Can the Internet be a space for promoting hesychasm? Catechetical aporias for the Third Millennium

Can the Internet be a space for promoting hesychasm? Catechetical aporias for the Third Millennium

13 May 2023

The hesychia, by definition, is an expression of inner peace and high prayer. The Internet is a realm of the many, the uncontrollable and the fragmented, a specific ecosystem that does not „per se” exclude the possibility of making known the teaching of Christ and His Church. The present study aims to index the topic of isihasm in the virtual environment, how 'search engines' generate results on this search, their authenticity, and the quality of the first three suggestions for the keywords: „hesychasm, Carpathian hesychasm, prayer of the heart". We aim to answer questions such as: Is hesychasm a topic of interest to Internet users? On the other hand, we will try to answer the question of how to make the most of the information made available by the new means of communication on the subject of hesychasm in the catechetical laboratory? How is it possible to live hesychastlly in a chaotic, crowded and hyper-informed world? How irreconcilable is the pair isihasm-virtual space?