English abstract The present dissertation Spirituality of Presence: the Significance of R. Voillaume s Work focuses on the life and work of R. Voillaume (1905-2003). His work is understood as spirituality of presence , or to be more precise of double presence: presence to God and presence to man. After the introductory part dealing with Voillaume s life, historical context and a survey of his work, the dissertation continues with an analysis of his literary work. The main theme is a relecture of Foucauld s spirituality of Nazareth in the light of the mentioned concept of presence: the hidden and silent presence in the midst of men refers not only to the significance of hidden life in Catholic spirituality, it also points out to the deep openness to the situation of modern man and to the search of an authentic Christian life as a life of presence trying to make the life of faith accessible to a contemporary man in a creative and nonconformist way. The conclusion puts Foucauldian spirituality (whose main interpreter is R. Voillaume) into the context of Catholic spirituality and confronts his spirituality of presence with the findings of biblical theology. Theoretically, the dissertation combines personalistic and systematic approaches. Voillaume s work is understood as a major manifestation of Catholic...

This work studies the environment of contemporary alternative spirituality in the Czech Republic, specifically unusual spiritual experiences and techniques for inducing them. It is based on long-term field research utilizing the method of participant observation carried out primarily in the environment of neo-shamanism, but also the use of psychedelics, dark therapy, and other movements and practices. I perceive and analyze these practices both as psychotechnologies - i.e. techniques through which their users strive to alter their thinking - as well as spiritual techniques aimed at establishing and cultivating a relationship with the spiritual world. The focus of this study is a comparison of neo-shamanism and other practices in three main aspects: the induction of experiences, the connection between spiritual experiences and the actor's life as a whole, and the changes in the perception of reality brought about by long- term practicing. I point out that in all these areas, techniques traditionally thought of as closely related exhibit fundamental differences. A non-negligible part of this study consists of methodological and theoretical considerations. I show that the field of alternative spirituality has many specifics compared to other religious environments, and that mainstream methodological...

The work deals with the dissemination, duration, transformations and reception of the cult of an important Jesuit Saint, St. Francis Xavier, in the early modern Czech lands. Its goal is to contribute to the better understanding of the reality of the re-catholicization after the Battle of White Montain and the forms of Czech spirituality of the 17th and 18th century. This particular cult was selected because of the fact that St. Francis Xavier was closely related to the main (or most prominent) participant of the re-catholicization, i. e. the Jesuit order, where he in the informal hierarchy of Saints occupied the second place immediately after the founder of the Society St. Ignacius of Loyola. Moreover, St. Francis Xavier belonged among the five new Catholic Saints canonized in 1622 (St. Ignacius of Loyola, St. Francis Xavier, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Philipp Neri, and St. Isidore of Madrid), who represented an important constituent of the revived post-Tridentine Catholic spirituality. However, although the existing secondary literature presupposes that the reverence to St. Francis Xavier was widespread in the Czech Baroque, no systematic study of this theme was realized untill now. First chapter deals with the specification of the theme of the work, maps existing knowledge and sources available and...

Religious and existential issues by Viktor E. Frankl. Its reception in theological thinking with special regard to Czechoslovak Hussite Church. Marie Jandová (roz. Trtíková) Viktor E. Frankl is considered as one of the most important person of 20th century in the area of medicine, namely in the branch of neurosurgery and psychiatry. He was Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the University of Vienna Medical School. He was also the founder of the Third Viennese school of Psychotherapy (after Freud's psychoanalysis and Adler's individual psychology) - the school of logotherapy. Frankl's life and work influenced millions of people all around the world. He published thirty-two books, which have been translated into more than twenty-three languages, including Japanese and Chinese. During my scientific stay in Vienna, I have visited many places, which are connected with Frankl's life. I have also made a lot of pictures. Some of them can be seen in the attachment at the end of this work. The initial part of this thesis describes Frankl's life story from his birth in 1905 to his death in 1997, with main emphasis to experiences which led to his discovery of logotherapy. Frankl's entire family, excepting for his sister, perished during World War II in camps (or were sent to the gas ovens). In the Nazi...

This dissertation analyzes Jewish religious views of Buddhism in a broad historical perspective, from the end of 18th century down to the present. Through an analysis of Jewish religious texts, it shows the ways Buddhism has been contextualized and tries to uncover Buddhism's role in modern Judaism. From these texts Buddhism emerges as 1) a tool of polemics and self-definition, 2) a form of spirituality fully compatible with Judaism, and 3) a competitor of Judaism, endangering its social and ideological integrity. While Jewish religious views of Christianity and Islam have been dealt with extensively in the academic literature, the role of Buddhism in various forms of modern Judaism has been either completely overlooked or at best reduced to the JUBU phenomenon. This dissertation aims to help fill this gap.

