20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

200 Aurel Florin Tuscanutranslation, Sofronie wanted this to be a presentation which exceeded thetranslations made up to him and even that printed in Bucharest in 1816, inthe translation of Ilarion, revised by Grigore the 4th psalm reader.The cosmological conception of Saint Vasile the Great does not bringanything new to what was thought about this mater. Saint Vasile wanted “tobuild, not to quench curiosity”, this is why in these homilies he confessed “agreat love for nature, which is the work of God and a source of unsurpassedbeauty 32 ”. Regarding the interpretation of the biblical report concerning thecreation of the Universe, Vasile the Great does it using the method of verballiteraryinterpretation. He does not dare to discuss about “matter”, literallyadmitting what the Holy Scripture says and he does not make philosophicalspeculations or considerations about it, as not to become another falsifierof the truth παραχάρακται τής ’αληθείας 33 . Still, he uses all his knowledgeof antiquity in the domain of nature and philosophy, in all competence,revealing his broad culture, on one side, and his familiarity with the HolyScripture on the other. The homilies about the creation of the world havegained great authority and were imitated in the East by Saint mbrozie 34 .The manuscript translated by Sofronie includes some words about thecreation of man and heaven as well, said to have been written by SaintVasile the Great, but which, in reality, are made up by his brother Grigorieof Nisa (335-394) 35 . These three words form the continuity of interpretingthe Hexaimeron and the end of it, developing a concise anthropology 36 .Man is the creature of God, he lives in the real world and he is part of it.Between the physical and the spiritual worlds, the man is a connector anda factor of cosmic unity, “he is united with faith, he is her conscience” 37 .Sofronie’s translation, with its rich annotations from various fields ofactivity, is an extended work, reaching 220 pages. Sofronie also appears asa passionate patriot, an obvious fact from the text which he uses as a mottoin his preface “To readers”: “The greatest happiness, the one who is worththe effort, is that of being useful by loving his Country!”rich – note 10 is from f. 17 to 33 v , which means 17 pages; note 11 from f. 33 v to 39; note12 from f. 39 to 47 v etc. In the 2 nd annex we present the preface of Sofronie to the work ofexplanation of the Hexaimeron.32N. Terchilă 1943, The History of Philosophy, Sibiu, 98.33Ibidem.34Pr. I.G. Coman, op. cit., 165.35Ibidem.36N. Terchilă, op.cit., 99.37Pr. C.Galeriu 1973, Sacrifice and redemption, Bucharest, 41.