Asceticism Books

Evagrius Ponticus: The Praktikos Chapters on Prayer (Cistercian Studies)

Evagrius Ponticus

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Essential reading 5 out of 5 stars.
20 of 20 people found this review helpful.

John Bamberger's translation of the Praktikos and Chapters on Prayer by Evagrius Ponticus should be required reading for anyone interested in the ascetic theology of ancient Christianity. Not only does he render the challenging, often elliptical, Greek of Evagrius into approachable English, but he prefaces the two works with an invaluable introduction. This century has been one of enormous progress in the study of Evagrius, and any reader of the Chapters on Prayer and the Praktikos will appreciate why such effort has been expended. Evagrius still has much to teach us.

An Evagrian Renewal Essay of Ascetic Life and Contemplative Prayer 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 10 people found this review helpful.

"Evagrius Ponticus is the living link through whom the ascetic principles of Clement and Origen's Alexandrine mystical theology passed into the mainstream of Christian monasticism."



Intense Prayer:
Abba Macarius of Egypt said there is no need to waste time with words. It is enough to hold out your hands and say, "Lord, according to your desire and your wisdom, have mercy." If pressed in the struggle, say, "Lord, save me!" or say, "Lord." He knows what is best for us, and will have mercy upon us.Monastics of old, in Sketes, Nitria, and Kellia uttered, "Lord, make haste to help me. Lord, make speed to save me," all day long. We may join them to pray; "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me." Or, we might memorize a Psalter, or quote a Bible verse , or a sentense from the Lord'd prayer. In fourth century Egypt, in Sketes, Abba Macarius short "arrow" prayers were practiced by the Coptic monks, as recorded by Evagrius Ponticus, "at the time of these temptations make use of short and intense prayer." Chapter 98, on Prayer.

Evagrius on Psalmody and Prayer:
A connection between the seemingly disparate aspects of Evagrius' mystical theology and his writings on psalmody and prayer has been sought from three perspectives. Evagrius' training, life, and related spiritual writings, in the context of the 'discipline of psalmody' as practised by his contemporary monastics; Evagrius texts on the interrelationship between psalmody and prayer, and his underlining of the usefulness of psalmic contemplation in the healing of passions, are typical Sketes ascetical traditions. Biblical scholia when closely studied, may facilitate what Evagrius has called `undistracted psalmody', that is, contemplation by means of the words used in psalms of the person of Christ and of Christ's salvific work within his acts in creation, and redemption, a pioneering tradition, first taught by his grand master Origen.

Evagrius, the living link:
Evagrius was an able disciple of Alexandrine theological school, as practiced by the Desert Fathers, as Coenobitic monastic tradition. He creatively transmitted the essence of Coptic spirituality that deeply influenced Oriental and Western Christian thinkers from John Cassian to Simeon the new theologian, and his influence is still felt today between R. Catholics, through Jerome and Rufinus, but above all within the Benedictines and Cisterians. Thus spake Fr. Leclercq in his preface.

Evagrius Life and writings
In an eloquent and scholarly essay, Fr. Bamberger instructs us on the recovery of Evagrian writings, his life, and theology. Taking on this task he conducts it in a captivating style recounting stories of early Alexandrian masters Origen, Didymus and the Macariis in a tour escourted by Palladius, Bousset, Guillaumont, Chadwick, and Von Balthassar. He does not fail to include the Capadocians, Melania, Rufinus and Epiphanus.

The Evagrian Quadruplet
Fr. Bamberger not only translated Evagrius twin essays, but wrote an elaborate introduction that earns him the title: MystiCoptologist, a peritus on Coptic monasticism.
He invited Fr. Leclercq, the enlightened abbot of Clairvaux to write a master piece preface to supplement the triplet study and manuscripts. After thirty years, this classic proved instrumental in Evagrian cognition, as much or even more than "the Kephalaia Gnostica", adding his name to the Pontic master's club of Guillaumont et al.

The Praktikos: On Ascetic Life
Evagrius elleptical thought is rendered in plain English.The hundred chapters , demonic thoughts, the eight passions, takes forty of them. Instructions, Apatheia, its signs, takes the rest concluded with sayings of the holy monks.

