Dreapta socoteală – „maica şi păzitoarea tuturor virtuţilor”
The right discernment – “the mother and guardian of all virtues”

Summary/Abstract: As Saint Anthony showed, in the consensus of philokalic thinking, the right discernment is “the mother and guardian of all virtues”. Being the mother of all virtues, the right discernment is at the beginning of ascetic life, as discernment or the gift of discernment. As a virtue of thought, mind, or judgment oriented according to the principles of Christ’s Gospel, the right discernment determines the promotion of self-control as the halfway between two harmful extremes (excess and defi ciency) in the spiritual life. As a guardian of virtues, the right discernment has a dynamic and creative character, being the “royal road” that determines, with great spiritual discretion and understanding, among multiple roads, the safest one that leads to the holiness of life, having the role of keeping the mind and heart in constant “attention to oneself” (prosoche) organically and functionally correlated with prayer (proseuche). As a gift of discerning spirits, the discernment, as a gift of the Holy Spirit, has proven its effectiveness in the life of the early Church. It was later cultivated as the discernment of thoughts and the knowledge of God’s will. Moreover, as spiritual discernment, it asserted itself through the gift of distinguishing between the knowledge of the Spirit and the presence of God, in contrast to the temptations of the devil...

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