St. Gregory Palamas
Archbishop of Thessalonica
(c. 1296-1359 A.D.)

I. On the Blessed Hesychasts

Question

Some say that we do wrong to try and confine the mind within the body; for, they say, it is much more necessary and useful to do our best to direct it away from the body. Moreover they severely criticize some of our people, and write against them for advising beginners to look into themselves and, through breathing, to lead their minds within, for they say that mind is not separated from soul. So, if mind is not separated from soul, but is joined with it, how can it be reintroduced within? They also accuse them of teaching people to breathe in Divine grace through the nostrils. But, knowing that this is pure calumny (for I never heard any of our people speak like this), I have come to the conclusion that their other accusations are also malignant slander; for it is usual for them to invent against people what does not exist, and to distort maliciously what does exist. Yet I beg you, my father, to teach me how and why we take special care to try and lead the mind within and do not think it wrong to confine it in the body.

St. Gregory’s answer

(For those who keep attention in themselves in silence it is not unprofitable to try to hold their mind within the body.)

1. Brother! Do you not hear the Apostle saying that ‘your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you’ (1 Cor. 6:19), and again, that ‘ye are the temple of God’ (1 Cor. 3:16), as God also says, ‘I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God.’ (2 Cor. 6:16)? Who then, possessing a mind, will deem it unseemly to introduce his mind into that which has been granted the honor of being the dwelling of God? How is it that God Himself in the beginning put the mind into the body? Has He too done wrong? Such words, brother, properly belong to heretics, who say that the body is evil and the creation of an evil principle. But we regard it as evil for the mind to be concerned with mindings (i.e., focusing on things) of the flesh, and not wrong for the mind to be in the body - for the body is not evil. Therefore all those who cleave to God by their life cry to Him with David, ‘My soul has thirsted for Thee: how often has my flesh longed after Thee’ (Ps. 62:1), and ‘My heart and my flesh have exulted in the living God’ (Ps. 83:2); and with Isaiah, ‘My belly shall sound as a harp for Moab, and thou hast repaired my inward parts as a wall’ (Isaiah 16:11). ‘We have conceived, O Lord, because of thy fear ... the breath of thy salvation ... we shall not fall’ (Isaiah 36:18). When the Apostle calls the body death, saying, ‘Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?’ (Rom. 7:24), he means by this the minding of the senses and the flesh. In relation to the spiritual he was right to call it body, and not simply body, but the body of this death. Thus, pointing out a little earlier that it is not the flesh that condemns but the tendency to sin that followed the fall, he says, ‘I am ... sold under sin’ (Rom. 7:14). And he who is sold is not a slave by nature. And again, ‘For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing’ (Rom. 7:18). You see that it is not flesh that he calls evil, but what dwells in it. So evil is not that which is mind, but that which is the ‘law in my members, warring against the law of my mind’ (Rom. 7:23). Therefore we fight against this law of sin, banish it from the body and establish there the mind as a bishop (i.e., overseer); and thereby we lay down laws for every power of the soul and for every member of the body as is appropriate for it. To the senses we prescribe what they have to receive and in what measure - this practice of the spiritual law is called self-mastery; the desiring part of the soul we bring to that most excellent state, whose name is love; the mental part we improve by banishing all that prevents the mind from soaring to God - and this part of the spiritual law we call sobriety.

2. He who purifies his body by self-mastery, who by love makes anger and desire a means for virtue, and who teaches the mind, cleansed by prayer, to stand before God, will receive and see in himself the grace promised to the pure in heart. Then can he say with Paul, ‘For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels’ that is, in bodies (2 Cor. 4:6-7). So if we too hold our mind within the body, shall we be doing something unworthy of the greatness of the mind? Who would assert this, except perhaps a man who is completely unspiritual and whose mind, though otherwise human, is stripped of Divine grace? [Editor’s Note: Since man in the form in which he was created possessed or participated in divine grace, but this is not true of all men after the Fall, St. Gregory has called a man without participation in divine grace not fully human, i.e., not living fully the kind of existence God created us to live.]

