Irénée Hausherr (7 June 1881, Eguisheim – 5 December 1978, Colmar) was a Jesuit of Alsatian origin and specialist in Greek

patristic Patristics or patrology is the study of the early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers. The names derive from the combined forms of Latin ''pater'' and Greek ''patḗr'' (father). The period is generally considered to run from ...

and monastic spirituality. Ordained priest in 1923 after studies in the Netherlands, he became a professor at the

Pontifical Oriental Institute The Pontifical Oriental Institute, also known as the Orientale, is a Catholic institution of higher education located in Rome and focusing on Eastern Christianity. The plan of creating a school of higher learning for Eastern Christianity had been ...

in Rome, where he is claimed to have pioneered the study of the spirituality of the Christian East at an academic level. In this he was seconded by the future Cardinal Tomas Spidlik. Several of his works take their title from key terms of Desert spirituality, e.g., ''penthos''; and ''philautia'' (''philautie''). He published mainly for the Pontifical Oriental Institute, also in ''

Analecta Bollandiana The Bollandist Society ( la, Societas Bollandistarum french: Société des Bollandistes) are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century ...

'', and

Cistercian Publications Saint John's Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Collegeville Township, Minnesota, United States, affiliated with the American-Cassinese Congregation. The abbey was established following the arrival in the area of monks from Saint Vincent Archab ...

, Kalamazoo. He was a specialist in

Hesychasm Hesychasm (; Greek: Ησυχασμός) is a contemplative monastic tradition in the Eastern Orthodox Church in which stillness (''hēsychia'') is sought through uninterrupted Jesus prayer. While rooted in early Christian monasticism, it took it ...

Bibliography

*''Penthos. La doctrine de la componction dans l'Orient Chrétien'', 1944. *''Philautie: De la tendresse pour soi à la charité selon Saint Maxime le Confesseur'', rientalia Christiana Analecta 137Rome,1952 *''Spiritual Direction in the Early Christian East'', Kalamazoo, 1990. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hausherr, Irenee 1881 births 1978 deaths 20th-century German Jesuits Academic staff of the Pontifical Oriental Institute