Gregory of Nyssa This great spiritual master of the fourth century was born as the general persecution of Christians was ending. One of the Greek Cappadocian Fathers (the other two were Gregory's brother, St. Basil the Great, and their mutual friend, St. Gregory Nazianzen), Gregory has come to be regarded increasingly as the most brilliant and subtle thinker and most profound mystical teacher of the three. Whether or not one agrees with Jean Danielou who saw Gregory as the founder of mystical importance within the Christian tradition.The Life of Moses has special significance because it reflects Gregory's spiritual sense of the Scriptures. He maintained that the ultimate purpose of the Bible was not its historical teachings but its capacity for elevating the soul to God. Gregory saw the totality of the spiritual life as an epektasis, a continual growth or straining ahead, as in the words of St. Paul, Forgetting the past, I strain for what is still to come. Gregory frames an immensely significant synthesis of the earlier Hellenistic and Jewish traditions in this work. He describes the spiritual ascent as taking place in three stages, symbolized by the Lord's revelation of Himself to Moses, first in light, then in the cloud and, finally, in the dark. This translation and introduction, winner of the Christian Research Foundation Award, has been expertly rendered by Professors Abraham Malherbe of Yale University and Everett Ferguson of Abilene Christian University.

    And since medieval Europe was the cradle of modern Western society, this work is vital for understanding our world and how it came into being.

    Using everyday language to explain difficult theological concepts, Teresa of Avila compares the contemplative life to a castle with seven chambers. Tracing the passage of the soul through each successive chamber, she draws a powerful picture of the path toward spiritual perfection. It is the most sublime and mature of Teresa's works, offering profound and inspiring reflections on such subjects as self-knowledge, humility, detachment, and suffering.One of the most celebrated works on mystical theology in existence, as timely today as when St. Teresa of Avila wrote it centuries ago, this is a treasury of unforgettable maxims on self-knowledge and fulfillment.

    St Maximus' two main collections of theological reflections-his Ambigua (or "Difficulties") and his Questions to Thalassius - plus one of his christological opuscula, hitherto unavailable in English, are accompanied by immensely helpful notes, and prefaced by a long, brilliant introduction to the theology of the Confessor.

    Originally written in the 14th century, now part of the HarperCollins Spiritual classics series, this beautiful contemplative resource, has been embraced for hundreds of years for its simple, engaging style and spiritual truths. As the unknown author assures us, “if you are to experience Him or to see Him at all, insofar as it is possible here, it must always be in this cloud.” —The Cloud of Unknowing.

    In tracing the history of the Church from the time of Christ to the Great Persecution at the beginning of the fourth century, and ending with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, his aim was to show the purity and continuity of the doctrinal tradition of Christianity and its struggle against persecutors and heretics.

    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. +

    s/t: Being Koetschau's Text of the De Principiis Translated into English Together with an Introduction & NotesThe FatherChristThe Holy SpiritLoss or falling awayRational naturesThe end or consummationThings corporeal & incorporealThe angelsThe world & the creatures in itThe perpetuity of bodily natureThe beginning of the world & its causesThat there is one God of the law & the prophets, & that the God of the old & new covenants is the sameThe just & the goodThe incarnation of the SaviourThat it was the same Spirit who was in Moses & the rest of the prophets & in the holy apostlesThe soulThe world & the movements of rational creatures both good & evil & the causes of these movementsResurrection & punishmentThe promisesFree willHow the devil & the opposing powers are, according to the Scriptures, at war with the human raceThe threefold wisdomWhether the statement made by some is true, that each individual has two soulsThat the world is originated & subject to decay, since it took its beginning in timeThe endThe inspiration of divine ScriptureHow divine Scripture should be read & interpretedThe principle underlying the obscurities in divine Scripture & its impossible or unreasonable character in places, if taken literallySummary of doctrine concerning the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit

    The book is divided into two parts, "The Mystic Fact" and "The Mystic Way." In the first part Underhill explores the theological, psychological, and philosophical underpinnings of mysticism from a historical perspective. In the second part Underhill examines the application of mysticism in one's life as a means for spiritual growth. Evelyn Underhill's Mysticism is both a fantastic introduction to the search for spirituality through mysticism and an almost encyclopedic examination of the subject.

