Existential Motifs in the ‟Life of Our Holy Father Maximus the Confessor”

The article addresses pressing issues relevant to modern humanity, aimed at reflecting on new existential challenges. This is due to the necessity of reflecting on the existing ‟substitution of values” that individuals encounter in an information-driven and consumer-oriented society. The aim of this study is to identify and analyze existential motifs, as well as to examine them in the context of the causal principle, which, through the biography acts of Saint Maximus the Confessor, illustrates human freedom and personal responsibility for every action and deed. The analysis conducted on this hagiographical source reveals that the freedom of choice constitutes its primary existential motif. The description of key ideas in the examined work relies on an ethical-philosophical and philosophical-anthropological approach. To analyze the texts, a content analysis method was employed, which allowed for the representation of existential ideas in tabular form based on the principle of causality, where multiple causes leading the Confessor to concessions to power and temptation into heresy result in consequences in which the saint steadfastly maintains fidelity to his convictions. Conclusion dwells upon the fact that engaging with works of Byzantine literature in the genre of hagiography can serve as a means of education and enlightenment in the context of the modern anthropological crisis.