300 Discursos de los Ascetas

The book you have in your hands has been compiled in order to give the reader the opportunity to feel the spiritual experience of the Christian East. Here they are gathered three hundred "sayings", proverbs or speeches over fifty Orthodox saints of Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Greece, Russia, Serbia, Montenegro and Georgia. Because the Western Church was part of the family of Orthodox Churches during the first thousand years after the birth of Christ, you can also find in our compilation the sayings of saints who lived in the territory of what is now Italy, England, France and Tunes. All this is part of the heritage of the Orthodox Church. The first of these speeches were written in the second half of the first century. The most recent was written in the second half of the twentieth century. No matter where they lived, when they lived or who they were, Orthodox Saints speak of a singular spiritual reality, and thus his speeches are harmonically complemented each other. In the nineteenth century, San Ignacio Brianchaninov made this observation: "Once during a clear autumn night looked toward the celestial light, illuminated by countless stars that emit the same light, then I said, so are the writings of the Holy Fathers. one summer day I looked at the vastness of the sea, covered with a multitude of different waves, driven by a single wind towards the same end, a single port, then I said to myself. so are the writings of the Fathers When I hear a harmonious choir, in which different voices sing the same hymn in admirable harmony, then I say to myself. also are the writings of the Fathers " I think this small collection of Patristic aphorisms will be interesting and useful not only for Orthodox Christians, but also to anyone who appreciates what is genuine. Much of what is assembled here has helped me personally. It has given me answers to difficult questions, and allowed me to think about the events of my life in a new way. So I have decided to present to you in this book that has been very dear to me. Deacon George Maximov. January 8, 2011.