SPIRITUALITY STUDIESVolume 12 / Issue 2 FALL 2026
Spirituality Studies 12–2 Fall 2026 Publisher: The Society for Spirituality Studies Published in partnership with the Monastic Interreligious Dialogue and the European Union of Yoga Available online: www.spirituality-studies.org Licensed under CC BY 4.0 Editor-in-Chief: Doc. PaedDr. Martin Dojčár, PhD Graphic Design: Martin Hynek Contact: editor@spirituality-studies.org ISSN 1339-9578 Donate The mission of Spirituality Studies is to publish high-quality studies, articles, and information related to spirituality in its various forms. At the same time, the journal provides a forum for sharing personal spiritual experiences. By combining academic and experiential approaches to spirituality, the journal aims to provide a distinctive platform for dialogue among a variety of viewpoints, approaches, and methodologies in the study of spirituality. The journal also promotes spiritual education by publishing studies in the field, as well as teaching and pedagogical materials that reflect the practical experience of educators. The journal publishes all articles under an open-access policy, allowing unlimited public use. Please consider donating to support the continued publication of Spirituality Studies as a free, open-access journal. ←← Portrait of Silvia Gulová © 2026 Martin Dojčár Contents 1 Editorial Martin Dojčár 3 Existential Philosophy Meets Baroque Spirituality: Kierkegaard’s Reception of Abraham a Sancta Clara Peter Šajda 15 The Spirituality of Rites of Reintegration in Older Adulthood: An Autoethnographic Narrative Inquiry Sebastian Salicru 41 The Phenomenology of Long-Term Meditation Experiences and Interpretation of the Nature of Human Consciousness Fabio Mattiussi, Patrizio Tressoldi 53 Diaspora as Locus Spiritualis: Faith, Memory, and Resilience in Maronite-Syriac Christianity Georges Antaby
Spirituality Studies 1 EDITORIAL Editorial In our times of boosted productivity, socially glorified and technologically enhanced to an extreme, the physical, mental, and spiritual balance of a human being is needed more than ever before in history. If the rapid development of AI technology can be likened to a new industrial revolution, the imperative to maintain a balance of body, mind, and spirit reminds us of the complexity of human needs. Complementary elements of human experience call for their recognition, acceptance, and cultivation in their wholeness, whether they are psychologically described as productivity, ecstasis, and enstasis or otherwise. In this way, physical, mental, and spiritual balance is related to wholeness and consequently to the integrity of human being—that integrity which involves all aspects of human existence, not only its productive, performing, or creative ones. Nevertheless, human existence as existence is intrinsically incomplete, as the very etymology of the Latin word existentia, from which the English word existence derives, suggests: ex (“out of, from”) and sta (“to stand”)—one “stands outside of oneself.” The phenomenal situation of “standing outside of oneself” is referred to in existential philosophy as “alienation” or “forgetfulness of being”: of the two dimensions of human being, only the “human” dimension is recognized, while the dimension of “being” is forgotten. On the threshold of a new era in human history, marked by revolutionary technologies, the call for spirituality resounds with renewed urgency as an expression of the need for wholeness—for the integration of both fundamental dimensions of human being. Spirituality Studies, together with the authors of the Fall 2026 edition, offers scholarly insights from research on spirituality amid turbulent research and social developments. Cordially, Martin Dojčár
2 Spirituality Studies
Spirituality Studies 3 Peter Šajda Prof. Peter Šajda, PhD, is Professor of Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, Trnava University, Slovakia. His research focuses on anthropological, ethical, religious, and socio-political issues. He collaborates with the Søren Kierkegaard Research Center in Copenhagen, where he serves as an editor of the Kierkegaard Studies Yearbook and the Kierkegaard Studies Monograph Series. He has authored several monographs and edited the anthologies Affectivity, Agency and Intersubjectivity (L’Harmattan 2012), Kierkegaard in Context (Mercer University Press 2019), and Modern and Postmodern Crises of Symbolic Structures: Essays in Philosophical Anthropology (Brill 2021). His email contact is peter.sajda@truni.sk. orcid.org Received March 19, 2026 Revised April 9, 2026 Accepted April 10, 2026 Keywords Baroque spirituality, existential philosophy, Abraham a Sancta Clara, Søren Kierkegaard, awareness of God’s presence Peter Šajda The present paper examines Søren Kierkegaard’s reception of the Baroque spiritual writer Abraham a Sancta Clara. At the center of this study is Abraham a Sancta Clara’s work Grammatica Religiosa, from which Kierkegaard drew significant inspiration, particularly in the second half of the 1840s. This work directly influenced the spiritual doctrine he developed in his major work on Christian ethics, Works of Love. Kierkegaard relied especially on Abraham a Sancta Clara in his treatment of the virtue of awareness of God’s presence and the vice of judging others—both of which are central to the conclusion of Works of Love. He integrated these impulses from Abraham into a new spiritual doctrine. Finally, the paper suggests how the practical spirituality cultivated by both authors may contribute to the development of spiritual practices relevant today. Existential Philosophy Meets Baroque Spirituality: Kierkegaard’s Reception of Abraham a Sancta Clara ←← Portrait of Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) by N. C. Kierkegaard, 1840, pencil drawing. From the collection of The Royal Library, Denmark.