    This is a comprehensive attempt to make the spiritual tradition of large areas of mankind more generally accessible to the ordinary interested reader. A. M. Allchin in Church Times Catherine of Siena-The Dialogue translation and introduction by Suzanne Noffke, O.P., preface by Giuliana Cavallini If you have received my love sincerely without self-interest, you will drink your neighbor's love sincerely. It is just like a vessel that you fill at the fountain. If you take it out of the fountain to drink, the vessel is soon empty. But if you hold your vessel in the fountain while you drink, it will not get empty: indeed, it will always be full. Catherine of Siena, 1347-1380 This is the crowning spiritual work of the only woman other than Teresa of Avila to be granted the title of Doctor of the Roman Catholic Church. This volume was simply called my book by the fourteenth-century Italian saint. The aim of her book (one of the first books to see print in Spain, Germany, Italy, and England), says Dr. Noffke in her Foreword, was the instruction and encouragement of all those whose spiritual welfare was her concern. Catherine was a mystic whose plunge into God plunged her deep into the affairs of society, Church and the souls who came under her influence. Professor Noffke goes on to call The Dialogue a great tapestry to which Catherine adds stitch upon stitch until she is satisfied that she has communicated all she can of what she has learned of the way of God. In this, the sixth centenary of the great Dominican's death, we live in a time so badly in need of her sense of institutional reform as flowing from Divine truth, love and charity. Dr. Noffke says: In the opening pages of The Dialogue Catherine presents a series of questions or petitions to God the Father each of which receives a response and amplification. There is the magnificent symbolic portrayal of Christ as the bridge. There are specific discussions of discernment, tears (true and false spiritual emotion), truth, the sacramental heart ('mystic body') of the Church, divine providence, obedience.... It is not so much a treatise to be read as it is a conversation to be entered into with earnest leisure and leisurely earnest.

    It is a collection of religious and philosophic texts gathered and translated into Coptic by fourth-century Gnostic Christians and translated into English by dozens of highly reputable experts. First published in 1978, this is the revised 1988 edition supported by illuminating introductions to each document. The library itself is a diverse collection of texts that the Gnostics considered to be related to their heretical philosophy in some way. There are 45 separate titles, including a Coptic translation from the Greek of two well-known works: the Gospel of Thomas, attributed to Jesus' brother Judas, and Plato's Republic. The word gnosis is defined as "the immediate knowledge of spiritual truth." This doomed radical sect believed in being here now--withdrawing from the contamination of society and materiality--and that heaven is an internal state, not some place above the clouds. That this collection has resurfaced at this historical juncture is more than likely no coincidence.--P. Randall Cohan

    Through these 'showings', Christ's sufferings were revealed to her with extraordinary intensity, but she also received assurance of God's unwavering love for man and his infinite capacity for forgiveness. Written in a vigorous English vernacular, the Revelations are one of the most original works of medieval mysticism and have had a lasting influence on Christian thought. This edition of the Revelations contains both the short text, which is mainly an account of the 'showings' themselves and Julian's initial interpretation of their meaning, and the long text, completed some twenty years later, which moves from vision to a daringly speculative theology. Elizabeth Spearing's translation preserves Julian's directness of expression and the rich complexity of her thought. An introduction, notes and appendices help to place the works in context for modern readers.

    Benedict has for centuries been the guide of religious communities. St. Benedict's rules of obedience, humility, and contemplation are not only prerequisites for formal religious societies, they also provide an invaluable model for anyone desiring to live more simply. While they presuppose a certain detachment from the world, they provide guidance and inspiration for anyone seeking peace and fulfillment in their home and work communities. As prepared by the Benedictine monk and priest Timothy Fry, this translation of The Rule of St. Benedict can be a life-transforming book. With a new Preface by Thomas Moore, author of The Care of the Soul."God is our home but many of us have strayed from our native land. The venerable authors of these Spiritual Classics are expert guides--may we follow their directions home."--Archbishop Desmond Tutu

    Introductions and bibliographies are generous and up to date. In the textual apparatus, existing notes have been revised and expanded, and well over 200 new notes have been added. This handsome and handy one-volume, thin-paper edition will be an essential resource for students and scholars and a joy to book lovers.

    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: