More info please

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alexandria
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
A

Alexandria

Guest
Hi everyone,

I started praying the Jesus Prayer over a year ago and then I read, “The Way of the Pilgrim.” Now I am interested in reading the Philokalia.
A little background: I am 29 years old, and am a wife and mother of five children. I am a Catholic in the Latin Rite and have been an active catholic my whole life. I really began to struggle with my prayer life after having kids, and then I gave the Jesus prayer a try and I have had a breakthrough of sorts. The little I have heard and read about the spirituality of the East has really brought about a great consolation for me in my vocation. I am a regular listener of the “Light of the East,” podcast. I have a few questions
1: where can I get a good copy of the Philokalia
2: where can I buy a good quality Chotki?
3: Any advice for this Latin rite Catholic on exploring this Spirituality?
4: what are some good books and resources for me to look into to learn more?

Thank you and God Bless!
 
P.S. Do you have a link for the Light of the East podcast? I used to watch them on EWTN and then they moved it to early in the morning.
 
Thanks for posting the podcast link. I too am Latin Rite but would like to check some of those out in order to learn more about Eastern Catholicism.
 
It is also available at iTunes podcasts for those other Mac afflicted…
 
Wow !
29 and 5 kids -
And saying the Jesus prayer !
And interested in the Philokalia ( 4 volumes by the way )
That really turns my head !

It’s actually fun reading -
And let’s face it - wisdom from the crucible of the desert.

Do you know who Saint Anthony of the desert is ?
 
I have heard of Saint Anthony of the Desert! However, I have never really read up on him. I’m going to have to investigate.

The Philokalia is 4 volumes! Wow. That sounds like it should keep me busy. I’m looking forward to reading and letting it soak in.
 
@Alexandria


The Mystical City of God

Sister Mary Jesus Agreda was a 17th Century Spanish nun who received spiritual revelations about Mary and Jesus, both on earth and in heaven, including the creation of the angels and the fall of lucifer and his renegade band of angels. They are presented here for you, in “The Mystical City of God”. While not biblical, these revelations did receive the Imprimatur of The Church in 1949. An Imprimatur (from Latin, “let it be printed”) is an official declaration from the hierarchy of the Catholic Church that a literary or similar work is free from error in matters of Catholic doctrine and morals, and hence acceptable reading for faithful Catholics. Below is a partial list of events that you might find interesting reading, if you want to know “the rest of the story”.
 
I would suggest two books -
Now this is coming from a three decade reader of the Philokalia -
“ Wisdom of the Desert “ by Thomas Merton - 5 bucks on eBay
And …
“ The Lives of the Desert Fathers “ by Sister Benedicta Ward

Glad to hear you !
 
Last edited:
The Mozarabic rite has a similar tradition. Here is a rough translation of the main point I wanted to share with you all;
The invocation, Deus miserere, (Oh God have mercy), very common in the Hispanic Divine Office and that could be said to be the most characteristic as prayer or litánico song of the Hispano-Mozarabic liturgy. We find it used in this way in the Breviary and especially in the Liber Horarum, from which it was used to add some monastic hours to those of the Cathedral Office. In the monastic Liber Horarum abounds especially in miserationes and in prayers or supplications where a variable number of times is repeated according to the offices, serving most of the time as an antiphon that alternates with a prayer of intercession or prayer of the faithful 8.

In the miserationes of the ordo peculiaris (which in the Breviary is called the Office of Aurora) in those of the ordo ad quartam et quintam, of the ordo ante lectulum and of the ordo post nocturnes, it is repeated up to nine times in a row. Other offices of the Breviary in which it is used are that of the deceased (in agenda mortuorum) or in the miserationes of completes, that properly belong to the post-monastic complete office.

In the Liber Horarum the miserationes usually present three forms:
  • Repetition of the invocation Deus miserere, a variable number of times, until giving way to different requests as a prayer of the faithful.
  • Repetition of the invocation without other requests, followed by a concluding sentence, which usually begins with the word miserere.
  • Repetition exclusively of the invocation Deus miserere, without other requests or concluding prayer.
An example of this last form, without other requests or prayer, is found in the ordo ad nocturnos 9:

Deus miserere;
Deus miserere;
Deus miserere;
Deus miserere;
Deus miserere;
Deus miserere;
Deus miserere

http://www.hispanomozarabe.es/
 
St. Anthony of the Desert is the father of monasticism. He helped St. Athanasius when the Arians persecuted him. St. Athanasius wrote the life of St. Anthony. You can get it from TAN Books/St. Benedict Press 1-800-437-5876.
 
In the Divine Liturgy, the response to most of the petitions is Lord, have mercy / Kyrie eleison. Thank you 😊
 
Last edited:
To the OP,

I wouldn’t recommend kicking off your exploration into the spirituality of the East with the Philokalia. Many/most people who read it forget that it was written by monastics and for monastics. It takes some “translation” work to apply it to the life of a married person (believe me. I’m 33, have been married for over 11 years, have three kids, a fourth in heaven, and a fifth on the way, and my eldest is severely mentally and physically handicapped).

A better place to start could be The Way of the Pilgrim and possibly Writings from the Philokalia on the Prayer of the Heart, although the latter again requires some “translation” for the married layperson.

I’d also recommend St. Ignatius Brianchaninov’s On the Prayer of Jesus as a nice introduction.

For something more in-depth, St. Theophan the Recluse’s The Path to Salvation: A Manual of Spiritual Transformation could be good. It has the added advantage of being written for lay people, so less “translation” is needed.

My personal all-time favorite is Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology which contains a great deal of quotes from St. Theophan, plus a number of other great Eastern/Orthodox saints as well.
 
I am almost finished with The Way of the Pilgrim, and I have really enjoyed it.

Thank you for the advice! I definitely don’t want to get in over my head. I’ll take a look at those books.

Thank you again,
-Katie
 
Start with Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology. It is truly one of my personal favorites. I’ve given away several copies of it. Sadly I no long have a copy to give away… 😉

The great thing about the book is that it simply contains short bite-sized quotes. So you can get a quick quote to “chew” on for the rest of the day. Plus it has a wonderful introduction by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top