Kenneth L. Woodward Religion Editor of Newsweek Magazine in Publishers Weekly Bonaventure-The Soul's Journey into God, The Tree of Life, The Life of St. Francis translation and introduction by Ewert Cousins, preface by Ignatius Brady, O.F.M. But if you wish to know how these things come about ask grace not instruction, desire not understanding, the groaning of prayer not diligent reading, the Spouse not the teacher, God not man, darkness not clarity, not light but the fire that totally enflames and carries us into God by ecstatic unctions and burning affections. This fire is God and his furnace is in Jerusalem... Bonaventure, 1217-1274 Long before Bonaventure was called The Prince of Mystics by Leo XIII or The Seraphic Doctor by John Gerson, he was known throughout the Christian world as The Devout Teacher. Professor Ewert Cousins says in his introduction, In the history of Western Spirituality, Bonaventure holds a central and pivotal position. The 13th century friar, professor at the University of Paris, minister general of the Franciscan Order, cardinal and advisor to popes, played a major role in the spiritual ferment of the high Middle Ages...when Islamic, Jewish and Christian spirituality were flourishing-he produced one of the richest syntheses of Christian spirituality. Although cosmic in its scope, it was distinctively Christian in its content, grounded in the doctrine of the Trinity and devotion to the humanity of Christ. Within Christianity he achieved a striking integration of Eastern and Western elements. The three works contained in this volume offer the core of his vision. In The Soul's Journey into God, considered Bonaventure's masterpiece, he takes the six-winged Seraph as the symbol for the six stages of contemplation in which the created world is seen as a reflection of God. The Tree of Life is a simple meditation on the life of Jesus, based on the Gospel accounts in which Christ is seen as the Tree of Life on whose branches blossom such virtues as humility, piety, patience, constancy and justice. The Life of St. Francis was the official biography commissioned by the Franciscan Order in 1260. The editor of this volume, Dr. Ewert Cousins, is Professor of Theology, Fordham University and Visiting Professor, Columbia University. He is Director of the Spirituality Graduate Program at Fordham. Ignatius Brady, O.F.M., who wrote the preface to this volume, is one of the world's leading authorities on Bonaventure and early Franciscan spirituality. He is Prefect of the Theology Section of the Franciscan research center, Collegio S. Bonaventura at Grottaferrata near Rome. +

    They are a selection from a group known as the Apostolic Fathers, so-called because several of the authors were most likely disciples of the Apostles themselves. Like much of the New Testament, their writings take the form of letters, and for the most part deal with practical problems of the life of the early Church, as it struggled in the face of persecution to establish itself in the Roman world. They give us a picture of Christianity still drawing on the theology and traditions of its parent religion, Judaism.

    Dr. Stephen De Young, creator of the popular The Whole Counsel of God blog and podcast, traces the lineage of Orthodox Christianity back to the faith and witness of the apostles, which was rooted in a first-century Jewish worldview. The Religion of the Apostles presents the Orthodox Christian Church of today as a continuation of the religious life of the apostles, which in turn was a continuation of the life of the people of God since the beginning of creation.

    Assessing the evidence of a corrupt world, Father Spyridon, a Greek Orthodox priest, draws together the different strands that reveal how the institutions and international organisations are preparing humanity for the end. The first half of the book deals with the United Nations, the arms industries, banking, the Freemasons, and the various secret elite groups hat control our world. He then gives a clear explanation of the means by which we are being attacked and manipulated through television, education, culture and philosophy.Finally he presents the prophecies of various Orthodox saints who told us what else we should expect. Father Spyridon's warnings will comfort some and anger others, This is a book that many will try to dismiss, while others will find in it comfort and confirmation of what they already suspected was happening. Written in a sober style, Orthodoxy And The Kingdom of Satan is a wake up call for all those who believe that time is running out. "It's Later than you think" we once heard, and the hour may be later than we dared imagine.

    Nouwen, one of the greatest of all spiritual writers, invites us to search deeply for the well-springs that nourish true ministry in his classic The Way of the Heart. Interweaving the solitude, silence, and prayer of the fifth-century Egyptian Desert Fathers and Mothers with our contemporary search for an authentic spirituality, The Way of the Heart not only leads us to a fuller encounter with God, but to a more creative ministry with our fellow human beings. Here is one of the most profound works from a writer known for his fresh and perceptive insights—and who stands alongside C.S. Lewis and Thomas Merton as an essential Christian scholar and thinker.

