The spiritual itinerary of Eugène Ionesco (1909-1994) rests on the inner contradiction which tears him apart between his mystical aspirations and his doubts, indeed the agnosticism which he has displayed or which has been ascribed to him. The many accounts he has given of what he calls his «grace of light», the scrutiny of the mystical vein that runs through his written work, the various testimonies which have been gathered invite us to take very seriously both his religious aspirations and his doubts. He has pursued, in all the great mystical traditions of mankind, an «intermittent» quest (see the title of his last diary). Its spiritual itinerary reflects on more than one point our own doubts and dark nights; it even perhaps sheds light on them, a light which owes much to the mystical theology of John of the Cross, which Jean Baruzi has revealed to Ionesco.
The spiritual itinerary of Eugène Ionesco (1909-1994) rests on the inner contradiction which tears him apart between his mystical aspirations and his doubts, indeed the agnosticism which he has displayed or which has been ascribed to him. The many accounts he has given of what he calls his «grace of light», the scrutiny of the mystical vein that runs through his written work, the various testimonies which have been gathered invite us to take very seriously both his religious aspirations and his doubts. He has pursued, in all the great mystical traditions of mankind, an «intermittent» quest (see the title of his last diary). Its spiritual itinerary reflects on more than one point our own doubts and dark nights; it even perhaps sheds light on them, a light which owes much to the mystical theology of John of the Cross, which Jean Baruzi has revealed to Ionesco.