Unidade cordial da pessoa humana e da comunidade: o símbolo do coração nos escritos e na recepção artística de Agostinho de Hipona

• Published in: Franciscanum Vol. 63; no. 175; pp. 1 - 22
• Main Authors: Davi Chang Ribero lin, Anthony Dupont
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidad de San Buenaventura 01.01.2021
• Subjects: augustine of hippo; heart; interiority; spirituality; therapy
• ISSN: 0120-1468
• DOI: 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.