DANIEL LEMENI: „You can become like fire entirely”: The experience of the taboric light in the spirituality of the desert

In the present study we approach the experience of the divine and uncreated Light in desert monasticism.In other words, in this paper we speak about the glory of the divine light at Christ’sTransfiguration. Briefly, the Desert Fathers sought to realize the meaning of the incarnation in their lives. Therefore, the spirituality of Hesychasm can be traced back to Desert Fathers. The doctrineof deifi cation plays an important role in the spirituality of the desert, a doctrine that furnished the background for the theological thinking of the Desert Fathers. Desert asceticism insisted on the need to control the body in order to find union with God. The desert offered the opportunity to become not just a better Christian. In the words of Desert Father Abba Joseph, the desert offered the opportunity to become „All flame”.
Keywords: Desert Fathers, uncreated Light, monasticism, deification, the spirituality of the desert

DANIEL LEMENI