JOSEPH HAZZAYA AND THE SPIRITUAL ITINERARY

Joseph Hazzaya is one of the most well-known East Syriac mystics and a prolific writer, belonging to the same spiritual and theological family together with Isaac of Nineveh, Simon of Taibuteh and John Dalyatha. His name is also mentioned in the Christological debate of 786-787 in the East Syriac Church, during the time of Patriarch Timothy I, next to John the Solitary and John Dalyatha. The first chapter of this paper is dedicated to his theological biography, as revealing an important historical meeting between a scholastic-dogmatic theology and a spiritual-monastic perspective. The second section focuses on the tripartition of the spiritual life within the frame of the East Syriac ascetical tradition, in particular in reference to John the Solitary, the father of the East Syriac spirituality. And in consequence, the third chapter connects the three-fold stages of spiritual itinerary with the monastic life, for Joseph Hazzaya was a prominent representative of this milieu and all his writings were generated in this vein. The scope of this paper is to recuperate the personality of a great mystical author banished by the Western Byzantine Church because of his belonging, as well as occasionally, by his own community.