4 Spirituality Studies 1 Introduction The existential philosopher Søren Kierkegaard was an avid reader of spiritual literature. He was familiar with a broad range of sources, including Christian antiquity, medieval Rheno-Flemish mysticism, the Protestant Pietist tradition, and post-Tridentine Catholic writings [1]. He was also well acquainted with the works of the Viennese imperial preacher Abraham a Sancta Clara, through whom he gained insight into Catholic Baroque spirituality. This paper examines Kierkegaard’s reception of Abraham a Sancta Clara, with a special focus on the latter’s work Grammatica Religiosa. Kierkegaard adopted a number of impulses from this work, some of which shaped his spiritual doctrine in his ethical magnum opus, Works of Love. Kierkegaard was particularly inspired by Abraham a Sancta Clara on two points: the virtue of awareness of God’s presence and the vice of judging others. These issues of practical spirituality remain highly relevant today. Regarding the former, it is noteworthy that, in 2025, Pope Leo XIV highlighted the practice of the presence of God as a central element of his personal spirituality. He explained that it is “a type of prayer and spirituality where one simply gives his life to the Lord and allows the Lord to lead. … And if you want to know something about me, that’s been my spirituality for many years, in the midst of great challenges” (Radner 2025). The renowned French spiritual author Jacques Philippe emphasized that awareness of God’s presence is a necessary condition for developing inner silence and peace (Philippe 2002a, 37). And the American activist and writer Dorothy Day identified this virtue as a central component of the ordinary spirituality practiced within the social justice movement she initiated (Day 1974, 11–13). The vice of judging is also a subject of debate among contemporary spiritual authors. Clark Elder Morrow has argued that there is an increased sensitivity to this vice in an age dominated by an emphasis on autonomy: “The greatest sin that can be committed in our day (as far as most people are concerned) is ‘judging’ others” (Morrow 2021, 119). To clarify the confusion surrounding this sin, Morrow distinguishes between two basic meanings of judging: evaluating and condemning. A similar direction is reflected in the recently introduced practice of gentle judging, which differentiates between righteous and self-righteous judgment based on one’s motivations and aims (Jesus Bible Foundation 2025) [2]. The aforementioned Jacques Philippe understands the vice of judging as connected with the vice of pride, urging us to be slow to judge and, when judging others, to remain mindful of our own imperfections (Philippe 2002b) [3]. This paper aims to enrich current debates by drawing on the legacy of Baroque spirituality and existential philosophy. It examines the approaches of Abraham a Sancta Clara and Kierkegaard to the virtue of awareness of God’s presence and the vice of judging others, in light of the latter’s reception of the former. The central thesis is that Kierkegaard integrated Abraham’s originally separate doctrines on these two themes into a unified account, in which awareness of God’s presence serves as an antidote to the sin of judging others. In this way, a new line of spiritual reflection emerges. The analysis relies primarily on the methodologies of source-work research and comparative analysis: the former aims to identify the sources of Kierkegaard’s knowledge of Abraham and situate them in their spiritual-historical context, while the latter helps to show affinities and differences between the authors’ approaches to the topics that connect them. Exploring Kierkegaard’s reception of Abraham a Sancta Clara can offer fresh insights for contemporary spiritual practice, particularly as we continue to struggle with forgetting God and judging others unreflectively.
Spirituality Studies 5 Peter Šajda 2 Abraham a Sancta Clara: An Imperial Preacher and a Popular Author Abraham a Sancta Clara is an intriguing figure whose literary works have captured the attention of several prominent littérateurs and thinkers. He was born probably on July 2, 1644, in Kreenheinstetten in southern Germany as Johann Ulrich Megerle and received the religious name Abraham a Sancta Clara after joining the Discalced Augustinians in 1662 [4]. After his ordination he began his pastoral work in Vienna, where he soon became a sought-after preacher. His extraordinary preaching capabilities earned him the title of imperial preacher in 1677. Shortly thereafter Abraham made his mark also as an author. In 1680 he published the widely popular Mercks Wienn, in which he reacted to the plague epidemic of the previous year. Three years later he composed yet another work that addressed a great danger that befell his contemporaries: in Auff auff ihr Christen, he sought to mobilize his compatriots to defend Austria against the Ottomans, who besieged Vienna in the summer of 1683. Abraham went on to hold high offices in the Augustinian order while continuously publishing new works, including Grammatica Religiosa in 1691. Following his death on December 1, 1709, his works remained in circulation and his oeuvre underwent several re-editions [5]. Between 1835 and 1847 the edition Sämmtliche Werke, comprising twenty-one volumes, was published in Passau and Lindau; it formed part of a renewed surge of interest in Abraham’s work and directly influenced Kierkegaard. Abraham was not just a preacher valued by the common people and the Austrian court. His works found resonance—albeit with mixed reactions—among several trendsetting German writers. Abraham is mentioned in Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s Anti-Goeze, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Aus meinem Leben: Dichtung und Wahrheit, Jean Paul’s Vorschule der Aesthetik, and in Achim von Arnim’s and Clemens Brentano’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Abraham also served as a model for the literary figure of the Capuchin preacher in Friedrich von Schiller’s Wallenstein. An interesting portrayal of Abraham can be found in the works of the literary historian Carl Friedrich Flögel, who focuses on the comical aspect of his preaching. Flögel discusses Abraham in his Geschichte der komischen Litteratur, but his account in Geschichte des Burlesken is particularly noteworthy, as he claims that Abraham’s sermons were “diligently attended by many not for the sake of edification, but for the sake of laughter” (Flögel 1794, 241) [6]. Whether factually accurate or not, Flögel here refers to Abraham’s style, which sometimes combined practical spiritual instruction with an aphoristic form and expressive language. Abraham’s original combination of powerful imagery with spiritual wisdom, as well as his linguistic virtuosity, was also later noted by Martin Heidegger (Heidegger 1964, 7–8). Abraham’s works focused largely on individual spiritual formation, drawing on a broad range of classical spiritual authors—from the Church Fathers to contemporary Baroque sources. Theological reflection was primarily used for practical purposes and lacked overt speculative elements. Abraham often relied on the lives of saints and their spiritual experiences to illustrate the importance of concrete spiritual practices, such as prayer, self-denial, sacramental life, and the cultivation of virtues. He paid particular attention to the virtues of purity, humility, and love (Meuer 1938, 47–54). The Baroque style of piety emphasized supernatural elements such as miracles, apparitions, and the role of the afterlife. While many aspects of this spiritual approach were at odds with mainstream nineteenth-century Protestantism, Kierkegaard does not seem to have been repelled by them. On the contrary, he held Abraham’s doctrina practica in high regard and appreciated the edifying character of his writings.