153 chapters on Prayer:
"Unbroken communion" means that the mind is pure in its focus on God. "Undistracted prayer is the highest act of the intellect...The state of prayer can be aptly described as a habitual state of imperturbable calm." Evagrius Ponticus, The Praktikos c. 34 & 52
Following master Origen, Evagrius identifies contemplation with monastic life, and prayer to spiritual life , martyrdum being the sign of perfection. written possibly to Rufinus, the 153 here correspond to the large fish in John 21:11. His expressions are typically of the desert: the gift of tears, striving for a deaf mind,and flower of meekness, and fruit of joy and thanksgiving. He supports his writings with quotations from John the short, Theodore of Tabennisi, sealing it with benedictions, definitions, and promises.

The Philokalia: The Complete Text (Vol. 1); Compiled by St. Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and St. Markarios of Corinth

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 34 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Worth waiting for! 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Excellent text of the writings of the early Christians. I'd recommend it, and the rest of the series, to anyone who wants to know how the Church started and what it actually believed.

My only problem with the order was that it took so long to arrive. It was one delay after another.

WOW! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Timeless and precious to the Orthodox Faith. If you want to delve into the mystical aspects of the Orthodox Faith, this will get your toes wet. If you want to pursue reading this text, you will have a few more volumes to purchase, but well worth the investment. Enjoy!

Editorial Review:

The Philokalia is a collection of texts written between the fourth and the fifteenth centuries by spiritual masters of the Orthodox Christian tradition. First published in Greek in 1782, then translated into Slavonic and later into Russian, The Philokalia has exercised an influence in the recent history of the Orthodox Church far greater than that of any book apart from the Bible. It is concerned with themes of universal importance: how man may develop his inner powers and awake from illusion; how he may overcome fragmentation and achieve spiritual wholeness; how he may attain the life of contemplative stillness and union with God.

Writings from the Philokalia: On Prayer of the Heart

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Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The Place to Start the Philokalia 4 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.

The Philokalia is a collection of Patristics from Eastern Orthodox Monasticism. Starting from the 2nd to 3rd century to just after the historical break between the Western Roman Catholic & Eastern Orthodox, the many writings were arranged by St Nicodemos of the Holy Mountain (Mt. Athos) & Theophan the Recluse in the 19th century. A few years ago when I was buying this series, there were 4 books with a 5th being published. This book, "Prayer of the Heart" is but an edition from the 4 books about the Jesus Prayer or Prayer of Attention. The prayer came into BEING during the early Egyptian Monastic period of the 3rd or 4th century when the Catholic Church became legal in the Roman Empire, but was in a state of BECOMING until the finished prayer was defended by St. Gregory Palamas in the 14th century. The highlight for me was the writings from St. Symeon the New Theologian, about the 4 methods of prayer (Using Images, Fighting Thoughts, Silence, & Discipline under an Abbot) which helped me remove imagination during prayer. These are not the 4 methods as in bodily prayer, attentive prayer, prayer of the feelings, or spiritual prayer, which are explained by other Church Fathers within this fine book. An introduction or easier book to read about this subject mater is "The Way of the Pilgrim" which is also sold by Amazon.com.

Editorial Review:

The Philokalia is an important collection of writings by Fathers of the Eastern Church dating from the fourth to the fourteenth century. It exists in three versions: the Greek, complied in the eighteenth century; the Slavonic; and the Russian.The Russian text, translated by Bishop Theophan the Recluse in the nineteenth century, and consisting of five volumes (with which a sixth is sometimes associated), is the most complete of all three versions. It is the Russian text that has been used in translating into English this selection, which presents a range of Philokalia writings concerning the Jesus Prayer.

57. John Cassian: The Conferences (Ancient Christian Writers)

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Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Since its inception in 1947, the Ancient Christian Writers series has become one of the world's premier patristic collections. Founded by the renowned scholars Johannes Quasten and Joseph Plumpe at The Catholic University of America, the series has grown to fifty-seven volumes over fifty years. Translations of the works of Augustine, Basil, Theodoret, Palladius, Chrysostom, Tertullian and, most recently, Justin Martyr are found amongst the thirty-six authors whose writings comprise the series. Widely recognized as the authoritative American patristic project, the Ancient Christian Writers series launches its second fifty years with the long-anticipated publication of John Cassian's The Conferences, translated and presented by Boniface Ramsey, O.P.

The first complete translation into English of The Conferences, Ramsey's rendering of Cassian is the only extensively annotated edition since the seventeenth century. Included are introductory essays, notes and a useful series of indexes. Popular for centuries in both the East and West, this work will now be available to a wider audience of scholars, students and spiritual seekers.

