1- Evagrius Ponticus (345–399 AD), was
a Christian monk and ascetic. One of the most influential theologians in the
late fourth-century church, he was well known as a thinker, polished speaker,
and gifted writer. He left a promising ecclesiastical career in Constantinople
and traveled to Jerusalem,
where in 383 he became a monk at the monastery of Rufinus and Melania
the Elder. He then went to Egypt and spent the remaining years
of his life in Nitria and Kellia, marked
by years of asceticism and writing. He was a disciple of several influential
contemporary church leaders, including Basil
of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Macarius
of Egypt. He was a teacher of others, including John
Cassian and Palladius.
Evagrius. Evagrius of Pontus: The
Greek Ascetic Corpus, translated by Robert E. Sinkewicz. Oxford
and New York: Oxford University
Press 2003.
2- John Cassian (c.AD 360 –
c.435), was a Christian monk
and theologian
celebrated in both the Western and Eastern Churches for his mystical writings.
Cassian is noted for his role in bringing the ideas and practices of Christian
monasticism
to the early medieval West. Around 420, at the request of Bishop Castor of Aptia Julia
in Gallia Narbonensis, Cassian wrote two major spiritual works, the "De
institutis coenobiorum" (Institutes of the Coenobia) and the
"Conlationes" or "Collationes patrum in scetica eremo"
(Conferences of the Desert Fathers). In these, he codified and transmitted the
wisdom of the Desert Fathers of Egypt. The Institutes deal with the external
organization of monastic communities, while the Conferences deal with "the
training of the inner man and the perfection of the heart." 3- John Climacus was a 6th-7th-century Christian monk at the monastery on Mount Sinai. Of John's literary output we know only the Ladder of Divine Ascent, composed in the early seventh century, The Ladder describes how to raise one's soul and body to God through the acquisition of ascetic virtues. Climacus uses the analogy of Jacob's Ladder as the framework for his spiritual teaching. Each chapter is referred to as a "step", and deals with a separate spiritual subject. There are thirty Steps of the ladder, which correspond to the age of Jesus at his baptism and the beginning of his earthly ministry. Within the general framework of a 'ladder', Climacus' book falls into three sections. The first seven Steps concern general virtues necessary for the ascetic life, while the next nineteen (Steps 8–26) give instruction on overcoming vices and building their corresponding virtues. The final four Steps concern the higher virtues toward which the ascetic life aims. The final rung of the ladder—beyond prayer, stillness, and even dispassion is love. Originally written simply for the monks of a neighboring monastery, the Ladder swiftly became one of the most widely read and much-beloved books of Byzantine spirituality.
4- Isaac the Syrian (c. 613 – c. 700), was a 7th-century Church of the East Syriac Christian bishop and theologian best remembered for his written works on Christian asceticism. He is regarded as a saint in the Assyrian Church of the East and in the Chaldean Catholic and Eastern Orthodox tradition. When still quite young, he entered a monastery where he devoted his energies towards the practice of asceticism. After many years of studying at the library attached to the monastery, he emerged as an authoritative figure in theology. Shortly after, he dedicated his life to monasticism and became involved in religious education throughout the Beth Qatraye region. He was ordained bishop of Nineveh but he administrative duties did not suit his retiring and ascetic bent: he requested to abdicate after only five months, and went south to the wilderness of Mount Matout, a refuge for anchorites.
The Ascetical Homilies of Saint Isaac
the Syrian, Revised
Second Edition, by Holy Transfiguration Monastery (2011)
Hildegard's
most significant works were her three volumes of visionary theology: Scivias ("Know the Ways", composed 1142–1151), Liber
Vitae Meritorum ("Book of Life's Merits" or "Book of the Rewards
of Life", composed 1158–1163); and Liber Divinorum Operum ("Book of
Divine Works", also known as De operatione Dei, "On God's
Activity", composed 1163/4–1172 or 1174). In these volumes, the last of
which was completed when she was well into her seventies, Hildegard first
describes each vision, whose details are often strange and enigmatic, and then
interprets their theological contents in the words of the "voice of the
Living Light."
6- Bonaventure (1221 –1274), born Giovanni di
Fidanza, was an Italian medieval Franciscan, scholastic
theologian
and philosopher.
The seventh Minister General of the Order of
Friars Minor, he was also Cardinal Bishop of Albano. He is known as
the "Seraphic Doctor". Bonaventure was regarded as one of the
greatest philosophers of the Middle Ages.
7- John of Ruusbroec (1294 –1381) was one of the Flemish mystics. In
total, Ruysbroeck wrote twelve books, seven epistles, two hymns and a prayer.
