Jean Hani

Jean Hani, professor emeritus at the University of Amiens-where he taught Greek civilization and literature-has long labored to recover and illuminate various aspects of Christianity. His findings have been presented in several works: The Symbolism of the Christian Temple, The Divine Liturgy, and God and the Crafts (also published by Sophia Perennis), as well as Apercus sur la Messe, La Royaute, Du Pharaon au Roi Tres Chretien, and a collection of articles entitled Mythes, Rites et Symboles. His aim has been to integrate the latest findings in the history of religions with the perennialist spiritual perspective of Rene Guenon and Frithjof Schuon. Hani's The Black Virgin: A Marian Mystery differs from his previous writings through its sharper theological focus. In Hani's view, the key to the enigma of the Black Virgin was given at Lourdes by Mary herself: in declaring herself The Immaculate Conception, she initiated us into the Marian Mystery in all its profundity. And it is precisely through an apprehension of the Mystery as a whole that the ultimate meaning of the Black Virgin can be grasped-for the Marian Mystery is the Christian expression of the Eternal Feminine, a transcendent reality manifested by the Virgin especially under her black form."

A Marian Mystery

The Black Virgin

Jean Hani's The Black Virgin: A Marian Mystery differs from his previous writings through its sharper theological focus. In Hani's view, the key to the enigma of the Black Virgin was given at Lourdes by Mary herself: in declaring herself The Immaculate Conception, she initiated us into the Marian Mystery in all its profundity. And it is precisely through an apprehension of the Mystery as a whole that the ultimate meaning of the Black Virgin can be grasped. Chapters include: The Black Icon-Regina Mundi-The Mother of God-"I am Black but Beautiful"-Woman "Through his research into hidden or lost meanings, Jean Hani has revealed and restored to our attention the most 'initiatic' dimensions of the Christian religion." Jean Borella, author of The Secret of the Christian Way, and The Crisis of Religious Symbolism (forthcoming from Angelico Press) Jean Hani (1917-2012), former professor emeritus at the University of Amiens, was the founder of the Centre de Recherche sur l'Antiquité Classique and a frequent contributor to the journal Connaissance des Religions. After writing his PhD thesis on the influence of Egyptian thought upon Plutarch, he produced annotated translations of the latter's writings for the well-known Collection Budé. Later he became known for his mastery of traditional hermeneutics and exegesis, and his broad knowledge in the field of comparative religion. Hani's writing is sensitive to the predicament of those moderns who seek a firm foundation in traditional Christian values, while striving also to integrate into that foundation whatever of value can be salvaged from the contemporary world. His findings were presented in four important works now available from Angelico Press in translation: the present volume, along with Divine Craftsmanship (Preliminaries to a Spirituality of Work), The Divine Liturgy (Insights into its Mystery), and The Symbolism of the Christian Temple.

A Marian Mystery (English)

Robert Proctor

John G. Champoux

Jean Hani, professor emeritus at the University of Amiens - where he taught Greek civilization and literature - has long labored to recover and illuminate various aspects of Christianity. His findings have been presented in several works: Divine Craftsmanship, The Divine Liturgy, and The Black Virgin (all published by Sophia Perennis), as well as Aperus sur la Messe, La Royaut, Du Pharaon au Roi Trs Chrtien, and a collection of articles entitled Mythes, Rites et Symboles. His aim has been to integrate the latest findings in the history of religions with the perennialist spiritual perspective of such writers as Ren Gunon and Frithjof Schuon. That sacred art no longer exists today is all too clear, despite the intense efforts of some to make us believe in the value, in this respect, of the most questionable productions. We can perhaps speak of a religious but certainly not a sacred art; indeed, between these two notions lies a radical difference rather than a nuance. True sacred art is not of a sentimental or psychological, but of an ontological and cosmological nature. This being so, sacred art will no longer appear to be the result of the feelings, fantasies, or even 'thought' of the artist, as with modern art, but rather the translation of a reality largely surpassing the limits of human individuality. Sacred art is precisely a supra-human art. The temple of former times was an 'instrument' of recollection, joy, sacrifice, and exaltation. First through the harmonious combination of a thousand symbols founded in the total symbol that it itself is, then by offering itself as a receptacle to the symbols of the liturgy, the temple together with the liturgy constitute the most prodigious formula capable of preparing man to become aware of the descent of Grace, of the epiphany of the Spirit in corporeity. It is a matter of urgency, then, to recall what is true sacred art, especially since - praise God - here and there more and more active signs of resistance to the anarchy and subversion manifest themselves, and a pressing call is felt to recover the traditional conceptions that must form the basis and condition of any restoration.

The Symbolism of the Christian Temple

essais critiques sur la civilisation moderne

Le monde à l'envers

G. John Champoux

Jean Hani, professor emeritus at the University of Amiens - where he taught Greek civilization and literature - has long labored to recover and illuminate various aspects of Christianity. His findings have been presented in several works: Divine Craftsmanship, Symbolism of the Christian Temple, and The Black Virgin (all published by Sophia Perennis), as well as Apercus sur la Messe, La Royaute, Du Pharaon au Roi Tres Chretien, and a collection of articles entitled Mythes, Rites et Symboles. His aim has been to integrate the latest findings in the history of religions with the perennialist spiritual perspective of such writers as Rene Guenon and Frithjof Schuon. If in the first place our book is intended to be a personal homage to the Divine Liturgy, it also has another purpose. Without any doubt, the gravest symptom in the crisis the Western Church is currently undergoing - the effects of which on art we have already denounced in our book The Symbolism of the Christian Temple--is the calling in question of the very meaning and content of the Mass, given that it is the heart and vital center of the Church. And we have made our feeble contribution to its defence. But our intention is not to become involved in theological quarrels. In this study our point of view is that of the historian of religions. What we wish to show is that the Christian mass is illumined in the light of studies concerning the universal schemas of the sacred to which it conforms. Most assuredly, the Christian cult has its specificity, but that is for the theologian and liturgist to spell out. What we are proposing to do is to unravel the characteristics in the Christian cult linking it to the universality of the sacred. From the Introduction

Insights Into Its Mystery

The Divine Liturgy

This is an in-depth study of the sacred origin and nature of royalty across ages and world cultures by an internationally acclaimed French authority on symbolism and religious studies.

From the Pharaoh to the Most Christian King

Sacred Royalty

Jean Hani, professor emeritus at the University of Amiens-where he taught Greek civilization and literature-has long labored to recover and illuminate various aspects of Christianity. His findings have been presented in several works: The Symbolism of the Christian Temple, The Divine Liturgy, and God and the Crafts (also published by Sophia Perennis), as well as Aperus sur la Messe, La Royaut, Du Pharaon au Roi Trs Chrtien, and a collection of articles entitled Mythes, Rites et Symboles. His aim has been to integrate the latest findings in the history of religions with the perennialist spiritual perspective of Ren Gunon and Frithjof Schuon. Hani's The Black Virgin: A Marian Mystery differs from his previous writings through its sharper theological focus. In Hani's view, the key to the enigma of the Black Virgin was given at Lourdes by Mary herself: in declaring herself The Immaculate Conception, she initiated us into the Marian Mystery in all its profundity. And it is precisely through an apprehension of the Mystery as a whole that the ultimate meaning of the Black Virgin can be grasped-for the Marian Mystery is the Christian expression of the Eternal Feminine, a transcendent reality manifested by the Virgin especially under her black form.

Jean Hani

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