6 Spirituality Studies 3 The Basic Coordinates of Kierkegaard’s Reception of Abraham a Sancta Clara Kierkegaard’s approach to Abraham a Sancta Clara resembles his approach to other spiritual sources from earlier times, regardless of whether they were Catholic or Protestant [7]. Kierkegaard often came across the name of a spiritual author in a secondary source, and if the reference caught his attention, he would go on to order the primary source. He approached Catholic spiritual sources from the post-Tridentine period with an open mind, often reading them for his own edification. He searched for motifs that could be useful for his own spiritual life or that could be integrated into his works aimed at edification. It is probable that Kierkegaard first encountered Abraham’s name in one of the aforementioned German literary sources—which he owned—or in one of the numerous lexicons and encyclopedias that formed part of his library. Subsequently, he switched to a primary source, namely the extensive edition of Sämmtliche Werke (1835–47), which he continued to purchase over the years. Ultimately, he acquired all the twenty-one volumes of this edition, which attests to his genuine appreciation of Abraham’s work. Kierkegaard’s copy of Abraham’s Sämmtliche Werke is deposited at the Royal Library in Copenhagen, where it can be inspected by researchers. It contains sixty-three passages highlighted by Kierkegaard, sixty-one of which were published in the edition Søren Kierkegaards Papirer (Pap. VIII–2 C 2, 1–61) [8]. Kierkegaard paid closest attention to Abraham’s work Grammatica Religiosa, which accounts for more than half of the highlighted passages. It is also Abraham’s most frequently referenced work in Kierkegaard’s corpus. The work is a clear example of Abraham’s practical moral instruction, focusing primarily on the cultivation of virtues, the struggle with vices, and spiritual growth. This aligned closely with Kierkegaard’s interest in principles and narratives that could aid spiritual formation. Kierkegaard’s reception of Abraham a Sancta Clara spans seventeen years, with the first reference appearing in 1837 and the last in 1854. Kierkegaard used material from Abraham in his works The Concept of Irony, Works of Love, and Christian Discourses, and he also quoted him repeatedly in his journals and papers. Kierkegaard reflected most intensively on Abraham’s spiritual doctrine in 1847–1848, when he excerpted a number of passages in his journals and drew inspiration from it when composing Works of Love. His main source of inspiration was Grammatica Religiosa. While Kierkegaard highlighted in Abraham passages dealing with a broad variety of forms of spiritual struggle, there are especially two passages that deserve our attention, since they significantly impacted his authorship.
Spirituality Studies 7 Peter Šajda 4 Abraham a Sancta Clara on Awareness of God’s Presence and the Vice of Judging Others Abraham’s Grammatica Religiosa bears the subtitle Spiritual School of Virtue and claims to instruct the reader on “how to avoid evil and do good” (Abraham a Sancta Clara 1845, 3). In each of its fifty-five chapters, it focuses on a specific virtue or vice, examining it in depth and with reference to classical spiritual sources. From the perspective of Kierkegaard’s reception, the two most important passages are those that inspired the conclusion of his programmatic work on Christian ethics, Works of Love. The first passage portrays the virtue of awareness of God’s presence, while the second examines the vice of judging others. Awareness of God’s presence is discussed in the fourth chapter of Grammatica Religiosa, entitled “On Penance,” and this passage exerted the most lasting influence on Kierkegaard. At its center is the story of the holy abbot Paphnutius of Thebes, who is said to have paid an incognito visit to “a sinful woman” with the intention of converting her (Abraham a Sancta Clara 1845, 54). Wearing civilian clothing, he went to the city and visited a famous courtesan. After paying her a large sum, he asked her “to lead him to a secluded place so that he would be seen by no one and could commit the sin without shame” (Abraham a Sancta Clara 1845, 55). The courtesan led him successively to several places, but each time he complained that the location was too public and feared being seen. Ultimately, she led him to a dark place, saying that “no one could see him there except God alone and the devil” (Abraham a Sancta Clara 1845, 55). At this point, Paphnutius dropped his disguise and called on the courtesan to convert. He emphasized that the awareness of God’s presence is crucial in dissuading us from sinning: he “reminded her with great seriousness that one must always and at all times feel a proper fear of sinning before the face of God” (Abraham a Sancta Clara 1845, 55). The courtesan is then said to have experienced a moment of enlightenment, deciding to convert and do penance. She subsequently gathered all her former lovers and burned her precious clothes and ornaments in their presence. She then followed Paphnutius into the Egyptian desert, where she repented for her sins for three years. At the end of the story, the reader learns that this woman was St. Thaïs of Alexandria (Abraham a Sancta Clara 1845, 56). The second passage concerns the vice of judging, to which Abraham dedicates a separate chapter. He elaborates on the seriousness of this vice, drawing on stories from the lives of saints. For Kierkegaard, two of these stories were particularly significant. The first recounts an apparition of Christ to St. Mechtilde, in which he emphasizes the gravity of the sin of judging, a sin all too often taken lightly. In Abraham’s depiction, Christ says to Mechtilde that “it is a great vice when a person judges his neighbor; and even if he were to judge him justly, he would still be guilty of as great a vice as the one who committed the evil” (Abraham a Sancta Clara 1845, 147). Thus, judging another’s sin is an offense as grave as the sin itself. This unusually strict interpretation is explained by the fact that the one who judges can never know the inner disposition of the sinner and instead judges based on his own conjectures, which may be completely wrong. Abraham pushes this logic to its utmost consequences and maintains that Christ informed Mechtilde that the one who judges “must expect the same punishment that the one who has sinned has brought upon himself” (Abraham a Sancta Clara 1845, 147). While Abraham acknowledges that the reader is not bound to believe Mechtilde’s private apparition, he insists that it aligns with Christ’s admonition against judging in the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. Here Christ declares that the one who judges will be judged in the same measure as he has judged others, following this statement with the allegory of the splinter and the wooden beam: “Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own eye?” (Mt 7:3). Abraham interprets this allegory with reference to a sermon by St. Dorotheus, who claims that the splinter symbolizes the sin committed by one’s neighbor, whereas the wooden beam symbolizes one’s judging of that sin [9]. This means that “the one who judges the sinner sins far more grievously than if he himself were to commit the sin of the condemned person” (Abraham a Sancta Clara 1845, 148). Here the assessment of the vice of judging is even harsher than in St. Mechtilde’s apparition, since symmetry is replaced by asymmetry: judging is even worse than the sin that is being judged. Abraham uses this escalation to motivate the reader to abstain from the sin of judging and to follow the example of Christ, who did not judge even those who crucified him but instead asked the Father to forgive them. With regard to St. Dorotheus’s portrayal of the vice of judging, Abraham endorses his statement that “it is such a grave sin to judge one’s neighbor that it surpasses almost all other sins in wickedness” (Abraham a Sancta Clara 1845, 148).
