"These three ancient texts - The Sayings of Saint Macarius, The Virtues of Saint Macarius, and The Life of Saint Macarius of Scetis - provide insight into one of the most venerated saints of the Coptic Church and into life in the Egyptian monastic communities of the fourth century." "Macarius the Great (also called Macarius of Egypt or Macarius the Egyptian) came to preside, in a loose manner, over the monks of Scetis in Wadi al-Natrun. These monks lived alone or in small groups in scattered cells and came together as a larger community only on Saturday and Sunday, when they celebrated the Eucharist together and participated in a communal meal. Later architectural and organizational structures, such as defensive high walls or rules and regulations of medieval Benedictine monasticism, were unknown to them." "This work is a companion volume to Four Desert Fathers, which contains four monastic Lives - Pambo, Evagrius, Macarius of Egypt, and Macarius of Alexandria - preserved in Coptic (the Coptic Palladiana) and clearly related to the Greek Lausiac History of Paladius."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The writings of Pseudo-Macarius, a Syrian monk of the 4th century, bring to Western Christianity a holistic "heart" spirituality that offers a necessary complementarity to the "head" spirituality of the West. The homilies reveal the typical traits of Eastern Christian asceticism and The Great Letter instructs the monastic community.

Two monastic elders - the "Great Old Man" Barsanuphius, and the "Other Old Man" John - flourished in the southern region around Gaza in the early part of the sixth century. Maintaining strict seclusion, they spoke to others only through letters by way of Abba Seridos, the abbot of their monastic, desert community.

The Desert Fathers were the first Christian monks, living in solitude in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. In contrast to the formalised and official theology of the "founding fathers" of the church, the Desert Fathers were ordinary Christians who chose to renounce the world and live lives of celibacy, fasting, vigil, prayer and poverty in direct and simple response to the gospel. Their sayings were first recorded in the 4th century and consist of spiritual advice, anecdotes and parables. The Desert Fathers' teachings and lives have inspired poetry, opera and art, as well as providing spiritual nourishment and a template for monastic life.

International specialists in Coptology examine various aspects of Coptic civilisation in Wadi al-Natrun over the past 1700 years. Their studies centre on aspects of the history and development of monasticism in Wadi al-Natrun, as well as the art, architecture, and archaeology of the four existing and numerous former monastries of the region.

"The four desert Fathers who give their names to this volume - Pambo, Evagrius, Macarius of Egypt, and Macarius of Alexandria - were well known some 1600 years ago in Alexandria and the monastic communities of Lower Egypt. They were most famous, perhaps, because the monk (and later bishop) Palladius recounted their Lives - preserved in the Coptic Palladiana - in his Lausiac History. The introduction describes the relationships among Palladius and Evagrius, Origenism, the spiritual and theological ramifications of the Anthropomorphite controversy, and subsequent effects on the Lausiac History and the four Coptic Lives of this volume."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This great orator addresses the question of wealth and poverty in the lives of people of his day. Yet Chrysostom's words proclaim the truth of the Gospel to all people of all times.