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The Book of Mystical Chapters: Meditations on the Soul's Ascent from the Desert Fathers and Other Early Christian Contemplatives

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These "chapters" range in length from one sentence to a page and a half, with most about the length of a short paragraph. They are arranged into three sections ("the threefold ascent") of 100 chapters each.

Don't be tempted, as I was, to read several each day. These chapters were designed to be memorized and then meditated upon, no more than one a day. This is what the translator, John Anthony McGuckin, suggests in his introduction, and his advice is sound.

While many of these spiritual statements are deceptively simple, each one is worthy of serious ruminating.

I recommend this volume highly, but please take your time.

Related titles worthy of consideration are: "The Illumined Heart," by Frederica Mathewes-Green; "The Mountain of Silence," by Kyriacos C. Markides; and "The Art of Prayer," compiled by Igumen Chariton of Valamo.

This is a nice collection of short adages that are directed to the seeker of Christ. Assuming that we are created for union with God in Christ and the Spirit, the authors of this collection, all experts from experience, give practical wisdom and advice.

"If you are serious about the life of prayer, take care to be very merciful, for in this way you shall receive a hundredfold reward and even greater things in the future age," writes St. John Climacus.

I never allowed myself to go to bed while I still felt resentment against a person. And as far as I was able, I never allowed anyone else to go to bed either, as long as they still felt resentment against me," said Abba Agathon.

This is the sort of tenor of the book. Other really useful books in this regard would include bishop Kallistos Ware's classic "The Orthodox Way", along with Markides' "The Silent Mountain" and Robin Amis' "A Different Christinaity". If you like anthologies, a good one with useful notes is Olivier Clement's "The Roots of Christian Mysticism". Enjoy!

Ably translated and with an informative introduction by Orthodox Christian Priest John Anthony McGuckin (Professor of Early Church History, Union Theological Seminary, New York City), The Book Of Mystical Chapters: Meditations On The Soul's Ascent From The Desert Fathers And Other Early Christian Contemplatives is a hallowed collection of more than three hundred short meditations written by Christians from the second through the fourteenth centuries. Many of these meditations were written by the Desert Fathers, monks who deliberately left behind the corruption of city life for the isolated deserts of Egypt and Palestine. These brief yet moving and heartfelt meditations focus upon practice, theory, gnosis, embracing spiritual enlightenment, and the expansion of one's mind and soul. The Book Of Mystical Chapters is very highly recommended reading for all serious students of Christian Theology, History, and Spirituality, regardless of denominational background or affiliation.

In the bookstore my heart was really cold and depressed, and oppressed. I was saying the prayer, but not getting anywhere. I mean the prayer is always good, but I couldn't find any peace. This book helped to break through this malaise, and I was grateful. It helped me see my situation of truly needing help, and it was an avenue of receiving help.
Orthodox Christians believe that the saints write out of the direct experience of the Light of God, and they literally write words of light and love, the Love that the Lord Jesus has shared with them, which is Himself. It is the glory He shares with the Father, that comes from the Holy Spirit. This is given in a measure and type perfectly suited to each person. Father John, in the introduction, explains that the Holy Spirit usually reveals Himself to people just starting to seriously seek Him in a way that is different from people who have learned to humbly live for Him, who suffer in their life with Him. In trying to follow His commandments, they suffer at their inability to follow them, and at the obstacles they encounter, inside and outside, when they try to live out a command such as Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. It is a kind of quiet war, sometimes. So the first stage, I think, is learning to live in this way, that makes you humble, because you see, with the help of grace, how you are not Holy like God, and you don't fit in with Him, and this makes you realize that you deeply need help, so you call out from your heart, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God have mercy on me a sinner." In the second stage He consoles and teaches by sometimes appearing, and sometimes withdrawing. When He seems to leave them without help of grace (He doesn't really leave), they suffer from the war more and become humble, because they remember they need the grace that saves them in the war, so they won't act mean and ugly, or do other ugly things that are not the way the people in Heaven live. Then there is a higher stage of grace, above the war, closer to God, but also with a heavier responsibility. Advice of this type is given in the 3rd section of the book. There are three sections each suited to these three types of people. I'm sorry I don't explain it well, but he does. It is good to read his introduction first, because this is a living tradition, and it good to hear from someone who puts it into practice in his own life, and who belongs to the same tradition as those who wrote the original advice.
Some people, like myself, may have been introduced to the Lord almost as a friend who is always with you, but although you might try to live out what is in the Bible, it is on your own terms, according to what you think is right. It might be hard to see God as Holy (not as a buddy) or it might be hard to know who to trust with authority, because there are a lot of teachers and preachers out there. I gradually trusted the saints from this tradition, the most, but it took a long time. At first I used Catholic saints, like St. Theresa and Saint Francis as my guides, and they are very good, but I found the Orthodox tradition was the oldest, and focused on living such a way where it is possible for Jesus Christ to reveal Himself to you as Light. It doesn't view this as an isolated experience of grace, as many mystics receive, but the normal way of life for people in Heaven with God, or who want to live there. This book helps me to learn what their manner of life is, so I might practice now what I am going to be doing forever, anyway, and so fit in with them. An analogy might be the Hobbits who learned about the way the People of the West lived, suffered on a quest with them, and finally went to live with them. I feel the saints, especially the Mother of God, directly help you have the right attitude and relation to Him, and you can feel the difference after a while through contact with the holy things from the Church. The writings in this book are an example. Everything in the Orthodox church is directed toward seeing Him, and living in union with Him, their prayers, sacraments, songs, icons, everything. I am not meaning to proselytize, but rather I want to say Orthodox view things holistically, so to speak. You can't separate one aspect of the tradition, like this book, from the whole. Of course, anyone is welcome to read it, and benefit, but it is also the tip of an iceberg. A quote from the book: "A lion is known by his paw..."
People familiar with the Narnia books will remember, He's not a tame Lion.
An added note- although I already owned many of the sources of his quotes, in the Philokalia, it also introduced me to some new saints, and it is translated, organized, and presented so well that it is worth it to get it. Also it is good for my friends who want to want to learn this life of prayer but wouldn't be comfortable wading through difficult texts that may not apply to them. This book seems to find you and help you where you are.

Christianity has long since forgotten the old saying, "God became what man is so that man can become what God is." Christianity is not merely about "getting saved" and essentially ending your walk with Christ right then and there. Christianity has always been about theosis, becoming holy as God is holy. "Salvation" cannot be reduced to a mere "get out of hell free card"; it is also healing. It is also transformation. Follow this book, and you are well on your way to becoming a Christian mystic; one who experiences God continually.

This is the rare kind of book that speaks so powerfully to the depth of your soul that you feel privileged just to have read it. You could re-read it over and over again for the rest of your life without exhausting the spiritual wisdom contained in its pages.