Additional Texts

These are intended to be optional books and articles that give a broad background on a particular personality or work. If it is possible to obtain copies of some of the material, this will enhance your understanding of the history, genre of literature and culture out of which a work developed. Several of the required texts have excellent introductions and a few have good footnotes that will accomplish the same aim of filling in the background. I have not made a separate list here; instead you will find the optional material listed under each lesson.

Assignments

A 3-5 page Reflection Paper is the normal expectation for each of the books. The purpose of the Reflection Paper is to provide a vehicle whereby you can integrate your insights, comments, questions from the reading with your own experience. In the writing of the paper, please list the full title and publication information of the particular translation you are using. Direct quotations and extensive borrowing of any material from the book or additional reading matter need to follow a format of giving credit to your source. You may choose to either use the format (author name / one or two words of the title, page no.) with a separate page at the end of your paper listing the work in full, OR to use footnotes. For the most part, these papers are intended to be your reflections on the material as ideas strike you during the reading and not academic papers. However, others' ideas need to be credited to them in recognition of their study, reflection and writing.

It is probably best to send each paper as you finish the reading of a particular work and your reflection upon it, but you may also wish to send two or three at a time in the interests of saving postage. Papers may be sent directly to me, or via e-mail:

Sister Mary Forman, OSB
mforman@csbsju.edu
Saint John’s University
School of Theology-Seminary
P. O. Box 7288
Collegeville, Minnesota 56321-7288
(320) 363-2618

My intention is to read the paper (s), make comments and return them as soon as feasibly possible. At the completion of the course, please fill out the evaluation sheet and mail that also to me. Feedback makes it possible to improve the course for the next people.

LESSONS

I. Overview on the Beginnings of Christian Monasticism

A. Required Reading

Mark Sheridan, "Introduction: The Origins of Monasticism in the Early Church, " RB-1980: The Rule of St. Benedict In Latin and English with Note, ed. Timothy Fry et al. (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1981), pp. 3-41.

Claude Peifer, "Pre-Benedictine Monasticism in the Western Church," RB-1980, pp. 42- 64.

B. Additional Reading (optional)

Vincent Desprez, "The Origins of Western Monasticism," tr. Terrence Kardong, American Benedictine Review (ABR) 41:1 (March 1990): 99-112.

Vincent Desprez, "The Origins of Western Monasticism II. Africa and Spain," tr. David Dwyer, ABR 41:2 (June 1990) : 167-191.

Adalbert de Vogue, "To Study the Early Monks, " Monastic Studies 12 (1976) : 55-83.

C. Assignment

Write a 4-5 page paper comparing and contrasting the characteristics of Eastern and western monasticism. How do these characteristics bear upon your experience of monasticism?

II. Life of Antony

A. Required Reading

St. Athanasius - The Life of Saint Antony, Ancient Christian Writers 10, tr. Robert T. Meyer (NY: Newman Press, 1950, 1978). OR

Athanasius: The Life of Antony and the Letter to Marcellinus, The Classics of Western Spirituality, tr. Robert C. Gregg (NY: Paulist Press, 1980).

B. Additional Reading (optional)

Vincent Desprez, "Saint Antony and the Beginnings of Anchoritism, " tr. David Dwyer, ABR 43:1 (March 1992) : 66-81.

Vincent Desprez, "Saint Antony and the Beginnings of Anchoritism II," tr. Terrence Kardong, ABR 43:2 (June 1992) : 141-172.

C. Assignment

Choose one or two teaching(s) or incidents(s) in Antony's life and relate them to the rest of his life. Consider how this teaching/ incident impacts your own life. Write a 3-4 page reflection paper describing this teaching/ incident and its relation to your own life.

III. Apophthegmata Patrum

A. Required Reading

The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection, CSS 9, tr. Benedicta Ward (London & Oxford: Mowbray/USA: Cistercian Publications, 1975, rev. ed. 1984). OR

The Wisdom of the Desert Fathers: Apopthegmata Patrum from the Anonymous Series, CSS 48, tr. Benedicta Ward (Fairacres, Oxford: SLG Press/ USA: Cistercian Publications, 1975, rpt. 1977). TOGETHER WITH

The World of the Desert Fathers: Sayings from the Anonymous Series of the Apophthegmata Patrum, SLG 95, tr. Columba Stewart (Fairacres, Oxford: SLG Press/USA Cistercian Publications, 1986).

