Ascetic Discourses

The illuminating introduction to the translation of these twenty-nine monastic discourses written in the mid-fifth century explores scholarly issues . . . this volume is a model for showing how to make a book user-friendly . . . Until this translation appeared, we had only a bit of Abba Isaiah in English (in the translation of the Philokalia), so this work is a welcome addition, made all the more welcome because of the readable translation and useful apparatus.Cistercian Studies Quarterly
. . . a hugely important contribution to the canon of desert wisdom. It deserves a wide readership amongst scholars and laypeople. I enjoyed it very much indeed.Mystics Quarterly
This first complete English translation of the writings of Abba Isaiah is a major contribution to the extant library of desert wisdom from the fifth century of the Christian Era . . .The book itself is a delight to handle and work with, having a pleasingly thorough, through unobtrusive, number of indices (patristic references, scriptural citation, names and subjects). The plethora of references here, and in the body of the text, testify to the importance of Isaiah in the Egyptian and Palestinian Christian world . . . a hugely important contribution to the canon of desert wisdom. It deserves a wide readership amongst scholars and laypeople.Magistra