Bücher von Paul Bishop of Tracheia

Many of the sonnets in this collection deserve to be called inspired, and all of them are inspirational. Bishop Paul exhorts us to put aside the cares of the world, the ignoble strife of nations, and the strategic lies of the media. He suggests we empty ourselves of personal concerns, and talk to God through prayer. Prayer, he says, and contemplation of the Divine, are antidotes to life's ills, engendering patience, compassion, a new perspective on our surroundings, and above all fostering love. As he says:Love is good, and patient, kind and free,For Love's another name, O Lord, for thee.The Greek language gave us the word Pentecost, meaning 'fiftieth day' (after the Passover), celebrated in the west as Whitsun. The Orthodox Church gave us Bishop Paul of Tracheia, who has created fifty devotional sonnets in his own clear, crisp English.The Pentecostal Spirit often means speaking in tongues, prophecy, healing and exorcism. Here, Bishop Paul expresses his 'practical theology' in phrases that are themselves frequently prayerful and will touch us all. With hints of Milton, Donne and other devotional poets of the past, these fifty sonnets take us away from the blear and smear of toil, into the brightly lit landscape of prayer.Bishop Paul of Tracheia has already published two volumes of Practical Theology in Verse (Athena Press, 2004). Born in East Anglia during the war years, he has served the Orthodox Church (Oecumenical Patriarchate) as priest, then as bishop. He retired in 2001 to a small monastic athonite community in the French Vercors where he now lives a secluded life, rarely leaving the monastic territory

Bishop Paul of Tracheia is a well-known and popular figure in anglophone Orthodox circles, where he speaks on theology and comtemplative/corporate worship to a wide audience.At one level, his obvious delight in the creator's work as revealed in nature and the changing seasons, and their impact on the person of an aging hierarch, touch us all - Orthodox or Protestant, or of any faith under the sun.At a deeper level, Paul's verse stories about Noah, Daniel, the Pharisee and the publican, St Simeon and the mystery of Christ's Resurrection, together with his finely crafted sonnets and poems of pure prayer, hint at some of the issues specific to Orthodox Christianity: the idea of theosis (becoming godlike); the monastic (Athonite) tradition; the cleansing of the spirit through Hesychastic prayer; and the importance of phronema (mindset).Paul's God is a God of Love; for, as the other Paul said, 'Without love I am nothing.' Here is a message we can all understand, told by a man who lives far from the madding crowd, but is definitely engaged with the world, both spiritually and physically.

Christian readers of all ages and persuasions will find new delight in Bishop Paul's latest volume of poetry. The Bishop has turned his attention to the early Christianity of the British Isles, and in this Celtic mist we discern the noble figure of St Patrick, who converted Ireland to the true faith; St Aidan, the founder of Lindisfarne monastery; St Brendan, who went to sea in a boat and discovered America (maybe!); St Brigid, whose not-so-noble father tried to sell her to a neighbouring chieftain; and sweet St Iltut, the warrior saint who forsook king and court for a hermit's life, saved a deer from the royal hunt, and then baptised the king himself!The trials of the early evangelists in a Britain fragmented into many warring kingdoms, and the conflict between regal authority and the higher authority of God, before Rome claimed exclusive rights at Whitby in 663, reveal a faith of simplicity, steeped in the oral and eremitical tradition.Here too are devotional poems based on Bishop Paul's beloved Orthodox Liturgy and occasional verses, notably a memorial to our courageous, and it seems too easily forgotten, monarch, George VI.

Bishop Paul's new collection of poetry marks a successful departure into narrative verse. His first story, The Strange Story of Samuel Parker Eatwell, is set in an English market town in the 1800s, and tells of a boy wrongly accused of poaching rabbits and sent, along with a young pickpocket called Snatcher, to the gallows. What happens there is a small miracle and a message of hope for everyone - except the judge! Alexia is set in 1200 and concerns a mysterious coffin full of stones, a strange wandering lady who does good works, and a greedy Bishop intent on keeping control of his flock. These 'historical' poems are complemented by the devotional verses familiar to fans of Bishop Paul, focusing as they do on practical theology, the natural world and the perceptions of children. The Family of Deer is particularly touching, and indeed has a topical message. As usual, Bishop Paul draws useful parallels and contrasts between the innocence of the animal kingdom and the troubled state we're in as human beings. but there's always someone we can turn to if we wish.