Shenoute of Atripe, ranked second only to Pachomius for his contribution to the development of egyptian monasticism, is all but unknown outside the coptic tradition. This first english translation of his Life, by his disciple and successor, casts new light on the austere monasticism of the fifth century.
Volume 1 Anselm's Letters as Prior and Abbot of Bec (1070-1092)
The Spirituality of the Christian East Volume 2
The Life of Antony, The Coptic Life and The Greek Life
"Prayer is a journey, sometimes a combat. There are trials, purifications, passages. It is at once the most simple and the most profound of human activities. May these pages help someone to discover its hidden joy."For members of the Carthusian order, prayer is not just something that is done at certain times of day: It is in fact the vital respiration of their faith. This third volume of novice conferences gives us access once again to the Carthusians' profound wisdom, as we share the initiation of a group of young monks into the practice of prayer.Interior Prayer contains the Carthusians' traditional doctrine on prayer - from its very beginnings to the simplicity of its highest forms. Far from being abstract and theoretical, we learn about the prayer process by sharing in the novices' concrete spiritual journey. Their problems and difficulties, and the many pitfalls they encounter on the way, are expressed in an ongoing dialogue with their guide who relates to each one individually. Many will find help here in their own quest for God and the ultimate purpose of life.
The Egypt of Mena, bishop of Nikiou, was a country under relatively tolerant Muslim administration, with a long history of conquest and reconquest, and a deep antipathy to the Byzantine Empire and Melkite ('imperial') ecclesiastics. Staunchly monophysite, deeply devoted to the patriarchs of Alexandria, and determinedly opposed to the Council of Chalcedon (451) and all that it represented, the Christians of Egypt continued their witness and their worship all but hidden from outside view.These two works by Mena introduce modern readers to the Church of Egypt in the eighth century: its internal and external relations, its customs, and its spirituality.
Spirituality of the Desert by a Monk
A Study of Repentance in Early Monastic Sources
The Spiritual World Vision of Saint Ephrem the Syrian
The saintly austerities of Mary of Egypt so impressed early monks that they recorded her Life to edify their brethren. Many versions circulated and the tale travelled from Palestine to Europe, from Greek to Latin to French to Spanish, from prose to poetry, from hagiography to literature, and from the monastery into the world outside.
Journeys in Ancient and Modern Egyptian Monasticism
Born in 1090, Bernard of Clairvaux died sixty-three years later, and was canonized in 1174. His friends and brothers began writing his official life even before he died, so convinced were they of his personal holiness and his importance to the Church of his day. Not everyone who knew him, however, liked him, no matter how much they may have admired his holiness. For nine centuries, those who have read his works and studied his activities have experienced a similar ambivalence. Some regard this 'most controversial and provocative of saints' as a great director of souls; others consider him an ecclesiastical busybody.In The Difficult Saint, Brian Patrick McGuire examines various facets of Bernard's life and the legend that survived him from the perspective of the Middle Ages and of the modern world. 'I want to suggest', he writes, 'that Bernard becomes more understandable as one grows older and gains more life experience'.
Rules and Writings of Early Irish Monks
The Spirituality of the Rules of Saint Basil
In the early part of the fourth century, a few Christians, mostly men and some women, began to withdraw from "the world" to retreat into the desert, there to practice their new religion more seriously. The person who aspired to "renounce the world" first had to find an "elder," a person who would accept him as a disciple and apprentice. To his elder (whom he would address as abba-father) the neophyte owed complete obedience; from his abba, he would receive provisions (as it were) for the road to virtue. In addition to the abba's own example of living, there was the verbal teaching of the elders in sayings and tales, setting out the theory and practice of the eremitic life.In due course, these sayings (or apophthegmata) were written down and, later, collected and codified. The earliest attempts to codify tales and sayings are now lost. As the collection grew, they were first organized alphabetically, according to the name of the abba who spoke them, in a major collection known as the Apophthegmata Patrum Alphabetica. A supplementary collection, the Anonymous Apophthegmata, followed. Later, both collections were combined and arranged systematically rather than alphabetically. This collection was created sometime between 500 and 575 and later went through a couple of major revisions, the second of which appeared sometime before 970.This second revision was published in an excellent new critical edition, with a French translation, in 1993. Now, in The Book of the Elders, John Wortley offers an English translation of this collection, based entirely on the Greek of that text.
The textbook and pulpit notion that all Christendom is divided between Greek East and Latin West overlooks an ancient and still continuing third stream of tradition: Syriac Christianity. Cut off from the rest of the Christian world by theological controversy in the fifth century, Arab conquest in the seventh, and Mongul invasions in the thirteenth, Syrian Christians continued to celebrate the christian mysteries, to meditate on Scripture, and to apply its teachings to their lives. Some of them, attempting to realize here on earth their baptismal potential to re-enter paradise, chose a life of asceticism and single-minded devotion to Christ. Their reflections created across the centuries a rich literature. Some passed into the byzantine tradition; some remained unknown to other Christians and have never until now been translated into a modern language. These Syriac fathers offer the modern heirs of both latin and greek Christendom new, yet ancient and enduring, insights on prayer and the spiritual life.
"One of the more comprehensive and balanced books on Merton to appear lately..."-The Louisville Courier-Journal."...It is not to be rushed, but read piece by piece, essay by essay, image by image"-Highway
Traces themes and draws on other scriptural books to remind readers that every human person is endowed with an innate love for God, which in his words, 'cannot be sapped.'
The Doctrine of Compunction in the Christian East
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