B . Additional Reading (optional)

Peter Brown, "The Desert Fathers: Antony to John Climacus, " pp. 213-235 in The Body and Society: Men, Women and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity, Lectures on the History of Religions Sponsored by the American Council of Learned Societies, New Series 13 (NY: Columbia University Press, 1988).

Brian Patrick McGuire, "The Wisdom of the Eastern Fathers, " pp. 1-37 in Friendship and Community: the Monastic Experience 350-1250, CSS 95 (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1988).

Simon Tugwell, "The Desert Fathers," pp. 13-24 in Ways of Imperfection: An Exploration of Christian Spirituality (Springfield, IL: Templegate Publishers, 1985).

C. Assignment

If at all possible, read most of the work The Sayings of the Desert Fathers AND The World of the Desert Fathers. Then choose one topic, like prayer, charity, peace, fasting, etc. (whatever speaks to you) and look up all the sayings under that topic. (You may need to use the General Index and the back of The Sayings of the Desert Fathers; The Wisdom and The World are already arranged by topic.) Write a 4-5 page reflection paper about how the desert abbas/ammas understood that topic in their own lives, by responding to these questions: What of their teaching finds resonance with your own? How do you account for the difference? Of the teaching to which you relate well, how do you see yourself implementing it in your own life?

IV. Historia monachorum

A. Required Reading

The Lives of the Desert Fathers: The Historia Monachorum in Aegypto, CSS 34, tr. Norman Russell (London & Oxford: Mowbray/USA: Cistercian Publications, 1980), pp. 49-161.

B. Additional Reading (optional)

Norman Russell, Introduction, pp. 3-46 in The Lives of the Desert Fathers (listed immediately above).

Derwas J. Chitty, The Desert a City: An Introduction to the Study of Egyptian and Palestinian Monasticism under the Christian Empire (Crestwood, NJ: St. Vladmir's Seminary Press, 1966), chapters 1-3 in particular.

C. Assignment

Option 1: Select one abba/amma who appears in The Lives of The Desert Fathers/ Historia monachorum and also appears in the apophthegms in The Sayings of the Desert Fathers. Compare and contrast how each of these two works represents the elder: Are the stories the same or different? What aspects of their personality appear in one work but not the other? If a similar saying occurs in both works, what details are incorporated of left out from one work to the other? Write up your findings in a 4-5 page paper.

Option 2: If you selected a particular topic from the Anonymous Collections (The Wisdom of the Desert Fathers and The World of the Desert Fathers), then follow through that topic by researching how the topic is also developed in The Lives of the Desert Fathers/ Historia monacharum, by using the Subject Index at the back. Write up your findings in a 4-5 page reflection paper. by responding to these questions: What further insight(s) into the topic do you gain from this body of literature? How does the format of stories of lives shape the presentation of the topic from your previous study of it in the anonymous apophthegms? How do these insights intersect with your own experience of the topic?

V. Evagrius Ponticus, First Systematician of Monasticism

A. Required Reading

Evagrius Ponticus - The Praktikos &Chapters on Prayer, CSS 4, tr. John Eudes Bamberger (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publication, 1981). Read the whole book, including the two introductions.

B. Additional Reading (optional)

Louis Bouyer, "Erudite Monasticism, " pp. 380-394 in The Spirituality of the New Testament and the Fathers (Burns & Oates, 1963).

Tomas Spidlik, "Spiritual Warfare," pp. 233-266 and "Purification of the Passions," pp. 267-281 in The Spirituality of the Christian East: A Systematic Handbook, CSS 79, tr. Antony P. Gythiel (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1986).

Simon Tugwell, "Evagrius Ponticus," pp. 25-36 in Ways of Imperfection: AN Exploration of Christian Spirituality (Springfield, IL: Templegate Publishers, 1985).

