ASCETIC WISDOM OF ABBA ISAAC THE SYRIAN – Anthology

Περιγραφή Προϊόντος

Ascetic Wisdom of Abba Isaac the Syrian – Anthology

Although the information that we have about his life is scarce, his writings – that is, his Ascetic Discourses – were studied from much earlier times and have been established as one of the most basic monastic indulgences and “manuals” of monastic and generally of spiritual life. They quickly surpassed the boundaries of his homeland, and with their translation from the original Syriac into the Greek language, they became the possession of the entire Orthodox world.

However, for many centuries his work mainly interested the demanding scholars of patristic writings. In recent years, with the exhortation and prompting by contemporary holy figures such as Saint Ephrem of the Holy Mountain’s Katounakia and Elder Hieronymos of Aegina Island, the spiritual benefit gained by studying the words of Saint Isaac has spread beyond monastic brotherhoods and has become the property of every Christian who wants to live the in-Christ way of life, whether they decide to dedicate themselves to it completely, or continue to live “in the world”. Particularly contributing to this spreading was a major contemporary Saint of Orthodoxy, Paisios of Mount Athos, who, according to dozens of testimonies, greatly loved the works of Saint Isaac and who very willingly recommended that they should be read – even admitting that he slept with the book of Ascetic Words by the side of his bed. In fact, Saint Paisios was the one who had strived to establish the separate commemoration of Saint Isaac (which until then was celebrated together with the other great Syrian ascetic, Saint Ephrem, on the 28th of January).

He particularly emphasized in his “Epistles” (p.67) that “…Even a brief study of Abba Isaac alters the soul with its many vitamins”; while Saint Hieronymos of Aegina Island similarly counselled his spiritual children: “Let not a single day go by without reading at least one page by Abba Isaac.”

With the conviction that the present publication will cover a significant gap in anglophone Orthodox Patristic literature, we pray that with the blessings of Saint. Isaac the Syrian, the study of this book will contribute towards readers savouring some of the spiritual nectar abundantly provided in the Saint’s Ascetic Discourses and setting a “new beginning” for themselves in their own spiritual struggle!