Mistyczne odkrywanie Boga w "Itinerarium mentis in Deum" św. Bonawentury
Mystical discovering of God in the "Itinerarium mentis in Deum" of St. Bonaventure

Summary/Abstract: One of the most popular mystical works of St. Bonaventure is the Itinerarium mentis in Deum, which is a guide to discovering the presence of God in the process of spiritual life. St. Bonaventure situated his considerations in the precise context of a Christian understanding of reality. His concept of a spiritual return to God was placed in the metaphysical triad emanatio-exemplatio-reductio and as such has become the key to understanding the history of the world and humanity. This article aims to explain the principal conditions and main stages of the mystic way, which according to St. Bonaventure leads the mind through meditation to the gradual discovering of the presence of a hidden God. Guided by divine light and transcending the limits of nature, the human spirit traverses first through the external world (ad extra), then enters into its own self (ad intra) and finally crowns its efforts in the mystical ecstasy of the union with God (ad supra). The analysis carried out in this article illustrates the most essential characteristics of St. Bonaventure’s mysticism.

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