8 Spirituality Studies 5 Kierkegaard’s Reworking of Abraham a Sancta Clara’s Motifs Kierkegaard was enthusiastic about Abraham’s reflections on the virtue of the awareness of God’s presence, and especially about the story of Paphnutius and Thaïs. In 1847, he noted in his journal that “[t]his is a superb story; it needs but a little trimming” (KJN 4, 177). He went on to retell the story in his own terms, situating the climax in the conversation about sinning in God’s presence: “A clergyman pretends to be a man of the world and visits a woman of easy virtue, hoping to take up with her. But he sets one condition—she must promise that no one will learn of it, for [‘]think what it would mean, I who am a clergyman.[’] So she takes him to several places nearby, but none seems sufficiently safe to the priest. At last, she takes him to a completely deserted spot and says [‘]No one can see us here—except God.[’] The clergyman says ‘How can God see us here—he was the very last one I wished to see me’” (KJN 4, 177). Compared to Abraham’s version of the story, Kierkegaard makes three important changes. First, he anonymizes the protagonists, thus disconnecting the story from its setting in the ancient Egyptian church. Second, he has the priest reveal his priestly identity to the courtesan, which is not the case in Abraham’s version. Third, Kierkegaard completely omits the final part of the story, in which the converted courtesan follows the priest into the desert, does penance, and leads an ascetic life under his instruction. In this way, the awareness of God’s omnipresence becomes the sole issue, whereas in Abraham it was closely linked to the issue of penance. Kierkegaard returns to the story in a journal entry from 1850, where he reflects on how serious religious matters should be discussed. He makes the point that the best way is to do so in private: “one has to take peop[le] aside—if possible into the confessional—before there is any use in talking with them about Christianity” (KJN 7, 188). Thus, the most efficient communication about religious matters takes place outside the sphere of everyday social life, which is dominated by nonbinding conversation. In this context, Kierkegaard is reminded of “that incomparable story that I have saved somewhere” (KJN 7, 189). Again, he retells an anonymized version of the story of Paphnutius and Thaïs, suggesting this time that the priest wears a disguise “precisely in order to more effectively convert peop[le]” (KJN 7, 189). Kierkegaard suggests that the final scene of the story takes place in a remote grotto outside the city, where the courtesan declares to the priest that no human being can see them there, only God. The priest is surprised to hear of her belief in God and “begins preaching so vehemently about God’s omnipresence that the woman gave up her former profession” (KJN 7, 189). The main point of the story remains the importance of the awareness of God’s presence—which prompts one to avoid sin—but Kierkegaard adds a new dimension by claiming that the priest chose the most efficient way of preaching: he took the courtesan away from the noise of the city and addressed her in the private atmosphere of the silent grotto. Kierkegaard mentions the story in his journal one last time in 1851. He focuses solely on the final scene, again giving it a slightly different twist. The scene takes place in a cave, and the woman, for the first time, does not explicitly mention God. She declares: “Here no one, no one, can see us—it would have to be someone omnipresent.” The priest responds: “How can the Omnipresent One see us here; and he was [the] very last one I wished to see us” (KJN 8, 344). The priest then preaches emphatically about God’s omnipresence. The denouement is the same as before—the courtesan converts, and no mention is made of her later life. The story of Paphnutius and Thaïs appears not only in Kierkegaard’s journals but is also reflected, most importantly, in Works of Love, where it is coupled with the spiritual lesson on the vice of judging, which he also adopted from Abraham. These two spiritual lessons are integrated into the Conclusion of the work. While Kierkegaard ultimately did not include an explicit retelling of the story of Paphnutius and Thaïs in Works of Love, he elaborates on it in an unpublished draft. There, he argues that people “often imagine that there are many, many moments—indeed even long periods—when God is not present; that there are remote and lonely places, or very crowded places, where God is not present” (Pap. VIII–2 B 69, 3). To counter this mistaken conception of God’s absence, he presents an anonymized version of the story of Paphnutius and Thaïs, whose climax this time takes place in a forest. In a solitary place, the courtesan tells the priest: “Here you can be quite certain: no human being will ever come here, and … no one can see us—except God” (Pap. VIII–2 B 69, 3). After the priest’s preaching on God’s omnipresence, the woman is said not merely to have converted, but specifically to have internalized the main point of the preaching: “this woman never again attempted to find a place that was safe enough—in which to sin” (Pap. VIII–2 B 69, 3). Although in Works of Love Kierkegaard does not refer to the story as such, he appropriates its moral and combines
Spirituality Studies 9 Peter Šajda it with Abraham’s spiritual doctrine on the vice of judging others. He explains that “in the Christian sense, this is the very thing that you must learn to hold fast, that God is always present; and if he is present, he is also looking at you” (Kierkegaard 1995, 383). For Kierkegaard, it is important that God’s presence is not conceived purely metaphysically, but also existentially. An abstract view of God’s presence can never play an effective role in one’s spirituality and self-formation. Therefore, he insists that the awareness of God’s presence must permeate one’s relations with others: “[E]ven if all better persons … do their best to have the thought of God’s omnipresence present (and nothing more preposterous can be imagined than to think of God’s omnipresence at a distance), they still often forget God’s omnipresence as they relate themselves to other people, forget that God is present in the relationship” (Kierkegaard 1995, 383). When discussing the interplay of one’s relationship to God and to others, Kierkegaard introduces the principle of like for like. This principle of symmetry—which he takes to be derived from the Bible—means that the approach one adopts towards one’s neighbor is directly reflected in one’s relationship with God. Kierkegaard defines the Christian like for like in this way: “God will do unto you exactly as you do unto others” (Kierkegaard 1995, 383). Thus, one’s focus should not be on how others behave towards oneself—and on replicating that