The Responses to Thalassios is considered by many to be the greatest work of St. Maximos the Confessor, the great Byzantine theologian of the 7th century. The book consists of 65 answers that Maximos wrote in response to Thalassios, a renowned spiritual teacher in North Africa. Question 48 in this book begins with a prayer that …
Re-inventing the language of prayer
Like Anne Frank, Etty Hillesum lived in Amsterdam during the German occupation. Like Anne Frank, she kept a diary. And like Anne Frank she died in a concentration. But unlike Anne Frank, she was not a teenager; she was 29 when she died in Auschwitz in 1943. Her diaries cover her spiritual journey during the …
How shall we pray?
“Lord, teach us to pray!” the disciples asked of Jesus. Why? They were Jews, they were taught to pray three times a day. Why were they asking? Perhaps because they felt something new was happening. Jesus was not like the Pharisees or the priests. He was teaching a new way, so they wanted to pray …
Ancient Answers 