Love for the being from the beyond being: Saint

Love  for  the  being  from  the  beyond  being:   Saint  Porphyrios  of  Kavsokalyvia  on  Divine  Eros  1  

  Panagiotis  Pavlos,  Doctoral  Research  Fellow   Department  of  Philosophy  -­‐  University  of  Oslo    

There   are   two   ways   that   grant   access   to   the   reality   of   the   Orthodox   Christian   mode   of   being,  the  knowledge  about  life  and  its  source.     The  one  way  expands  through  studying  the  infinite  amount  of  primary  sources  we  have   been   inherited   from   the   Church   fathers.   Their   thinking   reveals   an   unprecedented   spiritual   richness   and   intellectual   depth.   Among   the   merits   of   this   way   belongs   the   privilege   of   encountering   a   way   of   thinking   that   expands   far   beyond   the   limitations   of   human   reasoning,   and   the   boundaries   of   the   ontological   categories.   It   is   in   this   scope   that   cataphatic   and   apophatic   discourse   have   been   equally   called   forth   to   articulate   a   word  on  the  origin  and  the  source  of  divine  eros.     The  other  way  prerequisites  our  involvement  to  the  experiential  sphere  that  offers  the   foundational   ground   upon   which   the   aforementioned   wisdom   is   flourishing.   This   way   simply   implies   the   participation   in   the   life   of   Saints,   which   constitutes   a   genuine   imitation  of  the  life  of  Christ,  and  could  be  recognized  as  the  ecclesiastical  way  of  being.   In  this  paper  I  shall  refer  to  a  person  whose  life  has  showed  in  the  most  distinct  manner   that  the  above  two  ways  are  mutually  complementary,  since  they  derive  from  the  same   source  of  divine  eros.  In  this  respect,  it  is  a  privilege  to  refer  to  a  man  who  is  no  longer   just   a   blessed   ascetic   figure   of   the   Greek   monastic   life   but   also,   since   2013,   a   declared   Saint   of   the   Orthodox   Church.   Indeed,   Saint   Porphyrios   is   neither   a   philosopher   nor   a   theologian  by  profession  but,  as  himself  confirms,  by  παθὼν  καὶ  μαθὼν  τὰ  θεία.  Thus,  I   consider  himself  as  the  most  appropriate  person  to  explicate  how  the  goodness  beyond   being   exceeds   remoteness   and   enters   into   the   spatially   and   timely   being   in   order   to   redeem  the  beings  by  granting  access  to  the  One  through  Divine  Eros.  This  presentation   will   substantially   take   into   consideration   the   teaching   of   Elder   Porphyrios   on   divine   eros,  as  it  has  been  exposed  in  the  book:  ‘Wounded  by  Love:  The  Life  and  the  Wisdom  of   Elder  Porphyrios’  2.  

                                                                                                                1  This   paper   was   presented   at   the   Metochi   Seminary   Meeting   on   ‘The   Concept   of   Love’,   on   Tuesday,  May  26,  2015.  The  Seminar  was  organized  by  the  University  of  Agder  in  Kristiansand  of   southern   Norway   and   implemented   in   the   Metochi   Study   Center   of   the   University   of   Agder,   in   May,   23–30,   2015.   The   Metochi   Study   Center   is   located   in   a   wonderful   and   of   rich   natural   beauty   place  nearby  Kalloni,  a  village  of  the  island  of  Lesvos.   2  The   title   refers   to   the   English   publication   of   the   book   originally   titled:   Γέροντος   Πορφυρίου  

Καυσοκαλυβίτου,  Βίος  και  Λόγοι,  published  in  Greek  in  2003,  by  the  Holy  Convent  of  Life-­‐giving   Spring,  in  Chania,  Creta.