behavior—but on how one behaves towards others, because God will echo that behavior. This principle clearly has both a positive and a negative pole. What can be replicated includes love, mercy, and forgiveness, as well as anger, harshness, and punishment. With regard to forgiveness, Kierkegaard maintains that “God forgives you neither more nor less nor otherwise than as you forgive those who have sinned against you. It is only an illusion to imagine that one oneself has forgiveness although one is reluctant to forgive others” (Kierkegaard 1995, 380). With reference to the principle of like for like, Kierkegaard turns to the question of judging. First, he makes the point that if one accuses others before God, one simultaneously accuses oneself. God does not judge the one who does not judge others; but as soon as one begins to accuse others, that dynamic also turns against oneself. Kierkegaard explains: “[I]f you address [God] in his capacity as judge, it does not help that you mean he is supposed to judge someone else, because you yourself have made him into your judge, and he is, like for like, simultaneously your judge—that is, he judges you also” (Kierkegaard 1995, 381). Kierkegaard then goes beyond the symmetry of like for like and refers to a heightened inequality, which reflects Abraham’s interpretation of the biblical allegory of the splinter and the wooden beam. He affirms this interpretation and, while acknowledging the asymmetry it contains, nonetheless describes it as a rigorous form of like for like. Here he refers to Abraham without mentioning his name: “A pious man has piously interpreted these words as follows: The log in your own eye is neither more nor less than seeing and condemning the splinter in your brother’s eye. But the most rigorous like for like would of course be that seeing the splinter in someone else’s eye becomes a splinter in one’s own eye. But Christianity is even more rigorous: this splinter, or seeing it judgingly, is a log” (Kierkegaard 1995, 382). When discussing the allegory of the splinter and the wooden beam, Kierkegaard returns to the motif of God’s omnipresence. He makes the point that judging one’s neighbor in God’s presence makes the act much more serious: “you will understand that to see the splinter in your brother’s eye in the presence of God (and God is indeed always present) is high treason. If only you could avail yourself, in order to look at the splinter, of a place and a moment in which God is absent” (Kierkegaard 1995, 383). This is, of course, impossible, since God’s absence is nothing but an illusion. Kierkegaard goes on to emphasize the preventive function of the awareness of God’s presence—a motif he had already highlighted in the unpublished draft of Works of Love. This awareness dissuades one from entertaining the very idea of committing sin: “At a moment when you really think God is present, it surely would not occur to you to see any splinter in your brother’s eye or occur to you to apply this dreadfully rigorous criterion—you who are guilty yourself” (Kierkegaard 1995, 383). The foregoing analysis has shown that two passages from Grammatica Religiosa struck Kierkegaard so strongly that he decided to incorporate them into a crucial text of his own: the Conclusion of Works of Love. He reworked the adopted motifs to fit his own line of thought, especially with regard to the principle of like for like. Parallel to the published version of Works of Love, he also engaged with Abraham’s motifs in an unpublished draft and a series of journal entries. This shows how he continued to work with the spiritual wisdom contained in Abraham’s writings and to draw on it in developing his own thought.
10 Spirituality Studies 6 Conclusion Kierkegaard’s extensive reading of Abraham a Sancta Clara ultimately bore fruit in the form of productive reception. Although most of his reflections on Abraham’s motifs are to be found in his journals, these often served as a resource that he drew upon when composing his works. It is noteworthy that, despite significant differences between the spiritual milieu in which Kierkegaard was rooted and that in which Abraham wrote, a genuine synergy emerged between the two authors. Kierkegaard lacked the a priori disdain for Baroque Catholic piety that was characteristic of other nineteenth-century Protestant thinkers and approached Abraham’s works with authentic intellectual curiosity. He found in them a plethora of motifs that caught his attention, some of which went on to shape his own spirituality. Kierkegaard worked quite freely with the material he adopted from Abraham and adapted it for his own purposes. He nevertheless preserved the core spiritual messages of Abraham’s narratives, integrating them into his own intellectual framework. His reworking of the motifs from Grammatica Religiosa was innovative in at least three respects: First, he repeatedly refashioned the story of Paphnutius and Thaïs, introducing his own emphases. He disconnected it from its setting in church history, removed its emphasis on penance, anonymized the protagonists, and focused on the scene of conversion. He also repeatedly altered the setting of this scene—from a deserted place to a grotto to a forest— and highlighted the spiritual effect of the priest’s preaching on God’s omnipresence. The courtesan was usually depicted as believing in God, though in one instance this aspect was downplayed. The priest was at one point depicted as applying the effective method of discussing religious matters tête-à-tête in seclusion—a method that Kierkegaard himself was keen to apply. Second, Kierkegaard integrated the impulses from Abraham into his own spiritual doctrine of like for like, through which he sought to clarify the interaction between the religious individual and God. Abraham’s reflection on the vice of judging others consisted of two parts—one linked to St. Mechtilde and the other to St. Dorotheus. The second part in particular, which relies on the notion of asymmetry, would seem at odds with Kierkegaard’s principle of like for like, which is based on symmetry. Nevertheless, Kierkegaard sought to reconcile this tension by arguing that Christianity insists on a rigorous form of like for like. In this way, he fully embraced the strictness of Abraham’s view of the vice of judging others. Third and most importantly, the examined passages from Grammatica Religiosa contain spiritual instruction on the virtue of awareness of God’s presence and on the vice of judging others. However, Abraham did not connect these themes; they were treated in separate contexts. Kierkegaard recognized the significant potential of uniting them within a single doctrine, presenting awareness of God’s presence as an effective safeguard against the vice of judging others. Although Abraham regarded such awareness as an