Throughout the christian world, women have chosen to lead disciplined lives of prayer and asceticism. Descriptions of early role-models 'Macrina, the two Palas and Melanias, Radagunde 'and others by contemporaries, usually men, provide details of their austerities, their aspirations, and their relationship with the Church and the world, not least with male authority figures.
Throughout the christian world, women have chosen to lead disciplined lives of prayer and asceticism. Descriptions of early role-models 'Macrina, t...
Written in the fifth century, during one of the most formative periods of christian monasticism in Egypt and Palestine, The Ascetic Discourses show a strong influence of the Scripture, both Old and New, and of Early monastic writers. They are marked by a faithfulness to tradition, yet equally by a note of originality distinctive to the Gaza region. Abba Isaiah has set forth a practical guide for monks, ever aware of the challenges that interpersonal relationships present within monastic communities.
John Chryssavgis is a Professor of Theology at the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox...
Written in the fifth century, during one of the most formative periods of christian monasticism in Egypt and Palestine, The Ascetic Discourses show...
The cult of the penitent Magdalene grew rapidly in western Europe in the Middle Ages, as a number of shrines and church dedications attest. This medieval narration, tracing in imaginative detail the lives of the two sisters after the Resurrection of Christ, provides a model for christian women.
The cult of the penitent Magdalene grew rapidly in western Europe in the Middle Ages, as a number of shrines and church dedications attest. This me...
The narrow stretch of desert between the Jordan Valley and the hill country of Judea drew great biblical prophets-Elijah and John the Baptist-and unforgettable christian ascetics. Our best source of information on this movement from AD 400-600 comes from Cyril's pen.
The narrow stretch of desert between the Jordan Valley and the hill country of Judea drew great biblical prophets-Elijah and John the Baptist-and unfo...
The art of preaching had become a highly formal science by the late twelfth century. Taught at universities of western Europe, the meticulous construction of sermons satisfied a scholastic desire for order and exactness. Alan of Lille, the Doctor Universalis, was acknowledged by his contemporaries to be an exceptionally learned man. His manual on the Art of Preaching is an explanation of the theory of sermon composition as it was developing in the schools of his day. A handbook for future preachers, it gives moderns an insight into the techniques and the contents of medieval sermons.
The art of preaching had become a highly formal science by the late twelfth century. Taught at universities of western Europe, the meticulous construc...
Sergius (Serge) Bolshakoff, both the author and the translator of Russian Mystics, was born in Saint Petersburg in 1901 and died in retirement at the Cistercian abbey of Hauterive, Switzerland, in 1990. His life spanned not only the Russian Revolution and the fall of Communism, but also the Christian Ecumenical Movement, in which he took an active role. Dedicated to the cause of Christian unity throughout his life and intimately familiar with the Orthodox, the Roman Catholic, and the Anglican traditions and their monastic expressions, he was personally acquainted with the great leaders of the...
Sergius (Serge) Bolshakoff, both the author and the translator of Russian Mystics, was born in Saint Petersburg in 1901 and died in retirement at the ...
Nil Sorsky (1433/34-1508), founder of the Sora Hermitage and initiator of 'scete ' life in among Russian Christians, is closely identified with the Orthodox contemplative prayer known as hesychasm, 'stillness. ' In these translations, Nil's own voice speaks across five hundred years to modern readers. The introduction and notes accurately place him within the Russian monastic tradition and identify the Slavic sources on which he drew. This introduction to the life and works of pre-modern Russia's outstanding teacher and writer allows English readers to share in celebrations of the 500th...
Nil Sorsky (1433/34-1508), founder of the Sora Hermitage and initiator of 'scete ' life in among Russian Christians, is closely identified with the...
Give me a word, Father. From the time of Saint Antony-at least-younger monks would ask older, experienced monks, abbas or ammas ('fathers' or 'mothers'), for a saving word, for advice, for wise counsel on how to live. In this book, Coptic scholar and priest Tim Vivian shares personal accounts of journeys to present-day monasteries in Egypt, and translations of ancient texts exemplifying the 'words, ' the insights that have guided desert monks for nearly two millennia. Those who study the monastic tradition professionally and those who search it spiritually will find matter for reflection...
Give me a word, Father. From the time of Saint Antony-at least-younger monks would ask older, experienced monks, abbas or ammas ('fathers' or 'mothers...
The Abbot General of the Trappist Order (Cistercians of the Strict Observance) reflects on the martyrdom in 1996 of seven of his monks, kidnapped from the Algerian monastery of Our Lady of alas and executed by a radical faction of the Groupe Islamique Arma. Choosing, despite known danger, to remain in the adopted homeland he loved, one of the martyred monks had earlier written: I am also aware of the caricature of Islam which a certain Islamism encourages. It is too easy to salve one's conscience by identifying this religious way with the fundamentalist ideologies of its extremists. For...
The Abbot General of the Trappist Order (Cistercians of the Strict Observance) reflects on the martyrdom in 1996 of seven of his monks, kidnapped f...
