Simone Weil’s Practice of Attention as a Ritual of Prayer: Robert Bresson and Georges Bernanos

Abstract

In Simone Weil’s religious and metaphysical philosophy, the concept of attention is a human practice of concentrated awareness that can be directed toward a single thought, an object, another being, the self, or one’s soul. Attention is a learned practice, not an innate human characteristic. The practice of attention is integral to Weil’s philosophy because it assists one to identify attachment and through introspection, transcend affliction. The curé in Robert Bresson’s Le Journal d’un curé de campagne (The Diary of a Country Priest, 1951) loses his capacity for prayer when his faith becomes an attachment, and yet, his soul desires union with God, and thus grace. Grace, from the perspective of the curé, will provide reparation for his affliction: the acceptance of himself and the burden of his faith, the circumstances of his childhood, terminal illness, and the anticipation of death. This article engages in analysis of Journal, through the lens of Weil’s philosophical concept, attention, while it also examines the parallel between Weil and the curé in their demeanor, compromised health, and emphasis toward the ritual (or habit) of prayer. Georges Bernanos, author of the novel that Bresson adapted, shares a similar view of grace, which supports the comparison of Weil’s and Bresson’s attention toward the soul.