The Philokalia

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We had a very interesting thread about The Cloud of Unknowing. In a similar vein, I’d like to start a thread about The Philokalia, and of course, The Way of a Pilgrim, the best introduction to the apophatic spirituality of The Philokalia. These are generally considered to be Orthodox spirituality, although much of the Philokalia was written before the Church became divided. I know that many Catholics must have read these seeking spiritual guidance, and I wonder what comments, issues or concerns people may have?
 
I am unfamiliar with The Philokalia. Could you give some background?
 
The Philokalia is a collection of texts on prayer written between the 4th and 15th centuries by the Desert Fathers. It was compiled in the 18th century by two Greek monks at Mt. Athos. These texts were written by spiritual fathers who gave up all to live in the wilderness and practice penance and prayer. This is the source for detailed instruction on how to work with the Jesus Prayer, although the texts caution that this work should be undertaken under spiritual direction if at all possible.

The Way of a Pilgrim tells the story of a devout Orthodox Christian, a wandering pilgrim in Russia in the 19th century, who seeks to understand how to pray without ceasing using the Jesus Prayer, and it contains the essence of the Philokalia in a form that is much easier to read and understand.
 
Can it be accessed online?

Have you used the discipline before? I am trying to deepen my prayer life so I am interested in this type of information and experience.
 
Unfortunately, I have not come across an online version. I too was introduced to The Philokalia via The Way of a Pilgrim. The full multi-volume version is quite dense. A nice abridgement has been compiled called **Writings from the Philokalia : On Prayer of the Heart. **Its easily available from Amazon.com.

Peace,
Jon
 
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JonPerry:
Unfortunately, I have not come across an online version. I too was introduced to The Philokalia via The Way of a Pilgrim. The full multi-volume version is quite dense. A nice abridgement has been compiled called **Writings from the Philokalia : On Prayer of the Heart. **Its easily available from Amazon.com.

Peace,
Jon
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Thank you, Jon!

I am studying the Autobiography of a Soul by St. Therese. The thrust of her Little Way is that we can find ways to work towards holiness in the mundane and every day things of life. Is The Way of a Pilgrim like this, or does it have a different direction?
 
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LSK:
Thank you, Jon!

I am studying the Autobiography of a Soul by St. Therese. The thrust of her Little Way is that we can find ways to work towards holiness in the mundane and every day things of life. Is The Way of a Pilgrim like this, or does it have a different direction?
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No, this spirituality is quite different. The gist of it is to come to know God through unceasing prayer. One repeats the Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me”, without thinking about anything else, for many hours a day until the repetition becomes habitual and automatic. Ultimately the prayer goes on by itself in the midst of all other activities, and even during sleep. “The Way of a Pilgrim” shares many, but not all, of the techniques recommended in The Philokalia to work with the prayer, such as praying with a rosary or chotki, or combining the prayer with the breathing.

Many variants of the Jesus Prayer can be used. The version above is the principal one recommended in “The Way of a Pilgrim”. The full version, “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner” may be better known in the West. But many people use “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy”, “Lord have mercy (Kyrie Eleison)” or just “Jesus”.
 
JMJ + OBT​

An excellent English translation of The Philokalia is available in four volumes (when completed, the translation will total five volumes).

Here are links to volumes one to four as sold on Amazon.com:

The Philokalia, vol. 1

The Philokalia, vol. 2

The Philokalia, vol. 3

The Philokalia, vol. 4

I am almost finished with volume 1, and I find it to be excellent. It has, for me, a bit of a “foreign feel” to it, coming as I am from a lifetime practice of piety and reasoning in the Roman Church. But at the same time, it provides a beautiful glimpse into the hearts and minds of the holiest spiritual men of the East.

Now, volumes 1 and 2 contain writings that are more or less the common heritage of both Catholics and Orthodox – that is, Western and Eastern Christianity – as they were mostly written before the split at the beginning of the 2nd Millennium. But if one were to continue on reading through volumes 3 to 5, it would be important to keep in mind that one is wading into territory that is, loosely speaking, entirely Orthodox (note well the capital “O”). That’s not necessarily a problem, but should kept in mind by the Catholic reader.

In the Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

IC XC NIKA
 
Hi all,
I actually heard of the “Jesus Prayer” before the Philokalia through Coptic Egyptian acquaintances of mine.

