Evagrius Ponticus - The Praktikos & Chapters On Prayer

Evagrius Ponticus is one of the most important spiritual writers of the late 4th century. Born in Cappadocia, he was ordained reader by St. Basil the Great, made a deacon by St. Gregory Nazianzen, and was personally acquainted with St. Gregory of Nyssa. After entering the monastic life at St. Melania the Elder's double monastery in Jerusalem, he found his way to the Egyptian desert and became a disciple of St. Macarius the Great. He was the first author to begin systematizing the spiritual teaching of the desert ascetics in writing. Though his speculative theology was eventually condemned at the Fifth Ecumenical Council (553), his writings on prayer and the spiritual life are foundational to the hesychastic tradition and find their place in the Philokalia. The two writings offered here represent Evagrius' teaching on both the practical life (praktike) and the heights of contemplative prayer (theoria). Translated by John Eudes Bamberger OCSO, with a substantial introduction that covers Evagrius' life and teaching.

Softcover, 192 pp.