Download or read book Desert Christians written by William Harmless and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2004-06-17 with total page 513 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the fourth century, the deserts of Egypt became the nerve center of a radical new movement, what we now call monasticism. Groups of Christians-from illiterate peasants to learned intellectuals-moved out to the wastelands beyond the Nile Valley and, in the famous words of Saint Athanasius, made the desert a city. In so doing, they captured the imagination of the ancient world. They forged techniques of prayer and asceticism, of discipleship and spiritual direction, that have remained central to Christianity ever since. Seeking to map the soul's long journey to God and plot out the subtle vagaries of the human heart, they created and inspired texts that became classics of Western spirituality. These Desert Christians were also brilliant storytellers, some of Christianity's finest. This book introduces the literature of early monasticism. It examines all the best-known works, including Athanasius' Life of Antony, the Lives of Pachomius, and the so-called Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Later chapters focus on two pioneers of monastic theology: Evagrius Ponticus, the first great theoretician of Christian mysticism; and John Cassian, who brought Egyptian monasticism to the Latin West. Along the way, readers are introduced to path-breaking discoveries-to new texts and recent archeological finds-that have revolutionized contemporary scholarship on monastic origins. Included are fascinating snippets from papyri and from little-known Coptic, Syriac, and Ethiopic texts. Interspersed in each chapter are illustrations, maps, and diagrams that help readers sort through the key texts and the richly-textured world of early monasticism. Geared to a wide audience and written in clear, jargon-free prose, Desert Christians offers the most comprehensive and accessible introduction to early monasticism.
Download or read book The Desert Fathers written by and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2003-03-27 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Sayings of the Desert Fathers written by and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 1975-02-01 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: `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.
Download or read book The Desert Fathers written by Peter H. Gorg and published by Ignatius Press. This book was released on 2011-08-12 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the late third century, more and more people withdrew to the radical seclusion of the desert so as to live entirely for God under the direction of a spiritual father. Among these "Desert Fathers" one figure is especially preeminent: Saint Anthony the Hermit. This book takes the reader back to the hour when monasticism was born and describes the life of those revolutionary Christians who sought God in the Egyptian desert. The focus of the book is the life and work of Saint Anthony, whose experiences of the spiritual life have a timeless beauty and validity, even for those not called to live as a monk. The second half of the book presents other Desert Fathers, such as Paul of Thebes, Pachomius, and Simeon Stylites, as well as the great founders of the monastic communities in Western Europe who were inspired by them: John Cassian, Columban, and Benedict, for example. "The monk's self-denial begins radically in precisely those departments of life which have perennially seemed to be the most important: ownership, self-determination and sexuality. At the same time those who admonish so uncomfortably become the salt that lends Christianity its original flavor. . . . Just as the saints are God's specific answer to the needs of a given time, so too are the religious orders that have been founded over the course of the centuries." - Peter Görg
Download or read book Desert Fathers and Mothers written by Christine Valters Paintner and published by SkyLight Paths Publishing. This book was released on 2012 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book Desert Christians written by William Harmless and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2004-06-17 with total page 877 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the fourth century, the deserts of Egypt became the nerve center of a radical new movement, what we now call monasticism. Groups of Christians-from illiterate peasants to learned intellectuals-moved out to the wastelands beyond the Nile Valley and, in the famous words of Saint Athanasius, made the desert a city. In so doing, they captured the imagination of the ancient world. They forged techniques of prayer and asceticism, of discipleship and spiritual direction, that have remained central to Christianity ever since. Seeking to map the soul's long journey to God and plot out the subtle vagaries of the human heart, they created and inspired texts that became classics of Western spirituality. These Desert Christians were also brilliant storytellers, some of Christianity's finest. This book introduces the literature of early monasticism. It examines all the best-known works, including Athanasius' Life of Antony, the Lives of Pachomius, and the so-called Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Later chapters focus on two pioneers of monastic theology: Evagrius Ponticus, the first great theoretician of Christian mysticism; and John Cassian, who brought Egyptian monasticism to the Latin West. Along the way, readers are introduced to path-breaking discoveries-to new texts and recent archeological finds-that have revolutionized contemporary scholarship on monastic origins. Included are fascinating snippets from papyri and from little-known Coptic, Syriac, and Ethiopic texts. Interspersed in each chapter are illustrations, maps, and diagrams that help readers sort through the key texts and the richly-textured world of early monasticism. Geared to a wide audience and written in clear, jargon-free prose, Desert Christians offers the most comprehensive and accessible introduction to early monasticism.