important means of avoiding sin, he did not specifically associate it with judging. Thus, Kierkegaard approached Abraham’s spirituality constructively, combining its individual elements in a new spiritual structure. When we examine Kierkegaard’s reception of Abraham a Sancta Clara’s spiritual instruction, several practical impulses can be identified that are meaningful for spiritual formation today. It has been shown that the practice of awareness of God’s presence is most readily developed in privacy and silence. Once appropriated as a virtue, it can help mitigate various forms of moral failure. With regard to the sin of judging, it defuses the motivation to judge unreflectively by introducing a strong self-reflective element: one perceives oneself as standing in the presence of God. This self-perception emphasizes personal responsibility and counters the view of judging as merely instinctive behavior, a bad habit, or a venial sin. Rather, the sin of judging affects not only one’s relation to others but also God’s relation to oneself. The appropriation of the virtue of awareness of God’s presence requires communication and instruction— dialogue and preaching—which facilitate the transmission of spiritual experience. However, this is possible only when God’s presence is understood in existential terms, as a concern that directly affects one’s life, thereby transcending a purely metaphysical conception. Similarly, it is crucial to recognize that the notion of God’s absence is not merely a metaphysical self-deception but also carries moral significance: it distorts one’s understanding of the complex effects of sin. All of this shows that the proposed spiritual formation comprises both individual and interpersonal—or even communal—dimensions. Some impulses can be applied within the framework of individual self-formation—for instance, as different forms of alertness—while others encourage participation in shared experience and openness to
Spirituality Studies 11 Peter Šajda spiritual instruction. In both cases, effective, context-based preventive approaches to spiritual struggles can be developed. In conclusion, although we are separated by several centuries from both Abraham’s and Kierkegaard’s spiritual contexts, their doctrines can still provide vital impetus and serve as enduring resources for spiritual formation. Acknowledgments This paper was created at the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts of Trnava University, as part of the grant project VEGA 1/0661/25. Notes [1] Insightful analyses of Kierkegaard’s approach to spiritual sources can be found in the anthology Kierkegaard and Mysticism. See, in particular, the chapters by Barrett (2026), Becker-Lindenthal (2026), Coe (2026), and Rasmussen (2026). [2] See especially Chapters 14 and 16. [3] This differentiation is introduced in Chapter 1, where the authors consider both the roots and the drivers of one’s judgment. [4] In the following, I further develop research that I previously presented in Šajda (2007, 2009). [5] For more on the publication history of Abraham a Sancta Clara’s writings, see Schillinger (1993). [6] Unless otherwise indicated, translations from foreign languages are my own. [7] Kierkegaard’s approach to different spiritual sources is analyzed, for instance, by Podmore (2013). [8] When examining the Sämmtliche Werke edition in the Royal Library, I discovered two highlighted passages that are not included in Søren Kierkegaards Papirer. [9] On the broader issue of the use of allegory in Christian spiritual literature, see Nemec (2021).
12 Spirituality Studies References Abraham a Sancta Clara. 1835– 1847. Sämmtliche Werke, Vols. 1–21. Passau, DE: Winkler. Barrett, Lee C. 2026. “Augustine, Kierkegaard, and Kenotic Existence.” In Kierkegaard and Mysticism, edited by Hjördis Becker-Lindenthal, 17–29. Abingdon, UK & New York, NY: Routledge. Becker-Lindenthal, Hjördis. 2026. “Unio Mystica and the Infinite Difference between God and Human Being: Kierkegaard and Tauler.” In Kierkegaard and Mysticism, edited by Hjördis Becker-Lindenthal, 44–56. Abingdon, UK & New York, NY: Routledge. Coe, David L. 2026. “Justification and Sanctification: Luther, Arndt, and Kierkegaard’s Inheritance of Theologia Deutsch.” In Kierkegaard and Mysticism, edited by Hjördis Becker-Lindenthal, 57–71. Abingdon, UK & New York, NY: Routledge. Day, Dorothy. 1974. “Some Reflections on Brother Lawrence and the Practice of the Presence of God.” In The Practice of the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, translated by Donald Attwater, 7–20. Springfield, IL: Templegate. Flögel, Carl Friedrich. 1794. Geschichte des Burlesken. Leipzig, DE: Schwickertscher Verlag. Heidegger, Martin. 1964. Über Abraham a Sancta Clara. Meßkirch, DE: Stadt Meßkirch. Jesus Bible Foundation. 2025. Gentle Judging: Correcting with Love and Truth. Johannesburg, ZA: JBF. Kierkegaard, Søren. 1909–1948. Søren Kierkegaards Papirer. [Abbreviated as Pap.] Edited by Peter Andreas Heiberg, Victor Kuhr, and Einer Torsting. Copenhagen, DK: Gyldendal. Kierkegaard, Søren. 1995. Works of Love. Translated by Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Kierkegaard, Søren. 2007–2020. Kierkegaard’s Journals and Notebooks, Vols. 1–11. [Abbreviated as KJN.] Edited by Niels Jørgen Cappelørn, Alastair Hannay, David Kangas, Bruce H. Kirmmse, George Pattison, Vanessa Rumble, and K. Brian Söderquist. Princeton, NJ & Oxford, UK: Princeton University Press. Meuer, Joseph. 1938. Forschungen zur Beurteilung Abrahams a S. Clara. Bottrop, DE: Wilhelm Postberg. Morrow, Clark Elder. 2021. Moral Majesty, Spiritual Splendor: A Christian Handbook of Human Basics. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock. Nemec, Rastislav. 2021. “Three Types of Medieval Allegory as a Basis of Later Christian Spirituality.” Spirituality Studies 7 (2): 48–59. spirituality-studies.org. Philippe, Jacques. 2002a. In the School of the Holy Spirit. Translated by Helena Scott. New York, NY: Scepter. Philippe, Jacques. 2002b. Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart. Translated by George and Jannic Driscoll. New York, NY: Society of St. Paul. Podmore, Simon. 2013. Struggling with God: Kierkegaard and the Temptation of Spiritual Trial. Cambridge, UK: James Clarke & Co. Radner, Ephraim. 2025. “What Does the Practice of the Presence of God Reveal about Leo?” First Things, December 5. firstthings.com. Rasmussen, Joel D. S. 2026. “Modern Devotion: Thomas à Kempis, Søren Kierkegaard, and the Question of the Unio Mystica.” In Kierkegaard and Mysticism, edited by Hjördis Becker-Lindenthal, 44–56. Abingdon, UK & New York, NY: Routledge. Šajda, Peter. 2007. “On Some Aspects of Kierkegaard’s Reading of Abraham a Sancta Clara.” Acta Kierkegaardiana 2: 80–89. Šajda, Peter. 2009. “Abraham a Sancta Clara: An Aphoristic Encyclopedia of Christian Wisdom.” In Kierkegaard and the Renaissance and Modern Traditions, Tome II: Theology, edited by Jon Stewart, 1–20. Farnham, UK: Ashgate. Schillinger, Jean. 1993. Abraham a Sancta Clara: Pastorale et discours politique dans l’Autriche du XVIIe siècle. Bern, CH: Peter Lang.
