Romano Guardini argues that the modern era, characterized by humanism, rationalism, and unlimited confidence in science and progress, has come to an end. He identifies a spiritual and cultural crisis, marked by the fragmentation of values and the loss of a transcendent meaning of existence. The book reflects on the impact of this transition and proposes a Christian vision for the future.
🌅 The End of Modernity:Guardini observes that modernity, which began with the Renaissance and was consolidated by the Enlightenment, was based on the centrality of the autonomous man, reason as the supreme tool, and science as the solution to all problems. However, he argues that this vision led to dehumanization, with man becoming a victim of his own creations (technology, oppressive political systems, etc.). The First and Second World Wars are concrete examples of the collapse of this naive confidence in progress.
🤔 The Crisis of Modern Man:
The author points out that modern man has lost his connection with the transcendent (God, spiritual values) and lives a fragmented existence, dominated by abstractions and utilitarian logic. This results in alienation, nihilism, and a sense of existential emptiness.
🌄 The New Era:
Guardini suggests that the end of modernity opens up space for a new era, but he warns that it can be both dangerous and promising. He foresees a world dominated by technology and impersonal power structures, where the individual can be crushed by collectivist or totalitarian systems. However, he also sees the possibility of spiritual renewal if man rediscovers his relationship with God and ethical values.
✝️ Christian Perspective:
As a theologian, Guardini proposes that the answer to the modern crisis lies in the Christian faith, which offers a balance between individual freedom and responsibility before the transcendent. He emphasizes the need for a new Christian anthropology that recognizes human dignity without falling into the arrogant anthropocentrism of modernity.
🔭 Future Challenges:
The author highlights that the new era will require from man an attitude of vigilance and discernment. Technology, though powerful, must be subordinated to ethical and spiritual values. Guardini calls for an education that forms people who are conscious of their responsibility before God, others, and the world.
📖 About the author
Romano Guardini's influence on the Second Vatican Council was primarily indirect, but decisive: his work The Spirit of the Liturgy (1918) and his writings on Christian formation shaped an entire generation of theologians and pastors who served as conciliar experts, among them Joseph Ratzinger, Karl Rahner, and Yves Congar. Guardini emphasized that the liturgy was not a private devotion, but the public action of the Church, in which Christ continues to act sacramentally and the faithful actively participate as members of a living body. This vision, by proposing a rediscovery of the communal and objective dimension of worship, provided the foundations for Sacrosanctum Concilium, especially in its insistence on the "full, conscious, and active participation" of the faithful (SC 14), a phrase that directly echoes Guardini's concerns. Although Guardini did not draft any Council documents, his thought served as a kind of spiritual and intellectual matrix for the liturgical renewal made official in 1963.