The Cosmic Liturgy and the Eucharistic Liturgy in the Theology of Saint Maximus the Confessor: A Liturgical View of the Cosmic Existence

Abstract

This paper examines Saint Maximus the Confessor's fundamentally liturgical vision of the cosmos, in which all created existence is understood as a dynamic movement toward God.Central to this vision are Maximus's doctrine of movement (κίνησις) and his theory of cosmological divisions and syntheses, through which creation advances toward its fulfillment (τέλος) in union with the Creator.Human beings, as mediators and priests of the cosmos, play a decisive role in uniting the divided elements of creation, a vocation ultimately accomplished by Christ through the Incarnation.The study argues that this Cosmic Liturgy finds its fullest and most concrete expression in the Eucharistic Liturgy of the Church, where the movement of the world toward God is sacramentally realized and brought to completion.