Palladius: The Lausiac History, "Evagrius," pp. 110-114, ACW 34, tr. Robert T. Meyer (Westminster, MD: The Newman Press/ London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1965).

C. Assignment

Select one of the vices Evagrius describes on p. 16-26 of the Praktikos and note the characteristics of that vice. Reflect on how that vice gets "lived out" today. Write a short reflection (2-3 pages) on that vice in your words, based on how you envision its embodiment in your own time and culture. In addition, select one aspect of prayer from the Chapters on Prayer and consider the challenge Evagrius poses to your own prayer life. Write another short reflection (2-3 pages) on your awareness of your prayer life and the advice Evagrius offers.

VI. Pachomius, Father of Cenobitism

A. Required Reading

"The First Greek Life (G1)," pp. 297-423 of Pachomian Koinonia I: The Life of Saint Pachomius, CSS 45, tr. Armand Veilleux (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian, 1980).

B. Additional Reading (optional)

Armand Veilleux, "Holy Scripture in the Pachomian Koinonia," Monastic Studies 10 (1974): 143-153.

Vincent Desprez, "Pachomian Cenobitism: I," tr. Terrence Kardong, ABR 43:3 (Sept. 1992): 233-249.

Vincent Desprez, "Pachomian Cenobitism: II," tr. Terrence Kardong, ABR 43:4 (Dec. 1992): 358-394.

C. Assignment

Select one or two incidents from Pachomius' life which speak to you of what kind of man he was. Reread them in the Greek Life and then go to the parallel story in "The Bohairic Life of Pachomius," and read that account. (In the margin of the Greek Life, you will find the abbreviation "SBO" followed by chapter numbers corresponding to the parallels in the first part of the book.) Compare and contrast how each Life - the Greek and the Bohairic - presents the saint. What does this tell you about the writers of each account? What seems to be important to each to communicate? What speaks to you about the life of this holy abba? Write up your learnings in a 4-5 page reflection.

VII. Life of Macrina, Sister to Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nyssa

A. Required Reading

Gregory of Nyssa, "The Life of Saint Macrina," pp. 159-191 in Saint Gregory of Nyssa: Ascetical Works, The Fathers of the Church 58, ed. Roy J. Deferrari, tr. Virginia Wood Callahan (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1967). OR

Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, The Life of Saint Macrina, tr. Kevin Corrigan (Toronto, Ontario: Peregrina Publications, 1987).

B. Additional Reading (optional)

Peter Brown, "Marriage and Mortality: Gregory of Nyssa," pp. 285-304, in The Body and Society: Men, Women and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity, Lectures on the History of Religions Sponsored by the American Council of Learned Societies, New Series 13 (NY: Columbia University Press, 1988).

Kevin Corrigan, "Saint Macrina: The Hidden Face Behind the Tradition," Vox Benedictina 5:1 (January 1988) : 12-42.

Kevin Corrigan, "Syncletica and Macrina: Two Early Lives of Women Saints," Vox Benedictina 6:3 (July 1989) : 241-256.

C. Assignment

Reflect on these questions: In what ways does Gregory feel Macrina influenced his life? What does the role of a deeply Christian woman play in the "family asceticism" of Annisa? What does this say to you about the influence of others in your own Christian life? Write up your reflections in a 4-5 page paper.

VIII. Jerome's Vitae Pauli, Hilarionis et Malachi

A. Required Reading

Jerome, "Life of Paul the Hermit," "Life of St. Hilarion," "Life of Malchus, the Captive Monk, " pp. 299-318 in The Principal Works of St. Jerome, NPNF 2.6 ed. Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, tr. W. H. Fremantle (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1989 rpt. [better translation] OR

Jerome, "Life of Paul the Hermit, " "Life of St. Hilarion," "Life of Malchus, The Captive Monk," pp. 217-297 in Early Christian Biographies, Fathers of the church 15, ed. Roy J. Deferrari, tr. Marie Liguori Ewald (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1952).

