"Global Approaches to Sacred Space" Workshop: Fr. Maximos Constas, "The Momentum of Grief"

The Momentum of Grief: Mary at the Cross in The Life of the Virgin by John Geometres

After an initial discussion of the place of emotions in patristic and Byzantine anthropology, this lecture surveys a number of emotionally charged episodes from the tenth-century Life of the Virgin by John Geometres. These episodes will be considered as part of a complex synthesis of emotional affect, rationality/religious doctrine, and the literary and visual forms of the Byzantine liturgy.

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Fr Maximos Constas is Distinguished Professor of Humanities at the University of Austin (UATX). He was formerly a professor of patristics and Orthodox spirituality at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, and professor of theology at Harvard Divinity School. His most recent publication is a critical edition and English translation of the Life of the Virgin by John Geometres, published in 2023 by Harvard University Press.

“Global Approaches to Sacred Space” is generously funded by the SGS Global Research Workshop series with further support from the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, CESTA, CMEMS, CREEES, the Departments of Art & Art History, Classics, French and Italian, History, and Religious Studies.

Co-organized by Prof. Bissera V. Pentcheva and Andrei Dumitrescu.