The Philokalia: A Selection

by Jonathan L. Zecher (Translator), Andrew Louth (Translator)

The Philokalia is the most influential book in the recent history of the Orthodox Church, aside from the Bible. It is an anthology of thirty-six spiritual texts written between the fourth and fifteenth centuries by the masters of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, tracing a continuous tradition of the prayer of the heart, or hesychasm, in which the Jesus Prayer plays a growing role, from Evagrios of Pontos to Gregory Palamas. First published in Greek in 1782, and revered for offering a rich tapestry of wisdom on the path to union with God, the texts, largely of monastic origin, serve as a guide to lay people as well as monks in their pursuit of contemplative prayer, ‘inner asceticism’, and the purification of the soul.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction

496 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1782

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficult to rate. A few of the texts here, or some part of some of them, are five-star reads. But those are in total maybe 50 pages of gold. Most seem rather banal and simple, and are aimed at an audience of monks and not normal people living their lives. This is not a book of deep theology, but rather a book for practice - but even then, it falls a bit short. It is maybe most important for its influence on the Orthodox Church, as well as its historical value. I did not read in order to live it, I read it in order to figure out what it was about - and during reading, wondering how important the material is. You can easily skip reading it, or not feel that you miss out on much not doing so.

The worthy things from here, I suspect, are extended upon by other Orthodox writers, or other writings of those who are part of this selection. This is mostly about one thing, and that is the historical development and practice of hesychasm. The Jesus Prayer. Silence. Contemplation.