Two recommended articles: Patriarch Daniil on "forgetfulness of the sacred" and the wisdom to be found in Umberto Eco's second novel

Gratis post

Occasionally, people bring to my attention, or I come across, articles that I wish to boost so that they aren’t overlooked. Tomorrow, I head to France for a retreat, along with members of my church, and I have two free posts scheduled to appear during the week I’m away (two excerpts from my new book, which is scheduled for release on the 14th). But the two articles I’ve linked below moved me to throw in this extra gratis offering — I consider them worth some attention.

(Umberto Eco)

The first is quite short, but its contents run deep. It quotes from Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil’s address at the Second International Scientific Conference, held recently in the auditorium of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. I believe he gets directly to the core of the malady afflicting our technocentric culture today.

Here is a significant portion of his speech, giving voice to a truth we would be wise to heed:

“Today this fear sounds more like science fiction. But what we Orthodox Christians, as believing and thinking people, need to consider is another existential risk. And it seems to me much more immediate and serious. I am referring to the danger of losing the sacred as a result of the penetration of technology into every sphere of life. This is the technologization of life, in which there is no longer any place or need for the sacred – that is, for God and His grace.”

He warned that the constant flow of information turns the mind into “aimless wanderer among images” and the heart into “a dark warehouse of repressed feelings,” leading to a breakdown of consciousness and an inability to concentrate in prayer.

“The fascination of the sacred is being lost from our daily lives. We are losing that sensitivity with which humanity has approached certain individuals, places and events for millennia. This sensitivity seems to disappear and is being swallowed up in the black hole of oblivion. The oblivion of the sacred is our contemporary tragedy,” he said. “Today, the issue is not simply doubt in the existence of God, nor the classic unbelief associated with the “scientific” atheism of the 19th and 20th centuries. It is the loss of living communion with the living God, even among believing Christians, members of the Church. But is the real presence of God possible without a life of prayer? It is this loss of prayer that I consider to be the greatest blow to human nature and life.”

The entire article can be read here: https://europeantimes.news/2025/10/bulgarian-patriarch-daniil-the-forgetfulness-of-the-sacred-is-our-contemporary-tragedy/?fbclid=IwY2xjawNMiLRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHiVhfow7QFeTQ00Sj23EgtdHAubBqS7iuwa5gRLu2uEr1NZkoX4MQIPUwE5Y_aem_rVgmRXWUkGAvex3Yi4VQxQ

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The second article is an analysis of the novel Foucault’s Pendulum by the late Umberto Eco. Although Eco wasn’t himself a Christian, there is — as Alexander Popov argues — genuine spiritual wisdom to be had in it. I will add the caveat that I think his case is slightly overstated in places, but overall, it’s a sound review. More to the point, it puts its finger on the dangers of occultism — especially as they relate to the passion of intellectual pride. As Popov writes, “Christianity is democratic, exoteric; it hides nothing, helping man to know himself through communion with God, while various kinds of occultism indulge the pride of the mind…” Earlier in the review, he trenchantly also has this to say: “The problem with so-called ‘secret knowledge,’ according to Eco, is that people begin to believe in it and with their obsessed, blind faith give it life… Eco demonstratively, step by step, shows how occultism destroys the human psyche, bringing its unfortunate adepts to conspiracy theories, persecution mania, and paranoia.”

Historically speaking, while it hasn’t been unusual to find fashionable flirtations with occultism among Roman Catholics and Anglo-Catholics in particular, Orthodoxy has always taken a firm, indeed rigorous, ascetical stand against indulging in it (of course, nothing is ever airtight, and there have been some deviant Orthodox dabblers in it, too). It’s as old in the tradition as Acts, chapter 8. I would add that Evelyn Underhill’s observation in her book Mysticism — and she had herself been a dabbler at one time — that magic and mysticism are at opposite ends of the spiritual spectrum, is well worth taking on board. Occultism, even at its most innocuous (which, frankly, I’m not sure it ever is), is, quite simply put, spiritually and mentally unhygienic. I would include in that estimation, by the way, both the oeuvres of Valentin Tomberg (Roman Catholic) and — because we now know so much about him, thanks to Grevel Lindop’s massive, and rather unsparing, biography — Charles Williams (Anglo-Catholic). Tomberg, incidentally, regarded Jesus as a master magus, which — although I’m sure he meant it without guile — is nonetheless close to, if not actually, blasphemous. It’s certainly not a harmless categorization. If one is trying to reach the right telos (ultimate goal), one should aim at the correct skopos (immediate goal). Occultism is invariably a bypath away from Christ’s “narrow way,” threatening to lead one into a very tangled thicket indeed.

But back to Eco, Foucault’s Pendulum, and this solid — if sometimes, as I said, overstated — appraisal of it. You can read the article here: https://orthochristian.com/173039.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawNMiK5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHszTRe0mbaZDbEdR3335FG3hi9TcWIEXJGfe9qF0vKxasjulOjs3lHgDk1Cg_aem_QkIh6z74SF5_ui0u7Iv8yg.

(Woven Tapestry, Pieter Coecke van Aelst, c. 1529)