Spirituality Studies 13 Peter Šajda
14 Spirituality Studies
Spirituality Studies 15 Sebastian Salicru The Spirituality of Rites of Reintegration in Older Adulthood: An Autoethnographic Narrative Inquiry Sebastian Salicru Received April 4, 2026 Revised May 29, 2026 Accepted May 30, 2026 Keywords Aging tsunami, global mental health crisis, spiritual practices, rites of reintegration, autoethnographic narrative inquiry The global aging population is increasing rapidly and in unprecedented ways. This “aging tsunami” is a double-edged sword. It extends longevity, but it also coincides with a global mental health crisis. Older adults face significant challenges, including high suicide rates. Our de-ritualized postmodern society often neglects postliminal (reincorporation) rites. These rites support transitions in later life. I argue that intentionally adopting such rites offers an untapped opportunity to enhance mental health and spiritual well-being. Using an autoethnographic narrative inquiry, I integrate a framework that draws on rites of passage, archetypal symbolism, and elements from diverse spiritual traditions. Reflecting on my return to Spain after fourtythree years in Australia, I explore how these rites can be meaningfully enacted in older adulthood. Findings suggest that reincorporation rites foster meaning and support psychological adaptation. They also facilitate growth, self-transformation, and integration, helping individuals reconnect with their roots and navigate shifting identities. Sebastian Salicru, PgDip, MMR, MSc, is a psychologist, psychotherapist, board-approved supervisor, and a coach in private practice with over 30 years of experience across clinical and corporate settings. As an author and practitioner, his work explores the interface between psychotherapy, consciousness studies, spirituality, and the potential role of psychedelic-assisted therapies in healing and advancing human potential. He can be reached at sss@pts.net.au. orcid.org ←← Photography © 2026 Martin Dojčár
16 Spirituality Studies 1 Introduction Like many, I’ve been taken by surprise by how quickly I’ve been growing older. I vividly recall, with amusement, my teenage longing to grow up. Now, it feels like only yesterday that sixty seemed ridiculously distant—a line on the horizon I could see but never imagine crossing. Yet time, once stretched generously ahead, now seems to have imploded. I recall the first time someone called me “Sir.” Such a small word, yet it landed with disproportionate weight; it reassigned my identity. At another moment, a stranger stood on the bus and offered me their seat. Again, I was torn between gratitude and disbelief, feeling uncertain whether to accept or protest. Once, I was always the youngest in training, professional development, or supervision groups; now, I am the oldest. Each of these moments was subtle, almost ordinary, yet together they marked something unmistakable: a quiet change in how the world sees me. More unsettlingly, these moments also changed how I am conditioned to see myself. A couple of years ago, when I turned sixty-nine, I finally semi-retired. After much thought—and a tug at my heart—I decided to return to Spain, ending fourtythree years of living in Australia. It was a decision that felt gentle, intriguing, and profound: quietly closing a long adventure, a significant formative chapter, and tentatively stepping into a new one I could barely imagine, let alone describe. By now, I live with a chronic and irreversible—though thankfully stable—medical condition. In the past five years alone, I have endured five episodes of pericarditis. These encounters with vulnerability are engraving a sober clarity into me: life, as I know it, is not indefinite. Aging is no longer a remote life stage I can observe from afar, and mortality is no longer an abstraction to be contemplated philosophically. Existential aging—the passing of years accompanied by an ever-deepening awareness of life’s finitude (Kellehear and Garrido 2023)—has become part of my conscious landscape. As Seedsman (2021) suggests, when confronted with the existential challenge posed by the temporality of human existence, I must accept the unchangeable truth that death is inevitable. There is nothing I can do about death itself. However, there is much—perhaps everything—to be done about the life I am living today. In the same way, I create my life through my actions. Yet I also uncover it as I search far and wide for my true self (Leeder 2024). These recognitions foster both humility and agency. I cannot negotiate with mortality. Yet I can shape meaning, deepen relationships, and live with deliberate presence in the time that remains. Taken together, the health challenges and the transition I face demand high levels of adaptability alongside resilience, as well as a willingness to let go of certain assumptions about who I am and how life should unfold. In response, I accept, trust, let go, and thank the universe for the daily miracle of life. I also revisit my rites of passage (van Gennep 1909/1960). In general, I adopt the concept of “wise aging” (Glück et al. 2025, 1) to give voice to the sage within. This perspective, rather than promising consolation or certainty, offers something more honest: an enticement to live in balance. To care about my own needs while remaining mindful of others. To act where I can and to accept what lies beyond my control. To enjoy what is still joyful, without turning away from grief, fear, or vulnerability—my own or anyone else’s. What surprises me most is the sense of recognition that follows. As I begin to loosen the grip of a lifetime’s conditioning—a reflex to fear death, to turn away from it as though it were a shadow best avoided—I notice something unexpected unfolding in me. What once felt like a looming threat is slowly revealing itself as a quiet horizon, not something to chase, but something that I no longer meet with resistance. The fear that once unnerved me is giving way to a gentler curiosity, even a subtle longing for the peace I imagine it holds. Settling into this new way of being, I start to see that I am not alone in this softening. In conversations whispered at the edges of gatherings, in the unguarded reflections of friends and strangers alike, I recognize the same shift—a shared movement from dread toward acceptance. And in that recognition comes a deep exhale: a sense of companionship on a path we rarely speak of openly. In that moment, I understand that this journey, though deeply personal, is not solitary.