Download or read book Bringing Jesus to the Desert written by Brad Nassif and published by Zondervan Academic. This book was released on 2012-01-24 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Zondervan ebook sketches out the rise of the great Desert Fathers and Mothers of the 3rd - 6th centuries, and then shares the stories and sayings of five of their greatest leaders. It will instill wisdom in the everyday lives of modern Christians through the storytelling of great monastic biographies taken from Egypt, Palestine and Syria. This book is written so that common Christians can follow the lives and teachings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers as a contemporary guides to the spiritual life. It applies the timeless principles of their lives without advocating for their particular lifestyles in the desert. Desert disciples from the 3rd to 6th centuries will be our compelling models of Christian living by inspiring us to live to our fullest potential through their moving stories and timeless teachings. Their tender stories and colorful sayings offer key insights for living in the heart of the urban desert today.
Download or read book City of Prayer written by Rachel M. Srubas and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The desert will show you what you are and are not made of, what you do and do not need. 'Rachel Srubas Christians are familiar with Matthew's account of Jesus ' temptation in the desert. We are familiar with Jesus ' pithy responses to the devil at the end of those forty days: One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God; Do not put the Lord your God to the test; Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him. But we are likely less familiar with the pithy sayings of those 'the Desert Fathers and Mothers 'whom God led into the desert in surprising numbers throughout the early centuries of the church. In City of Prayer: Forty Days with Desert Christians Rachel Srubas offers readers a collection of reflections inspired by the wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, the Abbas and Ammas. Through the wisdom of these desert Christians illuminated by Srubas's powerful narrative, readers will ponder such themes as solitude and perseverance, illness and humility. They will be inspired and challenged, comforted and sustained. Neither academic nor pietistic, this book is candid, intelligent, and compelling. Rachel M. Srubas is a Presbyterian clergywoman and oblate of St. Benedict. She is also the author of Oblation: Meditation on St. Benedict's Rule (Paraclete Press), and her writings have appeared inThe Christian Century and Weavings: A Journal of Christian Spiritual Life.
Download or read book The Desert Fathers written by Helen Waddell and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 1957 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The words of the 4th-century monastics who founded the Desert Rule
Download or read book Practical Spirituality According to the Desert Fathers written by Athanasius Iskander and published by St Shenouda Monastery. This book was released on 2011-03 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although the Bible tells what people need to do to reach perfection and earn eternal life, it does not tell how. Fr. Iskander borrowed methods and techniques from the Holy Fathers and provided wise instructions on how to practically apply them to the struggles faced by young Orthodox people living in the 21st century.
Download or read book Christianity and Monasticism in Alexandria and the Egyptian Deserts written by Gawdat Gabra and published by American University in Cairo Press. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page 455 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The legacies of the Coptic Christian presence in Alexandria and the Egyptian Deserts from the fourth century to the present day The great city of Alexandria is undoubtedly the cradle of Egyptian Christianity, where the Catechetical School was established in the second century and became a leading center in the study of biblical exegesis and theology. According to tradition St. Mark the Evangelist brought Christianity to Alexandria in the middle of the first century and was martyred in that city, which was to become the residence of Egypt’s Coptic patriarchs for nearly eleven centuries. By the fourth century Egyptian monasticism had begun to flourish in the Egyptian deserts and countryside. The contributors to this volume, international specialists in Coptology from around the world, examine the various aspects of Coptic civilization in Alexandria and its environs and in the Egyptian deserts over the past two millennia. The contributions explore Coptic art, archaeology, architecture, language, and literature. The impact of Alexandrian theology and its cultural heritage as well as the archaeology of its university are highlighted. Christian epigraphy in the Kharga Oasis, the art and architecture of the Bagawat cemetery, and the archaeological site of Kellis (Ismant al-Kharab) with its Manichaean texts are also discussed. Contributors Elizabeth Agaiby, Fr. Anthony, David Brakke, Jan Ciglenečki , Jean-Daniel Dubois, Bishop Epiphanius, Lois M. Farag, Frank Feder, Cäcilia Fluck, Sherin Sadek El Gendi, Mary Ghattas, Gisèle Hadji-Minaglou, Intisar Hazawi, Karel Innemée, Mary Kupelian, Grzegorz Majcherek, Bishop Martyros, Samuel Moawad, Ashraf Nageh, Adel F. Sadek, Ashraf Alexander Sadek, Ibrahim Saweros, Mark Sheridan, Fr. Bigoul al-Suriany, Hany Takla, Gertrud J.M. van Loon, Jacques van der Vliet, Youhanna Nessim Youssef, Ewa D. Zakrzewska, Nader Alfy Zekry
Download or read book The Book of the Elders written by and published by Liturgical Press. This book was released on 2012-05-01 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Wisdom of the Desert written by Thomas Merton and published by New Directions Publishing. This book was released on 1970 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "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.
