Habitare secum

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Habitare secum (Latin for "living with / in oneself") is a basic concept of Christian spirituality , which describes the ideal of being identical with oneself and with oneself.

The term was introduced into the history of Christian spirituality by Gregory the Great (540–604), who did not coined the term himself, but adopted the idea from ancient philosophy. The motif of the being of the soul with itself already appears in Plato († 348/347 BC). The term »habitare secum« appears for the first time in Persius († 62 AD), who closely connects the ideal with self-knowledge: "Tecum habita: noris quam sit tibi curta supellex."

Gregory the Great attributes the ideal of the "habitare secum" in his "Second Book of Dialogues on Life and Miracles of the Italian Fathers" to the monk's father Benedict of Nursia († 547). Gregor relates that Benedict initially lived as a hermit for three years, during which he found himself and achieved the ideal of the »habitare secum«. Withdrawal into solitude and self-awareness are central prerequisites for achieving the »habitare secum«. Criteria for the »habitare secum« are, in particular, constant gathering of the mind and monitoring of one's own thoughts and actions.

literature

Remarks

  1. Cf. Plato: Phaidon , 67d.
  2. Persius: Saturarum liber , IV, 52nd
  3. Gregory the Great: Book II of Dialogues , II, 3.7.