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Philokalia
The ''Philokalia'' (, from ''philia'' "love" and ''kallos'' "beauty") is "a collection of texts written between the 4th and 15th centuries by spiritual masters" of the mystical hesychast tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church. They were originally written for the guidance and instruction of monks in "the practice of the contemplative life". The collection was compiled in the 18th century by Nicodemus the Hagiorite and Macarius of Corinth based on the codices 472 (12th century), 605 (13th century), 476 (14th century), 628 (14th century) and 629 (15th century) from the library of the monastery of Vatopedi, Mount Athos. Although these works were individually known in the monastic culture of Greek Orthodox Christianity before their inclusion in the ''Philokalia'', their presence in this collection resulted in a much wider readership due to its translation into several languages. The earliest translations included a Church Slavonic language translation of selected texts by ...
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Paisius Velichkovsky
Paisius Velichkovsky or Wieliczkowski (''Paisie de la Neamţ'' in Romanian language, Romanian; Паисий Величковский in Russian language, Russian; Паїсій Величковський in Ukrainian language, Ukrainian; 20 December 1722 – 15 November 1794) was an Eastern Orthodox monk and theologian who helped spread staretsdom or the concept of the spiritual elder to the Slavic world. Also accessible ahttp://sophiainstitutenyc.org. He is a pivotal figure in Orthodox Church history. Life A Ukrainians, Ukrainian by birth, Pyotr Velichkovsky was born on December 21, 1722, in Poltava, where his father, Ivan, was a priest in the city cathedral. He was the eleventh of twelve children. His grandfather was the poet Ivan Velichkovsky. In 1735, he was sent to study at the Kiev Theological Academy. In 1741, he became a rasophore monk, taking the name of “Platon”. However, his monastery was soon closed, because of the political stresses during the time, and he entered ...
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Hesychast
Hesychasm () is a contemplative monastic tradition in the Eastern Christian traditions of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches in which stillness (''hēsychia'') is sought through uninterrupted Jesus prayer. While rooted in early Christian monasticism, it took its definitive form in the 14th century at Mount Athos. Etymology Hesychasm ( ) derives from the word '' hesychia'' ( ), meaning "stillness, rest, quiet, silence" and ''hesychazo'' ( ) "to keep stillness". Origins and development Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, a scholar of Eastern Orthodox theology, distinguishes five distinct usages of the term "hesychasm": # "solitary life", a sense, equivalent to "eremitical life", in which the term is used since the 4th century; # "the practice of inner prayer, aiming at union with God on a level beyond images, concepts and language"; # "the quest for such union through the Jesus Prayer"; # "a particular psychosomatic technique in combination with the Jesus Prayer ...
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Theophan The Recluse
Theophan the Recluse (), also known as Theophanes the Recluse or the Enlightener Theophan the Recluse of Vysha (; January 10, 1815 – January 6, 1894), was a Russian Orthodox bishop and theologian, recognized as a saint in 1988. Born as Georgy Vasilievich Govorov, he became a monk in 1841, taking the name Theophan. He is best known through the books and letters he wrote concerning spiritual life, especially on the subjects of the Christian life and the training of youth in the faith. He also played an important role in translating the ''Philokalia'' from Church Slavonic into Russian. The ''Philokalia'' is a classic of Orthodox spirituality, composed of the collected works of a number of Church Fathers which were edited and placed in a four volume set in the 17th and 18th centuries. In his works, a persistent theme was developing an interior life of continuous prayer and learning to "pray without ceasing" as St. Paul teaches in his first letter to the Thessalonians. Early life He ...
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Origen
Origen of Alexandria (), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an Early Christianity, early Christian scholar, Asceticism#Christianity, ascetic, and Christian theology, theologian who was born and spent the first half of his career in Early centers of Christianity#Alexandria, Alexandria. He was a prolific writer who wrote roughly 2,000 treatises in multiple branches of theology, including textual criticism, exegesis, biblical exegesis and biblical hermeneutics, hermeneutics, homiletics, and spirituality. He was one of the most influential and controversial figures in early Christian theology, Christian apologetics, apologetics, and asceticism. He has been described by John Anthony McGuckin as "the greatest genius the early church ever produced". Overview Origen sought martyrdom with his father at a young age but was prevented from turning himself in to the authorities by his mother. When he was eighteen years old, Origen became a Catechesis, catechist at the or School of Alexand ...
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Macarius Of Corinth
Macarius of Corinth (also Makarios; born Michael Notaras, Μιχαὴλ Νοταρᾶς; ; 1731–1805) was Metropolitan bishop of Corinth, was a mystic and spiritual writer who worked to revive and mostly sustain the Eastern Orthodox Church under Ottoman Greece, Turkish rule. He is most famous for working with Nicodemus the Hagiorite, Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain in collecting and compiling the ascetic text of the ''Philokalia''.''A New Dictionary of Saints: East and West'' by Michael Walsh pg 378, Published by Liturgical Press, 2007 , 978081463186/ref> Prayer of the Heart With his friend Nicodemus, Makarios compiled the five tomes of the ''Philokalia'' that were first published in Venice in 1782. It was the publication of these sacred and spiritual texts that led to a renewal of the hesychast movement within Eastern Orthodox. See also *Theosis (Eastern Orthodox theology) *Theoria *Ritual purification *Praxis (Eastern Orthodoxy), Praxis References

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Nicodemus The Hagiorite
Nicodemus the Hagiorite or Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain (; 1749 – July 14, 1809) was a Greek ascetic monk, mystic, theologian, and philosopher, venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. His life's work was a revival of traditional Christian practices and patristic literature. He wrote ascetic prayer literature and influenced the rediscovery of hesychasm, a method of contemplative prayer from the Byzantine period. He is most famous for his work with Macarius of Corinth on the anthology of monastic spiritual writings known as '' The Philokalia'', as well as for his compilation of canons known as the ''Pedalion'' (or ''The Rudder'') which he co-wrote with a hieromonk named Agapios Monachos. With Macarios of Corinth, Nicodemus was responsible for the compilation and publishing of The Evergetinos, thoroughly reviewing a vast collection of materials from a number of other collections of sayings of monastics and others, ranging from the well-known works of St. John ...
