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christian-spirituality-mysticismfeatured in 40 works

Asceticism

Fasting, vigil, and labor as a forge for the soul

Asceticism is disciplined self-denial, such as fasting, keeping vigil, and hard labor, undertaken to purify the soul and grow toward God. Anthony the Great and the Desert Fathers became its great exemplars, withdrawing to the wilderness to wrestle with their passions. Far from despising the body, this discipline aims to free the whole person from what enslaves it, ordering desire toward God.

How it traveled

  1. On Fasting.
    — · 220
    explains
  2. The Instructions of Commodianus.
    — · 220
    applies
  3. The Church History of Eusebius
    Caesarea · 339
    explains
  4. Life of Antony. (Vita Antoni.)
    Alexandria · 373
    explains
  5. Ephraim Syrus: The Nisibene Hymns
    Edessa · 373
    applies
  6. The Letters
    Caesarea (Cappadocia) · 379
    explains
  7. Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen
    Nazianzus · 390
    explains
  8. Concerning Virgins
    Milan · 397
    explains
  9. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  10. Homilies on First Corinthians
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  11. A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  12. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  13. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  14. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  15. Homilies on Second Corinthians
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  16. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Timothy, Titus, and Philemon
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  17. The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  18. The Commentary and Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Galatians and Ephesians
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  19. The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 407
    explains
  20. The Letters of St. Jerome
    Bethlehem · 420
    explains
  21. Jerome and Gennadius. Lives of Illustrious Men
    Bethlehem · 420
    explains
  22. The Life of S. Hilarion
    Bethlehem · 420
    explains
  23. Dialogues of Sulpitius Severus
    Toulouse (Aquitaine) · 425
    explains
  24. Of the Work of Monks
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  25. Expositions on the Book of Psalms
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  26. Letters of St. Augustin
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  27. The Confessions
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  28. The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults
    Marseille · 435
    explains
  29. The Conferences of John Cassian. Part I. Containing Conferences I-X
    Marseille · 435
    explains
  30. The Conferences of John Cassian. Part III. Containing Conferences XVIII.-XXIV
    Marseille · 435
    explains
  31. The Conferences of John Cassian. Part II. Containing Conferences XI-XVII
    Marseille · 435
    explains
  32. The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 450
    explains
  33. The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret
    Cyrrhus · 458
    explains
  34. The Book of Pastoral Rule, and Selected Epistles, of Gregory the Great
    Rome · 604
    explains
  35. Selected Epistles of Gregory the Great
    Rome · 604
    applies
  36. The Canons of the Council in Trullo; Often Called The Quinisext Council
    Constantinople (Istanbul) · 692
    applies
  37. Internal Consolation
    Zwolle · 1471
    explains
  38. Thoughts Helpful in the Life of the Soul
    Zwolle · 1471
    explains
  39. The Interior Life
    Zwolle · 1471
    explains
  40. Seventeen Occasional Sermons
    Northampton, Massachusetts · 1758
    explains

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