3. Our soul is endowed with many powers, and it uses the body as an instrument, to which it gives life. What is the organ used as an instrument for its activity by that power which we call mind? No one ever thought that mind resided in nails or eye-lashes, in nostrils or cheeks. But all agree that it is inside us; they disagree only as to which inner organ it uses as an instrument. For some place it in the brain as in some citadel; others say its seat is in the innermost part of the heart. We agree with the latter, adding only that it is not as in a vessel that our mental power is so confined in the heart, for it is incorporeal; nor is it outside it, as though something connected with the heart; but it is in the heart as in its organ, as we surely know, being so taught not of men but of man’s Creator Himself, Who says in the Gospels, ‘Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.... For out of the heart proceed ... thoughts’ (Matt. 15:11, 19). Macarius the Great says the same, ‘The heart governs the whole organism, and when grace occupies all the divisions of the heart, it rules over all thoughts and members, for therein is the mind and all the thoughts of the soul.’ Thus the heart is the secret chamber of the mind and the prime physical organ of the mental power.

4. Therefore, striving with diligent sobriety to keep watch over our mental power, to govern and correct it rightly, how can we succeed in this except by collecting the mind, which is dispersed outside by the senses, and introducing it within, into that very heart which is the storehouse of thoughts? Thus the blessed Macarius says a little after the words I have quoted, ‘It is there that we must look to see whether grace has inscribed the laws of the spirit.’ There - where? - In the chief organ, where stands the throne of grace, and where are the mind and all the thoughts of the soul, that is, in the heart.

5. You see how essential it is for those, who have decided to keep attention in themselves in silence, to turn the mind back and confine it in the body, especially in that part, which is the innermost body within the body and which we call the heart? For if according to the Psalmist, ‘The king’s daughter is all glorious within’ (Ps. 45:13) [Authorized Version], why should we seek her anywhere outside? If, according to the Apostle, ‘God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father’ (Gal. 4:6), how can we pray with this Spirit, if not in our hearts? If, according to the words of the Lord, of Prophets and of Apostles, ‘The kingdom of God is within you’ (Luke 17:21), would not the man who so zealously tries to chase his mind out from within, find himself also outside the kingdom of heaven?

7. The essence of the mind is one thing and its activity another. . . . The mind is not like the eye, which sees all visible things but does not see itself. The mind exerts itself in examining also all else that it needs, which, as the great Dionysius says, is the direct motion of the mind, and thereafter it returns into itself by a reverse motion, and sees itself. The same Father calls it a circular motion.

8. But the action of the mind, which is best and most natural to it, is that in which it is sometimes raised above itself and unites with God. Because, as Basil the Great says, a mind which is not dispersed among external things, returns to itself, and from itself it ascends to God by an unerring path. For, as that infallible seer of spiritual things, St. Dionysius, says, this movement of the mind is incapable of any error. . . . John [i.e., St. John Climacus], who made us a Ladder leading to heaven, definitely and decisively said that ‘the hesychast is an incorporeal being who strives to keep his soul within the limits of its bodily home’ (The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Ch. 27:6). And all our spiritual fathers have taught the same. For, if we do not confine the mind within the body, how can we concentrate it within itself?

9. You see, brother, that not only spiritual, but general human reasoning shows the need to recognize it as imperative that those who wish to belong to themselves, and to be truly monks in their inner man, should lead the mind inside the body and hold it there. It is not out of place to teach even beginners to keep attention in themselves and to accustom themselves to introduce the mind within through breathing. For no one who thinks rightly would dissuade those, who have not yet attained contemplation, from using certain methods to lead the mind into itself. In those who have not long undertaken this work the mind, when collected within, often jumps out, so that, just as often, they have at once to bring it back; but in those who are not practiced in this work, the mind again slips away, since it is extremely mobile and hard to hold by attention to singleness of contemplation. Hence some advise them to refrain from breathing fast, but to restrain their breath somewhat, so that, together with their breath, they may also hold the mind inside, until, with God’s help, through training, they accustom the mind not to go out into its surroundings and mingle with them, and make it strong enough to concentrate upon one thing. However, this [i.e., restraining of the breath] naturally follows attention of mind (or accompanies it) as anyone can see; for if one meditates deeply on something, the breath goes in and out slowly, especially in those who are silent in body and spirit. For these, keeping spiritual Sabbath and resting from all their activities, as far as is fitting, suspend the diversified movements of the powers of the soul, especially in relation to collecting information, to all sensory receptivity and, in general, to all movements of the body, which are in our control.

