Day 7

On the last day of the School, the participants followed the lecture of Professor Pablo Argárate (University of Graz), "Remembrance and Ritual Mimesis at the Loca Sancta in the Itinerarium Aegeriae", which highlighted the theme of pilgrimage and liturgy in Palestine, but also in Egypt, Syria and Mesopotamia. The „Itinerarium” has a mimetic character, aiming to re-enact the biblical events of the past, which the pilgrims read and live in the present throughout the journey. The whole life of Jesus, but also of the human being, seen as a stranger in this world, is seen as a long procession towards Jerusalem.

Then professor Waldemar Deluga (University of Ostrava) presented the paper „Protection of monuments in Ukraine. Past and Present”, focusing on the role played by institutions such as the "Imperial and Royal Central Commission for Preservation and Research of Artistic Heritage" in the protection and restoration of works of art, as well as the importance of archives and documents from the period of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The last communication of the Annual School was the one presented by Professor István Perczel (Central European University, Viena): „Recollection, Platonist and Christian: from Plotinus to Symeon the New Theologian and Ioannes Petritsi” showing how the Platonic myth of the union between Eros (the god of love) and the mortal Psyche ("soul") is interpreted by the pagan philosophers Plotinus and Proclus, for whom the soul descends into the body and unites with it, finding rest in the intelligible world. This myth acquires mystical valences in Simeon the New Theologian, through the divine union - a corporeal or not corporeal experience - of the soul with the uncreated Light. The myth is used later by John Italos in his theory about the individuation of the soul and then by the Georgian Ioannes Petritsi, who translated Proclus. The professor explained how memory ensures the identity of the soul in all its phases.

In the end, Dr. Ana-Maria Răducan (ISACCL), the responsible for the Annual School of Byzantine Studies project, thanked to all the participants, teachers, organizers of this event and announced the theme of the sixth edition in 2023 : "Peace and War in Byzantium".