Gerontikon
* A layman's reading journal, not a canon of the Fathers — books appear here simply as they are read and annotated. For the Church's own anthologies, see the Philokalia, the Gerontikon, and the Paterikons.
“We show right judgment and evince salutary intelligence when, in reading about the rules and experiences of the ancient Fathers and of their obedience—equally amazing both in the directors and in those who were being directed—we see at the present time a general decline of Christianity and recognize that we are unfit to inherit the legacy of the Fathers in its fullness and in all its abundance. And it is a great mystery of God, a great blessing for us, that it is left to us to feed on the crumbs that fall from the spiritual table of the Fathers.”
— Ignatius Brianchaninov, The Arena: Guidelines for Spiritual and Monastic Life
Browse by tag — across all books
choose a tag above — every matching passage from every book appears here
Cited Fathers — quoted across the books
The modern distillers — 19th & 20th c.
St. Theophan the Recluse
The Spiritual Life and How to Be Attuned to It →
The Path to Salvation — coming soon
Turning the Heart to God — coming soon
Diagrams: Letters 6–7 & 11 →
St. Ignatius Brianchaninov
The Arena: Guidelines for Spiritual and Monastic Life →
458 passages — Introduction, chs. 11–16 & 22–43
The Fathers — the sources
The Desert Fathers
The Sayings of the Desert Fathers
Alphabetical Collection · tr. Benedicta Ward
Alphabetical Collection · tr. Benedicta Ward
Ancient Patericon
sayings arranged by theme · by St. Theophan the Recluse
sayings arranged by theme · by St. Theophan the Recluse
St. John Climacus
The Ladder of Divine Ascent — coming soon
St. Isaac the Syrian
Ascetical Homilies — coming soon
St. Macarius the Great
Fifty Spiritual Homilies — coming soon
St. John of Damascus
On the Virtues & the Vices — Vol. II, The Philokalia — coming soon
The Hesychasts
St. Maximos the Confessor
The Ascetic Life · Four Centuries on Charity — coming soon
St. Gregory Palamas
Homilies — coming soon
The Philokalia
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Reading now — Vol. IV of V · ¾ through
notes appear here when finished
Poetic love & prayer
St. Nicholai Velimirović
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Prayers by the Lake — coming soon