Books on the Desert Fathers
Book of the Elders: Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Systematic Collection by
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.
Call Number: Ebook CentralPublication Date: 2012
Bringing Jesus to the Desert by
Through the third to sixth centuries, great Christian men and women colonized the deserts of Palestine, Syria and Egypt, shaping the church through their examples of faith and devotion. History now knows them as the Desert Fathers and Mothers and their lives display an unswerving commitment to the love of Christ sorely needed in today's world. Bradley Nassif tells the story of how the deserts of the Holy Land forged a holy people and a lasting legacy of faith. As part of the Ancient Context, Ancient Faith series, Middle Eastern lands, culture and history directly undergird this exploration of ancient spirituality. Surveying the lives of Anthony of Egypt, Pachomius, Melania and others, Nassif demonstrates how the wilderness experiences chronicled in Scripture guided the practice of Christian faith in biblical lands. Bringing Jesus to the Desert can help pastors, Bible students and lay learners trace God's work in the past and draw on the power of God in the desert places of their own lives.
Call Number: BR67 .N37 2011
Desert Christians: An Introduction to the Literature of Early Monasticism by
In this book, William Harmless provides an accessible introduction to early Christian monastic literature from Egypt and beyond. He introduces the reader to the major figures and literary texts, as well as offering an up-to-date survey of current questions and scholarship in the field. Thetext is enhanced by the inclusion of chronologies, maps, outlines, illustrations, and bibliographies. The book will not only serve as a text for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses on early Christianity, the Desert Fathers, and Christian asceticism, but it should stimulate further researchby making the fruits of recent scholarship more readily and widely available.
Call Number: Ebook CentralPublication Date: 2004
The Desert Fathers: Translations from the Latin by
By the fourth century A.D., devout Christians--men and women alike--had begun to retreat from cities and villages to the deserts of North Africa and Asia Minor, where they sought liberation from their corrupt society and the confining shell of the social self. The Desert Fathers is the perfect introduction to the stories and sayings of these heroic pioneers of the contemplative tradition. Selected and translated by Helen Waddell, The Desert Fathers opens a window onto early Christianity while presenting us with touchingly human models of faith, humility, and compassion. With a new Preface by the Cistercian monk, writer, and revered teacher of contemplative prayer M. Basil Pennington, author of O Holy Mountain and Challenges in Prayer. "God is our home but many of us have strayed from our native land. The venerable authors of these Spiritual Classics are expert guides--may we follow their directions home." --Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Call Number: BR1705.A2 V525 1998
Evagrius Ponticus by
Presenting many texts available for the very first time, this new volume in the successful Early Church Fathers series showcases full translations of Evagrius' letters, notes on various books of the bible, his treatises and his 'chapters'. Augustine Casiday's material is both accurate and refreshingly approachable, and the work is prefaced by a solid introductory essay that presents Evagrius, his work and influences, and modern scholarship in an easy-to-understand way for beginners. For students dealing with Evagrius for the first time, they could not find a better book to begin their exploration of this figure in late-ancient history and theology.
Call Number: EBSCO eBookPublication Date: 2006
In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers by
Father John's inspiring introduction to the spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers brings their words to life for the modern reader. These key figures of the early church chose lives of hardship and solitude, where they could point their hearts away from the outward world and toward an introspective path of God's calling in a deliberate and individual way. Contains a Foreword by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, the second highest ranking Orthodox Bishop in England.
Call Number: ProQuest Ebook CentralPublication Date: 2008
Letters from the Desert: A Selection of Questions and Responses by
Two monastic elders - the "Great Old Man" Barsanuphius, and the "Other Old Man" John - flourished in the southern region around Gaza in the early part of the sixth century. Maintaining strict seclusion, they spoke to others only through letters by way of Abba Seridos, the abbot of their monastic, desert community.
Call Number: BR60 .B3713 2003
Wandering, Begging Monks: Spiritual Authority and the Promotion of Monasticism in Late Antiquity by
An apostolic lifestyle characterized by total material renunciation, homelessness, and begging was practiced by monks throughout the Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries. Such monks often served as spiritual advisors to urban aristocrats whose patronage gave them considerable authority and independence from episcopal control. This book is the first comprehensive study of this type of Christian poverty and the challenge it posed for episcopal authority and the promotion of monasticism in late antiquity. Focusing on devotional practices, Daniel Caner draws together diverse testimony from Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, and elsewhere--including the Pseudo-Clementine Letters to Virgins, Augustine's On the Work of Monks, John Chrysostom's homilies, legal codes--to reveal gospel-inspired patterns of ascetic dependency and teaching from the third to the fifth centuries. Throughout, his point of departure is social and cultural history, especially the urban social history of the late Roman empire. He also introduces many charismatic individuals whose struggle to persist against church suppression of their chosen way of imitating Christ was fought with defiant conviction, and the book includes the first annotated English translation of the biography of Alexander Akoimetos (Alexander the Sleepless). Wandering, Begging Monks allows us to understand these fascinating figures of early Christianity in the full context of late Roman society.
