Volume 65, Issue 256/257, Enero/Junio 2020
Spiritalis Homo II: La vivencia de la Espiritualidad Agustiniana
Vittorino Grossi
Pages 205-233
El servus/serva Dei El monje/monja (frater/soror) agustiniano
The article approaches the fiuure of the Augustinian monk taking as point of departure some of the Works of Saint Augustine, particularly the Regula ad servos Dei and sermons 354, 355 and 356, to show how Augustine from the initial anthropological category of homo interior-homo exterior –typical from the Latin Christian tradition–, he shifts, already in the Regula ad seruos Dei (probably around 400), to the category of homo spiritalis, in relationship to a spirituality of freedom under the grace of God. From this anthropological perspective, famulus/a seruus/a Dei (= the monk, the virgin) is considered not as “he who tames the flesh”, but rather as “he who loves spiritual beauty”, he who is born of Holy Spirit. The article points out how for Augustine, the monastery must be a place with an atmosphere of freedom and grace that gives life, “not as servants under the law”, but “as free men under grace” (reg. 3 8, 1).