    This biography, written by his close spiritual disciple Elder Isaac and universally recognized as the most authoritative account of his life, has been reprinted numerous times in numerous languages. The life and virtues of the elder are exhaustively and accurately sketched in profound simplicity, revealing the spiritual brilliance which shone forth from his heart, enveloping on all who drew near. In part one, we are led step by step through the development of a contemporary saint: from his origins in Cappadocia and early spiritual zeal, through his monastic beginnings in the monastery and ascetic struggles on Athos and Sinai, to his outpouring of spiritual consolation to his fellow man and his blessed repose in the Lord. In part two, we are presented with the full spectrum of his spiritual personality: his virtues, way of life, spiritual gifts, self-offering and teaching. The life of Elder Paisios of Mount Athos resembles a garden adorned with countless flowers in bloom, radiant and colourful, beautiful to the eyes of man's spiritual heart, letting off an otherworldly aroma of holiness. The reader is invited to enter into his life and words, to "lay aside all earthly cares", to see life from the divine perspective, to understand the mystery of the Gospel by standing under, submitting and entrusting oneself to experience and wisdom this God-bearing Holy Father.

    And I have an increasingly keen sense that, wherever I am, someone nearby is suffering now.For that reason, I lately have settled in to mull the matter over, gathering my troubled wits to undertake a difficult essay, more like what we used to call an assay, really—an earnest inquiry. I am thinking of it just now as a study in suffering, by which I hope to find some sense in affliction, hoping—just as I have come to hope about experience in general—to make something of it.” Is there meaning in our afflictions?With the thoughtfulness of a pilgrim and the prose of a poet, Scott Cairns takes us on a soul-baring journey through “the puzzlement of our afflictions.” Probing ancient Christian wisdom for revelation in his own pain, Cairns challenges us toward a radical revision of the full meaning and breadth of human suffering. Clear-eyed and unsparingly honest, this new addition to the literature of suffering is reminiscent of The Year of Magical Thinking as well as the works of C. S. Lewis. Cairns points us toward hope in the seasons of our afflictions, because “in those trials in our lives that we do not choose but press through—a stillness, a calm, and a hope become available to us.”

    Prepared under the direction of canonical Orthodox theologians and hierarchs, The Orthodox Study Bible presents a remarkable combination of historic theological insights and practical instruction in Christian living. Clergy and laity who want to learn more about the Orthodox Christian faith and liturgical and sacramental foundations in the Scriptures will gain a wealth of information for the preparation of sermons and lessons as Orthodox Christian doctrine is clearly explained. If you are looking for authoritative guidance in interpreting Scripture, understanding the early church, and learning how to apply the Word of God to your spiritual life -- The Orthodox Study Bible will be a treasured resource for you.

    Know the Faith is an attempt to present Orthodox Christianity in a way Western Christians can understand, grounding each point in Scripture and patristic theology, with comparisons to what Catholics and Protestants believe.Whether you are an Orthodox Christian seeking to explain your faith to others or an inquirer into this ancient faith, Know the Faith will help you understand and communicate the Orthodox faith as never before.

    This volume contains Book One.

    Evans are the writings that have had such a major role in shaping the Western monastic tradition and influencing the development of Catholic mystical theology. Together with an introduction by the master of Bernard studies, jean Leclercq, they comprise a volume that occupies and place of special importance in the chronicle of the history of the western spiritual adventure.

    

    But, as A. M. Allchin points out in his Introduction to this new edition, Contemplative Prayer also shows us the present day in a new perspective, because we see it in the light of a long and living tradition. Merton stresses that in meditation we should not look for a 'method' or 'system' but cultivate an 'attitude' or 'outlook': faith, openness, attention, reverence, expectation, trust, joy. God is found in the desert of surrender, in giving up any expectation of a particular message and 'waiting on the Word of God in silence'. Merton insists on the humility of faith, which he argues 'will do far more to launch us into the full current of historical reality than the pompous rationalisations of politicians who think they are somehow the directors and manipulators of history'.

    This meditation on the spiritual life has inspired readers from Thomas More and St. Ignatius Loyola to Thomas Merton and Pope John Paul I. Written by the Augustinian monk Thomas à Kempis between 1420 and 1427, it contains clear instructions for renouncing wordly vanities and locating eternal truths. No book has more explicitly and movingly described the Christian ideal:

    Immensely popular in its own day, it was ranked by Francis de Sales with the Imitation of Christ. In the general rapport between Western and Eastern Christendom, it reached Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain, who first recognized its immense spiritual worth, and later, in the nineteenth century, Theophan the Recluse, both of whom edited and translated the work. Rich in its references to the teachings of the saints and Fathers, Unseen Warfarecombines the insights of West and East on that spiritual combat which is the road to perfection and the stripping away of all that militates against it. Staretz Theophan wrote in his foreword, "the arena, the field of battle, the site where the fight actually takes place is our own heart and all our inner man. The time of battle is our whole life." Unseen Warfare is a perfect complement to the Philokalia.