Download or read book Disciples of the Desert written by Jennifer L. Hevelone-Harper and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2005-07-12 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher Description
Download or read book Gifts of the Desert written by Kyriacos C. Markides and published by Doubleday. This book was released on 2007-12-18 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Kyriacos C. Markides’s newest book, Eastern Orthodox mysticism meets Western Christianity as the internationally renowned author takes readers on a deep journey back in time to unveil the very roots of authentic spirituality. In his previous book The Mountain of Silence, Markides introduced us to the essential spiritual nature of Eastern Orthodoxy in a series of lively conversations with Father Maximos, the widely revered charismatic Orthodox bishop and former abbot of the isolated monastery on Mount Athos. In Gifts of the Desert, Markides continues his examination of Easter Orthodox mystical teachings and practices and captures its living expression through visits to monasteries and hermitages in Greece and America and interviews with contemporary charismatic elders, both male and female. Markides’s pursuit of a deeper understanding of Orthodoxy takes him to the deserts of Arizona and a stay at a new monastery in Sedona; to the island of Cyprus and a reunion with Father Maximos; on a pilgrimage to holy shrines aboard a cruise ship in the Aegean Sea; and finally to the legendary Mount Athos, home to more than two thousand Orthodox monks. Markides relates his journey and reflections in a captivating style while providing important background material and information on historical events to give readers a highly accessible, in-depth portrait of a tradition little known in the West. Gifts of the Desert will appeal to a wide range of people, from Christians seeking insights into their religion and its various expressions to scholars interested in learning more about the mystical way of life and wisdom that have been preserved on Mount Athos since the fall of the Byzantine Empire and the Great Schism that separated the Eastern and Western Churches. Perhaps most important, however, is the bridge it offers contemporary readers to a Christian life that is balanced between the worldly and the spiritual.
Download or read book Eternal Wisdom from the Desert written by Henry L. Carrigan and published by Paraclete Press (MA). This book was released on 2001 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the fourth century, thousands of men and women fled into the Egyptian desert seeking to recapture the passion of the earliest Christians through lives of prayer and solitude. As records of the wisdom and purity of the "desert fathers and mothers" spread through the Roman Empire, Christians streamed to the caves of these desert hermits, seeking counsel on the interior life. The hermits' ascetic practices and wise words were a shining witness to a living faith that could be woven into the fabric of daily life. This volume contains Athanasius' famous The Life of St. Anthony, St. Jerome's The Life of Paul the Hermit, and the collected sayings of many of the desert fathers. Encouraging humility, patience, prayer, introspection, and love, the desert fathers and mothers teach today's believers that deep contemplative practice opens the door to eternal wisdom for daily life.
Download or read book The Desert Mothers written by Mary C. Earle and published by Church Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2007-02-01 with total page 99 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A historical and enlightening introduction to Desert Mothers and the wise spiritual lessons we can glean from their lives, trials and tribulations, and writings. At the dawn of Christianity, holy women went into the wilderness of the desert of Northern Egypt to give themselves totally to lives of prayer. Explore the unique spirituality of Desert Mothers, and learn ways to apply their wisdom today. “The Desert Mothers are often overshadowed by the better-known Desert Fathers, but these women who went into the wilderness to pursue deep prayer deserve to be heard. Mary Earle has taken nine concise sayings from Desert Mothers and explore them in original ways.”—Frederica Mathewes-Green, author, columnist, and speaker “Mary Earle is a modern-day Desert Mother, and we are fortunate, indeed, for her introduction to Desert Amma’s ancient wisdom, and for her gentle guidance on ways to incorporate that wisdom into contemporary spiritual practices.”—Debra K. Farrington, author of Hearing with the Heart: A Gentle Guide to Discerning God’s Will for Your Life
