Sanctity as humanization: A patristic reading of the mystery of the incarnation

Abstract

A theological rereading of holiness is proposed as a process of humanization, based on the mystery of the Incarnation as understood in the works of four fourth-century Church Fathers: Athanasius of Alexandria, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, and Ambrose of Milan. Using a methodology that combines a return to patristic sources (ad fontes) with a critical openness to contemporary challenges (aggiornamento), the study examines how the Incarnation of the Word restores the divine image in the human being, enabling a holiness lived in terms of communion, freedom, and relationality. The proposal is structured in three stages: the patristic understanding of the Incarnation as a new creation, the articulation between Incarnation and holiness, and the formulation of holiness as humanization. The starting point is the difficulty noted by Pope Francis in Gaudete et Exsultate regarding the conception of holiness as a universal offer of human fulfillment. The patristic authors agree in affirming the humanity of the incarnate Son, which allows holiness to be reread as the full manifestation of the human in God. Consequently, holiness is not presented as a reality foreign to the human, but as its deepest realization in Jesus Christ, God made human.