Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection

by Benedicta Ward

Book Overview

'Give me a word, Father', visitors to early desert monks asked. The responses of these pioneer ascetics were remembered and in the fourth century written down in Coptic, Syriac, Greek, and later Latin. Their Sayings were collected, in this case in the alphabetical order of the monks and nuns who uttered them, and read by generations of Christians as life-giving words that would help readers along the path to salvation.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879079592
• ISBN13: 9780879079598
• Release Date: January 1984
• Publisher: Cistercian Publications
• Length: 312 Pages
• Weight: 0.83 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Best Book to read if you are interesting in learning more about your faith

This is the best book I have ever read, excluding the bible. It is so helpful and gives you the greatest advice. When reading about what the desert fathers have to say, you get so intuned with it and makes you to try to live a good life. It has helped me fight temptation. I will recommend this book to anyone who wants to change their old lifestyle and live a better one that makes you closer to God.

Accessible, Succint, Sublime

If you enjoy religious mysticism but don't feel a great need to sweat in order to understand it, if you are looking for a piece of beauty and simplicity in this world, if you wnat to know in a straightforward manner, how to rise above: this is the book for you. Accessible, succint, sublime.

Delving into the Sources

Ward has produced a clear, highly readable translation that makes the thoughts and sayings of the Fathers and Mothers of the Desert (first few centuries of our era) available to a readership with no background in classical languages. Her work enables us to draw on the simplicity and depth of early Christians, providing a refreshing perspective on spirituality and religion.

excellent spiritual reading

Having read this book when it was first published, I find I continue to return to it over and over again for my own prayer and reading and as a book I suggest to others. The simple stories and sayings have a wonderful depth and we can see these ancients committed to simplicity, prayer, and a life of being non-judgmental, hospitable and loving. Excellent.