Anticipated in the next two years are John Cassian's The Institutes (completing the publication of his monastic and ascetical writings in the Ancient Christian Writers series), never-before-published correspondence of Popes Damasus and Liberius, as well as the catechumenate sermons of the North African, Quodvultdeus. As always, each volume will present the reader with a high quality English translation, notes and a scholarly introduction.

The Ancient Christian Writers series is currently edited by well-known scholar and homilist Walter J. Burghardt, S.J., John Dillon of Washington, D.C. and Dennis McManus of Paulist Press.

Symeon, the New Theologian: The Discourses (Classics of Western Spirituality)

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Father George Maloney in his introduction to this volume focuses directly on the special importance of St. Symeon and on how similar the religious situation of his era is to our own. "Concretely, the battle of two opposing views of theology centered around St. Symeon and his mystical apophatic approach of the experiencing of God immanently present to the individual, as opposed to the "head trip" scholastic theology as represented by Archbishop Stephen of Nicomedia, the official theologian at the court of Constantinople. Stephen represented the abstract, philosophical type of theologizing while Symeon strove to restore theology to its pristine mystical tendency as a wisdom infused by the Holy Spirit into the Christian after he had been thoroughly purified through a rigorous asceticism and a state of constant repentance."

This great spiritual master of Eastern Christianity was an abbot, spiritual director of renown, theologian and important church reformer. These Discourses which form the central work of his life were preached by St. Symeon to his monks during their morning Matins ritual. They treat such basic spiritual themes as repentance, detachment, renunciation, the works of charity, impassiblity, remembrance of death, sorrow for sins, the practice of God's commandments, mystical union with the indwelling Trinity, faith and contemplation.

Five Models of Spiritual Direction in the Early Church

George E. Demacopoulos

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Editorial Review:

Five Models of Spiritual Direction in the Early Church explores the struggles of five clerics—Athanasius, Gregory Naziansen, Augustine of Hippo, John Cassian, and Pope Gregory I—to reconcile their ascetic idealism with the reality of pastoral responsibility. Through a close reading of Greek and Latin texts, George E. Demacopoulos explores each pastor's criteria for ordination, his supervision of subordinate clergy, and his methods of spiritual direction. He argues that the evolution in spiritual direction that occurred during this period reflected and informed broader developments in religious practices.

Demacopoulos describes the way in which these authors shaped the medieval pastoral traditions of the East and the West. Each of the five struggled to balance the tension between his ascetic idealism and the realities of the lay church. Each offered distinct (and at times very different) solutions to that tension. The diversity among their models of spiritual direction demonstrates both the complexity of the problem and the variable nature of early Christianity.

Way of the Ascetics: The Ancient Tradition of Discipline and Inner Growth

Tito Colliander

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

An excellent outline of life! 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 16 people found this review helpful.

This is a convicting look into the heart of the animal called "man." Colliander gives us a model of self examination and discipline which has been useful to me in my several years of preaching and teaching. There are goals of holiness here that are so solid, that if attained, heaven would start to shine through.

I would recommend this book to anyone who desires a more holy heart.

A spiritual wake-up call 5 out of 5 stars.
12 of 13 people found this review helpful.

This little gem has found its way into the lives of thousands and bears a great return in communion with the Holy Trinity. Kierkegaard said that purity of heart is to will one thing. Through the grace of God it is a realisitc hope to purify the heart. Liturgy, Eucharist, almsgiving,etc are all means to this end. Colliander's book helps the seeker tune the inner life to the will of God though the groundwork of prayer and practical asceticism. One thing that is so winsome about it is that he doesn't hold spiritual carrots out to the reader without giving real guidance in how to grow in holiness. As with any book on such a serious topic, DO NOT read it for spiritual titulation. Take it seriously in the love of God. This is reality.

Check out "Encountering the Depths" by Mother Mary Clare and "The Orthodox Way" by Bishop Kallistos Ware. They've been a great help to many!

Editorial Review:

Written for lay persons living in the world, this is an excellent resource for daily meditation, spiritual guidance and a revitalized religious life. Succinct yet profound extracts from the Fathers, with commentary.

St Isaac of Nineveh on Ascetical Life

Bishop of Nineveh Isaac

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Editorial Review:

Isaac of Nineveh was a native of Bet Qatraye near present-day Bahrain on the Persian Gulf. A teacher and monk, he was consecrated bishop (ca. 660-680), but preferred to live out his live as an anchorite. A Scriptural scholar, he studies Scripture so much that he became blind and had to dictate his writings. He died at an advance age and was buried in Rabban Shabur, where he spent most of his monastic life.