10. All this is natural to those who are advanced in silence; for when the soul enters completely into itself, this all comes naturally of necessity, without effort or special care. But to beginners nothing of this is possible without strenuous work. Although patience naturally follows love, for love ‘endureth all things’ (1 Cor. 13:7), we learn to do the work of patience through forcing ourselves, in order thereby to gain love. This is how things happen, and why say much about it? All those who have experience in it laugh at men who, without experience, write formal instructions to the contrary. For such things are learnt not from words but from active work and from the experience of work, which brings profitable fruit, turning men away from the barren words of people who love arguments and display.

11. One of the great teachers says that since the fall the inner man usually accords with the outer (with outer movements and postures). If this be so, why not accept it that a man who strives to turn his mind within is greatly helped in this if, instead of letting his eyes wander hither and thither, he turns them inwards and fixes them in his breast? When the eyes wander outside, the mind becomes dispersed among things through seeing them. In the same way, if the eyes are turned inwards, this movement of theirs will naturally lead the mind too inside the heart in a man who strives to reverse the movement of his mind, that is, to recall it from outside and lead it inwards.

12. ‘Take heed to thyself’ says Moses, ‘that there be not a secret thing in thine heart, an iniquity’ (Deut. 15:9). Take heed to yourself, that is, the whole of yourself; not so that you heed one thing and not another – you must heed the whole. With what do we take heed? Of course with the mind, for nothing else can take heed of the whole of oneself. Therefore set it as guardian over soul and body, and you will easily be delivered from evil passions of the soul and the body. Thus stand on guard before yourself, stand over yourself, observe yourself, or rather watch, examine and judge. For in this way you will subjugate the unruly flesh to the spirit, and your heart will never harbour a secret word of iniquity.

13. ‘If the spirit of the ruler’ (that is, evil spirits and passions) ‘rise up against thee,’ says Ecclesiastes, ‘leave not thy place’ (Eccles. 10:4) – that is, do not leave unguarded a single part of your soul, a single member of your body. For in this way you will be victorious over the spirits which tempt from below, and unafraid of trial will stand with daring before Him, Who tries the heart and the reins from above, having previously tried them yourself. ‘For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged’ says St. Paul (1 Cor. 11:31); so, having experienced David’s blessed apprehension (of God’s omnipresence): ‘Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?’ [Ps. 138:7]), you too will say to God, ‘For darkness will not be darkness with thee; but night will be light as day: ... For thou, O Lord, hast possessed my reins’ (Ps. 138:12-13). Not only, will you say, shall I make Thine the desiring power of my soul, but if there be found in my body a spark of such desire, it too will fly to Thee, will strive to Thee, will cling to Thee. As in those devoted to sensory lusts the whole desire of the soul is given up to the flesh, so that thereby they become nothing but ‘flesh’, and God’s ‘Spirit shall certainly not remain among these men’ (see Gen. 6:4); so too in those who direct their mind towards God and devote their soul to desire of the Divine, even their flesh, being transformed, rises up with them and takes part in Divine communion, whereby it too becomes a possession of God and His house and ceases to harbour ‘enmity against God’ and to lust ‘against the Spirit’ (Rom. viii. 7; Gal. v. 17).

14. Which is the most favourable place for the spirit which attacks us from below-the flesh or the mind? Is it not the flesh where, as the Apostle says, ‘dwelleth no good thing’ (Rom. vii. 18) until man has received ‘the law of the Spirit of life’ (Rom. viii. 2)? Therefore it is all the more needful not to leave it without attention. Otherwise how will it be ours? How shall we keep it for ourselves? How can we repulse the attacks of the evil one, especially when we learn how to oppose the spirits of wickedness spiritually, if we do not learn to keep attention in ourselves by external methods also? And I say this not only of beginners, since even among the perfect there were those who used such methods during prayer, and were heard by God, not only after Christ, but also before His coming to us. For even the most perfect seer of God, Elijah, ‘stooped to the ground, and put his face between his knees’ (3 Kings xviii. 42), and thus collecting his mind within and cleaving with it to God, he broke the drought of many years.