All were written in Middle Dutch.Around
1340, Ruysbroeck wrote his masterpiece, The Spiritual Espousals. The 36
surviving Dutch manuscripts, as well as translations into Latin and Middle High
German, are evidence of the book’s popularity. Some of the text was also
translated into Middle English (via the Latin translation) as The Chastising
of God's Children (which was later printed by Wynkyn de Worde). Around the same
time, he also wrote a short treatise, The Sparkling Stone, which was
also translated into Middle English.
8- Henry Suso (1295-1366)
was a German Dominican friar and the most
popular vernacular writer of the fourteenth century. An important author in
both Latin and Middle High German, he is also notable for defending Meister Eckhart's legacy after
Eckhart was posthumously condemned for heresy in 1329.
Suso was very widely read in
the later Middle Ages. There are 232 extant manuscripts of the Middle High German Little Book of Eternal
Wisdom. The Latin Clock of Wisdom was even more popular: over four
hundred manuscripts in Latin.
The Clock was therefore second only to the Imitation of Christ in
popularity among spiritual writings of the later Middle Ages. Wolfgang
Wackernagel and others have called Suso a "Minnesinger
in prose and in the spiritual order" or a "Minnesinger of the Love of
God" both for his use of images and themes from secular, courtly, romantic
poetry and for his rich musical vocabulary. The mutual love of God and man
which is his principal theme gives warmth and color to his style.
9- Walter Hilton (c. 1340–1396)
was an English Augustinian mystic, whose works became
influential in the 15th century. The first book of The Scale of Perfection
is addressed to a woman recently enclosed as an anchoress, providing her with
appropriate spiritual exercises; the bulk of its 93 chapters deal with the
extirpation of the "foul image of sin" in the soul – the perversion
of the image of the Trinity in the three spiritual powers of Mind, Reason and
Will (reflecting the Father, Son and Holy Spirit respectively, according to a
tradition drawn from St Augustine) – through a series of meditations on the seven deadly sins. The second book’s major
themes are reformation of the soul in faith alone and in both faith and
feeling. The latter is described in an extended metaphor as a spiritual journey
to Jerusalem,
or "peace" in meditation, a gift which is also its own giver, Christ.
10- Julian of Norwich (late 1342 – after 1416) was the greatest of all the English anchorites of the Middle Ages. She wrote the
earliest surviving book in the English language to be written by a woman, Revelations of
Divine Love. She lived throughout her life in the English city of Norwich, an important centre for commerce that also
had a vibrant religious life, but which during her lifetime was a witness to
the devastating effects of the Black Death of 1349,
the English Peasants' Revolt, which affected
large parts of England in 1381, and the suppression of the Lollards.
In 1373,
aged thirty and so seriously ill she thought she was on her deathbed, Julian
received a series of visions or
"shewings" of the Passion of Christ and of Mary, mother of Jesus. She
recovered from her illness and wrote two versions of her experiences, the
earlier one being completed soon after her recovery, and a much longer version
being written many years later.
12- John of the Cross (1542
– 1591) was a major figure of the Counter-Reformation, a Spanish mystic,
a Roman Catholic saint,
a Carmelite
friar
and a priest, who was born at Fontiveros,
Old Castile.
Saint John of the Cross is considered one of the
foremost poets in the Spanish language. Although his complete poems
add up to fewer than 2500 verses, two of them—the Spiritual Canticle and the Dark Night of the Soul—are widely
considered masterpieces of Spanish poetry, both for their formal stylistic point of view and their rich symbolism
and imagery. A four-stanza work, Living Flame of Love, describes a
greater intimacy,
as the soul responds to God's love.
13- Francis de
Sales (1567 – 1622) was a Bishop of Geneva and is honored
as a saint in the Catholic
Church. He became noted for his deep faith and his gentle approach to the
religious divisions in his land resulting from the Protestant Reformation. He
is known also for his writings on the topic of spiritual direction and
spiritual formation, particularly the Introduction
to the Devout Life and the Treatise on the Love
of God. These last qualities come
through in Sales' books, the most famous of which was Introduction to the
Devout Life, which – unusual for the time – was written specially
for laypeople.
In it he counseled charity over penance as a means of progressing in the
spiritual life. Sales also left the mystical work, the "Treatise on the
Love of God",
and many highly valued letters of spiritual direction, including those with Jane Frances de Chantal compiled in the Letters
of Spiritual Direction.
14- Jakob Böhme (1575
–1624) was a German philosopher, Christian mystic,
and Lutheran Protestant theologian. He was considered an original thinker by
many of his contemporaries within the Lutheran
tradition, and his first book, commonly known as Aurora, caused a great scandal. In
contemporary English, his name may be spelled Jacob Boehme; in seventeenth-century England it was also spelled Behmen, approximating the contemporary
English pronunciation of the German Böhme.
15-
Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (c. 1614 –1691) served
as a lay brother in a Carmelite monastery in Paris. Christians commonly remember him for the
intimacy he expressed concerning his relationship to God as recorded in a book
compiled after his death, the classic Christian
text, The Practice of the Presence of God.