I got the “Way of the Pilgrim” translation by Helen Bacovcin almost 1 1/2 yrs back and it is wonderful.

I especially liked how it helped those who were having difficulty in ceaselessly praying the “Jesus Prayer” by focusing mentally on the beating of their heart and by breaking down the Jesus Prayer word by word according to their heartbeat.

I have been lucky to borrow the Philokalia from a local Priest in the past, but, financially I can’t afford to buy even one volume… Hopefully that will change soon.

Anyway, I have in my favorites a webpage containing 120 Sayings of the Desert Fathers that I thought my interest some of you. It’s not the complete Philokalia, but, some of the quoted Desert Fathers sayings in the “Way of the Pilgrim” can be found on this page.

balamandmonastery.org.lb/fathers/indexsayings2.htm

In my experience with the Jesus Prayer I do find that I am more peaceful and my mood more contemplative. When I walk outside and consistently focus on saying the Jesus Prayer I find that I don’t get as distracted by things or people around me like before.

I would love to get into more of a discussion on this… 😃

God bless all
 
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Maryam:
I especially liked how it helped those who were having difficulty in ceaselessly praying the “Jesus Prayer” by focusing mentally on the beating of their heart and by breaking down the Jesus Prayer word by word according to their heartbeat.
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I have been afraid to go very far with this without spiritual direction. If it happens by itself, I do let it happen.

In working with “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me”, I often felt some discontent to be praying for myself only. A holy Carmelite nun advised me to shorten it to “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy” and then let the prayer be for everyone, particularly those I might encounter while praying.
 
It has been a long time since I read the Way of the Pilgrim. But, it had made such an impact that it remains ingrained on my mind and sets on my bookshelf. I have read some of The Philokalia and have found a great deal of wisdom.

My first spiritual director introduced me to the Jesus Prayer (early 1980s). I must admit that I have let it slip since then!

God bless you!
Bob
 
Greetings in the name of the Lord,
I was introduced to the Philokalia and the Jesus prayer in a monastery where I spent some time and had a staretz to guide me. It is essential to have an experienced guide when endeavoring in this because the devil is very tricky and one can easily fall into his many traps, especially prelest. Another excellent book on the Jesus prayer for someone who has a lot of experience in practicing it is “The Art of Prayer” by Igumen Chariton. Bishop Kallistos Ware has some very good tapes on the Jesus prayer also where he often refers to the Philokalia. Of course these 2 references are both Orthodox sources.
I continue with the practice of the Jesus prayer and the reading of the Philokalia today under the guidance of a monastic sister with many years of experience. I would never go it alone.
That’s just my 2 cents.
In Christ and the Theotokos as we all seek to become beings of prayers,
Marie
 
I have been reading the Philocalia for about 5 years and find it one of the most stimulating and orthodox ( in my meaning of the word) that I have ever read.

There are litterally hundreds of spiritual ideas that we all know but we dont articulate clearly and threfore dont prcatice.

I’ll just give one that has helped me a great deal and combine in with the Jesus proayer.

The book talks about “custody of the mind and heart” and I knew immediately upon hearing the phrase and reading the suurounding commentary that I needed to gain that custody.

I beleive I have arrived at a stage that I no longer cosciously commit serious sin. I probably still rationalize, minimze and deny my venial or lessserious sins but I do try to avoid them.

In getting custody of my mind I was only able to get there after much prayer that now goes on throughout the day. I do have a big family and like many of the young people of our day they sometimes violate me personally and attack me unmercifully so that the committee meetings in my head get called (probably by the devil) and the only and I mean the only way that I keep these thought from bringing me down is that I keep saying the Jesus prayer over and over again, Soon time passes and new thoughts now are available for me to allow in as I do have custody of my mind.

Anyone who is serious about spirituality and wants to do more than just “feel good” and is willing and anxious to do the work to see God and His work in their lives and in the world should not just read but study this classical Catholic work.

I would say to Catholics for some reason the Holy Fathers that are quoted in this book do not refer to the Blessed Sacrament.

In my mind this is a most needed sacrament if one is to really gain custody of the mind and heart and move close to God here on earth.

God bless all of yoy for seeking
 
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