Question on Eastern and Latin spirituality

[R_C]

I was learning yesterday about the Jesus Prayer that Eastern Catholics pray using a specific prayer rope (which for now I am praying on my Rosary), and as I was trying to learn more about this devotion, I read something about “illumination of the nous”, “theoria” and “theosis”. This is all very deep and quite different from what I had read so far.

My question is: how much of these teachings are in line with the doctrine of the Catholic Church? I would like to learn more about these topics, but I am worried that I may be learning something that may be strictly reserved to faithful of the Orthodox Church.

Are these teachings part of Eastern Catholic doctrines? Is it fine for me to learn them and incorporate them to my prayer life?

Please be patient with me. The whole division between us and the Eastern Church is very odd to me and I wish to understand how much of these doctrines I can learn about and maybe follow while being a Catholic.

 

[Phillip_Rolfes]

The teachings are fully in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church when one perceives the Catholic Church as a universal entity, and not just the Roman Catholic Church with some (basically) Eastern appendages.

Eastern Catholics of the Byzantine tradition (and most other Eastern and Oriental Catholic traditions) use/pray the Jesus Prayer in some form or another. The teachings on theosis are more or less the same as the West’s teachings on deification. At the risk of oversimplification it can be boiled down to the saying of St. Irenaeus of Lyons (Doctor of the Church) that “God became man in order that man might become god.”

Theoria is the idea that theology is a perception of the heart in relation to God, and not an academic study (or rather, not reducible to an academic study). True theoria is similar to the Carmelite notion of infused contemplation.

Illumination of the nous is a more tricky topic, but it is perfectly in line with Catholic teaching. The nous is simply the very center or core of one’s being. Although it is often translated as the “heart,” it must be understood in its biblical sense to be the seat of emotion, reason, and decision. In essence it is the very center of the person as person. To have our nous illuminated means to have it transformed by the light of Christ.

ICXC + NIKA,
Phillip

 

[R_C]

I am grateful for your reply!

 

[docnerves]

I have attached a pdf book on “Theosis,” which is actually very good. Please take some things with a grain of salt as it was written by the Orthodox so there are “jabs” at Catholicism however; the theology is accurate and does a great job of explaining Theosis.

 

[R_C]

Thanks