Philokalia

The word "Philokalia" means "love of the beautiful" — and it's the title of the collection itself. Compiled in the 18th century by two Greek monks, Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain (1749-1809) and Makarios of Corinth (1731-1805), and first published in Venice in 1782, the Philokalia gathers texts written between the 4th and 15th centuries by spiritual teachers of the Eastern Christian contemplative tradition.

The English translation was produced over forty years (1979-2020) by G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, and Metropolitan Kallistos Ware. All three editors died before or shortly after the project's completion — a fact that gives the translation itself something of the quality of a life's work consecrated to the tradition it transmits.