B. Additional Reading (optional)

Peter Brown, "Learn of Me a Holy Arrogance: Jerome," pp. 366-386 in The Body and Society: Men, Women and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity, Lectures on the History of Religions Sponsored by the American Council of Learned Societies, New Series 13 (NY: Columbia University Press, 1988).

Kelly, J.N.D., Jerome: His Life, Writings, and Controversies (London: Gerald Duckworth & Co., 1975).

C. Assignment

Read each of the Lives of Paul, Hilarion and Malachy and draw up an outline of the chapters and list each of the important observances which Jerome emphasizes. Examine what are recurring themes for him throughout these three lives. What kind of picture of monasticism does Jerome seek to present through his writings? How does his picture coincide with what you have learned from your previous reading? Write up your outline and attach a 2-3 page reflection on what kind of person represents a model ascetic for Jerome in comparison to other writers' perceptions.

IX. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions

A. Required Reading

Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions of St. Augustine, Books I-IX, tr. John K. Ryan (Garden City, NY: Image Books, a Division of Doubleday &Co., Inc., 1966). OR

Saint Augustine - Confessions, Books I-IX, tr. Henry Chadwick (Oxford University Press, 1991).

B. Additional Reading (optional)

Peter Brown, Augustine of Hippo: A Biography (Berkeley: U of California Press, 1967). Andrew Louth, "Augustine," pp. 134-145 in The Study of Spirituality, ed. Cheslyn Jones et al. (NY / Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986).

C. Assignment

Read Confessions Books I-IX. Reflect on one of the following key figures or writings from each of three different time periods and how they shaped Augustine's awareness of what is ultimately important: early teachers (Bk 1, ch 9, 13-14= I.9.13-14); peers (II.4, 8); Cicero (III.4-5); Manichees (III.6, 9-10; IV.1-3); unnamed friend who died (IV.4-8); Faustus the Manichaean (V.3, 5-7); Monica his mother (II.11-13; V.8-9; VI.1-2, 13; IX.8-12); Ambrose (V.13-14; VI.3; IX.5-6); Scripture (III.5; VI.5; VII.9-10); Alypius (VI.7-10, 12); Mother of Adeodatus (III.1; Bk VI.15); Jesus Christ (VII.18-19); Victorinus (VIII.2-5); Ponticianus and Antony (VIII.6-7); and the experience of God in the garden (VIII.8-12). Write a 4-5 page essay on the influences you see exerted upon Augustine and how they shaped who he was at a certain stage in his life. Incorporate your own awareness of significant influences in your own spiritual life.

X. Cassian, Conferences

A. Required Reading

John Cassian: Conferences, Classics of Western Spirituality, tr. Colm Luibheid (NY: Paulist Press, 1985. OR

John Cassian: The Conferences, Ancient Christian Writers 57, tr. Boniface Ramsey (New York/Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1997. Read "Conferences 1-3, 9-11, 14-15, 18. OR

John Cassian: The Institutes, Ancient Christian Writers 58, tr. Boniface Ramsey (New York/Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2000.

B. Additional Reading (optional)

Richard Byrne, "Cassian and the Goals of Monastic Life," Cistercian Studies 22 (1987) : 3-16.

Terrence Kardong, "Aiming for the Mark: Cassian's Metaphor for the Monastic Quest," Cistercian Studies 22 (1987) : 213-220.

Terrence Kardong, "John Cassian's Evaluation of Monastic Practices," ABR 43:1 (March 1992) : 82-105.

Columba Stewart, "John Cassian on Unceasing Prayer," Monastic Studies 15 (Advent 1984): 159-177. _, Cassian the Monk (New York: Oxford U P, 1998).

C. Assignment

Consider one of the topics in the Conferences, e.g., prayer, discernment, perfection, kind of monks, etc. Write down Cassian's main points about that topic, then take 4 or 5 of them to prayer. As you recite the sayings in your heart, what image(s) come(s) to mind? What do you feel called to live? What in your own life would need a reorientation to live this truth? Write up your reflections in a 4-5 page paper that incorporates both Cassian's thoughts and your own interpretation of them.

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