Spirituality Studies 17 Sebastian Salicru 1.1 Aging in Context Global demographic changes are driving an unprecedented rise in the aging population, projected to increase from 1.1 billion to 1.4 billion by 2030, particularly in developing regions (Upasen et al. 2025; World Health Organization 2025). This “aging tsunami” (Reynolds et al. 2022, 336), largely driven by improvements in healthcare and socioeconomic conditions that lead to lower fertility rates and longer life expectancy (Gianfredi et al. 2025; Syed et al. 2025), presents opportunities for longer, more active lives. Nonetheless, it is also associated with increasing mental health challenges for older adults (Baby and Thomas 2026; Syed et al. 2025), arising from individual, social, and environmental factors, making aging a significant public health concern (Zhang and Wang 2025). Adding to the above situation, we are experiencing a global mental health crisis (Cosgrove 2025), despite global efforts to mitigate it (Patel et al. 2023). Mental health is one of the most neglected areas of healthcare, impacting 1 billion people worldwide. Each year, alcohol misuse accounts for 3 million deaths, and one death by suicide occurs every 40 seconds (World Health Organization 2020). Older adults often face stressors such as retirement, loneliness, bereavement, declining health, and cognitive impairment. Loneliness and social isolation are strongly linked to anxiety, depression, dementia, and suicidal ideation (Puyané et al. 2025; World Health Organization 2025). Despite the above-mentioned risks, many older adults avoid seeking mental health care due to stigma and fear of losing independence (Gharib et al. 2024). Their vulnerability is further intensified by global instability, including conflict, inequality, climate change, and displacement (Carpenter et al. 2022). Substance use disorders, including opioid use disorder, alcohol misuse, and dependence on prescription and over-the-counter medications, are increasing but remain under-recognized and undertreated (Hu et al. 2024; Lin et al. 2023; O’Grady et al. 2025; Religa et al. 2024). Suicide rates among adults aged 65+ have risen over the past 25 years, with those over 75 at the highest risk despite having the fewest resources (Sadek et al. 2024; Cray et al. 2025). Many older adults who die by suicide lack documented psychiatric histories, suggesting underdiagnosis or other contributing factors (Doering et al. 2025). Suicidal behavior is often impulsive, driven by despair linked to losses in health, independence, and social roles, rather than long-term planning (Hed et al. 2024). Current systems are ill-prepared for the demographic shift underway. Mental health care remains overly reliant on specialist services and underutilizes community-based approaches (Patel et al. 2023). Structural barriers such as ageism, ableism, and limited age-friendly services marginalize older adults and restrict access to appropriate care (de Mendonça Lima and Rabheru 2025; Sarac 2025; Sorinmade et al. 2025). Negative societal attitudes toward aging also play a key role. Stereotype Embodiment Theory suggests individuals internalize cultural beliefs about aging, which then shape health, behavior, and self-perception (Levy 2022). Positive beliefs can enhance well-being, while negative stereotypes contribute to self-fulfilling declines (Rothermund and de Paula Couto 2024). Ageism remains deeply embedded and often unnoticed, particularly in Western societies (Weir 2023). Addressing these attitudes is essential to improving well-being and ensuring more inclusive and effective responses to global aging. The central thesis of this paper is that prevailing biomedical frameworks for mental health in later life may be insufficient because they prioritize symptom reduction over existential and relational well-being (Sulmasy 2002; Han 2020). This focus highlights the dominance of reductionist paradigms in Western psychiatric practice, which neglect cultural relevance, meaning, purpose, and spiritual well-being (Cucchi and Qoronfleh 2025; Osborne 2026). Such approaches are particularly salient for older adults navigating loss and mortality (Koenig 2009; Pargament 2011). While it remains contested whether the current frameworks directly cause mental health challenges in aging populations (Blazer 2003; Lomas et al. 2015), their limitations underscore structural blind spots in mental health care. These concerns motivated my inquiry. In particular, there is concern about the neglect of communal and ritual dimensions of experience, especially as societies become increasingly de-ritualized. This has significant consequences for older adults, as they are vulnerable to social disengagement and existential dislocation (Han 2020; McGuire 2008). Converging evidence from gerontology, psychology of religion, and positive psychology shows that spiritual well-being, sense of coherence, and perceived meaning are robust predictors of resilience in later life (Ryff and Singer 1998; Steger 2012). Given this, rites of reincorporation—structured spiritual and communal practices for belonging and renewal—represent a promising
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