panguitch's Full Review: The Philokalia: The Complete Text
For a number of reasons it’s humbling to try and review this text. I feel I have to begin with expressions of my own inadequacy for the task. But there are no reviews on epinions for any of the variations or selective compilations of the Philokalia and so I must make my own offering to fill the void.
Briefly, what is the Philokalia?
The Philokalia is a collection of texts written between the fourth and fifteenth centuries by the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Christian tradition. St. Nikodimos of Athos and St. Makarios of Corinth compiled and published it in 1782. This treasury of spiritual wisdom spreads over five volumes (1,207 folio pages) only four of which are yet available in English, and those not always easy to locate. Only the Holy Bible itself is a more important text to Orthodoxy.
My inadequacies:
First, I have to say I haven’t read the Philokalia cover to cover. I probably haven’t read half of it. But then, it’s not that kind of book. You don’t have to read dictionaries or encyclopedias cover to cover to review them. Not that the Philokalia is a dictionary or encyclopedia—far from it. Moreover, the fifth volume has yet to be translated into English, and though I could try reading it in Russian, I haven’t the stamina.
To add to that, I’m not Orthodox. I can’t give an insider’s view. Although, the vast majority of Orthodox haven’t read it either, and an insider’s view could probably only be gained from Orthodox clergy. I do, however, have a tender interest in Orthodoxy. While no great scholar, I’ve read a little, and spent a little time in Russian Orthodox services. Ironically, I was doing so while serving as a missionary for a different tradition, though I was still infused with an appreciation for Orthodoxy that has not left me since. The deep mysticism and spirituality of Orthodoxy, coupled with a reverence and awareness of tradition and form; the individuality and personal nature of Orthodox faith, in tandem with a willing, grass-roots unanimity, has always struck me as something eminently desirable for Christianity.
Again, what is the Philokalia?
“The Philokalia has acted as a spiritual ‘time bomb’, for the true ‘age of the Philokalia’ has been not the late eighteenth but the late twentieth century.” – Timothy (Kallistos) Ware
Who wrote it?
St. Anthony the Great
Evagrius of Pontus
Nilus of Ancyra
Diadochus of Photice
Maximus the Confessor
John Damascene
Philotheus the Sinaite
Symeon the New Theologian
Nicephorus the Monk
Gregory the Sinaite
Hesychius of Jerusalem
St. Mark the Ascetic
Gregory of Palamas
and many others
Who is the audience?
“Unlike Western and most other mystical writings, those in the Philokalia are neither poetic nor self-consciously literary; they are private documents of a technical nature, preserved within Mount Athos monasteries purely for the use of monks of later generations. . . . It is not a primer.” – Richard Temple
If you want an introduction to Orthodoxy, don’t start here. I would instead suggest Kallistos (Timothy) Ware’s The Orthodox Church or the website www.orthodoxinfo.com. The Philokalia is a collection of the inner musings of monastic giants, shared among the circles of Mount Athos. Even after its compilation, though its impact has been profound, it has never been common reading material for the lay person.
What is it about?
The Jesus Prayer, or Prayer of the Heart
Hesychasm - The practice of silence.
Nepsis or Inner Attention
Asceticism
Theosis
The Passions
The Gift of Tears
The Ladder to Heaven
Spiritual Synergy
Love
Faith
Sin
Knowledge
epistolary works
and more
An example of its matter:
“Often I spent an entire day sitting in the forest, carefully reading the Philokalia and learning so many wondrous things from it. My heart burned with a desire for union with God through interior prayer, which I strove to attain under the guidance and verification of the Philokalia.” - The Way of a Pilgrim
The Jesus Prayer, also called interior prayer, or Prayer of the Heart, is a common subject among the treatises, epistles, and journal entries that make up the Philokalia. This prayer, whose function and power is the subject of the classic Russian narrative, The Way of a Pilgrim, is the response to the Apostle Paul’s injunction to “Pray without ceasing.”
The goal is to repeat without ceasing the Jesus Prayer, whether aloud or not. Literally without ceasing. The prayer should revolve in the mind even while eating, speaking with others, or sleeping. Thus perpetual communion with God, the purpose of human existence, can be fulfilled. Theosis, deification, partaking of the divine nature, gaining the divinity that God has extended to us, is the purpose of practicing the Jesus Prayer in this way, just as it is the purpose of asceticism, hesychasm, and other practices.
The Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me!” In some Russian traditions the phrase “a sinner” is added at the end.
Another example, again on prayer:
The Blessed Kallistos of Xanthopoulos, the holy Patriarch of Constantinople (circa 1360 A.D.), urges that if we would pray as we ought, we would imitate the dulcimer player: “bending his head a little and inclining his ear to the strings, he strikes the strings skillfully, and enjoys the melody he draws from their harmonious notes. Is this example clear to you? The dulcimer is the heart; the strings–the feelings; the hammer–remembrance of God; the player–mind. By remembrance of God and of Divine things the mind draws holy feelings from the God-fearing heart, then ineffable sweetness fills the soul, and the mind, which is pure, is lit up by Divine illuminations. The dulcimer player perceives and hears nothing but the melody he enjoys. So the mind, during active prayer descends into the depths of the heart with sobriety and can no longer listen to aught but God.” – The Philokalia
Reactions and Recommendation:
In light of the previously enumerated inadequacies under which I labor, it should be no surprise that much of what I have read in the Philokalia surpasses me. I do not understand it, I have not experienced it, but it fascinates me. And I feel there are many profound truths within this text which I could only grope after blindly, feeling their form but not perceiving them entirely. But I have received, in reduced measure, some of the spiritual understanding I believe these great Fathers wished to impart. And I now have greater understanding of Orthodoxy and those who follow the Orthodox Tradition.
I recommend the Philokalia emphatically to any familiar with Orthodoxy who wish to plumb deeper. Or to any well studied in other Christian traditions who wish to study the Orthodox Fathers’ writings. Again, I do not recommend it to someone simply wanting an overview of Orthodoxy, because that is not what the Philokalia is. I’m not saying you need to be an expert, or degreed, because I’m not. But I didn’t receive as much as I could have. If you want a taste of the Philokalia, there are quite a few books published that contain excerpts on various subjects.
Because of it’s extremely limited audience, and because the translation is not yet complete, I only give the Philokalia four stars. But for that audience, its worth cannot be estimated.
And again, what is the Philokalia?
The Philokalia is the “treasury of watchfulness, the keeper of the mind, the mystical school of prayer of the heart . . . the paradise of the Fathers . . . the deep teaching of Christ, the trumpet which calls back the grace . . . the instrument itself of deification.” – St. Nikodimos
- Panguitch
The Philokalia: The Complete Text. Translated from the Greek and edited by G. E. H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Kallistos Ware. London: Faber and Faber, 1979-1995.
The Way of the Pilgrim. Translated by Olga Savin. Boston: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1996.
Temple, Richard. “Silence of the Heart.” Parabola 15 (Summer 1990): 28-36.
The Philokalia is a collection of texts on prayer and the spiritual life, written between the fourth and fifteenth centuries by spiritual masters of t...More at Christianbook.com
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