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Christian Mysticism
Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" or divine ''love''. Until the sixth century the practice of what is now called mysticism was referred to by the term ''contemplatio'', c.q. ''theoria'', from '' contemplatio'' (Latin; Greek θεωρία, ''theoria''), "looking at", "gazing at", "being aware of" God or the divine.William Johnson, ''The Inner Eye of Love: Mysticism and Religion'' (HarperCollins 1997
), p. 24
Christianity took up the use of both the Greek (''theoria'') and Latin (''contemplatio'', contemplation) ...
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Ignatius Bryanchaninov
Ignatius Brianchaninov or Ignaty Brianchaninov ( born Dmitry Alexandrovich Brianchaninov; rus, Дмитрий Александрович Брянчанинов, , dmʲitrʲɪj ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪdʑ brʲɪnʲtɕɪˈnʲinəf; 15 February 1807 – 30 April 1867) was a bishop and theologian of the Russian Orthodox Church. He stands out as one of the greatest Eastern Orthodox patristic writers of the nineteenth century. He was glorified (canonized) as a saint by the 1988 meeting of the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. His relics are preserved at the ancient Tolga Monastery on the Volga River near Yaroslavl. Life and work Dmitry Bryanchaninov was born in the manor of Pokrovskoye to one of the wealthiest landowning families of the Governorate of Vologda. He was educated at Main Military Engineering School in St. Petersburg. Although successful in his studies, he was deeply dissatisfied with the lay life and turned to a life of prayer. In 1827 he fell serious ...
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Monks
A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many religions and in philosophy across numerous cultures. The Greek word for "monk" may be applied to men or women. In English, however, "monk" is applied mainly to men, while '' nun'' is typically used for female monastics. Although the term ''monachos'' is of Christian origin, in the English language ''monk'' tends to be used loosely also for both male and female ascetics from other religious or philosophical backgrounds. However, being generic, it is not interchangeable with terms that denote particular kinds of monk, such as cenobite, hermit, anchorite, or hesychast. Traditions of Christian monasticism exist in major Christian denominations, with religious orders being present in Catholicism, Lutheranism, Oriental Orthodoxy, Eastern Orth ...
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Italian Language
Italian (, , or , ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family. It evolved from the colloquial Latin of the Roman Empire. Italian is the least divergent language from Latin, together with Sardinian language, Sardinian. It is spoken by about 68 million people, including 64 million native speakers as of 2024. Italian is an official language in Languages of Italy, Italy, Languages of San Marino, San Marino, Languages of Switzerland, Switzerland (Ticino and the Grisons), and Languages of Vatican City, Vatican City; it has official Minority language, minority status in Minority languages of Croatia, Croatia, Slovene Istria, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the municipalities of Santa Teresa, Espírito Santo, Santa Tereza, Encantado, Rio Grande do Sul, Encantado, and Venda Nova do Imigrante in Languages of Brazil#Language co-officialization, Brazil. Italian is also spoken by large Italian diaspora, immigrant and expatriate communities in the Americas and Austral ...
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Basil Of Caesarea
Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great (330 – 1 or 2 January 379) was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia from 370 until his death in 379. He was an influential theologian who supported the Nicene Creed and opposed the heresies of the early Christian church such as Arianism and Apollinarianism. In addition to his work as a theologian, Basil was known for his care of the poor and underprivileged. Basil established guidelines for monastic life which focus on community life, liturgical prayer, and manual labor. Together with Pachomius, he is remembered as a father of communal monasticism in Eastern Christianity. He is considered a saint by the traditions of both Eastern and Western Christianity. Basil, together with his brother Gregory of Nyssa and his friend Gregory of Nazianzus, are collectively referred to as the Cappadocian Fathers. The Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches have given him, tog ...
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Monasticism
Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religion, religious way of life in which one renounces world (theology), worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christianity, Christian churches, especially in the Catholicism, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox and Anglican traditions as well as in other faiths such as Buddhist monasticism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jain monasticism, Jainism. In other religions, monasticism is generally criticized and not practiced, as in Islam and Zoroastrianism, or plays a marginal role, as in modern Nazirite, Judaism. Many monastics live in abbeys, convents, monastery, monasteries, or priories to separate themselves from the secular world, unless they are in mendicant or missionary orders. Buddhism The Sangha or community of ordained Buddhist bhikkhus (Pali ''bhikkhu'', like Sanskrit ''bhikṣu'', means 'mendicant; one who lives by dāna, alms'), and orig ...
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