Thomas Merton 
A Course in Desert Spirituality [EPUB ebook] 
Fifteen Sessions with the Famous Trappist Monk

Contents
 
Foreword
  Paul Quenon, OCSO
Editor’s Prologue
Preface
Lecture 1: Early Christian Spirituality (First and Second Centuries)
   Spirituality in the Age of the Martyrs • The Ideal of Virgins and Ascetes
Lecture 2: Aberrations in the Early Centuries
   Hatred of the Flesh • Montanism • Neoplatonism • Gnosticism
Lecture 3: The Christian Teachers of Alexandria
   Clement of Alexandria • Origen
Lecture 4: St. Anthony of the Desert
   Enter St. Anthony • The Doctrine of Anthony • The Later Life of Anthony
Lecture 5: St. Pachomius and the Cenobites
   Cenobites vs. Hermits • St. Pachomius’s Life Briefly • The Rule of Pachomius
Lecture 6: St. Basil of Caesarea
   His Life Briefly • The Writings of St. Basil • Basilian Cenobitism
Lecture 7: Other Cappadocian Fathers: The Two Gregories
   St. Gregory Nazianzen • St. Gregory of Nyssa • Gregory of Nyssa’s Writings
Lecture 8: Palestinian Monasticism and St. Jerome
   St. Jerome • Other Controversies in the Life of Jerome • Jerome’s Monastic Doctrine
Lecture 9: The Community of St. Melania
   St. Melania • St. Melania the Younger • Roman Monasticism in Palestine • Her Monastic Life in the East
Lecture 10: Monasticism in Mesopotamia and Syria
   The Stylites • Hermits of Nitria and Scete • Characteristics of Desert Spirituality
Lecture 11: St. Macarius and Pseudo-Macarius
   St. Macarius • Messalianism • Pseudo-Macarius
Lecture 12: Evagrius Ponticus on Prayer
   Importance of Evagrius • What Does Evagrius Mean by Prayer? • Degrees of Prayer Summary
Lecture 13: Master of the Spiritual Life: Cassian
   Cassian’s Error • Cassian’s Life and Background • Abbot Pinufius • The Desert of Scete—and Nitria • The Origenist Conflict • Constantinople and Gaul
Lecture 14: The Conferences of Cassian
   Conference 1: “On the Purpose and Goal of the Monk” • Conference 2: “On Discretion” • Conference 4: “On the Desire of the Flesh and of the Spirit” by Abbot Daniel • Conferences 9 and 10: “Abbot Isaac on Prayer”
Lecture 15: Philoxenos of Mabbug
   Foundations of the Spiritual Life • What Is Simplicity? • Letter to a Converted Jew • Letter to a Novice • Vocation to the Desert • On Fornication
Group Discussion Topics, Questions, and Additional Readings
Editor’s Notes
Index
 

Jon M. Sweeney is an independent scholar and one of religion’s most respected writers. His many books include James Martin, SJ: In the Company of Jesus, in the “People of God” series; The Pope Who Quit, which was optioned by HBO; and The Pope’s Cat, a popular fiction series for children. He edited A Course in Christian Mysticism by Thomas Merton, published by Liturgical Press. Sweeney writes regularly for America in the US, and The Tablet in the UK. He is the publisher at Paraclete Press in Massachusetts, and lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with his wife and daughters.