Studia Theologica No. I (XIX) / 2025 Man’s communion with God Lecturer, PhD Mihai Burlacu

Communion (koinonia) is analysed from etymological, philosophical, sociological and theological perspectives, with an emphasis on its ecclesial-Eucharistic dimension in the thought of Saints Nicholas Cabasilas, Dumitru Stăniloae and Maximus the Confessor. The article demonstrates that true communion presupposes objective knowledge grounded in God and is fully realised through the Eucharistic communion, in which Christ offers Himself to humankind at every level of their being.

Studia Theologica No. II (XVIII) / 2024 Temperance, the right path, the guardian of mind and body against the defilement of sin His Eminence Varsanufie

The virtue of temperance is examined as an essential means of attaining holiness, through self-control, discernment and the restraint of the passions, with reference to the teachings of Saints Basil the Great, John Cassian, Maximus the Confessor and Ephrem the Syrian. The sins of intemperance — gluttony, avarice and sexual immorality — are examined as forms of estrangement from God, whilst fasting and philanthropy are proposed as remedies.

Studia Theologica No. I (XVII) / 2024 God’s love, the call to communion His Eminence Varsanufie

Divine love, rooted in the intra-Trinitarian life of the Holy Trinity, constitutes the archetypal model of man’s communion with God and of love for one’s neighbour. Through grace, the Holy Sacraments and liturgical life, human beings are cleansed of their passions, become deified and share in the inexhaustible love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the divine image being fully realised in communion and interpersonal love.

Studia Theologica No. I (XVII) / 2024 Building a Christian Marriage: St John Chrysostom’s Guide to Temperance, Comfort and Fellowship Rev. Prof. Dr. Bassam A. Nassif

Taking as its starting point the crisis of marriage in contemporary culture, this article analyses Saint John Chrysostom’s teaching on the sacrament of marriage, identifying three fundamental principles drawn from his writings: self-restraint (σωφροσύνη), consolation and participation. Marriage is presented as a path to inner healing, spiritual perfection and deification, superior to any sociological or utilitarian understanding of the marital relationship.

Studia Theologica No. I (XVII) / 2024 The Death of Contemporary Society. The Link between Pastoral Care and Science, Using the SARS-CoV-2 Virus as a Pretext Associate Professor Dr Nicolae Xionis

The article argues, drawing on the teachings of Saint Gregory the Theologian and Saint Maximus the Confessor, that the Church cannot be isolated from medical and political issues, as it perceives the human being as an integral psychosomatic entity. Through a theological analysis of death as disintegration and of the Covid-19 pandemic, the author demonstrates that compulsory vaccination and the social and moral divide between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated constitute a form of social death, to which the Church must oppose the unity of sacramental life.

Studia Theologica No. I (XV) / 2023 God’s Providence, or On the Sustaining and Governing of the World through Love His Eminence Varsanufie

Divine providence, understood as God’s all-encompassing love and care for creation, is examined in relation to the freedom of rational beings, to sin, suffering and the deification of humankind, drawing upon the works of Saint John of Damascus, Saint Maximus the Confessor, Saint Justin Popovich and Thomas Spidlik, culminating in the Mystery of the Holy Eucharist.

Studia Theologica No. I (XV) / 2023 Theology in today’s globalised world Associate Professor Dr Nicolae Xionis

The article analyses the relationship between globalisation, world governance and Orthodox theology, arguing that the cultural, political and religious homogenisation imposed by globalisation suppresses the freedom and identity of the human person. Orthodox theology’s response lies in the universality of the Church as the Body of Christ, the knowledge of revealed truth and the ontological freedom of the human person renewed in Christ, the only elements capable of achieving the unity of the world without abolishing the distinctive characteristics of each people.

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