Roczniki Filozoficzne

Volume 63, Issue 2, 2015

Barbara Grondkowska
Pages 145-156

The Stages of Love in Cusanus’ Sermon VII Remittuntur ei peccata multa

The article discusses one of the early sermons by Nicholas of Cusa—Sermo VII Remittuntur ei peccata multa, written in a dialogue form, uncharacteristic of the sermon genre. The main protagonist is Mary Magdalene, who was described on the basis of biblical and apocryphal stories. According to Sermo VII she is an allegory of the soul’s love for God. The article contains the analysis of Cusanus’ concept and terminology of love (amor, caritas, dilectio) as well as the description of the image of three and seven stages of love. Moreover, there have been identified intertextual relations between the sermon and sources attributed to Bonaventura such as De diaeta salutis by Guillaume de Lanicia and De septem itineribus aeternitatis by Rudolf von Biberach. Finally, there are also deeper semantic analyses of more difficult fragments.