The Spiritual Meadow: By John Moschos Volume 139

by John Moschos

Book Overview

'I have plucked the finest flowers of the unmown meadow and worked them into a row which I now offer to you', wrote John Moschos as he began his tales of the holy men of seventh-century Palestine and Egypt. This translation offers readers contemporary insights into the spirituality of the desert.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879075392
• ISBN13: 9780879075392
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Liturgical Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.8" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Wisdom from the Desert

Superb wisdom from the deserts of the 6th Century, faithfully recorded by John Moschos and his companion Sophronius [who later became Patriarch of Jerusalem]. Given the sheer number of sayings, I took my time with this book, reading a few at a time, so it is a book that lasted me a long time. And each challenged and encouraged me, and at times gave me a smile as well. The historical notes are also very interesting and informative.

You Can't Judge This Book By Its Cover

I know the old expression "You cannot judge a book by its cover" is perhaps the most overused cliché in the English language, but I assumed that a book titled "The Spiritual Meadow" with flowers on its cover would be a sweet, or at least semi-sweet title with ancient tried and true spiritual quotes, a Desert Father's Lite so to speak. Well, it's not. If anything, the Desert Fathers could be described as "Spiritual Meadow Lite" rather than the other way around. The book itself is an example of an early Christian travel tale. John Moschos traveled to visit the monasteries in Palestine and the book is a recording of his observations, the stories he heard, and the wisdom he learned along the way. The people we meet in the book are serious about the Christian life, and the importance of austerity. There are no excuses for anything but the best from all followers, and readers could wonder if anyone could truly be a follower of Christ. The stories themselves can be a bit difficult for modern Christians to understand, and could seem so far removed from today that the writings are little more than a curiosity. Readers could decide that the writings are too severe, and in some cases, anti-Semitic, at least by our standards. Some of these thoughts were my immediate observations after reading many of the excerpts, especially of I read these writings too critically. Yet when I think about the time in which these monks lived, the power of their witness, and their dedication to God, and this is where the power of this work can be found, and makes it timeless. From a historical point of view, we get an up close and intimate look at early monasticism. Potential readers should note that the translation of this work is literal. Some of the pieces are available only in fragmentary form and this is how it is presented. This is a plus for the work in my estimation. Readers can wrestle with the actual text rather than what a translator feels the text is missing.

BUY THIS BOOK TOGETHER WITH...

If you (1) enjoy reading the writings of Orthodox believers from centuries ago, (2) love good travel writing, AND (3) seek further spiritual enrichment on your Christian walk, buy Moschus's "The Spiritual Meadow." I strongly recommend that you also buy "From the Holy Mountain: A Journey Among the Christians of the Middle East" by William Dalrymple (see the link under "Customers who bought this book also bought..."). In the mid 1990s Dalrymple used Moschus's book to retrace the journies Moschus made and makes a strong case for the fragile state of contemporary Middle East Christianity--something Moschus even noticed just starting to manifest itself way back in c. 580 A.D. Each book complements the other. Buy them both. Don't worry about the money outlay, which isn't much anyway. You won't be disappointed.

Excllent

This book exemplifies the wisdom of the desrert fathers in the late 6th century. The monk John Moschos, compiled their sayings and wrote to his spiritual son , Sophronius, that their wisdom was like that of beautiful flowers in a spiritual meadow. Sophronius then went on to become Patriarch of Jerusalem.

An oasis in the desert.

St John Mochus spent several years travelling throughout the deserts, rather like a 'roving reporter' of today, wanting to gather the stories of the spiritual giants of the desert (who often lived many distances apart in purposely difficult to get to places (so that they could lead their lives of prayer and struggle with more focus and attentiveness)) that lived during his own lifetime, and this is exactly what he did.These stories are all real, straight from the mouths of 6th century Eastern Christian monks, and each is a word of wisdom - food for thought - sometimes shocking our pre-conceived notions of things - and ends up showing just how the Eastern Orthodox Church is of that same ethos today as it was then. A modern day example would be the monks on Mt Athos - and it should not be surprising that contemporary emulators of St John Mochus, compiling stories from Orthoox monks, will find similar true accounts today.