O vere beata Nox

: o paradoxo da noite : da Tradição Bíblica à experiência litúrgico-espiritual da Igreja

Abstract

Night, in the Judaeo-Christian Biblical Tradition constitutes a paradoxical symbolic reality. If on the one hand it is constituted as an opposition to the Light and therefore favourable to sin and to the distance from God - chaos - it is simultaneously correct to affirm that Night can correspond to the propitious occasion for the encounter with the Transcendent and from Him to receive Revelation. In fact, all over the Old Testament, (Night translated feelings and states of soul of its authors and characters, like Jacob, Samuel, Job or even the psalmist who prays during the Night. In the New Testament, on the other hand, Night is opposed to Jesus Christ's own Mission and can be an eschatological, ethical or spiritual metaphor - like the one lived by the apostle Peter before his Master's Ministry. Night is always a paradoxical reality that can either terrify or serenade the soul of its faithful. This is what the Hebrews experienced during the night of Liberation and they have celebrated it throughout all generations. Great Mystics of the Church like John of the Cross or Therese of Liseux also experienced the Night of Faith and Doubt that overwhelms those who endure God's silence. But it is the Night of the Resurrection of Jesus that transforms all the others - the Light overcomes the Darkness and Night becomes Day: O vere beata Nox.

Date of Award	10 Feb 2022
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	José Carvalho (Supervisor)