Arte e discurso da oração na obra de D. Gaspar de Leão, primeiro arcebispo de Goa

Abstract

By integrating the written works of D. Gaspar de Leão, the first archbishop of Goa in the context of the spiritual literature of the 16th century, which sustained the spread of the unitive ways among all social states, this study will seek to explore the specificity of the concept of prayer it contains. In a brief analysis of the discursive strategies employed in these texts, their highly practical and creative dimension is highlighted, tending to make the concept of prayer more flexible and wide-reaching. In the oriental setting, this apology of a practice of prayer unavoidably associated with the unitive ways acquires peculiar contours, which make the works of D. Gaspar de Leão particularly interesting when
studying the missionary and pastoral action of the Portuguese “Padroado” (Patronage) of the East.