01 — What the Philokalia Is
The meaning of the book: its title, its genre, and its purpose. The Philokalia — literally “love of the beautiful/good” — is an anthology of the “neptic” (watchful) fathers on the guarding of the heart and the prayer of Jesus, assembled as a practical map of the inner life rather than a work of systematic theology.
Tradition: Pan-Orthodox
This section introduces what the Philokalia is before the guide turns to who made it (Section 02), what is in it (Section 03), and how it teaches prayer (Section 04). The two files treat, in turn, the title and genre of the book, and its purpose as a guide to hesychast prayer and the purification of the heart.
Files in This Section
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| the-love-of-the-beautiful.md | The meaning of the title Philokalia (“love of the beautiful/good”); the book as an anthology of watchfulness (nepsis) and the prayer of the heart — “the book of the neptic fathers.” |
| a-map-of-the-inner-life.md | Its purpose: a practical guide to hesychast prayer and the purification of the heart, and the unity of aim that underlies the diversity of its authors and centuries. |
See Also
- The Contents — the authors and texts gathered under this title
- The Hesychast Heart — the prayer of the heart that unifies the collection
- Master README — the whole guide