Call Number: ProQuest Ebook CentralPublication Date: 2002
The Word in the Desert: Scripture and the Quest for Holiness in Early Christian Monasticism by
The growing scholarly attention in recent years to the religious world of late antiquity has focused new attention on the quest for holiness by the strange, compelling, often obscure early Christian monks known as the desert fathers. Yet until now, little attention has been given to one of The most vital dimensions of their spirituality: their astute, penetrating interpretation of Scripture. Rooted in solitude, cultivated in an atmosphere of silence, oriented toward the practical appropriation of the sacred texts, the desert fathers' hermeneutic profoundly shaped every aspect of theirlives and became a significant part of their legacy. This book explores the setting within which the early monastic movement emerged, the interpretive process at the center of the desert fathers' quest for holiness, and the intricate patterns of meaning woven into their words and their lives.
Call Number: Ebook CentralPublication Date: 1993
The Emergence of Monasticism: From the Desert Fathers to the Early Middle Ages by
The Emergence of Monasticism offers a new approach to the subject, placing its development against the dynamic of both social and religious change. First study in any language to cover the formative period of medieval monasticism. Gives particular attention to the contribution of women to ascetic and monastic life.
Call Number: Ebook CentralPublication Date: 2001
Desert Fathers & Other Early Monastics
- Paul of Thebes, also called Paul the Hermit, c. 227-341 (opens new windowabout)
- biographical treatise by Jerome that describes Antony's quest to find Paul the Hermit, who was the first of the Christian hermits
- Anthony the Great, 251-356
- Athanasius' Life of St. Antony
- Chariton
- first monk in Palestine
- Hilarion
- Ammonas
- Pachomius, c. 290-346 (opens new windowabout)
- founds first cenobitic community at Tabennesi
- Paphnutius
- Eufinus of Aquileia
- Jerome
- founds a monastery near Bethlehem
- translates Pachomius' Rule into Latin
- opens new windowJohn Cassian, c. 360–c. 435 (opens new windowabout)
- writes his Conferences and Institutes
- Palladius of Helenopolis
- Simeon Stylites
- lives on a pillar in Antioch
- Life of St. Martin of Tours by Sulpicius Severus, c. 363-c. 420
- Lausiac History by Palladius, c. 363–c. 430
- opens new windowApophthegmata Patrum ("Sayings of the Fathers"), c. end of 5th c.
- Benedict of Nursia
Desert Mothers
The Forgotten Desert Mothers: Sayings, Lives, and Stories of Early Christian Women by
An introduction to the Sayings, Lives, stories & spirituality of women in the post-biblical, early Christian movement.
Call Number: BR195.M65 S93 2001
Praying with the Desert Mothers by
Fourth- and fifth-century desert mothers in the Mediterranean region, known as ammas (spiritual mothers), were the founders of Christian community in the early church. Praying with the Desert Mothersintroduces the lives, sayings, and stories of these remarkable spiritual elders. It enriches readers' lives and compels them to return in meditation and prayer. For each topic a true story is drawn from a modern persona's experience of seeking God. This tapestry of stories of the desert ammas is woven together with theological insights, discussion of genres of literature, historical views on women, and reflective approaches to the wisdom tradition. Praying with the Desert Mothers combines scholarship and reflection for praying, meditating, and living the wisdom of spiritual practices today. Chapters are Introduction to the Desert Mothers, Ammas as Midwives of Wisdom, Ammas as Scripture Scholars, Heralds in the Desert, Desert as Idyllic Garden, The Peal of Great Price, Humility and the Manifestation of Thoughts, Penthos and Tears, Signs of Conversion, The Hidden Life, Prayer and Hospitality; and concludes with The Visitation and a complete bibliography on the desert ammas. Mary Forman, OSB, PhD, a Benedictine from the Monastery of Saint Gertrude, Cottonwood, Idaho, is assistant professor of theology at the School of Theology, seminary and the College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota.
Call Number: BR195.M65 F67 2005
Catalog searches
3 Kinds of Desert Monasticism
- The hermit life: Characterized by isolation and austerity. Modeled by St. Antony. Located in lower Egypt
- The cenobitic life: A communal life of prayer and work. Modeled by the communities of monks or nuns led by Pachomius. Located in upper Egypt
- The semi-eremitic or the semi-cenobitic way, or middle way: A loosely connected group of monastic units, each comprised of two to six members, who followed a common spiritual elder, the first being Ammoun. Found in Nitria and Scetis, west of the mouth of the Nile River. Several of these cells would convene for communal worship on Saturdays and Sundays. Most of the "sayings of the Desert Fathers" came from this middle way.
- Adapted from John Chryssavgis, In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers (34)
Coptic Desert Fathers
- Pambo
- Evagrius Pontus, 345-399
- Influenced John Cassian, 380-465
- "If you are a theologian you truly pray. If you truly pray, you are a theologian."
- Integrated theology and prayer
- Macarius the Great, c. 300-390
- founded monastery at Scetis
- Macarius of Alexandria
- Arsenius, 354-449
- tutored the sons of Emperor Theodosius, Arcadius and Honorius
- disciple of John the Dwarf
- Poemen, d. c. 449
- Moses the Robber
- martyred c. 375