The Palestinian Paterikon

The Palestinian Paterikon, in the translation of St Theophan the Recluse, is a collection of soul-profiting instructions, teachings, and sayings of holy ascetics, drawn from the manuscripts of the Monastery of St Sabbas the Sanctified. The book includes ascetic writings, conversations of elders with disciples, epistles, and instructions that reveal the essence of Christian ascetic struggle: on self-restraint and watchfulness, prayer and stillness, humility and obedience, the struggle against the passions, and the acquisition of the virtues. The history of the publication is closely connected with St Theophan's stay in Jerusalem as a member of the first Russian Ecclesiastical Mission (1847-1853). At the Lavra of St Sabbas he became acquainted with the rich tradition of Eastern asceticism, and an elder of St Sabbas entrusted him with the obedience of translating a large Paterikon. The Saint himself attached great importance to this work. He emphasized that these texts reflect the personal spiritual experience and knowledge of the elders of St Sabbas themselves, and are not merely a retelling of older, widely known ascetic writings. However, the translation was never published during the Saint's lifetime. The book includes both fragments of the translation discovered in the cell of St Theophan the Recluse after his repose and his earlier translations, first published in 1858-1860 and republished in 1891. In the Palestinian Paterikon the reader will find not only edifying stories and wise sayings of the ascetic Fathers, but also profound theological reflections on the nature of virtue and sin, on the powers of the soul and the ways of salvation, supported by references to Holy Scripture. A particular value of the edition is the Testament of St Theophan himself, in which he emphasizes the exceptional importance of reading soul-profiting books as the foundation of spiritual life and the mother of all virtues.