Theoleptos of Philadelphia : The Monastic Discourses

Pontifical Inst of Medieval, November 1992. Hardcover. New. Theoleptos (1250-1322), along with St. Gregory of Sinai, was one of the most important witnesses to Orthodox spirituality in the period immediately preceding the watershed era of the Hesychast controversies surrounding St. Gregory Palamas. Though his works are excerpted in the Philokalia (Volume Four of the English edition), this is the first complete edition of his works, with English translation and accompanying Greek text. Addressed to the Princess Eirene-Eulogia Choumnaina and the nuns under her direction, the Discourses consist of homilies on various points of the liturgical year, including Holy Week (here he quotes the heartrendingly beautiful ''I behold Thy bridal chamber, O my Saviour, and I have no wedding garment that I may enter there''), three of the six Sundays of Easter, and Pentecost. Theoleptos' writings are extraordinary in their integration of monastic and liturgical spirituality, and for their uniquely extensive treatment of the sacraments and ecclesiology (Theoleptos himself was prominent among the anti-unionists following the Council of Lyons). Here is a volume of exemplary scholarly presentation and visual beauty, an important contribution to our understanding of the development of classic Byzantine spirituality.