The feast of St Isaac of Monteluco (died c. 550) is celebrated on 23 August. He is often confused with St Isaac of Nineveh (died c. 700). Both are also […]

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In his treatise on sobriety, Nicephorus the Solitary says that the method which he will teach has the happy effect of “leading him who practises it, without labour or sweat, […]

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Kadloubovsky and Palmer open their selection, Writings from the Philokalia on Prayer of the Heart (1951) with a text by Nicephorus the Solitary known as “On Sobriety,” or, to provide […]

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The Philokalia is really a miniature library. The manuscripts which comprise it were originally written in Greek. Although the texts are mostly far older, the present-day collection was compiled by […]

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When Orage said that “Jesus Christ” used this method (Gurdjieff’s Emissary in New York, 13), he was not defining or limiting Jesus: rather, he was drawing a connection between Gurdjieff’s […]

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The Fourth Ode of Solomon is enigmatic, and has been studied more than most of the others. I will not go into the history of the study of this Ode, […]

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The Text Having looked at Ode 1 of the Odes of Solomon, we now come to Ode 3, for Ode 2 is missing. It is not possible to know how […]

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“The Troubled Spirit of Tintern Abbey” is an interesting story from Lord Halifax’s Ghost Book (1936, pp. 201-204), chiefly because it relates to Purgatory and the effectiveness of Masses for […]

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The Odes of Solomon are the oldest surviving hymnal from the early Christian world. They were probably written in ancient Syria, in the Syriac language, between 100 and 200 AD. […]

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Formulations play an enormous part in our lives. They are necessary: whenever we speak we use formulations: “Good morning”, “I am …”, “Would you like …”, “Can you tell me […]

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