The Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian
The Ascetical homilies of St. Isaac the Syrian is a collection of St. Isaac’s homilies on ascetical monastic life. St. Isaac lived during the 7th century and wrote heavily on the topic of asceticism. St. Isaac withdrew himself from the world and became a monk, and in his monasticism he lived a completely solitary life away from others. In his writings, he speaks of this way of life and shows its benefits, its difficulties, and how to go about living this kind of life. The book is a long read; however, each homily is a few pages long and can be read in independence from the others. Despite each homily’s brevity, each is immensely deep with spiritual teachings and application, and must be read with pen and highlighter at hand.
Many believe that this book may not be suitable for lay readers who have not entered the monastic life. The teachings are directly applicable to the monk isolated from the world, as this is St. Isaac’s intended audience, and there are many applications of which St. Isaac posits that the reader will find hard to accomplish and at times impractical. Although the reader will be hardpressed not to find points that seem applicable only to monks, each homily has an overarching theme and message that is very applicable and beneficial for any Christian. Some of these themes are as follows: withdrawal and seclusion from the things that are in the world so as to hear the voice of God; constant immersion in prayer at all times and reading and meditation of the divine Scriptures; the necessity of being watchful over the thoughts that enter our mind; tribulations and trials as things that purify us and push us to seek God more; struggle at all times to discipline the flesh and passions and to follow the commandments of God so as to strengthen your communion with Him and have boldness in prayer to Him; always being completely reliant on God in everything, especially the small matters; repentance and tears. The major themes in each homily are very applicable to anyone, although some details may not be. The reader is advised to be prepared to see ideas and practices in the book that are difficult to practice, and use wisdom in order to both accept those things which can be applied to his or her life and to leave out others that do not seem applicable. Overall, this book can be immensely beneficial to Christians in any walk of life.
The Vine 