The aim of this thesis "Theology of Labour of St. John Paul II." is to summarize John Paul II.'s theological view of human labour, its impact on Christian spirituality and evangelization and pastoral efforts of the church. There is also attention paid to influence of his theology on further social magisterial texts. At the end, there is a reflection of impacts of this teaching to everyday economic and political life. The thesis is based on magisterial documents of John Paul II., especially on the encyclical Laborem exercens and his two further social encyclicals, Sollicitudo rei socialis and Centisimus annus. Other inspiring ideas come especially from reflections on St. Joseph and from the theology of body. There is a discussion on relation of human labour to the Mystery of The Holy Trinity, on perichoretical and sharing character of human labour. As a part of discussion on spirituality, there is the work state of life defined as analogy to Christian state of life. Human labour is a key to the social question, it is a tool for our salvation and therefore the mission of the church. Keywords St. John Paul II., Theology of Labour, Human Labour, Spirituality of Labour, Ethics of Labour, Wage Labour, Labour Capitalization, Labour Rights, Dignity of Human Labour, Sharing Economy

Antonie Hofman's life and work The thesis will deal with by a remarkable personality of the franciscan terciary Antonie Hofman, who, as an example of his life and his literary work, still has something to say today. Her life is a testimony of personal bravery, modesty, but also of christian joy and the endless human strength and will resulting of solid faith in God. The content of the thesis will be the chronological breakdown of the individual phases of her life, which is crucial for understanding not only her life mission, but also her literary work. In addition, the work will list the publications she has written, with a brief evaluation. Attention is also paid to the catholic movement jocism, which was promoted by Antonie Hofman The work will also note Antonie Hofman's franciscan spirituality, which has shaped her life and work and which she has been able to master in the practice of everyday, often hard life.

The spiritual needs of pensioners in the residential home in Velká Bíteš Abstract: This theses focuses on spiritual needs of senior citizens living in the residential home for pensioners in Velká Bíteš. The theoretical part concentrates on the human needs, ageing and old age, healh and social services. It deals with spirituality, pastoral care, meaning of life and some religions. The practical part examinates the spiritual needs of pensioners in Velká Bíteš and tries to find out if these are sufficiently met. Further it maps the relation between the elderly to the faith, especially to some religious activities, and their cooperation with pastoral workers. The theses provides specific recommendations based on the results of the survay. The conclusion lists recommendations, which could be put into the practice and increase the quality of the spiritual care for senior citizens in residential facilities. Key words: HUMAN NEEDS, MEETING OF NEEDS, NEEDS BY MASLOW, SPIRITUAL NEEDS, AGEING OF PEOPLE, CHANGES IN OLD AGE, HEALTH CARE (SERVICES), SOCIAL CARE (SERVICES), RESIDENTIAL HOME, SPIRITUALITY, PASTORAL CARE, PASTORAL WORKER, DEATH, DYING, MEANING OF LIFE, V. E. FRANKL, SOLITUDE, RELIGION

This dissertation thesis deals with the work of three contemporary Czech artists - Josef Bolf, Jakub Špaňhel and Lubomír Typlt. The reason for choosing these three was the fact that all of the artists represent the same generation which entered the art scene in the late 1990s and their canvases can be equally described as expressive, although right at first glance there are noticeable differences in the intervention of the emotional and sense elements which participated in the creation process of the work of art, but also in its content. Contemporary expressive paintings are influenced by the development of art in the second half of the 20th century which is based on the continuous comparing of expressive subjectivity and its negation or intentional application and irony. That is why I decided to illustratively explore the movements which took place in terms of the foreign and Czech scene during the second half of the 20th century in the field of expressive painting. Because the Czech art arose in different conditions, I explored the changes of this phenomenon separately in these geographical areas, but at the same time I carried out a partial analysis of the works and comparisons with the work of the three chosen artists based on these findings. Subsequently, I analysed the work of the chosen...

The dream about an earthly paradise, rediscovery of an original, absolutely harmonic paradisal life is, in Dostoevskij's opinion, one of the deepest and the most valuable dreams of the human heart. The spiritual course of any human being has its own history, it is born from thesis (babtism), goes through antithesis (crises) and finishes in synthesis (beauty). A man comes from the Eden Paradise and aims at heaven. So, a man in course of his spiritual life is in a real split into two paradises: the Eden Paradise from which he is coming from and the Kingdom of God where he is aiming at. The midpoint of the life course is accompanied by a crisis, that can also be described as separation from the the paradise. The characters of novels by Dostoevskij failed due to the fact, that they were not able to admit their presence between two "paradise states" and so their ideas about earthly paradise establishment were being corrupted. In our piece of work we are going to follow four trends: 1. Time corruption, incorrectly understood sense of history. The tendency to return back where a man came from, in an origenestic, cyclic interpretation of a comeback is apparent in a story The Dream of a Ridiculous Man. Another extreme shows marxism ideas going around Europe which deny both the importance and the sense of...