15. It seems to me, brother, that those from whom you have heard the opposite are sick with the sickness of the pharisees, and so do not want to guard and cleanse ‘that which is within the cup’ (Matt. xxiii. 26), that is, their heart, and not conforming with the tradition of the fathers, they attempt arbitrarily to dominate everybody as new teachers, not admitting the external humble posture adopted during prayer by the publican, who was justified, and persuading others not to assume it when they pray. Since, as the Lord said in the Gospels, ‘the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven’ (Luke xviii. 13), those who keep attention in themselves during prayer try to imitate him externally. People who call them omphalopsyches (those whose soul is in their navel) evidently so call them to ridicule that of which they wrongly accuse them. For who among the latter asserts that the soul is in the navel? By this the former show that they are clearly malicious slanderers....

16. Of course you know the life of Simeon the New Theologian ; ⁴⁴ he was a marvel to all men and was famed for supranatural miracles. And to call his writings writings of life would not be sinning against truth. You know too Nicephorus, ⁴⁴ this holy man who passed many years in quiet and silence, and then went to dwell in the wildest part of the Holy Mountain and undertook the work of extracting from the writings of the holy fathers and transmitting to us their rule of holy sobriety. There the work of sobriety is clearly expounded for the benefit of those who wish to learn it-that work to which, as you say, some people object.

17. And why quote ancient fathers? Men who have lived shortly before us and who bore witness to and manifested the power of the Holy Spirit, have transmitted it all to us verbally. Such were Theoleptus,⁴⁴ the much revered head of the Church of Philadelphia, who was indeed a true theologian and a sure seer of the truth of the mysteries of God and who, from his church, as from a lamp, shed light for all the world. There was Athanasius, who occupied the patriarchal see for many years and whose relics were glorified by God; there was Nilus who came from Italy, the follower of the great Nilus ; Seliotes and Elias who were in no way second to him; Gabriel and Athanasius who were granted the gift of prophecy. All these and many others who lived before them, with them and after them, praise this tradition and advise those, who so wish, to adopt it, despite the fact that new teachers of silence, who know not a trace of silence, and teach not from experience but from their own theories, or rather prattle about it, strive to refute and depreciate it, with no kind of profit for their listeners. But we have talked personally with some of these saints and had them as our teachers. How can we presume to disregard these men, taught by grace and experience, and give way to those who dare to teach by means of an intricate and artful tangle of words, inspired by arrogance?

18. So do you too turn away from them, mentally repeating with David : ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name’ (Ps. cii. 1). And surrendering yourself as an obedient pupil to the fathers, listen how persistently they advise men always to lead the mind within and hold it there.

44. See Writings from the Philokalia.

2. On Prayer and Purity of Heart : three Chapters

1. Since God is goodness itself, mercy itself and a limitless deep of benevolence, he who enters into union with Him, partakes in every way of His mercy. And union with Him is achieved by acquiring godlike virtues, as far as this is possible, and by communion with Him through prayer and supplication. However, communion through godlike virtues renders the diligent doer capable of receiving the Divine union, but does not effect it; it is intense prayer by its holy action that accomplishes the soaring of man to God and union with Him; for in its essence prayer is the union of intelligent beings with their Creator, when its action transcends passions and passionate thoughts through piercing of the heart and contrition. For while the mind is passionate, it cannot unite with God. Therefore so long as it remains such, it does not receive God’s mercy in prayer. But to the extent that it drives away passionate thoughts, it acquires mourning and contrition. And in proportion to contrition and the piercing of the heart it is granted merciful comfort, and, after long remaining in these feelings with humility, it at last transforms the desiring part of the soul.

