A força da fraqueza: sofrimento e despojamento nas trajetórias espirituais de Simone Weil e Henri Nouwen

Abstract

Simone Weil and Henri Nouwen’s spiritual trajectories demonstrate expressively the strength of spiritual and mystical experiences in their biographical paths. Considering such significant dimensions for Religious Studies, this dissertation aims to contribute to the discussions concerning spirituality and mysticism by presenting an analysis of Weil and Nouwen’s spiritual trajectories through a bibliographical research approach. Based on the investigation of the biographical paths, two key aspects of a movement-based spirituality stand out: the existential, which concerns the human search for meaning, and the mystical, which involves a waiting for a contact with the transcendent. As an expression of this search and waiting, the encounters with themselves, the other and God are evidenced in the authors’ narrative. From the analysis of these encounters, taking into account the differences of experience and context between them, it is assumed that the awareness of human misery and the understanding of the weakness as a strength, is what brings them together. Grounded in this premise two elements stand out in their spiritual trajectories: suffering and detachment. The hypothesis tested in this research was that detachment arises as a response to suffering in the authors’ spiritual trajectories and besides that suffering is a way to God. This affirmation proved to be partially true, given that this statement does not cover the complexity of the relation between suffering and detachment presented as a search result. Thus, this dissertation presents a reflection on the spiritual trajectories of Simone Weil and Henri Nouwen, seeking to demonstrate the complementary relationship between suffering and detachment, as understood and lived by them in the context of their spiritual and mystical experiences. Compassion, as a result of this relationship, is configured as a distinctive feature of the deepest commitment of their lives.