Margine e croce secondo Simone Weil

The present paper focuses on the concept of malheur in Simone Weil’s thought. Through the revelation by means of subtraction and absence, God gives Himself to human beings displaying His grace in the distant edges of reality. The lowest exemplum of malheur is the cross, which marks the point where the divine being dies. Nevertheless, the point of submission is also the point of re-connection: if the unfortunate human being becomes aware of the metaphysical significance of the malheur and if he acts consequently, he assumes Christ as the maximum exemplum and realises the divine love in his soul. Thus, according to Simone Weil, the mystical inner deed is ruled by the cross (i.e. the contradictory manifestation of the ‘powerful’ grace of God ) and by the death (which is considered as the core of the cross). The paper analyses these two lines of perfection; two ways by which man can restore the divine nexus and achieve an aware situation in his reality.