2. When the single mind is threefold, while yet remaining single, it is united with the Divine Threefold Oneness, closes the door to all prelest, sin and error and becomes above flesh, above the world and above the prince of this world. Having thus escaped their snares, it remains wholly enclosed in itself and in God, tasting the spiritual joy which flows from within. And the single mind is threefold, while yet remaining single, when it returns to itself and rises through itself to God. The mind’s return to itself is its guarding of itself, and its rising to God comes of prayer. When a man abides in this collected state of mind and in this soaring to God, then, curbing his volatile thoughts by intense effort of self-constraint, he mentally approaches God, meets with the ineffable, tastes of the life to come and knows by spiritual apprehension how good is the Lord, as the Singer of Psalms says, ’ Taste and see that the Lord is good’ (Ps. xxxiii. 8). To bring the mind to a threefold state so that, while being one and the same, it guards, is guarded, and performs prayer is perhaps not so difficult, but to remain long in this state, which gives birth to something indescribable, is exceedingly difficult. The work on any other virtue is small and very easy compared with it. This is why many, by refusing the straitness of the virtue of prayer, fail to acquire the spaciousness of the gifts ; while those who endure it are granted the greatest Divine intercessions, which give them strength to undertake and endure all things, and joyfully to strive forward, since it makes the difficult easy and gives our nature angelic power, as it were, to do what is above nature; in the words of the Prophet, ‘But they that wait on God shall renew their strength; they shall put forth new feathers like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not hunger’ (Isaiah xl. 31).

3. What is called mind is also activity of mind, consisting of thoughts and understandings; and mind is the power, too, which produces this, and which in the Scriptures is also called heart. Through this power of the mind, the most important of our powers, the soul within us thinks. In those who practise prayer, the action of mind, consisting of thoughts, is easily purified; but the soul which gives birth to these thoughts will not become pure unless at the same time all its other powers are purified. For the soul is one, although it has many powers; therefore the whole of it is defiled, if evil has crept into any one of its powers ; for since the soul is one and single, all its other powers are in communication with that one. Since each of the powers is manifested in different actions, it may be that, through special attention and diligence, one of these actions temporarily proves pure. But it cannot be concluded from this that the whole power is pure, since, being in communication with others, it may be more impure than pure. In this way, if, through special attention and diligence during prayer, the action of a man’s mind proves pure and he acquires, within measure, either enlightenment of understanding or mental illumination (contemplation), and if in consequence he considers himself purified, he will delude himself and, falling into a lie, will in his conceit open wide the doors to him who is ever trying to seduce us. But if, knowing the uncleanness of his heart, he does not puff himself up at a measure of, as it were, accidental purity, then with its help he will see more clearly the uncleanness of the other powers of his soul, will progress in humility, increase his mourning and contrition, and will try to find effective remedies for each power of the soul, cleansing his active part by deeds, his mental part by knowledge, the contemplative part by prayer and, through them, reaching the true, perfect and stable purity of heart and mind, which no one ever gains except by perfection in actions, constant contrition, contemplation and prayer in contemplation.

APPENDIX II

From the life of St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop, miracle-worker of Thessalonica⁴⁵

How all Christians in general must pray without ceasing

Let no one think, my brother-Christians, that it is the duty only of priests and monks to pray without ceasing, and not of laymen. No, no ; it is the duty of all of us Christians to remain always in prayer. For look what the most holy Patriarch of Constantinople, Philotheus, writes in his life of St. Gregory of Thessalonica. This saint had a beloved friend by the name of job, a very simple but most virtuous man. Once, while conversing with him, His Eminence said of prayer that every Christian in general should strive to pray always, and to pray without ceasing, as Apostle Paul commands all Christians, ‘Pray without ceasing’ (i Thess. v. 17), and as the prophet David says of himself, although he was a king and had to concern himself with his whole kingdom : ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face’ (Ps. xv. 8), that is, in my prayer I always mentally see the Lord before me. Gregory the Theologian also teaches all Christians to say God’s name in prayer more often than to breathe....

So, my Christian brethren, I too implore you, together also with St. Chrysostom, for the sake of saving your souls, do not neglect the practice of this prayer. Imitate those I have mentioned and follow in their footsteps as far as you can. At first it may appear very difficult to you, but be assured, as it were from Almighty God, that this very name of our Lord Jesus Christ, constantly invoked by you, will help you to overcome all difficulties, and in the course of time you will become used to this practice and will taste how sweet is the name of the Lord. Then you will learn by experience that this practice is not impossible and not difficult, but both possible and easy. This is why St. Paul, who knew better than we the great good which such prayer would bring, commanded us to pray without ceasing. He would not have imposed this obligation upon us if it were extremely difficult and impossible, for he knew beforehand that in such case, having no possibility of fulfilling it, we would inevitably prove to be disobedient and would transgress his commandment, thus incurring blame and condemnation. The Apostle could have had no such intention.