St Isaac's monastic anthropology has a major influence on all of Byzantine spiritual literature. The way toward God, in his writing, was threefold: the way of the body, the way of the soul, and the way of the spirit. In the first stage, the person begins with a total preoccupation with the passions and moves toward God by means of bodily works: fasting, vigils, and psalmody. The next stage involves a struggle against thoughts foreign to the nature of the soul, turning from created objects to the contemplation of God's wisdom and a transformation within. As the person arrives at a total openness of the soul to the future hope, he proceeds to the final stage of unified knowledge, which is an attitude of wonder and praise in continual prayer to God, leading to the freedom of immortal life that is given after the resurrection.

This translation, by Mary Hansbury, of St Isaac of Nineveh's work On the Ascetical Life is based on the Syriac text edited by P. Bedjan in Mar Isaacus Ninivita, De Perfectione Religiosa.

On Ascetical Life is part of the POPULAR PATRISTIC SERIES.

Rosary: Mysteries, Meditations, and the Telling of the Beads

Kevin Orlin Johnson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Disappointing... 2 out of 5 stars.
17 of 24 people found this review helpful.

I was really looking forward to this title based on the other reviews and the index which was full of saints .... What I found was very disappointing.

Although the author seems initially quite successful at building credibility with his reader - the tone is quite authoritative - not popular piety -- and the content at first glance seems well researched. But when the author mentioned that marriage is the main reason the Roman Empire fell - I started to get nervous. Marriage at best may have been one of several factors, and thats perhaps a stretch - but to assert it is the primary reason for the fall of the Roman Empire is outrageous. And worse in that it calls into question the other facts that the author presents in this work.

The meditations are also very wanting. They seem devoid of any personal touch and they are hardly suited to meditation or even a 'science of the saints' type of consideration of related virtues. The author throughout the book is long winded and seems to enjoy relaying facts irregardless of if they have any relevance to the content. For example, I'm not sure how or why a reflection on the 'agony of the garden' somehow launches into a discussion of how all competitive sports are evil.

Finally, although the list of resources seems extensive, I was disappointed overall with the selections of saints quotations used throughout the book.

Overall, I know that rosary books of any meaningful size are hard to come by (hopefully this 'year of the rosary' will change that), I'd start with 'The Rosary, The Little Summa' or 'Mystery Stories: A Journey Through the Rosary'

Editorial Review:

A comprehensive manual on the skills of Christian meditative prayer, including the history of the Rosary, the history of the devotion, the theology behind it, and its many connections to art, architecture, liturgy, and other forms of prayer. Includes a chapter on each of the fifteen Mysteries, examining them from archaeological, anthropological, textual, and other viewpoints, and a thorough explanation of the many promises conveyed by apparitions of Mary to St. Dominic and Bl. Alan de Rupe, drawn largely from the Fathers of the Church. Throughout the text, the immense spiritual and social benefits of the Rosary and of meditative prayer emerge through the stories of the great saints who re-converted England, France, Italy, and other countries by encouraging the practice.

Journeys into Emptiness: Dogen, Merton, Jung, and the Quest for Transformation (Jung and Spirituality Series)

Robert Jingen Gunn

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Here are the life journeys of three great seekers who, though separated by time and culture, had much in common. Dogen was the 13th-century Japanese founder of a School of Zen Buddhism, the Soto School, and a teacher of zazen, wordless meditation. Jung was a 20th-century Swiss psychiatrist who broke with psychoanalysis and saw the mind as having both male and female elements. Merton was a 20th-century American Trappist monk who through traditional Christianity eventually embraced a wider spirituality. Each of the three engaged in a search for personal transcendence, a search that was triggered by a private experience of emptiness. Requiring no previous knowledge of its subjects, this book looks at the tradition in which each man worked, the key events of his life, his particular experience of emptiness, and how he used the experience to be transformed. The book shows how to bring the wisdom of all three men into our lives today. It also shows how to bring meaning and understanding to emptiness, one of the most difficult problems of the psychospiritual journey. These side-by-side biographies summarize each life in a wonderfully cohesive way for anyone new to the particular man. They also shed fascinating new insight for those more familiar with either the man or his philosophy.