Works Cited
Sources cited in this book. Tap a chapter reference under each entry to return to the passage where the work is cited.
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The Conferences (c. 420)
Twenty-four dialogues recording the spiritual teaching of the Egyptian desert fathers, foundational to Western and Eastern monastic tradition.
- Cited in: 1. Life Under Guidance (1.4.8, 1.4.9, 1.4.12, 1.4.13, 1.6.15).
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Discourses and Sayings (6th c.)
Seventeen discourses on the foundations of the spiritual life by a disciple of Sts. Barsanuphius and John, used as a primer in monastic formation.
- Cited in: 1. Life Under Guidance (1.5.2, 1.24.27, 1.44.11).
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The Ladder of Divine Ascent (c. 600)
A guide to monastic ascent in thirty ‘steps,’ written by the abbot of Sinai; one of the most widely read patristic texts in the Eastern Church.
- Cited in: 1. Life Under Guidance (1.8.8, 1.12.7, 1.12.10, 1.14.16, 1.14.20, 1.18.9, 1.18.15, 1.19.8, 1.19.12, 1.20.6, 1.20.9, 1.21.4, 1.21.5, 1.23.9, 1.24.25, 1.24.32, 1.24.35, 1.24.37, 1.25.4, 1.25.5, 1.25.14, 1.25.16, 1.25.17, 1.26.12, 1.26.15, 1.28.1, 1.29.12, 1.29.13, 1.30.7, 1.33.17, 1.35.10).
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The Philokalia (1979–2022)
An anthology of texts written between the 4th and 15th centuries by the spiritual masters of the Eastern hesychast tradition. The page references in this edition are to the five-volume English translation (Faber & Faber / Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1979–2022).
- Cited in: 1. Life Under Guidance (1.9.4).
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Questions and Answers (6th c.)
Spiritual correspondence of two recluses of the Gaza coenobium, comprising over 800 questions from disciples and their answers; a primary source on monastic obedience and spiritual fatherhood.
- Cited in: 1. Life Under Guidance (1.13.4, 1.13.5, 1.13.6, 1.13.8, 1.13.9, 1.14.1, 1.14.3, 1.14.5, 1.14.9, 1.14.11, 1.14.12, 1.14.13, 1.14.19, 1.15.6, 1.15.7, 1.15.8, 1.15.9, 1.18.12, 1.20.5, 1.21.6, 1.21.7, 1.24.21, 1.24.23, 1.30.6, 1.30.10, 1.35.13).
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The Longer Rules (c. 360)
Detailed answers to questions on the cenobitic monastic life, the foundational rule of Eastern monasticism.
- Cited in: 1. Life Under Guidance (1.24.14).
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The Shorter Rules (c. 360)
Concise answers to over three hundred practical questions on the monastic life, complementing the Longer Rules.
- Cited in: 1. Life Under Guidance (1.24.19).
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The Prologue of Ohrid (1928–1932)
A daily-readings collection of saints’ lives, hymnographic notes, and edifying tales from across the Orthodox calendar; widely read in Russian and Serbian Orthodox spiritual practice.
- Cited in: 1. Life Under Guidance (1.24.29, 1.25.20).
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Ascetical Rules and Discourses (c. 360)
St. Basil’s broader corpus of monastic legislation and ascetical instruction, often cited alongside the Longer and Brief Rules.
- Cited in: 1. Life Under Guidance (1.26.17).
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The Life and Writings of Saint Paisius Velichkovsky (18th c.)
Autobiographical and biographical material on the great 18th-century Moldavian elder, translator of the Greek Philokalia into Slavonic, and revivalist of Athonite hesychasm in the Slavic Orthodox world.
- Cited in: 1. Life Under Guidance (1.47.4, 1.51.8, 1.51.13, 1.51.34, 1.54.4, 1.56.5).
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The Tradition of Saint Nilus of Sora and his monastic Rule (15th c.)
Foundational writings of the 15th-century Russian elder of Sora, the chief representative of the non-possessing (нестяжатели) school of Russian monasticism and a transmitter of Athonite hesychasm into Slavic spirituality.
- Cited in: 1. Life Under Guidance (1.56.4).
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The Ascetical Homilies (7th c.)
Spiritual homilies on prayer, repentance, and the inner life, beloved across the Orthodox tradition.
- Cited in: 2. Life According to Rules (2.2.9).
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The Fifty Spiritual Homilies (4th c.)
Fifty spiritual homilies on the inner life, prayer of the heart, and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, attributed to St. Macarius the Great of Egypt; foundational for the hesychast tradition.
- Cited in: 3. The Narrow and Sorrowful Path (3.2.20, 3.2.21, 3.2.23); 4. Zeal for Salvation (4.2.3).