Moreover, bear in mind the method of prayer-how it is possible to pray without ceasing, namely by praying in the mind. And this we can always do if we so wish. For when we sit down to work with our hands, when we walk, when we eat, when we drink we can always pray mentally and practise this mental prayer-the true prayer pleasing to God. Let us work with the body and pray with the soul. Let our outer man perform his bodily tasks, and let the inner man be entirely dedicated to the service of God, never abandoning this spiritual practice of mental prayer, as Jesus, God and Man, commanded us, saying : ‘But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret’ (Matt. vi. 6). The closet of the soul is the body; our doors are the five bodily senses. The soul enters its closet when the mind does not wander hither and thither, roaming among things and affairs of the world, but stays within, in our heart. Our senses become closed and remain closed when we do not let them be attached to external sensory things, and in this way our mind remains free from every worldly attachment, and by secret mental prayer unites with God its Father.

‘And thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly,’ adds the Lord. God who knows all secret things sees mental prayer and rewards it openly with great gifts. For that prayer is true and perfect which fills the soul with Divine grace and spiritual gifts. As chrism perfumes the jar the more strongly the tighter it is closed, so prayer, the more fast it is imprisoned in the heart, abounds the more in Divine grace.

Blessed are those who acquire the habit of this heavenly practice, for by it they overcome every temptation of the evil demons, as David overcame the proud Goliath. It extinguishes the unruly lusts of the flesh, as the three men extinguished the flames of the furnace. This practice of inner prayer tames passions as Daniel tamed the wild beasts. By it the dew of the Holy Spirit is brought down upon the heart, as Elijah brought down rain on Mount Carmel. This mental prayer reaches to the very throne of God and is preserved in golden vials, sending forth their odours before the Lord, as John the Divine saw in the Revelation, ‘Four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of the saints’ (Rev. v. 8). This mental prayer is the light which illumines man’s soul and inflames his heart with the fire of love of God. It is the chain linking God with man and man with God. Oh the incomparable blessing of mental prayer! It allows a man constantly to converse with God. Oh truly wonderful and more than wonderful-to be with one’s body among men while in one’s mind conversing with God.

Angels have no physical voice, but mentally never cease to sing glory to God. This is their sole occupation and all their life is dedicated to this. So, brother, when you enter your closet and close your door, that is, when your mind is not darting hither and thither but enters within your heart, and your senses are confined and barred against things of this world, and when you pray thus always, you too are then like the holy angels, and your Father, Who sees your prayer in secret, which you bring Him in the hidden depths of your heart, will reward you openly by great spiritual gifts.

But what other and greater rewards can you wish from this when, as I said, you are mentally always before the face of God and are constantly conversing with Him-conversing with God, without Whom no man can ever be blessed either here or in another life?

Finally, my brother, whoever you may be, when you take up this book and, having read it, wish to test in practice the profit which mental prayer brings to the soul, I beg you, when you begin to pray thus, pray God with one invocation, ‘Lord have mercy’, for the soul of him who has worked on compiling this book and of him who helped to give it to the public. For they have great need of your prayer to receive God’s mercy for their soul, as you for yours. May it be so! May it be so!

45 This text, considerably abridged here, terminates both the Greek and Russian versions. A section of it draws on Philotheus’ Life of Palamas; the remainder appears to have been written by one of the compilers of the Greek Philokalia. (Translators’ note.)

---

Taken from the Early Fathers from the Philokalia by E.Kadloubovsky and G.E.H. Palmer. Faber and Faber Limited, No Copyright Notice Found, First Published in 1954, this text Eighth impression 1981.

[All Old Testament Scriptural quotations are taken from the LXX/Septuagint.]

[Note: The text in the book skips some numbers throughout the text.]

---

Archbishop Gregory Dormition Skete P.O. Box 3177 Buena Vista, CO 81211-3177 USA	Contact: Archbishop Gregory In a New Window.
		Copyright 2005 All rights reserved.