Author: Christine Valters Paintner
Publisher: SkyLight Paths Publishing
ISBN: 1594733732
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 183
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Book Description
Timeless and contemplative sayings from the earliest Christian sages of desert spirituality can be a companion on your own spiritual journey. The desert fathers and mothers were ordinary Christians living in solitude in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Arabia who chose to renounce the world in order to deliberately and individually follow God's call. They embraced lives of celibacy, labor, fasting, prayer and poverty, believing that denouncing material goods and practicing stoic self-discipline would lead to unity with the Divine. Their spiritual practice formed the basis of Western monasticism and greatly influenced both Western and Eastern Christianity. Their writings, first recorded in the fourth century, consist of spiritual advice, parables and anecdotes emphasizing the primacy of love and the purity of heart. Focusing on key themes of charity, fortitude, lust, patience, prayer and self-control, the Sayings influenced the rule of St. Benedict and have inspired centuries of opera, poetry and art. This probing and personal SkyLight Illuminations edition opens up their wisdom for readers with no previous knowledge of Western monasticism and early Christianity. It provides insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that describes historical background, explains the practice of asceticism and illustrates how you can use their wisdom to energize your spiritual quest.
Author: Philip Bochanski
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781505114157
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
"'Seek for meetings with holy men and women.' These words from fifth-century bishop Palladius ring as true today as they did 1600 years ago. Palladius wrote of his visit to the deserts of Egypt where he spent a decade in conversation with some of the many men and women who lived in caves, huts and monasteries, seeking solitude for prayer and a life "alone with God alone." And now you can visit those same holy mystics and hermits. Through their own words, you will learn how they were able to make a complete offering of themselves to God, acquired great wisdom and insight into the spiritual life, spread this great wisdom across the desert ... and the world. Even in their own time, the greatest and wisest of these monks and nuns were recognized as abbas (fathers) and ammas (mothers), and their life stories and sayings were collected and widely disseminated, but with the passage of centuries, we have unfortunately lost connection to these early holy ones. Like the monks themselves, the teachings of the desert are characterized by the simplicity, their practicality, and their timelessness. Although they were developed amid circumstances quite different from modern urban life, you will find them readily adaptable and applicable to your own daily circumstances"--Pages 2-3 of cover.
Author:
Publisher: Liturgical Press
ISBN: 0879079592
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 308
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Book Description
`Give me a word, Father', visitors to early desert monks asked. The responses of these pioneer ascetics were remembered and in the fourth century written down in Coptic, Syriac, Greek, and later Latin. Their Sayings were collected, in this case in the alphabetical order of the monks and nuns who uttered them, and read by generations of Christians as life-giving words that would help readers along the path to salvation.
Author: Thomas Merton
Publisher: New Directions Publishing
ISBN: 9780811201025
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 100
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Book Description
"The ascetics of Scete and the Thebaid in the Egyptian Desert have been more often admired than known or understood. Translations by such scholars as Helen Waddell have done much to restore the true perspective. This new selection from the Latin 'Sayings of the Fathers' (Verba Seniorum) has been made by Thomas Merton with a special purpose. It is not only a translation and selection, but a new monastic redaction in the spirit of our own time. Merton has felt free, as a monk, to do what generations of monks before him have done. He has made a wholly independent and original use of material which is the traditional basis of Christian monastic spirituality." -- Dust jacket.
Author: Thomas Merton
Publisher: New Directions Publishing
ISBN: 0811220133
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 100
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Book Description
The Wisdom of the Desert was one of Thomas Merton's favorites among his own books—surely because he had hoped to spend his last years as a hermit. The personal tones of the translations, the blend of reverence and humor so characteristic of him, show how deeply Merton identified with the legendary authors of these sayings and parables, the fourth-century Christian Fathers who sought solitude and contemplation in the deserts of the Near East. The hermits of Screte who turned their backs on a corrupt society remarkably like our own had much in common with the Zen masters of China and Japan, and Father Merton made his selection from them with an eye to the kind of impact produced by the Zen mondo.
Author: Tim Vivian
Publisher: Liturgical Press
ISBN: 0879073438
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 520
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Book Description
"In this revised edition of Becoming Fire: Through the Year with the Desert Fathers and Mothers, Tim Vivian arranges the sayings of the desert monks of the fifth and sixth centuries in short daily readings. This volume provides sayings and stories for each day of the year to use for lectio divina; saints and revered persons from the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Episcopalian traditions; sayings from the Philokalia and the fourth-fifth century monastic writers Neilos of Ancyra and Hyperechios, among others"--
Author:
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141907002
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 240
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Book Description
The Desert Fathers were the first Christian monks, living in solitude in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. In contrast to the formalised and official theology of the "founding fathers" of the church, the Desert Fathers were ordinary Christians who chose to renounce the world and live lives of celibacy, fasting, vigil, prayer and poverty in direct and simple response to the gospel. Their sayings were first recorded in the 4th century and consist of spiritual advice, anecdotes and parables. The Desert Fathers' teachings and lives have inspired poetry, opera and art, as well as providing spiritual nourishment and a template for monastic life.
Author: Joan Chittister, OSB
Publisher: Franciscan Media
ISBN: 1616368322
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 116
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Book Description
The Desert Monastics, thousands of monks and nuns who lived in the Egyptian wastelands between the third and fifth centuries, have come to be seen as the Olympians of the spiritual life. Renowned spiritual writer Joan Chittister explores the sayings of the Desert Mothers and Fathers, finding wisdom from that ancient tradition that speaks to your life today. This popular introduction to a powerful source of Christian wisdom can be a companion to your own spiritual journey.
Author: Rowan Williams
Publisher: Lion Books
ISBN: 9780745951706
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
The Archbishop of Canterbury explores the lessons we can learn from the wisdom and spirituality of the desert fathers.
Author: Henry L. Carrigan
Publisher: Paraclete Press
ISBN: 1557258554
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 157
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Book Description
As word of the wisdom and purity of the Desert Fathers and Mothers spread throughout the Roman Empire, Christians streamed to the caves of these hermits, seeking counsel on the interior life. The hermits’ ascetic practices and teachings were a shining witness to a living faith – offering wisdom for both monastic and lay Christians. Encouraging humility, patience, prayer, introspection, and love, the Desert Fathers and Mothers have influenced centuries of believers, showing how contemplative practice can reveal the true meaning of everyday life. “Let Christians care for nothing that they cannot take away with them. We ought rather to seek after that which will lead us to heaven, namely wisdom, chastity, justice, virtue, an ever watchful mind, care of the poor, firm faith in Christ, a mind that can control anger, and hospitality. Striving after these things, we shall prepare for ourselves a dwelling in the land of the peaceful.” (from the book)
