St. Augustine – You Will See Light Itself

A treatise of St Augustine on St John’s gospel
You will come to the spring and see light itself
We Christians are the light, at least by comparison with unbelievers. Thus the Apostle says: Once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk then as sons of the light. And elsewhere he [...]

Catholic Platonism

Catholic Platonism and Pope Benedict XVI
Here are links to two articles by Pope Benedict XVI (Cardinal Ratzinger), which illustrate a definite Platonic dimension to his thinking.
The title of the first, ‘The Contemplation of Beauty‘ (2002; alternative link), leaves no doubt about its reference to Plato and, in particular, to the speech of Diotima in Plato’s [...]

St. Gregory Palamas’s Sermon on the Transfiguration

On the Transfiguration
St Gregory Palamas, (Γρηγόριος Παλαμάς) Archbishop of Thessalonica (1296 – 1359)
For an explanation of the present Feast and understanding of its truth,it is necessary for us to turn to the very start of today’s reading from the Gospel: “Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James and John his brother, and led [...]

Psychological Interpretation of Psalm 1

The religious life, explained in detail throughout the Bible, is summarized in a single, short passage, namely Psalm 1. Further, the essential message is conveyed in just the first two or three verses. Noting this and studying the psalm will therefore greatly assist ones spiritual progress, in a very direct way, and with comparatively little [...]

Brief Rule of St. Romuald

Brief Rule of St. Romuald
(b. 953 – d. June 19, 1027; founder of Camaldolese order of Benedctines )

Sit in your cell as in paradise. Put the whole world behind you and forget it. Watch your thoughts like a good [...]

St. Bonaventure on Contemplation

St. Bonaventure on Contemplation
Mystical wisdom is revealed by the Holy Spirit
Christ is both the way and the door. Christ is the staircase and the vehicle, like the throne of mercy over the Ark of the Covenant, and the mystery hidden from the ages. A man should turn his full attention to this throne of mercy, [...]

Philo – Higher Pleasures

Philo – Higher Pleasures
On the Giants 10.40

X. (40) And the sentence which follows, “I am the Lord,” is uttered with great beauty and with most excessive propriety, “for,” says the Lord, “oppose, my good man, the good of the flesh to that of the soul, and of the whole man;” therefore the pleasure of the [...]

Resource: The Psychological Basis of the Jesus Prayer

Description of Work
The Psychological Basis of Mental Prayer in the Heart is a three-volume work dedicated to the the study of the foundations of the Jesus Prayer. It has been written by an Orthodox monk, Fr Theophanes (Constantine). The complete text has been published on-line on the Internet, and the links given below are to [...]

Philo on Inspiration – De migr Abr 7

Philo – On the Migration of Abraham 7.34-7.35
VII. …

(34) I am not ashamed to relate what has happened to me myself, which I know from having experienced it ten thousand times. Sometimes, when I have desired to come to my usual employment of writing on the doctrines of philosophy, though I have [...]

St Columbanus

Reading From the Rule of St Columbanus
Perpetual light in the temple of the eternal High Priest
How happy, how lucky are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes! How blessed it is to be wakeful and watching for God, who created all things, who fills them with being and exceeds all of [...]