The Desert Movement

The Desert Movement

Author: Alexander Ryrie

Publisher: Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1848250940

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An exciting new history for anyone interested in the Early Church. Drawing on recent research and newly translated texts, it sheds significant new light on the influence of Desert spirituality, introducing us to the lives of previously unknown monastic figures.


Desert Spirituality for Men

Desert Spirituality for Men

Author: Brad Karelius

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2022-06-16

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 1666733156

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Inspired by Richard Rohr, Ronald Rolheiser, Belden Lane, and Thomas Merton, Desert Spirituality for Men reveals the transformative and healing power of the desert—for men who actively seek God. Blending a memoir of his son’s fight for life, reflections on his own desert retreats and response to the Lord’s persistent desire for relationship, Brad Karelius offers guidance to men in their holy longing for God. An Episcopal priest for fifty years, Professor of Philosophy for forty-five years, husband, and father, Karelius also tells about the power of his friendship with six remarkable men, and he describes some of their well-founded prayer practices which will sustain and nurture any man in his quest. This book will encourage men of all callings and stages in life to plan their own retreats to the desert—where God lives and gives life.


Desert Fathers and Mothers

Desert Fathers and Mothers

Author: Christine Valters Paintner

Publisher: SkyLight Paths Publishing

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 183

ISBN-13: 1594733732

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Timeless and contemplative sayings from the earliest Christian sages of desert spirituality can be a companion on your own spiritual journey. The desert fathers and mothers were ordinary Christians living in solitude in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Arabia who chose to renounce the world in order to deliberately and individually follow God's call. They embraced lives of celibacy, labor, fasting, prayer and poverty, believing that denouncing material goods and practicing stoic self-discipline would lead to unity with the Divine. Their spiritual practice formed the basis of Western monasticism and greatly influenced both Western and Eastern Christianity. Their writings, first recorded in the fourth century, consist of spiritual advice, parables and anecdotes emphasizing the primacy of love and the purity of heart. Focusing on key themes of charity, fortitude, lust, patience, prayer and self-control, the Sayings influenced the rule of St. Benedict and have inspired centuries of opera, poetry and art. This probing and personal SkyLight Illuminations edition opens up their wisdom for readers with no previous knowledge of Western monasticism and early Christianity. It provides insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that describes historical background, explains the practice of asceticism and illustrates how you can use their wisdom to energize your spiritual quest.


A Course in Desert Spirituality

A Course in Desert Spirituality

Author: Thomas Merton

Publisher: Liturgical Press

Published: 2019-03-05

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 081468498X

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2020 Association of Catholic Publishers first place award in spirituality Thomas Merton’s sessions with the young monks at the Abbey of Gethsemani showcase Merton’s brilliant ability to survey the key figures and synthesize their writings, inspiring his listeners and readers with what it means for the spiritual life. Like its companion volume, A Course in Christian Mysticism, this book is a collection of fifteen lectures that get to the heart of Merton’s belief that monastic wisdom and spirituality are applicable for everyone. This compact volume allows anyone to learn from one of the twentieth century's greatest Catholic spiritual teachers. The study materials at the back of the book, including additional primary source readings and thoughtful questions for reflection and discussion, make this an essential text for any student of Christian desert spirituality.


Desert Daughters, Desert Sons

Desert Daughters, Desert Sons

Author: Rachel Wheeler

Publisher: Liturgical Press

Published: 2020-11-15

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 0814685005

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In Desert Daughters, Desert Sons, professor Rachel Wheeler argues that a new reading of the texts of the Christian desert tradition is needed to present the (often) anonymous women who inhabit the texts. Though these women may have been included by storytellers to provide a foil to the exemplary men in the stories' foreground, Wheeler demonstrates how women's persistence in places they were not welcome witnesses to truths about where wisdom may be sought and found. In this book, Wheeler allows these women's stories to critique the desert impulse that can create a spiritual life devoid of social relationships and responsibility.


The Desert Fathers

The Desert Fathers

Author: Benedicta Ward

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2003-03-27

Total Pages: 261

ISBN-13: 0141907002

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The Desert Fathers were the first Christian monks, living in solitude in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. In contrast to the formalised and official theology of the "founding fathers" of the church, the Desert Fathers were ordinary Christians who chose to renounce the world and live lives of celibacy, fasting, vigil, prayer and poverty in direct and simple response to the gospel. Their sayings were first recorded in the 4th century and consist of spiritual advice, anecdotes and parables. The Desert Fathers' teachings and lives have inspired poetry, opera and art, as well as providing spiritual nourishment and a template for monastic life.


Practical Spirituality According to the Desert Fathers

Practical Spirituality According to the Desert Fathers

Author: Athanasius Iskander

Publisher: St Shenouda Monastery

Published: 2011-03

Total Pages: 108

ISBN-13: 9780980517118

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Although the Bible tells what people need to do to reach perfection and earn eternal life, it does not tell how. Fr. Iskander borrowed methods and techniques from the Holy Fathers and provided wise instructions on how to practically apply them to the struggles faced by young Orthodox people living in the 21st century.


The Wisdom of the Desert

The Wisdom of the Desert

Author: Thomas Merton

Publisher: New Directions Publishing

Published: 1970

Total Pages: 100

ISBN-13: 9780811201025

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"The ascetics of Scete and the Thebaid in the Egyptian Desert have been more often admired than known or understood. Translations by such scholars as Helen Waddell have done much to restore the true perspective. This new selection from the Latin 'Sayings of the Fathers' (Verba Seniorum) has been made by Thomas Merton with a special purpose. It is not only a translation and selection, but a new monastic redaction in the spirit of our own time. Merton has felt free, as a monk, to do what generations of monks before him have done. He has made a wholly independent and original use of material which is the traditional basis of Christian monastic spirituality." -- Dust jacket.


The Sayings of the Desert Fathers

The Sayings of the Desert Fathers

Author:

Publisher: Liturgical Press

Published: 1975-02-01

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 0879079592

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`Give me a word, Father', visitors to early desert monks asked. The responses of these pioneer ascetics were remembered and in the fourth century written down in Coptic, Syriac, Greek, and later Latin. Their Sayings were collected, in this case in the alphabetical order of the monks and nuns who uttered them, and read by generations of Christians as life-giving words that would help readers along the path to salvation.